#Egyptian Politician

[yourdailyqueer]

Faika El-Nagashi

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Lesbian

DOB: 3 September 1976 

Ethnicity: Hungarian, Egyptian

Nationality: Austrian

Occupation: Politician (Austrian Green Party), activist

[stil-lindigo]

i really can't overstate how fucking furious i am that corrupt egyptian officials have become millionaires from charging palestinian refugees thousands upon thousands of dollars to escape genocide and not only that, that it comes down to the generosity of normal people like you and me to fund these people, to feel guilty over not being wealthy enough to do more, to feel the pressure of choosing which fund to donate to, to have to shoulder the emotional burden of deciding which lives to save, when politicians will get absurdly rich off of insider trading and taking bribes from companies as they help engineer a worse world for all of us to endure.

[6ghassan]

Fidel Castro and Gamal Abdel Nasser (New York, Sept. 28, 1960) by Wasfi Akab Via Flickr: When Fidel Castro arrived in New York to address the UN General Assembly in September 1960 he was a minor player on the world stage, the head of a Caribbean nation who had been in power barely 18 months.

[metamatar]

since they're pivoting to a helpless biden narrative now

This is an extraordinary claim. The notion that the U.S. — which provides Israel with an automatic veto at the United Nations, intelligence support, Navy support in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf, military presence in Syria, Turkey, and Iraq, and tens of billions in cutting-edge weapons and military supplies — is “unable to exert significant influence” over Israel would, no doubt, come as a surprise to most political observers. So what evidence does the Post provide to support this claim? Entirely the say-so of Biden aides who decline to be named. [...]

Last month, in the early days of the war, Israeli Defense Minister Yaov Gallant was pressed by critics about why the government agreed to allow in limited humanitarian aid to Gaza before the hostages had been returned. He said, “The Americans insisted and we are not in a place where we can refuse them. We rely on them for planes and military equipment. What are we supposed to do? Tell them no?” [...]

In a recent book on Biden, The Last Politician, writer Franklin Foer details how Biden put an end to Israel’s bombing of Gaza in 2021 with one phone call.  After Netanyahu “struggled to justify his request [for more bombing] because he couldn’t point to fresh targets that needed striking,” Biden said, according to Foer, “Hey, man, we’re out of runway here. It’s over.” And then, Foer continued, “like that, it was. By the time the call ended, Netanyahu reluctantly agreed to a cease-fire that the Egyptians would broker.”

[leroibobo]

when the homes in the depopulated palestinian village of lifta were originally built is impossible to tell and most likely varies from house to house. the area's been known since ancient times, including having been written about in the hebrew bible. it's retained multiple different names throughout history - lifta by romans, nephto by byzantines, clepsta by crusaders, then lifta again by arabs. in more recent times, the area saw battle in the early 19th century, when it saw a peasant's revolt against egyptian conscription and taxation policies. (egyptian-ottoman ruler muhammad ali had attempted to become independent from the ottoman empire, and sought to use the area of "greater syria" which palestine was apart of as a buffer state.)

the village was predominantly muslim with a mosque, a maqām for local sage shaykh badr, a few shops, a social club, two coffee houses, and an elementary school which opened in 1945. its economy was based in farming - being a village of jerusalem, farmers would sell their produce in the city's markets. an olive press which remains in the village gives evidence to one of the most important crops its residents farmed. the historically wealthy village was known for its intricate embroidery and sewing, particularly of thob ghabani bridal dresses, which attracted buyers from across the levant.

lifta also represents one of the few palestinian villages in which the structures weren't totally or mostly decimated during the 1948 nakba. 60 of the 450 original houses remain intact. from zochrot's entry on lifta:

israel's absentee property law of 1950 permits the state to expropriate land and assets left behind, and denies palestinians the right to return to old homes or to reclaim their property. it's estimated that there's around 400,000 descendants of the village's original refugee population dispersed in east jerusalem, the west bank, jordan, and the palestinian diaspora.

like many depopulated palestinian houses, some of those in lifta were initially used to settle predominantly mizrahi immigrants and refugees, in this case 300 jewish families from yemen and kurdistan. the houses weren't registered in their names, and the area generally saw poor infrastructure and no resources including water and electricity provided by the government. most left in the early 1970s as a part of a compensation program to move out people who'd been settled in depopulated palestinian houses - if they didn't, they were referred to as "squatters" and evicted. (holes were even drilled in the roofs of evacuated buildings to make them less habitable). the 13 families which remain there today only managed to do so because they lived close to the edge of the village.

in 1987, the israeli nature reserves authority planned to restore the "long-abandoned village" and turn it into a natural history center which would "stress the jewish roots of the site", but nothing came of it. several more government proposals on what to do with the land had been brought up since then. this culminated in in 2021 when the israel land administration announced without informing the jerusalem municipal authorities that it issued a tender for the construction of a luxury neighborhood on the village's ruins, consisting of 259 villas, a hotel, and a mall. since 2023, they've agreed to shelve and "rethink" these plans after widespread objection.

the reasons for the objections varied significantly between the opposing israeli politicians - who see the village as an exemplar of cultural heritage and "frozen in time" model of palestinian villages before 1948 - and palestinians - who largely see the village as a witness of the nakba and a symbol of hope for their return. lifta is currently listed by unesco as a potential world heritage site, a designation netanyahu has threatened to remove several times.

many palestinians who are descendent from its former residents still live nearby. like with many other depopulated palestinian villages, they've never ceased to visit, organize tours of the village, and advocate for its preservation.

[odinsblog]

Henry Kissinger's victims:

3 million + Vietnamese

2.5 million + Cambodians

200,000+ Laotians

3 million + Bangladeshis

10,000+ Indians

10,000+ Pakistanis

15,000+ Egyptians

3500+ Syrians

6500+ Cypriots

40,000+ Chileans

30,000+ Argentinians

10,000+ Zimbabweans

60,000+ Mozambiqueans

900,000+ Angolans

11,000+ Guinea Bisseauans

300,000+ East Timorians

1,000,000+ Indonesians

20,000+ Western Saharans

1,100,000+ Iraqis

and so so many more

“…it is very possible that Henry Kissinger has played a role in the mass murder of more people than anyone else in human history.”

Henry Kissinger was a vile, evil man through and through. And while good people are justifiably rejoicing at his long overdue death, please never forget that his evil brand of warmongering, unending “defensive” wars, and colonialism lives on in far too many media pundits, Hollywood + media influencers, and powerful politicians.

Kissinger is dead, but his cruel, cold-blooded, sadistic brand of militarism still lives on, and that is what we must bring an end to.

[diioonysus]

my favorite historical facts

mayans believed that having crossed-eyes meant you were favored by the sun god kinich ahau, who was cross-eyed as well. in hopes that children would be, they would have objects dangled between their eyes to permanently cross their eyes.

ancient rome had a 4-story shopping mall with 150 shops and offices which was made in 113 AD

ancient egyptians invented toothpaste, they made it with rock salt, pepper, mint, and dried iris flowers

until recently (20th century) bones and mummies were used in traditional medicine, as some believed they could cure ailements by ingesting related body parts.

left-handed people were considered unlucky in ancient rome

lots of medieval barbers were also dentists and surgeons, which is why barbershops use red and white stripes because the stripes represent bandages used during bloodletting.

in medieval germany, married couples could legally settle their disputes by fighting a martial duel.

married women were not allowed to watch the ancient olympics, under penatly of death, but the vestal virigins in ancient rome were allowed to in some circumstances because their sacred building was knocked down to make a stadium

ancient greeks invented the first alarm clock in a system where pebbles would be dropped onto a gong and this would then make a loud sound

if a pirate ship approached flying a red flag with a hourglass on it then the defenders knew they were in some shit as red meant "give no quarter" and the hourglass meant essentially your time on earth was about to run out

shakespeare originated the "yo momma" joke, as in his one play titus androcius, a character says "thou has undone our mother," to which another character says "villain, i have done thy mother."

before abraham lincoln became a politician, he was a champion wrestler with more than 300 bouts under his belt, and only lost one match in his career. he was inducted into the national wrestling hall of fame in 1992

the gauls when trying to sack rome, caedicius had to get approval from the senate on the besieged capitoline. a messenger snuck through the gallic camp and scaled the unguarded cliff side of the hill to deliver the message. It was quickly decided to restore camillus to his command and to give him dictatorial powers and then the messenger snuck his way out again. the senone scouts discovered the messenger’s footprints and figured out that there was a way to scale the cliffs. they choose a night with a full moon and sent their bravest warriors up the cliff. none of the romans noticed, but the geese did. they started honking loudly and woke up the sleeping romans, the romans than pushed the gauls off the hill, and due to this fight the gauls suffered food shortages and diseases, so geese saved the day.

a pig was executed in 1386 after attacking a kid who would die from their wounds. the pig was arrested, kept in prison, and then sent to the court where it stood trial for murder, eventually being found guilty and then executed by hanging.

forks used to be considered blasphemous. when forks arrived in 11th century italy, it alarmed religious leaders because eating with artifical hands offended god.

the bluetooth design and name was named after the viking king harald bluetooth, based on an analogy that the technology would unite devices the way harald bluetooth united the tribes of denmark into a single kingdom. his intials in runes is the design of the logo

throwing an apple at somebody in ancient greece was considered flirting because the apple was sacred to aphrodite, so throwing it was declaring ones love

king george v of england was euthanized as his staff wanted his death to make the morning papers rather than the evenings ones, so they put him to death early without his consent

robert liston, a surgeon preformed an operation with a 300% mortality rate; he killed the patient and two other people

[davidluongart]

A current illustration that I had for an early celebration of Halloween: Ares dressed up as the famed Roman general, Marcus Antonius, while Aphrodite dressed up as Queen Cleopatra VII Thea Philopathor of Egypt…🎃🍬🍭

I was interested and inspired by the idea that mortals who often dressed as divinities back in ancient times to achieve power, wealth, opulence, and influence, while in this modern-day, divinities often participated in down-to-earth activities, have fun disguising and dressing up as historical mortals for holiday celebrations!!!

Aphrodite’s version of the Egyptian queen was mostly based on the depiction of historically accurate Cleopatra VII made by Joan Francesco Oliveras (@/jfoliveras on Twitter, and Instagram ), as well as statues and statuettes of Isis-Aphrodite that were carved from the Ptolemaic era till the late Roman period of Egypt, albeit taken with modern creative liberties. Isis, during this time, was a very weird figure to say the least, since while still keeping her Egyptian identity and attributes, she was further fused, syncretized, and absorbed the qualities of foreign Greek goddesses like Aphrodite, Demeter, Persephone, Tyche, etc.

With Aphrodite is the fertility goddess of war, love, lust, beauty, passion, and procreation, and later is associated with prosperity, victory, and the ancestral mother of Rome through syncretism with Venus Genetrix; while Isis is the goddess of magic, life, and wisdom, an epitome of eternal maternal devotion, protectress of all living things, from pharaohs to the vulnerable and all aspects of the kingdom, the iconography was adopted by many Ptolemaic queens, particularly Arisnoe II Philadelphos, Berenice II Euergetis and Cleopatra VII.

Ares’ version of Marcus Antonius was based on the historical statue of the Roman politician himself, with his embellishing muscle cuirass based on the Roman Republican statues of Julius Caesar, Augustus (Octavian) of Prima Porta, and Mars Ultor in the Forum of Nevra. With various mistresses (including famous courtesan Cythersis of that time) and marriages to Fadia, Antonia, Fulvia, Octavia the Younger, and Cleopatra VII, their descendants later went to become famous Roman statesmen, or went on to rule the Roman Empire, as well as various clientele kingdoms of modern-day Cimmerian Bosporus, Middle East, North Africa as well. Historically, Marcus Antonius, during his trip to Egypt to visit Cleopatra VII, has always considered himself to be an embodiment of Zeus-Serapis-Dionysus, consort of Isis Aphrodite, but I just think the icon of armed muscular Ares/Mars always suited him more, and look the best.

[probablyasocialecologist]

On October 17, the Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy published a position paper advocating for the “relocation and final settlement of the entire Gaza population.” The report advocates exploiting the current moment to accomplish a long-held Zionist goal of moving Palestinians off the land of historic Palestine. The report’s subtitle makes it clear: “There is at the moment a unique and rare opportunity to evacuate the whole Gaza Strip in coordination with the Egyptian government.”

[...]

It is not the first time that suggestions for a full ethnic cleansing have appeared from Israeli analysts or even politicians. In the midst of the 2014 Gaza onslaught, Moshe Feiglin, who was then part of Likud and deputy chair of the Knesset, sent Netanyahu a public, 7-point proposal for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. He repeated the genocidal advocacy in 2018. Feiglin is now a libertarian politician. In a recent interview on Channel 14, Feiglin called for a “Dresden” on Gaza (referring to the WW2 firebombing of Dresden in February 1945, killing some 25,000 people) — “a storm of fire on all of Gaza!” he proclaimed, demanding to “not leave stone on stone” and emphasizing “total fire!” and “the end of ends!”    The Misgav Institute’s thinking has also been reflected in the Israeli intelligentsia. In 2004, respected Israeli historian Benny Morris, who is a self-proclaimed leftist, shocked many by bemoaning the fact that Ben Gurion did not “finish the job” and carry out the full ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, saying it would have led to less conflict in the ensuing decades. But he also said that a “transfer and expulsion” policy is only a question of time, and timing. Morris argued that in “normal” times, such policies may be immoral — but in “apocalyptic circumstances,” they may be both moral, “reasonable,” and “even essential.”

[vanessalocke]

[France was once expected to join the Commonwealth]

Today I found some interesting information.

As I said in the previous post, I was very surprised to read on 2 wiki pages that France almost joined the Commonwealth. However, in the previous post I was a bit hasty in making the judgment that the UK would not let France join the Commonwealth. In fact, the UK was VERY EXCITED about the idea of ​​France joining the Commonwealth, but…

The whole story is like this: around 1956, France was trying to deal with Egyptian President Gamel Abdel Nasser's desire to nationalize the Suez Canal, so the French prime minister secretly negotiated with the British prime minister to prevent this from happening. In general, the whole Suez Canal affair was a mess and there is nothing to say, but that is not the main point of this post. Here is the main point:

In order to attract Britain to cooperate and tolerate it completely, France proposed an Anglo-French "alliance". Original text: "When the French Prime Minister, Monsieur Mollet was recently in London he raised with the prime minister the possibility of a union between the United Kingdom and France."

British Prime Minister Anthony Eden refused because it sounded too absurd. So Mr Mollet proposed another solution: how about France joining the Commonwealth and swearing allegiance to the King/Queen?

Reading this far, I was like:

???????

In fact, the British Prime Minister was EXTREMELY EXCITED about the proposal for France joining the Commonwealth :D and I think one of the reasons why Britain agreed to participate in the Suez Canal plan was because of this crazy proposal. This is just my personal opinion, that is, Britain wanted to declare the French monarchy for hundreds of years without abandoning it, even putting that wish on the Canadian flag, so the idea of ​​France joining the Commonwealth and swearing allegiance to the King/Queen is no different from Britain's wildest dream coming true :)

But the problem is, the British and French plan in Egypt was not successful. And because of the Suez Crisis, the whole of West Asia became hostile to colonialism, and the US also squeezed the British and French and kicked Britain out of its imperial position. And because the Suez Canal campaign failed, the agreement for France to join the Commonwealth was no longer valid.

This proposal of Prime Minister Mollet was classified as a state secret document, and was only declassified at the beginning of the 21st century. Historians and politicians who read this were shocked.

All of this is summarized from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6261885.stm

Well, this reminds me of something quite interesting in APH.

Do you remember this strip?

Yes, I assure you, the reason Himaruya drew these two as if they were about to get married was because of the BBC article that I just linked above =)))))))))))) because the title of the article was "When Britain and France nearly married" =))))))))))))))))))

However, Himaruya seemed to want to "bend" the event to fit his character setup or something, or because of his point of view, he turned this into a comedy proposal between England and France. The half-joking, half-serious style, France forced England to sign the marriage papers while England flatly refused LOL. Himaruya also didn't mention the Commonwealth agreement.

In my opinion, the "nearly married" part of the British newspaper title does not refer to the Anglo-French union proposed by Mollet as in the APH strip above, but only to the later proposal, that France join the Commonwealth =))))))))))) because the British immediately rejected the idea of ​​uniting the British and French as one, but considered the idea of ​​France joining the Commonwealth very, very seriously. You guys just read the newspaper link above, when the British side received that proposal, they were very excited.

Let's move forward a bit to this year. France was expected to join the Commonwealth and that event was compared by the BBC to "nearly married". In 2024, France became the FIRST NON-COMMONWEALTH country to attend the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace, British soldiers guarded the Élysée Palace and French soldiers guarded Buckingham Palace. Make sense yet?

Ps: at the end of the BBC article, the author did not forget to mention the EEC ha ha ha ha.

[phoenixyfriend]

Calls for Action, Call Your Reps: 3/12/24

This is USA-specific, as that is the place I live and know.

Find your elected officials.

As usual, most of my information on what bills are on the floor comes from GovTrack. I am including some suggested listening/reading (you can find text versions if you google the title and 'transcript') at the bottom of the post. I am also including a current event that is likely to be a very powerful argument, with the right politicians. The event is prefaced with a red warning tag, and followed by event-specific verbiage.

Suggested verbiage and strategies for calling your elected officials. We've recently seen politicians, including Biden, start to pivot towards the "Israel is increasing danger to itself" argument in public statements.

The most immediate and pressing issue at this moment is the famine in Gaza. The air drops are inefficient and dangerous (several people died due to a parachute malfunction), and the floating pier will not be ready any time soon. Trucks across land borders MUST be allowed in.

At this time, the three greatest factors in that famine are:

Israeli bombardment (destruction of existing food stores and farming land).

Israeli blockades of the Egyptian border into Gaza, preventing aid trucks from places like the US from reaching people, and turning away trucks on their own side of the northern and eastern border that contain items like medical scissors, solar panels, and anesthetic.

The cessation of funding to UNRWA, which has been the lifeline to Palestinian civilians for decades, and is currently the best and possibly only chance to save the one and a half million dying civilians

This information is being reported by the WHO, UNRWA itself, UNICEF, and more, along with journalists that are in Gaza at this time.

Both House and Senate:

Reinstate funding for UNRWA. While the claims made by Israel that employees of the relief agency were involved in Oct. 7th are troubling, THEY are not well supported, and western officials did not do their duty in investigating the claims before cutting funding. This arm of the UN is currently providing food, water, shelter, and medical care to the 2.3 million displaced peoples of Gaza. It is especially disturbing and concerning that the many children of Gaza, who are already suffering due to this conflict, are now having this support revoked. Many sources are also claiming that the evidence is flimsy at best.

Urge both Senate and House to refrain from funding Israel, or to at least put some strings on it. The IDF cannot be given funding without some regulations on what they can do with it. They have proven that they are unwilling to take steps to protect civilians.

Sanctions must also be placed on Israel for its continued impediment of aid intended for Gazans, including aid from the US.

Urge for the US to stop vetoing ceasefire demands in the UN. No, the suggested replacement written by the US is not an excuse.

Not directly related to Gaza: It looks like they’re gearing up for another push at KOSA. The canned email responses I’m getting are really proud of being in support of KOSA, which is… bad. It is also bad for people outside the US, including Palestine, apparently. VOTE NAY.

Not related to Gaza:

The US, France, and Canada are meddling in the Haitian government and pressing for "peace" under US terms. The international community cannot continue to seed problems in this country for their own purposes. Also, feel free to drop a note about how France and the US need to pay reparations for the double debt.

Domestic affairs: Press for a less harsh immigration policy than the one currently in Congress. Press for investigation into the Boeing whistle-blower death, and for stricter oversight and safety regulations on large corporations.

[mariacallous]

On Sunday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson went on television and mixed up Iran and Israel. “We passed the support for Iran many months ago,” he told Meet the Press, erroneously referring to an aid package for the Jewish state. Last night, the Fox News prime-time host Jesse Watters introduced South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as hailing from South Carolina. I once joined a cable-news panel where one of the participants kept confusing then–Attorney General Jeff Sessions with Representative Pete Sessions of Texas. I don’t hold these errors against anyone, as they are some of the most common miscues made by people who talk for a living—and I’m sure my time will come.

Yesterday, President Joe Biden added another example to this list. In response to a question about Gaza, he referred to the Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as the president of Mexico. The substance of Biden’s answer was perfectly cogent. The off-the-cuff response included geographic and policy details not just about Egypt, but about multiple Middle Eastern players that most Americans probably couldn’t even name. The president clearly knew whom and what he was talking about; he just slipped up the same way Johnson and so many others have. But the flub could not have come at a worse time. Because the press conference had been called to respond to Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on Biden’s handling of classified documents, which dubbed the president an “elderly man with a poor memory,” the Mexico gaffe was immediately cast by critics as confirmation of Biden’s cognitive collapse.

But the truth is, mistakes like these are nothing new for Biden, who has been mixing up names and places for his entire political career. Back in 2008, he infamously introduced his running mate as “the next president of the United States, Barack America.” At the time, Biden’s well-known propensity for bizarre tangents, ahistorical riffs, and malapropisms compelled Slate to publish an entire column explaining “why Joe Biden’s gaffes don’t hurt him much.” The article included such gems as the time that then-Senator Biden told the journalist Katie Couric that “when the markets crashed in 1929, ‘Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the princes of greed. He said, “Look, here’s what happened.”’” The only problem with this story, Slate laconically noted, was that “FDR wasn’t president then, nor did television exist.”

In other words, even a cursory history of Biden’s bungling shows that he is the same person he has always been, just older and slower—a gaffe-prone, middling public speaker with above-average emotional intelligence and an instinct for legislative horse-trading. This is why Biden’s signature moments as a politician have been not set-piece speeches, but off-the-cuff encounters, such as when he knelt to engage elderly Holocaust survivors in Israel so they would not have to stand, and when he befriended a security guard in an elevator at The New York Times on his way to a meeting with the paper’s editorial board, which declined to endorse him. And it’s why Biden’s key accomplishments—such as the landmark climate-change provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, the country’s first gun-control bill in decades, and the expected expansion of the child tax credit—have come through Congress. The president’s strength is not orating, but legislating; not inspiring a crowd, but connecting with individuals.

That said, although Biden’s Mexico mistake might not be a demonstration of dementia, it is a warning sign of a different sort that his campaign would be wise to heed. Recently, the White House declined to have Biden participate in the traditional pre–Super Bowl interview this coming Sunday. The administration framed this decision as part of a broader strategy favoring nontraditional media, but it was reasonably seen as an attempt to shield the candidate from scrutiny. The president’s staff is understandably reluctant to put Biden front and center, knowing that his slower speed and inevitable gaffes—both real and fabricated—will feed the mental-acuity narrative. But in actuality, the bar for Biden has been set so laughably low that he can’t help but vault over it simply by showing up. By contrast, limiting his appearances ensures that the public mostly encounters the president through decontextualized social-media clips of his slipups.

As Slate observed in 2008, the frequency of Biden’s rhetorical miscues helped neutralize them in the eyes of the public. In 2024, Biden will have an assist from another source: Donald Trump. Among other recent lapses, the former president has called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “the leader of Turkey,” confused Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley, and repeatedly expressed the strange belief that he won the 2020 election. With an opponent prone to vastly worse feats of viscous verbosity, Biden can’t help but look better by comparison, especially if he starts playing offense instead of defense.

But none of this will happen by itself. If the president and his campaign want the headlines to be something other than “Yes, Biden Knows Who the President of Egypt Is,” they’ll have to start making news, not reacting to it.

[justrainandcoffee]

Non, je ne regrette nien (Eames x fem!oc) Part II

Eames masterlist - first part

Summary: Cobb tells the group about the new project they have to do and to Eames' surprise he knows that, somehow, her former sister-in-law is involved.|| Jasmine's life is quite chaotic at the moment and things are about to getting worse when Eames finally calls her.|| His and her friends, know about the other.

Warnings: None. || I took the liberty of using some of my mutuals' beautiful OCs. Eva belongs to @evita-shelby , Holly belongs to @cillmequick and Alice belongs to @emotionalcadaver

Words: 3.1k (believe when I say that only one hour ago, I had half of it and a massive writer's block 😭.)

2010

Eames' cat, named Bes after the Egyptian God of the dreams, was a fat girl who always was where Eames was. From the cat tree that Eames bought for her and put inside that warehouse, Bes was listening to the team while they were discussing the last job.

Dom was hired by a Parisian politician to perform an inception in an important judge by implanting him the idea that he was innocent and could avoid the prison that inevitably was his fate. The politician could bribe the rest of the tribunal but him. He just wanted immunity and forgiveness due some corrupt things he did in the past.

"Did you accept?" Arthur asked not believing his ears.

"We did much worse things."

"It's different, Cobb! We're talking about a man who stopped the construction of a school to buy a fucking house in the Polynesia!"

"It was a hospital," corrected Eames.

"Much worse, then! Let me ask again, did you accept?!"

"I did," Cobb looked at his friend, hands in his pockets touching the token that was there.

"You're losing your mind, Dom. Fuck. And all of you are okay with this?"

"To do this job you don't have to have morals," Eames replied. "We're not angels. You either."

"Do we have options?"

Dom shook his head and Arthur sighed. "Okay, then, let's help this motherfucker. It seems that the only honest being here is Bes."

"That's what you think. That's because you're not living with her," Eames said looking at his cat sideways.

"Better her than you," Arthur stated.

"If it helps to ease your mind, this person promised me to finish the hospital."

"And did you believe him?"

"I can destroy his life," Cobb said, "he knows that."

"Still…"

"Arthur, if this man doesn't do what he promised, I'm going to kidnap him and going to do the same but in his mind and in the next hour he's going to expose himself in public television. Now, can we focus on this?"

Arthur finally nodded.

They left the less important projects aside for the moment to focus on the judge. The next few days Arthur investigated him the same way he collected a good number of data for the politician as well.

The judge was a 56 years old man called Pierre Durant. He was married to an important chef, but despite the money they have their lives were still simple.

"When do we have to do this?" Ariadne asked, three days after Cobb announced the project.

"We have time. But we can't waste hours. I'm guessing a couple of weeks or a month. We can train, we can think about this detailed."

"He has a dental appointment in three weeks," Arthur said writing the date on the whiteboard. "Le sourire blanc his dentist is doctor Jasmine Prince."

"What?" Eames stopped what he was doing to stared at his friend.

"I said he has a dental appointment we can use to…"

"The dentist name, Arthur."

"Jasmine Prince. Why?"

"No, we can't use that appointment to do this."

"Why not?"

"Because I know her. The woman who greeted me the other day in the street… that's Jasmine Prince. Or Jas."

"Well, we can persuade her to help us," suggested Ariadne. "Is she your friend?"

"Not exactly."

"Is she your ex, then?"

"Not exactly."

"Eames, for god sake!" Arthur was exasperated and it was notorious. "You were the one who said we don't have morals when we're doing this job! Amazing that you're more concerned about a dentist than a senator that used people's money to his own benefit."

"We're going to use that appointment to do this," interjected Cobb before Eames could replicate. The leader of the group saw him frown "Talk to her and try to convince her."

"Easy to say, Dominic."

"You screw up somehow with the dentist?" Arthur asked again.

"Maybe."

"How bad that can be?" Ariadne wanted to know, but Eames didn't respond, instead, he walked towards Cobb.

"I'm going to talk to her. But if she refuses we're going to find a new place to do this or I'm out."

Cobb nodded "deal."

_

The days that followed the moment Jasmine saw Eames were chaotic to say the least. Her patients were everything but patient, her secretary decided to start a new job and left her alone dealing with the schedule, the callings, new appointments and cancellations as well. The new rhythm of the world seemed to be affecting everyone and without help, at the end of the day Jasmine just wanted to go home and sleep for three years consecutive.

And when she was sleeping Eames appeared in her dreams. Usually it was that night but the scenario changed almost every time. Sometimes she was just with him dancing, others Sophia appeared accusing her of being an awful sister. Once, a nightmare woke her up and she spent a couple of hours trying to erase the image of Eames and Sophia laughing at her.

A friend of hers gave her the number of a girl who was looking for a job. Jasmine needed a secretary urgently or she was going to collapse before the end of the month, she promised herself to call this girl soon.

It was those days that she realised that she needed holidays. She was tired, stressed and possibly suffering from anxiety. Jasmine thought that she needed to start therapy as well. But free time wasn't something she had.

That day Jasmine started her day as usual. She fed her ferrets, prepared coffee for her and listen to the first news of the morning before parting to her job. The subway was crowded ad usual at that hour but she managed to get a seat. Music, as always, helped her. Music was part of her the same way books were part of a librarian. She couldn't imagine a world in silence, a world where songs and melodies weren't part of the humanity. She promised herself that at night she was going to play the guitar, despite the complaints from her moody old neighbour and her useless son.

Same as always, that day for her it was full of patients and few time for her. Jasmine realised that she ate anything around 4pm when her stomach growled. In less than an hour, fortunately, she was going to be able to go to her house again.

.

That same night, Eames was already in the apartment he was renting while he was in Paris. Every new case brought new challenges and usually he was always prepared because it never involved people he knew, but now it was different. How many dentist were in Paris in that moment? Thousands. And of all those dentists, the stupid judge had to choose her? Eames understood that she was good, but it was the problem that could cause working with her what bothered him.

He didn't want her to think that he was playing with people's minds. Even if it was exactly that what he was doing.

"Should I call her now?"

It was a serious question directed to a serious listener as Bes was.

Owner and pet were eating french fries watching Breaking Bad, popular tv show if any in 2010. But Eames wasn't paying attention to Walter White in that moment.

Arthur got him her telephone number and address. Was it legally? No, of course not, neither of what they did was legal. But Eames wasn't going to harass her either. He just wanted to talk.

"As a friend," he said out loud. Bes seemed to judge him when she heard his words.

"As a friend," he repeated. "What do you know about it, girl?"

Meow.

"I know better, Bes."

Bes wasn't so sure.

.

Jasmine, as she promised to herself, was playing the guitar. The Beatles' song was filling the room and she was lost, feeling the strings in her fingers. She also sang. Not many people knew, but she learnt how to do it decades ago when she was just a teen.

Back then Sophia spent her days learning karate because she wanted to be part of the school team. She was really good at it, won several medals and trophies. Sophia tried to persuade Jasmine to join her, but she refused every time and seeing that, her parents allowed her to learn music and sent her to a nice academy. Jasmine thought more than once that the moment they chose different extracurricular activities it was when the twins started to be independent individuals. And for good or not, it lasted till these days.

When her phone rang, Jasmine was still playing the guitar. The ID showed a number she didn't know, so she thought it was a patient. It wasn't strange for her receiving calls from different people asking her if they could go to her clinic without an appointment or if she could give them some medicine at… 2am.

"Doctor Prince," she said without looking at the number again.

"Doctor Prince? That sounds good, Jas."

Jasmine put the guitar aside and it took her few seconds to recognise his voice.

"Eames? What…? How…? Who gave you my number?"

"Hi, Jas. Uhm. No one. Everything is on internet these days."

"Did you search my name on Google, Eames?"

"Well, no if you say it like I'm a pervert looking for my next victim, Jasmine. It surprised me to see you the other day and I barely could say hello. You ran away."

"No, it's not like that. I didn't ran away. I was tired, and I didn't know what else to say. But I was glad to see you again."

"Were you? For a moment I thought that you weren't."

"What? No. No… I was tired and you were with people."

"Cobb and Arthur, yes, my friends and colleagues. Jas, I have something to tell you and it's better you heard this from me. But it can't be over the phone. I thought, I don't know, maybe we can talk? How about a coffee?"

"Talk about what? What do you have to tell me?"

"Talk. I don't know, life? What are you doing here, what I am doing here. We're friends, after all. Or we used to be."

"Eames…"

"It's okay if you don't want to. That's my number if you ever want to talk, just call me maybe. If I don't answer immediately it's because I'm sleeping."

Her ferrets were looking at her. Dumb idiot, they seemed to think as they were looking at her with their judgy black eyes.

"I'll save your number."

"Sounds good, Jas. I still don't know if it's true that you are happy to see me. But I am. Good night, Jas."

"Good night, Eames."

Jasmine stayed there with her heart pounding in her chest. She added his number on her phone and contemplated it several minutes, while her thumb brushed the keys ready to type a message as soon as her brain give the order. But that didn't happen.

.

Unaware of what the other was doing, the other day both called some friends to talk. In Jasmine's case, it was an old friend of hers. She was living in United States and they each other from the years they were studying un college. She was friends with Sophia as well, although they cut all ties after Sophia returned to Canada. Time zones were always complicated, but at those hours, it could be considered adequate for both of them.

Holly Matthews was one of the people she trusted the most of her, among with Eva Smith who was living in the USA as well. Both were in stablish relationships and sometimes, more often than Jasmine wanted to admit, she felt behind in life compared to them. Yet, the last thing she felt was envy, quite the contrary. Both Zach and Jack -Holly and Eva's partner respectively- were good men and her friends were happy. In consequence, she was too. But for now, that was something that life didn't give her. Her relationships usually ended very soon. Or very bad. Or both.

"Hospital was really crowded the last week. Suddenly all women decided to have their babies at the same time, it seemed. But I'm getting some rest now and Zach is very happy about it." Holly commented. Medicine somehow joined both friends, although their works weren't the same at all.

"For sure, he is" Jasmine chuckled. She was eating her lunch, something she didn't do the day before, while talking with her "you are lucky, Holly. Hope you know that."

"Gary didn't talk to you again?"

"He better not! I rather be alone than with someone like him again…"

"But?" Holly could hear her friend from the other side of the line and she knew she wanted to say something.

"Eames reappeared. Well, it's not like he reappeared magically. I found him here two weeks ago and he called me last night."

"Oh my god."

Only Eva and Holly knew about the whole thing about Eames and her and that infamous night when they had sex.

"Yes. That was my reaction. He wants to talk, but he didn't tell me about what. I have his number, tho."

"Well, call him then!"

"Holly…"

"Maybe he just wants to know how you are. It's been a lot of years. Who stops you? Sophia gives a fuck about him."

"Sophia gives a lot of fucks about her exes. She collects them like limited edition figures."

"But they're people, Jas. Individuals who have a life despite what she thinks. And you do want my opinion on this matter, otherwise you will be laughing at this. Call him! Did you talk to Eva?"

"No… not yet. I'm afraid that she'll push me towards him. It was hard not to hear her years ago."

"Because she's right. You should hear her. Jas, you know what I think of Sophia."

"But she's still my sister."

"And this happened when? Four? Five years ago? And it's just a fucking coffee with him or a dinner or whatever, if you want, do it. I have to go, love, but let me know, ok?"

"Yeah, I will. Thanks, Holly."

Jasmine stared at the opposite wall for several minutes.

Five years ago, the next day after spending the night with her former brother-in-law when Jasmine called Eva her friend was categorically: "if you like him, go after him."

And to be honest, part of Jasmine wanted to go after him. But the love she had for her sister was stronger. Eva had snorted back then when Jasmine told her that Eames returned to London where he lived in 2005. "Hope you don't regret it. With due all respect, Sophia is a bitch, Jasmine. And I'm telling you this as her former friend. I sincerely regret introducing him to her instead of you. I didn't see the things clearly."

Eva was his friend back then in 2003 and thought that Eames and Sophia could be a good couple and for a while it seemed to work. But sooner than anyone expected, the arguments began and a bit longer than a year and a half, they broke up. Jasmine thought she wasn't going to see him again, but in 2005 she found him and now, in 2010, Eames appeared in her life again. Not Sophia's life, but hers. Twice.

.

As for Eames, he was talking with his best friend. Unlike Holly and Jas, the time zone between him and Alice Emerson was huge considering she was living in Australia. But she didn't seem to mind. He was in her kitchen (technically his boyfriend's kitchen, but now it was hers as well) talking to Eames. The phone was in speaker as she was taking advantage to be there to eat ice-cream. It was winter in that side of the world, but that didn't stop her.

"So, yes, Cobb told me about this new case and told me too, that Arthur is a bit upset. I agree, but I like the idea of Cobb destroying this politician's life if he fuck with us."

"I agree. Are you coming with us?"

"I am, yes. But not now, maybe near the day you're planning this inception. Did you do your part yet? Cobb told me you know the dentist."

"I do, yes. I do."

"So?"

"I called her last night. I didn't tell this to the group yet, Al, but I'm her former brother-in-law. I dated her sister."

"Oh shit!! That's why you wanted her out if this!" Alice exclaimed while was holding the spoon near her mouth. "Did you screw up very bad with her sister?"

"No. We broke up because we're going anywhere with that relationship and we were arguing constantly. The this… Jasmine and her sister are twins…"

"So?"

"I fucked Jasmine, too. It happened only once, after I broke up with her sister, but it happened." Eames finally confessed.

Alice's spoon fell on the floor to much her cats happiness who were craving a bit of ice-cream. "You did what?!"

"Only once, Al."

"You're an idiot, Eames. Tell me, for god's sake, that it wasn't because you fantazised about having sex with the two of them…"

"Well, no. I mean, when I knew that Sophia had a twin the idea crossed my mind. But I didn't have sex with Jas because she was 'the other twin'. I did it because I wanted to. Jasmine is a sweet girl, I could never do that, even if I thought about it. We both agreed, otherwise."

"Shit. Eames, you're very lucky that I'm on the other side of the world! I want to smack you! Okay, let's see. Do you think she wants to talk to you?"

"Hard to know. When I saw her by chance weeks ago, she ran away, but she says she didn't."

"Can you blame her? At least she talked to you last night, that's something. Eames, just… I don't know, just give her some time. I can talk to Cobb and persuade him to give you extra time without giving him details. He listens to me."

"That could be very helpful."

"Fine. Wait for her call, then. If not, we can think another thing. But don't screw up this time, Eames."

"I'm an angel, Alice."

His friend rolled her eyes and finished the call.

Eames remained in his apartment that day, thinking about alternatives to do the job. He also checked his phone every ten minutes.

But it wasn't until the night that he received a message.

"Can you tomorrow afternoon? xoxo, J."

He couldn't help but smile

"I can. Tell me where. <3."

Next

[zvaigzdelasas]

The IB affair (Swedish: IB-affären) was the exposure of illegal surveillance operations by the IB secret Swedish intelligence agency within the Swedish Armed Forces. The two main purposes of the agency were to handle liaison with foreign intelligence agencies and to gather information about communists and other individuals who were perceived to be a threat to the nation.[...]

The story was immediately picked up by many leading Swedish dailies.[3] Their revelations were that: •There was a secret intelligence agency in Sweden called IB, without official status. Its director Birger Elmér was reporting directly to select key persons at cabinet level, most likely defence minister Sven Andersson and Prime Minister Olof Palme. •The Riksdag was unaware of its activities. People with far-left views had been monitored and registered. •IB agents had infiltrated Swedish left-wing organisations and sometimes tried to induce them into criminal acts. •There were Swedish spies operating abroad. IB spies had broken into the Egyptian and Algerian embassies in Stockholm. •The IB co-operated extensively with the Central Intelligence Agency and Shin Bet, in contrast to the official Swedish foreign policy of neutrality.[...]

In the following issues of Folket i Bild/Kulturfront the two uncovered further activities of IB and interviewed a man who had infiltrated the Swedish movement supporting the FNL, Vietnamese National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam - at this time the FNL support network was a backbone of the radical opinion - and among other things, visited Palestinian guerilla camps in Jordan. The man worked for IB and had composed reports that, it was surmised, IB later passed on to the Israeli security services which resulted in the camps being bombed. [...]Swedish authorities claimed they were unable to locate him to stand trial. In 2009, he released an autobiography of his years in IB[...] He also confirmed that he had been transferred from IB to the Mossad, an Israeli intelligence agency, immediately prior to his exposure.[...]

The magazine had information from a previous employee of IB, Håkan Isacson, who claimed that IB had broken into the offices of two political organizations: the FNL Groups, a pro-North Vietnamese organization, and the Communist Party of Sweden, a Maoist political party. This concerned a Jordanian citizen and a stateless citizen. A wiretap was installed in the latter case. After this uncovering, the defense minister did admit that IB engaged in espionage outside of Sweden and infiltrated organizations within Sweden, including wiretaps. Evidence was put forth in 1974 that IB had built up a large network of agents in Finland, which included the Finnish foreign minister Väinö Leskinen. This network's main mission was to gather information regarding the Soviet Union.[...]

In November 1973, Prime Minister Olof Palme denied any link between IB and the Social Democrats. However, according to the memoir of ex-security service chief P.G. Vinge, Birger Elmér had regular contact with Palme and made his reports regularly to the Social Democratic Party secretary, Sven Andersson.[...]

Jan Guillou, Peter Bratt, Håkan Isacson and the photographer Ove Holmqvist were arrested 22 October 1973[2] by the Swedish Security Service on suspicion of espionage. On 4 January 1974 each was sentenced to 1 year in prison. Bratt and Guillou were both convicted of espionage; Isacson was convicted of espionage and accessory to espionage. After an appeal, Guillou's sentence was commuted to 10 months. The Swedish Supreme Court would not consider the case.[4][...]

In 2002 an extensive public report, named Rikets säkerhet och den personliga integriteten (Security of the Realm and personal integrity), was published on the operations of IB. This report clarified the details of the case, but it did not have any legal impact. To date, no member of IB has ever been indicted, nor has any politician or government official, despite the revelation of widespread extra-constitutional and criminal activity.

[jeannereames]

While reading stories of Alexander & his friends, it often feels like they could very well be today's youths. Is it because the authors present Alexander's world in a way relatable to the modern reader? Or there are things about youth common in all eras, like teenage crisis, romance, dreams, bold & adventurous spirit? And if I'm not wrong, you mention at one place that you don't "heroize" Alexander. That's interesting, since he's often worshipped a mythical hero. Why did you move away from that?

Alexander and the boys

This query was really two, or at least I want to separate them into two, so I’ll address the matter of heroizing Alexander in a different post.

The reason teen Alexander feels familiar owes to the simple fact biology makes certain aspects of adolescence universal. That said, while all human beings go through (suffer?) adolescence, whether it’s recognized as a “stage of life” depends on place and era. Does X culture have an adolescent moratorium, or time period between childhood and adulthood when teens are not (yet) saddled with the full responsibilities of adulthood?

Ancient Greece did, at least for some classes; they even had a specialized term: ephebe/έφηβος. Later, it came to signify a specific military class for training (18-20), but originally, it just meant a teenage boy, although the start age was imagined as later, more like 15+. Up to that, the generic pais (child) was more common. Ephebe has the implication of “starting to look like a man.”

Of more import, they invented what’s become the Western pedagogical system. The word pedagogy is GREEK: pais (child) agōgē (guiding/training): a paidagōgos was a nanny, but also a method of teaching children. The specific Spartan schooling system is referred to as the Agōgē, but the word has a generic meaning too. All of that is related to the Greek word for “work” (agōn) but also “to lead” (egōn).

There’s your Greek lesson for the day.

The Greeks had a pretty firm idea of the proper way to train up boys* and shape young minds. By the Classical era, and arguably the late Archaic, city Greeks were sending boys between the ages of 7 and 12 to school. These were private, so parents paid for the privilege of getting junior out of the house so somebody else could run herd on him. Mom and Dad had work to do. What were boys taught? The Three Rs (reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic) but also phys-ed (PE) and music. Again, the basics of a proper European primary-school education.

At 12, most boys returned home to take up their father’s occupation. So these were not all wealthy boys. Some were what we’d call middle class, but their families had enough money to invest in their education, and then, as now, the pricier the tuition, the better the teachers. But most stopped on the cusp of adolescence and went to work; they had no adolescent moratorium.

Only the wealthiest boys could afford to go on to what amounted to secondary education: lessons with a philosopher in order to prep them for their future careers as politicians, generals, and city leaders. What they learned now were rhetoric, eristics (art of argument), some literature, laws, theory on government, etc.

This higher-level tutoring is what Aristotle was hired for. Alexander (and friends) had already had the basics. A “philosophic education” had been around for over a century by the time Philip called Aristotle to Pella, although it wasn’t as set in form as it would become by the Hellenistic and Roman eras. In some of his more famous works, such as the Politics, Aristotle talks about the importance of education in the formation of a state: specifically in Book 7.18, and most of Book 8. He gets very specific in Book 8. He puts forward a number of common ideas the ancients had about the nature of the child. Most believed character was unchanging, so education would work to curb a person’s vices and elevate their virtues.

The Greeks, btw, did not invent schools themselves. Egyptians and Mesopotamians both had schools for children before the Greeks did. Greeks got the idea from them. But they did create their own notion of what school should include, which is what they passed down to the Romans, then to Europe, and finally, to most school systems in the West.

Anyway, when a culture introduces the adolescent moratorium, it frees up teenagers to, well, do “stupid teen shit.” Schools provide an environment where they create their own society with their own rules. In cultures where they begin adult jobs at 12/13 (or even sooner), they’re integrated and don’t have the chance to create these little sub-societies that percolate with all the drama of wildly pumping hormones.

So, a society that creates an environment where groups of teens regularly congregate in disproportionate numbers to either adults or children, like secondary school, squire/military, maid, or scribal training--or the Macedonian Pages Corps--will feel familiar to modern societies that have high schools.

Put a bunch of teens together, suffering through adolescence, and it’ll produce similar results anywhere, any time.

—————-

*Girls were obviously not included in misogynistic Greece.

[beardedmrbean]

Denzel Washington being cast in Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming Netflix movie as ancient Carthaginian general Hannibal is sparking some controversy in Tunisia, the home country of the great military commander.

According to French newspaper Courrier International, there are complaints about depicting the Carthaginian general as a Black African being made in the media and the Tunisian parliament. Member of Parliament Yassine Mami has pointed out that Hannibal, who was born in 247 BC in Carthage — now known as Tunis, the Tunisian capital — was of West Asian Semitic origin. “There is a risk of falsifying history: we need to take position on this subject,” the Tunisian politician reportedly stated.

Concurrently, French-language Tunisian newspaper La Presse has published an editorial in which it similarly objects that depicting Hannibal as a Black African is “according to Tunisians and many observers, a historical error.”

However, Tunisian culture minister Hayet Ketat-Guermazi had a different, more pragmatic take on the matter.

“It’s fiction. It is their [Netflix‘s] right to do what they want,” she responded, according to French newspaper Le Monde. “Hannibal is a historical figure and we are all proud that he was Tunisian. But what can we do?” She went on to note that she is trying to negotiate with Netflix to shoot at least a portion of the film in Tunisia. “I hope they decide to shoot at least a sequence of the film here and that that this is publicized. We want Tunisia to go back to being a location where foreign films are shot,” Ketat-Guermazi said, as reported by Le Monde.

Representatives for Netflix, Washington and Fuqua did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The controversy in Tunisia over Washington playing Hannibal is reminiscent of the uproar sparked in Egypt in April over Britain’s Adele James, who is of mixed heritage, playing Cleopatra in Netflix’s docudrama “Queen Cleopatra.” The first-century Egyptian queen was born in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in 69 BC and belonged to a Greek-speaking dynasty. Egyptian academics went on a rampage over the fact that Cleopatra was of European descent and not Black.

The still-untitled film about the Carthaginian general will be written by John Logan, the three-time Academy Award winner who scribed Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator” and Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator.”

According to the official logline, the movie is “based on real-life warrior Hannibal, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history. The film covers the pivotal battles he led against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War.”

Hannibal invaded Italy while riding a Northern African war elephant. Under his lead, the Carthaginians won key victories against the Romans, allowing Hannibal to occupy the majority of southern Italy for 15 years. Eventually, Hannibal was defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Zama after they counter-invaded North Africa.

Fuqua most recently directed Washington in the action-thriller “The Equalizer 3,” in which Washington reprised his role as ex-Marine Robert McCall.

Washington is currently involved in another war epic, the upcoming sequel to Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator,” which has resumed shooting in Malta after production was halted due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.  _______________

Netflix is at it again i see.