#1. attack Ukraine

[alwida10]

Apparently, the modern-day-Nazi-party had a secret meeting where they discussed plans to deport immigrated people. Not immigrants. German citizens, who are descendants of immigrants. Apparently it resembles the plan the Nazis had last time.

Yes, it’s that party that keeps getting more and more votes, especially in the eastern parts, including Berlin (up to 32%).

This sucks. So. Much.

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

Burning Russian BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle, Ukraine, 2023. Source: ukr.warspotting.net

[ilthit]

When the Russian military intentionally ferries crowds of migrants to your border in wintertime, and then accuses your country of human rights violations and being run by fascists when you close the border to them, and they're not even wrong:

[sarcasticscribbles]

BOYCOTT EUROVISION FOR ISRAEL PARTICIPATION.

I am the Eurovision gay this time of year, I love this show. Not only is my country hosting 2024 but it's also in a city I love, but I can't watch as people sing about peace and love while Palestinians are getting killed by one of the participants.

I've complied a couple of petitions, open letters and information regarding Eurovision: Eurovision isn't the highest priority regarding Gaza, but this show is marketing & tourism for countries, Israel is using it to pink wash their politics

According to SVT, Swedish television network in charge of Eurovision 2024 in Sweden Malmö, Eurovision is apolitical, and therefore Israel qualify. They refer to any calls for boycott meaningless ( via )

SVT statement:

[ID: "SVT statement on the debate over Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest

Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest is generating debate and today a number of Swedish artists have called on the EBU to cancel Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. It is the EBU’s decision which public broadcasters may take part in the event, and as the host broadcaster, SVT follows the EBU’s decisions. The humanitarian suffering in this deeply complex conflict is devastating. Nobody can be left unmoved by the current situation in Gaza, or by the Hamas attack in Israel. We are also concerned about these developments. We understand and respect that groups of people wish to make their voices heard. As the host broadcaster, SVT has an ongoing dialogue with the EBU about the challenges of producing Europe’s largest TV-production in times of unrest. We are humbled by the task and are working to ensure the project can be carried out in the best way possible, with the vision that music unites." END ID]

Eurovision has always been political, and was created as a celebration of peace after WW2. Songs are statements, and EBU took action by banning Russia and Belarus for the invasion of Ukraine. It's a way to show sympathy and solidarity, which Gaza is in need of now.

Why Eurovision is so important to Israel is the opportunity of pink washing, and appearing liberal and LGBTQ-friendly, that the show encourages. This leads to great marketing and tourism for the country, alqueerian on twitter did a great thread about it:

[ID: Tweet from @ alqueerian on X formerly known as Twitter. Tweet: "A really quick thread on pinkwashing and why it’s wrong: pinkwashing is a term that was coined by LGBTQ Palestinians to specifically refer to the use of homophobia as a justification for israeli war crimes, ethnic cleansing, mass displacement, starvation etc." END ID]

Full thread

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Here are a couple of petitions, open letters and links to encourage the ban of Israel in Eurovision

And if all fail: we boycott

Here are two petitions for the ban of Israel: Petition 1

Petition 2

A list of emails and contact information for broadcasters regarding Israel participation: copy, paste and send. Document

It's created by verilybitchie on YouTube who also made a great call to action video I can recommend

[ID: Screenshot of verilybitchie youtube video "Genocide at the Eurovision Song Contest". The video is showing an article by Chris Lockeyer, news reposter, titled "Israel to compete at Eurovision despite boycott threats" The article says: "The European broadcast Union said its member organisations approved Israel's participation in the competition and it remains aligned with other competition organisations on its stance." The article is from December 19th, 2023. END ID]

And for Swedes, I think it's extra important for us to speak up; here's what we can do:

Open letter via Björk & Frihet, a charity in Skåne offer letters to sign but also have pdf version to print at home!

[ID: Photo from Björk & Frihet, a swedish charity offering open letters to sign to send to the government. "Stoppa folkmordet" as the letters are ladled, means "stop the genocide" END ID]

This is also a letter regarding the contest being held in Malmö, a city with a long history fighting for Palestine! Sign here

[ID: Vote for Swedes in Malmö to sign to protest Israel's participation in Eurovision. END ID]

Meanwhile, don't forget your daily clicks to help Palestine while we wait for EBU to stand by their words and prove we are united by music!

[ID: Iceland's Hatari holds up Palestinian flags during Eurovision in Tel Aviv, May 19, 2019. END ID]

[theladsaregoingmental]

One of the most disgusting things that "pro-palestine" people on this site do is saying 'if this happened in Ukraine everyone would be talking about it' and then:

1. The claim about Palestine is usually either false or massively exaggerated

2. That has happened in Ukraine. Every lie/ exaggeration you have told about palestine is true for Ukraine (see claims of a genocide, civilian deaths, killing members of the press etc)

3. No they wouldn't! Reporting of the attack on Ukraine has massively decreased because it isn't considered newsworthy, and especially on social media, you people are all too busy being rabidly antisemitic to care. If you can't blame the Jews and stan a genocidal terrorist group, support seems pretty thin on the ground.

[that-rad-jewish-girl]

Double standards are the name of the game when it comes to antisemitism “anti Zionism”.

“The pager and walkie attack was a declaration of war and a terror attack!” Okay….then what tf are all the rockets being launched over the northern border? Remember when Hezbollah bombed a soccer field and killed 12 children? What was that?

“The Palestinians are being killed - it’s a genocide!” No, it’s a war. What was Oct. 7th? Was that not a genocide? 1 million people have died from the Russia-Ukraine war…..is that a genocide? Are Ukrainians committing genocide right now by bombing Russia? How many civilians have died (on both sides)? Is that genocidal?

“Israel stole the land from Palestine and they need to give it back!!” I’m tired of this lie - it’s getting old. But even if you were right, what does it matter? I guess everyone who has ever migrated in the history of all time needs to move back? How far back should we go? The early white Americans were from England, sure, but before that they were from somewhere else. This is such an unproductive conversation to have it’s not even funny. I guess every country needs to close their borders and not allow any immigration. Oh wait! - you claim that’s apartheid and xenophobia. So the standard only applies to Israel?

“Israelis are white colonizers!” Again, a lie. A lie I’m tired of. But were we white when you put us in camps? Were we white when we were slaughtered for not being white? Were we white during every genocide to ever take place against our people? If you stuck me in front of a Nazi and said “she’s a Jew”, would that Nazi say I’m white? How dumb of a claim to say that we are white only because the most recent country some of us come from is a white one. Try applying that to any other ethnic or racial group. I guess every black person in the UK is white now. Why? Because they live in a white country. Ridiculous thought process.

Even more ridiculous is to talk of “Israeli occupation and colonialism” without talking about the history of Palestinians. Staging a coup in Jordan? Assassinating the Jordanian Prime Minister? When that didn’t work, they sent their troops to Lebanon instead. That’s why Hezbollah is in Lebanon today. That’s why they have control over Lebanon today. They went in as refugees before staging a coup and talking over the government. Hezbollah has direct control over much of the land there - only because of Palestinians invading under false pretenses and taking over. Native Lebanese people were slaughtered en masse, and many fled for their lives. But yeah, let’s talk about the big, bad, boogeyman Israel.

[batboyblog]

On Top of the totally fictional story of black immigrants eating their neighbors cats and dogs here are some more totally fictional stories Trump made up in the last month, does he believe these are real things that happened? or does he just not care at all if he lies making things up at will?

1 Harris and the military draft

At a rally in Las Vegas last week, Trump claimed his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is talking about forcing Americans to serve in the military: “She’s already talking about bringing back the draft. She wants to bring back the draft, and draft your child, and put them in a war that should never have happened.” That’s absolute bunk. Harris is not talking at all about bringing back the draft.

2 Harris’ CNN interview

Trump claimed during a Fox News event in Pennsylvania in early September that Harris “had notes” to assist her during the television interview she did with CNN in late August. He even performed an impression in which he portrayed Harris supposedly looking down at these notes. She didn’t actually have any notes.

3 Transgender children and schools

At an event held by a conservative group in late August, Trump claimed that schools are sending children for gender-affirming surgeries without their parents’ knowledge. He said, “The transgender thing is incredible. Think of it. Your kid goes to school and comes home a few days later with an operation. The school decides what’s going to happen with your child.” Trump’s campaign subsequently made clear to CNN that it could not find a single example of such a thing having happened anywhere in the United States. Parental consent is required for gender-affirming operations; schools have not performed or approved these surgeries for minors behind their parents’ backs. Even after Trump’s campaign demonstrated that it couldn’t substantiate the story, he repeated it days later at a Wisconsin rally in early September.

4 Harris and the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Trump told a vivid story on Fox News in late August about how President Joe Biden supposedly sent Harris to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022 in an effort to prevent an invasion of Ukraine. Trump claimed Harris was sent “to see Putin in Russia three days before the attack. She went. She said – she gave her case. He attacked three days later. He attacked three days later. He laughed at her. He thought she was a joke.” Trump also told a version of the story at the September debate. But this story, too, is wholly false. Biden never sent Harris to negotiate with Putin – in fact, the Kremlin said in July that Harris and Putin have never spoken – and Harris did not travel to Russia just prior to the invasion. Rather, Harris traveled to a conference in Germany to meet with US allies, including Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky.

5 Harris’ identity

Trump claimed at a convention of Black journalists in late July that Harris used to “only” promote her Indian heritage, then “all of a sudden” made a “turn” and “became a Black person.” Defending the claim, Trump reiterated at the September debate that Harris had “put out” at some point that “she was not Black.” None of that is true. Harris – who was raised in a Black community and graduated from a historically Black university – has embraced her Black identity since her youth. While she has also fondly discussed her South Asian heritage, she never “put out” that she wasn’t Black.

6 Harris’ 2020 primary performance

Trump has repeatedly claimed during the last month that Harris was so unpopular when she previously ran for the presidency, in 2019, that she was the very first candidate to drop out of the crowded Democratic primary. “She was one of 22 people that ran. She was the first one to quit,” he said at a Pennsylvania rally in late August. Not even close. In fact, 13 other Democratic candidates dropped out of the race before Harris did – including the sitting or former governors of Washington, Montana and Colorado; the sitting mayor of New York City; and sitting or former members of the House of Representatives and Senate.

7 Opinions of Roe v. Wade

Facing heavy criticism from Harris and others for appointing three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision in 2022, Trump concocted a tale that this unpopular decision fulfilled the wishes of “everybody” – including “every Democrat.” “Every Democrat, every Republican, everybody wanted Roe v. Wade terminated and brought back to the states,” Trump said on Fox News in late August. This is not even remotely accurate. Roe was consistently supported by a majority of the American public, and it was overwhelmingly popular among Democrats – with 80% support or better among Democrats in many polls.

8 Elections in California

At a September press conference in California, Trump claimed that “if I ran with an honest vote counter in California I would win California, but the votes are not counted honestly.” He had delivered an even more colorful version of the claim in an interview in late August, saying, “If Jesus came down and was the vote counter, I would win California, okay?” More rubbish. The votes are counted honestly in California, as they are in every other state; Trump loses California because it is an overwhelmingly Democratic state that has not chosen a Republican presidential candidate since 1988. He lost the state in 2020, fair and square, by more five million votes and more than 29 percentage points.

9 A ‘Man of the Year’ award in Michigan

Since 2016, Trump has told a lie that he was named “Man of the Year” in Michigan before he entered politics. Media outlets including CNN have repeatedly noted that Trump never got such an award and that the award doesn’t even appear to exist. But Trump claimed at a Michigan event on Tuesday that he has now been vindicated. “The press said, ‘Oh, it never happened.’ Well, then it did happen. They found out where it was,” Trump said. “But it was like 15 years ago, a beautiful area, but nobody remembered it; nobody remembered it all. All of a sudden, like through a miracle, they found out it did exist.” That’s a lie on top of a lie. The media has not discovered proof that Trump got a Michigan Man of the Year award. His campaign didn’t respond Wednesday to a request to explain what he was talking about.

10 Migrants, prisons and ‘the Congo’

For months, Trump has told a story about how “the Congo” has deliberately emptied prisons to somehow get its criminals to come to the United States as migrants. “Many prisoners let go from the Congo in Africa, rough prisoners,” he said at an August event in Arizona. At an August rally in Pennsylvania the week after, he said, “In the Congo, in Africa: 22 people deposited into our country. ‘Where do you come from?’ ‘The Congo.’ ‘Where in the Congo?’ ‘Jail.’” But Trump has presented zero evidence that “the Congo” has actually emptied any prisons for migration purposes. Representatives for the governments of both the Democratic Republic of Congo and the neighboring Republic of Congo have told CNN on the record that the claim is fiction, experts on the two countries say they have seen no evidence it is true, and Trump’s campaign has ignored requests to offer any substantiation.

11 The jobs revision

After the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics announced in August that its annual revision of jobs data found that the economy added about 818,000 fewer jobs than initially reported for the 12 months ending in March, Trump told a story about how the government had been planning to announce this downward revision “after November 5th,” Election Day, but was forced to do so before the election because of “a whistleblower” – “a patriot leaker.” Another fabrication. The Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly releases the preliminary revised data in August, and it had disclosed the precise date of this particular data release – August 21 – weeks in advance. William Beach, a conservative economist who was appointed by Trump to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, wrote on social media: “For those who think the big revision to the BLS jobs numbers ‘leaked’ and was meant to come out after the election, remember that BLS always announces its draft revisions in August and announced this year’s date, August 21, many months ago. It is important to check your facts.”

[snovyda]

Watched a documentary about the (now legendary) football games between the national teams of russia and Ukraine in 1998 and 1999. The sheer levels of imperialistic fascism the russians were displaying leading up to those games is just typical. And yes, both those games took place before putin came to power, russians have just always been like that.

Patches and pins "russian invasion of Ukraine 1998" were popular among the russian fans leading up to the first game in Kyiv:

The rhetoric in the russian media about Ukraine not really being a separate country intensified.

For the record, russia lost that game 3:2.

But all of this is nothing compared to the second game, in Moscow in 1999. Russia needed only to win in order to move on in the tournament. Ukraine could settle with a draw. And that is when the true madness unfolded.

Probably the best known episode was this headline in one of the biggest sports newspapers in russia:

You see, they had a player with the last name "Khokhlov". So, on the surface level, the headline says, "Kick, Khokhlov, save Russia!" However, if you read out the headline, it also says "Kick [slur word for Ukrainians], save russia!". The slogan is a paraphrase of one of the main slogans of the russian Black Hundreds (ultra-reactionary, ultra-nationalist pogromist monarchist movement in the russian empire in early 20th century), only in the original versions there was the slur for Jews there instead. The russians were very proud of that pun. It was everywhere at the time.

Vladimir Putin, who was the russian prime minister at the time, was present at the game. The way the russian commentators already went out of their way to keep singing his praises for no reason is a good indicator how russians tend to make a cult of personality around everyone who happens to be a figure of authority.

And then the game finished with a draw 1:1 after an unbeliavable goal by Andriy Shevchenko (and due to a mistake from russia's goalkeeper):

Putin got really upset. He stopped showing up at such sporting events for years after this.

The bus with the Ukrainian national team got attacked on its way to the stadium before the game (according to Shevchenko, russians threw bottles at it) and especially after the game (with all sorts of objects being thrown at it, from beer bottles to rocks).

Absolutely typical. And one of the clearest views of ruscism.

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - January 15, 2024

🎊 - As we embark on another journey around the sun, I am thrilled to bring you the first newsletter of the year, packed with inspiring, informative, and sometimes downright amusing stories.

1. Marijuana meets criteria for reclassification as lower-risk drug

Marijuana has a lower potential for abuse than other drugs that are subjected to the same restrictions, with scientific support for its use as a medical treatment, researchers from the US Food and Drug Administration say in documents supporting its reclassification as a Schedule III substance.

2. South Korea passes law banning dog meat trade

The slaughter and sale of dogs for their meat is to become illegal in South Korea after MPs backed a new law. The legislation, set to come into force by 2027, aims to end the centuries-old practice of humans eating dog meat.

3. After 20 years in a tiny cage, these 'broken bears' are finally feeling the grass beneath their paws

These bears, termed "broken bears" due to physical and psychological trauma from years of abuse, are treated at the Tam Dao rescue center with individually tailored diets, physiotherapy, and medical care. The bear bile trade, which involves extracting bile for traditional Asian medicine, has been illegal in Vietnam since 2005, but a black market still exists.

4. France just got its first openly gay prime minister.

Gabriel Attal is France’s youngest-ever prime minister at age 34 and the first who is openly gay.

5. Australian ‘builders without borders’ repairing war-torn homes and schools in Ukraine

Manfred Hin, a 66-year-old builder from Townsville, Australia, spent most of 2023 volunteering in Ukraine to rebuild homes and schools damaged by Russian attacks. Having contributed to over 50 house and a dozen school renovations, he worked with Ukrainian charity Brave to Rebuild, mentoring young volunteers and sourcing three tonnes of donated tools.

Inspired by Hin's story, Tasmanian carpenter Hamish Stirling also joined the efforts, learning Ukrainian, traveling to Europe, and volunteering for three months to help rebuild homes.

6. The age-standardized death rate from cancer has declined by 15% since 1990

The age-standardized death rate from cancer declined by 15%

Cancer kills mostly older people – as the death rate by age shows, of those who are 70 years and older, 1% die from cancer every year. For people who are younger than 50, the cancer death rate is more than 40-times lower (more detail here).

7. Germany Reached 55% Renewable Energy in 2023

In 2023, 55 percent of Germany’s power came from renewables — an increase of 6.6 percent, according to energy regulator Bundesnetzagentur, reported Reuters. Europe’s biggest national economy has a goal of 80 percent green energy by 2030.

---

That's it for this week :)

This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation here:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Also don’t forget to reblog this post with your friends.

[metalobrukht]

You all DO NOT fucking understand.

A “what did I do-o-o-o 😭😭😭 I'm just a little guy, I'm apolitical, what do you want from me-e-e-e 😭😭😭😭” russian is not a “good” russian. It is a product of russian propaganda they've got going on inside the country. It is what they've been brainwashed to think like. Their government feeds them contradicting lies and punishes for speaking up, so they sit quietly, not even wanting to learn about Kursk.

They went on a protest when there was no electricity due to infrastructure damage. They went on a protest abroad when a russian nazi singer got blocked on Spotify. Why don't they protest the war while living in Britain? Why do they either not give a fuck or attack Ukrainians abroad? It is THEIR choice to see Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine, Syria and then ploof on their backs receive belly scratches that Western folk happily provides.

They don't engage, then visit Crimea in the summer and run in complete bewilderment with tears on their faces when there's a bomb. What war? They're apolitical, guys. How could you? What did they do? Of coooourse they can call a Ukrainian a cowshed animal and still be apolitical (in russian of course, so you, their western friend, don't think bad of them). They can mock any language that got trapped under the empire however they please and not notice any oppressive undertones. You all did not hear what they think about Belarussian or Ukrainian — NOT when they're confronted, but when they speak in their space and in their language.

Image 1, “Dead languages of russia”

Image 2, “Guess why the fuck there are so many nationalities in ruzzian empire and why is that their culture is being erased. A bonus question: by whom? An extra hard question: do ordinary russians think that these people have the same social status as them? Do they think that some nationalities are subhuman?”

Of course they call for “peace”, because, you see, war is bad, because fuck the war! — because it's a surface-area nice thing they can say to get friends, because they're too “pure” to follow up with “they should give up so the killings stop giving me a bad reputation and I DO NOT GIVE A SINGLE SHIT about death when it's not on my Twitter feed”.

I know what a Westerner would think about this. At the very, very best, literally peak compassion I've met maybe twice, it would be: “Damn this is xenophobic, but I bet they're going through a lot right now, so I won't tell them that they're wrong”. And the funny thing is that I am not wrong. They're just nice to you, because your nation is not the funny one that belongs in the stables. If they're an opposition, they just want a better russia, not a free Ukraine.

And I'm talking about “leftists” here (not sure if it's the correct term, like, politically), the ones being befriended and cherished online. Shit the openly genocidal ones produce, which are many, is far beyond Western comprehension.

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

Destroyed BMP-1, likely belonging to Russia's 69th Separate Covering Brigade, 35th Combined Arms Army, Eastern Military District, Kherson region, Ukraine, 2023. Source:  Naalsio26

[greencheekconure27]

Honestly at this point I'm very curious to meet these very curious to meet these very moderate 1-cm-away-from-conservatism leftists that Tumblr claims are being falsely accused of being tankies all the time.

Because a) most people I see using the term ARE leftists themselves and b) nearly every time I see someone complain that "the term tankie has lost all meaning every leftist is a tankie now uwu" I open their blog and it has takes like "poor baby Russia is only attacking because NATO expansion and nazis in Ukraine" "USSR did nothing wrong ever" "the Uighur genocide isn't happening it's all US propaganda" etc

[cuterozhok]

On the night of July 23rd, russia attacked Odesa, a Ukrainian port city. The center of Odesa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The enemy is destroying historic buildings and lives. This night 19 people were wounded, 1 person was killed.

6 residential buildings, including apartment buildings, were destroyed. Two architectural monuments, a temple, were damaged. Dozens of cars were mutilated. Many buildings have broken windows, damaged roofs and facades.

Below you can see the photos before and after russian missile attack

Funds to help Ukraine right now:

u24.gov.ua

savelife.in.ua

prytulafoundation.org

❗️ Please share!!!

[qqueenofhades]

Man, the Russia/Ukraine war has led to a lot of terrible takes from far leftists. I have a mutual from Brazil, a self identified socialist, who is convinced that Ukraine is full of nazis. While they don't support Russia, they questioned why they have to be "pro-Ukraine" or "pro-Russia". They call Ukraine a "nazi hole" but call Russia merely "fascist". Am I wrong in thinking that they've been influenced by Russian propaganda? I know Ukraine does have a nazi/far right problem, but so does the US? And most European countries? idk they strongly hate the US/US government too, and it seems to create some kind of brainrot. at least they don't blindly support China or Russia like tankies do (nor identify with them), but it's still frustrating to take a neutral position on a pretty black and white situation.

I don't want to confront them 1) cause I'm not the type to argue over serious things like this and this may break our long friendship and 2) I'm not super educated on the nazi situation in Ukraine.

Anyway thank you for letting me rant in your inbox.

Yes, Russia has specifically focused its propaganda efforts on Latin America, Africa, and other regions that HAVE suffered from Western/European/American imperialism and are thus predisposed to take the worst view of them/believe that this situation is their fault somehow. This is similar to what the USSR did in newly postcolonial Africa in the 1960s and 1970s, positing themselves as offering the shared hand of communist brotherhood from Western oppressors. Because of more recent events like the invasion of Iraq, which was fully as unjustified as the invasion of Ukraine, Russian propagandists and their eager tankie/leftist foot soldiers have also got a lot of mileage out of "whataboutism." This is likewise an old Soviet propaganda technique designed to deflect any criticism of the actual situation by disingenuously asking "what about this other one!!!"

Likewise, the idea that Ukraine has a "Nazi problem" is itself propaganda. In the last election, far-right/Nazi-identified parties won barely 2% of the vote and AFAIK, no seats at all in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament). This is far lower than the nearly half of the USA voting for the far-right/Nazi-sympathetic Republican Party, and as noted, the far right elements in the UK and Europe. The idea that Ukraine is "full of Nazis" (with a Jewish president who just celebrated iftar with the Ukrainian Muslims/Crimean Tatars during Ramadan and instituted observance of Muslim holidays nationwide, very Nazi of him) is a line used by Russian propagandists to "justify" their attack and appeal to national memories of the Great Patriotic War (World War II) and the struggle against the Nazis, which is the central cultural grievance/memory in modern Russia. The Putin regime has referred to anyone they don't like, but especially the Ukrainians, as "Nazis" for a long time now, so it's supposedly their holy duty to kill them/commit ethnic cleansing/forcibly reunite the "fraternal" people of "Little Russia," as Ukraine has been called since the 17th century, with "Great Russia." And yeah, no.

Because the West and Europe has been pretty solidly on Ukraine's side, Russia has therefore cultivated countries like China, India, Brazil, etc, who have all suffered from Western interference and are looking to move into the first rank of global superpowers. This is, as noted, similar to the competing systems of influence built during the Cold War, but it also relies on much deeper Russian grievances that go back to the medieval era. Anybody who knows a thing about actual Russian history would therefore know that every single word it says about the Ukraine situation is a lie, but because that lie is useful for many other countries and fits into their own understanding of themselves, it is easy to repeat and act like it's a so-called superior moral position. This is also why US/American tankies so eagerly lap up Russian propaganda, because it plays into their moral sense of themselves as far better than the rest of the West and "righteously" discovering that the West is responsible for all the evil in the world etc etc. While non-Westerners are just helpless misunderstood puppets with no real agency or ability to make complex choices. This totally makes sense!!!

[faetthorn]

Probably my only contribution to the Pathologic fandom

Some important words below, if you're a patho fan take the time to read them

TW: pedophilia, SA, grooming, racism, colonialism

So I got into pathologic in july and almost instantly got hit with a post about the allegations from back in 2021 against Nikolay Dybowski, game creator and founder of Ice Pick Lodge. He’s groomed several girls ages 15-18 and inclusively has used his position as a member of HSE University in Moscow to do so. 3 years on and people have all forgotten this and are happily cheering for the bachelor route like nothing ever happened 

Yes I know you all wanna forget abt the uncomfortable situations, after all "what can we do" right? I wish I could just pull a switch in my brain and forget too, but I'm a victim of SA and child grooming, and I can't play this game without remembering what its creator did. The worst part is that the characters mean a lot to me. I got into pathologic while suffering from ptsd related nightmares and Daniil, Artemy and Clara brought me a lot of joy and comfort. Even now they and some elements of patho’s story mean the world to me. It hurts to be constantly reminded that everyone is against you, no matter how much you appreciate their work, no matter how much time and money you put into doing it.

I'd properly join the fandom and start calling for a boycott and for these allegations to be discussed and reminded of again but I just know it'll never happen. I'd be ignored or get a thousand replies "oh but the employees, they have nothing to do with it!!" "it's just a game!" "it'll get you nowhere!" “age of consent is x y or z in this country!” "stop being a vindictive little bitch!" "*insert rape threat here*" I expect to receive 0 support on this post and I'll block anyone I need to. Just wanted to let this out of my chest even if nothing will change: Petitions don't work, they never did and they never will. Passivity and politeness never got ME shit, at least.

DOXA, the rus student newspaper investigating these allegations was raided by police (1, 2) and recently considered an undesirable organization by the government. The courts and police would never do anything about this and they’re clearly more invested in persecuting student groups that have even the most basic feminist goals. HSE University didn’t get involved in any libel suits so as far as we know Dybowski wasn’t even fired. Not only is he the creator and chief writer of the games but he's also the head of the studio. Spreading awareness and boycotting is the only way justice can be made (at least in a way non-russians can participate). If you’re considering playing pathologic i cannot recommend it and i don’t want to be the reason someone gives more money to Dybowski. You don’t need more harmful shit when you have 2 games, a dlc and wonderful fandom content the game would never make canon. Hell, PIRATE all the games if you really need to. When the bachelor route comes out the IPL employees will have already been paid for it. Also, let’s not forget that WE DON’T KNOW where the profits we give will go. They might go to CP, they might go to the rus army attacking Ukraine and occupying former USSR territory and Syria.  

I wonder why it's so easy for you all to rightfully call to boycott anything related to zionism without making excuses but then when it's a pedophile with countless cases of grooming and very probably rape you all stay quiet and do nothing just because it's your precious little interests. It's almost like it's all performative

In the same vein, there needs to be a discussion about how violently racist this game is because this art came from anger and sadness. I’m not indigenous but i’ve followed native activism for years and i wouldn’t have the beliefs i have today without the opinions of indigenous people. I know feeling betrayed by the art you use to cope with how horrible reality is is tough. Not only does this game have extremely racist stereotypes and portrays natives as a monolith, but it’s also unsurprisingly misogynistic in an extremely colonial way (need i remind you of Willow, the way the herb brides are dressed or the fixation with portraying steppe people as woman-sacrificing brutes). Not to mention the extreme cruelty of patho 2’s endings. Which is way more insulting when it’s directly tied via the in-game use of Buryat language and inspirations to the native peoples of Siberia who Russia colonized and whose culture is still actively repressed, at a time when the weight of colonization (environmental catastrophe, poverty, sexual violence and more) makes indigenous people commit suicide at a way higher rate than any other ethnicity in many countries, and this includes the native people of Siberia who this game “pays homage” to (1). This fandom in general needs to start being way more critical and checking their own racism too. And to any native patho fans i’m obviously not here to tell you how to feel abt patho’s racism

Well, there it is. I have no hope left to ask anyone to boycott the bachelor route or the other projects Dybowski's created but if this makes you think about the things you throw money at it’ll be something

Edit: I apparently need to clarify something since certain people have been pestering me about it. I'll keep standing behind the part where I say the profits (not the money used to pay the employees, the PROFITS) might go to CP and the rus army and I'll expand on why. The CP part is more than obvious, after all we're talking about a guy who has been sexually abusing underage girls since allegedly at least 2012 with full impunity. The army part might seem like a stretch but if it does to you there's things you need to understand. It should already be common knowledge that misogyny and sexual violence play a HUGE part in colonialism and in russian colonialism it's no different. Dybowski is a misogynistic, violent abuser (because YES csa is violence, always), with racist, pro-colonial views as seen in pathologic. It's a REAL RISK. No pro-Palestine person would ever buy something from an israeli with Dybowski's track record who has given absolutely no statements on the invasion on Palestine while said invasion is ongoing, so the same should apply to Russia. And let me repeat once again: we are not responsible for the IPL employees' well-being and payment. Dybowski is.

[darkmaga-retard]

Introducing the top 10 news stories they chose not to tell you this week.

The Vigilant Fox

Sep 15, 2024

#10 - Whistleblower reveals how Big Tech is ALREADY rigging the 2024 election.

Google has the power to “turn a 50/50 split among undecided voters into a 90/10 split with no one having the slightest idea that they have been manipulated” simply by altering the search suggestions that appear as people type.

This was revealed by Dr. Robert Epstein in episode #2201 of The Joe Rogan Experience.

Epstein was chillingly told by someone in 2019, after his 2019 congressional testimony exposing the power of Google and other tech giants to manipulate public opinion and election outcomes, “I predict you’re going to be k*lled in some sort of accident in the next few months.”

While Epstein himself was not harmed, six people close to him have died in the past few years, including the tragic death of his wife in a suspicious car accident in what he believes to be a targeted attack.

Epstein stated that Google and the Big Tech companies are tracking you in ways you “have no idea the extent of.” He explained that even when you turn your phone off, it can still monitor you, which explains why phone makers no longer allow you to easily remove the battery.

Epstein pointed out that Google is feeding users content that swings them to their preferred stance on certain issues. For example, on abortion, Google is steering users towards pro-choice content, even if they know the user leans conservative.

Adding to how perverse Google’s influence can go, Epstein raised the shocking revelation that Google is actively trying to get Elizabeth Warren out of office.

But why? She’s a Democrat? Well, the reason why Google wants Warren out of office is because “she is one of the only Dems who’s gone on record … calling for Google’s breakup. They want her gone,” Dr. Epstein explained.

“And no one knows this except you and me,” he said to Joe Rogan. Well, a lot more people know it now.

SEE MORE REVEALING STORIES BELOW:

#9 - Putin puts the West on notice: long-range arms for Ukraine will mean ‘NATO at War with Russia.’

#8 -Kaitlan Collins dies inside as JD Vance turns ambush into glorious moment.

#7 - Kash Patel delivers a chilling Kamala Harris election prediction.

#6 - CNN’s Jake Tapper unexpectedly drops a devastating critique on Kamala Harris.

#5 - Bill Maher's TDS backfires as Laura Loomer threatens lawsuits over slanderous comments.

#4 - Joe Biden sends obscure messages as he’s spotted with a Trump hat TWICE.

#3 - Leaked U.S. Army documents uncover disturbing details about the violent Venezuelan prison gangs spreading chaos in America.

#2 - The World Economic Forum FINALLY tells the truth about COVID.

#1 - Whistleblowers reveal the woman who botched Trump’s security in Pennsylvania FAILED key Secret Service training exams.

BONUS INTERVIEW: Political insider breaks down the first presidential debate and what it means for the election moving forward.

Watch our exclusive interview with Larry Sharpe.

BONUS #1 - Ohio Duck Rescue Expert Shocked by Number of Bird Disappearances in Springfield, Believes Rumors Are “True”

BONUS #2 - Kamala Harris Gives Trainwreck Answers to Simple Questions in First Solo Interview

BONUS #3 - Secret Service Tackles Trump on Golf Course After Gunfire Erupts

BONUS #4 - Dr. Peter McCullough Shares Good News About Ivermectin

BONUS #5 - How to Get Ivermectin, Z-Pak, and More