#IRA Immigration

[eileenlovee]

Top 10 Immigration Consultants In India

Here are 10 of the best experts in immigration from India:

Y-Axis

Abhinav Outsourcings

Immigration Overseas

Aptech Global Immigration Services

Aum Global Immigration

Visas Avenue

IRA Immigration

Kaushal Global

Apoorva Sharma Immigration Services

Global Opportunities

It is crucial to remember that these experts are ranked on their reputation, the quality of services they provide as well as the comments of past clients. It is advised to research thoroughly and evaluate various options prior to selecting an immigration specialist to ensure you make the best choice to suit your specific needs.

We have a short overview about the top 10 immigration experts in india.

Y-Axis Immigration Consultants

Y-Axis is an established immigration consulting firm located in India and offers a variety of services that deal with immigration, visa and citizenship procedures. The firm is comprised of skilled professionals who are well-versed in immigration regulations and policies in different countries . They offer individualized assistance to customers throughout the entire process.

The services provided by Y-Axis include assistance with visa applications and counseling for countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Canada, New Zealand United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. They also offer assistance in skills assessment and job search for those who are who are interested in working in other countries.

Y-Axis is known for offering top-quality services. It has received positive reviews from clients regarding their expertise professionalism, professionalism, and care for the smallest of details. But, just like any immigration expert it is crucial to research thoroughly and compare different options prior to selecting a consultant to ensure you choose the most suitable consultant to meet your specific requirements.

Abhinav Outsourcings Immigration Consultants

Abhinav Outsourcings is one of the most prominent Immigration consultants within India providing a wide range of services in relation to visa, immigration and citizenship applications. It was established in 1994 and has assisted many clients in obtaining visas to countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand as well as Canada, New Zealand United Kingdom, and the United States, among others.

Abhinav Outsourcings has a team of skilled immigration experts who offer personalized assistance to their clients throughout the process. They're familiar with immigration laws and regulations of various countries. They provide a variety of services that include advice on applying for a visa, support with applications and assistance with skills assessments and job search assistance for those who are interested in working in other countries.

The company has received a lot of positive comments from clients about their professionalism, knowledge and attention to details as well as a reputation for offering top-quality services. As with any other immigration professional it is crucial to conduct a thorough research and compare various options prior to making a choice to ensure you choose the right expert for your specific needs.

Immigration Overseas Consultants

Immigration Overseas is one of the most reputable experts in immigration services within India that provides a broad array of services that are that relate to visa, immigration and citizenship applications. The business was founded in 2000 , and has since helped numerous clients successfully migrate to countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, among others.

Immigration Overseas has a team of highly experienced immigration specialists that provide personalized assistance for clients throughout the process . They are aware of immigration laws and regulations of various countries. They provide a variety of services that include assistance with applying for visas, counseling and assistance with skills assessment and job search to those who are interested in working in other countries.

The company has received a lot of positive comments from clients about their professionalism, knowledge and attention to detail as well as a reputation for offering top-quality services. But, just like any immigration expert it is essential to conduct a thorough research and compare different options prior to making a final decision in order to make sure you select the right expert for your specific needs.

Aptech Global Immigration Services

Aptech Global Immigration Services is an established immigration consultancy company based in India that provides a wide range of services that deal with immigration, visas and citizenship procedures. Aptech Global Immigration Services has a team of highly experienced experts who are familiar with immigration regulations and policies in different countries . They offer individualized support to its clients throughout the entire process.

A few of the services provided from Aptech Global Immigration Services includes visa assistance and assistance for applications to countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand as well as Australia, New Zealand United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. They also provide assistance with skill assessment and job searching for those who are looking to work abroad.

Aptech Global Immigration Services received favorable comments from clients about their professionalism, knowledge and attention to detail and has earned a reputation for offering top-quality services. As with any other immigration expert it is essential to research thoroughly and evaluate different options prior to making a choice to make sure you select the right consultant to meet your needs.

Aum Global Immigration Consultants

AUM Global is an immigration consulting company based in India that provides a range of solutions related to immigration, visas and citizenship procedures. AUM Global is a group of skilled professionals who are familiar with the immigration laws and regulations of various countries. They provide individualized assistance to customers throughout the entire process.

The services provided through AUM Global include visa counseling and application assistance for countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand as well as New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. AUM Global also provide assistance with skill assessment and job search assistance for those who are looking to work abroad.

It is essential to conduct a thorough research and evaluate different options prior to selecting an immigration specialist, so that you can select the most suitable expert for your particular requirements. But, I wasn't found enough information about AUM Global to provide a an in-depth evaluation of their services and track record.

Visas Avenue Immigration Consultants

Visas Avenue is a well-established immigration consulting firm located in India that provides a wide range of services that are related to immigration, visas and citizenship procedures. The firm has a staff of skilled professionals who are well-versed in immigration regulations and policies in different countries . They offer individualized assistance to clients throughout the entire process.

The services provided through Visas Avenue include visa counseling and application assistance for countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Canada, New Zealand United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. They also offer assistance in assessments of skills and job search to those looking to work in other countries.

Visas Avenue has received positive comments from customers about their professionalism, expertise and attention to detail and is known for offering top-quality services. As with any immigration expert it is crucial to research thoroughly and compare different options prior to making a final decision in order to make sure you select the right expert for your particular requirements.

IRA Immigration Consultants

IRA Immigration is a well-established immigration consulting firm located in India that provides a wide range of services that deal with immigration, visa and citizenship procedures. The firm has a staff of highly experienced experts who are well-versed in the immigration laws and regulations of different countries . They offer individualized support to its clients throughout the entire process.

The services provided through IRA Immigration include visa counseling and assistance with application for countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. They also provide assistance with skills assessment and job search assistance for those who are who are interested in working in other countries.

It is crucial to research thoroughly and compare different options prior to selecting an immigration professional, so that you can select the most suitable expert for your particular requirements. But, I wasn't found enough information about IRA Immigration to provide a an in-depth evaluation of their services and track record.

Kaushal Global Immigration Consultants

Kaushal Global Immigration is a established and well-known immigration consultancy company with its headquarters in India and offers a variety of services in the areas of visa, immigration, and citizenship procedures. The company is comprised of highly experienced experts who are familiar with the immigration laws and regulations of various countries. They provide individualized assistance to clients throughout the entire process.

Some of the services provided through Kaushal Global Immigration include visa assistance and advice for countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Canada, New Zealand United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. They also provide assistance with assessments of skills and job search assistance for those who are looking to work abroad.

It is essential to research thoroughly and compare various options prior to choosing an immigration expert, in order so that you can select the most suitable consultant to meet your specific requirements. But, I wasn't found enough information about Kaushal Global Immigration to provide the most thorough evaluation of their reputation and services.

Apoorva Sharma Immigration Services

Apoorva Sharma Immigration Services is an immigration-related consultancy firm that is based in India and offers a wide range of services that are related to visa, immigration, and citizenship process. The company is led by Apoorva Sharma who is a certified immigration consultant and has vast knowledge of immigration.

The services provided through Apoorva Sharma Immigration Services include advice on visas and assistance in applying for countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. They also provide assistance in skills assessment and job search assistance to those looking to work in other countries.

It is crucial to conduct a thorough research and evaluate various options before choosing an immigration professional, so that you can select the most suitable expert for your particular requirements. But, I wasn't in a position to locate enough information about Apoorva Sharma Immigration Services to give a thorough review of their services and reputation.

Global Opportunities Immigration Consultants

Global Opportunities is a well-established immigration consulting firm located in India that provides a wide range of services in the field of immigration, visas, and citizenship procedures. Global Opportunities has a team of highly experienced experts who are well-versed in the immigration laws and regulations of different countries . They offer individualized assistance to customers throughout the entire process.

Some of the services provided through Global Opportunities include visa counseling and application assistance for countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand as well as New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. Global Opportunities also provide assistance with assessments of skills and job-search services to those who are interested in working abroad.

Global Opportunities has a reputation for its high-quality services. It has received positive reviews from customers for their knowledge professionalism, professionalism, and care for the smallest of details. But, just like any other immigration expert it is crucial to research thoroughly and compare different options prior to selecting a consultant to make sure you select the most suitable consultant to meet your specific requirements.

[nationallawreview]

What Happened: Policy and Politics

Baseline: The future of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed in 2022 to boost US clean energy with new tax incentives, hangs in the balance. President-elect Trump and some Republicans in Congress have threatened to repeal all or part of it because they don’t agree with the policy, and they need the revenue savings to offset their 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) extensions. The processing…

[professionalnooneatall]

"Stochastic Terrorism is different from traditional Terrorism in that it doesn’t produce a chain of guilty parties, at least according to American speech law. 9/11, the 7/7 bombings in the UK, IRA-led car bombings before that, any major terror event that comes to mind, probably had organizers/inciters, and those who carried the act out. This topic was actually the first I wrote on, back in November 2018 (Editor’s Note: We are so tired). Which resulted in me testifying on the topic to a jury in a West Palm Beach murder trial, in case you were wondering what I was doing while on break from writing."

[centrally-unplanned]

I wanna get this one out before the election since I think that is going to "cast in stone" some takes when it shouldn't given how much of a coinflip it is; Biden really fumbled the ball in the second half of his presidency. I was very pro-Biden at the beginning, I thought he did a great job. I don't think the stimulus was a huge source of inflation and meanwhile the economy came back roaring; obviously not mainly due to him but he did a good job on renewing Jerome Powell (a Trump appointee!) to the Fed, controlling the Strategic Oil Reserve, and "getting out of the way" on a bunch of issues from trade to Covid policy. His environmental policy around the energy transition was stellar, I approve of CHIPS, etc. And in foreign policy he is never going to get the credit he deserves for ending the Afghanistan debacle, and meanwhile the US response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine was about as good as you could possibly expect it to be out the gate.

He actually proved the haters wrong on his promise to "get things done in Congress" using his expertise - he did in fact get bipartisan bills passed and work with centrists like Manchin to get party bills over the line. It was a solid showing; I thought he was clearly better than Obama & Clinton.

But as time went on the wheels really came off. You can almost see the "ideas" running out, like once they had done the Covid drawdown and BBB/IRA, and the midterms made congress more unfavorable, "what's next?" left a void. There was a bunch of bad "party handout" stuff that is completely at odds with how things work today. Foolish moves like the student debt relief - unpopular, unwise in an inflationary environment, a handout to the wealthy, and dubiously legal - or all the kowtowing to the worst unions in the US that still resulting in declining labor vote share! A lack of follow-through on the bills showed the admin's lack of policy chops; the IRA is severely hampered by the lack of permitting reform for energy projects, but the admin applied virtually no pressure to making that happen because, eh, not their vibe I guess? The huge holes in procurement that Ukraine war exposed has been met with very tepid responses as well, just a sort of "throw money at it" default that has fixed little.

Israel is of course peak inertia. I am a realist, I understand fully that there is no world where the US responds to a terrorist attack on an ally by cutting them off - and I think the Biden admin has had its wins in this category, the amount of aid entering Gaza is certainly higher due to US pressure. But it is just embarrassing how obviously Biden himself treated Netanyahu and co as like, credible partners, when they just aren't? Again, Trump would just happily support them doing w/e no matter how many the killed, it wouldn't be embarrassing for him to watch that happen. For Biden, with his stated goals, it is weakness. He could have easily done better.

And we can't ignore the responsibility to the next generation - it is your job as President to set up your successor for victory. Immigration is a classic policy example of that dropped ball - a fear of seeming "Trump-like" in the face of an unsympathetic electorate and an admin itself not actually committed to massive increases in admitted asylum cases. It would be one thing if it was Biden's hill to die on, but it wasn't; just years of muddle before finally doing in ~2024 what they could have done in ~2021, too late to move the needle on the backlash.

Which leads us to the elephant in the room, as all things must. He did end his nomination in the end, again I don't think he is some awful president. But he took a lot of heavy pressure to get there. And the weirdest thing is...he is the one who scheduled a debate before the convention? That isn't normal! It was very obviously a test, to show he was fit - and he failed it. And then refused to admit it. What if George Clooney didn't aim for his head in the press at the 11th hour? What if Nancy Pelosi didn't bring out the big guns? Would he have not bowed down to reality?

And while I have been quite impressed by Harris's campaign so far, and not having a primary has been an advantage, it has still been very rushed. Orgs take time to emerge, you can't actually just snap your fingers and get 30 interviews booked or a docket of vetted VPs. I think Tim Walz a mistake, personally! Not a big one, but a weak choice when someone like Josh Shapiro is right there and "pivot to the center" is your stated strategy. But it is hard to blame her when she probably threw it together in a few weeks while also doing 20 stump speeches a month and debate prepping and all that! I can't say that specific decision would change, but others would. Hell, time could have helped - her favourables in a ton of categories have slowly been ticking up, if she was the candidate since January things could be different. We will never know of course, but the more distance from Biden the better.

I think in 2023 and 2024 it is in fact very hard to find any solid wins for the Biden administration. I can think of a few but they outnumbered handily by the missteps. And I think that, if Kamala wins, a lot of this is going to be papered over. All the political missteps will be like "eh, who cares! We won, right?" But that is not how effective strategy works. For one, if Kamala wins it is only because Trump is the opponent; a normie Republican would probably have trounced her. But more importantly your strategy should pretty much never be "eh whatever" to maximizing your electoral odds. Every action should either be A: this will keep us winning, or B: this won't but it will make the world a better place and so it is where we are spending our points. Biden has had a lot of "neither option" these past two years; too many, in my opinion, to be considered a good president anymore.

But I will give him decent at least, it is a tough job!

[newsfromstolenland]

I don't think white people realize how recently interracial marriage was not allowed, and how long prejudice against it continued (or continues)

canada has never specifically had legal bans on interracial marriage, but the KKK would proselytize against interracial marriage:

Unlike the United States, Canada had no blatant laws banning interracial marriage. But while the stigma was more informal in this country, it could be just as terrifying. As Backhouse describes in her 1999 book, Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900-1950, much of this terror was at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan. In 1927, Klansmen congregated in Moose Jaw, where they burned a 60-foot cross and lectured a large crowd on the risks of mixed-race marriage.

They would also kidnap people to prevent said marriages:

Three years later, on Feb. 28, 1930, some 75 Ku Klux Klan men dressed in white hoods and gowns marched into Oakville, Ont., and burned another massive wooden cross. They had arrived to intimidate Isabel Jones, a white woman, and her fiancé, Ira Junius Johnson, a man presumed to be black but later found to be of mixed Cherokee and white descent. The woman's mother had summoned the KKK to separate them.

The Klansmen kidnapped Jones, 21, and dumped her off at the Salvation Army, where they would keep surveillance on her for days from a car parked outside. In front of the couple's home, they burned a cross and threatened Johnson. During the invasion, the police chief recognized many of the Klansmen as prominent business owners from Hamilton as they plucked off their hoods to shake his hand.

This continued into the late 30s and the 40s, and often involved law enforcement:

Four months pregnant and eating breakfast with her fiancé in their pyjamas at their Toronto home, 18-year-old Velma Demerson was confronted by her father and two police officers. Demerson's father had sicced the cops on his daughter for what was scandalous behaviour at the time: Demerson, a white, unmarried woman, was living with a Chinese man, Harry Yip, and was carrying his child. Under the Female Refuges Act, Demerson was deemed "incorrigible and unmanageable" and incarcerated for nine months at Toronto's Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women, where she was locked in a seven-foot-by-four-foot cell.

source for all

This was all within my grandparents' lifetimes. And the harassment and KKK and police involvement continued well into the 60s and 70s.

And there was the extremely confusing system of whether or not Indigenous people lost their "Indian status" based on who they married, which was all based on gender and blood quantums. This was under the Indian act, and you can read about the marriage discrimination in it here.

And it never really ended, not socially.

My parents got together as an interracial couple in the 80s. My mom's aunt (that's the white side of the family) refused to attend their wedding. In the 90s they got pulled over by a cop who asked if my dad was keeping my mom in his car against her will.

Just a few months ago a white woman refused to believe that my mom is my mom, because that would mean my mom fucked a brown person and that couldn't be right! My mom is so pretty, surely she didn't have to settle for a brown immigrant!

I know this post is long but I think that you should read this. I see people crack jokes about interracial marriage a lot, but I doubt many Canadians know its history on this land.

[llyfrenfys]

Some really good notes from my post courtesy of @margridarnauds about that person accidentally using a white nationalist slogan to support the Welsh language:

I know someone who is doing a PhD on the Far Right and the co-option of cultural movements and these tags are bang on. Its the difference between a healthy nationalism and an unhealthy nationalism. A lot of this goes for Irish nationalism as well as it does for Welsh nationalism.

There's nothing wrong with (and arguably a lot right with) minority language preservation. It can be used for great good (strengthens community ties, preserves culture) but if co-option is not guarded against readily, it can also be used for great evil (see: using minority language struggles as an argument against immigration, for example).

The Far Right sees the cultural preservation of anything (white) and it's like a bat signal. These things are magnets for white supremacists and assorted fascists of all kinds. Which is why it is so goddamn important to be vigilant against people like that hijacking your movement.

I see a worrying amount of Welsh nationalists use (accidentally or not) the language of the far right to argue for Welsh language preservation. It can be as innocuous as advocating for a Welsh Academie Francaise to as obvious as insinuating that Wales must be kept "ethnically" Welsh in order to keep out foreign influence on the language. I see this go unchecked all the time in various Facebook groups for Welsh independence (most of which I've left since admins of these pages either don't know or don't care that people use their groups to share these sentiments).

Nationalism ≠ Fascism - but if you don't keep an eye on the company you're keeping, any well-meaning nationalist/independence or language preservation movement can be hijacked to promote hate. I only know a scant amount because I was only vaguely considering joining Yes Cymru a few years before they all went sideways (but I remember Owen Exie Hurcum talking about this on Twitter at the time) but the leadership of Yes Cymru began to squeeze out minorities from the group- nonwhite folks, gay people, trans people etc. Whole thing put me off from joining. I don't remember the full details but from the testimonies of others, the group was hijacked and steered into a reactionary way of being. Considering a large amount of Welsh nationalists also idolise groups like the FWA (Free Wales Army - a Welsh nationalist group formed in 1963 which tried to emulate the IRA in Ireland, with little success- mostly just playing paramilitary dress up) - whose symbol is this flag:

Even if the flag itself is based on Welsh folklore and is supposedly an entirely innocent, non fash design- it still is like a beacon to the Far Right who will take any amount of symbolic validation as a cue to join your movement and derail it for their own ends.

Which is why Celtic scholars, people with casual interest in Celtic languages and/or their respective cultures and civic nationalists alike need to be vigilant against those who would co-opt the field for their own twisted hate campaign.

So, one final thought,

Returning to my original post responding to that American chiming into Welsh politics from overseas. Please PLEASE be careful when wading into politics that isn't yours. Where the Far Right are involved, it doesn't take much to cause a dumpster fire - if you aren't 'on the ground' with these issues so to speak, you aren't in the firing line if your comments go sideways and enable/provoke the Far Right in this country.

If you have an interest in Celtic languages, countries and politics- you have a duty to be responsible with what you do and say. This isn't to say that you cannot engage with these topics- but that you should exercise caution lest you accidentally worsen an already delicate situation.

This has been your regularly scheduled Celtic anti-fascist tedtalk. Please reblog to make sure more people become aware of how delicate things can be and how to prevent fascists from getting a foothold in this field. Thank you.

[anarchywoofwoof]

i'm running low on political takes, but i have one more regarding an important topic.

for everyone who is talking about the climate and dooming regarding the future of a world where we won't stay below 2C, i really need you to understand that was never going to happen anyway.

rather than try to explain it myself, below is a comment from reddit that mirrors my thoughts and expertly breaks down the timeline over the last 4 years with sources and dates. long post below.

I see that it is once again time to remind partisans, apologists, and deniers in this subreddit that they should not blame leftists, immigrants, young folks, disengaged folks, migrants, or whatever outgroup. Place the blame solely on the party that was supposed to run Joe as a one-timer in the name of stability before ponying up a progressive leader. Instead they spent four years jerking off fossil fuel companies. By laser focusing your attention of identity politics - intersectionality without critical analysis esp class struggle - they accomplish ghoulish feats such as drastically expanding fossil fuel extraction and juicing the military industrial complex. No, the democrats aren't better or even less bad with respect to the environment.

Somehow, absurdly, this timeline has produced a political party that denies climate change, but through their own ineptitude is less accomplished at greasing the wheels of business. On the other hand, the party that softly acknowledges climate change has produced outcomes that are significantly, horrifically, catastrophically worse for the environment. Biden's presidency saw massive fossil fuel expansion despite his explicit promise not to. Harris promised to continue that and expand fracking. Please read below links carefully and ask yourself what job you're going to do in very near future economy: soldier or field laborer

2020

Aug 6 - While campaigning for the presidency, Joe Biden promises to ban the expansion of fossil fuel exploitation on federal lands as part of his $1.7 trillion climate plan. "This plan will commit money towards renewable infrastructure development and tax incentives for individuals and industry while establishing governmental agencies tasked with battling climate change."

2021

Jan 20 - Biden takes office

May 11 - At Cop 26, Biden promises to transition out of fossil fuels, calls climate change an existential threat to humanity.

Aug 30 - Biden admin to resume drilling auctions, immediately reversing campaign promises and dealing a huge setback for climate activists.

2022

Jan - Biden administration approved 3,557 permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands in its first year

Feb - Russia invades Ukraine

April 27 - US Energy Dept approves increased LNG shipments from terminals in Texas and Louisiana.

March 22 WH Nat Sec Advisor Jake Sullivan announces plans to boost and redirect LNG to Europe in response to Russian invasion

US energy Sec J Granhol announces significant increase in domestic oil and gas extraction.

Aug 16 - Biden Signs IRA $18bn over ~10y which includes preventing leasing any federal waters offshore to wind until first making 60 million acres available for oil and gas. WHAT.

Aug 16 Federal government resurrected two previously canceled sales to meet this requirement. Go IRA?

Oct 1 - Biden admin & US Army Corps of Eng approves repair & restart of CA pipeline which caused disastrous Huntington Beach incident.

Dec 14 - US Energy Dept changes carbon capture budget to now be inclusive of fossil fuel ‘enhanced oil recovery’ at request of Manchin, Sinema

2023

Jan 24 - Biden admin approves 6,430 permits for oil and gas drilling

Mar 29 - Biden admin auctions 1.6 million acres of gulf lease to fossil fuel companies

May 12 - Biden breaks G7 promise, approves $100m financing for Indonesian oil refinery

Mar 13 - Biden admin approves controversial Willow drilling project. The project (extraction period) will span 30 years , pump 600 million barrels of oil, and produce 258 million mm/t CO2 into the atmosphere. Equiv of ~57mm cars, this damage outpaces all our other climate promises and actions twice over

April 14 - Biden admin approves exports of LNG from Alaska LNG pipeline. It is being framed as a competitive move against Russian LNG due to the war in Ukraine (Europe’s dependence on Russian LNG)

May 24 - BLM land auction in New Mex, Okla, Kansas. (still researching details, cannot find PR)

May 25 - SCOTUS rules against EPA regarding definition of ‘wetlands’, limiting EPA authority in key locations

Jun 26 - BLM oil and gas lease in NoDak nets $2.4m (19 parcels ~8061 acres)

Jun 29 - Biden admin leases over 100k acres of federal land in Wyoming for fossil fuel exploitation

Jul 27 - US DoI issues rejection of calls to phase out fossil fuel use on public lands

Jul 27 - SCOTUS rules in favor of Mountain Valley Pipeline. Project moves forward

History of MVP issue:

Apr 21 - Biden Sec Energy sends letter to court in favor of MVP

May 16 - Biden admin grants key permit for MVP

May 30 - WH officials frame the MVP deal as inevitable, washing their hands of blame despite vigorous efforts moving the project forward.

June 2 - Senate passes debt ceiling deal, inc MVP approval

Jul 21 - US Solicitor Gen (DoJ) files amicus brief in support of MVP

(End of MVP)

Sept 20 - Biden launches Climate Corps

Sept - Biden to skip UN climate summit

To be continued ...

Hot take / Summary

Using the war in Ukraine as an excuse, Biden WH does a complete 180 on environmental campaign promises, becoming an extremelly pro-oil admin

A conservative scotus came in hot with TWO wins for a liberal administration contending with leftists activists and lawers.

A dysfunctional and gridlocked congress was unable to pass meaningful legislation, watering down key portions of the IRA

The emissions from ONE single project (2023 willow pipe, above) will outpace ALL of our other climate pledges by 200%, rendering them pointless/performative.

The items outlined also present a disturbing example of the executive abusing congress and the judiciary, resulting in three branches that collude together rather than operate as checks and balances.

[obsessivevoidkitten]

Discussion of real world war crimes and brutality of Israel below, something I can't be silent about. If you do not want to be exposed to such topics then just scroll by.

Israeli military now aren't merely bombing the hell out of Gaza but are now rounding up civilians and holding field executions.

Little boys and men are being stripped and humiliated as hundreds are detained in a converted Gazan stadium.

Salt water has been pumped into tunnels and polluted scarce ground water.

IDF have filmed themselves riding the discarded bikes of dead or evacuated children and burning food supplies even as according to a UN report 570,000 Gazans are currently starving.

Netanyahu spoke in a Likud Party meeting about what his vision for Gaza was after the "war" and he has said he wants the Palestinians to be transfered.

Many top Israeli officials have stated that they want Palestinians to "willingly immigrate" to other countries. This is actually why they are destroying hospitals, schools, workplaces, water sources, food, roads, and homes. It makes it more likely Gazans will leave "voluntarily" after the war if there is nothing in Gaza for them.

And as always remember that the blockade is still there, food, water, and medicine aren't allowed in any sufficient quality into Israel.

More UN workers have died in under 3 months than in any other conflict.

More journalists have been killed in under 3 months than have died in the entirety of WWII.

All of these are flat out war crimes.

Tensions are mounting with Hezbollah, Israel used US supplied white phosphorus in southern Lebanon. The US told Israel that if Hezbollah got involved that the US would attack on Israel's behalf, ever since then Israel has been trying to goad them into an all out conflict.

In what is likely a bid at drawing Iran and the US into the conflict Israel has assassinated a high rank Iranian general in Syria.

President Biden has made headlines for saying that Netanyahu needs to change and his administration is pressuring Israel to lessen the brutality. But this is a farce. Empty words. For even as he speaks these words he put into action a gift of 14k tank shells to Israel that he circumvented congress to give them. And after that, even now, the US continues to cosign genocide by giving Israel more and more weapons.

Israeli Defense Minister and former IDF general Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has stated that Israel is fighting a seven front war and has struck back at 6 of them. He went on to say the fighting may take years.

If it is within your power go to protests, boycott Iraeli goods, and speak out against genocide by educating those close to you. Because if we don't hault this it could escalate into WWIII and this time the US seems firmly on the side of those committing the genocide.

[stargazer-sims]

Grandpa's Roommate

Grandpa: Hang on! I’m coming. Don’t beat my door down. People are so impatient these days, and… What the— What’re all those suitcases for?

Ira: Hello.

Grandpa: Who are you?

Ira: People in this community don’t say ‘hello’ as a form of greeting?

Grandpa: Are you selling something?

Ira: Are you Nikolai Pavlenko?

Grandpa: Depends on who’s asking.

Ira: I’m your new roommate. I replied to your ad, and you answered my email. You said to come here at this time.

Grandpa: But…

Ira: But, what?

Grandpa: You’re a… a woman.

Ira: Astute observation.

Grandpa: Well, this is awkward.

Ira: What’s awkward about it?

Grandpa: I was expecting a man. A man answered my ad. He was the only person who responded. University professor of mechanical engineering. A man called Bowden. Dr. Ira Bowden.

Ira: I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m Dr. Bowden. It’s not Ira, like an eye. It’s Ira, as in the diminutive for Iryna. Dr. Iryna Komarova-Bowden.

Grandpa: Oh.

Ira: Letting me take that English-sounding surname when I immigrated was the only useful thing my no good ex-husband ever did for me.

Grandpa: You’re Russian?

Ira: Hmm... I’m full of surprises.

Grandpa: I certainly wasn’t expecting that.

Ira: Is my being a Russian-Canadian a problem?

Grandpa: No, not at all. It’s just that you’re catching me off-guard for the second time since you got here. First, you’re a woman, and then… uhh… you know.

Ira: I don’t think you can dig that hole much deeper, Dr. Pavlenko.

Grandpa: Sorry. It’s just… I used to know a girl named Iryna Komarova.

Ira: Did you?

Grandpa: It was a very long time ago. We were... good friends.

Ira: That's not the tone most people use to describe good friends. Might she have been your lover, by chance?

Grandpa: I was a teenager. I didn't know what love was.

Ira: Do you want to know something? I used to know a boy named Nikolai. His mother called him Nika, and a day came when he let me call him that, too.

Grandpa: Uh... you can call me Dr. Pavlenko for now. Because... because we're total strangers and we just met for the first time today, and... maybe in a week or so we can graduate to formal first names. How about that?

Ira: I can see you're uncomfortable. If this isn't going to work out, I can leave. I'm sure my lazy son can be forced into coming back to collect me and my suitcases. Of course, I'll have to stay with him until I find somewhere else to live, since I already gave up my condo. Honestly, I'd rather go to the dentist every day for the rest of my life than to live with with him, but I'm sure I'll survive.

Grandpa: No, it's all right. Why don't you come in? I'll show you the extra room, and we can work out some details.

Ira: Who's going to carry my bags in?

Grandpa: I'll do it. I think I can manage a few suitcases. Do you have other stuff?

Ira: Yes, but it's in storage. I'll have it delivered later if we can come to an agreement.

Grandpa: Before we go in, let me introduce you to Fish. She lives here rent-free.

Ira: Your dog is called Fish?

Grandpa: She came from the shelter with that name, and she already answered to it. It's impossible to change it now. I don't make the rules.

Ira: How... interesting.

Ira: *to herself* Well, this is going to be an experience...

[dear-ao3]

Fennec what’s your favorite historical period? Ask love the name

thank you!

mostly early American history specifically the Mexican-American war, Bleeding Kansas/John Brown American Civil War and the reconstruction era. Also Irish immigrant history in New York City (i have the flag of the New York 69th hanging on my wall lmao) and the Saint Patrick Batallion. I really like the Irish uprising of 1916 and the history of the IRA. I have a pretty wide range of historical topics i like but those the main ones.

(note from katya: they also know a little too much about ulysses s grant and james connolly)

[sourcreammachine]

SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY MANIFESTO 2024 SUMMARY

cw: extreme transphobia

ok story time. after thatcher happened the labour party elected a left-wing leader to try stop her. four labour MPs left the party in protest and formed the SDP. they formed a non-aggression pact with the Liberal Party, and after a couple years voted in favour of merging to form the Liberal Democrats. one of the four founders disagreed with the merger and founded a new party, calling it the SDP again and acting like it was the rightful successor. after a year or two the continuation party had been destroyed at every little election it had tried to fight, and it voted in favour of disbanding. however, a few activists disagreed with the disbanding and founded a new party, calling it the SDP AGAIN and acting like it was the rightful successor. this second continuation, this third SDP is what survives today

when reading about this party thirty years later, i’d found descriptions that they had become ‘economically left-wing but socially right-wing’ and tbh, i took them at their word. i were told they were communitarians, using traditionalist conservative moral frameworks to promote social democratic economics. that description is very, very wrong

this manifesto is deeply fascistic

i was expecting a couple of yikes moments, especially about trans people, and while there is truly an avalanche of transphobia and trans-hostile policy proposals, the fascistic nature is all over the place, especially on migration, hypernationalism and security. they are beyond Likud on some security matters – if the IRA came back under the SDP we’d be living in a hypermilitarised apartheid state before you can say boyfanny

the reason i’m covering this manifesto is because they’re comfortably the sixth largest party in terms of seats contested at 122, narrowly behind the workers’ party (though they have a suite of endorsed independents). i want you to look at this atrocity. i want you to see the number of votes they get in these 122 seats and despair. this is your country, this is your fascism

💷ECONOMY

abolish housing benefits

audit board of private industry to audit the entire public sector every three years

ban the public sector from buying from foreign manufacturers. at all.

stop benefits after six months. councils required to “hire” (force the labour of) six-monthers for random stuff like street sweeping

expand tax incentives for marriage

raise the minimum wage to 2/3 median wage

raise corporation tax to internationally standard levels, but instead rollout freeports and Special Economic Zones

introduce laws discriminating in favour of parents for redundancies, “protecting them” as a protected category in equality legislation

unilateral expansion of fishing. sorry iceland, it looks like we’ll be having another war

🏥PUBLIC SERVICES

renationalise rail, water and energy

require the showing of an ID card to access the NHS and basically any free public service to prevent its use by illegals. immigrants, when given ‘indefinite leave to remain’, STILL won’t get the right to use any service for ten entire years

massive rollout of elite selective schooling

reduce the number of bachelors’ degree places

force over-65s to do community service to pay for their eventual social care

“teaching will reflect Britain’s important contribution to the world in the context of its time. teachers will avoid advocacy of unorthodox or sectarian agendas”

fully nationalise the BBC to seize state control, requiring it to ‘promote national cohesion’

schools to confiscate all phones during the day and “impound” (their word) any found phone for two weeks

ban the NHS using any language other than english or welsh. whoops looks like they forgot to include BSL

the manifesto includes a whiny “charter” on “academic freedom”

mandatory one mile walk every day in schools

require international students to take a strict english test before being offered a place

“public funding of culture, media and sports organisations will be conditional on those organisations respecting the principles of balance and free speech. institutions that fail to do so, by censoring artefacts, promoting sectarian agendas or deterring people from civil discourse, will have funding withdrawn”

rewrite the PSHE curriculum to prioritise “parenting and household management”

🏠HOUSING

“the fundamental aim of national housing policy shall be to ensure that young people seeking to start a family will be able to find a suitable home in which to do so”

create a public company to create 100k new social houses a year

discriminate in favour of the married and veterans for council and social housing

suspend but later reintroduce right to buy with a one-in-one-out clause

ban buy-to-let

👮FORCE

“restore the offence of sedition and actively use this law to pursue those who incite terrorism overtly or covertly, or who act in flagrant support of the UK’s enemies”

abolish the supreme court and transfer its powers to the house of lords, which due to reform will be more politically partisan

leave the UN refugee convention

abolish the human rights act

abolish the european convention on human rights

leave the council of europe

surge defence spending

surge funding for MI5 and the NCA

surge police funding and pursue an aggressive broken windows policy

double all sentences for violent crime, and for any repeat offence

mandatory minimum of ten years after three serious offences

mandatory hard labour for parolees for two years after release

all non-citizen prisoners to be deported and permabanned after release

any legally resident non-citizen to be deported for “any act considered materially hostile to Britain’s social peace”

“prisons will become safe, orderly institutions - whatever it takes”

asphyxiating migration cap of 50k/a, but “agreements between key strategic partners may result in selective exemptions if clearly in the national interest” (ie, we’ll let in anglophones, but probably not anglophones from africa or asia or the caribbean )

“promote a generation-long cessation of mass migration”

cease all aid for ukraine

🌱CLIMATE ?

“overrwhelming focus on climate ‘catastrophe’ is fostering anxiety and despair in children. from early years to key stage 3, all children will learn about British wildlife. the Natural History GCSE will [teach] the inspiring achievements of Britain’s pioneering naturalists”

abandon net zero

re-legalise fracking and expand oil and gas

pursue energy autarky where the country always has 12 months’ supply of fossil fuels

prohibit the rewilding of farmland

create no new low emissions zones

the fishing industry to oversee existing marine protection areas and any proposal for any new ones

🗳️DEMOCRACY

english parliament for english people

explicitly codify the fact that scotland can’t leave

proportional representation (specifically STV) for the commons

evict the hereditary lords and bishops but keep the appointees, capped at 400 with 15 year terms and appointed by committee

increase the powers of parish councils

🏳️‍⚧️REACTIONARY AGENDA, other than everything else

strip trans people of discrimination protections in both the equality and gender recognition acts to protect “sex-baesd rigths”

catastrophic reduction in NHS funding for trans healthcare, remaining funds to be for “psychological intervention” (state-mandated conversion therapy)

mandatory profiling of all trans people for all public data for all purposes by keeping separate sex and gender categories across the ENTIRE public sector

ban ALL pharmacological care for trans minors

ban trans women using women’s shelters

ban trans participation in sports competition

force trans prisoners to be incarcerated at the prison for the opposite sex

all public sector DEI to be stopped, so goes the policy

introduce a bad internet bill, require id for porn sites, require all tech companies to “promote free speech”

mandatory spyware on all devices: “a digital border application will be created to detect digital content which is malignantly pornographic, supportive of terrorism or otherwise contrary to law. all internet service providers operating in the UK will be required to utilise this scanning software and take steps to block undesirable content.” all smartphones “sold to or used by” an under-16 to have mandatory age restrictions

[storiesabouthumanandthings]

The Punk and The Suit 4

When Kristoph gets back, John is in his office. Kristoph acts normal and walks past him and goes behind his desk and begins logging in. “Hello father, is there something I can help you with? I don’t think I have ever seen you come in on a weekend.”

John slams his hands on the desk, placing his face next to Kristoph, “Do you know who you’re dating?!”

Kristoph continues to ignore him. It’s not John’s first tantrum he has sat through, “A bit, that’s the whole point of dating. You meet, you talk, you get to know one another slowly. You don’t send Private Investigators after them.”

John stands up straight and pulls out a file from his blazer and tosses it down on the desk, “His family has ties to the IRA! They are Terrorists!”

Kristoph looks at the closed file and turns back to the computer, “And we are in America. How can they do anything to Ireland in American? Plus that was what? 30-40 years ago? Most of that is over with.”

Kristoph can see that John is turning red with fury, “That doesn’t worry you?”

“No, not at all. That has nothing to do with Kieran. In fact, I just meet his cousin who owns a small business and we are talking about me having dinner to meet his family.”

Whatever redness John had was made pale with that last statement, “You can’t be serious?”

“When have you known me to make a joke?“ Kristoph says factually as he types away.

John huffs and tries to pull at straws, “Well I forbid it. I demand you break up with him.”

Kristoph scoffs and answers in a sarcastic tone, “What? Am I suddenly some medieval princess you are going to lock away in a golden tower? You have been crying for years I should be dating. That it’s unseemly to have a nearly 30 year old son who is not in a serious relationship, and yet, the second I do, you demand I quit. You really can’t have it both ways, Father.”

“I wanted you to find a woman of good standing who would be a benefit to the family name, not some disrespectful little-”

Kristoph cuts him off, standing up with his hands firmly on the desk, barely holding on to his rage, “Oh! Now you want to talk about the purity of our family name?! Should we have discussed it eight years ago when you got married a month after mom died? Should we have discussed it when my new ‘step’ brother already had said last name? Perhaps when you decided that my two years younger ‘step’ brother with the same last name and very similar features was going to inherit your company at twenty-six years old huh?! If you want to talk about staining the family name I suggest you look in a mirror!”

John’s mouth repeatedly opened and closed to argue and say something. He ended up leaving with a huff, “This isn’t the last of this.”

Kristoph takes a few deep calming breaths before he shakes his head. He takes the file and puts it in the shredder. He pulls out his phone and sends a text to Kieran

*So my family dug into your family past. Sorry about that. Is it true you are in the IRA?*

*Grandma was ALLEGEDLY a head of a section of the IRA but she was never convicted. Shortly after The Troubles ended is when she and the family immigrated over. And we haven’t cause problems since.*

Kristoph sends a raised eyebrow emoji

*Fine much trouble since. So how pissed was he?

*He demanded we break up. I think he is looking for chains to lock me in the office. Might need you to come save me like a knight in fishnet armor*

*Isn’t that basically just loose chainmail? Lol*

First Previous Next

[fratboystrider]

16/20

Heartstrings fact for this post: Boyfriends edition

Ira: Boyfriend no. 2 was born to a japanese first gen immigrant father and a black-american mother. His parents were business people and were often times working during his childhood. Latchkey kid. 90s kid (he’s older than dude by a decent amount). His parents divorced when he was ten or so. He wasnt necessarily spoiled, more so over indulged. If he threw a fit theyd do anything to get him to stop. He was in a band starting age 15 up until he went to college. he was a guitarist.

He knew from a young age he wasn’t really attracted to women. He couldn’t accept that, though. He had the expectation of upholding an image of masculinity (which being queer didnt really align with in his opinion) and producing grandchildren from both sides. He met a guy in college, his roommate, they grew close. They rushed a frat together and were roommates all through out. They shared a bed on some nights and kissed a few times. His roommate got a girlfriend eventually though and he was crushed. He figured he too had to move on and do what was expected of him. He leads women on and sleeps with men.

[sagabrielle]

I never conflated Israelis with Jews, but 73.5% of Israelis are Jews and 41% of all Jews live in Israel. Saying that "Never Again", a Jewish phrase for the Jewish people, is only being applied to 'white people' by Israel is implying that the Jews in Israel are white - which the majority aren't. Reblogging something without comment is support of that thing. Reblogging Holocaust denial without comment is Holocaust denial.

Lord have mercy lmao

Israelis are jewish, sure. Their identity as such is only relavant in terms of an explanation as to HOW they came to live in the Middle East. Them being Jewish is NOT an explanation for Israelis behavior, nor is it the reason this genocide is even happening. Being Jewish IS NOT equal to Being a Genocide Supporter.

A bit over half of Iraelis ancestors lived in Europe (Eastern Europe/Spain) and were moved to Palestinian land after WW2. A significant chunk of Israelis are indeed of...European Jewish ancestry, as a result. They immigrated there. The sociopolitics of whether they are white or not is COMPLICATED, but the global standard is that European Jewish people are white, which is probably why Bisan mentioned it. BESIDES the point, she was talking about how the western population is more inclined to care and express sympathy for white or white-passing people, and have not cared even HALF as much about Arabs and brown people. Historically and to today, the West is the oppressors of Arabs, and therefore, it is nearly impossible for innocent Arabs to garner sympathy and support from the western masses.

Bisan is talking about very real things that are being said by Israelis. Israeli soliders, Israeli citizens, and Genocide supporters online, which she can see. If you can't work to piece that together, I don't know what to tell you, honestly. She compared it to the holocaust because it HAS been used as an excuse for violence. It HAS historically and presently been used to justify the displacement of brown people throughout the Middle East. Is this coopted? 1000%. Using the Holocaust as an excuse to perpetuate violence is vile, and a horrid disregard of the memories of the people who were killed during it. Fact of the matter is, is that Israelis use those events to justify violence in the Middle East.

I did not deny the Holocaust. I never will deny the Holocaust. Nor will I deny the experiences and emotions of Palestinians, who struggle with Israeli-perpetuated horrors. Me reblogging these things, I will repeat, is me spreading the messages and words of an endangered group of people, who will go unheard without Westerns being bothered to listen to them.

[charliethomascoxuniverse]

In the Footsteps of a Saint

FAITH TODAY：MAY 2011

Catholic actor Charlie Cox is making waves across the Atlantic – and he’s about to hit the cinemas in his native UK playing a saint in a new movie.

FAITH TODAY went to meet him.

How does it feel to be a saint?  That’s something no-one alive can ever really know, since sainthood is only acknowledged after death: but up-and-coming actor Charlie Cox knows more about it than most. Cox, 28, is the star of There Be Dragons, a new movie about the early life of St Josemaria Escriva, the Spaniard who founded Opus Dei.  So – given that he’s a Catholic himself - how did it feel to Cox to walk in a saint’s shoes, and to portray his holiness on screen?

What struck him most, says Cox, is that ‘there seemed to have been no single moment when Josemaria was saintly... instead, what people who knew him spoke about and wrote about was a lifetime of consistently good decisions and a dedication of his entire life to God’.  So in fact, he explains, portraying him meant being very human – and yet aware that decisions often had to be made that weren’t directed at other people, but were directed at God. Playing Josemaria is the latest step on a path that’s fast feeling like the road to the big-time: Cox first appeared on the showbiz radar in 2007 when he got the role of Tristan Thorne in the movie Stardust, and he went on to play the Duke of Crowborough in the ITV drama Downton Abbey.  And just a fortnight before we meet, he’s filmed his first episode of HBO’s prohibition drama Boardwalk Empire, the flagship programme of the new Sky Atlantic channel, in which he plays an immigrant from Northern Ireland with ties to the IRA.  Cox says he’s loving the part: Steve Buscemi, who recently won a Gold Globe award for his portrayal of Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson in the series, is one of his all-time heroes, and he can hardly believe his luck in being cast with him.

’Working with Steve feels amazing, I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been,’ he says, as we chat over coffee at a Madrid hotel on the morning of the premiere of There Be Dragons.  He jetted in this morning from New York – he’ll be there filming Boardwalk Empire through the summer and, he says, he can’t imagine a better way of spending the next few months. ‘They’re the nicest bunch of people – and everyone is so confident about how good the series is, so there’s a great buzz about it.’

Working on Boardwalk Empire has taken him a long way from his Sussex roots.  He grew up in Hearst Green, the son of publisher parents – and he was raised a Catholic, like his father, although he was educated at a non-Catholic independent school, Sherborne School in Dorset.  ‘Only about 70 out of 700 boys were Catholics. We had to get up early on a Sunday to go to Mass at a local girls’ school... it would have been easy to skive off it, but actually we never did.  I’ve always loved churches – even now, in a strange city, I’ll often wander around looking at churches.’ There was no history of acting in the family – bar a grandmother who had been at RADA before the second world war – but even as a youngster, Cox was smitten with the idea.  ‘My mum and dad had a fantastic attitude to it,’ he says.  ‘The school wanted me to go to university, play it in safe mode, have a back-up plan.  But my parents came to see me act, and afterwards my dad sat me down and he said: ‘I think you’d be a fool not to pursue this’.  And I don’t know whether I’d be here now if it hadn’t been for that one comment...’ Despite living in the US at the moment, and the fact that his parents spend most of their time these days in France, Cox says Britain will always be home – and he’s very close to his family.  He has a brother, and three half siblings from his father’s first marriage, and his parents have flown to see him in Madrid while he’s over for the premiere of There Be Dragons. After school, he spent a gap year working for a photographer – and even before he could take up a place at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, he’d landed the role of Theo in the movie Dot the i.  ‘An agent took a punt on me and put me up for the part,’ he says.  ‘I’ve been incredibly lucky, and that was just one of my lucky breaks.’

But it’s not just luck – Cox is immensely likeable, and he’s obviously genuinely passionate about acting.  He’s also been smart enough to realise that he can learn a huge amount from more seasoned actors – so he saw acting alongside Robert de Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer in Stardust, for example, as a fantastic opportunity to soak up knowledge.  And he’s learnt lots more, too, from Roland Joffe, director of There Be Dragons, who was also the film-maker behind The Mission (about the early Jesuits in south America) and The Killing Fields (about the murderous Pol Pot regime in Cambodia), both of which were Oscar nominees.

‘I didn’t think twice about taking the part of Josemaria, and that was down to Roland,’ he says.  ‘He’s such a great director – he really understands the processes that actors have to go through to give their best.  I learnt so much from working with him.’

Given the subject-matter of There Be Dragons, Cox also spent time in the run-up to filming learning about Opus Dei, which has the status of a ‘personal prelature’ within the Catholic Church.  ‘I visited several Opus Dei houses, and I went on a retreat and had a lot of help from an Opus Dei priest, Fr John Wauck.’

Before he made the film, he admits, he’d never heard of Josemaria – and all he knew about Opus Dei was what he’d read in Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Code.  But researching Josemaria, he says, what struck him most was the saint’s humanity – and his ability, examined in the film, to forgive.  ‘It was an example I had to put into practice, because one day when we were filming I returned to my trailer to find someone had broken in and cleaned the place out completely,’ he says.  ‘They’d even taken my computer, and the charger, and even my clothes.’ ‘The following day I was due to film one of the big scenes in which Josemaria shows how he can forgive, and I remember thinking: this is really interesting.  And the thing is that I did manage to forgive the guy who nicked my stuff.’ ‘And what I realised, through that incident, was that – though we think of forgiveness as something very moral and impressive, it’s actually something that works totally in your own favour.  Because if you don’t forgive then you’re angry inside – and that anger doesn’t hurt the other person, but it really hurts you.’ Since filming finished for There Be Dragons, Cox has been working on another movie – Moby Dick, due to be released later this year – and now Boardwalk Empire.  It all suggests, I tell him, that fame – which he’s told previous interviewers frightens him – could be beckoning. ‘It’s tricky,’ he says, candidly.  ‘I’ve got friends who have gone on to extraordinary fame, and what I’ve realised through them is that it’s never quite as appealing as it promised to be. ‘On the other hand, like everyone else I want recognition.  I like people to think I’m good at what I do. That’s human nature, isn’t it?’

~*~

[swarm-o-hogs]

Opinions on Israel-Palestine, and related issues

A great number of Tumblr users have opinions that annoy me on some level. I have decided to give my definitive opinion(s) on it, not that you asked. This is not a guide.

The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are currently at risk of annihilation, i.e. genocide.

The government of Israel's actions of crushing the Gaza Strip are not justifiable in response to the October 7th massacre committed by Hamas.

The October 7th massacre was unjustified in any way.

Most Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are not Hamas fighters.

A population doesn't have to be 'innocent' to be potential victims of a genocide. Genocide can occur against one people, even if both sides are or were recently at war. The Rwandan genocide was a perfect example of this.

Now I have got the issue of Gaza out the way, here are my opinions on the less "acute" issues.

The state of Israel exists.

Calls to destroy Israel are genocidal.

The state of Israel exists in its current form because of the Holocaust and because the allied nations were antisemitic. The allied nations refused to let in Jewish immigrants or created such a hostile environment their Jewish populations left at the first opportunity.

Israel is an apartheid state, with a tiered system of laws for Jewish and Arab Israelis, as well as the geographic isolation of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. It seems to be a mix of old South Africa and Northern Ireland.

Ideas that are mischief, and should be completely abandoned

People are not a "question" and there is no "solution" to them.

Calls for ethnic homogeneity are a load of crap. Even "voluntary" population transfers such as between Greece and Turkey meant millions of lives being uprooted and ruined.

The "who is more indigenous" debate leads nowhere good.

The "decolonisation" of Israel is delusional. The population of Israel is larger than that of the Palestinian Territories and Israel's neighbours no longer hate them as they once did.

Inconvenient thoughts about a Peace

America holds most of the cards at the moment. Let us assume they suddenly do become the force for good in the world they say they are. I think they should withhold all their arms for Israel, or even simply threaten to do so if they don't institute a permanent ceasefire or negotiations. I have no idea what would come after that, maybe the UN can be helpful for a change.

Hamas, is the sole entity in Gaza with any bargaining power. As ugly as it is, any permanent peace will require an agreement between them and Israel. The Columbian state had to compromise with FARC militants to reach their peace, and the Troubles only ended when the British negotiated with the IRA. Both the FARC and IRA were terrorist organisations.

Israel's current government is currently unwilling to do any of the above. Ultimately, it is up to the people of Israel to remove the leaders that make war and vote in ones that will make peace.

Other Thoughts

The Jewish diaspora is facing a much higher level of antisemitic attacks, partly as a result of left antisemitism. This must be addressed comprehensively if the peace movement is to be successful.

Israel lobbies the United States as it is the normal behaviour of a self-interested state. Every country on the planet does this. It is not antisemitic to speak of the Israel lobby.

I don't really have a strong opinion on Zionism. If it means Palestinians are being thrown out of their homes, I am against it. Otherwise it inspires no feelings in me whatsoever, because Israel existing is just a fact.

Now I got that off my chest.

Now, in case you say donate, do something, etc, that is not what this account is for. I have other accounts dedicated to more serious stuff.