#NY hammer killings

[basingstokemercury]

So uh

Does communism not have any symbols aside from the hammer and sickle?

[caruliaa]

there was a little carulia fic thing that i started as part of like. a collection of little carulia fic things whichi inevitably gave up on when i gave up on the idea of the collection of little fic things but i may finish the little carulia fic thing on its own esp since it was def like. thee most well developed idea i had for it

[dolche-tejada]

So I wanted to point out the usual nonsenses coming from Tony Stark antis and luckily enough, one of them made a post quoting pretty much most of their popular "arguments" (if I can refer to them as such), so let's take a look at this user’s main points and see how solid they are.

"Let's talk about the horrible shit Tony has done in the MCU"

Please keep in mind the "horrible shit" term all along during your reading.

"MCU Tony has mortared a city full of civilians"

Okay so first point and it literally never happened. USA's government did that to Wanda and Pietro's town, not Tony so I hope it wasn't too painful to pull this nonsense out of your ass.

"Been a complete dick to all of his teammates"

Oh no... he was mean to Steve and his coworkers during their first movie ? What a complete tragedy, what a heartless monster. Please stop the violins, otherwise I might weep.

"Made multiple misogynistic comments about women mainly Natasha (looking at you prima nocta scene)"

Okay so you gave only one example to back this up and it's when he was obviously joking with his friends. Even if that joke may be in very bad taste, that doesn't make him a horrible person like you tried to demonstrate, you're just nitpicking.

"Manipulated a 16 year old into getting into a war with his former teammates"

A) "a war" please don't make me laugh. For most of the only fight Peter take part in, both sides were joking with the other while fighting and weren't even fighting seriously, they were just trying to incapacitate each other. Things only get messy after Tony ordered Peter to step back.

B) Tony didn't manipulate shit. He hid no vital informations to Peter and while bringing a 16 year old to an arrest was indeed a stupid decision, he knew Steve wouldn't harm him and that Peter was strong, competent and equipped enough to deal with him.

"Thought he was completely justified for trying to kill Bucky for something Bucky did unwillingly cuz he was fucking brainwashed"

Why the fuck are you lying ? At no point Tony justified himself for this. He tried during the whole Civil War plot to ease things with Steve and this even after his best friend got disabled for life because Steve escalated the situation at the airport, only to learn then that his friend lied to him all along about his parents' death.

At this point Tony just didn't care anymore and while he was obviously wrong for trying to kill Bucky, it's not like he had no understandable reasons to go after him. Brainwashed or not, most people would try to obliterate their parents' murderer if he stood right in front of them.

"Repeatedly mocked Bruce Banner who was filled with self loathing and even tried to kill himself because of how much he hated being The Hulk"

Firstly he joked with him, not about him. Secondly, Tony was the only one who respected Bruce from the start and never treated him like some ticking bomb ready to explode.

"Created most of the villains in the MCU (Mysterio and Co., Vulture, Aldrich Killian, The Maximoff Twins, Justin Hammer, The Flag-Smashers etc)"

Okay, where do I even begin on that.

Quentin Beck was a narcissistic asshole who got mad because his boss called his invention "B.A.R.F", that and Tony tossing it aside because this tech was way too expansive for its very limited applications. So not Tony's fault if Beck had an ego more fragile than a soap bubble.

Hammer tried to destroy Tony's image and Stark Industries first, so Tony defended himself by revealing he crippled a man by trying to replicate his tech. Hammer fucked around and found out, not Tony's fault if he's an hypocritical idiot.

Concerning the Flag Smashers, the reason they became terrorists wasn't caused by Tony bringing back half of the universe, it was due to the Global Repatriation Council's disastrous resources management.

About Toomes, Tony had no prior knowledge of the contract he signed with NY and even if he did, leaving dangerous alien tech in the hands of random people is quite a moronic idea, as evidenced by what they did with this tech for years. Not Tony's fault if Toomes is delusional and sucks at his job.

Aldrich Killian ? Be fucking real, he became a super-villain just because Tony ignored him, an archetypal greasy-haired nerd who literally drools as he talks, for a pretty chick on New Year's Eve.

Like obviously, when a serial killer stab someone to death, the most logical reaction is to blame those who assemble knives at the factory rather than the murderer himself, makes perfect sense to me.

The Maximoff Twins, my god this argument again... Yeah let's blame the guy who designed and sold weapons to his government rather than, oh I don't know, the fucking guys who used them against civilians ??

"Which also means he's also had some hand in the deaths caused by all these characters"

Literally none of the characters you quoted became super-villains because of him.

"Created Ultron"

He intended to create a security system against other alien invasions and it resulted in a genocidal robot, which only happened because Wanda mindraped him some hours before. Tony is responsible for Ultron's creation, Wanda for what he became.

And I don't want to see anybody whining in my mentions that he already planned to design Ultron prior to her mindraping him, not when she had this fucking grin after seeing Tony taking the Mind Stone with him.

Let alone when she threw this line, later in the movie : I saw Stark’s fear. I knew it would control him, make him self destruct.

She knew letting him take the Stone would cause something awful that might also kill him and she used her powers to make him even more paranoid. She's responsible for Ultron going from "A suit of armor around the world" to "Genocidal Murder Bot", not Tony.

"Thought it was a good idea to have a newly created AI be exposed to The Mind Stone which caused Ultron to kill JARVIS and go rogue

A) Which again wouldn't have happened if Wanda hadn't mindraped him the same day.

B) He didn't consciously exposed Ultron to it, the Mind Stone corrupted the AI on its own, something Tony and Bruce had no way to predict.

C) Still not his fault anyway. Ultron is sentient, he takes his own decisions. Tony being his "father" doesn't change anything to this state of fact.

"Profited off of war by making weapons of mass destruction and selling them"

Something he's spent over a decade to make amend for, notably by closing his weapons division and dedicating his life and resources to helping people and saving the world.

"Bought illegally obtained vibranium stolen directly from Wakanda by Klaue"

False too. All we know is that they met each other at the time Tony was still designing weapons ; and that Klaue told him he was looking for something new. At no point was it implied Tony illegally bought vibranium from him.

"Technically responsible for more vibranium being stolen from Wakanda by Klaue due to Ultron"

This vibranium was already stolen by Klaue when Ultron met him.

"Being responsible for everyone who died in Sokovia's death because he made Ultron"

So following your reasoning, I guess Jeffrey Dahmer's parents are responsible for every murder their son committed from his own free-will ? Did I get that right ?

"Being unwilling to help Steve and the others fix the Blip cuz muh daughter"

My god, how dare he... being against playing with time and rather trying to accept what happened while taking care of his family.

And this when we know screwing up with time can cause world-ending events.

Truly a proof of how horrible of a human being he is, indeed.

Btw I like how you ignored that Tony changed his mind and helped them afterwards.

"Supported The Sokovia Accords which need I remind you all Tony is technically responsible for The Accords being made because A. he's the one who killed Wanda's parents (blah blah blah, a lot of false attributions later...) causing her to kill Crossbones and a building full of people"

Still isn't him who dropped those mortar shells on her house. Just like it's not him who pushed Crossbones to go suicide-bombers, wrote the Sokovia Accords and incited 119 countries to sign them.

"and B. he is literally responsible for what happened to Sokovia BECAUSE HE MADE ULTRON"

Already answered to this shit, let's continue.

"Referring to Wanda as "a weapon of mass destruction" in Civil War"

Lmao because she isn't ? No one forced Wanda to join a terrorist organization, pal. Just like no one pushed her to act as a weapon of mass destruction, by using her powers to send Hulk on a rampage across Johannesburg or by enslaving Westview.

"meanwhile HE is the REASON SHE has her powers in the first place"

Sure, Tony whispered in her ear every night to go serve as a guinea pig for Nazis in order to get her revenge on him. I forgot this part of Wanda's backstory, silly me.

"Falsely imprisoning the heroes that didn't sign The Accords because he's a cunt"

Tony don't have any power or authority to imprison people, and the heroes he stopped got incarcerated because they indeed broke the law, you jackass.

"Being technically responsible for all the deaths caused by Wanda in Wandavision and DSATMOM because if he didn't kill her parents with his mortar..."

I don't think you know what "technically" means.

"then her and Pietro wouldn't have went to Hydra thus not getting their powers from The Mind Stone"

You know what would have actually prevented all the deaths Wanda caused ? Her not willingly joining Nazis to get her powers and going on a murder spree.

"And you are probably thinking "But he sacrificed himself at the end of Endgame !""

To save the whole universe indeed. That and quite a few other things, such as :

Outright refusing to help terrorists and getting tortured as a result.

Risking his life to save Yinsen.

Saving Afghans villagers from terrorists.

Saving Pepper and SHIELD's agents from Obadiah Stane.

Actively saving people on a daily basis, and this for a decade.

Developing a shit ton of armors to protect people more efficiently.

Saving New York and the world overall from Chitauris.

Stopping Killian from taking over the USA.

Curing Pepper from the Extremis treatment.

Designing Veronica with Bruce.

Fighting Hulk to protect Johannesburg.

Saving the world once again, alongside the Avengers.

Awarding promising students with the funds to develop their own projects and inventions.

Granting his tech to Peter and designing for him two suits that allowed him to save many lives.

Saving Stephen's life from Ebony Maw.

Helping the Avengers to travel in other timelines.

"Let me ask you this : If Strange had hold Tony that the only way to defeat Thanos is if Tony sacrificed himself would Tony do it"

It's literally what happened during Endgame, you fucking bozo. What do you think was the meaning of this scene ?

And it's not like it was something new, he was always ready to die for others' sake, right from the start, did you even watched the first Avengers movie ?

No wait, even better : Have you at least watched the beginning of his first solo movie ?

I wasn't expecting anything from Tony antis but sucking that hard at watching a movie is quite impressive ngl.

"Bottom line is MCU Wanda sucks and Tony Stark sucks"

Yeah no shit, that's pretty easy to say when you're making up lies to support your hate boner.

So in conclusion, this dude has no idea of what he's talking about and neither does Tony antis in general for using these bs as arguments.

[moneyndior]

୧ ׅ𖥔 ۫can’t stop thinkin’ ‘bout you, baby!⋄ 𓍯

…in which, luke introduces percy to the, in your humble opinion, best zeus kid.

tags/warnings: luke x gn!reader, reader is inspired by mcu! thor, blubbly-ish reader who kinda like teases luke back, reader is mentioned to have a certain pull factor to them, established relationship-ish, reader is mentioned to have mjolnir, reader has lighting powers, kinda seen through percy's eyes.

ೃauthor notes..⁀➷: tumblr csn u be normal for once thank you. just let me post ny shit in PEACE THANK YOU.

—

"and this, percy, is y/n. child of zeus."

"you're the kid that killed that monster? oh my gods, hi!"

you greeted, grinning from ear to ear. percy thought this was a lovely change of pace from the normal greets he's gotten so far.

he got a small, shy yet awkward smile on his face. percy waved slightly, only lifting his forearm. percy wanted to ask more about you being the child or zeus, but his thoughts got quickly cut off.

"why don't i get a greeting like that?"

percy heard luke ask behind him. even though he couldn't see the brunette-the grin on his face was obvious from his tone.

you got an offended look on your face, brows pinched together.

"you totally do!"

percy pierced his lips together as he realized what was gonna be happening. he was gonna be in the middle of you two bickering. he sighed as luke spoke up with a chuckle in his voice,

"yeah, i guess."

he took a step forward, ruffling your hair before resting a hand on your shoulder. percy shifted his weight left to right before speaking up, cutting luke off mid-sentence.

"what's it like being the child of zeus?"

percy liked your reaction —like you've been waiting to talk about this. and for some odd reason, so did lukes. expect his was like he was ready to talk about you rather than zeus.

"y/n's the best fighter around. other than me."

"stop it."

you elbowed luke's side, putting a quick end to him boosting his own ego.

"i think it's pretty cool! i love using lightin',it's so pretty. like-i got this hammer, right? and,"

even though you managed to talk percy's ear off, he didn't seem to mind. he quite liked hearing you ramble even if he wasn't in the mood for it. you had a certain aura to change it.

luke just seemed to like hearing you talk. he looked at you like you personally made lighting itself, like you're the one making the sun rise and set. he looked at you as if you put everyone else to shame with just a smile.

"can i see the hammer?"

"you wouldn't want to. you can’t even pick it up."

"i'll show it whenever i'm training next."

you spoke immediately after luke, putting on a smile as a finger extended out toward his arm, a spark of lighting emitting from it.

he hissed in pain for a second, rubbing his arm as luke looked over to you. percy chuckled, enjoying seeing you use your powers.

luke nodded once, basically telling him to start walking to their next place of interest. percy begrudgingly obliged, but not before sneaking a little glance over to what was happening between the two of you.

luke was hovering over you, leaning forward, your faces almost touching. he had a hand on your hip, the other in his pocket. you two were giggling, sparks at your feet.

quickly—you went on the tips of your toes, kissing his cheek before waving him off, walking away to the kids in the aphrodite kids who were oo-ing.

luke had a hand on his cheek as he rushed to percy's side. sure, he was a little flustered and sure it costed him a little bit of his reputation..but who cares?

[sammy-lawrence-child]

BATIM/BATDR ship headcannons????

-i am not doing every single god damn ship so i'm only doing ones that i actually like. Also the BATDR ones are purely what everyone else theorizes or what I think personally about what happens after-

Sammy x Norman:

- Sammy's defiantly a bottom ong

-Norman does most of the cleaning up after se-

-Their first kiss was purely accident, Sammy was facing a different way while Norman was coming over to ask him something. Sammy turned and BLAM they kissed

-Norman towers over Sammy.

-Whenever Sammy tries to tease Norman, he teases him back, making Sammy flustered.

-At first glance Sammy looks like the dom/teasing one and Norman the Sub/easily flustered one. In reality its the complete opposite.

-Neither of them actually confessed. Norman invited Sammy to lunch one day, they had a good time, went for a walk around NY, went to Normans house, kissed, fucked, then boom dating.

-(in machine) Sammy tried to convince Norman to pray to bendy once...it ending in a hour long chase, a little fucking, then Sammy getting killed

-(After BATDR) Norman didnt get his body back cause..idk...so Sammy just carries him on his shoulder or holds him since he can't walk anymore *o^o poor Norman*

Susie x Sammy:

-Susie hinted for the longest time about her liking him, Sammy just thought she was weird

-Their first date was in the recording booth while working after time, their first REAL date was at a nice little dinner.

-Susie once made Sammy a chocolate cake..just for Wally to eat it *not referencing to the game at all*

-Sammy's first kiss with Susie was the day after getting hammered..and still being a little drunk the next day...

-Susie normally wears flats, but when she wears heals she's taller than Sammy by half an inch

-(in machine) Susie once caught Sammy in her domain, so she went out of her way to hunt him down, flirt with him, get things all loving, then stabbed him in the chest, took his mask off, then left. *we love sammy abuse >v<*

-(After BATDR) After Susie got her memories back the first thing she did was kiss Sammy, stab him in the shoulder than go apologize to everyone (Henry, Buddy, 'Allison', ext.)

Henry x Linda:

-Highschool sweethearts ong

-Their first kiss was at night with the NY lights all around them..or underneath a tree getting ready for the fall weather.

-They waited till after marriage to have kids

-Henry proposed to her while on vacation to somewhere that wasnt at JDS or NY

-They had two kids, a boy and a girl *....no i am NOT getting that from a really good comic that you guys should defiantly go read...*

-(in machine) Henry would fiddle with his wedding ring whenever he was sad, nervous or thought about Linda

-(After BATDR) Audrey made an ink version of Linda so that Henry would have his love with him forever

Allison x Thomas:

-They first met after Allison almost face planted into the floor cause she slipped on ink

-Wally set up their first work date. Which was just moving table and chairs to the side then playing music on a record player. Not so romantic but Allison enjoyed it.

-Thomas is actually really quiet, unless it's just him and Allison

-They got married after they got fired from JDS

(Ink clones)

-Alison doesn't mind that Tom can't talk, they actually made up a system for them to talk to each other

(After BATDR)

-Allison and Tom had gotten the memory's of Alison Pedal and Thomas Connor after Audrey took control. So they decided to have their own mini wedding. Which Henry was the priest, Sammy composed music, Alice(Susie)the bridesmaid and Buddy the best man, and Dappers the ring barrier.

[little-lamb-lyosha]

I need to [remember that suicide jokes are detrimental for mental health] KILL NY DAD WITH A HAMMER EXPLOSION

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Gabe Fleisher at Wake Up To Politics:

Historically, the closest parallel to what happened last night is probably the assassination attempt of Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. Like Donald Trump — who was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday — Roosevelt was a former president when he survived a gunman’s fire. Also like Trump, Roosevelt at the time was running to reclaim the White House, in the midst of a campaign speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Finally, and most importantly, the attempts on both men’s lives will likely be best remembered for their defiance in the face of a would-be assassin. In his case, Roosevelt continued delivering his speech, even as a bullet was lodged in his chest. “It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose,” he famously declared, going on to speak for another 50 minutes before seeking medical attention. Secret Service protocols would not allow such a display today; still, the attack on Trump will forever be defined by this instantly iconic image, of Trump’s face streaked with blood, his fist raised in the air, the American flag waving behind him. It has been 44 years since a federal elected official (Allard Lowenstein, a New York congressman) was successfully assassinated in the United States, a streak that often masks the fact that political violence has been steadily increasing over the last decade.

This is not the 1960s — when a president, a presidential candidate, and several civil rights leaders were killed in a five-year period — but more from a lack of successes than a lack of trying. It has not been an era, thank God, of murdered politicians, but it has been one of dangerously close shaves. On January 6, 2021, rioters came within 40 feet of then-Vice President Mike Pence, as Trump supporters chanted for his hanging and searched for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), among others. Less than two years later, Pelosi’s husband sustained an attack by hammer; if a police dispatcher had not understood his coded messaging, he may have ended up with worse than just a skull fracture. In 2017, doctors told Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) that he had been “within a minute of death” after being shot at a congressional baseball practice. Then-Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) also survived gunfire, but she has never fully regained the ability of speech after a 9-millimeter bullet cut through her brain in 2011.

A man made it just outside of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house in 2022, armed with a pistol, knife, hammer, crow bar, and zip ties, but his assassination plot was foiled when he called the police himself, his second thoughts having taken over. Someone made it even closer to then-Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) one month later, climbing on stage during a gubernatorial campaign rally; thankfully, the attacker was armed only with a keychain. Quantifiably, according to a University of Maryland database, political violence since 2016 has been at its highest levels in the U.S. since the 1970s. Before 2016, the U.S. Capitol Police had never opened more than 1,000 threat investigations in a single year; last year, more than 8,000 threats against members of Congress were investigated. Similarly, “investigated threats against federal judges have risen every year since 2018,” according to the U.S. Marshals Service, while election officials are also facing an unprecedented level of menace.

The threats were all able to be foiled, but several — like the bullet that whizzed just inches away from Trump on Saturday — came horrifyingly close to fruition. And oftentimes, even as the politicians live, others become collateral damage of our toxic politics. Yesterday, at least one American was killed simply for attending a political rally of their preferred presidential candidate. [...] Rarely do Democratic or Republican officials stop to acknowledge that their own side might have a role to play in our divisive politics. Instead, when horrors like last night’s unfold, each side reliably finds a way to blame the other party, which only serves to exacerbate further the cycle of hatred and violence that brought us to this point. Even in their responses to tragedy, more toxicity flows loose.

Gabe Fleisher details in his Wake Up To Politics newsletter the history of close calls that would have resulted in the death of various politicians over the past decade and a half or so, such as Gabby Giffords, Paul Pelosi, Steve Scalise, Mike Pence, and most recently, Donald Trump.

[happynewyear-99]

Would u. Kill this amimal wth hammers

ohh tough question... see his atoms would recombine and ny efforts at murder would be meaningless because he can not die as much as he and i wish he could

[mecharose]

the problem is downtown ny has like narrow ass horse and buggy era streets so ppl will cross against the light no prob. midtown tho. if u bring that energy up there i am killing u with hammers. and maybe my car

[ziptieparty]

ny husband keeps fluttering his eyes at me killing him with hammers

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - April 16th

 Here’s what I’ve read this week! I spent a little bit of time in the world of polyvewngers, so it’s shorter than normal but--enjoy!! Give your authors a comment & kudos as you read! 

~*~ 

Initiative Test Prep by plingo_kat

A day in the life of Steve Rogers, SAT tutor.

Drawing From Life by kdm103020

In which Steve cannot stop himself from drawing a certain someone.

Touchy Feely by MusicalLuna

After an encounter with Justin Hammer, Tony starts to feel—and act—strangely.

two for the show by meidui (orphan_account)

Tony is forty-five years old when he doesn’t believe in soulmates anymore.

lay your soul bare, your armour down by meidui (orphan_account)

“Now that you’re standing here, I just realised,” Zemo says softly, menacingly. “There’s a bit green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw.”

Steve is filled with an eerie dread as it occurs to him that Zemo was never after Bucky. He was after Steve.

The flecks of green in his famous blue eyes aren’t flaws. Dishonesty is a flaw. He thinks Zemo knows what he’s been keeping from Tony, and Steve is suddenly hyperaware who he’s trapped in this chamber with.

one more moment of this silence by Red (S_Hylor)

Tony can see ghosts. Not just any ghosts, but ghosts of people how haven't found peace yet, or refuse to. Ghosts of people whose bodies have never been found.

The closer to their bodies he gets, the more he sees them, an ability, or a curse, that he uses to help the police find body's of missing people.

It's never easy.

The Truest Story Never Told by Veldeia 

To pass the time as they wait for rescue in the Catacombs of Paris, Tony tells Steve the story of how he ended up with the repulsor pump.

Afternoon Delight by greyduckgreygoose

Tony watched with narrowed eyes as Rogers nodded politely to Natasha. They exchanged quick, familiar smiles, which suggested that they knew each other better than the acquaintances they seemed to want Tony to think they were. Up close, Rogers was even more attractive than he had appeared on camera, a touch of blonde stubble along his jaw, large square hands.

He also had a nice ass, not that Tony was particularly staring.

“Mr. Stark,” Natasha said, as they both stood before Tony’s desk. “May I introduce Steve Rogers? Or, if you prefer, Captain America.”

Degrees of Separation by plingo_kat

Oh god, what if Jarvis infected Dummy with, with emotions. Jesus Christ.

I've got you under my skin by sirona

Five times Beijing 2008 Olympics Gold Medalist Tony Stark thinks it's going to be no more difficult a job to get ready for London 2012, than what he has just achieved. That is, of course, before Coach Fury comes to visit, and offers him a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a part of something much bigger than himself. Swimming AU.

None of This is Righteous Anger by Catchclaw

“Shut up, Sheriff,” Tony says, both his fists in Steve’s shirt now, that tin star poking, his heart a dead pound in his throat. “Unless your next sentence is let me take you to bed, because otherwise, you can go straight to hell.”

While Everyone's Lost (The Battle Is Won) by jukeboxhound

Steve closes his eyes in 1945 and wakes up in 2012.

Well. They certainly didn’t put that on the recruiting poster.

Prototype Automated Neuro-Tactile Unit 0 - New York Labs by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)

ANT-0-NY is one of a kind. The man that programmed him was killed before his code could be duplicated, and for all that his later owners have tried, no one can get the code out of ANT-0-NY's head. So he gets sent off to work instead, putting his considerable talents to work for the police department. The only issue is that his partner seems to routinely forget that he's just an android.

not so different, you and i by Anonymous

Three years ago, the idea that Tony Stark being one of her best friends would have been something she’d laugh at.

Not even laugh- she’d have given whoever suggested it a dry look and changed the subject.

Dreaming Electric by jukeboxhound

New York City is still rebuilding in the wake of the Chitauri army when the biotech virus Extremis is released, upgrading a lone domestic terrorist into a posthuman threat. Tony would’ve been happy to keep going on playing with alien tech in his lab, saving average citizens as Iron Man, and pretending not to notice these other people moving into his tower, but sometimes a person just can’t have nice things.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Four More Years

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 22, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 23, 2024

With the passage of the national security supplemental bill through the House of Representatives on Saturday, Punchbowl News noted today, President Joe Biden became the winner of this Congress. When the Republicans took control of the House in January 2023, they vowed to impeach Biden and members of his Cabinet, overturn the signature legislation the Democrats had passed in 2021 and 2022, and force the Democrats to accept draconian  immigration policies. 

Instead, the impeachment effort against Biden collapsed into ridiculousness as, after months of hearings by the Committee on Oversight, Democrat Jared Moskowitz of Florida moved to impeach Biden and asked committee chair James Comer (R-KY) to second the motion. Comer refused. That admission that the point of the investigation into Biden was to create media soundbites against him was widely assumed to be the end of that project. Last week, on April 17, the top Democrat on the committee, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, called it “a propaganda experiment” and asked Comer: “What is the crime that you want to impeach Joe Biden for and keep this nonsense going?... Tell America right now.” Comer answered: “You’re about to find out very soon.”  

The House did, in fact, vote to impeach Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas—the first time that a cabinet secretary has been impeached in almost 150 years—but senators refused even to hold a trial, saying that Mayorkas’s implementation of Biden’s policies in the absence of congressional legislation to provide more security at the border was not a high crime or misdemeanor. 

House Republicans did not get the deep cuts they wanted to funding for the Internal Revenue Service, measures to address climate change, social welfare measures, or the budget in general. Instead, leaders have had to rely on Democrats to carry the weight of keeping the government funded, while Republicans have repeatedly been caught touting the internal improvements they voted against. Republicans demanded a strong border security measure, forced senators to spend months hammering one out, and then killed it in an astonishing own goal, at Trump’s demand. And the extremists did not succeed in abandoning Ukraine. 

Instead, they have had a bruising fight in which they threw out their own speaker, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and had trouble replacing him. Shortly thereafter, he left Congress, leading the way for more than 20 Republican representatives, including five committee chairs, who have said they will not seek reelection. They had to expel one of their own members, George Santos (R-NY), a serial liar who is under indictment for crimes associated with campaign financing—only the sixth time in U.S. history the House has expelled a member. 

In November 2023, extremist representative Chip Roy (R-TX) charged his colleagues with throwing away their shot at changing the country. He demanded one of them “explain to me one material, meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done.” 

Now those opposed to the extremists are firing back, publicly charging them with killing border security. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) went further, telling Dana Bash of CNN on Sunday: “It’s my absolute honor to be in Congress, but I serve with some real scumbags. Matt Gaetz [R-FL], he paid minors to have sex with him at drug parties. Bob Good [R-VA] endorsed my opponent, a known neo-Nazi. These people used to walk around with white hoods at night. Now they’re walking around with white hoods in the daytime.”

The chaos of the House has shifted the weight of governance toward the White House, and Biden has taken advantage of that shift to put in place measures popular with the majority of Americans. Today, on Earth Day, Biden also honored the idea of a government that works for the people when he spoke at the Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia, a national park developed in the 1930s by the government’s Works Progress Administration under the New Deal.

Biden called attention to the country’s historic investment in addressing climate change under his administration. He noted that that investment has created a clean-energy manufacturing boom that has attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in private-sector investment and created more than 270,000 new jobs. 

In Virginia, Biden announced $7 billion in federal grants for solar projects for more than 900,000 low- and middle-income households, saying those projects would save those households about $400 a year annually, more than $350 million total. The projects will also create nearly 200,000 jobs. 

Biden also announced the launch of the website to apply to join the American Climate Corps (ACC), an initiative modeled after New Deal president Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Over its nine-year existence, the CCC employed more than three million young men improving the nation’s public lands, forests, and parks, many of whom earned their high school diplomas thanks to the educational opportunities connected to the program. 

When the administration unveiled the American Climate Corps program last year, more than 42,000 young people expressed interest within weeks. The first ACC jobs will start in June. Beginning this summer, ACC members will have access to training in trades, thanks to a partnership between the program and the North America’s Building Trades Unions’ nonprofit partner TradesFutures. 

This national shift toward a government focused on the good of ordinary Americans is facing a backlash.

As right-wing voices have lost control in Congress, they have worked aggressively to take over states. There, they have pushed extreme abortion bans, gutted labor laws including for child labor, restricted voting, banned books from public schools, worked to privatize education, and so on—precisely the sort of reactionary state movements the U.S. Supreme Court used the Fourteenth Amendment to undermine from the 1950s to the 1970s. 

Today, on Earth Day, The Guardian reported that Louisiana’s flagship state university, Louisiana State University (LSU), has permitted oil and chemical companies to influence research and teaching activities concerning climate change in exchange for donations to the university. 

The attempt to cement right-wing dominance in the states in opposition to a more liberal national government is a political tradition almost as old as this country, but in 2024 it is being challenged. On Friday, April 19, Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted overwhelmingly to join the United Auto Workers (UAW), despite a letter from the Republican governors of six southern states—Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas—warning the workers that unionization would stop auto manufacturers from expanding in their states.

Similar votes, with similar opposition from Republican leaders and business interests, failed in 2014 and 2019. This time, 73% of the workers voted to join the UAW, which has just negotiated strong contracts with the Big Three U.S. automakers. In a statement, Biden said: “Let me be clear to the Republican governors that tried to undermine this vote: there is nothing to fear from American workers using their voice and their legal right to form a union if they so choose. In fact, the growing strength of unions over the last year has gone hand-in-hand with record small business and jobs growth alongside the longest stretch of low unemployment in more than 50 years. I will continue to stand with American workers and stand against [Republicans’] effort to weaken workers’ voice.”  

Tennessee reporter Phil Williams noted that the Beacon Center, a right-wing think tank in the state, tried to tell Tennesseans that the UAW has a “radical political agenda,” but its own latest poll shows that the people of Tennessee view the UAW’s unionization efforts in the state favorably. (The research also shows that only 12% of likely voters in Tennessee believe the current U.S. tax system is “fair and effectively supports public services.”) 

Today also saw the opening statements of The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump. The prosecution outlined a 2015 meeting in Trump Tower in which Trump, his then-fixer Michael Cohen, and David Pecker, the chief executive officer of American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, struck an agreement to influence the 2016 election by finding negative information about Trump and hiding it, publishing flattering stories about Trump, and attacking Trump’s political opponents. 

The defense said Trump is innocent and called Cohen a liar, pointing out that he is a convicted felon (without noting that he committed crimes in Trump’s service). 

Pecker took the stand for about 20 minutes before court ended for the day. He is expected to testify again tomorrow. 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[bighermie]

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Job Creators Network Times Square Billboard Slams AOC for Bragging About Killing 25k Jobs in NYC https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/03/07/job-creators-network-time-square-billboard-slams-aoc-for-bragging-about-killing-25k-jobs-in-nyc/

[isaacapatow]

ISAAC "IKE" APATOW | COUNCIL MEMBER Age: 58 Born & Raised: North Washington State Hometown when virus was released: Brooklyn, NY Town Job: Supply Scouting & Procurement (raiding. It's raiding) Previous job: GM at a recovery step-down

~ || ~

Ike grew up with trouble, only he didn't know it; in the tiny unincorporated settlement of Ark, isolated in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, it took till he turned twenty to realize that the rest of the country didn't live that way. Not in a place with a total of eight families who intermarried and believed they were descendants of the Apostle Matthias, who lived strictly off the land, who revered the Holy Bible but were only allowed a curated collection of the Relevant Words.

Some things happened, the sorts of secret and terrible things that isolated religious cults are built on, and Ike found he didn't have the stomach for what he was intended to be to his clan and the community. He struck out from Ark -- alone and in secret, and hitched his way across the country to get as far as he could. It wasn't an easy transition. The world rushed in fast and he wasn't used to independent autonomy, and first liquor and then drugs helped with that, and the whole time, sex. The best and fastest way to make things make sense or get what he needed, except it never resolved into anything more even when he thought he could handle a relationship. He probably had kids. He didn't know how many, or where they were. A lot was lost, those years on the street or in dingy SRO housing.

But he turned it around and got gainful employment at the Good Apple halfway house in Brooklyn he passed through a few times on detox step-down, managing to make it all the way up to general manager. Still no luck on the lasting relationship front, but Ike didn't sweat it. He never lacked for companionship if he wanted it, and the folks in his charge kept him busy.

When the virus hit, the marginalized population that Ike lived and worked with saw its effects hard -- and got blamed for it, of course. He almost felt vindicated when it spread and upstanding outstanding folks kakked it too, without the sin of a needle in their arms or fucking for money. But then it kept on spreading, and people started dying in droves. And then coming back. Ike took stock of what he had in Brooklyn to stay for, and he decided, one more time, to get out.

Alone, again; only this time he didn't only have to navigate a strange and dangerous world, but he was actively having to not be killed. Ike was capable of plenty, and he knew it, but the trek out to West Virginia gave him experiences and knowledge of himself that he'd never wanted. Had buried since the days in the Ark.

Eventually, wrung-through and on his last thread of stamina, Ike fell in with a gang of scavengers calling themselves the Reavers who had a plan. Some huge farming compound headed by a bunch of suckers who didn't know what a good thing they had. It seemed plausible and Ike didn't protest ... until they got to Redwood. And they were given shelter, and he looked around him and saw one of the few lingering bastions of human community and cooperation. The Reavers launched their attack and Ike didn't stand with them. He fought on the side of Redwood.

Rebuilding wasn't a time for suspicions, especially since Ike had got good and bloodied during that battle, and he pitched in with a sense of relief. All the ugly, rank things he'd done between Mid- and Redwood, he hammered them away and kept them locked down tight. A Council member of Redwood couldn't waste time regretting the survival that brought him to this place. There was too much living to do.

[ additional info ]

~ || ~

[tempvsfrangit]

MCU.

Still dunno what to do here. Likely been said elsewhere, but saw another article type thing about The Avengers "time heist" and how could Cap put the stones back where they came from. The thing is... he didn't have to put any of the stones "back" (putting Reality Stone {Aether} back into Jane, meeting Red Skull again). He knew exactly where and when all the other Avengers teams would be, so all he had to do was show up at the proper time and relative dimension in space and hand the ready-made stone he had *to them* which would leave the already existing stone untampered-with; no re-violating Jane, no dying of Nat, no meeting of Agent Smith mk2. Angel Gabriel gets to keep their Time Stone and Camp Lehigh doesn't get broken into because future Cap hands Team NY all three stones, no need to figure out how to get the Space Stone back into the Tesseract cube-form. That Cap likely did go back to 1945-ish, but did *not* hook-up with Peggy of that time. He took a cue from Fury and stayed behind the scenes with the knowledge he has. He left clues for the SSR to find the proper Steve of that time so Agent Carter could have the Captain Rogers she had known. He Left clues so they could also find and rescue Bucky before he was too far Winterized. He led a peaceful delegation to Wakanda and may have still kept their secrets so they themselves could control how much info was released. He helped advance scientific findings for the SSR and eventually SHIELD and set-up better protocol and vetting so Hydra didn't insinuate. Steve was twelve years older (First Avenger to Endgame) and had far too many miles to try and go back to his "old life"; he left that Peggy and Steve alone, though may have still sent holiday cards from "Uncle Tony" and may have even been godfather to Howard Stark's son. With his help advancing science and still having his old time heist wristwatch, they developed a side-slip so he could pay a visit to his older old life as "old Cap", gifting a new shield to Sam which may have been identical to the shield he'd made for the Sam he knew from his "Ideal World". TVA likely left him alone because... well, it's kind of cool if this may have happened in one of their multiverses. People saw Old Steve "OMG WHY DIDN'T HE [do all this stuff and stop bad things and save friends and and and]!!!" In my headcanon, he did all that and saved many lives and prevented lots of badness, hence referring to the branch timeline as "Ideal World". Saved young Steve so he could be with young Peggy, saved Bucky from Hydra, stopped Zola before he started, helped Howard (both Stark and the Duck) be not so distant from his family, likely vacationed in Sokovia, helped Wakanda find a balance of being selective about what info is released so N'Jobu didn't die for his beliefs. "Hey Nat, hey Clint; here's the stone you need. Don't go up that mountain; trust me" as well as "Thor, Rocket. The Aether is already in this stone-shape and here's a spare hammer since this time's Thor will really need his very soon." None of this helps Loki, since he killed his own father in the first movie (Laufey-son, Laufey was about to kill Odin in his sleep) and was responsible for his adoptive mother's death ("to the left"). Huh... Thanos didn't conquer the Nine Realms; maybe Odin was the worse-r villain. That's a different topic, though. This was more to get alt-Cap and Ideal World out of my head.

[thyladyofathousand-n-onehobbies]

Child of the Sun

For the @flashfictionfridayofficial​ prompt:

For my Overcoming the Monster story

(Not my best writing)

(I’ll probably re-write it)

----

“Welcome to the city of Rising Sun!” Exclaimed Nala with more energy than Cal, Nys and Prieer had combined.

“So, how are we doing this, cuz I’ve never been here, and I am not comfortable with either Nys or Prieer leading us.” Cal asked tiredly.

“I’ll be the tour guide,” Nala said with an eye roll, “I’ve been here before.”

“Cool, let’s just go, already.” Prieer huffed impatiently.

They hadn’t even started, and Nys already had the distinct impression they should have stayed on the ship with Lace. 

–

Okay, points to Nala, she knew what she was doing, and Nys commended that. But there was still the small, little, insignificant fact that 3 out of their 4 party members were wanted by the Guard. Yeah, he could admit it, it would not be the smartest move to walk right in front of the Guardsmen.

So, what did they do?

They walked in front of seven fucking Guardsmen with swords

(God, kill him now)

So they ran, which led to where they were now: running across a field of golden sunflowers, having been split off from the group. 

Chest heaving, lungs and limbs screaming, and adrenaline pumping, with scratches across his arms and face (who knew sunflowers could be sharp?) 

They didn’t notice the steep, muddy drop in front of him until they fell down, rolling and tumbling, hitting his head probably too many times to be healthy. 

They laid there

And fuck, Nys didn’t even notice if the Guard was still following, because, fuck, they couldn’t fucking breathe–

Panic set in, and their vision blurred

He couldn’t fucking breathe

He couldn’t fucking breathe

They were stuck in a stupid muddy ravine, and couldn’t breathe.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-

Their vision went dark

–

Nys awoke with the distinct, unpleasant feeling of anxiety creeping up on him, like he was missing something or late. 

They also awoke 1. Without a binder, 2. With someone hovering over them, and 3. In a way too bright room

 - (Some stuff I haven’t figured out) - 

Nys stumbled over to the clanking of metal. 

Standing over an anvil, was a girl hammering away at a piece of metal.

And maybe it was the golden sheen to her dark skin, or the aura of warmth around her, but Nys knew

She was the child of the Sun