#Social justice larceny

[commonsensecommentary]

What insane leftist social engineering nightmare will make the average hardworking and law abiding American finally cry out? This one truly sets a new and terrifying standard for a crazy and wholly unjustified governmental theft in the name of “equity”.

[haggishlyhagging]

In recent years, the female crime wave and its violent women have been alarmingly described in articles and books; but they were first widely publicized in 1975 through a book called Sisters in Crime by Freda Adler, a criminologist who rose to prominence on the strength of a logical fallacy. Noticing that a renewed women's movement paralleled apparently phenomenal increases in crimes by women, Adler mistakenly concluded that one trend caused the other. The rapid rise in crimes by women, she said, was merely the "shady aspect of liberation"; and as more and more "libbers" rushed to emulate the criminal example of men—the only "full human beings"—we would be awash in a sea of emancipated crime.

While some prisons planned new facilities for the expected influx of violent women, feminists in criminology and the criminal-justice system were quick to respond to Adler with convincing arguments. They maintained, and rightly, that Adler's figures were misleading precisely because women commit so few crimes. When the number of crimes is small, only a few more may account for a large percentage increase; but Adler cited those alarming percentage increases without recording the low absolute numbers. She pointed to a shocking rise of 277 percent in arrests of women for robbery between 1960 and 1972; but the 1973 Uniform Crime Reports of the FBI reported only 5,700 women arrested for robbery that year, compared with almost 95,000 men. Across the board women were arrested in 1973 for about 15.3 percent of all crimes committed—not a high rate, and certainly not an alarming one, for a group that makes up more than half the population. Adler's critics also noted that there has been no demonstrable increase in crimes of violence committed by women. The greatest increases in women's crimes have been in larceny and fraud, particularly welfare fraud; and these are not violent crimes but economic ones, easily attributable to the growing financial needs of poor women, most of whom have children to support. Other critics pointed to evidence that spreading drug addiction has increased economic crimes for women and men alike. In any case, the so-called new woman criminal was likely to be like the old woman criminal—young, poor, and black or Hispanic.

Adler was quite right that the two phenomena—the women's movement and female criminality—go together, but not as she supposed in terms of cause and effect. It is simply that the presence of one prompts fear of the other. Agitation for women's rights always sparks enormous anxiety, among women and men alike, about the proper place of women in society, and because "take" in one element of society seems to mean "give" in another, about the safety of the whole social order. That anxiety manifests itself in many ways: in the fear that women are "unsexing themselves," which in turn produces campaigns to outlaw bloomers, to elevate a regressive “femininity” to "total womanhood," and to make abortion a criminal offense; in the fear that the family is disintegrating, which results in virulent attacks upon women's colleges, divorce, homosexuality, women in the work force, federally funded day care, and unisex bathrooms; and in the fear that women, released from some traditional restraints, will turn to unbridled evil, mayhem, and murder. Even the traditionally macho skin magazine Oui observed in 1975, “Women criminals today seem to spark a special fear, fantasy and overreaction in male society.”

-Ann Jones, Women Who Kill

[kitkatt0430]

Seeing all the screen caps from Wednesday's episode of the Flash has put me in the mood to ramble a bit more about Hartley, so spoilers below.

It had to be weird for Hartley in S09e02 to be wearing a STAR Labs t-shirt again. I'd imagine that contribute a bit to his grouchiness while talking to Khione.

But, really, he's not having a great day. He gets assaulted outside his club. (Did enjoy that he just has the piper gloves ready to go. It's gotta be this non-secret with his employees that he's the Pied Piper. Sometimes their boss commits larceny to fund social justice and they're just cool with it. I mean... I would be.) The fight goes badly for him to the point where he has to get out of there fast to seek out medical treatment from the only person he trusts to take care of him in this state.

Except Caitlin isn't there, Barry is so damn slow for a speedster sometimes, and Hartley's arrhythmia doesn't just magically clear up like he was hoping though at least the cuff is correcting the problem for now. But had to run away from a fight knowing that every minute he's away is probably bringing Roderick and the rest of his employees closer to danger. Hartley already knows what its like for Roderick to be injured because Hartley's own plans went to hell - he had to live without Roderick for five years and getting Roderick back was a miracle. He has to be terrified of losing Roderick again. Of having to live without Roderick, again, because he wasn't fast enough at repairing his tech and going to save him.

And on top of it all, the only clean clothes options he's got at the moment are spare STAR Labs merch. (Or is it swag? I mean, I doubt he's gonna pay for it.) This was the place that fucked up his promising career as a physicist. While he seems very happy as a former thief and current club owner, going to the place that reminds him of EoWells, the ex that ruined his reputation and used Hartley's work to nearly blow up half the city... that's got be the infuriating cherry atop the whole evening thus far.

So when Khione shows up and she can't help him, Hartley's porcupine quills are all up and spiky and can she go away now? Except she looks at him and sees past the wall of anger and sees how his fears aren't about himself. And she basically tells him, I think you're a good person. And it's not because of Roderick - it's because of you.

I think Hartley struggles to see himself as a good person, so of course he credits Roderick with being the reason why he changed. But Hartley chose to save Barry even when he had no reason to think doing so would save Roderick. Another version of Hartley saved Caitlin and Cisco from a Time Wraith and became a friend to Team Flash. Hartley's not wrong about being capable of making terrible choices that hurt people, but his natural inclination is to help people. Not hurt them. He's just too much in his own head and too much aware of his own flaws and he knows Roderick thinks the best of him... but Roderick loves him. So he's biased.

But Khione has no history with Hartley and no reason to automatically see the best in him and I think he was genuinely touched by her assessment of him. And that's why he shows up when Khione chooses to live for herself instead of to die for Caitlin or Frost. I do wonder how he knew to be there - maybe Khione used Caitlin's phone to call him? It's also why he called her his friend - they're both a bit hesitant and uncertain and shyly pleased to be friends, which is sweet.

People probably don't often take the time with him to see beyond his grumpy facade, so it seems like the fact that the first thing Khione does is exactly that really touched him.

Anyway, I'm really hoping that the Hartley & Khione friendship continues past this episode. Of course that depends on how many episodes Hartley's in. He does seem set up to be important this season. At least for the next while. The teaser for Ep3 makes me think that Hartley is going to get to spend most of the episode being a little shit to Barry and taking charge of the new Rogues when Barry proves incapable of leading bad guys (or incapable of leading at all lately, but my complaints about the writing for Barry belong elsewhere). Which seems like a fun premise.

[prisca-scaevola]

Moral Alignment Test

Lawful Neutral

Lawful Neutral people typically believe strongly in ethical concepts such as honor, order, rules, and tradition, and they tend to adhere strongly to the personal code that they follow. Lawful Neutral individuals prefer that laws are strongly enforced and that the social order of their group is maintained. For this reason, they tend to ascribe a high value to traditions and historical precedents. The soldier who follows orders because he believes in the chain of command, or the judge who metes out justice exactingly in accordance with the word of the law, might be examples of the Lawful Neutral alignment at work. This does not mean, however, that Lawful Neutral individuals are immoral; it is simply that – to them – moral considerations come in second when compared to what their code, tradition, or law dictates.

Taken from: @luck-and-larceny​

Take it here!

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

A Lonesome Place for Dying by Nolan Chase

Perfect introduction to a new series…if indeed this IS a new series… This story is filled with small town people doing their best, and their worst, every single day of their lives. Ethan Brand, new on the job as police chief, is faced with a murder to solve. Will those he worked with and now is in charge of treat him with respect? Will he be able to live up to the job? How many will be against him and who will stand with him?

What I liked: * Ethan Brand: ex-Marine, wounded in battle, fifteen years a policeman, just became police chief, separated from his wife and two sons who live on the East Coast, cool, calm, lethal, romantic, thoughtful, a good man with a few flaws – intriguing – would like to learn more about him

* The small-town community with all the typical issues to be faced by the police in such a town

* The police procedural aspects of the murder mystery and the way clues were unearthed

* That the characters felt believable and there were some I began to care about and would like to know more about

* Ethan’s ability to understand, do what is right, and help those he can – he has a big heart

* The hired assassin’s part in the story and wondering if he might show up in the future

* Wondering how Ethan will settle into being Police Chief and if he will find people to spend time with socially if this is a series

* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing

* That the case was wrapped up – no cliffhanger

* Finding out that this author also writes under the name Sam Wiebe

What I didn’t like: * Who and what I was meant not to like

* Thinking about how evil some of the characters were and how willing they were to commit the crimes they did

Did I enjoy this book? Yes

Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

BLURB

Blaine, Washington is a seaside town where on an average day, the most serious police work involves dealing with stray coyotes or ticketing speeders along the I-5. Ethan Brand is reporting for his first day on the job as Blaine, Washington’s newest Chief of Police. Before Ethan can start his first shift, he finds a threat on his porch, along with a gruesome souvenir, a bloody heart. There are plenty of people who are upset about Ethan stepping into the shoes of the last Chief, but when a body shows up on the railroad tracks, he’s got to focus on the task at hand. With a population of only five thousand, Blaine sees eight million vehicles pass through its Peace Arch crossing every year. It’s the perfect site for drug smuggling, human trafficking, larceny, and murder. Ethan begins to realize that the sleepy town has a lot more secrets than he originally thought. With no one to trust, his job already on the line, and the threats getting bolder and more reckless, Ethan Brand must find the killers and bring them to justice.

[ainews]

A small town in northern Minnesota is experiencing a unique crime wave – feeble catfish and a bright crook.

Police in the town of Grand Rapids recently arrested an individual for the theft of several feeble catfish from a local pond. The suspect, who has yet to be identified, was observed taking the fish from the waters of the pond and placing them into a bucket.

The catfish were discovered to be extremely weak and unable to swim. They were taken to a local veterinary clinic where they were treated and released back into the pond.

The suspect was identified as a local resident and was taken into custody. He has been charged with petit larceny, a misdemeanor offense.

The incident has caused concern among local residents, who are now worried about the safety of their pets and livestock. The police are urging people to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity or persons near bodies of water.

The suspect is currently being held in custody pending his trial. If convicted, he could face up to six months in jail.

The story of this unique crime wave has gone viral on social media, with many people posting pictures and stories of the feeble catfish and the bright crook. It remains to be seen if this crime wave will spread to other towns or if the suspect will be brought to justice.

[douglasrcrative]

Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Islam until 1964, he was a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the Black community. A posthumous autobiography, on which he collaborated with Alex Haley, was published in 1965.

Malcolm spent his adolescence living in a series of foster homes or with relatives after his father's death and his mother's hospitalization. He committed various crimes, being sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1946 for larceny and burglary. In prison he joined the Nation of Islam (adopting the name Malcolm X to symbolize his unknown African ancestral surname while discarding "the White slavemaster name of 'Little'"), and after his parole in 1952 quickly became one of the organization's most influential leaders. He was the public face of the organization for 12 years, advocating Black empowerment and separation of Black and White Americans, and criticizing Martin Luther King Jr. and the mainstream civil rights movement for its emphasis on nonviolence and racial integration.[2][3] Malcolm X also expressed pride in some of the Nation's social welfare achievements, such as its free drug rehabilitation program. Throughout his life, beginning in the 1950s, Malcolm X was subjected to surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

In the 1960s, Malcolm X began to grow disillusioned with the Nation of Islam, as well as with its leader, Elijah Muhammad. He subsequently embraced Sunni Islam and the civil rights movement after completing the Hajj to Mecca, and became known as "el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz". After a brief period of travel across Africa, he publicly renounced the Nation of Islam and founded the Islamic Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI) and the Pan-African Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). Throughout 1964, his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified, and he was repeatedly sent death threats. On February 21, 1965, he was assassinated in New York City. Three Nation members were charged with the murder and given indeterminate life sentences; in 2021, two of the convictions were vacated. Speculation about the assassination and whether it was conceived or aided by leading or additional members of the Nation, or with law enforcement agencies, has persisted for decades.

A controversial figure accused of preaching racism and violence, Malcolm X is also a widely celebrated figure within African-American and Muslim American communities for his pursuit of racial justice. He was posthumously honored with Malcolm X Day, on which he is commemorated in various cities across the United States. Hundreds of streets and schools in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, while the Audubon Ballroom, the site of his assassination, was partly redeveloped in 2005 to accommodate the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center.

[kaijusrpgbrainstorm]

New Year, New Character 2: Day 10

The Ghost of New York aka Violet Heaney, Costumed Crime Fighter, Trinity Continuum: Adventure! Many claims are made of The Ghost of New York: That he is seven foot tall. That he sees into people's souls. That he is immune to bullets. That he is one of the dead, seeking justice against the living. What is not claimed? The truth. The dreaded Ghost of New York is a woman. Violet Heaney is indeed tall. The daughter of wealthy industrialist Finnegan Heaney, Violet never wanted for anything growing up, even with the struggles of 1929. To the public she is the loyal, dutiful daughter and potential heir to a fortune. Violet was on a date with her lover, Tiffany Crane, when the restaurant they were dining in was attacked as part of a dispute between criminal groups. Although bogth women survived, Violet spent three days in a coma due to her injuries. During that time Violet believes she was contacted by the spirits of the gang's other victims, who granted her the abilities she would need to bring the attackers to justice. Heaney awoke Inspired, a Mesmerist able to hide her presence from others and gleam knowledge by communing with the dead. Hiding her identity behind theatrical make up and heavy clothing, Heaney has become know as The Ghost of New York by reporters spinning tales of her efforts to fight organised crime in New York, a crusade that has put her firmly in the sights of the Contedorri. Luckily for her, then, they are chasing a ghost. And just as lucky, at present she has found a mysterious ally in Jack Kent, more properly known as operative Two-S-Thirteen. Concept: Costumed Detective Inspiration: Mesmerist Moment of Inspiration: Near Death Experience Ability Priorities: Mental. Social, Physical Favoured Approach: Finesse Origin Path: Life of Privilege Role Path: Detective Society Path: Enemy of the Contedorri

Skills

Aim

Athletics OO

Close Combat OO

Command

Culture O

Empathy

Enigmas OO

Humanities

Integrity OO

Larceny OOO (Speciality: Covert Operations, Skill Trick: Set a Thief)

Medicine

Persuasion OO

Pilot

Science O

Survival

Technology

Mental

Intellect (Force) OOO

Cunning (Finesse) OOOO

Resolve (Resilience) OOO

Physical

Might (Force) O

Dexterity (Finesse) OOO

Stamina (Resilience) OOO

Social

Presence (Force) OOO

Manipulation (Finesse) OOO

Composure (Resilience) OOO

Edges

Covert OO

Photographic Memory OO

Sweet Science OO

Wealth OOO

Without a Trace O

Gifts

Cloud the Mind

Conversational Shortcut

Fist of the Mind

Medium

Facets

Destructive

Intuitive O

Reflective OO

Inspiration: OOO

Defence: 1

Health: Bruised/Injured/Injured/Maimed

[viviblog]

Children in need of care.

Children Affected by Poverty and Social Exclusion

Poverty and social marginalization are significant motivators for children being placed in alternative care worldwide. Families give up their children because they cannot care for them or believe it is the best way to provide them with essential amenities such as education and health care. Girls, children with disabilities, ethnic minorities, children with HIV/AIDS, and children born out of marriage make up a disproportionate percentage of children abandoned into alternative care due to discrimination and cultural taboos. Inadequate alternative care contributes to a vicious cycle of poverty and inequality. Children frequently wind up in institutional care in many nations due to a lack of family-based alternative care choices. Kids are already disadvantaged by poverty or shame, and as they grow up isolated from their families and communities, they risk being even more alienated from society. In the worst-case scenario, they are subjected to neglect, aggression, and abuse due to poor or hazardous care standards. When young people leave institutional care, they may struggle to reintegrate into their communities, where they may experience high rates of homelessness, unemployment, chronic poverty, despair, and even suicide. More political and financial commitment is required to address the poverty and social marginalization that pushes families to abandon their children. This encompasses a broad range of actions to battle poverty, prejudice, and stigma, to change attitudes regarding single motherhood and handicap, and to implement social policies that promote family empowerment and parenting skills. Greater emphasis must also be placed on providing high-quality family-based care choices for girls and boys who require alternative families, such as foster care and adoption. This section's materials investigate the link between poverty, social isolation, and the placement of children in alternative care.

Current trends in miner offense

Since the late 1980s, there has been increased worry about young people committing crimes. News accounts of serious crimes committed by children and adolescents, as well as criminologists' warnings of a rising tide of vicious juveniles, sometimes referred to as super predators, have contributed to a widespread belief that young people are becoming increasingly violent and uncontrollable and that the juvenile justice system's response has been insufficient. In response to evidence of increased juvenile violence. Crimes committed by teens include robbery, theft, burglary, assault, and property damage. The most prevalent crimes committed by children are nonviolent misdemeanor charges. Theft larceny is the most common, with an arrest rate of 401.3 per 100,000 teenagers in 2016. Simple assault is the second most prevalent, with an arrest rate of 382.3 per 100,000 teenagers. The third category is drug-related offenses, with 295.6 arrests per 100,000 minors. Disorderly conduct is the fourth most prevalent offense, with an arrest rate of 195.5 per 100,000 teenagers. The fifth category is alcohol crimes, which include DWI, liquor law infractions, and intoxication, with a combined rate of 143.9 arrests per 100,000 teenagers.

[nourflage]

TW: death, violence, gore, murder

There’s no glory in dying a martyr. But you thought that at the very least, dying a hero would warrant breaking news on VNN. An article or two in The Novae Terrae Journal. In the end, there’s nothing. No press conference, no global media spectacle or in memoriam tribute. You don’t even make it to social media. The same day you die, Siren goes viral on Twitter—580K mentions for singing a reunion duet with Seance (rumour has it their on-again, off-again relationship is officially back on).

The 24-hour news cycle churns on, relentless and insatiable. 

Deathbloom levels a building in downtown São Paulo and Verum International has their hands full burying the 17 civilian casualties from the press. Not to be outdone, Lightspeed causes a 23-car pile-up on the Golden Gate Bridge. In Nihilum Tower, Lady Oblivion is doing a livestream announcing her latest perfume collaboration with Christian Dior. Elsewhere in Novae Hollywood, Mesmerise and The Flare are dazzling paparazzi on the red carpet of the Nihilum’s latest blockbuster hit, Dawn of the Beast: Eternal Return.

You die as nothing more than a crushed whimper. Barely a scream.

Your body won’t even be found in the morning. That’s how thoroughly they annihilate you and any proof of your existence.

Verum International deals with dissidents like a ruthless utilitarian regime disposing of heretics. You always joked about Verum International being ruled like a dictatorship; their chokehold grasp on media, governments and markets pumping shallow, hyper-saturated poison into the veins of the world. Distantly, you were aware that escaping their gilded skyscraper cage would mean some form of swift retaliation.

Sure, there were the PR leaks. Minor incidents and petty infractions, really. Evidence of superheroes gone wild that the Verum PR machine had spun into insignificance dropped into the DMs of investigative journalists. Blurry photos of supes committing all manner of crimes from identity freud to grand larceny, caught on CCTV wiped from security footage by Verum fixers.

You die quiet and inconsequential but it gives you some small measure of comfort, catharsis, to know that they sent only the best for you.

They track you to an abandoned warehouse, courtesy of The Huntsman. (Did anyone ever stop to wonder how a military-level surveillance drone could ever qualify as a superhero of the people? No? Just you?) It’s played out like a grimdark, poorly-lit interrogation scene in one of the VCU’s shitty billion-dollar superhero franchise movies. And you’re the nameless outlaw standing in the way of unwavering justice. Just another faceless casualty of blazing righteousness.

You spit blood from your mouth, a tooth or two flying from your lips and splattering across the concrete in a spray of red.

“For what it’s worth—we didn’t mean it for it to end like this.” Bullseye, the sharp angles of her face honed in remorse, looks genuinely apologetic. Cinematic as a close up shot, pan to tragic antihero brooding. She’s been making a killing—ha, god, you’d laugh if your ribs weren’t splitting through your skin—on her Verum+ show.

Your blood is smeared across her knuckles and she has the audacity to appear sorry for it.

“We?” You choke out a strangled, rattling wheeze through the whistling of one of your lungs slowly deflating. Puncture wound in your chest—perfect fucking shot. They couldn’t make this an easy death, after all.

“You mean your gutless soul-sucking corporate overlords at Verum? Did they script that line for you too? Or are you so used to having their hand up your fucking ass like a Sesame Street puppet you can’t even tell the difference anymore.”

The Huntsman tilts his head, and you can only imagine the wince on his face behind the kevlar helmet he wears. Maybe he doesn’t feel anything at all. It’s very likely you’re just another kill to add to the body count. He could be one of the damaged ones, test-tube grown in a lab. Experimental strain of Compound-N, highly volatile in concentrated doses and designed with the sole purpose of securing multi-billion dollar defence contracts. Beneath the pomp and circumstance of media empires and blockbuster fodder, the Nihilum were born in a parasitic relationship with the military-industrial complex. It was Verum International’s first love and their paramount capitalist wet dream.

“Tell us who you sold the file to and all of this goes away.” That’s Spectrum. His jet-black supersuit conveniently conceals all the viscera he’s carved out of you. You can see the flecks of blood and grit when he goes transparent, the only indication of his movements when his fists swings into your jaw.

He’s the one that hurts most.

“I used to idolise you.” Your heart clenches, throat closing around a sunburst of rage and despair. “I had posters of you on my wall. I wanted to grow up to be you. The Invisible Spectrum. The Shadow Knight, Guardian of the weak and helpless. Greatest superhero the world has ever seen.” The words are leaden, hollowed and shattered. “What a fucking joke.”

“Cut the bullshit.” Metamorphia’s eyes narrow. She’s wearing herself today, not one of her thousand other faces or guises. Perhaps she couldn’t bear the lie of killing you as anyone other than herself. You used to be friends, once.

“You knew how Verum would react. You knew, and you chose to do what you did anyway.”

“Please—” Spectrum’s voice softens, losing the edge of clean-cut supe, turning human. He speaks your name, one final appeal to lost sentimentality. A master tactician to the very end. “You’ve got nothing else to lose.”

Oh, but don’t you see? It’s everything. It’s everything, and you’d rather be gutted in firing squad execution than live another day in chained obeisance. You lay your neck down on their guillotine and it’s funny because they think they’re the ones still holding the knife. Verum has them so blinded, blinkered, and conditioned into compliance they can’t discern waking reality from the Matrix.

“Even if I could tell you, the file is long gone now. And so is the person I gave it to.”

“We’ll find them.” The Huntsman states it as unfeeling fact. “That’s what we do.”

The edges of your lips pull into a macabre smile, teeth gleaming through streaks of blood. “It’ll be too late.”

You can feel your consciousness fluttering on the edge of a rift. Too much blood loss, too little mercy. It feels important, somehow, that you use what little time you have left to say this. To make them see. Even now, with your blood pooling at your feet, bones crushed and splintered into a cataclysmic mess of your own insides, you pity them. Tomorrow, they will have to live with this. They will go back to Nihilum Tower and report on your death. Case closed. An unruly outlier extinguished with lethal force.

They will go back to being superheroes. And one day, when another one just like you decides to wake up and seek truth, they will kill again.

Superheroes make exceptional murderers. Just because they’re killing villains doesn’t make them any less a killer.

It's reassuring knowing that the one person who could stand a chance at stopping them hates supes as much as you do. One last failsafe. It’s not such a bad thing to die for, hope. At least you’ll go to your unmarked grave knowing it was for something worthy. The only thing they can’t kill is this tiny, insignificant flicker of hope.

“I’m sorry.” Spectrum says, resigned to your fate and his, entwined now in equal measure. “I really am.”

“This is the only way it was ever going to end.” Metamorphia echoes.

This is the only way it’s ever going to end for you, too. Wake up. Look around you. Do you think I’m the only one that’s died for Verum International’s sins? For yours?

Bullseye closes her eyes as she lets out a long, slow breath. She takes aim.

The last thing you remember thinking is how relieved you are to be free, at last.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Smocks, who is Black, told the judge that the Justice Department had treated him differently than white defendants who participated directly in the riot, which followed a speech by then-President Donald Trump, a Republican, at a nearby rally repeating his false claims that his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Smocks traveled to Washington on Jan. 5 and, using accounts under the name "ColonelTPerez" and "@Colonel007" on the Parler social media network, posted threats on Jan. 6 and 7 regarding the riots.

The Justice Department said Smocks' threats included claims that he and others would return to the U.S. Capitol the day before Biden's scheduled inauguration carrying weapons in large numbers and that Smocks "threatened that he and others would 'hunt these cowards down like the Traitors that each of them are', including "RINOS, Dems, and Tech Execs." RINO is pejorative and stands for "Republicans in Name Only."

According to prosecutors, Smocks' prolonged sentence is a result of his lengthy criminal history of 18 convictions between the early 1980s and 2006, where he was found guilty of producing fake documents, bank fraud, stealing, larceny, auto theft, impersonating a federal agent, and more.

While Smock was sentenced to 14 months in prison, he'll only need to serve five more months because he received credit for time already spent in jail.

Following his prison sentence, Smock must undergo three years of supervised release.

While Smock's sentencing is the longest so far, several other Capitol riot suspects have received charges that amount to up to 6.5 years in prison but have yet to be sentenced.

At least 684 people have been arrested both locally and federally in relation to the Capitol riot, but only 105 have pleaded guilty so far.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 1, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

Today, by a 6 to 3 vote, the Supreme Court handed down Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee saying that the state of Arizona did not violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) with laws that limited ballot delivery to voters, family members, or caregivers, or when it required election officials to throw out ballots that voters had cast in the wrong precincts by accident.

The fact that voting restrictions affect racial or ethnic groups differently does not make them illegal, Justice Samuel Alito wrote. “The mere fact that there is some disparity in impact does not necessarily mean that a system is not equally open or that it does not give everyone an equal opportunity to vote.”

The court also suggested that concerns about voter fraud—which is so rare as to be virtually nonexistent—are legitimate reasons to restrict voting.

We are reliving the Reconstruction years after the Civil War.

That war had changed the idea of who should have a say in American society. Before the war, the ideal citizen was a white man, usually a property owner. But those were the very people who tried to destroy the country, while during the war, Black Americans and women, people previously excluded from politics, gave their lives and their livelihoods to support the government.

After the war, when white southerners tried to reinstate laws that returned the Black population to a position that looked much like enslavement, Congress in 1867 gave Black men the right to vote for delegates to new state constitutions. Those new constitutions, in turn, gave Black men the right to vote.

In order to stop voters from ratifying the new constitutions, white southerners who had no intention of permitting Black Americans to gain rights organized as the Ku Klux Klan to terrorize voters. While they failed to prevent states from ratifying the new constitutions, the KKK continued to beat, rape, and murder Black voters in the South.

So, in 1870, Congress established the Department of Justice to defend Black rights in the South. It also passed a series of laws that made it a federal crime to interfere with voting and with the official duties of an elected officer. And it passed, and the states ratified, the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, declaring that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

Immediately, white Americans determined to stop Black participation in government turned to a new argument. During the Civil War, the Republican Party had not only expanded Black rights, but had also invented the nation’s first national taxation. For the first time, how people voted directly affected other people’s pocketbooks.

In 1871, white southerners began to say that they did not object on racial grounds to Black voting, but rather on the grounds that formerly enslaved men were impoverished and were electing to office men who promised to give them things—roads, for example, and schools and hospitals—to be paid for with tax dollars. Because white men were the only ones with property in the postwar South, such legislation would redistribute wealth from white men to Black people. It was, they charged, “socialism.”

In 1876, white southerners reclaimed control of the last remaining states they had not yet won by insisting they were “redeeming” their states from the corruption created when Black voters elected leaders who would use tax dollars for public programs.

In 1890, a new constitution in Mississippi, which at the time was about 58% Black, restricted voting not on racial grounds but through a poll tax and a “literacy” test applied against Black voters alone. Mississippi led the way for new restrictions across the country. Although Black and Brown Americans continually challenged the new Jim and Juan Crow laws that silenced them, voting registration for people of color fell into single digits.

These laws stayed in place for 75 years. Then, in 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, designed to undo voter suppression laws once and for all. The VRA worked. In Mississippi in 1965, just 6.7% of eligible Black voters were registered to vote. Two years later, that number was 59.8%, although there was still a 32-point gap in registration between Blacks and whites. By 1988, that gap had narrowed to 6.3%, and in 2012, 90.2% of eligible Black residents were registered compared to 82.4% of non-Hispanic whites.

The Voting Rights Act was considered so important that just 15 years ago, in 2006, Congress voted almost unanimously to reauthorize it.  

But the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts, who has long disliked the VRA, has chipped away at the law, cutting deeply into it in 2013 with the Shelby County v. Holder decision. And now, with three new justices appointed by former president Trump, the court has weakened it further.

To what end are we returning to the 1890s?

The restrictive voting measures passed by Republican-dominated legislatures are designed to keep Republicans in power. Today that means allegiance to former president Trump, whose Trump Organization and Trump Payroll Corporation were indicted by a New York grand jury today, along with Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, on 15 felony counts, including a scheme to defraud, conspiracy, grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, and falsifying business records.

The indictment alleges that the schemes involve federal, as well as state and local, crimes. New York Attorney General Letitia James emphasized that the investigation is not over.

Republican lawmakers are lining up behind the former president so closely that last night,

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) threatened to take away the committee assignments of anyone agreeing to work on the select committee to investigate the events of January 6 that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is putting together after Senate Republicans filibustered the creation of a bipartisan independent committee.

(McCarthy’s declaration prompted Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who appears appalled at the direction his party has taken, to respond “Who gives a s--t?” He added: “I do think the threat of removing committees is ironic, because you won't go after the space lasers and white supremacist people but those who tell the truth.”)

Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) nonetheless said she was “honored” to join the committee, along with seven Democrats. While it is unclear if McCarthy will add more Republicans, it will now get underway. The committee includes House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), both of whom showed extraordinary ability to assess huge amounts of material when they managed Trump’s impeachment trials.

That the Republicans have fought so hard against an investigation of the January 6 insurrection suggests we might well learn things that reflect poorly on certain lawmakers.

So, today’s news puts the American people in the position of watching as a political party, lined up behind a man now in legal jeopardy, who might be involved in an attack on our government, tries to cement its hold on power.

“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court undercuts voting rights in this country,” President Biden said, “and makes it all the more crucial to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore and expand voting protections.”

“Our democracy depends on it.”

—-

Notes:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1272892

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/defying-mccarthys-ban

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/01/kinzinger-jan-6-investigation-threat-497505

Acyn @AcynSo he’s concerned about setting a precedent about holding former federal officials accountable 486 Retweets2,740 Likes

July 1st 2021

https://www.vox.com/2015/3/6/8163229/voting-rights-act-1965

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/john-roberts-voting-rights-act-121222/

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/20982368/new-york-v-trump-org-allen-weisselberg.pdf

Allan Smith @akarl_smithStatement from NY AG James: "Today is an important marker in the ongoing criminal investigation of the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg. ... This investigation will continue" 420 Retweets1,350 Likes

July 1st 2021

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[samueldays]

Bitter notes adjacent to police reform and criminal justice

1. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/disturbing-video-shows-random-attack-hydrant-head-smash-of-92-year-old-woman-in-manhattan/2466659/

A 31-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an apparently random attack on a 92-year-old woman in Manhattan four days ago, authorities say.

The suspect, Rashid Brimmage of the Bronx, was charged with assault shortly after he was taken into custody Tuesday. Police believe he is the person seen on disturbing video shoving the 92-year-old woman named Geraldine to the ground on Third Avenue between 15th and 16th streets on Friday afternoon.

[...]

A senior law enforcement official tells News 4 Brimmage is a recidivist with 100 prior arrests who has gotten a desk appearance ticket for his most recent ones because of bail reform. He is an NYPD co-response client, which means police have responded with social workers when dealing with him. Brimmage has an extensive history of being emotionally disturbed in police encounters as well.

He’s been arrested three times since February for alleged assaults. On March 9, he allegedly punched a 29-year-old man in an unprovoked attack at a pizza shop in Manhattan. A few weeks before that, Brimmage allegedly punched a 39-year-old female at a Dunkin’ Donuts in the Bronx. On Feb. 4 he allegedly punched a 39-year-old man in the face at that same Dunkin' Donuts. In the latter two cases, he received desk appearance tickets.

Brimmage is currently a suspect in a grand larceny that happened on Feb.19 at the 116th St. train station in which a woman had $120 stolen from her purse, the senior law enforcement official said. He's also a transit sex crime recidivist.

From elsewhere, a list of unique charges for Brimmage, a man of 100+ arrests and so far 39 criminal convictions:

Assault, Assault of a victim 65 or older, Assault on a police officer, Assault on a police officer, firefighter or EMT, Cemetery desecration, Criminal mischief, Criminal possession of a controlled substance, Criminal possession of marijuana, Criminal sale of marijuana, Criminal trespass, Failure to register as a sex offender, Failure to report change of address as a sex offender, Forcible touching, Grand larceny, Harassment-stalking, Menacing with a weapon, Obstructing governmental administration, Persistent sexual abuse, Public lewdness, Resisting arrest, Sexual abuse, Tampering with physical evidence, Trespass, Turnstile jumping, Unspecified violation of state sanitary code, Violation of unspecified local law.

Taking these reports at face value, he should have been long since executed and his body strung up in the public square with a warning plaque of “Don’t be this absolute scumbag.”

(There are graver crimes, but most of those don’t have the sheer persistent evil attributed to Brimmage. For example, I’m also in favor of executing every US president for war crimes, but Trump does not appear to have a similar record of “I’m bored, let’s find another country to bomb. How about Portugal?”)

Since the above-board system is failing to execute him or even exile him to Australia (not that there’s an Australia left to exile him to), I am grudgingly considering that police brutalizing him to death during an unexplained camera malfunction might be the lesser evil.

Of course, perhaps we shouldn’t take these reports at face value. Perhaps the urinalists are conspiring to misrepresent events...

2. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/06/26/blaxit-black-americans-leave-us-escape-racism-build-lives-abroad/3234129001/

Anthony Baggette knew the precise moment he had to get out: He was driving by a convenience store in Cincinnati when a police officer pulled him over. There had been a robbery. He fit the description given by the store's clerk: a Black man.

Okunini Ọbádélé Kambon knew: He was arrested in Chicago and accused by police of concealing a loaded gun under a seat in his car. He did have a gun. But it was not loaded. He used it in his role teaching at an outdoor skills camp for inner-city kids. Kambon also had a license. The gun was kept safely in the car's trunk.

Tiffanie Drayton knew: Her family kept getting priced out of gentrifying neighborhoods in New Jersey. She felt they were destined to be forever displaced in the USA. Then Trayvon Martin was shot and killed after buying a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea.

That’s not my selective quoting, the paragraph just ends there, followed by a change of topic. It’s grievously dishonest. Trayvon Martin was shot and killed after trying to bash George Zimmerman’s head in.

The weight of evidence presented at Zimmerman’s trial includes: a) eyewitness testimony that Martin was on top of Zimmerman, beating up Zimmerman b) medical report that Zimmerman suffered black eyes, head lacerations and a skull fracture c) ballistic forensics report that Martin was shot from in front and below while leaning forwards.

The press doesn’t even bother to deny this sort of evidence, just elides it entirely. USA Today isn’t unique in its misrepresentation, it’s just one I had to hand as being a particularly blatant case. You can see the same kind of lie in the NYT, and on the cover of TIME:

3. https://time.com/magazine/us/5847952/june-15th-2020-vol-195-no-22-u-s/

No doubt there are some true innocents in the list as well, but when your first name and one of the most famous flagship cases for the Holy Black Victim myth was a violent scumbag, I get suspicious about the rest.

The article itself is this disconnected litany of grievances, from police brutality to disease:

Now pent-up energy and anxiety and rage have spilled out. COVID-19 laid bare the nation’s broader racial inequities. About 13% of the U.S. population are African Americans. But according to CDC data, 22% of those with COVID-19, and 23% of those who have died from it, are black.

--- ---

If America ever tries to have a serious reckoning with its police brutality problem - and it has a police brutality problem, make no mistake - it’s going to be inevitably entangled with the other problem of black violence (and stupidity), and the secondary problem of numerous reporters who think their job is excusing black violence.

Homicides per 100 000 people per year, numbers from Wikipedia (2019):

Nigeria - 9.85 Mississippi - 7.4 (blackest US state) US average - 5.3 Maine - 1.9 (whitest US state) United Kingdom - 1.2

Blacks are (on average) much more violent than whites in America. Like “quintuple homicide rate” more violent. One study estimated 10x after trying to separate out hispanics from whites. The gap decreases, but doesn’t go away, when you control for poverty - and even that is probably an overcontrol since stupidity is a causal factor for both violence and poverty, and blacks are stupider than whites on average.

Any criminal justice reform will by default end up with more blacks than whites in jail relative to general population. Any attempt to avoid this will require one to say “We will jail whites and we will not jail blacks for the same crimes”.

Any police reform that attempts to lower the rate of police killings will likewise still end up with police killing blacks at a higher rate relative to genpop, because blacks commit crime at a higher rate relative to genpop.

(In before “the acceptable rate is zero”. If you push hard enough for a zero rate of police killings, the police will retreat to the donut shop and you’ll get mob killings instead. The Netherlands have 1/20th the population of the US and they still have police killings.)

Retroviral genetic engineering to make all the blacks 15 IQ points smarter is not available, nor any other measure of similar impact that I’m aware of. Short of such an enormous measure, any kind of reform will still have blacks being stupider and violenter, which means blacks will still (on average) be poorer, more criminal, more arrested, more incarcerated, and more prone to catching diseases, etc.

There will be Brimmages going around punching people in the face, and there will be a moral obligation for reformed police to deal harshly with Brimmages. Perhaps you will have the luxury of locking up Brimmages for life rather than executing them. You will also have to figure out how to deal with urinalists stirring up racial hatred and running interference for both individual scumbags and violent mobs, because “police reform” is not going to alter the underlying racial differences that urinalists make hay of.

[ilthit]

Stand Still Stay Silent / nWoD adapted tabletop RPG rules

(above picture from @hummingfluff - Stand Still Stay Silent is her webcomic)

I know this blog is trash on the whole but here, I made something potentially fun/useful: Game mechanics for a roleplaying campaign for SSSS based on the new World of Darkness (nWoD) system, also known as the Storytelling system, with modifications that I thought made sense. This is how I would run an SSSS campaign, only I can’t, because I don’t have the time. But I’m sharing it all here in case someone else will find it useful.

The full nWoD Core rulebook is available as a PDF on DriveThruRPG.com and the pirated version is available by googling for it, follow your own hearts on that. This assumes basic familiarity with tabletop roleplaying games. You can also find quick guides to the system elsewhere online.

Character creation (nWoD) briefly

For reference, these are the rules for human characters in nWoD.

Basics: Dots represent skill level from 1 to 5 and in gameplay affect the number of dice you can throw to succeed in a task. The system only uses 10-sided dice and every result between 7 and 10 is a success; 10s can be rerolled for more successes.

Attributes: Prioritize the three categories (5/4/3). Your character begins with one dot in each Attribute automatically, already filled in on the character sheet. Dots spent now are in addition to these starting ones. The fifth dot in any Attribute costs two dots to purchase. Mental: Intelligence, Wits, Resolve   Physical: Strength, Dexterity, Stamina   Social: Presence, Manipulation, Composure 

Skills: Prioritize the three categories (11/7/4). The fifth dot in any Skill costs two dots to purchase. Select Skill Specialties, your character’s focused areas of expertise: Take three Skill Specialties of your choice. You can assign each how you like, whether each to a separate Skill or all three to a single Skill. There is no limit to how many Specialties can be assigned to a single Skill.   Mental: Academics, Computer, Crafts, Investigation, Medicine, Occult, Politics, Science Physical: Athletics, Brawl, Drive, Firearms, Larceny, Stealth, Survival, Weaponry Social: Animal Ken, Empathy, Expression, Intimidation, Persuasion, Socialize, Streetwise, Subterfuge

Determine advantages, traits derived from your character’s Attributes: Defense (the lowest of Dexterity or Wits), Health (Stamina + Size), Initiative (Dexterity + Composure), Morality (7 for starting characters), Size (5 for most humans), Speed (Strength + Dexterity +5), Willpower (Resolve + Composure), and Virtue/Vice. 

Virtues and Vices: Virtues: Charity, Faith, Fortitude, Hope, Justice, Prudence, Temperance Vices: Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride, Sloth, Wrath

Select Merits, representing character enhancements and background elements: Spend 7 dots on Merits. The fifth dot in any Merit costs two dots to purchase. Note that many Merits have prerequisites. The list of available merits is in the book and probably somewhere online. 

Experience points: These are gained through gameplay and can also be awarded and spent at character creation at Storyteller’s discretion to advance the character.

Experience point costs: Attribute - New dots x 5 Skill - New dots x 3 Skill - Specialty 3 points Merit - New dots x 2 Morality - New dots x 3 Gameplay in nWoD briefly

When a task needs to be performed that requires skill, the player rolls a number of 10-sided dice based on the number of dots they have in the relevant attribute + skill. Every result between 7 and 10 is a success and 10s can be rerolled for a chance of even more successes. The difficulty of the task determines how many successes are needed. If the character doesn’t have the relevant skill, they can roll attribute only, but usually with a penalty (still fewer dice) depending on the task and Storyteller’s discretion.

Some tasks can be extended actions, meaning the number of successes required can be acquired over several rolls, each roll representing a certain amount of time passing. For example repairing an item is usually an extended action.

In combat rolls, the number of successes gained reflects the number of damage dealt to the opponent. The opponent’s Defense score is deducted from the attacker’s dice pool. So if a troll is attacking Emil, and would otherwise get to roll six dice to hit, but Emil’s Defense is 2, the troll only rolls four dice. 

There are three types of damage: Bashing damage, Lethal damage and Aggravated damage. Losing all health to Bashing damage results in an unconscious character, and bashing damage to an unconscious character will begin to stack as lethal. Losing all health to Lethal damage results in death. The third is supernatural damage or poisoned/infected damage like from nuclear fallout, or devouring diseases like the Rash Illness. It either takes a very long time to heal or does not heal without supernatural interference. Modified rules for SSSS

I suggest these modifications for the world of SSSS and have applied them below in my example character sheet.

Experience points at character creation I suggest giving every starting character 10 XP to spend at character creation. It’s a harsh world, they’ve already done well to survive—and this enables them to pay for immunity and magic, if they choose, while giving non-immune and non-magical characters in the group an edge of their own.

Immunity and Magic Immunity costs 5 xp, as does magical ability, and they are only available at character creation. If you purchase magical ability, you will gain an extra tracker next to your Health and Willpower, to be spent in a similar way: Mana, or Väki if you’re Finnish. This is your magical oomph, which must be recovered after magic use, and has the value of your Resolve + Composure. More on that below in the magic mechanics section.

Virtues and Vices I would allow continuing to use these Christian tradition virtues and vices in the Norse context, because by the time they returned to the old ways they’d have been living with the Christian mindset for hundreds of years. However, I can see the characters with virtues more like Honour and Bravery, and vices like Cowardice and Irresponsibility. Suggested list for followers of the Norse gods: Virtues: Bravery, Charity, Fortitude, Honour, Justice, Prudence, Temperance Vices: Cowardice, Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Irresponsibility, Lack of Self-Control, Sloth

Merits and Flaws nWoD has no Flaws, but it’s such a beautiful game mechanic that in this game I would suggest allowing players to buy Merits with the 10 XP given at character creation, or creating a balance of Merits and Flaws of equal efficiency. So, if you take two Merits costing 1 point each, you could instead pay for them by taking a Flaw costing -2. Storyteller can and should limit the use of Merits and Flaws. Two of each max seems reasonable to me. Since nWoD has no rules for Flaws, I suggest either applying the rules from old WoD rulebooks or making up your own; Storyteller must agree to the limitations and advantages gained from them. Note that Languages is a merit!

Skills Most if the WoD skills work for SSSS, but I suggest replacing Academics with Skald, and removing the skills for Larceny, Computer and Streetwise. Why? Because Larceny would not be such a vital skill for characters in the SSSS world. Larceny can, however, be a Specialty under Crafts. Also Computer and Streetwise make very little sense. They would go under Skald or Science, depending on specialty, and Socialize. To compensate, I added Troll Ken and Cleansing. I couldn’t think of a social skill to replace Streetwise. So the new skills would be: Mental: Crafts, Investigation, Medicine, Occult, Politics, Science, Skald, Troll Ken Physical: Athletics, Brawl, Cleansing, Drive, Firearms, Stealth, Survival, Weaponry Social: Animal Ken, Empathy, Expression, Intimidation, Persuasion, Socialize, Subterfuge

Combat When making targeted attacks with weapons on specific body parts using weaponry in close combat, all players, in all situations, roll Dexterity and Weaponry instead of Strength and Weaponry to hit. This just makes more sense in combat with trolls, giants and beasts, where non-targeted body-hits won’t get you very far.

Advantages Willpower cannot be spent to gain successes in magic. That requires the expenditure of Mana/Väki. This ensures that even someone low on Mana has access to willpower for other tasks and someone low on Willpower can still wield magic—though I would encourage Storytellers to up the difficulty if Willpower is very low. Alternatively, the Storyteller can choose to scrap Mana and use Willpower for magic, if they want to make the game a little harder. Character sheet example Name: Lalli Hotakainen Age: 19 Virtue: Diligence Vice: Pride Concept: Bog Emo Chronicle: Stand Still Stay Silent Faction: Finnish Mage Group Name: The Crew Languages: Finnish Intelligence 2, Wits 3, Resolve 3 Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3 Presence 2, Manipulation 1, Composure 3 Mental: Crafts 1, Occult 3 (Specialty: Finnish Mage) Physical: Brawl 1, Firearms 2 (Specialty: Rifle), Stealth 3, Survival 3, Weaponry 2 Social: Animal Ken 3, Expression 3 (Specialty: Spellruno), Intimidation 1 Defense: 3 Size: 4 Health: 7 Initiative: 6 Morality: 7 Speed: 10 (+3) Willpower: 6 Väki: 6 Immunity: Yes Magic: Yes Merits: Fleet of Foot (3) Flaws: Small-Framed (-1), Poor Communication Skills (-2) Some Merits and Flaws I made up

Merits: Resistant to Spirit Voices (1-3 points): Available for mages only. An added dice to resistance rolls against spirit voices per point spent on this merit. In addition at 3 point cost it will make the mage practically immune—any failure in the roll will make the mage depressed and listless, but will not compel them to approach the troll. Flaws: Poor Communication Skills (-2 points): -2 penalty to all Social rolls involving communication. Does not affect language, writing, or performance skills, and basic communication that wouldn’t normally be rolled for is also not affected. Small-Framed (-1 point): -1 penalty to Strength rolls related to lifting, catching, or pushing, Etc. but has no effect on speed or damage. Finnish magic game mechanics Mage: Purchased at character creation and never available again after that. Any related training will go under Occult. Non-mages will not have access to magic, so anyone else with points in Occult will just know about it, but be unable to create spells. Väki (mana): Resolve + Composure. Spent on spells and effects and can only be recovered through time, one point a day. In addition, Väki can be spent to add successes to your result in magical spells the same way Willpower can be spent in ordinary tasks. Spellruno: Presence + Expression, plus spend one point of Väki. Requires Occult 1+ with specialty Spellruno. This specialty is available to non-mages as well. NOTE: SSSS states that non-mage Finns can also use magic to a small extent. This will always require Occult 1+ with specialty Spellruno and the effects may be severely limited as per Storyteller’s discretion. In this case, Willpower replaces Väki. Examples of Spellruno effects: Call up an army of beasts. Call up a spirit being (such as Kokko). Ask for something from gods, spirits and elements, such as the Moon, Fire, Tapio, Vellamo. Exorcism of spirits. The effects will be limited as per Storyteller’s discretion. Storyteller may also require a certain amount of successes to avoid a negative consequence for magic that’s above the mage’s power level. Typical negative consequence would be separation from your luonto, or your soul (mind, self, ghost) getting lost. Calling up your luonto: Spellruno requiring two or more successes. Three successes are needed to avoid becoming separated from your luonto. Recovering from separation with your luonto: Resolve only. An extended action requiring a minimum of three successes depending on the severity of the trauma that caused the separation. Can be attempted once every half hour. In the meanwhile the character is incapacitated (asleep) and will be taking damage if they begin to starve as per deprivation rules in the Core rulebook. Rituals: Intelligence + Occult, plus spend one point of Väki. Rituals are typically extended actions. Examples of rituals: Guiding spirits to the land of the dead (Tuonela). Guiding animal spirits to rebirth in the sky. Ritual to send your soul to the Underworld for a visit. Ritual to protect an area. Ritual to recover eyesight. Ritual to attract love. Ritual to bless a new dwelling place. Sielulintu (soul bird): Your guide in the other realms. No game mechanics needed, to be used on Storyteller's discretion. Appears if player is in the dream world or has performed a ritual to visit the Underworld. Dreamworld: No penalty or cost to visit your own dream-place. To move across the waters in search of other spaces, either through flying (if the character has access to a flying form), swimming or on a boat requires an explanation (why can they do this) and related success rolls (except for flying) and the Storyteller can always use this as an opportunity to attack them with spirit beings. If wanted, a probability roll can be used here to see if they make it through safely. Damage will not cross over from the dreamworld to the physical world, but dying in the dreamworld sea will kill the sleeping mage. Seeing spirits: If you're a mage, you see them when they're around. No roll needed. Resisting spirit voices: Composure + Occult. If the spirit voices continue, roll again every thirty minutes. Only one success needed. If a mage becomes enthralled, they can roll again to release themselves from the spell if someone shakes them or otherwise distracts them from the voices. If several spirits are calling to the mage in the same time/combat round, the mage rolls only once to resist them all with no penalties to the roll and will then remain protected against the calls for the next thirty minutes. No roll is required of the troll to try to enthrall the mage but it does take them a turn. Icelandic magic game mechanics

This section is very basic and covers only what we know about it in SSSS. I encourage anyone setting up a campaign with an Icelandic mage to expand on these rules or modify them to better reflect Icelandic traditions and beliefs. Input from people who are more knowledgeable on those subjects would be appreciated.

Some repetition from above for ease of reference. 

Mage: Purchased at character creation and never available again after that. Any related training will go under Occult. 

Mana: Resolve + Composure. Spent on spells and effects and can only be recovered through time, one point a day. In addition, Mana can be spent to add successes to your result in magical spells the same way Willpower can be spent in ordinary tasks. Sigils: Dexterity + Expression. Requires the character to be Icelandic or trained in Iceland, as knowledge of what staves look like comes free for locals. Occult 1+ with specialty Icelandic Magic is required for non-Icelanders and in any case improves the efficiency of sigil work. Examples of Sigil effects: Protection from spirits. Calling up love. Fertility to the crops. Keeping sheep from wandering off. Keeping animals away from a certain spot. Strengthening structures. Dreamworld: No penalty or cost to visit the dream world, and moving across the waters in search of other spaces also comes free with being an Icelandic mage. Damage will not cross over from the dreamworld to the physical world, but dying in the dreamworld sea or in another mage’s space will kill the sleeping mage. Icelandic mages can find their way instinctively to other people’s dream places if they know something about that person or have something to guide them there; they can also ask their Fylgja to guide them. It will be easier for them to find the places of other mages than non-mages. They can also cross from the dreamworld into the realms of death.

Fylgja: This guardian spirit animal has no stats and is completely controlled by the Storyteller as an NPC, though I suggest deciding the shape of the spirit animal at character creation. They give warnings in dreams and act as a guide in the other realms. Fylgja comes free with making a Scandinavian or Icelandic character, the same as luonto comes free for Finnish characters. Seeing spirits: If you're a mage, you see them when they're around. No roll needed. Resisting spirit voices: Composure + Occult. If the spirit voices continue, roll again every thirty minutes. Only one success needed. If a mage becomes enthralled, they can roll again to release themselves from the spell if someone shakes them or otherwise distracts them from the voices. If several spirits are calling to the mage in the same time/combat round, the mage rolls only once to resist them all with no penalties to the roll and will then remain protected against the calls for the next thirty minutes. No roll is required of the troll to try to enthrall the mage but it does take them a turn. The Rash Illness

Symptoms appear two weeks after infection. From the onset of the first symptoms the infected person will take a special kind of aggravated damage daily and be subject to spirit voices. This damage cannot be healed in any way but when the patient loses all health, instead of dying they go into a coma and the illness continues to mutate them. Every day after the second week of symptoms the character will have an extra Stamina roll, difficulty 10 minus half their Stamina (rounded up), to see if they survive. If they survive four weeks after the first symptoms, they will turn into trolls. Trolls, giants, beasts, and ghosts

Example sheets for trolls, giants, beasts, and ghosts below for combat situations. Different trolls will have different sheets, some will be stronger, smaller, etc. To be adjusted accordingly. 

Troll Type: Once a human, now a hungering mutant. Can take many shapes and have different attributes accordingly. This is a troll that used to be an adult urbanite. Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 2, Resolve 4, Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Presence 4, Manipulation 2, Composure 1 Skills: Athletics (Running) 3, Brawl 3, Persuasion 2 Willpower: 7 Initiative: 4 Defense: 2 Speed: 12 Size: 5 Attacks: Bite 2L dp7, Scratch 1 L dp7, Stab 2 L dp7 Health: 8 Specialty: All damage a troll takes is bashing, unless it’s to the head. There is a -3 penalty for the hit roll. Players roll Dexterity and Weaponry to target the head with a weapon.Specialty: Spirit voices, see above in Magic section. No roll is required of the troll to try to enthrall a mage but it does take them a turn. Specialty: Takes aggravated damage from direct sunlight. 

Giant Type: Many trolls and maybe beasts fused into one abomination. This one has four heads. Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 3, Resolve 4, Strength 7, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Presence 4, Manipulation 2, Composure 1 Skills: Athletics (Movement) 3, Brawl 3, Persuasion 2 Willpower: 7 Initiative: 4 Defense: 3 Speed: 15 Size: 20 Attacks: Bite 2L dp10, Scratch 1 L dp10, Stab 2 L dp10 Health: 23 Specialty: All damage a giant takes is bashing, unless it’s to the head, and a giant is not dead until all its heads have been individually killed. Each head dies at 8 points of lethal damage directed to that head specifically. There is a -5 penalty for the hit roll. Players roll Dexterity and Weaponry to target the head with a weapon. Specialty: Spirit voices, see above in Magic section. No roll is required of the troll to try to enthrall a mage but it does take them a turn. Specialty: Takes aggravated damage from sunlight.

Wolf beast Type: A mutated wolf, looking for its next meal. Attributes: Intelligence 1, Wits 2, Resolve 2, Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Presence 3, Manipulation 1, Composure 1 Skills: Athletics (Running and Leaping) 3, Brawl 3, Socialize 1 Willpower: 6 Initiative: 4 Defense: 2 Speed: 7 Size: 3 Attacks: Bite 2L dp7, Scratch 1 L dp7, Stab 2 L dp7 Health: 6 Specialty: Damage must be to the head to be lethal. There is a -3 penalty for the hit roll. Players roll Dexterity and Weaponry to target the head with a weapon. Specialty: Takes aggravated damage from direct sunlight. 

Ghost Type: A wandering spirit of a Finn, lost on its way to Tuonela. Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 1, Resolve 2, Strength 0, Dexterity 0, Stamina 0, Presence 3, Manipulation 2, Composure 2 Skills: Persuasion 2 Willpower: 4 Initiative: 0 Defense: 0 Speed: 5 Size: 5 Attacks: None Health: 0 Flaws: Confused 3 Specialty: Incorporeal spirit. Cannot touch anything. Has lost touch with its self from wandering about without form. Specialty: Spirit voices, see above in Magic section. No roll is required of the ghost to try to enthrall a mage but it does take them a turn. However, even if they enthrall a  mage, the worst they can do is make him forget to do eat and drink. They might choose to talk and be guided to Tuonela instead.

[somethingpoetry]

PRIDEjudice

[Originally posted on Deviantart on June 25, 2019]

Look at you flaunting in your parade waving your flag that defines you why are you no more than the sum of it's parts beyond the acronym you allot yourself with the stripe you decorate your life with and this metaphorical cage you lock yourself in they put the L in LGBT Lost of all nuances Loss all trace of humanity Lust for the sake of Lust Languish in your sexuality Deprived of the attention Dedicate a month to make light of your label Designed to such perfection Everyone's got a hand in the jar on this table De-pride your acclimation Don't let this identity treat me like a Judas Decide to let go of confirmation and every sleight won't be seen as prejudice Look at you insufferably aggressive about your rights as if you didn't exist before we championed you why are you so regimented to cloister together like a hive disparaged of any outside opinions cement victimhood to the point of absurdity and let this bubble of ego choke you to death They put the G in LGBT Gay for government overreach Gang up on the dissidents Gaudy for the sake of gaudiness Gone after June in a instant Deprived of the attention Dedicate a month to your monolith Designed to such perfection Everyone wants to be a part of it De-pride your acclimation any criticism is not worth the impetus to Decide to make exaggerations that any of it is just secretly prejudice Pride so you'll be accepted Pride is all you've ever expected Pry this cocoon of narcissism from the eyes Pry this balloon before you leave the sky just look at you devoid of anything but a tag devout to it like a crucifix de-pride it and it's just you displaying your larceny to all of us But I'm the prejudiced one, the detractors proclaim, who define every action they make on their sex alone that to be critical of such a precious event is like murdering a litter of kittens knowing they can't be saved they know I have my best intentions but ignore it anyway Look at you gallivanting in the new circus watch everyone come witness to the streak of depravity laid before you why you sell your sexuality thereby sell your soul to the masses who spend it for social media spates to earn some metaphysical brownie points is beyond me They put the B in LGBT Bought out in every corporate pocket Bastardize any concept of individuality Bombastic for the sake of noise Bury the evidence and live in ignorance Deprived of the attention Desperate to make it all about them Designed to such perfection Everyone doesn't see it as a problem De-pride all this affirmation Don't get caught up in a act of social justice Desperate for affirmative action so any obstacle is seen as a matter of prejudice Pride for the pride lord Pride that taints this world Pried this empty shell of defensiveness Tried to see if there was more to your emptiness but just look at you devoid of anything but a fucking acronym devout to it like you breathe on it pry all of it away and you're none deprived of any characteristic but one But I'm still the bigot in the eyes of the caged who've treated their flag like a oyster to display in their shells but never truly bring to light as it'd shine like all the rest of us truly insignificant Look at you fighting at your own abominations excommunicate straight pride not realizing you're fighting a mirror why you're fine with one and not the other to forever hold a standard outside your aims to hold a pedestal lopsided blindly unaware to feign ignorance when it makes things inconvenient i think we've established why So Deprived of any attention Dedicate years to barricade it from question Designed to such perfection everyone gleefully partakes without mention De-pride this vain institution it would all fall within a heartbeat Decide instead the solution is to assume all hate and mistreat But you play that card to a T, like in LGBT Tired of the same victim complex Tyrants clothed in progressive politics Trading trends to meet the quota Toppled by any minority voice against them But yet I'm still the asshole here because you know I'm right this idea of pride is a worthless plight parade your sexuality for the sake of being queer deprived of attention de-pride your affection to such a stupid event yet in spite of all your gaslighting I'm not the only one who thinks this entire month stinks of the moral panic of infighting if anything your outrage speaks volumes of it's issues I tried to see if there was more to this but this is just a parade for tyrants acting like social justice and I'm not a judas for making that argument nor is it prejudice if anything I hate pride as a concept.

[anomiezine-blog]

What Is Wrong with Democracy

In memory of Alan MacSimoin

“For two decades the supporters of Bolshevism have been hammering it into the masses that dictatorship is a vital necessity for the defence of the so-called proletarian interests against the assaults of counter-revolution and for paving the way for Socialism. They have not advanced the cause of Socialism by this propaganda, but have merely smoothed the way for Fascism in Italy, Germany and Austria by causing millions of people to forget that dictatorship, the most extreme form of tyranny, can never lead to social liberation. In Russia, the so-called dictatorship of the proletariat has not led to Socialism, but to the domination of a new bureaucracy over the proletariat and the whole people. …”

Rudolf Rocker

The nativist strains of populism currently strangling the world today have been heralded as no more than a throwback to the 1930’s. However, like in the 1930’s, the markets love a pro-business autocrat as he rides roughshod over the planet. It remains to be seen whether he starts a World War but, before that should happen, let’s look at the alternatives anarchism offers, before the mutually assured destruction of democratically elected bullies visits us again.

Anarchism is not always pacifist, but it is less aggressive than ideologies built around a messianic leader. It is also less gun-ready than most democracies, where the will of preservation of wealth (of both the political class, and their sponsors) leads to repression, curtailment or suspension of civil liberties, as well as the violent impoverishment of all but a select few. What is incredibly duplicitous about democracy, is the veneer of respectability the offices of the judiciary (institutions professing justice) and the legislature (institutions professing the ‘will of the people’) lend the executive. The Castle upon a hill, so to speak. Even to question its legitimacy is to question the very essence of ‘justice, humanity and the values of mankind’.

The judiciary doles out exorbitant punishments for those guilty of crimes borne out of necessity or dictated by a life of poverty certain citizens are borne into (larceny, drug dealing and drunk & disorderly conduct). However, for securities fraud or insider trading, as evidenced by the bankers, property developers and sundry before the last recession, the punishments did not fit the crime (Seán Fitzpatrick, chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, was acquitted of all charges brought against him and was allowed to keep a €22m pension after defrauding the State of millions). Capitalism could not exist without the state, which enforces property rights, and democracy is the most streamlined perversion of a capitalist state.

Democracy also isn’t as free as its champions claim, nor does it perpetuate itself. Democracies have supported autocrats (in the Middle-East, say) until they have outlasted their use, before being ousted by democracies military-industrial complex. Democracies entrench privilege in much the same way monarchies did during the age of exploration. They are a cosseted virtue for the rich, nominally just for their citizens, and entirely rapacious of lesser citizens. It is a more effective means of control, as subjects believe their autonomy (“I have a vote”).

Anarchism takes the notion of inherited power, evidenced by both democracies ruling élite, and monarchy’s regal court, and aims to subvert it by diffusing it throughout a society, on a voluntary, cooperative basis. Voluntary, as coercion is against its cause and would lead to tyranny of the few believers over an agnostic many (think Soviet-era Russia), and cooperative as anarchy, as any system, requires a majority of people living under it, to work to further its means. However, the cooperation under anarchism aims at sharing power, not amassing it.

There is a terrific irony in democrats piling the failures of democratic governance to curb neoliberal greed and capitalistic excess on those same neoliberal capitalists. Democracy is nurtured by capital, its offices oiled by dollars and its politicians weaned on the whiff of money. And it has always been this way, Adam Smith wrote that “Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defense of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all.”

‘Democracy’ in the 21st century doesn’t even resemble the democracy that Smith was fearing. The capitalists can cheat and steal under democracy simply because capital is king, not the body politic. We, as products of participatory democracy are enthralled by the vague promises that a better day will come, even after being simultaneously abused by a system that holds us in contempt and exploited by those whose interests in keeping the illusion of democracy alive are very real. We are victims of the age of democracy and yet, we feel we owe it a debt of gratitude.

However, before we lose the run of ourselves, let us not despair. Anarchism offers simple solutions. Now I will focus on what anarchism brings to the table, that we all may sleep more peacefully. The main strength of anarchism for the 21stCentury is this: Anarchism is anti-authoritarian. This means not only will it fight against the Trumps, Dutertes and Xinpings of the world to make the world safer, more environmentally-friendly and less hierarchical but, it will set the stage for true freedom for all people. The great thing about anarchism is its endless malleability. There are as many theories of anarchism, as there are thinkers but, I think Bookchin summarized it correctly. Anarchism is “a confederation of decentralized municipalities; an unwavering opposition to statism; a belief in direct democracy; and a vision of a libertarian communist society”.