#Rosenberg trials

[beababoobies]

I’m fucking sobbing at 10pm why did no one tell me about Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.

falls to my knees.

[holografrick]

Can you draw Ocean in pajamas?

reading through my suggestion inbox rn very late of me but can you tell i love drawing ocean the most WHOOPS playing favorites here

[little-rat-man]

33 seconds of the REAL Rosenberg voice without any edits (change in speed) baritone/bass sounding podge of a man

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Bonus:

[cr0g-0]

Sorry to politics post on main but finding out just now that Donald Trump was mentored essentially by Roy Cohn boggles me

Cohn, for those not well versed on who the guy is/was [no fucking clue if hes still alive???] (i myself wasnt until on a research paper) apart of the McCarthy movement during the second red scare. He served as the prosecution in the Rosenberg trial and its genuinely just a big "oh this guy has horrible views"

I encourage reading about the Rosenbergs and also their kids and their organization by the way, its a good read and makes you question how truly fucked we were and are as a society that teaches hate and fear.

[mrs-stans]

Sebastian Stan Shows His Range in New Films 'The Apprentice' and 'A Different Man'

The 'Pam & Tommy' star appears unrecognizable in two projects that prove he's a master of transformation

JASMIN ROSEMBERG

"I have these very vivid memories,” says 42-year-old actor Sebastian Stan of growing up in Romania during the 1989 revolution.

“One of them being this Dacia car, driving by with screaming people holding the flag. The flag had a hole in the middle, which they had cut out — [erasing] the communist symbol at the time. And then I remember being on my couch with my mom and my grandmother and neighbors, watching Ceausescu be shot.”

What propelled them was the “obsession” Eastern Europeans had with the American Dream. “All I ever heard about was America: the land of the free, the land of opportunity,” says Stan, who at 8, moved with his mother — a pianist, who named him after composer Johann Sebastian Bach — to Vienna before heading to the U.S.

“I remember coming to this country when I was 12 with my mom and seeing the big Twin Towers of New York City and feeling overwhelmed,” Stan says. “And my mom looking at me and saying: “Now you have a chance to become someone.”

Stan takes a seat in an Amiri look with a ring by The Crown Collective.

The memories rushed back to him in 2019, when he was first reading the script for The Apprentice — the biographical film about Donald Trump directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider, The Last of Us) and penned by Gabriel Sherman (who wrote the Roger Ailes biography The Loudest Voice in the Room).

“I was intrigued there was a movie being made about [Trump’s] earlier years,” says Stan of The Apprentice, which details Trump’s rise as a real estate businessman in New York during the ’70s and ’80s after being taken under the wing of ruthless attorney Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) — who dealt in blackmail and had prosecuted the Rosenbergs in the espionage trial that led to their 1953 execution. “I was excited about [Abbasi] as an Iranian-European filmmaker approaching the story.” But after receiving the script, he heard nothing … until 2022.

“Of course, you have hesitation,” says Stan, who takes on the role of the former president and 2024 Republican nominee. “You’re wondering, ‘Why tell the story? What is there to add?’ Or, ‘What can I contribute here? I don’t look like him.’ There were plenty of reservations and my own personal judgements.”

But Stan tried an exercise: “I went back to the script, crossing out the character names and just trying to read it [without] bringing any baggage with me. And I found it to be much more relatable than I had anticipated, in terms of what I felt it was saying about the American Dream. [It was] this point of view of, ‘You’ve got to get there, you’ve got to be perfect, you’ve got to win, you’ve got to get more.’”

Now you have a chance to become someone.

Stan in Christian Dior Irvin Rivera for LA Magazine

“You have to find parts of yourself through which you can understand the people you’re playing,” he says. “For me, [it was] that moment coming to New York and remembering how grateful I was to finally have a chance — and what my mom was telling me. But I also suddenly felt this burden, which I still feel now sometimes, which is, ‘When is it enough?’”

In the film, Trump goes from being the impressionable, wide-eyed son of an impossible-to-please real estate developer to a megalomaniacal wheeler-dealer who speaks in hyperbole, is obsessed with appearance (his own and that of his first wife, Ivana — played by Maria Bakalova — a relationship that escalates into sexual assault) and surpasses his master in heartlessness and corruption.

“We can see how easy it is to make a Faustian deal with the devil in order to win,” Stan says. “‘What is the cost of this American Dream?’ I related [to] seeing a person so determined to get there, no matter what, that he was abandoning who he was in the process.”

Stan’s ascent has been just as remarkable. After acting in school plays in New York’s Rockland County, he studied at Rutgers University before scoring a recurring role on the CW series Gossip Girl. “The next really big shift I felt was [landing] Marvel, in 2010,” says Stan, who played Captain America colleague Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, a role that led to his signing a nine-picture deal with the studio. He’s also worked with a string of award-winning directors and actors in films such as Black Swan, The Martian and Destroyer.

Irvin Rivera for LA Magazine

His first experience portraying a real person was in 2017 biopic I, Tonya as figure skater Tonya Harding’s husband opposite Margot Robbie. For 2022 Hulu miniseries Pam & Tommy, he transformed into Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, husband to Lily James’ Pamela Anderson — which earned him Golden Globe, Critics Choice and Emmy nominations. The projects “had one thing in common, which was Craig Gillespie,” Stan says, “an incredible director, who taught me a lot of things about myself I didn’t necessarily know I could do.”

In becoming Trump, Stan wanted to rely on prosthetics as little as possible. “But we were very aware we don’t look very similar,” he says. “And so, about two months before we started shooting, Ali told me that I should start gaining as much weight as I could in my face.”

Stan’s nutritionist advised him to drink beer — but because Trump doesn’t drink, the actor preferred ramen with sodium-packed soy sauce. He adopted the precise way Trump spoke and moved through a process he equates with osmosis: “Subjecting yourself in an obsessive way to watching and listening and reading everything [about Trump] you can find.”

He credits Strong for elevating their work. “We improvised a lot,” Stan says. “And Jeremy was so prepared that I had to do my research to keep up. Like that scene where [Trump and Cohn are] meeting: I would have to know what school [Cohn] went to, and who his last client was, and that he was from the Bronx and had a photographic memory — in case it came up in the improv. Because he knew who was pitching for the Mets in 1976! It was a really immersive experience and we were on our toes together.”

Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump and Stan as Donald Trump in 'The Apprentice'

After premiering at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in May, The Apprentice had a hard time finding a U.S. distributor due to Trump threatening legal retaliation. But after Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff Entertainment acquired the film in late August, it hit theaters Oct. 11.

Stan also stars in A Different Man, in which he plays Edward, an aspiring actor with neurofibromatosis — a rare genetic skin condition that produces tumors. Edward undergoes a medical procedure in the hopes his new appearance will win him a woman (Renate Reinsve) and better his life. Like The Apprentice, Stan considers this film — which scored him the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance when it bowed in Berlin — to address self-acceptance.

Stan with Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson in 'A Different Man'

“It’s this idea, of ‘the grass is greener on the other side’ — and the truth is, you don't know,” says Stan, who lobbied for the role after seeing director Aaron Schimberg’s 2018 Chained for Life. Both that film and A Different Man, released theatrically by A24 in September, star British actor Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis. “I spoke to doctors, I’ve spoken to Adam in-depth about his upbringing,” says Stan, who sat in Mike Marino’s makeup chair for up to two hours to transform into Edward.

“The prosthetics were so realistic that when I started to walk around, nobody recognized me ... and it was scary,” he says. “You see firsthand how we respond to somebody who looks different.”

Irvin Rivera for LA Magazine

Stan next stars in Marvel’s Thunderbolts* with David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Florence Pugh and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, out in May 2025. “It's a funny group of not-perfect antiheroes that are trying to come to terms with their pasts, and I think people will get behind them," he says.

He’ll reunite with Pam & Tommy’s James on horror thriller Let the Evil Go West, about a railroad worker who stumbles into a fortune that comes at a price — “a very different movie than our last experience," he notes. And he’s producing Blue Banks, from Romanian writer-director Andreea Cristina Bortun.

“It’s this really personal film about a single mother’s journey with her son in Romania, which reminded me a lot of my humble beginnings with my mom — and how tough it was after the revolution, as a single parent, to take care of your kid and at the same time, provide,” Stan says.

“A lot of parents had to leave their kids behind to get a job somewhere else — which is what happened with me for a couple years, until I started living with my mom again. I was with my grandparents," he adds. "It explores the implications and the suffering that comes at the hands of a system that has oppressed people for so long. And then they’re left with trying to find their way.”

SEBASTIAN STANLEADING MEN OF 2024 NOVEMBER 2024

[deadthehype]

Sean "Diddy" Combs pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court to sex trafficking charges. Judge Robyn Tarnofsky denied bail for Combs, so he will remain in jail until his trial. Sketches by Jane Rosenberg & Christine Cornell.

[voidsentprinces]

Oh and reminder, it took us last time four fucking days for this all to play out last time. Remember social media and news sites get more clicks if they make your heart jump in your throat or make you doom scroll. Don't let those pissants get you spinning plates and running in circles for them. If you got time to even look at their dumb ass "Will they won't they" headlines. You got time to play

FINAL FANTASY XIV NOW WITH A TRIAL WITH UP TO LEVEL 70 AND BOTH AWARD WINNING HEAVENSWARD AND STORMBLOOD EXPANSION

MONSTER HUNTER WILDS BETA IS NOW HERE

EGG MCEGGSON DAWN VEIL or...was it dread wolf? VEILGUARD!? I CANNOT REMEMBER BUT THATS OUT TOO!

Back log of games? Time to catch up.

And there's this new show I've heard about called Brigerton whose main plot point is fucking real life G'raha Tia...or something? Imma be honest with you I wasn't paying attention but shirtless Jonathan Bailey just kept appearing on my dash.

Speaking of which Jonathan Bailey won sexiest man alive awards this year. Thus making G'raha Tia the sexiest catboy in Eorzea.

Have you ever thought of replaying an old favorite? .hack//GU? Assassins Creed? FFVII is available on steam as is VIII, IX, and X.

ARE YOU BOSCH FON ROSENBERG!? Cause XII is also on there.

So much to do, so much to see, so whats wrong with taking the backstreets?

[oliveroctavius]

what makes comic narratives so much richer than written ones (like serials) for a kind of first-hand peek into the world, to me, is the visuals. There's SO much fashion, technology, architecture, branding, symbology, preserved in shorthand on every page! I suppose you could argue TV shows do the same (plus audio), but television is both younger and necessarily a big-budget team effort with less room for strong individual voices. As much as I complain about assembly-line style comics production making for sloppier stories, the seams where writer and artist aren't on the same page can be incredibly revealing.

I honest to god wish there were silver age reprint books with layers and layers of footnotes like Shakespeare (speaking of "low art") because 60s spidey is so dense with in-jokes and political commentary and cultural signifiers that every one I catch makes me wonder what else I'm missing.

me 🤝 @queen-mabs-revenge: the "playing with the cardboard box it came in" of mainstream comics fan experience

[the-breath-in-air]

An "oh no what am I going to watch after Fellow Travelers is done?" List

When I first saw the trailer for Fellow Travelers I was disappointed because it looked predictable. Turns out it wasn't nearly as predictable as I thought, and is actually quite good. But then I got to thinking...why not share a list of series and movies that folks might be interested in watching once Fellow Travelers is done airing.

--

If you want to see more about McCarthyism, Roy Cohn and the Lavender Scare:

Bully. Coward. Victim. (2019) and Where's My Roy Cohn? (2019) - Both of these documentaries focus on the life of Roy Cohn, from his time at the McCarthy hearings, to his time as the Studio 54 lawyer, to his work during the Reagan era and his eventual death from AIDS. Where's My Roy Cohn? also focuses in on Roy Cohn's working relationship with Donald Trump. "Bully. Coward. Victim. was produced by the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and as such, it also focuses more on the lasting impact of Cohn's role in their executions. There's a lot of overlap between the two documentaries, but I think they're both worth watching if you can.

--

If you want to see more stories of gay men in the 1950s:

Against the Law (2017) - This is a biopic about Peter Wildeblood, a man who was put on trial for homosexuality and who, remarkably, acknowledged that he was gay during the trial. This trial and Wildeblood's later actions, are considered pivotal in the movement toward decriminalizing homosexuality in the UK. The movie takes place mostly in the 1950s and, again, deals with queer men trying to find love in a time in which laws, social norms, etc. made it exceedingly difficult to do so. The drama is interspersed with interviews in 2017 with real queer men who were alive at the time of the trial.

--

If you want to see more stories of ruthless politicians trying to hide that they're gay:

A Very English Scandal (2018) - As the title suggests, this miniseries takes place in the UK. It's based on a true story...even the more outlandish moments. Jeremy Thorpe (Hugh Grant) is a career politician who's been hiding that he's gay for decades. He's developed a ruthlessness and callousness to his own situation and he, predictably, treats everyone around him as disposable. Then along comes Norman Scott (Ben Whishaw), a young man who Thorpe is instantly attracted to. But Scott struggles with self-acceptance and mental health issues, and Thorpe has no compassion nor patience for any of that. The result is a dark comedy about this doomed relationship alongside the change to the law in the UK to decriminalize homosexuality.

--

If you want to see more stories of queer folks in the 1980s:

It's A Sin (2021) - This is a miniseries that follows a group of queer folks during the 1980s in London. It's all about their search for love and finding themselves and whatnot, even as they are forced to deal with HIV and AIDS. It's a good show that is worth a watch, especially if you haven't seen much else about being queer in the '80s.

--

Angels in America (2003) - Of course Angels in America was going to end up on this list. It is one of the definitive pieces of fiction on living in New York during the AIDS crisis. The play was originally performed in 1991...just four years after AZT was approved for use in the US to treat HIV and AIDS. It's big, and complex, and as much about the state of the U.S. at the time as it is about these individual characters and their lives. Also, Roy Cohn shows up, working as a political operative for Reagan. It really is, as it's subtitle says, "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes."

[magnetothemagnificent]

It's been a few(?) weeks but I think what irks me about the Oppenheimer spectacle is that I'd find it very hard to believe that Hollywood (as it stands today) would ever make anywhere close to such a big highlight promotion to a movie dedicated to say, the Rosenberg trials.

The USA executed a Jewish couple on flimsy suspicions that they were leaking atom bomb secrets to their enemies (the atom bomb that America gladly hired "former" n-zi scientists to help make)

The US wasn't even at any formal war at the time, it was officially peacetime, but they deemed this Jewish couple enough of an enemy to murder them for getting in the way of making the A-bomb.

The executive choices for which parts of history receive these gigantic and public-conscious-defining spectacles on the most massive media platforms is very curious to me.

Yeah and like.... it's not like the movie depicted the creation of the atom bomb in an angle that isn't really depicted in film. They could have focused on the ethical conflicts the Jewish scientists, such as Oppenheimer and Einstein felt, as well as the feeling of urgency they felt because of the Holocaust (remember, the Jews recruited were recruited because the US knew their rage and wanting to bomb Nazis and wanted to exploit it). But instead the movie barely acknowledges Oppenheimer or Einstein or any of the other Jewish scientists' Jewishness.

Like, it's honestly lazy telling a story that's already been told in film so many times before. Talk about the aftermath of the testing in New Mexico, or the aftermath of the bombing in Japan. Talk about the Jewish scientists and how their identities interacted with the Manhattan project and the antisemitism they faced. Talk about the post-WW2 Red Scare and how it disproportionately targeted Jews, Black people, and gay people. Where's the nuance, the focus on the untold parts?

[qqueenofhades]

Let's say Trump goes to jail, it doesn't mean Maga is going to fall in line with Desantis or any other Rightwinger running. There is a total schism. Also a lot of Republicans are disenchanted with voting because they think its rigged.

It is unlikely, but not impossible, that Trump will be in jail in November 2024. His trial in the NYC case is set for March 2024, and we don't know yet when his trial(s) will be for this case, the Georgia election interference case, the federal Jan 6th case, or like, any of the other eighty billion felonies he's already been or is about to be charged with. So while not super likely, it is not out of the realm of possibility that he will be tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison by the time the election rolls around. Not that this is going to stop him. He will only not run if he's dead.

In the meantime: in no universe is this good for the GOP. The establishment GOP knows Trump is incredibly toxic but is too cowardly to say so, and the rabid base won't accept anyone else. Once again I want to emphasize: the Espionage Act is explicitly a treason charge, and it is not a small or low-level charge. It was the primary statute used to charge Aldrich Ames, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and Robert Hanssen, all of whom are infamous as some of the biggest traitors in American history (legally speaking). Ames is locked away in the Terre Haute federal penitentiary for life without parole, the Rosenbergs were executed, and Hanssen just died in Florence Supermax while serving 15 life sentences. I'm not saying any of this will necessarily happen to Trump, but that is the level of charges we are talking about. Ames and Hanssen were both charged under section 794; Trump is, as far as we know, charged under section 793. But the statute makes explicit reference to "the injury of the United States or for the advantage of a foreign government." Which is, y'know. Treason.

The point is: Trump has been indicted for literal espionage, there's no way for the GOP to spin this (though they will obviously try) and this won't win any more supporters for him outside of his diehards, who were obviously already on his side. So, like:

[another-danganronpa-fan]

What if the Ride the Cyclone choir was in a Danganronpa killing game?

This is my guess on what they'd be like, their talent, their deaths or if they survive, etc. Name: Ocean O'Connell Rosenberg

Ultimate: Senator

What they would do: Ocean would definitely be the one to take charge, like the Ishimaru of the game, but her speeches would be similar to the ones she had in the play.

If she were to be a victim, she'd probably be a victim to someone who's tired of her self-centred views. Or Noel.

If she were to kill someone, the motive would have to be really tempting. Or she might crack under the pressure of the killing game.

If she were to be a traitor or a MM, it would probably be because she wanted to use a twisted way to prove that what the world needs is people like her, and only people who work hard and are ambitious should be able to live.

If she were to be a survivor, she'd definitely see how her worldview was wrong in the end, and get the development she got in the play.

Misc. Things:

I see her participating a lot in the trials.

I can't really imagine her dying early...

Name: Constance Blackwood

Ultimate: Baker

What they would do: Constance would cheer everyone up with treats while Ocean does her speeches. She'd try and get along with everyone. She definitely wouldn't want any deaths.

If she were to be killed, I think someone would've taken advantage of her kindness...

If she were to be a killer, she'd be fed up with everyone acting as if being nice was all that there was to her. She'd snap just like she did in the musical. Or it might've been a motive that put her loved ones in danger.

If she were to be a traitor or a MM, it'd kinda be like Sakura, where she was practically manipulated into working for the MM or running the killing game. That, or she wants to prove through the killing game that she's more than just the "Nicest girl in town".

If she were to live, I think she'd have gotten through with her positivity and acceptance of being a nice girl, while proving to her peers that she's more than her title.

Misc. Things:

She gives me survivor vibes, but no one can say for sure.

She'll probably let her hair down in the end just like in the musical.

Name: Noel Gruber

Ultimate: Poet

What they would do: Definitely faints dramatically whenever someone dies. He might try and sacrifice himself for his friends. Passes out at the first execution.

If he were to be a victim, he'd probably have set up a death for himself. Either like a Nagito-style case or he worked with his killer so he could die in a tragic way instead of just getting a knife to the gut.

If he were to kill, I think he'd probably have tried to set up a heartbreaking murder. He would want his case to be like one of those tragedies he loves so much.

Or, the motive could've been tempting. I'm not sure what motive would tempt Noel, though. Maybe one that puts his loved ones in danger? He might also be channeling his inner Monique, and stab someone 10 times in the back.

If he were to be a traitor or a MM, he'd want this to be like a story. Like a French New Wave cinema-style story. People sobbing as their loved ones bleed out. Noel himself getting killed or being driven to kill, or seeing his loved ones die, it would be exhilarating for traitor/MM Noel. Or his loved ones are in danger, so he gets roped into the killing game. I don't think Noel would actually have the heart to do this for his own twisted enjoyment, but he might...

If he were to survive the killing game, he might write poems to honour the dead students. He might also realize maybe a tragedy wasn't what he wanted, after all.

Misc. Things:

Either he or Constance would slap Ocean over one of her rants.

Name: Mischa Bachinski

Ultimate: Rapper

What they would do: He'd also cry at the dead bodies, especially if his friends were to die. He'd try and kill the host of the killing game at the beginning. He'd be trying to text Talia through his MonoPad.

If he were to be a victim, he'd get killed from being reckless. Either provoking someone to the point of them snapping, or getting killed in self defence. Another possibility is him choosing to sacrifice himself. If he were to kill, the motive would have to endanger his loved ones, or have something to do with Talia. Maybe the motive shows that Talia was hurt, or in danger. Maybe his friends in the killing game would get hurt. Or his mom back in Ukraine would only be saved if he chose to kill, the list goes on...

If he were to be a traitor/MM, he'd more likely to be have been coerced into it. He might be trying to save his mom, who he can't physically be with. He might be trying to protect his friends from worse things. Talia might be in danger. Or he might want to get revenge on the world. He's tired of constantly getting isolated. He's tired of his adoptive parents keeping him in the basement and showing him no love.

If he were to be a survivor, he'd dedicate his raps to his dead classmates. He'd mourn every single one of them, and at the end, he's especially respectful to them.

Misc. Things:

He might try and stop an execution like Fuyuhiko.

Definitely breaks down at least once.

Name: Richard "Ricky" Potts

Ultimate: Writer

What they would do: He'd be using an AAC device to talk, or using sign for the people that know it. He's good at comforting people. He tries to participate as much as he can in the trials. Since he can't walk, people tend to think of him as an easy target. But he might have people with him at all times, and Ricky is canonly wise. Since he can't talk without his device or signing, he would pay more attention to things like if there's something off about a body, or a case, or something.

If he were to be killed, it'd be someone taking advantage of him, and outsmarting him. It's also possible that he would sacrifice himself for the group. He concedes in the musical and he says he knew he didn't belong in this world. He probably wouldn't try and defend himself if someone were to attempt to take his life unless there was something important he needed to do.

If he were to kill someone, he'd need an accomplice if the death is gonna be from external injuries. Or he would poison someone, or set up a trap. His motive would be protecting loved ones.

If he were to be the traitor/MM, he'd be tired of people constantly speaking over him and him getting ignored all the time. He'd want people to see him as more than just the "disabled kid". More than just the kid who can't talk nor walk. He'd see them all as the "Count Dogulus" in the story. It would probably be because he wants to finally be treated normally, and in a killing game where everyone is helpless from the outside world at first, he'd be taken seriously.

If he were to live, he'd add his friends to his Zolar universe. He'd be surprised he made it out in the first place, and decide to live the rest of his life to the fullest.

Misc. Things:

Good at calming others down after a death.

Might not even bother locking his door, but who knows...

Name: Jane Doe (Penny Lamb at the end)

Ultimate: ??? (Penny Lamb as the Ultimate Drug Trafficker)

What they would do: As like in the musical, Jane would start out as a complete mystery, having no idea who she is and not being able to remember her talent. This time, the students all just assume it's because she got knocked out a little too hard at the entrance, and names her Jane Doe for the time being. She won't have a doll for a head, but she'll still have the appearance of when she did in the musical. Probably at the end, either the host, the mastermind, or the traitor would reveal that she is Penny Lamb. They'd show some pictures of her, but everyone would be confused on why they look so different. Maybe some Hajime-type stuff happened where they got brain surgery to fuse their personalities together, or maybe they'll get the surgery after either surviving the game or dying in the game. Whether Jane was Penny to begin with, or if she became her after, is up for debate, just like the musical. If she were to be a victim, she might have her head cut off...but in all seriousness, someone might find her suspicious and assume she's the one behind the game. They might trick her, as they believe she's gullible due to the memory loss.

If she were to be a blackened, it might be out of desperation for an identity, or out of despair over her amnesia. She's unlikely to kill, but if she does, she goes all out.

If she were to be a traitor or MM, it would probably be that for some reason, her identity got fused with Penny's, or she became Penny. Maybe she lost her memories long before the killing game, maybe she got into a roller coaster accident, like in the musical, survived, but got amnesia. She only survived because she was fused with Penny, and in order to regain the memories of her, and not just Penny, she maybe...puts herself and some classmates in a life-or-death situation to see if she can trigger the memories?

If she were to survive, she'd accept her identity she had all along or her new identity as Penny Lamb. Or she might finally get some answers.

Misc. Things:

She doesn't show a lot of emotion, even through deaths. She's a lot like her canon self here.

[little-rat-man]

🤓🤓🤓

[ridenwithbiden]

Just a few months ago, it was hard to see the ingredients of a Joe Biden comeback—even while squinting at the recipe.

The president began the election year with his approval rating at historic lows. He was trailing Donald Trump in almost all of the key battleground states, as well as in national polling averages. Influential liberals were so concerned that the octogenarian incumbent did not have another campaign in him that some were openly calling for him to be replaced as the nominee.

As the general election kicks off this spring, however, those calls have quieted—because Biden’s resurgence is coming into focus. While the president still faces serious obstacles to a second term, several important data points are lining up to demonstrate he is picking up badly needed momentum.

For the first time in a long time, there’s good news for Biden on the polling front. Gradual improvements in the battleground states along with an uptick in his approval rating led one Democratic strategist, Simon Rosenberg, to declare “the Biden bump.”

The boost is at the very least correlated with Biden’s fiery State of the Union address on March 7, when he repeatedly went after his “predecessor” and made sure to mix it up with Republicans in the chamber on a few occasions.

Since then, Biden’s team has continued the punchy, combative tone on display that night, using press releases to cheekily slam their legally challenged opponent as “Broke Don.”

On top of that, the Biden campaign has continued to flex what has always been its core strength: fundraising.

With a $53 million haul in February, the Biden campaign built on their already impressive financial advantage over Trump, who brought in only $20 million over the same period. The Biden campaign has $71 million in cash on hand, compared to just $33.5 million for Trump.

The tide is turning, a Biden adviser argued to The Daily Beast, and although they aren’t putting too much stock into any recent polling upticks, the president’s team is ready to seize upon April and May as a crucial time to ambush a wounded Trump campaign.

“It’s aggressive,” a source within the Biden campaign said, requesting anonymity to speak candidly of the mood inside the re-election team. “There’s a lot of travel, there’s a lot of work. It’s all exciting. We’re heading into this final fundraiser of the month with the former presidents [Obama and Clinton], but it’s aggressive.”

Taking advantage of a substantial fundraising lead, the Biden campaign is focusing on two key areas: travel and organizing.

Since his State of the Union, Biden has visited every major battleground state—typically pairing official White House stops with separate private campaign events—in an effort to demonstrate his ability to keep an energetic schedule.

Trump, on the other hand, has only done a rally in Ohio and another in the battleground state of Georgia since Super Tuesday. Otherwise, he’s mostly been confined to his Mar-a-Lago estate as he prepares to spend the second half of April and most of May stuck in a Manhattan court four days a week for the upcoming Stormy Daniels hush money trial.

Second, the Biden campaign is going full steam ahead on hiring in the battleground states, approaching 100 field offices with more than 130 staffers spread across eight major battleground states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada, as well as North Carolina and New Hampshire.

Such investments mean that Biden can begin the crucial work of mobilizing voters early. The Trump campaign, by comparison, could not tell The Daily Beast whether they have made any additional hires or opened any field offices in the battleground states, beyond shifting over the same team focused on early primary and Super Tuesday states.

In an election which will likely be decided by less than tens of thousands of votes in a handful of battlegrounds, the Biden campaign is focusing on gaining as much as they can at the margins now to catch up to Trump.

Ramping up their field organizing, along with getting Biden on the road and in front of cameras to show he still has the energy to campaign at full throttle, is an opportunity they can’t afford to miss while Trump remains mired in legal and financial problems.

“I think the president is beginning to do the very important work that wins elections, which is travel the country, set the tone for what this election will be about, and build a coalition and build an operation that builds a winning coalition,” Kevin Munoz, Biden’s national campaign spokesperson, told The Daily Beast in a phone interview.

“At the same time that Donald Trump has very real infrastructure issues, has no interest in building a winning coalition and is actively attacking the voters that will decide this election, ultimately this will come down to those voters,” Munoz said.

Chris LaCivita—a top Trump campaign adviser who is also the chief operating officer of the Republican National Committee—rejected the idea that the former president’s team should disclose its organizing plans.

“By combining forces and operations, The Trump campaign and RNC are deploying operations that are fueled by passionate volunteers who care about saving America and firing Joe Biden. We do not feel obligated however to discuss the specifics of our strategy, timing and tactics with members of the News Media,” LaCivita told The Daily Beast.

“Democrats want to talk process because they don’t want to talk about Broken Braindead Biden and his absolute failure,” LaCivita argued. “The media should not do Democrats’ bidding and should focus on the issues the American people care about.”

Still, for a Trump operation obsessed with polls, the first cracks in the former president’s so-far dominant lead are beginning to appear.

Biden’s approval rating has seen an uptick in the FiveThirtyEight rolling average—jumping up from under 38 percent on March 12 to over 40 percent approval just two weeks later—and pulling ahead in The Economist’s head-to-head polling average for the first time since September.

To add to the Biden campaign’s morale boost—even though his team tends to reject the value of polls this far out from an election—Biden led Trump in three polls last week alone.

While there remain undecided voters in key states, the Biden campaign will worry more about them later, given the abundant data on how undecided voters are very often late deciding voters as well.

The Biden campaign is eyeing the late spring and early summer to start focusing their messaging on persuading undecided voters, according to the senior aide, with the present focus continuing to be building out their door knocking infrastructure to make sure core voters show up to cast their ballot no matter what.

“That’s what matters at this point in the cycle,” Munoz said. “And I think we have a very good story to tell, not only on the operation we’re building, but also on the issues that we’re fighting for. These are the issues that when Americans go to the ballot box, they care most about, and Donald Trump is running on an agenda that people actively root against when they go to the ballot box.”

The Trump campaign has their own version of such an argument—one they believe will make Biden’s campaign hires irrelevant.

“The Trump campaign will raise the money, deploy the necessary assets, and win because President Trump will secure the border, make American families more prosperous, and make our nation respected on the world stage,” Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said in a statement to The Daily Beast.

Veterans of the presidential campaign trail, however, think these seemingly small moves in isolation can make quite a big difference when put together over the long haul.

Jim Messina, who served as Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, argued that Biden is in a stronger position to win than Trump given the cards they’ve been dealt.

“I like to play poker and I would simply much rather have Biden’s cards than Trump’s,” Messina said.

Biden’s two key advantages, according to Messina, are on the economy and the legal front.

“The economy is improving and people are feeling it, Biden has an affirmative message, and Trump will continue to remind independents why they voted against him in 2020 by campaigning from a courtroom,” he said.

Matt Grossman, a political scientist with Michigan State University, said it very well could be the case that March marks the nadir of Biden’s polling woes, but added a note of caution for the president’s campaign.

“My question has been what kind of message is likely to work this time,” Grossman said. “In 2020 we had strong evidence people had already made up their mind about Donald Trump, but not Joe Biden… Now we have two very well-known candidates, so it would make me expect the efficacy of any persuasion effort would be less.”

With two such well-known candidates and some 70 percent of the public weary of a 2020 rematch, the little things could count even more this time around.

“If it’s close to a 50-50 election, then minor things can still move the outcome. And certainly overall, there’s evidence that more contact is better, to deliver both turnout and persuasion messages more is better,” Grossman said.

“They’re just trying to get any small advantage they can.”

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finally, a good point

this comes at it from the opposite direction (from all of the other times i've said "we're walking right up to the brink of this problem and not acknowledging it") and recognizes that nukes are the means by which the problem is administrated... without fully identifying the problem itself: this is why the UN has no route to effective governance, which is what the article appeals to at the end

it also makes the assumption that every state with nukes has them for the same reason. i do not believe this to be the case, as i've said before, if the rosenbergs hadn't sacrificed their lives to leak the design from the manhattan project, we would already be in a nuclear winter. calling for "mass nonviolent hits on a xi, or a vlad, or a jung-un, or a joe" is a ludicrously naive false equivalence, a laughably ineffective tactic, and a failure to recognize the nature of the nuclear standoff we are currently in. how is nonviolent resistance going to alleviate an issue that led to executions without trial right at the outset? tragic, delusional, unstrategic

would love to see one other person connect those dots but i guess the bigger picture is just not for us, huh? it's for the ivies, so they can invent handwringing explanations to massage the illusion