#(and that energy just has ten million outlets)

[theminecraftbee]

I don’t know what it is about the start of a hermitcraft season that makes them so much less pg and so much more feral. like, I swear this happens every time. they start a new season and pack in as many innuendoes as possible with a strange desperation. it’s like they get possessed by remembering they can make jokes about each other’s dicks or something,

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Aaron Rupar and Judd Legum at Public Notice/Popular Information:

Two outlets controlled by right-wing media tycoons are working in tandem to aggressively push specious claims about President Joe Biden's fitness for office to millions of Americans.  On June 4, the Wall Street Journal published a 3,000-word article questioning Biden's mental acuity. The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp, the media conglomerate founded by right-wing billionaire Rupert Murdoch. He stepped down as chairman of the company last year, assuming the role of chairman emeritus. At the time of his retirement, Murdoch promised to continue to be "engaged daily with news and ideas" at the company. (News Corp is now chaired by Rupert Murdoch's son, Lachlan.) The Wall Street Journal article, headlined “Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Sipping,” boasts that it is based on "interviews with more than 45 people over several months." But only one person is quoted on the record supporting the thesis of the piece: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). “I used to meet with him when he was vice president. I’d go to his house,” McCarthy told the Wall Street Journal. “He’s not the same person.” 

Relying on McCarthy as the lynchpin of the article is problematic. First, McCarthy is not a neutral observer. He is a partisan Republican interested in inflicting political damage on Biden. Further, what McCarthy told the Wall Street Journal about Biden is directly contradicted by comments that McCarthy said previously — both publicly and privately. In the article, McCarthy criticizes Biden's performance in debt ceiling negotiations in 2023. But in March 2023, while these negotiations were underway, the New York Times reported that "McCarthy has told allies that he has found Mr. Biden to be mentally sharp in meetings." McCarthy made similar comments about Biden in public, praising Biden as "[v]ery professional, very smart" and "[v]ery tough at the same time." In October, when McCarthy was ousted as House Speaker, Politico reported that McCarthy "mocked Biden’s age and mental acuity in public, while privately telling allies that he found the president sharp and substantive in their conversations."

The rest of the piece is based on anonymous Republican criticism of Biden. For example, "according to six people," during a meeting with current House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Biden "said a recent policy change by his administration that jeopardizes some big energy projects was just a study." But the new policy, which involved a pause on new liquified natural gas terminals, involved a study of "the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, America’s energy security, and our environment." 

Other anonymous criticism from Republicans is even flimsier. For example, during a January 2024 meeting on Ukraine, unnamed Republicans criticized Biden for consulting notes, speaking softly, and taking ten minutes before the meeting started to personally greet attendees. Several Democrats provided the Wall Street Journal with on-the-record quotes about their impressions of Biden — including Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), and Governor Roy Cooper (D-NC) — but none of them were included in the piece. 

[...] Nevertheless, the Wall Street Journal piece was repackaged by Sinclair Broadcast Group and beamed into the homes of millions of Americans. Sinclair, which is controlled by right-wing media mogul David Smith, owns or operates 185 local television stations across 86 markets.  Sinclair repackaged the Wall Street Journal story through its centralized news team, known as The National Desk. The segment was then pushed to dozens of local news stations owned by Sinclair. Local anchors introduced the piece by reading from a nearly identical script. Again and again, the anchors say that the Wall Street Journal is "out with new reporting calling into question the mental fitness of President Joe Biden," adding that the issue "could be an election decider."

[...] In addition to running Sinclair, Smith has used his vast wealth to support a variety of far-right causes. The Baltimore Banner reports that since 2015, Smith, through his family foundation, has donated large sums to Young Americans for Liberty ($581,000), Project Veritas ($536,000), Turning Point USA ($150,000), and Moms for Liberty ($121,000). Meanwhile, News Corp’s cable news properties, Fox News and Fox Business, also helped launder the Wall Street Journal’s attacks on Biden into the news cycle. According to transcript searches, the WSJ piece’s core claim that Biden is “slipping” was brought up at least 64 times on air on Fox News and Fox Business from when the article was published until yesterday afternoon. Online, the WSJ piece has been the focus of at least 15 articles on Fox News’ website, with many of them treating its dubious claims about Biden’s decline as a demonstrated fact.

Right-wing media chain Sinclair fed The Wall Street Journal’s deceptive hit piece about President Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities to viewers of Sinclair stations’ newscasts.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

* * * *

With little more than two weeks until Election Day, the political news is becoming stranger and more frustrating with each passing day. The MAGA disinformation machine is dropping low-quality polls at a hectic pace, Elon Musk is offering cash incentives to Pennsylvanians who have registered to vote (probably illegal), a Musk-funded PAC is sending texts claiming to be from the Harris-Walz campaign, Trump is staging mock campaign events that media outlets are reporting as real, and Trump is telling vulgar stories during campaign appearances that would terminate the bid of any other candidate.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris is powering through campaign stops in swing states, staying on message while highlighting Trump's increasing instability and madness. Indeed, as Kamala Harris celebrated her 60th birthday, she spoke at a Baptist church in Atlanta about the need for compassion for fellow citizens. She said,

When we come across our brothers and sisters in need, let us, as the Good Samaritan, did see in the face of a stranger, a neighbor, and let us recognize that when we shine the light in moments of darkness, it will guide our feet into the path of peace.

Later in the day, Trump invoked the “Bad Samaritan” version of that parable, repeating his description of his political opponents as the “enemy within.” Per The Guardian,

During an interview with Howard Kurtz on Fox News, broadcast on Sunday, the former president said that “radical left lunatics … the enemy from within … should be very easily handled, if necessary, by the national guard, or if really necessary, by the military” – before singling out Pelosi and Schiff.

Despite the overwhelming and understandable impulse to direct emotional energy (read: rage) at the anti-democratic and illegal actions of Trump and his supporters, the most effective response is to “run up the score” to protect the integrity of the election against Trump's inevitable claims of fraud.

We must trust that state and federal officials will do their jobs by investigating possible illegal activities by Trump and Musk. Indeed, the alarm has been raised in major media, social media, and by elected officials. See CNN, Elon Musk’s daily $1 million giveaway to registered voters could be illegal, experts say.

Billionaire Mark Cuban tweeted a note to Governor Josh Shapiro reminding the governor that all lotteries are illegal under Pennsylvania law unless specifically permitted by statute. (“I’m pretty sure, that while it may or may not violate voting laws, it may violate gaming laws in Pennsylvania. @JoshShapiroPA). Shapiro, in turn has said that Musk’s tactics are “deeply concerning.”

While Attorney General Merrick Garland has been excruciatingly slow off the mark in prosecuting Trump, he has taken a more aggressive stance in protecting voting and fair elections. See DOJ.gov, Office of Public Affairs | Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Convenes Election Threats Task Force Meeting. Although I have strongly criticized Garland over his delay in prosecuting Trump, all signs point to an active task force in the DOJ looking to stop voter fraud and election interference.

If the DOJ is doing its job, it should announce this week efforts to investigate deceptive texts and websites masquerading as Harris-Walz campaign efforts. And, at the very least, the DOJ should issue a statement that it is investigating Musk’s one-million-dollar-per-day giveaway.

Let state and federal officials enforce election laws and protect voting rights. With sixteen days to go, we cannot waste a moment. Every additional voter we drive to the polls is extra protection for the integrity of the election. Ignore the noise. Keep your head down. Stick to the plan. Kamala Harris is doing just that. We should, too. It is the only path to victory.

Sorry we have to talk about this, but we do!

During a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Trump rambled for ten minutes about Arnold Palmer’s path to becoming one of the greatest golfers ever. That ramble, standing alone, should have been shocking. The man has sixteen days remaining to campaign for president and he is wasting his campaign appearances with an extended biography of Arnold Palmer.

But then he went off the rails so badly that no other candidate would ever recover. Here is the NYTimes revised reporting on the story:

Former President Donald J. Trump on Saturday spewed crude and vulgar remarks at a rally in Pennsylvania that included an off-color remark about a famous golfer’s penis size and a coarse insult about Vice President Kamala Harris. The performance, 17 days before the election in a critical battleground state, added to the impression of the Republican nominee as increasingly unfiltered and undisciplined. It comes as some of Mr. Trump’s allies and aides worry that Mr. Trump’s temperament and crass style are alienating undecided voters.

The “famous golfer” is Arnold Palmer, who passed away in 2016. By Sunday morning, news anchors had dropped all pretense and were asking Speaker Mike Johnson if he thought it appropriate for Trump to be talking about “a dead golfer’s penis.” Mike Johnson practically begged Jake Tapper to stop asking questions about the story. See Salon, "Why is he talking about Arnold Palmer's penis?": Tapper grills Johnson on Trump anecdote

There are two attributes of this story worth noting. First, if anyone in our families told the Arnold Palmer anecdote in a public speech, the family would stage an intervention to ensure that the speaker got the care he needed. Here, not only is no one in Trump's life telling him he needs to step away from public life, those surrounding him are defending his comments as “entertaining the crowd.”

Second, the initial story by the NYTimes—by reporter Michael Gold—referred to Trump telling “golf stories”—a euphemism that covered-up Trump's deteriorating mental state. Readers raked Michael Gold over the coals, and he reportedly responded by telling the Times subscribers to take the matter up with his senior editor, who excised the details of the anecdote from Gold’s story. Several hours later, the Times revised its story to include the full details.

Feedback and pressure worked—this time. Keep it up!

Notably, the Times ran a story on Sunday that featured the unedited, incoherent answers that Trump had given over the previous seventy-two hours. The Times is apparently responding to criticism that its “summaries” of Trump's speeches are “sane-washing” mental deterioration and hate statements. See NYTimes, Four of Trump’s Most Meandering Remarks This Week. (Accessible to all.)

Again, feedback and pressure appear to be shaping the Times' coverage. Keep up the good work!

Elon Musk’s PAC engaged in possibly illegal activity

As noted above, Elon Musk’s PAC is offering voters in Pennsylvania a cash incentive for recruiting others to register to vote and sign a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments. NBC News, Elon Musk's PAC offers $47 payouts to refer swing state voters to sign petition.

Last week, sources reported that a Musk related PAC was microtargeting Muslim and Jewish voters in Michigan with antisemitic and Islamophobic social media messages, respectively. See Michigan Advance, Musk-connected PAC behind mailers targeting Muslim and Jewish voters in Michigan

On Sunday, Talking Points Memo reported that a Musk-funded PAC was impersonating the Harris campaign. See TPM, Elon Musk’s Fake Sites and Fake Texts Impersonating the Harris Campaign.

As explained in the article, the Musk PAC has set up websites that look and feel like Kamala Harris's without explicitly saying that they are campaign websites. The website takes Harris’s positions to an extreme. For example, they say that Harris supports the ability of teachers to give sex change operations to students at school.

Per TPM,

[I]n late September Building America’s Future set up a site called Progress 2028 which purports to be Kamala Harris’s response or counter to Project 2025. The site is designed to have the general appearance of a Harris site in the sense of being in favor of gun regulation, supportive of gender-affirming care, etc. but with wildly over-the-top versions of those policies. So for instance, it calls for minor children to be able to get sex change operations at school without the knowledge of or interference from parents, calls for a mandatory gun buy-back program etc.

The PAC also funded a text message campaign which pushes the same fake policy messages impersonating Harris’s campaign and drives recipients of the texts to the site.

As TPM notes, the same PAC is sending text messages impersonating the Harris campaign.

Although a prosecutor would need to evaluate the content of the websites and text messages carefully, the activity likely violates Federal Election Campaign Act. See FEC Record | Commission approves Notification of Disposition and Interpretation. Per the FEC interpretative rule,

The Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act) prohibits fraudulent misrepresentation in two specific ways. First, the Act prohibits a candidate or their agent from purporting to speak, write or act for another candidate or political party in a way that is damaging to them. Second, the Act prohibits any person from falsely representing that they are speaking, writing or acting on behalf of a candidate or political party to solicit contributions.

The Musk-funded PAC may be violating the FEC Act in both ways noted above. I assume that this matter has the attention of the DOJ at the highest level. If any readers are in a position to flag this matter to the attention of the DOJ, time is of the essence!

A comment on the Al Smith Memorial Dinner in NY

The Catholic Archdiocese of New York holds an annual charity fundraising dinner honoring the late Al Smith. By tradition, both presidential candidates attend the dinner to help raise money for Catholic charitable operations.

This year, Trump appeared at the Al Smith dinner while Kamala Harris did not. (Harris provided a video recording of her comments). As expected, Trump delivered remarks that were crude, insulting, and completely at odds with the teachings of the Catholic Church. By inviting Trump, the Catholic Archbishop of New York helped normalize Trump's criminal and corrupt behavior.

The Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, said he was “doubly disappointed” that Kamala Harris did not attend the dinner in person—but offered no criticisms of Trump, whom Cardinal Dolan has praised in the past.

The conservative newspaper National Catholic Reporter published an editorial criticizing Cardinal Dolan for hosting Trump. See National Catholic Reporter, Editorial: Cardinal Dolan's 'Al Smith dinner' disappointment is misdirected.

Per the National Catholic Reporter,

The mistake — and the cardinal is hardly the first or last to make it — is to judge the moment as if it were somehow still attached to a degree of normalcy, or what we've always known in presidential politics. The sin here is not that Kamala Harris had the good sense to reply, "No thank you, I'm previously engaged." The real scandal is that the good Catholic cardinal of the great city of New York would not have the courage to say, this year, that the current Republican candidate is a walking example of so much the Catholic Church finds repugnant in today's politics that he would suspend the normal invitations. . . . . We are disappointed [Cardinal Dolan] didn't have the courage to stand up to Trump, a looming threat to the democratic ideals that allow the church to host such a high-profile public gathering.

The Catholic Church is allowing Trump to inflict immense damage on its tattered reputation. The Church undoubtedly believes that support for Trump's presidency and candidacy helps impose its moral teachings on a secular nation that largely disagrees with Church doctrine. In the process, Trump is making hypocrites and fools of every clergy who embraces a man who is the antithesis of nearly every moral principle in the Church.

Concluding Thoughts

Frankly, it is frustrating to head into the final weeks of the campaign while Trump and his major funder appear to be flouting federal election law. In a just and rational world, Trump and Musk will be held to account for any illegal actions in the 2024 campaign. But they are making the risky calculation that if Trump wins, they will get away with their illegal conduct. If he loses, they nonetheless believe their wealth and fame will allow them to avoid accountability for their actions for many years.

The four years of Joe Biden’s presidency have felt unsatisfying and disquieting because of lack of progress in prosecuting Trump. That is water under the bridge. We must focus on what we can control at this moment.

We stand at an inflection point in which our votes not only protect democracy but also ensure that the guilty are held to account for their crimes (after due process and a fair trial).

Our primary motivation should not be to hold Trump accountable, no matter how righteous that justice might be. But dispensing justice is critical to defending democracy against future threats. That is why it is important for the DOJ to acknowledge this week that it is investigating the reports of impersonating Harris-Walz websites and text messages, as well as the dubious practice of awarding a lottery prize of $1 million per day to Pennsylvania registered voters who have signed Elon Musk’s petition.

Regardless of whether the DOJ lives up to its obligations to protect election integrity (and I believe it will), our obligations remain the same: Drive massive turnout that will insulate the outcome from interference by MAGA extremists.

It all comes down to turnout. So, let’s put our outrage aside and keep working to convince Americans to vote like their democracy depends on it!

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[purelylilyisonline]

Blog Post: Pilot

While thinking of what topic I could blab about for my first ever blog, lets get deep. A phenomenon I have just created, while pondering what to write. The Idea trash shoot. 

I find myself thinking of these creative Ideas, funny situations that my mind might have made up as a once simple thought. This thought then snowballs into so many other ideas that then mix together in the end. Jumbling together to confuse myself. The same way when you say the word water one too many times and you can’t stop thinking, who made this word? Now, can someone please give me the country of origin of ‘water’? What does water even mean? What. Is. Water. Does anyone else that I know THINK about water- 

Anyway, I sit and ponder whatever this “thing” might be. In my case it's usually a research topic that I may think would be a great new creative outlook to ponder. Maybe a skit I think would be funny, since I’ve wanted to try other genres of writing. I sit and think, AND think. As my mind gets so involved in thought, a million different avenues appear. Before I can get my laptop or a pen and paper, the origin of the idea at hand is lost in a sea of unimportance. Unfamiliar and honestly quite annoying, it's been put in my idea trash shoot. 

To make some sense of my situation at the moment. I was at a university college about a year ago, to be an English major. Events transpired but, going into my sophomore year of college I made the decision two weeks before I was supposed to fly back for the semester to drop out. Now, it wasn't for reasons most leave college. That is a far different story, with far too many different things I could pick and prot at. Though yes, I did make the decision to drop out. This wasn’t because I didn't want to go to school. Again a far different story with a point that is not what I am trying to get at. Leaving college was in what I feel, the path I needed to go down for the time being. Only problem being, I am a person with a mind that is always creating. A mind that is yurning for creative exposure. Because I am still so young school was really the only thing that I’ve had to put my mind to use for. I see myself missing my once infuriating, particular teachers that pushed me out of my comfort zones. Because this is secretly what my mind craves. 

Learning that all of my creative energy for so long was used up on school, friends, or just the stress of a student. That was my outlet. I’ve felt a sort of loneliness. A lesser sense of belonging since this is the first time in my life I have not had a big obligation like school. 

Now I think that brings me back to the topic at hand. The Idea trash shoot. Being so creatively backed up, you forget how to create. I could whip up a ten page research essay with seven scholarly sources in 3 hours while hungover, and still get a 92%. But now I find myself not even knowing where to begin once I place the pen between the palm of my hand. I find myself getting stressed out not by the idea itself but yet, the formatting that would go into it. whether the idea has enough weight for it to even create interest. Unnecessary details that dilute my courage and my idea getting lost in the process. 

But here I am. Before I started writing this about 15 minutes ago I was going through the same cycle I go through almost every time. I sit frustrated as my mind fills with inspiration yet, corrupted with endless thoughts. Reaching my breaking point I realized nothings going to work if I just don't try. I'm not going to like anything I write about if I don't believe in the weight of my creativity. So here I am giving the creative weight by writing about how I can’t write.

Some may think this is a silly first thing to write about when trying to put yourself out there. To that I raise the question with the Idea trash shoot. I'd like to believe that I can execute any idea that I want. That I am able to upcycle an idea with the freedom of my confidence. Then the alternative of giving up on my passion, and throwing all of my inspiration down the lonely shoot of trashed imagination. 

[f0point5]

I really don't have the words anymore to describe my hatred for horner. This guy is not only an inside out asshole as a person, but also a petty and stubborn princess who can't judge the possible ramifications of his actions. Not defending redbull by any means, they did push the whole investigation to the public (because let's be fucking real at this point, with everything we know now, it's them), but it's still horner who harassed his employees in the first place, it's him who pissed off enough execs to launch a full on fucking smear campaign against him (AT THE EXPENSE OF A PERSON'S LIFE AND DIGNITY!!!)

It's just so fucking petty, all of it. The thai owners keeping horner in place with no regard to the future of the business, as in 'well if the ship sinks, it's the austrians who brought us down'. The austrian side using every single f1 related person and news outlet as a mouthpiece and to put political pressure. At this rate fabricating threats about people leaving isn't gonna cut it, they're gonna have to start actually firing people and market it as 'oh they left out of dissatisfaction'.

All of it is just so, so petty and spiteful. Lives have been destroyed, entire teams and businesses brought into disrepute because of one motherfucker who thought he was an untouchable entity.

Well, I would say it’s a bit of a waste of energy to have this emotion towards someone you don’t know and hasn’t personally wronged you. Just…check in with yourself on that before anything else.

I don’t agree it’s petty of him to stay. At the end of the day, man’s on this earth to look out for himself not RB. If he thinks it’s in his best interest to stay and fight fair enough, he doesn’t have to bow out just because it’s not the ideal scenario for people he clearly doesn’t care about.

I think at this point RB should get rid of him by any means necessary. It’s clear that the divide has gone too far and the publicity for this to be salvaged. They need to pay him whatever he asks for, whatever it takes to resolve this quickly. They played a game trying to get rid of him with this complaint thing and honestly it was a long shot and they’re idiots for not realising they would lose that battle. And they’re still thinking they can embarrass him into leaving. Fuck that, they need to put on their big boy pants and take some real action.

Also, I wouldn’t call it petty when it’s tens/hundreds of millions on the line here. People go to war over less. So…I get it.

[warningsine]

Slovakia matters far more than Europe realises. On 30 September, the small European country holds a parliamentary election that will have ramifications far beyond its borders. If the opinion polls are correct, it would mark the return of Robert Fico: a man who lavishes praises on Moscow and models himself on Viktor Orbán, the “alt-right” leader in neighbouring Hungary. The European Union and Nato could soon have a new troublemaker within.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Slovakia went all in to defend Ukrainian sovereignty. Per capita, it has been one of Kyiv’s staunchest backers, becoming the first Nato country to send fighter jets. If Fico is elected, it is in danger of doing a 180-degree turn and giving its support to Vladimir Putin.

Slovakia, a country of only 5 million people, is a testing ground for the power of propaganda. Last year, a former defence attache was caught red-handed offering money to a Slovak journalist to peddle Kremlin propaganda on the war in Ukraine and much more. When the video was released a year and a half ago by news outlet Denník N, it went viral and the diplomat was expelled.

The thinktank Globsec, which measures the political allegiances of former communist states and is part-funded by the US and the EU, publishes an annual Vulnerability Index. Its most recent survey makes for salutary reading, with Slovakia often the outlier. Dominika Hajdu, head of its Centre for Democracy and Resilience, says that 50% of Slovaks believe the US to be a security risk, a figure sharply up on just a few years ago, while only 40% of Slovaks believing Russia to be primarily responsible for the Ukraine war, the lowest percentage in central and eastern Europe.

A few years after the 1993 dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the newly independent Slovak state to the south was already a cause of concern to the west. While other post-communist states embraced liberal democracy with enthusiasm, the US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, called it “the black hole” of the region. Nato membership was delayed. Eventually it did join, in 2004, the same year it also became part of the EU. The assumption then in both of these institutions was that Slovakia, finally, had a settled identity and a settled set of alliances.

Then came Fico, a prototype populist. As prime minister between 2006 and 2010 and then 2012 to 2018, he fulminated against the west for his domestic audience, but was careful not to go against the international status quo.

What happened next shook Slovakia to its core. Ján Kuciak, a young investigative journalist, was looking into corruption involving Fico’s government, EU subsidies and the Italian mafia. On 21 February 2018, Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kušnírová, an archaeologist, were gunned down by contract killers at their flat outside the capital.

In the biggest demonstrations since the Velvet Revolution that brought down communism in 1989, tens of thousands of Slovaks took to the streets to express their fury. Eventually, Fico and his entire cabinet were forced to resign – not before he accused the US billionaire George Soros of fomenting the protests.

Hope arose from the horror. In June 2019, an environmental activist and lawyer, Zuzana Čaputová, sensationally won the presidential election. Months later a new government was voted in, presaging change. Within weeks of taking office, however, the pandemic began, and so did its troubles. Slovakia has had four prime ministers in the past four years. Successive coalitions have come and gone, struggling to cope with Covid, inflation, the energy crisis and the war. The last administration collapsed in December amid much infighting, and the country has been treading water since.

Cue a remarkable return for Fico. In a copy of Orbán, he spent the time in opposition moving further to the right, denouncing “Ukrainian fascists” and railing against the decision by the Slovak government to ship whatever weapons it had to Ukraine. He then called Čaputová an “American agent” and, in an echo of Donald Trump, has described recent arrests of senior intelligence chiefs as a “police-led coup”. It has been reported there are up to 2,000 Facebook pages sharing anti-western propaganda, with Čaputová warning of an “information storm” of political denunciations from the right, supported by Russia. Ominously, she has had enough and will not stand for a second term.

Fico’s party, Smer-SD, is ahead of the other parties in the polls. I spent an hour with its vice-chair, sitting on a terrace outside parliament. Ľuboš Blaha frames Russia’s conflict with the west less in military terms and more as a culture war. “We see it as a proxy war of the United States against Russia on Ukrainian land,” he says. “The issue isn’t about Russia and democracy. It is about Russia protecting their cultural, national identity against this liberal mania in the west.”

As he speaks, I look across the Danube to the forest that marks Austria ahead. I remember it from the 1980s: the heavily fortified border just a few kilometres away, the iron curtain, which imprisoned generations of Czechoslovaks.

The danger is ever-present, but there is still much to play for. Election campaigns in Slovakia have often produced dramatic last-minute swings and a complicated voting system will make coalition building complex. What is beyond doubt, however, is that Fico is a major player once again and the politics he espouses is back in fashion. It is a measure of how messy politics has become, and how much faith in liberal democracy has been eroded here in the heart of Europe.

[death-gloss]

Slipknot’s Joey: Talent Behind The Mask

Interview by Jeff Perlah • Photos by Paul La Raia  • January 2002

It’s the final weekend of Ozzfest 2001, and the huge backstage area at PNCBank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey is heating up with heavy metal fever. At the moment, Papa Roach are whipping the crowd into a frothing frenzy with their rap-and punk-inspired approach. Later, the ferocious, nine-member Slipknot will pulverize everyone’s eardrums and eyeballs with their percussion-packed metal, hideous masks, and bad-ass behavior.

I’m shaking hands with Slipknot drummer/songwriter Joey Jordison (a.k.a. #1), whose thin, 5’4’’ frame and baby face is quite a contrast from the bloody Kabuki mask and menacing coveralls he sports on stage. After we chat for a few minutes, the customary backstage vehicle—a golf cart—arrives, and we jump in but almost fall out as the cart zooms away.

“I hate golf,” Joey blurts from the front seat. 

“It’s too civilized for Joey,” the driver clarifies, as the cart crunches overplastic forks and other scattered debris while trekking towards the plush Slipknot tour bus.

Joey might not dig golf, but he certainly could afford the whole country-club lifestyle if it appealed to him. Slipknot’s 1999 self-titled Roadrunner debut has sold almost three million copies worldwide and hit number 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. Now this musical monstrosity—which also features the clattering percussion of Chris Fehn (#3) and Shawn Crahan (#6)—have returned with their scorching second offering, Iowa (also Roadrunner), an even harder-hitting and more intricately woven effort that pays homage to the band’s home turf. The album debuted at number 3 on the Billboard top 200 album chart.

“When we first came out [with Slipknot], we kind of downplayed our home state because we had constantly gotten the middle finger thrown at us for years while we were in previous bands,” Joey says while sipping a Red Bull energy drink inside the air-conditioned bus. 

“No radio stations or newspapers would help us, and no one would be at the shows. We did this for like ten years. Those bands broke up around the same time, and Shawn, bassist Paul [Gray, #2], and I got together and said, ‘Let’s make the ultimate band, the band that we would like to see.’ This record is like a tribute, because if we didn’t have the work ethic that we got from being in Des Moines, Iowa—considering there were very few outlets for music there—we wouldn’t have created the band we have now.”

Since Slipknot tied the knot in 1995, their sound has evolved into a seething amalgamation that blends all sorts of metal styles (including speed and death metal) with hardcore punk and electronica. When you enter Iowa, you soon discover how Joey’s chops have matured since Slipknot. All his trademarks, like his speedy double bass kick, rapid hand rolls, eyebrow-raising quadruplets, and black-metal inspired blast beats, sound more powerful and confident. 

“On the first record the drums were more raw-sounding,” Joey explains. 

“On Iowa they’re punchier, and there’s more technical excellence. I had to use a lot more intricate patterns—and not just do the fast stuff. But if I played a fast part, I made it almost twice as fast and sometimes twice as long.”

Then there’s the way he interlocks with cohorts Chris and Shawn. On scathing statements like “Skin Ticket,” “Gently,” “Metabolic,” and the expansive finale, “Iowa,” it’s painfully clear that this percussion team is no overnight creation. 

“You know how hard it is to play the same beat with another drummer?” Joey asks rhetorically. 

“It often sounds like flams. But we’ve played together so long, and we’ve had such long, brutal practices for all those dates of touring in two plus years. It just sank in. Now it’s like clockwork. It just flies out of us, and we think as one brain. The thing that makes Slipknot, Slipknot, is the three drummers. People are like, ‘Man, you guys are so heavy!’ A lot of that doesn’t necessarily come from the riffs we write, but from all the drums.”

Indeed, drumming is a subject Joey loves to talk about. At this point, he pulls himself closer to the tape recorder, and the conversation rolls on

MD: How does Slipknot typically create music? And when are the drums and percussion conceived?

Joey: I handle a lot of the songwriting even before I think about putting drums to anything. Paul and I write most of the music. We usually get a good song structure going, and then we’ll show it to the guitarists. They might throw a riff in or change some chords. And once guitarists Mick [Thompson, #7] and Jim [Root, #4], Paul, and I have the basic core of a song, the band thinks about the percussion parts. A lot of times the percussionists will come in and see what I’m doing and feed off of it a little bit, or I’ll have an idea and say, “Maybe we can go here.” Sometimes they mimic what I do,sometimes they don’t. On “Metabolic,” Shawn plays all the way through to a guitar break, and I don’t even play. He wrote that part. It just depends on what the song calls for. If it’s a straightforward riff, we’ll play really straightforward and powerfully, and kind of mimic eachother.

MD: Did your playing improve while making Iowa?

Joey: Yes. With the first record, we wrote songs and I played what was needed for them. With this record, I had to practice to play the parts that I wanted to write. I had to practice hard for this record. Songs like “Disasterpiece,” “People = Shit,” and “The Heretic Anthem” have the hardest stuff I’ve ever had to do. “The Heretic Anthem” has fast 16th-note double bass through almost the whole song. Now that I’m so in the groove of doing it, it’s becoming more natural. My body’s accustomed to it and my brain can keep up with what I want to do; it’s kind of like a balancing act between my brain and my limbs. But I’ll tell ya, in the beginning it was ruthless. I had to jog like two miles everyday before I even did my tracks. That was to help me play the stuff. I used a Gretschmaple kick drum, and it had a great sound. But it was hard to get bounce-back from the head. I almost felt like I was kickin’ mud.

MD: Do you normally run?

Joey: No. Exercise sucks! There’s a reason I wasn’t in track. The jogging was just for the album.

MD: Do you ever get cramps in your legs?

Joey: Occasionally. But it’s not too bad, because I’ve been playing so long on recent tours. I’ve been playing drums for so long that I think my body has gotten accustomed to knowing when it’s gonna get cramps.

MD: Let’s hear more about the Iowa recording sessions.

Joey: I’ll tell you a funny story: Sound Citystudio in Van Nuys, California is one of the most requested drum rooms. Bands come from all over the world to use this place. So when we were setting up the drums, everyone expected me to set up in their big wooden room. I didn’t. I found the smallest, dingiest room. And my manager was all pissed off. “You’re not using the big drum room?!” And I was like, “Watch!”

We crammed all nine guys in this little room, along with my drumset, so you can imagine how tight it was. That’s how we tracked my drums. Everyone and everything was in my face, and we all had headphones on. We got three or four takes for most of the songs. And it’s cool because the sound of the drums on the new record is so good and punchy that it’s hard to imagine that they came out of that little room. But we do everything opposite of every other band, so it felt natural doing it in a small room as opposed to a big one.

The other guys in the band just played scratch tracks, and we recorded over them later. They were just trying to give me the ultimate vibe. We were sweating and spitting on each other. We record like we perform live—totally slammin’ the whole time. Meanwhile, I had pictures of my family and friends on my work box. 

Corey would explain what each song meant before we recorded it, so we’d focus on the initial purpose of the song. The first one we tracked was “People = Shit,” the first song on the CD. The last song we tracked was “Iowa,” the last song on the record.

I remember Corey explaining the whole history of playing in Des Moines, all the ridicule we faced, our rise to success, the touring, and going platinum. He reminded us of how people thought they figured us out and were ready to knock our second album before we even recorded it. He explained a lot of that before we tracked,and it was probably the most pissed off we’ve been before tracking a song.

MD: What was it like recording the title track?

Joey: We did the drumming and percussion in one take. And we sat in silence for probably thirty minutes beforehand and decided not to do any overdubs. At the end I get so out of control and off-time while the percussionists keep the same time with the guitarists. I spaz out so much. Wam wack,woom, voom! [Joey swings his arms wildly] But they keep the same beat. It was totally tribal. It’s such a mental song

MD: Was that the only song you nailed in one take?

Joey: Yep, and it’s the longest song on the album. It’s about fifteen minutes. We were using analog tape. Well, we went analog and then to digital. The only thing that’s analog on the album is my drums because I wanted a ’70s vintage sound. The thing is, 2" analogtape is about fifteen minutes long. Right at the end, [co-producer] Ross Robinson is like,“This is totally kickin’ ass but the tape is gonna run out!” As the last vibration of the guitar faded, the tape ran out.

MD: Did you take any new approaches while recording your drums on Iowa?

Joey: We recorded “Skin Ticket,” but it seemed so light on the drums. It sounded too empty. I was like, “Get me the biggest marching kick drum and snare you can find.” I used those and also cranked up the limiter on the board to make it sound totally static-y, like an AM radio. On the verse of “Skin Ticket,” when Corey’s singing, there are two drum patterns at once, and it’s really trippy. There’s this snare going really light,and the kick is a big, warm timpani.

MD: Does producer Ross Robinson ever influence or inspire your drumming?

Joey: I’m a very busy drummer, and he doesn’t like to take that away from me. But sometimes I need to lay back a little and let the riffs breathe more, rather than play over-the-top. Ross helps me a lot with that. And he helps me to make sure every cymbal hit is like total power. He’s an awesome coach in the studio.

MD: Former Police drummer Stewart Copeland recently told Modern Drummer that he saw you perform in San Bernardino,California during the Tattoo The Earth tour. He said he was impressed.

Joey: I heard that. That blew me away because I’m a big Police fan. “The Other Way Of Stopping” [from 1980’s Zenyatta Mondatta] has really amazing drumming. He’s an amazing drummer regardless, but that song really shows his talent.

MD: Copeland also said that he started practicing with a double pedal because he was inspired by your double bass drumming.

Joey: Really?! That’s like the ultimate honor, because he’s not a metal player. I’ve been inspired by that guy for so long as a drummer and as a composer, even though I play totally opposite of the way he does.

MD: How did you get started drumming?

Joey: I started out playing guitar at my grandpa’s house when I was really young. I got used to it and really liked it. I was playing guitar in a band when I was ten, and my bandmates were older. But the drummer couldn’t keep up and was sloppy. It just got frustrating. So one day I said, “I’ll do it until we find another drummer.” I started working on my drumming, but I never stopped playing the guitar either. I just kept getting better at the drums, and it became my first love.

MD: Were you in many bands before joining Slipknot?

Joey: I was probably in a dozen bands, but I don’t want to name any.

MD: Did you have a day job before Slipknot formed?

Joey: Yeah. I worked in a gas station on the graveyard shift for ten hours a night. Shawn and Paul would come down and we would come up with all these ideas. We scared everyone away because we’d blast Obituary and Deicide all night while coming up withour own ideas. It was like cramming for a test that took place four years later, when we recorded our first album.

MD: How does it all work on stage with you, two percussionists, and six other guys?

Joey: It’s pandemonium. But we thrive on it. And we thrive on pain. Once this band is comfortable, it will cease to exist.

MD: Slipknot performances have been known to be very physical and sometimes out-of-control.

Joey: One time Shawn broke a pipe over a keg. The pipe broke in half, flew in the air, spun around, and cracked me on the head and cut me open—a huge cut. And I’ve pulled my drums down on top of me a hundred times. I have scars all over my body to prove it. There have been broken ribs and fingers, and lots of stitches on all of us. Shawn’s whole knee is bandaged up right now, and he can barely walk. When we get on stage, something just comes out of us, dude. It’s like a war zone. I can’t even put it into words.

MD: How difficult is it to perform with your mask on?

Joey: It ain’t easy. There’s no mouth on my mask really, just a little slit, and the mask is molded to my face. But I built up a tolerance to it. I remember the first show we wore the masks, on April 4th, 1996, and being like, “I can’t believe we came up with this damn idea. What the hell were we thinking?” This was in Des Moines at the Safari Club. It was the same mask back then that I wear now, it just didn’t have the scarlines and blood. Through time, it’s gathered up a bunch of scars.

MD: A couple of years ago, guitarist Mick told me he played a Slipknot show in a Little Bo Peep costume.

Joey: Oh yeah! [laughs] That only happened once. We did it as a joke at a New Year’s Eve show several years ago in down-town Des Moines. Paul wore a wedding gown, Mick got a Little Bo Peep costume and a big staff. We used to wear different costumes, but then we felt we needed to look more like an army, a solid unit. Let everybody be different as far as the character and face, but still be an army. Now we’re like a gang

MD: Is the band trying to look like monsters with these masks?

Joey: Not at all. We’re trying to look like ourselves from the inside. The mask I wear represents what this music makes me feel like inside. And no one picked anyone’s mask for them. When we put the masks on, we go into a deeper, darker place.

MD: How do the members cue each other on stage? It must be challenging because you’re wearing masks.

Joey: We do it by eye contact, by giving “the big eye.” And we’ve known each other for so long that we know our mannerisms, certain arm movements, finger gestures, or whatever. Sometimes I’ll cue them by the way I play. Maybe I’ll take a deep breath and lean back on my seat and smash the cymbals really hard, like for a downbeat, and they’ll know when to come in.

MD: Does the band separate their on-stage personas from their everyday lives?

Joey: We get that poison out every day for about an hour on stage. People ask, “Why are you guys so pissed off?” Well, you keep a baboon locked up for years and then let him out—he’ll have a lot to say. The other twenty-three hours we can rest. We get off so hard for that hour that we get it all out so we can live normal lives on the outside.

MD: What main messages and sentiments does Slipknot convey to their fans?

Joey: We don’t write about stuff we don’t know about. A lot of kids can relate to the things we write about, because they’ve gone through the same things day in and day out.

MD: Like what?

Joey: It depends on who you talk to. And even if we’re talking about a different subject, a kid might relate it to him breaking up with his girlfriend or losing his job. But we’re not talking about politics. We’re not politicians. We’re musicians who grew up in a scene where we were totally rejected. I’m just like those kids. I don’t want to distance myself from their realities. And I want those kids to get their tensions out. We’re the punching bag for them, and they’re the punching bag for us. That’s why the liveshow is so important.

MD: Let’s talk about your kit.

Joey: They’re from Orange County Drum And Percussion. The kit I’m using right now is acrylic. It’s deep purple and see-through, so I can put black lights on it. But I mostly play a maple kit from Orange County. It has a black “serpentine” finish. And my drumsare set up really close together. I can’t be reaching, especially since I’m only 5'4"

MD: Some associate heavy hitters, like metal players, are big brawny guys.

Joey: I find that the big muscle-bound guys tend to be light hitters.

MD: Obviously Slipknot is a very loud band, but anybody who has seen you play knows that you don’t pound the drums into submission. You have a surprisingly light touch.

Joey: The power you get has more to do with how you hit a drum. There’s a certain snap of the wrist that makes the drum resonate right. It comes from years of practice. And you can’t just pound a drum and expect it to sound good.

MD: At what height do you set your seat? Does the height benefit your kick drumming?

Joey: I sit pretty low. I like my knees and heels to be up. That way I get more foot action and get my lower calf muscles involved, as opposed to my legs working. When I use too much leg, I get tired really quickly and it’s too clumsy.

MD: What kind of bass drum pedals do you use to play so fast?

Joey: My pedals are Tama Iron Cobras,double-chained. I have them tensioned very tight. They’re really hard to push down.

MD: Why keep them that way?

Joey: If they’re not tight, I can’t get the right bounce back from the head to be able to play fast. And that spring tension also helps to keep my feet and legs in shape.

MD: On some songs you boast a splashy hi-hat tone. Is one of your hi-hats permanently open?

Joey: My right hi-hat is always open about a half inch, which works perfectly for that sloshy effect. I can open and close my regular left-side hi-hat, so I keep the right one open.

MD: Do you use any unconventional equipment in your kit?

Joey: No, but the percussionists use oilcans, big propane tanks, and old sheet metal. They come up with that weird stuff. It’s their forte.

MD: Some drummers don’t appreciate performing with other percussionists. Yet Slipknot has created an outrageous art form out of three-way percussion.

Joey: Some drummer might say, “I don’t want people stepping on my toes and getting in my face!” I’m not like that. That percussion drives me. It makes me want to be a better player. It makes them want to be better players. We all keep on our toes—no one slacks—because you have two other drummers lookin’ at you at all times! [laughs] I love having it this way. The more drums the better.

MD: And what about your influences? Who has inspired you the most?

Joey: Keith Moon, for sure. And to tell you the honest-to-God truth, it’s because he was a nut. I can relate to his personality. I have a lot of personality on stage too; I’m flippin’ sticks behind my back. Whatever it takes to get the audience off, I’ll do. I like being animated.

MD: That’s not surprising, considering Slipknot’s wildly visual stage show.

Joey: Exactly. Plus the music makes me so nuts that I can’t sit still anyway. That’s why I like Keith Moon.

MD: Who else?

Joey: John Bonham, of course. How can you not give that guy props? And of course, when I was younger, there was Peter Criss of KISS. I love that band so much. I remember practicing Peter’s solo on “100,000 Years” off Alive! I had it down to a tee at nine years old. Then I learned the solo from Alive II. Another drummer I have to give props to is Dave Lombardo, formerly of Slayer. On “Angel Of Death,” one of the most famous Slayer songs, he does a really long double bass roll and then three tom hits. I do that exact fill in the middle of “The Heretic Anthem” as a tribute to Dave. He’s definitely one of my main influences. I’m into death metal and black metal too, and all their drummers, like Trym from Emperor, Nick Barker from Dimmu Borgir, Hellhammer from Mayhem. A lot of these kids at Ozzfest have never heard the blastbeats prevalent in black metal. But we’re not a death or black metal band. We don’t want to be, yet we still have our influences.

MD: KISS must have been a big influence on Slipknot, considering their use of costumes and other visual elements.

Joey: We drew a lot from KISS, no question. We’re like a hellish version of them. Every musician’s a thief, everyone steals, but it’s what you do with it—how you make it your own and piece it together—that makes you original. You get the influence, punch it in the face, and see what you come up with.

MD: What advice would you give to up-and-coming drummers?

Joey: Have ingenuity and perseverance—and practice a lot. That’s the only way you’re going to make it. And don’t just be a follower, be a leader. A lot of players don’t realize what they have. To me, the most important band out right now is the one in a garage somewhere obsessing over their music, just like we did ten years ago. We were those kids. We haven’t heard of them yet, but they’re the ones with the vision. As far as I’m concerned, those are the most important musicians right now and the ones who are gonna shape the future.

[sugiwa]

small dreams

It took one 27 second long video for Keigo to fall in love

The video looped through every news cycle, and each reaction varied from outright derision to almost mythical awe emerging. On YouTube, it was viral in fifty-three different countries and Starburst—a name derived from a candy company that the pro-hero was fond of—jokingly tweeted that she was more famous than All-Might.

And she might have been thanks to the reporter that not only caught her decking the father of a girl she just saved but also recorded the subsequent twenty-seven seconds it took for three police officers to pull her off him and pull her away. The peace sign Y/N threw up as the police led her into a car probably didn’t help, nor did the live stream of her twenty-four hours in a holding cell while they investigated her claim of the man’s abuse and finally released her.

Though there were news outlets that tried to pin Starburst down as a hero on the edge of villainy, her public reputation hadn’t taken any damage. It was hard, after all, to claim that she did the wrong thing when they heard the girl’s testimony and pulled her medical records. But, Starburst—or L/N Y/N—still faced punishment from the Hero Public Safety Commission despite all this.

Attacking an unarmed civilian was apparently a big no-no—even if he was an abusive asshole. She was spared having her license revoked until she retested the simple principle that she had refrained from using her quirk. Her sentence was lessened to a month-long suspension with a strict patrol schedule in some city near Tokyo.

Y/N could work with it. She could put up with the Commission’s inane chatter for the sake of her job, but she drew the line at issuing an apology. It took three hours to wiggle her way out of a press conference to address the event. By the time her meeting with the Commission and sentencing was done, Y/N retweeted the initial video with the caption: Totally worth it.

Keigo was slightly in love with Starburst. Maybe it was the way she strolled into the Hero Public Safety Commission building fresh out of handcuffs and bluntly told them that she wasn’t apologizing and would rather become a vigilante than listen to ten more minutes of them debating the future of her career.

Or maybe it was the video which he’d seen a hundred times over, where she looked like a hero. The kind he’d always dreamed of as a kid, the kind who swooped in and beat the bad guy and then offered you stickers and candy and told you everything would be alright because it was exactly what she’d done for that little girl.

Either way, L/N Y/N was a hero who deserved a little rest, which was why he was currently tailing her patrol route and taking care of the problems before she could move. Her quirk was right out of a comic book too. The golden energy that left her capable of issuing an instant KO.

“Will you leave me alone?” she snapped, finally turning around to glare at him. She had a warm face, not made for anger which was probably why the glare fell away a moment later, replaced by a smile. “I appreciate the help, but I’m not offering any fanservice in exchange.”

“Who said I was a fan?” His wings flapped, feathers flying back toward him.

“You regularly stalk girls mid-air? That sort of thing does not fly with me.” Y/N laughed, nose scrunching at her own joke. “Get it…cause we both fly….”

He smiled innocently, “Thought of that all on your own?”

Y/N groaned, twisting her earring, “Just because I didn’t go to a fancy-ass hero school like Wet Jeanist and Flameo Hotman doesn’t mean I’m dumb.”

Slight insulted by the nickname she gave his favorite hero, he asked, “Flameo Hotman? You mean Endeavor-san?”

“Ohhh, that’s a man-crush voice.” Her eyes tightened with mischief, “I’m gonna have to dip since I got a hot date with my credit card. See you later, Chicken Little.”

He watched her go in slight awe because Y/N really was as crazy as the stories said. Starburst was a hero that had a bit of a cult following. She wasn’t high enough in the rankings to be wildly popular the way he was—up until she went viral, that was. A graduate of Ketsubutsu who went on to attend college before actually becoming a hero, she was on a watch list with the Hero Public Safety Commission.

Apparently, non-conformity was an issue…who knew.

A rain of confetti fell over Keigo’s head, brightly colored and all covered in specks of glitter. He inhaled deeply, turning to see Starburst’s grinning face as she eagerly clapped. Endeavor, like always whenever he was forced to be in Starburst’s proximity, turned around and stalked down the hall. Her confetti burned in his wake. Y/N’s voice followed him, offering an empty congratulations to the hero.

“How’s my precious senpai doing?” she asked, turning her attention to him.

“You really know how to annoy him, huh?” asked Keigo staring at the empty hall. If you gave Y/N too much attention, she ran with it. “What’s the deal?”

Y/N shrugged, rolling her shoulders confidently, “Some people are not equipped to handle true talent.”

“Yeah, right,” snorted Keigo.

“I may or may not have drunkenly confessed that I had no idea who he was to a bunch of reporters during last week.” Y/N made a rude gesture with her hand. “I mean, if you’re not Number One, then do you really matter?”

“Harsh,” he ruffled his wings, freeing the last of her glitter confetti and letting it rain on the ground. “You all good with the Commission now?”

“All thanks to you! I owe you one, you know that?”

“Nah,” Keigo waved her off, resisting the urge to laugh as she made her bright eyes as wide as possible. “It was pretty brave of you. Plus, I think anyone would have done the same thing.”

Three months out of trouble, Y/N once again made headlines for ‘accidentally’ dropping a child trafficker off a building. She caught him before he hit the ground, but apparently, the authorities deemed the emotional damage a little extreme.

“They probably would have been a bit smarter about it, though.”

“Well, don’t worry, no one expects you to be the brains.”

Y/N pouted. “True.”

Keigo laughed. “What are you doing here anyway? You’re not in the top ten.”

“Is bullying the new rage these days?” Her pout grew, arms crossing over her chest, “Everyone’s got something snippy to say to me. Where’s Rumi when I need her?”

“Gonna hide behind her?”

“Fuck yeah.” Y/N nodded emphatically as she reached into her pocket for a pack of gum. She offered him a piece. “Let’s see how your chicken wings stand against her legs.”

Keigo looked at the gum and then her. The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them, “Wanna get something to eat?”

Her smile looked like the sun, “Thought you’d never ask.”

“So, what’s the deal with you and Dragonbreath?” asked Y/N, sprawling across his couch. It was the third time this week she was here. He should tell her to leave, but the words die in his throat in his mouth every time he tried.

There’s too much risk. Dabi’s listening in on everything he does these days, and he doesn’t want her anywhere near them. Not when he’s aware of what they’re planning. Not when he knows how Y/N would react.

She was rough and improper in everything she does, but there’s no one brighter or better when it came to genuine goodness.

Keigo dodged the question with his own. “Endeavor again?”

“Ran into him last week and got yelled at for ten minutes for getting in his way. The guy was in my path, and I’m the one getting yelled at? Next time, I’m drop-kicking him off his skyscraper.” She kicked her leg in the air, reminding him that she was scarcely dressed.

Was this what having a girlfriend like? Constantly jumping between fondness and horniness? He wasn’t complaining.

He heard this threat a million times. “Still mad about the fact that he has one?”

“I’m a simple country girl. I’d be happy with a peach orchard and some chickens.”

“Come here,” he crooked his finger at her. Y/N got up instantly, crossing the room toward the balcony where he stood. Her hands wrapped around his waist, slipping under his shirt, across his skin, over his chest. Too much and too little at the same time.

“You’ll get cold out here,” she murmured. He could sink in the warmth she offered.

“It’s nice seeing the world so still.”

A noise left her throat, wet and worried, “Hawks, whatever it is, whatever they’re making you do, I’ll be here. I promise.”

People joked about Y/N being dumb—he did it too often to count, but she saw more than most people did when it mattered.

“Why’d you become a hero?”

“Saved a cute boy once, and he gave me a kiss,” she said. He’d heard that story before. She offered it in every interview, never expanding on what boy or how she saved him. It was also a glaring lie.

He didn’t push her. He lied about too many things to count.

Keigo took her face between his hands—the urge to kiss that tiny speck by her eyes thrummed through him. It would take a thousand-thousand years for him to forget her face. Y/N turned, her lips skimming his palm, cold and warm at once.

He loved her because she was Y/N. Because in her, he could love himself and not grow cold from it. Because the numbness he’d always known leaked out in place of affection. He loved her boundlessly—above, below, and across—unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.

It was with her that he was Takami Keigo and not the current Number Two.

His hand cupped her neck, fingers tangling in the curls of her hair. Her lips opened under his. A trail of fire burst across his lips, and for a moment, he only knew the sweetness of her mouth. He drank her in, each breath, each hushed sound leaving her throat.

He would do what they asked and make the choices no one else could.

It was worth the world he dreamed of.

[creative-frequency]

Inquisitor!Cal Kestis x Reader: Bright Time

Word count: 2321 Pairing: Inquisitor Cal Kestis x Reader Notes: Thank you all for the support and the lovely messages I’ve been receiving concerning this fic. You guys are definitely what has kept me writing since I never would’ve thought anyone else would be interested in this Inquisitor AU. So, thank you ❤️ This is the third part of the series!

Previous Part

My Writing Masterlist

It’s been another tedious week in Fortress Inquisitorius. Each day has been filled with dull tasks, really making you work for what they pay you. In a sense, you’re glad that there is no shortage of work but still time has moved extremely slowly. You’re anxiously waiting for any sign or a message from a certain Inquisitor.

You haven’t heard of or seen Cal ever since the day you fixed the melted control panel of the door to his quarters. Just thinking about the incident makes your blood boil and the Inquisitor will certainly get what he deserves. Somehow, one day. The details are still a little unclear, but you’re determined.

In the tranquility of your own living accommodations, you can finally strip off the dark overalls and faintly ponder the fact that it’s the only outfit Cal has ever seen you in. The uniform isn’t exactly complementing. Though, he didn’t seem to mind on your last encounter.

You sigh and toss the clothes to where you’ll to pick them up again in the morning, which means in eight hours – a luxury, really, in the light of the recent week.

As you slump on the elevated mattress posing as bed, one of your most faithful engineering droids rolls into the room.

“What’s up, MK?” you ask without getting up to look. Your back muscles are crying a symphony at finally relaxing on a soft surface.

The droid makes an uppish beep and you roll your eyes. This one has a handful of a personality.

“If it’s that important, why didn’t you say anything earlier?” you question, full-well knowing the MK droid will be galled by your lack of interested in its business. It lets out a series of drills, which sound a lot like scoffs for a being that has no respiratory channels.

“A message?” You frown lightly and get up to your elbows. A bad feeling creeps into the back of your mind. “Let’s hear it.”

The MK droid boops coolly and plays the recording.

“Hey, uhh, I think there’s a busted light bulb in here? Can you come and fix it today? Thanks.”

You freeze, blinking and staring at the messenger. You only just got away from work and now he wants you to go over to the other side of the base and urgh.

That kriffing stupid Inquisitor.

Ten minutes later you’re dragging your feet, once again wearing the stupid overalls and carrying a small toolbox. Fixing a light bulb shouldn’t be a big deal. You’re as equally vexed about having to get up as you’re anxious about getting to see Cal.

There has been no shortage of subconscious reminders about the last incident in his quarters and the more you try not to think about it, the faster your heart beats. Getting worked up about having to go and do your job doesn’t really help but at least you feel better when you think about all the ways to tell the stupid Inquisitor off. How can he be one of the Empire’s finest if he can’t even fix a kriffing light.

That inconsiderate man-child and his stupid pecs. If he weren’t an Inquisitor, I swear I’d–

It’s so late that the hallways are mostly empty save for the guards that you greet with yawns and earn a few sympathetic nods in return. If Cal isn’t wearing a shirt this time, you’ll give him a good old slap across the cheek, to hell with the consequences.

That perv might actually like it if I hit him. Oh, for kriff’s sake–

By the time you reach the right door, you’re positively fuming.

“How many Inquisitors does it take to switch a light bulb? Oh, I don’t know? None, since they have nerf shit as brains and can’t even– oh, hi. Ahem.” You settle the most perfectly neutral look to your face and hope Cal didn’t catch you muttering to yourself.

He gives you a cursory glance from your head to toes. At least he is wearing a shirt, even though it’s a very snug one.

“Come in,” he says.

Cal’s timid smile and casual tone set your cheeks alight and heart fluttering.

You clear your throat. “…Thanks.”

The sound of the door closing surges you into a mild inner panic but you draw in a breath to hide it and put the toolbox to the floor. Cal stays skulking by the entrance as you look up to find the target, eager to be on your way before he can think of anything reckless like the last time.

“Which one was it?” you ask slowly, craning your neck. All the lights seem fine and staring at them is making you see stars.

“The one in the middle,” Cal says and nods towards the culprit.

The light is as bright as the others and your eyes are starting to water from looking at them. You turn to Cal – his smile is nothing like timid anymore. It’s downright impish.

You should’ve known it was a trap.

“What’s the meaning of this?” You try to hold back the exasperation in your tone but it’s difficult. “Cal?”

The Inquisitor holds the eye contact and shrugs. You’re about to open your mouth to give him an earful when a loud crack makes you jump and you turn just in time to see the bulb explode into millions of tiny pieces. The shards scatter all over the floor as you instinctively hold your arms up to cover your face from the shrapnel, but not a piece even touches you.

The energy that was pouring into keeping the light on, no longer has a proper outlet and the fuse blows with a loud pop. You’re standing in the middle of the now dark room with the idiot Inquisitor.

The emergency lights near the floor cast an eerie red light and you can just barely make out Cal’s silhouette. Your eyes will need a moment to adjust to the darkness.

“Happy now?” is what you eventually set into snapping out at him.

The fuse box is in the hallway, but to get to it you need to find a way past the Inquisitor.

“Did you plan this?” The bravery falters in your tone. You swallow.

“Not really,” Cal says but you don’t believe him. “Hold on. Don’t move.”

Light clatter of glass against the floor echoes all around you and while you don’t see what happens, you assume that Cal just cleaned up the mess he made.

“Right,” you sigh, gather the ripples of your anger, and start walking towards the exit in resolute steps. Cal doesn’t move a muscle as you march past him. You’re almost to the door, already heaving out a relieved breath but come to the realization that you’re no longer moving.

In fact, your feet are taking you backwards. You yelp in surprise and almost get knocked over when the back of your legs hits the sofa in the middle of the room. You take purchase from the furniture to stay on your feet. Your eyes are steadily becoming acclimated to the darkness and you can see Cal’s silhouette coming closer.

Your blood pressure will lead to an early retirement at this rate.

“You need to stop breaking stuff to get me here,” you whine, “I’ll give you my personal comm frequency.”

“That’s not very exciting,” Cal huffs amused. He is standing right in front of you. The scarce light reflects enough from his eyes to hint where you should be facing.

“Well, sorry for not living up to your standards,” you quip frustrated and barely manage to finish the sentence since Cal’s hand comes to rest on your neck. The careful touch makes you quiver and your heart beats a mile a minute.

The breeze from Cal’s shallow breaths hits your skin as he leans forward. You would be lying if you claimed you were not waiting for this. He is smiling when your lips touch and you sink to sit down on the sofa back.

At least the door lock is fixed now.

“I’ve been, mmh, thinking… about you,” you confess even though Cal tries to make sure you can’t waste your mouth on talking. His lips move down to your jaw with a thoughtful hum and start trailing down towards your neck. It’s difficult to stay still with your already precarious balance.

“Glad to know I’m not the only one,” Cal husks.

His hands come down to rest on your waist and before you can reply, your world revolves again with a yelp as your back softly hits the sofa cushions. Cal climbs over and lifts you up to straddle him. Faintly, you register that the sofa is really large and comfy, and this man is done playing around.

Cal’s lips find yours again, more demanding and eager. He starts unzipping your uniform and thrill shoots up your spine. A pleasant haze is starting to settle into your mind and you have to strive to keep your wits about you.

“I don’t suppose you have any more requests when the light is fixed?” you ask as you let Cal do his thing with your work overalls and pull down the part covering your upper body. You’re still wearing a tank top underneath it.

“Mm. I want a kitchen droid,” Cal replies and plants his lips onto your shoulder. Pushing your nose into his hair makes you giddy and you don’t at first realize what he said.

“Huh? A kitchen droid? Why?” you fumble to question.

“The meals in the commissary are horrible,” he simply says and continues peppering your exposed skin with kisses. You can’t argue with that point.

“Mm. I’ll see what I can do.”

You ease yourself better into Cal’s lap, perfectly accidentally grinding yourself against him – to which he responds with a grunt and furrowed brows. It’s music to your ears.

Cal stops and straightens up, hands still somewhere around your middle body, rudely interrupted from hiking your top up. Even in the dark, you can see the warning in his eyes and it sends your pulse flying.

“Look. Do you want me to hold back or not? ‘Cause I can’t if you���”

You grind yourself again against the growing hardness in his pants and cut him mid-sentence.

“Who said anything about holding back?” you purr in a bit too seductive tone.

You hide your devilish smile by taking the turn to kiss the side of Cal’s neck. He groans again and you can feel his body going slightly rigid underneath you. Serves him right to taste his own medicine. Stupid Inquisitor.

“Alright. You asked for it,” Cal coos gently. His grip on your waist tightens and he throws you to your back on the sofa.

“Oh!” you yelp but quickly regain your stance even though your positions have been reversed.

You kick your shoes off and wiggle down the overalls with Cal’s help. Gripping his shirt hem, you yank the piece of clothing up to get it off. If you’re going to do this, you deserve to get a glimpse at how well his training has paid off.

When you reach his pants and open the zipper for access, the fervent undressing slows down and molds into a make out session. This time horizontally, on the sofa, with the Inquisitor on top of you and your legs tangled with his – and hands in each other’s pants. It’s hot and messy and you can’t see a thing, but who needs eyes when his fingers dip inside you and it feels so good that you want to cry out loud. The hums and moans Cal makes against your mouth as you massage him drive you deeper into the moment. With each passing second you fight the regret about still having your underwear and top on.

You’re feeling so dizzy and elated that you’ve completely forgotten who you’re playing with. You’re in the den of an Imperial Inquisitor. The kind of who is not known for his mercy or empathy.

“You should stay for the night,” Cal utters suddenly.

In a motion so quick and nimble that you didn’t think you’d have it in you, you’re up and away from Cal’s arms, heart drumming in your ears and panicking. Every breathe is a drag and your hair must be in upheaval. Your underpants are uncomfortably damp and the room feels chilly when Cal’s body is no longer warming you.

“S-stay? You mean like… I, uh, wouldn’t want to impose… on your…” Your eyes skim the Inquisitor’s almost naked frame in the dark. “Hospitality.”

Cal straightens up but you bounce away from the reach.

“What? You’re not imposing. I’ll make you coffee in the morning,” he says slyly, clearly not understanding what is going through your head.

You almost give in. Your very soul hurts as you shake your head. If he wants you to risk life and limb and stay, he will have to do better than high-end coffee and what presumably would’ve been the beginnings of amazing sex.

You grab your overalls and almost fall onto your nose trying to put them on as swiftly as possibly.

No, this is bad. Worse than what you should get yourself into.

“So, uhh, sorry! I’ll fix the bulb tomorrow!” You snag your shoes, tugging them under your arm and take the toolbox from the floor. With a free hand, you fumble for the button to open the door before Cal can retaliate. What were you even thinking? People who get too involved with the Inquisitors disappear and you wish to keep existing.

“Wha– Hold on!”

“Nope. Bye!” You wave as you tiptoe into the hallway, praying that it’s empty. It’d be fun explaining to a Stormtrooper why you’re barely dressed behind the Inquisitor’s door.

Cal stays sitting on the sofa in the dark, looking after you, pants halfway down and utterly confused. He cannot comprehend what he did wrong.

//

Tagging (please lmk if you want to be tagged or not! I probably forgot someone cause I couldn’t find the list anymore OTL): @europhiacs @froyuhh @sinner-effy @droidrights @annoyedguildmaster @mysteriouswritingzonthewall @boxfullofcats @maulblr @sevansheart

[dailytomlinson]

When reflecting on music’s most influential artists, critics tend to use statistics to measure their legacy—whether it’s a band reaching #1 on the charts, multiple sold-out tours, or albums that represent a generation. Those types of accolades and praise are for bands that, typically, exist within rock with a predominantly sizeable male fanbase, like The Rolling Stones or The Beatles. For English-Irish boyband One Direction, who actually broke one of The Beatles biggest achievements by having five Top 10 debut tracks on the Hot 100 compared to The Beatles’ four, have sold out multiple tours and delivered five albums five years in a row, they have not been regarded as much of an influential force in the music industry as they should be.

Today—on July 23rd 2020—the band celebrates ten years since they first became a band, even if five years of that time was during a prolonged indefinite hiatus while each of the members pursued solo ventures. A decade marks ten years of One Direction and, for the fans, ten years of an impactful legacy the band, both together and apart, has had on their lives.

After being thrown together on The X-Factor back in July 2010, the band did more in five years than most bands do in their entire careers; they released five albums and sold more than 6.49 million copies in just America alone, filmed one concert documentary and one tour film, completed multiple world tours, and pursued philanthropic ventures. All of those things didn’t come without a price, though. Zayn Malik left the band in 2014 due to his mental health suffering. The band toured consistently every year with hardly ever having any personal time off, and add in an album release a year, they were extremely overworked.

There’s a belief boy bands have an expiry date, and it’s likely their management felt they needed to get as much out of the band while they believed they were still relevant. It’s likely that fans would’ve stuck around if the members took time between their albums and tours. In 2015, when the hiatus began, people wondered if One Direction really could ever come back and, if they did, would fans still really care about them?

“One Direction was one of the biggest and most successful bands,” said @TheHarryNews, a Twitter fan update account. “They achieved amazing things in the five years they were together, despite being overworked by putting out albums and touring every year, which isn’t normal.”

One specific thread that ties together every fans’ thoughts when they reflect on why they decided to become fans of the boys in the first place is the carefree and loving rapport the band has with one another. We’ve all seen The X Factor video diaries, laughed over their banter during interviews, and watched every live performance they did to look out for cute interactions between our favourite members. In their own unique way, One Direction helped defy traits typically associated with toxic masculinity; they didn’t shy away from their affection for one another and made that known in interviews and concerts. Their friendship set them apart, made them more real, and through them, we made friendships of our own.

When someone seeks out new friends, they go to where they feel safest: the communities of people who love the same things as they do. Social media not only propelled the band to international audiences, but it also helped many fans meet the people they now call their lifelong friends. “They have impacted my life in ways I never thought a ‘boyband’ could,” said Lauren, a fan from Buffalo, NY. “They gave me the best friends I could ever ask for, helped me when I was lost and thought I had no one. They ultimately helped me find myself.”

Social media did more than just help us make friends. It was also a major catalyst for the band’s success, and a large part is due to update accounts on Twitter that were created by fans, for fans. Fan-created update accounts would document every single movement and moment made by the band’s five members, whether it was live-streaming a concert or updating fans on the band’s whereabouts. For @With1DNews, a UK/Canada-based update account, it’s a labour of true love for the band that “glued them together” in the first place. “We found each other through our 1D fan accounts on Twitter,” they said. “We started talking about the boys, then our lives, and quickly became great friends.”

Even though they started the account after the hiatus already began, they still felt like fans needed One Direction news. “We had noticed there weren’t really any active 1D update accounts left and we knew a lot of fellow 1D fans were still interested in seeing news about the boys’ careers and lives. It was also because we missed seeing 1D together and hearing about them together. We thought, why not create this space that connects them even if they’re now all going their own way.”

Update accounts take as much time, effort, and energy as an unpaid second job; it requires those who run them to schedule themselves accordingly to cover certain times of each day to ensure their fellow fans get updated in a timely manner, and they do as much fact-checking and researching that any other traditional news outlet does.

Even if some critics might not consider One Direction an influential force in the music industry, the impact they continue to have on their fans is what has set them apart from every other musical act. In a scene in One Direction’s concert documentary, This Is Us, a fan breathlessly states “I know they love me, even if they don’t know me.” This type of parasocial relationship to a band is something not many understand; it’s a sense of intimacy that doesn’t require either party to actually deeply know one another on a personal level but is still as meaningful and significant as actual relationships.

A connection with the band is even more prevalent for Amy, a Los Angeles based writer and mum of two, because of the impact the band has had on her family is something that isn’t tangible but has been detrimental to her children’s development. “I have a child with physical and neurological disabilities who, prior to One Direction, was completely non-verbal and really struggling to find motivation and happiness amongst all the doctors and therapy appointments,” stated Amy. “They have done more for her development, including indirectly teaching her to speak and sing, than any therapy she’s ever done. Up until we found the boys, everything was trial and error; trying to find what makes sense to her and would, in turn, make the world make sense to her. Who knew the key would be a ‘silly’ boy band?”

Many fans have expressed that the band is their happy place – the only positive light in their life when things got tough. For so many, the band came at a time when they desperately needed something to help them through difficult situations whether that be pressure from school, jobs, peers, or life in general. Watching the ‘Best Song Ever’ music video, or a funny interview felt like a cure to smile and laugh after a long day. “They were what we turned to when we felt overwhelmed in our own lives. Now, we’re adults, and they still bring us as much happiness as they did when we were younger,” says @With1DNews.

Not only that, but the band has also helped fans gain more confidence in themselves. By helping create a space and community for them, fans who may have felt lonely, different, or struggled to find a place they belonged had somewhere to go now. They made friends who accepted them, endless content that felt like a burst of serotonin, and a band of boys who told them through lyrics how great and valuable they are, songs like ‘Through the Dark’, ‘Diana’, and ‘Little Things’. Through the band, One Direction fans created their own safe space to work out and navigate their own identity; a space that is free from outside shame where they could be whoever they wanted to be because the people they loved the most accepted them for exactly who they are.

Despite the safety found in those spaces, others have given those fans different descriptions: Hysterical. Rabid. Extra. ‘Screamers.’ Those are just a few of the many words that have been used to describe female fans of boy bands, both past and present. Although these words carry negative connotations, they imply something more powerful than any naysayer could understand or try to define: the sheer force that comes with unashamedly loving something so deeply, you don’t really care about anyone else’s opinions.

Young female fans are the most supportive, passionate fanbase an artist can have, yet they are the most trivialized and ridiculed both within and outside of the music industry. At the start of their career, music’s most beloved band The Beatles was a boy band that catapulted into fame because of, not despite, their female fans. It wasn’t until male fans noticed the band’s progression into an experimental sound when they decided to embrace the band and deem them worthy of their support after they began playing ‘real’ music.

Even if there are major similarities between The Beatles and One Direction, the latter is still regarded by many to be a manufactured pop boy band with a ‘teenybopper’ fanbase. The members of the band have consistently embraced and validated their predominantly female fanbase; Harry Styles has been consistently vocal about this matter, going so far as to say “Teenage-girl fans — they don’t lie. If they like you, they’re there. They don’t act ‘too cool.’ They like you, and they tell you.”

In ‘Girl Almighty’, the fifth track on their fourth album, Four, the band addressed the way their fans have been misjudged and labelled ‘crazy’ because of their passion and not only applauded them for their dedication and love, but bowed down to them as well; “Let’s have another toast to the girl almighty […] I get down on my knees for you.” Not only has One Direction always known who helped them get to where they are today, but they’ve also never shied away from declaring their respect for them, constantly validating their fans’ feelings.

For One Direction’s fans, a decade of the band’s formation represents ten years of a legacy that will continue on, even if the band never formally get back together. For Amy, it doesn’t really matter if they got their start on a TV talent show because it’s the fans that made them and set the band apart from every other boyband. “What we all created together feels so untouchable in regards to boy bands of the past and ones to come. I think people will look back in awe and see what we see; we’ve been so incredibly lucky to have witnessed the magic of One Direction.”

They might not be aware of it, but One Direction was incredible at predicting what was to come in their own music; “Who’s gonna be the first to say goodbye?” / “But it’s not the end, I’ll see your face again” / “We had some good times, didn’t we? We wore our hearts out on our sleeve” / “We could be the greatest team that the world has ever seen.” In ‘Best Song Ever’, a song that ordinary listeners would not exactly consider overly sentimental or profound, there is one lyric that will always stand out for the fans to represent One Direction’s legacy perfectly: “I hope you’ll remember how we danced.” Ten years later, we haven’t forgotten.

[newstfionline]

Thursday, May 13, 2021

Public service in the US: Increasingly thankless, exhausting (AP) Historically, jobs like teaching, firefighting, policing, government and social work have offered opportunities to give back to communities while earning solid benefits, maybe even a pension. Surveys still show public admiration for nurses and teachers and, after the terror attacks of 9/11, firefighters. But many public servants no longer feel the love. They’re battered and burnt out. They’re stretched by systems where shortages are common—for teachers in Michigan and several other states, for instance, and for police in many cities, from New York and Cincinnati to Seattle. Colleagues are retiring early or resigning. There are mental breakdowns, substance abuse and even suicide, especially among first responders. Even before the coronavirus arrived, researchers have found in 2018 that about half of American public servants said they were burnt out, compared with 20% over workers overall. Some wonder who will pick up the slack, as more young people avoid public service careers. In the federal government, just 6% of the workforce is younger than age 30, while about 45% is older than 50, according to the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service.

Gas stations report shortages as pipeline shutdown drags on (AP) More than 1,000 gas stations in the Southeast reported running out of fuel, primarily because of what analysts say is unwarranted panic-buying among drivers, as the shutdown of a major pipeline by a gang of hackers entered its fifth day Tuesday. The Colonial Pipeline, the biggest fuel pipeline in the U.S., delivering about 45% of what is consumed on the East Coast, was hit on Friday with a cyberattack by hackers who lock up computer systems and demand a ransom to release them. A large part of the pipeline resumed operations manually late Monday, and Colonial anticipates restarting most of its operations by the end of the week, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said.

Colombia protests likely to continue (NBC News) With no agreement between Colombia’s government and protest leaders, demonstrations are likely to continue as major cities brace for a third peak in Covid-19 cases. Since April 28, thousands have protested throughout the country against the government. The violence has resulted in the death of 26 people, including one police officer, according to government figures. Rights groups say the death toll is higher; Human Rights Watch says it has credible reports of 38 deaths. What began as demonstrations over proposed tax increases, that have since been scrapped, has morphed into broader demands for the government to address poverty and inequality. The protests have grown as reports of police violence, deaths, and disappearances have emerged.

More policing in France (AP) France saw its second national homage to a police officer in less than two weeks following the daytime shooting of Eric Masson, who was killed last week during a routine inspection of a street corner. “It’s a reality that there is violence in our society and it’s swelling, and that each day the role of our police is made more difficult by this violence,” said President Emmanuel Macron following a memorial for the slain officer. Experts, however, have noted that more French police were being killed in past decades than today, but that police tactics have hardened in recent years, leading to increased distrust amidst claims of systemic racism within the police, racial profiling, and videos showing apparent abuse and sometimes deadly violence. In contrast to the United States’ recent efforts to curb police powers, France has opted to strengthen them instead. Macron has promised 10,000 more officers in the streets by the end of his term and increased the police budget. The prime minister has also laid out a series of measures to ensure courts get tough on anyone dishonoring the uniform and a guarantee of 30 years in prison for the killing of a police officer, the same punishment as for terrorists.

A sweeping coronavirus lockdown in Turkey sets off arguments and economic anxiety (Washington Post) Shopkeepers pulled their steel shutters down last week in a warren of tool shops near the Bosporus, to comply with a nationwide lockdown. But every third shutter or so was left open a crack, to allow the furtive flow of continued commerce. Hardly anyone in Turkey these days can afford to be locked down. Not small business owners, who were aching from the flailing economy and rocketing inflation even before coronavirus restrictions were imposed last week. And not even the government, which permitted a glaring exception when it said foreign tourists, a critical source of foreign currency, would be allowed to travel the country freely, while telling Turkish citizens to stay home. In the 12 days since the lockdown began, the restrictions have set off soaring economic anxiety, arguments and public irritation. With infections and deaths surging to new highs, few disputed the measures were necessary. Rather, complaints have centered on the way they were imposed, with official edicts viewed as capricious or baffling that critics say have failed to insulate the country from further economic harm. The lockdown has undermined repeated official assurances that Turkey was faring better than many countries in the world. And the rules, from the well-intentioned to the bizarre, have landed on a public that is in no mood for more restrictions, especially this late in the pandemic.

India’s COVID-19 deaths cross quarter million as virus ravages countryside (Reuters) India’s coronavirus deaths crossed a quarter million on Wednesday in the deadliest 24 hours since the pandemic began, as the disease rampaged through the countryside, overloading a fragile rural healthcare system. Boosted by highly infectious variants, the second wave erupted in February to inundate hospitals and medical staff, as well as crematoriums and mortuaries. Experts are still unable to say with certainty when the figures will peak.

Chinese Population Growing At Glacial Pace (Guardian) Despite efforts to increase birthrates in the past half a decade, China is currently seeing its slowest population growth since the 1960s. On Tuesday, the government released the results of its once-a-decade census, saying the overall population of China grew to 1.41178 billion in the 10 years leading up to 2020, a slowdown that was expected, but still worrisome for the future of the country. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, there were officially 12 million babies born in 2020, 2.65 million fewer than were born in 2019. China ended its one-child policy in 2015 to encourage more births, but the annual growth rate of 0.53% is the lowest since the early 1960s when China was dealing with the aftermath of tens of millions killed by famine. Replacing the one-child with the two-child policy has done little to stimulate population growth over the past few years. According to Dr. Ye Liu, a senior lecturer at King’s College London, “the government had to address the intersecting factors behind the low birthrate, which include rampant workplace discrimination against women of childbearing age and ‘scandalously low’ public childcare funding.”

Amcham finds 42% of members surveyed are planning or considering leaving Hong Kong (CNBC) A survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong found that 42% of respondents are considering or planning to leave Hong Kong, with more than half citing their discomfort with the controversial national security law imposed by China. Various media outlets have reported anecdotes of people or businesses leaving Hong Kong following the clampdown by Beijing. And the Amcham survey offers a glimpse of the sentiment among the expatriate community in Hong Kong. “Previously, I never had a worry about what I said or wrote when I was in Hong Kong,” said an anonymous respondent to the Amcham survey. “With the NSL, that has changed. The red lines are vague and seem to be arbitrary. I don’t want to continue to fear saying or writing something that could unknowingly cause me to be arrested,” the person said.

Hamas launches more rockets, Israeli jets strike Gaza as casualties mount (Washington Post) Violence between Israelis and Palestinians entered its fourth day as rocket attacks on Israeli cities and airstrikes in the Gaza Strip continued early Thursday and casualties climbed on both sides. Sirens blared through the night across Israel as the militant group Hamas fired 130 rockets from Gaza, with at least one striking a suburb of Tel Aviv, causing injuries and significant damage, according to Israeli officials. In Gaza, residents awoke on the normally joyous Eid al-Fitr holiday to pillars of smoke rising from sites bombed by Israeli forces, which said they had conducted overnight operations against Hamas, which controls Gaza. Gaza’s Health Ministry said the death toll rose to 69 Palestinians, including 16 children, the Associated Press reported. Seven Israelis, including six civilians and one soldier, have been killed, the Israeli army said Thursday morning. The Israeli army has struck 600 targets in Gaza since the conflict began, according to spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, who raised the possibility of a ground assault on Gaza. Clashes also continued overnight on the streets of Israeli cities between Jewish and Arab Israelis, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce he would deploy the military to quell the “anarchy.” Some 400 people were arrested overnight following riots throughout the country, the Times of Israel reported early Thursday, citing police. It added that 36 officers were injured.

[zhanenaomi]

It must be exhausting to be so weird all the time

Earlier, I saw a clip on the BBC Facebook page of Original Flava (a British-Caribbean duo creating recipes), making some bbq jerk burgers. As is my bad habit, I checked the comments for the inevitable racist comment about the BBC trying to be “woke” for showing people that black people exist in the UK. There I found a random account, posting a youtube clip of the late Dame Vera Lynn singing ‘Land of Hope and Glory’. This comment was obviously in reference to the fact that the BBC recently announced that ‘Rule Britannia’ and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ would be performed without words at the Proms (only for this year). This, again obviously, is the fault of all black people (including Original Flava) and absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that we are in a global pandemic of a virus that is easily spread by loud singing. The thing that disturbs me most about these comments is less the blanket assumption that all black people just sit around foaming at the mouth at the sheer idea of colonial lyricism, and more that this random person had clearly just copied the link to this video to post on any video they saw with a black person in it. Whether that video was about black people barbecuing, black people singing, black people talking about the economy, they were ready to own us with a youtube video of a song literally none of us will click on and listen to. It just made me think, surely it is exhausting to be so weird all the time?

Now, comments like this are admittedly pretty harmless, especially given the fact that they present that the person commenting is much more hurt than anyone else in this situation. However, by far the most disturbing thing I saw in the BBC comments that day, was on a Children in Need post. BBC Children in Need announced that they would specifically be donating £10 million to black children (a thing that is reasonably necessary given that 46% of BAME children live in poverty) (also this will be going over the course of 10 years, not a one time payment). By all intents and purposes, it is highly likely that vast amounts of Children in Need money were already going to black communities, given they go to… British children that are in need. The post in question was clarifying on false reports that they were giving money directly to the Black Lives Matter organisation, and in response many people said that since the BBC were now giving money to black children, they would no longer give money to the BBC. This, despite the fact that Children in Need fundraises year-round, and raised almost £50 million during their official appeal night last year and has raised more than £1 billion since 1980, and so £10 million over ten years is likely a drop in the ocean for this organisation. Way to throw your toys out of the pram, right guys? “If disadvantaged black kids are getting my money, then no disadvantaged kids are getting my money”! What a bizarre world view to have! It must take up a lot of time and energy to not only decide that giving money to disadvantaged children of colour in a country where they’re more likely to be disadvantaged than white children is racist for some reason, but then also to camp out in random Facebook comment sections talking about how you hate this alleged racism so much that you will be boycotting a charity because of it. Remarkably wild. Amazingly wild. Incredibly wild.

The last Facebook comment section weirdness I want to talk about is the reaction to news involving arrests, crime, and police brutality, most specifically the “If you do nothing wrong, the police will leave you alone” argument. First of all, tell that to yer man Harry Maguire. Second of all, there is police data stating that between March and May, you know, those months when we were knee deep in the throes of a global pandemic that is disproportionately killing black people, 21,950 stops and searches on young black men were carried out in the capital, approximately 80% of which lead to no further action. So if we’re keeping score, not only is the most expensive defender in the world not exempt from being harassed by police when his account suggests no wrongdoing on his part, but around 18,000 young black men were put directly in harms way by being searched by police without masks (and obviously without social distancing) in the midst of a pandemic, for no crime other than being black and maybe having a nice car. The reason I bring up Harry Maguire is because I would assume that most British people believe and support Harry Maguire over the Greek police, and none of them would ever use the “no crime, no police intervention” argument towards a news story about him. You know, like they did when George Floyd died. The point here is that people in these comments like to pretend that they are indiscriminate. They like to say “I don’t care if you’re rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight (insert identity here), if you’re getting arrested you must have done something wrong” which is simply just not true, and the fact that you don’t say these things when a white British footballer is brutally arrested is very telling. It shows who you assume to have being “doing crime” when they were apprehended versus who you assume to be innocent until proven guilty. Because the fact of the matter is that you DO care whether someone is black or white or poor or rich and the like, you obviously do. And its weird to lie about it to save face in Facebook comments. Ain’t you tired, Miss Hilly? (I’m assuming you all understand that reference given the unnecessarily large amounts of people who rushed to watch The Help after the BLM protests began earlier this year).

These things are all interconnected, because I’m sure that these keyboard warriors had some similarly angry takes when Stormzy offered scholarships to black students aiming to go to Cambridge University, and love to talk about “black on black crime” when black people are invited onto news outlets to talk about institutional racism in the police force. What this comes down to, is a clear lack of critical thinking and a clear racial bias. We know that crimes like theft and drug dealing tend to be crimes of necessity. No one steals bread and milk for the “thrill of the chase”. Poverty and crime are intrinsically linked. So why are you so hellbent on preventing black people from receiving assistance to escape poverty? If you want crime to reduce, then you should also want poverty to reduce, this is just the truth. If you don’t see how crime in black communities links to socioeconomic status in these black communities, then you probably (consciously or unconsciously) believe that nothing can be done to help black people; we are just inherently bad, born with a criminal gene. Suffice to say, this is a racist thought to have. Even when black people do manage to “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps” this also does not mean we’ll be treated favourably by the general public. The nation’s favourite punching bag is a black woman who was born into a low income household, attended Cambridge University, worked in the Civil Service and became the first black female MP in this country; this is of course Diane Abbott, who unfortunately receives half of all the abuse sent to female MPs overall.

Although I started out joking about how these people are just weird, the more I write, the more uncomfortable I feel. Is there a way out? Is there anyway we can win? Is our destiny to win the bet, just to be shot in the face by our loan sharks and have our proverbial jewellery shop ransacked (metaphor working on the assumption of your knowledge of the film Uncut Gems)? Its one thing to say weird things in video comments, it’s another to actually truly believe them. In the wake of the recent shooting of Jacob Blake, I’ve witnessed a spate of comments making statements about the case that are simply not true – things that have never been reported by the police or any credible news outlets. What do you gain from lying about these things? I guess you gain more public distrust in the black community and more animosity towards BLM protesters. I assume that’s what these people are aiming for, since I can see no personal benefit to lying about a case (unless you are the actual police officers involved in the shooting?). I actively try and stop myself from hopping into comment sections now because honestly and truly, it’s one of the most exhausting things to see hundreds of people talk about how bored they are of black people appearing on their screens. I’m sorry that my presence tires you out, guys. I’ve been staying off of Twitter because it’s good for my mental health to not be dialled into the ~discourse~ 24/7. It’s sad the way that these things often make black people feel that they are the ones who need to pull away in order to protect themselves. Dawn Butler has tweeted about how many young black women tell her they can’t see themselves pursuing a career in politics because of the sheer amount of hate they see black MPs receive. I want black children to receive financial support without fear that the rest of the world hates them for it. I want black people to get uni places and jobs without hearing others say that they got it because of their skin, rather than their merit and potential. I want black people to be present in the public eye without having to report racial abuse against them to the police on a weekly basis. The way that Britain works is that Britain has been and always will be, a multicultural nation. This is the result of the British Empire that we’re all oh so proud of. Therefore, (and this is not controversial to say), British people descended from individuals born in Empire nations deserve to live in Britain without constant apology for our existence, our actions, and our criticism of our government. Yeah, I bet its exhausting to act in such a bizarre way on social media. But imagine how tired we are.

 References:

Children in Need is not donating £10 million to Black Lives Matter - https://fullfact.org/online/children-in-need-blm/?fbclid=IwAR0RfWtsHKxeFGv8PBrY64J-QoqpiEWb3Td1nPE9WvYvZXTuksIB3ZOET9k

BBC Children in Need’s 2019 Appeal raises an incredible £47.8 million - https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2019/cin-total

Child poverty facts and figures - https://cpag.org.uk/child-poverty/child-poverty-facts-and-figures

Met carried out 22,000 searches on young black men during lockdown - https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/jul/08/one-in-10-of-londons-young-black-males-stopped-by-police-in-may

Diane Abbott more abused than any other female MP during election - https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/05/diane-abbott-more-abused-than-any-other-mps-during-election

[flight-of-the-sacred-eagle]

I think I’m just gonna do one for everyone at this point because the ace attorney fandom needs more headcannons so if you want to suggest a character, go for it! (I’ve done Apollo and Clay but I’m always down to do more)

Anyways, here’s the purest prosecutor ever, Klavier!

-Klavier is a huge animal nerd. He loves all animals, especially rats and dogs, though he knows with his job he couldn’t really care for a high energy animal

-That being said, he does have Vongole who he spoils beyond belief because she’s a good girl and wasn’t given the love she deserves before Klav got her

-Despite what the media speculates, he actually lives in a rather standard apartment, at least, compared to what some celebrities live in (it does take up pretty much half of a floor, but it doesn’t have a pool or anything big. Just a recording studio)

-Klavier wouldn’t be able to pick between music or law. He is equally passionate about both and even when he’s on tour, he brings his law books

-He has two cars and two motorcycles, a Gavinners car and motorcycle for when he wants his fans to come say hi and an older motorcycle and car for when he’s trying to be inconspicuous

-Guy is really touchy at home, to the point where he’s got his arms wrapped around Apollo the second they get into his apartment (or Apollo’s apartment)

-He would die for Apollo.

-He has more money than he knows what to deal with (like, a hundred million or so) and he pampers Apollo so much

-Actually, if you’re his friend, be prepared to receive random expensive gifts because he’s the guy who literally cannot pass by something that reminds him of someone

-He was kind of shoved to the side as a kid, which is part of why he loves performing so much

-Kristoph always showed him affection though, so Klavier trusted him blindly

-Kristoph was his motivation to get into law, Professor Courte was the one to instill the ‘always look for the truth’ ideal in him, and Edgeworth is the reason he became a prosecutor instead of a defense attorney

-He and Daryan were super close, and he cried/drank himself to sleep the night he was proven guilty

-He originally stopped the tour to find Apollo and either embarrass or destroy him, but the second he saw him he threw that plan away because he instantly got a bit of a crush on him

-Despite being a total smooth flirt on the outside, he is an anxious mess on the inside whenever he’s near his crush

-He actually really likes his long hair, because he enjoys being able to style it

-He has big, boxy glasses with a purple frame because he can see maybe a foot in front of him without glasses or contacts

-He is a sleep cuddler and will cuddle anyone in the same bed as him (which is usually Apollo)

-He has freckles which he hates so he hides them with foundation

-He has about ten albums worth of songs he will never release because they’re too personal (he has songs about his feelings over Kristoph betraying him, songs about his manipulation, songs about Daryan, about 10 songs about how much he wanted to tell Apollo he loved him... pretty much everything) because he writes songs as an outlet for his emotions

-Klavier is an anxious mess most of the time, but is good at keeping it together (which is in part because he adopted the ‘I’m fine’ chant Apollo and Clay have)

-He is a total guitar buff and can tell you everything about his guitars and has a list of guitars he wants

-His wardrobe consists mostly of Gavinners gear, although he has a thing for soft sleep pants and plain old shirts

-He wears his hair in a messy bun when he works at home

-He is a phenomenal cook and baker and loves to do it

-Klavier is a calm, cool, and suave man on the outside but is a swirling mess of emotions on the inside and just wants to forget about his past and focus on Apollo and their future

[vmfx]

WE DON’T DO THAT HERE.

I just disclosed to all of my co-workers that I have a radio show. They all seem very enthusiastic and extremely positive about it. For that I am very lucky because every day I work with them they usually have nothing good to say. They are the 17 to 25 crowd running on alcoholic fumes, weekend bars, Androids, Yankee games, hanging with “the guys”, and typical basic girls. So it comes as no surprise as to what their mentality is.

When I say they’re enthusiastic, I mean that they light up. They light up with an obvious hard-on because at first they think I’m on a big-name radio station and I play the hottest in Top 40 and pop. “It’s not like that. I dee-jay for a college station” I tell them. But that’s OK. They still think it’s awesome that I play music over the air and emanate their rooms, car stereos, and laptops. Then come the same questions I get asked every week because either someone new discovers what I do or they easily forget and we needlessly re-start the same conversation all over again. Or they’re trolling.

“What time do you go on?” “What music do you play?” “Are you on every week?” “Where is the radio station you DJ at?” “Do you go on the mic and talk?” “How long are you on for?” “Do you take requests?” “Do you do shout-outs?” These are valueless questions I normally don’t answer to because I can’t be bothered with them; questions asked in an obvious kindergarten fascination that I rather not waste my time with and would rather move on without having to focus on such intellectual mediocrity. In fact, the answers to all of these questions can be answered by simply listening to my show. There.

One of my co-workers decides he wants to be funny and impress his friends. He asks me if I ever do my “radio” voice on the air, and then proceeds give it his best attempt at it:

“This…is…Dee Jay _______…on 107.5…FM…WQXZ, New York! Playing…the…hottest hits. Ten. In a row. Non-stop!”

Heads up to no one in particular: it’s nice for people and friends to approach me and be interested in what I do, and I appreciate it. I really do. And then there are those who are into it but then proceed to define me by impersonating their best stereotypical zesty action-packed radio voice, complete with man-made astro-blaster laser sound effects from an action-figure maturity.

Please stop. It’s not funny, you’re not funny, and no one is laughing. That’s not what happens on my show. All I do is play music and be myself as usual. That’s all. It’s not WBLI, Z100, or Now FM if that’s what you were thinking. And since it’s not right to try and define who you think I am to satisfy your piss-poor expectations, I’m sure you wouldn’t like it if I defined your life by pointing out your poor choice of clothing, your lack of real understanding, your never-ending stupidity, why your parents still make your bed, or why you have been dateless all your life.

Another pointless obstacle course I had to go through was that another co-worker tried guessing what music I play on my show in the form of a yes-or-no question-and-answer session. My previous answer of “a lot of music you wouldn’t like or tolerate” and “anything that’s not mainstream” wasn’t good enough for him to comprehend to avoid this altogether. So our little elfin pretend game-show host, who is 23 but looks like he is 11, plays this game with me.

“Now, I’m going to tell you an artist or band name and you tell me if you would play it. Ready?”

“Sure.” I say with some hesitation and an exasperated breath, knowing exactly how this is going to go. Lord help me.

“Metallica.”

“No.”

“Bon Jovi.”

“No.”

“Kid Cudi?”

“No.”

“Whitney Houston?”

“No.”

“Justin Beiber?”

“No.”

“Ozzy?”

“No.”

“Taylor Swift?”

“No.”

“Adele?”

“No.”

“Drake?”

“No.”

“David Bowie?”

“Hmmm…”

“Ahhh! There’s a maybe! “Linkin Park?”

“Stop.”

“Chris Brown?”

“Stop?”

“Rick Astley?”

“NO. Stop.”

This was what I went through a couple of days ago. He was fully aware what I play on-air not only because I told him before but also I sent him the link to my show. But when you’re the department comedian, you need to depend on your co-workers for everyone’s amusement. So you blow right through convenience and force uncomfortable interactions for laughs at someone’s expense. He instead ended up giving me a list of artists I wouldn’t dare touch or even infect our studio’s CD drives, turntables, or computers with. And he knows this.

**********

My show states what I play: “punk, hardcore, female, grrl, electronics, hip-hop, hipster, trendy, art, industrial, breakbeats, experimental, techno, spoken word, rare Seventies, drum and bass, reggae, lo-fi, and even noise”. It also says “no Top 40, no Billboard, no pop, no American Idol, no Nielsen Ratings, no Clear Channel.” Why would I waste my time playing artists that are already being played ad nauseum on pop stations, car commercials, malls, restaurants, movies, and soda ads millions of times over? And why would I have to explain myself to people who clearly don’t deserve it?

It’s simple. On my show I play everything other stations and outlets won’t. Being it’s a college radio station, we don’t get money from corporate sponsors but instead grass-roots community members, students, administration, and other people listening in around the world to donate money to us. That means we are not told what to play, rather we play whatever we want, artists who otherwise have almost zero chance of getting airplay. I can actually educate my listeners by playing Merzbow, Einsturzende Neubauten, Sonic Youth, or Aphex Twin instead of brainwashing them. So, why would I waste valuable airtime on artists who already have endless amounts of it?

Another thing: requests. I don’t ask for them and I won’t play them. Why would I jeopardize the show’s good looks if someone asks me to play Nickelback when I play music like Crystal Castles, Cold Cave, The Dead Boys, and Death Grips? Where does some sappy commercial band that millions of people have on their death list have its place on my show? I want my listeners to enjoy my show and support me, not blacklist it and send me death threats.

Even more ridiculous are the dedications. Please. I prevent this from happening. I don’t want my show responsible for some trailer-park love-in somewhere in Alabama which produces five awkward results. Having me to say their subtle Valentine’s messages on-air with “cute” pet names is not cute at all. It makes my show turn into the Ryan Seacrest Hour. When that happens, I’ll fold this show and deny it ever existed.

Yes, I do understand that artists eat and need to keep on going to make a living. Once in a while I get unsolicited messages from bands that have absolutely nothing to do with the music I play. Just pass “GO” and collect your $200. Just because I play “everything” doesn’t mean I will since there are specifics. Even worse, a Dave Matthews’ cover band somewhere in the middle of Long Island, that aspires to be something else they’ll never be and tries to ride (no, suck it like a leach) the wave of popularity by holding actual music instruments while being incapable of writing original material will never make the cut. On another note…

“Check us out! We’re a four-piece homegrown funk-soul-band from somewhere in New Jersey and we’ve been compared to 311 and Smashmouth…”

...and that is where I hit the delete button. I don’t like it when music comes to me, I like it when I come to music unless I ask for it. I don’t like to feel obligated in having to play your music or worse having it forced down my throat Linda Lovelace-style. I don’t want your obsolete already-done jam-funk music and double that if it’s from the late 90’s (because who here thinks the late 90’s was the worst time for new music ever?) I don’t ever want your low-resolution color-copy pixilated artwork with your homemade CD-R with paper decal. In fact, why am I still on MySpace? That was so 2006.

**********

It’s been a month since the start of my on-going show and my co-workers are getting very tiresome. The same questions over and over again and not once has anyone tuned in. Not that I don’t want them to tune in or even care if they listen, but what’s the point in wasting time if people who are interested in something don’t do it? That’s why I decided to no longer talk to them about my show. I’m only wasting my breath, time, and energy. You can’t declare to do something and not do it. That’s how people take points away from you.

And as always, the instant I declare that I will no longer bother in discussing my show anymore, another moron standing right next to me starts asking questions again. “What is your show called?” “What time is it on?” “What number is it?” Perhaps it is best not to have certain people listening in. Even better, it’s best not to converse with them.

[alexsmitposts]

Why Nagorno-Karabakh and Why Now? Several months ago, I wrote that things had been tense on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone since the collapse of the USSR, but only now are we hearing of a resumption of active hostilities, the deployment of heavy weaponry and heated engagements. Observers on the ground have no doubt that the heaviest fighting in years is going on, and this is only the early stages of what may develop into a larger geopolitical conflict, involving proxy sources. Each side is posting videos of their forces destroying the heavy armour of the other. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia may be playing to a domestic audience by mobilising, but Turkey is involved too. As ever, anything involving military aggression in support of an ally also plays well for a Turkish domestic audience. Outside meddling in the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict is nothing new, and one should keep in mind that much is below the surface. Different actors have different reasons for wanting this conflict to either remain frozen or escalate, and what happens will be governed by how much these actors respect each other, or don’t. Moscow and Washington may be happy for the conflict to stay frozen, as they can then pursue their own agenda, goes the traditional theory. Those who don’t like either Moscow or Washington, either now or historically, see a potential geopolitical victory over both sides in resolving the conflict by force when the big boys have failed to do so. All the while neither country fully develops, and the status quo is maintained, at least in the case of Azerbaijan. After thirty years, negotiations have not worked and the populace of Azerbaijan is tired, seeing others spout off about “territorial integrity” while not being interested in restoring its own. Mutual Cards House Select Committee on Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) was the first US Congressman to condemn Azerbaijan’s alleged pre-emptive attack back in July, saying, “I am very concerned by the recent provocative and destabilising actions taken by Azerbaijan in recent days along the Armenian border, including the shelling of Armenian soldiers.” His diatribe continued with “how these actions must also be viewed in the context of Azerbaijan’s consistently bellicose rhetoric towards Armenia and Artsakh, and its refusal to allow international monitoring of their borders. I urge the State Department to make clear to all parties the need for restraint and diplomacy, and reduced tensions.” Making such statements about one side of a conflict is hardly going to reduce tensions. But Schiff is talking to Armenian donors to his campaign chest, and Armenian voters in his district. The Armenian lobby has always been better organised than the Azeri one, another factor which might propel Azerbaijan to war against what it sees as the rest of the world. But that very imbalance of international support can be used to win friends. Back in the 90s MEGA Oil, a US-CIA proxy company, was importing fighters from Afghanistan to fight on the side of Azerbaijan to keep some balance on the battlefield. The Azeris could not fight, as they lacked training and equipment, and seemed to have no taste for it. But an Armenian victory would have benefitted Russia, its greatest ally, more than the US, and, however, much the US listens to Armenians, it wouldn’t want that perceived threat to its own interests. Turkey obviously supports Azerbaijan, as it is a fellow Turkish nation. Once again, the Turkic Council, this little-known international forum few are interested in, is showing that it is more ruthless than any other in achieving its aims, which are ultimately about the religious and ethnic cleansing of the highest order. Turkey now needs to relocate Syrian operatives and other US/Saudi trained and paid “freedom fighters,” and is glad the opportunity this long-frozen conflict presents. With all sides playing what appears to be a very big game of chicken, a sudden influx of mercenaries with nothing else to do is certain to change the situation in Turkey’s favour—or at least that was the plan. All Of A Sudden The conflict has been more or less frozen since 1994 when Armenia occupied not only Karabakh itself, which is ethnically Armenian, but several districts surrounding it, which are not. Armenia argues that this has actually prevented further conflict, but the US used the same argument to destroy the Native American population, and Argentina’s “disappeared” died of the same logic. Things are spinning in a different direction now with offensive fighting, and pro-war rallies in Baku. Several weeks prior to the start of fighting in July I personally saw lots of Green Evergreen containers, freight forwarding company, crossing the Georgian border. Border guards and customs officials both told me that it was not possible to check them, but agreed that weapons were within. I wouldn’t put anything past Ankara either, despite the danger of Turkish engagement in the Caucasus inviting an immediate and strong response from Moscow. The two governments have already locked horns in Syria and Libya, but this has not dissuaded Turkey from pursuing an ever more openly aggressive international agenda. Sheep in Wolves’ Clothing The bits and pieces I have read about who has started it this time just don’t add up. What is written says nothing, which is why I am all the more suspect, especially about pro-war protests. Take for example, “… thousands of protestors rallied earlier in the centre of Baku, calling on the government to mobilize troops and retake Nagorno-Karabakh. News outlets estimated that 30 to 50 thousand protestors gathered in front of the parliament building.” Why now, and why is this one of the international news items chosen to be reported? If the Azeri are tired of this frozen conflict, tens of thousands of them are not going to come into the streets demanding further engagement with it unless they think they can end it on terms they find acceptable. So, who has guaranteed what, and why are they bothering? However, the move towards conflict is still more likely to have come from the Azeri side. Armenia has done pretty well out of international sanctions and blockades imposed since 1994. These have enabled it to remain friendly with Russia, its only real supporter, and find a way for good terms with the West, without compromising its national independence. No other regional state can do this, but if the conflict ended, Armenia would have to find a wider group of friends and sink back into the pack like the rest. It is money paid by US and Turkish defence contractors, and therefore by the US government indirectly, which is painting the conflict in a new light. Azerbaijani oil prices are low, Dutch Disease is running rampant, there is little diversity in the economy and corruption is well-ingrained and supported by networks of patronage (especially the ruling family). Armenia has similar problems. The Pashinyan government has been highly criticised by a wealthy and influential political and business figure, Gagik Tsarukyan, and some legal and political backlash has been felt in this case. The trial of former president Kocharyan is also sputtering along in fits and starts, and a major reform package directed at the country’s Constitutional Court has also brought up significant controversy. But none of that dents Armenia’s dependence on Russia, and the benefits it is gaining from that which the US never wanted it to. It seems the US wants Armenia back in the pack, and this is the way of getting it there. Certainly, it will act as this is a regional affair to be sorted out by the local players, diplomatically or by brute force. Old Hands Make Light Work Who might be linking these indirect US government funds to the Azeri side? No one is ever likely to put their head above the parapet. But as often happens in this region, the name Matthew Bryza is one which keeps coming into the frame. Bryza was once the US Ambassador to Turkey, and subsequently Azerbaijan. He is married to Zeyno Baran, a Turkish-born foreign policy analyst at the Hudson Institute. She has worked with Neo-Con think tanks in the past, which is why Bryza kept insisting in interviews that he no longer worked for the (Bush) White House but for the State Department, even when he was not being asked a question about this. In 2005 Baran told a US Senate hearing that she opposed the Congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide, a position generally seen as partisan as that of Richard Verrall’s book on the Nazi atrocities, “Did Six Million Really Die?”At the same time, Bryza was busy telling reporters that Turkey was his “second home,” and was removed as Ambassador when he too made statements opposing the Armenian Genocide. Bryza is no longer a diplomat. He claims to earn his living as a consultant on “business and democratic development,” which is a not very subtle way of saying that he is still finding new markets and areas of influence for his friends, but is no longer restricted by diplomatic protocols. But he is still a regular visitor to Turkey and is a board member of Turcas Petrol, which is linked to the Party of War in the US and the corporate interests behind it. His explanation is that Turcas is “a private company that is traded on the Istanbul stock exchange” but “has no affiliation of any sort with the Turkish Government (or the Azerbaijani Government). In fact, the Turkish Government’s energy policies often work against the commercial interests of Turcas.” This is despite the fact that Turcas is an affiliate of SOCAR, the Azerbaijan state oil company. Through this, the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments either own, fund or sponsor most business in the Caucasus, thereby buying off many politicians along the way. In Georgia in particular, you see a connection with SOCAR (share ownership, personnel, supply) whenever you look at the lists of business owners, or investigate the many businesses whose known real owners do not appear on the published lists. This helps explain why Georgia, having partly reformed itself since the Saakashvili years, is no longer the regional arms smuggling hub but has simply exchanged illegal arms for semi-legal oil. Turkish and Iranian business interests have been subject to investigation in Georgia on charges of oil smuggling. New, modern-day versions of MEGA Oil, US-funded companies, have inevitably been involved. These include Frontera Resources, a company which once ostensibly left Georgian, but re-entered it when a new US Ambassador was appointed. Following this, the Government of Georgia suddenly decided not to terminate its contract with Frontera Resources Georgia Corporation, under hard US pressure, and allowed the company to continue operating in part of the original contract area, where oil has been produced since Soviet times. The justification used for this at the time was that this was necessary, “especially in times of low oil prices and heating up conflicts.” The phrase “heating up” cannot refer to new conflicts but to dormant ones which are starting again. Making such a comment casually, when talking about a seemingly unrelated issue, is an old trick for establishing in the minds of listeners that everyone knows a conflict is going to heat up again. Which conflict is being referred to, and to whom is it inevitable that the fighting will resume? You Know Who Still Knows Too Much Do we have anything else which will support this assertion? In the words of an old radio show, “It’s That Man Again.” If the US is up to something by proxy, it always chooses the same, compromised mouthpiece. The aforementioned Mikheil Saakashvili, the President of Georgia when Bryza was the US envoy to the region, can’t live in Georgia anymore because he is wanted there on a multitude of criminal charges. Having been ratlined out to Ukraine and given a job in its government, he was also expelled from there facing more criminal charges. He has since lived in Poland and Hungary, also US allies like the other two countries, where he likewise faces multiple criminal charges. Saakashvili has more criminal indictments against his name than Al Capone and Pol Pot put together. Yet his US protectors (for now) present him as a politician and buy him column space in newspapers that otherwise don’t care about him, or are sick of seeing his name. Misha has suddenly reappeared from wherever he is hiding now with the following statement: Nagorno Karabakh is Sovereign Territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan and nothing will change it. What does he have to gain by saying this, especially now, given how many Armenians live in Georgia, and he ruined his own relations with Azerbaijan by making advances to Aliyev’s wife? All Saakashvili has to live for is the continued protection of his handlers. They want to build a climate of opinion in which everyone expects Azerbaijan to go to war with Armenia over the injustice of the Armenian occupation. The Azeri government and people may not be interested, but they can easily be blackmailed or at least manipulated by international opinion pointing fingers at them for not doing what they expect, as if they are not worthy of support, independence, or office. However strong the Armenian lobby is, the US interest is paramount. An ongoing war, and funding committed to it, always ensures policy continuations in election years, regardless of who wins those elections. The US wants this war, and its Armenian lobby will donate more to politicians who blame Azerbaijan for it, in the hope of getting more US themselves in return if Azerbaijan is successful. The only question is how much Turkey will be blamed for pulling the trigger when it is all over.

[uk-news-talking-politics]

A plan for legalising cocaine, MDMA and amphetamines

By Steve Rolles

"The debate on drugs can often be heated and polarising; yet, on one point at least, there is a growing consensus: the 'war on drugs' has failed." So writes Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand, in the foreword to Transform's new book - 'How to Regulate Stimulants: A Practical Guide'.

It is hard to argue with. Despite untold billions spent over many decades, drug use, health harms and the size of illegal drugs markets continue to grow, bringing chaos, instability, violence and a sprawling global trade controlled by ruthless organised crime groups.

But accepting the drug war has failed begs the question: what is the alternative?

Drugs are here to stay whether we like it or not. Policy makers have a responsibility to pragmatically deal with that reality — not continue to chase the fantasy of a 'drug free world'. We have to find ways to manage drug markets in order to minimise harms. This is recognised in recent policy developments across the world — from more responsible tobacco regulation, to the growing moves towards cannabis legalisation.

This applies not just to cannabis, but higher-risk drugs. Stimulants - including cocaine, MDMA and amphetamines - are used by tens of millions of people each year, and yet they are rarely discussed in drug policy reform. In our new book, we outline practical proposals for how stimulant regulation could work in practice, in a way that protects health, reduces crime, promotes human rights and supports social justice.  We have drawn on lessons from alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and pharmaceuticals, and propose a carefully regulated approach:

MDMA, amphetamine pills, or cocaine powder would be sold in single adult use doses, in unbranded pharma-style packaging with clear content labelling and prominent health information and warnings.

Products would only be available to adults, with retail via dedicated pharmacy-style outlets, staffed by licensed professionals with specialist training to offer health and safety information to customers.

Retail outlets would be under the sole control of a dedicated government regulatory agency, with no other retail permitted. The idea for what is effectively a state retail monopoly on drug sales is not a new one. It is already seen with alcohol sales in Sweden for example, and recreational cannabis sales in several Canadian provinces. The aim is to allow prioritisation of public health goals, and removal of commercial profit incentives to initiate new users or increase use - learning from the grim history of unfettered alcohol and tobacco marketing. The regulatory agency would also license production activities, set prices, maintain strict quality controls and enforce total bans on marketing and advertising.  

State run pharmacy-style outlets selling unbranded products with prominent health warnings may not seem like much fun, but we are looking to ensure that demand for drugs is met in a way that optimises health and crime outcomes without promoting use. The focus is very much on managing the drug using experience to minimise risks, rather than creating a shopping experience to maximise revenue.

There is no one-size-fits-all model, so alongside the core model, we also propose that lower strength products such as coca-leaf be commercially available, like coffee or energy drinks. For high-risk preparations, such as crack cocaine and crystal methamphetamine, we do not propose a conventional retail model, but a harm reduction approach including options for supervised consumption spaces, substitute prescribing and wrap-around care.

The profit incentives of prohibition have tilted the market towards the most potent and risky drugs. It's easy to get crack on the streets of London but near impossible to get coca leaf should you seek a milder stimulant effect. The regulatory levers available under a regulated model - on dosage and preparation, price, and availability - could be used to tilt the market the other way, towards use of safer products, in safer ways, in safer environments. Regulation would also make talking about drugs, and how to manage and minimise drug risks, very much easier.

The proposals we detail are just the start of an important and urgently needed conversation. People agree that something needs to change. Now is the time to discuss what that change looks like. Transform has produced this book - and made it available as a free ebook - to inform and promote that discussion. We invite everyone to join this conversation, and help design a world not without drugs, but without the war on drugs.