#Central Delegations

[blerghie]

as much as i like dunyarzad i genuinely feel like collei should have been the one to have her role. we have a playable character with eleazar who feels useless because of her chronic illness AND has ptsd about one of the antagonists of the chapter who also confronted her master AND has a dendro vision that can be used as a plot point wrt lesser lord kusanali... but she barely had a role in the story??? come on now

[wpconsultantsandsolutionsllc]

[apas-95]

What criticisms do you have of direct democracy? Assuming it’s communist, as well as having laws about what can and can’t be voted on such as “no killing/disenfranchising the (blank) people” and “no voting for capitalism” (the actual laws would be longer but I don’t want to write a long paragraph about how you’re not allowed to vote for fascism in a fake direct democratic society)

While it's fine in the abstract, in practice it's exceedingly slow and inefficient - being a political representative in a council is a full-time job, and if every single decision made is subject to the popular vote, then both 1) polling itself takes considerably longer; and 2) the necessary amount of education and discussion needed to be carried out prior to a proper vote is much larger: rather than simply summarising the issue and presenting key facts to council members, a massive public education campaign now has to be carried out every time a new, say, regulatory standard for storm drains, is decided upon.

Which leads us into the other main criticism - in practice, people don't *want* to have to deliberate and vote on canal works every day. Either voting is mandatory, in which caee annoyed, disinterested voters are just randomly choosing without much thought; or voting is optional, and the vast majority of people aren't actually being represented in any given issue, because it's solely decided by whichever segment are motivated enough to get a campaign going. Here, delegating the business of understanding and making decisions on random organisational matters *does* genuinely lead to a more representative and democratic outcome.

Fundamentally, what we're talking about is division of labour - a factory is more efficient when each worker doesn't have to make a complete product by themselves. Bureaucratic and administrative work *is* still work, regardless of its political character. Again to bring up division of labour, in industrial society the operation of a single factory relies upon the co-operation of electrical substations next-door, power plants the next town over, logistics offices in the provincial capital, resources developed and extracted on the other side of the country, and the entire nation's collaboration on a unified economic plan; it is something that can only really be directed by a central authority that can collect and collate massive amounts of data to produce new courses of action - to try to operate such a body based entirely on direct democracy is, beyond any other considerations, both impractical and undesirable.

This is not to say there doesn't exist great political drive and passion among the masses, nor that they have no interest in the political process and their representation - but not everyone actually applies to be a council delegate during elections, because most people are fine with the council work itself being handled by a trusted representative.

In practice, the way communists have managed these matters is democratic centralis' - here are a few graphics explaining how representative democracy is carried out on the local level in China, as an example:

[astrobiscuits]

Childress (30117) persona chart - what will your pregnancy be like?

Sun placement - the central theme of your pregnancy

🧸 Sun in 1st house/Aries Sun: Your main focus will be on you and yourself only. You might become more selfish during this time, believing you deserve "the best of the best". You might take up a high-impact sport (such as boxing, martial arts, American football, hockey) or a speed sport (sprinting, speed skating). If Sun is afflicted, you might prioritize yourself in the detriment of your baby's health (it could also point out to a possible abortion, but there needs to be more indicators in the chart for that)

🧸 Sun in 2nd house/Taurus Sun: Your main focus will be on your financial assets, material possession and self-worth during your pregnancy. Most of your time will be spent on buying stuff for the baby - bassinet, bottles, clothing, room decor etc. If Sun is well aspected, you might feel more desirable as a woman during your pregnancy, embracing your new body; likewise, if Sun is badly aspected, you might criticize yourself for gaining extra weight and feel less desirable

🧸 Sun in 3rd house/Gemini Sun: Your main focus will be on learning as much as you can about pregnancy & childbirth. You will desire to be informed about different types of childbirth, different symptoms during pregnancy, whether they're normal or not. If you have friends who are already parents, you might seek advice from them about childbearing and what it is like to raise a child. If Sun is badly aspected, you might have a harder time making decisions regarding your baby

🧸 Sun in 4th house/Cancer Sun: Your main focus will be on your growing family, especially your baby. If you have family traditions passed on through generations, you might repeat those traditions while pregnant. You might start a diary where you keep record of your baby kicks. You will be emotional during your pregnancy, but you'll be able to regulate your emotions. If Sun is afflicted, you might prioritize the baby over your own well-being

🧸 Sun in 5th house/Leo Sun: Your main focus will be on children in general. If you have family and/or friends with children, you might socialize with them more, watch how they interact with their parents and other children, and imagine what your own child will be like. You might use different apps to visualize what your baby will look like. You might also enjoy your life more and consider pregnancy to be one of the best period of your life (ofcours, if Sun is well aspected)

🧸 Sun in 6th house/Virgo Sun: Your main focus will be on your physical health and your daily responsabilities. You might pay more attention to your diet during your pregnancy. Developing a relationship with your doctor/midwife will become crucial for you during pregnancy. Delegating tasks to other people might prove to become more difficult, as you want to feel like your in control of everything that happens in your life. You might resort to light physical activity to manage stress

🧸 Sun in 7th house/Libra Sun: Your main focus will be on your relationship with your partner. You will make choices according to both your opinion and your partner's opinion. You might allocate more time to pampering yourself and doing feminine activities such as getting your nails done, doing your makeup, finding new clothes which are both fashionable and fit your new body, going for photoshoots in flower fields

🧸 Sun in 8th house/Scorpio Sun: Your main focus will be on the life-altering transformations you'll be facing as your pregnancy progresses. Your life will likely change A LOT after you find out you are pregnant. You might become more private with the people around you, feeling like you have to protect yourself from those who ask too many questions and/or potential stalkers. You will pay more attention to the sex life with your partner. If Sun is afflicted, you might develop a deep fear of having a miscarriage

🧸 Sun in 9th house/Sagittarius Sun: Your main focus will be on travelling and acquiring wisdom. You will likely become more optimistic and generous during the pregnancy. As the Sun rejoices in this house, you might start thinking about the meaning of life, with its different philosophies and religious beliefs. If there are other indicators in the Childress persona chart, this placement can indicate getting pregnant in college (same goes for Moon in 9th house)

🧸 Sun in 10th house/Capricorn Sun: Your main focus will be on your career, status and public recognition during your pregnancy. You might become more popular only for the fact that you're pregnant and glowing. The father of the baby will likely become more important to you during the pregnancy. If Sun is afflicted, you might focus more on your career to the detriment of your baby

🧸 Sun in 11th house/Aquarius Sun: Your main focus will be on your wishes and aspirations, your community and your friend group, but also on eccentric matters. You might develop an interest in the latest baby gadgets, which will make your life easier after pregnancy. If you're an introvert, you might feel more extroverted during pregnancy or vice versa. You will likely post more frequently on social media or start a new page/channel focused on the pregnancy

🧸 Sun in 12th house/Pisces Sun: Your main focus will be on your spirituality, escapism methods and night life. You might have premonitory dreams about your baby, such as finding the gender of the baby, their feelings during the pregnancy or even their past life. You might also intuitively know your baby's real due date, regardless of the one mentioned by the doctor. If Sun is well aspected, you might quit addictions for good, not just during the pregnancy. Likewise, if Sun is afflicted, you might cope with potential problems during pregnancy by starting (or continuing) bad habits, which end up becoming addictions

Miscellaneous obs

🍼 Sun/Moon aspecting asteroid Child (4580) or Miminko (60000) indicates having a strong connection with your baby during pregnancy

🍼 Asteroid Juno (3) aspecting Ascendant indicates that the first child will be very similar to the spouse. If the aspect is positive (sextile, trine), the child will inherit the positive traits of the spouse. If the aspect is negative (opposition, square), the child will inherit the negative traits of the spouse. For conjunction, it will be both positives and negatives. This aspect can point out to the relationship between the child and the spouse too (positive aspect = great relationship; negative aspect = strained relationship)

🍼 Planets conjuncting one of the angles = a significant change is likely to occur in your life during pregnancy

planet conjuncting ASC - change regarding the self

planet conjuncting IC - change regarding what's familiar & home environment

planet conjuncting DSC - change in an one-on-one relationship

planet conjuncting MC - change in reputation & professional matters

[workersolidarity]

[ 📹 A father checks on his injured son laying on the floor of a local hospital after the Israeli occupation forces bombed their home in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, resulting in a number of casualties. ]

🇮🇱⚔️🇵🇸 🚀🏘️💥🚑 🚨

273 DAYS OF GENOCIDE IN GAZA: ISRAELI OCCUPATION SENDS DELEGATION TO RENEW HOSTAGE EXCHANGE TALKS WITH HAMAS, GAZA TO FACE DISASTER AS FUEL BEGINS TO RUN OUT, ISRAELI OCCUPATION ARMY CONTINUES MASS SLAUGHTER OF PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS

On 273rd day of the Israeli occupation's ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) committed a total of 4 new massacres of Palestinian families, resulting in the deaths of no less than 58 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, while another 179 others were wounded over the previous 24-hours.

It should be noted that as a result of the constant Israeli bombardment of Gaza's healthcare system, infrastructure, residential and commercial buildings, local paramedic and civil defense crews are unable to recover countless hundreds, even thousands, of victims who remain trapped under the rubble, or who's bodies remain strewn across the streets of Gaza.

This leaves the official death toll vastly undercounted as Gaza's healthcare officials are unable to accurately tally those killed and maimed in this genocide, which must be kept in mind when considering the scale of the mass murder.

The Israeli occupation Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his Security Cabinet have implemented the decision to send a delegation to meet in Doha, Qatar, for hostage exchange talks with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Netanyahu met with his negotiating team prior to their departure to stress "again that the war will end only after achieving all of its goals, and not one moment earlier."

Meanwhile the occupation Prime Minister held a phone call with US President Joe Biden where Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to the Israeli occupation's goals in its ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, even as the occupation sends it's delegation to meet with the Hamas resistance group he swears to destroy.

The Israeli negotiating team will be led by the Mossad Chief David Barnea, who is expected to meet with the Hamas delegation prior to the arrival of the rest of his team, who will be brought in if the negotiations progress.

US Officials say they are optimistic that a deal can be reached, and the Americans said they welcomed the decision of the Israeli Prime Minister to send his delegation to Doha to continue with talks.

An anonymous American official who spoke with Reuters on Thursday evening said the Hamas proposal “includes a very significant breakthrough.”

"It can serve to advance negotiations. There’s a deal with a real chance of implementation. Though the clauses are not easy, they shouldn’t scupper the deal,” the official continued.

Another senior official told reporters on a conference call on Thursday that Hamas had made a significant adjustment in its demands for a hostage exchange deal, and expressed hope that it could lead to an agreement that would be a step towards an eventual ceasefire.

“We’ve had a breakthrough,” the official said in the call, going on to add that there were still some outstanding issues related to implementation of the agreement, and that a deal was not expected to be closed for several days.

The latest proposal is closely related to the one outlined by President Biden in a speech he gave back in May, which would introduce a format based on three stages of talks, which could ultimately lead to an eventual ceasefire and the release of all hostages.

The Israeli Prime Minister has faced intense criticism from both sides; some that want the government to reject all talks, versus groups such as the mother's of the hostages being held by the Palestinian Resistance who continue protests, demonstrating in Habima Square in Israeli-occupied Tel Aviv, joined by more than a thousand protesters to demand the Netanyahu regime come to a deal for the release of all hostages.

Meanwhile, in other news for Friday, July 5th, the World Health Organization (WHO) is warning the Gaza Strip faces a fuel shortage which could result in "catastrophic" consequences, as the enclave's healthcare system faces a potential collapse of basic services that require electricity to function.

Speaking on the social media platform X, WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that "Further disruption to health services is imminent in Gaza due to a severe lack of fuel."

The WHO warned that just 90'000 liters of fuel entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, even as the healthcare sector alone requires a minimum of 80'000 liters daily just to provide basic care.

Fuel also must be provided to the some 21 ambulances which are still operational in Gaza, while the WHO said that fuel supplies were currently being rationed to "key hospitals", including the Nasser medical complex and Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, as well as the Kuwaiti Hospital in the city of Rafah, in Gaza's south, while the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Yunis has been out of service since Tuesday under threat of Israeli bombardment.

Further, Tedros Ghebreyesus gave warning that “losing more hospitals in the Strip would be catastrophic.”

In other news, the skin disease known as "scabies" has begun to spread widely among the Palestinian populations in densely populated camps, where Palestinian refugees in Gaza have taken shelter during the ongoing genocide.

Medical sources in Gaza say the accumulation of sewage water between the tents of the displaced, combined with the lack of hygiene due to the scarcity of clean water and basic necessities such as soaps and detergents, threatens to cause the accelerated spread of various infectious diseases and epidemics.

Currently, around 2 million displaced Palestinians live in shelters and camps under harsh conditions, with few resources or necessities that the population needs.

Worse still, a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies threatens complications for the sick and wounded, who've packed into Gaza's hospitals by the hundreds and thousands. Already, dozens of Palestinians have died due to the shortage of medicines and supplies.

Since the start of the Israeli occupation's genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, international institutions and non-governmental organizations have warned of the spread of disease and epidemics among the displaced as overcrowding and a decline in personal hygiene has overtaken the majority of the population.

Medical sources have confirmed that thousands of Palestinians remain under threat of death as a result of continued lack of medicines, supplies, hygiene products and fuel for generators at the handful of remaining hospitals after 10 months of Israeli bombardment.

At the same time, the Israeli occupation's genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continues unabated as the occupation army intensified its bombing and shelling of residential neighborhoods and shelters, as well as public infrastructure.

In some of the latest attacks, Occupation warplanes bombed the Sheikh Nasser area, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of two Palestinians who were transported to the Nasser medical complex in the city.

Similarly, Israeli fighter jets bombed a house in the Nuseirat Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, killing four civilians and wounding several others, while two others were killed after Zionist air forces bombed a gathering of civilians in the Al-Mawasi area, northwest of the city of Rafah, south of Gaza.

In another atrocity, Israeli occupation aircraft bombed a house belonging to the Al-Rifai family in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City. After the bombing, civil defense crews and local residents managed to recover the bodies of two citizens killed in the strikes.

The horrors continued in Gaza's north when the Israeli occupation army bombed a site in Jabalia al-Balad, killing 5 Palestinian civilians, including at least 3 children, and wounding a number of others.

At the same time, occupation artillery shelling pummeled several areas in the town of Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, as well as the Nuseirat Camp in central Gaza.

In another assault, Zionist warplanes bombed a residential home belonging to the Al-Bardawil family in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, east of Gaza City, resulting in the deaths of 4 civilians and wounding several others who were taken to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the city.

Simultaneously, occupation fighter jets bombarded the eastern neighborhoods of the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, coinciding with intense gunfire from Zionist soldiers, who detonated a number of homes in the neighborhood, continuing the army's systematic destruction of Palestinian housing.

In another massacre, Israeli occupation forces bombed a residential house belonging to the Khader family on Old Gaza Street in the town of Jabalia, north of Gaza, killing 5 civilians, including Bassam Khader, his wife and three children.

The atrocities continued with the bombing of an Israeli occupation drone, which targeted Al-Sikka Street east of the Jabalia Camp, north of Gaza, resulting in the death of a civilian and injuring three others who were transported by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) to Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya.

Another body of a Palestinian who was killed by the occupation army near the Tahrir Station on Salah al-Din Street, east of the city of Rafah, was transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.

Meanwhile, Israeli artillery shelling targeted the Al-Nasr area, northeast of Rafah City, while at the same time, Zionist armored vehicles and other military vehicles penetrated into the Abu Halawa and Abu Al-Hussain areas, as well as the outskirts of the Al-Nasr area, east of Rafah City.

Additionally, occupation fighter jets bombed a home belonging to the Radwan family in the town of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, resulting in the death of Adly Radwan, and wounding his wife, who was transported to the Nasser medical complex in the city.

The Israeli occupation forces also fired flares in the southeast of Khan Yunis, while Zionist warplanes bombed an uninhabited house in the town of Abasan Al-Kabira, east of the city.

The Zionist army went on to hammer the northwest of the Al-Nuseirat Camp, in central Gaza, using artillery shelling and gunfire, while occupation artillery shelling also targeted the north of Al-Zahra'a city, also in central Gaza.

As a result of the Israeli occupation's ongoing war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, the endlessly rising death toll now exceeds 38'011 Palestinians killed, including upwards of 10'000 women and well over 15'000 children, while another 87'445 others have been wounded since the start of the current round of Zionist aggression, beginning with the events of October 7th, 2023.

July 5th, 2024.

(No updated figures for death toll have been announced for July 5th)

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#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[collapsedsquid]

I doubt it was predicted or designed, but when the practice emerged of delegating industrial policy to local governments, China invented a structural form of antitrust. The central state declares what industries are to be favored, and then many localities toss contenders into the ring. The unsurprising result is competition. At the national level, with astonishing speed, industries with world-class competences emerge, even when — especially when — no "national champion" comes to dominate. Great industries are what a nation wants, not great firms. Firms are just the players. They perform extraordinary feats, and we cheer them, but they come and go. The industry is the league. It is what endures and delivers decade after decade. A decade ago China did not produce electric vehicles. Now it is the world leader. It is the same story with batteries, solar panels, steel. In the US, we tend to provide government support to established national champions, Boeing perhaps, or Intel. How is that working for us? Large consolidated firms become specialists in exploiting market power and political influence rather than any technical facet of production. What if we financed state governments to field local heroes and compete in the big leagues? It boggles the American imagination to think that medium-sized, US-state-level enterprises could compete in high-tech, capital-intensive industries. But isn't China's experience an existence proof? Shouldn't the share-buyback-heavy, technical-achievement-light experience of firms like Boeing and Intel chasten our conventional wisdom?

Must do socialism so we have intense competition between the Colorado smartphone and the Massachusetts smartphone

[txttletale]

how do ml's reconcile with lenin going for a bigbrainhaver hierarchy which just so happened to place him at the tippy top? most of the things he's quoted for writing make a kind of sense in that longwinded academic philosopher way, but, like, russia went from having a revolution against monarchy to having a monarchy, essentially, and what folks do tends to align with their desires, yeah? wouldn't that make everything he said, idk, suspicious?

we reconcile with this because none of this is even remotely true. lenin did not 'happen to be placed at the tippy top' but was in fact elected by the soviets, who worked in a very simple electoral system by which workers and peasants would elect representatives to their local soviet, who as well as administering local services would also elect members to higher bodies. the quote unquote bigbrainhaver hierarchy system in question was as follows:

The sovereign body is in every case the Congress of Soviets. Each county sends its delegates. These are elected indirectly by the town and county Soviets which vote in proportion to population, following the ratio observed throughout, by which the voters in the town have five times the voting strength of the inhabitants of the villages, an advantage which may, as we saw, be in reality three to one. The Congress meets, as a rule, once a year, for about ten days. It is not, in the real sense of the word, the legislative body. It debates policy broadly, and passes resolutions which lay down the general principles to be followed in legislation. The atmosphere of its sittings is that of a great public demonstration. The Union Congress, for example, which has some fifteen hundred members, meets in the Moscow Opera House. The stage is occupied by the leaders and the heads of the administration, and speeches are apt to be big oratorical efforts. The real legislative body is the so-called Central Executive Committee (known as the C. I. K. and pronounced "tseek") . It meets more frequently than the Congress to which it is responsible-in the case of the Union, at least three times in the year-passes the Budget, receives the reports of the Commissars (ministers), and discusses international policy. It, in its turn, elects two standing bodies: (1) The Presidium of twenty-one members, which has the right to legislate in the intervals between the sittings of the superior assemblies, and also transacts some administrative work. (2) The Council of Peoples' Commissars. These correspond roughly to the Ministers or Secretaries of State in democratic countries and are the chiefs of the administration. Meeting as a Council, they have larger powers than any Cabinet, for they may pass emergency legislation and issue decrees which have all the force of legislation. Save in cases of urgency, however, their decrees and drafts of legislation must be ratified by the Executive Committee (C.I.K.). In another respect they differ from the European conception of a Minister. Each Commissar is in reality the chairman of a small board of colleagues, who are his advisers. These advisory boards, or collegia, meet very frequently (it may even be daily) to discuss current business, and any member of a board has the right to appeal to the whole Council of Commissars against a decision of the Commissar.

—H.N. Brailsford, How The Soviets Work (1927)

you might notice that the congresses of soviets were not directly elected -- this is because they were elected by local soviets, who were directly elected, in a process that many people have given first hand accounts of:

I have, while working in the Soviet Union, participated in an election. I, too, had a right to vote, as I was a working member of the community, and nationality and citizenship are no bar to electoral rights. The procedure was extremely simple. A general meeting of all the workers in our organisation was called by the trade union committee, candidates were discussed, and a vote was taken by show of hands. Anybody present had the right to propose a candidate, and the one who was elected was not personally a member of the Party. In considering the claims of the candidates their past activities were discussed, they themselves had to answer questions as to their qualifications, anybody could express an opinion, for or against them, and the basis of all the discussion was: What justification had the candidates to represent their comrades on the local Soviet. As far as the elections in the villages were concerned, these took place at open village meetings, all peasants of voting age, other than those who employed labour, having the right to vote and to stand for election. As in the towns, any organisation or individual could put forward candidates, anyone could ask the candidate questions, and anybody could support or oppose the candidature. It is usual for the Communist Party to put forward a candidate, trade unions and other organisations can also do so, and there is nothing to prevent the Party’s candidate from not being elected, if he has not sufficient prestige among the voters. In the towns the “ electoral district ” has hitherto consisted of a factory, or a group of small factories sufficient to form a constituency. But there was one section of the town population which has always had to vote geographically, since they did not work together in one organisation. This was the housewives. As a result, the housewives met separately in each district, had their own constituencies, and elected their own representatives to the Soviet. Here, too, vital interest has always been shown in the personality of every candidate. Why should this woman be elected ? What right had she to represent her fellow housewives on the local Soviet ? In the district next to my own at the last election the housewife who was elected was well known as an organiser of a communal dining-room in the district. This was the kind of person that the housewives wanted to represent them on the Soviet. Another candidate, a Communist, proposed by the local organisation of the Party, was turned down in her favour.

[...]

The election of delegates to the local Soviet is not the only function of voters in the Soviet Union. It is not a question here of various parties presenting candidates to the electorate, each with his own policy to offer. The Soviet electorate has to select a personality from its midst to represent it, and instruct this person in the policy which is to be followed when elected. At a Soviet election meeting, therefore, as much or more time may be spent on discussion of the instructions to the delegate as is spent on discussing the personality of the candidates. At the last election to the Soviets, in which I personally participated, we must have spent three or four times as much time on the working out of instructions as we did on the selection of our candidate. About three weeks before the election was to take place the trade union secretary in every department of our organisation was told by the committee that it was time to start to prepare our instructions to the delegate. Every worker was asked to make suggestions concerning policy which he felt should be brought to the notice of the new personnel of the Moscow Soviet. As a result, about forty proposals concerning the general government of Moscow were handed in from a group of about twenty people. We then held a meeting in our department at which we discussed the proposals, and adopted some and rejected others. We then handed our list of pro¬ posals to a commission, appointed by the trade union committee, and representing all the workers in our organisation. This Commission co-ordinated the pro¬ posals received, placed them in order according to the various departments of the Soviet, and this co-ordinated list was read at the election meeting itself, again discussed, and adopted in its final form.

—Pat Sloan, Soviet Democracy (1937)

Between the elections of 1931 and 1934, no less than 18 per cent of the city deputies and 37 per cent of village deputies were recalled, of whom only a relatively small number — 4 per cent of the total — were charged with serious abuse of power. The chief reasons for recall were inactivity — 37 per cent — and inefficiency — 21 per cent. If these figures indicate certain lacks in the quality of elected officials, they show considerable activity of the people in improving government. The electorate of the Peasants' Gazette, for example, consisted of some 1,500 employees, entitled to elect one deputy to the Moscow city soviet and two to the ward soviet. For more than a month before the election every department of the newspaper held meetings discussing both candidates and instructions. Forty-three suggested candidates and some 1,400 proposals for the work of the incoming government resulted from these meetings, which also elected committees to boil down and classify the instructions. These committees issued a special four-page newspaper for the 1,500 voters; it contained brief biographies of the forty-three candidates, an analysis of their capacities by the Communist Party organization of the Peasants' Gazette, and the "nakaz," or list of "people's instructions," classified by subject and the branch of government which they concerned. At the final election meeting of the Peasants* Gazette there was literally more than 100 per cent attendance, since some of the staff who for reasons of absence or illness had not been listed as prospective voters returned from sanatoria or from distant assignments to vote. The instructions issued by the electorate in this manner — 1,400 from the Peasants' Gazette and tens of thousands from Moscow citizens — became the first business of the incoming government.

—Anna Louise Strong, The New Soviet Constitution (1937)

does this mean that the soviet project was some utopian perfect system? no. there were flaws in the system like any other. it disenfranchised the rural peasantry (although not, i would like to add, to any extent greater or even equivalent to the extent to which the US electoral system disenfranchises the urban working class) -- the various tiers of indirect selection created a divide between the average worker and the highest tier of the executive -- and various elements of this fledgling system would calcify and bureaucratise over time in ways that obstructed worker's democracy. but saying that it was 'a monarchy' is founded in absolutely nothing except the most hysterical anticommunist propaganda and tedious orwellian liberal truisms.

even brailsford, in an account overall critical of the soviet system, had to admit:

Speaking broadly, the various organs of the system, from the Council of Commissars of the Union down to the sub-committees of a town Soviet, are handling the same problems. Whether one sits in the Kremlin at a meeting of the most august body of the whole Union, the "C.I.K.," or round a table in Vladimir with the working men who constitute its County Executive Committee, one hears exactly the same problems discussed. How, be-fore June arrives, shall we manage to reduce prices by ten percent? What growth can we show in the number of our spindles, or factories, and in the number of workers employed? When and how shall we make our final assault on the last relics of illiteracy? Or when shall we have room in our schools, even in the remotest village, for every child? Was it by good luck or good guidance that the number of typhus cases has dropped in a year by half? And, finally, how can we hasten the raising of clover seed, so that the peasants who, at last, thanks to our propaganda, are clamoring for it, may not be disappointed?

—H.N. Brailsford, How The Soviets Work (1927)

genuinely, i think you should take a moment and think about where you learned about the soviet union. have you read any serious historical work on the topic, even from non-communist or anti-communist sources? because even imperialist propagandists have to make a pretence at engaging with actual facts on the ground, something which you haven't done at all -- and yet you speak with astounding confidence. i recommend you read some serious books instead of animal farm and reflect on why you believe the things you believe and how you know the things you think you know.

[lemeute]

(if more than one, please vote for the one that's most central to your identity and put the others in the tags!!)

[argyrocratie]

"How will people get healthcare?

(...)

During the Spanish Civil War, Barcelona’s Medical Syndicate, organized largely by anarchists, managed 18 hospitals (6 of which it had created), 17 sanatoria, 22 clinics, 6 psychiatric establishments, 3 nurseries, and one maternity hospital. Outpatient departments were set up in all the principal localities in Catalunya. Upon receiving a request, the Syndicate sent doctors to places in need. The doctor would have to give good reason for refusing the post, “for it was considered that medicine was at the service of the community, and not the other way round.”[40] Funds for outpatient clinics came from contributions from local municipalities. The anarchist Health Workers’ Union included 8,000 health workers, 1,020 of them doctors, and also 3,206 nurses, 133 dentists, 330 midwives, and 153 herbalists. The Union operated 36 health centers distributed throughout Catalunya to provide healthcare to everyone in the entire region. There was a central syndicate in each of nine zones, and in Barcelona a Control Committee composed of one delegate from each section met once a week to deal with common problems and implement a common plan. Every department was autonomous in its own sphere, but not isolated, as they supported one another. Beyond Catalunya, healthcare was provided for free in agrarian collectives throughout Aragon and the Levant.

Even in the nascent anarchist movement in the US today, anarchists are taking steps to learn about and provide healthcare. In some communities anarchists are learning alternative medicine and providing it for their communities. And at major protests, given the likelihood of police violence, anarchists organize networks of volunteer medics who set up first aid stations and organize roving medics to provide first aid for thousands of demonstrators. These medics, often self-trained, treat injuries from pepper spray, tear gas, clubs, tasers, rubber bullets, police horses, and more, as well as shock and trauma. The Boston Area Liberation Medic Squad (BALM Squad) is an example of a medic group that organizes on a permanent basis. Formed in 2001, they travel to major protests in other cities as well, and hold trainings for emergency first aid. They run a website, share information, and link to other initiatives, such as the Common Ground clinic described below. They are non-hierarchical and use consensus decision-making, as does the Bay Area Radical Health Collective, a similar group on the West Coast.

Between protests, a number of radical feminist groups throughout the US and Canada have formed Women’s Health Collectives, to address the needs of women. Some of these collectives teach female anatomy in empowering, positive ways, showing women how to give themselves gynecological exams, how to experience menstruation comfortably, and how to practice safe methods of birth control. The patriarchal Western medical establishment is generally ignorant of women’s health to the point of being degrading and harmful. An anti-establishment, do-it-yourself approach allows marginalized people to subvert a neglectful system by organizing to meet their own needs.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, activist street medics joined a former Black Panther in setting up the Common Ground clinic in one of the neediest neighborhoods. They were soon assisted by hundreds of anarchists and other volunteers from across the country, mostly without experience. Funded by donations and run by volunteers, the Common Ground clinic provided treatment to tens of thousands of people.

The failure of the government’s “Emergency Management” experts during the crisis is widely recognized. But Common Ground was so well organized it also out-performed the Red Cross, despite the latter having a great deal more experience and resources.[41] In the process, they popularized the concept of mutual aid and made plain the failure of the government. At the time of this writing Common Ground has 40 full-time organizers and is pursuing health in a much broader sense, also making community gardens and fighting for housing rights so that those evicted by the storm will not be prevented from coming home by the gentrification plans of the government. They have helped gut and rebuild many houses in the poorest neighborhoods, which authorities wanted to bulldoze in order to win more living space for rich white people."

-Peter Gelderloos, "Anarchy Works" (2010)

[girlactionfigure]

Is Zionism white supremacy?

WHAT IS WHITE SUPREMACY?

White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to all other races and should thus dominate them. 

Contemporary white supremacist ideology stems from the pseudoscientific antisemitic and anti-Black racial “science” that emerged in the seventeenth century. 

This racial “science” established the foundation for the Holocaust. 

WHAT IS ZIONISM?

Zionism is the national movement for Jewish self-determination in the Land of Israel, the ancestral homeland of the Jewish People. 

Self-determination is the concept that peoples who share a national identity — not to be confused with nationality — have a legal right to choose their own governance, rather than being forced into living under the thumb of an empire. Self-determination is a basic tenet of international law, applicable to all peoples. 

In 1897, Jewish delegates from across the world met for the First Zionist Congress. There, they defined Zionism in simple terms: “Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish people in Eretz ­Israel [the Land of Israel] secured under public law.”

Zionism has absolutely nothing to do with race. Zionism is a movement for self-determination for all Jews, regardless of skin color. Early Zionists included figures such as Taamrat Emmanuel, who was an Ethiopian Jew. 

SCIENTIFIC RACISM, ANTISEMITISM, AND WHITE SUPREMACY

Antisemitism is foundational to white supremacy, but it is not exclusive to white supremacy. As the “world’s oldest hatred,” antisemitism predates both white supremacy and other forms of anti-minority bigotry. White supremacy built upon the already existing foundation of antisemitism. 

“Scientific racism” (also known as “biological racism”) is a pseudoscientific form of racism that claims there is scientific evidence to justify racial discrimination or the belief that some races are inferior or superior to others. Scientific racism reached its peak and “legitimacy” between 1870 and the end of World War II. The Nazis applied the theories of scientific racism to antisemitism, which in turn was one of the main factors that fueled the Holocaust. Today’s white supremacist ideology stems from scientific racism.

In the 1870s, Wilhelm Marr, a scientific racist and antisemite, coined the word “antisemitism” to replace the previously used term “Jew-hatred,” as “antisemitism” sounded scientific, which “legitimized” it (as in: “I’m an antisemite, not a Jew-hater!” Sound familiar?). 

There is no white supremacy without antisemitism. It’s absurd to describe the Jewish movement for self-determination as “white supremacy” when white supremacists themselves openly revile Jews (and Zionism). Marr, for example, said of Zionism, “the entire matter is a foul Jewish swindle, in order to divert the attention of the European peoples from the Jewish problem.” 

WHAT DO WHITE SUPREMACISTS THINK OF ZIONISM?

White supremacists, historically, have loudly opposed Zionism. As mentioned, Marr himself called Zionism a “foul Jewish swindle.” 

Arguably the most infamous white supremacist of all time, Adolf Hitler, wrote in his infamous manifesto, Mein Kampf, “For while the Zionists try to make the rest of the world believe that the national consciousness of the Jew finds its satisfaction in the creation of a Palestinian state, the Jews again slyly dupe the dumb Goyim. It doesn’t even enter their heads to build up a Jewish state in Palestine for the purpose of living there; all they want is a central organization for their international world swindle…”

Before, during, and after the Holocaust, the Nazis worked to prevent a Jewish state from establishing. The Nazis supported Palestinian Arab nationalists, most notably the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, in material ways. In November of 1933, the Nazis revealed that they had established a direct contact with the Arab leadership in Palestine, with the hopes of “adapting the Nazi program” to the Holy Land. 

Between 1936-1939, the Arabs in Palestine revolted against the British and Jewish immigration, killing some 500 Jews. The British quickly suspected Nazi involvement, noticing that the Arab rioters carried smuggled Nazi weaponry. The Jerusalem police found that the Arabs had received 50,000 pounds from Germany and 20,000 pounds from Italy. The British also suspected the Germans of planning the 1938 pogrom in Tiberias.

In November of 1941, al-Husseini met with German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and with Hitler himself. Hitler promised al-Husseini that once the German troops reached the Arab world, “Germany’s objective would then be solely the destruction of the Jewish element residing in the Arab sphere…”

In 1957, a top secret document came to light, which revealed that Germany and Italy recognized the right of the Arabs to “solve the Jewish question” in Palestine and other Arab nations. During the meeting, Hitler told the Mufti: “Germany is resolved, step by step, to ask one European nation after the other to solve its Jewish problem, and at the proper time to direct a similar appeal to non-European nations as well.”

Between 1948-1949, 1000 former Bosnian Muslim SS members joined the Palestinians in their fight against the Jews.Hundreds of members from the 13th and 23rd SS Divisions volunteered as well.

In early 1948, 30,000 army veterans from various fascist forces created an army known as Black International. Some of the members included Nazi soldiers, a pro-Nazi renegade Soviet battalion, and pro-Nazi Poles and Yugoslavs, as well as the Muslim members of a brigade that al-Husseini had organized to fight alongside the Nazis. Black International attacked Jewish towns and kibbutzim.

A source close to the group commented: “These Poles, Russians, Germans and Yugoslavs…are the Arabs fighting for national liberation…Actually their cynical joy is unbounded at the double gift which has been handed them — the opportunity to butcher Jews, and get paid for it.”

After the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel, white nationalists have continued to oppose Zionism. In 1976, an American neo-Nazi, Eric Thomson, used the term “Zionist Occupation Government,” alleging that Zionist organizations, working on behalf of an international Jewish conspiracy, are controlling foreign governments. The “ZOG” conspiracy remains popular among white supremacists and white nationalists. 

Just as Hitler once did, neo-Nazis have continued colluding with Palestinians in their quest to destroy Israel. In 1972, the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September carried out a massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Black September had enlisted the help of two notorious German neo-Nazis, Willi Pohl and Wolfgang Abramowski, to carry out the attack, though apparently the neo-Nazis were unaware of their exact plans.

Specifically, Pohl aided Abu Daoud, the mastermind behind the Munich Massacre, by helping him obtain forged passports, credentials, and other documents. Even worse, he helped Daoud obtain weapons. According to Pohl himself, “[I] drove Abu Daoud around Germany, where he met Palestinians in various cities.”

Former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke, openly reviles Zionism. He’s made statements such as “the only Nazi country in the world is Israel,” echoing the sentiments of many Islamists and those on the far left today. Just recently, David Duke, along with fellow white supremacists Nick Fuentes and Jake Shields, met with a number of pro-Palestinian influencers. Duke also coined the antisemitic slur “Zio,” now popular among many in the pro-Palestine crowd. 

THE ZIONISM IS RACISM LIBEL

In 1969, the United Nations passed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Both the United States and Brazil wanted to add a clause including antisemitism. The Soviet Union, which had been heavily oppressing its Jewish population since the 1950s, worried that such a clause would be used to rebuke them for persecuting Soviet Jews. As such, they included a counter proposal, which was a clause that equated Zionism to Nazism. That way, they could say that they were (rightfully) anti-Zionists, not antisemites.Neither clause passed.

But the Soviets were never covert about the fact that their “anti-Zionism” was actually just antisemitism. In the 1960s, Soviet propaganda made blatantly antisemitic claims, including: “The character of the Jewish religion serves the political aims of the Zionists,” “Zionism is inextricable from Judaism, rooted in the idea of the exclusiveness of the Jewish people,” comparisons of Judaism to the Italian mafia, and claims that Israel was merely a means to an end of Jewish imperialism and world domination.

On November 10, 1975, on the 37th anniversary of the Nazi pogrom of Kristallnacht, the United Nations, headed by the Soviet Union, Soviet satellite states, and over countries in the Arab League, passed Resolution 3379, declaring Zionism a form of racism. Absurdly, the resolution never defined Zionism, nor did it explain, how and why, exactly, Zionism is a form of racism. In fact, the delegate for Liberia stated that, while reading the resolution, he “anxiously waited” to see a definition for Zionism, and an explanation as to how Zionism is racism. Since he found no such thing, he voted against it. 

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia all but admitted that Resolution 3379 had been nothing more than a Cold War propaganda ploy, calling it “a relic of the Ice Age.” In December of 1991, UN Resolution 46/86 revoked Resolution 3379. But while Resolution 3379 was repealed, the dark shadow of its legacy lingers.

THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT IS NOT ABOUT RACE

Many people in the west, particularly in the United States, only understand oppressor-oppressed dynamics through the lens of race and white supremacy. Given the history of their country, that makes sense. Many anti-Israel activists are weaponizing this ignorance by framing the Israelis in the conflict as the “white people” and the Palestinians as the “people of color.” For example, in 2021, Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 massacre, compared himself and the Palestinian people to George Floyd in an interview with Vice News. Another example? Various anti-Israel groups have been pushing the “Deadly Exchange” conspiracy theory, falsely alleging that Israel is behind police brutality in America. 

Unfortunately, many people are falling for it. But what they don’t realize is that they are projecting their own experience of the world onto a drastically different region of the world, where the dominant force of oppression is not white supremacy but Islamist fundamentalism. 

Palestinians and Israeli Jews are both Middle Eastern people, with Middle Eastern ancestry, belonging to Middle Eastern cultures. The majority of Israeli Jews are Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews, whose ancestors spent many, many centuries continuously in the Middle East and North Africa. Ashkenazi Jews, whom many people incorrectly dub “European Jews,” can trace their genetic ancestry to Israel, have practiced a Middle Eastern culture for thousands of years, and were considered “Asiatic foreigners” for the centuries during which they were exiled to Europe.

Of course, racism and anti-Blackness exist in Israel. But they exist in the Palestinian Territories, too. Afro-Palestinians first arrived to what are now Israel and the Palestinian Territories via the Arab slave trade. The Arab slave trade laid the groundwork for the transatlantic slave trade most of us are familiar with; in other words, they established the routes.

Before October 7, some 11,000 Afro-Palestinians resided in the “Al Abeed” neighborhood in Gaza, translating, quite literally, to “slaves.” They are also derogatorily referred to as “abeed,” meaning slaves. This conflict is not between two different races, but between two opposing national movements.

MAIN SOURCES

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[gothhabiba]

[ID: Map of the partition plan approved by the UN general assembly on November 29, 1947. It marks the "Jewish state" in green (all the border to the east with Syria, much of the south and the inland west including the southern half of the Dead Sea; and most of the northern coastline with the Mediterranean Sea) and the "Arab state" in orange (a strip on the western border with Egypt and southern part of the border with the Mediterranean, including Rafah and Gaza; and the mostly inland north including the area where the Jordan flows into the Dead Sea. In purple the "Jerusalem district" in the center of the country is marked. End ID]

But how fair, balanced, pragmatic, and practicable was the UN 1947 partition plan itself? In gross terms, the partition resolution awarded 55.5 percent of the total area of Palestine to the Jews (most of whom were recent immigrants) who constituted less than a third of the population and who owned less than 7 percent of the land. The Palestinians, on the other hand, who made up over two thirds of the population and who owned the vast bulk of the land, were awarded 45.5 percent of the country of which they had enjoyed continuous possession for centuries.

Looking at the situation in greater detail, Palestine was a country of 27 million dunams (4 dunams = 1 acre). Its population in December 1946 was just under 2 million (1,972,000): 1,364,000 Palestinians and 608,000 Jews. The partition plan divided the country into eight sections: three Jewish, three Palestinian, an international enclave (corpus separatum) including municipal Jerusalem and the surrounding villages, and an enclave for Jaffa that would be part of the Palestinian state, albeit completely surrounded by the Jewish state [...].

At the time, one of the arguments frequently raised by the Jews against a unitary state in Palestine had been the unfairness of Arab majoritarian rule over the Jewish minority. Commenting on this argument, the Pakistani delegate at the UN, Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, remarked: "If it is unfair that 33 percent of the population of Palestine [the Jews in the proposed unitary state] should be subject to 67 percent of the population, is it less unfair that 46 percent of the population [the Arabs in the proposed Jewish state] should be subject to 54 percent?" [...]

In terms of land ownership, despite over seventy years of intensive, centrally organized and internationally financed colonization since the early 1880s, Jewish-owned land on the eve of the partition resolution amounted, according to Jewish sources, to 1,820,000 dunams, or less than 7 percent of the total land area of the country. Now, at the bang of his gavel [...], the president of the UNGA [...] "awarded" the Jews 15,000,000 dunams for the Jewish state. Within the borders of this state, Jewish-owned land at its most inflated estimate amounted to 1,678,000 dunams, or 11.2 percent. [...]

But it was not only the extent of the land allotted to the Jewish state that was at issue. The best lands were incorporated within it—most of the fertile coastal plains (from Jaffa to Haifa) and all the interior plains (from Haifa to Baysan and Tiberias). These included almost all the citrus and cereal producing areas. Half of the former and the vast bulk of the latter were owned by Palestinians. Citrus was the main export crop of the country, accounting before World War II for 80 percent of the total value of exports. [...] As if this were not enough, a full 40 percent of Palestinian industry and the major sources of the country's electrical supply fell within the envisaged Jewish state.

[...] Jaffa [...], the historical Palestinian port and vibrant center of Palestinian cultural and social life, was not only confined within its municipal borders, with no living space for any growth or development, but was also cut off from the orange groves that bore its name and were its principal source of economic livelihood. Haifa—the main port of Palestine, the terminal of the oil pipeline from Iraq, the petroleum depot for the entire country, seat of the most active entrepreneurial sectors of Palestinian society [...]—fell squarely within the Jewish state. Many of the other major Arab towns included in the Palestinian state [...] were left just inside its borders but without their most fertile lands or economic hinterlands. The upper reaches of the Jordan River, and therefore control of the major source of riverine water supply to the Palestinian state, were vested in the Jewish state. The whole of Lake Tiberias and its rich fishing industry, traditionally in Palestinian hands, was incorporated within the Jewish state. The bulk of the Palestinian state, restricted to the central highlands, was landlocked with no direct access to the Red Sea southward or the Mediterranean westward. Its two other coastal towns (apart from isolated Jaffa) had no harbors or port facilities. The only airport (near Lydda) in the country with international connections went to the Jewish state, leaving the Palestinian state with no air access either.

– 1997. Walid Khalidi, “Revisiting the UNGA Partition Resolution,” Journal of Palestine Studies 27.1, pp. 5-21.

[leftistfeminista]

A poster of a female cadre photographed by Christian Freund. Source: Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG).

Women’s Liberation

A striking aspect of the popular revolutionary movement in Dhufar was the PFLOAG’s commitment to the liberation of women, a policy that was adopted at the 1968 Hamrin Conference. The PFLOAG believed that the liberation of women was central to the success of the revolution which would not come about automatically but through a sustained struggle against the “objective backwardness” of society.  1 The Dhufar Revolution was influenced by Maoist thought, including on the equality of female cadres, popularised through Mao’s famous declaration that “women can hold up half the sky”.  2 Women’s political participation in the armed struggle alongside men was deemed an important aspect of equality while specific policies were later implemented in the liberated areas to transform the social position of women, such as the banning of female circumcision, polygyny, and the reduction of the bride price after unsuccessful attempts to abolish it completely.

The PFLOAG’s policies remarkably challenged the “unhappy marriage” between feminism and Marxism, as conceptualised by the Western feminist scholar Heidi Hartmann in 1979 – in other words, the tension between women’s liberation and national liberation. 3 The PFLOAG recognised the double oppression faced by women, both in terms of their position as women in relation to men, and in terms of their position as women in relation to the economic system. Attracted to the PFLOAG’s radical position, the Lebanese filmmaker Heiny Srour travelled to Dhufar in 1971, capturing documentary footage of women fighters later used in her 1974 film The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived (Saat El Tahrir Dakkat). 4

I was a defeated feminist in Lebanon. The Lebanese Left was not interested in feminist issues and kept closing the subject under various pretexts, one being that the women will be free when the main enemy, Imperialism, is defeated. […] I couldn’t believe my ears when the representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf opened the subject of women from his own initiative and proudly said that the Front was fighting against women’s oppression — because women were not just oppressed by imperialism and class society, but also by their father, husband, brothers. I dropped my other film projects and put all my energy into making this film.  5”

— Heiny Srour on The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived

The campaigns for, and implementation of, the above mentioned policies came through the initiatives of revolutionary women, the Bahraini cadre Laila Fakhro (Huda Salem) for example pushed the PFLOAG to ban female circumcision and limit the bride price. 6 Laila Fakhro also played an important role in the revolution through political education, teaching, care-work, women’s activities, and the PFLOAG’s media and foreign relations. 7 The PFLOAG’s other main periodical, 9 Yunyu (9 June), was a monthly magazine which preceded Sawt al-Thawra’s founding, set up in June 1970 by Laila Fakhro and Abdel Rahman al-Nuaimi (Said Seif). 8

Sawt al-Thawra promoted women’s political participation in armed struggle, drawing parallels to female fighters such as Vietnamese women and thereby placing the PFLOAG’s revolutionary women in the wider tradition of the revolutionary Third World. The periodical highlighted and documented women’s protest, arrests and mistreatment of women and girls by the British-backed regime, and women’s internationalist activities. Women’s representatives and delegations took part in many regional and international conferences, prior to and after the official establishment of the Omani Women’s Organisation in June 1975, a committee headed by Wafa Yasser.

The first official visit by an Omani women’s delegation, comprising Nadia Khaled and Huda Muhad, took place in July 1975 in a symposium on women’s economic development organised by the Soviet Women’s Committee in Alma-Ata, Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. Following this trip to the Soviet Union, the delegation visited the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at the invitation of the Women’s Federation of Vietnam. 9 These encounters were important for producing strong ties of solidarity, the exchange of experiences and ideas, and direct engagement with a major source of their own inspiration, the Vietnamese people’s struggle. Most significantly, these material links demonstrate that Dhufar was not a detached revolution in a little-known and distant part of the Gulf, but one that was globally connected and which importantly placed emphasis on women’s political participation.

[probablyasocialecologist]

In Istanbul, a flotilla of ships is preparing to depart with 5,500 tonnes of aid and around 1,000 medics, lawyers, senior politicians and human rights observers. Its destination: the Gaza Strip. On Sunday, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla will begin making its way to the besieged strip, its fifth voyage in 14 years. While the journey would normally take three to four days, it is expected that the flotilla – initially comprising three vessels, one cargo and two passenger ships, with further vessels expected to join later – could be waylaid by Israeli forces. 

[...]

The flotilla is organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which brings together 12 national groups from Canada, Malaysia, Italy, Norway, the US, Sweden, Spain, Turkey, South Africa, New Zealand, the UK and France. Altogether, delegates from over 30 countries will be represented on board. The flotilla’s crew and passengers – among them Che Guevara’s daughter Aleida and Nelson Mandela’s grandson Zwelivelile – will be unarmed. Their peacefulness will not guarantee their safety, however, as the Israeli state has a long and bloody history of targeting humanitarian groups. The flotilla’s first voyage to Gaza in May 2010 was a bloodbath: Israel sent a naval ship to meet it, killing 10 crew members (all of them Turkish, including one Turkish American dual national) and injuring 30. A UN report later found that Israel appeared to have executed at least six people in an “extra-legal, arbitrary and summary” manner; a Turkish state autopsy found that five had been shot in the head at close range.  Israel subsequently apologised to Turkey for the raid and agreed to compensate the bereaved families $20m. Further voyages in 2015, 2016 and 2018 saw Israel seize the FFC’s ships and detain and deport those on board. Israel has also targeted humanitarian workers on land. Earlier this month, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) food aid workers, among them three British citizens, in a drone attack on a marked convoy whose movements had been coordinated with the IDF. An Israeli investigation blamed “grave errors”, a finding WCK rejected.

[savethedeadboys]

hi! thanks for setting this up! just wondering if there are any updates in terms of what we should be focusing on right now / what you all are working on. i feel like there's a lot of people who want to help but there isn't any centralized place for information. it might be helpful to reiterate the current focus for us and maybe clarify what we should hold off on until things are more organized. no pressure obviously, I assume you all are already working on this! thanks!!

Hi anon!! Thank you for your question!! And thank you for trying to stay organized with us!! The whole reason we created these social medias is to help organize efforts!

1. Currently, we are streaming the show nonstop to try and get the show into the top 10 on Netflix since currently there are no new shows coming out this week and using #ReviveDeadBoyDetectives to show we are participating!

2. We are also using #SaveDeadBoyDetectives as well as #RenewDeadBoyDetectives and #DeadBoyDetectives as our target tags on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Tiktok! We're trying to get the tags trending, so anytime you make a post about the shows, be sure to use the tags! (Just a heads up, too many tags on Twitter could be marked as spam, so don't use too many tags!)

3. We have an email template up on our website and I am working on filling out the email list on the site for people to send the template to (please change the template around a bit so it is not seen as spam) PLEASE REFRAIN FROM LINKING THE PETITION IN THE EMAIL. WE WILL DELEGATE SPECIFIC PEOPLE TO SEND THE PETITION WHEN WE ARE READY TO. IF TOO MANY PEOPLE SEND IT, IT WILL BE SEEN AS SPAM.

4. Get as many people to sign the petition as possible!! We want to keep this petition growing!

We have guidelines and such written on our carrd as well as our website! (my next post after answering this ask will be sharing the website and our other social medias!) Any other things I missed in this answer please let me know and I will get back to you as soon as possible! 🫶

- @fafalraelynn

[warnersister]

“Tea in the Cotswolds” Michael Gray x Reader

Michael Gray x Reader

When Thomas has business with Archibald Wentworth, a prestigious delegate in the Cotswolds, Michael is tasked with occupying the man’s adult daughter - getting more acquainted than expected.

The Blinders had expanded their business - all the way to the Cotswolds, Tommy had taken John and Michael for the ride; leaving Arthur back in Birmingham as he didn’t find this the right environment for any sort of negative articulation to be breaking out; especially at Wentworth Family Manor.

The houses became progressively larger as the carriage rolled down the cobbled street, some with drives too large to be able to see the house it belonged to at all. But eventually, the vehicle came to a stop at the looming house; substantially larger than all others. In his head, the only similar build Michael had seen to this was Buckingham Palace - large and awe-inspiring enough to be the encasings to a proud museum, contents sacred and protected.

But potentially Michael’s imagination wasn’t too far from reality.

“Right,” Tommy began, eyes flicking between the two men whom had accompanied him. “Today is a very important meeting. And i need to leave a good impression on the Wentworth’s. So we leave our egos and our guns in the car.” John’s brows creased in confusion. “Leave our guns?” “They’re not dangerous. This is legal business; real estate - dabbling a bit in the illegal side of things but not enough go start a fight. Mr Wentworth is an extremely prestigious man, as is his wife and daughter.” He told them calmly. “I’ll talk with Mr Wentworth, John you’ll talk with his missus and explain what we do: nicely. Michael - I’ll leave you to get acquainted with his daughter, yn.” “You’re leaving me with the child?” He asked, confused. “Yn is twenty.”

They were welcomed into the home by several butlers, two to open the grand doors - three to take their caps and the others to lead the family to their guests. “Thomas Shelby.” They heard, and a dignified gentleman descended the stairs, an unnecessary cain in one hand, the other wrapped around his wife as they descended the central staircase to the visitors, a young lady trailing behind.

“Archibald Wentworth.” Thomas smiled at the man and nodded out of respect. The man walked up to him and shook each of their hands firmly. “How longs it been old chap?” He asked Thomas. “Too long, old friend.” Thomas replied, and they engaged in friendly conversation as neither had seen each other since their fathers dealt with similar business in their own youth. The elder woman approached John who kissed the back of her hand and she curtsied, him remaining respectful as their shared introductions. You however, approached Michael who looked back at you fondly. You curtsied to him and he bowed slightly. “It’s a pleasure Mr Gray.” You say, voice soft and unbroken. He took your hand and kissed the back of it gently. “All mine, Miss Wentworth.”

“And please, do call me Michael.” He told you, smiling gently. “Well in that case you’re compelled to call me Yn.” Michael studied your face; never in his twenty one years of existence had he seen such beauty before. Your skin was fair and undamaged - soft to the touch. Your nails were clean and manicured with a neutral colour. Your hair was cascading down by your ears, as if instructed to sit perfectly, framing your face. You eyes were innocent yet appeared all-knowing - your mouth formed into a graceful smile. And you carried yourself with such proper dignity; it was admirable.

“Yn my darling?” Your father spoke from beside him and you turned to face him on command - trained to do this. “Yes father?” “Please will you accompany Mister Gray into the living area? I’m sure you’ll both be quite comfortable in there.” You nodded once at the man. “Certainly, father.” “It was a pleasure to meet you gentleman, and see you again Mister Shelby.” You say to the other two, before leading Michael into the living area - which was nothing short of double the size of his childhood home.

“May i offer you some tea?” You ask, as you settle in the room. “That’d be lovely, thank you.” You nod as the maid by the for stepped out to grab tea. “Normally I’d make it myself, however it is improper to leave your company unaccompanied.” You joke and he laughs in response. Soon, the tea arrived and you served it for Michael, who took the cup and saucer thoughtfully and nodded in thanks.

“It’s a lovely home you have.” You smile up at him. “Thank you, I’m sure my father works tirelessly to afford it.” “You’ve no job?” He asked, awaiting the words that he was utterly and totally in love with you. “No, I’m trained in etiquette - to be polite, to cook and to clean.” Michael listened to you thoughtfully. “So you’re kept awfully busy then?” You nod. “Busy however I don’t mind it, I get to live in this glorious building with a loving family and life skills. What more could a girl want?” You confirm and he was sure his eyes were forming hearts.

“And I’m sure you have quite the line of suitors with your beauty.” You giggled but tried to compose yourself. “No sir.” His eyes widened in mock surprise. “Surely you’re already married, how has a man not captivated a lady such as yourself. I’d do it myself if it wasn’t for the line of men ahead of me.” You looked down, blushing, before looking back up at Michael. “There is no line and there are no suitors. It is simply me, myself and I.” You tell him.

“And you Michael? Have you a wife?” You asked, batting your eyelids. “No, in your words it is simply… ‘me, myself and I’.” “And what business do you do yourself, Mr Gray?” You ask. “That is not the sort of information for a lady’s ears. It is not good business.” He almost scolds and you nod. “Oh I understand, my father is not too dissimilar. Staying safe in your business, I hope?” He basked in the way you simply understood, didn’t pry. “Not quite.” He said, raising an eyebrow. He rolled up his left sleeve slightly and you gasped. “Oh you poor man,” you say. “You must treat these with oil, that way they shall heal better.” You scold, touching his skin gently. “Well if you were my wife you could sort it out for me.” “Oh certainly Michael, I wouldn’t allow you to come home damaged as such without properly patching you up.” You say, seriousness written all over your facial features.

“And what do you do with the rest of your time, this afternoon per se?” He ponders, sipping his tea. “Well as you said yourself I’m quite a busy person regardless of what I occupy my time with.” You peer down at the dainty wristwatch wrapped around your wrist, Michael estimated the small device at a hefty sum. “At two o’clock I have etiquette lessons.” You say “and at three?” “At three I read in my library” “how about four?” “At four I have a date.” His face dropped. “A date? With who?” “William Wordsworth.” You giggled at his expression which sighed a breath of relief. “Oh I see, she lives the poems she could not write.” He says, quoting the famed poet. “More like she writes the poems she could not live.” You reply, and Michael notices a longing stare as you probably imagine the life you would have, if not the heir to an infamous delegate.

“And no man has yet compared me to a summers day.” You admit. “You have not yet met your Shakespeare.” You smile, enjoying how he understood your references. “Nor my Victor Hugo” “ah but you have not yet died so nobody may quote ‘Demain, dès l’aube’.” He spoke matter-of-factly. “For I am always the poet, never the poem.” You speak; in words of your own. And Michael cannot stop himself from reaching up with his free hand to caress the soft skin of your cheek gently. “It is impossible. How can a man write anything short of a novel about a maiden so fair?” He question, and you find yourself absentmindedly leaning into his light touch.

“You’re a charmer, Mr Gray” you speak, voice barely above whisper “I’m no charmer, just a man who knows what he wants” he leans to whisper in your ear “is it working?” He meets your eyes with a cheeky grin on his face. “Certainly.” You both finished your tea and the trolley was taken away, miscellaneous chatter arising from each of your lips.

“Madam?” A voice squeaked from the door behind you both. You spun on a pivot to look at the young maid by the entrance. “Yes Beth?” “Mister Wentworth has requested you and Mister Gray return to the foyer” she said, avoiding your stare. “Thank you Beth, we shall be there shortly.” The woman nodded before clicking the door shut behind you to allow you to make your own way there along with the company. Michael’s face contorted: annoyed, but relaxed it when you faced back to him.

“I believe it is time for us to depart.” You tell him. “When may I see you again?” He asks, holding your hands in his own. “Whenever you wish, Mister Gray; should my father allow.” You tell him, before slowly leading him back to where you originally met. There, the rest of the men along with your parents stood as you’d left them - engaged in unwavering chatter. “Ah, Mister Gray - treated well I hope?” Your father asks and Michael nods at the man. “Certainly.”

After some goodbyes and a hug for your father’s old friend Thomas, Michael smirked at you and kissed the back of your hand and whispered promises that you shall meet again.

The men walked back to the car in silence, Thomas lighting a cigarette once inside. “How’d you like her?” He asked, eyeing Michael before nicotine smoke billowed from his lips. “She’s a lovely young lady.” Michael tore his eyes away from his cousin and back to the house, hoping to catch a glimpse of you as you drove away; but to no avail.

“She’s a gentle lass. Innocent and proper.” Thomas continued and Michael squinted at him, wondering what the man was getting at. “Doesn’t need corrupting.” “I know that Tommy, what you on about?” “We’ve come to a business agreement with Archibald Wentworth. They in exchange for protection and a good deal of Shelby business, his daughter would marry a gentleman.” Thomas stubbed the last bud out on the leather of the car. “I trust you can fit that role?”

[whencyclopedia]

Constitutional Convention

The Constitutional Convention was held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 25 May to 17 September 1787. Spurred on by economic troubles left over from the American Revolution and compounded by the weak Articles of Confederation, delegates from twelve states met to draft a new framework of governance, the United States Constitution, which created a stronger federal government.

Background

In March 1781, the Articles of Confederation went into effect as the framework of governance for the fledgling United States, after having been ratified by all thirteen states. Under the Articles, each state essentially operated as a semi-independent republic, bound to one another in a loose 'perpetual union'. The federal government – which at the time consisted only of a unicameral Congress – was intentionally kept weak, to ensure the sovereignty and independence of the states. Congress' only real powers were those relating to war and foreign affairs, and even then, it needed the consent of at least nine states before it could declare war or borrow money from foreign lenders. The framers believed that they needed to keep the federal government weak to protect the rights and liberties of American citizens; their recent experience with the British Parliament seemed to suggest that a powerful central authority would not hesitate to squander those rights. But, before long it would become apparent that weak governments carried their own sets of issues that would be just as dangerous.

The most glaring problem was Congress' inability to levy its own taxes. Rather than raise its own money, Congress instead had to rely on donations from the states to fill the national treasury. But, especially after states began to focus on their own interests after the end of the American Revolutionary War, these donations were not consistently forthcoming. This left Congress with no funds to pay federal soldiers or meet its many other financial obligations. Nor did Congress have the power to compel the states to send money or comply with any other federal legislation. Several attempts to amend the Articles to allow Congress to raise money through tariffs were vetoed by the states. Additionally, a lack of unified foreign policy left Congress ill-equipped to deal with foreign powers, with Britain, France, and Spain all putting restrictions on American trade that the federal government could not retaliate against. Finally, Congress had been unable to respond to Shays' Rebellion when it broke out in western Massachusetts in late 1786. Although the rebellion was eventually suppressed by a privately funded army, it led to fears that future insurrections would not be crushed so easily.

For these, and other, reasons, many Americans became convinced that the Articles of Confederation were not working and that unless the Articles were revised, the United States would soon unravel. This reality weighed heavily on the minds of the delegates who met in Annapolis, Maryland, on 11 September 1786. Representing five states (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia), the delegates had merely been sent to discuss trade between states. But as their discussion touched on other issues caused by the weak Articles of Confederation, the delegates realized that something drastic had to be done. In their final report to Congress, drafted by Alexander Hamilton of New York, the delegates proposed that a constitutional convention should be held in Philadelphia the following May to discuss revisions to the Articles. On 21 February 1787, Congress endorsed the suggestions of the Annapolis Convention, and stated that it would write up a report on which changes to the Articles were necessary. Ultimately, twelve of the thirteen states decided to send delegates to the upcoming Constitutional Convention – the sole holdout was Rhode Island, which believed there was nothing wrong with the existing Articles of Confederation and refused to send delegates to amend them.

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