#“we purchased Louisiana”

[erinwantstowrite]

The way that my brain broke at your last post - oh my goodness Peter didn’t really go to school and is missing so much information and doesn’t know JFK. He only knows the Founding Fathers from Hamilton the Musical. Well, the obvious solution is the musical-ify all of US History.

he's been taking remedial classes but if he's not interested in smth it's impossible for him to retain the information. he's like "yeah i know the laws of thermodynamics. i am confused about the branches of the government." he's knows about the boston tea party and he hates christopher columbus but he does not understand what the stock market is. it is entirely a gamble on what peter will know. well not really a gamble because it's mostly 7th-9th grade history that he's confused about

[tklpilled]

cute names for wanderer!!

arashi

zephyrus

kiyoshi

saisei

shadow

pinocchio

josh

pisslauncher 3000

[witches-come]

This is extremely off topic but I have to do it on here for reasons:

If we're interpreting Land Back the way Zionists / Professor Flowers do, who TF gets the Great Lakes?

I know they don't actually care BUT this keeps me up at night.

[allylikethecat]

So glad you’re a fellow chiefs hater. I hope that whiny Kermit looking little boy gets his butt absolutely kicked to mars on Sunday

*Disclaimer* My hatred of the Chiefs is long standing and has NOTHING to do with Taylor.

HOWEVER, I have been talking a big game and a whole lot of crap recently so the 49ers better not let me down 😂 I am full bandwagon on this situation, I ordered a tee shirt to wear I am READY (okay I will admit though I have always liked Deebo Samuels and usually have him on my fantasy team)

Kermit looking little boy I'm dead you are spot on 💀 as a Pat's fan I'm like seriously? You're going to compare him to BRADY, to TOM BRADY the GOAT?! The very same TOM BRADY who BEAT HIM IN A SUPER BOWL when he was in his FORTIES and Mahomes was supposably in the start of his prime? Regardless if you actually look at the stats, they don't lie.

I apologize to everyone who has followed me for my '75 fan fiction and is instead being subject to my VERY CORRECT FOOTBALL TAKES, just know the Chiefs are not as good as they think they are, their TE is a bag of dicks who also isn't even as good on paper as people try and say he is, and their QB is a whiny little fuckboy that has only made it this far do to some VERY generous reffing. Like we all watched (ok well some of us hopefully) watched the games and could see with our EYE BALLS how bias the refs were being.

On that note Go 49ers! I am going to be insufferable this weekend 😂

Thank you for sharing the correct sports opinions! I hope you are having a great week and that we all have a very happy Sunday (my the correct red team win!)

❤️Ally

[noyzinerd]

More Than Just A Body (Swap)

Thinking about a post-body swap Sterek fic.

One that fully takes place after a body swap has already been reversed (like, a sequel to a non-existent fic--where they swapped bodies, had to live as the other, got switched back, yet didn't get together by the end--that's constantly alluded to, but we never actually get to read), so we only see the aftermath.

Derek is super irritated and snippy for days after they get back into their own bodies. Stiles thinks it's because Derek feels pissed and humiliated he had to relive to highschool with insufferable teenagers, be helplessly human and weak, and generally listen to authority again (his dad). It definitely bums Stiles out to think that Derek found living his life so deplorable that he's still angry about it. So now both of them are upset and sort of avoiding each other.

It isn't until two weeks later, when their stand-off is starting to effect pack business, that Stiles gets fed up and confronts Derek.

"What's your deal, man? You've been super shitty ever since we swapped back. It's been two weeks. How can you still be mad about living as me? What, was doing the dishes and being forced to write 5,000 words about the Louisiana Purchase seriously that terrible? Look, I'm sorry you had to deal with my stupid, tissue-paper body for so long, but you can't just-!"

And before you know it, Derek has him shoved up against a wall. He's still pissed, yeah, but, for some reason, he also looks...hurt and broken inside.

"Your body isn't stupid, Stiles! It was the best thing to happen to me in years!"

Stiles is stunned speechless. Derek's fingers are trembling around the grip he has in Stiles' shirt. There's so much pain in those green-blue eyes that it actually aches to look in them. It looks almost like grief.

Like Derek is in mourning.

Derek's not crying, but his eyes are definitely shinier as he continues, "You have no idea what you have, Stiles. What I had. For the first time since the worst fucking day of my life, I got to do normal things, like chores and sports. Not a single person expected anything of me o-or looked to me for answers. I didn't have to worry about fucking up and getting people killed, because the smartest guy I knew was taking care of my body like it was something precious. And all I had to do in return was live your beautiful, quiet life. A life where someone gently woke me up for school and nobody found me too intimidating to get close to.

"I got to know what it was like to be loved by a father again, Stiles! To say the words 'I love you, too, Dad' when I didn't think I'd ever get another chance. I-I got to be hugged and have people smile at me like they were glad to see me and I'd get to look in the mirror in the morning to the sweetest smile at the start of my day and hear your voice every time I talked. It was perfect." Somehow, Stiles has found his face streaked with tears even though the tears valiantly sticking to Derek's lashes still haven't fallen as his voice breaks over his words.

"A-and now? All I get to wake up to is me." The word is spit out with acid and venom. "I get to wake up alone in a cold, silent, empty, concrete room and look at a face in the mirror that makes me sick. I get to go back to my pathetic fucking life where I have to choose between literally fighting against an endless wave of people out to kill me or using my family's blood money to buy myself a microwavable dinner for the night. The only difference is that now...now I'm haunted by the feel of your fingers through my hair, your arms wrapped around me," at this, Stiles can feel his heart cracking apart at the thought of Derek using his body to simply hug himself, "y-your voice telling me that I'm going to be okay, and just-just the sight of your skin and your eyes and-and-I just, I can't, Stiles, I-I can't-!"

Stiles is clutching Derek so tight to him in an instant, tucking him into his neck and slowly lowering them to the ground as Derek collapses and sobs into him.

---

Once the tears are all dry, Stiles finally picks up the courage to be vulnerable too. He owes it to Derek.

At least it'll be easier now that he can't see the werewolf's reactions.

So, as he's stroking the other's hair, Stiles tells him about how he wishes Derek could see the man he fell in love with the way Stiles can.

He tells him about how he fell in love with a man whose heart is so big and full of kindness that he physically cannot stop himself from helping people, no matter how much he likes to pretend that he doesn't care.

The man he loves is powerful, resilient, and stronger than any one person has any right to be, yet so fragile as to be afraid of loving someone too much because he might be shattered.

The man Stiles loves is smart, sassy, thoughtful, stubborn, awkward, grumpy, sweet, and so so deserving of hugs and smiles and kisses and praise, because Derek is and has always been more than just a body.

Stiles tells him about how, during their swap, he made sure to take warm baths with nice smells, nap in cozy blankets, and massage his hands and feet with lotions because Stiles wanted to take care of Derek's body as much as he could while he got the chance. He did it because he wanted to help Derek and this was the only way he thought he could.

If there had been even the slightest indication that anything more would've been well received, Stiles would have already done it. All he wants is permission.

"Please...let me take care of you?"

---

So, slowly, day by day, Stiles enfolds Derek into a gentle life.

Stiles is Derek's strongest advocate, his extra set of hands to help carry his burdens, his pillow, his introduction to new things and new people.

They're always wrapped around each other, all the time, almost like Stiles is scared of Derek getting cold.

Despite the confession, things remain G-rated for a while. Cuddles, hand-holding, caresses, just touching. Shy kisses eventually make an appearance after some time, but they remain sweet, loving little things.

Stiles makes it perfectly clear that he's fine waiting to make a move until he's sure being intimate can't possibly be mistaken as anything else. He needs Derek to understand that this isn't obligation or pity. Stiles loves Derek. And Stiles is going to take his time because he wants Derek to feel loved beyond his body, no matter how long it takes.

By the time Derek feels whole again, now living with the Stilinskis and smiling softly as a default expression, they find themselves in front of the bathroom mirror having their first time together.

It's definitely not kinky. Mostly reverent, full of "It's okay, I'm right here", fingers laced tight together, flashing eyes, and a bit of emotional tears. It's gentle and assuring, with promises of never being alone again, and whispers of "so beautiful" and "so sweet" and "so perfect". Climax is rewarded with praises, hands stroking up arms and down backs, and "I love you"s are slurred through dropped fangs and traded back and forth between kisses

But as expected, finally having sex doesn't magically make Derek love himself. It's still a long road. Because even if Derek doesn't completely hate his life anymore, there are those hard days where he still has problems with 'being Derek'.

And maybe one day Derek will learn to love the body he lives in.

Until then, Stiles will just have to love it for him.

[ciderjacks]

also look I get that alastor is really just creole bc vivziepop wanted an excuse to excuse her (sort of iffy) portrayal of voudou, but would it really kill people to do any research on us beyond the barebone “look up basic definitions and call it a day” thing. Especially as an Indigenous Cajun, I’m sick of being erased by not only history, not only the U.S. government, but also by society all together. And I’m sicker of people who aren’t Cajun or Creole contributing to that by attempting to define shit when it’s clear they got no clue what they’re talking about.

the worst thing that came out of the hazbin fandom is everyone attempting to define creole and doing a really bad job

[dovesndecay]

Hey! I saw your post on diet culture and fast food and wanted to know what you mean about "diet culture would rather us starve than admit fast food is an accessible food resource"? Could you elaborate? (sorry for the paraphrase, I'm on mobile.) Thanks!

So, I'm disabled in a number of ways. I struggle really hard with executive function, appetite, sensory issues, and pain/fatigue/brainfog that makes deciding on food, and then following the process of making that food very difficult on a good day.

I've always had food issues -- I've snuck whole mouthfuls of food I could not physically make myself eat into the bathroom to spit it out in the toilet because I'd been told I had to eat it. I've puked from the texture of food. And I've gone hungry because food that was prepared is food I could not eat, for a number of reasons.

I'm also really fucking poor. I cannot work a regular job anymore. Groceries have actively skyrocketed to the point where our household is spending less than HALF of what we should be for the number of people. The difference between buying a bunch of groceries that we may or may not eat before they expire or our tastes for them die and simply purchasing a meal from a fast food joint is literally just the cost of labor -- saving us from expending spoons on deciding, buying ingredients, preparing, cooking, and then eating that food, which I will again stress that we might not actually eat.

There's only so many times you can have Walmart brand chicken nuggets before you physically cannot choke it down again.

Diet culture has a huge focus on eating the "right" kind of foods as well as this weird "self-sufficiency" fetish for cooking that can be fine but has a bad habit of edging into ableism. If you physically cannot cook on a regular basis, for any reason, and you have a lot of fast food meals, you get judged a lot for it. It's labeled "unhealthy" and "lazy". I am often told that I just "haven't found the right recipes" or "cooking hacks". No, man, I'm just fucking disabled.

Personally, I'd label starving as more unhealthy than eating fast food, but people don't like hearing that you aren't willing to swallow whatever gruel society thinks people in poverty deserve to have.

For me, fast food is predictable, safe, filling, often less expensive, convenient, spoons-saving, and it means I will eat. I also just genuinely think a lot of fast food tastes good. Sure, it's not fresh veggies and fruits, but I'm not getting those anyway. When I buy groceries, it's the cheapest items possible which means a lot of frozen foods, packaged pastas, and cereals.

And this isn't even looking at food deserts where grocery stores are few and far between, but fast food chains are everywhere. Even my Louisiana hometown, boasting a population of 10,659 people as of 2020, has a Burger King, McDonald's, Hardee's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Popeyes, and numerous pizza delivery places. Y'know what closed down though? The Piggly Wiggly, one of the more affordable grocery stores -- my grandmother actually worked there during my childhood -- and I don't think the Winn-Dixie is even open there anymore either. So all they've got is a Walmart.

Fast food is an accessible food resource, and diet culture would rather see us starve than acknowledge that.

[hooked-on-elvis]

ᴇʟᴠɪꜱ' ᴏᴡɴ ᴛᴀꜱᴛᴇ ɪɴ ꜰᴀꜱʜɪᴏɴ ɪɴᴛᴏ ʜɪꜱ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀꜱ' ᴄᴏꜱᴛᴜᴍᴇꜱ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇꜱ

A personal Elvis touch to some of his characters's wardrobe.

Recently me and @jhoneybees were drooling over Elvis in Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) and Fun In Acapulco (1963). I couldn't stop thinking about the backwards rolled up cuffs shirts that his characters wear in some scenes in both films because they look so good in him! Then I realized that Elvis used to wear his shirts just like this occasionally in the 1950s, before his Hollywood career had begun.

(2-3) Elvis on May 21, 1955 backstage at the Louisiana Hayride at the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana. (4-6) January 25, 1955. Elvis Presley. Tyler, TX. backstage Mayfair building.

(7) Elvis in Graceland in 1960. Here Elvis' acting career was already happening but he hadn't used the rolled-backwards sleeve cuffs shirts in the movies just yet (at least that I remember of), but that's gonna change in a couple of years.

(8-10) Elvis as Ross Carpenter in Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962).

(11-13) Elvis as Mike Windgren in Fun In Acapulco (1963).

Looking at those pictures I can imagine that Elvis himself did some styling to his character's wardrobe occasionally, very seldom I think. However it doesn't stop at the early 60s films… I noticed that again in Charro! (1969).

(14-15) The King as Jess Wade, with his one of his signature looks, the high collars (the jacket just appears for a brief moment in the film but when I saw it I was like 'Oh, Elvis... anyone could recognize you just by looking at your back from miles away...'

It's not like we need any pictures to proof high-collars were his thing but it won't cause any harm too, so...

Cool, isn't it? But, wait a minute, there's more! The next one was prior to Charro!

Right now, I can't say that Elvis in fact had any say-so concerning his characters costumes but that's my assumption based on a little studying on his history and by watching his movies but another thing gave me the idea he could do something about his costumes for the films.

Sandi Miller (fan/gate girl) shared on her Facebook account that she and another fan gave Elvis a jacket in 1966 while Double Trouble (MGM, 1967) was in production. Principal filming for Elvis's twenty-fourth movie began on July 11, 1966 and was finished by August 30, 1966. After the movie was released, visiting the fans as usual, Elvis told Sandi to watch a specific scene in the film and there it was! He was wearing the jacket she gave him.

August 3rd, 1966. Elvis off to the studio to film 'Double Trouble'. Candids by fan Sandi Miller.

On the pictures above, Sandi (on her Facebook account) said: "Elvis on his way to the studio to film 'Double Trouble.' On his lap is a jacket we gave him purchased from St. James mens shop in Fullerton." Fan Kathryn Harper Sherrill then asked Sandi: "And didn't he tell you to watch closely part of that film & your jacket was used in a scene of the film when he was packing or unpacking?" For what Sandi replied: "Yes, he did!"

On that post Sandi doesn't specify which jacket it was, unfortunately, but I followed the hint and looked for a scene Elvis' character was packing in the film. The jacket Sandi Miller gave EP is most likely this one below. He's wearing it while he sings 'City By Night' and also 'Old MacDonald' in that portion of the film.

Wasn't it thoughtful of him to wear a jacket gifted to him by a fan in one of his films?

This is Elvis in 1966, returning or leaving his Hillcrest home in California, during the Double Trouble movie production period. The jacket looks like the same he wore in the film for those scenes I mentioned previously.

Conclusion: I guess it's safe to say that Elvis sometimes would style his costumes a little bit, putting something more of himself into his characters beyond the unmistakable charm, humor and talent. i don't know if that's a good thing to do because most actors' goals is to have a character that requires them to transform their image and behaviors to a point the characters don't resemble their off-screen personas in the slightest but, knowing how Elvis' movies were so… unusual… specially made to please Elvis' audience as they were (always craving for more) and how that caused the screenplays not to have real efforts put into that would give EP the need to really become someone else for his movies, it's not exactly wrong of him to incorporate his own persona (to a given extent) into the characters he played. All in all, I guess that makes his acting career even more unique. Elvis was not an ordinary artist after all. At times being that spectacular human being backfired, and Elvis just… went with the flow.

Those are just a few moments I noticed when Elvis' fashion style was lent to his on-screen characters. Have you noticed any other moments in the movies where this happens?

[jollmaster]

how does Al feel about historical figures from Louisiana like Marie Laveau?

• Alastor feels pure interest because it's a big part of Louisiana history, — and if we talk about voodoo, he didn't practice voodoo at least openly in mortal life, but as Louisiana-born believes in many superstitions

• fun fact number one, Al knows Marie Laveau in person, and she thinks that he's aggorant; fun fact number two, Marie Laveau knew Al's great-grandmother in mortal life :'D

• she noticed that deer sinner reminded her a bit of someone, got excited when found out Al was related to one of her friends, and showed him great-grandma's skull

my deer, your nose looks familiar

• Marie is the Tainted on second stage of decay, with snake scales on arms, neck and back; she lives near the swamps, feeds snakes and does some witchcraft and spell-casting (Marie treated demons with respect, and demons return this favor)

• she also asked Alastor to be her apprentice, but Alastor said "thank you, lady, I'll think about it more"

creole women (gossiping), great-grandma is on the right

• Alastor's great-grandmother from mother's side, Marjolane, was half (or quarter?) Choctaw and baptized Catholic, this woman was lucky enough to be born before the Louisiana Purchase in 1803; she was officially considered as father's heiress and even became a wife of a white French Creole man

• strictly speaking, there are almost any non-Creoles in Alastor's family for four or five generations (everyone who was born in Louisiana was called a Creole), and in terms of roots Al's blood is like a gumbo soup

• at first Marjolane was just a customer at Marie's salon and gossiped about locals, then they became friends (their life situations were similar in some ways), and future great-grandma attended voodoo gatherings

• husband thought it was nonsense (wife, chill, that's stupid, you have several children), but then he also felt interest and went to gatherings with her; later spouses had to stop, — Marjolane was almost accused of worshipping demons, — but women kept in touch until deaths

• when Marjolane found Marie Laveau a few years after death, she asked to cut off her head and take care of skull when she started to decay and lose sanity

• Marie kept promise, often talks to skull and decorates it with flowers

[mariacallous]

History grounds us.

History can help us find our footing. This is not because we can ever know what will happen next. It is rather because history can make familiar some consistent patterns of human life.

Such prompts for further thought are not analogies. When we think in terms of analogies, we get stuck on the differences, and those sticking points then becomes an excuse not to think historically at all. Of course what comes next in the 2020s won't be exactly like the 1790s or the 1860s or the 1930s or the 1990s — the reference points I am choosing here.

But in recalling these epochs (or others) we can start to see certain resemblances, certain patterns, and get ourselves thinking again.

In this spirit, I offer these four scenarios for Trumpomuskovia, the musko-trumpified America that is already upon us.

The 1790s. Rescuing Russia

One possible Trumpomuskovia rescues Russia: actively, passively, or just by collapsing. This scenario draws from the eighteenth century, the time of the partitions of Poland.

Empress Catherine’s Russian Empire, founded just decades before, was in trouble. It had no clear means of succession, and Catherine herself was the German wife of a murdered tsar (her husband). It saved itself by warfare in Ukraine, bringing under its control its fertile territories. Fortunately for Catherine the Great, its western neighbor, Poland, suffered from tremendous inequality of wealth, and was rent by struggles between clans of magnates -- or, as we would say today, oligarchs. One of her former lovers was made king. He did not always do what she wanted, but his Poland was not going to effectively resist. In this situation, Russia was able to intervene in Poland, brings about its partition, and claim Ukraine (beginning the relatively short historical period when Ukraine was ruled from Russia).

Today the Russian Federation, founded a few decades ago, is also in trouble. It has no clear means of succession, as its ruler has done away with democracy and established a personal dictatorship. He has a fantasy of Russian unity with Ukraine, based in some considerable measure on the exploits of the eighteenth-century empress, Catherine. Like Catherine, Putin counts on divisions within (and among) western powers. His campaign for Ukraine has been extremely bloody, and has brought the Russian economy to the point of collapse.

But like Catherine, Putin has favorites that are close to power: Musk and Trump. They will not always do exactly what he wants, but they probably generally will, and their will certainly bring a fractious oligarchy. Putin is counting on the Musk-Trump regime to rescue him by turning American power away from its allies and towards Russia. Quite a few of Trump's proposed appointments, and much of Musk's rhetoric, suggest that rescuing Russia will be the priority.

The 1860s. Secession

When Poland was partitioned at the end of the end of the eighteenth century, it was a shock. Could a major country simply disappear from the map? A second scenario is suggested by the 1860s, when the United States nearly did.

Some of Poland's rebels, such as Tadeusz Kościuszko and Kazimierz Pułaski, crossed the Atlantic to help America's fledgling republic, which they hoped would avoid the mistakes of their own. Kościuszko saw slavery as a curse that could weaken the United States, much as serfdom had weakened Poland. Unlike Poland, the young American republic faced no great neighbor, at least after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 withdrawal of the British after the War of 1812. But the issue of slavery was almost enough to break the American republic anyway. In the aftermath of the Civil War, whites in southern states were able to exert disproportionate political power, by preventing African Americans from voting, and by dominating first the Democratic and then the Republican Party.

The United States in 2025 will be, in some sense, the victory of the old south. But is it a sustainable one? When people think of themselves as rebels they sometimes push too far when they actually have power. The social and cultural policies proposed by Trumpomuskovia are mainstream in much of the country, but not for most of the population. And the implementation of some of them, especially mass deportation, can reveal fault lines inside the federal government, between the federal government and the states, and among the states. An attempt to deport millions of people in 2025 could lead to clashes within and contests for control over the armed forces. Over the longer run, repressive social and cultural policies could lead to shifts of population, making the differences among the states still greater than they are. Trump has already been telling his people that the differences between them and the "enemy within" are greater than those between America and China or America and Russia.

Will Trumpomuskovia be stable? It is not a great leap for people to decide to move to California, on the logic that the state could make it alone, and already has a secession movement. Indeed, these moves are already happening.

From there it is a small step to start thinking of constellations of states that would be wealthier and more functional than the current United States. A west coast union would certainly be richer, and would have its own borders with Canada and Mexico.

It is sad to think about. But the next round of musing could easily follow: a west coast union plus Canada plus the New England, New York and Minnesota would have an economy about 2/3 the size of what was left of the United States, with a far higher GDP per capita, a better standard of living and longer life spans — just going by today’s numbers.

Such a hypothetical country would not have to worry about free trade with Canada, since it would be Canada; and it would not have to worry about free trade with Mexico, since it would have a border with Mexico. Unlike the residual United States, aka Trumpomuskovia, it would not be fighting a trade war with the European Union.

The 1930s: Electoral Fascism

This is the most familiar of the thought experiments and so probably requires the least elaboration. The resemblances are all familiar.

A politician who has attempted a coup d'état comes to power later anyway on the strength of elections, with a minority of the overall vote. He is supported by conservatives who want the Left to suffer and businesspeople who imagine that all he will do is suppress the trade unions. This politician speaks angrily of the media as "the enemy of the people" and condemns his political opponents as "the enemy within." He hopes for some kind of emergency in order to declare a state of permanent emergency -- for Hitler this was the Reichstag Fire of 1933, for Trump it could be something entirely imaginary. At that stage of fascism, an event in the real world could be made an element of a conspiracy; at the current stage, the event in the real world might not even be necessary.

Trump speaks, sensibly enough from his fascist perspective, of "Hitler's generals." What Trump has in mind is Hitler's personal control of the armed forces, which began in 1934 when soldiers and officers began to swear a personal oath to the Führer instead of an oath to the German constitution. It was indeed this event that made of Hitler the Führer, the Leader, rather than simply the chancellor or prime minister. Hitler's men opened their first concentration camp right after he came to power; if Trump's men are able to round up millions of non-citizens, they too will be in camps -- an institution, as we know, that can be turned to other purposes than its initial ones. The first major act of violence of Hitler's SS, aside from establishing those camps and running them, was a mass deportation of non-citizens.

From this scenario come the political lessons that I have tried to make familiar in other posts and in On Tyranny.

The 1990s: Reliving Russia

The fourth and final scenario is one that some of us will remember. Indeed, the 1990s in Russia might be seen not just as a point of reference, but as an origin story of Trumpomuskovia. In my book The Road to Unfreedom, I tried to argue that Russia, with its oligarchy, media monopolies, and fascism, revealed possible futures for the United States. This has never seemed a more reasonable place to begin an analysis than right now.

In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, men who became known as oligarchs struggled to control the parts of the economy that could return quick profits -- the minerals, the metals, the pipelines, the hydrocarbons. All of this took place against the background, especially in the West, of either intensely naive or intensely cynical free market ideology: what ever is happening in Russia must be for the best, since without the state the magical forces of capitalism will ensure growth, freedom, and democracies. Instead, the collapse of the state led to wealth inequality, a battle for final control at the top, the perfection of alternative realities and media disinformation, and now fascism and a war of atrocity against Ukraine.

In that struggle, a doddering elected president, Boris Yeltsin, was surrounded by a cluster of oligarchs. The successor they chose, Vladimir Putin, was eventually able to tame them all, and become the oligarch king, the boss of bosses. In doing so he did not clean up the system, but simply insured that all of the dirt was his own. This situation rather strongly resembles the America of today, with an elderly president, Donald Trump, surrounded by a cluster of oligarchs. The oligarchs have chosen his successor: JD Vance.

It is very hard to tell, right now, who is actually running the show, if anyone. All of the headlines are about shocking personalities who do not identify in any sense with the larger interests of the country. Elon Musk and his tame DOGE seem set to dismantle the parts of the American government that are profitable and seize them for himself. All of this recalls late Yeltsin, and thus the transition of Putin. A difference: ketamine and fentanyl for the White House, not vodka as in the Kremlin back then.

Here’s the twist: there is actually an overlap of personnel in the two scenarios, and so now we are perhaps dealing with one history, rather than the past as an inspiration for the present. When Putin was elected president of Russia in 2000, no one would really have imagined that he would not only survive the oligarchs but become their chief and still be ruling a quarter century later. So is the Putin in this scenario… Putin?

It is tempting to imagine that Putin, who has to be regarded now as one of the oligarchs around Trump, could also unexpectedly end up on top, as America relives the Russia of the 1990s. He certainly occupies quite a lot of Trump's mental space. He is working to bully Trump, to make him feel subordinate (for example by showing naked pictures of his wife on television). Nikolai Patrushev, a central figure in the Russian intelligence and security apparatus under Putin, reminds Trump that he has debts to pay. Putin clearly has like-minded allies around Trump, Musk most importantly. Some of the people at the top of Trump's preferred national security team (Gabbard, Hegseth) mix Putinism and anti-qualifications.

Or is the Putin in this scenario Vance? Putin is now 72, and Trump is now 78. Will either of them be around in four years? Putin’s mass murderer client Assad is on the run in Syria and the ruble is well under a penny. At some point, one can at least imagine, Putin’s charisma fades. It is not hard to imagine Trump or Putin or both expelled from oligarchs' island. Putin won after the 1990s as an outsider; who is the dark horse now? Vance is the closest thing to a Putin-like figure in this scenario: odd background, less money than the people around him, rich patrons, clear ideology, smarter than he seems. But might one of his oligarch patrons actually emerge on top?

Or could Trump himself, despite looking like Yeltsin, surprise us and end up being the Putin of the scenario, first getting close to the oligarchs, then using the government to freeze them out, and finally himself getting rich, as he has always wanted?

But if our Reliving Russia scenario is the helpful one, the crucial point of resemblance is the dismantling of government and the oligarchical claim on whatever is left. Who emerges on top is, in some sense, secondary.

Combinations

History helps, because everything that has happened was something that could have happened. And those things that could have happened, usually unexpected at the time, stretch our minds about what might happen.

In the near future, in coming months and years, these four scenarios can intersect and combine. A Trumpomuskovia that seeks to rescue Russia can also be one that relives Russia. A Trumpomuskovia that looks fascist is also one that risks secession.

History warns. It would be wonderful if these scenarios helped people in positions of responsibility to make good choices.

History surprises. Strikingly, we see in most of the scenarios presence of Ukraine: for the old Russian Empire, and for the present one, and for that matter for Hitler, whose chief war aim was the control of Ukraine. Ukraine is a useful shortcut as we try to evaluate Trumpomuskovites: what do they say about Ukraine? As a rule of thumb, those that wish for its fall also want the fall of the American republic. I would expect that the first actions regarding Ukraine will be a harbinger of what is to come for America if Ukraine is sold out, expect America to be sold for parts.

History enlivens. It gets us outside the box of the daily outrages and our emotional responses. As we think outside the box, we sometimes catch a glimpse of what is inside it. In all four of these past moments, we see the problem of inequality somewhere close to the origin of political collapse. Any future rescue operation for the American republic will have to begin there.

[vague-humanoid]

On Jan. 16, a report by the Louisiana Illuminator came out about Gov. Landry. The report disclosed that he used $5.5 million of state police funds to purchase a private jet.

This isn’t the only time Landry has done something that can be seen as unethical. Earlier this week, his Ethics Board questioned Landry on redactions of addresses in an official report. In accordance with a statute founded in 2008, if you hold certain positions, both your full name and address become public.

There are numerous ethical concerns, many of which will be mentioned later, that have impacted Landry’s term. Because of this, Gov. Landry needs to be impeached. Landry’s ethics have been so callous that I would consider him more unethical than Edwin Edwards, a former Louisiana governor.

In fact, Landry’s own ethics board is unethical. Landry signed a law to include five more people on the board, all appointed by himself. These people that Landry appointed were vetted so that Landry could find some “yes men” and allow all of his unethical behavior to go without challenge.

Moreover, as a state, we are in debt. Our sales tax is the highest in the country (thanks to Governor Landry), and we have had to make massive cuts to education. Not only that, but he also vetoed bills that would benefit the general population, such as increased funding for homeless shelters.

Governor Landry doesn’t care about impoverished people, which can also be seen in the detention centers he is forcing them into during the Super Bowl in New Orleans. These inhumane conditions, especially in the cold, can kill somebody. I bet Landry wouldn’t even subject his dog to those kinds of conditions, so why should we force humans to?

Instead of addressing the state’s homelessness crisis, Landry would rather go dove hunting in Argentina with one of his biggest donors, showing truly how out of touch he is. Furthermore, it is not libelous to write that Landry is a conman who steals from his constituents.

The plane that Landry bought? It came from the Louisiana State Police (LSP)’s budget. That money comes from many sources, but the income most important to this story is inspection stickers. Those money-grabbing inspection stickers.

In 2024, a bill was proposed to the Louisiana Congress to get rid of inspection stickers; however, this bill was killed when the LSP, the same organization Landry used funds from to purchase his jet, mentioned how getting rid of inspection stickers would detriment them financially.

This is just further evidence that Landry, and in turn, the Louisiana Republican Party, does not give a damn about the working class. Landry doesn’t care about his own constituents. The Republican Party of Louisiana would rather spend millions on a plane than a bill that would benefit the common people.

For all of these things mentioned in this article, I feel like it is time to impeach him. He has done nothing to benefit the state and has done so much damage to our state. We are already at the bottom of most rankings, and Landry’s blatant disregard for us “common folk” only sinks us further. So, let’s impeach Governor Landry.

Andrew Sarhan is an 18-year-old mass communication freshman from Baton Rouge, La.

[lionheartapothecaryx]

The Vodou Files

Diddy & his entitlement an blatant disrespect of Lwa Ezili Dantor/Black Madonna

For all intent and purposes, the following information is alleged and for entertainment only.

In year of 2024, it’s no secret that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a polarizing figure. After his recent arrest and federal indictment this September on charges of s*x trafficking and more, and with multiple lawsuits alleging a multitude of abuses against men and women, this cannot be denied.

Let’s get into the possible spiritual implications of his recent arrest. In 2017 Diddy tattooed the Black Madonna aka Ezili Dantor on his back, for protection. The Black Madonna syncretism is often been used in Vodou to represent the Lwa Dantor.

Here’s a rending of the photo of Ezili that he seems to have taken inspiration from for his tattoo.

Ezili Dantor is the patroness and holy mother of Haiti. She is known as a protector of women and children, and was one of the petro or war spirits who were instrumental in the Haitian Revolution of 1804, allowing the Haitians to lead the first successful slave uprising. She assisted with giving them the strength in battle to defeat their colonizers and inspired others to resistance in the Diaspora. France went bankrupt during the Haitian revolution and had to sell off their land to pay off the massive debt this caused, spurring the Louisiana purchase and leading to creation of America as we know it, today. These acres of land make up the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, North & South Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming and Montana. There would be no American Independence, if it hadn’t been for the Haiti.

While Ezili does not own my head, I know her children. They are usually women who are family matriarchs and mothers, who are incredibly kind, patient and strong and actively involved in their communities. They tend to be well respected within their communities and usually involved in community activism to varying degrees. They generally have a pleasant disposition but can be dangerous fighters when challenged spiritually and physically. They make great leaders and can be very wise. It is common for children of certain Lwa to take on similar traits of said Lwa & I believe this aspect can especially be seen in her children, who she claims. While I do not have her in my court, I do carry her sister aspect the darker, merciless and vengeful Le Rouge.

The Ezili are a powerful class of spirits within the Vodou pantheon. Ezili Dantor is an example of a very powerful spirit who can shift fate and reality. She is the peaceful mother but can exhibit extremely controlled violence when necessary, a triumphant warrior queen personified. She does not take disrespect or injustice lightly.

Diddy invoking her essence and protection, with this tattoo while assaulting and harming people continuously would draw her ire, wrath and ultimate disrespect. Some think someone recommended he do this to hasten his downfall or he did this out of pure stupidity.

Others of the Catholic faith, see it as the Holy Mother, the Blessed Black Madonna looking out for her children and protecting them.

Either way it’s clear the drums of justice have begun to beat for Diddy and it’s time for him to account for what he has done.

[milfzatannaz]

Whats the difference between Cajuns & Creole? My grandaddys from new orleans and he's white so I just assumed he would be considered white but someone said cajun a term for white louisianans but idk

Oh lawd. That question is perhaps the biggest can of worms in the entirety of south Louisiana history.

Cajun and Creole and distinct ethnic groups that can, and do, often intersect. This is because the definitions of what constitute Cajun or Creole are fluid and varied. You can be creole simply because your family has multiple lines of European ancestry going back before the Louisiana purchase. Cajuns hail from Canada originally, and settled here. Obviously both groups would’ve intermarried starting in the 18th century.

It gets dicey because these constructs don’t really fit the modern definition. I’m a black Creole, meaning the culture I hail from is highly localized to New Orleans and surrounding areas like New Iberia and Opelousas. My family is very much like LDPDL’s shown onscreen in IWTV tv. We’re light skinned, Catholic, and my grandparents are deeply connected to the city and its history. So yeah we have European mixed in but we also fit the definition of Creole simply by the community we’re a part of. I descend from Homer Plessy and his cohort of very light skinned “octoroons” (pls don’t ever call someone that) who, because of the one drop rule, were always seen as nonwhite by virtue of being mixed somewhere in their family line. The 7th ward in New Orleans is very interesting and historically relevant.

Cajuns are a separate group and while Cajuns can and do live in NOLA, they’re mostly concentrated in Acadiana. Thats where I go to school. As far as whiteness goes, it really depends on the context. There are black Cajuns. However, acadiana was established to distinguish white Cajuns from the black ethnic groups in south Louisiana, so there was a historical effort to ascribe to white supremacist ideals while maintaining a distinct culture. It’s really complicated. You can get a whole degree in it lol.

In my personal experience, a vast majority of Cajuns around here are indeed white and want the privilege of whiteness while eating their cultural foods and speaking their specific dialect. Cajuns in this part of the state do beef with creoles, partly because of generations of animosity and also plain run of the mill Republican antiblackness and intolerance. The more rural the Cajun the more they’ll insult my ancestors bc we make gumbo differently.

Idk if this was helpful, this is just colored by my own personal experience. I’m actually Cajun too, through my white dad. I just am not connected to those roots bc they treated my black mom poorly and I was raised by Creoles. Creole doesn’t really mean black, but if you’re in New Orleans most creoles you’ll encounter identify as black. Like I said, it’s a whollleeeeeee can of worms.

Creoles and Cajuns beef daily and fight over recipes and it confuses everyone. All I can say is the groups are have seperate histories with significant overlap.

[thechanelmuse]

How genealogy is used to track Black family histories

Our names are important to us. They tell us who we are and often, who we come from. So imagine suddenly discovering the last name you’ve always carried… might not actually be the name you should have. 

Alex Neason began looking into her family’s history after discovering her great grandfather’s name was different from what she believed for her whole life. In her search to discover the story of that last name, she enlisted genealogist Nicka Sewell-Smith.

For Black Americans, genealogy can fill in the blanks left by the legacy of slavery and racism in the U.S. Services like the Freedmen’s Bureau and Slave Voyages provide free access to records and documents to help with that search. We talk about the power of genealogy in fostering knowledge and connection for Black Americans.

Source

If you click on the word “source,” it’ll take you to the article where you’ll see a LISTEN button. It’s a 30-minute audio that discusses the info provided in the article even further. Y’all know I’m big on getting people to trace their lineage. All that “we don’t know where we come from.” Who told you that? Everything in the US is in plain sight. Everything.

Discover your fam. 

I assist others when they reach a roadblock, like getting past the “1870 wall.” But you can’t beat the feeling of you discovering them on your own. Unearthing your history, seeing photos, reading stories that were stored, and saying their names that haven’t been said for centuries. I’ve been tracing mine (scanning, logging) since my family reunion in 2005 through oral family history and obituaries (those are records), and since 2011 through databases of US archived records like ancestry.com (purchased by BlackStone) and familysearch.org (free database owned by the Latter-day Saints Church). There are others, but those are the main two I use for comparative results.  

Archiving Centers, Census Records & Other Records

There are archiving centers in every state and DC that also keep records for those particular states and the federal capital. There’s a footnote on all records that tells you where they are housed. And please...Don’t just do a simple pedigree chart of your family tree. Get to know your great-aunts, great-uncles and cousins. It’s also helpful for seeing who lived around who (fam often lived next door to each other) and puts more of the pieces together of your complete family story. You can see the land and acres they owned or your fam today still owns, as well as if that land was stolen from them.

US census records go back to year 1790. Depending on when or if your ancestors were enslaved or free: you’ll find them attached to slave logs that have been made available online or kept in archiving centers (you go there), or or they’ll be listed on census records as free persons (1790-1710), free colored male/female (1820-1840), Black (1850-1920), Mulatto (1850-1890, 1910-1920) or Negro (1900, 1930-1950). “New” census documents are put on sites, like ancestry.com, every 10 years. As of 2023, you can only trace from 1950 to 1790. The 1960 census will be out in 2030. How to trace from 1950 to today, birth, death and residential records. So again, depending on the census year, you’ll notice your ancestors racial classification change throughout documents for obvious reasons. 

Keep in mind that the the largest slave trade for the United States was the domestic slave trade. In house human trafficking and selling (in addition to property insurance of enslaved people and the selling of enslaved people as the building block of Wall Street’s stock exchange) is how US capitalism was built. So just because you know a lot of your people are from Tennessee, for example, it doesn't mean that’s where that line stayed. I’ve found my ancestors throughout 7 states (so far). Another example, people with Louisiana roots damn near always have ancestors who were trafficked from early Virginia. Going beyond year 1790, records were kept in Christian and Catholic churches and old family history books so most of those documents are scanned online and/or still kept in the churches. I’m talking books books. 

If your ancestors walked the Trail of Tears, or were caught as prisoners of war or trafficked to Indian Nations to be enslaved, you’ll find an Oklahoma Indian Territory and Oklahoma Freedmen Rolls section on ancestry.com. You can discover more info on sites, like the Oklahoma Historical Society. (Every state has its own historical society for archived genealogical records.) 

Here’s the National Archives.

Also for Oklahoma, you may also find your ancestors in Indian Census Rolls (1855-1940) as [insert tribe] Freedmen, depending if they weren’t rejected through the “blood quantum” Dawes Rolls for not being the new light to white status. You’ll see their application and the listed questions & answers with or without a big void stamp. And on the census, you’ll even see the letter I (pronounced like eye) changed to the letter B. This is also for those in Louisiana.

Freedmen’s Bureau & Bank Records 

There were Freedmen’s Bureau records and Freedman’s Savings Bank records in other states. To see if your ancestors had their records in those systems, you can search by their name. The state and age will pop up with people having that name. It’ll give you a wealth of other info, like all of the kids and other fam if they were present or mentioned to the person who logged that info in. With the Freedmen Bank records, you can see how much money your ancestors put in there (that was later stolen from them by way of the United States government), which is still there today. It’s the biggest bank heist in US history (that they try to keep hush hush) with the equivalence of more than $80 million in today’s value stored in there today. Back then, it was valued almost close to $4 million. Stolen wealth met with bootstrap lectures. 

Here’s a short video on that heist:

Today the bank is called the Freedman's Bank Building, located right on Pennsylvania Ave. Plain sight. 

Trace your lineage. 

There’s a lot more that I can list. But this is just the basics. Like I said before, it’s a more rewarding feeling when you discover your ancestors by yourself. You may reach roadblocks. Take a break. Try going the “Card Catalog” route on ancestry.com’s search engine. Don’t skip the small details. 

SN: Slave Voyages isn’t a genealogical site, but rather a database for slave ship logs and the estimates of purchased Africans who became human cargo to be enslaved by country like USA, or by colonizers like Spain, Great Britain, etc.

[beardedmrbean]

A Louisiana mayor was arrested on Tuesday for his alleged connection to a drug-trafficking investigation conducted by authorities in his home state.

Bogalusa Mayor Tyrin Truong, 25, was arrested and charged with engaging in transactions involving proceeds from drug offenses, solicitation of prostitutes and unauthorized use of a movable, which refers to intentionally taking or using one’s personal property without their consent.

“We have zero tolerance for wrongdoing, especially from public officials,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said.

“I’m very proud of all our law enforcement agencies who worked on this investigation.”

Louisiana State Police said its Narcotics and Violent Crime Task Force launched an investigation into a drug-trafficking organization (DTO) operating in the Bogalusa area in April 2024.

The operation was conducted over several months in collaboration with the 22nd Judicial District Court District Attorney’s Office, Murrill’s office and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

The investigation found the DTO was allegedly involved in the distribution of opioids, high-grade marijuana, THC products and MDMA, among other controlled dangerous substances.

Investigators also learned that members of the organization used social media platforms to distribute drugs and manage payments, which allowed them to expand their reach and criminal activity, police said.

The profits from drug sales were allegedly used to purchase firearms, some of which were distributed to individuals prohibited by law from possessing a firearm, and others were linked to violent crimes in the Bogalusa area.

Law enforcement officials obtained and executed multiple search and arrest warrants, leading to the arrests of seven alleged members of the organization.

Police also arrested 24-year-old MacKenzie Lynn Cefalu; 24-year-old De-Saleem Wali Pittman; 22-year-old Dirul S. Pittman; 26-year-old Salehal-Dien Malike Pittman; 51-year-old Tonya Renee Stage; and 28-year-old Devan Michael Williams, all from Bogalusa.

Like Truong, the other six suspects were arrested for engaging in transactions involving proceeds from drug offenses.

Additionally, Cefalu, Stage, Williams and D-Saleem Wali Pittman were charged with conspiring to distribute a schedule I controlled dangerous substance, with the latter also being charged with distribution of a schedule II controlled dangerous substance.

All seven suspects were booked into the Washington Parish Jail.

State police said numerous other matters and individuals continue to be under investigation in connection with the investigation.

“We are going to continue to invest time and resources into helping the citizens of Bogalusa,” District Attorney Collin Sims said. “We are not finished.”

Truong’s bond was set at $150,000 on Tuesday afternoon, FOX 8 in New Orleans reported.

Truong’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter.

At age 23, Truong became the mayor of Bogalusa in 2022, ousting the city’s incumbent, Wendy O’Quin Perrette, who was elected to her first term in 2014.

By winning the election, Truong became the city’s youngest mayor in history as well as one of Louisiana’s youngest mayors ever, NOLA.com reported.

Backup link

[sadalmostlesbian]

Sooooo what did you think of my work? I need my ego stroked after the BS I just went through lol

I also feel motivated to write something I've been putting off for ages (along with lots of other things, it's a long list) so maybe I'll do that!

Hi! I’ve been drafting something in my notes to send you after reading your posts cause LET ME TELL YOU, you have so many good ideas I love your posts. I want to start by saying they are so so well researched and I adore how much effort you put into each one. I was particularly interested in onyx being given as a labor stone, not only because I wasn’t aware of the connotation (and it’s so so cool and such a well thought out and realistic tradition in D2, you have a really in depth knowledge of culture as a whole and you’re an excellent world builder) but also because I live in Colorado and wasn’t aware we had onyx quarries! I knew about limestone and quartz, and of course silver, gold, and coal in the mountains, but onyx is very very cool. I also love the concept of a home name and a home naming ceremony, again such a good analysis of culture.

As for future posts, I like the idea that D2 has a large Latino population, especially because it fits so well geographically (with New Mexico making up a decent part of D2). One thing that is cool about Colorado and Northern New Mexico is that there is a unique dialect of Spanish spoken there that is a remnant from North America before the Louisiana purchase which made Colorado a part of the US. The like to the article can be found here!

Thank you so much for the ask! Also I'm totally down to chat about D2 if you ever want to!