#Parliament Special Session

[khabarwala247]

भाजपा सांसद सुधांशु त्रिवेदी ने विपक्ष को दिया करारा जवाब

पुराने संसद की विरासत को संजोते हुए सदस्यों ने 75 सालों की यादों का जिक्र किया। लोकतंत्र का ये मंदिर बीते 75 सालों में कई ऐतिहासिक पलों का साक्षी बना। पुराने संसद भवन के साथ जुड़ी यादों को सदस्यों ने सबके सामने रखा। भाजपा सांसद सुधांशु त्रिवेदी (Sudhanshu Trivedi) ने भी अपनी भावनाओं को शब्दों में बयां करते हुए विपक्ष को करारा जवाब दिया।

[swetcha123]

Parliament Special Session: ముందస్తు ఎన్నికలు..? పార్లమెంట్ సమావేశాల ఎజెండా ఇదేనా..?

Parliament latest news today(Breaking news of today in India) :

లోక్ సభ ఎన్నికలు ముందే జరుగుతాయనే ప్రచారం మొదలైంది. ప్రస్తుత పరిస్థితుల్లో జమిలి ఎన్నికలు సాధ్యపడకపోతే ముందస్తు ఎన్నికలకు వెళ్లాలని కేంద్రం యోచిస్తోందని వార్తలు వస్తున్నాయి. పార్లమెంట్ ప్రత్యేక సమావేశాల ఎజెండా ఇదేనని తెలుస్తోంది. పార్లమెంట్ వర్షాకాల సమావేశాలు ఆగస్టు 12న ముగిశాయి. శీతాకాల సమావేశాలు డిసెంబర్ జరగాల్సి ఉండగా .. ఇప్పుడు ప్రత్యేక సమావేశాల ఏర్పాటుపై అనేక అనుమానాలు కలుగుతున్నాయి.

సెప్టెంబర్ 18 నుంచి 22 వరకు పార్లమెంట్ ప్రత్యేక సమావేశాలు నిర్వహించాలని కేంద్రం తాజాగా తీసుకున్న నిర్ణయంపై అనేక సందేహాలు వ్యక్తమవుతున్నాయి. జీఎస్టీని అమలు చేయడానికి 2017 జూన్‌ 30న పార్లమెంట్ సంయుక్త సమావేశాన్ని ప్రత్యేకంగా అర్ధరాత్రి సమయంలో నిర్వహించారు. గతంలో స్వాతంత్య్ర రజతోత్సవాలు, క్విట్‌ ఇండియా 50వ వార్షికోత్సవం సమయంలో మాత్రమే ప్రత్యేక సమావేశాలు నిర్వహించారు. ఈసారి మాత్రం పూర్తిస్థాయి సమావేశాల తరహాలోనే 5 రోజులపాటు జరగనున్నాయి. అయితే ప్రధాని మోదీ 73వ పుట్టినరోజు తర్వాత రోజు ఈ ప్రత్యేక సమావేశాలు ప్రారంభంకానుండటం ఆసక్తిని రేపుతోంది.

మరోవైపు పార్లమెంట్ ప్రత్యేక సమావేశాల్లో అనేక కీలక బిల్లులకు ఆమోదం తెలిపేందుకు కేంద్ర యోచస్తోందని తెలుస్తోంది. జమ్మూ కశ్మీర్‌కు రాష్ట్ర హోదా పునరుద్ధరణ- ఎన్నికలు, G-20 శిఖరాగ్ర సదస్సు, చంద్రయాన్‌-3 విజయవంతం లాంటి అంశాలు ఎజెండాలో ఉంటాయని వార్తలు వినిపిస్తున్నాయి. ఉమ్మడి పౌరస్మృతి అమలు, ఓబీసీ వర్గీకరణకు జస్టిస్‌ రోహిణి కమిషన్‌ చేసిన సిఫార్సుల ఆమోదం లాంటి అంశాలను చర్చిస్తారని సమాచారం. మహిళా రిజర్వేషన్‌ బిల్లును ఈ సమావేశాల్లోనే ప్రవేశపెట్టే యోచనలో కేంద్రం ఉందని అంటున్నారు. మరి ముందస్తు ఎన్నికల ప్రకటన కూడా ఉంటుందా..? 5 రాష్ట్రాల అసెంబ్లీ ఎన్నికలతోపాటు సార్వత్రిక ఎన్నికలు జరుగుతాయా?

[news-trust-india]

Parliament Special Session : केंद्र सरकार ने क्यों बुलाया संसद का विशेष सत्र?

नई दिल्ली। Parliament Special Session :  18 सितंबर से केंद्र की मोदी सरकार ने संसद का विशेष सत्र बुलाया है। इस पांच दिवसीय विशेष सत्र के दौरान कई अहम विधेयक पेश किए जा सकते हैं। साथ ही गुरुवार को सरकार की ओर से बताया गया कि इस दौरान दोनों सदनों की पांच बैठकें होंगी। Raksha Bandhan : उत्तराखंड में दो दिनों तक महिलाएं बसों में कर सकेंगी फ्री सफर वहीं शुक्रवार को केंद्रीय मंत्री प्रह्लाद जोशी ने…

[vicky-nanjappa]

Special session of Parliament: UCC, One Nation One Election on cards

Vicky Nanjappa The Centre is likely to introduce two key bills in the Parliament during the special session that would be held between September 12 and 22. On the cards are the bills on One National One Election and the Uniform Civil Code, sources said. The Centre through Union Minister, Prahlad Joshi informed that the special session of Parliament is being called between September 18 and 22.…

[verypersonalscreencaps]

"PREGNANT, IF I WANT, WHEN I WANT, HOW I WANT" FRANCE BECOMES FIRST COUNTRY TO EXPLICITLY ENSHRINE ABORTION RIGHTS IN CONSTITUTION The Washington Post | Published March 4, 2024 PARIS — With the endorsement of a specially convened session of lawmakers at Versailles, France on Monday became the first country in the world to explicitly enshrine abortion rights in its constitution — an effort galvanized by the rollback of protections in the United States. The amendment referring to abortion as a “guaranteed freedom” needed the approval of three-fifths of lawmakers — or 512 votes. The vote result on Monday evening was 780 in favor and 72 against. “We’re sending a message to all women: your body belongs to you and no one can decide for you,” Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told lawmakers assembled in Versailles. Thousands of Parisians gathered to watch the proceedings live on a giant television screen at Le Parvis des Droits de l’Homme — or “Human Rights Square” — in central Paris, with the Eiffel Tower looming dramatically over the scene. Before the political debate began, the television screen showed a montage of women’s rights campaigners around the world holding signs declaring, “My body is mine” and “My body, my choice.” The sound system blared Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” Parisians driving by honked their horns. France decriminalized abortion in 1975; abortion is legal for any reason through the 14th week of pregnancy. This amendment won’t change any of that. But while other countries have inferred abortion rights protections from their constitutions, as the U.S. Supreme Court did in Roe v. Wade, France is the first to explicitly codify in its constitution that abortion rights are protected. France is not interpreting its constitution; it is changing its constitution. The outcome was “also a promise for all women who fight all over the world for the right to have autonomy over their bodies — in Argentina, in the United States, in Andorra, in Italy, in Hungary, in Poland,” said lawmaker Mathilde Panot, who had introduced the bill in the National Assembly. “This vote today tells them: your struggle is ours, this victory is yours.” People gather near the Eiffel Tower during the broadcast of the special session of Parliament, in Paris on Monday.

[george-the-good]

WITH PRINCESS ELIZABETH TAKING HER PLACE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORIC CEREMONIAL: HIS MAJESTY READING HIS SPEECH FROM THE THRONE AT THE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS ON OCT. 21.

‘I am confident that in these times of hardship my people will demonstrate once again to the world their qualities of resolution and energy.’ These were among the opening words of the speech with which King George VI opened the third session of the present Parliament; and it is this moment in the beautiful and dignified ceremony which our artist has portrayed. The King, seated, and in naval uniform, is reading the speech; on his left sits the Queen; to his right, on a crimson and gilded chair, the Princess, making her first official attendance at this ceremony. To the right of the picture can be seen Field Marshal Lord Wavell holding aloft the Sword of State, and to the left Admiral of the Fleet Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope and Marshal of the R.A.F. Lord Portal of Hungerford, carrying respectively the Crown and the Cap of Maintenance. In front of the throne are the Judges in scarlet, seated back to back; and in the foreground, peers, spiritual and temporal, peeresses, and members of the Diplomatic Corps.

Drawn by our Special Artist, Captain Bryan de Grineau.

THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS - NOVEMBER 1, 1947

[writerlyhabits]

Aliit ori’shya tal'din

Pairing: Din Djarin x female reader

Word Count: 2.7k

Summary: Your second day in the covert reveals both new and familiar faces; hospitality and hostility.

Chapter 3 of the Shereshoy series | Masterlist | Ch. 2 | Ch. 4

Warnings: lots of Mando’a, mild language, soft Din, awkward Din, protective Din [he’s got a wide range, okay?], original Mandalorian characters… maybe a little bit of angst? It’s mostly worldbuilding, so I think that’s about it. 

AN: A word from the author – “I’m in grad school, I take forever to write things.Soon I will start grad school again, which means I’ll write this instead of my dissertation. I’m quite fond of the Mando Legends Lore, if you haven’t noticed. I literally got Kad Ha’rangir & Arasuum tattooed on me.”

This is the third part of a sister fic for my one-shot (Courting) a friend of mine wrote based on this request, and I’m so happy she’s letting me share it with you guys! She is also sharing it on AO3, so be sure to send her your love and kudos there as well! We hope you enjoy 💛

Translations, in order of appearance:

Aliit ori’shya tal'din: Family is more than blood

Rejorhaa'i kaysh murcyur gar shupur’ika?:  Are you gonna tell her to kiss your ouchies?

Cuyi ulyc, vod.: Be careful, sister.

Aliit: family

Ad(e): child/children

Kar’ta beskar: the central "diamond" of Mandalorian armor; lit. heart armor

Mirjahaal: peace of mind, "healing", general term for emotional well-being especially after a trauma or bereavement

Beroya: bounty hunter

Kurshi: tree

Sen’tra: jackpack

Buir(e): Parent/Parents

Akaanati'kar'oya: The War of Life and Death (Mandalorian myth), creation story

Verd'goten: a special trial for one to become warrior; lit. birth of warrior

So'haale: births

Urman'gedete: prayers

Eparave: feasts

Cyarir evaar'la: Courting

Alii'aliit: meeting of the clans, the closest thing mandalorians have to government or parliament; lit. "clan of clans"

Tsad: group (of people), alliance

Bes'ede: Mythosaur

Kandush : inevitable doom

Time moves differently underground.

With Odona, the hours passed quickly. As a team, you could disassemble and reconstruct nearly any ship in their small fleet, save for a few parts— which no one had yet found and delivered. The days were faster when the guardsman opted to join you in his free time, his first visit and subsequent dialogue with Odona still memorable.

To what do I owe the displeasure; Oh Mighty Protector of the Covert and Savior of Foundlings?

The pleasure of my company is for your friend, ‘Dona.

Why? Going to terrorize her again, Ik’? Ven’rejorhaa'i kaysh murcyur gar shupur’ika?

Cuyi ulyc, vod.

You had sensed there was a joke hidden within their jibes, one you were unable to decipher in their foreign tongue, but neither took the time to explain. Whilst Ikarus lacked use for the labor that required fine motor control, his presence disrupted the monotony of the many tedious and repetitive tasks you and Odona spent much of your time doing— their frequent banter kept you entertained throughout the day. 

The time you had spent in the medbay was shorter— the most common injuries coming from the older adolescents early on in their training, whose resilience and constitution had yet to strengthen— as well as wrist and ankle sprains from poor fighting forms, the occasional laceration from knife safety training; and at worst, injuries from the teens and young adults earned from a vigorous sparring session.

But with Din, the mornings and evenings together never felt long enough. The hours were reminiscent of your time with him and the Child in the Crest, the warmth of your aliit protected by familiar cold walls; the stone of the cavern both analogous yet antithetic to the durasteel of your former home. 

One forged of hands, and the other of time— one of the fires of a furnace, the other the fires of a planet’s mantle. Your time together before was that of contrivance, engineered— with agendas to follow and assignments to complete— your interactions affable yet somewhat artificial, a present barrier precluding your companionship from evolving into something more… More natural, more innate, more intimate. Here, your time together had been more candid, endearing— Din no longer shied away from any probing questions or physical closeness, which allowed that previous barrier to melt and slowly flow away like that of bedrock to magma, reshaping and remolding your times of leisure together to hours of unified repose.

The hours turned to days, the days turned to weeks, and the weeks turn to this moment, where seemingly no time passes at all— blanketed in the familiar darkness of your room. The unlit and chilled space, at first an unacquainted oddity, now a comfortable companion to spend the sleeping and waking hours in. The ritual remains the same— awaken with the Child, have the morning trade-off with Din, make the caf, and begin the tasks for the day— like clock work, a well-oiled droid.

This morning is almost no different, and yet, you hesitate to leave your bed, your conversation with Din the previous morning still fresh in your mind— 

Din had sat aside the table, his body resting against the wall— unarmored, arms crossed, head tilted to the side, the same position as every morning. Once you handed him the Child and sat, caf in hand, he finally spoke.

“I’d like you to join me tomorrow,” he stated. 

The lack of pleasantries from him was unsurprising, though a teasing ‘Good morning to you, Din’ was a tempting response. Instead, you greeted him with a grin and an unobjectionable reply— 

“Alright, what are we doing?” 

He hummed, pleased with your immediate acceptance.

“The adults alternate supervising the ade. Tomorrow, it’ll be our turn.”

You gestured toward the Child in his arms, in a playful retort. “Don’t we supervise this ad every day?”

The Child cooed in his arms, his ears perked tentatively at his mention. Din sighed, with a smile in voice.

“We do. It’s tradition for all of the adults to care for the ade… All have wisdom to share.”

Skeptical, you thought: ‘What would I possibly teach them?’

You observed the Child resting so comfortably on Din’s chest— his tiny hand gripped tightly into Din’s clothes, right where his armor’s kar’ta beskar normally sat. It was a stark contrast compared to the Child’s behavior upon your first meeting. With any loud noises and sudden movements, he would shrink inwards in his cradle— as if he could make himself any smaller. Medical scanners made him grimace, unfamiliar places and people made his ears droop— seeing others upset made him wary. And yet, he was endlessly curious. Despite his initial unease with the two new adults in his life, the Child was quick to trust you both— and with his trust, his personality came through… his affection, his laughter, his love. 

From there, Din learned how to tend to someone outside of himself— what it meant to have someone that relied on him, and more colossally, someone that wanted Din, as he was. The Armorer branded him as the Child’s father, and the delighted squeal from the little one sealed the bond that Din had been trying to hide for so long. Just as the Child learned to trust Din with his welfare, so too did Din learn to trust the Child with his own mirjahaal.  

Perhaps it wasn’t the lessons they taught, but rather the connection they made, and the wisdom they sought.

With this, the true question then inverted from the skeptic ‘what would I teach them’, to the sanguine ‘what will I learn?’...

“...When do we meet them?”

—

To the ade, the former beroya is nothing more than a tall kurshi fit to climb. 

Somehow, Din appears endlessly patient and playful with all six of the young children. They utilize their limitless spurts of energy to continuously attack Din as a squad, bringing him to the ground— he’ll exclaim a faux wail, and collapse to his knees— and the collective giggles of the ade begin the cycle again. 

Whenever a child grows tired of their battle, they come to you— wanting to be tossed into the air, or onto the nearest surface. Supposedly being gently thrown around aids in their brain development, and ‘it’s good practice for their first sen’tra flight’, Din tells you. The logic is questionable at best, but hearing their joyous squeals makes the ever-growing muscle fatigue worthwhile. Even the child of the Djarin clan is as equally amused, his own little spirit mightily lifted by the experience of being with other kids again. 

During your time on Sorgan, the Child was happy to interact with the other children— but mostly, he watched them, rather than play. Perhaps he was still too shy or too wary to fully engage with so many people, but surrounded by these Foundlings now, he looks at home; like he belongs. Amidst this cohort, he’s made a new friend, Mara, the youngest of the lot. Her long and dark hair reminds you— and perhaps the Child— of Winta, Omera’s daughter. The two spent the most time together on Sorgan, and despite the little one’s inability to say, he misses her. 

Mara and the Child sit away from the squad play-fighting Din, in front of the single wall of volcanic tuff— embellished with crimps and pockets, graven by many hands. You watch them, as they examine the wall, looking up and down, side to side. Your eyes travel upward to the small cavate, almost eight feet from the floor. You watch as Mara looks to the Child and nods, and begins her ascent up— using her fingers and toes to grip tightly onto the various crevices in the wall— and the Child begins to follow.

You step forward, almost instinctively, wanting to call out to them to stop, wanting to reach out to the children to prevent a fall—

Then, from nowhere, Din appears at your side, extending his hand to stop you. “Don’t,” he says softly, “Let them try.”

You look at him puzzled, and he continues. “If you distract them now, they might fall…” he pauses, and turns his head to watch them, “...but if you allow them to focus, they can succeed. Watch…” 

The pair silently step closer, closing the distance between themselves and the wall, watching the two ade slowly make their way up to the cavate. Mara climbs inside first, and lays on her belly, reaching out to the Child to help him trek the final span of the wall. Once inside, the Child turns around, to face the entire room below him. He squeals a little clamor of excitement, proud of his triumph, before looking down to his buire.

“Good job, kid,” Din says. “Come on down, it’s time to go.”

The Child looks at you both doe-eyed, his ears drooping, as he peers over the ledge. He looks back to Mara, and back down over the ledge, contemplating his next move. 

You lean slightly towards Din, speaking in a hushed tone. “I don’t think he knows how to get back down.”

“He can do it,” Din says confidently. 

You challenge him, “He looks scared.” 

Din insists, “Then he’ll do it scared.” 

He steps forward once more, his body almost pressed against the wall, reaching one hand up. “Come on kid, climb down.”

The child’s ears droop even lower, letting out a quiet whimper, a little anxious look on his face. He looks back up to Mara, who gives him an encouraging “You can do it,” before he finally begins his descent towards you and Din. 

Carefully, his little clawed feet grip into the same pockets he used to climb up, and his hands hold onto the ledge. He looks down at his buire with a slightly quivering lip, then back up to his hands. Slowly, he presses on, his movements deliberate and cautious, gravity tugging at his little limbs with relentless persuasion, clammy clawed-hands threatening to slip free from the cold stone. His disgruntled babbling fading with each tentative step, footfalls growing more steady with every downward stride. 

His little foot finally reached something soft— the hand of his buir, waiting for his arrival. With an excited squeal, he looks to Din, holding out his clawed fingers for Din to grasp. Din takes the Child into his arms.

“Good job… I knew you could do it.” Din whispers to him.

With his ad in hand, Din looks back to the cavate, where Mara sits silently. “You too, Mara, come down,” he says. 

Mara, unlike the little one, is less graceful, only climbing down two feet of wall before leaping off. You instinctively reach your arms out to catch her, but are a few seconds too late, as she lands confidently on her feet, smiling up at you. She giggles, asking the Child “Wasn’t that fun!” and the little one cooing affectionately with a bright smile.

“They need to rest.” Din says, before leading Mara and the Child back with the other ade. You follow him in toe, and aid him while he attempts to settle the children in preparation for them to sleep. 

The chamber is bathed in the soft, warm light of the cressets along the walls. The ade sit and lay in a circle on the floor, looking up at the two adults expectedly, waiting for you both to join them. Din gently places the Child in Mara’s lap, seating himself amongst them. 

The ade demanded a story before they would agree to their midday nap, and with only one long sigh, Din relented. As you sit beside him, the tale of Akaanati'kar'oya begins.

—

In ages past, when cosmic realms were naught,

Two gods emerged, each with a purpose sought.

Kad Ha'rangir, embodiment of change,

A dance of growth, His essence did arrange.

Arasuum, the god of slow decay,

In stillness thrived, where life would fade away.

Eternal foes, in battle they engaged,

Ideals clashed, the cosmic script was paged.

Kad Ha'rangir, with eyes of vibrant light,

Envisioned galaxies in endless flight.

His very step, a ripple through the void,

Transforming all, where life and change enjoyed.

Arasuum, with eyes as deep as night,

Desired a realm where stasis held its might.

Decay His touch, a silent, withering breath,

A universe in stillness, touched by death.

In ceaseless clash, their cosmic struggle roared,

A dance of gods, where destinies were stored.

Stoic truths emerged from this grand design,

A tale of action, life's breath so divine.

"For action is the breath that life bestows,

A vital force, as mighty river flows.

Inaction, slow demise, a creeping shade,

A silent death in stillness' dark cascade."

Through galaxies and time, the story spread,

Of Kad Ha'rangir, where change was bred.

Arasuum's touch, a cautionary tale,

A realm in stillness, where all things frail.

So heed the moral, in verses spun,

That action is life, beneath the sun.

For inaction's grasp, a silent breath,

A slow demise, an encroaching death.

—

The ade rest together in a haphazard heap of limbs on various bedcovers and furs draped across the floor. Exhausted from their Beroya Battles and abseil adventures, they finally sleep, leaving the two adults to quietly watch over them together. In the chamber’s silent embrace, the air hangs heavy and chilled— a symphony of stillness envelops the room, broken by the muted shuffle of shifting bodies, and the hushed breaths of the ade. The only audible rhythm is that of the pulsating cadence of your own heartbeat and the rush of blood moving inside your head. 

Your eyes scan over the ade, finding a sense of calmness watching their steady breaths, in… out. 

In… out.

In… out.

Your gaze once again falls onto the Child, cuddled against Mara, also breathing steadily. In the gentle cradle of his friend’s arms, he looks peaceful. Had he ever slept this soundly on the Crest?... Who held him every night before us? Who will take care of him after us?

In the softest whisper, to not disturb the ade, you lean closer to Din, telling him the obvious— “He’s happy here.”

“...Yes,” Din replies, just as quietly. 

“Was this your experience, too? After the Mandalorians saved you?”

“No.”

His visor is trained on the little one’s sleeping face—the same face of a child who was once trapped in the suffocating darkness of a sealed cradle—a cage, a cage whose opening only revealed another prison, in the form of two bounty hunters hovering over him like… a B2 Battle Droid, with a blaster pointed in a child’s face. A child rescued from death at the last possible moment by a shiny warden, offering an adiaphorous detainment. 

“It was… a time of war. I was trained to fight in it. I hope… that they never have to.” Din says, his gaze scanning over the ade once more. 

“I thought all Mandalorians were warriors.”

He, too, believed the same notion for many years. Training from the day he was rescued to the day he became an adult, after his verd'goten, life became a perpetual streak of jobs. Commission, retrieval, payment. Commission, retrieval, payment… Until a strange, golden, aureate armorsmith joined his tribe, bringing tales of the “Great Forge of Mandalore,” and the songs of the artificers that echoed through the speos as they worked. He remembers the first time he kneeled in front of her small, austere forge, in a dark room beneath a busy market above, listening as she spoke of the ethos, the rites, the latria, the true way of the Mandalore. 

“No. Everyone is trained to survive. But… we used to live, too.” 

“...Until Mandalore was taken.”

“Yes.”

So'haale, urman'gedete, eparave, cyarir evaar'la, alii'aliit… A cultus he could only dream of, but never truly have. Spoken knowledge fades into whispers, slipping through his fingers like sand as the voices of the ancestors grow ever fainter. Each decampment a dissolution of tsad res publica, each step forward a battle against oblivion. 

“I’m sorry.” You lean over, resting your head on his pauldron. “...Maybe there’ll come a time when we’ll live in the light, on a planet that welcomes us.” 

Din knows that within every Mandalorian is a patchwork of unfamiliar faces and ever-changing landscapes, their solace and safety as elusive as a bes'ede itself—and yet they endlessly repugn the kandush they have faced time and time again, guided by the conviction that within the uncertainty of the cosmos lay the promise of a sanctuary forged from the resilience of their spirit. 

He tilts his head, resting it atop yours. “There will.”

Ali'nare vencuyanir yaim. This is the Way.   

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[scotianostra]

Ooh, what’s Edinburgh like? Moving there next year hopefully, from Africa, and after a few quick trips I can’t say I’ve gotten too much of a sense of the city :(

I'm kinda biased, but it's a good place, quite small and easy to get around, the main bus serice is Lothian Buses, for a flat fare of £2 you can get from ato b on one bus, for £5 cash you can hop on and off, the best value is paying by debit card , what they call TapTapCap from as little as £4.80 per day and £22 per week, so if you are one 3 or more buses in one day it caps at £4.80, and £22 is the most you will pay fr a week. The bus service is very good and I use their bustracker, find it on Google Play "My Bus Edinburgh" The vast majority of Museums and Art Galleries are free, only charges tend to be if there are special exhibitions, like The National Museum of Scotland had a Doctor Who exhibition last year. There are two main train stations, Waverley and Haymarket, and several small ones and stops.

Most people don't realise that Edinburgh and the surrounding areas have some great beaches, Portobello is the best in the city, ad has plenty of places to eat and drink at there. Cramond Beachis a mecca for dog walkers, there is a Causeway there where you can explore Cramond Island, just watch the tide times. There are plenty of parks and green spaces, the city is officially the greenest city in the UK, with almost half the city (49.2%) being classed as 'green space'.

If you are relatively fit there are plenty hills to climb to get great views, some are very easy, Calton Hill, Corstorphine to name but two. Arthur's Seat offers different routes to the summit of varying difficulty, but you can actually drive so far up and just make the easy climb to the top, there are three man made "Lochs" around Arthur's Seat, if you're lucky you will see Otters at Dunsapie, Duddingston and St Margarets have plenty swas and ducks. For more serious walkers the Pentland Hills are a great place to explore, there is even a herd of oor Highland "Hairy Coos" up there. If you can ski, there is a dryslope on The Pentlands, the longest in the UK.

Pubs and clubs are a plenty, I have no idea of your age as you have decided to remain anon, but many places cater for students, prices vary, I pay between £2 and £4 for my drinks, although the touristy places will charge you up to twice this amount, over £6 for a drink is not unusual.

Of course we have the Festival, well there are several throughout the year, Edinburgh gets the tag of Festival City at times. The main one is in August and the population of Edinburgh is said to double in the time, licensed premises are automatically given an extension to their opening hours, some open to 5 in the morning.

It's a safe city  with a low crime rate, but as with other places you have to be aware of your own safety. If you plan on taking in the paid attractions The Castle wil set you back about £20, as will The Palace of Holyrood House. Opposite the Palace is The Scottish Parliament, you can visit thisfor free and sit in while it is in session. If you are planning on venturing around Scotland and like your history I recommend a membership of Historic Scotland, again I don't know your age, but prices start at under £3 a month and are less than a fiver for adults over 24. National Trust of Scotland also offer meberships from £3.35 to £5.80.

Can't really think of much more to put for now, perhaps my followers can make suggestions, or ask questions?

Oh and pack your umbrella get a waterproof jacket, even in summer we can get some heavy showers, naturally you will be aware it can get cold as well, invest in a decent winter jacket and layers to keep warm.

I hope this has been helpful.

[copperbadge]

Okay but can the royal family be called to serve jury duty?

We were talking about this in comments briefly! I've been thinking about it since.

I think the discussion is predicated on the idea that Askazer-Shivadlakia even has trial by jury. France apparently only has jury trial for felony level crimes, while Italy doesn't use juries at all (they have a council of judges). Askazer-Shivadlakia has a number of cultures tugging on it, but given they speak English due to an occupation, probably they have a jury trial format of some kind. Perhaps with only five or nine jurors (Italian Judges Style) instead of twelve. In any case, let's assume they do.

Alanna and Jerry aren't elected or immediate family, they have paid staff positions -- although this made me think that Michaelis and Miranda offered Alanna the title of "princess" as a teen, because of her close relationship to them and lack of parents, although she probably didn't really need it, given her grandparents. Anyway, let's also put Jes in this category of "not royal", because they hold no official title or staff position but have a clear association. Michaelis and Noah are Royals but Michaelis is retired and Noah is appointed, so they have similar status to staff. Eddie, too, is "royal but not elected" and his main function is paid staff much like Al and Jerry. So really it's just Gregory who might legally be exempt. In the US, at least, elected officials at the federal level are. So let's presume that getting elected to king exempts you from jury service until you leave office.

Michaelis, Eddie, and Noah (once he turns eighteen) could be summoned to appear, but would immediately be disqualified from criminal cases because they're affiliated with the Crown and could be argued to have an unconscious bias. What we were discussing in comments was in part my thought that Michaelis, who became king (and thus disqualified) very young and ruled most of his life, would be rather excited for a novel civil service experience, and disappointed when he was dismissed.

I think pretty much any of the royal family except Gregory would be qualified to serve, and allowed to in a civil case (Jerry, Alanna, and Jes would also be fine in a criminal case). Jerry and Al are famous-ish as the local nobility, Jes is a famous journalist, and Michaelis, Noah, and Eddie are royals, but I did a bit of research and I guess celebrities aren't given any kind of special exemption usually. And it's canonical that the Shivadh find celebrities amusing at best, so I doubt their presence on a jury would even be particularly disruptive. So yeah, I could see the royal family serving jury duty.

But my brain is a bit sidelong, so while it would be entertaining to write that story, I was thinking more about...hearings, court protocols, the hierarchical structure of the courtroom, and the weird way in which everyone in a court is pushed into a very specific role. I'll probably write more about that in a general sense later, but where it took me was the idea that Gregory, as a king who has a parliament he has to obey but also certain specific unilateral power, might hold something like a quarterly "King's Boon" session ala the Big Block Of Cheese Day from the West Wing.

Some period of time, every few months, he basically holds open office and meets with people who are struggling to get heard in other ways -- people who want to suggest new laws, or want state funding for something, or need help untangling some bureaucratic issue. One person might have an idea for a law but not the legal training to write it up; Gregory might put them in touch with Palace legal, who can help them draft it for presentation to Parliament. Someone else might be having trouble with some kind of bank issue, Gregory can call up the bank and be like "Hey I'm the king and I'm here with one of your clients, let's get this solved before I audit you." When the recording studio collapses at the start of Infinite Jes and Michaelis says "I'm going to have a word with the government about building inspections", if he wasn't the former king he might take that kind of issue to the King's Boon. Two ordinary people who are arguing about some issue but don't want to take it to the courts might ask Gregory to decide the matter for them. Could be who owns the tree in their mutual front yard, could be some kind of philosophical argument they've got a bet about and they're willing to let Gregory rule on it (this is also very Talmudic, the idea of finding a Sage to figure your shit out for you).

And the nice thing is, much like in the West Wing, this is something Royals and palace staff would participate in -- so when Michaelis was king, he and Miranda would both participate (as would Eitan, as Well Connected Nobility); eventually Gregory as prince and then crown prince would participate as part of his training. It's basically "you, too, have a friend in high places" week in the Palace.

So you've got, say, King's Boon Week, where you get a number, show up on your appointed day, and hang out in the ballroom, which has been converted to a waiting room with nice chairs and snacks (presumably people who can't make it in person can get a Zoom call set up). You wait to be called, and you might meet with Gregory, but you also might meet with Eddie, Michaelis, Alanna, or Jerry. Noah would also participate but for a few years he'd be sitting in with Michaelis as training. Eddie would sit in with Gregory for a year or so after officially becoming King Consort, until he had a more thorough grasp of things. I have a feeling Jes would spend the time circulating and interviewing people for a quarterly podcast. :D

That just seems like a cool thing that is possible to achieve given the size and informality of the country, and would make I think potentially a more interesting story.

I mean. Just imagine. You're having trouble getting the permits all in order for the nightclub you want to open, and you're hoping to get Lady Alanna because you know she's got every bureaucratic "in" it's possible to have. But you groan a bit because you draw Duke Gerald, who...sure he's nice, but you've heard he's a daft scatterbrain. But then you meet with him and he goes through your business plan and is like "This is really solid. Let me make a call," and while you're gaping at him he calls a friend in Legal, gets your paperwork in order, phones a guy he knows who has a vacant building that you can lease on the cheap for the first year or two, and then looks you dead in the eye and says, "Do you need investors? I'd take a thirty percent stake in this," and you wander back into the waiting room, dazed, to inform your business partner that you've struck a deal for each of you to sell 15% of the nightclub to His Grace the Duke of Shivadlakia.

Now THAT'S a fun story. :D

(Eddie is like "Just herd anyone who wants to open a restaurant into my office," and the quality of the food in Fons-Askaz, already pretty good, shoots up a notch that year.)

[mariacallous]

Thousands of people braved intense heat to commemorate the anniversary of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide and attend the mass burial of 14 recently identified victims at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre in eastern Bosnia on Thursday.

They were killed in July 1995 in a series of massacres by Bosnian Serb forces that left more than 8,000 Bosniak boys and men dead. The massacres have been classified as genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY.

Munira Subasic, president of the Mothers of Srebrenica association, warned that the world “has not learned anything” since World War II.

“Srebrenica is proof of that, and we mothers strive to send a message and warn others so a crime like Srebrenica is never repeated,” Subasic said, speaking in front of foreign and domestic delegations gathered for the memorial event at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre.

She also warned of genocide denial, which remains widespread in Bosnia and Herzegovina and across the former Yugoslav region.

So far, 6,751 genocide victims have been buried at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre. Another 250 victims have been buried at local cemeteries on the decision of surviving family members.

However, in Bosnia, a day of mourning for Srebrenica is only officially commemorated in the country’s Bosniak and Croat-dominated Federation entity. Bosnian Serbs have blocked the state-level Council of Ministers from declaring a day of mourning across the whole country.

After the UN General Assembly voted in May to establish July 11 as an International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, the 29th anniversary is being marked in other countries too. For the first time, it will be commemorated at a high-level event at the United Nations in New York.

In Serbia on Wednesday evening, peace group Women in Black held a silent vigil in the centre of Belgrade, urging Serbia to establish annual an Srebrenica Genocide Remembrance Day, although the government refuses to classify the massacres by Bosnian Serb forces as genocide.

In Montenegro, President Jakov Milatovic wrote on X that the suffering of “the innocent Srebrenica victims serves as a painful warning to today’s generations that the evil of July 1995 must never be repeated.” The anniversary was also marked by the country’s Bosniak Council in the capital Podgorica on Thursday. Council president Suljo Mustafic said at the event that “Srebrenica is the saddest word in our language, and Potocari [where the bodies of thousands of victims are buried] is the biggest grave in our history”.

The event was attended by some representatives of ruling and opposition parties and by the mayor of Podgorica, Olivera Injac.

In Pristina in Kosovo on Thursday, parliament held a special session in commemoration of Srebrenica genocide victims and approved a statement on the UN resolution. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Albin Kurti joined a commemoration ceremony organised by the Institute of History.

In his speech, Kurti expressed solidarity and support to Bosnian people. “This crime left open wounds for thousands of Bosnian families, just as it left wounds on humanity’s conscience. Therefore, every anniversary renews the pain, not only for the Bosnian people, but also for us, the people of Kosovo, who experienced the horrors of war 25 years ago,” Kurti said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a presidential decree on Wednesday declaring that July 11 will be commemorated as Srebrenica Genocide Remembrance Day.

“July 11, accepted as the ‘International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the Srebrenica Genocide,’ will be commemorated in our country to share the pain, condemn genocide and crimes against humanity, and raise global awareness through special remembrance events, educational activities, and public awareness initiatives in honour of the victims of the Srebrenica genocide,” the decree said.

In recent years, opposition parties and Turkish Bosniak NGOs have been calling on the Turkish government to recognise the Srebrenica massacres as genocide and to declare July 11 a genocide remembrance day.

In 2023, however, parties in Erdogan’s alliance rejected an opposition bill to recognise the 1995 massacres as genocide, sparking angry exchanges in the Turkish parliament and disappointment in Bosnia.

People in North Macedonia will also participate in the July 11 commemorations. On Thursday, in the capital Skopje, the Bosniak National Council will organise its annual commemorative March for Srebrenica.

Memorial events are also being held in some Western European cities, including Bradford in England, where a “Remembering Srebrenica” flag is being raised in the City Park.

[spanishroyals]

Leonor turns 18.

On October 31st, the Princess of Asturias turns 18 years old. As the Constitution decrees and as her father did on his 18th birthday, Princess Leonor will take an Oath of Allegiance to the Constitution and the King in a special session of the Spanish Parliament.

In the second ceremony of the day, at the Royal Palace, Her Royal Highness will receive the Collar of the Carlos III Order with the Authorities of the State present. A luncheon will also be served at the Royal Palace.

Finally, there will be a private celebration at the Royal Palace of El Pardo with the families of the King and Queen.

[aimeedaisies]

How may tiaras does Anne own

These are the tiaras that she has worn in the past

(Descriptions from The Court Jeweller)

What I think are in her personal collection;

✨ Festoon tiara

This delicate diamond festoon tiara was given to Princess Anne in 1973 when she christened a ship. (Not a bad thank-you present!) It’s intricate and pretty, which made it a perfect wedding tiara for Anne’s daughter-in-law in 2008. Anne still wears it regularly, including an appearance at a Guildhall banquet during the Spanish state visit in July 2017.

✨ Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara

Princess Anne has been wearing this diamond bandeau, featuring laurel wreaths, anthemions, and a Greek Key (or meander) pattern, since she was a young woman. The tiara originally belonged to her grandmother, Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, who had given it to Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding present. The Queen loaned it to Princess Anne for some of her early tiara appearances (including a state visit to Austria in May 1969) before giving her the tiara in 1972. Anne still wears it regularly today, and she also loaned it to her daughter, Zara, as a bridal tiara in 2011.

✨ Aquamarine Pineflower tiara

This Cartier diamond and aquamarine tiara, which has a unique pinecone design theme, was a wedding anniversary gift from King George VI to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in the 1940s. In November 1973, the Queen Mother offered it to Princess Anne as a wedding present. She’s been wearing it ever since (including at a state banquet in June 2019), and has even made a few design tweaks along the way.

In the family vault;

✨ Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara

In November 1973, Princess Anne borrowed Queen Mary’s diamond fringe tiara from her grandmother, the Queen Mother, for her wedding to Mark Phillips. Anne was the second royal bride to wear the tiara after her mother, Queen Elizabeth II (who now owns it). Most recently, it was worn by another family bride: Princess Beatrice of York.

✨ Double Row Meander Tiara

This diamond kokoshnik tiara, made of two rows of Greek Key (or meander) patterns, is a little bit of a mystery. Made in the nineteenth-century, it originally also accommodated an aigrette plume. It belonged to the Queen Mother, but we’ve only seen it worn once by a royal woman: Princess Anne’s outing in the tiara for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace during the Chinese state visit in November 2005.

✨ Cartier Halo Tiara

Like two other members of the royal family — Princess Margaret and the Duchess of Cambridge — Princess Anne’s very first tiara was the delicate scrolling halo tiara made by Cartier for the Queen Mother. The piece was loaned to Anne by her mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and she wore it often in her teen years for events like the State Opening of Parliament (October 1967)

✨ Birthday Portrait Tiara

For her twenty-first birthday, Princess Anne sat for a series of official commemorative portraits. She wore an ice green gown with a diamond scroll tiara and posed in front of a background specially painted by Gordon Davies for the portrait session. The tiara has never been seen on a royal woman before or since, so there’s a general consensus that it was probably a loan. (Why would the Brits borrow a tiara? Hard to know. Perhaps they wanted a specific look?) The images were published in British newspapers in August 1971.

✨ Pearl Bandeau

Princess Anne has also worn one more mystery tiara in recent memory: a gold-hued bandeau, which appears to be set with large pearls. She donned the tiara for a state banquet at Windsor Castle during the Indian state visit in October 2009. We still don’t know anything more about it, including its provenance, and we haven’t seen it in public since.

I would love to see her wear the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara (although she probably won’t now that Cam has 🥲), there is also an absolutely gorgeous tiara called the Teck Tiara that has crescent moons, roses and leaves (I don’t even know if it’s still in the main family anymore) 😍

Please drop your favourite tiaras that you’d love to see Anne wear in the comments 😍

[darkmaga-retard]

UN “World for the Future” Conference. 22-23 September 2024. Borderless “Enslavement Package”, Digital Control over 8 Billion People

By Peter Koenig Global Research

September 16, 2024

In less than two weeks, the United Nations will present during a special session – 22 and 23 September — of their 2024 UN annual meeting in New York, the World of The Future. It is a fully digitized world. For the UN AG meeting, a “package” of global digitization was prepared by the governments of Germany and Namibia. Of course, with the “help” of Big Tech and Big Finance.

This digital enslavement package will be adopted under almost complete exclusion of the public, of people like you and me.

Most parliaments and governments worldwide have apparently already agreed to it, so that the presentation and the so-called discussion during the UN Annual Conference is a sheer fig leaf, a mere farce.

This is the new “rules-based” way of forcing an entire population into a compact of a digital straightjacket, escaping from which is almost impossible.

People nowhere have been consulted or even informed. Governments worldwide were forced by the unnamed powers-that-be to accept a complete digitization of our future – what the WEF calls the 4th Industrial Revolution.

People, it is here!

No waiting for the end of the UN Agenda 2030. The goals have conveniently been advanced. You – and me – will be confronted with cash elimination, already started in many European countries and to some extent in the US; and even in some “developing countries” like India, without people’s consent.

All will be controlled, our money-spending, health data, food and eating habits, travels, TV viewer preferences, radio favorites, friends with whom we regularly meet and communicate, as well as others from the opposition camp; shopping / spending habits – and so on – all will be controlled digitally by the IT-digital corporate control system.

[whatevergreen]

"The Scottish government has hailed a “historic day for equality” after MSPs approved plans to make it easier and less intrusive for individuals to legally change their gender, extending the new system of self-identification to 16- and 17-year-olds for the first time.

Six years after it was proposed by the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, after two of the largest public consultations in the history of the Scottish parliament and amid an increasingly toxic and polarised political discourse, the bill was passed by MSPs on Thursday in a specially extended session.

As a mark of the escalating tensions surrounding the changes, the debate was disrupted minutes before the final vote by protesters in the public gallery shouting “shame on you” and “this is the darkest day”.

The final vote followed an unprecedented two days of debate as members worked cross-party and past midnight on more than 150 amendments to address concerns about abusive males potentially taking advantage of the new system, and its impact on UK equality law.

The gender recognition reform (Scotland) bill removes the need for a psychiatric diagnosis of gender dysphoria in order to obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC), and extends the application process to 16- and 17-year-olds for the first time.

Scotland’s new self-identification system will also reduce the time someone must have been permanently living in their acquired gender before they can apply – from two years to three months, or six months for those aged 16 and 17 – with a three-month reflection period during which an individual can change their mind. ..."

Before the vote:

"... Shona Robison, the cabinet secretary for social justice, is winding up the debate on the gender recognition reform (Scotland) bill.

She says a clear international consensus now exists in favour of self-declaration for gender recognition. She says only yesterday Spain passed the first stage of a law that would implement this.

And she also says this was recently acknowledged in a report from the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights. Here is an extract from that report.

"The UN independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity has also recommended that legal gender recognition should be based on self-determination, be a simple administrative process, and not require applicants to fulfil abusive requirements, including medical certification.

The commissioner considers that, from a human rights perspective, selfdetermination models for legal gender recognition represent a best practice, and the introduction of such a model in the UK would therefore constitute an important step forward.

The commissioner notes that the number of Council of Europe member states that have eliminated the requirement to provide medical certificates or diagnoses for legal gender recognition has more than doubled since 2018, with nine having adopted such models, and proposals pending in other member states.

To the commissioner’s best knowledge, there is no evidence of these self-determination procedures being misused or leading to issues in relation to the rights of others."

Some good news for a change.