#Northern Governors

[morganablenewsmedia]

Tax Reform Bill: Northern Senators Seek Suspension

Tax Reform Bill: Northern senators seek suspension as it passed the second reading Various Senators from the Northern part of Nigeria have sought the suspension on the controversial Tax Reform Bills which has recently passed the second reading. The move was made on Monday amidst a meeting, highlighting possible adverse effects it might have on the North. It can be recalled that the members of the…

[postcard-from-the-past]

Governor general of Lạng Sơn, northern Vietnam

French vintage postcard

[bnnywngs]

for once i'm not gonna talk about fanfic today, i just want to rant a bit, sorry it's going to be a big one

this year, 2023, we're having the worst summer of all times, every day it's the hottest day of the year, we're breaking so many records of temperature, water levels and etc, it's quite tough to be living

i live in manaus, in the state of amazonas in brazil, it's in the middle of the amazon rainforest, a big city of 2 million people and very few trees (yes.), we basically have 2 seasons (influenced by the equator line that runs above us) that is raining season (between december and may) and summer (june to november), the average temperature during these seasons are, i think, between 23°C and 29°C, and 35-40°C, besides high humidity

well, not anymore!!! because of el niño, climate change etc, things changed and now we're living through hell with little to no action from local government

the temperatures are high (39°C one of these days, and the feeling is way, way higher than that, like 47°C) and ok, we're kinda used to it, even if it's not healthy at all, BUT the humidity it's really really low (45% right at this moment, i'm used to more or less 70-80% on average), and the river are the lowest of all times since they began to record it

you can see how low it is here

the sun is so hot it's making the water hotter, and it's literally killing fish and our river dolphins! and some places the waters are so shallow, they can't breath and are dying too

not only that, but we're having to deal with forest fires, that are not natural, it's NOT normal. we don't have spontaneous fires. we don't. it's usually humans who puts it on fire either accidentally (very rare) because since i don't know when people burn their trash (it's actually against the law now, but...) and they throw cigarette butts through the car window etc, or it can be for capitalism purposes (owners of farms, illegal tree cutting, etc etc), and also, people have no sense of environmental protection, so they throw their garbage anywhere - river, side walk, forest, you name it - so we have stray pieces of glass that, with this damn heat and low humidity, it's starting fires.

and the smoke isn't going anywhere. it's here, around us, in the city (and we're not the only city going through it), we're breathing smoke. all i can see through my window right now is smoke. i can barely see. (here)

lol i just received a text from the government, it's the first since the smoke started a month or so ago

lit. translation: "civil defense: forest fire alert, with impacts on air quality in the metropolitan area of manaus. follow the instructions from the local defense."

btw this is from google few minutes ago:

36°C = 96,8°F

air quality of this morning, from local journalist, Mário Adolfo:

apparently, because of el niño, there's no wind, so the smoke isn't moving, that highly impacts quality of air and our health, i don't know how's to live a day without feeling like i'm either about to faint or throw up, my nose hurts, my throat hurts, my eyes are dry, my lips are cracking....

HOW CAN WE LIVE LIKE THIS FOR FUCKS SAKE

i want to cry, i really want to cry, or throw myself through the window. i can't, i just can't live like this anymore, my whole apartment smells like smoke and the windows are closed fUCK

btw, big national newspaper last week: how's the dry season of the amazon is going to impact your black friday shopping

what a joke

[africaprimenews]

Northern Governors Reject Tax Reform Bill,...Say Its Against Interest Of Northerners

By Joseph Edegbo  The meeting of the Northern State Governors Forum has ended in Kaduna with a unanimous rejection of the recent Tax Reform Bill sent to the National Assembly. In a 12 point Communique signed by the Forum’ s Chairman and Governor of Gombe State, Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, they said the Forum notes with dismay the content of the Bill. ” The contents of the Blare against the interests…

[touchaheartnews]

Breaking: Bandits Kill Katsina Governor’s Aide and Wife, Abduct 28 More

In a tragic and alarming development, armed bandits have executed a brutal attack in Katsina State, Nigeria, resulting in the death of a prominent aide to the Governor and his wife. The attack, which occurred in the early hours of [insert date], also saw the abduction of 28 individuals, adding to the growing concerns about security and safety in the region.   The incident unfolded when a group of…

[justsomeunsurefancat]

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM BISAN ON HER INSTAGRAM

Today in Khan Yunis! This might be our last call, we are dying! Gaza is completely collapsing! Everything in it collapses. There were dozens of raids and three hospitals were besieged in Khanyounis: Al-Amal Hospital affiliated with the Red Crescent, Al-Khair Private Hospital, and Nasser Medical Complex, the largest health institution in the Gaza Strip. People killed in the bombing were buried on front of our eyes in the hospital yard due to tanks blockading the streets, the wounded were on the ground without treatment and there was not enough medical staff! Massacres are still being committed On the 109th day of the war, Khan Yunis, the largest governorate in the Gaza Strip and the one that receives the most displaced people, is under bombardment, and the number of displaced people in Rafah is more than one and a half million people, in an area of 151 square kilometers!! We are facing hepatitis and intestinal diseases in the southern Gaza Strip, and starvation to death in the northern Gaza Strip! Yesterday, people in the northern Gaza Strip began grinding animal feed to get flour! Take to the streets, protest, strike.. make pressure on the decision makers by striking the economic movement! Call for a ceasefire!

[i-am-aprl]

wizard_bisan1 Today in Khan Yunis! This might be our last call, we are dying! Gaza is completely collapsing! Everything in it collapses. There were dozens of raids and three hospitals were besieged in Khanyounis: Al-Amal Hospital affiliated with the Red Crescent, Al-Khair Private Hospital, and Nasser Medical Complex, the largest health institution in the Gaza Strip.

People killed in the bombing were buried on front of our eyes in the hospital yard due to tanks blockading the streets, the wounded were on the ground without treatment and there was not enough medical staff! Massacres are still being committed

On the 109th day of the war, Khan Yunis, the largest governorate in the Gaza Strip and the one that receives the most displaced people, is under bombardment, and the number of displaced people in Rafah is more than one and a half million people, in an area of 151 square kilometers!!

We are facing hepatitis and intestinal diseases in the southern Gaza Strip, and starvation to death in the northern Gaza Strip! Yesterday, people in the northern Gaza Strip began grinding animal feed to get flour! Take to the streets, protest, strike.. make pressure on the decision makers by striking the economic movement!

Call for a ceasefire!

[athena5898]

(Quds) — According to the Food Security Sector, a coalition of numerous humanitarian organizations, Palestinian farmers incurred an estimated loss of over 1,200 metric tons of olive oil during the 2023 season, translating to a direct financial setback of $10 million. The situation was particularly severe in the northern governorates of Tulkarm, Qalqiliya, and Nablus, where “Israeli” settlers stole and destroyed olive crops, and “Israeli” occupation forces prevented farmers from accessing their lands.

[reality-detective]

On this day in 1992, Randy Weaver and his family were attacked by Federal law enforcement at their home on Ruby Ridge in Boundary County, Idaho. What began on that day would quickly become known as one of the most egregious examples of Federal police tyranny in the nation's history. 👇

Randall Claude Weaver, who preferred to be called Pete as he hated his given name, was born in Villisca, Iowa to poor farming parents. One of four children, his family was extremely religious, though they often struggled to find a denomination that fit their beliefs. In 1968, Weaver dropped out of high school and enlisted in the US Military. 👇

While home on leave, he met his future wife, Victoria "Vicki" Jordison. In 1971, Weaver left the Army at the rank of Sergeant and a month later, he and Vicki were married. Randy quickly enrolled in Community College with the goal of becoming an FBI agent, but the high cost of tuition prevented him from completing school. He found work at the local John Deere factory while his wife became a homemaker as they began having children. 👇

Over time, they began developing a deeper and deeper distrust of the government, and Vicki began having "visions" that the Apocalypse was coming. The family decided their only option was to move off the grid. They spent time among the Amish, learning how to live without electricity. Then they emptied their life savings of $5000 to buy the small mountain property in northern Idaho. 👇

In 1984, their troubles began. Randy had a falling out with neighbor Terry Kinnison, over a $3,000 land deal. Kinnison lost the ensuing lawsuit and was ordered to pay Weaver an additional $2,100 in court costs and damages. Kinnison took his vengeance in letters written to the FBI, Secret Service, and county sheriff, claiming that Weaver had threatened to kill Pope John Paul II, President Ronald Reagan, and Idaho governor John Evans. 👇

Randy and Vicki Weaver were interviewed by the FBI, Secret Service, and the County Sheriff. Police were told that Weaver was a member of the white supremacist Aryan Nation and that he had a large gun collection in his cabin. Weaver denied the allegations, and no charges were filed. 👇

The Weavers filed an affidavit in 1985, claiming their enemies were plotting to provoke the FBI into killing them. The couple wrote a letter to President Reagan, claiming a threatening letter may have been sent to him, over a forged signature. No such letter ever materialized but, seven years later, prosecutors would cite the 1985 note as evidence of a Weaver family conspiracy against the government. 👇

One of the Weaver's neighbors, Frank Kumnick, was a member of the Aryan Nation, and invited Randy to attend a World Aryan Congress in 1986. Unknown to either man was that Kumnick was already a target of the ATF. 👇

While at this "Congress", Weaver met a man posing as a gun dealer who was actually an undercover ATF agent. Randy invited this man to his home to discuss forming a resistance group against what they called the "Zionist Occupation Government". 👇

Later that same year, the ATF would charge Weaver with selling that informant two sawed-off shotguns. 👇

The ATF offered to drop all charges, as long as Randy was willing to become a confidential informant. Randy refused. The indictments came down shortly after, claiming that Randy was a "bank robber" with an extensive criminal history. These allegations were of course fabricated. However, Randy was still arrested and then released, pending trial. 👇

Trial was set for February 20, 1991 and subsequently moved to February 21, due to a federal holiday. Weaver’s parole officer sent him a letter, erroneously stating that the new date was March 20. A bench warrant was issued when Weaver failed to show in court, for the February date. Randy was, despite being completely unaware of it, officially labeled a fugitive from justice. 👇

The U.S. Marshals Service agreed to put off execution of the warrant until after the March 20 date, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office called a grand jury, a week earlier. It’s been said that a grand jury could indict a ham sandwich and the adage proved true, particularly when the prosecution failed to reveal parole officer Richins’ letter, with the March 20 date.

The episode fed into the worst preconceptions, of both sides. Marshalls developed a “Threat Profile” on the Weaver family and an operational plan: “Operation Northern Exposure”. Weaver, more distrustful than ever, was convinced that if he lost at trial, the government would seize his land and take his four children leaving Vicki, homeless. 👇

Federal surveillance of Ruby Ridge began. Marshalls attempted to negotiate over the following months, but Weaver refused to come out. Several people used as go-betweens, proved to be even more radical than the Weavers themselves. In a rare show of reason under the circumstances, Deputy Marshal Dave Hunt asked Weaver neighbor Bill Grider “Why shouldn’t I just go up there … and talk to him?” Grider replied, “Let me put it to you this way. If I was sitting on my property and somebody with a gun comes to do me harm, then I’ll probably shoot him.” 👇

On April 18, 1992, a helicopter carrying media figure Geraldo Rivera for the Now It Can Be Told television program was allegedly fired on, from the Weaver residence. Surveillance cameras then being installed by US Marshalls showed no such shots fired and Pilot Richard Weiss, denied the story.  Even so, a lie gets around the world, before the truth can get its pants on. (Hat tip, Winston Churchill, for that bit of wisdom). The ‘shots fired narrative’ now became a media feeding frenzy. The federal government drew up ‘rules of engagement’👇

On August 21st, 1992, six Deputy US Marshalls entered the property to provide ground level reconnaissance and choose a spot to ambush and arrest Weaver. Deputy Marshall Art Roderick threw rocks at the cabin to see how the dogs would react. The cabin was at this time out of meat and, thinking the dog’s reaction may have been provoked by a game animal, Randy, a friend named Kevin Harris and Weaver’s 14-year-old son Samuel came out with rifles, to investigate. Vicki, Rachel, Sarah and baby Elisheba, remained in the cabin. 👇

When Striker discovered the team's locations, on of the Marshalls shot and killed the dog. This caused a brief firefight. By the time the shooting stopped, Deputy US Marshall William Degan had been shot and killed by Harris. Tragically, 14 year old Sammy was also dead, shot in the back by the Marshalls while trying to help his dog. 👇

The situation quickly spiraled. The National Guard was called in, as well as SWAT teams and helicopters. The Weavers moved Sammy's body into a small shed near the main house, then retreated into the house. 👇

The next day, August 22nd, Weaver and his 16 year old daughter Sarah, along with Harris, left the main house to enter the shed Sammy's body lay. FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi fired from a position some 200 yards distant. The bullet tore into Weaver’s back and out his armpit. The three raced back to the cabin. Horiuchi’s second round entered the door as Harris dove for the opening, injuring him in the chest before striking Vicki in the face as she held baby Elisheba, in her arms. Vicki did not survive. 👇

Two days later, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Danny Coulson wrote the following memorandum, unaware that Vicki Weaver lay dead:

“Something to Consider

1. Charge against Weaver is Bull Shit.

2. No one saw Weaver do any shooting.

3. Vicki has no charges against her.

4. Weaver’s defense. He ran down the hill to see what dog was barking at. Some guys in camys shot his dog. Started shooting at him. Killed his son. Harris did the shooting [of Degan]. He [Weaver] is in pretty strong legal position.” 👇

The siege of Ruby Ridge would drag on for ten days. Kevin Harris was brought out on a stretcher on August 30, along with Vicki’s body. Randy Weaver emerged the following day. Subsequent trials acquitted Harris of all wrongdoing and Weaver of all but his failure to appear in court, for which he received four months and a $10,000 fine. 👇

In August 1995, the US government avoided trial on a civil lawsuit filed by the Weavers by awarding the three surviving daughters $1,000,000 each, and Randy Weaver $100,000 over the deaths of Sammy and Vicki Weaver. Randy would pass away on May 11, 2022, after a long illness.

The atrocity at Ruby Ridge would not be the end of the story. Six months later, many of the same agents would be involved at the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

The story of the Weaver family and Ruby Ridge reminds us all that just wanting to be left alone is often not an option. The Federal government, in particular the FBI, ATF, and US Marshalls, used deception, outright lies, and terroristic tactics, all in an attempt to entrap a man who refused to become an informant against his neighbors. 👇

History is not what we were told. Everything is a fμ¢%in' lie. 🤔

Posted August 21, 2024

[historic-meme]

Thinking about Leo Frank today and how even though there is a historical consensus he was completely innocent modern neo-nazis still put up websites claiming he was a child rapist and murderer.

Thinking about how this defilement of his memory is just a continuation of the antisemitic violence he faced in the last years of his life and is what killed him.

Thinking about the ease with which goyim, and white people specifically, accuse jews of heinous crimes. As if the main evidence and reasoning needed is that the accused is a Jew. Everything else is secondary.

Thinking about the local newspaper that was able to increase its circulation from 25,000 to 87,000 almost entirely on spewing antisemitism while reporting on the Frank case.

Thinking about how when the first major Northern newspaper reported on the case they considered the antisemitism in Atlanta to be a “natural” consequence of the Jews banding together to support Frank. A classic case of blaming Jews for antisemitism.

Thinking about how the mob, that tore Frank out of his jail cell, dragged him back to Marietta and then finally lynched him, were spurred by the fact his sentence had been commuted from the death penalty to life in prison.

Thinking about how the lynching was not a moment of angry mob violence but rather a carefully crafted plan. That these men sat around planning for months on how to inflitrate the prison, kidnap Frank, and then return to Marietta to hang him before the authorities could do anything about it.

Thinking about how after the lynching men, women, and children came by to grab “souvenirs” from the site including pieces of the clothes Frank was wearing. They sold postcards of photos taken of the lynching. They were all very popular.

Thinking about how the photos that clearly showed the lynchers were not published for fear of being arrested. Thinking about how no one was ever charged with the lynching due to the protection of the local community.

Thinking about how when the leaders of the lynch mob were named in 2000, it included the Governor of Georgia the year Mary Phagan was murdered, a future President of the Georgia Senate, and the Mayor of Marietta at the time.

Thinking about Judge Morris, a previous politician and at the time lawyer in the private sector who ran to the lynching site once he heard. How he calmed the mob and protected Franks body from further defilement.

Thinking about how the New York Times reported on his actions by calling him ‘the only hero of the Frank lynching’ in the same section where they quote him denying antisemitism had any part in the case and saying “The men who lynched Mr. Frank were intelligent men; they did it in an intelligent way...[T]hey brought him here to this town in the light of day, so that they might put him to his death in an appropriate place.” Later he said, “I believe Frank has his just deserts.”

Thinking about how this judge posed for a picture by Franks still hanging body.

Thinking about how eventually Franks body ended up in a local funeral parlor. Another mob threatened the parlor wanting to see the body and after bricks were thrown, they allowed people to file past his body.

Thinking about how these people who filed past Frank’s body probably thought he got what he deserved and were glad to see him dead.

Just thinking about how antisemitism never really changes.

[sebastianswallows]

The Little Death — 1. Captive of your desires

— PAIRING: Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen x Bene Gesserit!Reader

— SYNOPSIS: A Bene Gesserit gets left behind in the Arrakeen palace. When Feyd becomes the Planetary Governor, he finds her there in hiding. The Harkonnens don't traditionally keep them as truthsayers or concubines like other Houses do, but Feyd might have a use for her. After all, he's never had a Bene Gesserit of his own before.

— WARNINGS: choking and death threats

— WORDCOUNT: 2.2k

— A/N: I couldn't resist. I had to write more for him. Reader, I love him. This fic might go a little wild, because I want to play into this naughty boy's love for pain. Expect some subby Feyd, some inkpies, generally a messed up dynamic with an equally messed up reader. Hope you enjoy, my lovelies! 🖤

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty. — Bene Gesserit Coda

House Harkonnen fell upon Arrakis like a hammer — with a deafening crash and destructive reverberation. After the palace was ransacked and the most important figures murdered, their bodies piled high and set alight, the stragglers were hunted through the streets and homes of Arrakeen. There was a week of slaughter. By the end, nothing moved. All spice production had ceased. Then the violence left the city and spread out into the desert, and the whole hemisphere of the planet was captured.

Arrakeen sat near the northern pole, on thick bedrock surrounded by natural fortifications that protected it from worm attacks. It was a difficult place to escape from. Those who remained were understood to be loyal to the Harkonnens, or at least indifferent to who held the power. The Atreides rule had been brief enough to not have garnered that many supporters. Only the rumour of their goodness and grace had been planted, and the Harkonnens returned before those could take root.

There can be said to have been a second Harkonnen takeover once Feyd-Rautha arrived. The Baron’s youngest nephew. Word was spread �� or rather, been carefully planted — that he was the kinder, gentler of the Harkonnen brothers. The people greeted him like a saviour. Inside the palace, the atmosphere was more subdued.

It was a stark contrast to the transition from when Rabban came to power. No mass killings, no ransacking of rooms, just an orderly takeover through which the cold and calculating presence of Feyd-Rautha flowed. Furniture was rearranged. Staff was brought in from Giedi Prime. Brand new equipment arrived, especially for the spice harvesters.

The message was clear. The new planetary governor was thorough and exacting. Most of those in the palace breathed a sigh of relief, but there was at least one breath that stuttered.

She was there at his arrival, watching from a distance together with the throng of Arrakeen locals, Fremen and others, who gathered to see the procession. It was early in the morning, just before sunrise. He walked differently than other Harkonnen she’d seen. Rabban stomped through like a bull. The servants grovelled. The Baron was so fat he had to be suspended in the air. But this one, this one strolled through with confidence. Sleek and slender, he was beautiful in an inhuman way. That much she could make out from a distance.

He struck out at Fremen sietches on his very first day, using artillery fire and on-the-ground troops. An old way of doing things, but effective. It painted the new governor as precise, determined, and strangely honourable, and then word spread around the palace that he’d struck his own brother to the ground and made him kiss his feet. The word ‘humiliation’ was uttered. The news sewed a sliver of hope in the hearts of the longsuffering palace staff.

She had evaded close contact with the Harkonnens until then. It only made sense, as she was in hiding, slipping through the cracks of their negligence until she could procure safe passage off-planet, but that was getting more difficult by the day. What they lacked in caution, they made up for in paranoia, and all comings and goings were kept behind esoteric layers of bureaucracy. She was in the process of making contact with a smuggler when Feyd-Rautha gained governorship of the planet, and all her hopes were dashed.

It was the evening of his second day on the planet when she was called. The servant that summoned her looked at her like she was an apparition — which, in a way, she was. She had managed to remain undetected, keeping herself busy, staying out of sight, acting like she was meant to be there. She’d become part of the scenery and could dispel suspicion if anyone got too close. Her Bene Gesserit training was good for that if nothing else. But there was no escaping this. Somebody had finally found her and knew exactly where she was.

She followed the servant — a heavily armed pasty-white figure, crooked and willowy — to the chamber door of what she knew to be the largest office of the governor. He opened it for her, pushed her in, and locked the door behind her.

Like a tiny sun, a glowglobe floated through the room, its light falling on the smooth black surfaces of the furniture and the pale stone of the walls. She folded her hands before her, hidden by the long sleeves of her dress, and followed what the light revealed. The room was large and windowless, stripped bare of any useless item. The table was empty, the chairs were in their place, and upon the plinths set in the corners, no potted plants or works of art stood. Only one thing moved there, together with the light. Feyd-Rautha paced slowly, quietly, on the other side of the room.

“My lord na-Baron,” she said in a smooth and submissive voice. Her knees bent in a slight curtsy — respectful, but not too much. “You summoned me.”

She wore a garb that didn’t belong to any particular function. The long black dress would have fit just as well in the kitchens as in the cleaning staff, and the head covering was suited for the Arrakis weather, worn by any female. All of those with hair, anyway. The light material bent around her, giving her a slightly oval shape, soft and harmless. But when she looked up and caught the na-Baron’s gaze, he would have seen a sharper look there than that of any servant.

His eyes were cunning too. They looked upon her knowingly and with amusement, a strange manner for a Harkonnen.

“Who are you?” he asked with a playful squint.

His voice scratched across her skin like kitten claws. He didn’t sound the way he looked, and she admitted it surprised her. His tone, nevertheless, was gentle. Deceitfully kind. He could kill me in an instant, she thought, and take pleasure from it.

“My lord, I —”

“You were not on Rabban’s stafflist. I know that, because he didn’t have one. And you’re not on mine, because I didn’t ask for you. We have as of today an account of all the palace workers, but the list comes up with one extra room unaccounted for.”

Nights in Arrakeen were cold, but her skin just turned colder. What rotten luck, to be in the palace right when they decided to actually investigate who worked there and did what. It’s my own fault, she said to herself. I relied on their incompetence for far too long. Now I pay the price. So be it.

“I have been a servant in this palace for many years, my lord na-Baron,” she said with a slow bow of her head. “And I wish to serve you as well.”

“Is that so?” he purred, coming closer. His steps were lazy, but the pace was measured. He had more control over his body than his playful swagger let on. “Many years, you say? You worked for the Atreides, then?”

“And for Count Fenring before them.”

He stopped. She looked up at him from underneath her lashes and smiled in quiet satisfaction. Lady Fenring was a skilled Bene Gesserit sister and had lived in Arrakeen with her husband for many years before the Atreides decided on it for their capital. She was the most logical choice as a secret envoy to the Harkonnen heir. And if Feyd-Rautha met her, it could only mean one thing.

Uroshnor, she thought. He’s likely been imprinted with the usual prana-bindu phrase. It would stun him, if only for a moment. But long enough… It didn’t provide her a means of escape, but it gave her hope. It gave her room for manoeuvre.

“I am not a spy,” she said, straightening her back.

“Of course, a spy would say that.”

“You may test me in any way you wish,” she said with a playful chuckle.

Feyd’s eyes darkened at her proposition, a smile bending his full lips as he stepped closer. Oh, he could think of many ways to test her…

“What are you, then?” he asked, his voice scratching low and close as he stopped close enough to touch.

She could see now that his eyes were a clear blue. Not the sort of blue brought on by long-term spice exposure, that dark electric shade, but blue like water, like the sky, like a shard of ice. His jawline was firm — that of a biter. But his lips were pillow-soft and curled around the edges in a smile that wouldn’t go away. Lips made for laughing, made for kissing, made for love. He’s such a delicate boy. The thought ran through her mind before she realised.

“I served the Lady Fenring as a housekeeper,” she said.

“Lies.”

“My lord?”

“You’re one of them, aren’t you? A damn witch.”

She remained completely still, her eyes locked on his. He was trying to dominate her with a hard incessant glare, but she held his gaze merely for the pleasure of it. What a comforting colour they were on such a harsh planet… No matter the malice behind them.

“You’re a Bene Gesserit. I’ve met your kind before,” he continued, looking down her body in a cruel, suggestive way. “You hold yourselves the way no other women do.”

“Perpans not like Harkonnen women.”

He chuckled, the sound scraping up his slender neck. “All women in the known universe are the same, given the right circumstances.”

“But not the Bene Gesserit.”

“Yes, not you,” he sighed, head tilting as if his mind was trying to escape a painful memory.

His eyes stayed upon her figure, trailing down the contours of her dress. Then he reached out a hand and touched it, his fingers tracing a silky pleat so lightly that it barely moved. She felt it still, the slight disturbance his caresses caused, but willed her body to stay motionless. There was no trace of aggression in him now.

“Why are you still here?” he asked.

“You have not dismissed me, my lord na-Baron.”

He chuckled faintly. “I mean on Arrakis.”

“I wish to remain in the palace.”

“Why?”

“The deserts are harsh.”

“Many prefer that to serving a Harkonnen.”

“One master is as good as another.”

“I’m sure it must’ve felt like that to you,” he said, looking her in the eye again. His fingers left her dress and went to rest upon the hilt of a dagger at his belt. “So I take it you were one of Lady Fenring’s servants. A… fellow sister, would you call it?”

“I was part of her staff, yes.”

“And you didn’t leave with her and the Count when the Atreides came?”

“I remained behind to assist with training their staff,” she said with a bow of her head. Even now she retained a certain respect for that dead House.

“And Lady Fenring,” he hissed, the name dripping from his mouth like poison, “she never wanted to retrieve you?”

“I believe they think me dead.”

“Yes, she is not the sentimental sort,” he chuckled, and his cold gaze caught hers.

A dangerous thought was taking root behind those eyes, she could see it germinating. She waited, reading his body, scanning the minute changes in his expression, and tried to determine what went on behind that pallid mask.

There was envy there, and regret, and longing. The Harkonnens never kept Bene Gesserit truthsayers, nor were there any among the Baron’s concubines — all of them were young boys anyway. They were unique among the Great Houses in that way, and although she knew that Feyd’s mother had been a Bene Gesserit herself, he probably didn’t know what it was like to be raised by one. Why else would he be looking at her now as if he wanted to peel her clothes away, and then her skin, and reach toward her heart and grab it?

“How can I help my na-Baron?” she asked, her voice a whisper, her gaze a caress.

“By not getting above yourself,” he rasped with the air of slapping her offer away.

Her heart stuttered in her chest and she bowed her head to hide her terror. Did I read him wrongly? she thought to herself. I must not fear.

“House Harkonnen has no use for witches,” said Feyd.

She felt his strong hand grip her shoulder, slipping past the veil to curl around her neck. He stayed there, holding her in a half-choke just firm enough to feel her heartbeat in the palm of his hand.

“I ought to kill you,” he said sweetly, “and feed you to my darlings.”

Her lips parted, swelling slightly, and she felt her face go pale. The little death takes on a whole new meaning, she thought with grim amusement.

“But I do want to know one thing…”

“Yes, my na-Baron?” she asked in a shaky voice.

He breathed in sharply at the sound of it. He liked it. When she looked up into his eyes again, the grip around her throat felt not so much murderous anymore as it did greedy, possessive.

“I want to know… Do you have one of those pain boxes too?”

[postcard-from-the-past]

Governor-general of Hanoi on a pony with 4 umbrellas, northern Vietnam

French vintage postcard, mailed in 1907

[27moremoons]

General Directorate of Civil Defense in Gaza in a press statement:

The occupation is threatening citizens, whose number exceeds 200,000 people, in the areas and neighborhoods of the northern Gaza Strip governorate to evacuate their homes, committing massacres against civilians to force residents to flee and displace them from their homes.

This evening, the occupation threatened hospitals in the northern Gaza governorate to evacuate them within 24 hours, threatening to target hospitals.

[dragoneyes618]

"Two thousand years ago another Governor washed his hands of a case and turned over a Jew to a mob. For two thousand years that Governor's name has been accursed. If today another Jew were lying in his grave because I had failed to do my duty, I would all through life find his blood on my hands and would consider myself an assassin through cowardice."

- Georgia Governor John Slaton, June 21, 1915, commuting the death sentence of Leo Frank to life imprisonment.

In 1913, Leo Frank, a prominent Jewish Atlantan, was arrested and accused of murdering fourteen-year-old Mary Phagan, an employee in his pencil factory. Although the evidence against him was very weak, the prosecution insisted on trying Frank, carefully suppressing evidence pointing to his innocence.

Frank's arrest triggered an outbreak of antisemitism in Atlanta. Throughout his trial, the jury heard mobs outside the courtroom's open windows chanting, "Hang the Jew! Hang the Jew!" Subsequent to his conviction, "[a jury member confessed] to a northern reporter that he was not sure of anything except that unless Frank was found guilty the jurors would never get home alive" (Leonard Dinnerstein, "A Dreyfuss Affair in Georgia," page 101).

Despite the clear miscarriage of justice (among other things, the "star" prosecution witness against Frank had confessed committing the murder to his own lawyer, information that the lawyer apparently passed on to the judge), the US supreme Court refused to intervene, so that the decision whether or not to execute Frank was left in Governor Slaton's hands. Although assured by the powerful anti-Frank forces of a Senate seat if he let Frank hang, Slaton carefully investigated the case and became convinced of Frank's innocence. In the prevailing turbulent political climate, he was afraid to pardon Frank, hoping apparently that that would be done a few years later. Therefore, Slaton commuted Frank's death sentence, an act that permanently ended his political career.

Several months later, Frank was dragged from his prison cell by a mob consisting of, among others, two retired superior court justices, a former sheriff, and a clergyman. They lynched Frank; for decades, a picture postcard depicting his hanged body was widely sold throughout the South.

In 1982, sixty-nine years after the trial, eighty-three-year-old Alonzo Mann, who had been an office boy in Frank's factory, admitted that he had seen Jim Conley, ab lack employee at the factory and the chief witness against Frank at the trial, dragging the girl's body into the factory's basement on the day of the murder. Mann's mother had pressured him not to get involved in the politically charged trial. In 1986, the state of Georgia granted Frank a posthumous pardon.

-Jewish Wisdom, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, pages 482-483

[northgazaupdates]

18 February 2024

All parts of the Strip are in a food crisis. In every region, people are starving to death, especially children. A very small amount of food aid has been entering via Rafah and (until recently) Kareem Abu Salem/Kerem Shalom crossings. Rafah remains somewhat open, but still severely limited in what the occupation “allows” to enter. KAS is currently disabled due to “Israeli protesters” actively preventing the entrance of aid.

However, there is no open border crossing into north Gaza. The IOF has it completely blockaded, and has since late October/early November 2023. Practically no food aid has entered the north. On a few occasions (you can’t count how many on your fingers), pitifully small loads of flour (we’re talking a single van or small truck at a time) have entered via the blockade line south of Gaza City. However, as soon as people show up to receive the aid, they are bombed and/or shot by the IOF. Dozens of people have been killed in pursuit of aid the occupation never intended to let them reach.

It is primarily for this reason that northern Gaza is fully in the throes of a famine. Journalist Ismail goes into detail about the districts within northern Gaza, which ones are worst-affected, and how they came to be so. A full English translation was kindly provided by Instagram user semsem390, which will be reposted below.

The linked video is a copy of Ismail’s original footage, which has had English subtitles added by the account translating_gaza on Instagram. You can use the English subtitles from TG or the translation from semsem390, whichever works best.

What are the areas affected by the famine imposed by the occupying forces? And what are the areas located in the northern Gaza Strip? We have talked a lot but have not clarified what they are; this map below illustrates the areas.

To the north are the northern governorates of Gaza, adjacent to the central Gaza Strip, which in turn is bordered by the area controlled by the occupying forces. All of these areas from Gaza City are within the northern region. Continuing on the map, this is the central region, followed by Khan Younis, and this is Rafah. The famine is located in the northern governorates and the northern region, with approximately 700,000 inhabitants.

Unfortunately, all these residents are suffering from true famine. No assistance enters this area as the occupying forces consistently prevent aid from entering through the Beit Salim checkpoint and [Kuwait Roundabout]. They also open fire on anyone attempting to approach [Kuwait Roundabout] to bring in aid. Unfortunately, the vast region that encompasses almost half of the Gaza Strip is now at risk without a call for help. This was an explanatory video showing you the northern region.

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A post shared by الصحفي إسماعيل الغول (@ismail_gh2)