#Pakistani leaders

[emergingpakistan]

ہمارے سیاسی رہنما کن خامیوں کا شکار ہیں؟

کسی ملک میں ڈالرز کی کمی ہونا اتنی بُری بات نہیں ہے جتنی خیالات کا ختم ہو جانا ہے۔ اپنے مستقبل کے رہنماؤں کی صلاحیتوں کو بہتر بنانے کے لیے پاکستان بہت سے راستے تلاش کرسکتا ہے۔ بیلیٹ پیپر پر لوگوں کو ’ان میں سے کوئی نہیں‘ کا انتخاب دے دینا بھی ایسا ہی ایک قدم ہو سکتا ہے اقدام ہوسکتا ہے۔ اس تحریر میں ہم یہ بتائیں گے کہ شہریوں کو اگلے انتخابات کے لیے ’ان میں سے کوئی نہیں‘ کا اقدام کیوں درست مح��وس ہوتا ہے۔ تینوں اہم سیاسی جماعتوں کے موجودہ رہنما آٹھ اہم خامیوں کا شکار ہیں جن کی وجہ سے شہریوں کو اپنے آپشنز پر نظر ثانی کرنی چاہیے۔ سب سے پہلی خامی یہ ہے کہ ہمارے موجودہ انتخابی امیدوار فرسودہ ماضی کی میراث لے کر چل رہے ہیں۔ وہ آج تک اپنے آپ کو روایتی نظریات، ذاتی عناد، تنگ نظری، سرکاری خرچ پر عمرہ کرنے کی طرح کے کاموں سے آزاد نہیں کر پائے۔ وہ اب بھی حلف ناموں، فوٹو کاپیوں اور گریڈ 17 سے کاغذات اٹیسٹ کروانے کی دنیا میں رہتے ہیں۔ ان کے پاس ملک کے پیچیدہ مستقبل کے چیلنجز سے نمٹنے کے لیے منصوبے، سائنسی مہارت یا اہلیت نہیں ہے۔ دوسری خامی یہ ہے کہ ہمارے انتخابی امیدواروں میں سے کسی میں بھی اپنی ناکامیوں کی ذمہ داری قبول کرنے کا حوصلہ نہیں ہے۔ 

پچھلی حکومتوں، دیگر جماعتوں یا اداروں پر الزام تراشی اور انہیں قربانی کا بکرا بنانے سے گمان یہ ہوتا ہے کہ انہوں نے ماضی سے کچھ نہیں سیکھا۔ ہم نے کبھی کسی لیڈر کو کھڑے ہو کر یہ تسلیم کرتے ہوئے نہیں سنا کہ ’میں اپنی ناکامی قبول کرتا ہوں، معذرت چاہتا ہوں اور استعفیٰ دیتا ہوں‘۔ تیسری بات، ہمیں ایسے رہنماؤں سے ہوشیار رہنا چاہیے جو اداروں کی تعمیر کے بجائے صرف ’ذاتی وفاداریوں کے ذریعے انتظام‘ یا ’منتخب چند لوگوں کی خوشنودی کے ذریعے انتظام‘ پر یقین رکھتے ہیں۔ بڑے پیمانے پر اعلیٰ سرکاری افسران کی تنخواہوں اور مراعات میں اضافہ اور صوابدیدی فنڈز کے طور پر اربوں کا خرچ رشوت سے بھرے طرز حکمرانی کی صرف دو مثالیں ہیں۔ چوتھا نقطہ، یہ ہمارے لیے خودکشی کے مترادف ہو گا کہ مستقبل میں ایسا کوئی لیڈر ملے جس کے پاس ملک کی شرح پیدائش یا ہماری بڑھتی ہوئی آبادی کے بارے میں کوئی اور اعداد و شمار نہ ہوں۔ کوئی بھی رہنما پچھلے ادوار میں اس مسئلے سے نمٹا نہیں ہے اور نہ ہی آبادی کے حوالے سے تشویش ان کے مستقبل کے ایجنڈے کا حصہ ہے۔ پاکستان آبادی کے حوالے سے فوری اقدامات کے بغیر خطرے میں پڑ جائے گا اور انتخابات میں کھڑے ہونے والی سیاسی جماعتوں کے رہنماؤں کے اپنے قدامت پسند عقائد اس خطرے کو مزید قریب لے آئیں گے۔

پانچویں، انہیں رہنماؤں کو منتخب کرنا تباہ کن ہو گا جن کی پالیسیاں لاپروائی کی وجہ سے 28 لاکھ سے زائد بچوں نے اسکول جانا چھوڑ دیا ہے۔ ان کے پاس اس بارے میں کوئی منصوبہ نہیں ہے کہ کس طرح تمام بچوں کو معقول تعلیم دیں، موجودہ اسکولوں میں کس طرح اصلاحات لائی جائیں اور ہنر، کام کی اخلاقیات اور تعلیم میں تخلیقی صلاحیتوں کو کس طرح بڑھایا جائے۔ ہم ایسے رہنماؤں کو ووٹ کیوں دیں جو نہ تو ہر روز 17 ہزار 435 نئے بچوں کے اضافے کی رفتار کو کم کر سکیں اور نہ ہی اسکول جانے والے بچوں کو اچھی تعلیم فراہم کرسکیں۔ چھٹا، ایسے لیڈروں کو ووٹ کیوں دیں جنہوں نے 32 ہزار روپے کی کم از کم اجرت کے برخلاف کراچی کی سڑکوں پر 15 ہزار روپے ماہانہ پر جھاڑو دینے والے ہزاروں خاکروبوں (جن میں سے 20 فیصد بچے ہیں) کی حالت زار کے حوالے سے کوئی مؤثر اقدام نہیں کیے؟ ایسے لیڈروں کو ووٹ کیوں دیں جو 10 لاکھ یا اس سے زیادہ پرائیویٹ سیکیورٹی گارڈز کے لیے کچھ نہیں کرتے۔ یہ دن میں 12 گھنٹے کام کرتے ہیں لیکن سرکاری کی طرف سے نافذ کم از کم اجرت کا صرف ایک تہائی انہیں ادا کیا جاتا ہے۔ 

ایسے لیڈروں کو ووٹ کیوں دیں جنہوں نے ریلوے کے ان ہزاروں قُلیوں کے لیے کبھی کچھ نہیں کیا جو اپنی روزانہ کی کمائی کا ایک تہائی حصہ خون چوسنے والے ریلوے ٹھیکیداروں کے حوالے کر دیتے ہیں؟ پاکستانیوں کو ایسے لیڈروں کو ووٹ کیوں دینا چاہیے جو اشرافیہ کی بھاری مراعات اور پنشن کم کرنے کے بجائے غربا پر امیروں کو فوقیت دیتے ہیں؟ ساتویں خامی، موجودہ حکمرانوں کے پاس زرعی ٹیکس لگانے، پینشن میں اصلاحات لانے، تمام شہریوں سے ٹیکس ریٹرن فائل کروانے یا دستاویزی معیشت کو فعال کرنے جیسے سنجیدہ مالیاتی اقدامات کرنے کی کوئی دلچسپی یا صلاحیت موجود نہیں ہے اور اس حوالے سے جو معمولی کام کیا جاتا ہے وہ بھی ڈونر ایجنسیوں کے دباؤ پر بے دلی سے کیا جاتا ہے۔ آخری بات، وہی لیڈر ہیں جو سرکاری محکموں میں ہزاروں ملازمین بھرتی کرتے ہیں اور سیکڑوں سینیئر بیوروکریٹس پر سیاسی احسان کر کے انہیں ترقی دیتے ہیں۔ ہم نے انسانی وسائل کے لحاظ سے ترقی یافتہ ممالک کے سرکاری محکموں کے ساتھ ہمارے ملک کے ہر سرکاری محکمے کا موازنہ کیا، ہم نے دیکھا کہ پاکستان کے ان محکموں میں ضرورت سے کم از کم 5 گنا زیادہ ملازمین ہیں۔

ایک شہری کی جانب سے حال ہی میں ’معلومات کے حق‘ کی درخواست دائر کی گئی جس سے انکشاف ہوا کہ ہماری سپریم کورٹ 16 معزز ججز اور 687 مستقل ملازمین کے ساتھ کام کرتی ہے۔ برطانیہ کی سپریم کورٹ کو ایسی ہی ایک درخواست موصول ہوئی جس میں انکشاف کیا گیا ہے کہ وہاں کی سپریم کورٹ میں 12 ججز کے لیے صرف 64 ملازمین کام کرتے ہیں۔ انتخابات میں حصہ لینے والا کوئی بھی رہنما یہ نہیں سمجھتا کہ ہمارے خراب حکومتی معاملات اور محکموں کی بدترین حالت کی وجہ سے پیدا ہونے والی غیرفعالیت کس حد تک بڑھ چکی ہے۔ ہمیں ایسے لیڈروں کی ضرورت ہے جو اس بڑے بیوروکریٹک نظام کو ازسرِنو تشکیل دیں اور ایک چھوٹا، مؤثر اور ڈیجیٹل حکومتی ڈھانچہ تشکیل دیں۔ بیلیٹ پیپر پر ’ان میں سے کوئی نہیں‘ کے انتخاب کے حوالے سے بھارت کے ڈکوٹا قبائل سے پاکستان کچھ سیکھ سکتا ہے۔ اس قبیلے کا ماننا تھا کہ ’جب آپ کو پتا چلے ہے کہ آپ مردہ گھوڑے پر سوار ہیں، تو بہترین حکمت عملی یہ ہے کہ آپ نیچے اتر جائیں‘۔

نعیم صادق   یہ مضمون 29 دسمبر 2023ء کو ڈان اخبار میں شائع ہوا۔

بشکریہ ڈان نیوز

[lgbtqiamuslimpedia]

Faisal Alam

DOB : 1977 maybe

Occupation: LGBTQ+ rights activist,Community leader,Writer

Gender : Male

Sexuality : Gay

Religion : Islam

Ethnicity : South Asian

Nationality : Pakistani 🇵🇰

Faisal Alam is a Pakistani-American Gay Muslim man.He is a faith-based activist,writer,advocate for South Asian & Muslim LGBTQ+ folks, & public speaker.He founded the Al-Faitha, a pioneer org. for queer muslims.His organization helped to advance Queer Muslim movement internationally.He is the co-founder of Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity , a National Muslim LGBTQ+ organization in North America.

He is a member of the National Religious Leadership Roundtable (NRLR), an interfaith network of US LGBT leaders,member of the National Advisory Board for the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion & Ministry.He also a member of Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV).

Early Life

Faisal Alam was born in the Islamic State of Pakistan & was raised in a muslim household.At the age of 10 his family arrived in the USA in 1987 and resided in the rural middle-class town of Ellington,Connecticut. He completed his studies in America.

Activism & Advocacy

In 1997, Faisal Alam started an email listserv for LGBTQ+ Muslims that led to the founding of Al-Fatiha Foundation in 1998 in Boston.Since then the org. had grown significantly, with its sister-organizations & chapters in the Canada,USA,UK,Spain,Turkey & South Africa.Under his leadership,Al-Fatiha and the LGBITQ Muslim communities have received wide media recognition.He was served as a President of Al-Fatiha, from 1998-2004.Faisal Alam represented Al-Fatiha at both National Religious Leadership Roundtable & the Center for Lesbian & Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry.During his leadership, Al-Fatiha organized 4 major conferences,retreats for LGBTQI+ Muslims & their Allies from around the world.In 2005, Al-Fatiha launched national fundraising campaign, where Faisal traveled around the country to meet with local LGBTIQ Muslims & their Allies.In July 2005,Al-Fatiha hosted the the first LBTQ Muslim women’s retreat in Philadelphia and in September 2005, hosted the 5th International Retreat for LGBTQIA+ Muslims.Additionally the org. made significant links with sexual & gender minorities within the Islamic world,helping to support the struggle for the recognition of human rights in countries including Egypt, Turkey,Palestine,Pakistan,Malaysia,Saudi Arabia,Bangladesh,etc.After getting threats & pressure from muslim conservatives, radicalists Al-Fatiha members closed the organization.

In addition to his LGBT faith-based activism, Faisal is also involved in numerous local organizations.He is a member of AQUA (Asian Queers United in Action) of Washington,Khush-DC,National Minority AIDS Council of Washington,etc.He is also an active member in OUTFront, the LGBT program of Amnesty International,Human Rights Watch,National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.He did work in HIV/AIDS prevention and education in the Asian & Pacific Islander communities.

In 2011, Alam and other LGBTQ Muslim activists were invited by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to form a Queer Muslim Working Group to evaluate the needs of the LGBTQ Muslim community.Alam was instrumental in bringing together a diverse group of seasoned leaders to undertake this project. In 2013, the Queer Muslim Working Group launched a new organization – the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity.Faisal has also spoken at many LGBTQ interfaith panel discussions and has presented at numerous interfaith services, around the country.He has also spoken at many major events including Youth Pride Day in Washington,DC (2000),Millennium March on Washington (2000) & Creating Change(National LGBT Activist Conference, 2001).

Honorary

Faisal has received numerous recognitions & awards for his activism on behalf of LGBTQQI+ Muslims.The Advocate Magazine selected him as an "Innovator" Genre Magazine has recognized him as a "Founding Father" and the Utne Reader chose him as one of 30 "Young Visionaries Under 30" In 2005 the Equality Forum recognized Faisal as one of “40 Heroes” who have "made a defining difference in LGBT civil rights over the last forty years."In 2008 Faisal received an award from Pride Toronto for his "outstanding contribution in the area of spirituality that positively impacts LGBT communities.

[faheemkhan882]

History Again Repeated

[feministfang]

Islam is the most misogynistic religion on earth. It’s the most oppressive cult for women among all abrahamic religions. Women can’t get out of their house. Women have to hide themselves in black tents they wear from head to toe. Women can’t even show one strand of hair. Check out the comments under any Pakistani female celebrity’s post and you will be disgusted. Women get attacked by religious bigots even for wearing half-sleeves. Women can’t initiate divorce easily and a lot of them are stuck in abusive marriages. Women are supposed to obey their husbands and can’t deny sex or they will be cursed by their god. Marital rape is allowed and encouraged in islam. Parents’ inheritance is not divided equally between brothers and sisters because women are expected to get married and rely financially on their husbands. Only men can be authority figures and be leaders, women are supposed to be quiet and submissive. Their prophet (idol) was literally a fuckin pedo. And these are just a few examples of how women are treated in islam. I don’t get how these dumbass muslim women still find the audacity to say shit like 'iSlAm iS tHe mOst peAceFul rEligIoN and tHe mOst fEmiNistic religion cAusE iT gAve wOmEn tHeIr rIgHts 1400 yeaRs aGo' what right?? Where’s the right lol?? All i see is oppression and violence in your religion. You can’t even give your opinion without some man’s permission but because his money is your money and your money is also yours you think islam fulfilled all your desires. It’s true that the more religious a person is, the more narrow-minded they are but muslim women have crossed all limits of stupidity. So glad i cut off such people from my life and saved one woman from converting to islam. ☪️ancer religion!!

[zvaigzdelasas]

[Dawn is Pakistani Private Media]

The heinous killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh risks tipping the Middle East into “wider conflict”, the chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) told a meeting on Wednesday.

The comments from Gambian Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara came as a senior Iranian official said during the meeting that the Islamic republic would need to defend itself from Israel, which it blames for Haniyeh’s death last week in Tehran.

Iranian and Palestinian officials called for Wed­nesday’s gathering of the 57-member OIC in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah, saying the body needed to respond to the killing of the Hamas leader.[...]

Haniyeh’s killing “will not quell the Palestinian cause but rather it amplifies it, underscoring the urgency for justice and human rights for the Pales­tinian people”, [Tangara] said. “The sovereignty and territorial integrity of nation states are fundamental principles underpinning the international order.

“Respecting these principles has profound implications and their violation equally carries significant consequences.”[...]

“Currently, in the absence of any appropriate action by the (UN) Security Council against the aggressions and violations of the Israeli regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran has no choice but to use its inherent right to legitimate defence against the aggressions of this regime,” Ali Bagheri, Iran’s acting foreign minister, told the OIC.

[NewStraitsTimes is Malaysian Private Media]

Malaysia has proposed four key measures to support the Palestinian cause, including the establishment of a group of eminent persons tasked with assessing and identifying measures to implement the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) Advisory Opinion.[...]

He said the measures emphasised the need to expand global support for Palestine, leveraging the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) rulings and the unity achieved by Palestinian factions through the Beijing Declaration.

"Such measures should focus on universal jurisdiction and ensure the consistent application of international law," he stated during the meeting in Jeddah, yesterday.

Second, Malaysia called for the reinstatement of the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid.

The primary task of this committee would be to halt the illegal occupation of Palestinian Territories (OPT) by Israel and to address the apartheid policies imposed on Palestinians, he added.

Third, Malaysia proposed that the OIC, in collaboration with like-minded countries, request a resumed session of the 10th Emergency Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the Issue of Palestine.

"This suggestion is to discuss the means and ways to implement or "give effect" to the ICJ's Advisory Opinion.

"Finally, we should extend our undivided support and fully assist, in the rebuilding of the Palestinian economy and livelihood post-conflict. This is a key step that would ease their return to normalcy," Mohamad said.

Following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, who also led Hamas' political bureau, Malaysia called for a concerted effort to counter Israeli propaganda and misinformation.

"Malaysia has always been a strong advocate for peace and stability. As much as we condemn the assassination, we urge all parties to restraint, to avoid escalating the situation into a regional and global crisis.

"The attack in Tehran could well be an attempt to derail the ongoing peace negotiations in the Middle East.

"We should not fall into their trap. Cool heads must prevail. We should support the continuation of the peace process to be resolved at the negotiating table. Diplomacy is the way to go," he noted.[...]

According to [Turkish State Media] Anadolu Agency (AA), the world body also urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to impose an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire on Israeli aggression and "ensure adequate and sustainable access to humanitarian aid throughout Gaza Strip."

7 Aug 24

[sonofhelios2005]

Dead Boy Detectives AU, Redemption. Edwin and Charles are both genuinely good people who got dealt a bad hand but still try to do good. What if their lives took different turns?

Instead of taking Edwin to hell, Sa'al instead senses Edwin's potential for magic and offers him a deal, If Edwin becomes a witch and enters the service of hell, he would be spared any torture. Edwin, a terrified 16 year old facing a terrible fate, agrees. Edwin returns to his bed and pretends not to know what happened to Simon and the other boys. As part of his deal, Edwin begins studying magic and finds he has a genuine talent for it. He also enjoys the challenge that comes with trying to master spells. After a few years, Edwin realises he's immortal as he hasn't aged since he made his deal.

Over the next few years, Edwin occasionally gets orders from hell to place a curse on certain people or to summon demons to Earth. As the years pass, the acts he commits on behalf of the demons become worse. He kills or arranges deals between demons and mortals for their souls. Over the years, Edwin becomes detached from humanity, not particularly caring about his victims. His life wasn't fair. Why would anybodies be?. Then one day in the 1950 he crosses another witch who is far older and more powerful than him, she curses him to endure the suffering of anyone he had wronged, this lead to Edwin being comatose for a year before he wakes, now fully understanding what he's done Edwin is filled with remorse.

Edwin considers what to do, and eventually, he decides to try and help others. He uses his magic to cloak himself from hell. He then travels helping people when he can and takes special interest in banishing demons back to hell. He becomes well known as a powerful but dangerous individual who can be contacted for help with supernatural issues. He operates alone until he encounters Charles Rowland in 1989.

Charles, in this reality, was born in 1950. His dad hates him and is as viciously abusive as the show. Charles attended St. Hilarion's School for Boys until 1966, he stepped in to save a Pakistani boy from his friends only to become the target of their assault. However, instead of running into an attic to hide, Charles runs and is chased into the forest. In the forest is a group of vampires who are basically the British Lost Boys or BLB. The BLB kill everyone chasing Charles and are about to kill him until the leader sensing Charles's potential, offers a choice, die or become a vampire. Charles a terrified 16 year old accepts.

From here, Charles lives as a member of the BLB hunting and killing without remorse driven by the bloodlust of a vampire and the encouragement of the others. The BLB are outcasts among vampires as, despite their reputation, most vampires simply want to live their immortal lives in peace, unlike the BLB who cause chaos for the thrills. Charles enjoys the freedom that comes with being a vampire, and the BLB are more of a family to him than his own parents ever where. Charles grows into an incredibly powerful vampire who, along with his formidable physical prowess, also has numerous common and rare vampire abilities.

In early 1989, after 23 years of being a vampire, Charles unexpectedly encounters his aged father whilst he was out hunting. Seeing his father causes Charles to have an epiphany, he had always sworn to never be like Paul Rowland, but now he realises he is far worse. Charles horrified at own his actions over the last few decades begins pulling away from the BLB who noticed. Knowing the others would kill him if they knew he was going to leave Charles manages to fake his death and informs other vampires about the BLBs location. The BLB are banished from the UK, and Charles is left to his own devices. Charles spends the next several months lost in guilt and even contemplates ending his existence until he encounters a witch called Edwin Payne who had been looking for a base of operations in London and had walked into the abandoned building Charles was inhabiting. (The DBDA office)

The two begin talking, and Edwin seeing himself in Charles encourages him to begin helping others if he truly wants to make ammends. Charles starts helping Edwin in his jobs using his strength and near invulnerability to protect Edwin as he casts his magic. Soon, they become friends, neither having had true friendship for decades. Together, they are able to make a genuine difference and help many people, and after 30 years, start to believe they have started to find true redemption. In the 2020s, they are joined by a young psychic who they found abusing her powers to lie, cheat, steal, and even murder. Unfortunately, this is also when their pasts finally catch up with them, and they once again encounter hell and the BLB.

This won't actually be a story as I have no ability to write fanfiction. it's just my mad ramblings. I changed the year Charles was born because I thought it made sense if he did evil stuff for a long time, I also wanted him and Edwin to be together for the same amount of time as the show. Also, if Charles was born in the 50s, then he could be part of a vampire biker gang.

[aqlstar]

An Example of Armenian Genocide Denial with bonus antisemitism (not my opinion - so you can ID it if you see it in the future- this is a facebook post from the Diyanet Center of America)

Please join us for Turkish American Peace Solidarity Walk 2016!

The Turkish American community will unite to march for the Peace and Solidarity Walk 2016, which will take place on April 24th, 2016. Over 155 Turkish American national and local organizations will walk from the White House to the Turkish Embassy. There will be diverse participation with Albanian, Azeri, Bosnian, Macedonian, Pakistani, Egyptians, Syrians and Somalis joining as well as Christian, Jewish and Muslim community members supporting Turkey.

Join us,

· Support Turkeys fight against Terrorism

· Support Turkey for their resolve in helping Syrian refugees

· Support Turkey for their determination in the struggle for Democracy and Justice

· Support Turkey for the reconciliation and show your support for peace and solidarity in the region.

Organized by the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC) which comprises major Turkish American national and local public advocacy and commercial associations nationwide, Peace Walk 2016 looks beyond labels and to the broader human tragedy of World War I that caused death and displacement for over 5 million Ottoman citizens, including 4.1 Muslims, 600,000 Armenians, 200,000 Greeks, and 100,000 Sephardi Jews in Ottoman Turkey alone, as the Ottoman Empire was torn apart by nationalist movements from the Balkans to the Arabian Peninsula, from the Caucuses to North Africa.

Peace Walk calls for reconciliation between societies, not accusations; uniting the Americans of diverse backgrounds, not dividing these Americans.

As we approach April 24th, we share the pain suffered by Armenians during this period. We also believe that any acknowledgment by religious or political leaders of the tragedy that befell Armenians should be balanced, constructive and must also recognize Turkish and Muslim suffering.

In this respect, characterizing the events of 1915 as genocide without proper investigation of these events by independent historians will not only jeopardize the establishment of a just memory pertaining to these events, but will also damage the efforts aimed at achieving reconciliation between the once peaceful neighbors.

As Turkish-Americans, we are concerned about alienating a key ally, Turkey, through one-sided declarations that political and religious leaders have made on this subject. The events of 1915 should be based on a consensus among historians and academicians with access to archives and documents from that era.

At 12pm on April 24, 2016, Peace Walk 2016 will depart from Lafayette Park at the White House to the Turkish Embassy.

Peace Walk 2016 calls for History to Decide by permitting people of Turkish and Armenian heritage to build a better relationship and reconciliation toward an honest narrative that does justice to the tragedies suffered by both. Join and show your support for this peaceful struggle for peace.

www.facebook.com/lethistorydecide

www.facebook.com/tasc.steeringcomittee

www.ourtasc.org

info@ourtasc.org

[metamatar]

check this bullshit out lmao

You guys are bringing me like rotten food, like im a baby vulture or something.

I love how India is not forcibly occupying Kashmir bc its perfectly normal to switch off the internet for years and arrest all democratically elected leaders and dissolve parliament when you're not an ovcupying force. I've never seen anyone claim Hinduism is responsible for the rise of Nazism, only point to how much Savarkar admired Hitler and Mussolini and its a pity that Jewish folk are seeing solidarity with a Hindutva movement that is fundamentally unconcerned about that. Do they know the RSS apes Nazi salutes and aesthetics?

I do love the Brahmins don't have any institutional power line and the upper caste/lower caste division is made up by white people stuff, bc it is the most blatant way to be sure this person has no real familiarity with Indian culture or history outside of like propaganda, because like, all Hindu texts enshrine the moral, legal and cultural superiority of Brahminism. Why does Eklavya the archer have this thumb cut off for daring to study archery in the Mahabharata? What does it mean that lower caste children cannot drink or eat at the same tables as upper caste children even in India's best universities exactly? Anti semitism has real roots in the history of Western civilization, from ghettos to the holocaust, permitting its association with the made up logic of Hinduphobia – which doesn't exist in India and outside of India is just plain racism is terrible. Upper caste supremacy is the bread and butter and organizing principle of Indian society for centuries, Hindutva politics dominates every single cultural sphere in India.

I also like that the Israel/Palestine is cast into India/Pakistan despite the fact Pakistan is a soverign nuclear armed state that is rapidly destabilizing at the moment due to US influence that India has very little to do with it. Most Pakistanis are also unaffected by India, in that India does not actually occupy Pakistan and enforce apartheid on its citizens despite right wing fantasies. Pakistan and India gets in standoffs with each other! The most significant amount of Kashmiri organising is for Azad Kashmir. Pakistan occupied Kashmir deserves to be free too.

[grandmaera]

If every doctor had a news coverage abt them

IN THE NEWS TODAY :

-Teachers get kidnapped ; old homeless man suspected.

- Excentric self-proclaimed doctor and scottish boyfriend cause mischief with Yetis in London Underground ; Futurist female friend and her photograph girlfriend still at their search.

-Old fancy man defeats bearded leader with karate and military intervention.

-Beloved bohemian scientist falls off of a tower ; Thinks Dr.Sullivan is an imbecile, and develops affection for peculiar robotic pet dog. Journalist Sarah-Jane Smith refuses to cover the news.

-Cricket-like Father of four takes on adventures into space ; unfortunately becomes father of three as the fourth sacrifices himself.

-Arrogant blonde man with horrible fashion choices fights the Matrix with american woman and redhead woman ; gets defeated by "The Rani".

-Goofy but manipulative spoon-player unofficially adopts troubled teenage girl who masters explosives.

-Young man goes back between the 19th and the 20th century to find hot girls and guys to fuck.

-Bald man saves people around time and space and cheats on blonde woman with Sherlock Holmes.

-Adored silly man ruins redhead woman's marriage ; still revered by thousands.

-Knockoff of the adored silly man forgets how to interact with humans and has a complicated romance with woman called River Pond.

-Old emo teenager accused of murder ; says the victim was 'dead already'.

-Silly blonde woman who has midlife crisis at age 20 has pakistani lesbian lover ; denies.

-Adored silly man resurrects from death ; is Jesus ?

I'M YOUR ANCHOR ANNE KERR, THIS IS TODAY'S NEWS AND WTF ?!?

[girlactionfigure]

🇮🇱AFTER Shabbat - Saturday night - events from Israel  

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

⚠️Kiryat Shmona and the Upper Galilee: residents are asked to be near protected areas, including in non-evacuated towns. (19:32)

❗️ISIS SUPPORTER - PAKISTANI CANADIAN - PLANNED MASS ATTACK ON CHABAD 770.. arrested when he tried to cross the border into the United States - where he planned to carry out a shooting attack on Chabad HQ and synagogue 770 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY.  He was arrested after he shared with undercover agents his intentions: "to take advantage of Israeli gatherings on Oct. 7 memorials for the Hamas massacre, and to carry out the largest attack against Jews outside of Israel ever - and the largest in the US since Sept. 11”.

Planned mass shooting with automatic weapons in New York because "there is the largest population of Jews in America."

Arrested.

▪️ON THE AMERICAN-TURKISH ACTIVIST SHOT NEAR SHECHEM.. The White House: We contacted Israel demanding information and asked for an investigation into the shooting of the American citizen near Shechem.  

.. IDF spokesperson: During the security forces' activity near Beta today (Friday), the force responded by firing at a central instigator who threw stones at the forces, and posed a threat to our forces.

.. The Turkish-American anarchist who was killed today by IDF gunfire in Kfar Beta in Samaria is an activist of ISM - the "International Solidarity Organization" - a pro-Hamas and Hezbollah "resistance" organization that has been working against Israel for years through provocations, boycotts, defamations and confrontations.  Its operatives even helped transport a terrorist to an attack in Tel Aviv in the past. The founder of the organization, Paul Larudi, even praised the massacre committed by Hamas in Israel.

▪️US AGREES TO WITHDRAW FROM IRAQ.. in Sept. 2025.

▪️ISRAEL MAINSTREAM MEDIA CREATES POLLS.. to prove Israelis support a deal - - by phrasing questions in such a way as to remove negatives.  For example: “do you support a complete withdrawal from Gaza in a deal to free the hostages?”, 52% say yes.  I say yes!  (( Oh did you forget to mention being bombarded with rockets again within a year and increased terror attacks and Israeli deaths?  Yes, yes you did. ))  (i24)

.. “Majority does not accept the PM’s position and thinks a deal is more important than remaining in control of the border - 60%”. (Mako).  (( Does the poll mention releasing 5,000 mass murderers, many who will murder again?  No, no it does not. ))

▪️US SAYS IRAN TRANSFERRED HUNDREDS OF SHORT RANGE MISSILES TO RUSSIA.. Iran says “no we didn’t.” (WSJ)

▪️TERROR ATTEMPT - RAMMING ATTACK - ELI.. gas station.  They rammed a police car!  Terrorist captured, no casualties.

▪️TURKISH PRESIDENT ERDOGAN CALLS.. on the Muslim world to unite against Israel: it will want to conquer Turkey as well.

🔸DEAL NEWS.. New York Times: Hamas added additional demands regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of the first phase of the deal. (( The more Israeli’s protest demanding a deal, the more Hamas demands. ))

.. The head of the CIA: "We hope that a hostage deal will be signed in the coming days - it's a matter of political will"

.. Assessment in Israel: There is no chance of a deal.

⭕ 16 rounds of ROCKETS and mostly SUICIDE DRONE attacks over Shabbat at northern Israeli towns and cities, including Rosh HaNikra and Safed.

.. 2 drones hit Ayelet HaShachar.  No casualties.

♦️The IDF eliminated senior Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon and Deir al-Balah.

[adropofhumanity]

British-Pakistani writer, political activist and public intellectual Tariq Ali has criticised the United States for its role in a rescue operation on Saturday that has resulted in the death of over 274 Palestinians.

"The involvement of US and UK troops in this latest operation is a sign of the times," Ali wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

On Saturday, the rescue of four Israeli captives from Gaza in a special operation on Saturday made headlines around the world and saw an outpouring of praise from international leaders.

What none of them mentioned, however, was the hundreds of Palestinians who were killed by Israelis during the operation. The Palestinian government media office in Gaza said the death toll from Israel's attack reached at least 274, with 698 more wounded.

One eyewitness told Middle East Eye that the attack on Nuseirat refugee camp left "dead children and body parts strewn all over", while health officials said the sheer number of casualties was at risk of overwhelming the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital.

[jack-kellys]

k so yall voted to see my 2023 final essay for a class called london in performance. which wasnt too serious. basically i compared the national theatre's phaedra [which i did not like that much tbh. one of the lines in my paper is "to truly send the criticism home, compared to the white critics who praised the play with four stars, Polish editor Andrzej Lukowski and Pakistani critic Arifa Akbar are the ones to only give two stars on the story that centers an illegal immigrant (The Stage)." just saying] as an adaptation of a classic greek play to the west end's general cash-in commercialization. and then my argument was that the center of that pendulum is somehow fucking newsies @ the troub im so sorry.

HERE ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS:

first of all i got to cite myself as like. an expert which was SO funny

"To preface, because of my five years of close knowledge about this subject matter, its multiple stagings, scripts, and casts, I am well aware that this musical as a whole is quite average."

importantly, my definition of a revival in this paper is "creating something accessible to a modern audience for the sake of improving and adapting an original source material into a performance". if it doesnt improve and/or adapt it then it fails imo

"Lines [in the script] that hold weight are sort of dropped, in favor of keeping the show hopeful at all times. The reflection lies in the younger generation taking hold of a new age, rather than in workers rights, child poverty and abuse, and unification.  Newsies at Wembley Park, the first professional revival and first iteration of the musical outside of the United States, flips this as a performance."

i called newsies 2012/livesies staging "left-right up-down" like a video game combo lmfao

"Wembley Park’s revival inserts viewers into the action of the city by default, but also the events that befall the newsboys.... Two police officers stalk in front of the audience as a scene with a new sense of impending doom plays out on the stage. The strikebreaking battle is... level with many of the audience’s seats, and boys escape officers and grown men through the aisles helping each other stand upright while shouts of “Move, move!” are called out .... as a pair hurry away up a ladder behind my aisle seat."

"The expansive take on staging (since as I said before, the musical itself is average) almost takes the place of design. ... Pulitzer’s desk resides on top of a platform of newspaper stacks, emphasizing his position in the hierarchy over the children selling those papers especially as the newsboys push it on with much effort. The towers are made to look like black metal with rust and peels. The lighting is white and natural during scenes. The ensemble’s costumes look more similar to each other, making them appear more unified visually compared to Broadway. The design is in the ensemble’s interactions, dance, and fluid movement through the city of the show, letting the performance and the dancers speak for themselves."

then mandatory michael section:

"What struck me the most watching it had to be Jack’s casting, and new character positionality within the context of the story. Never before has Jack Kelly been a Black newsboy union leader, not in any professional production. Played by Michael Ahomka-Lindsay, Jack’s role was much more electric. His fear of leading the strike became more personal, his baggage with the reform center gained more onstage intersectionality, his relationship with Katherine became even more complex and out of reach. It changes many of those past dropped lines, it made me hear lines differently than I had used to. It’s a more effective reflection that makes the events in the story a bit more tangible to an audience that could have initially been caught up in the grandiose dance numbers- not to mention the performance opening amidst strikes nationwide."

best part:

jack-kellys. "Welcome to..." Jack-Kellys, 23 Jan 2023, 3:46AM, this-is-what-i-mean-by-five-years-of-close-experience. 

[mariacallous]

Afghan refugees who fled their country to escape from decades of war and terrorism have become the unwitting pawns in a cruel and crude political tussle between Pakistan’s government and the extremist Taliban as their once-close relationship disintegrates amid mutual recrimination.

On Oct. 3, Pakistan’s government announced that mass deportations of illegal immigrants, mostly Afghans, would start on Nov. 1. So far, at least 300,000 Afghans have already been ejected, and more than a million others face the same fate as the expulsions continue.

The bilateral fight appears to center on Kabul’s support for extremists who have wreaked havoc and killed hundreds in Pakistan over the last two years—or at least that is how Islamabad sees it, arguing that it is simply applying its own laws. The Taliban deny accusations that they are behind the uptick of terrorism in Pakistan by affiliates that they protect, train, arm, and direct.

Mass deportations are a sign that Pakistan is “putting its house in order,” said Pakistan’s caretaker minister of interior, Sarfraz Bugti. “Pakistan is the only country hosting four million refugees for the last 40 years and still hosting them,” he said via text. “Whoever wanted to stay in our country must stay legally.” Of the 300,000 Afghans already ejected, none have faced any problems upon returning, he told Foreign Policy. As the Taliban are claiming that Afghanistan is now peaceful, he said, “they should help their countrymen to settle themselves.”

“We are not a cruel state,” he said, adding: “Pakistanis are more important.”

The Taliban—who, since returning to power in August 2021, have been responsible for U.N.-documented arbitrary detentions and killings, as well forcing women and girls out of work and education—have called Pakistan’s deportations “inhumane” and “rushed.” Taliban figures have said that the billions of dollars of international aid they still receive are insufficient to deal with the country’s prior economic and humanitarian crises, let alone a mass influx of penniless refugees.

The expulsions come after earlier efforts by Pakistan, such as trade restrictions, to exert pressure on Kabul to rein in the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban, whose attacks on military and police present a severe security challenge to the Pakistani state. Acting Prime Minister Anwar ul-Haq Kakar said earlier this month that TTP attacks have risen by 60 percent since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, with 2,267 people killed.

The irony is that Pakistan bankrolled the Taliban throughout their 20-year insurgency following their ouster from power during the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Taliban leaders found sanctuary and funding from Pakistan’s military and intelligence services. When the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, then-Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated them, as did groups such as al Qaeda and Hamas. But rather than continuing as Islamabad’s proxy, the Taliban have reversed roles, providing safe haven for terrorist and jihadi groups, including the TTP.

“While it’s still too early to draw any conclusions on policy shifts in Islamabad, it appears that the initial excitement about the Taliban’s return to power has now turned into frustration,” said Abdullah Khenjani, a former deputy minister of peace in the previous Afghan government. “Consequently, these traditional [Pakistani state] allies of the Taliban are systematically reassessing their leverage to be prepared for potentially worse scenarios.”

Since the Taliban’s return, around 600,000 Afghans made their way into Pakistan, swelling the number of Afghan refugees in the country to an estimated 3.7 million, with 1.32 million registered with the U.N. High Commission on Refugees. Many face destitution, unable to find work or even send their children to local schools. The situation may be even worse after the deportations: Pakistan is reportedly confiscating most of the refugees’ money on the way out, leaving them in a precarious situation in a country already struggling to create jobs for its people or deal with its own humanitarian crises.

Border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been clogged in recent weeks, as many Afghan refugees preempted the police round-up and began making their way back. Media have reported that some of the undocumented Afghans were born in Pakistan, their parents having fled the uninterrupted conflict at home since the former Soviet Union invaded in 1979. Many of the births were not registered.

Meanwhile, some groups among those being expelled are especially vulnerable. Hundreds of Afghans could face retribution from the Taliban they left the country to escape. Journalists, women, civil and human rights activists, LGBTQ+ advocates, judges, police, former military and government personnel, and Shiite Hazaras have all been targeted by the Taliban, and many escaped to Pakistan, with and without official documents.

Some efforts have been made to help Afghans regarded as vulnerable to Taliban excess if they are returned. Qamar Yousafzai set up the Pakistan-Afghanistan International Federation of Journalists at the National Press Club of Pakistan, in Islamabad, to verify the identities of hundreds of Afghan journalists, issue them with ID cards, and help with housing and health care. He has also interceded for journalists detained by police for a lack of papers. Yet that might not be enough to prevent their deportation.

Amnesty International called for a “halt [to] the continued detentions, deportations, and widespread harassment of Afghan refugees.” If not, it said, “it will be denying thousands of at-risk Afghans, especially women and girls, access to safety, education and livelihood.” The UNHCR and International Organization for Migration, the U.N.’s migration agency, said the forced repatriations had “the potential to result in severe human rights violations, including the separation of families and deportation of minors.”

Once back in Afghanistan, returnees have found the going tough, arriving in a country they hardly know, without resources to restart their lives, many facing a harsh Himalayan winter in camps set up by a Taliban administration ill-equipped to provide for them.

Fariba Faizi, 29, is from the southwestern Afghanistan city of Farah, where she was a journalist with a private radio station. Her mother, Shirin, was a prosecutor for the Farah provincial attorney general’s office, specializing in domestic violence cases. Once the Taliban returned to power, they were both out of their jobs, since women are not permitted to work in the new Afghanistan. They also faced the possibility of detention, beating, rape, and killing.

Along with her family of 10 (parents, siblings, husband, and toddler), Faizi, now eight months pregnant with her second child, moved to Islamabad in April 2022, hoping they’d be safe enough. Once the government announced the deportations, landlords who had been renting to Afghans began to evict them; Faizi’s landlord said he wanted the house back for himself. Her family is now living with friends of Yousafzai, who also arranged charitable support to cover their living costs for six months, she said.

With no work in either Pakistan or Afghanistan, Faizi said, they faced a similar economic situation on either side of the border. In Pakistan, however, the women in the family could at least look for work, she said; their preference would be to stay in Pakistan. As it is, they remain in hiding, afraid of being detained by police and forced over the border once their visas expire.

[captain-price-unofficially]

An Afghan Mujaheddin fighter and a leader of a local cell scans the skies for incoming Soviet bombers after striking the border town of Barikot moments before. The man sons are allegedly buried in the house behind him; near the Pakistani border, 1988.

[previousloversandmuses]

FREQUENCY: Episode 2 - A Soldier Boy Story

FREQUENCY:  A Soldier Boy Story

EPISODE 2: “Uncle Sam”

WORD COUNT: 4,056

PAIRING: Soldier Boy X Reader 

WARNINGS: (NSFW) Racial slurs, fatphobia, drugs, and mentions of suicide. Foul language, mentions of sex, or sexual innuendos. 

A/N: This story is dark, and covers mature themes. The main character, as well as other major characters, are offensive in nature, and may offend some people. Please peruse with caution, and remember that this is fiction. Reader discretion is advised. Please message me for any questions, comments, or concerns. 

Masterlist | Taglist

When John and I would fuck, only he would find it easy to sleep. See, we almost always did it at Vought tower. He had thought my apartment was gross and grimy.

He would snore away, his naked body pressed against mine, his strong arms holding my waist. I’d be up all night. The tower was loud, and I was much too nosy to not listen in on everything going on. Most people had left by the time that I was laying there awake, but the important ones stayed.

Security worked all night, keeping their tabs on literally everything going on in the world. If two Pakistanis were going at it premaritally at a goat farm in the middle of nowhere, Vought would be the first to know. 

It was always funny to me that the CIA always assumed they were one step ahead of Vought. That they had the upper hand, and that no matter what, the good guys would always win. Wrong. Vought knew absolutely everything the CIA was doing. They knew every hideout, every operation, every compound, every undercover. Vought, a private company, was the global leader for national security- but no one would ever know that. 

John would shift behind me, nuzzling his face into my neck, nibbling on my ear. 

“Go to sleep.” He’d say plainly, before drifting back into his own disturbing dream. 

Go to sleep, I’d think. Funny. Little did he know I was keeping my tabs on every compound mentioned in terms of Vought, and every event to go along with it. I knew every building the CIA operated. Every property. Every piece of land. Which is why I’m so confident now that I know exactly where Soldier Boy is.

In upstate New York, the CIA has a large base. It spans acres, but in the middle rests a midcentury, concrete bunker. Strong enough to withstand the blast of a nuclear bomb…getting warmer, I think. 

After the job I did for Butcher, I went straight home and started doing research. The CIA compound wasn’t visible on any map, but thankfully I was already aware of the coordinates. 

The next day I hopped in my shitty car, and drove upstate. I started spying once I saw the first signs of surveillance, which was about twenty miles away from the location. I staked out for about a week, driving closer each day, taking note of every camera, every security checkpoint. I wasn’t in my car after I got close enough, obviously. The closer I got the more inclined I was to walk on foot. 

I understand this may seem impossible, I mean, this is the CIA after all. No one is getting past them, right? Wrong. You need to remember, no one would ever see me coming, and they definitely wouldn't see me going. I can hear cameras before I see them, and it’s the same thing with all types of security. The CIA didn’t stand a chance anymore after I was created. Nothing was getting past me. I was born for this mission.

The morning of, I made sure to leave no trace of any research in my apartment. I threw out my computer at the edge of the city before I drove upstate. I prayed to all holy, although I’m not much of the religious type, that my shitty four-door would make it all the way up there without breaking down. As I stepped on the gas, I took a deep breath, shutting off my senses as best as I could until I was in trackable distance. I’d have to savor all five, I’d need them to be as strong as possible. I was going to get my revenge. 

This may sound conceited, but I do think I have created the best plan in the history of plans: See, unknown CIA compound number whatever, although large, and unknown to me internally, is quite easy to navigate if you think about it. Let’s think about the five senses here. Sight: I could look through the walls of the building until I feast my eyes upon the, I’m assuming, frozen solid body of Soldier Boy. But this can sometimes be all encompassing, and too much work. Sound: I could always hear him out. Scope out the slowest multiplying cells in the area, until it leads me to the supe popsicle. But again, too much work for what it’s worth. Also I needed to be focusing on nearby agents, cameras, and security. Touch?  No idea how that would work, no interest in finding out. Taste? Absolutely not. I don’t even want to know how that would work. But smell? Ahhh smell. That’ll lead me right to it. I can taste the frosted formaldehyde from here, a mile away. I’ll sniff out the frost bitten captain America better than any bloodhound. Smell. That is the way. 

I park my car off in a clearing, I think it may have been used as a campsite at one point. There isn’t a camera in sight. It's the dead of night. Leading up to the compound is a long, winding, wooded road. It's a forest boundary, which is nice because I won’t be getting any sort of sound pollution. 

I begin to walk parallel to the street through the woods, attaching the silencer to my gun. As I get a half-mile away, I start to take note of small CCTV’s attached to dry, dehydrated fir trees. I begin shooting down every camera I can hear, and as far as the eye can see. This is my collateral. I know once I break him out, CIA intel will be checking every camera to see where we went. They will never see us leave. They’ll never even see me coming. I got a few hundred yards between me and the next scanner. 

I reach into my backpack, pulling out scarf, and then wrap my head hijabi style. I’m already wearing a modest, all black outfit. Maybe something similar to a burka. I thought it would steer people away from my trail by posing as a stereotypical supe terrorist. Nothing scares Americans more than a muslim being in places they aren’t supposed to be.

I can see the building now, it's fortunately surrounded by trees, making my breaking and entering a little bit easier. I don’t even know how they can see anything on surveillance with all of this blockage, I think. Hell, the pine needles are getting in the way of my quality of sight. 

It's a tight squeeze through shrubbery, but I make it to one of the side doors. Again, I shoot out every camera around me before I even get close to the area. I stop and take a listen. From my spot now, the closest heartbeat I can hear  is deep within the compound, maybe at the front security desk. Most agents have gone home by this point. 

I’m assuming, if my hearing is correct, there is an obese man sitting at a control panel at the highest point of the building. Similar to that of a bird's nest. He’s asleep, snoring so loud I don’t know how he’s not choking himself. This is too good to be true, I think.

I make my way inside, there was a codebox on the outside of the building which are the easiest contraptions to get into. I smacked the side of it, feeling for the numbers.

 I aim for each camera before it can catch me, knocking it out in the center every time. 

I take a deep breath. Formaldehyde is all encompassing. I choke on the taste. He’s in the basement. 

I go ahead and make my way down multiple floors, once again, getting rid of every camera. This part of the compound is terrifying. Tons of steel and concrete feel suffocating when you’re this far underground. I almost trip over a janitorial cart in the darkness of the stifling halls. 

I come face to face with a large steel door. It’s got to be a few feet thick at least. To the right of it is a key pad. Looks pretty high tech, much different from the one on the outside of the building. This one must be new, I think. That’s a good sign. I mean, along with the fact that my eyes begin to water, my nose hairs singing off from the stench of chemicals. 

There is a card reader on the side of it for swipe entry. I pull up my finger, and gently tap it onto the corner. It echoes through it. I listen for the preset code. I can hear each four number etchings clear as day. 4459. 

The door opens with a flash of a green light and a click. I walk slowly down the hallway. It’s stark, cold. A metallic chamber with no windows. No place for a human being to live, I think. At least he’s not awake to see it. 

I round the corner, reaching another door. Fuck. I think to myself, another lock. The code box blinks at me, then speaks to me in a robotic voice. 

“Please enter access code.” 

I look down at the machine. Again, knocking on the side of it, like the one from before.

“Please enter access code-” I jump at the sound, but before it can finish I type in the numbers again. 4459. 

Clink! Green light illuminates from a bulb over my head. The door slides open. Idiots. 

There is what looks to be a control panel. It’s windowed, and looking down into a surgical-like dip in the floor. I walk over to the glass. There are buttons and levers riddled around a console. 

About fifteen feet below me I visualize him. Most of the lights are off inside of this area, but his body is lit up. He lays like a corpse inside a see-through cryogenic freezer. His heart is beating slowly, maybe less than five beats per minute. His blood barely circulating through his augmented veins. 

I take a deep breath, it’s now or never. From what I can tell, the security guard watching over the cameras is still fast asleep. Him, the man at the very front, and the other few scattered around near the archives, are all unaware of my presence in the building. 

I open the door to the right of the panel, and make my way down the rickety metal stairs that lead to his futuristic tomb. There he is, fast asleep… or frozen? I’m not sure of the right thing to say. I lean over, looking at his face through the glass. I place both of my gloved hands palm down, feeling my way around to getting him out of there. A latch, which, as I can tell, is connected to a code box. The CIA and their codes. They are just asking for me to break in. 

I squat down next to the machine and locate the lock. I do as I do again, knocking on the side of it, and waiting to hear the notches for the numbers. 1919. Really? I go ahead and select them, and watch as the glass casing begins to open up around him. It’s like a vampire coming out of a coffin. A waft of nitrous mist cascades around the room, revealing to me then, the body of a very, very, cold man. 

He has an oxygen mask on his face. I go ahead and take that off. The chemicals they have pumping into his veins via IV drip; I rip those off too. The machines tracking his vitals, I unattached, letting them drop to the floor. I can’t see much of anything else that would be keeping him asleep. Unfortunately though, I think I will have to wait for him to thaw out. 

I look around the room, checking my watch. I've been in the building for twenty minutes now. I look over at him, he's still not moving. His heart rate is still resting at an undetectable rate. I’ve got to get moving. I start pacing around the room, rubbing my chin with my hand. Think, think, think. I couldn’t bring any ammonia or any other sort of smelling salt because I’d be able to smell it through the container. Migraine waiting to happen. I could always slap him awake, but I’d risk breaking my hand from the sheer strength of his jaw. I could warm him up myself? Rub up on his arms until he begins to heat up. 

I look down at his arm, lifting up his wrist with my fore finger and thumb. He may be strong, but I’m sure he doesn’t weigh a ton? Ugh, who am I kidding? This man has got to be over two hundred pounds of pure muscle. THINK woman, think. 

Then, by the grace of all holy, I remember the janitorial cart I almost broke my neck on earlier. That’ll do it. I check back down at my watch, twenty-five minutes have passed now. It might not be too hard to drag him all of five minutes.

So, I do just that. Wrapping my arms under his, then securing around his torso, I begin to lift up. No, this will definitely be too hard. I drop him onto the floor, then clamp my hands around his wrists. I start pulling him across the room, then I remember; the stairs. Fuck. Making my way up I’m already drenched in sweat. It's one thing having to carry someone awake, but this supe was all dead weight. I’m praying he wakes up soon. 

It takes me ten more minutes on top of the five I had already expected to climb all the stairs back up to where I saw the janitorial cart. Before I go to put him in it, I listen in again. Everyone was still where they were before. The obese security guard is still in desperate need of a CPAP machine. I smile. This is all working out for me. With the little strength I have left I hoist him up into the cart, setting him on top of dirty mop heads and rags. 

I see it before I hear it. Red lights begin to flash around the building, then the sirens begin to wail. The security guard is definitely no longer asleep. I get a good grip of the cart handles and begin to push him down the hallway with unrelenting fervor. 

I can hear footsteps gaining on us as I reach the same exterior door that I came in through. I launch him out, and watch as the cart goes tumbling onto the forest floor. Great. Maybe that will wake him up. The guards are even closer now, a floor above me. Flood lights shine around on the outside. I push him back into the cart, and gun it through the forest with a speed that rivals Usain Bolt. 

Once I reach the clearing where I parked my car, about ten minutes later, I can just now make out the glimmer of flashlights in the distance. This was a huge forest. They had no idea where I could be. I go ahead and begin to load the bastard into the backseat. He mumbles a little, making me jump. I reach my hand down to his forehead. He was definitely warming up. I buckle him in with a seatbelt, and hop in the driver's seat. I accelerate out of the lot, watching as police cars race past me just a road over. This was going to be a long drive. 

It took him a four hour drive, plus forty-five minutes in the hotel room to finally wake up.

“…helewooh…” thump thump. “….ooonclee saaamm…”

As he came to, everything was blurry. It reminded him of when he used to mix codeine and benzos. 

Slowly, but surely, he begins to focus, making out the silhouette in front of him. A girl, young and lean. She sits across from him on a chair. She snaps and claps in his direction. Leaning in a bit closer, she slaps him in the face. Now that wakes him up. 

He jolts forward, easily breaking the pitiful restraints that have him tied to the chair. Now that he thinks about it, he’s sure he’s just broken the chair too. 

“Woah, WOAH,” she waves her arms in front of his face, trying to calm him down. “Easy there tiger, I wouldn’t want you blowing up this motel.”

He shakes his head, finally waking up enough to take in his surroundings. It’s a cheap, tacky motel room in god knows where. It reminds him of the one he stayed in when those pansies brought him home from Russia. Wait, those pansies-

“Where the fuck am I?” He looks around again, running over to the windows and peeking out the blinds. He turns around holding his finger up to the young girl in the room with him. “And who the fuck are you?”

She walks towards him slowly. He takes her in. She’s young, definitely young. Pretty, to say the least, but that’s the last thing he can think about right now. Her shorts and shirt are tiny and much too tight for a girl her age. Again, he thinks of the past. Has all modesty been thrown out the window? Not that he’s complaining, really. 

“Okay, first of all, I saved you, you should be worshiping the ground I walk on.”

“I don’t even know who you are little girl.” He recoils. “Wait,” He looks her up and down. “You’re not some unclaimed child of mine, are you?”

“Oh, Jesus Christ.” She says, rubbing her hands down her face.

He walks forward, getting into her face. “So ya don’t know me, and you expect me to believe you got me out just out of the kindness of your heart?” 

“Yes.” She says simply. 

He nods, going back over to the window, looking outside again. 

“Where are we?”

“Pennsylvania.” 

“They got any beaners here?”

“I’m sorry?” 

“Any beaners. I need to cross the border. Get out of here as soon as possible before these fuckin’ gay lovin’ commies try and throw me back into the ice again.”

“I’ll get you across the border, no problem. I don’t need any help either. Anywhere you want I’ll get you there.”

He glares at her, squinting. Looking her up and down. Hey, maybe she does look pretty good. He begins to walk around the room, searching for any hidden cameras, any microphones.

“You wearing a wire?”

“No one followed us down here.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

“No, I’m not wearing a wire.”

He gets back into her face. Towering over her. She shows no sign of fear. Naive, he thinks. She can feel his breath on her skin now. 

“What’s the catch?”

She smiles up at him, crumbling under his intense gaze. She feels for the back of the chair behind her then sits down. 

“Have a seat.”

“No thanks, been layin’ a lot recently. What’s the fuckin' catch, sweetheart?”

“Okay,” She sighs. “There is a catch, you're right.” 

He gets angry now. His chest visibly rising and falling. It begins to glow. Okay, now she’s getting nervous. 

“Hear me out please,” she begs, throwing her hands up in the air. “I’m trying to get revenge on Vought.”

“Get in line, little girl.”

“I’m a supe. Please, please hear me out.”

“Too late.”

Okay, she’s angry now. Looking around the room she sees her keychain. It has one of those pull-able self defense devices. She reaches over to grab it. 

“If you don’t calm down, if you don’t help me, I’m going to pull this tab, and it will notify every police department, every agent in a 300 mile radius.” She’s bluffing, of course. But he’d surely believe it. Hell, they have fuckin' lesbians plastered on billboards these days. Anything is possible. 

“You’re bluffing.” He says smiling. 

“Am I?” She asks, smiling back. 

He stares at her. He says nothing. She goes to pull the pin out of the device.

“Wait,” he says. “Look, I’m old, I’m tired, and I just want to go fuck off to Costa Rica, and live my life not frozen in ice. If you want revenge on Vought, honey, by all means go for it. Girl power and all that shit. But there are plenty of other supes out there willing to help.”

She sighs, looking up at him with heavy eyelids. He smiles down at her now. She’s much prettier when she’s not being fuckin' hysterical. 

“Your loss.” She says, shrugging, pulling the cap off of the safety device. It immediately begins to flash and scream. Sending her far away from it, gripping her ears in pain. Sending him flying to the floor trying to put the pin back in. 

“Why the fuck did you do that?” He yells, his hands shaking as he tries to find a way to silence the device. She doesn’t answer, just shoving herself into a corner with her hands over her ears. “Did you hear me, nutcase? How the fuck do you stop this thing!”

He throws it onto the ground now, beginning to stomp on it. He ends up with his foot halfway through the floor. All is quiet.

He looks over at her shoved into the corner. She slowly moves her hands from her ears. He’s angrier now, stomping over to her. 

“How long until these people find me?”

What? She thinks to herself. Oh yes, the bluff. 

“30 minutes. We might as well leave now, and keep driving until we get to the safe house.” Welp, there goes 50$ for the room rental. “And there’s more where that came from, so don’t do anything fuckin' crazy.”

“I won’t as long as you aren’t acting like a fuckin' lunatic.” 

“So then it’s a deal?”

“No deal.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I said, no deal. You can take me to this safe house and we can discuss further. That’s all I’m agreeing to. You take that, or I can just smash your head in along with the rest of your little devices.”

She rubs her chin. Walking over into the corner and picking up her duffle bag.

“Yeah, let’s hold out on the latter. Y’know, collateral land all that.”

“It really is that easy, you know? All it would take is just a snap of that spine and you’d be shut up for good.”

Her skin crawls at this. He is right. The collateral is shit. He has every right to bash her brains in and leave with no trace. What the hell can she do about it? 

Unless. 

“Look, Captain America, there is something else that could pique your interest.”

“Trust me, there isn’t much.” He looks around the room one last time before they go out the door. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to have any reefer?”

She closes the door just as they’ve opened it. She leans into him. This is cruel, she thinks. This is wrong. And hell, he’d have every right to kill her after they get the job done. And maybe that would be the best thing to do. Quick and easy. 

“Look, if you help me do this, I can show you to your children. To your family.” Yup, she’s rotting in hell. “I used to work for Vought. I know of their location.”

His gaze softens. Fuck, she thinks. 

“This is some sick fuckin' joke?”

“No,” She coos, placing a sweaty palm on his shoulder. He flinches. “No, of course not. And if you help me, you can take all of them down to Costa Rica with you.”

He looks at her with question, with curiosity. He doesn’t think he can trust this girl, but hell, she did just save his life.

A family? His family? People who are ready to welcome him with open arms. His own children who’d view him as a hero, as a good father. People he could make proud. Hopefully they wouldn’t be fuckin’ pussies like Homelander. What a waste, he thinks.

She bounces back and forth on her feet. He nods, not looking at her. 

“Tell me what you need in the car. And we’re stopping for alcohol and cigarettes.”

“Deal.” She says with a guilty smile, watching as he walks his way downstairs. 

Masterlist | Episode 3 | Taglist

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The Sign of Four: The Strange Story of Jonathan Small (Part Two of Two)

CW for graphic discussion of war crimes.

Sepoy was a term, derived from the Persian sepāhī meaning "infantry soldier", that was used to refer to Indian soldiers, generally with muskets, in the Mughal Empire's armed forces and also Maratha Army. Europeans then used the term to refer to Indians in their colonial forces. One of the names of the rebellion was the Sepoy Mutiny.

Today, Sepoy is the equivalent of "Private" in the Indian and Pakistani armies.

Cawnpore, now Kanpur, was the scene of a siege of East India Company forces and associated civilians in 1857. The EIC surrendered in return for safe passage offered by Nana Sahib, leader of the rebellion on the area. Then, for unclear reason, the departing men, women and children were attacked - no definitive evidence that Sahib authorised this has been found. All the men were killed, with the surviving women and children taken to a villa called Bibighar. 22 days later, although some sepoys refused the order, they were nearly all massacred, with their naked bodies thrown down a well. The British arrived the next day to recapture the city and then carried out horrific summary justice against any rebels who could not prove their innocence. Space precludes me from covering it in depth.

Historically, treason, like the rajah has basically done, would result in Parliament passing an act of attainder, basically seizing your entire personal property plust titles without any judicial process. Not sure what the East India Company's rules were on that. The US constitution specifically bans Congress and the states from passing any bills of attainder.

I'd need to enquire about this, but EIC sepoys apparently swore loyalty to the salt they had eaten, hence the term "true to their salt".

A postern is a side entrance in a city or castle wall, usually concealed so it can be used for stealthy entrances and exits; it could also be used during a siege for the defenders to make an attack on their besiegers. The foundations of one from the London Wall can be seen next to the Tower of London.

A firelock is a musket where the powder is ignited by sparks, either from a lit match or friction from a piece of flint.

The wet season in India lasts from around June to September, when 80% of the annual rainfall occurs. This is vital for Indian agriculture and delays in it occuring can cause real problems. In any event, you get near-daily thunderstorms and torrential downpours. This can result in roads getting badly damaged and flooding in places with poor drainage. Bollywood is a particular fan of romantic scenes involving monsoons, because they allow for sexy wet people.

I believe a mound-heap is another term for midden, an outside dump for all sorts of domestic waste, ranging from broken pottery to animal bones to human waste. Archaelogists are particular fans of them as they provide evidence of past human habitation of a sight. Poor people in Victorian London would search through them for any items of value.

The British last executed someone by firing squad in 1941 when Josef Jakobs, a German NCO convicted of spying was shot at the Tower of London. Two American soldiers would be shot at Shepton Mallet in 1944 for murdering fellow soldiers.

Before the introduction of compulsory recording of police interviews in 1992, records of interviews were generally made from notes taken during the interview or even the officers' memory, with associated problems. The interviewee would then be asked to sign the official record, something frequently refused, especially if it looked like they were signing a confession. It was also pretty common for police to engage in "verballing" i.e. falsifying the record to make it appear there had been a confession.

"The first water" means the diamonds were of the highest quality, basically having the appearence of clear water.

Commutations of death sentences were in fact quite common, especially for lower-level offences. If you see "death recorded" in a trial transcript, it means that the judge had to pass the death sentence, but clearly intended for there to be a pardon or commutation. This often occurred for sodomy convictions.

Mount Harriet is a 383-metre high hill today called Mount Manipur.

A military officer who went bankrupt, especially for gambling debts, was going to lose his commission at best. Bankruptcy is still going to be a real concern in any armed forces today, especially for your security clearance.

It is around 375 miles as the metaphorical crow flies (crows are not sea birds) to Myanmar, then Burma and a British colony. The only place you could reasonably reach from Port Blair that was not under some form of British control was Siam (now Thailand), which remained independent throughout the imperial era, except when Japan invaded it in 1941.

Yawl has several definitions, including a sail layout commonly used for racing yachts in this period.

The belief that the Andaman indigenous people were cannibals appears to have come from the account of Marco Polo.

Hundreds of people tried to escape from the Andaman penal colony, including 288 of the initial 1858 arrivals, a third of those who survived the original journey. However, the thick jungle and "the murderous attacks of the savage aborigines", as military doctor and original governor James Pattison Walker put, led to 81 survivors limping back to Port Blair. They asked for mercy and medicine. Walker had them and seven other recaptured prisoners all hanged the same day. Many who got off the island likely drowned.

Two prisoners in 1872 managed to get all the way to London, after convincing a British vessel they were shipwrecked fishermen. However, the manager of the Strangers Home for Asiatics in London where they ended up got suspicious, took photographs of them and sent them around the empire. That led to their recapture.

The calabash fruit, also known as the gourd, can be turned into bowls or other containers. Gourd is also a slang term for "mind".

The pilgrims sailing from Singapore to Jiddah (or more usually Jeddah) would likely have been heading for Mecca to take part in the hajj. This a pilgrimage considered one of the five pillars of Islam and mandatory at least once in a lifetime for any Muslim with the physical and financial ability to do it. Modern travel has made this a lot less hazardous - past pilgrims faced dangers including piracy, with even some of the Caribbean pirates sailing around Africa to attack ships for the treasures that might be going with them. At least until they reach Mecca, when everyone dresses in the same simple clothing.

At the time of this story, Jeddah, Mecca and Medina were in the Vilayet of the Hejaz, a province of the Ottoman Empire.

The 1445/2024 Hajj, ongoing as I post this, has attracted 1.833 million pilgrims. These numbers have caused stampedes and spread of disease; this year has also seen deaths due to heat stroke in 48 degrees Celsius temperatures. The Saudi authorities have taken various measures to improve safety, including registration requirements and improvements to the site layout provide escape routes.

From Jeddah (and other places in the region), pilgrims would historically travel to Mecca in large camel caravans with military escort as protection against bandit attacks. Today, Jeddah is home to the biggest airport in Saudi Arabia with a dedicated and distinctive terminal for the pilgrimage, as the vast majority of pilgrims arrive via air today. From there, modern roads and a new high-speed railway provide easy access to the holy sites.

Performing in "freak shows" was one of the few ways that severely disabled people could earn a living in these period - it was often that, begging or the workhouse; Joseph Merrick could not hold down any other employment because of his appearance. People with microcephaly i.e. a smaller than usual head were passed off as "missing links". However, by 1888, public opinion was turning against such acts.