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hussyknee · 2 years ago

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Arundati Roy writing in The Guardian against the Afghanistan War on October 2001

“Brutality smeared in peanut butter”

Why America must stop the war now.

By Arundhati Roy

Tue 23 Oct 2001 • 00.57 • BST •

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As darkness deepened over Afghanistan on Sunday October 7 2001, the US Government, backed by the International Coalition Against Terror (the new, amenable surrogate for the United Nations), launched air strikes against Afghanistan. TV channels lingered on computer-animated images of cruise missiles, stealth bombers, tomahawks, "bunker-busting" missiles and Mark 82 high drag bombs. All over the world, little boys watched goggle-eyed and stopped clamouring for new video games.

The UN, reduced now to an ineffective acronym, wasn't even asked to mandate the air strikes. (As Madeleine Albright once said, "We will behave multilaterally when we can, and unilaterally when we must.") The "evidence" against the terrorists was shared amongst friends in the "coalition".

After conferring, they announced that it didn¹t matter whether or not the "evidence" would stand up in a court of law. Thus, in an instant, were centuries of jurisprudence carelessly trashed.

Nothing can excuse or justify an act of terrorism, whether it is committed by religious fundamentalists, private militia, people's resistance movements – or whether it's dressed up as a war of retribution by a recognised government. The bombing of Afghanistan is not revenge for New York and Washington. It is yet another act of terror against the people of the world.

Each innocent person that is killed must be added to, not set off against, the grisly toll of civilians who died in New York and Washington.

People rarely win wars, governments rarely lose them. People get killed.

Governments moult and regroup, hydra-headed. They use flags first to shrink-wrap people's minds and smother thought, and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury their willing dead. On both sides, in Afghanistan as well as America, civilians are now hostage to the actions of their own governments.

Unknowingly, ordinary people in both countries share a common bond - they have to live with the phenomenon of blind, unpredictable terror. Each batch of bombs that is dropped on Afghanistan is matched by a corresponding escalation of mass hysteria in America about anthrax, more hijackings and other terrorist acts.

There is no easy way out of the spiralling morass of terror and brutality that confronts the world today. It is time now for the human race to hold still, to delve into its wells of collective wisdom, both ancient and modern. What happened on September 11 changed the world forever.

Freedom, progress, wealth, technology, war – these words have taken on new meaning.

Governments have to acknowledge this transformation, and approach their new tasks with a modicum of honesty and humility. Unfortunately, up to now, there has been no sign of any introspection from the leaders of the International Coalition. Or the Taliban.

When he announced the air strikes, President George Bush said: "We're a peaceful nation." America¹s favourite ambassador, Tony Blair, (who also holds the portfolio of prime minister of the UK), echoed him: "We're a peaceful people."

So now we know. Pigs are horses. Girls are boys. War is peace.

Speaking at the FBI Headquarters a few days later, President Bush said: "This is our calling. This is the calling of the United States of America. The most free nation in the world. A nation built on fundamental values that reject hate, reject violence, rejects murderers and rejects evil. We will not tire."

Here is a list of the countries that America has been at war with – and bombed – since the Second World War: China (1945-46, 1950-53), Korea (1950-53), Guatemala (1954, 1967-69), Indonesia (1958), Cuba (1959-60), the Belgian Congo (1964), Peru (1965), Laos (1964-73), Vietnam (1961-73), Cambodia (1969-70), Grenada (1983), Libya (1986), El Salvador (1980s), Nicaragua (1980s), Panama (1989), Iraq (1991-99), Bosnia (1995), Sudan (1998), Yugoslavia (1999). And now Afghanistan.

Certainly it does not tire – this, the most free nation in the world.

What freedoms does it uphold? Within its borders, the freedoms of speech, religion, thought; of artistic expression, food habits, sexual preferences (well, to some extent) and many other exemplary, wonderful things.

Outside its borders, the freedom to dominate, humiliate and subjugate usually in the service of America¹s real religion, the "free market". So when the US Government christens a war "Operation Infinite Justice", or "Operation Enduring Freedom", we in the Third World feel more than a tremor of fear.

Because we know that Infinite Justice for some means Infinite Injustice for others. And Enduring Freedom for some means Enduring Subjugation for others.

The International Coalition Against Terror is a largely cabal of the richest countries in the world. Between them, they manufacture and sell almost all of the world's weapons, they possess the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction – chemical, biological and nuclear. They have fought the most wars, account for most of the genocide, subjection, ethnic cleansing and human rights violations in modern history, and have sponsored, armed and financed untold numbers of dictators and despots. Between them, they have worshipped, almost deified, the cult of violence and war. For all its appalling sins, the Taliban just isn't in the same league.

The Taliban was compounded in the crumbling crucible of rubble, heroin and landmines in the backwash of the Cold War. Its oldest leaders are in their early 40s. Many of them are disfigured and handicapped, missing an eye, an arm or a leg. They grew up in a society scarred and devastated by war.

Between the Soviet Union and America, over 20 years, about $45bn (£30bn) worth of arms and ammunition was poured into Afghanistan. The latest weaponry was the only shard of modernity to intrude upon a thoroughly medieval society.

Young boys many of them orphans – who grew up in those times, had guns for toys, never knew the security and comfort of family life, never experienced the company of women. Now, as adults and rulers, the Taliban beat, stone, rape and brutalise women, they don't seem to know what else to do with them.

Years of war has stripped them of gentleness, inured them to kindness and human compassion. Now they've turned their monstrosity on their own people.

They dance to the percussive rhythms of bombs raining down around them.

With all due respect to President Bush, the people of the world do not have to choose between the Taliban and the US Government. All the beauty of human civilisation – our art, our music, our literature – lies beyond these two fundamentalist, ideological poles. There is as little chance that the people of the world can all become middle-class consumers as there is that they will all embrace any one particular religion. The issue is not about good vs evil or Islam vs Christianity as much as it is about space. About how to accommodate diversity, how to contain the impulse towards hegemony every kind of hegemony, economic, military, linguistic, religious and cultural.

Any ecologist will tell you how dangerous and fragile a monoculture is. A hegemonic world is like having a government without a healthy opposition. It becomes a kind of dictatorship. It¹s like putting a plastic bag over the world, and preventing it from breathing. Eventually, it will be torn open.

One and a half million Afghan people lost their lives in the 20 years of conflict that preceded this new war. Afghanistan was reduced to rubble, and now, the rubble is being pounded into finer dust. By the second day of the air strikes, US pilots were returning to their bases without dropping their assigned payload of bombs. As one pilot put it, Afghanistan is "not a target-rich environment". At a press briefing at the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, was asked if America had run out of targets.

"First we're going to re-hit targets," he said, "and second, we're not running out of targets, Afghanistan is..." This was greeted with gales of laughter in the briefing room.

By the third day of the strikes, the US Defence Department boasted that it had "achieved air supremacy over Afghanistan" (Did they mean that they had destroyed both, or maybe all 16, of Afghanistan's planes?)

On the ground in Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance – the Taliban's old enemy, and therefore the international coalition's newest friend – is making headway in its push to capture Kabul. (For the archives, let it be said that the Northern Alliance's track record is not very different from the Taliban's. But for now, because it's inconvenient, that little detail is being glossed over.) The visible, moderate, "acceptable" leader of the alliance, Ahmed Shah Masud, was killed in a suicide-bomb attack early in September. The rest of the Northern Alliance is a brittle confederation of brutal warlords, ex-communists and unbending clerics. It is a disparate group divided along ethnic lines, some of whom have tasted power in Afghanistan in the past.

Until the US air strikes, the Northern Alliance controlled about 5% of the geographical area of Afghanistan. Now, with the coalition's help and "air cover", it is poised to topple the Taliban. Meanwhile, Taliban soldiers, sensing imminent defeat, have begun to defect to the alliance. So the fighting forces are busy switching sides and changing uniforms. But in an enterprise as cynical as this one, it seems to matter hardly at all.

Love is hate, north is south, peace is war.

Among the global powers, there is talk of "putting in a representative government". Or, on the other hand, of "restoring" the kingdom to Afghanistan's 89-year old former king Zahir Shah, who has lived in exile in Rome since 1973. That's the way the game goes – support Saddam Hussein, then "take him out"; finance the Mojahedin, then bomb them to smithereens; put in Zahir Shah and see if he's going to be a good boy. (Is it possible to "put in" a representative government? Can you place an order for democracy – with extra cheese and jalapeno peppers?)

Reports have begun to trickle in about civilian casualties, about cities emptying out as Afghan civilians flock to the borders which have been closed. Main arterial roads have been blown up or sealed off. Those who have experience of working in Afghanistan say that by early November, food convoys will not be able to reach the millions of Afghans (7.5m, according to the UN) who run the very real risk of starving to death during the course of this winter. They say that in the days that are left before winter sets in, there can either be a war, or an attempt to reach food to the hungry. Not both.

As a gesture of humanitarian support, the US Government air-dropped 37,000 packets of emergency rations into Afghanistan. It says it plans to drop a total of 500,000 packets. That will still only add up to a single meal for half a million people out of the several million in dire need of food.

Aid workers have condemned it as a cynical, dangerous, public-relations exercise. They say that air-dropping food packets is worse than futile.

First, because the food will never get to those who really need it. More dangerously, those who run out to retrieve the packets risk being blown up by landmines. A tragic alms race.

Nevertheless, the food packets had a photo-op all to themselves. Their contents were listed in major newspapers. They were vegetarian, we're told, as per Muslim dietary law (!) Each yellow packet, decorated with the American flag, contained: rice, peanut butter, bean salad, strawberry jam, crackers, raisins, flat bread, an apple fruit bar, seasoning, matches, a set of plastic cutlery, a serviette and illustrated user instructions.

After three years of unremitting drought, an air-dropped airline meal in Jalalabad! The level of cultural ineptitude, the failure to understand what months of relentless hunger and grinding poverty really mean, the US Government's attempt to use even this abject misery to boost its self-image, beggars description.

Reverse the scenario for a moment. Imagine if the Taliban Government was to bomb New York City, saying all the while that its real target was the US government and its policies. And suppose, during breaks between the bombing, the Taliban dropped a few thousand packets containing nan and kebabs impaled on an Afghan flag. Would the good people of New York ever find it in themselves to forgive the Afghan Government? Even if they were hungry, even if they needed the food, even if they ate it, how would they ever forget the insult, the condescension? Rudi Guiliani, Mayor of New York City, returned a gift of $10m from a Saudi prince because it came with a few words of friendly advice about American policy in the Middle East. Is pride a luxury that only the rich are entitled to?

Far from stamping it out, igniting this kind of rage is what creates terrorism. Hate and retribution don't go back into the box once you've let them out. For every "terrorist" or his "supporter" that is killed, hundreds of innocent people are being killed too. And for every hundred innocent people killed, there is a good chance that several future terrorists will be created.

Where will it all lead?

Setting aside the rhetoric for a moment, consider the fact that the world has not yet found an acceptable definition of what "terrorism" is. One country's terrorist is too often another¹s freedom fighter. At the heart of the matter lies the world's deep-seated ambivalence towards violence.

Once violence is accepted as a legitimate political instrument, then the morality and political acceptability of terrorists (insurgents or freedom fighters) becomes contentious, bumpy terrain. The US Government itself has funded, armed and sheltered plenty of rebels and insurgents around the world.

The CIA and Pakistan's ISI trained and armed the Mojahedin who, in the '80s, were seen as terrorists by the government in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan. Today, Pakistan – America's ally in this new war – sponsors insurgents who cross the border into Kashmir in India. Pakistan lauds them as "freedom-fighters", India calls them "terrorists". India, for its part, denounces countries who sponsor and abet terrorism, but the Indian army has, in the past, trained separatist Tamil rebels asking for a homeland in Sri Lanka – the LTTE, responsible for countless acts of bloody terrorism.

(Just as the CIA abandoned the mujahideen after they had served its purpose, India abruptly turned its back on the LTTE for a host of political reasons. It was an enraged LTTE suicide bomber who assassinated former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1989.)

It is important for governments and politicians to understand that manipulating these huge, raging human feelings for their own narrow purposes may yield instant results, but eventually and inexorably, they have disastrous consequences. Igniting and exploiting religious sentiments for reasons of political expediency is the most dangerous legacy that governments or politicians can bequeath to any people - including their own.

People who live in societies ravaged by religious or communal bigotry know that every religious text – from the Bible to the Bhagwad Gita – can be mined and misinterpreted to justify anything, from nuclear war to genocide to corporate globalisation.

This is not to suggest that the terrorists who perpetrated the outrage on September 11 should not be hunted down and brought to book. They must be.

But is war the best way to track them down? Will burning the haystack find you the needle? Or will it escalate the anger and make the world a living hell for all of us?

At the end of the day, how many people can you spy on, how many bank accounts can you freeze, how many conversations can you eavesdrop on, how many emails can you intercept, how many letters can you open, how many phones can you tap?

Even before September 11, the CIA had accumulated more information than is humanly possible to process. (Sometimes, too much data can actually hinder intelligence – small wonder the US spy satellites completely missed the preparation that preceded India's nuclear tests in 1998.)

The sheer scale of the surveillance will become a logistical, ethical and civil rights nightmare. It will drive everybody clean crazy. And freedom – that precious, precious thing – will be the first casualty. It's already hurt and haemorrhaging dangerously.

Governments across the world are cynically using the prevailing paranoia to promote their own interests. All kinds of unpredictable political forces are being unleashed. In India, for instance, members of the All India People's Resistance Forum, who were distributing anti-war and anti-US pamphlets in Delhi, have been jailed. Even the printer of the leaflets was arrested.

The rightwing government (while it shelters Hindu extremists groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal) has banned the Islamic Students Movement of India and is trying to revive an anti-terrorist Act which had been withdrawn after the Human Rights Commission reported that it had been more abused than used. Millions of Indian citizens are Muslim. Can anything be gained by alienating them?

Every day that the war goes on, raging emotions are being let loose into the world. The international press has little or no independent access to the war zone. In any case, mainstream media, particularly in the US, have more or less rolled over, allowing themselves to be tickled on the stomach with press handouts from military men and government officials. Afghan radio stations have been destroyed by the bombing. The Taliban has always been deeply suspicious of the press. In the propaganda war, there is no accurate estimate of how many people have been killed, or how much destruction has taken place. In the absence of reliable information, wild rumours spread.

Put your ear to the ground in this part of the world, and you can hear the thrumming, the deadly drumbeat of burgeoning anger. Please. Please, stop the war now. Enough people have died. The smart missiles are just not smart enough. They're blowing up whole warehouses of suppressed fury.

President George Bush recently boasted, "When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2m missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive." President Bush should know that there are no targets in Afghanistan that will give his missiles their money's worth.

Perhaps, if only to balance his books, he should develop some cheaper missiles to use on cheaper targets and cheaper lives in the poor countries of the world. But then, that may not make good business sense to the coalition's weapons manufacturers. It wouldn't make any sense at all, for example, to the Carlyle Group – described by the Industry Standard as "the world's largest private equity firm", with $13bn under management.

Carlyle invests in the defence sector and makes its money from military conflicts and weapons spending.

Carlyle is run by men with impeccable credentials. Former US Defence Secretary Frank Carlucci is Carlyle's Chairman and Managing Director (he was a college roommate of Donald Rumsfeld's). Carlyle's other partners include former US Secretary Of State James A Baker III, George Soros and Fred Malek (George Bush Sr's campaign manager). An American paper The Baltimore Chronicle and Sentinel– says that former President George Bush Sr is reported to be seeking investments for the Carlyle Group from Asian markets.

He is reportedly paid not inconsiderable sums of money to make "presentations" to potential government-clients.

Ho hum. As the tired saying goes, it's all in the family.

Then there's that other branch of traditional family business – oil. Remember, President George Bush (Jr) and Vice-President Dick Cheney both made their fortunes working in the US oil industry.

Turkmenistan, which borders the north-west of Afghanistan, holds the world's third largest gas reserves and an estimated six billion barrels of oil reserves. Enough, experts say, to meet American energy needs for the next 30 years (or a developing country's energy requirements for a couple of centuries.) America has always viewed oil as a security consideration, and protected it by any means it deems necessary. Few of us doubt that its military presence in the Gulf has little to do with its concern for human rights and almost entirely to do with its strategic interest in oil.

Oil and gas from the Caspian region currently moves northward to European markets. Geographically and politically, Iran and Russia are major impediments to American interests. In 1998, Dick Cheney – then CEO of Halliburton, a major player in the oil industry – said, "I can't think of a time when we've had a region emerge as suddenly to become as strategically significant as the Caspian. It's almost as if the opportunities have arisen overnight." True enough.

For some years now, an American oil giant called Unocal has been negotiating with the Taliban for permission to construct an oil pipeline through Afghanistan to Pakistan and out to the Arabian sea. From here, Unocal hopes to access the lucrative "emerging markets" in South and South-east Asia. In December 1997, a delegation of Taliban mullahs travelled to America and even met US State Department officials and Unocal executives in Houston. At that time the Taliban's taste for public executions and its treatment of Afghan women were not made out to be the crimes against humanity that they are now.

Over the next six months, pressure from hundreds of outraged American feminist groups was brought to bear on the Clinton administration.

Fortunately, they managed to scuttle the deal. And now comes the US oil industry's big chance.

In America, the arms industry, the oil industry, the major media networks, and, indeed, US foreign policy, are all controlled by the same business combines. Therefore, it would be foolish to expect this talk of guns and oil and defence deals to get any real play in the media. In any case, to a distraught, confused people whose pride has just been wounded, whose loved ones have been tragically killed, whose anger is fresh and sharp, the inanities about the "clash of civilisations" and the "good vs evil" discourse home in unerringly. They are cynically doled out by government spokesmen like a daily dose of vitamins or anti-depressants. Regular medication ensures that mainland America continues to remain the enigma it has always been – a curiously insular people, administered by a pathologically meddlesome, promiscuous government.

And what of the rest of us, the numb recipients of this onslaught of what we know to be preposterous propaganda? The daily consumers of the lies and brutality smeared in peanut butter and strawberry jam being air-dropped into our minds just like those yellow food packets. Shall we look away and eat because we're hungry, or shall we stare unblinking at the grim theatre unfolding in Afghanistan until we retch collectively and say, in one voice, that we have had enough?

As the first year of the new millennium rushes to a close, one wonders – have we forfeited our right to dream? Will we ever be able to re-imagine beauty?

Will it be possible ever again to watch the slow, amazed blink of a newborn gecko in the sun, or whisper back to the marmot who has just whispered in your ear – without thinking of the World Trade Centre and Afghanistan?

#if you read nothing else today read this #i wonder how many people know that Afghanistan was also an oil war #people seem to think the Afghanistan War was 'justified'#but the Iraq War wasnt #Arundati Roy was just saying what people already knew – this was a war machine sniffing after oil and guns #an industry coalition of which the Republican establishment were major stakeholders #the obscenity of dropping food packets with bombs #this is why you have no future in your country USAmerican Gen Z #this is why the entire globe adopted anti-Muslim ethnonationalism and Islamic fundamentalism for the next 20 years #this is how the global wave of fascism began #because they sold weapons to the wrong people‚ and then chose a scapegoat to sacrifice in revenge #world history #september 11 #geopolitics #us history #afghanistan war #usamerican imperialism #cold war #taliban #violence #terrorism #colonialism #capitalism #genocide #arundati roy #pacifism #anarchism #knee of huss

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post-leffert · 1 year ago

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Captive Comrade D. Chatzivasileiadis: 31/7/16 Attack on the Mexican Embassy – 1/8/23 Lorenzo Cruz Ríos, the Fight for Land and Freedom Continues

On the 31st of July 2016, the Organization Revolutionary Self-Defence used weapons to attack the Mexican embassy in Athens, shooting rounds at the embassy building. This second political intervention of Org. Revolutionary Self-Defence revealed that the first intervention two years ago, against the law for type C prisons and the war against the proletariat and migration was not an occasional act, even though it was an emergency response to the need to resist an antirevolutionary measure, but a practical statement of commitment to a strategy of revolutionary fight. Revolutionary internationalism remains a need from the future world that we have to take care of through acts. Seven years after the immediate response of Org. Revolutionary Self-Defence against the Μexican state, my thoughts are with Lorenzo Froylán de la Cruz Ríos, member of the native Communal Guard self-defense team of Santa María Ostula in Michoacán, who disappeared on the 1st of August and was found murdered ten days later, my thoughts are with the social struggles in the mexican territory, the zapatistas resistance against the “Maya” train and the para-state murders of fighters, the movement against the inter-oceanic corridor[1], the movement against the Nicaragua canal, the indigenous people rebellion in Puno[2] and the fighting Indigenous Association for Development and Conservation of Bajo Puinahua (Aidecobap)[3], the fighting communities of Sucre Colombia[4], the fights for Land and freedom everywhere jointly.

The spark of the revolution does not quiet down, for Froylán de la Cruz Ríos[5], for Manuel ‘Tortuguita’ Esteban Paez Terán (Atlanta forest, USA, Stop Cop City, January 2023), for Paolo Todd – Kawa Ahmed[6] (from the indigenous fight at Standing Rock of N. Dakota to Raqqa Syria, January 2017), for Santiago Maldonado (Argentina, 2017), for Remi Fraisse (forest de Sivens, Testet wetlands, France, October 2014), for mapuche brothers and Matías Catrileo[7] (January 2008), for the martyred people’s armies of Kurdistan, for Vassilis Magos (Volos, 2020), for Maria Koulouri (Lefkimmi Corfu, 2008). For all of us until the end of capitalism.

[1] https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2023/07/31/civilian-observation-mission-records-human-rights-violations-in-the-context-of-the-isthmus-interoceanic-corridor-megaproject/

[2] https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2023/03/08/six-peruvian-soldiers-drown-while-fleeing-from-protesters/

[3] https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2023/06/23/two-oil-tankers-stormed-by-indigenous-militants-in-loreto-peru/

[4] https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2023/03/10/rural-people-in-colombia-push-back-against-energy-companies/

[5] https://twitter.com/VIM_Media/status/1689891820723965954

[6]https://anfenglish.com/features/martyr-paolo-todd-a-struggle-story-from-standing-rock-to-raqqa-68745

[7] https://athens.indymedia.org/post/1623077/

#Mexico #anarchy #anarchism #praxis #Organization for Revolutionary Self-Defense #Greece

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brookstonalmanac · 26 days ago

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Events 10.20 (before 1960)

1568 – The Spanish Duke of Alba defeats a Dutch rebel force under William the Silent. 1572 – Eighty Years' War: Three thousand Spanish soldiers wade through fifteen miles of water in one night to effect the relief of Goes. 1740 – France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction, and the War of the Austrian Succession begins. 1774 – American Revolution: The Continental Association, a nonconsumption and nonimportation agreement against the British Isles and the British West Indies, is adopted by the First Continental Congress.[3] 1781 – The Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Austria. 1803 – The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase. 1818 – The Convention of 1818 is signed between the United States and the United Kingdom, which settles the Canada–United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length. 1827 – Greek War of Independence: In the Battle of Navarino, a combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet is defeated by British, French and Russian naval forces in the last significant battle fought with wooden sailing ships. 1883 – Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific. 1904 – Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries. 1910 – British ocean liner RMS Olympic is launched. 1935 – The Long March, a mammoth retreat undertaken by the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party a year prior, ends. 1941 – World War II: Thousands of civilians in German-occupied Serbia are murdered in the Kragujevac massacre. 1944 – World War II: The Soviet Red Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade. 1944 – Liquefied natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland and then explodes, leveling 30 blocks and killing 130 people. 1944 – American general Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines when he comes ashore during the Battle of Leyte. 1947 – Cold War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of the Hollywood film industry, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years. 1948 – A KLM Lockheed L-049 Constellation crashes on approach to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, killing 40. 1951 – The "Johnny Bright incident" occurs during a football game between the Drake Bulldogs and Oklahoma A&M Aggies. 1952 – The Governor of Kenya Evelyn Baring declares a state of emergency and begins arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising.

#Events

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mariacallous · 2 months ago

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In an autobiography he published from prison, former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori wrote that his parents, Japanese immigrants, shared one simple hope on the eve of his birth: “that the newborn be capable of keeping the family name alive.”

Fujimori, who died Wednesday at 86, wildly surpassed those expectations. The Fujimori name not only survived but also has dominated Peruvian politics for the past three decades. No leader since Fujimori has reshaped Peru as much as he did—or left as divisive a legacy. “He changed so much about life in Peru,” José Ragas, a Peruvian historian and the author of the book The Fujimori Years (1990-2000), told Foreign Policy. “From what we buy and how we’re seen abroad. Even the way we talk.”

Many in Peru will remember Fujimori for ending an era of bread lines and terrorist attacks that scarred a generation, and for leaving the country with fresh wounds and new challenges, chief among them Fujimori himself. During his two terms in office, bookended by his sudden rise to power in 1990 and his resignation via fax from Japan in 2000, Fujimori restructured Peru’s economy, rewrote its constitution, and reordered politics and institutions around support for his increasingly corrupt and authoritarian regime.

To many Peruvians today, the Fujimori name is synonymous with brutality and deceit. The courts have upheld that view, finding him guilty in 2009 of murder in the massacres of civilians and of kidnapping a journalist and a businessman, and later of embezzling funds and usurping government functions. He will go down in history as the first president to be imprisoned in Peru through a judicial process widely considered fair—a watershed moment that won Peru international kudos for fighting the impunity of the powerful.

Fujimori, who was released from prison last December after Peru’s top court controversially reinstated a 2017 presidential pardon he’d received, died of cancer at the home of his daughter, the opposition leader Keiko Fujimori, in the Peruvian capital of Lima. He also died with two trials against him unconcluded and millions of dollars in civil reparations unpaid. In addition to his daughter, he is survived by his son, former lawmaker Kenji Fujimori, and their siblings, Sachi and Hiro Fujimori, all from his first marriage to the late Susana Higuchi. He also leaves behind his second wife, Satomi Kataoka, as well as several grandchildren.

Well over two decades after his downfall, Peru still hasn’t fully gotten past Fujimori. His daughter Keiko has kept his right-wing populist movement alive, nearly winning the presidency in three elections and locking Peru into a repetitive battle over the Fujimori legacy—a reminder of the staying power of even the most controversial political dynasties.

Like other right-wing Latin American strongmen, Fujimori pursued leftist rebels aggressively and embraced neoliberal policies that swept much of the developing world at the end of the Cold War, making Peru a close ally of Washington. He named Vladimiro Montesinos, a former CIA asset with connections to drug traffickers, as his spy director and chief advisor, a decision that Keiko would later describe as the worst mistake of his life.

A former math professor who was democratically elected president in a 1990 landslide, Fujimori had an authoritarian streak from the start. During his first years in office, he was hugely popular, especially because of—and not despite—his infamous “Fujimorazo,” or self-coup, in 1992, when he sent the military to close Peru’s Congress, the courts, and newsrooms and suspended the constitution.

While the coup marked a clear break with democracy, it was supported by more than 80 percent of Peruvians. “A good part of Fujimori’s popularity is because a lot of Peruvians saw a Peruvian [Augusto] Pinochet in him,” Nobel Prize-winning writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who lost the 1990 election to Fujimori, wrote in 2003, referring to the longtime Chilean military dictator.

Fujimori liked to describe his political project as “reengineering Peru” rather than governing it. As president, he wore business suits with ties, his hair parted and brushed into a neat wave, square glasses framing his face. He crisscrossed the country, visiting far-flung villages and shantytowns, and projected confidence, as at ease wading into the mud of a flood-stricken village as he was flirting with regime-friendly female journalists, known as his “geishas” in Peruvian pop culture.

Dozens of words and phrases used today hark back to Fujimori or episodes from his government—the “Fujimorization” of Peruvian Spanish. He captivated media attention for a decade, his public image changing as his grip on power shifted. There was Fujimori the populist outsider, riding into the 1990 presidential race on a red tractor; Fujimori the decisive leader; Fujimori the vengeful dictator; and, finally, Fujimori the prisoner, shouting “I’m innocent!” in a courtroom.

The soap opera that was his family life also played out on the nightly news. In one six-year period, his first wife, Higuchi, denounced him for alleged corruption and adultery, accused him of ordering intelligence agents to torture her, divorced him, and vowed to defeat him in the 1995 presidential election (he barred her party from participating, but she won a seat in Congress in 2000. Fujimori responded by appointing their daughter Keiko, then 19, as his new first lady to replace her.

Like former U.S. President Donald Trump, Fujimori had a knack for connecting to the working poor in a way that defied the script of identity politics. A university rector before running for office, Fujimori became the first Japanese Peruvian president in a country where the majority of citizens were poor and had Indigenous roots. He co-opted the rhetoric of the left and improved upon it, promising deliverables instead of ideals, Julio Carrión, the editor of a book of essays titled The Fujimori Legacy: The Rise of Electoral Authoritarianism in Peru, told Foreign Policy. “He said, ‘What you need is a little health clinic in your town, a school, a bridge. You need things you can see and feel. And above all, security,’” Carrión said, describing Fujimori’s approach. “‘Security, security, security!’”

Fujimori described his improbable rise to power as fated. He told journalists that he ran for president because a soothsayer had predicted he would win, and he claimed in his autobiography that his father had a similar vision when Fujimori was born.

According to his birth certificate, Alberto Kenya Fujimori was born in Lima on Peru’s independence day, July 28, 1938. He was the second of four children of Naoichi Fujimori, a tailor, and Mutsue Inomoto, a homemaker, both from Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture.

His parents, along with tens of thousands of their compatriots, migrated to Peru in the early 20th century under labor contracts that were designed to cut costs at large agricultural estates after the abolishment of slavery a half-century earlier. They spent their first years in Peru as sharecroppers on a cotton plantation, until Naoichi saved up enough money to start a tire-repair workshop in Lima, where the family formed part of a thriving Nikkei community, one of the biggest outside Japan.

World War II brought an ugly backlash. At Washington’s request, Peru stripped Japanese immigrants of rights, sending thousands to internment camps in California and Texas. When Fujimori was a toddler, authorities seized his family’s workshop and, a few years later, shut down the Japanese Peruvian school he was attending, forcing him into another school where he didn’t speak the language and was bullied.

As a boy, Fujimori admired Eva Perón, the populist matriarch of Argentina’s Peronist movement. Bright and studious, he earned a degree in agricultural engineering at La Molina National Agrarian University in Lima, graduating first in his class in 1961. He earned master’s degrees in physics and math, respectively, from the University of Strasbourg in France and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He fell in love with Higuchi, a civil engineer, over math problems they would solve late into the night.

He said it was academia that introduced him to cutthroat politics. In 1977, he ran a failed bid to become deputy rector of the National Agrarian University, but he returned with a fresh plan in the 1984 election and unexpectedly won the rectorship. Instead of trying to forge an alliance with established insiders as he had before, he courted students, the biggest voting bloc in the election, entering the field at the last minute and positioning himself as an outsider.

He won the presidency of Peru in 1990 with a similar strategy. He was a virtual unknown who surged past the lead leftist candidate at the last minute in the first-round vote, winning himself a chance at defeating, in a runoff, the election’s longtime favorite, Vargas Llosa, a novelist from a white aristocratic family.

Peru at the time was ripe for a radical turn. Former President Alan García’s 1985-1990 administration had left the country in ruins. Nationalizations, debt defaults, and the excessive printing of money had wiped out a generation’s life savings and had sunk millions of people into poverty. Inflation ran in the quadruple digits, food shortages were common, and the Shining Path insurgency—one of Latin America’s most ruthless and cultlike rebel movements, which García once said he admired for having a “mystique” that his party lacked—was gaining ground, massacring Indigenous villagers in the Andes and bombing electrical towers to cause power outages in the capital, Lima.

“There were so many blackouts in Lima that people basically learned to live without electricity. We grew up doing our homework by candlelight. No one used refrigerators,” Peruvian journalist Marco Sifuentes told Foreign Policy. “The entire family had to go out to wait in line for bread at different bakeries every morning because bread was rationed and there was never enough.”

Vargas Llosa was a prominent free market advocate and public intellectual who was seen as the natural antidote to García’s fiery nationalism. But voters were not enthused by him (he later said he lacked the natural gifts needed to be a politician), and many worried that his plans for implementing a so-called shock liberalization program would bring only more strife. Fujimori tapped into those anxieties. He ran on a “say no to the shock” platform, promising not to privatize state companies and lambasting his rival for thinking he could “make Peru a Switzerland.”

“You represent the rich, who have already been in power. And you’re going to apply a shock against the poorest,” Fujimori told Vargas Llosa in a presidential debate a week before the election. Fujimori seized on an ad by Vargas Llosa’s campaign that portrayed bureaucrats as monkeys in suits, warning mass firings would occur if Vargas Llosa came to power. “You think we Peruvians are monkeys. Well, we don’t accept being part of an experiment.”

Fujimori beat Vargas Llosa by a stunning 25 percentage points. In his 1993 memoir, A Fish in the Water, Vargas Llosa wrote that he was naive to think Peruvians would vote “for ideas”: “They voted as people vote in an underdeveloped democracy, and sometimes in advanced ones, for images, myths, thrills, or for dark feelings and resentments unhinged from reason.”

Within days of Fujimori taking office, his government implemented shock economic reforms that he had vilified as a candidate. His finance minister wrapped up an announcement about the end of price and currency controls with a foreboding “may God help us.” A series of free market reforms followed that laid the foundation for Peru’s current economic model. Tariffs were slashed, the tax system streamlined, state industries privatized, and labor laws loosened.

The “Fujishock,” as it would become known, worked to stabilize Peru’s economy, bringing back Peru’s access to international loans and foreign investment. Inflation fell to roughly 11 percent by 1995 from more than 7,000 percent in 1990, and recession eventually gave way to years of robust economic growth. “Almost overnight, as Peru’s doors opened to the world, shiny new cars appeared on the streets; supermarket shelves were transformed with imported products,” Sally Bowen, a former Peru correspondent for the Financial Times, wrote in her memoir, Accidental Journalist.

Doors also opened for Fujimori. His economic strategy had secured crucial support from Washington and Lima elites, many of whom would now look the other way as he seized authoritarian powers.

Some considered him a pragmatist, not an ideologue. “Political decisions were made due to expediency,” Bowen wrote in her book. “He loved to make an announcement that would surprise or shock: presumably it gave him a thrill of power.” Political scientists labeled him a “democratic dictator” and an “electoral authoritarian,” one of a pioneering group of strongmen who disguised themselves as democrats, using limited competition in elections as cover for their control of institutions.

Fujimori justified his self-coup as a defense of democracy, necessary to override corruption and implement his anti-terrorism strategy and economic restructuring.

On Sept. 12, 1992, five months after his self-coup, a new political victory fell into Fujimori’s lap. While he was pursuing a hypermilitarized strategy to quash Shining Path rebels, a special police unit that had been formed prior to Fujimori’s rise to power quietly tracked down and captured the rebels’ messianic leader, Abimael Guzmán, one of the most feared and despised figures in Peru at the time. Guzmán had been hiding in a ballet teacher’s apartment in Lima and was soon paraded in a cage before news cameras.

From captivity, Guzmán called on his followers to disarm. Most of them did, effectively ending a 12-year insurgency that had terrorized the nation. (One band of Shining Path rebels refused to give up and formed a splinter group, the Militarized Communist Party of Peru, that continues to hide out in a drug-trafficking region of the country today.)

Although Fujimori had been kept in the dark about the police operation, he framed Guzmán’s arrest as proof that his war on terrorism, as well as the special powers he had seized to wage it, were working. At the same time, special forces and paramilitary groups that Fujimori had deployed to extrajudicially eliminate terrorists were facing growing accusations of horrific human rights abuses. Critics accused Fujimori of using these forces against his political foes.

Peru’s truth commission would later find that of the estimated 69,000 victims of Peru’s 1980-2000 internal conflict, most of whom were Indigenous people, state security forces had killed some 20,000. In 2009, Fujimori was found guilty of commanding paramilitary groups that massacred 15 people, including an 8-year-old boy, at a party in Lima, and the slaying of nine students and a professor in 1991.

But Guzmán’s capture, along with the improving economy, gave a sense of order restored, and in 1993, voters rewarded Fujimori by approving a new constitution that strengthened presidential powers and allowed him to run for a second consecutive term. In 1995, he was reelected in a landslide, beating his closest rival, former U.N. Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, by more than 40 percentage points.

In his second term, Fujimori racked up more political wins, and fresh controversies. In 1996, he launched a birth control program that was initially embraced by feminists but was later blamed for forcibly sterilizing thousands of Indigenous women in poor Andean regions. In 1997, he commanded a dramatic operation that freed dozens of hostages who had been held captive by Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement rebels at the Japanese Embassy in Lima, and a year later he signed a peace deal with Ecuador that ended a territorial dispute, which was widely seen as a win at home.

It all fell apart on Sept. 14, 2000, when a small cable news channel, Canal N, broadcast a grainy video showing Fujimori’s spymaster, Montesinos—who reportedly received millions of dollars from the CIA during Fujimori’s tenure to help fight the war on drugs—giving stacks of cash to a mayoral candidate. It was the first of a flood of “Vladivideos” from Montesinos’s private collection that would leak to the press, fueling further outrage. Montesinos had videotaped his dirty dealings—allegedly distributing bribes to lawmakers, businessmen, state officials, and media bosses—presumably to save as receipts or use in potential blackmail.

Fujimori tried to distance himself from what Montesinos was up to, but by then, Fujimori had won a third term in a vote that was widely seen as rigged and he was facing growing calls from Washington and the international community to hold new elections. On Nov. 17, 2000, as anti-government protests and unrest spread in Peru, Fujimori flew to Japan after attending a summit in Brunei, checked into a hotel in Tokyo, and sent his resignation letter by fax three days later.

Japan granted Fujimori exile, and for five years he lived there, where he met Satomi Kataoka, a businesswoman from Tokyo’s upper class, whom he would marry in 2006. From there, he plotted a comeback. Peru’s then-president, Alejandro Toledo, was widely unpopular, and Fujimori saw an opportunity in the 2006 elections. This time, however, his audacity backfired. In 2005, he was arrested during a stop in neighboring Chile and two years later was extradited to Peru, where he faced more than 20 counts of criminal charges. He was given his first conviction in 2009.

But that wouldn’t be the last of Fujimori. While he didn’t participate in the 2006 elections, his daughter Keiko did, winning a seat in Congress and leading a fujimorista bloc that still holds some sway today.

Fujimori’s supporters in Congress lobbied for a presidential pardon for years, and on Christmas Eve 2017, then-President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski granted him one on humanitarian grounds, three days after Kuczynski survived an impeachment vote with the help of a faction of fujimoristas. The move triggered mass protests. Within a year, Kuczynski resigned, and Peru’s Supreme Court annulled the pardon, finding it had been granted illegally. Fujimori was taken back to prison in 2019. In March 2022, Peru’s Constitutional Tribunal reinstated the pardon and ordered Fujimori’s release, but the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled against it before he could be released. In December 2023, the Constitutional Tribunal voted to reaffirm its decision to release Fujimori despite the Inter-American Court’s orders, and he was released shortly after.

But Fujimori wasn’t the last president to be imprisoned, a source of vindication for some of his supporters. Three of his successors went on to be jailed in connection with corruption probes, and a fourth, García, died by suicide to avoid arrest in 2019. At one point, Fujimori shared his prison quarters, built for him at a military base, with Ollanta Humala, a former president who once led a military rebellion against Fujimori’s government, while Humala’s wife was jailed at a women’s prison where Keiko was detained.

Fujimori never admitted to committing crimes, but at times he showed contrition. Days after he was pardoned in 2017, amid an angry backlash, he acknowledged that he had “let down some compatriots.” In a video posted to Facebook, he said, “I ask them to forgive me with all my heart.” This July, Keiko announced that her father intended to run for president again in 2026.

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whatisonthemoon · 2 years ago

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Lucanamarca: When Imperialism Lies to Hinder a Global Revolution

The battle of Lucanamarca, in which around 80 people lost their lives, has been the subject of much criticism directed at the Communist Party of Peru, dubbed by the media as the "Shining Path." This event has been called a massacre by many but it is often left out of these reports are that less than 20 of those who died were innocent people caught in the crossfire. The majority were Rondero reactionaries who had been engaged in genocidal activities.

To understand the battle of Lucanamarca and the actions of the PCP, it is essential to look at the systematic oppression and silencing of Peru's proletariat by the government and wealthy elite. In the early 80s, Peru underwent a significant transformation as the government implemented neoliberal economic policies, which heavily favored foreign investment and free market capitalism. This shift towards neoliberalism led to the privatization of state-owned industries, widespread layoffs, and increased poverty for the working class.

In response to the organizing and militant actions taken by various leftist groups, namely by the Communist Party but also the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, the government employed brutal and repressive tactics, including torture, extrajudicial killings, and forced disappearances. The government established counterinsurgency groups known as Ronderos, who engaged in a range of violent activities against the PCP and other revolutionary groups. Ronderos had a similar role as the Contras in Nicaragua, or the vigilante groups in the Philippines, both of which had Moonie-funding and organizing behind them. It has not been determined whether or not the Ronderos were at all aided by CAUSA or the Unification Church’s network.

The battle of Lucanamarca, which took place on April 3, 1983, in the Ayacucho region of Peru, was a significant turning point in the conflict between the Communist Party (PCP) and the government. The PCP had identified Lucanamarca as a stronghold of Ronderos and decided to launch an attack on the town. The PCP was also responding to the recent murder committed by Ronderos of a young cadre in Lucanamarca.

During the battle, the PCP targeted Ronderos and other government supporters, leading to the deaths of around 80 individuals. While some of those who died were innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, the majority were Ronderos engaged in violent counterinsurgency activities against the PCP and other revolutionary groups. The battle was seen as a significant victory for the PCP and a blow to the government's counterinsurgency efforts.

The government and other critics of the PCP have portrayed the battle of Lucanamarca as a brutal and indiscriminate massacre of innocent civilians, distorting history to serve their own interests. The PCP's actions were in response to the government's repressive policies and counterinsurgency efforts, which had led to widespread violence and oppression.

Though this organization and its leadership made a number of strategic, tactical, and even ideological errors, leading to their central committee’s capture, they had also led a popular revolutionary movement known for its members genuinely integrating and serving the peasantry. The party had gained the support of a majority of Peruvians during its height, having liberated 3/4th of Peru from the reactionary government. The demonization of the PCP serves only the interests of those in power, justifying imperialism and oppression and discrediting those who seek to challenge the established order.

The PCP's efforts to fight back against oppression and work towards a more equitable society should be seen as a source of inspiration and hope for all those who believe in justice and equality. It is crucial that we do not allow imperialist propaganda to distort history and malign the PCP's efforts.

Related articles below

Black Propaganda under Fujimori: A Note on “The Shining Path”

On Albert Fujimori, Peru, and Puerto Rico: On Sterilization as a Tool of [Anti-Communist] Fascism and Neo-Colonialism

Covert Operations and the CIA’s Hidden History in the Philippines

Anti-Communism and Anti-Chamacoco: Puerta Leda as a Tool of Imperialism

More Questions about Young Oon Kim, and What is Clear The Unification Church and KCIA: Some Notes on Bud Han, Steve Kim, and Bo Hi Pak

#lucanamarca #communist party of peru #peru #communist party #communism #anti-communism #south america #ronderos #shining path #pcp

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swldx · 2 years ago

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6195Khz 0458 29 JAN 2023 - BBC (UNITED KINGDOM) in ENGLISH from WOOFFERTON. SINPO = 55434. English, s/on @0458z w/Bow Bells int. then ID@0459z pips and newsday preview. @0501z World News anchored by Tom Watts. The Memphis Police Department has disbanded the so-called "Scorpion" special unit, whose officers are accused of murdering Tyre Nichols. Scorpion stands for "Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods". The unit is a 50-person unit with the mission of bringing down crime levels in particular areas. But now it is being abolished after its officers were seen beating Mr Nichols, 29, in the videos from 7 January. Former U.S. President Donald Trump hit the campaign trail on Saturday for the first time since announcing his bid to reclaim the White House in 2024, visiting two early-voting states and brushing aside criticism that his run was off to a slow start. "I'm more angry now, and I'm more committed now, than I ever was," Trump told a small crowd at the New Hampshire Republican Party's annual meeting in Salem, before heading to Columbia, South Carolina, for an appearance alongside his leadership team in the state. Police have blocked protesters supporting former President Pedro Castillo in Peru from marching toward Congress. Iranian Olympic skier Atefeh Ahmadi has quit her home country and applied for asylum in Germany, a Persian-language media outlet outside Iran reported Saturday, publishing an emotional interview with the athlete. Ahmadi, in her early 20s, was the only Iranian woman to qualify for last year's Beijing Winter Games. Israel's Security Cabinet agreed to seal off the attacker’s home immediately ahead of its demolition. It also plans to cancel social security benefits for the families of attackers, make it easier for Israelis to get gun licenses and step up efforts to collect illegal weapons. The announcement said that in response to public Palestinian celebrations over the attack, Israel would take new steps to “strengthen the settlements” this week. It gave no further details. The world chemical weapons watchdog has said Syrian forces carried out a chlorine gas attack on Douma in 2018 that killed 43 people. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said a Syrian army helicopter had dropped toxic chlorine gas cylinders on civilian areas. The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons. Six people were killed on Saturday following a collision between a truck and a bus on a highway in upstate New York close to the Canadian border in the US. Guitarist Tom Verlaine, who rose to fame in the 1970s New York punk scene as the frontman of rock band Television, has died at the age of 73. @0506z "Newsday" begins. MLA 30 amplified loop (powered w/8 AA rechargeable batteries ~10.8vdc), Etón e1XM. 200kW, beamAz 160°, bearing 47°. Received at Plymouth, United States, 6312KM from transmitter at Woofferton. Local time: 2258.

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combat-wombatus · 4 years ago

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Anti-Asian Racism (Pt. 2)

so if you haven’t read my (long) post about historical anti-asian racism, you can find it here. i tried my best to put things in chronological order, so you might want to read that before you read this one!

i got really tired writing that one bc it was super long and i only covered up to like...the 1920s?? and so here’s a second part bc i couldn’t fit it all into one post oopsies

WARNING: this contains some graphic descriptions of violence. i don’t want to accidentally trigger anyone, so please read at your own discretion. however, i do feel that it is important to be educated on the parts of history that schools often overlook, so if you can handle this, please read it.

the watsonville riots—january 1930

as US nationals, filipinos had the legal right to work in the US, and employers exploited these workers relentlessly as they assumed the filipinos were unfamiliar with their rights. they were paid the lowest wages among all ethnic laborers. the immigration acts of 1917 and 1924 allowed filipinos to answer the growing demand for labor in the US, and many young filipino men migrated to the US. due to gender bias in immigration & hiring, filipino men courted women outside of their own ethnic community, contributing to mounting racial tensions. white men decried the takeover of jobs and women by filipinos and resorted to vigilantism to deal with the “third Asiatic invasion”, and filipino laborers in public risked being attacked by white men who felt threatened by them. eventually, on january 19, this culminated in 500 white men gathering outside of a filipino dance club—owned by a filipino man—with clubs and weapons intending to take the white women who lived there out and burn the place down. they were turned away by security guards and the armed owners, but returned later to beat dozens of filipino farmworkers. they dragged filipinos from their homes and beat them, threw them off the pajaro river bridge, attacked them at ranches—and at a labor camp, twenty-two filipinos were dragged out and almost beaten to death. the mob fired shots into filipino homes, killing 22-year-old fermin tobera: no one was ever charged for his murder. in stockton, a filipino club was blown up—the blast was blamed on the filipinos themselves.

many filipinos fled the country. filipino immigration plummeted. anti-filipino violence continued in california in the months after the violence ended.

japanese internment camps—1942–1945

established during ww2 by FDR through executive order 9066. shortly after the bombing of pearl harbor, FDR signed the executive order, supposedly to prevent espionage. military zones were created in california, washington, and oregon—states with a large population of japanese americans—and the executive order commanded the relocation of americans of japanese ancestry. it affected the lives of around 117,000 people—the majority of whom were american citizens. canada soon followed, relocating 21,000 of its japanese residents from its west coast. mexico did the same, and eventually 2,264 more people of japanese descent were removed from peru, brazil, and argentina to the camps in the united states.

even before the camps, discrimination ran rampant. just hours after pearl harbor, the FBI rounded up 1,291 japanese community & religious leaders, arresting them without evidence and freezing their assets. a month later, they were transferred to facilities in montana, new mexico, and north dakota, many of them unable to inform their families. most remained incarcerated for the duration of the war. the FBI searched the private homes of thousands of japanese residents, seizing “contraband” (looting).

1/3 of hawaii’s population was of japanese descent. some politicians called for their mass incarceration. 1,500 people were removed from hawaii and sent to camps on the US mainland. japanese-owned fishing boats were impounded.

lieutenant general john dewitt prepared a report filled with proven lies—such as examples of “sabotage” (cattle knocking down power lines)—and suggested the creation of military zones and japanese internment camps. his original plan included italians and germans (because we were at war with them too!) but the idea of rounding-up americans of EUROPEAN descent was not as popular.

california’s state attorney general and governor declared that all japanese should be removed at congressional hearings in february 1942. general francis biddle pleaded with the president that mass evacuation of citizens was not required, pushing for smaller, more targeted security measures. FDR didn’t listen, and signed the order anyways.

around 15,000 japanese americans willingly moved out of prohibited areas. inland states were not keen for new japanese residents, and they were met with racist resistance. ten state governors voiced opposition, fearing the japanese would “never leave”, and demanded they be incarcerated if the states were forced to accept them. eventually, a civilian organization called the “war relocation authority” was set up to administer the plan, but milton eisenhower (from the department of agriculture) resigned his leadership in protest over what he characterized as incarcerating innocent civilians.

no one really cared back then, but we appreciate the sentiment. however, this led to a stricter, military-led incentive to incarcerate the japanese civilians, so you didn’t really win, mr. eisenhower.

army-directed evacuations followed, and people had six days notice to dispose of their belongings other than what they could carry. anyone who was at least 1/16th japanese was interned, including 17,000 children under 10, as well as several thousand elderly and handicapped.

these camps were located in remote areas, the buildings not meant for human habitation—they were reconfigured horse stalls or cow sheds. food shortages and poor sanitation conditions were common. each center was its own town, with schools, post offices, work facilities, and farms—all surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers.

in new mexico, internees were delivered by trains and marched two miles, at night, to reach the camp. anyone who tried to escape was promptly shot and killed, no matter their age.

when riots broke out over the insufficient rations and overcrowding, the police tear-gassed crowds and even killed a japanese-american citizen. three people were shot and killed for “going too close to the perimeter”.

in 1942, fred korematsu was arrested for refusing to relocate to an internment camp. his case made it all the way to the supreme court, where he argued that the executive order violated the fifth amendment. the supreme court ruled against him.

the camps were finally closed in 1945, after mitsuye endo fought her way to the supreme court once again. the government initially offered to free her, but endo refused—she wanted her case to address all of the internment camps. she was successful; the court eventually ruled that the the war relocation authority “has no authority to subject citizens who are concededly loyal to its leave procedure.”

the my lai massacre—march 16, 1968

during the vietnam war, US army soldiers entered a vietnamese hamlet on a search-and-destroy mission. they didn’t encounter any enemy troops; they did, however, proceed to set huts on fire, gang-rape the women, and murder around 500 unarmed civilians—including approximately 50 children under the age of four. army leadership had conspired to sweep this massacre under the carpet—the my lai massacre triggered a cover-up by the army that served to keep the atrocities committed a secret from the american public for 20 months during an election year.

american soldiers stabbed, clubbed, and carved “C [for Charlie] Company” into the chests of their victims (alive); herded them into ditches and blew them to bits with grenades. they cut off victims’ heads and slashed their throats.

this was more than spontaneous barbarism; for years, the army had dehumanized the vietnamese people as “gooks” and depicted women and children as potentially lethal combatants.

army officers who heard eyewitness reports of a massacre were quick to discount them. they issued a press release that informed news coverage—with lies. they claimed that their troops had killed 128 viet cong forces, even though they had been met with no resistance and suffered only one self-inflicted wound.

after word of the massacre reached the general public, more than a dozen military servicemen were eventually charged with crimes, but lieutenant william calley (the leader of the charlie company who was the main perpetrator in the massacre) was the only one who was ever convicted. pres. richard nixon reduced calley’s sentence to a light punishment—three years of house arrest.

three years of house arrest, and for only one person. for slaughtering 500 unarmed civilians. you do the math.

deportations

in 1975, more than 1.2 million refugees from southeast asia fled war and were resettled in the US—the largest resettlement for a refugee group in US history. in 1996, the illegal immigration reform and immigrant responsibility act (IIRIRA) expanded the definition of what types of crimes could result in detention & deportation—this broader definition could be applied retroactively, resulting in more than 16,000 southeast asian americans receiving orders of removal—78% of which were based on old criminal records.

islamophobia (article 2 preview) (article 3)

after the 9/11 attacks, islamophobia was especially prevalent in the western world, although it was also prevalent in other places without large muslim populations. from a small percentage of violence, an “efficient system of government prosecution and media coverage brings muslim-american terrorism suspects to national attention, creating the impression that muslim-american terrorism is more prevalent than it really is”, even though since 9/11, the muslim-american community helped security and law enforcement officials prevent nearly two of every five al qaeda terrorist plots threatening the united states. globally, many muslims report feeling not respected by those in the west, including over half of those who live in the US. in late 2009, the largest party in the swiss parliament put to referendum a ban on minaret (a tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques) construction, and nearly 60% of swiss voters and 22 out of 26 voting districts voted in favor of the ban—even though most swiss say that religious freedom is important for swiss identity. a network of misinformation experts actively promotes islamophobia in america. muslims are more likely than americans of any other major religious groups to have personally experienced racial or religious discrimination in the past year—48%, compared to 31% of mormons, 25% of atheist/agnostics, 21% of jews, 20% of catholics, and 18% of protestants. 1/3 (36%) of americans say that they have an unfavorable opinion about islam (gallup polls).

in the aftermath of 9/11, the US government has increasingly implemented special programs with hopes of “curbing and countering terrorism” and “enemy combatants.” these policies—such as the USA Patriot Act and the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System—have been targeted towards and disproportionately affects arabs, south asians, and muslims in america.

of course, the most lethal terrorist groups active in america are white supremacist groups, but people tend to overlook that because it’s always easier to blame something you have zero understanding of.

the non-profit advocacy organization South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) cataloged 207 incidents of hate violence and xenophobic political rhetoric directed towards south asian, muslim, middle eastern, hindu, sikh, and arab communities between nov. 15, 2015, and nov. 16, 2016. approximately 95% of those instances were animated by anti-muslim sentiment. also, “approximately 1 in 5 of the documented xenophobic statements came from president-elect donald trump.”

that’s who america hired to run our country in 2016. this was way before his misdeeds in office, yet it took us so long—and such a hard fight—to oust him. did it really take that long for everyone to catch on?

police brutality—(christian hall) (angelo quinto) (tommy le)

“CHRISTIAN HALL was a 19-year-old chinese american teen who experienced a mental health emergency on december 30, 2020. pennsylvania state police were called and requested to help de-escalate the crisis. rather than providing aid or assistance, the troopers shot and killed christian. his hands were up in the air as he stood on the SR-33 southbound overpass to I-80, posing no threat to the armed officers.”

they shot him seven times, with his arms up in the air.

“I miss my son so much. I love him so much but if his death is the catalyst for change, then so be it. Let his name be remembered. His name is Christian Hall.” —Fe Hall, Christian’s mother.

a video, shot by his mother, shows ANGELO QUINTO, a 30-year-old Filipino immigrant, unresponsive on the floor after officers subdued him with a knee to the back of his neck. the video shows him bleeding form the mouth after police knelt on his neck when he was experiencing a mental health crisis in his family home. he died three days later in the hospital without waking up. the antioch police had no body camera footage, nor has the department named the officers involved.

“I was just hoping they could de-escalate the situation,” his sister said in an interview. she called 911 when her brother had been experiencing mental health problems and paranoia. she says that she remains conflicted about calling the police that night: “I don’t know if I will not feel bad. If it was the right thing to do they would not have killed my brother.”

“TOMMY LE, a 20-year-old Vietnamese-American student, died hours before he was scheduled to attend his high-school graduation in June 2017. He was shot multiple times by sheriff’s Deputy Cesar Molina after responding to reports of a man armed with a knife. Deputies discovered after the shooting that he was carrying an ink pen, not a knife.

The office reported that Le had lunged at the sheriff’s deputies with a knife and had been threatening residents, shouting he was “the creator.” An autopsy showed that two of the three bullets that struck Le were in his back, and a witness said that Le was shouting he was “Tommy the renter.”

despite the challenges our communities face, AAPI communities receive less than one percent of philanthropic funding.

covid-19

i’ll try to keep this brief. there have been so many instances of violence perpetrated against the asian community during covid-19—not to mention the casual snipes at our culture, the microaggressions we face every day, the verbal and sexual harassment we encounter, sometimes even on the way to the grocery store for a supply run.

VICHA RATANAPAKDEE: a thai-american, he became known as “grandpa” throughout his neighborhood, where he’d made it a ritual to go on morning walks each day. it was during one of those walks on january 28, 2021, when the 84-year-old was forcibly knocked onto the ground. he was transported to the hospital, where he died two days later.

“He never wake up again. He [was] bleeding on his brain,” his daughter said in an interview. “I called him, ‘Dad, wake up.’ I want him to stay alive and wake up and come and see me again, but he never wake up.”

between march and december last year, the organization Stop Asian American and Pacific Islander Hate recorded nearly 3,000 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents nationwide. the new york city police department also reported a 1,900% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes last year.

i think senator tammy duckworth put it very aptly.

“Most people, I don’t think, think of Asians as being the subject of racist attacks, but we have been. And we’re the one community that’s often always seen as the ‘other’. I—to this day—still get asked, ‘So where are you from really?’“

i don’t think i’ve ever related so much to something a senator said.

actor and activist daniel dae kim talked about an encounter he had with a pollster who said asian americans are “statistically insignificant” in polling models in a congressional hearing:

“Statistically insignificant. Now all of you listening to me here, by virtue of your own elections, are more familiar with the intricacies of polling than I am, so undoubtedly, you already know what this means—statistically insignificant literally means that we don’t matter.”

do we matter? are we really “statistically insignificant”? blips in the machine, to be used and then thrown away once we become too “fussy” or demanding?

testimonies from victims showcase the array of xenophobic and racist insults they’ve encountered. i’ll put an (x) next to the ones i’ve personally heard.

“Go back to Wuhan and take the virus with you.” (x)

“You are the reason for the coronavirus.” (x)

“Damn, another Asian riding with me. Hope you don’t have covid.”

*fake coughing* “Chinese b—” *more fake coughing* (x)

now for some really “creative” ones that i’ve personally encountered:

“Cock up my dad’s botton, Chinease cunt”

“You don’t got the kung-flu, do ya?”

“Ever ate a dog?”

Along the same vein, “ever had any bats? Heard they’re delicious.”

“Wouldn’t want ya to pet my dog. Ya might steal it and cook it for dinner!” *hyena laugh*

a little personal anecdote

i debated whether or not to wear a mask to school in early march. my aunt lives in china, and she’s a first-responder (trained paramedic & contact tracer) and we knew how bad the virus was going to be in late february when we facetimed her, quarantined in her apartment. her toddler was staying with her husband at her parents’ house because she was afraid of infecting them. she didn’t see them in person for four months, working 14-hour shifts in the back of an ambulance decked out in a hazmat suit.

my mom cried when she facetimed us the second week of her grueling shift. i couldn’t stop thinking about her when i went to school that day. my mom sent me another picture during art class, and i just couldn’t control myself. i started crying during class.

i asked my mom whether or not i should wear a mask to school, and she said that if i did, i would be singling myself out. i wouldn’t be protecting myself—far from it. if i wore a mask to school, people would think that i had the virus, not that i was trying to protect myself from it.

gossip spreads like wildfire, and the next day, everyone knew i had relatives in china. most of my friends were sympathetic, but they were wholly removed from the situation. it was early march, and they never believed that the coronavirus would spread here. they were firmly rooted in their opinion that it was an easy situation, grossly mishandled by the chinese government, and that we’d do much better if it ever washed up on our shores.

i do hate the chinese government, and back then, i didn’t think too much of their antagonism. yes, the situation was mishandled. it was like a repeat of the SARS outbreak in 2003—first a cover-up by the local government, then a cover-up by the national government, and finally, a realization that no, in fact, they could not handle it in secret. yes, the media had to get involved. no, dead bodies were not piling up in the hallways while they waited for doctors to triage care. yes, we have capacity! look at these documentary mini-videos, forcing doctors and patients to leave a wing of the hospital empty and operate below maximum capacity so they could shoot propaganda videos for the lunar new year, boasting about how well they’re handling it!

i won’t argue that in the beginning, this was mishandled. i will argue, however, against the idea that asian countries are incompetent. that western approaches are oh-so-much-better.

in wuhan, they built a makeshift hospital spanning three soccer fields in the span of a week, with properly-functioning utilities, hospital beds, decontamination, and security. people rallied together and donated everything from money and supplies to food and ventilators, from all across the country. doctors and medical staff shaved their heads so they could better wear masks and volunteered to go to wuhan, where the situation was much more dire than in other areas. thousands of medical students from shanghai were transported to wuhan to fill the personnel shortages.

china reopened in june.

what did we do?

we didn’t ask the asian countries for experience. china, japan, and korea had handled the 2003 SARS outbreak and knew what kinds of things needed to be done. from the beginning, they wore masks. they halted travel, they did routine testing, performed contact tracing, set up programs for bringing food to the immunocompromised, elderly, and disabled, and worked as a cohesive community.

on the other hand, we resorted to childish infighting, political games, shunning masks and blaming it on asians, when we could’ve learned from them instead. we didn’t do contact-tracing. our testing systems were sorely inadequate. borders were closed with china, yes, but the majority of the cases in the US arrived from italy and other european countries who had already been infected. banning travel between the US and china was nothing more than a political gimmick.

states fought each other for basic medical supplies. there was no national unity. we were fractured in two, and COVID became more fuel for the fire dividing the two parties, when it could’ve been something that unified us.

and instead of blaming china, we would’ve been better off recognizing our own failures.

you can say that the virus caught china by surprise.

it shouldn’t have done the same to us.

we knew it was coming. but we still botched it.

blaming the virus on asian communities is a sign of immaturity and a lack of accountability. own up to your failures.

anyways, my mom was right. whenever we wore a mask in public, people really did think that we were “dirty, foreign chinese.” we stocked up on groceries so we wouldn’t have to go out, because every time my mom did, people would look at her weirdly. they didn’t wear masks.

one time, she was accosted by a blonde woman when we were at a supermarket. i’d gone with her that time because it was right after practice, and i was in the car anyways. the lady came up to us (without a mask: this was in may) and said, “excuse me, you don’t have the virus, do you?” with a pointed look at my mom (who was masked up).

my mom, being the polite person she is, simply responded “no, i don’t.”

the woman didn’t let us go after that. she pushed even more. “well, you see, i was just making sure...with this chinese virus going around, it’s scary, you know?”

i wanted to ask her why she wasn’t wearing a mask if it was “so scary”, but i couldn’t get a word in before she asked another question.

“by the way, y’all aren’t chinese, right?”

yes i am. yes we are. why does it fucking matter. we’re wearing masks, you’re not, get the hell out of my face.

honestly, i don’t know how my mom does it. she has the patience of a saint. she said “mhm”, grabbed a gallon of milk, and walked to the self-checkout area. the lady looked at me and raised her eyebrow, and i said “so what if we are?”

she looked like she’d been slapped in the face. i turned and followed my mom, but she said “now hold on young lady!” i ignored her and kept walking.

i don’t owe her anything. why do people think it’s okay to talk to others like that? we’re human beings too. we’re allowed our basic dignity. basic respect. we’re not something for you to joke at, to laugh at, to fetishize or bully into submission. i don’t understand why it’s so hard for people to realize that. i don’t understand why it’s so hard for people to treat others like human beings.

to people like that lady in kroger:

why do you feel the need to do it? is your opinion of yourself really that high to think that you’re superior to others who are different from you? are you really that conceited to think that you’re the perfect image of a perfect human, and anyone not like you is unworthy, considered lesser? or is your opinion of yourself really that low, to think that whatever you say, it doesn’t really matter anyways? why do you find derogatory jokes and demeaning comments funny? why do you think it’s okay to harass a stranger just going about their day? is your life really that boring, and you have nothing else to do with your time? why? would it be okay if i came up to you and asked if you ate rotten shark meat, then laughed it off and said “oh, i thought you were from iceland”? is that okay? can i ask if you eat cockroaches? how would you respond if i asked “where are you from?”? you would say america, right? and if i asked again? europe? where in europe? oh, you don’t know? are you illegal? was your mother a prostitute? are you a communist? why are your eyes so big? do you speak europeanese? crut iveroij aeish poient. oh, those aren’t words? well i think they sound like european words. what’s your name? je-re-mi-ah? like jeeryyy-miiiaaaccchh? oh, that’s not right? sorry, my tongue just won’t bend that way. your names are so weird! why would your parents name you that? oh, it means something? well, i don’t know the language, so don’t expect me to say it right. have you ever eaten haggis? oh, that’s scottish? oh, you’re not scottish? sorry, you all look the same to me. scots and italians are just so similar, you know? what’s your name? your last name is anderson? i know an anderson! she lived in texas. are you related to her? oh, you don’t know her? sorry, i thought you were all related. yeah, like i said before, you all just look so much alike, you know? are you lazy? oh, nothing, i just heard from my dad that all french people are lazy. oh, you’re not french? well, you still look lazy. are you good at english? oh, nothing, i just assumed that all white people were english. i know you like to assume that we’re good at math. oh, you got an A in english? isn’t that normal? i can’t help it, you’re just smarter. you probably don’t even study. oh, you do? well, you’re smart anyways, so it doesn’t matter. you’re so good at math for an american! oh no, nothing, i just assumed that all americans were bad at math. *starts playing with her hair* oh, that’s making you uncomfortable? but your hair’s so silky, and it’s so smooth. what kind of hair products do you use? i want to learn how to make my hair look exotic like that. oh, you’re not exotic? but you’re foreign. of course you’re exotic. you know, *leans in and whispers* men like you this way, yeah? they just looveeee exotic ladies. *winks*

can you see how this is demeaning? can you see how this diminishes our culture, our hard work, our accomplishments?

racism isn’t funny. it’s not cool, it’s not a joke, and it’s hurtful. it makes us question our capabilities, forces us to have unrealistic expectations of ourselves, makes us feel unworthy and “other”. just stop? stop making hurtful comments. stop stepping on other people to feel better about yourselves.

#racism #anti-asian hate #anti-asian racism #asian #asian racism #politics #covid #covid-19 #i'm so sick of it

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gerec · 4 years ago

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AU-gust 2020 Prompts

1. Fantasy AU - Cherik 2. College AU - Cherik, Xavierine 3. Soulmates AU - Cherik 4. Angels & Demons AU - Cherik

5. Post-Apocalyptic AU

Sort of a sequel to my fic ‘I’m Going To Save You’, where Apocalypse successfully takes over Charles’ body at the end of XMA.

-----

It’s five years later, before Erik can keep his promise.

He’s never forgotten that day in Cairo, standing alone before the great pyramid, railing against the monster wearing Charles’ face. En Sabah Nur would remake the world into a better place, he’d said, for mutants to live openly and to be free…

And he’d offered the world and a place at his side, if only Erik could forgive one minor detail; that he’d murdered Charles – his Charles – and stolen his body.

For that, and for the four billion lives he’s taken since that day, Erik will fight him to his last breath and make him pay.

He spends years hiding, fighting, and recruiting others to his cause, always just one step ahead of En Sabah Nur – Apocalyse now, the moniker well earned – as he decimates resistance from nations all over the world. Bombs and missiles are no match for Charles’ gift, amplified now by an age old power, though he is only too happy to encourage old fashioned war and bloodshed. Every soldier dead is a testament to his empire’s might; every civilian lost instills gut wrenching fear in those who witness the slaughter.

Many countries surrender without a single fight, having seen the Phoenix’s fire level a city, or a skyscraper crumble into sand from Apocalypse’s power. Others embrace him as a god made flesh, his ranks swelling with zealots and acolytes seeking salvation from brutal, dissatisfied lives. And amidst the carnage, he preaches about peace and love, promising forgiveness and benevolence to those who would worship and throw themselves at his feet.

‘The new dawn is here,’ he says, his face – Charles’ face – broadcast from every screen large and small while his voice resonates in their heads. ‘Surrender and you will know mercy. Resist and you will die.”

“Why doesn’t he just make everyone do what he wants?” the Wolverine asks, one night over a dying campfire in the Andes. There are only a handful of them here, in Erik’s stronghold in Peru. “Why fight us, or the humans at all? If he’s got Xavier’s power, he could turn us all into puppets, without anyone firing a single shot.”

“Because he wants people to fear him, sugah,” Rogue says, leaning just a little closer against Gambit to ward off the chill in the air. “He wants them to submit, and taking that choice away would make it meaningless; a hollow victory, you might say.”

“Or maybe he’s not as powerful as we think.”

Or maybe, Erik thinks - hopes, with every fiber of his being - that a part of Charles still exists in that madman, his goodness, and his humanity; that En Sabah Nur didn’t subsume Charles completely in the transfer, instead combining the two into one.

It’s the only reason Erik could have survived this long, and not been hunted and killed by his Horsemen.

And it’s the only hope he can cling to, that the world might not come to an end.

#Cherik #gerec writes #post-apocalyptic au #xma au #au-gust 2020 #august writing challenge #day 5 #apparently if i put a link in this post to ao3 it doesn't show up in the tags?#god tumblr you suck so much

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inevitableenquere · 5 years ago

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Mademoiselle Mari

Insp. by a comment on the Maribat Discord:

Buckle up, biches.

We’re gonna pull deep into DC canon for the French codename for female superheroes, Mademoiselle Marie, in use since the 18th century through the World Wars and probably beyond. Alfred Pennyworth worked closely with “Mademoiselle Marie” in the past.

In this universe, its expanded into a French government-sponsored training program, training little girls in espionage and assassinry since the Cold War. These program heads aren’t monsters; the girls still live with their families, still go to civilian school, they just occasionally “take trips to see distant relatives”.

Their parents are aware that their daughters are doing government work, and there’s a benefit package unlike any other available within the country. Salary is set aside in trust for “Marie” until she hits adulthood (precaution in case of shitty parents) and a stipend besides for her and her parents to use as they see fit. These girls get a full-ride “scholarship” to any accredited global university of their choice. Only the best of the best risk their lives for wet-work necessary for the good of France. These girls become unsung heroes of France, and they receive glowing recommendations when they decide to move on from the program.

Still, it’s not something the Dupein-Cheng family had thought of for their daughter, it’s not a well-known program after all. The handlers don’t have an eye on her until new mayor of Paris, freshly divorced, André Bourgeois brings the girl “bullying his little princess” to their attention. And that is how six-year-old Marinette Dupein-Cheng is brought into the program.

Now, Marinette, tiny little bi-racial girl, is competitive, and this program is something she enjoys, learning from adults and “older sisters” on how to tumble, dance, act, create, and make new friends– both in person with the other girls, and through letters to former agents and outside contacts. They craft a network based on previously established agency contacts and expand upon them as they move out in the world.

Marinette quickly becomes a star student, moving on to weapons training, and eventually becomes one of the first to graduate in her batch and she travels the world as pre-teen superspy “Mademoiselle Marie”. (Whose last name changes by assignment.)

This is how she meets Damian Al Ghul, prince of the League of Assassins for the first time, though he’s introduced to her as “independent contractor” Caracal. He clocks her as trained, and a threat right away, and takes his standard precautionary measure. He attempts to murder her.

Attempts, because Mari is just as trained as he is, if not as lethally inclined. He quickly finds himself pinned under her knee, knife to his throat. (Later, he insists that he was having an off day, helplessly grateful that he hadn’t succeeded.) But in the moment they agree to a truce and go their own way, Marie Simon to her “parents”, Caracal to the shadows from whence he came.

Naturally, the next time they meet they are “distant cousins” on a collaborative wetworks mission in Thessaly, against an uppity German drug lord, and his mad-scientist wife. The mission goes a bit sideways, took more luck than either will admit to pull it off, and they emerge from the aftermath, a grudging respect on both sides. Even if she’s too soft and he’s an arrogant andouille.

Through happenstance and circumstances, they run into each other enough, work together enough, to become friends. Friends, in this case, meaning “person I won't stab on sight and/or who owes me a favor”. A rarity for Damian.

Marinette thinks otherwise; with friendships among those in her organization, and tentative friendships with some of the boys in école, she considers Caracal an Ally. A lonely sad boy, sure, but more a feral street cat then a friend. It takes more than a few meetings for Marinette to consider him a Ride-or-Die Friend.

Through the years, these two baby assassins grow into a friendship that withstands facing each other as enemies to reunite with no hard feelings at the next meeting between them. After all it’s Just Business, and they both know that well.

And then Hawkmoth.

Marinette can’t be Ladybug, “defender of Paris” when “Mademoiselle Marie” travels across the globe networking for her government and taking down European threats. Marinette reluctantly resigns from her position, and she takes up a red-spotted mantle.

Now the Mlle. Marie Organization aren’t idiots. Marinette Dupein-Cheng retires with accolades, offered a permanent place whenever she finishes her “hiatus”. And if the Parisian Police are instructed from on high to look the other way for Ladybug? Well, it’s best to leave superhero business to superheroes.

People in the organization are Carefully Not Thinking About It.

Completely coincidentally, therapy and healthy coping mechanisms are now mandatory for all operatives working within Paris and the surrounding areas.

That said, she still has to tell her assassin that she’s retiring.

Damian does not take it well.

Not like murder not well.

Like communication blackout and regime change in Peru not well.

Damian gives her the silent treatment. After all, she’s Out. (She abandoned him.)

Little does he know, his mother is working to get him out as well.

Marinette, meanwhile is Not Happy that Mothman Barbie decided to take out his issues on her home turf. The Mlle. Marie project is supposed to be foreign support, and last line of defense. So I mean it's in her wheelhouse. She just enjoyed her job as a globetrotting pre-teen superspy.

She doesn’t want to be chained down to the homefront, not when there's so much inspiration out there! Putting all that on hold for Mothman Barbie in Paris, eating into her free time, sleep, and drastically cutting into her social life? Bitch.

Civilian life makes her itch now, stuck in one place with confusing, mandatory, rules. Fictional barriers and preteen posturing, and only one hidden knife? Being Marinette is Suffering™. New friend Alya and pretty-boy Adrien can only relieve it so much.

Yes she has a bit of a crush. He's pretty and a model. Shut up.

Tikki is pleased she's got another loyal warrior, a second coming of Jeanne d'Arc, though she wishes Marinette was kinder. That's something she learns while dealing with Mothman Barbie. Not just how to act kind, to prevent akumas. But how to genuinely be kind. How to unlock the empathy she'd learned to tune out years ago, and how to act altruistically.

During her collège years Marinette juggles the life of a teen superhero, making friends with her class sincerely for the first time in years, something she didn’t get the chance to do with her frequent trips. Beyond Nino and Kim that is.

When Lila comes she deems her as annoying, but not worth her time. Until she’s the one turning her friends into akumas, with broken promises and lies that damage reputations. Marinette has a set future, as long as she keeps to the laws of this land and doesn’t slaughter a bitch. Lila can’t do anything to her. But if she hurts any of her friends, Lila is getting a horse head in her bed, American cliché or not.

Thankfully her crush on Adrien dies a silent death during this time. She can’t see herself with someone who won’t stand up for himself, nor with someone who enables a pathological liar that is one move away from harming the rest of her friends. She’s unspeakably grateful for that when Mothman Barbie is revealed to be his absentee father and Mayura to be the closest thing he has to a living mother. She’s able to focus her attention on his mental state and not how stupidly pretty he is.

Adrien is cemented as her best friend and platonic life partner in a catsuit. Adrien, once he got over his crush on the "idol" Ladybug, is happy to treat her the same. He’s just glad that his Lady won’t leave him for what his family had done.

Despite Mari’s wishes, Ladybug can’t retire just yet. People come out of the woodwork to fill in the vacuum left behind from the fashion-blind terrorist that held Paris in fear for three years. Ladybug is a celebrity, and Paris would be left uneasy if the city’s heroes left them undefended. She trains to be a guardian with Master Fu, to find more permanent Miraculous holders to take up the defense of Paris, and later the world. She finally has the free time to devote to her fashion commissions and to pick up the occasional job with her old organization.

It’s mid-way through lycée that Jagged invites her as his plus one to a charity gala in the United States. As his designer, and as an inconspicuous bodyguard that has combat training (far more than he knows), Marinette is the best choice when Penny is on leave. It gives his favorite niece the chance to network with American big shots, and get her brand noticed by more than just a few fashion moguls in Paris.

Which leads us to today. Marinette Dupein-Cheng– agent on leave, teenage superhero, aspiring designer, and temporary bodyguard of her surrogate uncle– spots a very familiar profile across the room.

Her assassin, dressed to kill, possibly literally. And she resigns herself to once more being on the opposite side of the boy who cut her out of his life, and any attempts to get in touch with him.

She’s dressed in a MDC original (with more hidden knives on her person than people would think), as she goes through the familiar song-and-dance and slips into the mindset of Mademoiselle Marie.

Stolen glances across the room. How have they been? Will they talk to me again even if I left/left her in silence?

Both are on edge. They are professionals and an unexpected meeting won't prevent them from keeping their loved ones charges safe.

It's like they never left the business, the two of them. They don't know each other. I've never seen them before. They can't have been the murderer because I saw them head to the bathroom. Just don't. touch. what's. Mine.

They're Friends after all.

Thankfully nothing happens at the party.

Damian Wayne saw her. How could he have ignored her, magnetic as she ever was. His eyes periodically drawn to her, partly assessment, partly admiration. When nothing happens at the gala, he figures that she’s changed as much as he has. And Damian has changed. He's softer and he knows it. He's been Out almost as long as she has, and in trying to hold to his father’s standards, he doesn’t think he could slip into the mindset of the ruthless prince of assassins so easily any more.

The silence and loss of his first friend on the other hand, was a wound that lingered even as he learned of civilian friendships and built connections with other superheroes around his age. This was a chance to introduce himself to his oldest friend. Without business between them this time.

It's Damian that does the signal.

Mari trips and giggles at the end of the night over to her assassin. It's easy after years of "Clumsy Marinette can't possibly be Ladybug!" She plays up the petite harmless French girl.

"Mon Caracal!" She calls from 3 feet away, stumbling into his arms.

She hugs him, compartmentalizing the muscled form that holds her safely, knowing he can kill her if she plays this wrong.Not without a fight though.

She hugs him more surely, kissing both his cheeks the way neither of them would be allowed outside of acting. "It's been far too long!"

She pulls away to see him gazing down at her, and wow someone has given him acting lessons because he smiles soft, fond, and far more real than he ever had Before.

"Marie."

She boops him on the nose. "Marinette." She teases coyly. She can't tell him her last name. For the safety of her parents, but also to keep cover as close friends.

"Marinette." He nods, crooked smile on his face, and away from prying eyes there's the signal that he'll keep his mouth shut about her name.

Speaking of prying eyes... "Marinette!" Uncle Jagged calls, making his way over to the pair of them. Her assassin is surprised, though few would be able to tell, at the world-famous rockstar approaching them.

"Uncle Jagged!" She answers, facing him but keeping a hand on the muscled arm of her friend to keep him from attacking, just in case.

She plays up the accent. Just a rockstar with his very French™ niece and her boy toy, nothing to see here!

"Jagged," she says again looking up at her uncle, "this is my good friend–"

"Damian" her assassin, starstruck or not, can follow his cue.

Between them is the subtle flash of information-true-hidden as she speaks over it to distract Jagged. "–Damian, my caracal."

Jagged bristles a little, baring his teeth in what those who don't know him would call a toothy grin, rather than a threat.

"And is Damian rock-and-roll enough for my favorite designer, M?"

"He's very kind," she confides with a Marinette-sweet smile. In his own way. she finishes the thought ruefully. A small part of her brain is cackling hysterically.

Jagged relaxes, and drags the both of them forward, holding a polaroid out to snap a picture of the three of them. ("Very Rock-and-Roll!" Jagged had said three months earlier.) He shakes the picture to development, and autographs it with a flourish, before stuffing it into Damian's hands.

"Well any friend of Marinette's is a friend of mine! And M? Car leaves in 10." He smiles, patting them both on the shoulder before sauntering off.

"I." Damian tries. He sighs.

"Jagged Stone? Jagged? Really Marie?" Damian asks, slipping once more into the familiar nickname. Marinette decided to let it slide, Jagged had that effect on a lot of people.

Marinette shrugs helplessly, before fishing a pen and spare notepad for her to jot down her contact information. It had only been a night but that familiar rush and heady friendship was something that Mari didn't want to lose if she could help it. She placed the paper with the photograph, putting the lethal pen back in her clutch, and cupping his face in both hands.

"Keep in touch this time? Please mon caracal?" If her begging was a little more heartfelt, well she’d learned a few things too. She kissed his cheek one final time and stepped away.

A hand caught her wrist.

"It hasn't been the same without you, Marinette." Damian said, hand slipping into hers, thumb gently brushing the back of it. He lifted her hand and kissed the air above her knuckles, before stepping away and towards the exit.

I must not swoon. I must not swoon. I must not swoon. Marinette chanted internally as she left to find Jagged, already looking forward to turning a Friendship into something more honest. More real.

-Meanwhile, In The Lobby-

"What was that, baby bird?" Dick asked his youngest brother.

"An old friend." Damian answered tersely, pointedly ignoring the curious stare from his Father and the more obnoxious kissy noises from Todd.

"Hell of an old friend." Tim commented, sounding almost put out, probably because of the unexpected personal introduction to Jagged Stone and autograph Damien had received. "You let her get close."

Damian raised an eyebrow at Tim.

Tim rolled his eyes, "PDA close!" he expounded like that explained anything.

Dick must have sensed his confusion, " You attempted to judo-flip Kor'i when you first met her. And you let this tiny girl hug you and kiss your cheeks."

Damian scowled, "I'm not that bad!"

"You bit me last week when I went to ruffle your hair!" Jason said, tugging his suit sleeve back to reveal light scarring.

"And?" Damian said, very done with the conversation already.

"We just wanted to know how long you've been pining for her, baby bird." Dick teased.

Damian felt a betraying heat creep up the back of his neck, to his ears and cheeks. "It's not like that!" He hissed.

"I-" he paused, wondering how he could explain the beautiful, cunning girl who knew of his past, was honestly the best part of it, and how she had watched his back, kept him safe and sane, had killed people on his tail even, without making them regard her as a threat.

His grandfather would have made her an example. Vivisected, drawn and quartered for daring to get close to his perfect weapon.

"I've known her for years. We're Friends, and that means I'll allow her more than I would you, Todd."

He stalked forward, as his father called behind him, "You should introduce us when you feel comfortable, Damian."

He stopped, listening but not daring to turn around.

"After all," Damian could hear the grin in his father's voice, "It'll be nice to meet my future daughter-in-law!"

Screw the Joker, Batman ends right here, right now.

#maribat #maridami #damimari #dc x mlb #daminette #marinette x damian #damian x marinette #superspy marinette #superspy marinette dupein-cheng #assassin damian #mothman barbie #mothman barbie is a punkass bitch #my fic

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newstfionline · 3 years ago

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Sunday, June 20, 2021

Businesses, U.S. legislators fume as Canada extends travel ban (Reuters) Canada is extending a ban on non-essential travel with the United States and the rest of the world until July 21, officials said on Friday, prompting frustration from businesses and U.S. legislators. Canada is under pressure from companies and the tourism industry to ease the ban, which was imposed in March 2020 to help contain spread of the coronavirus and has been renewed on a monthly basis ever since. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood firm, saying the border would stay largely shut until 75% of Canadians had received the first of a two-dose coronavirus vaccine and 20% had been given both shots. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce—a national group that advocates for businesses—lamented what it said was Ottawa’s excessive caution.

Many Americans resuming pre-virus activities (AP) Many Americans are relaxing precautions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic and resuming everyday activities, even as some worry that coronavirus-related restrictions were hastily lifted, a new poll shows. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that majorities of Americans who were regularly doing so before the pandemic say they are returning to bars or restaurants, traveling and attending events such as movies or sports. Andrea Moran, a 36-year-old freelance writer and mother of two boys, said she feels both relief and joy at the chance to resume “doing the little things,” such as having drinks on a restaurant patio with her husband. “Honestly, I almost cried,” Moran said. “It’s such a feeling of having been through the wringer, and we’re finally starting to come out of it.” Still, 34% of Americans think restrictions in their area have been lifted too quickly, while somewhat fewer—27%—say they were not lifted quickly enough. About 4 in 10 rate the pace of reopening about right.

Voting debate roils Washington but leaves many voters cold (AP) Brenda Martinez, a 19-year-old community college student, thinks the government should help immigrant students more. Donald Huffman is worried about turning 50 next week with no work available because the federal government is delaying the pipelines he usually helps build. Binod Neupane, who just moved to Texas to research alternative fuels, wants action on climate change. The three Texas voters have little in common politically other than one thing—none considers voting and election reform, the issue that has dominated partisan debate this year, a top priority. As politicians from Austin to Washington battle over the practical aspects of how to run elections—clashing over details such as polling booth hours and the number of ballot drop boxes per county—many voters are disconnected from the fight. A passionate base of voters and activists on both sides may be intensely dialed in on the issue, but a disengaged middle is baffled at the attention.

Trust in government (The Spectator) Since 1958, the Gallup polling organization has periodically asked Americans how much they trust the federal government to do what is right. In 1958, 73 percent said ‘always’ or ‘most of the time’. Trust hit its high point in 1964, when that figure stood at 77 percent. Then it began to fall. By 1980, only 27 percent trusted the government to do what is right. That percentage rebounded to the low forties during the Reagan years, then fell to a new low, 19 percent, in 1994. It rebounded again, hitting a short-lived high of 54 percent just after 9/11. Then it plunged again, hitting another new low, 15 percent, in 2011. It has been in the 15- to 20 percent range ever since. A government that is distrusted by more than 80 percent of the citizens has a bipartisan legitimacy problem.

‘There’s no water,’ says California farm manager (Reuters) Salvador Parra, the manager of Burford Ranch in California’s Central Valley agricultural breadbasket, is worried about the lack of water. California’s worst drought since 1977 has forced Parra to leave fallow 2,000 of his 6,000 acres and dig deep for water to save the crops already planted. “There’s not very much being grown out there, just because there’s no water. There’s literally no water,” said Parra. In a good year, the ranch grows everything from garlic, onions, tomatoes and alfalfa to cotton. This year, Parra needs emergency water sources just to bring a reduced crop to harvest.

Mexico City shuts down classes again, enters higher COVID-19 risk tier (Reuters) Mexico City schools that had just gone back to in-person classes will be closed again starting Monday as the sprawling capital climbs into a higher tier of coronavirus risk, education authorities said on Saturday. Mexico City officials had loosened restrictions on gatherings in schools, hotels, stores and restaurants just two weeks ago as the dense urban zone moved into the lowest risk tier of the government's four-level "traffic light" model. But the federal Health Ministry on Friday evening put Mexico City, home to more than 9 million people, a step higher on the scale for June 21 to July 4.

Peru ex-military stir election tensions with appeal to Armed Forces to “remedy” poll (Reuters) A group of retired officers has suggested Peru’s military should refuse to recognize socialist candidate Pedro Castillo if he is declared winner of the country’s presidential election if fraud allegations are not investigated, according to a letter circulated widely on social media on Friday. Interim president Francisco Sagasti confirmed the letter, which was posted on Twitter and Facebook, arrived at the general headquarters of the armed forces, bearing the names of at least 80 retired military personnel. Friday’s letter appealed to military chiefs to “act rigorously” and “remedy” the “demonstrated irregularities” that took place during the vote or risk having an “illegal and illegitimate” commander in chief at the helm of the country. The tight election has deeply divided citizens of the world’s second-largest copper producer. Protest marches by supporters of both candidates take place almost daily in downtown Lima, calling for a swift resolution and respect for the popular will.

Drought in Brazil (Financial Times) The worst drought in almost a century has left millions of Brazilians facing water shortages and the risk of power blackouts, complicating the country’s efforts to recover from the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The agricultural centers in São Paulo state and Mato Grosso do Sul have been worse affected, after the November-March rainy season produced the lowest level of rainfall in 20 years. Water levels in the Cantareira system of reservoirs, which serves about 7.5m people in São Paulo city, dropped to below one-tenth of its capacity this year. Brazil’s mines and energy ministry has called it country’s worst drought in 91 years.

Paris’ tough suburbs (AP) Violent rivalries have long been part of the policing geography in the rotting high-rises of tough Paris-region neighborhoods where inequalities and hardship are often more common than good jobs and opportunities. But police say that fighting over turf or differences of race, religion and cultures wasn’t always as savage as it increasingly is now. “It’s more and more violent,” the police major said as he worked to reconstruct this week’s chain of events, from a clash in a pipe-smoking bar to a full-blown brawl between opposing groups from Pakistani and North African communities. “In a fight that perhaps 20 years ago would have been sorted out with fists or kicks, we now see people being run over with cars,” he said. “The population is increasingly violent. It’s no longer simply fighting. They absolutely have to win, even if that means leaving someone in agony on the floor.” Police are also increasingly the targets of violence. Most recently, the murders of two police officials in April and May—one in a stabbing, the other in a shooting during a drug bust—reinforced officers’ concerns that enforcing the law in France is an increasingly perilous profession.

Chips, Taiwan, and China (WSJ/The Wire China) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. makes almost all of the world’s most sophisticated chips, and many of the simpler ones, too. They’re in billions of products with built-in electronics, including iPhones, personal computers and cars—all without any obvious sign they came from TSMC, which does the manufacturing for better-known companies that design them, like Apple and Qualcomm. TSMC has emerged over the past several years as the world’s most important semiconductor company, with enormous influence over the global economy. With a market cap of around $550 billion, it ranks as the world’s 11th most valuable company. Its dominance leaves the world in a vulnerable position, however. As more technologies require chips of mind-boggling complexity, more are coming from this one company, on an island that’s a focal point of tensions between the U.S. and China, which claims Taiwan as its own.

Hard-line judiciary head wins Iran presidency as turnout low (AP) Iran’s hard-line judiciary chief won the country’s presidential election in a landslide victory Saturday, propelling the supreme leader’s protégé into Tehran’s highest civilian position in a vote that appeared to see the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s history. Initial results showed Ebrahim Raisi won 17.8 million votes in the contest, dwarfing those of the race’s sole moderate candidate. However, Raisi dominated the election only after a panel under the watch of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei disqualified his strongest competition. His candidacy, and the sense the election served more as a coronation for him, sparked widespread apathy among eligible voters in the Islamic Republic, which has held up turnout as a sign of support for the theocracy since its 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Uganda tightening measures due to virus surge (AP) Uganda is tightening its lockdown measures to try and stem a surge in coronavirus infections in the East African country that is seeing an array of variants. The measures announced late Friday by President Yoweri Museveni include a ban on private and public transportation within and across districts, including in the capital Kampala. Only vehicles carrying cargo and those transporting the sick or essential workers are permitted to operate on the roads. The normally crowded shops in downtown Kampala have also been ordered shut. An ongoing nighttime curfew will stay in place. The new measures will last 42 days.

#headlines #news

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sudaca-swag · 5 years ago

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Hey Latines don't let the fear for COVID-19 make you forget these things that were happening/were about to happen before the emergency:

This is not an "omg conspiracy theory~" shit, and of course we should take care of ourselves and others, but the media and politicians can twist reality sometimes in order to achieve their means (sometimes they're just coincidences but we all know them) so just to remind ourselves of those big things that were at play...

Hong Kong, Irani, Indonesian, Algerian and Lebanese massive protests against their governments

Chilean plebiscite to change the Constitution was going to happen in April

Bolivian elections to choose a democratically elected government to change Añez opposition one in April too (plus the whole Morales scandal, the OEA vs Washington Post and statistics businesses, etc about the minor "coup/not coup" issue you know)

Haiti, Chilean and Colombian protests against the ruling class, the elites and economic system that privatized areas of life

Blank checks for most of latin american police and serious brutality cases against civilians

USA elections!!!, and their almost war with Iran

Uruguay's newly elected government rises taxes over the line and dollar prices skyrocket bc of the liberation of the dollar prices (this means benefits for the rich, fucking over 90% of the people), plus, the voting in the senate of an important law consisting of 500 articles which already managed to convoke a massive education strike

Bolsonaro and Piñera holding abysmally low approval rates from their citizens (Bolsonaro was the worst president in their first year of government and Piñera has less than 10% I think)

Ecuador indigenous protests earlier last year (with Ecuadorians winning against the presidency)

Bolsonaro calling to march against the parliament, the murder of a senator by a Police officer regarding the murder of senator and activist Marielle Franco, and Bolsonaro's son threatening with a coup if Brasil followed the Chilean protests

Nicaragua and Venezuela governments violating human rights, and how USA wants to intervene in the region (is actually going to, Uruguay recently brought them their support)

Puerto Rico, Peru, Dominican Republic and Honduras massive marches and protests

#latinoamerica

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multiverseforger · 4 years ago

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Edit

Elsa lives in Bloodstone Manor with her mother, and ally Adam the Frankenstein Monster. She has befriended Charles Barnabus, a pureblood vampire lawyer and executor of the Bloodstone estate.[16] Together along with Dracula they defeat Nosferatu and his scourge of vampires.[17]

Marvel MonstersEdit

Pursuing a monster-hunting occupation, she begins an online blog to create an electronic encyclopedic reference guide for the numerous monsters and alien beasts in the Marvel Universe (published by Marvel as Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone and the Monster Hunters).[18]

NextwaveEdit

Main article: Nextwave

Elsa Bloodstone has also appeared in Nextwave, but the series' connection to the Marvel Universe is unclear - it was initially out-of-continuity[19][20] and was later implied to be the adventures of tourists from Earth-A.[21][22] However, Civil War: Damage Report suggest that at least parts of the adventures of the team were set in the main continuity: the others may have been delusions brought by constant use of drugs, mental conditioning and deceptions by their H.A.T.E. employers. Her delusional state could also account for her "memories" of being routinely subjected to abusive monster-hunting training by her father, like being left alone in childhood with a robotical nanny programmed to torture her whenever she wasn't able to reply to a question regarding monsters, or being forced by her father to kill monsters, as a toddler, armed with simple cutlery.[23]

The character elected to suspend her college studies upon being recruited by Dirk Anger of H.A.T.E. to fight Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction (UWMD) alongside Monica Rambeau, Tabitha Smith, Aaron Stack, and The Captain. Shortly after this recruiting Elsa and her teammates found H.A.T.E. to be funded by the Beyond Corporation©, which is in fact a terrorist organization.[24] Using the stolen Marketing Plan of Beyond, the Nextwave squad traveled across the country destroying hidden UWMDs which included Fin Fang Foom, Mindless Ones, and Forbush Man.[25][26][27]

She suffers constant abuses by her teammembers, like being confronted by Tabitha Smith about her European origins and accent (referred even in the Nextwave Theme Song as her main characteristic), and constantly ogled by Aaron Stack, attracted by her large chest.[28][29]

The InitiativeEdit

Recently, Elsa joined up as part of Iron Man and the government's Fifty State Initiative. Elsa has been identified as one of the 142 registered superheroes who appear to have signed the Superhuman Registration Act and become part of the Initiative.[30] She later returns to her monster-hunting adventures: still with her brasher mind-set, seen in her Nextwave days, she vows solemnly to never have children on her own, since she feels the responsibility of being a Bloodstone too heavy to be forced on another living being. Instead, she chooses to end her legacy once and for all, completing the task of freeing humanity from monsters before dying.[31]

Legion of MonstersEdit

Main article: Legion of Monsters

Marvel NOW!Edit

As part of the Marvel NOW! event, Elsa Bloodstone is shown as one of the teachers at the Braddock Academy (the British equivalent of the Avengers Academy) where she takes her brother Cullen Bloodstone to attend.[32]

She gets involved with the Thunderbolts, when Punisher steals her magic regalia to battle teammate Ghost Rider[33] and again when the team needs magical assistance from her and W.A.N.D. in order to battle Doctor Strange.[34]

Elsa Bloodstone is later recruited to join the Fearless Defenders.[35]

Avengers UndercoverEdit

Elsa later appears in the pages of Avengers Undercover where she visits Cullen and argues with him in the S.H.I.E.L.D. detention center after Hazmat seemingly killed Arcade.[36]

AXISEdit

During the AXIS storyline, Elsa Bloodstone is among the heroes recruited by an inverted Doctor Doom to join his team of Avengers. They attempt to protect the innocent citizens of Latveria, who had nothing to do with their monarch's latest problems.[37]

Civil War IIEdit

During the Civil War II storyline, Elsa appeared in Ouray, Colorado, where she defends the town from an infection that is turning the populace into a swarm of giant bugs. She befriends Nico Minoru who is running from Captain Marvel due to a vision of the future predicting she will murder an innocent woman named Alice. Elsa takes Nico to meet her contact, Janine, who is harboring survivors and looking for her missing daughter, Alice. Captain Marvel, Medusa, Dazzler and Singularity arrive and argue over whether to apprehend Nico or not. Eventually they split into two teams: one to find Alice and the other to protect the civilians. Elsa, Nico and Captain Marvel search for Alice in an abandoned mine and are attacked by a giant bug which infects Elsa. Nico learns the bug is Alice who begs Nico to kill her since she is the one infecting the people. When Nico refuses, Elsa threatens to murder Captain Marvel to force Nico into committing murder to stop her transformation into a monster. Medusa, Singularity, and an infected Dazzler are overrun by bugs and regroup with the others just as Bloodstone infects Danvers. After Dazzler infects Medusa, Minoru casts a spell to transform Alice back into a human but it does not cure the rest of the populace. Alice explains that she must be killed and Minoru reluctantly casts a death spell on Alice which transforms the infected back into humans. Alice then remerges in her final form and tells A-Force that she is no longer a threat as she now has greater control of her powers.[38]

Monsters UnleashedEdit

During the Monsters Unleashed storyline, Elsa is seen in Peru and finds a prophecy that tells of the Monster King all the monsters fear. She then discovers that a kid named Kei Kawade is somehow responsible for the invasion and pays him a visit. Elsa then takes Kei to the Inhumans to examine his abilities. When another wave of monsters arrive, Elsa and other heroes protect Kei from monsters attacking the Triskelion, a S.H.I.E.L.D. base off the coast of New York City.[39

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