#Dear Members of Congress
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lucyoccupy · 2 years ago
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MicCheck! The Revolution Will Be Tweeted: How Lucy Occupy Used Social Media to Bring Change to the Insurance Industry
Chat Dear, Please create an outline of the content of this entire chat #ChatGPT:  I apologize, but I am not able to provide an outline of the content of this entire chat as it contains various topics, questions, and responses. However, I can provide a brief summary of the topics discussed: The discussion started with the question about the utilization of artificial intelligence for pursuing…
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snickerdoodlles · 4 months ago
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...ngl, enron musk acting like he can do to the US federal budget what he did to twitter is kinda funny
#like my dude budget is congress's job#you get to submit a proposal to Congress who then reconciles it with both houses' planned budget and a spending predictor#how quick does musk quit when he realizes he doesnt get to make unilateral decisions#like sure he already has an uncomfortable amount of power over the government but like. he really doesnt understand what hes signed up for??#trumps tariff plans (''plans'') are going to hit tesla hard#musks companies make a ton of money off government subsidies trump wants to cut. seriously telsas current promises would require serious#government subsidies unless he plans to sell everything at a significant loss#(like. hes gonna delay again obvs because he cant break physics but hes making those promises because hes trying to appease wallstreet.)#(hes in SO much trouble soon if he doesn't start properly investing in development. its upsetting but also pretty funny.)#OH AND the EV market is flat lining a lot because govt hasnt updated or expanded the electrical grid in 50 years. &musk wants to cut funding#like. he signed on to trump because trump doesnt have plans and owes quite a bit to musk#but trump also owes a lot to a ton of other people --several who did more than musk!--#and musk seems to have really bought into trump having the power of a dictator#which is going to hit a lot of snags as other members of his party realize they dont want to cede their power *too*#like???? dear god is it all going to be a hot mess and none of this helps with the insane amount of power musk has amassed#but like. mr chief of tantrums is subjecting himself to GOVERNMENT#when do you think he realizes
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saywhat-politics · 20 days ago
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Dear Democratic Leaders: here’s a free idea, send members of congress into the buildings where Elons people are and see what they’re doing. Dare them to stop you.
Do something
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filibustamove · 5 days ago
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ELON MUSK ACT Letter Template
If you're in America and you're pissed off about the current state of politics, especially the Elongated Muskrat, you should be paying attention to this new bill that just got introduced! It's called the Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy (ELON MUSK) Act, and it's designed to get him out of United States Politics by taking away his ability to profit from his political involvement. If you'd like to demand your representatives vote YES on the ELON MUSK act, feel free to steal the customizable form letter under the cut! Remember, they want us to be too tired to act. Flood your reps and be impossible to ignore!
Dear [Member’s Name],
I am writing to you today as a concerned citizen of [STATE], urging you to vote YES on Representative Mark Pocan’s bill, the Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy (ELON MUSK) Act. This bill is not just an opportunity for you to act—it is a moral imperative that you do.
Elon Musk’s manipulation of government contracts for his own gain is an affront to every freedom this nation purports to value. With over $20 billion in government contracts, Musk has managed to turn a profit off the backs of hard-working Americans, all while his unelected influence over the federal government continues to grow. His Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is little more than a front for his personal empire, leveraging taxpayer dollars for his own benefit while gutting critical federal systems that impact the most vulnerable in our society.
If you allow this billionaire to continue his unchecked rampage through our government, you are complicit in the erosion of our democracy. His behavior is the very definition of a conflict of interest—one that allows an unelected oligarch to manipulate the federal government to line his own pockets at the expense of the American people.
I demand that you stand on the side of the American people, not special interests. Voting YES on the ELON MUSK Act is your chance to send a clear message: this kind of greed and corruption will no longer be tolerated in the halls of Congress. It is time for you to act in the best interests of the American public and put an end to the undue influence of billionaires like Musk who are terrorizing the most vulnerable populations for personal gain.
Do not be complicit in allowing our nation to be ruled by unelected officials who operate with a flagrant disregard for the public good. To do so would be a betrayal of the values that make this nation great. I urge you, as my representative, to vote YES on this crucial piece of legislation and restore the integrity of our democracy.
The American people, YOUR PEOPLE, are watching, and history will judge you for the decisions you make today.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
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batboyblog · 15 days ago
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The news about slashing indirect grant funding to 15% is making me feel physically ill. It's really wonky, but it's also a huge girder supporting the whole university system. I just feel despair about the future of education.
I know that UAW and some of the other academic-adjacent unions are going to be having some kind of day of action on the 19th, so I'm not just doing nothing while I spiral, but I am spiraling :/
"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated” -Thomas Paine
I find these times trying my soul, I will admit, despair is hard on my heels most days, and particularly the nights, I fear I'm not very good conversation these days. The damage to everything I care about is massive and every day has 4 new crisis each important to know about. And its hard not to think about the likelihood Trump will be President for at least 4 more years, this has been 3 weeks, what will 4 years be?
however, I do draw hope, Trump and Musk are idiots, Trump is a weak little man, we've seen Trump back down already a few times, the courts are grinding into action. We saw in Trump 1.0 the Muslim ban and flood gate of illegality that seemed like it just would have to break everything. And then also the courts stepped in and things did slow down, it was horrible from start to finish, particularly that last bit where the world ended? that sucked. But the breakneck "oh fuck the Republic won't make it" speed did stop and I hope here also, I hope Musk will step on Trump's toes like Steve Bannon or any number of people who thought they could control Trump and end up exiled into outer darkness (and broke, and dying after ODing on disco drugs)
that said the next 4 years will suck a lot, no two ways about it. This is the struggle the fight of all our lives. Where ever you are check Mobilize for protests, for chances to phone bank and fight back. Also call your Congresspeople even and PARTICULARLY if they're Republicans, because like Musk is saying he's gonna mess with Medicare, and Social Security, and Education and all kinds of stuff that even Republican members of Congress don't want or REALLY don't want their voters to know about till its WAY too late. Scare the shit out Republican Congresspeople, Republicans voicing that they didn't like Tariffs got Trump to back down.
But most importantly don't despair, don't give up, do not surrender hope, it's all worth fighting for it really is.
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pintadorartist · 3 months ago
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The House and Senate will be back in session this coming week
So I bring attention to Bill HR 9495, the non-profit killer, more info here, TLDR. This bill would give the government the power to strip any nonprofit of their tax-exempt status, making them unable to receive donations or access bank services.
This bill passed the House and is on the way to the Senate and since they are back in session I once again ask that you all call, email, and fax your senators and other ones two if you can.
Tools and numbers here:
Chuck Schumer:
Phone: (202) 224-6542
Fax: (202) 228-3027
Dick Durbin:
Phone: 202-224-2152
Debbie Stabenow:
Phone:(202) 224-4822
Elizabeth Warren:
Phone: (202) 224-4543
Mark R. Warner:
Phone: 202-224-2023
Amy Klobuchar:
Phone: 202-224-3244
Fax: 202-228-2186
Bernie Sanders:
Phone: 202-224-5141 Fax: 202-228-0776
Catherine Cortez Masto:
Phone: (202) 224-3542
Joe Manchin:
Phone: 202-224-3954 Fax: 202-228-0002
Cory A. Booker:
Phone: (202) 224-3224
Fax: (202) 224-8378
Tammy Baldwin:
Phone: (202) 224-5653
Brian Schatz:
Phone: (202) 224-3934
Find your Senator:
Or you can call the Congressional switchboard today and ask to be connected with each of your Senators’ offices. Demand they vote against this bill: (202) 224-3121
Fax tool:
Here are some call scripts that you can use as fax and email as well:
If you have a Democrat Senator, you can use this script:
"I am calling Senator [THEIR LAST NAME] as a constituent to urge them to vote against the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, when it comes to the Senate floor. This bill would give the Treasury the power to kill non-profit organizations without evidence, and will be used as a sledge hammer to destroy any organization that speaks out against the incoming President’s agenda. No matter who was in power, this bill would be authoritarian and ripe for abuse. Handing this power to a President known to be vindictive, and who has promised to be a “day one” dictator, would be a failure of congressional leadership. Please share my thoughts with the Senator, urging them to vote against this dangerous legislation. Thank you"
If you have a Republican Senator, you can use this script:
"As your constituent, I urge you to vote NO on H.R. 9495. This bill poses a dangerous threat to the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment and must not pass the Senate. It grants any incoming administration unchecked authority to revoke the tax-exempt status of non-profit organizations without oversight or due process. Such government overreach is not what the Founding Fathers envisioned for our democracy. This bill undermines the principles of free speech and freedom of association, cornerstones of American liberty.
H.R. 9495 threatens to pave the way for political suppression, allowing the government to selectively target and shut down organizations based on ideological disagreements. This could affect any non-profit, including churches and conservative groups, as well as organizations that champion human rights and civil liberties. Regardless of political leanings, this bill sets a chilling precedent that no American patriot should support.
While situations relating to the hostages deserve careful attention, they can and should be addressed in a separate, narrowly tailored bill. H.R. 9495, however, is a broad, unconstitutional overreach that strikes at the heart of free speech and freedom. It is unpatriotic and incompatible with the values we hold dear as Americans.
I implore you to stand as a defender of liberty and uphold the rights of your constituents. Be a patriot, listen to the voice of the people, protect our God given right to free speech as Americans, and reject this dangerous legislation. Vote NO on H.R. 9495. Thank you, God Bless and God Bless America."
And I also urge you to sign these petitions/letters as well:
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crossdreamers · 24 days ago
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The National Assembly Building of Brazil has been Illuminated with Transgender Colors
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The Brazilian parliament building has been decorated with colors from the transgender flag.
Member of the Brazilian parliament Erika Hilton writes over at Bluesky:
"The National Congress, in celebration of National Trans Visibility Day, has just been illuminated with the colors of our flag. The special lighting, done at the request of my mandate and the dear Duda Salabert is not just a celebration. It is a commitment that, even in a conservative Congress that opposes the advancement of our rights, no one will extinguish our light, and we will always continue fighting and advancing for the full existence and dignified life of every trans person in this country. May another year of hard work come in favor of our community and all marginalized people in Brazil."
Erika Hilton, is a Brazilian politician and activist for black and LGBT rights. In 2022, she and Duda Salabert became the first two openly transgender people elected to the National Congress of Brazil.
The National Congress Palace (Portuguese: Pal��cio do Congresso Nacional), where the Brazilian national legislature meets, is a building found in the capital of Brasilia.
Photos from Erika Hilton.
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zeamaysblog · 14 days ago
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I just watched AOC's "What's Happening & How You Can Take Action" video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVgNJf6CsBA) and thought it was really impactful, so much so I decided to write up a summary of the insights, which I figured I might as well share with you all. Executive Orders are not that powerful: For all the Executive Orders being signed, know that they're not actually as powerful as they might seem. Congress can block Executive Orders, courts can block Executive Orders (you might have heard of this being done for the EO ending birthright citizenship), and they're essentially more limited in scope/permanence than actually signed laws. In fact, much of the EOs Trump has signed are meaningless or completely unconstitutional, which is not a pointless distinction, because as mentioned before, courts are blocking these EOs. Fascist dictators thrive on perceived power instead of actual power. They want to "flood the zone," pump out so much terrible nonsense the populace becomes overwhelmed and docile. Don't believe them, don't become docile and don't consent in advance. The reason Trump is using Executive Orders instead of actual laws is because he knows he only has a slim majority in the House (218R-215D, ie 2R's could flip a vote, 2 vacancies in FL to be voted on 4/1, 1 R departure in NY-21 to be up for another special election)/Senate (53R-47D/I, ie 4R's could flip a vote), and he doesn't want his perceived power to crumble, such as when 3 GOP Senators John McCain, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski blocked an Obamacare Repeal Bill "Health Care Freedom Act" from going through in 2017. Action Being Done by Democrats: Apparently Trump did a bunch of stuff while Congress was on recess, and they only got back in session Feb 5th, which was why there hasn't been much news from democrats. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries recently released a 10 objectives plan for House Democrats to obstruct the administration: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25511884-jeffries-dear-colleague-feb-3-2025/ What You Can Do: While I'm sure we're all positively exhausted with everything going on, at a minimum, you can know your rights regarding ICE Raids (https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/immigrants-rights): Don't let them in without a Judicial warrant signed by a Judge, don't answer their questions even if you are a citizen, don't talk to them without a lawyer. If you have extra energy, you can:
Educate people on their rights by printing up Know Your Rights Cards (https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/services/immigration-know-your-rights) to hand out
Contact your Representatives urging them to obstruct Trump nominees while Elon is invading the Treasury
Help Organize for the Florida special elections 4/1 for the House of Representatives. While it would be difficult for these +30R seats to flip (Note in the Jan 29th Iowa special election for Senate (a state Trump won by +21) actually flipped to Democrats), even switching a +30R district to a +10R district lets Republicans know their policies are unpopular and they should think twice before supporting Trump's policies. Additionally, there will eventually be another special election to fill a House of Representatives Republican vacancy up for grabs in NY-21.
Help Organize for other Swing Elections near you
Contacting your Representatives (https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member): To contact your representatives, you can make a short 2 min phone call to their office, which will either be picked up by a staffer or go to voicemail. Representatives listen to phone calls when trying to get a sense of what their constituents care about, but other forms of contact (email, text, etc) are by and large ignored. Additionally, you should say where you live, because representatives only care about what their constituents think, not outside people. Note that the voicemails only record up to 2 min so be brief. You can find your representatives phone numbers at https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member To express your views to your representatives, the format goes like this: "Hi, my name is [Name] and I live in [City, State, Zip Code]. I wanted to ask for your support on [Policy, Bill, etc]. [Anecdote if you have one to be more personalized]. Thank you for listening, my phone number is [Phone Number] and my email is [Email]." I personally have just called my senators to let them know I want them to vote NO on advancing/approving all Trump nominees, and that I supported them continuing obstructionist actions including the 30hr filibuster against Russ Vought, Trump's Director of the Office of Management and Budget pick. Florida 4/1 Special Elections for 2 House of Representative Members: Summary (https://www.reddit.com/r/VoteDEM/comments/1igu4if/floridas_2_special_elections_for_us_congress_will/), trying to elect Gay Valimont (https://gayforcongress.com/) (D) District 1 & Joshua Weil (https://www.joshweil.us/) (D) District 6. You can sign up to volunteer on their websites if you'd like. New York-21 Eventual Special Election for 1 House of Representative Member: Elise Stefanik (R) will be vacating her seat to become the U.N. Ambassador for the Trump administration, after which within 80-90 days a special election will be held for a new House member. While it's somewhat of a pipe dream, if Dems win all 3 of these House seats up for grabs, it puts the House at 218D-217R.
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todaysdocument · 4 months ago
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Circular Letter from the Woman's Protest Committee on the Statehood Bill
Record Group 46: Records of the U.S. SenateSeries: Petitions and Related Documents That Were Presented, Read, or TabledFile Unit: Petitions and Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures, and Related Documents Which Were Tabled
WOMAN'S PROTEST COMMITTEE.
[small horizontal line]
"The Status of Woman Marks the Degree of a Nation's Civilization."
OCTOBER 22nd, 1904.
DEAR MADAM:-A bill is now pending in Congress which so vitally affects the interests of women in the great South-
West that we believe you and your organization would like to protest against the injustice therein threatened our sisters.
The bill proposes to unite Oklahoma and Indian Territories into one State under the name of Oklahoma, and to com-
bine New Mexico and Arizona Territories into a State under the name of Arizona. This measure has passed the Lower House
of Congress, has been read twice in the Senate and is now before the Senate Committee on Territories, of which Senator Al-
bert J Beveridge is Chairman, and the following named Senators are also members: William P. Dillingham, Knute Nelson,
Thomas R. Bard, Henry E. Burnham, John Kean, William B. Bate, Thomas M. Patterson, James P. Clarke and Francis G.
Newlands. Now is the time to amend, while the bill is in Committee.
The portion of the bill threatening injustice to the women in the proposed new States is found in Paragraph 5 of Sec-
tions 3 and 21, which would allow these States, when organized, to disfranchise minors, criminals, lunatics, non-residents,
ignoramuses and [italic] women. This part of the bill reads as follows:
"Fifth-That said State shall never enact any law restricting or abridging the right of suffrage on account
"of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, or on account of any other conditions or qualificartions, save
"and except on account of illiteracy, minority, [italic] sex, conviction of felony, mental condition, or residence; pro-
vided, however, that any such restrictions shall be made uniform and applicable alike to all citizens."
There may be other objections to this part of the bill, that Congress gratuitously interferes to forbid negro disfranchise-
ment, or disfranchisement "for any other conditions or qualifications," which latter will prevent disfranchisement for lack of
United States citizenship, a prohibition never before laid on a State. This wording will be interpreted by some as even pro-
hibiting the future enfranchisement of women in these new States. These paragraphs might well be omitted.
But the injustice to women might be averted if only the word "sex" were stricken from the paragraphs. The pioneer
women of the West, who have labored and suffered by their husbands' sides to advance civilization, ought not to be so unjustly
classed with felons, lunatics and children, while their own husbands, equals in other respects, are enfranchised. The Congress
of the United States ought not to set its seal upon the possibility of the perpetual disfranchisement of these women, an un-
merited disgrace and punishment. It is true that in many States women have been tacitly ranked with these defective delin-
quent and dependent classes, but never before has the insult been so open and flagrant, nor has it been in an Act of Congress.
The representative of the United States Government, the Territorial Governor of Arizona, once before interfered in
Arizona legislation to the defeat of women, by vetoing the woman suffrage bill passed by the Legislature of Arizona.
The women of all our great country should now protest against the women of the Southwest being ranked with the
classed justly disfranchised, any other member of which may be effort, behavior, or lapse of time, achieve enfranchisement.
Will you not ask your organization to write to the two Senators from your own State, to Senator Beveridge, the Chair-
man of the Committee on Territories, and to the rest of the Committee, asking each to work for the omission of the word
"sex" from the two paragraphs quoted above, or for the omission of the entire paragraphs.
There is need of haste in this matter and we urge action by your organization at the earliest possible date.
The sending out of this letter is authorized by the following named women, who, as individuals, urge you to take
speedy action:
Mrs. Ellen M. Henrotin, Honorary President General Federation of Women's Clubs; Miss Susan B. Anthony, Honorary
President National American Woman Suffrage Association; Mrs. Mary Wood Swift, President National Council of Women;
Mrs. Hannah G. Solomon, President National Council Jewish Women; Rev. Anna H. Shaw, President National American
Woman Suffrage Association; Mrs. Mary A. Livermore; Mrs. Fanny Garrison Villard; Miss Laura Clay; Miss Margaret Haley,
President National Teachers' Federation; Mrs. Ella S. Stewart, Franchise Superintendent of National Women's Temperance
Union; Mrs. Emily W. Thorndyke, President National Catholic Woman's League; Mrs. Lida P. Robinson, President Arizona
Woman Suffrage Association; Mrs. Elizabeth M. Gilmer, (Dorothy Dix); Mrs. Mary T. Hagar, President National Ladies of
the Grand Army of the Republic; Mrs. Ellen C. Sargent, Honorary President of California Woman's Suffrage Association; Mres.
Mary S. Sperry, President California Woman Suffrage Association; Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch, Legal Advisor National
American Woman Suffrage Association; Miss Clara Barton; Mrs. May Wright Sewall, Honorary President International Coun-
cil of Women; Mrs. Elmina Springer, of the Woman's Relief Corps and Eastern Star; Mrs. Florence Kelley; Mrs. Emmy C.
Evald, President National Lutheran Woman's League; Mrs. Frederick Schoff, President National Congress of Mothers; Mrs.
Leonora M. Lake; Mrs. Margaret Dye Ellis, Legislative Superintendent of National Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and
Mrs. Lilian M. N. Stevens, President National Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
Will you notify your local press as to your action, and also notify Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton, of Warren, Ohio.
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on-my-vigilante-sht · 2 years ago
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I Can’t Leave
Aaron Hotchner x Reader
Summary: When the reader is forced into hiding, she’s desperate to inform her fianc�� and his son
Warnings: canon level violence, talk of domestic terrorism, some angst, guns
Word Count:  3.2k
Masterlist
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“Here you go,” I said, putting a glass of whisky in front of my father. I took my seat across from him, raising my glass. “To the Speaker of the House, part three.”
He smiled, touching his glass to mine before taking  drink. “Thank you, dear. So how’s work?”
“It’s good. I mean, as good as hunting down predators and murderers can be,” I sighed. “But it’s good, I feel like I’m doing some good in the world.” I looked up to find my father’s expression falling. “What?”
“I just- uh… well it’s not that I want you to be unhappy but this next thing would be easier if you hated your job,” he chuckled awkwardly. Confused and nervous I urged him to go on. “Well there are some bad people after us, Y/N.”
“Dad, you don’t need to dumb it down. I’m an FBI agent, I take down bad people all the time. What’s going on?”
“Some extremists are after our family. Y/N, they sent death threats… about you specifically,” he said as gently as possible.
“Okay, so? I mean yeah, it’s strange that they were sent about me in relation to you but they’ve sent them to mom. I get them on my own from people we’ve locked up.”
“They suspect that the extremists are working with some members of Congress in the opposing party. Which can be incredibly dangerous for you.”
“So what? You want my team to investigate? I can hang back on this one if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Well I’m glad you’re willing to hang back because… you need to go into hiding.”
I only stared at him, not believing what he was asking. “Did you seriously just ask me to go into hiding?”
“Y/N-”
“No, absolutely not,” I refused. “Dad, I’m an FBI agent. If anyone can protect themselves it’s me.”
“This is serious. I’ve talked to people in Homeland Security, people way above you and your team and they recommended you go into hiding.”
“What about you?” I was visibly upset now. “Are you hiding?”
“I can’t. The houses are already divided and each party is getting more radical. I can’t just leave, especially when I was just reelected.”
“So what makes you think I can just leave? Why can’t I just have body guards?”
“Because your job won’t allow that. I know you’ll run away from them with no regard for your own safety the second a — what is it you call them? Unsub? — when an unsub runs away. Besides, they said you won’t be safe unless everyone thinks you’re dead.”
“Excuse me?” I was angry now. “What could possibly be going on that Homeland Security thinks I need to be dead? Oh my god,” I said suddenly, realizing what my father was asking. “Can I at least tell my team that this is fake?”
He shook his head regretfully. “I’m sorry. Homeland Security wants as few people to know as possible.”
“Can I at least tell Aaron and Jack?” Tears were pricking my eyes now as he shook his head no. “Dad, he’s my fiancé,” I was begging now. “He has a son. Jack is basically my son. He already lost his mother to a bad guy. I can’t leave them. He can’t lose two mother figures.”
“That’s exactly why you need to be protected. So you can be a mother to him again.”
“Can’t you see this will do irreparable damage? Aaron won’t let me back into his life after I knowingly hurt him and his son in a way they’ve already been hurt. You want me to go into hiding? Fine but please let me tell Aaron.”
“I’m sorry dear, my hands are tied. Your death is already being orchestrated now. Your car will be crashed in about 10 minutes.”
My eyes widened as rage filled me. “I don’t even get to see anyone one last time?” I covered my face in frustration. I needed to calm down if I was going to think of a way to communicate with Aaron. “Fine but just let me do one last thing.”
My father nodded eagerly. “I’ll try my best to fulfill that.”
“Part of the reason I came over was to get my old Hot Wheels. I was going to bring them back for Jack. Can they say they were found in the trunk and you said to take them to Jack because I was delivering them?”
He thought for a moment. “I don’t see why not. I’ll ask the agents posing as officers to bring them.”
“Thank you,” I breathed. “I just didn’t want to leave Jack with nothing, you know? I’ll grab them,” I said, heading into my old room. Immediately grabbing a post-it note and a pen.
I’m alive. Tell no one. Love you - Y/N
I folded it up as tight as possible and stuffed it inside the door of a ‘65 Mustang I had once broken the door off of when I was a kid. I then replaced the broken door, which only fell off when you rolled it around, before tossing it into the box with the others.
~~
Aaron had been cooking lunch on one of his few days off, excited for Y/N to return home so they could have some alone time when he heard a knock on the door. Cautiously he grabbed his gun before creeping towards the door silently. Checking the peep hole he spotted two cops. Frowning, he put his gun down behind the door before opening it. Before he could say anything the officer spoke. “Aaron Hotchner?”
“Yes?” he answered hesitantly.
“We’re very sorry to inform you but your fiancée, Y/N L/N, has passed.” Every ounce of hurt Aaron had ever felt hit him all at once. All the shots, stabs, and the countless punches Aaron had ever felt. This hurt more than Haley, which at the time he had thought would be the worst pain of his life. He didn’t even hear what the cops were saying until they mentioned his son. “We found these. We spoke to Y/N’s father and he said she was bringing them back here to Jack.”
Aaron stared down at the box that was filled near to the brim with Hot Wheels. The same toys that Jack and her had been so excited to play with together. He took the box before quietly shutting the door, wanting to be alone. Setting the box on the kitchen counter he leaned up against it, letting his agony consume him. He couldn’t even make tears fall as empty sobs wracked his body. Aaron was consumed with anger, hurt, sadness, any and every emotion associated with grief. But most of all he was trying to figure out what to say to his son. How could he tell Jack that yet another mother figure was taken from him?
Unable to handle anything he texted his sister-in-law that he had to go into work and asked her to take Jack for the night.
Aaron completely lost the rest of the day. He felt like he was in some sort of haze. He only “woke up” when he started going through Y/N’s Hot Wheels collection, desperate to hold onto her. When he stumbled upon the ‘65 Mustang he was consumed with memories. The first time he had met her parents she had showed him her old room including this exact car. She told him that she used to pass secret messages with her friends in this car. Curiously he fiddled with the door until it popped out. Peering inside he was surprised to see a note stuffed into it. Anxious about what he’d find he pulled out that note that had been very tightly folded.
Without even reading it yet Aaron already felt emotion consume him at the sight of her handwriting. Pushing through he read the note.
I’m alive. Tell no one. Love you - Y/N
He read and reread the short note trying to convince the whisper in his mind that it was in fact for him and Jack. Y/N’s father’s reelection had caused some sense of insurrection in radical groups and he had heard rumors of death threats against her family but they had received death threats in the past. They must have gotten worse and more targeted for Homeland Security to force her into hiding. He also knew she’d never fake her death without telling him and Jack and judging by the nature of the note being smuggled in she hadn’t known about the plan.
While he was relieved to know she was alive but afraid for her safety. If a threat was bad enough to force her underground it must be serious. And he still had to deal with the worst part of it… telling the team and explaining the situation to Jack.
He texted his sister-in-law again that their jet was delayed so he could take Jack for the night and bring him to school tomorrow. Just 15 minutes later Jack was back in his home.
After his son got settled in, Aaron went into his room. “Dad, where’s Y/N?”
Aaron hesitated for a second. “Um yeah, about that…” he had no clue how his young son would handle the news. Especially after Haley had already been killed. “Well first of all, Y/N is okay. She’s safe with a bunch of people to protect her but she’s going to be gone for a little while. Some people are angry at her father and well… they’re threatening to hurt her so some very powerful people think it’s best that she hide for a little while until she’s safe.”
“Is it like the people who hurt mom?” Jack asked with innocent eyes.
That hit Aaron like a bullet. He wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. “Sort of. They want to hurt her family but this is about something bigger than her family or our family.” He didn’t really think it’d be a great idea for him to explain the intricacies of domestic terrorism to his son right before bed. “But you can’t tell anyone about this, understood? We weren’t even supposed to know she’s alive. Not the team, not your aunt, not your teacher, not your friends. It could be really dangerous for Y/N.”
Jack nodded. “Okay dad. When will Y/N come back? In time for the wedding?”
Aaron also didn’t need the reminder that your wedding was supposed to be in two months. “I don’t know but I hope so buddy. I hope so…”
The next day at work Aaron was trying to work up the nerve to speak to everyone about Y/N’s death. There was a case about some women who looked like her and he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe this was connected but he knew he wouldn’t be able to share his theories with anyone.
As everyone filtered in they were all wondering about Y/N. “Hey, Hotch, where’s Y/N?” Morgan asked.
Aaron sighed heavily. “About that… I learned yesterday that um…” this was difficult to say even though he knew it was a lie, “Y/N was killed in a car crash yesterday. I thought this news needed to be said in person rather than over the phone.”
The room was left in shocked silence for a moment until Derek spoke. “Hotch I’m so sorry.” Everyone was keenly aware that this would be the second woman their Unit Chief loved that died.
“It’s not just my loss. It’s all our losses,” he deflected, the always altruist boss.
“How’s Jack handling it?” JJ asked.
“He’s not ready to talk about it so I’m giving him some time. I can’t imagine it’s easy losing another mother figure.”
“How are you handling it?” Rossi asked.
That was a question he didn’t know how to answer. Truthfully he wasn’t okay even though he knew his fiancée was alive because he knew dangerous people were after her. “I can’t really afford to think about it right now. Wheels up in 15, we’ll debrief on the plane.”
~
1 Year Later
Even though his fiancée was still alive he was still reeling from her loss. It was hard having absolutely no contact and no updates about the status of her or her case.
He was filling out case reports when he heard a knock at his door. “Come in,” muttered not looking up. After not hearing anything in response he looked up to find Y/N’s father, the Head of the Secret Service, Mark Sullivan, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge. “Sirs, how can I help you.”
“This is about my daughter,” the Congressman began. “She’s alive.” Aaron wasn’t sure if he should reveal that he knew that or not.
“You already knew,” the Sullivan observed.
“Yes, I did. Y/N sent me a note,” he admitted.
“Has she had any contact with you since?” Ridge asked.
“She hasn’t. What’s happened?” he knew they wouldn’t come to him at work unless they needed profilers.
“It’s been a year since Y/N went underground. She’s been bouncing around various countries and they’ve somehow managed to follow her without us making any headway on the investigation. And we’d like the BAU to help us track these terrorists down.”
“I’ll have my team on it. Where are we going?”
“Brazil.”
~
In less than an hour the entire team was on the plane with Garcia calling in. “Why are we headed to Brazil? We don’t have jurisdiction there,” Reid asked.
“There’s a very high profile victim being hunted by a small domestic terrorist organization. The Brazilian government wants them out and they’ve given us full jurisdiction over any US citizens there as well as the ability to question any Brazilian citizens as long as they’re arrested by Brazilian officers or agents.”
“So who’s the vic?” Emily asked.
“It’s Y/N,” Aaron admitted. It felt like he had just released a breath he had been holding for a year. “She didn’t actually die in a car crash, she had been in hiding.”
The plane erupted into angry yells and confused conversations. “Hotch how could you not tell us?” Derek asked angrily.
“I know you’re all confused and angry, so was I. I wasn’t even supposed to know, Y/N had to smuggle me a note. As far as I know she never knew she was being forced into hiding until it was too late for her to say goodbye.”
“Still you should’ve told us,” Derek seethed angrily. He felt lied to by his boss and one of his closest friends. Both of which were always supposed to have his back.
“Enough, Derek,” Aaron said sternly, silencing the plane. “If you want to be angry be angry at the terrorists threatening her but I was just trying to protect her and she was trying to protect Jack and I. Like it or not this is bigger than you and I will remove you from this case if you can’t keep your emotions in check. Got it?” Derek begrudgingly agreed and soon enough the team was discussing theories.
~
It took a week full of interviews, analysis, dead ends, hundreds of suspects, and more fake names than they could count but the BAU finally tracked down the terrorist organization that sent one of their agents running. And along with with their investigation they had found where their teammate was hiding. Every member of the BAU wanted to rush over but they couldn’t afford to send the terrorists underground again so they waited for them to make a move.
As soon as the BAU got word that terrorists were moving in on Y/N’s location they headed over. Aaron’s heart was beating out of his chest the entire ride over. Terrified that they wouldn’t reach his fiancée in time.
They pulled up to the small cottage just as Aaron spotted some men dressed in camouflage creeping around the house. Aaron barely put the car in park, too anxious to get to his love. “FBI! Put down your weapons and step away from the house,” he ordered as the rest of the team and several other soldiers stormed out of the cars.
Seeing as they were outnumbered several of the terrorists put their guns down and raised their hands in surrender. The same couldn’t be said for the mercenaries at the back of the cottage as he heard a window shatter and several yells from inside. Immediately going for the door he had to knock it down, stumbling inside to find a stand-off. Y/N was stood half shielded by two guards with her gun raised at a few terrorists. The guards he recognized as Secret Service also had their guns raised and they were yelling.
“It’s over,” Aaron announced as soldiers appeared into the window, drastically outnumbering the two men who had their guns aimed at Y/N. One took a shot and he was instantly put down by at least five bullets aimed at him. The partner seemed to have been accidentally been hit because he went down with a yell. But Aaron didn’t care about him, he was concerned about Y/N. He looked over, finding her tending to one of her guards who had suffered a bullet to the arm. Her hands were covered in blood and Aaron wasn’t thinking rationally as he reached her. “Are you okay?” he asked, gently grasping her shoulders.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “Can you call an ambulance?”
“Sure,” he agreed hurriedly. “This is Agent Hotchner, we have two suspects down and a wounded agent. Send medical assistance immediately.” By now the other guard and some soldiers who had medical training were attending to the wounded agent and pushing Y/N away. “Y/N,” he called, dragging her attention away from the guard.
She looked at him, really looked at him for the first time in a year. “Aaron,” she began to cry, throwing herself at him. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for leaving,” she sobbed against his bulletproof vest.
“Hey, no, it’s okay,” he hushed, squeezing her tightly and stoking his fingers through her hair. “I know you didn’t want this. Thank you for sending that note to Jack and I.”
“I couldn’t bear the thought of either of you losing someone again,” she explained. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
Masterlist
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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 19 days ago
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Trump has become an American Chairman Mao and this is his Cultural Revolution. This time it's not a little red book they're following, it's the big book that was prepared by the Heritage Foundation for exactly the purpose of what's happening right now all over Washington DC.
It was said that Chairman Mao launched his Cultural Revolution to purge his government of people who clung to traditional Chinese ways and practices that smacked of so-called capitalist elements. Every dictator who sees himself as a supreme being entitled to absolute power has his own reasons for what he does. Mao was obsessed with creeping capitalism that he thought infected Chinese society. With Trump -- and you hear it every day coming out of his mouth and the mouths of Co-Chairman Musk and the rest of Trump's MAGA lackeys -- the obsession is liberalism, which they cover with the rubric of DEI and something they call but never quite define: wokeism. They don't have to define it. They've got their MAGA base and the Republicans in Congress trained at this point to react exactly the way they want them to react when they hear the word woke or wokeism or DEI or Marxist any of the other catch phrases they've warped for their own purposes.
Chairman Mao used cadres of Red Guards to carry out his revolution. I remember reading stories back in the late 60s, after the Cultural Revolution had taken hold, of young members of the Red Guards going to their own homes in places like Beijing and Shanghai and arresting their own parents, whose crimes were being university professors senior researchers in government health agencies and the like. Does that sound familiar? I haven't seen anything yet about purges at the NIH but just wait until RFK Jr. moves into his office at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Reporters may have to use numbers with quadruple digits to write the stories about the firings that'll take place there.
Trump isn't following the Mao playbook of using young people and college students to do his dirty work. No, he's got Elon Musk and his battering ram of functionaries --who are unelected and do not hold government jobs -- to tear through the government for him.
But Trump is not without his own Red Guards. He just let their leaders out of prison with pardons and commutations. Enrique Tarrio is a free man now, ready to retake his position running the Proud Boys. So is Stewart Rhodes, free as a bird, back at the helm of the Oath Keepers. Stunningly, MSNBC aired a documentary tonight, February 2nd, with the glorifying title “King of the Apocalypse” about Rhodes. I didn't watch it and probably you didn't either, but you didn't have to if you tuned into MSNBC this week where they ran trailers around the clock advertising their documentary with a shot of Rhodes wearing camouflage, picturing him as a kind of twisted Patton.
Be ashamed of yourself, MSNBC. You're playing right into these fuckers’ hands.
It's scary to contemplate, but there is probably a whole panoply of right-wing militias that are in one stage or another of forming as we speak. Trump told his violent extremists to “stand back and stand by” during the 2020 election campaign. Little did we know that they were just waiting for his orders on January 6. I think it's safe to say that we're not going to hear those words from Trump this time around, because Trump appears to have learned a lesson on January 6: Don't wait until the last minute. This time, Trump is moving with lightning speed. His stormtroopers have their headquarters in the White House Executive Office Building. Their leader, the odious Musk, has been welcomed into The West Wing where he has an office upstairs from the Oval Office.
Dear readers, this is a nightmare I don't think we're going to wake up from anytime soon. The Founders of our country described the democratic system they sought to form as a “government of laws, not of men.” With Donald Trump's January 6 pardons and commutations, with his appointment of the likes of Kash Patel to run the FBI, with Hegseth ready to put the military in the street anytime Trump orders him, we have lost that noble dream of our Founding Fathers. One day in the not too distant future, unless some lawsuits are filed by brave civil servants and groups like the ACLU and the Democratic Party gets its act together, we won't have the federal government anymore. We won't have school lunch programs and Head Start and research for new cures for cancer and development of plans to be ready for the next pandemic. I could go on with what will be missing from our government and our lives, but you get the picture.
I don't know what our country will become, but it won't be recognizable as the United States of America we have loved for 240 years.
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floatinginzerog · 22 days ago
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Don't Criminalize Anti-Zionism! Sample Email to send to Congress
This is an email template that I wrote up that can be used to send to your members in congress to put pressure on them to vote against the criminalization of pro-Palestine protests You can also use this to call If emails to congress have a word count limit, or if calls have a time limit, just sending the first three paragraphs works as well
Dear [Representative's name] I am writing today to push a very important message; Anti-zionism is not the same thing as anti-semitism. I am deeply saddened by the increase in Jewish hate, but criminalizing an unrelated ideology, Zionism, is not the way to do things. Many Jewish people are anti-Zionist, and many Zionists are anti-sematic.
The destruction of Synagogues and violence against the Jewish population is tragic and must be stopped, but so is the slaughter, displacement, and continued repression of Palestinians. Both of these issues need to be acted upon. They are not opposites, rather, they are joined in their shared goal of increasing human tolerance to arbitrary differences and ending hate
Israel's campaign of destruction in Palestine is not a Jewish agenda, but a Zionist and colonial one. We must not let an entire group of people be repressed the same way the Native Americans were, the way the Hawaiians were, the way the Jews were. Some important notes on the issue:
The Jewish hostages were treated far better than the Palestinian "prisoners," which I put in quotes because these people were largely detained without charges, the 99% conviction rate in court being a clear signal of a sham trial.
During the attacks on Gaza, Israel championed the phrase, "there are no innocents in Gaza," A city whose population is 50% children
They are currently attempting an invasion of Jenin, killing and injuring dozens of people. Many of these murders were caught on camera, and in them, the victims were seen trying to flee before being shot down. Children are among these lost souls
I believe people of different backgrounds can live in peace together, but denying the existence of the human rights violations that are taking place right now will only serve as permission to continue this behavior
Thank you for your time
-[Your name]
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odinsblog · 10 months ago
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Dear President Shafik,
We write as Jewish faculty of Columbia and Barnard in anticipation of your appearance before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 17, where you are expected to answer questions about antisemitism on campus. Based on the committee’s previous hearings, we are gravely concerned about the false narratives that frame these proceedings to entrap witnesses. We urge you, as the University president, to defend our shared commitment to universities as sites of learning, critical thinking, and knowledge production against this new McCarthyism.
Rather than being concerned with the safety and well-being of Jewish students on campuses, the committee is leveraging antisemitism in a wider effort to caricature and demonize universities as hotbeds of “woke indoctrination.” Its opportunistic use of antisemitism in a moment of crisis is expanding and strengthening longstanding efforts to undermine educational institutions. After launching attacks on public universities from Florida to South Dakota, this campaign has opened a new front against private institutions.
The prospect of Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of congress with a history of espousing white nationalist politics, calling university presidents to account for alleged antisemitism on their campuses reveals these proceedings as disingenuous political theater.
In the face of these coordinated attacks on higher education, universities must insist on their freedom to research and teach inconvenient truths. This includes historical injustices and the contemporary structures that perpetuate them, regardless of whether these facts are politically inexpedient for certain interest groups.
To be sure, antisemitism is a grave concern that should be scrutinized alongside racism, sexism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and all other forms of hate. These hateful ideologies exist everywhere and we would be ignorant to believe that they don’t exist at Columbia. When antisemitism rears its head, it should be swiftly denounced, and its perpetrators held to account. However, it is absurd to claim that antisemitism—“discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews,” according to the Jerusalem Declaration’s definition—is rampant on Columbia’s campus. To argue that taking a stand against Israel’s war on Gaza is antisemitic is to pervert the meaning of the term.
Labeling pro-Palestinian expression as anti-Jewish hate speech requires a dangerous and false conflation of Zionism with Jewishness, of political ideology with identity. This conflation betrays a woefully inaccurate understanding—and disingenuous misrepresentation—of Jewish history, identity, and politics. It erases more than a century of debates among Jews themselves about the nature of a Jewish homeland in the biblical Land of Israel, including Israel’s status as a Jewish nation-state. It dismisses the experiences of the post-Zionist, non-Zionist, and anti-Zionist Jews who work, study, and live on our campus.
The political passions that arise from conflict in the Middle East may deeply unsettle students, faculty, and staff with opposing views. But feeling uncomfortable is not the same thing as being threatened or discriminated against. Free expression, which is fundamental to both academic inquiry and democracy, necessarily entails exposure to views that may be deeply disconcerting. We can support students who feel real and valid discomfort toward protests advocating for Palestinian liberation while also stating clearly and firmly that this discomfort is not an issue of safety.
As faculty, we dedicate ourselves and our classrooms to keeping every student safe from real harm, harassment, and discrimination. We commit to helping them learn to experience discomfort and even confrontation as part of the process of skill and knowledge acquisition—and to help them realize that ideas we oppose can be contested without being suppressed.
By exacting discipline, inviting police presence, and broadly surveilling its students for minor offenses, the University is betraying its educational mission. It has pursued drastic measures against students, including disciplinary proceedings and probation, for infractions like allegedly attending an unauthorized protest, or moving barricades to drape a flag on a statue. Real harassment and physical intimidation and violence on campus must be confronted seriously and its perpetrators held accountable. At the same time, the University should refrain whenever possible from using discipline and surveillance as means of addressing less serious harms, and should never use punitive measures to address conflicts over ideas and the feelings of discomfort that result. Where the University once embraced and defended students’ political expression, it now suppresses and disciplines it.
The University’s recent policies represent a dramatic change from historical practice, and the consequences are ruinous to our community and its principles. In the past, Columbia has periodically confronted attacks against pro-Palestinian speech, ranging from the vile slanders against Professor Edward Said to the reckless accusations from the David Project. But where for decades the University stood firm against smear campaigns targeting its professors, it has now voluntarily accepted the job of censoring its faculty in and outside the classroom.
Columbia’s commitment to free inquiry and robust disagreement is what makes it a world-class institution. Limiting academic freedom when it comes to questions of Israel and Palestine paves the way for limitations on other contested topics, from climate science to the history of slavery. What’s more, students must have the freedom to dissent, to make mistakes, to offend without intent, and to learn to repair harm done if necessary. Free expression is not only crucial to student development and education outside the classroom; the tradition of student protest has also played a vital role in American democracy. Columbia should be proud of having participated in nationwide student organizing that helped secure civil rights and reproductive rights and helped bring an end to the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa.
We express our support for the University and for higher education against the attacks likely to be leveled against them at the upcoming congressional hearing. We object to the weaponization of antisemitism. And we advocate for a campus where all students, Jewish, Palestinian, and all others, can learn and thrive in a climate of open, honest inquiry and rigorous debate.
Many members of our University community share our perspective, but they have not yet been heard. Columbia students, staff, alumni, and faculty can sign here to show your support for this letter’s message.
—Jewish faculty reject the weaponization of antisemitism
The 23 authors of this letter are Jewish faculty members of Barnard College and Columbia University. This letter derives from a much longer one by these same 23 faculty sent to President Shafik on April 5.
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camisoledadparis · 1 month ago
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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY
based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … January 11
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1755 – Alexander Hamilton, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (d.1804); One had to wonder what the current occupants of the White House would think if they knew of the ruckus caused a couple of centuries ago by Alexander Hamilton and George Washington, the American patriots who became the first secretary of the treasury and president, respectively. George, whom everyone knows had no children of his own, surrounded himself with a circle of young male revolutionaries who he called his "family." Among his favorites were John Laurens, who once fought a duel to defend George's honor sullied by some cad now lost to history; and Alexander Hamilton. George was thought by his enemies to be a bit soft on the boys and was suspected over being overly fond of young Hamilton in particular.
While in Washington's service Hamilton befriended a group of other young officers, with one of whom, John Laurens of South Carolina, he had a particularly close relationship. When the two were apart on separate assignments, they exchanged affectionate letters. In September 1779, gently chiding Laurens for not corresponding as often as he would have liked, Hamilton wrote, "like a jealous lover, when I thought you slighted my caresses, my affection was alarmed and my vanity piqued."
Between 1779 and 1782, Hamilton and Laurens exchanged a series of love letters, reprinted in Jonathan Katz's Gay American History, in which Laurens addressed Hamilton as "'My Dear' and offered flowery protestations of undying affection, to which Hamilton responded with the touching declaration: "'I love you'." To this day the letters are explained away on the grounds that 18th century men "were classical scholars whose thoughts and actions were colored by the grandeur of antiquity."
Despite the prestige of his appointment on Washington's staff, Hamilton wished to serve in combat like—and perhaps with—his friend Laurens. Using the pretext of a minor disagreement with the general, Hamilton requested and received a transfer in February 1781. The incident left no hard feelings on either side.
Hamilton and Laurens participated in several military campaigns together later that year but were again separated on August 15, 1782, when Hamilton wrote to his friend, addressing him as "My Dear Laurens." Looking beyond the successful conclusion of the war, Hamilton suggested that both of them should be members of the congress of the new country. "We have fought side by side to make America free, let us hand in hand struggle to make her happy," he wrote in a letter ending, "Yours forever."
It is doubtful that Laurens ever read this letter, for he was killed in a skirmish on August 27. Upon hearing of his friend's death from Major General Nathanael Greene, Hamilton wrote back that he felt "the deepest affliction at the news," adding, "I feel the loss of a friend I truly and most tenderly loved."
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Файл:Bojidar Karageorgevitch — Википедия
1868 – Prince Bojidar Karageorgevitch (d.1908), Serbian artist and writer on art, was a member of the Serbian House of Karaorđević. He was a world traveller. He gave singing and drawing lessons and later earned his living as an art critic and translator. He was a contributor to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Figaro, La Revue de Paris, Revue des Revues, Magazine of Art, and other publications.
Prince Bojidar lived in France for most of his life as this family were in exile. Bojidar travelled a lot and went on a number of trips around the world. He served in the French Army and fought in the French campaign at Tonking and was decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honour. To earn a living he gave singing and drawing lessons before becoming a translator and journalist
During one of his trips abroad, he travelled extensively around India, visiting thirty eight cities. He wrote a book about his experiences called Enchanted India in which he offered an account of the Indian people, their religious rites, and other ceremonies.
He was drawn to the cabarets of Montmarte, the haunt of artists, writers, poets, philosophers. It was there he met and befriended French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt, pioneer of modern dance Loïe Fuller, French poet, novelist and noted orientalist Judith Gautier, Suzanne Meyer-Zundel, Austrian composer Hugo Wolf, painter and illustrator Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and founder of the Ballets Russes Sergei Diaghilev.
His lover was painter Jules Bastien-Lepage, fourteen years his senior, who predeceased him when Prince Bojidar was only 22 years old. The artist, long ailing, had tried in vain to re-establish his health in Algiers. He died in Paris in 1884. Prince Bojidar, was with him at the end and wrote,
"At last he was unable to work anymore; and he died on the 10th of December, 1884, breathing his last in my arms. At his grave's head his mother and brother lovingly planted an apple-tree, which every spring showers down its wealth of pearly petals over the last resting-place of the great master whose loss we all mourn."
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1950 – Rick Bébout is best known for his role in The Body Politic collective in the 1970s and '80s, and for his writings then and since on gay life in Toronto.
One of thousands who had fled to Canada from the United States during the Vietnam War, in 1977 Bébout joined a small group of Toronto lesbian and gay activists who were publishing The Body Politic, a 'gay liberation journal' that had soared to prominence both in Canada and abroad.
Particularly interested in design, he brought the resource-poor publication to an astonishing level of graphic sophistication, while also contributing to its unique voice by writing in its pages.
But his interests extended well beyond sexual politics. Like many other refugees who have settled in Toronto, he was passionate about the city that had embraced him, editing in 1972 The Open Gate: Toronto Union Station, a book that helped prevent the destruction of the iconic building.
Despite his interest in mass politics, he was intensely private and writing was the medium in which he conducted much of his life, particularly in his later years. Notably, he carried on a decades-long correspondence with novelist Jane Rule. (Their letters are being prepared for publication by a US scholar.)
Living with HIV since the mid-1980s, Rick suffered an apparent stroke on June 4, 2009, and died on June 10, 2009, of HIV-related illnesses.
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1962 – Today's the birthday of Welsh politician Chris Bryant. Born in Cardiff, Wales. He studied English at Oxford University and theology at Rippon College, Cuddesdon.
Bryant is openly gay, but he was ridiculed in the press when he was discovered to have a Gaydar profile featuring pictures of him wearing only underpants, whilst an MP. In an interview with Attitiude magazine he later described the incident as 'very, very, very, very unpleasant ... I didn't sleep much for about three months.'
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Chris Bryant's "Gaydar" picture.
He later appeared looking very buff in swimming trunks at a parlimanetary swimming fundraiser.
In early 2010 Bryant 'married' his partner Jared Cranney in the first civil partnership to be held in the Houses of Parliament.
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1972 – Chad Donovan is an American performer and director of gay pornographic films. He has won numerous awards as a performer and director, and is a member of the GayVN Awards Hall of Fame and the Grabby Awards Hall of Fame.
Donovan was born into a Southern Baptist family. His rigid religious background and sexual precocity led to experimentation at an early age. "My first experience with a guy was about eight, just playing around and fingering buttholes. We probably didn't even get hard." Donovan's large endowment prompted teasing from his classmates as he reached puberty. "Through high school I had a difficult time because I had to change clothes for gym and stuff. I nearly failed gym class because I didn't want to change clothes. I got made fun of. Plus, not to mention, I hit puberty at ten. So all these little boys were bald as a peacock and here I am, full out baby's arm holding an apple."
Donovan was introduced to the gay pornographic industry by performers Chase Hunter and Tony DeAngelo. They worked as strippers at a 1470 West, a gay bar in Dayton, Ohio where Donovan was bartending. "We were kind of fucking around, having threeways occasionally. They took pictures of me, sent pictures all around," he recalls. Gay adult studios Catalina Video and Falcon Studios showed interest, and Donovan chose to work for Falcon. He was eighteen years old.
Donovan earned a $2,000 scene rate for his first movie. "When you're a kid living in Ohio, that's a lot of money. And a trip to San Francisco for three days. I did the one scene and two photo layouts. It was fantastic. What more could you ask for?" He filmed the scene with Hunter Scott and Anthony Moore. The scene was released by Falcon in 1994 in the film "Workin' Stiff." Donovan went on to film roughly 50 titles as a performer over the next decade.
In 2001, Bob East of Men of Odyssey broached the idea of directing. "He asked me if I'd be interested in directing. He said I seemed to have a good knack for finding talent, I've been in the industry long enough, why don't I try putting a movie together? So I did." That film was titled "Movin' On," and it was during production that he met and began a relationship with cast member Antonio Madiera, which continues to this day. "I had no intention of getting a boyfriend out of it. I hired the kid, I really liked the way he looked, he performed like a champ, and every time I looked down—when I wasn't even shooting him, I'd be shooting other boys in a scene—he'd be looking up at me with these puppydog eyes. I just couldn't resist."
Donovan's final onscreen sexual performances (as of December 2007) were in 2004. One of those films, "Studs 'N Pups" for MSR Videos, was the first time he and boyfriend Madiera performed together. Madiera continues to act occasionally, usually in films that Donovan directs. In 2007, Donovan helmed Basic Plumbing 3 for Falcon Studios; the film starred Chase Hunter and brought them back together 16 years after Hunter introduced Donovan to the industry. Although essentially retired as a sexual performer, Donovan occasionally appears in nonsexual roles. His early roles remain in circulation as they are continually repackaged into compilation tapes.
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1974 – Max von Essen is an American stage and screen actor, and vocalist.
Raised on Long Island, von Essen is a graduate of South Side High School in Rockville Centre, New York. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and after graduation toured with Liza Minnelli. He is a member of the Von Essen family, who are part of the German and Swedish nobility. A son of Rita and Thomas Von Essen, who was the New York City Fire Commissioner during the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, he is the youngest of four children. He is openly gay.
He toured Europe in West Side Story and was a cast member of the U.S. national tour of Chicago. He made his Broadway debut in Jesus Christ Superstar in 2000 as Disciple and Jesus of Nazareth understudy. He appeared in Les Misérables on Broadway as the replacement for Fauchelevent and other roles, and starred in Dance of the Vampires alongside Michael Crawford in 2002. He played the role of student revolutionary leader Enjolras (replacement) in the Les Misérables Broadway revival in 2006 at the Broadhurst Theater.
In 2006, he was a soloist at the biggest Andrew Lloyd Webber musical gala to date, held in Tallinn, Estonia. He performed in the national tour of Xanadu as "Sonny" in 2008[8] and in the Roundabout Theater Company Off-Broadway production of Maury Yeston's Death Takes a Holiday at the Laura Pels Theatre in 2011. In 2015, von Essen played the role of Parisian aristocrat Henri in the Broadway production of An American in Paris, for which he received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical nomination.
Max von Essen is now a star of the off-Broadway play “Yours Unfaithfully,” and lives with his partner, Daniel Rowan, in a Hell’s Kitchen duplex.  
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Dylan Rice at the OUT Music Awards
1976 – Today is also the birthday of American singer Dylan Rice. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1998 (where he studied poetry) and now lives in Chicago. In 2004 he released an album called Wandering Eyes.
In July 2006, Dylan, who is openly gay, performed his stadium-rock anthem "The Faces of Victory" for 20,000 people at the Gay Games Closing Ceremonies at Wrigley Field in Chicago, joined onstage by Styx bassist Chuck Panozzo, and backed by a chorus of Chicago LGBT rockers. Written especially for the Gay Games, the song was also recorded in the studio with Panozzo, released as a single, and was highlighted in the official Gay Games VII commemorative DVD in December 2006.
For more information about Rice, visit his website at www.dylanrice.com Under the "Music" tab you can even download some of his songs.
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1984 – The Wall Street Journal allows staff writers to now use the word "gay" as a synonym for "homosexual" in article and headlines.
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2008 – It was reported on this date that the Socialist mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, had been given increased police protection after US security services informed their French counterparts that he might be attacked by terrorists. While monitoring internet traffic related to Al-Qaeda the CIA discovered that Delanoë was listed as a target. As mayor of France's biggest city he is the most prominent gay politician in the country.
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soon-palestine · 10 months ago
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JVL Introduction
The Presidents of three leading US universities were falsely accused of condoning anti-Semitism on their campuses in a highly partisan ambush in front of US congressional hearing in December. Now the Columbia President, Minouche Shafik, is being summoned and 23 of her Jewish faculty are urging her not to give in to attempts to equate anti-Zionism with antisemitism and to defend academic freedom at her campus.
They strongly contest assertions that antisemitism is rife at Columbia. They accept that many students are unsettled by the intensity of debate around the Gaza catastrophe but being uncomfortable is far from being discriminated against or threatened.
They deplore the recent actions of the University’s management to use disciplinary processes to clamp down on protest and see this as an abandonment of Columbia’s record of confronting smears and slanders levelled against staff and students and committing to free inquiry and robust disagreement.
MC
This article was originally published by Columbia Spectator on Wed 10 Apr 2024. Read the original here. Jewish faculty reject the weaponization of antisemitism
by 23 Columbia and Barnard faculty, Columbia Spectator
Dear President Shafik,
We write as Jewish faculty of Columbia and Barnard in anticipation of your appearance before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 17, where you are expected to answer questions about antisemitism on campus. Based on the committee’s previous hearings, we are gravely concerned about the false narratives that frame these proceedings to entrap witnesses. We urge you, as the University president, to defend our shared commitment to universities as sites of learning, critical thinking, and knowledge production against this new McCarthyism.
Rather than being concerned with the safety and well-being of Jewish students on campuses, the committee is leveraging antisemitism in a wider effort to caricature and demonize universities as hotbeds of “woke indoctrination.” Its opportunistic use of antisemitism in a moment of crisis is expanding and strengthening longstanding efforts to undermine educational institutions. After launching attacks on public universities from Florida to South Dakota, this campaign has opened a new front against private institutions.
The prospect of Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of congress with a history of espousing white nationalist politics, calling university presidents to account for alleged antisemitism on their campuses reveals these proceedings as disingenuous political theater.
In the face of these coordinated attacks on higher education, universities must insist on their freedom to research and teach inconvenient truths. This includes historical injustices and the contemporary structures that perpetuate them, regardless of whether these facts are politically inexpedient for certain interest groups.
To be sure, antisemitism is a grave concern that should be scrutinized alongside racism, sexism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and all other forms of hate. These hateful ideologies exist everywhere and we would be ignorant to believe that they don’t exist at Columbia. When antisemitism rears its head, it should be swiftly denounced, and its perpetrators held to account. However, it is absurd to claim that antisemitism—“discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews,” according to the Jerusalem Declaration’s definition—is rampant on Columbia’s campus. To argue that taking a stand against Israel’s war on Gaza is antisemitic is to pervert the meaning of the term.
Labeling pro-Palestinian expression as anti-Jewish hate speech requires a dangerous and false conflation of Zionism with Jewishness, of political ideology with identity. This conflation betrays a woefully inaccurate understanding—and disingenuous misrepresentation—of Jewish history, identity, and politics. It erases more than a century of debates among Jews themselves about the nature of a Jewish homeland in the biblical Land of Israel, including Israel’s status as a Jewish nation-state. It dismisses the experiences of the post-Zionist, non-Zionist, and anti-Zionist Jews who work, study, and live on our campus.
The political passions that arise from conflict in the Middle East may deeply unsettle students, faculty, and staff with opposing views. But feeling uncomfortable is not the same thing as being threatened or discriminated against. Free expression, which is fundamental to both academic inquiry and democracy, necessarily entails exposure to views that may be deeply disconcerting. We can support students who feel real and valid discomfort toward protests advocating for Palestinian liberation while also stating clearly and firmly that this discomfort is not an issue of safety.
As faculty, we dedicate ourselves and our classrooms to keeping every student safe from real harm, harassment, and discrimination. We commit to helping them learn to experience discomfort and even confrontation as part of the process of skill and knowledge acquisition—and to help them realize that ideas we oppose can be contested without being suppressed.
By exacting discipline, inviting police presence, and broadly surveilling its students for minor offenses, the University is betraying its educational mission. It has pursued drastic measures against students, including disciplinary proceedings and probation, for infractions like allegedly attending an unauthorized protest, or moving barricades to drape a flag on a statue. Real harassment and physical intimidation and violence on campus must be confronted seriously and its perpetrators held accountable. At the same time, the University should refrain whenever possible from using discipline and surveillance as means of addressing less serious harms, and should never use punitive measures to address conflicts over ideas and the feelings of discomfort that result. Where the University once embraced and defended students’ political expression, it now suppresses and disciplines it.
The University’s recent policies represent a dramatic change from historical practice, and the consequences are ruinous to our community and its principles. In the past, Columbia has periodically confronted attacks against pro-Palestinian speech, ranging from the vile slanders against Professor Edward Said to the reckless accusations from the David Project. But where for decades the University stood firm against smear campaigns targeting its professors, it has now voluntarily accepted the job of censoring its faculty in and outside the classroom.
Columbia’s commitment to free inquiry and robust disagreement is what makes it a world-class institution. Limiting academic freedom when it comes to questions of Israel and Palestine paves the way for limitations on other contested topics, from climate science to the history of slavery. What’s more, students must have the freedom to dissent, to make mistakes, to offend without intent, and to learn to repair harm done if necessary. Free expression is not only crucial to student development and education outside the classroom; the tradition of student protest has also played a vital role in American democracy. Columbia should be proud of having participated in nationwide student organizing that helped secure civil rights and reproductive rights and helped bring an end to the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa.
We express our support for the University and for higher education against the attacks likely to be leveled against them at the upcoming congressional hearing. We object to the weaponization of antisemitism. And we advocate for a campus where all students, Jewish, Palestinian, and all others, can learn and thrive in a climate of open, honest inquiry and rigorous debate.
Many members of our University community share our perspective, but they have not yet been heard. Columbia students, staff, alumni, and faculty can sign here to show your support for this letter’s message.
Sincerely,Debbie Becher, Barnard College Helen Benedict, Columbia Journalism School Susan Bernofsky, School of the Arts Elizabeth Bernstein, Barnard College Nina Berman, Columbia Journalism School Amy Chazkel, Faculty of Arts & Sciences Yinon Cohen, Faculty of Arts & Sciences Nora Gross, Barnard College Keith Gessen, Columbia Journalism School Jack Halberstam, Faculty of Arts & Sciences Sarah Haley, Faculty of Arts & Sciences Michael Harris, Faculty of Arts & Sciences Jennifer S. Hirsch, Mailman School of Public Health Marianne Hirsch, Faculty of Arts & Sciences (Emerita) Joseph A. Howley, Faculty of Arts & Sciences David Lurie, Faculty of Arts & Sciences Nara Milanich, Barnard College D. Max Moerman, Barnard College Manijeh Moradian, Barnard College Sheldon Pollock, Faculty of Arts & Sciences (Emeritus) Bruce Robbins, Faculty of Arts & Sciences James Schamus, School of the Arts Alisa Solomon, Columbia Journalism School
The 23 authors of this letter are Jewish faculty members of Barnard College and Columbia University. This letter derives from a much longer one by these same 23 faculty sent to President Shafik on April 5.
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nesiacha · 3 months ago
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The Day a Judge Finally Confronted Turreau for His Despicable Behavior Toward His Wife
warning: talk about domestic violence
Turreau treated his wife, Marie-Angelique Lequesne, née widow Ronsin, with extreme cruelty. He served as ambassador to the United States under Bonaparte, where he was disliked for his behavior. In contrast, his wife charmed the political elite and even influenced the political development of one of America’s most prominent First Ladies, Dolley Madison, with whom she was also a close friend. Despite Turreau’s notorious past in Vendée and elsewhere, no one dared confront him over his domestic abuse, though many disapproved. His status as ambassador, and the influence he wielded, kept even Congress members and other high-ranking officials silent.
This changed, however, when one day a judge put an immediate stop to Turreau’s mistreatment of his wife. He forced the door and confront Turreau about this. Below is an excerpt from a letter written by Dolley Madison:
"My Dearest Anna,—I wrote to you from my bed, where I have been confined for ten days with a bad knee. It has become very painful, and two doctors have applied caustic, hoping it will heal me, but Heaven only knows! I feel as if I shall never walk again. My dear husband insists on taking me to Philadelphia to be under Dr. Physic's care, but he cannot stay with me, and I dread the separation. Yesterday we had brother George, Thornton, and Lawrence Washington over for the day, and I enjoyed the sound of Virginian laughter echoing through the house; George coughs incessantly, looking thin and hoarse, but has no thought of dying. Since I wrote you two days ago, I have heard troubling news about Turreau—that he whips and abuses his wife dreadfully; I pity her sincerely, as she is an amiable, sensible woman. I received a letter from Mount Vernon begging me to visit, but alas! I shall walk no more. Yours ever, Dolly."
The relief was, however, short-lived, as revealed in another letter by Dolley Madison:
"Mrs. Madison’s kind words were for Madame, the wife of General Turreau de Garambonville, the French Minister. He had been marked for the guillotine and was saved by a trick played by the jailer’s daughter. Gratitude became the basis for a marriage without real substance. She followed him to the United States, where he appeared in society resplendent in diamonds and gold—but without Madame. Tayloe’s reminiscences mention that Madame’s cries often disturbed Turreau’s neighbors in the Seven Buildings, and his accomplished secretary, Count de Carbre, who played the flute exquisitely, tried to drown out her cries with his music. Eventually, the neighbors became indignant and threatening. At the height of the uproar, the eccentric Dr. Thornton arrived and stopped the beating. When Turreau fiercely told Thornton, 'Dr. Thornton, you do not know de law of de nation,' Thornton replied, 'But I know the laws of humanity, and I intend to enforce them.' Madame had, in fact, been crying out in grief, protesting the General’s insistence that she return to France. She ultimately did. Dr. Thornton, acting as a justice of the peace, documented the incident in sworn testimony."
As a reminder, Marie-Angélique Lequesne had at least one son in the United States (perhaps more), though her daughter, Alexandrine, was likely at a boarding school in France. This separation likely caused her considerable distress. According to this site https://rembarre.fr/g_tur_ec.htm when Turreau later attempted to place their daughter Alexandrine in a convent, her mother fought successfully for her release after their divorce. Alexandrine, unfortunately, died in poverty years later (Yes I feel sorry for her because just like the young Louis XVII she does not deserve contempt for the faults of their fathers although Louis XVI was at least a good father, where Turreau….)
The judge initially transferred Marie-Angélique to safer quarters, but Turreau punished her by leaving her in poverty. Once again, the judge intervened, organizing collections to fund her return to France in 1809 after three years of hardship. Once in France, she divorced Turreau.
Turreau was truly a fool—a man who spoke disrespectfully to judges, harmed his reputation (and that of France, as ambassador), and mistreated the one person capable of damage control: his wife, who was beloved by Washington's political elite. Cruel people often reveal their own stupidity. Napoleon’s lack of intervention was no surprise, given his disregard for women’s rights, which he reduced to levels even lower than those in Spain or Italy. Still, he should have recalled Turreau based on his string of misdeeds alone.
In a world filled with people like Turreau, strive to be like Dr. Thornton. Do not intervene directly, however, as it can be very dangerous. Call the necessary authorities instead.
Source:
Letter of Dolley Madison
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1923081
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