#Law Zimbabwe

[countathon]

Strategies for Zimbabwean Law Firms to Thrive Digitally

Law firms in the current digital age need to also incorporate sufficient presence on the internet and the following will help to explain this aspect. For the target audience, individuals and companies looking for legal assistance, social media is the way to go, in the following ways.

Key strategies for optimizing social media include:Key strategies for optimizing social media include:

Tailored Engagement: When creating them, it’s recommended to address specific segments of the population to guarantee the persuasiveness of messages. For example, firms in family law can join the relevant Facebook groups, while the large corporates’ firms can network in the linked in platform. Building Credibility: The circulation of valuable legal information and the organization of a discussion is helpful in building the audience’s trust and crediting the source. Driving Website Traffic: Marketing blog articles, webinars, or other services available on the website is perfect for social media accounts to attract the potential clients. Navigating the social media landscape requires:Navigating the social media landscape requires:

Selecting the Right Platforms: Concentrate on the sites in which your goal market is most engaged, for example facebook, twitter or linked in. Creating Engaging Content: Share information that is useful for the reader that can include firm updates, articles, and case studies. Consistency and Interaction: Use it actively both in posting and in interacting with the followers in order to build the trust and increase recognition. Tracking and Refining: ground your content strategy in data analysis, and don’t be afraid to adapt the course you have set as quickly as possible. Through the above strategies, Zimbabwean law firms are able to popularize themselves and find Anas & Co clients amongst the ever growing online business population.

Sources

[How Zimbabwean Law Firms Can Thrive Online](https://countathon.co.zw/17220-2/)

[platypusisnotonfire]

Like…

CLEARLY nothing has gone into law yet and the birthright thing is very much up for debate as being unconstitutional but I have dual citizenship and I have NO idea where I might fall on this spectrum as I’m pretty sure my mother was a US citizen but I have NO idea about my father as he was from Ireland and I have NO idea what his legal status was when I was born. And my mother was first generation from Scotland and I’m guessing was a US citizen but I don’t really even know. I have zero clue what my maternal grandparents legal US status was.

That’s kinda wild like if by some absolutely offhand chance that goes into law and like the constitution is amended and I’m no longer a US citizen and that’s crazy

[lefemmerougewriter]

From Bode DeSosa to Carmen Sandiego: More one-shots and short stories

Since Tumblr is acting weird, I had to divide this into two posts. My first post is pinned on this blog. My second is this post.

One-shots

From Prison to Revenge: Bode DeSousa Strikes Back

Tola Martins, Tunde Martins, and Kole Adesola have gone back to their lives after fooling Bode DeSousa's plan, a few months before, to use Kole in order to get at Tunde and steal information from his company for his own personal benefit. For them, peace has returned, but Bode will not remain silent, despite his monologue which explored his self-serving reasons why he kidnapped Tunde and Tola, which made him disliked by the populace. He plans to get back at the Martins family and everyone who has wronged him, including his former lackeys, and Tola's friend, Kole, among others.

Wyverna Dretch, Archives on the Dimensional Plane, and Typical Drudgery

One day, Wyverna Dretch, the resident demon teacher at High Guardian Academy, and an archivist (among other responsibilities) decides to show her ethics class about the school’s archives. After some class discussion, she brings them to this hallowed institution in a glass elevator, showing them what she does, while Snap and Rose are drawn closer together, either by purpose or accident, and Snap is curious about the "transition magic" section.

Joabana and the Specter of Doofatanian Intervention

Tensions in Joabana are peaking. Two women, Elena Castillo Flores and Adora Eros, have come together to debate this issue on public access television on a program hosted by a Latina woman, Amanda Lopez. Can they both keep their cool and debate this civilly, or will it descend into pandemonium? Furthermore, are Elena and Adora really foes of each other…or do they have a secret life they aren’t telling their viewers…is this all just for show?

Comrade Sandiego and the Zimbabwean Dream

Carmen Sandiego changes the course of the Zimbabwean liberation war, with reverberations for the present. ACME is tasked with reversing it, but Ivy refuses to go along, accusing her brother of having a "colonial mindset." Later that night, she meets a mysterious woman, her confidential informant, who often wears red-colored clothing. She is more attracted to this woman, than she originally thought, and considers whether the past was changed… for the better.

A Responsibility to Prevent Genocide?: Royalty, Revolution, and Bloody Zionists

One bright morning, Daphne Blake serves as the guest host of C-SPAN's Washington Journal, and she brings in two guests (Princess Rapunzel, CEO of the Corona Foundation and Mara, chief weapons specialist for Renegade Services) to talk about the brutal Israeli bombing of Gaza. While some callers are openly hostile toward the guests, others are more favorable, with Daphne, Rapunzel, and Mara having to find their way through the morass and make their viewpoints heard, even if they don't always agree with what each other has to say.

From Angry Zionists to International Popstars: Meet the Mess Discusses the Gaza War

Nristen Snelker had only recently become a host of Meet the Mess, with the network glad they had chosen someone who was a woman of color, rather than a White man (who had been hosts for over 50 years). She faced with one of the toughest discussions of her career about Israel's brutal and genocidal assault in Gaza, complete with angry Zionists, international popstars, and legal analysts. Can she hold it together or will it all fall apart?

Elena, Adora, and the Secret Marriage in Bana City

A blond-haired woman named Adora Eros recalls when she met a beautiful brown-haired woman, Elena Castillo Flores, in Joabana, and how their relationship developed, setting the stage for their live-TV debate.

Flight of the Eagle and the Rise of President Sandiego

Carmen begins her plan to seize power in the most powerful country on Earth. Can Zack and Ivy stop her before it is too late?

[xtruss]

Zimbabwe’s ‘White Gold’! Critical Minerals Law Favors China

Harare has Africa’s largest lithium reserves and Beijing is poised to benefit, despite an export ban.

— By Nosmot Gbadamosi | Foreign Policy | August 16th, 2023

A foreman looks on as an earth mover works on the slippery road at Arcadia Mine on Jan. 11, 2022 in Goromonzi, Zimbabwe. ​Tafadzwa Ufumeli/Getty Images

The world’s clean-energy transition will be impossible without African minerals—and a degree of resource nationalism from African countries is benefiting China, which has for decades invested in the African Green-Energy Market and accounts for 59 percent of the world’s lithium refining. Chinese companies run the majority of Zimbabwe’s mines and are better positioned to expand domestic processing there.

Lithium, often referred to as “White Gold,” is essential to producing Solar Panels and the Rechargeable Batteries that power electric vehicles; and in 2022, demand pushed prices up by more than 100 percent. Africa could supply a fifth of the world’s lithium needs by 2030, but to best serve citizens, African leaders are demanding that miners go beyond extraction and add value by locally processing the raw mineral.

Last December, Zimbabwe 🇿🇼, which has Africa’s Largest Lithium Reserves, imposed a ban on raw lithium ore exports, requiring companies to set up plants in the country and process ore into concentrates before export in order to boost local jobs and revenue. Those seeking to export and not process domestically would need to provide proof of exceptional circumstances and receive written permission to export raw lithium ore.

Zimbabwe’s ban, called the Base Minerals Export Control Act, will stop the country losing billions in mineral proceeds to foreign companies, officials said. Namibia 🇳🇦 has followed suit; and in 2020 around 42 percent of African nations, excluding those in North Africa, had implemented restrictions on raw exports, including the Democratic Republic of Congo 🇨🇩, Ghana 🇬🇭, and Nigeria 🇳🇬.

Traditionally, “mining companies after extraction enjoy all the benefits [while] leaving communities in their catchment areas to bear the brunt of life-threatening dangers associated with their operations,” Edmond Kombat, research and finance director of Ghana’s 🇬🇭 Institute for Energy Security, told ESI Africa. “It is time to stop that practice.”

However, China, which controls the world’s critical minerals supply chain, is ideally placed to reap benefits in these situations, because several Chinese owned companies have recently completed processing plants in the country. Chinese-owned Companies have Spent more than $1 Billion acquiring and developing lithium projects in Zimbabwe, which in contrast has seen Very Little Western investment.

Last month, Chinese minerals giant Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt opened a $300 million lithium processing plant at its Arcadia Mine in Zimbabwe, which it bought last year from Australia-based Prospect Resources for $422 million. The plant currently has the capacity to process around 450,000 metric tons of lithium concentrate annually. Under Zimbabwean law the refined lithium can then be exported for further processing into battery-grade lithium outside Zimbabwe.

In May, another Chinese company, Chengxin Lithium Group, commissioned a lithium concentrator to produce 300,000 metric tons per year at the Sabi Star mine in eastern Zimbabwe. And China’s Sinomine Resource Group said last month it had completed a $300 million lithium plant, after it bought Bikita Minerals, one of Africa’s oldest lithium mines, for $180 million.

Zimbabwe hopes to satisfy 20 percent of the world’s total lithium demand when it fully exploits its known lithium resources. “If we continue exporting raw lithium we will go nowhere,” Deputy Mines Minister Polite Kambamura told Bloomberg last year. “We want to see lithium batteries being developed in the country.”

New rules stipulate that a 5 percent royalty rate will be payable on lithium exported, due half in cash and half in processed final products so that the country can build cash reserves it could use for government-backed borrowing.

U.S. sanctions on Zimbabwe 🇿🇼, imposed since 2001, have impacted the country’s access to borrowing and investment, leaving few options but China. Last year, Zimbabwean Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube claimed the country has lost more than $42 billion in revenue as a result of Western sanctions. The Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency reportedly received 160 lithium investment applications from investors based in China in the first half of 2023 compared to just five from the United States.

Even among Zimbabwe’s regional peers, U.S. companies have been left on the backfoot. Nigeria Rejected Elon Musk’s Tesla in favor of Beijing-based Ming Xin Mineral Separation to build Nigeria’s first lithium processing plant in Kaduna State, in the country’s northwest region. Nigerian officials reportedly rejected Tesla’s proposal because it did not align with the country’s new policies. “Our new mining policy demands that you add some value to raw mineral ores, including lithium, before you export,” Ayodeji Adeyemi, special assistant to Nigeria’s mines and steel development minister, told Rest of World.

For decades, African economists complained that foreign companies extracted minerals without benefit to citizens. In 2015, Zimbabwean researchers estimated the country had lost $12 billion due to illegal trade involving multinational companies in China 🇨🇳, Canada 🇨🇦, the United States 🇺🇸, and the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 —enough money to pay off Zimbabwe’s foreign debt.

Africa holds more than 40 Percent of Global Reserves of Key Minerals for batteries and hydrogen technologies. Yet it’s predicted that, by 2030, more than 80 percent of the world’s poor will live in Africa, and about 75 percent of them in resource-rich countries.

It makes sense for African Nations to step up efforts to increase quality jobs. “The United States and Europe must ensure that the partnerships they are building in Africa are mutually beneficial and non-extractive,” Theophile Pouget-Abadie and Rachel Rizzo recently wrote in Foreign Policy. “Otherwise, they will run headlong into the walls erected by an increasingly dominant Beijing.”

Washington in January signed a memorandum of understanding to help the Democratic Republic of Congo 🇨🇩 and Zambia 🇿🇲 develop an electric battery supply chain. But China is going beyond this in terms of thinking about what African nations need. Beijing, for example, with support from the United Nations 🇺🇳 Development Program, is facilitating a joint research center in Ethiopia 🇪🇹 to fast-track access to renewable energy in the country.

Experts warn that more African countries banning critical raw minerals exports will impede global decarbonization. Zimbabwe’s ban is perceived as unrealistic because the country lacks skilled workers. Some countries (Kenya 🇰🇪, Tanzania 🇹🇿, and Zambia 🇿🇲) have implemented policies requiring mining companies to train locals, according to a recent World Bank report. The report suggests national export bans alone can make countries worse off because investors simply move their business elsewhere, but that training requirements could ensure retention of investment and the creation of a skilled workforce.

[lady-shadow-and-darkness]

Right!

Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Somalia, Zimbabwe

Can you name seven different African countries?

[beardedmrbean]

US President Donald Trump has said he will cut all future funding to South Africa over allegations that it was confiscating land and "treating certain classes of people very badly".

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law a bill that allows land seizures without compensation in certain circumstances.

Land ownership has long been a contentious issue in South Africa with most private farmland owned by white people, 30 years after the end of the racist system of apartheid.

There have been continuous calls for the government to address land reform and deal with the past injustices of racial segregation.

South Africa's president responded to Trump with a post on X: "South Africa is a constitutional democracy that is deeply rooted in the rule of law, justice and equality. The South African government has not confiscated any land."

He added that the only funding South Africa received from the US was through the health initiative Pepfar, which represented "17% of South Africa's HIV/Aids programme".

The US allocated about $440m (£358m) in assistance to South Africa in 2023, according to US government data.

Elon Musk, who was born and grew up in South Africa and is now a Trump adviser, has also joined in the debate, saying the new law discriminated against white people.

"Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?" Mr Musk said to Ramaphosa in a post on X.

South Africans' anger over land set to explode

On Sunday, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social: "I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!"

He later said, in a briefing with journalists, that South Africa's "leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things".

"So that's under investigation right now. We'll make a determination, and until such time as we find out what South Africa is doing — they're taking away land and confiscating land, and actually they're doing things that are perhaps far worse than that."

South Africa's new law allows for expropriation without compensation only in circumstances where it is "just and equitable and in the public interest" to do so.

This includes if the property is not being used and there is no intention to either develop or make money from it, or when it poses a risk to people.

Land ownership has long been a contentious issue in South Africa for more than a century. In 1913, the British colonial authorities passed legislation that restricted the property rights of the country's black majority.

The Natives Land Act left the vast majority of the land under the control of the white minority and set the foundation for the forced removal of black people to poor homelands and townships in the intervening decades until the end of apartheid three decades ago.

Anger over these forced removals intensified the fight against white-minority rule.

In 1994, leader of the African National Congress (ANC) Nelson Mandela became the country's first democratically elected president after all South Africans were given the right to vote.

But until the recently passed law, the government was only able to buy land from its current owners under the principle of "willing seller, willing buyer", which some feel has delayed the process of land reform.

In 2017, a government report said that of the farmland that was in the hands of private individuals, 72% was white-owned. According to the 2022 census white people make up 7.3% of the population.

However, some critics have expressed fears that the new land law may have disastrous consequences like in Zimbabwe, where seizures wrecked the economy and scared away investors.

South African Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe responded to Trump's comments by telling a mining conference that the country should withhold its minerals if "they [US] don't give us money".

South Africa exports a variety of minerals to the US, including platinum, iron and manganese.

AfriForum, a group focused on protecting the rights and interests of South Africa's white Afrikaner population, wants the government to change the new law to "ensure the protection of property rights".

However, it said it did not agree with Trump's threat to cut funding, suggesting that any punitive measures should be directed at "senior ANC leaders" and not South Africans.

The ANC, led by Ramaphosa, currently governs South Africa as part of a coalition government with nine smaller parties.

Trump also hit out at South Africa during his first term as US president, asking the-then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to study the country's "farm seizures and expropriations and the large-scale killing of farmers".

At that time, South Africa accused Trump of seeking to sow division, with a spokesperson saying he was "misinformed".

[mightyflamethrower]

25 reasons Trump won’t pay a dime to E. Jean Carroll

That eye-popping $83 million judgment will not survive an appeal. A proper settlement would subtract at least $82,972,000.

In 2019, a strange woman named E. Jean Carroll accused Donald Trump of raping her in a changing room of the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Midtown Manhattan. Trump called her crazy, and a jury found him liable for both sexually abusing her and defaming her with the “crazy” talk. Last week, a New York jury decided Carroll deserves $83 million for defamation.

Here are 25 reasons why that’s nuts.

1) Carroll has said rape is “sexy”

She backs up this insane statement with, “Think of the fantasies” (which my wife and I can’t stop saying to each other). For the record, having someone forcibly violate you against your will is the exact opposite of “sexy.”

2) She’s already bragging about shopping sprees

Remember in “Goodfellas” when that idiot shows up at the party with his wife wearing a $20,000 fur coat and De Niro tells him to “bring it back”? When you run a scam, you need to lay low for a while. Carroll, conversely, is making appearances on national television telling Rachel Maddow she’s going to buy her a “penthouse in Paris” as well as fishing gear and a motorcycle for her counsel (could she pick weirder presents?). Her lawyer awkwardly murmured, “Uh, that’s a joke.”

Yeah, this whole thing is a joke.

3) The scenario she described came from her favorite TV show

She is a self-described “Law & Order” fan, and there is an episode wherein a man muscles his way into a changing room at Bergdorf Goodman and sexually molests a woman. This is likely where she got the idea. She’s also a big fan of “The Apprentice.” Would you like to watch your rapist on TV?

4) She didn’t want to press criminal charges

Being on the cover of New York magazine is one thing, but taking your BS story into an actual courtroom is a whole other level of fraud. When Bill de Blasio said he would change the law to make the case admissible, Carroll kept awkwardly repeating, “The experts told me … the time has passed.”

5) They changed the law

The case had no merit because the statute of limitations on civil action had passed. So what happened? The New York State Legislature changed the law. Is there anything that screams “witch hunt” more than that? What are we, Zimbabwe?

6) The man who backed the lawsuit is a major DNC donor

Leftist activist billionaire Reid Hoffman is the money behind this operation. His motive is obviously to bankrupt Trump so he can’t run again. Carroll denied this at first because she’s a liar, but her lawyer was forced to come clean.

7) The whole thing was George Conway’s idea, apparently

Though she denies it, it’s clear this entire plan was concocted by “conservative lawyer” Conway at a radical leftist cocktail party in Manhattan.

8) Carroll’s lawyer is desperate to fix her reputation as a rape-enabler

Roberta Kaplan was supposed to champion victims of sexual assault with her #TimesUp movement, but she used it instead to run cover for perverts such as Andrew Cuomo. She got caught and she got fired. Her comeback included representing Ashley Biden (A Biden lawyer going after Trump? Is anyone surprised?), but this case could permanently rescue her Google results.

9) Carroll’s dress didn’t exist back then

Carroll said the rape happened in the early 1990s. We just learned the particular dress she said she was allegedly wearing did not exist at the time.

10) She cannot remember when the rape happened

We’re not talking about the exact date. She can’t tell us if it was 1993 or 1995.

11) She won’t let anyone test her coat for DNA

Carroll calls the dress her “bad luck dress” and told CNN she will never make a talisman out of it — as though the idea had occurred to anyone. Why did she keep it around? This could be the left’s Monica Lewinsky dress, but she refuses to let anyone analyze it.

12) She doesn’t know if Trump ejaculated

I don’t know if anyone reading this has engaged in sexual intercourse, but evidence of the male orgasm is almost impossible to hide.

13) She is a serial accuser

Despite being a 3.5, she has claimed men have sexually assaulted her at least a half-dozen times. This isn’t proof of Trump’s innocence in and of itself, but it becomes relevant when surrounded by 24 other points.

14) She said it wasn’t sexual

Carroll has said pretty much everything that you could say about this encounter, from “it was not sexual” to “it was the definition of rape.” She said she would not press charges, however, because it would trivialize the experience of illegal aliens who are being “raped around the clock.”

15) She’s not his type

Trump is into elegant Slavs. This woman is like that hysterical chicken lady from “The Kids in the Hall.”

16) The judge and Carroll’s lawyer are pals

We’re told Judge Lewis Kaplan was Roberta Kaplan’s (no relation) mentor back when they both worked at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Roberta Kaplan denies this, but it can’t be denied they worked at the same firm at the same time. That alone is a conflict of interest.

17) Carroll didn’t talk to anyone about the alleged assault, until she did

If a woman is sexually assaulted, she is morally obligated to report it immediately, so the rapist doesn’t do it again. Carroll did not do this. What’s more, she didn’t talk to any of her friends about it. At least not at first. This is peculiar behavior for a blabbermouth.

18) Even if it’s all true, the settlement would be tiny

Carroll alleged that Trump cost her a columnist job at Elle, but the magazine made it clear it ended her contract as an advice columnist based on nothing more than lack of interest. But let’s assume Elle fired her because Trump wrote a mean tweet. A good price for an advice column would be a couple of hundred bucks per piece. That’s $2,000 a year for Elle. Assuming Carroll lives as long as “Dear Abby” columnist Pauline Esther Friedman, who died at 94, that would be a whopping total of $28,000 (Carroll is 80).

So, we’re off by about $82,972,000.

19) She said women “love” being abducted

She told Charlie Rose (remember him?) in 1995 that women love the idea of a caveman knocking them unconscious with a club and then dragging them — by their hair — back to the cave. I’m no feminist, but I’m pretty sure the cerebral contusions from this kind of violence are not a turn-on.

20) She said it wasn’t a big deal

“I’m a mature woman,” she said. “I can handle it.” OK, then why does she need $83 million to recover? That’s four times the amount of money you get when your kid is decapitated.

21) She lives in a Mouse House

Anyone who doubts this lady’s mental state needs to check out her house. She calls it “The Mouse House” because it’s infested with rodents (to whom she has given individual names, such as “Terbrusky”). She has painted the trees blue. She has printed out 27 years of advice column questions and stacked them all over the place. Yes, writers can be weird. But it is impossible to look at her place and not think, “This is nuts.”

22) She is a hoarder

Hoarding is a mental disorder. You can’t sue someone for calling you “crazy” if you have a mental disorder.

23) Her cat is called “Vagina” — seriously

E. Jean Carroll is obsessed with sex and her vagina. She said she lives in the woods because if she lived in the city, she’d have 16 boyfriends. She’s 80, remember?

Her dog “Tits” has blue hair, and her cat is named “Vagina.” The left-wing media thinks this is irrelevant. “Among the stranger complaints made by the former president … was that the jury wasn’t informed about the name of his accuser’s cat: Vagina T. Fireball.” Uh, when the charge is “calling a sane woman crazy,” Vagina T. Fireball matters.

24) She writes notes to herself

Wait, doesn’t everyone do that? Not like this. “The Mouse House” is festooned with bizarre messages. Her microwave says, “Burn Baby Burn.” Her bookshelf says, “Always amused never angry.” And, in a moment of deranged honesty, she taped a note to a lamp that says, “Hold your nerve. Pursue your radical options to the bitter END!”

25) Carroll said she wanted to “rape” Trump

Apparently, she thought having rough sex with him in the changing room would make for a “funny story.” (Wait, I thought she didn’t tell anyone about what happened to her out of fear.) She also suggested she’d do it for $17,000 if he was unable to speak. Sounds awfully rapey, doesn’t it?

Anyone who takes this case seriously and doesn’t see E. Jean Carroll as a complete basket case is a complete basket case.

[1ore]

Scuttling into ur askbox like a little beetle

i think i recall you reblogging/posting things about geography and culture + human effect on it - I vaguely recall a piece of art where it showed a blurred out, cropped piece of people fighting, and focused instead on the flora in the scene.

ANYWAY! getting back on track. seeing that piece inspired me to take a course this semester called "people and the land: cultural geography". and the whole reason I came to your askbox was to ask if you had any suggested reading materials? We'll get stuff in class ofc, but I am curious to see if there's any bias of materials on the prof's side vs someone else.

Phew that was a long ask. thank you o/!

That sounds like Liz Anna Kozik’s piece : D So happy it stuck with you! I love her work!!

As for your ask, what an awesome class! Land-human relationships are my bullshit, and I really enjoyed my own cultural geography class.

Thinking back on my schooling, I would say about 70% of my classes fell in with the “everything is awful and humans are the worst” narrative, and the other 30% made time for land-human relationships other than the extractive hellscape that most people currently live under. So, full disclosure, when I think of “bias,” that’s what I think of. You grow up in the miasma, it’s hard to imagine that there’s any other way of living. It’s also hard to say without knowing the professor, but I think, in general, it’s good to be mindful of who is or isn’t telling the story.

ANYWAY. All that in mind, here’s some articles about people-land relations that I think are neat:

The Environment and Society portal - I like their digital exhibits especially. I remember enjoying Oceans in Three Paradoxes and The Northwest Passage. Great place to wander around and pick a random article that catches your eye.

Of Deserts and Decolonization: Dispelling Myths About Drylands – obligatory desert propaganda. An article looking at how colonial mindsets about deserts disrupt existing relationships and hurt both people and land, and also how those attitudes shape environmentalism/conservation/etc. still today.

The Miracle of the Commons – lovingly challenging the Tragedy of the Commons with a creative solution to poaching and human-animal conflict in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Great article to sit in discomfort about (productively!)

Biodiversity: The Variety of Life that Sustains Our Own – Contains one of my go-to examples when explaining how humans can be good for land and biodiversity, the story of Quitobaquito Springs (and its sister spring Ki:towak, though the author doesn’t mention it here.)

The Environmental History Timeline - just fun to look at, especially the further you go back. It’s funny to spot where a young branch of history is trying *really hard* to reframe how academia thinks about the past, by bringing the invisible landscape forward:

2700 BCE —  Epic of Gilgamesh describes vast tracts of cedar forests in what is now southern Iraq. Gilgamesh defies the gods and cuts down the forest, and in return the gods say they will curse Sumeria with fire (or possibly drought). By 2100 BCE, soil erosion and salt buildup have devastated agriculture. One Sumerian wrote that the “earth turned white.” Civilization moved north to Babylonia and Assyria. Again, deforestation becomes a factor in the rise and subsequent fall of these civilizations. (Perlin, 1991). 2700 BC — Some of the first laws protecting the remaining forests are decreed in Ur, Messopotamia. (Grove, 1995).

^^^ fucking around and finding out forever and ever and ever.

[crystalis]

-

"Why does the Biden administration support the Israeli genocide and war crimes even in the face of virtually universal condemnation, at massive expense, and to the point of totally debasing the rules-based international order? Why do it?

People fall back on narratives about the power of AIPAC in US elections etc, which is real but also doesn't capture the whole story. The truth is that US capitalism depends on it, and the US ruling class broadly understands this fact.

The key thing to understand is that capitalist growth and accumulation in the imperial core (the US, Britain, Germany etc) relies heavily on the appropriation of cheap inputs and resources from the periphery and semi-periphery of the world economy (broadly, the global South). They need the South remain a subordinated supplier within global commodity chains.

In order to maintain this arrangement, it is imperative for them to suppress sovereign economic development in the South. Because the "problem" with development is it means Southerners begin to produce for themselves and consume their own resources. This makes resources and inputs more expensive for the core, which constrains consumption and profits.

Economic sovereignty in the periphery threatens capital accumulation in the core. To avoid this, the core states constantly intervene to prevent or crush any movement or government in the periphery that seeks national liberation and economic sovereignty.

The US started to support the Zionist project in the 1960s, and invested heavily in the Israeli arms industry, with the explicit intention of using Israel as a staging ground—a massive military base—for counter-revolutionary interventions against rising Arab socialist and national liberation struggles in North Africa and the Middle East. The US could not accept the prospect of sovereign development in that region: liberation movements had to be crushed or destabilized and they used Israel to help them do it. Israel is not an "ally" in the conventional sense. It is a proxy.

They support Israel for the exact same reasons that they have backed assassinations or coups against liberation leaders across the global South: Mosaddegh, Lumumba, Nkrumah, Allende, Arbenz, Sukarno, Sankara...

Israel assassinates movement leaders in the Middle East and interferes in regional political processes, all in concert with the US, but it also constantly bombs the frontline states, destabilizing their societies and economies and forcing them to divert resources toward defensive spending rather than industrial development. The Zionist project is intolerable not only because it is murderously hell-bent on ethnically cleansing Palestine, but because it creates chaos and instability across the whole region.

The core states used South Africa in the very same way. The key reason that Western powers supported the apartheid regime in South Africa – against overwhelming international condemnation – was because it served as a highly militarized Western colonial outpost that was geared up to run counter-insurgency operations not only within South Africa, but also in Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, the DRC, etc., leaving immense violence and chaos in its wake.

The vast majority of the world—and international law itself—supports Palestinian liberation, but Palestinian liberation would constrain Israeli power and open the way to regional liberation movements, and this is strongly antithetical to the interests of Western capital. So this is the situation we are in. The Western ruling classes are willing to back obscene violence in Gaza, and shred the liberal values they claim to believe in, because they want to maintain the conditions for capital accumulation and geopolitical hegemony.

You cannot appeal to imperial power in moral terms. The only way the US will stop propping up the Zionist regime is when it becomes too costly for them to do so. This will come down to the strength of the resistance and regional political and military opposition, but also the extent to which people can coordinate boycotts, divestment and sanctions, and punitive measures under international law."

[partisan-by-default]

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa — who has not signed death warrants for those facing capital sentences since he came to power in 2017 — signed the death penalty abolition bill into law Dec. 31, 2024, presidential spokesman George Charamba confirmed to VOA.

“Yes, the president had a personal role he played in moving matters in that direction, and this [is] arising from his own historical experience [as] a prisoner who had been condemned but only survived on the basis of age. But we want to situate this decision as a decision of parliament,” Charamba said.

Mnangagwa survived a death sentence during the colonial era in the 1970s, as he was considered underage to face the gallows. Edwin Mushoriwa, an opposition member of parliament, introduced the death abolition bill. And parliament — which is dominated by the ruling ZANU-PF — accepted the idea.

“We are happy [with the] milestone we have actually reached,” Mushoriwa told VOA on Tuesday. “The reason I had to bring that bill actually [has] to do with the fact that out of the 62 inmates today on the death row, the majority of them come from poor backgrounds. Secondly, [the] death penalty by nature is not part of our culture as Africans, as Zimbabweans. It’s a penalty that was brought during the colonial era. So, we just believe that [the] death penalty is not proper.”

[lefemmerougewriter]

Some of my favorite fics

This will replace my last pinned post, for High Guardian Space series, which has ended. This featured many recent fics, all of which I wrote:

Crossovers

Claire and Rae Meet the Aang Gang

(ILTV / ATLA crossover)

Rae and Claire finally get a chance for a respite. Unexpectedly, they encounter an emotionally-driven waterbender, a blind earthbender, an emotionally unstable firebender, and a master of all the elements (Water, Earth, Fire, and Air) known as the "Avatar." Intrigue, romantic entanglement (in some ways), and demonstrations of their bending (and magical abilities) await them all, with an encounter which will influence them for days, months, and years to come.

A Responsibility to Prevent Genocide?: Royalty, Revolution, and Bloody Zionists

(many series)

One bright morning, Daphne Blake serves as the guest host of C-SPAN's Washington Journal, and she brings in two guests (Princess Rapunzel, CEO of the Corona Foundation and Mara, chief weapons specialist for Renegade Services) to talk about the brutal Israeli bombing of Gaza. While some callers are openly hostile toward the guests, others are more favorable, with Daphne, Rapunzel, and Mara having to find their way through the morass and make their viewpoints heard, even if they don't always agree with what each other has to say.

When You Put Out Love, You'll Get Love Back: Lunella's Visit to Hansberry Heights

(Karma's World / Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur crossover)

One day, Karma meets a girl, only a few years older than her, with a unique style at a local diner in her neighborhood, who acts very generous to the chef. She is taken by her. When she tries to track down this cool kid, she can't find her, until she comes across Moon Girl, a superhero from the Lower East Side...

From Angry Zionists to International Popstars: Meet the Mess Discusses the Gaza War

(many series)

Nristen Snelker had only recently become a host of Meet the Mess, with the network glad they had chosen someone who was a woman of color, rather than a White man (who had been hosts for over 50 years). She faced with one of the toughest discussions of her career about Israel's brutal and genocidal assault in Gaza, complete with angry Zionists, international popstars, and legal analysts. Can she hold it together or will it all fall apart?

Cassandra and the Catgirl from the Sky

(Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure / She-Ra and the Princesses of Power crossover)

A young woman, trying to make amends for the errors of the past, and the harm she caused, comes across a catgirl who fell from the sky in an escape pod. She isn’t sure what to expect. Both become closer than either one had intended. As a result, this young woman, a former lady-in-waiting, begins to have some romantic feelings for this mysterious catgirl, while the catgirl hopes to get in contact with her blond-haired girlfriend after her radio gets busted.

A Red Moonstone Shines Brightly

(Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure / Carmen Sandiego crossover)

Cass thought about her past as she walked across the rolling hills on the edge of the last kingdom in the Ever Realm she hadn’t visited yet, Enchancia. Suddenly, a wormhole opened in front of her. She walked through without realizing it... In a new world, Cass finds an unlikely companion, a former (and well-known) international thief. Both bond with one another even though they come from vastly different circumstances.

Rise of the Scarlet Wildcat

(She-Ra and the Princesses of Power / Carmen Sandiego / Steven Universe crossover)

Catra tells Adora to break-up with Pearl and it goes badly. She gets thrown out. Adora tries to search for Catra, with the assistance of friends, and is unsuccessful. One day, everything changes for the wildcat when she meets someone, dressed in a red trench-coat and fedora, that... she never expected. They have a much deeper connection than either had originally anticipated.

Joabana and the Specter of Doofatanian Intervention

(many series)

Tensions in Joabana are peaking. Two women, Elena Castillo Flores and Adora Eros, have come together to debate this issue on public access television on a program hosted by a Latina woman, Amanda Lopez. Can they both keep their cool and debate this civilly, or will it descend into pandemonium? Furthermore, are Elena and Adora really foes of each other…or do they have a secret life they aren’t telling their viewers…is this all just for show?

One-shots

Korra and Asami's Swim in Manarola's Natural Harbor

Korra and Asami take a break from their duties in Republic City and have a nice time in the natural harbor of Manarola. They arrive in Manarola after to hitching a inter-dimensional ride on some robots with a funky flow. They enjoy each other's company more than expected and receive unexpected relaxation, something both of them sorely need.

Greta, Saga, and a Cheek Kiss Which Changed Everything

Saga has been trying to cheer herself up after the departure of snow fairy, Sugar, following the blooming of her flowers, and the two other fairies (Salt and Pepper) leaving as well. Saga knew this would happen, she still felt a bit lonely. Even so, she remained grateful to her friends and her classmate Greta, who tried to bring her mother’s piano to her house in an ill-fated plan. All the while, Greta has been thinking about Saga a lot, more than a "rival" is supposed to do...

Wyverna Dretch, Archives on the Dimensional Plane, and Typical Drudgery

One day, Wyverna Dretch, the resident demon teacher at High Guardian Academy, and an archivist (among other responsibilities) decides to show her ethics class about the school’s archives. After some class discussion, she brings them to this hallowed institution in a glass elevator, showing them what she does, while Snap and Rose are drawn closer together, either by purpose or accident, and Snap is curious about the "transition magic" section.

A Firenze Gelateria and Carmen's Delight

Carmen has a nice time in Firenze (Florence), Italy, enjoying her stracciatella gelato, while Ivy eats a pizza that tastes like cardboard, and Player is jealous of Carmen's gelato, in this short, but sweet, slice-of-life story.

The Manarola Hike of a Lifetime

Le Chevre and El Topo go on a hike on a rocky trail near Manarola, Italy, and it is tougher than they expected.

Comrade Sandiego and the Zimbabwean Dream

Carmen Sandiego changes the course of the Zimbabwean liberation war, with reverberations for the present. ACME is tasked with reversing it, but Ivy refuses to go along, accusing her brother of having a "colonial mindset." Later that night, she meets a mysterious woman, her confidential informant, who often wears red-colored clothing. She is more attracted to this woman, than she originally thought, and considers whether the past was changed… for the better.

Final chapters of short series

He's got a way that makes me tremble

Hailey wakes up in a hospital after her fall in the woods and tries to recover from her injuries. She resolves to apologize and make amends for what she did with Sanjay, breaking the friendship with Scott, and pushing away Beta, and the list. However, things will not be the same as before. Hailey goes through this awkwardness, with help from Scott, who is more than happy to re-begin their friendship, and tries to figure out how she really feels about Scott, and how to balance working on the list with being able to do her own things in her life. In the process, Beta accidentally reveals the list's existence to Hailey and Scott's parents, resulting in them getting involved, in some way, in completion of the list. Through it all, Hailey has to figure out what she and Scott are together (friends? lovers?), how she can juggle her responsibilities to item item completion and what else she wants to do, and her family, and deal with the feelings that people, other than Scott, have for her.

You only told me lies, only phony alibies

Sugar confronts Elder and the other high fairies about the barrier between humans and fairies. After her request to see Saga one last time isn't granted, she accidentally causes the barrier between these two worlds to be broken, and sees Saga again... but things are more complicated than she guessed. Can she restore the barrier before it is too late? Will Saga think she is real? Or just a figment of her imagination? This fic, one of the few for this series, will answer those questions and more.

[flodaya]

I sometimes find myself being like Zendaya isn't a unique name, then I have to remind myself that we're not from the same country or continent. So ofcourse a Shona name would be unique to someone who isn't from here

that is actually such a good point, is it a very common name in Zimbabwe then? it reminds me of my sister-in-law who has the most common korean name ever but in germany people literally mispronounce it everwhere she goes

[khoesib]

Since propaganda against South Africa will be ramping up here's a short reading list about South African history:

The Colonial Period

The Anatomy of a South African Genocide: The Extermination of the Cape San Peoples - The genocide of the indigenous hunter-gatherer people's in South Africa is somewhat overshadowed by apartheid but it's a core part of South Africa's history and a core part of white supremacist rhetoric, who argue the land was empty before they came. They forcibly emptied the land by killing everyone who refused to integrate into the burgeoning agro-pastoral capitalist society. There are some bits of the book I disagree with, such as framing other indigenous groups treatment of foragers being equivalent or worse than the settlers (source: the settlers) and using terms like outdated terms "Khoisan" but it's a good introduction to the topic if you keep that in mind.

Slavery in South Africa: Captive Labor on the Dutch Frontier - From what I have currently read this is the most detailed analysis on slavery in South Africa up to date. It is during the colonial period that much of the apartheid laws find their predecessors and the existence of a large base of slave-holding whites (as well as whites too poor to own slaves but still wanted free labour) really provides a background to why apartheid manifested itself in the way that it did as opposed to other settler-colonies.

Apartheid:

I Write What I Like - A collection of essays by anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko who was killed by the apartheid regime in 1979 at the age of 30. He was a leader of the Black Consciousness Movement during the 60s and 70s which was highly critical of anti-apartheid white liberals (as well as white leftists) which is reflected in these essays.

A Crime Against Humanity: Analysing the Repression of the Apartheid State - This book very neatly describes each and every crime of the apartheid regime in a digestible way. Until I read this it didn't really occur to me that the Apartheid government was responsible for around 2.5 million deaths across Southern Africa minimum through their proxy contra groups and militias and that's only one point made here.

Long Walk To Freedom - It's Nelson Mandela's bibliography. What more can be said?

General:

The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa - Even though the primary chapters of interest are the ones regarding South Africa specifically, the entirety of the book is useful in seeing the different ways that colonisers constructed their own identities and created new identities for indigenous people (often with the help of the colonised elite).

Making Race: Politics and Economics of Coloured Identity in South Africa - Essentially a longer version of one of the chapters in the previous book. Although the book is ostensibly about Coloured identity (and it is about that don't get me wrong), it also shows some of the divisions in the various factions in the National Party in their approaches to white nationalism and the demographic question.

Regarding Muslims: From Slavery to Post-apartheid - A comprehensive look at how Muslims have been portrayed in South Africa both by others and within the community itself.

Coloured: How Classification Became Culture and Coloured by history, shaped by place: New perspectives on coloured identities in Cape Town - Both of these books (along with Making Race) are excellent for understanding Coloured identity and it's relationship to colonialism and apartheid, and how the idenitity emerged in the first place (which is much more complex than Coloureds being just "mixed race". Both are also written in an accessible form (although the former is written for a much more general audience).

Other:

Zimbabwe Takes Back It's Land & Land and Agrarian Reform in Zimbabwe - Although these books aren't directly related to South Africa, they are related to the land reform in Zimbabwe, a country which was not only demonised on the international stage for daring to redistribute land from wealthy landowners to the indigenous people of the nation but has been continually punished for doing so for over 2 decades through sanctions.

Many white South Africans and other white supremacists will bring up Zimbabwe in their propaganda to show the "negative consequences" of land reform, ignoring the sanctions and international isolation that was brought about by the West following these reforms. These two books debunk the mainstream narrative in detail and describe how land reform has changed Zimbabwe entirely (ZTBIL is a lot more accessible for a general audience).

Feel free to make other recommendations in the notes.

[blackstarrepublicpublicrelations]

Guidlines and FAQ for visiting Ouroboros!

Hello! With the civil war over and well behind us, many have asked questions about how to visit Ouroboros respectfully, or better yet, why one should. These are fair questions, and we hope to answer them! Here are the three major guidelines for visiting Ouroboros!

Cultural Awareness!

The many worlds of Ouroboros are not a monolith! Far from it! for example, one may stumble onto a world where the protestant reformation never occured, and as a result, a majority of western nations are Catholic! What a shock!

One must know how to navigate these situations carefully, as we don't wish to negatively impact those living on these different worlds. Instead? Try the local customs! Many worlds have cultures that simply don't exist in others! The chinese colonization of the West Coast brought about Sino-Mexican-Native blends of food! Always keep an open mind, and always be respectful!

Always carry currency!

So, you've arrived in Mongolian conquered Japan! Great! However, one must remember to hold onto some basic funding to try that eastern borscht. And no, we don't accept dollars or deutschmarks! We accept the Multiversially standardized currency of the electric cell!

A simple and elegant currency, the electric cell is just that! An amount of energy used as money. A currency that is backed by itself! Genius! Those guys at the capitol are sharp, aren't they?

Keep in mind, one US Dollar is worth about ten electric cells! Perhaps buying a wallet could be useful! An Ouroboros wallet is more of a hip mounted battery, capable of holding energy for an indefinite period!

Stay Safe!

With the civil war over, most believe is safety is assured. This cannot be farther from the case. The Republic remains unwavering in its commitment to the safety of all who call it home, but in certain circumstances, not much can be done.

Picture it! You're roaming the city of Rome, the historical seat of the empire! And then? A man with a knife or weapon demands your electric cells! That's no good!

Or god forbid, you're in the Capitol world, and you hear rumor of an upcoming riot! Worry not! In both situations, the correct course of action is to contact the nearest form of law enforcement. All forms of law enforcemeent on all worlds have been integrated into the Republic's command structure! If the situation calls for it, they are capable of summoning the 27th, or similar formations of peacekeepers!

FAQ

Q: Can I immigrate to the Black Star Republic?

A: Yes! However, the process can be difficult, depending on who or what you are! In the instance of you being from a version of earth, you can settle in a world of your choice that has your home country in it. Then, you can find a home there.

However, let's say you're an elf, or some other fantastical creature. Well gee, I don't think America or Zimbabwe exist in D&D.. Well? No worries. If your people are based on a real world culture, you can enter into nations that share that culture or similar!

Once you have correct documentation proving citizenship, you are free to roam the Republic however you wish. However, do know that immigration does require you to perform at least two years of military service.

Q: Why visit?

A: The Black Star Republic is a beacon of Mankind, and a testament to the technological progress that humans make every day! Our founder believed so. Not only is it a technologically advanced place to live and tour, it is culturally diverse, and unlike anywhere else you may visit! The current population of the Black Star Republic is roughly 720 trillion sentient beings, and this increases as new worlds are discovered! This is roughly equivalent to 91,000 earths! Incredible! Our lands are vast and wide!

Thank you for reading!

We hope to see you soon!

[hottakehoulihan]

Doppelgängerin

Characters behave recognizably canonically: Original characters. Not abandoned incomplete: Regular updates; 9 chapters in 5 months. Engaging (Funny/cool/thoughtful/feels): Cool/thoughtful/feels. Do I recommend it: I think so. I'd like more. Curbstomp, Cuddles, Crack, Cyoot, Concept: Concept.

Premise: Capes have trauma. Our protag is very much not an exception; her internal dialog hates her and wants her depressed and actively suicidal. Also her own computer equipment refuses to stop misgendering her, and her boss/colleagues/friends may or may not be as awful as she thinks because she can't trust her own judgement.

Because all the characters you'll read are original, you'll need to pay a bit more attention than with most fanfic. I think it's worth it.

She's a trapped-fortress style tinker (of mixed utility when you're working for law enforcement) and is doing her best. ...and her friends do seem to love her. Unfortunately, there's no time to relax and get over and through this stuff; cape shenanigans are happening, portals are opening, and powerful villains and semi-trustworthy allies are acting up all over the place.

The author is very ambitious. The thread title (by virtue of the non-English title complete with difficult-to-type umlaut) is difficult to locate via search engine (easier if you search the author's name) and the prose requires an attentive reading to keep up with what's going on and who all the characters are; when I return to the story, I'll be picking it up at chapter 1 and reading it through again by necessity. ...and it did complete chapter 9 on a bit of a cliffhanger (I'm very invested)

I love this sort of thing.

Rogue Squadron is my favorite Star Wars movie concept because it took an increasingly-bland franchise and added real original characters who are mostly having their victories and tragedies on the side, in the universe, but not engaged with The Major Drama.

(I played in a TTRPG Star Wars game where our players decided we didn't want to get involved with the rebellion thanks we were having more fun just doing some smuggling. Eventually circumstances forced us to get involved, but I think it's almost a shame tha we weren't allowed to not be in The Epic Struggle)

Setanta (a post GM fanfic I review elsewhere) is also OC protag-and-companions (though many canon characters show up in it) and I quite love it and look forward to an eventual reread (I think it was complete.)

So this is quite exactly a thing I want more of. I want more stories like this. I want stories set back when Hero was around, but in places like Zimbabwe and Saskatchewan, Manila and Myanmar. And Peoria.

So this difficult-to-type-and-spell Doppelgangerin story (linked in the first word) is exactly, IMHO, needed to more fully flesh out and develop the wormfic body of works.

Please consider giving it a read and some "likes" so this obscure story (I'm not sure I'd have heard of it if not for this ask) continues and inspires more.

(Or write that sort of thing! ...I should practice what I preach.)