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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 2 months

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Nobody

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 2, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Aug 03, 2024

Today, Aaron C. Davis and Carol D. Leonnig of the Washington Post reported that there is reason to believe that when Trump’s 2016 campaign was running low on funds, Trump accepted a $10 million injection of cash from Egypt’s authoritarian leader Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. It is against the law to accept direct or indirect financial support from foreign nationals or foreign governments for a political campaign in the United States.

In early 2017, CIA officials told Justice Department officials that a confidential informant had told them of such a cash exchange, and those officials handed the matter off to Robert Mueller, the special counsel who was already looking at the links between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian operatives. FBI agents noted that on September 16, Trump had met with Sisi when the Egyptian leader was at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City.

After the meeting, Trump broke with U.S. policy to praise Sisi, calling him a “fantastic guy.”

Trump’s campaign had been dogged with a lack of funds, and his advisers had begged him to put some of his own money into it. He refused until October 28, when he loaned the campaign $10 million.

An FBI investigation took years to get records, but Davis and Leonnig reported that in 2019 the FBI learned of a key withdrawal from an Egypt bank. In January 2017, five days before Trump took office, an organization linked to Egypt’s intelligence service asked a manager at a branch of the state-run National Bank of Egypt to “kindly withdraw” $9,998,000 in U.S. currency. The bundles of $100 bills filled two bags and weighed more than 200 pounds.

Once in office, Trump embraced Sisi and, in a reversal of U.S. policy, invited him to be one of his first guests at the White House. “I just want to let everybody know, in case there was any doubt, that we are very much behind President al-Sissi,” Trump said.

Mueller had gotten that far in pursuit of the connection between Trump and Sisi when he was winding down his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. He handed the Egypt investigation off to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D C., where it appears then–attorney general William Barr killed it.

Today, Brian Schwartz of CNBC reported that Elon Musk and other tech executives are putting their money behind a social media ad campaign for Trump and Vance, and are creating targeted ads in swing states by collecting information about voters under false pretenses. According to Schwartz, their America PAC, or political action committee, says it helps viewers register to vote. And, indeed, the ads direct would-be voters in nonswing states to voter registration sites.

But people responding to the ad in swing states are not sent to registration sites. Instead, they are presented with “a highly detailed personal information form [and] prompted to enter their address, cellphone number and age,” handing over “priceless personal data to a political operation” that can then create ads aimed at that person’s demographic and target them personally in door-to-door campaigns. After getting the information, the site simply says, “Thank you,” without directing the viewer toward a registration site.

Forbes estimates Musk’s wealth at more than $235 billion.

In June the Trump Organization announced a $500 million deal with Saudi real estate developer Dar Global to build a Trump International hotel in Oman.

In January 2011, when he was director of the FBI, Robert Mueller gave a speech to the Citizens Crime Commission of New York. He explained that globalization and modern technology had changed the nature of organized crime. Rather than being regional networks with a clear structure, he said, organized crime had become international, fluid, and sophisticated and had multibillion-dollar stakes. Its operators were cross-pollinating across countries, religions, and political affiliations, sharing only their greed. They did not care about ideology; they cared about money. They would do anything for a price.

These criminals “may be former members of nation-state governments, security services, or the military,” he said. “They are capitalists and entrepreneurs. But they are also master criminals who move easily between the licit and illicit worlds. And in some cases, these organizations are as forward-leaning as Fortune 500 companies.”

In order to corner international markets, Mueller explained, these criminal enterprises "may infiltrate our businesses. They may provide logistical support to hostile foreign powers. They may try to manipulate those at the highest levels of government. Indeed, these so-called 'iron triangles' of organized criminals, corrupt government officials, and business leaders pose a significant national security threat."

In a new book called Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World, journalist Anne Applebaum carries that story forward into the present, examining how today’s autocrats work together to undermine democracy. She says that “the language of the democratic world, meaning rights, laws, rule of law, justice, accountability, [and] transparency…[is] harmful to them,” especially as those are the words that their internal opposition uses. “And so they need to undermine the people who use it and, if they can, discredit it.”

Those people, Applebaum says, “believe they are owed power, they deserve power.” When they lose elections, they “come back in a second term and say, right, this time, I'm not going to make that mistake again, and…then change their electoral system, or…change the constitution, change the judicial system, in order to make sure that they never lose.”

Almost exactly a year ago, on August 1, 2023, a grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted former president Donald J. Trump for conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to disenfranchise voters, and conspiring and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding. The charges stemmed from Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. A grand jury is made up of 23 ordinary citizens who weigh evidence of criminal activity and produce an indictment if 12 or more of them vote in favor.

The grand jury indicted Trump for “conspiracy to defraud the United States by using dishonesty, fraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful federal government function by which the results of the presidential election are collected, counted, and certified by the government”; “conspiracy to corruptly obstruct and impede the January 6 congressional proceeding at which the collected results of the presidential election are counted and certified”; and “conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted.”

“Each of these conspiracies,” the indictment reads, “targeted a bedrock function of the United States federal government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election.” “This federal government function…is foundational to the United States’ democratic process, and until 2021, had operated in a peaceful and orderly manner for more than 130 years.”

The case of the United States of America v. Donald J. Trump was randomly assigned to Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who was appointed by President Obama in 2014 and confirmed 95–0 in the Senate. Trump pleaded not guilty on August 3, after which his lawyers repeatedly delayed their pretrial motions until, on December 7, Trump asked the Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether he was immune from prosecution. Chutkan had to put off her initial trial date of March 4, 2024, and said she would not reschedule until the court decided the question of Trump’s immunity.

In February the appeals court decided he was not immune. Trump appealed to the Supreme Court, which waited until July 1, 2024, to decide that Trump enjoys broad immunity from prosecution for crimes committed as part of his official acts. Today the Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to Chutkan, almost exactly a year after it was first brought.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#WAPO #bribery #Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #corrupt SCOTUS #Chutkan #certification of the presidential election #voting rights #disenfranchising voters #organized crime

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mariacallous · 2 months

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On the same day that former president Donald Trump said vice president Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black,” Harris was at a Black sorority conference in Texas.

“As a proud member of the Divine 9, when I look out at everyone here, I see family,” said Harris, speaking on July 31 at Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority’s 60th Biennial Boule in Houston, Texas. Sound bites from Harris’ speech and high-pitched “EE-yips,” the call associated with Sigma Gamma Rho, echoed through countless videos that circulated on Instagram.

The Divine 9, or D9, refers to the nine historically African American sororities and fraternities that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Harris is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority—the first African American sorority. Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded at Harris’ alma mater, Howard University, in 1908.

"Generation after generation, the members of this sorority have shown that greater service brings greater progress,” Harris continued. “And in 2020, you continued your leadership when, during the height of a pandemic, you helped elect Joe Biden president of the United States and me as the first woman vice president of the United States.”

This appearance wasn’t a coincidence. Across the United States, members of Divine 9 organizations are uniting around a singular mission: increasing voter turnout in the US election this year. From sharing videos like the Harris event to posting voter registration links on their large Instagram accounts and developing voter turnout initiatives in secret group chats, members are using their Black Greek networks and social networks to bring more people to the polls.

While Divine 9 organizations do not officially endorse candidates, historically, Divine 9 organizations have made voter turnout and registration a pillar in their service initiatives, like with Alpha Phi Alpha’s “A Voteless People Is a Hopeless People” national program, Zeta Phi Beta’s “Get Engaged” initiative, and Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Social Justice initiative. Already, outreach on social media is working. One post of the Harris event from Watch the Yard, a leading social media platform for Black college culture and Greek life, racked up more than 122,000 plays.

Watch the Yard features original news stories on Black Greek life and HBCU college students across the country. The page shares Black Greek memes, like encouraging their Black Greek followers to tag their favorite non-members, but also call-to-action posts like reminding followers to get their vaccinations. And now, during the election season, the platform is turning its attention to voter turnout.

"We’re using the Divine 9 as the glue that connects Black students at HBCUs and [predominately white institutions], and using their network to disseminate information,” says Watch the Yard founder Jonathan Rabb, who added that because National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations are service-based, members and prospective members are already active within their own community. “There are very few networks in the United States like that for the African American community. Right under the Black church would probably be the D9.”

The Watch the Yard platform has 2 million followers, and Rabb says its content reaches around 13 million people per month. Because Divine 9 sorority and fraternity membership is encouraged to continue after college ends, Rabb also notes that their audience is intergenerational, with Gen-Zers and boomers actively engaging with each other in the comment sections. “We can reach students in swing states. We can reach a student in the Pacific Northwest. Because there’s D9 there. If I can reach that AKA in Oregon, I can reach her peers.”

On July 30, Watch the Yard announced its official partnership with Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote. Launched in 2018, the nonpartisan nonprofit seeks to help increase participation in every election. On Watch the Yard’s Instagram, followers can simply click the link in their bio to quickly see their registration status.

“As Black people fought for our rights to vote, the Divine 9 has been constantly connected to democracy and pushing people to vote,” says Rabb. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the second oldest African American sorority, was at the helm of the suffrage movement as the group’s first public act of service in 1913, he notes. “When it comes to the election, this is just a continuation of the work [the Divine 9] has already been doing.”

Black Greek organizations are not only organizing online publicly but privately as well. WIRED confirmed that over 8,000 members of Alpha Kappa Alpha have created an unofficial secret GroupMe with the purpose of increasing voter turnout throughout their communities. The privacy of the group allows members to share information on key campaign platforms for both candidates, create strategic planning for voter registration in underserved communities, and share opinions on candidates without the pressure of maintaining official protocols.

While the Divine 9 as organizations are not authorized to support specific candidates, alumni from HBCUs like Howard University are campaigning. The Howard University Bison PAC, a project within the Collective PAC, a political action committee working to elect more Black officials for political equity, has brought together alumni to raise money for the Harris-Walz ticket.

Even though the PAC isn't associated with any D9 organization, many of the PAC members are also members of the D9. According to an internal email viewed by WIRED, the first “HU Bison For Kamala” Zoom call on July 25 hosted over 4,000 attendees and raised more than $151,000 for the Harris campaign. “Within the next two weeks,” the email reads, “we’ll start our Bison PAC phone/text messaging ‘zoom parties’ to encourage Black voters in swing states to support Kamala Harris for President.”

The email to PAC members also linked to a social media best practices guide crafted by Cameron Trimble, a Howard University alum and founder of the Hip-Politics platform. The guide is titled “Ways to Be Helpful in the Digital and Social Media Landscape” and includes tips such as sharing and engaging with only positive Kamala content, not engaging in negative comments and content to avoid spiking it in the algorithm, and creating your own WhatsApp or internal group chats to share verified information for quick responses.

“We want to raise as much money as we can for Kamala. We want to make sure all Bisons [Howard students and alumni] are registered to vote, and we want to equip people with factual information to disseminate in their communities,” says Stefanie Brown James, the cofounder and senior adviser of the Collective PAC. “Long term, we want to make Bison PAC a stand-alone organization to support other Howard alumni who are running for office across the country … We want to be involved in our political process, and want to make sure we have a role in choosing who our leaders are.”

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snepril · 4 months

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The Aurilian Organism is a unique species native to the planet 34 Cygnus c, informally known as Aurilia after Exocartographer Matthew Auril, who first charted the planet in 2112. 34 Cygnus c is an Earth-like exoplanet approximately 1.4 times the size of Earth orbiting a binary star system. Water oceans cover approximately 82% of the planet's surface, while its surface temperature averages upwards of 52 degrees Celcius at the equator. The combination of high surface temperature and large water area drives the formation of large scale hurricanes at all times of year. Though 34 Cygnus c's atmosphere, composed mainly of nitrogen and oxygen, is generally similar to Earth's, the presence of elevated methane levels necessitate the use of respiratory equipment on the planet's surface. This, combined with the planet's higher oxygen concentration, leads to frequent and abrupt firestorms that can scorch dozens of kilometers at a time. These generally hostile conditions have led the United Nations to declare the planet not suitable for human habitation, and surface access is currently restricted to scientific expeditions only. 34 Cygnus c has an active biosphere. Multicellular life emerged on the planet approximately 3 billion years ago, and most of the planet's land area is dominated by large rainforests populated by xenofungal flora. Most flora have adapted to the planet's frequent firestorms by developing a rapid growth cycle, and entire forests can regrow from seed in a matter of weeks. Planetary fauna is entirely invertebrate, resembling large, soft-shelled arthropods. The Aurilian Organism is the dominant species of 34 Cygnus c, and is believed to have first emerged in its current form approximately 720 million years ago. The Organism in its current form is a gestalt composed of two distinct species in an obligatorily symbiotic relationship: Mnemosynus pyriti, a xenofungus resembling certain terrestrial lichens, and Melpomenia similis, a highly eusocial arthopod-analogue (commonly referred to as Aurilians). Mnemosynus pyriti is able to mimic almost all of the pheromonal and electrochemical signals which Aurilians use to communicate. While this may have originally evolved as a defensive mechanism, both species have since evolved to be entirely co-dependent on one another. Aurilian hives work to promote the growth of Mnemosynus pyriti, which in turn provides shelter, nutrition, and a form of distributed eusocial intelligence (see below). Aurilian colonies possess a social structure superficially resembling those of terrestrial ants or bees, albeit with a greater degree of sophistication. A number of specialized castes exist, with a great degree of physical variation between individuals depending on their designated role. Castes also differ greatly between colonies, which suggests that colonies are able to alter the forms of their drones in response to environmental pressures. Regardless of their caste, all members of a colony are able to communicate with one another via a combination of electrical, pheromonal, and auditory cues. Together with the communicative properties of Mnemosynus pyriti, this creates a form of organic network connecting all drones to one another, with lower castes directed by specialized coordinator drones who, in turn, receive orders from each hive's Queen. Unlike terrestrial insects, Aurilian Queens are not only responsible for procreation, but also serve as a form of central intelligence for their colonies. Though the extent of this control is not yet known, the Skipper 14 Incident indicates that a colony's temperment is determined largely by its resident Queen. Individual colonies have demonstrated a capacity for memory and learning, and information is preserved between successive generations of Queens; while the mechanism behind this is not yet fully understood, evidence suggests that the memories and temperament of a Queen can be retained in a colony's mycelial network to be imprinted on any future Queens, as demonstrated by the Phoenix Valley colony.

#sci-fi #transfur #backstory #what a curious lil species of bug friends #why would I be writing about them?

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soon-palestine · 6 months

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Damages to Physical Structures Estimated at $18.5 billion as of end January

The report also looks at the impact on the people of Gaza. More than half the population of Gaza is on the brink of famine and the entire population is experiencing acute food insecurity and malnutrition. Over a million people are without homes and 75% of the population is displaced. Catastrophic cumulative impacts on physical and mental health have hit women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities the hardest, with the youngest children anticipated to be facing life-long consequences to their development.

With 84% of health facilities damaged or destroyed, and a lack of electricity and water to operate remaining facilities, the population has minimal access to health care, medicine, or life-saving treatments. The water and sanitation system has nearly collapsed, delivering less than 5% of its previous output, with people dependent on limited water rations for survival. The education system has collapsed, with 100% of children out of school.

The report also points to the impact on power networks as well as solar generated systems and the almost total power blackout since the first week of the conflict. With 92% of primary roads destroyed or damaged and the communications infrastructure seriously impaired, the delivery of basic humanitarian aid to people has become very difficult.

The Interim Damage Assessment Note identifies key actions for early recovery efforts, starting with an increase in humanitarian assistance, food aid and food production; the provision of shelter and rapid, cost-effective, and scalable housing solutions for displaced people; and the resumption of essential services.

About the Gaza Interim Damage Assessment Report The Gaza Interim Damage Assessment report draws on remote data collection sources and analytics to provide a preliminary estimate of damages to physical structures in Gaza from the conflict in accordance with the Rapid Damage & Needs Assessment (RDNA) methodology. RDNAs follow a globally recognized methodology that has been applied in multiple post-disaster and post-conflict settings. A comprehensive RDNA that assesses economic and social losses, as well as financing needs for recovery and reconstruction, will be completed as soon as the situation allows. The cost of damages, losses and needs estimated through a comprehensive RDNA is expected to be significantly higher than that of an Interim Damage Assessment.

#palestine #gaza #free palestine

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lifewithchronicpain · 1 year

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About 12 million people in the United States – nearly 5% of the adult population – have chronic pain that is accompanied by anxiety or depression so severe that it limits their ability to work, socialize and complete daily tasks, according to a new study.

The co-occurrence of chronic pain with anxiety and/or depression (A/D) is well known, but little research has been conducted on its prevalence or impact. To see how often the symptoms occur, researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences analyzed responses from nearly 32,000 people who participated in the 2019 National Health Interview Survey.

Their findings, published in in the journal PAIN, show that adults with chronic pain are about five times more likely to report anxiety or depression than those without chronic pain. The risk is even higher in adults with “high impact pain” – pain severe enough to limit daily life and work activities -- who are eight times more likely to have A/D. "The study's findings highlight an underappreciated population and health care need -- the interdependency between mental health and chronic pain," said lead author Jennifer De La Rosa, PhD, director of strategy for the UArizona Health Sciences Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center...

...Researchers say further studies are needed to see if people receiving pain treatment are also getting mental health care, and whether that care is helping with their symptoms. A recent study found that anxiety, depression and other mood disorders often precede the development of fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). (Read more at link)

Yeah that was exactly my experience. Struggled with depression and anxiety from early teens and then by late twenties I started developing chronic issues starting with IBS, but also eventually including Fibromyalgia and a herniated disk. Although I did suffer from severe migraines in my teens too that aren't as debilitating now.

Also there is a risk of taking benzos for anxiety and opioids for pain together. Some doctors won't even prescribe opioids to people on benzos like Klonopin and Ativan. I actually managed to decrease the amount of Ativan I need monthly by just smoking marijuana daily.

#disability #chronic pain #depression #fibromyalgia #chronic fatigue syndrome #irritable bowel syndrome #mental health #generalized anxiety disorder #article

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militantinremission · 2 years

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The Difference between The Black Agenda & The Reparations Movement

Reparations Commissions are popping up across the Country, but none of them come close to addressing the true spirit of Reparations. There are several reasons for this:

Neither Democrats nor Republicans in Congress have a real interest in discussing Reparations; let alone dispensing anything tangible.

Minorities involved in these Reparations Projects have either tried to include their demographic into the discussion, or they have been against it.

Infighting amongst members of the ADOS, FBA, Freemen, & Indigenous Community have weakened the overall message of Reparations. The Masses don't realize that they are All THE SAME LINEAGE GROUP. This division weakens Our collective argument, but has allowed some to eat well over the past few Yrs.

Organizations like The NAACP, The Urban League, The National Action Network, NCOBRA, NAARC, & other like minded Groups have promoted a Trans Atlantic Reparations Agenda that ignores CARICOM. In effect, it 'Centers' Black Immigrants (including Afro Latinos) in the Black American Experience. Most arrived at least 10Yrs after Jim Crow ended- how do they qualify for American Reparations?

The recent kerfuffle over San Francisco NAACP President Rev. Amos Brown's rejection of that City's Reparations Proposal spotlights the problem w/ letting Our (so called) 'Established Leaders' drive the Reparations Bus. They drove the Bus into Our current situation, why should We expect anything different from them? Many of these individuals chose Corporate Donations over Black Community Development. They arent 'Leaders', they're Corporate Lobbyists. These are the Same People that let HR- 40 rot on the 'Social Action vine' for over 30Yrs; If they REALLY wanted Reparations...

Another issue, are the individuals & Organizations narrating 'The Black Agenda' into the Reparations Argument. They are separate & distinct. The White Noise of their rhetoric has confused The Masses, which weakens the magnitude of Our Fight. For the sake of clarity, I want to point out the difference between The Black Agenda & The Reparations Movement.

The Black Agenda, is an All inclusive Program for Black & Afrikan Americans, regardless of their Country of Origin. This includes Africans, Caribbeans, Afro Latinos, & Afro Asians. All of Us share in the current experience of being Black in America. It is an experience that is unique to Us, & is also what unites Us.

The Black Agenda is about Equity. America loves to promote 'Equality', but equal measure doesn't guarantee that Everyone will somehow end up on equal ground. We have been collectively marginalized in America, so it's only fair that they level the playing field. 'Rising Tide' Programs, like those offered by The Democratic Party are on the right track, but NONE take into account the fact that Black America needs an extra scoop of whatever they propose.

The Black Agenda deals w/ the issues of Community Development: Residential & Commercial/ Business Property Ownership, Job Development, Training & Employment Opportunities, Health Care & Mental Health Solutions, School Reform, After School Programs, Youth Empowerment, Visual & Performing Arts Programs, Daycare & Pre- K Programs, along w/ the necessary Community Boards needed to present these & other Community related issues to Local & State Agencies. The goal, is to improve the overall Quality of Life in Black Communities- up to the level of Every Other Community.

The Reparations Movement, is a specific call for American Society to pay their long overdue debt to American Descendants of Chattel Slavery. This Movement is about Indemnification. While Black America collectively deserves legislation, American Descendants Of Slavery deserve much more. The problem w/ EVERY Reparations Program offered so far, is they All ignore the fact that Reparations is a debt owed. They All read like Politicians are giving Blackfolk a hand out. These Programs also fall short on what is really owed.

A lot of numbers have been thrown around over the years, but I have consistently said that Final Reparations numbers will depend on WHO is held liable. If the U.S. Government alone is held liable, Reparations will probably be in the $18 Trillion- $22 Trillion range. If Corporations & Individual families are included, that number could reach $64 Trillion. That should give a clue to the extent of Exploitation, Theft, Terrorism & Oppression that Black America endured over the last 246Yrs- 400Yrs. American History is a chronicle of Anti- Black sentiment. Reparations Naysayers point out the impossibility of dispensing Trillions of Dollars, but a Multigenerational Reparations Program is an easy solution.

The Republican Party's outright refusal of, & The Democratic Party's attempt to graft Feminist & LGBTQ... rhetoric to Critical Race Theory (CRT), are attempts by both Parties to keep Mainstream America away from Our Nation's cruel & bloody past. They obviously fear divulging this history, because it will quell the Argument 'Against', as it strengthens the National Argument 'For' Reparations. The Immigrant Argument of 'I wasnt Here' becomes embarrassing, when We consider 2 facts:

It was Black American Labor that built America up & made it attractive (i.e. The Land of Milk & Honey) to Europeans, Asians, Latinos, Caribbeans, & Afrikans looking to start a New Life.

Black America is responsible for motivating ALL of the Immigration Initatives over the last 150Yrs; especially those since 1965.

It's only fitting for Immigrants living their American Dream (at another's expense) to pay tribute to the people who made that dream possible. I like the analogy of 'Inheriting an Old House'. The New Occupant didn't cause the wear & tear on the house, but that doesn't change the fact that they will have to invest the Time, Work, & Money needed to restore & maintain it. THAT, is the price of Occupancy.

Another thing to consider, is the fact that most Black Americans are descendants of Indigenous Americans or American Indians (Coppertoned Aborigines); not to be confused w/ 'Native Americans', who migrated from Siberia. Less than 10% of Transatlantic Slaves landed in North America. Our Ancestors were Prisoners Of War, that were forced into Indentured Servitude, & later Chattel Slavery on their Own Land. Census Records reveal the effort to hide Our lineage.

Starting w/ the 1790 Census, Indigenous indentured servants were reclassified as Negro & Colored. By the 1900 Census, Indigenous People were being punished for identifying as 'Indian'. They were forced to identify as Negro, Colored, or Mulatto. By the 1970 Census, We were designated 'Black'; & on the 1990 Census, We were labeled 'Afrikan American'... Out Of Afrika Theory is not only Culturally false, it now appears to be a ploy to get Us off of Our Land. We're looking to Afrika, while the Blood & Bones of Our Ancestors fertilize This Land. Our success in agriculture isn't an accident- We were Here for millennia!... I guess that adds an extra wrinkle to the Reparations Discussion.

It's Time for Us to link the moving parts of Our Lineage into Black Voltron, so We can get on w/ The Work. -Just Saying

#ADOS #B1 #CutTheCheck #FBA #AboriginalAmerican #AgeOfProphecy #BootlickMarginCall #DoctrinesOfDiscovery #RacialIntegrityAct #NoPolicyNoPeace

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sophia-zofia · 6 months

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WASHINGTON, April 2, 2024 – The cost of damage to critical infrastructure in Gaza is estimated at around $18.5 billion according to a new report released today by the World Bank and the United Nations, with financial support of the European Union. That is equivalent to 97% of the combined GDP of the West Bank and Gaza in 2022. The Interim Damage Assessment report used remote data collection sources to measure damage to physical infrastructure in critical sectors incurred between October 2023 and end of January 2024. The report finds that damage to structures affects every sector of the economy. Housing accounts for 72% of the costs. Public service infrastructure such as water, health and education account for 19%, and damages to commercial and industrial buildings account for 9%. For several sectors, the rate of damage appears to be leveling off as few assets remain intact. An estimated 26 million tons of debris and rubble have been left in the wake of the destruction, an amount that is estimated to take years to remove. The report also looks at the impact on the people of Gaza. More than half the population of Gaza is on the brink of famine and the entire population is experiencing acute food insecurity and malnutrition. Over a million people are without homes and 75% of the population is displaced. Catastrophic cumulative impacts on physical and mental health have hit women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities the hardest, with the youngest children anticipated to be facing life-long consequences to their development. With 84% of health facilities damaged or destroyed, and a lack of electricity and water to operate remaining facilities, the population has minimal access to health care, medicine, or life-saving treatments. The water and sanitation system has nearly collapsed, delivering less than 5% of its previous output, with people dependent on limited water rations for survival. The education system has collapsed, with 100% of children out of school. The report also points to the impact on power networks as well as solar generated systems and the almost total power blackout since the first week of the conflict. With 92% of primary roads destroyed or damaged and the communications infrastructure seriously impaired, the delivery of basic humanitarian aid to people has become very difficult. The Interim Damage Assessment Note identifies key actions for early recovery efforts, starting with an increase in humanitarian assistance, food aid and food production; the provision of shelter and rapid, cost-effective, and scalable housing solutions for displaced people; and the resumption of essential services. About the Gaza Interim Damage Assessment Report The Gaza Interim Damage Assessment report draws on remote data collection sources and analytics to provide a preliminary estimate of damages to physical structures in Gaza from the conflict in accordance with the Rapid Damage & Needs Assessment (RDNA) methodology. RDNAs follow a globally recognized methodology that has been applied in multiple post-disaster and post-conflict settings. A comprehensive RDNA that assesses economic and social losses, as well as financing needs for recovery and reconstruction, will be completed as soon as the situation allows. The cost of damages, losses and needs estimated through a comprehensive RDNA is expected to be significantly higher than that of an Interim Damage Assessment.

#palestine #free palestine #israel #gaza #free gaza #genocide #zionism

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 1 month

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New SpaceTime out Friday

SpaceTime 20240830 Series 27 Episode 105

Discovery of the heaviest antimatter hyper-nucleus ever created

Physicists from the STAR Collaboration have for the first time observed a new antimatter hyper-nucleus called anti-hyperhydrogen-4.

Rocket engine explodes during UK spaceport test A rocket engine exploded spectacularly during a hot fire first stage test at Britain's new SaxaVord spaceport in northern Scotland.

Why food tastes bad in space

A new study may help explain why astronauts are constantly reporting that their meals taste bland in space.

The Science Report

Five percent of people are consuming products that are potentially toxic to their livers.

The robotic glove that will help people who need hand rehabilitation.

Your social position – income and job – could be linked to your food preferences.

Skeptics guide to the accuracy of ghost hunts

SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.

The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com

SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/

SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary

SpaceTime YouTube: @SpaceTimewithStuartGary

SpaceTime -- A brief history

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads every year. We’re also number five in the United States. The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science. SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research. The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network. Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor. Gary’s always loved science. He studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics, but instead focused on his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. Gary’s radio career stretches back some 34 years including 26 at the ABC. He worked as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. He was part of the team that set up ABC NewsRadio and became one of its first on air presenters. When asked to put his science background to use, Gary developed StarStuff which he wrote, produced and hosted, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually. However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sports and horse racing coverage. Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently. StarStuff was rebranded as “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016. Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is published three times weekly (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #nasa #astrophysics #esa #spacetimewithstuartgary #starstuff #spacetime #jwst #hubble space telescope #james webb space telescope #csiro

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dailyanarchistposts · 6 days

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From anti-capitalism to anti-homonormativity

As we have seen, an important part of queer politics is the reclaiming of hetero- normative public space for queer public sex and safety. Berlant and Warner’s account of queer counterpublics takes recourse to a spatial taxonomy related to cap- italist private property rights and commercial development. ‘In late 20th-century‘‘post-industrial’’ societies like the United States, the (in)visibility of class divisions continues to be spatially regulated by urban planning’ (Hennessy, 1994–95: 67). Ownership and control of space is at stake in queer liberation. ‘By letting the language of real-estate development serve queer public intimacy, Berlant and Warner provide a powerful and necessary critique of heteronormative privacy and put forth a compelling defense of the social networks and queer culture created through public sex’ (Castiglia, 2000: 156). Spaces mapped out for queer pleasure via communal intimacies are crucial to queer counterpublics. For Warner, ‘A counterpublic, against the background of the public sphere, enables a horizon of opinion and exchange; its exchanges remain distinct from authority and can have a critical relation to power’ (Warner, 2002: 56–7). Anti-capitalist queer organizing assumes a critical relation to the new power hierarchies that have been established within queer culture, to unlink queer culture from consumerism, offering critiques of gay villages steeped in commerce, the ‘pink dollar’, the gay niche market, and corporate sponsorship of Pride marches.

Exhibit C: The Pink Panthers, Montreal, 14 February 2004

Operation ‘Pepto-Bismol Please!’, designed by the Pink Panthers collective to denounce the commercialization of Valentines Day, took place as planned late this afternoon in Montreal’s Gay Village. After puking on the doorsteps of the Village’s most prosperous shops and bars catering to gay businessmen, members of this radical queer group flooded the neighborhood with counterfeit coupons, symbolizing the reign of the pink dollar and the capitalist compliance of today’s average gays and lesbians (Les Panthe‘ res Roses, 2004).

According to Berlant and Elizabeth Freeman: ‘The Pink Panthers, initially con- ceived of at a Queer Nation meeting (they are now a separate organization), pro- vided a searing response to the increased violence that has accompanied the general increase of gay visibility in America’ (1992: 161). Les Panthe‘res Roses, The Pink Panthers, was ‘a group of radical queers based in Montreal, who use[d] direct and creative action to confront the established order’. Formed in 2002, Les Panthe‘res Roses held their first anti-capitalist action at Montreal Gay Pride in 2003, ‘[d]istribut[ing] hundreds of Anti-Ad Kits on Rene-Le´vesque Street’ (Les Panthe‘ res Roses, 2004). In 2004 they organized an anti-homonormative Valentine’s Day vomiting direct action:

A member of the Pink Panthers, before vomiting on the steps of the store Megavideo, revealed that the most infuriating thing for him was the capitalist appropriation of emotions like love and liberty, which have always belonged to everybody and should never have become dependant [sic] on consumption. He feels that multinationals and others who profit off of Valentine’s Day are doing something that by its very nature (competition, salary reduction, waste of natural resources) has nothing to do with the love of another person. (Les Panthe‘ res Roses, 2004) The Pink Panthers used their vomit action to denounce capitalist exploitation of gay consumer dollars and ‘natural resources’ or the environment, linking these two issues. They also noted that, ‘businessmen make themselves out to be the most enthusiastic proponents of gay liberation, while at the same time using their phallocentric power to exclude everyone who is not a white man’ (Les Panthe‘ res Roses, 2004). They add masculinity and race to the environment and capitalism as axes of oppression that intersect with and in queer subjectivities and liberation. The Pink Panthers’ anti-homonormative action includes a greater diversity of queers who might live in poverty, and/or be women, and/or be bisexual, and/ or be trans, and/or be people of colour, and/or be sex workers, and/or be dis- abled, and/or not conform to the dominant beauty image, and/or otherwise devi- ate from gay stereotypes. They challenge barriers to participation for doubly or multiply marginalized queers in counterpublic spaces inside urban clubs or shops, where some modes of oppression might be reinforced (e.g. by racism, the ‘dick at the door’ policy, beauty standards, social class belonging, ageism, ableism and so on). Furthermore, the Panthers’ message was created in the streets, accessible to all passers-by, claiming public spaces and moments as queer autonomous zones free of oppression.

Direct action vomiting critiques the homonormativity of the queer counter- public that includes gay villages, corporatized Pride marches and the like. The Pink Panthers’ vomit actions make Berlant and Warner’s erotic vomit story seem somewhat limited, as does the academic public created by representation in an article such as this one. Sitting in a bar vicariously experiencing some- one’s intense eroticism positively revalues and simultaneously degrades it, as the performance risks becoming commodified. The Pink Panthers’ statement critiques queer counterpublics for commodifying affect through ‘the capitalist appropriation of emotions like love and liberty’. While the erotic vomiting scene Berlant and Warner witnessed is hardly a Valentine’s Day card, it does partic- ipate in the queer consumerism of gay bars that reifies homo-norms, for exam- ple that queers all go to leather bars, or that being queer is a hip young urban lifestyle choice. These stereotypes become homo-norms in urban queer counterpublics.

While queer visibility in heteronormative culture is important, Mall Zaps and Kiss-Ins also tend to reinforce queer stereotypes through mainstream practices such as shopping and public kissing. Richard Dyer has found that ‘Gay people, whether activists or not, have resented and attacked the images of homosexual- ity ... The principle line of attack has been on stereotyping’ (Dyer, 2006: 353). Gay stereotypes tend to emphasize white middle-class cisgender gay male consumerism. ‘Particularly damaging is the fact that many gay people believe [stereotypes], lead- ing on the one hand to the self-oppression so characteristic of gay people’s lives, and on the other to behaviour in conformity with the stereotypes which of course only serves to confirm their truth’ (2006: 353). Kiss-Ins and Mall Zaps perform the ‘truth’ of certain stereotypes revealing both internal (within queer groups) and internalized (within the self) oppressions.

Ironically, this tends to both deconstruct and simultaneously reinforce both heteronormativity and homonormativity. ‘One of the modes of [maintaining het- erosexual hegemony] for gays is casting gay relationships and characters in terms of heterosexual roles’ (Dyer, 2006: 356), including kissing in malls or public squares posing as a heteronormative couple. Kevin Michael DeLuca describes a famous gay kiss-in poster by Gran Fury thus: ‘One sailor has his arms around his partner’s waist. The other sailor’s arms are around his partner’s neck. In other words, it is a classic kiss’ (1999: 18). This image inserts queer subjectivities into the public sphere, demanding access to power. At the same time, it risks becoming a homonormative image, as the men are both beautiful, white, thin, and middle class with matching short haircuts and outfits. Certainly there is also a level of irony in the perfor- mance. Nonetheless acts and images like ‘these simply bolster heterosexual hege- mony, [whereas] the task is to develop our own alternative and challenging definitions of ourselves’ (Dyer, 2006: 357). Self-definitions must move past white privilege and other dominant homo-norms. A Kiss-In emphasizes public kissing, not a norm in all ethno-cultural groups. Shopping imagines all queers as middle- class consumers who escalate environmental devastation. ‘These stereotypes of wealthy free-spending gay consumers play well with advertisers and are useful to corporations because they make the gay market seem potentially lucrative’ (Hennessy, 1994–95: 66). Queer activism, in earnest attempts to challenge hetero- normativity, has inadvertently reinscribed a homonormative subject complicit with capitalism, racism, environmental destruction, ableism, patriarchy, beauty myths and so on. Radical queer activists attempt to move beyond this deadlock without abandoning the notion of queer culture altogether.

The Pink Panthers’ action of vomiting in public takes it out of a commodified space. The vomit, however, was made of oatmeal not actual vomit, producing a simulated vomiting against the hyper-simulations of capitalism. The action goes into a space it rejects, and replicates that which it rejects. This simulation and rejection is analogous to the disgust shared with commuters, a kind of hyper- affect produced by vomiting in streets or back-alleys or commuter trains. Only these non-regulated, open-ended public spaces can be liberatory; as the body itself becomes the message, the vomit becomes a kind of street-corner text acces- sible to all. According to DeLuca, the body itself has become an event-image, a text that can shift the discursive mainstream framing of queer politics, as some ‘activist groups practice an alternative image politics, performing image events designed for mass media dissemination. Often, image events revolve around images of bodies – vulnerable bodies, dangerous bodies, taboo bodies, ludicrous bodies, transfigured bodies’ (DeLuca, 1999: 10). The vomiting body is a ‘dangerous body’ bringing forth new ideas. ‘Their bodies, then, become not merely flags to attract attention for the argument but the site and substance of the argument itself’ (1999: 10). Using their bodies, the Pink Panthers’ puking action articulated a message against con- sumerism and other exclusions, the substance of which was the vomit itself. Their ‘bodies simultaneously are constructed in discourses and exceed those discourses’ (1999: 20) – or in this case, the discourse/vomit exceeded the body – moving beyond ‘a class-specific ‘bourgeois (homosexual/queer) imaginary’ [that] structures our knowledge of sexual identity, pleasure, and emancipation’ (Hennessy, 1994–95: 70). Certainly not bourgeois, vomiting on the steps of queer consumerism makes the point that pleasure and emancipation should be available to all subjects, those who go to gay bars, as well as those who are excluded. The public created is a free and fluid autonomous public.

This kind of direct action demonstrates that ‘movements around gender and sexuality do not always conform to the bourgeois model of ‘rational-critical debate’ (Warner, 2002: 51), nor do they remain legal. Groups such as ‘Earth First!, ACT UP and Queer Nation have challenged and changed the meanings of the world not through good reasons but through vulnerable bodies, not through rational argu- ments but through bodies at risk’ (DeLuca, 1999: 11). Engaging in direct action in open public spaces the Pink Panthers risk criminalization. After the action in Montreal, The Mirror ran the headline, ‘Puking Queers Make Splash!’ and featured an interview with a ‘self-described anarchist’, who used the name ‘‘Olivier’’, – a pseudonym, as he acknowledges his acts are illegal’. The use of pseudonyms is almost ironic as vomiting is not a transgression of the law, but rather signifies a transgression against the digestive system. The context of the action, however – in public, against corporations – renders it ‘illegal’ and the pseudonym necessary. Often regular behaviour (vomiting, having sex) is criminalized when engaged by queers. Furthermore, there is a link between shame (i.e. the private) and criminal- ization (i.e. privatization of ownership, space and so on). Warner observes that ‘critically relevant styles of publicness in gay male’ and, I would add, other queer ‘sexual culture[s] are seldom recognized as such but are typically denounced as sleaze and as crime’ (2002: 52). Puking punks and queers are sleazy, shameful criminals who are bad for business.

And yet sleaze, perversion, deviance, eccentricity, weirdness, kinkiness, BDSM and smut, although perhaps not openly homo-norms among the new assimilation- ists advocating same-sex marriage, are central to sex-positive queer anarchist lives. ‘Queer and other insurgents have long striven, often dangerously or scandalously, to cultivate what good folks used to call criminal intimacies’ (Berlant and Warner, 2000: 322), figured as exciting sites of resistance. ‘Nonstandard intimacies would seem less criminal and less fleeting if, as used to be the case, normal intimacies included everything from consorts to courtiers, friends, amours, associates, and co- conspirators’ (2000: 323). Here we come up against another binary, however: normal vs. nonstandard. According to Jamie Heckert, ‘LGBT politics maintains these categories: it intends to invert their meaning, redefining sexual deviance as sexual identity of which one should be proud and sexual normality as boring/ oppressive’ (2004: 106). The desire for certain behaviours to be recategorized as ‘normal’ is denounced in a queer anarchist world-making project that considers all consensual, non-coerced intimacies and sexualities legitimate, challenging homo- normativity via anti-oppression politics.

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humanrightsupdates · 3 months

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South Sudan’s Authorities Show Their Aversion to Criticism Yet Again

Release Detained Journalist, Allow Free Speech, Peaceful Protests

Last week, authorities in Jonglei state detained a photojournalist with the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation for participating in protests about the cost of living and nonpayment of civil servant salaries. Media reported that police and National Security Service (NSS) agents took Aleu Anyieth from his home in Bor, the capital of Jonglei state, but his whereabouts, five days later, remain unknown, raising the possibility that he has been forcibly disappeared. Credible sources say he is accused of organizing the protests.

Bol Deng Bol, a human rights defender who heads the Jonglei Civil Society Network and Intrepid South Sudan, a human rights organization, announced on the social media site X that he is wanted by the authorities in connection with the same protests. He told Human Rights Watch that he had received repeated threats, including that his office would be shut down, by people he believes to be NSS.

Neither Anyieth nor Bol, nor any other peaceful protestor, should face harassment or sanctions for participating in or allegedly organizing protests. Anyieth’s whereabouts should immediately be made public and he should be released.

These recent developments are indicative of the heavy-handed approach used by the government to quash dissent. Since the start of 2024, Human Rights Watch has documented an increase in arbitrary arrests and detentions of critics. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan noted in late 2023 that repression was deeply entrenched in South Sudan and that it had stagnated any democratic prospects.

#south sudan #sudan #human rights #human rights watch

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usafphantom2 · 7 months

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IMAGES: B-52 and B-1 bombers perform rare joint flight with Gripens over the Swedish capital

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 03/06/2024 - 21:57in Military

With Sweden about to officially join NATO in the coming days, the U.S. Air Force celebrated March 6 with a rare double overfly of bombers, with a B-52 Stratofortress and a B-1 Lancer flying over Stockholm, accompanied by the Swedish Air Force's JAS39 Gripens fighters.

The U.S. Air Forces in Europe noted in a statement that the bombers flew over the Avicii Arena, the Swedish Parliament, Stockholm Arlanda Airport and much more during the overfly.

A spokesman for the U.S. Air Force Global Attack Command said that the B-52 came from the 5ª Bomber Wing at Minot Air Base, North Dakota, while the B-1 came from the 28ª Bomber Wing at Ellsworth Air Base, South Dakota.

Both bombers planned the CONUS-CONUS mission, which means that they took off from the U.S. and intended to return without landing. The B-1 was diverted, however, to the RAF Base in Fairford, in the United Kingdom, said the spokesman, confirming sightings and reports on social networks.

"The training was a great success and is based on our already excellent relationship," added the spokesman.

“The strong and lasting bond between the United States and Sweden, rooted in mutual interests and shared values, is prepared to reach new heights,” USAFE commander General James Hecker said in a statement. “As Sweden prepares to join the NATO Alliance as its 32ndº member, we eagerly anticipate the deepening of our collaboration with our Swedish Allies. Initiatives such as this joint passage are just the beginning, as we work together to promote international stability and security."

Such missions are signs of support, such as when the B-52s flew over North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Croatia in August 2022. A statement from USAFE at the time said that the mission demonstrated "the commitment and guarantee of the U.S. to the Allies and NATO partners located in Southeast Europe." Similarly, the F-16s fled over Bosnia and Herzegovina in January, in a show of force aimed at deterring the "separatist activity" of Bosnian Serbs. In May 2021, the B-52s flew over all NATO nations in a single flight.

The joint flight of the B-52 and B-1, however, is unusual. The Stockholm overfly recorded a quick return after two B-1s returned to Ellsworth on March 1º, concluding a deployment of the Bomber Task Force at Lulea-Kallax Air Base in Sweden. The jets arrived on February 24 and carried out surface attack, air interdiction and approximate air support training with the Swedish Air Force. On the way back, several NATO allies took turns practicing interceptions with the B-1.

Photos: Flygvapnet / Swedish Air Force

Source: Air & Space Forces Magazine

Tags: Military AviationB-1B LancerBoeing B-52H StratofortressFlygvapnet - Swedish Air ForceJAS39 GripenNATO - North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationUSAF - United States Air Force / U.S. Air Force

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Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.