#Lessons from History

[sepdet]

Ignore the ugly thumbnail & title — this is SUCH a good discussion with US historian Heather Cox Richardson.

Parts are sobering, as she connects the dots and points out the endgame that I don't think the Republicans have realized is the likely outcome (not at all what they intend) if Trump is elected.

But about 15 minutes in she moves past the "democracy is on the line" angle (with surprising insights and receipts) to a more positive, joyful, actionable angle which has been missing from the last two election cycles, and usually from activism and progressivism on Tumblr too.

if you don't wanna watch the whole 20 minute video, jump ahead to 15:00 for that bit. 



Harris keeps emphasizing that we all have the power to make a difference right now. Sometimes it feels like that's just empty words. I find it very reassuring that a historian with research to back it up concurs.

[liberty1776]

“The End of Everything,” with Victor Davis Hanson | Uncommon Knowledge

[scklbz]

Opinion | Lessons from Alexandria: A Cautionary Tale for Modern American Politics

By Jet Espinosa In a city once hailed as a beacon of knowledge and tolerance, Alexandria drew people from across the ancient world. It was a place where scholars, thinkers, and believers from diverse backgrounds came to share and preserve their wisdom. With libraries that housed invaluable knowledge in science, philosophy, medicine, and the arts, Alexandria was a symbol of progress and…

[tmarshconnors]

Fascination with History

History has always been a subject that captivates me. From the monumental battles of World War II to the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution, and even further back to the construction of the awe-inspiring Great Pyramids of Giza, every era holds a story that echoes through time.

My fascination with World War II stems from how it shaped the modern world. The alliances, the struggles, and the courage of people during those dark years highlight both the best and worst of humanity. I find myself drawn to the incredible strategic decisions that changed the course of history, the resilience of nations, and the tales of everyday heroism. The war wasn’t just about battles; it was about survival, and it reshaped international politics in a way we still see today.

But my interest doesn’t stop there. The French Revolution, for example, offers a completely different perspective. It was a time of upheaval, where the people of France took destiny into their own hands. The storming of the Bastille, the rise and fall of Robespierre, and the eventual reign of Napoleon—all of these moments are key to understanding how revolutionary ideals spread across the world. It’s a period of immense social change, a rebellion against monarchy and class oppression, and it continues to inspire movements for freedom and equality even today.

Going further back in time, the Great Pyramids of Giza stand as a testament to human ingenuity. These ancient wonders have fascinated me since childhood—not only because of their sheer scale but also because of the mysteries that still surround them. How did the Egyptians construct such colossal structures with the limited technology of their time? What do they tell us about the beliefs, values, and power structures of ancient Egypt? The pyramids symbolise the enduring legacy of a civilisation that, despite thousands of years, still sparks our curiosity.

What ties all these historical events together for me is the idea of legacy. Whether it’s a global conflict, a social revolution, or a grand architectural feat, each one left an indelible mark on the world. Understanding history isn’t just about memorising dates and events; it’s about piecing together the stories of those who came before us and learning from their successes and mistakes. History teaches us that human nature, while often unpredictable, has always been capable of great ambition, resilience, and transformation.

From the trenches of World War II to the halls of Versailles to the desert sands of Egypt, history is a vast and fascinating journey one that I will always be eager to explore.

[npi]

Book Review: "Takeover - Hitler's Final Rise to Power" is a worthy pre-election read

Appointed Chancellor of the German government in January 1933, in just one year Adolf Hitler transformed a legitimate ministry into the brutal, absolute personal rule that he is known for. He did this through a combination of lies, political intrigue, threats of violence, and murder of his principal opponents. It took a world war, and the deaths of approximately sixty million people worldwide to…

[manojnaironline]

History teaches us

History taught us,lessons of pain, yet we repeat,same mistakes again.

[pastoranthonyeowens]

Diving into Spiritual Resilience: Lessons from History #revanthonyeowens

[imkeepinit]

[ajpress]

Defying the Odds: The Whistleblower Who Shaped History

Discover the remarkable story of the whistleblower who shaped history. People who go against the grain and risk all to expose the truth can be found throughout history. This is the tale of a brave whistleblower who changed the course of history, an unsung hero. As we explore this exceptional person’s extraordinary life and legacy, come along on a trip through time with us. The Whistleblower’s…

[reality-detective]

Who is Barack Obama? Former FBI agent, John D’Souza explains 🤔

[egophiliac]

I hope someone hasn’t asked but what did you use to rig the deformed Maleanor? It looks so cool!!

thank you! :D :D :D I drew her in Photoshop (there's an overly-long speedrun video here) and rigged her in Spine Professional! her rig is...very messy...but it works for a silly little fanproject where nobody needs to know how many bones I kept shoving in to try and force her cape to stop breaking. :')

it was easier to just export images directly from Spine, so all the backgrounds and credit text are in there too as separate skeletons! who needs compositing when you can just throw everything into one project and let it simmer. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

(I figured I should probably have a tag for this stuff by this point, so I've added #spineposting to posts of/about my Twst chibis and Spine!) (once again I am reminded that I really need to go back and fix poor Che'nya for a third time...)

[hawkatana]

So, given everything that's happened in recent hours, I thought I might give people who don't know about Gundam some stuff to learn about. Hopefully I can give a balanced and not-racist take like some people.

What is Gundam?

Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino with help by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and animated by the studio Sunrise (currently Bandai Namco Animation, though I refuse to call them that), the original Mobile Suit Gundam released in 1979 to initially-limited success, though would gain popularity through a combination of fujoshis shipping the characters, the sale of plastic model kits referred to as "Gunpla" and a recut of the series into three compilation movies throughout the early 80's. And as of 2024 is the 66th highest-grossing media franchise of all time, beating out Scooby Doo, Minecraft and the Simpsons.

Also, I'm pretty sure it's what sparked Japanese sci-fi's obsession with O'Neill Cylinders.

The original anime takes place in the year 0079 of the Universal Century, where the Principality of Zeon: a nation composed of orbital space colonies declares a war of independence against the Earth Federation. This "One Year War" has already claimed half the human population by series start and is waged through the use of "Mobile Suits": bipedal mecha powered by a fusion reactor capable of effectively fighting out in the reaches of space.

Main character Amuro Ray is the son of a Federation engineer who lives in an out-of-the-way space colony, though soon finds his home under attack by a Zeon infiltration. After finding the secret Mobile Suit project his father was working on: the RX-78-2 Gundam, he fights off the Zeon invaders, though finds himself and a bunch of other kids conscripted by the Federation to fight the forces of Zeon aboard the ship the White Base. Throughout his journey, Amuro and the Gundam fight many battles against Zeon, including against their mysterious masked ace pilot Char Aznable.

The series was responsible for the codification (but not creation, people get this wrong all the time) of the "Real Robot" subgenre of mecha, where the robots were relatively more realistic and used as weapons of war as opposed to the more fantastical "Super Robot" subgenre pioneered by Mazinger Z and Getter Robo.

A major theme of the show, and the franchise as a whole is "War is bad", as demonstrated through this meme:

Yes, this is the original version of this meme format.

Anyway, Tomino, a renowned pacifist who grew up in the shadow of Japan's involvement in WW2 tried to use his platform as an anime director to try and tell a story that would get people to realise war's futility and brutality.

So I hear you asking, "That's nice and all, but what about the space lesbians who beat Destiel on their home turf?" Well, let's get into that.

What is the Witch From Mercury?

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, or "G-Witch" for short is one of the more recent entries in the Gundam Franchise and a (very) loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Set in the year 122 Ad Stella, the solar system is under the de facto control of the Benerit Group: a megacorporation with borderline-medieval internal politics that maintains a system of capitalism that benefits Spacians at the expense of those who live on Earth.

Main heroine Suletta Mercury enrolls at Asticassia School of Technology owned by the Benrit Group at the behest of her mother: CEO Prospera Mercury of the Mercury-based Shin Sei Development Corporation, and wins a Mobile Suit duel against a bully in her own MS: the Gundam Aerial. This however means she has now won the hand in marriage of daughter of the Benerit Group CEO: Miorine Rembran, beginning a series of consequences that shape the very political landscape of the solar system.

G-Witch was a massive hit, both critically and commercially. The first episode: the Witch and the Bride attracting record numbers for the studio and the Gunpla kit for the Aerial is currently the best-selling Gunpla kit ever.

Contrary to popular belief, G-Witch is not the first piece of Gundam media to feature a female protagonist. That honour would go to the 2002 Japan-only manga École du Ciel, nor would it have the first queer main character, which goes to 1999's Turn-A Gundam (and if you were to ask any fan of the series, they'd so it goes back to the very beginning). But it became notable for its lesbian representation in anime (in spite of Sunrise's attempts to downplay it, to the anger of the director, writer, producer, artists, animators, cast, fans and even their own parent company Bandai Namco who forced them to back off).

One thing I need to clarify: You don't need to have watched the original series to enjoy G-Witch. They're not even in the same continuity.

So if you're interested in the series and you've only watched G-Witch, I'll give out three recommendations for you all to enjoy:

Mobile Suit Gundam 00

Gundam 00 takes place in the year 2307 (the only series to use our own calendar), where the world is divided between three global superpowers: The Union of Free & Solar Nations (The Americas, Australia, New Zealand and Japan), the Human Reform League (China, South, East, Southeast and Central Asia) and the Advanced European Union (all of Europe, including all of Russia west of the Urals) who each control a space elevator near the equator and wage proxy-wars in Africa and the Middle-East over Earth's dwindling resources. This eventually culminates in the emergence of Celestial Being: a terrorist group consisting of Setsuna F. Seiei, Lockon Stratos, Allelujah Haptism and Tierria Erde, all of whom use powerful "Gundam" Mobile Suits and try to forcefully impose global peace on the Earth.

00 is pretty slow-paced and is more about the world than the individual characters, but said characters are really well-written, especially the characters from the three power blocs who are the de facto protagonists as they try to stop what are in their eyes a bunch of crazed terrorists preaching a hypocritical and incoherent ideology of "peace through force".

And to address the elephant in the room, this series is VERY post-9/11. Constant talks about terrorism, proxy-conflicts in the global south (especially the Middle-East), religious extremism, dwindling resources and the wars fought over them. While the franchise has always been political and of-its-time, you can just tell 00 was made in the mid-2000's. Again, it's good. But just something to keep in mind.

Turn-A Gundam

Turn-A Gundam is one of the weirder elements of the franchise for a myriad of reasons. Not the least of which being its unique setting taking inspiration from the famous sci-fi novel War of the Worlds.

In the Year 2345 of the Correct Century, human civilisation is at a level of technology reminiscent of the late-19th/early 20th centuries, save for the Moonrace on... well, the moon. As part of their queen Diana Soreil's plan to reintegrate both Lunar and Terran societies, several scouts are sent to the planet to set up their return to the planet. One such scout: Loran Cehack integrates into Terran society as a driver for the wealthy Heim family, though at a coming of age ceremony for the family's second daughter, a member of the Moonrace attacks the technologically-inferior Terrans. However, a mysterious mustached statue breaks apart to reveal a "White Doll": the Turn-A Gundam, allowing Loran to fend off the invaders. rest of the series becomes more of a mystery to how the supposedly-peace loving Moonrace could allow of such brutality.

The setting of the Correct Century timeline alone is one of the draws of Turn-A, though its excellent characters and compelling mystery also help a lot.

I do however have two warnings for people interested in watching it. The first is that this series was never dubbed. While it did receive an official sub in 2015, there still isn't a dub for the series. So if that bothers you, there's your warning.

The other is that there's a pretty big twist in the latter part of the series that while I will not spoil it here, it's such a big deal that I can't not mention it. It doesn't make any sense, and it actively detracts from not just the series, but the whole franchise. You'll know it when you see it. It doesn't ruin my enjoyment, but a lot of people don't like Turn-A for that alone.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam

Favourite entry. Don't care. It's peak.

In the Year 60 of the Future Century, war has been abandoned by the nations of humanity in favour of the Gundam fight: a quad-annual fighting tournament between Gundams representative of the countries of the world where the winner rules space until the next Gundam fight, all while leaving the Earth ecologically devastated in the fighting. Neo-Japan's Gundam Fighter: Domon Kasshu arrives on Earth seeking information on his older brother Kyoji, who killed their mother and led to their father's arrest before stealing the experimental Devil Gundam to Earth, beating up every Gundam Fighter in his way. However, he eventually learns of far more dangerous revelations about the incident.

G Gundam is to put it bluntly: bat-shit insane. And I love it. It basically took a look at the then-stagnating franchise in the wake of the wet fart that was Victory Gundam and said "I know what can save this franchise, Bruce Lee movies!" And it somehow worked.

Word of advice: watch it dubbed. Mark Gatha absolutely kills it as Domon every time, and puts just the right amount of ham into every line.

So yeah, that's some stuff on Gundam. This was a long post to write out. I'm gonna take a break now.

[scklbz]

Opinion | Lessons from Alexandria: A Cautionary Tale for Modern American Politics

By Jet Espinosa In a city once hailed as a beacon of knowledge and tolerance, Alexandria drew people from across the ancient world. It was a place where scholars, thinkers, and believers from diverse backgrounds came to share and preserve their wisdom. With libraries that housed invaluable knowledge in science, philosophy, medicine, and the arts, Alexandria was a symbol of progress and…

[al-luviec]

juvie buddies

[npi]

Book Review: The Holocaust - An Unfinished History is intense, disturbing, and necessary

The history of the murder, pillage, and abominations that were the European-wide Holocaust offers a vivid illustration of what happens when a people, and its leaders, believe that some human beings can be treated by other human beings as if they were not human beings. Here’s a telling example from Dan Stone’s The Holocaust: An Unfinished History. During the war years German soldiers come upon…

[troythecatfish]

It has now been 60 years since Malcolm X visited the Gaza Strip

In September, 1964, Malcolm X made his second trip to Palestine, visiting the Gaza Strip while it was under Egyptian control. Days after his visit, during which he had met with Nakba survivors and PLO members, he penned an essay entitled "Zionist Logic", in which he spoke of the deceptive nature of Zionism as "a new form of colonialism."

"The ever-scheming European imperialists wisely placed Israel where she could geographically divide the Arab world, infiltrate and sow the seed of dissension among African leaders and also divide the Africans against the Asians," he wrote.

Source: Mintpress