#Magical congress of the united states

[l-egionaire]

Since I've already given headcanons on the sport and school of the magical USA, I figured I'd give some personal headcanons I have on American Wizards I've been coming up with.

After the great Sasquatch Rebellion, the American Wizarding community recognized that they needed to have better relationships with other magical creatures to prevent being discovered by the No-Majs. So, they drafted The Bill of Magical Freedoms, enshrining into law numerous rights and protections for multiple sentient magical races in the US. Thus, creatures like Goblins and House-Elves have more rights in the US than they do in places like Britain. It's not perfect, for instance, they still aren't allowed the use of wands, but they have multiple freedoms and protections against abuse that they don't have in places like Britain.

That being said, discrimination against those of none-magical blood, or No-Maj borns, as they're called, is still an issue, even after the repeal of Rapports Law. Many No-Maj borns or even Half-Maj's (Half-bloods) are looked at with suspicion or seen as untrustworthy as other wizards fear they might betray them, some even accusing them of being the descendants of Scourers.

Squibs are used a lot by the MACUSA. Since they're knowledgeable in the non-magical world and can more easily blend in than even the best undercover wizards, they're often placed in locations to monitor No-Maj activity or assist in magical coverups, including government buildings, news organizations, and police stations. They're also often sent to No-Maj schools in order to locate any potential No-Maj born children for the government.

The MACUSA isn't the only governing body in the US. There's also The Magical Confederacy of Native Wizards, a group made up of the magical remnants of numerous native American tribes that live in hidden areas that were once their ancestral lands throughout the US, them having split off from their non-magical counterparts years ago like most governments. Anything involving these tribes or their laws is usually handled by the Magical Confederacy. Anything else is MACUSA territory, though the two groups do try and work together when they can.

Because American wizards fear being discovered more, they try to be more knowledgeable about the culture and activities of No-Majs. As such, they have a slightly better understanding of No-Maj culture and technology than British Witches and Wizards.

There's a famous potion shop in New York run by the descendants of Abraham Potter called Potter's Potions. They're well known through the US as the best potion makers around and often rake in money, providing concoctions and ingredients to other wizards.

[fromcaemlyn]

[historiavn]

HISTORICAL TIME PERIODS

1700’s

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ we are about to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper ❜ ── the second continental congress

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ these are the times that try men’s souls ❜ ── the american revolution

1800’s

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ a house divided against itself cannot stand ❜ ── the american civil war

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath ❜ ── the gilded age / the age of big business

1900’s

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ blood and steel built belfast’s pride and joy ❜ ── before the voyage / titanic’s construction

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ ever westward on the sea ❜ ── rms titanic’s maiden voyage

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ turn the tragedy into spectacle ❜ ── titanic’s immediate aftermath / the inquiry

ALTERNATE UNIVERSES

FANDOM

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ a visit for the season ❜ ── bridgerton

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ history comes to life ❜ ── night at the museum

ALTERNATE TIMELINES

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ the most undefinable yet paradoxical of things ❜ ── time travel

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ this universe is only one of an infinite number ❜ ── multiuniverse travel

MUSE SPECIFIC

ROBERT TODD LINCOLN

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ the prince of rails ❜ ── first son of the united states

ANASTASIA ANDREWS

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ professor of magical history ❜ ── anastasia andrews in the wizarding world

CONSTANCE MORGAN

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ now is the time to seize the day ❜ ── the 1899 newsboy strike

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ fortune favors the bold ❜ ── the princess of wall street

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ mother of the titanic ❜ ── mr. andrews’ apprentice

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

✎ ; universe / timeline ── ❛ with malice toward none ❜ ── sixteenth president of the united states

MORE TO BE ADDED

[himegureisu]

Homesick

Summary: You are a continent away at work and miss your husband.

A/N: Yes, two in one day. I refused to study. The third in the Mail Mini Series. Though, you can read this without the other two.

It was breakfast once again.

The Great Hall was lively in chatter and energy from students who were most interested in the latest scores of the Quidditch World Cup. It would also mean that they’d be distracted from their lessons. A prime time to deduct house points.

It was then the conversation was interrupted as the owls flew through heads delivering mail once more.

Your tawny barn owl has become a regular visitor of the great old castle since the move. They didn’t see you as often as they did your owl but it meant that their Potion’s professor would be a little less grumpy and hostile throughout the day.

They could at times coax a smile out of their professors’ faces before being deducted five house points for the attempt. For others though, it was worth seeing the man’s usual frown turn upside down.

This day was one of those days.

Your tawny barn owl alongside the other professors’ owls landed above the plates of their owners, delivering their journals, newspapers, and or packages. In Severus’ case, beneath the Potions’ Journal was a letter from you.

It has been a week since you left for a conference in New York.

As one of the Representatives for the British Ministry of Magic (MM) to the Magical Congress of the United States (MACUSA), you were occasionally sent to such events whenever your partner could not. This time, however, you owed him, and he’d collected. Though, you were sorely starting to get why he didn’t want to go because it was long and could go on and on.

He’d missed you and was bearing it as much as he could. You were never gone for this long and it was starting to grate on him.

Though, it seems that it did get to you.

Sev,

I am livid at the fact that this conference seems to go on forever when all I want is to go home and bury myself in your embrace. I miss you. I miss waking up beside you. The bed feels so empty and cold without you in it. I miss your gentle kisses trying to wake me up from slumber. I miss your warm cuddles and our gentle morning sex.

Ugh. I hate this job sometimes and I hate that I agreed to go to this but I owed my colleague one. When I get back can we get a lazy morning in, where we’ll do just all that? And maybe more? I need to wrap this up someone is calling me, god it makes me want to cry. I just want to go home at this point.

Next time don’t ever allow me to go on a trip so long, okay?

I miss you, I love you. I’ll hopefully see you soon.

His lips slowly curled into a smile, pocketed the letter, and sideswept the journal, to eat quickly. This did not go unnoticed by his colleagues, especially Hagrid, whose foot became the landing piece for his journal.

“Aye, professor, what has ye in a rush?” Hagrid asked,

“I need to send a package before the first period,” he briefly answered, finishing his meal, “If you’ll excuse me,”

If he runs, he will get enough time to send his cloak and change, before his first class. Yes, that would do.

And so, through the empty halls of Hogwarts, he ran.

[militantinremission]

Enter the Elites... But will it help?

Black America has begun to Stand On Our Square & it's obvious that the Democratic Party doesn't know how to deal w/ it. I said that 2024 is a 'Year Of Affirmation' & as Black America reaffirms Our Agenda, the DNC continues to send out Democratic Shills that do Kamala Harris more harm than good. The latest Tools out of the DNC Toolbox are Magic Johnson & Barack Obama. Magic is not known for his Public Speaking, but there he was- trying to Sell the Soap to Black Men at a Rally in Flint, Mi. What I first noticed, was Magic's 3rd Party reference to the Black Community; I guess he isn't Black anymore, he's 'Magic'. It was pretty clear that he didn't write what he was reading. Magic sounded like a White Man from the Jim Crow South: "We gotta get Our Black Men to Vote". This despite The Fact that the ONLY Demographic Group that votes at a larger percentage than Black Men, are Black Women.

Magic Johnson is beloved for his outstanding Professional Basketball Career, his victory over HIV, and his success in Business. I don't know who he is beholden to, but I suggest he stays out of Black Politics; especially at a Time when We're taking note of Who's with Us & Who isn't. Politics isn't Magic's lane, & he risks doing real damage to his Social Capital. Unfortunately, Magic Johnson is just one of many Black Celebrities & Elites stepping up to Democratic Microphones. It's comical to see this recent spotlight on Black America, when you consider how unapologetic The Democratic Party has been in BLATANTLY ignoring Our Concerns over the last 3Yrs. Not long after his inauguration, Joe Biden spoke to CBC Members on a Zoom Call. They were trying to ferret out Biden's 'Black Agenda', but he told them that they need to work w/ Latinx because they will be the Majority in 2040. The CBC fell back, but the Black Grassroots aren't settling. Joe Biden TOTALLY reneged on his Promise to 'Have Black America's Back'. Among the Measures that The Biden-Harris Administration ignored were:

A George Floyd Justice in Policing Bill

An Anti-Black Hate Crime Bill

An Anti-Lynching Law that focused on Black Lives

A Measure to 'Defund' or divert resources from Militarized Units of Police Departments to Mental Health Outreach & EMS Units

$4.5B in Aid to Black Farmers

Joe Biden's 'Lift Every Voice' Act

Kamala Harris' 'Lift Act'

Democratic Shills are quick to say that the Biden- Harris Administration didn't have the numbers to get ANY of that legislation through Congress, but They had no problem gathering enough Bipartisan support to Sign Off on:

An Asian Hate Crime Law

A Federal Gay Marriage Law

Aid & Comfort to 100,000 Afghani & 100,000 Ukrainian Refugees, in addition to MILLIONS of unvetted Illegal Immigrants

Roughly $175B to support an Ultraconservative (Neo Nazi) Ukrainian Oligarchy

Over $30B to support The [Ethno] State of Israel's Zionist Agenda of Genocide & a 'Greater Israel'

Magic Johnson was still catching lumps from the New Black Media, when Barack Obama made a stop on the Campaign Trail (in Pittsburgh?) to give Black Men yet another scolding. In his Address that was equal parts Condescension & Accusation, Barack Obama had the audacity to tell 'The Brothas'(???) that Kamala Harris:

Grew up like Us

Knows Us

Went to College w/ Us

Understands 'The Struggles' & the Pain & Joy that comes out of that Experience

Worked harder & did more (like We did) to 'achieve' the 2nd highest Office in The Land

Barry needs to go back to Martha's Vineyard & stay Radio Silent. His Legacy is not as shiny as he thinks. Black America lost 54% of Our Collective Wealth on his Watch, while Mainstream America gained $35 Trillion in Wealth. The more he speaks, the more he spotlights how different He & Kamala Harris are from Us. As I stated before, Barack & Kamala don't have a 'Black American' Experience, they both have an IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE. Neither grew up in Black Culture or spent their Formidable Years in the Black Community. The Truth is that BOTH began their 'Black Experience' as Young Adults (in Black Elite/ Boule settings). How many Black Men did Barack have access to before Reverend Jeremiah Wright? The Fact that the First [Noticably] 'Black' Man & Woman in The Oval Office AREN'T from 'The Soil' is not lost on Us. We also see how BOTH aspired to the Highest Levels of Power in just 2 Generations; This has not been the Experience of Indigenous Black Americans in 248Yrs.

Michael Harriot, Ta Nehesi Coats, Van Jones, & a growing number of Mainstream Black Journalists are taking a harder political line. Nina Turner was first to pubically call out Obama for his condescending language towards Black Men, but she has been joined by Roland Martin & a growing number of Media Bootlicks that are starting to See the Light. The accusation of Sexism & Misogyny levied on Black Men Collectively, is unfounded. A recent CNN Poll showed 69% of Black Men voted for Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2016, higher than the 60% that voted for Joe Biden in 2020. Barack himself favored an Open Nomination Process, over simply placing Kamala at the top of the Democratic Ticket. Rumor has it that He favored Gavin Newsome & Sen. Mark Kelly; does that make Barry a Misogynist? Nina Turner told a CNN Panel that the Black Men she spoke to have reasons for moving away from the Democratic Party, but NO ONE in Mainstream Media is talking about those reasons. Society regards Barack Obama as the'Chief Negro Whisperer', but he seems clueless about what motivates Black Men.

The Aftereffect of Barack's 'Address to Black Men' has been a barrage of comments on New Black Media Platforms. CNN's Abby Phillip had a Panel of 'Black Men' to discuss Barack's Message, but the Panelists featured were questionable at best. No One can deny that Barack Obama has lost his luster w/ Black America, & Mainstream Media Outlets are beginning to admit that this is a Trend that started after Obama's First Term in Office. Blackfolk committed to Obama's Agenda of 'Hope' & 'Change'; We could not fathom that he would put EVERYONE ELSE before Us. We made excuses for his disregard of Black Specific Issues. Obama's 'Beer Summit' w/ Skip Gates was a head scratcher. Flint, Michigan was a Wake Up Call. Mother Emmanuel Church, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Freddy Gray, & Michael Brown made it clear that Barack WON'T protect Us. His interview w/ Ta Nehesi Coats on the topic of Reparations brought it Home that Barack had no intention of doing ANYTHING for Us. We touted Obama as One of Our Own, but he was far from it. We validated him & he used that validation to publicly scold Us. 8Yrs later, Barack Obama's 'Big Daddy' Routine has gotten stale & his language towards Black Men is unacceptable.

Some of Us question Obama's motivation. Were his comments really a gaff, or was this part of a larger narrative? We know that Barack was behind Joe Biden's decision to 'drop out' of the Presidential Campaign, & We know that Kamala Harris wasn't his first choice to replace him. If earlier rumors regarding a plot by Obama, Nancy Pelosi, & possibly Chuck Schumer to destroy Joe Biden's 'Legacy' are true, Barack looks more Clinical than Clueless. The Harris-Walz Campaign tried to mitigate the damage by quickly putting out a 'Plan for Black Men', but EVERYONE KNOWS that Affirmative Action set a precedent on Race Specific Policy. Congress will reject ANY Plan for 'Black Men' before Ed Blum or SCOTUS does. In other words, this 'Policy' is more Word Salad. A closer look at this Harris- Walz Policy reveals more of the same 'Rising Tide' Legislation that Dems only offer Black Voters. It ignores Issues that Black Men say are important.

The Harris-Walz Campaign may have a better understanding of Black Specific Issues if they appeared on Platforms other than The Breakfast Club, Roland Martin Unfiltered, All The Smoke, The Shade Room, & Call Her Daddy. New Black Media has REAL QUESTIONS. We want to know about Kamala's Policy Platform & 'Black Agenda', but We also want to know more about Kamala personally:

What's the deal w/ her Father's Lineage?

Where is his Birth Certificate?

What Year was he born- Was it 1938?

Who is Beril/ Beryl Finegan?

If her Grandmother died in 1960, WHO is the woman pictured holding her as a baby?

Who is Iris Finegan?

Are the Black People pictured w/ her in Jamaica actual Family Members or Plantation Hands?

Did she know about Doug Emhoff's indiscretions?

If her Father (& Step Mother) currently live crosstown from her & Doug in Washington D.C., why is he absent from her Campaign?

Kamala has been making herself more available to Media, but it has not worked in her best interest. The Harris-Walz Campaign has no other options w/ Election Day being less than 3 Weeks away, & her support leveling off. The DNC can keep sending out Shills to get Blackfolk 'In Line', but without a Clear Message & SPECIFIC STRATEGY to actually move America 'Forward'', Kamala just looks like she's repeating the same Menu of Word Salads across different Platforms. We're not the only demographic moving away from the Democratic Party, but We appear to be leading the Exodus. As for Black Celebrities & Elites, it's Time to choose Sides... You're either On Code or you're Not.

-The Smart Play, is to Bet on Black.

[wizengamot-chiefwarlock]

let’s discuss the difference between how macusa and m.o.m. treat their criminals.

THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC, BRITAIN

criminals guilty of severe crimes such as murder are not sentenced to death, so to speak. they are sentenced to life in Azkaban, where they stay for the rest of their lives, drained of their happiness until they die of misery, health issues, or whatever. dementors are supposed to be soul-sucking creatures, but they don’t actually suck out the souls of the prisoners. they’re supposed to be satisfied with feeding on only emotions, and guard the prisoners till their end.

there’s a bit of discrepancy, however- let's compare the sentences of Sirius and Barty Crouch Jr. Sirius is convicted for the murder of Peter Pettigrew and 12 Muggles, and his sentence is simply life in Azkaban. Barty Crouch Jr is convicted for the one murder of Cedric Diggory, but he has his soul sucked out by a Dementor.

(note: yes, he actually killed his father, but I’m pretty sure Fudge didn’t know that until AFTER crouch jr got the dementor‘s kiss.)

so- the difference in their sentences is wildly different. however, one important factor is that Fudge is in charge in Barty‘s case, and we know he’s a wack ass Minister, while he wasn’t Minister yet when Sirius was convicted. so we can probably excuse this injustice to Fudge's incapabilities as the Minister of Magic.

so in conclusion: the British ministry does not take the lives of their prisoners and just dumps them in the hands of dementors to die naturally or have their souls sucked out.

THE MAGICAL CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

criminals guilty of severe crimes are immediately sentenced to death. there are no dementors in America, as far as we know.

Newt and Tina‘s case is a little complicated. MACUSA knew that neither actually killed Shaw themselves, but they were held responsible for the Obscurial that did it. Tina‘s role in the matter was barely even known, and if they’d asked around a little bit, they’d have known that she had been trying to arrest Newt for days and was just doing her job. but with little to no information on what part she played in the murder, she was sentenced to death as well.

like i said, no dementors. here, the deaths of the criminals are orchestrated by wizards and witches. their happy memories and drawn out and are shown to the prisoner in a pensieve-like cesspool, until the prisoner is tempted to relive those happy memories and jump in, killing themselves. so basically, they’re gaslighted into committing suicide.

the most dramatic part of this comparison is that the way prisoners meet their end in Britain is the exact opposite of the way they do in America. think about it- in Britain, their happy memories are drained out until they are left with only misery and depression and negativity, and they die, tortured and unhappy. in America, they are forced to view their happy memories until they jump in- dying cruelly, but (to a certain extent) happily.

woah.

which method do you think is worse, or better?

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Brandi Buchman at HuffPost:

Now that Donald Trump has won the White House for a second time, the path ahead seems clear for him to brush off key federal criminal indictments that have dogged him for years while potentially delaying other cases he faces in state court. By securing the presidency, he can use the awesome powers of the executive to seemingly shield from scrutiny any illegal conduct that he would deem part of his “official” duties. When the U.S. Supreme Court enshrined immunity for official acts of former presidents and “at least presumptive immunity” for acts on the outer perimeter of official duties, the majority did so amid the dissent of the three liberal justices.

When reading her dissent aloud from the bench in July, Justice Sonia Sotomayor had bristled: “Ironic isn’t it? The man in charge of enforcing laws can now just break them.” When writing her dissent, which was joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Kentanji Brown Jackson, she concluded that the court had henceforth created a “law-free zone around the president, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the founding.” And now Trump is heading back to that “law-free zone.” Here’s the state of his ongoing cases and how they will likely proceed:

The Jan. 6 Case

Special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal prosecution of Trump for his alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021, is likely first on the chopping block, considering that Trump has both vowed to fire Smith in “two seconds” and threatened to throw him “out of the country.” Trump faces four felony charges in the Washington, D.C., case: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and, for his alleged intimidation of voters, conspiracy against rights.

Trump has vowed for over a year to see the federal insurrection case dismissed. He has argued that Smith’s appointment is unconstitutional and that he has been vindictively prosecuted. Most important, he has argued that his conduct on and before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was official and therefore protected by presidential immunity. The Supreme Court found in July that former presidents cannot be charged for any “official” conduct but that anything that falls beyond the scope of “official” duties is fair game. This decision forced Smith to revise Trump’s indictment before presiding U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

Chutkan signed an order on Oct. 28 that granted Trump until Nov. 21 to file a motion explaining why the case should be dropped on presidential immunity grounds, and Smith’s team did not oppose that request. Before his victory, Chutkan was in position to weigh both arguments and decide which changes would stay or go based on the immunity ruling. As of October, deadlines in the case were still set for well into December. Trump was widely expected to appeal any ruling that did not wipe away the charges anyway, eventually putting the matter back before the Supreme Court, but now all of that looks to be essentially moot. Under Justice Department policy established in the 1970s, sitting presidents cannot be indicted because it would interfere with their duties. The election interference case is expected to be dropped as soon as Trump is inaugurated. The only thing standing in the way of that outcome is an attempt by the judge to reject any dismissal effort by the Justice Department or, if Smith is fired, an attempt by Congress to see the special counsel restored.

The Classified Documents Case

Trump was accused of hoarding classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after he left the White House in 2021. The 37-count case was dismissed less than two weeks after the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling because U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon found that Attorney General Merrick Garland did not have authority to appoint Smith to prosecute Trump. The decision was controversial, and Smith appealed, citing decades of contrary legal precedent. Oral arguments for the appeal haven’t been scheduled yet. Once Trump takes office, he needs only to turn to prosecutors at the Justice Department and encourage them to drop the case. Notably, ABC News reported shortly before Election Day that Trump had floated the idea of Cannon replacing Garland as attorney general.

State Cases

Trump was convicted in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records after a jury in New York determined he made illegal sought to conceal hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election. Trump is scheduled for sentencing in this matter on Nov. 26 before Judge Juan Merchan. But because presidents don’t have the authority to interfere with or stop state prosecutions, there’s not much Trump can do to make the case disappear during his presidency. However, his sentencing will likely be delayed indefinitely — or at least until 2029, when his term in office would end.

Trump still faces eight felony charges in Fulton County, Georgia, for allegedly criminally conspiring to overturn the state’s election results and engaging in a racketeering conspiracy with a slew of his allies and advisers that state prosecutors say were hellbent on advancing bogus electoral slates for Trump — even after it was clear Democrat Joe Biden had won the presidential vote in Georgia.

The case was thrown off track this year after Trump’s co-defendant Michael Roman alleged that Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis had an improper romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the lawyer Willis tapped to lead the probe into the alleged conspiracy. Arguments on whether Willis should be disqualified do not get underway at the Georgia Court of Appeals until December, and a decision could take months. With Willis declared as winner in her reelection bid Tuesday night, the indictment is expected to stay on ice.

While Donald Trump won, not all of his legal problems will go away entirely, as he could continue to face state charges.

As for federal crimes, Trump will be let off scot free.

[technofeudalism]

when the party of drone striking hospitals starts shedding crocodile tears today as our neighbors wait in fear of potentially being thrown in the back of an ICE van, remember that this was the Democratic nominee for president's answer on October 23rd, 2024 in response to the following question:

Q: "Regarding the rapid increase in the migrant population how will you ensure that every immigrant is integrated into American society safely what benefits and subsidies will you provide them with and how long will these benefits and subsidies last for an individual most importantly will the American citizens taxes pay for these benefits and subsidies and if so how much money how much money will be allocated?"

HARRIS: Well, thank you, Jaxon. Let's start with this. America's immigration system is broken and it needs to be fixed. And it's been broken for a long time. And part of what we need to do is always prioritize what we need to do to strengthen our border. I will tell you, I'm the only person in this race among the two choices that voters have, I've personally prosecuted transnational criminal organizations in the trafficking of guns, drugs, and human beings. I have spent a significant part of my career making sure that our border is secure and that we do not allow criminals in, and we don't allow that kind of trafficking to happen and come into our country. And as the -- as my opponent has proven himself, he would prefer to run on the problem, instead of fix the problem. You may know there were some of the most conservative members of the United States Congress working with others that came up with a border security bill that would have put 1,500 more border agents at the border. Those border agents are overwhelmed. They need the support. They need the backup. It would have allowed us to have more resources to stem the flow of fentanyl. I don't need to tell this state and people around the country what is happening in terms of the scourge of fentanyl and how it is literally killing Americans. It would have put resources into stemming the flow. It would have given more resources to prosecute -- to investigate and prosecute transnational criminal organizations. It would have done a lot of good. Donald Trump got wind of the bill and told them, don't put it forward. He killed the bill because he preferred to run on a problem, instead of fixing a problem. We have to have a secure border and we have to have a comprehensive pathway for citizenship.

wow. what a magic job of humanizing immigrants. i can't believe that this didn't do anything to change the minds of millions of people who have been convinced that immigrants are flooding the country with fentanyl and human trafficking and guns. i mean sure, she didn't mention the fact that immigrants commit less crime per capita than US citizens. and yes, she didn't mention how there is basically only one gun store in the entire country of Mexico where you can legally buy one or that they literally get all of their guns from US trafficking at the rate of 80,000 per year. but what a great defense otherwise!

at least we have one thing: Trump wants to build the wall! Democrats are against that! Kamala should be able to capitalize on that, right? let's see what she said about that:

COOPER: Well, let's talk about this compromise bill you -- that you want to pass if you're elected. You said that's going to be a priority. It includes $650 million in funding for the border wall. That's something Republicans wanted. That was part of the compromise. Under Donald Trump, you criticized the wall more than 50 times. You called it stupid, useless, and a medieval vanity project. Is a border wall stupid? HARRIS: Well, let's talk about Donald Trump and that border wall. HARRIS: So, remember, Donald Trump said Mexico would pay for it? Come on. They didn't. How much of that wall did he build? I think the last number I saw was about 2 percent. And then when it came time for him to do a photo-op, you know where he did it? In the part of the wall that President Obama built. So, come on. COOPER: But you're agreeing to a bill that would earmark $650 million to continue building that wall. HARRIS: We -- I pledge that I am going to bring forward that bipartisan bill to further strengthen and secure our border. Yes, I am. And I'm going to work across the aisle to pass a comprehensive bill that deals with a broken immigration system. I think Jackson's question, part of it was to acknowledge that America has always had migration, but there needs to be a legal process for it. People have to earn it. And that's the point that I think is the most important point that can be made, which is we need a president who is grounded in common sense and practical outcomes. Like let's just fix this thing. Let's just fix it. Why is there any ideological perspective on it? Let's just fix the problem. COOPER: To fix the problem, you're doing this compromise bill. It does call for $650 million that was earmarked under Trump to actually still go to build the wall. HARRIS: I'm not afraid of good ideas where they occur, Anderson. COOPER: You heard me say, you don't think it's stupid anymore? HARRIS: I think what he did and how he did it did -- was did not make much sense because he actually didn't do much of anything. I just talked about that wall, right? We just talked about it. He didn't actually do much of anything. COOPER: But you do want to build some wall? HARRIS: I want to strengthen our border.

everyone on this website will scream and scream about Trump being a Nazi and how he is evil incarnate. well. the person you said would be best to fight off fascism failed to even raise her fist. she didn't dispel any xenophobic notions, she embraced them for her own potential personal gain. just like Democrats do every single time.

[todaysdocument]

Presidential Message of Abraham Lincoln, transmitting a letter from James W. Nye, Nevada Territorial Governor

Record Group 46: Records of the U.S. SenateSeries: Presidential MessagesFile Unit: Presidential Messages to the 38th Congress Suggesting Legislation or Submitting Specific Information or Documents

[left corner] S. H. Sonegal [?]

[top center page] 1/2

To the Senate of the United States.

In compliance with the Resolution of the Senate of the 27th instant, requesting information in regard to the condition of affairs in the Territory of Nevada, I transmit a copy of a letter of the 25th of last month addressed to the Secretary of State by James W. Nye, the Governor of that Territory.

Abraham Lincoln

Washington,

29th April, 1864.

[top of page] 1

Governor Nye to Mr Seward

[left margin] Gordon.  [right margin] Territory of Nevada

[right margin] Executive Department

[right margin] Carson City, Mar. 25, 1864

Hon. Wm. H Seward

Secretary of State

Washington D.C.

Sir:

This territory since I had the honor last to communicate with you, has been making rapid progress in all things pertaining to moral & material improvement. Churches have been built; schoolhouses erected. In almost every form in the territory, substantial improvements in every brand of industry are made, giving us quite the appearance of an old settled country. Business is becoming thoroughly systemized, & carried on with a rigor I never observed in any other locality. Obstacles that would seem insurmountable in many places, here seem only to quicken the pace & the energies of our people; they fly themselves to their reward with a will absolutely irresistable. Mountains are tunneled; shafts are sunk thousands of feet through solid rock; rivers are turned from their channels; canals are made conducting water for 50 or 60 miles; roads are constructed over our highest mountain peaks with a wonderful facility & rapidity; mines are opened & quartz mills erected as by magic; cities sprung up like the "gourd in the night"; wealth is going out & coming in to the territory with a power of current in its flow, that bears us

[full document and transcription at link]

[mariacallous]

Who really controls TikTok’s magical algorithm — the US-based company that runs the app or its Chinese parent, ByteDance?

That’s the question that bedeviled a trio of federal judges on Monday charged with deciding whether to allow the implementation of a law that could ultimately result in TikTok being banned for all Americans.

After more than two hours of oral argument between TikTok and a group of content creators on one side, and the US government on the other, it remains uncertain how the judges may rule. Today wasn’t the slam dunk that TikTok needed as all three judges asked some very skeptical questions about the ByteDance relationship, but they didn’t let the government off easy, either.

Struggling to find historical and metaphorical precedent, the judges at a federal appeals court in Washington grappled with how TikTok’s foreign ownership affects its constitutional rights under US law.

They leaned on analogies about terrorist propaganda and hypotheticals about a possible shooting war involving the United States and China. They looked to a past case about communist propaganda delivered through the US Postal Service. And some of the Supreme Court’s most recent landmark decisions about online speech, issued just this year, made an appearance, too.

If the law in question targeted only US-based companies, “there’s no doubt that would be a huge First Amendment concern,” said Sri Srinivasan, chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, citing a pair of cases decided by the Supreme Court this summer.

But, he added, that isn’t the situation here. Instead, Congress passed a law that targets a US company’s foreign owners and their influence over the algorithm that 170 million Americans use to watch videos about sports, fashion and politics.

“It’s just that the curation is happening abroad,” he said to Daniel Tenny, a lawyer representing the US government.

“The core point we’re making is one they’ve conceded,” Tenny told the court, “which is that [TikTok’s] code is made in China.”

Attorneys for TikTok pushed back, saying that only some of the code that powers TikTok originates from China and that a great deal of TikTok’s curation reflects decisions made in the United States and amounts to expressive speech by TikTok itself — which the law would infringe on if upheld, they said.

The stakes of the case

Monday’s sprawling debate over TikTok’s algorithm and whether or not the Chinese government could manipulate it to sow chaos and disinformation to an unsuspecting public, will resolve a legal challenge to a law that the company claims could shut down TikTok virtually overnight and potentially reshape the government’s powers in relation to speech on all foreign-owned platforms deemed to be a national security risk.

If TikTok is successful, it could win a decision that blocks the legislation. But if it fails, the company will be required to find a new owner by mid-January, or else be prohibited from the devices of all Americans.

What began as a scheduled one-hour debate between TikTok and some of its content creators on one side, and the US government on the other, stretched into a lengthy back-and-forth at the court, with the judges asking tough questions to determine where TikTok’s US operations end and ByteDance’s really begins.

The exchange could well be the most significant of TikTok’s US existence. The company is fighting for survival in the face of a bipartisan push to force a sale of TikTok to non-Chinese owners, which may effectively end the app as we currently know it.

In addition to Srinivasan, an Obama appointee, hearing the case were Judge Neomi Rao, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, and Judge Douglas Ginsburg, a Reagan appointee.

Both Rao and Ginsburg appeared to push hard against TikTok’s arguments, with Ginsburg at one point dismissing claims about the legislation’s allegedly sweeping breadth as a “blinkered view.” The law does not open up possible bans against all foreign-owned publications or platforms, he said, as it only targets companies linked to specific adversary nations such as China.

“We’re not talking about banning Tocqueville,” Rao said, referring to Alexis de Tocqueville, the French author of the historical text “Democracy in America.”

But a decision to restrict TikTok in the United States would still harm American users, TikTok and the coalition of content creators argued. Courts have historically protected Americans’ right to listen to foreign views, even if it is propaganda.

“Congress didn’t do any of the things the First Amendment requires,” Andrew Pincus, an attorney representing TikTok, told the court. He added: “The government’s solution to foreign propaganda, in every context, [has been] disclosure, not a ban.”

After pressuring TikTok, Srinivasan was equally hard on the US government. At one point, he asked Tenny about the law’s practical impact on everyday Americans.

The concern, he said, is “about the speech consequences on US consumers.”

Tenny, the Justice Department attorney, described the law’s impact on Americans’ First Amendment rights as “incidental” to the legislation’s main purpose, which focuses on curbing foreign influence over TikTok’s algorithm.

It’s not clear when the court could reach a decision on the legislation. But the law sets out a deadline of Jan. 19 for TikTok, so it is likely the court may rule before then.

US fear over China

Fast-tracked through Congress this spring with uncommon speed, the legislation is a US response to fears that TikTok’s China ties could allow that country’s government to access American users’ app data, such as which videos they have watched, liked, shared or searched for.

The measure has become a symbol of bipartisan opposition to China. But for TikTok’s supporters, including some of its most prominent content creators, the law smacks of racism and anti-China hysteria. They argue it does little to address other, potentially even more sensitive, sources of data freely available on commercial marketplaces.

The outcome of the case won’t just determine the fate of TikTok in the United States. It could also have ripple effects for the way courts interpret the First Amendment — which guarantees against the government prohibiting freedom of expression — and its relationship to digital speech and online platforms writ large.

TikTok argues the potential ban violates the First Amendment because it stifles the ability for its US users to express themselves and to access information. And it alleges the law is unconstitutionally extreme when the government had other options to address fears about TikTok’s links to China.

Court filings show that TikTok and US national security officials had hammered out a draft proposal to address the security concerns. That agreement included the ability for the US government to shut down TikTok if it violated the proposed deal. Some of the deal’s provisions TikTok has already publicly implemented as part of an initiative called Project Texas, which involves moving US user data onto servers controlled by the American tech giant Oracle and erecting additional organizational barriers between TikTok and ByteDance.

But, TikTok claims, US officials abruptly abandoned the plan with no explanation. (The US government has subsequently described the plan in its court filings as “inadequate” because officials feared it would be hard to detect whether TikTok were violating the agreement.)

TikTok has also claimed that it is technologically impossible to separate its app from its parent company. For starters, it said in a court filing, the TikTok app depends on software code that’s built by ByteDance, and there is no way to simply copy that code to another company with any expectation that it will run.

For another, the company argues, the Chinese government most likely won’t allow TikTok’s recommendation algorithm to be sold to a non-Chinese company. The recommendation engine is TikTok’s secret sauce and what powers its popularity; without it, the app loses its most distinctive feature.

Last year, the Chinese government said it would “firmly” oppose a potential sale of TikTok from ByteDance, following new export controls the country announced that affect the transfer of certain software algorithms.

TikTok has portrayed the US law as a sweeping congressional power grab that threatens all Americans’ speech rights.

“If Congress can do this,” the company wrote in its filings, “it can circumvent the First Amendment by invoking national security and ordering the publisher of any individual newspaper or website to sell to avoid being shut down.”

‘Speculative concerns,’ TikTok says

Finally, TikTok claims, the US government has never proven that the Chinese government has exploited US user data to justify the law.

“Even the statements by individual Members of Congress and a congressional committee report merely indicate concern about the hypothetical possibility that TikTok could be misused in the future, without citing specific evidence — even though the platform has operated prominently in the United States since it was first launched in 2017,” the company wrote. “Those speculative concerns fall far short of what is required when First Amendment rights are at stake.”

The US government has argued in its own filings that lawmakers are free to take action “even if all of the threatened harms have not yet broadly materialized or been detected.”

The Chinese government has the incentive and the ability to pressure ByteDance to hand over TikTok user data, the Biden administration has said, adding that the information could be useful for intelligence purposes or for manipulating the public through disinformation campaigns.

The United States, for its part, also routinely requests user data from social media companies. But there are typically checks and balances on the government, such as laws limiting what intelligence officials can do with data about US citizens or, for domestic law enforcement, requirements that authorities obtain a court order in exchange for user data — orders that tech companies can and often do challenge, even if they can’t always disclose it.

“TikTok’s parent company and recommendation algorithm are based in China,” the Justice Department wrote in a court brief, “giving rise to the risk that a foreign adversary will wield TikTok’s enormous power to advance its own interests, to the detriment of U.S. national security.”

The US government has also insisted the law is not a ban as it technically provides a way for TikTok to avoid one by simply finding a new owner within about six months.

Independent cybersecurity experts have said that the risk of Chinese spying through TikTok sounds plausible but remains unproven.

China’s intelligence laws require companies with a presence there to help with that country’s intelligence objectives. TikTok does not operate in China, but ByteDance does, meaning it is subject to China’s laws — and the Chinese government holds a board seat on ByteDance’s local Chinese subsidiary. The question is whether all that amounts to enough influence over ByteDance and TikTok to gain access to US TikTok users’ data, in spite of the guardrails promised by Project Texas.

All eyes on TikTok

The case has attracted immense attention, prompting friend-of-the-court briefs from more than a dozen US states, the House select committee on China that drafted the law, former US national security officials, business and civil rights groups, and a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

The law in question “plainly raises the issue of political bias and motivation, singling out TikTok because of its foreign ownership even as other major social media platforms raise similar privacy and content-moderation issues,” wrote a coalition of digital rights groups in a filing.

But former national security officials wrote that TikTok user data, if combined with other information Beijing has collected through hacks and leaks, could be a potent intelligence risk.

The Chinese government, wrote the group that includes former National Cyber Director Chris Inglis, “can exploit this massive trove of sensitive data to power sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that can then be used to identify Americans for intelligence collection, to conduct advanced electronic and human intelligence operations, and may even be weaponized to undermine the political and economic stability of the United States.”

[jlhynde-insanitybrilliance]

UDLTTOM WORLDBUILDING RAMBLES: American Wizarding Society vs British Wizarding Society

This is like the 3rd installment of what is quickly becoming a series of long ranting posts about the lore surrounding Harry Potter & a current time-travel au I'm writing on AO3. But you don't need to have read the previous two posts to understand this one. (I still link them for those interested: pt 1, pt 2, pt. 3.) .

I think it's been fairly established that JK doesn't have much awareness of anything outside of Britain when it comes to world building. I've seen posts discussing how unrealistic the magical schools are and such. (Which obviously there can't be just 11 schools. I refuse to believe it. It exceeds my suspension of disbelief.) But this post isn't about that, but the whole societal structure of the American Wizarding society as a whole. I recently started watching my through the Fantastic Beasts films (I know I'm late to the show.) and as an American I can't help but to address some of this...

There's a lot to address & I'm sorry if this post gets a off on some tangents. But I'm just gonna jump right in with the things that bother me most.

1)The MACUSA reeks of British colonization.

As we all know, North America wasn't unpopulated when people from Europe started arriving. Native Americans, the Mayans, the Aztecs, Inuit people, and while some of them were nomadic others had established cities & advanced communities for that day in age. It was the religious zealot Protestants, aka Puritians, being driven out of England that pushed into these communities and brought with them this harmful religious dogma and pushed these people out of the homes and their lands. Like if you read into any of these cultures and their histories, you'll see that these communities were accepting of magic and in the HP world were probably very much wizards themselves.

And so the MACUSA doesn't make sense to me having been founded before the American Revolution, but after the Salem Witch Trials because in all likelihood wizards were being persecuted long before all that. Like I can't believe that the indigenous communities wouldn't have formed some sort of collective in order to combat these foreign invaders from overseas—Especially if they were wizards.

I mean so there had to be something before that, right? Like in all likelihood what I see happening is that these British wizards pushed themselves in with the Puritians (for whatever reason) and in the process brought with them their backwards views on muggles & blood politics & classism which wasn't a part of the original society. Because if you look at the indigenous histories you'll see that medicine men/women were respected members of their communities. Wizards and Muggles lived alongside each other just fine. But then the colonizers came & ruined that harmonious dynamic between the magical and nonmagical.

And that it's called the Magical Congress of the United States of America...It doesn't make sense unless that name came about after the American Revolution. Because before that it was referred to as the 13 colonies. Then it also took some time after the American Revolution for the 13 colonies to expand into the United States. (American didn't get all 50 states until 1959 with the purchase of Alaska from Russia and the forceful occupation of Hawaii.)

It makes more sense that there was a power struggle between two or more opposing Magical governments for the control of the Americas. And this would lead to a sort of Wizarding Civil War. Between the indigenous magical communities and the British, & Spanish, & French Colonies. It's a big place, huge. & it would be diced up and divided I think much more than than the muggle/no-maj community/government is.

The MACUSA being only on the East Coast makes more sense to me. (It also explains how there can only be one wizarding school in MA.) And how that school is a sister school of Hogwarts & how they are structured so similarly. Because watching the Fantastic Beasts films I don't feel like I'm watching American wizards, it more feels like I'm watching British Wizards with American accents.

And then the rest of the country is split up into districts or regions (much like it is in real life with: East Coast, Deep South, West Coast, Midwest.) where the indigenous practices and cultures are still prevalent.

I also don't buy into this idea that France and Spain would abandon their stake on the Continent. So in reality, it's more believable that Spanish Wizards would control Florida and expand all the way up to Arkansas, French wizards would Have control of Louisiana & Mississippi, East Texas, parts of Oklahoma, the British Wizards would have the colonies & maybe parts of the Great Lakes area like Illinois or Ohio, and then the rest of North America would be divided up into different territories amongst the indigenous communities.

Which then brings me to the second thing that bothers me: Rappaport's Law.

2) Rappaport's Law is a heavy-handed allegory for Jim Crowe & Segregation Laws.

As a white person, there's a lot in this topic that I am likely under informed and underqualified to unpack. It is a subject that would be better dissected by someone who understands the cultural histories and nuances better than me. But I read up a lot on random histories (because my Adhd brain leads me down some interesting research rabbit holes & I find myself fascinated by lore histories and folktales.) And I've learned a bit about the various histories pertaining to the Trans Atlantic Slave trade and how things like Voodoo made their way to America through the enslavement of various African tribes.

And again back to the British colonization, slaves were sold to the British by rival tribes & then some of those people made their way to North America when the colonies were formed , but that there was also a significant number of slaves that were indigenous to North America as well.

But how the indigenous communities were structured and how the tribal communities were structure were not all that dissimilar from each other. They both have an awareness of magic and similar spiritual practices. Again magic coexisting with muggles and what makes the most sense was that rival tribes would in fact sell the wizards into slavery and keep the squib/no-maj members of the village because they were less of a threat.

Which in turn would lead to most of the magical communities in North America being POC. Like honestly, I think they are the majority in the Americas. And the Rappaport Law, preventing the intermingling of no-majs & wizards would be heavily criticized because of the similarities to Jim Crowe and Segregation Laws.

And you might try to argue that because of the Statute of Secrecy, wizards wouldn't have any awareness of those muggle laws. But I argue that because of Slavery and most of the wizards being either slaves or negatively impacted by the European settlers would be very, very aware of those laws and prejudices & be actively fighting against them.

Like it was wizards creating and maintaining the underground railroad. It was wizards getting other wizards out and getting them away, regardless of whether or not they were magical because they were all slaves. And they would in fact still have muggles living side-by-side with them in these magical communities and spitting in the face of the Statute of Secrecy. And entire generations of no-majs would live and die in these communities and possibly even leave these communities to assimilate with other muggles and what not, but the American wizards would not be as cut off from the no-maj world like their British counterparts are.

3) Blood Politics would never be able to take root there.

Because most of them are unable to trace back their own bloodlines. It's why Americans don't have house elves working for them because it's Slavery, which they spent centuries combating and trying to escape. And why Grindelwald couldn't gain a foothold there because he was European and was actively killing muggleborns, squibs, no-majs like that wasn't their own people.

And this would also mean that, technologically, the magical communities in North America are more advanced. They are not stagnating like they are in Britain. Wizards are not a dying breed. They have a healthy growing population and low inbreeding rates, and advancements in magic and no-maj sciences. It's the sort of strength Grindelwald and Voldemort would want to recruit for their causes, but with how the majority of the continent is structured would never be able to.

[thank you for coming to my tedtalk.]

[justforbooks]

Carb lovers can rejoice as October 25 is World Pasta Day, a day to appreciate pasta in all of its forms as well as its cultural and culinary importance.

National Pasta Day was first celebrated in 1995 when 40 pasta producers from around the world gathered to hold the globe’s first World Pasta Congress which was held in Rome. The organisation have since continued to spread knowledge about pasta consumption among consumers and have promoted this day through a range of initiatives and campaigns.

Top 10 Pasta facts for World Pasta Day

Federico Fellini is quoted saying that ‘Life is a combination of magic and pasta.’ Here are 10 facts about pasta that have brought the magic of pasta to life:

✔ There is a belief in Greek mythology that the god Vulcan invented a device that made strings of dough. This mythology was the earliest reference to a pasta maker. ✔ Before machinery, pasta was kneaded by foot, often a process that took “a full day’s walking” to make. ✔ Penne, spaghetti and macaroni are the most popular types of pasta. ✔ ‘Spaghetto’ is the singular word for spaghetti. Generally speaking, Italian words ending in “O” are singular and words ending in “I” are plural. ✔ According to the International Pasta Organisation, Italians consume an average of 600 million kilometres of spaghetti per year. This would be enough to wrap the entire planet approximately 15,000 times. ✔ Pasta has been scientifically proven to make you happier. According to scientists, the carbohydrates in pasta increase the production of serotonin. This is a neurotransmitter that is believed to heighten feelings of happiness. ✔ On April 1 in 1957, the BBC tricked viewers into thinking that spaghetti grew on trees. The ‘spoof programme explained that severe frost can impair the flavour of spaghetti and how each strang of the pasta always grows to the same length. This is believed to be one of the first times television was used to orchestrate an April Fools Day hoax. ✔ Naturally, Italy eats the most pasta with 23.5 kilograms consumed per person, closely followed by Tunisia (17 kilograms), Venezuela (12 kilograms), Greece (11 kilograms), Chile (9.4 kilograms) and the United States (8.8 kilograms). ✔ There are over 600 shapes of pasta worldwide. Some pasta varieties are uniquely regional and not widely known. Many types have different names based on region or language. For example, the cut rotelle is also called ‘ruote’ in Italy whereas it is called ‘wagon wheels’ in the United States. ✔ Dry pasta used to be a luxury item in Italy due to the high labour costs, as the semolina had to be kneaded for a long time. After the industrial revolution in Naples, a mechanical process allowed for large scale production of dry pasta, it became more affordable and accessible.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[qqueenofhades]

Ignoring his inflammatory rhetoric, do you think Bernie's *POLICIES* are actually that extreme? I've read them over and, if he had a softer approach, they seem like they'd be sound policies to me

The problem with Bernie is that it's hard to know, in actual practice/reality, what his policies are. Yes, on paper, everyone knows what they are, and it's not a week if he's not writing yet another op-ed in the Guardian about Workers' Rights or Climate Justice or whatever. But like.... what good does that do anyone? Everyone who reads the Guardian probably agrees with those things already, and that includes me -- I read it, I financially support it, etc., but it's not where I come for policy actions or where I want to see US senators spending all their time. (Like, Bernie, aren't there other people you could be talking to, who could actually do something about this?) It's the definition of preaching to the choir, where he's regurgitating a boilerplate piece of progressive ideology but not actually doing anything about it or attempting to reach an audience who doesn't already agree with him. (Plus the Guardian, unfortunately, is always also willing to let his ex-campaign manager, David Sirota, bash the Democrats for something, but never mind that.)

Likewise, Bernie's actual voting record in the Senate isn't always a match with the things for which he has (very loudly) advocated, and he's a multi-millionaire old white man from Vermont (one of the whitest states in the Union) who has often seemed interested in preaching socialism for everyone else but resisting any scrutiny or participation in that for himself. He has gotten a lot of mileage and built a disproportionately influential political career out of championing so-called leftist progressivism/socialism, but as I keep saying about him, he never seems to do anything about it. "Tax billionaires" or "save the planet" are extremely broad-brush statements that everyone in the liberal camp can mostly agree on. And no, I wouldn't say those positions are particularly extreme; they're pretty much mainstream Democratic ideology at this point. Indeed, I think Bernie gets unwarranted traction out of positioning himself as the "radical" alternative to the Democrats, when most of the things he says are now basically part of the party platform and have been adopted or explored in some shape or form. Just because they can't actually be implemented at the moment, whether due to legislative roadblocks or otherwise, doesn't mean that they're not moving in that direction.

Likewise, Bernie's favorite hobbyhorse of Medicare for All is often used by his fans to irrationally bash the Democrats, as if we don't have universal healthcare -> quod erat demonstrandum, Democrats Are Neoliberal Shills. I've written many posts about the state of the healthcare debate in America and how passing even a much-watered-down Affordable Care Act cost Obama control of Congress for pretty much the rest of his presidency. So if Bernie and co. want to offer a roadmap for how to pass another major healthcare reform/overhaul that goes even further than the ACA -- trust me, everyone's listening and wants to know how to do that. That is neither extreme nor particularly, at least among Democrats, controversial in the way it was in 2009, when we still had Blue Dog Democrats in red states like Nebraska and South Dakota. But a) we have the united fascist bloc of Republicans who would object and obstruct it on principle, and b) we DON'T have enough Democrats to just pass it by fiat and have that be the end, because that's not the way things have worked in the history of anything.

So basically: if progressives want to endlessly harp on the Democrats for not magically pulling Medicare for All out of a hat, they're welcome to do that if, and only if, they can produce a credible policy/platform/program of action to actually get it passed that the Democrats could be following and aren't (and "they don't care enough about this and could fix it if they wanted!" is not that). That way, they could actually show that the reform is empirically possible and the Democrats are not carrying it out. But flatly ignoring all the political realities and blaming them for not producing a miracle in an extremely adverse legislative and political climate does not count as good-faith engagement and isn't directed toward any constructive end. It's just performative gesturing to show that they are Better Than The Establishment, something something something, and Bernie is usually one of the chief offenders in this regard, despite actually being part of the Establishment for decades.

I will give Bernie credit for two things: he has voted for all the major Democratic legislative packages with the relative minimum of selfish hostage-taking/sabotaging such as that carried out constantly by Manchin and Sinema, and he quickly shut down any talk of running (yet fucking again) in 2024, in order to support Biden's re-election bid. But as far as policies go, he's still not shown me that he either has a concrete plan to carry them out, that he knows what they are aside from broad-brush, vague and general talking points, or that he will put in the work to get them achieved, so yeah.

[dhr-ao3]

The List of Ways to Ruin Draco Malfoy's Life

The List of Ways to Ruin Draco Malfoy's Life https://ift.tt/yPaHDmL by BellMell Hermione Granger, out of the goodness of her heart, decided to ruin Draco Malfoy's life. Save it for someone of resolute virtuosity to accidentally ruin someone else's life by trying to save others. After a terrorist attack in Muggle London, Hermione Granger took it upon herself to donate blood. The unknown consequence? Igniting the magical cores of at least a dozen muggles in the UK and around the world. Tasked by Kingsley Shacklebolt to save the Golden Girl's arse, Draco embarked on a globe-trotting, life-threatening, reputation-damaging journey to save newly-magicked muggles and to stop the Statute of Secrecy from falling into shambles. --- Welcome to my first fan fiction! I've no idea what I'm doing and am mostly making things up as I go along; just having fun in this house. I wanted to write something like this after reading Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love! Constructive comments (and praise) welcome. Much love, BellMell Words: 1965, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy Additional Tags: BAMF Hermione Granger, Eventual Smut, Researcher Hermione Granger, Ministry of Magic Employee Draco Malfoy, Lawyer Draco Malfoy, POV Draco Malfoy, no beta readers we die like men, Good Draco Malfoy, Pining Draco Malfoy, Reformed Draco Malfoy, Oblivious Hermione Granger, Slow Burn, Draco Malfoy is Clueless About Muggle Things, Draco Malfoy is Bad at Feelings, Breaking the Statute of Secrecy (Harry Potter), Statute of Secrecy (Harry Potter), what is biology, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Author Regrets Everything, MACUSA | Magical Congress of the United States of America, Draco Malfoy is a Little Shit via AO3 works tagged 'Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy' https://ift.tt/RluTSos January 15, 2025 at 04:25AM

[darkmaga-returns]

Even with a clean sweep of the White House, including both Houses of Congress and a Supreme Court firmly committed to the rule of law, will a Trump victory make any real difference in the end if the Democrats refuse to go along with the results?

By Regis Martin Crisis Magazine

November 9, 2024

Not since the heady days of George McGovern, whose capture of the Democratic Party in 1972 ended in utter ignominy with the Nixon landslide, have two political parties been as deeply and bitterly divided as they were in this latest election, which ended on a clear if unexpected note of triumph for Donald J. Trump. Breaching the Blue Wall by the early hours of November 6 and then smashing his way to a complete conquest of the popular vote, a free and fair election has thus catapulted him to become the next president of the United States.

What an astonishment it proved to be. My wife and I went to bed the night before glumly aware that only bad news would greet us the following day. But like the little boy in that magical movie who, thanks to a father’s sacrificial love, gets to take the tank home, we nearly died laughing for all the joy we felt on hearing the news.

But even with a clean sweep of the White House, including both Houses of Congress and a Supreme Court firmly committed to the rule of law, will a Trump victory make any real difference in the end if the Democrats refuse to go along with the results?

Won’t it instead confirm their worst fears regarding this most hateful man, who from the very beginning they have assiduously sought to vilify and destroy? Yes, they will certainly have to agree to a peaceful transfer of power, to which end both Kamala and her boss, Joe Biden, have already sent their brief congratulatory messages. But it is one thing to concede the outcome of a contest you failed to win—which Kamala managed, belatedly, to do—and something else again to lay down the weapons with which you have been waging an ongoing war. “I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” she added defiantly.

So, to actually hand over the keys to the Executive Office, to authorize the exercise of real power and authority to someone you’d been regularly referring to as another Hitler, how exactly is that going to work? Especially after having referred to millions of his supporters as no better than garbage.

[pluviowriting]

Everything I Didn't Say Chapter I

The Littlest Witch

18+ || MDNI || Content Warnings: Mild language maybe, mostly just some fluff

~~~~~

My Dearest Cordelia,

It’s been a month since I left you. An entire four weeks. I don’t believe we’ve ever gone this long without seeing each other, even over the summers. I loved when you’d visit during the summers, or when I’d go to you. Feldcroft felt like home again when you stayed. Especially during the year when Anne wasn’t there. You always made the days feel longer and shorter at the same time. How I wish to feel that way now. These simply must have been the slowest four weeks of my entire life. I miss you immensely, my favorite witch.

I’ve made it to America, if you can believe it. This land is massive. I’ve spoken to representatives at MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America, though I’ve only heard that name once since being here. They use the acronym like it’s a word. Mack ooh sah. It’s the most interesting dialect). I have to admit, they’ve been a decent help but no one here appears to have a concrete answer as to what truly plagues Anne and how to rid her of it.

I hope you, Anne, and Ominis are well. I hope the three of you are spending time together in my absence and that I’ll get to join you soon. Do you miss me like I miss you, my love? Even just the thought of you, picturing the way your hair falls over your shoulders, the little scar across the bridge of your nose, it makes me feel lighter. Warmer. Like I’m imagining my home. Hopefully that’s what we’ll be to each other when I return. Home. You’ll always be mine even if I can’t be yours.

I love you, Cordelia Graham.

Yours always,

Sebastian

~~~~~

“Anna Sabine Graham! You get back here this instant!” Cordelia called after her sprinting child, but it was no use. They had both spotted their favorite heads of bright red hair from across Hogsmeade Square, and there was no force on earth that could keep that little girl from them.

“Gare-Gare!” Anna hollered as she moved as fast as her little legs could carry her, her mother’s voice falling on deaf ears. “Nana Tilda!”

There was an audible “oof” as the body of the four year old collided with the torso of her favorite uncle. Garreth Weasley had managed to squat down before she made it to him, and he rose to stand with Anna on his hip.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite little witch. Where’s your mumma, love? I heard her shouting for you.” Garreth looked over the square, smiling when he saw his frustrated best friend. “Ah there she is. Hello Cori. I believe I have something that belongs to you. Or rather someone,” he greeted, the teasing tone a constant in his voice.

The young woman shook her head, chuckling at the fact Anna was already chattering nonsense to her former professor and Garreth’s aunt Matilda. The older woman was nodding enthusiastically as she listened to every word coming out of the freckled girl’s mouth. Cordelia couldn’t ignore the way her heart melted at the sight. Garreth and Prof– Matilda had been there for her throughout the past five years. Both Weasleys had tried to encourage her to reach out to Sebastian when she finally confessed to who had fathered Anna - though the both of them knew that he had been the only possibility long before her confession. It was an argument they had lost enough times to no longer bring it up when they spent the afternoons together.

“Hello Garreth. Matilda.” She smiled as she greeted the Weasleys before she grabbed Garreth by his shoulder and turned him so her daughter was no longer facing the older woman, and the pair were face to face.

“You know better than to go running off when we’re visiting Hogsmeade, Anna. You always need to be near an adult when we leave home.”

Though a majority of a decade had passed, Cordelia still worried about the followers of the men she fought as a child. Even with the numbers of Ashwinders, Poachers, and Loyalists having dropped dramatically since she was a student, her paranoia was always prevalent when she and Anna visited Hogsmeade. She could defend herself just fine, and in a square surrounded by other witches and wizards, she wouldn’t fight alone. She worried about one quietly taking her child in some delayed and twisted eye-for-an-eye move for the deaths of Rookwood and Ranrok.

In a look that she didn’t know she got from her father, Anna’s big brown eyes got even bigger before she batted them at her mother. Her bottom lip jutted out just slightly and wobbled as she was scolded. “‘M sorry mumma. I wanted Uncle Gare-Gare. I see’d him and I was essited.”

As if to emphasize her point, the small child wrapped her short arms around the man’s neck and tucked her head into his shoulder. Cordelia groaned softly and ran a hand down her face. It was so much harder to stick to reprimanding her daughter when she reminded her of the boy she once loved, and frankly still loved. For the millionth time in the last five years, she internally cursed Sebastian Sallow for it.

“We were going to see them, you little rascal.” She reached out and tousled the warm brown curls atop Anna’s head. “If you do that again, I’ll have to tell Uncle Garreth that he can’t carry you around and you’ll have to walk all on your own.”

Her threat was punctuated by two gasps, one from the child she was scolding and the other from the man-child holding her. The hand resting against the middle of Anna’s back moved to cradle her head.

“Cordelia, you wouldn’t,” Garreth admonished, as if it would be just as much a punishment for him as it would his niece.

“I would. She’s old enough to walk around Hogsmeade on her own two feet, Garreth. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who saw her prove that as she made her way across the square to get to you, was I?”

He didn’t dignify her question with a response, instead turning with a huff. “Come along, little witch. Let’s go see what creatures Madame Peck has in the store today, yeah?”

Cordelia heard a cheer as the troublesome pair walked away. She watched them until she lost sight of Garreth, and she finally turned to Matilda with a smile.

“Hello Matilda,” she muttered before wrapping her arms around the older woman. She knew she had already greeted her, but she had been preoccupied then.

There was no better feeling on earth than one of Matilda Weasley’s hugs, the former Slytherin was sure of it. Matilda was the closest thing she had to a mother, considering the woman had been supporting all of her endeavors since her first day at Hogwarts.

“Hello Cordelia. Good to see you as always. The both of you, of course. Even though it seems we aren’t interesting enough to keep the attention of the other half of our party.”

The women decided to take a seat outside of Steepley and Sons, spending their time catching up. Matilda was looking forward to the upcoming school year in a few months, informing Cordelia that her former potions professor, Professor Sharp, had become the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor after Hecat’s retirement, and that none other than Garreth would be the newest member of the staff come fall.

“That scoundrel! He never even mentioned that to me! It’s not like I haven’t seen or written to him at all this summer,” she huffed, shaking her head good naturedly.

The women continued their chatter until a little voice drew their attention, signaling the return of Anna and Garreth.

“Mumma! Nana Tilda! I gots to pet a puff-ein!” The child boasted, pride practically radiating from her entire being.

“Oh, did you now? And I assume you were on your best behaviour then if Madame Peck allowed that.”

Anna nodded as she smiled from ear to ear. “Yes mumma. You can even ask Gare-Gare. He says I was so good!” On cue, Garreth nodded as he sat down across from Cordelia, still holding his niece in his lap.

“Did Madame Peck let you pet any of her beasts, Professor Weasley?” Cordelia leveled the man with her best motherly stare as she felt the corners of her lips twitching upward. She wasn’t truly upset with her friend, of course, but she wasn’t going to pass up the chance to heckle him. Especially not when he had been sitting on news like this.

”I was going to tell you at dinner.” He had the smarts to look sheepish when he was called out. “Speaking of dinner, Cordelia, what do you feed your child? She’s been lamenting  about being hungry since halfway through visiting Brood and Peck.”

”She just knows you’re a fool, Garreth. She had a snack before we left. She was trying to lure you to Honeydukes.”

The man’s face turned the color of his hair as he realized he had once again been busted. While the little witch hadn’t ratted him out yet, it was only a matter of time before she did. Cordelia wouldn’t be the least surprised to hear about it.

With the discussion turning toward dinner, the group decided to head towards The Three Broomsticks. The owner, Sirona, greeted them as they came in like she always did. The four sat and ate, enjoying each other’s company for hours. The three adults only realized how late it was getting when Anna had fallen asleep in her mother’s lap while Cordelia ran her fingers through her hair.

The child was woken up slightly to say goodbyes, but she didn’t even lift her head from her mother’s shoulder. Cordelia bid her goodbyes to the Weasleys, promising they’d have to do this once more before the school year started and the pair would be returning to Hogwarts. The young woman also bid goodbye to the woman behind the bar, giving her a wave with Anna’s limp hand as she left.

Using the floo, they were home in no time. She managed to get her daughter into sleep clothes and tucked into bed in seemingly record time. With a kiss on her forehead, Cordelia left Anna asleep in her bed before she tucked herself in for the night.

~~~~~

The following week was just like any other week. Every morning Cordelia woke Anna, they had breakfast, got dressed, and traveled to Keenbridge. They’d spend the day working in Cori’s apothecary, with Anna either resting in the back room, or working with her mom prepping some of the more stable potion ingredients. On the slower days, Cordelia would teach her child spellcasting. As well as she could without the little witch having a wand of her own, anyways. Wooden spoons worked wonders as fake wands, and there were plenty of those to be found.

”You’ll move your wand like this, little love. Watch mumma.” She made sure she had her daughter’s attention before moving the “wand” she used to demonstrate spells to show her the movement for the spell levioso. Her chest filled with pride as she watched Anna copy her movements practically perfectly. “Good job! And the spell is levioso.”

Proving she had inherited smarts from both her parents, the small child brandished her wand the way she had been taught, and her voice filled the shop as she shouted. “Lebioso!”

“That’s it little love! Brightest witch of your generation, I’m sure of it. Would you like to see what the spell does?”

Anna nodded eagerly, looking up at her mother with bright eyes. Cordelia chuckled before casting the spell on an empty pot in the back corner and the child stared on in awe. Their moment was interrupted by the shopkeep from next door popping her head in. Eleanora specialized in beast byproducts, something that Cori was happy to assist with in a pinch. In return, the kind woman would watch Anna whenever it was needed.

“Oh we’re learning levioso today, hmm? How exciting.”

Cori smiled at the young woman she called a friend and bent to kiss the top of Anna’s head. “Alright, well if Miss Eleanora is showing up, that must mean it’s almost lunch time. You be on your best behaviour, little miss. I want to hear that you’re the best behaved girl in Keenbridge when I return from lunch, alright? I love you.”

“I love you too, mumma.” The little girl wrapped her arms around her mother’s legs in a hug goodbye before Cori left, using the floo to travel to Upper Hogsfield.

Every other week she had a standing lunch with her fellow former Slytherin, now Ominis Sallow, as the man couldn’t wait to get rid of his family name once he had married Sebastian’s sister Anne. She sighed softly as she saw him sitting at their usual spot and she hurried towards him.

“I’m sorry if you’ve been waiting, Ominis. I had a fussy customer I just couldn’t get rid of quick enough.” The lie rolled off her tongue easily, but it tasted like the kerosene that lit the lamps in her home at night.

“Oh, I haven’t been here long, Cordelia. I’m glad you made it.”

“Come now, Ominis. You know I wouldn’t miss our lunches for the world. How has Anne been?”

“She’s been managing. The brew you brought last has actually been a decent help. It doesn’t prevent them, but if she takes a dose when they come on, it seems they’re shorter and they take less out of her.”

Helping Anne Sallow was part of the repentance she paid for keeping her daughter a secret from Sebastian’s family. She would’ve helped the woman regardless, but it was more personal knowing that she was the only reason she didn’t know she had a niece. Her pregnancy had prevented her from attending their wedding as well. The invitation for the elopement came during her third trimester, and she had ended up in labor a week before the wedding took place. She was in no shape to leave her newborn, and even though she did long to attend, at that time she wouldn’t have been able to keep Anna a secret from one of her dearest friends and his wife, her namesake.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it. I’ll have to brew more and when we meet for lunch again in a couple weeks I can make sure you have a fresh stock and she won’t run out.”

“That would be lovely, Cori. Thank you. From both of us. Perhaps if Anne is having a good day, she might tag along.”

Cordelia blanched at the idea and her appetite immediately lessened. It had been intentional that she hadn’t seen Anne since their fifth year, in the aftermath of what she still only called The Catacomb Incident. She still had nightmares of what conspired that night, even if everything had been alright since the fall of their seventh year. “That would be lovely. I haven’t seen Anne in years.” The witch hoped her tone didn’t match how she looked, and it was one of a few times she was relieved her friend couldn’t see her.

With how easily Ominis continued their conversation, she was relieved by the fact that she had been convincing enough. Their lunch hour seemed to fly by as they enjoyed food and each other’s company. Like always, there was no mention of Sebastian. In the early months of her pregnancy, even the mention of his name was enough to send Cordelia into heart wrenching sobs. Enough lunches went by with Ominis trying to bring the other wizard up in conversation to let his friend know that he was doing well, but he would never get past the phrase “Sebastian sent a letter” before he was interrupted by her blubbering. He stopped mentioning the other Sallow after the third month and he hadn’t tried to bring him up again since.

As the pair regaled each other on their lives the past week, she filled her friend in on the news she had learned from Matilda just a week before. Ominis was even more shocked than she was to hear the trouble starter from their years in potions class together would now be teaching it.

“Garreth Weasley, a professor?! And the potions professor no less! Hogwarts will burn to the ground by the winter, I’ll almost guarantee it.”

Cordelia couldn’t hold back the laugh that bubbled up from her chest. “Ominis! We’ve all changed since we’ve left school. I’m sure he’ll do well. And Matilda will still be keeping an eye on him.”

The blonde grumbled and shook his head, which prompted another laugh from the woman sat across from him. She did have to concede that she had a similar train of thought when she had learned of this as well, though she had been more hopeful that the Gryffindor could at least make it through one year before he burned their former school to ashes.

As it did every time, lunch felt too short. After finishing their meals and saying their goodbyes, the duo parted ways. Cordelia waited for Ominis to leave before popping into one of the smaller shops in Upper Hogsfield to get a treat for Anna before she returned to Keenbridge. With the chocolate frog in her bag, she apparated back to her shop, the pop and bell above the door announcing her return.

“Anna! I’m back, love!” She called through the shop before realizing it was empty.

She shook her head before leaving her shop and heading next door to Eleanora’s. Of course they ended up over there. The second she opened the door, she could hear familiar footsteps heading towards her.

“Mumma you’re back!”

“I am. Where’s Miss Eleanora? I need to talk with her and figure out if you’ve earned the treat in my purse or if it’ll have to wait.” She squatted so she could be nearly the same height as her daughter, allowing the little girl to press a kiss to her cheek before she reciprocated the same affection. “Can you sit and wait? I’ll only be a minute, alright?”

Anna nodded, returning to the little desk that Eleanora had conjured for her to use when the other witch was watching her. True to her word, Cordelia’s conversation with Eleanora was short, and soon she and her daughter were returning to their own shop with friendly goodbyes thrown over their shoulders. Upon their return, Anna got the treat she was promised, and the rest of their day went on like it always did.

After the years of uncertainty in her youth, Cordelia thrived in her life of routine. It worked for her, it worked for Anna, and she was sure there was nothing that was going to throw a wrench in their routine. She had worked hard to give her daughter the life she didn’t get, and it would take a massive change to ruin that. A massive change like the unannounced return of Sebastian Sallow to the Scottish Highlands, but that wasn’t something Cordelia thought she had to be worried about.