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i was trying to make a meme but i fucked up the audio layering and

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i just know another animated Asterix would go crazyyy in a post spider-verse world

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Israel has destroyed at least 70% of the homes in the Strip and the majority of shops and markets there, including those selling clothing, in addition to limiting Palestinian merchants' ability to coordinate the entry of goods with Israeli authorities. Consequently, the total number of trucks entering the Gaza Strip in the past period contained aid that did not exceed 6% of the population's daily needs — the majority of which are related to food supplies-and the clothing and shoes allowed to enter the enclave did not exceed 0.001% of residents' needs.

[Full report]

So this is what Israel will refer to when they insist that they, in fact, did allow aid into Gaza. Just like they kept the entire Gaza population on a restricted calorie diet up to 2007, they are now starving over 2 million people so that they are in their weakest state in the middle of winter, with no shelter and no clothing either, with bombs hailing down on them nonstop.

Israel is attempting every annihilation strategy against Gaza, both slow and quick.

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Assorted sketches of the Larrow (colloquially, pipers or alicantors), tiny, colorful alien people with a grasping proboscis and a flexible crest that turns them into something like a living musical instrument. They talk to each other in complex songs and, while very competent with non-larrow languages, they near always sound like they're singing musical theatre when speaking human. They spend most of their life - several hundred years - in a non-speaking, fish-like larval state that the adults never socialize with and don't remember being, a subject of much philosophical debate in their culture and in the wider discussions on how sapience should be defined.

while they superficially resemble birds, the closest earth animal anatomically is probably a treehopper:

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me af:

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would you put a discarded fruit sticker on my forehead in whimsical jest yes or no

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I'm thinking of Symphony of the Sixth Blast Furnace by Evgeny Sedukhin again...

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South Korea’s National Assembly has passed a resolution to lift the martial law (190-0).

Parliament votes against martial law decree. All 190 members who were able to enter the main hall voted in favor of the bill. None voted against.

Lawmakers are clapping after the vote. You can hear them saying, “Good job.”

© kchartsmaster : josungkim

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Empress Kōken-Shōtoku (718–770) has long been burdened by an undeserved negative reputation. Far from being a weak woman, she was in fact the last great empress regnant of Japan.

The Crown Princess

Her father was Emperor Shōmu, and her mother, Empress Consort Kōmyō, wielded significant influence. In 727, Kōmyō gave birth to a son, but he tragically died shortly after. In 738, Kōken, then known as Princess Abe, was declared crown princess—a historic first, as no woman before her had been officially named heir apparent, despite Japan’s history of female rulers.

Her early education was overseen by her mother, followed by a renowned scholar who taught her Chinese classics and statecraft. In 749, she ascended the throne after her father’s abdication.

Her First Reign

The Great Buddha Hall at Tōdaiji Temple was completed during her reign. Like her parents, she was a fervent supporter of Buddhism. As a patron of the arts and a sponsor of sutra distribution, she played a key role in establishing Buddhism as a cornerstone of Japanese culture for centuries.

However, Kōken also faced challenges, particularly the growing influence of the powerful Fujiwara clan, to which her mother belonged. After her father’s death in 756, he had designated a successor for Kōken, but the strong-willed empress chose her own candidate. She abdicated in 758 to focus on religious matters.

Machinations and Revolts

Kōken was thus free from the constraints of court ceremonies and quickly became a focal point for opposition to the Fujiwara clan. During this period, she formed a close relationship with the monk Dōkyō, who healed her during an illness in 761.

Legend claims that Kōken once lamented to her attendants that while a male emperor could take multiple consorts, she was expected to remain single. Whether true or not, she was likely aware of the societal constraints imposed on her.

Meanwhile, her successor, Emperor Junnin, sought to wage war against the Korean kingdom of Silla. Kōken opposed him, asserting that matters of such importance—war, rewards for merit, and punishment for wrongdoing—were decisions only she, as a former empress, was qualified to make.

Junnin’s chief minister, Fujiwara no Nakamaro, plotted a revolt against Kōken, but she acted swiftly. Her forces defeated Nakamaro in a decisive battle, leading to his capture and execution. Kōken then deposed Junnin, exiling him and reclaiming the throne in 764 as Empress Shōtoku. By this point, her authority was unchallenged.

Return to Power

During her second reign, Kōken-Shōtoku consolidated her power. She prohibited unauthorized land claims and banned officials from keeping private weapons. She also worked to integrate Buddhist and Shinto beliefs. Her reign saw Japan’s first examples of woodblock printing, which she sponsored in 764.

Kōken-Shōtoku granted significant responsibilities to Dōkyō, though his roles appeared more religious than political. The question of succession remained unresolved. Tensions escalated in 769 when an oracle from the Usa Hachiman Shrine declared that Dōkyō should become emperor. This tentative from someone unrelated to the imperial lineage to usurp the throne caused a scandal. However, sources documenting this event were written later and likely by Kōken-Shōtoku’s detractors.

Kōken-Shōtoku sent the courtier Wake no Kiyomaro to verify the oracle, and he returned with a new prophecy refuting the first. Furious, Dōkyō exiled Kiyomaro, further deepening court divisions. Kōken-Shōtoku withdrew with Dōkyō to Kawachi Province, ruling from there until her return to Nara in 770. She died later that year at age 52.

Following her death, women's roles at court changed and they were bared from ruling. It wasn’t until 1629, with Empress Meishō, and later Empress Go-Sakuramachi (1740–1813), that women once again sat on the throne, though their roles were largely symbolic.

The controversy surrounding Dōkyō tarnished Kōken's reputation. Before World War II, schoolchildren were taught that her so-called "feminine weakness" was why women shouldn’t rule.

Yet Kōken was far from a puppet ruler. She was a decisive leader with a will of her own. As the last great Japanese empress regnant, she deserves to be remembered for her accomplishments.

Enjoyed this post? You can support me on Ko-fi!

Japanese empresses regnant: Suiko, Kōgyōku-Saimei, Jitō, Genmei, Genshō

Further reading 

Brown Norton Louise, Block Printing & Book Illustration in Japan

“Kōken, histoire de la dernière grande impératrice japonaise”

Tsurumi Patricia E., “Japan’s early female emperors”

Aoki Michiko Y., “Jitō Tennō, the female sovereign”,in: Mulhern Chieko Irie (ed.), Heroic with grace legendary women of Japan

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People who think this planet was created for humans to be ours are so wild to me

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When your genocidal warmongering colonialist imperialistic buff butch milf wolf mom wants you to join your home country’s military industrial complex but you’re too busy being artdeco steampunk fenty beauty mogul diplomat goddess with a buff latino-adjacent boytoy who has a situationship with a sad eastern European 90’s heroine-chic machine herald Czech hunter twink boyfriend

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we're running out of time to fuck it we ball....

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Itchiku Kubota (Japanese, 1917 - 2003) 

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goncharov

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blumarine fall/winter 2021 campaign