#War on citizens

[jtem]

They love you, the citizen. And they love, Love, LOVE small business, as demonstrated by how they treat you, the customer.

[usnatarchives]

“I was in Monmouth battle and many others and received a wound in my face from a ball, the scar of which is still visible.” – Robert Green, veteran

Robert Green gave this testimony at the age of 65 when applying for a federal pension for his service. Green’s story embodies the courage and resilience of African American patriots during the Revolutionary War. Wounded at the Battle of Monmouth, Green’s journey is a testament to the sacrifices made for the liberties we cherish today.

We invite you to be a part of a monumental effort to bring these stories to light. By joining our Revolutionary War Veterans Transcription Project, you’re not just transcribing documents; you’re helping to preserve and honor the legacy of African American soldiers.

You can ensure their stories, their sacrifice, and their dreams are not forgotten. Dive into history, transcribe with us, and help make the legacy of heroes like Robert Green accessible for generations to come.

Visit https://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist/missions/revolutionary-war-pension-files for details!

[reasonsforhope]

"Palestinian plaintiffs and their legal representatives on Friday [January 26, 2024] presented a powerful case in federal court accusing President Joe Biden and other top US officials of complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza.

People around the world tuned in for the long-awaited hearing in Oakland, with plaintiffs appearing in person and over Zoom in an unprecedented effort to hold the Biden administration accountable for its actions in Gaza.

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed the lawsuit in November 2023 on behalf of Defense for Children International–Palestine, Al-Haq, and eight Palestinians in the US and Palestine. The complaint accuses President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin of failing to live up to their legal responsibilities under the 1948 Genocide Convention and the 1988 Genocide Convention Implementation Act.

The United Nations convention classifies complicity in genocide, or the intentional destruction of a people in whole or in part, as a crime under international law and requires that states take measures to prevent such atrocities.

[Note: This is a big reason why politicians almost never call it a genocide, btw. Because if a country recognizes that it's a genocide, then they actually are legally required to do a bunch of things to stop it, under international law.]

The historic lawsuit contends that the Biden administration has failed to uphold its obligations by continuing to provide diplomatic and military support for Israel's brutal campaign in Gaza. Plaintiffs are asking the court to stop Biden from sending more weapons and munitions to Israel that are being used to kill Palestinians en masse.

The hearing before the US District Court for the Northern District of California took place just hours after the International Court of Justice issued provisional measures against Israel in a landmark case brought by South Africa.

-via TAG24, January 26, 2024. Article continues below.

Court contends with questions of jurisdiction and responsibility

In evaluating the allegations, questioning in Friday's hearing revolved around the so-called political question doctrine, by which federal courts regularly refrain from ruling on political matters seen as best resolved by the president and Congress.

The Department of Justice argued that according to the doctrine, the court has no jurisdiction to rule in the case.

"If the court condemns United States foreign policy toward Israel, it could cause international embarrassment and undermine foreign policy decisions in the sensitive context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," defense counsel Jean Lin told Senior District Judge Jeffrey S. White.

Katherine Gallagher of the CCR countered that the court does, indeed, have a responsibility to step in: "Here, the question is a legal one, whether the actions undertaken by the United States failed to uphold the obligation to prevent genocide, and that is an active obligation that requires that the United States not provide the means by which a genocide is being furthered."

"There is no discretion for any state to evade its obligations, its legal obligations. These are not policy decisions," she said.

Palestinian plaintiffs share powerful testimonies before the court

After legal arguments in the case, Judge White heard two hours of gut-wrenching testimony from Palestinian plaintiffs and a renowned Holocaust and genocide expert.

Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History at Wake Forest University Dr. Barry Trachtenberg shared his remarks before the court in spite of vehement US government opposition.

"To have an event fall under the 1948 Convention on Genocide requires both action and intent, and here we see that very, very clearly in a way that seems really quite unique in history," he stated, noting that there is now an opportunity to stop Israel's unfolding genocide in real time to prevent further loss of lives...

Judge White said he would take the testimonies to heart as he evaluates his constitutional responsibilities, describing the case as "the most difficult judicial decision" he has ever had to make."

-via TAG24, January 26, 2024

-

Note: I know a lot of people are really not gonna appreciate that last line. I'm not thrilled with it either. But it is worth noting that having a federal court overrule the US president's huge foreign policy and military decisions would be an absolutely massive deal/precedent

This is a case that deserves to be ruled on with an incredible amount of seriousness, if only because if you're a federal judge who's going to make that call, your written decision/legal justification needs to be unimpeachable

That said, if the judge uses jurisdiction to pass the buck here and avoid his legal and human responsibility to do what he can to stop a genocide, I'm gonna be pissed

[jewelleria]

“zionism is white supremacy” shut up and open a fucking dictionary. open an encyclopedia. open a goddamn history book.

zionism doesn’t mean the absence of rights for everyone other than jews. zionism means establishing and continuing to defend a country that keeps jews safe, because we’ve learned from 3000+ years of being kicked out of literally everywhere else that if we don’t protect ourselves, no one will.

grow up. stop being so childish. y’all are just mad it’s harder to kill jews than it used to be.

[breesperez139]

Dc x Dp Prompt #3

Immortal Ghost King Au:

Daniel Fenton was crowned as High King Phantom of the Infinite Realms on his 16th birthday. He knew many were opposed to him being crowned at such a young age (he was too), but the Realms had gone too long without a ruler and it was getting restless.

The Realms were sentient to some extent. It can not run itself as it has no form but it chooses a host, a King if you will, to fulfill its wishes. It may have lived on an entire millennia without a ruler, but it was only out of sheer luck and the contributions of countless gods that it had survived. The Infinite Realms needed a King and Danny Phantom was the only contender.

So the people were ignored and their boy king was crowned. However Phantom was young and naive, a child as both a human and a ghost. Even worse, he knew nothing about being a king. But the little godling would learn and learn he did.

Most kings were taught before they were coronated, but Danny had no such privilege. His coronation came and left with the wind. His private lessons overshadowed any thoughts he had left of mortal schooling. And Danny gave up on living a normal human life.

That last part was perhaps the easiest for Danny. Amity Park was already considered too liminal for them to have any “sentience”. The GIW had all but declared war on the Realms with their continuous violent actions upon his people and the land itself.

It wasn’t difficult for Amity to give up their “rights” and “humanity” either. They said good riddance to the world that never helped them, to the heroes that ignored their cries for help. And they bowed to Phantom, declaring him their King, just as he declared them citizens of the Infinite Realms.

He welcomed his liminals with open arms, vowing to protect them from any harm that would come their way, just as he would with any of his other citizens. He gave them a home in the Realms, an island- no a haunt of their own should they wish to truly reject the land of the living, and they accepted. Not many wanted to try their luck against the human government.

But with a God, no, their King on their side, they knew their safety and happiness was all but assured. After all, it was Phantom who protected them even as they turned their own backs at him. It was Phantom who fought against foes that could have erased him from existence.

And of course it was Phantom who would now receive any and all support he could ever want and need should he declare war against the humans of Earth. No, there was no need for people of the Infinite Realms to worry. High King Phantom was a God after all. It was only ever his right to exact divine punishment onto those who opposed and threatened his will. It was not their fault if the humans actively went against his will. No, the humans had no one but themselves to blame for whatever came for them.

[banefort]

"omg why arent we getting [character that was mentioned once in f&b and had zero impact on the war]"

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

I was talking to an Israeli friend about some of the neat parks near where she grew up, and she sent over a screenshot of the google maps and

Please note how bomb shelters is one of the suggested searches.

I know I've harped on this before, but it just really drove home how serious the constant attacks are on Israelis. This is a 100% residential area. That not only needs bomb shelters, but needs them frequently enough that they are all over and a recommended search by google.

Not that I really needed the reminder; this has all been within the last day or so:

[merakiui]

this has the same energy of finding out your coworker is either much older/much younger than you originally assumed.

[demigoddessqueens]

Rest in peace Mr Sutherland 💔

[clonehub]

kinda interested in theorizing how the court system in the republic works. specifically coruscant bc imagine if with a trillion people on the planet the trial and appeal system is absolute shit

[tobytost]

some bttf game sketches + Martin Mcfly???

hi bttf fandom :3

[etraytin]

Old War Stories

It's interesting to talk with my WWII vet client about the war. He's 101 now but his memories of that part of his life are still clear, just tempered by the weight of years that have gone by since then. All of his old friends and comrades are dead by now, though he pays close attention when a veteran gets on the news for turning 100 or an honor flight is mentioned. Almost everyone he knew from his youth and the prime of his life are gone now, but he likes to tell stories about them. He likes telling stories about the war, mostly funny stories about how bad the sanitary conditions were or the food or being asked to build their own semi-permanent shelter and nobody knowing how. He has a great story about the time he almost got court-martialed for all but peeing on a general who happened to be walking by; it's one of his favorites.

Sometimes, though, he gets into a pensive mood and the tone of the stories changes. We were out in his yard the other evening because he wanted to trim the hedges and I was trying to keep him from breaking a hip while trimming the hedges, when something reminded him of his time in Italy. It started out with funny stories about the young guys getting lined up for medical exams and STD checks, but then wandered down other paths. He told me how they would go out into the town and the little boys who barely knew English and called all the soldiers Joe would try to tell them about their sisters who were sixteen or seventeen or eighteen and who "liked soldiers." He explained that the people in the town had nothing, they didn't have enough to eat and they would steal or do whatever they had to do. He told me that one time he made his way into the commissary area and somehow secured a big can of mixed fruit to his abdomen with a belt and managed to sneak it out and give it to some of the kids. That part of the story was funny, but he wondered aloud what happened to any of those people later on, how many of them managed to survive.

My client is proud of helping to win the war, proud of his service, proud of the friends he lost and the sacrifices they made. But he is haunted by it too, in ways that show sometimes in the stories. He says he talked with the pilot of the Enola Gay once, who came from his bombardment group and who he knew a little bit. He told me he asked the pilot if he'd do it again, and the pilot told him that he was an officer in the Army AIr Corps, under oath and under orders, and in the same circumstances he would do it again. And then my client told me another story of the first bombing mission he went on, when the bombing was a fairly new thing, and how the people in the town below heard the engines and saw the contrails and came out of their houses to look at the planes. If they'd run a few hundred yards perpendicular to the plane trajectory, my client told me, they'd have been safe. But they didn't. They didn't know any better. He decided that was enough war stories and yard work for one evening and we went inside.

[reasonsforhope]

In 2016, when the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace agreement with the Colombian government, scientists realized that the rainforests, mountains, and savannahs, out of which the FARC waged a 50-year guerrilla war, and which were counted among the most biodiverse and least-explored places on earth, were suddenly safe to explore.

In Colombia, a few biologists who longed to journey to the heart of these places also saw them as the perfect way to bring 14,000 former guerrillas back into society in a meaningful way that would benefit not only them, but the country’s stunning biodiversity.

Colombia is often referred to as the world’s most biodiverse country. Although this is a hard thing to designate since many species around the world of all kinds remain undiscovered, she does lay claim to the most bird species anywhere on earth – both endemic and migratory.

Who better to help protect Colombia’s wild spaces than those who know them best, thought Jaime Góngora, a wildlife geneticist at the University of Sydney but who is originally from Colombia.

Góngora now leads a group of researchers from the United Kingdom, Australia, and 10 different Colombian scientific institutions in a program to train ex‑guerrillas to study Colombia’s native plants and animals, which to date has uncovered nearly 100 previously-unknown species.

Peace with Nature

Peace with Nature is the result of these scientists working together with guerillas to help protect Colombia’s biodiversity and aid in the post-conflict situation for thousands of people, 84% of whom, according to Góngora, are interested in pursuing, of all things, river habitat restoration as their post-conflict career path.

Góngora and his colleagues are only too happy to help, and Peace with Nature began hosting citizen scientist workshops to help train eager folks how to find, identify, catalogue, and study wild plants, insects, birds, amphibians, and more.

The preparation work was long and hard – between 15 and 18 months according to Góngora...

“In some of the workshops, we have the presence of the police and military forces along with the ex-combatants,” explains Góngora. “I think what has surprised me most is the opportunity that biodiversity offers for reconciliation and healing after an armed conflict. These workshops have been spaces for a respectful dialogue about biodiversity and nature.”"

-via World at Large, 7/13/20

Note: Video is half in English, half in Spanish. Spanish subtitles for English parts only.

[usnatarchives]

"It's a tradition with us, mister!" - Volunteer for the #RevWarVets mission today.

Under the alias Robert Shurtliff, Deborah Gannett served valiantly for over two years. She braved the battlefield at Tarrytown, was wounded, and stood witness to Cornwallis’s surrender. Remarkably, she is believed to be the only woman to receive a pension for her own service in the Revolution.

This story is just one of many waiting to be discovered and shared through the #RevWarVets Transcription Project in partnership with the National Park Service.

Your participation can make a huge difference. By joining our transcription project, you help bring these vital stories of our first veterans to light, ensuring they are remembered and honored.

Get started today!

Project Page: https://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist/missions/revolutionary-war-pension-files

Deborah’s Catalog entry:

[redbean-nom]

love that hunter's like "we've all fought enough battles for one lifetime."

and then there's rex stuck fighting all the way to the battle of endor. poor guy

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks the removal of a Confederate monument marked as “in appreciation of our faithful slaves” from outside of a North Carolina county courthouse.

The Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County, a civic group focused on issues facing local Black residents, and several of its members filed the lawsuit against the county’s commissioners. The legal complaint argues that the monument constitutes racially discriminatory government speech in violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

Tyrrell County includes a few thousand residents in eastern North Carolina. The monument, which was erected on the courthouse grounds in 1902, features a Confederate soldier standing atop a pedestal, with one of the markings below mentioning “faithful slaves.” The lawsuit argues that the monument conveys a racist and offensive message that Black people who were enslaved in the county preferred slavery to freedom.

“The point of putting such a monument near the door of the Tyrrell County Courthouse was to remind Black people that the county’s institutions saw their rightful place as one of subservience and obedience, and to suggest to them that they could not and would not get justice in the courts,” the lawsuit argues.

The Associated Press contacted the Tyrrell County manager via email requesting a comment on the lawsuit.

North Carolina legislators enacted a law in 2015 that limits when an “object of remembrance” such as a military monument can be relocated. Still, the lawsuit says more than a dozen Confederate monuments have been taken down in North Carolina in the past five years, many due to votes by local officials.

Others were removed by force. In 2018, protesters tore down a Confederate statue known as “Silent Sam” at the University of North Carolina campus at Chapel Hill. Statues of soldiers from the North Carolina Confederate Monument on the old Capitol grounds in Raleigh came down in June 2020. Gov. Roy Cooper, citing public safety, directed that the remainder of the monument and two others on Capitol grounds be removed.

Confederate monuments in North Carolina, as elsewhere nationwide, were a frequent focal point for racial inequality protests in the late 2010s, and particularly in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

The Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County wrote that they have fought for the courthouse monument’s removal for years, from testifying at county commission meetings to advertising on billboards.