#and that has had catastrophic problems that have escalated into the world's problems?

[raijinkou]

there's something so fascinating in seeing minato face the consequences of the choices / actions he made in life, with various levels of severity, after his death. he doesn't expect forgiveness. he will apologize because he does genuinely feel horrible for hurting others. but since he was the one responsible, he'll bear the weight of the blame regardless of what that means like getting punched in the gut by his own son, for example

[mariacallous]

The story is told of the U.S. Secretary of State, who on a diplomatic mission to London, Moscow, and Jerusalem, decided to take a break and look for some new clothes. In each city, the secretary went to the tailor to ask, “For $100, what can you make me?” The British tailor offered to make a sweater and a tie. The Russian tailor could make a vest and a pair of pants for that sum. But in Jerusalem, the answer came as a surprise. “For $100 I can make you several shirts, a sport coat, and I’ll throw in a few pairs of pants,” the Israeli tailor said. Stunned, the U.S. diplomat asked how the same money could buy so much more in Israel. “It’s really quite simple,” the tailor replied: “Out here, you’re not so big.”

As we mark the first year of the Israel-Hamas war and the escalating crisis on another front between Israel and Hezbollah, nowhere is the United States’ “out here, you’re not so big” problem more stunningly and tragically apparent. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has not been a potted plant. While the flow of assistance to the suffering population of Gaza has been galactically insufficient, not a scintilla of aid would have gotten through without U.S. pressure. Nor would negotiations to secure the release of 105 out of roughly 252 hostages during the temporary cease-fire in late 2023 have succeeded without a central U.S. role. The Biden administration has also been successful through deterrence, pressure, and diplomacy in preventing the escalation of the Israel-Hamas war into a broader regional war—until now, that is.

Nonetheless, it should be painfully obvious that, despite its tireless efforts, Washington has been unable to negotiate a cease-fire to de-escalate the Israel-Hamas war, let alone end it. Indeed, over the past year, Washington has failed to fundamentally alter the strategic calculations of the conflict’s two principal decision-makers, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. While Washington and other allied stakeholders have attempted to pressure and persuade, they have yet to succeed in reshaping the two decision-makers’ convictions that continuing the conflict held greater benefits than de-escalating it. (Israel’s ground operation in Lebanon and Iran’s missile strikes on Israel this week also demonstrate the way the administration has been unable to control events in the region).

Some view the U.S. failure with moral outrage given the deaths of thousands of Palestinian civilians and the humanitarian catastrophe imposed upon the people of Gaza. Others just shake their heads, wondering why the world’s most powerful nation—with great leverage over Israel and allies who had significant sway with Hamas—couldn’t do much more to end the conflict. Why not, indeed.

That the United States could not have its way through force or diplomacy in response to perhaps the most complex Middle East crisis in decades should have surprised no one. CIA Director William Burns, one of the most astute analysts of Middle East politics, couldn’t have said it better. In his four decades of involvement in the Middle East, Burns said in January that he’d “rarely seen it more tangled or explosive.”

Indeed, the complexity of the conflict has only highlighted the limitations of outside powers. In a conflict where the stakes are perceived to be existential—involving the political or physical survival of key decision-makers and the traumas to their respective publics—the ability of outside powers to exert significant influence diminishes. At the same time, local resistance to external pressure grows.

The attack on Oct. 7, 2023, was a unique and unprecedented crisis that only magnified the “out here, you’re not so big” problem, leaving the United States in the role of a modern-day Gulliver, wandering around the region, tied up by the interests of smaller powers that were not its own and driven to try well-intentioned diplomacy that had little chance of succeeding.

The Oct. 7 Problem

Oct. 7 presented the Biden administration with a veritable mission impossible. Hamas’s indiscriminate killing, raping, torture of civilians, and hostage-taking was followed by Israel’s punishing airstrikes, which seemed to put a focus on damage rather than accuracy. The invasion that followed guaranteed thousands of civilian deaths, given Hamas’s decision to collocate its military assets in, around, and below civilian populations and structures, and virtually guaranteed that U.S. influence would be limited.

Indeed, through most of the last year, it was Netanyahu and Sinwar who controlled the trajectory of the conflict, leaving the United States to react to the table they set. Israel’s goals were maximalist: to destroy Hamas as a military organization and end its control of Gaza. And Netanyahu’s politics—his constant looking into the rearview mirror to ensure that his extremist ministers wouldn’t bolt from the governing coalition—hovered over his security decisions, making it impossible to do any postwar planning and facilitate a steady flow of badly needed assistance to Gaza.

Sinwar’s goals focused on restoring the centrality of Palestinian rights on the international and regional agenda; blocking normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia; and demonstrating that it was Hamas, not Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, that was to be the agent of Palestinian redemption. He also hoped to incite a broader war between Israel and regional countries. In any case, reconciling what Sinwar sought and what Netanyahu wanted was impossible. These were hardly the kind of positions that would lend themselves to a negotiation that the United States could broker.

The Biden administration’s influence was further constrained by the nature of a conflict between a close U.S. ally and a group that, by statute and force of law, the United States considers a foreign terror organization. Biden’s emotional statement in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre and his early visit to Israel reflected his deep and abiding support for the country. These served to tether Washington to Israel’s war aims almost from the outset and left little incentive to pressure Israel, let alone break with the Netanyahu government over disagreements with Israeli tactics and how to achieve those aims. Toughness with Israel was invariably interpreted as being weak on Hamas—an unsustainable position in light of Hamas’s taking, abusing, and murdering hostages, including Americans.

Once the United States developed the idea of an Israel-Hamas cease-fire as a mechanism to de-escalate the war, Washington was forced to work within the parameters of the two leaders, neither of whom saw much value or utility in closing a deal. The United States was played by both sides. And neither Qatar nor Egypt, the primary go-betweens for Hamas, had the power, incentive, or inclination to appear to be pressing Hamas while Israelis were carrying on a war against the group—and in the process wreaking misery on the Palestinian population.

The Netanyahu Problem

Perhaps nowhere is the “out here, you’re not so big” challenge more acutely demonstrated than in the dynamic between the Biden administration and Netanyahu, the longest-governing prime minister in the history of Israel. Long mistrustful of the United States, Netanyahu has played the president and the administration, at times crudely, at times like a finely tuned violin.

Let’s be clear: Hamas leader Sinwar also played the Americans. But Sinwar heads a militant organization that executes Americans and is inimically opposed to U.S. interests. He’s not the leader of a country closely aligned with the United States and its president, whose support for Israel seemed to have no limit. No reciprocity or cooperation is to be expected from Hamas. In Netanyahu’s case, the image of a close ally seemingly exploiting the largess of another highlights the perennial problem of the small power taking advantage of the big. And when it becomes a pattern of behavior, it reflects the paradox of the small power demonstrating focus and strength and the dominant power exhibiting weakness and indecision.

U.S.-Israel relations have had their ups and downs in the past. And former U.S. presidents and Israeli prime ministers have argued over policy. But what made the current Biden-Netanyahu dynamic even worse and diminished U.S. credibility even further was the perception—grounded in reality—that the divide wasn’t so much driven by Israel’s national interests but by Netanyahu’s political interests.

What this meant in practice was that on many issues—facilitating international assistance into Gaza,  prioritizing the return of hostages, planning for postwar Gaza, and avoiding an explosive situation on the West Bank—Netanyahu’s decision-making was shaped by the demands and requirements of his right-wing government, particularly his two extremist ministers, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.

This dynamic was most clearly on display when it came to negotiations over an Israel-Hamas cease-fire, highlighting the humiliation and embarrassment of the big power at the hands of the small. Time and again, the prime minister would say yes, then maybe, and then no. Netanyahu would send his negotiators but with limited mandates.

Sinwar was clearly as much responsible—perhaps even more, in the wake of Hamas’s execution of six hostages—for the impasse as Netanyahu. But Sinwar wasn’t conveying commitments directly to the president and senior administration officials. Indeed, just last week, Netanyahu committed himself to a U.S.-French proposal for a cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon only to walk that commitment back, temporarily seeming to endorse its aims while knowing full well that he had set into motion the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The Leverage Problem

So if the great power is being taken advantage of by smaller ones, then why doesn’t the Biden administration—or the vaunted international community, for that matter—impose a single cost or consequence on Israel or Hamas that would alter the trajectory of the conflict?

Let’s do the easy ones first. We have no answer to the question of how to alter the behavior of a Palestinian decision-maker safely ensconced in tunnels that have not been made accessible to the thousands of Palestinian civilians exposed and killed by Israeli bombs. Having spent two decades in Israeli prisons, Sinwar surely knew how Israel would respond to Oct. 7, how many Palestinians would die, and how he would at some point meet his end at the hands of Israel. Whether any single Arab state or collection of states could force Sinwar to end the conflict or agree to de-escalate it will have to remain a thought experiment. None was likely able or willing to try.

As for Israel, it should be quite clear by now that the Biden administration, like most of its predecessors, has been unwilling and unable to apply maximum pressure, let alone break with its Israeli ally over the conduct of Israel’s prosecution of its wars against Hamas or Hezbollah. Former presidents have been willing to use discrete pressure at times. The Nixon administration kept Israel from destroying Egypt’s third army to preserve prospects for a diplomatic breakthrough between Egypt and Israel. Former President Ronald Reagan suspended the delivery of advanced fighter aircraft over Israeli policies in Lebanon. The administration of GeorgeH.W. Bushdenied housing loan guarantees because of Israel’s settlement construction as it was trying to put together the Madrid peace conference.

In fact, when I first heard the anecdote about the Israeli tailor, it was attributed to Bush’s secretary of state, James Baker. I asked Baker whether it was his yarn—he laughed and said he wished it was.

But real pressure? You’d need to go back to the Eisenhower administration, when the president threatened to sanction Israel unless it withdrew its forces from Sinai during the failed British-French-Israeli campaign to seize the Suez Canal from President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt.

It’s not that the Biden administration lacks leverage on Israel. The president has many tools in his arsenal, such as conditioning or restricting U.S. military assistance to Israel; introducing or supporting a United Nations Security Council resolution that is critical of its policies in Gaza; demonstrating its displeasure by joining 140-plus countries—most recently Ireland, Spain, and Norway—in recognizing a Palestinian state, or joining near-international consensus in calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities, threatening consequences if neither side complied.

Biden chose none of these actions due to a confluence of factors: the president’s deep emotional commitment to the idea, security, and people of Israel honed over decades; the United States’ domestic political landscape, where the Republican Party has emerged as the “Israel-can-do-no-wrong” party, and a policy fixated on a cease-fire that required the agreement of both Israel and Hamas. Biden’s anger grew and slipped out from time to time. But with the exception of a delay in the shipment of some heavy bombs, that anger never translated into concrete or sustained changes in policy.

Would the application of pressure have worked? We’ll never know, though there’s reason to doubt it. Stephen M. Walt argued here in Foreign Policy that a patron’s leverage over a client diminishes when the matter at hand is of vital importance to the latter and when shared values as well as political and institutional constraints impose costs on the patron for exerting pressure. Add to that the often ignored but critically important reality that when it comes to its friends, partners, and allies, the United States rarely (if ever) uses sustained pressure or leverage on an issue that the latter considers vital to its own national or political interests. And if few U.S. presidents want to tangle with their friends that lack significant political resonance, why would a president want to break with an ally that has significant domestic support?

No U.S. administration has ever faced a situation with its Israeli ally quite like Oct. 7, where the unique nature of the conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah were seen in near existential terms; an Israeli prime minister was determined to do most anything to remain in power; and the absence of a realistic diplomatic pathway combined with a preternaturally pro-Israeli president and domestic politics, especially in an election year, to limit the United States’ options and influence.

It’s Not Our Neighborhood

The story of the secretary and the tailor makes a powerful point that U.S. diplomats and negotiators often forget: For all their military and political muscle, great powers are not always so great when they get mixed up in the affairs of smaller ones in a neighborhood owned by the latter.

The U.S. experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the standard for victory was never “could we win” but rather “when can we leave and what will we leave behind,” is perhaps the most tragic cautionary tale. And the set of U.S. diplomatic successes in helping to resolve the long-term Arab-Israeli conflict is stunningly small. The United States has had great success against the Islamic State and al Qaeda and has kept the homeland secure from foreign terrorist attacks. But the Middle East is littered with the remains of great powers who wrongly believed that they could impose their will, schemes, ambitions, dreams, and peace plans on smaller ones.

Indeed, this region is more often than not a place where American ideas go to wither or die. This is particularly the case in conflicts that have long histories where identity, trauma, memory, and religion play dominant roles.

As we mark the first year after Oct. 7, we should remind ourselves that ignoring the region, let alone leaving it to its own devices, isn’t an option. But neither is transformation. The United States has allies, interests, adversaries, and vital interests there. The locals will always have a greater stake; be more invested; and be willing to run greater risks for good or ill than the United States ever will.

U.S. leadership is important, but it isn’t the key. What matters more is having Israeli and Palestinian leaders who are masters of their politics, not prisoners of their ideologies—leaders who are not extractive and who care about the future of their own people and are willing to reach out to one another with a vision of a shared future.

Without that, we have nothing; with it, we at least have a chance to create a better pathway forward for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

[cattimeswithjellie]

I was thinking about The Tunnel Bore Incident. Because by the time they blew it up, Doc already had more diamonds than he'd need for the rest of the season twice over. And I had this idea about what Doc might have actually said to Grian and Scar. I feel like he would probably have taken them into a Discord call, and told them quite plainly: "I built a gigantic, intricate redstone contraption, and you two managed to cause a chain reaction that blew the entire thing to pieces. Luckily for you both, it was no longer strictly necessary. In any case: You owe me." And then he would Pause Dramatically. "So as payment, you and I shall spend the next little while making Content out of this catastrophe."

Something like that.

This would definitely be on-brand for Doc, who derived a great deal of evil joy at the beginning of the season explaining on Twitter exactly how dead Joe Hills was going to be for stealing the live shulker he left at spawn, only to wind up giving Joe another shulker so that he would still have a pet shulker at his base (and then never building a shulker farm of his own and leaving the reclaimed shulker at spawn for another year.)

The thing is, some people got very scared and worked up over both these incidents because for one, maybe they have trauma from other SMPs in the past they don't understand that all the Hermits are adults, professionals, and most importantly colleagues who all have a vested interest in the world they are creating together. Much like in the Life Series, nothing goes in front of the audience that the creators are not okay with. We know that the Hermits don't always agree on things, but we also know that they keep their disagreements private and settle them behind the scenes.

In both these cases there was an injury to Doc, from Joe when he played a prank that was far more difficult to fix than he intended it to be (Joe has a surprising natural aptitude for the horrendous task of moving live shulkers around), and Scar and Grian obviously for blowing up a massive piece of machinery. Joe has a lot of anxiety about prank wars because he's had problems with them in the past, so the dispute was settled quickly with the return of the purloined mob and, despite Doc's Twitter bluster, with minimal impact. Scar and Grian, on the other hand, love prank wars and escalation, so rather than grabbing a Litematica schematic and fixing the machine (or begging Impulse, Tango or Xisuma to do it for them) they compensated Doc for the loss with three or four episodes of highly entertaining content and an excuse to put his highly-trained supervillain mind to work.

Honestly, Doc is one of my favorite content creators on the server because he has this dichotomy to him, where on the one hand he _loves_ building death robots and war machines and turning the power of the Hivemind towards ever-escalating retaliations, while on the other hand he loves making artwork and pretending his slimes are tomatoes. He clearly has a lot of affection and respect for his fellow creators, and it's very funny to watch him feigning rage and annoyance when he'd rather be charmed by Scarland and all the balloons and cat ears he got from it. Most Hermits need the occasional all-out Server War for enrichment purposes, but nobody (except possibly Grian) gets as much enjoyment from them as Doc. He's so great.

[newstfionline]

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Canada’s maple syrup in a sticky situation (BBC) Canada’s maple syrup reserve—the world’s only—has reached a 16-year low, raising questions about the future of a globally loved sweet staple in the face of climate change. The reserve, located in Quebec, is designed to hold 133 million pounds of maple syrup at any given year. But in 2023, the supply fell to 6.9 million pounds (3.1 million kg). Experts link the shortage to both a rise in demand and warmer weather, which has disrupted production. Canada’s billion-dollar maple syrup industry accounts for 75% of the world’s entire maple syrup production.

Crew aboard Dali all survived bridge crash ‘by God’s grace’ (Washington Post) The director of a Baltimore ministry heard a loud boom in the wee hours of Tuesday and figured it was thunder. Then he woke up, turned on the radio and learned that the noise had been the sound of a catastrophe—the crash of a ship into a bridge that involved merchant sailors he had seen just hours earlier. Andrew Middleton, director of the local Apostleship of the Sea, texted a seafarer aboard the 985-foot container ship Dali. “Is everyone on board safe?” he asked at 6:03 a.m. Five minutes later, the crew member replied. “Yes. By God’s grace.” Their exchange is the first publicly reported communication from a mariner aboard the vessel, which lost power and slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

South Carolina has $1.8 billion but doesn’t know where the money came from or where it should go (AP) South Carolina has collected about $1.8 billion in a bank account over the past decade and state and private accountants are still trying to figure out where the cash came from and where it was supposed to go. “It’s like going into your bank and the bank president tells you we have a lot of money in our vault but we just don’t know who it belongs to,” said Republican Sen. Larry Grooms, who is leading a Senate panel investigating the problem. It’s the latest trouble with the state’s books and the two agencies, typically led by elected officials, that are in charge of making sure government accounts stay balanced.

Fleeing violence in Haiti (Foreign Policy) France airlifted around 240 people from Haiti on Wednesday as gang violence escalates in the capital, Port-au-Prince. More than 170 evacuees were French citizens and around 70 others were foreign nationals. Paris’s decision echoes other nations’ efforts to evacuate their citizens, including a Canadian flight to the Dominican Republic on Monday and U.S. flights the same day to Miami, Florida. The evacuations come amid a surge in armed attacks over the past month on key infrastructure across Port-au-Prince by gangs that have repeatedly targeted police stations; released thousands of prisoners; and closed roads, hospitals, and Toussaint Louverture International Airport. Mired in an ongoing political crisis, the country has been unable to stop the violence.

Spraying manure and throwing beets, farmers in tractors again block Brussels to protest EU policies (AP) Farmers threw beets, sprayed manure at police and set hay alight on Tuesday as hundreds of tractors again sealed off streets close to the European Union headquarters, where agriculture ministers sought to ease a crisis that has led to months of protests across the 27-member bloc. The farmers protested what they see as excessive red tape and unfair trading practices as well as increased environmental measures and cheap imports from Ukraine. “Let us make a living from our profession,” read one billboard on a tractor blocking a main thoroughfare littered with potatoes, eggs and manure. As the protests turned into violence again, police used tear gas and water cannons to keep farmers and some 250 tractors at bay. Authorities asked commuters to stay out of Brussels and work from home as much as possible.

Ukrainian navy says a third of Russian warships in the Black Sea have been destroyed or disabled (AP) Ukraine has sunk or disabled a third of all Russian warships in the Black Sea in just over two years of war, the navy spokesman said Tuesday, a heavy blow to Moscow’s military capability. Ukraine’s Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told The Associated Press that the latest strike on Saturday night hit the Russian amphibious landing ship Kostiantyn Olshansky that was resting in dock in Sevastopol in Russia-occupied Crimea. The ship was part of the Ukrainian navy before Russia captured it while annexing the Black Sea peninsula in 2014. Pletenchuk has previously announced that two other landing ships of the same type, Azov and Yamal, also were damaged in Saturday’s strike along with the Ivan Khurs intelligence ship. He told the AP that the weekend attack, which was launched with Ukraine-built Neptune missiles, also hit Sevastopol port facilities and an oil depot.

Anti-Christian Attacks Surge as Hindu Nationalism Grows (Christianity Today) The number of violent anti-Christian incidents in India jumped to 601 in 2023 compared to 413 the previous year, according to a new report from the Evangelical Fellowship of India’s Religious Liberty Commission (EFI-RLC). India is home to about 28 million Christians, or about two percent of the country’s population of 1.4 billion. The majority of attacks on Christians were categorized as threats and harassment (201) followed by 146 instances of false accusations and subsequent arrests. The report follows and reinforces the narrative of the 2024 World Watch List released earlier this year by Christian persecution watchdog Open Doors, which ranks India at number 11, noting the sustained rise of Hindu nationalism: “Any Christian who does convert from Hinduism is most likely to come under intense pressure or even violence. They can face constant pressure to renounce their new faith, face job loss/discrimination, endure physical assaults, and even be murdered. Church leaders are also in danger in many parts of India: extremists target them (along with their families) to create fear and chaos in the Christian community.”

South Korea doctors’ strike widens as medical professors join protests (Guardian) South Korea’s doctors’ strike is widening as medical professors across the nation say they’re going to join the collective action, which currently only involves trainee doctors who are protesting pay disparities and a government plan to sharply increase medical school admissions. The head of the Medical Professors Association of Korea said that medical professors would begin their strike by scaling back outpatient treatment to focus on patients with critical needs, while some professors are expected to turn in their resignations soon. The professors will be backing trainee doctors’ claims that adding 2,000 additional medical students per year will degrade the quality of Korea’s medical services.

Hong Kong official warns online criticism could breach new national security law (Guardian) Hong Kong’s justice minister has warned that posting and sharing criticism of the city’s newly enacted national security law could be in breach of the legislation, which lays down harsh penalties for sedition. Secretary for justice Paul Lam said in a televised interview on Sunday that a person might commit an offence if they reposted online critical statements issued by foreign countries and persons overseas, depending on their “intention and purpose”. The Article 23 legislation, which came into force on Saturday, includes penalties of up to life imprisonment for five categories of crime including treason, insurrection, espionage, sabotage and external interference. It also expands the British colonial-era offence of “sedition” to include inciting hatred against China’s Communist party leadership. Hong Kong security chief Chris Tang said in the same interview that additional evidence such as “what you keep at home and what other acts you have done” would have to be collected to facilitate prosecution. “As I often said, if you breached the law, I will definitely find evidence against you,” Tang said.

7 Lebanese and an Israeli killed in an exchange of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border (AP) An Israeli airstrike on a paramedics center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group in south Lebanon killed seven of its members early Wednesday and triggered a rocket attack from Lebanon that killed one person in northern Israel, officials said. The strike on the village of Hebbariye came after a day of airstrikes and rocket attacks between Israel’s military and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group along the Lebanon-Israel border, raising concerns of further escalation along the frontier that has been active for the past five months of the Israel-Hamas war. The airstrike after midnight Tuesday hit an office of the Islamic Emergency and Relief Corps, according to the Lebanese Ambulance Association. It was one of the deadliest single attacks since violence erupted along the border. The paramedics association listed the names of seven volunteers who were killed in the strike. It said the strike was “a flagrant violation of humanitarian work.”

Israel Presses On With Strikes in Gaza After U.N. Cease-Fire Resolution (NYT) The Israeli military pressed on with its bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, signaling that the passing of a United Nations resolution calling for a cease-fire for the holy month of Ramadan the day before had not shaken Israel’s determination to keep fighting. The military said its fighter jets had struck “over 60 targets” in Gaza over the previous day. It added that its forces were also operating in central Gaza, where it said they had killed “a number of terrorists.” Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s news agency, said Tuesday that the Israeli military had struck residential homes and buildings and that dozens of people were killed. In a statement, the Israeli military added that it was continuing its “operational activity” around Al-Amal Hospital and the town of Al-Qarara, in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza, adding that its forces were “eliminating terrorists and carrying out targeted raids on terrorist infrastructure.”

Majority of Americans Disapprove of Israel’s Actions in Gaza, New Poll Shows (NYT) A majority of Americans disapprove of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, in a pronounced shift from November, according to a new poll released by Gallup on Wednesday. In a survey conducted from March 1-20, 55 percent of U.S. adults said they disapproved of Israel’s military actions—a jump of 10 percentage points from four months earlier, Gallup found. Americans’ approval of Israel’s conduct in the war dropped by an even starker margin, from 50 percent in November, a month after the war began, to 36 percent in March. The findings are the latest evidence of growing American discontent with Israel over the course of the five months in which it has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including nearly 14,000 children, according to local health officials and the United Nations. Israeli officials say roughly 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7.

A decade of documenting more than 63,000 migrant deaths shows that fleeing is more lethal than ever (AP) More than a decade ago, the death of 600 migrants and refugees in two Mediterranean shipwrecks near Italian shores shocked the world and prompted the U.N. migration agency to start recording the number of people who died or went missing as they fled conflict, persecution or poverty to other countries. Governments around the world have repeatedly pledged to save migrants’ lives and fight smugglers while tightening borders. Yet 10 years on, a report by the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project published Tuesday shows the world is no safer for people on the move. On the contrary, migrant deaths have soared. Since tracking began in 2014, more than 63,000 have died or are missing and presumed dead, according to the Missing Migrants Project, with 2023 the deadliest year yet. “The figures are quite alarming,” Jorge Galindo, a spokesperson at IOM’s Global Data Institute, told The Associated Press. “We see that 10 years on, people continue to lose their lives in search of a better one.”

Vinyl (The Verge) For the second year in a row, vinyl records outsold CDs, with people buying 43 million vinyl records and just 37 million CDs. Vinyl accounted for $1.4 billion worth of revenue compared to just $537 million from CDs. Streaming dwarfs them all—$14.4 billion in revenue—and scored 84 percent of the music revenues in the U.S.

[garudabluffs]

"In Cold Allies, climatic change has lead to North Africa and the Middle East to completely dry up and all the Islamic countries have banded together and invaded Europe so as to avoid starving to death. The United States is a willing if slightly ineffecvtive ally to the Europeans, having had its economy and population devastated by the same climatic changes which have also put much of the USA under water.The story revolves around the involvement (or lack of) in this war of a mysterious alien presence. The presence manifests itself as a blue globe and it invariably shows up at the sites of major battles in the European theatre." +  In "Cold Allies", set in the very near future, the world's physical geography (land mass and climate) is radically changed. Mass displacement occurs throughout the world, due to disappearing land mass, famine, and lack of potable water. As a result, the Islamic states agree to band together and invade Europe to survive, using their oil money to procure weapons from Russia in exchange for leaving Russia alone. On the other side, the US is helping Europe as much as possible, but they have their own problems - having lost most of Florida and much of their low-lying coastline to sea rise, as well as a lack of food and water due to drought from the altered climate."During the war, blue "woofers", lights, or balls are seen throughout the world, watching the fighting and suffering. Sometimes they choose to get involved with certain individuals; others, they leave alone.

Some people recognize them for what they are: aliens. Others consider them new technology, some natural phenomenon, or even demons. But making first contact during this horrific time, what do the aliens think? Are they willing to help, or are they indifferent or hostile? Their intentions are unclear.Through the eyes of several people from multiple nations, the catastrophic climate change and the war paint a brilliant picture of humanity at its best and worst - all with the aliens observing, and sometimes communicating, with these individuals. Highly recommended."

Ballooning Tensions

"Chinese officials announced sanctions yesterday against Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Missiles and Defense over the sale of military and defense technology to Taiwan. While not explicitly linked, it marks the latest escalation of tensions between China and the US since a Chinese surveillance balloon traversed the US earlier this month. 

Reports now suggest US officials had been tracking the initial spy balloon since its liftoff from China's Hainan Island in late January. Officials said the craft was likely meant to surveil military installations in Guam and Hawaii before being blown off course, appearing over Alaska's Aleutian Islands Jan. 28 before crossing the US. The balloon was eventually shot down off the South Carolina coast; three other objects downed in the following days were determined as likely for commercial or private research purposes. Both countries have now publicly accused each other of operating vast balloon surveillance networks for years.

Check out this visual deep dive into what else is floating through the skies." ==>>https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/02/16/science/ufo-balloon-high-altitude-objects.html?unlocked_article_code=n-iWn0FcWMLrs4bv4rismbg3n_6sUi9vKNCm7U7ssUK_allrxv-fMAVcpXkuoyzRFQMEu6hcxyw5LhSEEyyBKHio6ko0s8KMUbLbtMVkxSeT-GtidjbO9AD6aCXTgrgxlwdQTHCshXKI9a3FLWNzAWeNCrMYJ-TcSpq1dURdA6XfbH8Sohxm32VR97RAqyDlrI9YbPs-6spdNHxrsy0KPwzmV5Do3Hnv3Hu3Rxae508JOQ4BY26gqZcje40w45AhbCg5_oJEEAoA2T8uEGTKa4KCOIiA-rR62KtIhEuAbNPQQJF9-SmtvAzF6kt8hme4sOeGR9xWzda7Mcc79D_KrXqC6sPPDtL1zPBktGHmbFNAmxbMTA9pAw5i0vU&smid=url-share

[pennylogue]

so it’s a survival strategy

so, steven has ptsd and explicitly feels like any slightly stressful situation is life or death.

steven’s main method to control and ameliorate these life or death situations has been talking things out and helping people solve their problems.

i think we’re finally seeing the point of all those recent jokes about befriending gems that tried to murder him. it’s not just that he doesn’t “know how to be a friend” without fixing things for people. it’s that, both in canon and in his psychology, fixing is his survival strategy, because there was no line between normal life and trauma.

it’s not just about him functioning normally, because this is him functioning normally. it’s not like he woke up, went to school, saved the world. there was no division. no compartmentalization, no secret identity. he’s always been steven universe, and the question has always been what exactly that means.

for years, things would be fine one moment and catastrophic the next, and that was just life and he had to deal with it as best he could, control what he could control. something traumatic would go down with the gems and then they’d all go home together. people who were trying to kill him one moment would be on his side the next, and he had to roll with those punches.

hanging out with bismuth turned into her accusing him of being rose, trying to murder him, and him being forced to poof her. peridot tried to murder him but then they had to work together so it was chill. remember that time malachite ate him as a watermelon steven? well, shit happens. why would he ever need to talk that out with lapis or jasper?

and of course, the diamonds.

throwback to the su movie. steven sure de-escalated quick after spinel apologized to him, right? remember how greg flipped out for a minute after he found out what happened in the end of s1, but processed those emotions and was okay afterwards.

now compare that to steven instantly de-escalating to match spinel and being chill with her. au where instead of just accepting that “i’ll always have work to do” steven goes off at her or has a panic attack or cries or has literally any of a hundred reactions that aren’t driven by the compulsion to smooth everything over. but he won't, because he never has, because this is his baseline. this is what he's adjusted to. the reason steven had it so together in the movie is that it really WAS a life or death problem, and he knows how to deal with those! so why bother to process a traumatic event when you just clock it as a normal tuesday?

he could go and get fries with amethyst and hear that the city was going to be destroyed in an hour if he couldn’t make himself useful. try to talk to a girl he has a crush on and almost drown, but have to keep it together because she’s in tears. he went with his dad to investigate a weird dream and his dad gets kidnapped by a diamond. he set up a wedding while simultaneously managing every gem’s mental state, and it was crashed by diamonds. 

so steven’s normal life, then? was that he had to be ready to go at any time.

[seyaryminamoto]

I feel like i'm gonna regret asking this but what is hiby

Oh. Ohohoho, oh. I recently answered this to someone else (not on this blog), I suppose there are so many newcomers in this fandom lately that HIBY has become slightly less known than it used to be.

HIBY stands for How I Became Yours, the most polemic and catastrophic fancomic in the history of the Avatar franchise. If you thought any of the official comics were problematic in any sense, woah boy, they’re goddamn flawless masterpieces compared to this thing.

Every possible angle of HIBY is problematic. Spot-on accusations of tracing were the main reason why Deviantart took down Jackie Diaz’s profile and comic from their platform. I heard Nickelodeon also got involved legally, not 100% sure on that front, but if true, they cracked down on her because she attempted to profit off this clunky mess of an inconsistent story by claiming it was somehow an official sequel to ATLA. To clarify, this last thing is something I was told, I can’t find actual sources to confirm it… so maybe I heard an exaggerated account of the tale of HIBY and it never went that far. Nevertheless, this comic didn’t need to escalate into a legal problem to be absolutely abhorrent.

In regards of art, HIBY somehow keeps discarding the asian-inspired setting seen throughout ATLA and instead favors showing the characters in European castles and outfits that don’t fit anywhere within ATLA’s world at all:

Katara is basically wearing a red version of Belle’s dress from Beauty and the Beast, if I’m not mistaken. The architecture of the place they’re at is so European it’s baffling (if I’m not mistaken, this is supposed to be Toph’s family’s house :’D). Also, it’s blatantly obvious that the background is a photograph, so she could’ve just as easily looked for photos of asian locations instead, but she picked european architecture because yes. Yet more blows against the possible artistic merits someone could offer this comic (if there’s any).

Now, though, the BIGGEST problem in HIBY is, of course, the story:

To recap: ATLA ends with Aang and Katara kissing at Ba Sing Se. Whatever problems someone may have with their relationship, or Mai and Zuko’s, or Sokka and Suki’s, it’s unquestionable that those three ships were canon by the end of the show.

Jackie Diaz’s SEQUEL COMIC doesn’t acknowledge this finale: somehow, Aang is in love with Toph but they’re not together despite there’s literally NOTHING in their way, since Aang and Katara weren’t together at all, according to Diaz. And Katara? Oh, she’s pining endlessly over Zuko, who somehow married Mai…

… Despite wanting Katara too.

… Despite he literally knocked up Katara back when the war was ending, which resulted in a miscarriage because of Mai’s wicked schemes~~!!

Can someone please explain to me in what world does it make sense for Zuko, FIRE LORD ZUKO, to be in a relationship with someone he doesn’t want, when the person he does want is RIGHT THERE, AVAILABLE, when there’s no real political consequences to ANYTHING that happens in this comic? You could say “oh no the Fire Nation people wouldn’t accept a Water Tribe woman…” … but then Zuko ends up with Katara anyways and the only problem is that Mai wants to kill them for that :’) so… no excuse works.

Basically there’s no real plot, the whole thing boils down to “I want these ships to happen and I need them to face hardships even if they don’t make sense”. The main hardship is that Mai doesn’t want her HUSBAND to carry out an affair with Katara. Zuko’s response to Mai’s obvious and reasonable complaint about their illicit relationship is to TURN VIOLENT WITH HER. And he’s the good guy :’)

Mai has a non-existent older brother Sho, who looks like a BLEACH character with Ozai’s hairstyle, and together they will try to kill Katara because, welp, someone has to give them trouble, I guess. In all fairness, the only character with a relatively logical flow of thought in this damn trainwreck is Mai. I mean, “my piece of shit husband married me for political clout, got his mistress pregnant, I didn’t want the kid to be a problem for me so I induced a miscarriage in Katara by poisoning her, probs just wanted Katara dead altogether but whatever, I only got the kid. Then Zuko threw me away despite I’m his legal wife and I’m really pissed about it so I want Katara dead” is the smartest writing in this entire comic. And no, that’s not a compliment, it’s still stupid as fuck but that’s how much more stupid everything else is. 

So, the happy couples are, like I said, Zuko and Katara, who get together despite Zuko is married to Mai, Aang and Toph, who somehow weren’t together despite there’s nothing in the way, AAAND… 

… Sokka and fake!Azula. Because I refuse to acknowledge that thing as the Princess we all love and adore.

Frankly, I consider it a miracle that HIBY didn’t destroy our ship completely when it was posted online, seeing as it was amongst the most talked-about fanmade content in Avatar’s fandom at the time. If people no longer associate Sokkla with HIBY immediately, we’ve definitely done a good job saving our poor ship’s face and showing it’s got a fuckton of potential compared to the shitfest that comic portrayed.

Why is Sokkla so problematic in HIBY? Because of fake!Azula, of course. Why is she fake!Azula? Because she’s got plot-convenient amnesia! Turns out that, for some reason, Azula forgot all the events from ATLA (let’s be real, so did Jackie Diaz so it’s not just her) and she shows up in this comic as a completely different character, so much that, upon hearing about the TERRIBLE THINGS SHE DID AND WAS, her reaction is…:

Fascinating, am I right? :’D She’s nice, sweet, shy and as good as brain-dead. And as she’s so sweet and cute now, somehow that becomes absolutely appealing for Sokka. And he falls for her, she falls for him, they bang dramatically, and so on and so forth…

Eventually Azula sacrifices herself in the final battle when Mai and her brother try to kill everyone and oh no! Sokka’s love interest dies again! Such a shocker, however, that Sokka goes to the Spirit World to save her, and unlike Iroh he succeeds… but what does Azula look like post-Spirit World shenanigans?

… Yeah, okay, fake!Azula calling anyone her “little angels” is just proof of how IC she is, if you had any doubts still.

But isn’t it FUNNY. Isn’t it HILARIOUS. That Azula not only undergoes an atom-deep brainwipe that turns her into a flat non-character, but that after dying she’s revived with WHITE HAIR, dressed in blue clothes and whatnot…?

My interpretation, and honestly, I don’t know if there’s any other possible interpretation… Jackie Diaz wanted Sokka to be with Yue :’) She fucking wrecked Azula’s character to turn her into a fake!Azula, who would eventually turn into fake!Yue after being resurrected because oh that’s just perfect to close off Sokka’s storyline, isn’t it? Only, he’s not with Yue nor with Azula because it’s neither of them. Just as it isn’t really Sokka either, or Katara, or Zuko or Aang or Toph.

Now, revisiting this trainwreck, there is a throwaway line where Ty Lee, in her (I think) only appearance in the story tells Katara that Suki and Sokka broke up. So um, Suki does exist, officially, in this comic, and she did date Sokka but it ended, and she’s back in Kyoshi Island with her team. 

Which elicits the question… why the fuck is she Mai’s maid?

I assure you, if you decide to delve deeper into this mess, you’ll absolutely find a lot more things to laugh about, to be outraged about, and to facepalm about while you wonder how on earth would someone, ANYONE, create something like this and not die of cringe looking at the finished product. It’s baffling to me.

At any rate, if you’d like to torture your own eyeballs reading this comic for yourself, there’s a Tumblr blog that gathered HIBY perfectly neatly for all curious eyes eager to torture themselves with this OOC fest. If you want more details than I care to remember about this catastrophic mess of a story, there’s always the TV Tropes page, which I think illustrates everything rather well. 

So… that’s HIBY. While I don’t think it should be sentenced to oblivion (we had best never forget the lowest lows the fandom has reached, else someone might be tempted to outdo them), this particular fanwork is quite the trainwreck in just about every regard. I really don’t think there’s anything worth salvaging in it. So, if you wanna read the whole thing (I’d be surprised if you would xD), knock yourself out in the blog link I posted up there. Otherwise, have a nice day if you still can after reading my answer to your ask :’D

[xtruss]

Illustration By Alex Fine For Newsweek, Photo By Corbis/Getty

U.S. Russophobia

Will Putin's Hackers Launch a Cyber Pearl Harbor—and a Shooting War?

Experts and former intelligence and cyber-security officials tell Newsweek that hackers linked to Russia have launched cyber attacks on the U.S. that have come frighteningly close to the red line: a digital incursion that would prompt a deadly real-life response.

As cyber criminals linked to Russia increase their attacks on U.S. targets, there’s a rising risk the next big strike could trigger a war—and not the virtual kind, but one involving troops, tanks, missiles and, in the worst-case scenario, even nuclear weapons.

— By Tom O'Connor, Naveed Jamali and Fred Guterl | June 16, 2021 | Newsweek

Joe Biden took office in January in the wake of the SolarWinds attack, an unprecedented and potentially disastrous penetration of U.S. government computer systems by hackers believed to be directed by the Russian intelligence service, the SVR. The new American president promised to shore up the nation's cyber defenses against foreign foes. As if on cue, hackers struck with two major ransomware attacks, closing the Colonial Pipeline, which provides about 100 million gallons of gas a day to the southeastern U.S., and halting production at all U.S. facilities of the world's biggest beef producer, Brazil-based JBS. The events underscored the immense vulnerability of a trillion-dollar, internet-based economy for which security is an afterthought.

Most Americans seem to assume that a cyber attack, even by an avowed adversary like Russia or Iran, would be answered in kind—that the U.S. would cause an annoying power outage or a brief internet failure. But experts and former intelligence and cyber-security officials tell Newsweek that hackers linked to Russia have launched cyber attacks on the U.S. that have come frighteningly close to the red line: a digital incursion that would prompt a deadly real-life response.

As the U.S. continues to prove vulnerable to ransomware attacks from shadowy groups believed to be operating out of Russia or other former Soviet bloc countries, those with experience in advising the White House on challenges from the region urge Biden to take the opportunity to send a message.

"What I want is for Biden to very clearly explain what the risk is to Vladimir Putin, that we are not going to back down if we are attacked by Russia," says Evelyn Farkas, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, "and that we're going to be the ones that decide what a 'cyber Pearl Harbor' is, which means Russia doesn't control the escalation dynamic."

Game on: Russia's President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden meeting for the first time as presidents on June 16 in Geneva, Switzerland, where the recent escalation in cyber attacks was high on the agenda. — Sergei Bobylev/TASS/Getty Images

At least Japanese leaders knew that bombing Pearl Harbor would inevitably provoke a military response. It's not clear that Russia or the cyber-militants operating within its borders have that awareness now. A shooting war between Russia and the U.S., avoided for more than a half-century, would leave only losers. But cyber warfare is so new that there's no agreed upon, widely understood Rubicon, as was established during the Cold War with the use of traditional weapons of mass destruction. (Think: Cuban Missile Crisis. After that near-catastrophe, the two sides have played it safe.)

The lack of clarity—of a shared algorithm for escalation—is tinder that could easily turn into a deadly fire. In short, there's a growing danger of a response far more devastating than the temporary internet outage or compromised credit score or muddled train schedule that Americans might think would be the worst-case scenario.

Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn't directly run the hackers who've recently infiltrated high-level government networks and paralyzed critical infrastructure. U.S. intelligence believes the digital operatives behind those attacks work with the Russian president's blessing but stay at arm's length—the better to give Moscow plausible deniability. It's part of a familiar pattern: Russian-affiliated groups have long harassed U.S. companies and government agencies and even had a hand in swinging the 2016 election to Donald Trump. The Biden administration has not directly accused the Kremlin of sponsoring these attacks but blames the Russians allowing such activity to continue.

The recent attacks seem to mark an intensification. They tend to be more focused on physical infrastructure like food, oil and gas pipelines, and hospitals, upon which Americans rely every day for their health and economic well-being. The trend has national security analysts worried. It's one thing to make Americans wait in line at the pump or to hit hospitals with ransom bills that drive up the cost of health care. It's something else entirely to cause real economic harm and even loss of life. And yet, hackers seem to be flirting with crossing what national security experts say is a "red line."

The disruption in fuel supply due to the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline last month left drivers across the southeastern U.S. struggling to find gasoline and diesel. — MarK Kauzlarich/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The red line was high on the agenda in the June 16 talks between Biden and Putin. Biden handed the Russian president a list of no-go targets upon which a cyber attack presumably might be considered an act of war that demands retaliation. Although it's not clear where that red line is—the White House has not released the list—it's not hard to imagine how easy it would be for hackers acting with some degree of autonomy from Moscow, and not directly answerable to the consequences of their actions, to cross it. To take one example, it's become a truism in cyber-security circles that hackers working with the backing of the likes of Russia and China may have the ability to cause a shutdown of a large swath of the U.S. electrical grid, which could kill millions.

In other words, the next big cyber attack could trigger a war with Russia, and not the virtual kind, but one involving troops, tanks, missiles, aircraft carriers and possibly nuclear weapons. "If a nation-state adversary were to set foot on our homeland and physically destroy our infrastructure, we would view this as an act of war," Brian Harrell, former Assistant Director for Infrastructure Security at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), told Newsweek.

Russian-affiliated hackers have not crossed the red line yet, of course. But they've come close enough to keep national security experts wondering where the escalating trail of destruction might be heading, and how much control the Kremlin truly has over the hackers that do its bidding.

Drawing the Line

Although the situation may seem relatively calm on the surface, hackers are testing the limits nearly every day. In February, a still-undisclosed group of hackers managed to take control of a water treatment center in Oldsmar, Florida. It increased levels of sodium hydroxide, a highly caustic chemical also known as lye, from a safe 100 parts per million to a dangerous 11,100 ppm. Operators noticed the change and acted quickly to lower the levels before any damage was done.

"The cyber red line—I think everybody is fairly clear on this—is loss of life," William Hurd, a former CIA clandestine officer who served in Congress as a Texas representative from 2015 to this January, told Newsweek. He said the incident in Florida could have elicited a "kinetic response"—in other words, military action—had U.S. lives been lost.

Conflicts are playing out with increasing velocity and viciousness inside some of the country's energy, water, banking and other essential infrastructure. The vast majority of such incidents are never publicized, cyber experts say. Private companies, which are notoriously reluctant to fess up to having been hacked, own and operate more than 85 percent of critical infrastructure, according to Harrell.

"Our critical infrastructure sectors are the modern day battlefield and cyberspace is the great equalizer," he says. "Hacker groups can essentially attack with little individual attribution and virtually no consequence. I anticipate more attacks focused on energy, water, and financial services happening in the future."

In 2018, the Trump administration created CISA within the Department of Homeland Security. But even the cyber cops are hampered by a lack of information. Private operators are reluctant to report transgressions and often quietly pay ransom to get their systems back online with as little fuss—and publicity—as possible.

It's not entirely clear what an appropriate response to a cyber attack that crosses the red line would be. "It's ones and zeros and malware versus one-megaton warheads on Titans and on B-1's. How do you make that comparison so you can decide on proportional responses?" says Doug Wise, who served in the CIA as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service and was deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. "That's the beauty of these cyber attacks, because we struggle at trying to compare the attack mechanism to the kinetic attack mechanism, particularly, strategic to strategic."

And then there's the question of whom to retaliate against. Although intelligence experts are pretty skilled at tracing the digital footprints of an attack to its source, the evidence is almost always highly technical and far less persuasive to military allies and the general public than, say, that of a bombing raid or an invading army. Any decision to retaliate risks looking to all the world like an unprovoked aggression. The Russians are skilled at confusing attribution, making it difficult to justify a proportional response, let alone an escalation.

The attribution problem complicates the question of where to draw the line. Some experts think it would make retaliation more difficult than it would be for a conventional strike. "It would take a significant cyber attack against the aviation infrastructure, power infrastructure, water distribution, and the transportation infrastructure," Wise said. "I think it would take probably two to three simultaneous attacks against these targets, along with clear attribution. The attribution issue is always the stumbling block."

Cyber Diplomacy

Still, it's a mistake to assume that the difficulty of attributing a cyber attack is insurance against a hasty retaliation. The element of uncertainty that the attribution problem adds to international affairs could also be destabilizing. Just as it's difficult to attribute an attack to an aggressor, it's also easy to mistakenly attribute an attack to an adversary—particularly one that, like Russia, is a constant thorn in the side of the U.S., and from which Americans are primed to expect aggression.

Given the heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia, it's not far-fetched to think that a third party could launch a cyber attack against the U.S. and make it look like it came from Russia. Even if U.S. intelligence officials were smart enough to suss out such a ruse, the mere appearance of aggression could provide a convenient pretext for war. After all, Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks in 2001, but that didn't stop the George W. Bush administration from using them as justification for its disastrous invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Massive military strikes that start wars are baked into the American psyche. Japanese planes bombing the U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, precipitated the U.S. entry into the Second World War. Hijacked passenger planes crashing into the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001, triggered a U.S. invasion of Afghanistan that is only now ending. The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis established a precedent for brinksmanship between the U.S. and Russia. "We almost went to nuclear war," as Raj Shah, chairman of the cybersecurity insurance firm Resilience, told Newsweek.

The Cuban Missile Crisis brought the U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of war (here, a meeting of the United Nations Security Council during the crisis in 1962); could recent cyber attacks do the same—or worse? — Bettmann/Getty Images

The prospect of cyber attacks leading to a full-scale war is commonly accepted in diplomatic circles. NATO members, in a joint June 14 statement, agreed that "the impact of significant malicious cumulative cyber activities might, in certain circumstances, be considered as amounting to an armed attack." The statement also said that NATO would intensify its focus in the cyber realm, including "sharing concerns about malicious cyber activities, and exchanging national approaches and responses, as well as considering possible collective responses."

"If necessary, we will impose costs on those who harm us," the statement added. "Our response need not be restricted to the cyber domain."

The alliance also confirmed that it was open to considering cyber-attacks to be on a par with conventional military operations. "We reaffirm that a decision as to when a cyber attack would lead to the invocation of Article 5 would be taken by the North Atlantic Council on a case-by-case basis."

U.S.President Joe Biden and other NATO heads of the states and governments pose for a family photo during the NATO summit at the Alliance's headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium on June 14, 2021. — Kevin Lamarque/AFP/Getty Images

The prospect of a "physical" attack in response to cyberattacks already has a real-life precedent. The U.S. targeted the cyber capabilities of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) with an August 2015 airstrike that killed jihadi hacker Junaid Hussain in the de facto caliphate capital of Raqqa, Syria.

One of the first publicly acknowledged examples of an immediate, kinetic reaction came nearly four years later elsewhere in the Middle East. In May 2019, the Israel Defense Forces reported that they "thwarted an attempted Hamas cyber offensive against Israeli targets" by conducting an airstrike on an alleged headquarters in the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip. Israeli forces similarly targeted Hamas cyber stations during last month's 11-day confrontation with Hamas and allied Palestinian factions in Gaza. Although the fallout from both operations remained relatively contained, how such a response would play out on the state-versus-state level remains uncertain.

Playing Defense

The U.S. and its allies are already taking steps to head off cyber attacks from Russian-affiliated groups. The U.S. Cyber Command is collaborating with allies to pool insights and intelligence on the activities of Russia and other cyber-adversaries in what a spokesperson called hunt-forward operations. "These operations are one part of our 'defend forward' strategy—where we see what our adversaries are doing, and share with our partners in the homeland to bolster defense," the spokesperson told Newsweek.

In one such mission targeting Russia's alleged cyber activities, U.S. forces "discovered and disclosed new malware associated with the SolarWinds incident, and then provided key mitigation of the malware, attributed to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service," the U.S. Cyber Command spokesperson said. The department shares much of its intelligence with federal agencies and private companies in an effort to prevent successful attacks.

SolarWinds CEO Sudhakar Ramakrishna (center), along with FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia (left) and and Microsoft President Brad Smith talk with each other before the start of a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on February 23, 2021 in Washington, DC. — Drew Angerer/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

Biden has alluded to retaliation against Russia for cyber attacks, but the U.S. is mum on what steps it is taking. As NATO's joint communique asserted, the Biden administration has considered a range of options in response to major cyberattacks.

"The way that I've consistently characterized our response when it came to SolarWinds and to other cyberattacks of that scope and scale is that we are prepared to take responsive actions that are seen and unseen," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Sunday, "and I'll leave it at that."

Even these vague statements have raised concern among Russian officials. "What people can be afraid of in America," Putin told NBC News, "the very same thing can be a danger to us. The U.S. is a high-tech country, NATO has declared cyberspace an area of combat. That means they are planning something; they are preparing something, so, obviously, this cannot but worry us."

After the summit, Putin asserted that the “majority” of cyber attacks originated from the U.S. and it’s allies.

Speaking of cyberattacks, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan recently said, "We are prepared to take responsive actions that are seen and unseen." Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Avoiding Unintended War

One reason cyber-security was on the agenda for Biden and Putin is to avoid an unintended war. Both the U.S. and Russia have asserted their right to wage cyber operations offensively and defensively. Without international agreements in place, it's not clear what behavior is acceptable and what isn't.

"We can't allow this to continue to escalate," says Shawn Henry, president and chief security officer of cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. "It's the exact reason we had nuclear arms talks, because we realize things couldn't continue to escalate, they couldn't spiral out of control. We couldn't worry about an adversary launching a weapon mistakenly because we know what the response would be."

Henry, a former FBI executive assistant director, says the dialogue is overdue. "It takes us back to that exact point in the conversation where nation-states need to sit down and define what the red lines are and what the responses are going to be, so there is no misunderstanding."

Prospects For a Treaty

Judging from his rhetoric, Putin seems amenable to an agreement to rein in the cyber warfare shenanigans. In September, he asserted that "one of today's major strategic challenges is the risk of a large-scale confrontation in the digital field," as conveyed to Newsweek by the Russian embassy in Washington.

Putin wants to establish high-level communication between Washington and Moscow on "international information security," using existing agencies that deal with nuclear and computer readiness. He is also in favor of establishing new rules along the lines of U.S.-Soviet agreements on avoiding maritime incidents and mutual "guarantees of non-intervention into internal affairs of each other."

In a reference to the nuclear weapons that dominated the Cold War discourse on arms control, Putin is also seeking a global agreement on "no-first-strike" rules regarding cyber attacks against communications systems, the embassy said.

A group cyber soldiers work together to defend their network during a training exercise in the art of cybersecurity design and maintenance at Camp Williams in Utah. — U.S. Army Reserve/SGT. Stephanie Ramirez

Sullivan told reporters that nuclear talks remained the "starting point" for bilateral discussions with Russia on cyber: "Whether additional elements get added to strategic stability talks in the realm of space or cyber or other areas, that's something to be determined as we go forward." Indeed, the joint statement on "strategic stability" released by both sides after the meeting stuck strictly to nuclear arms, with no references to cyber weapons.

Still, the talks made some progress on cyber warfare. While the Biden administration has drawn no direct link between the recent ransomware assault and the Kremlin, U.S. officials have called on Russia to hold hackers within its borders accountable for any attacks that originate there. Putin said during an interview with the Rossiya-1 outlet that he would agree to the extradition of those arrested in Russia if the U.S. does the same; Biden has vowed to reciprocate in the event such attacks were launched from U.S. soil.

In some ways, the Biden-Putin summit sends a signal that cyber warfare has taken its place alongside other military technologies as an accepted part of a nation's arsenal—and one that requires international agreements to keep in check. It also underscores the crucial importance of information technology to national defense.

"Domains of competition, it's not strictly military anymore," says Mike Madsen, director of strategic engagement for the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit. "It's economic, it's social, it's all these different things. We talked about air superiority and air supremacy, and there's a day when there's going to be concepts of cyber curiosity and cyber supremacy in a domain of competition."

"In this era of Great Power competition," he says, "the technology race is the most important front."

[dragon-kazansky]

A rose in shadows - Chapter three

Chapter 3 - The other Holmes

"Will your beard be with us all night?" John asked his dear friend.

Sherlock and John got into the car, such a thing being very new to world at this given time. It ran smoothly, so there weren't any complications on the journey.

"I'll remove it once we're south of Trafalgar Square." Holmes replied.

"If you believe Moriarty has you under observation, isn't this a bit conspicuous?"

"It's so overt, it's covert."

The engine on the car backfires as it trudges down the road. Sherlock had full confidence in his disguise. As they pass by Trafalgar Square, John states that Sherlock MUST be safe now. Sherlock removes the beard and looks at his friend.

"Why are you looking at me with such concern?" Watson asks, having glanced at his friend in return.

"I'm so very worried. Your vitality's been drained from you. Marriage is the end, I tell you."

"I think of it as the beginning." John says fondly.

"Armageddon."

"Rebirth."

"Restriction."

"Structure."

"Answering to a woman."

"Being in a relationship." John glances at Sherlock. "You must understand that? Y/N and yourself are in one." He does his best to focus on the road, but the questions do flood his mind as he sits there with his best friend. "Do you not wish to marry her?"

Sherlock says nothing as he stares ahead.

"Holmes?"

"It's complicated."

"Did something happen?"

"No. Should it have?" Sherlock turns to John, his tone of voice as perky as ever. There didn't seem to be anything different about Holmes, but when you have known him as long as John has, you know what to look for in Sherlock.

"Something has."

"I told you. It's complicated."

"Sherlock-"

"So, we'll have a good old-fashioned romp tonight. You'l settle down, have a family, and I'll... die alone."

"Is it that bad?" John asks. "What did you do?"

"Me? What makes you say such a thing?" Sherlock wasn't at all offended. He just liked being dramatic sometimes.

"Isn't it always you." It wasn't a question.

Sherlock didn't say any more on the matter. He didn't feel like John needed to know. This was his problem. His alone. He could deal with it. He would fix it.... maybe.

"Perhaps it's better for one to die alone than to live life in eternal purgatory." Sherlock says, once the car has come to a stop. John looks at him, shakes his head and then climbs out. "Anyway..." Sherlock also hops out.

"Not bad, that." John says, nodding at the car. "So, where are we going?"

"In the future, there'll be one of those machines in every town in Europe." A third voice speaks up from the shadows, right beside where Sherlock stood. He steps out, placing a top hat on his head as he faces his brother.

"Loitering in the woodshed again, are we, Myccie?" 

"Good evening, Sherly. Well. I see your boot-maker is ill, dear brother." Mycroft begins to walk away, the other two follow.

"As I detect that you've recently changed the brand of soap with which you shave." Sherlock points out.

"May I point out that the chimney in he front room at Baker Street is still in need of damn good sweeping up?" Mycroft mentions.

"Were you aware that the Hackney carriage by which you arrived had a damaged wheel?" Sherlock asks.

"Yes, the left. And it's plain to the meanest intelligence that you have recently acquired a new bow for you violin."

"Same bow, new strings." Sherlock corrects.

"I'm surprised she hasn't left you yet." Mycroft looks his brother in the eyes with an almost amused expression. Yet, Sherlock doesn't seem to react to that.

John looks mildly confused for a moment.

"Why would she?"

"Because you're doing a terrible job, brother."

"That's getting rather repetitive around here." Sherlock still didn't have a very outward reaction. John decided to step in before this could escalate. It was far obvious by now that they were talking about you and that Sherlock really didn't want to.

"And may I deduce, Mycroft- good evening, by the way." John goes to shake his hand, but Mycroft is quick to put a stop to that. John lowers his hand.

"He doesn't." Sherlock told him.

"May I deduce that you, who rarely strays from the path that runs from your home to the Diogenes Club, and never on a Monday when they serve your favourite potted shrimps, must be here for some far more important reason than my stag party?"

"You know, he's nothing like as slow-witted as you'd been leading me to believe, Sherly. No, you're quite right, Dr. Watson,  but with all the conflict in Europe at the moment, the whole situation could... suddenly erupt. I am here to avoid a dire catastrophe. If the concerns of two nations- which shall remain nameless, but I can tell you they speak French and German- are not dealt with tonight, I shall be forced to go to Switzerland to attend the ghastly peace summit in Reichenbach. The worst thing about Switzerland us the altitude." Mycroft walked on.

John faced Sherlock.

"I'm so glad you invited your brother." Watson sighs.

Meanwhile, back at the flat, you were sitting with Mrs. Hudson at her kitchen table. You were busy reading silently. Mrs. Hudson was sitting opposite you, she glanced your way every moment or so, but you didn't say anything.

"You should be out enjoying yourself, dear."

"Me? It's John and Mary's wedding, not mine." You give her a tight lipped smile, but you knew it wouldn't fool her.

"You could do so much better." She sighs.

"I know." You mutter under your breath. "My problem is that I don't want better, I want him..."

You gaze down at your left hand. A few months ago there was a ring sitting there. Sherlock has asked you to marry him shortly after everything that happened last year, and things were great for a while.... but the more he dived into his case with Moriarty, the more neglected you began to feel. Soon enough Sherlock was pushing you away. He ate less, drank things no human should ever be drinking as if it were alcohol, muttering things to himself, ignoring your requests to assist him and then forgetting your presence entirely. You only stayed now.... because you were holding onto hope.

"Y/N..."

Mrs. Hudson couldn't really do anything to help, but you were glad she was there.

"Shall I make us another cup of tea?"

"That would be lovely."

She gets up to see to it. You stare at the pages of the book in front of you, no longer able to absorb it's contents. Your mind was too busy and loud to focus on anything else.

You still had hope.

Tags:

@hufflepuff-pide-honey-badger @theatricalbride @phantomofhogwarts @awyr @fandombeehive @charmed-asylum @sigynbandraoi-blog @procrastinatingmurder @madshelily @photography-to-all @sitkafay @melancholicsthings

[zwiezraczek]

Criminal - Chapter 9

Billy (viliain) x Female reader (cop)

Prologue/Chapter 1 - CHAPTER 2 - CHAPTER 3 - CHAPTER 4 - CHAPTER 5 - CHAPTER 6 -  CHAPTER 7 - CHAPTER 8 - CHAPTER 9:  But mama I'm in love with a criminal  - CHAPTER 10

SUMMARY: You always wanted to become a police officer. And you became one of them, brilliantly and they offered you your first case. “The Ghosts” case. The case of fleeting people and one sneaky bastard parkouring around the town to annoy you. You swore to yourself to catch him them. 

WORDS: 1.6k

NOTE: Okay, this was a hectic week by any means, I came back home, I had my 21st birthday and now we’re starting a revolution in the world, this week was a long one. So as I said, I’m only updating today, I hope you’ll enjoy the update! 💕

TAGLIST: @onceuponadetectivedemigod​ @natsficrecs​​ @suckerfor-fanfics​(leave a comment to be a part of it!)

PERMANENT TAGLIST @suckerfor-fanfics​​ (leave a comment to be a part of it!)

HOUR 24 BEFORE HEIST TRAP

Billy felt like shit. He had shivers going down his spine from time to time, thinking of you, thinking about what he probably had done to you while he told his squad that you were nothing. That your relationship meant nothing to him, that this nemesis friendship you had meant nothing. But he lied as much as he cared about you.

He felt hopeless. Hopeless because he probably had sold you in the worst way possible, he was about to hurt you without showing any regret. And God knew he had many regrets in his life.

From the day he was caught with you he had to prove himself to his squad, to the Ghosts about his totally “professional” relationship with you while being flirty and lovely in order to hear your cute laugh and to see your eyes sparkle as you looked at him. He loved looking into your eyes when you were this happy, he almost felt like having the whole world in front of him and only dreamed of running away with you, a cop and a criminal. There's no better pair than the latter, and he knew you could hide, together, without any problem with his and your skills. But the Ghosts were his family, and you seemed to be an ethereal love story that began to hurt more than intended. But he loved it anyway. You were his little sunshine, and in every letter he had written to you he poured care but mostly love. And it hurt, how fucking it hurt to know that he was partially lying to you about the greater purpose of his mission, because from his heart's perspective everything was genuine.

Except the heist and the trap the Ghosts had set to destroy your unit. He tried to minimize the whole thing, the whole mission to not be as violent as Three intended it to be but probably it wasn't possible to let Three take care of the mission without wanting to hurt some bad guys who were in their way. Thankfully Two tempered him – God bless her for this! – and allowed Billy to think about something he could have done about all of this. And he had an idea. And he knew exactly hos to handle this by himself, but at the same time with you.

~~~~

HOUR 22 BEFORE GHOST TRAP

Breathe in, breathe out as your cat purred into your ear. You scratched the top of your cat's head while thinking about what you were about to do, and how it would affect you. Jailing Billy. What once has been a dream quickly became a horror. Quickly – after a few months. It escalated too quickly and you lost control from the very beginning, especially when you agreed on meeting him in the coffee shop on that day, when Gina found out about your letters and threatened to tell everybody about it if you didn't let them both – Jake and her – investigate with you until setting a trap. And you had to watch your relationship with Billy becoming an awkward one, and only nice enough when you could get rid of either Gina or Jake during your “date” - yes you went on date with him, at least you hoped these meetings meant the same thing to him.

And this was why you decided to meet him right before the trap would be set, to discuss about everything your team had planned, probably risking it all. Risking your career for a fleeting feeling, butterflies in your stomach that made you scared and think about your heart possibly getting broken. But if it was the price to pay for something beautiful, you were able to handle it, and if it wasn't you were ready to face the consequences.

And you were ready to face them walking in the street, where you planned on meeting him, Billy. You had your hood over your head, hiding you from possible colleagues as you walked down the infamous street you were meeting on for the past two months. It had become a great infiltration, but mostly a good time while you were laughing and sharing information with each other, he seemed genuine but you were not – totally. You looked around, and spotted him jogging up to you as his golden locks came out from his hoodie. You couldn't help yourself but smile, a smile that faded as quickly as he seized your hand and began to walk even quicker as you gasped in surprise.

“Don't ask questions,” he told you without looking at you, “we need to go somewhere clear.”

And you stayed silent. For the first time in a few months you felt in danger, uncertain of what was happening to you as you walked right behind him, holding his hand and thinking. Thinking until your mind would explode. You couldn't imagine what he was about to tell you, or what reason made him change his plans but you were scared to. And you walked in the streets, turning left and right, slaloming between people in the crowd until finding an isolated place where nobody would disturb you. Near a dumpster, classic Billy move.

You looked at him, arching your eyebrow while keeping your hood on. He had some explanations to do, but so did you. With a tight feeling in your stomach, you tried to remain calm as you began to cold-sweat.

“Y/n, I'm... I'm sorry for many things,” he began after he had looked around the corner to make sure that nobody had followed you. You frowned, unsure about what he was about to say. “But I think I'm the most sorry about the fact that I lied to you about one thing.”

“One thing,” you repeated anxiously. He came closer, holding your hand in his with his green pearly eyes piercing yours. You probably were about to faint from the whole pressure.

“One thing. And it's why I have to reveal you this first, because this one isn't a lie,” he continued as he face was closer and closer to yours. “I... I think I fell in love with you, y/n,” he stated as he put his forehead against yours. You were short of breath for a moment, still holding his hands. “I know that you're probably scared, and that what I'm saying doesn't make sense at all but I truly...”

“Love you,” you finished for him before kissing his cheek. And this was where everything became even more complicated for you, a storm in your mind and a beautiful sunshine as he put his lips against yours right after you kissed him. And you didn't allow yourself to think about what was planned in a few hours, because right here and right now with him was what you needed.

“From nemesises to lovers,” he said with a smirk against your lips. But quickly, he pulled away, still holding your hands with a very serious air. And you were afraid again. “And that's where the nemesis part comes and ruins everything...”

“Why,” you whispered, asking him and yourself too. Why you had to ruin everything by your stupid imprudent act? Why you couldn't be happy and try this relationship? Why was it all looking like a Romeo and Juliet love story with a bad end?

“Because I... I betrayed you,” he softly said as he let your hands go and your mouth went agape. “Because I told them everything you told me, I told the Ghosts about what you were planning to do with your unit and they... They want to end this tomorrow.” He was... Also... “They will attack you when you'll enter the building, they won't hesitate to hurt you because I told them that you meant nothing to me, that you were just a way out of the shit hole we were in, but in fact... I don't want to do this, y/n. Please, follow me,” he quickly said as he brushed your hand with his fingers, lingering for your touch again, “we'll go out of here, we'll be able to live together hiding from them. I know we can, I know we can do this y/n, together we can do everything just like our plans when we were talking together, just like we joked in our letters. Please, come with me.”

You stayed silent for a moment, trying to process the information. He... He did exactly what you did, putting his mission first and his heart second with a catastrophic outcome, an almost broken heart which would only be healed by one antidote: love.

“I... We... We betrayed each other,” you finally said as he looked at you, even more confused than you were in the first place. “We seemed to never trust each other too much, nemesises things right?” You slightly joked. “But... I had to tell my colleagues about us too, they found out the letters and... I had to come up with an excuse and... We're also setting a trap, tomorrow, same hour as you probably. Billy, we're screwed.”

“Y/n, we're not,” he replied after kissing your knuckles. “We can run away, we can leave them with their problems and live our lives... Peacefully, together.”

Billy, we made this mess, we need to clean this up,” you stated, your cheeks slightly blushing from the contact with his lips. “We need to interfere, tomorrow when they'll try to kill each other. We need to stop the fight, because we're playing for the same team.”

“I'll play in any team if it's with you.”

Two was fucking wrong: he was living in a fairytale.

[happymetalgirl]

Black Lives Matter (adapted from previous post)

I was finishing up my April albums post but I honestly couldn’t write about the albums I needed to without getting this out there first, and (as usual) it ended up being really long, so I separated it and made it its own post here.

I’m writing this part now at the beginning of June after an already tumultuous April and May, and now I’m just making myself sit down and do this because, well, honestly, it’s been pretty hard to justify spending my time writing about anything else with all all of what is going on right now. (I can’t wait to see what July throws at us.) But again, in all seriousness, I’m not looking for any pity or sympathy for my relatively mild circumstances at all because in all honesty, my assorted privileges have allowed my life to be pretty okay and proceed mostly uninterrupted in the midst of everything going on.

I’ll start by disseminating any ambiguity on what I’ll be talking about in these paragraphs. As I write this in the midst of a respiratory virus pandemic, another epidemic (possibly pandemic) of racist police brutality that has always existed in a culture of unhinged toxic masculinity in the United States has exploded to unbelievable and disgusting levels against Black people and peaceful protesters, ironically in wake of protests against fucking police violence, all of which is only emboldened and encouraged by local and federal leadership that is showcasing its oppressive, totalitarian ambitions in its unprecedented attempted revocations of its citizens constitutional and human rights.

I’ll make the necessary side note that this increasingly oligarchical government subservient to the will of military and prison industry has already shown its complete disregard for human rights for decades upon decades now through its violation of human rights through offensive wars and sanctions against other countries and its dehumanization of the refugees and immigrants who its actions create.

If you haven’t already checked out of this from all the political correctness breaching your conservative bubble (good job not being that person), but you’re upset because tHiS iS sUpPoSeD tO bE a MuSiC bLoG, uh, you’re on the wrong website buddy, and the potential tipping point of a long-awaited revolution in the midst of an economic depression, a viral pandemic, and a dual crisis of grotesque police violence and evolutionary transformation of proto-fascism into fascist dictatorship is no time to go about business as usual.

BUT OKAY, ENOUGH INTRODUCTION AND ENOUGH ABOUT ME! The point of this is to spotlight what to do in the wake of all of this. First of all, I don’t have all the answers and my perspective is as limited as any person’s, so if you’re an expert on any of these matters or if you have insight from having experiences that I as a white cis male have not had, if anything I’m bringing up here could be better in any way, feel absolutely free (but not obligated) to let me know.

Okay, so lots of problems at hand. The big, all-encompassing one facing all of humanity of course is the ecological disruption caused by industrially driven human-catalyzed climate change, and the rot of everything crystallizing at this current moment feeds into exacerbating that catastrophe, the next wide-reaching issue being capitalism, whose prioritization of profit and short-term gains is incredibly ill-equipped to handle a slow emergency like climate change or a more acute emergency like a global pandemic. Here in the U.S. we have a federal government so infested with corporate corruption to maximize capital profits for the country’s most wealthy that they couldn’t even choose the obvious solution of pausing the economy and providing for its people for the duration of the pandemic in the interest of public health over the appallingly quick choice of protecting the financial interests of the corporate “donors” that help them hold their positions of power, at the risk of maybe closing the gap a tiny bit between the truly despicably wealthy and the growing number of hopelessly impoverished. So while the wealthy get protection of their assets from the slow-down of business (you know, ‘cause the pandemic), the people in most need of help because of that slow-down and plunged into spiking unemployment get shit from the people meant to represent them. And that’s just the corporate rot that rears its head as a result of a pandemic!

Even in “normal” times, capitalism in this country has built its foundation on slave labor and justifying the use of slavery through racism (even after it became illegal to outright own people as slaves). That cornerstone of free/cheap labor that this country’s economy is built on whose role was served by slavery was filled by outsourcing to countries with an easily exploitable lower class (whose conditions are often exacerbated by U.S. meddling on behalf of business interests) and prison labor made possible by mass incarceration that has targeted similarly vulnerable people and communities of color through strategic, racially profiled over-policing of minority communities trapped in poverty through historic systemic racism.

The study of that global climate change I mentioned earlier is referred to as a crisis study because there isn’t an unlimited time to do something about it, and the ever-changing conditions and pivotal events of the world effect what needs to be done to combat it (and what it is too late to do). This current crisis of police brutality is one of those types of critical moments, for climate change and social justice. Police brutality didn’t become an issue when George Floyd was murdered on May 25th 2020; it’s been an ugly facet of this multifactedly ugly country for a long time now, but its being brought to light has instigated an uprising the likes of which has not been seen in a long while, and with it, an especially insidious aggression toward it by the increasingly fascist government and its authoritarian figurehead (to the point of threatening institution of martial law and suspending first amendment rights and habeas corpus) that at this point serves only to maintain complacency for the benefit of the ruling class and to the detriment of the disproportionately non-white lower working class (treated as a slave class). Consequently this is a pivotal time that obligates widespread action and ceasing of silence from privileged people like me who have been able to get away with writing about music largely apolitically for years. This is a time when we either plunge unfathomably further into the depths of fascism at the hands of the ruling class and the silence of the less-effected or we consolidate in this moment of broad energizing to both enact substantive change on the critical issue of police brutality and set a precedent and build momentum to achieve justice for LGBTQIA+ folk, other racial minorities and marginalized groups, and make the critical changes need to avoid civilizational dissolution in the face of the imperative to mitigate our impact on global warming.

Speaking of that change and the actions that this moment implores of us all to contribute our energy to: the most immediately critical issue at our feet, to both save human lives from being taken unjustly at the hands of police brutality and to galvanize this revolution to be able to demand further justice and critical social transformation, is ending police brutality. Being an institution born out of rounding up escaped slaves and given the state-supported monopoly on violence that attracts largely those seeking to satiate sadism with the license to that monopolized violence, police culture is inherently toxic and not worth even preserving for the sake of transforming structurally. While abolishing the police is obviously too ambitious of an immediate goal, there are a lot of proposed steps to defunding and largely dismantling the police as a whole. The project Campaign Zero outlines and pushes for ten tangible reforms that would (some of which have recently been proposed in Colorado) decrease police violence, especially in the majority-Black communities that suffer from it the most. The “8 Can’t Wait” proposal that has been making rounds lately is part of Campaign Zero, and donations to these projects are of course, quite helpful and a good start for this blossoming movement. Furthermore, donations to local bail funds is especially important at this time with police making wanton arrests of peaceful protests (and also just random Black people not making any disruption) to support the people going out and protesting. Because this money of course gets siphoned into the courts, and then partially to law enforcement, it’s important to also direct funds to organizations where that money will not later be used against us, but again, keeping people able to protest is of utmost importance, since that it what is driving positive change in this moment.

Also helpful is direct support of the people on the frontlines of these protests. It is a time for privileged people to take action in solidarity and support, but not one for privileged groups to take over or “lead” the movement. Right now, this is about who is hurting the most and who is being oppressed the most, and right now that is Black people, by police, hence BLACK LIVES MATTER. Now is not a time for even underprivileged white people to use these protests’ likelihood of escalating to indulge in venting frustrations against the system by inciting police violence that puts Black people disproportionately in more danger in such situations. Now is the time to use that privilege of being less prone to racism police violence to whatever extent possible to protect the people of color protesting. And again, this isn’t about being white saviors or martyrs, this is about supporting people in the way they wish, so don’t listen to my advice over the insight and requests of what Black people and the Black community have. And by all means, fucking listen to them! Read from them! Engage in good-faith conversation with them (though don’t expect any individual Black person to give you a seminar on racism when there are ample resources that don’t demand someone devoting their precious time to you)! Learn where the limits of your perspective fail you! And for fuck’s sake, don’t just cherry pick the word of one token Black friend that happens to have some class privilege to conveniently discount the testimonies of other Black people!

Lastly, on a personal note to the metalheads that read this blog, I think this is a particularly important time for the metal community, not to center itself, but to bring itself alongside social justice in a more complete way than it has in the past. Former Opeth and current Soen drummer Martín López said last year in an interview published in Blabbermouth that the metal community is very behind the curve on sociopolitical issues, and the response to his saying that from the metal community that floods Blabbermouth comment sections basically just made the case for the exact point he was making. And it’s a shame because I think such a huge part of metal is about standing up to injustice as part of or in support of the oppressed, or at least such a huge part of the metal I gravitate toward is. Without sounding too spiritual or cheesy because I’m not a really spiritual person, I feel like when I see the injustice going on, I feel that spirit of metal in all of it on the side of the oppressed. I feel like all the grindcore and deathcore and thrash and death metal I’ve been binging lately is in the spirit of the protesters standing up to and, when they have to, fighting back against the unjustified aggression of the police, and looking back at old, certified classic albums like …And Justice for All, Toxicity, and Chaos A.D. and more recent albums like Machine Head’s The Blackening, and Thy Art Is Murder’s Human Target, and Venom Prison’s Samsara, it’s always been about standing up to this kind of bullshit. So I think if there ever was a time since Sabbath birthed it for metal to prove that it’s as important as it makes itself out to be and as important as it is to everyone who listens to it in such a way that they read an obscure blog about it, now is that time to show that it’s not just about being an angry white guy. Now is the time to make Martín López happy by proving him wrong.

Well, in typical Happymetalboy fashion, I can’t seem to make anything brief.

[reading-writing-revolution]

Heather Cox Richardson:

July 26, 2020 (Sunday)

Reality is disrupting the ideology of today’s Republican Party.

For a generation, Republicans have tried to unravel the activist government under which Americans have lived since the 1930s, when Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt created a government that regulated business, provided a basic social safety net, and invested in infrastructure. From the beginning, that government was enormously popular. Both Republicans and Democrats believed that the principle behind it—that the country worked best when government protected and defended ordinary Americans—was permanent.

But the ideologues who now control the Republican Party have always wanted to get rid of this New Deal state and go back to the world of the 1920s, when businessmen ran the government. They believe that government regulation and taxation is an assault on their liberty, because it restricts their ability to make money.

They have won office not by convincing Americans to give up their own government benefits—most Americans actually like clean water and Social Security and safe bridges—but by selling a narrative in which “Liberals” are trying to undermine the country by stealing the tax dollars of hardworking Americans—quietly understood to be white men—and redistributing them to lazy people who want handouts, not-so-quietly understood to be people of color and feminist women. According to this narrative, legislation that protects ordinary Americans simply redistributes wealth. It is “socialism,” or “communism.”

Meanwhile, Republican policies have actually redistributed wealth upward. When voters began to turn against those policies, Republicans upped the ante, saying that “Liberals” were simply buying Black votes with handouts, or, as Carly Fiorina said in a 2016 debate, planning to butcher babies and sell their body parts. To make sure Republicans stayed in power, they suppressed voting by people likely to vote Democratic, and gerrymandered states so that even if Democrats won a majority of votes, they would have a minority of representatives.

This system rewarded those who moved to the right, not to the middle. It gave them Donald Trump as a 2016 candidate, who talked of Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists and treated women not as equals but as objects either for sex or derision.

And, although as a candidate Trump talked about making taxes fairer, improving health care, and helping those struggling economically, in fact as president he has done more to bring about the destruction of the New Deal state than most of his predecessors. He has slashed regulations, given a huge tax cut to the wealthy, and gutted the government.

If the end of the New Deal state is going to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity, it should be now.

Instead, the gutting of our government destroyed our carefully constructed pandemic response teams and plans, leaving America vulnerable to the coronavirus. Pressed to take the lead on combatting the virus, the administration refused to use federal power, and instead relied on “public-private partnerships” which meant states were largely on their own. When governors tried to take over, the Republican objection to government regulation, cultivated over a generation, had people refusing to wear masks or follow government instructions.

As the rest of the world watches in horror, we have suffered more than 4 million infections, and are approaching 150,000 deaths.

The pandemic also crashed the economy as businesses shut down to avoid infections. It threw more than 20 million Americans out of work. Republican ideology says the government has no business supporting ordinary Americans: they should work to survive, even if that means they have to take the risk of contracting Covid-19. Schools should open, businesses should get up and going, and the economy should rebuild. As Texas’s lieutenant governor Dan Patrick said to Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson in March, grandparents should be willing to contract coronavirus for the U.S. to “get back to work.”

The coronavirus has brought the Republican narrative up against reality. Just 32% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, and only 38% of the country think the economy is good. Americans believe that the government should have done a better job managing the pandemic, and they do not believe they should risk their lives for the economy.

To try to deflect attention from the failure of his approach to the coronavirus, Trump is once, again, escalating the narrative. He has launched an offensive against Democratic cities, trying to convince voters he is protecting them from "violent anarchists" coddled by Democrats. He is using federal law enforcement officers in unprecedented ways, not to quell protests, but to escalate them. In Portland, Oregon, as officers have used tear gas, less-than-lethal munitions (which nonetheless fractured a man’s skull), and batons to attack protesters, the events, which had fallen to a few hundred attendees, grew again into the thousands. And now the administration is planning to send in more officers, to escalate further.

The Republicans’ ideology is also making it impossible for them to deal with the economy. We are on the verge of a catastrophe as the $600 weekly federal bonus attached to state unemployment benefits runs out this week just as the moratorium on evictions for an inability to pay rent ends. At the same time, state and local budgets, hammered by the pandemic, will mean more layoffs.

The House passed a $3 trillion bill in May to address these issues, along with providing more money to combat the coronavirus, but Republicans in the Senate rejected it out of hand. Today on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) went back to his ideological roots. “The only objective Democrats have is to defeat Donald Trump, and they've cynically decided the best way to defeat Donald Trump is shut down every business in America, shut down every school in America," he said. House Speaker "Nancy Pelosi talks about working men and women. What she's proposing is keeping working men and women from working." "Her objectives are shoveling cash at the problem and shutting America down.”

Instead, both Trump and Cruz want a payroll tax cut, which will do little to stimulate the economy since the tens of millions who have lost their jobs would not see any money, and this late in the year much of the tax has already been paid. But the payroll tax cut is popular among Republican ideologues because it funds Social Security and Medicare. Cut it, and those programs take a hit.

Today Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin took to the Sunday talk shows to try to reassure people that the Republicans would, in fact, manage to cobble together a relief bill in the next few days (after not writing one in the last two months). They are talking about passing piecemeal measures, but, recognizing that this means Republicans will call all the shots, Pelosi says no.

Meadows and Mnuchin say they want liability protection for businesses and schools if they open and people get Covid-19. They were also clear they would not agree to extending the $600 federal addition to state unemployment benefits, arguing that it simply “paid people to stay home.” They say they want to guarantee people 70% of their wages, but the reason the earlier bill had a flat $600 payment was because it appeared impossible for states to administer a complicated program based on a percentage, so this might well just be a straw argument.

The Republican approach to handling the coronavirus and the economy is apparently not to turn to our government, but to put our heads down, go on as usual, and hope for a vaccine. What will end the pandemic is “not masks. It’s not shutting down the economy," Meadows said. “Hopefully it is American ingenuity that will allow for therapies and vaccines to ultimately conquer this.”

[newstfionline]

Friday, August 6, 2021

US plans to require COVID-19 shots for foreign travelers (AP) The Biden administration is taking the first steps toward requiring nearly all foreign visitors to the U.S. to be vaccinated for the coronavirus, a White House official said. The requirement would come as part of the administration’s phased approach to easing travel restrictions for foreign citizens to the country. No timeline has yet been determined, as interagency working groups study how and when to safely move toward resuming normal travel. Eventually all foreign citizens entering the country, with some limited exceptions, are expected to need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter the U.S.

Big tech companies are at war with employees over remote work (Ars Technica) All across the United States, the leaders at large tech companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook are engaged in a delicate dance with thousands of employees who have recently become convinced that physically commuting to an office every day is an empty and unacceptable demand from their employers. The COVID-19 pandemic forced these companies to operate with mostly remote workforces for months straight. And since many of them are based in areas with relatively high vaccination rates, the calls to return to the physical office began to sound over the summer. But thousands of high-paid workers at these companies aren’t having it. Many of them don’t want to go back to the office full time, even if they’re willing to do so a few days a week. Workers are even pointing to how effective they were when fully remote and using that to question why they have to keep living in the expensive cities where these offices are located. Some tech leaders (like Twitter’s Jack Dorsey) agreed, or at least they saw the writing on the wall. They enacted permanent or semipermanent changes to their companies’ policies to make partial or even full-time remote work the norm. Others (like Apple’s Tim Cook) are working hard to find a way to get everyone back in their assigned seats as soon as is practical, despite organized resistance. In either case, the work cultures at tech companies that make everything from the iPhone to Google search are facing a major wave of transformation.

At least 10 dead as van carrying migrants crashes in Texas (AP) An overloaded van carrying 29 migrants crashed Wednesday on a remote South Texas highway, killing at least 10 people, including the driver, and injuring 20 others, authorities said. The crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday on U.S. 281 in Encino, Texas, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of McAllen. A surge in migrants crossing the border illegally has brought about an uptick in the number of crashes involving vehicles jammed with migrants who pay large amounts to be smuggled into the country. The Dallas Morning News has reported that the recruitment of young drivers for the smuggling runs, combined with excessive speed and reckless driving by those youths, have led to horrific crashes.

Turkish wildfires are worst ever, Erdogan says, as power plant breached (Reuters) Turkey is battling the worst wildfires in its history, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, as fires spread to a power station in the country’s southwest after reducing swathes of coastal forest to ashes. Fanned by high temperatures and a strong, dry wind, the fires have forced thousands of Turks and foreign tourists to flee homes and hotels near the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. Eight people have died in the blazes since last week. Planes and dozens of helicopters have joined scores of emergency crews on the ground to battle the fires, but Erdogan’s government has faced criticism over the scale and speed of the response. In the last two weeks, fires in Turkey have burnt more than three times the area affected in an average year, a European fire agency said. Neighbouring countries have also battled blazes fanned by heatwaves and strong winds.

Sri Lanka’s financial problems (Foreign Policy) Sri Lanka is threatening to become South Asia’s economic weak link. It’s mired in a severe debt crisis, and its budget deficit exceeded 11 percent of GDP during the last fiscal year, which ended in March. The country’s foreign reserves can only pay for three months of imports, prompting Colombo to cut back on many foreign imports, including turmeric, a staple product. Fitch Ratings has warned default is a real possibility. Sri Lanka’s woes stem in great part from a floundering tourism sector. Tourism typically accounts for at least 5 percent of GDP, and some estimates even put the figure at 12.5 percent. The sector’s troubles began before the coronavirus pandemic, when suicide bombers killed at least 290 people in churches and hotels in April 2019, keeping visitors away. But the pandemic still dealt a giant blow. A 2021 assessment found tourist arrivals between January and April fell nearly 100 percent from the same period in 2020.

Australia to spend $813M to address Indigenous disadvantage (AP) Australia’s government on Thursday pledged 1.1 billion Australian dollars ($813 million) to address Indigenous disadvantage, including compensation to thousands of mixed-race children who were taken from their families over decades. The AU$378.6 million ($279.7 million) to be used to compensate the so-called Stolen Generations by 2026 is the most expensive component of the package aimed at boosting Indigenous living standards in Australia. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the compensation was a recognition of the harm caused by forced removal of children from families.

Israel launches airstrikes on Lebanon in response to rockets (AP) Israel on Thursday escalated its response to rocket attacks this week by launching rare airstrikes on Lebanon, the army said. The army said in a statement that jets struck the launch sites from which rockets had been fired over the previous day, as well as an additional target used to attack Israel in the past. The IDF blamed the state of Lebanon for the shelling and warned “against further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israel’s sovereignty.” The overnight airstrikes were a marked escalation at a politically sensitive time. Israel’s new eight-party governing coalition is trying to keep peace under a fragile cease fire that ended an 11-day war with Hamas’ militant rulers in Gaza in May.

‘Winning a medal doesn’t make him Jewish’ (Washington Post) When gymnast Artem Dolgopyat stepped off the podium as only the second Israeli to win an Olympic gold medal, he triggered one of Israel’s many cultural tripwires: It quickly emerged that the country’s newest sports hero is banned from marrying his fiancee here because he is not considered Jewish enough by the rabbis who control Israel’s marriage law. Immediately after Dolgopyat took top honors in the men’s floor exercise, his mother took the chance to complain that Israeli religious law is keeping her engaged 24-year-old son from tying the knot because only his father’s side of the family is Jewish. Marriage law is tightly controlled by Israel’s Chief Rabbinate. And for generations, couples who are of mixed religions—or who are atheists, gay or inadequately Jewish—have been forced to marry outside the country. Dolgopyat’s training schedule has made that impossible, said his mother, Angela Bilan. “I want grandchildren,” Bilan said Sunday in an interview with Israeli radio.

Talking to strangers (Atlantic) A hefty body of research has found that an overwhelmingly strong predictor of happiness and well-being is the quality of a person’s social relationships. But most of those studies have looked at only close ties: family, friends, co-workers. In the past decade and a half, professors have begun to wonder if interacting with strangers could be good for us too: not as a replacement for close relationships, but as a complement to them. The results of that research have been striking. Again and again, studies have shown that talking with strangers can make us happier, more connected to our communities, mentally sharper, healthier, less lonely, and more trustful and optimistic.

But tanks make such handy snowplows... (BBC) A German retiree was fined nearly $300,000 by local authorities on Tuesday following the discovery of a World War-II era tank in his basement along with other items of the period, including a flak cannon and multiple machine guns. The Panther tank was removed from the man’s property in 2015, a job that took 20 soldiers almost nine hours to complete. The unnamed 84-year-old might have been able to hold on to his tank and the rest of his collection—which must now be donated to a museum within two years, according to Tuesday’s ruling—had he kept it a better secret. “He was chugging around in that thing during the snow catastrophe in 1978,” Heikendorf Mayor Alexander Orth told reporters.

[back-and-totheleft]

“Americans live in a fantasy world”

Your autobiography is called "Chasing the Light." But did you find the light you were looking for?

That was the case when I was 40. At least the light of success, when “Platoon” became an absolutely unbelievable success. That was a "Cinderella" story of "Rocky" dimensions. Here we had an unknown B-movie that was shot in the Philippines for little money and then it became a monster hit all over the world. Before, the entire Hollywood community had rejected me, now suddenly the studios welcomed me again with open arms.

But the times when you moved the world with your films are long ago. Do you regret that?

No, because I’m happy and satisfied. I've made enough films and that took a lot of energy. There’s currently no topic that burns under my skin. I only did “Snowden” four years ago because I wanted to raise public awareness of the issue of the surveillance state. I thought that was my responsibility. But I wasn't as enthusiastic about that film as something like “Platoon.” Making a movie takes a year or two of your life. At 74, I have no motivation to shoot anything without great ambition, just for the sake of filmmaking. Besides that, Hollywood isn't interested in me anymore anyway. And I ask myself the question: does Hollywood even still exist?

Why wouldn't it be there anymore?

Who makes real films these days? Everyone works for television, where the average rules because all projects are trimmed down to the lowest possible denominator. There is more bureaucracy; decisions about projects are made in committee. The script development is the worst of all - it’s not called "development hell" for nothing. None of this goes with how I made films. They were outside the norm. I don't think a [company like] Netflix would understand. “Snowden” could only be made because the start-up funding came from Germany and France.

Are there really no subjects that you can warm to?

I would have liked to film the legal investigation of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. It was a great story. But that didn't happen because negotiations were going on in the years after September 11th and a story about American soldiers creating bloodbaths among civilians didn't go over well. And my Martin Luther King project didn't work out because I wanted to address his infidelities as well, and his estate administrators objected to that.

How about a Donald Trump movie?

At the moment it doesn't make that much sense because his story is always evolving. Apart from that, so much has been written about him that I don't have much new to contribute. Ultimately, he's just a con man and a narcissist.

But in view of the upheavals he created, he would be an ideal film protagonist.

Frankly, he hasn't done any permanent damage yet. Yes, he has no morals. But did George W. Bush have any? He's no-good and from my point of view, he was by far the worst president we've ever had. He was a mediocre student who dodged Vietnam and still got the red carpet rolled out. As president, he was a pushover who pretended he was strong and then led us into a devastating war in the Middle East from which we have not recovered to this day. We have not yet recovered from the anti-terrorism legislation of the Patriot Act.

How do you see Barack Obama in comparison?

He proclaimed lofty intentions, but during his presidency whistleblowers were persecuted, bombing and drone attacks escalated. The point is, we are trapped in a system that we cannot break out of.

What kind of system do you mean?

One shaped by the conservative ideology of the military establishment. When Kennedy wanted to abolish this and establish a more peaceful policy, he was pushed out of the way. We are a militaristic society that has a cult of guns and military worship. The trillions we spend on our defense budget have ruined our country. We consider ourselves the strongest in the world, which I think is a fallacy. I myself have repeatedly denounced the machinations of the military, not least in my autobiography, in which I go into all the lies of the Vietnam War. We never admitted to ourselves how many of our soldiers were accidentally killed by our own forces. We told the lie that we didn't kill civilians and we lied to our taxpayers that we could win this war. The whole concept of victory was fucked up - right from the start of the war. Unfortunately in the USA far too few people dare to challenge the military. You need guts for that.

Despite all of your anti-war films and US-critical documentaries, not much has apparently changed. Are you disaffected?

Indeed I am. I would like to believe that I’m doing something good with my work. I also know that a lot of people have responded positively to it. Only at the government level nothing changes. Perhaps this is due to the deeply rooted aggressiveness of American society. When I go to Japan, I don't see any weapons. I experience a completely different culture that is characterized by mutual respect. They don't shoot each other in the street. You, in Europe, learned your lesson from World War II, which unfortunately did not become part of the American consciousness. We live in a fantasy world made up of video games and war films. People have no realistic idea of ​​the nature of war. That's why we have no qualms about it.

Does that mean Americans should look to the rest of the world, rather than the other way around?

Yes, I would say that. Too many people in the US have no historical perspective. They live in Disneyland or on a golf course. They’re just fighting to move forward economically. That is their only thought. But we need some kind of world awareness. The people in Europe and Asia are much more educated and savvy. It's not just about making money [to them].

And how was it with you? You're an American too, and good money can be made with films.

That's why I never went into the film industry. I chose this route because I wanted to tell stories. Little did I know it was going to be a billion dollar blockbuster business. That wasn't good for cinema anyway, because films that say something about our society fell behind.

Have you never thought of emigrating? Your mother was French and your wife is a native Korean. Your last film was funded with European funds.

Of course I have. But I was shaped by America, I grew up and went to school here. And it's not as catastrophic here as it is sometimes portrayed by the media. I prefer to try to make things change. There are still many good people here. It’s worth fighting with them for a better America. And I'm also someone who believes in a happy ending.

Let's say you never developed this critical awareness. Then you could have had a much easier life. Would that be tempting to imagine?

Absolutely not. The average American lives in a world full of pain, he just doesn't understand it because he’s spiritually dead and only interested in material things. Such an existence is hell on earth. Of course, all these problems were tough to deal with. That's why there’s so much pain in my autobiography. But without that pain, I would’ve had a useless life. But as it is, my existence has a meaning - spiritual, political, social.

Do you remember the first time you volunteered for a noble cause?

It was at school. I was around ten then. There was a boy in my class - physically awkward, otherwise awkward and not particularly well educated. And he was bullied by the rest of the class. He was all alone and I felt sorry for him. So I stood up for him, which was not well received. As a result, I became an outsider too. That gave me my first good insight into how human society works.

But in the film industry, haven’t you been tough and struck some blows?

On the contrary. As a Vietnam veteran, I couldn't cope with society for a long time. I felt like a savage. That's why I consciously tried to be particularly careful and civilized with people. I should have talked to some of the experienced people. In this industry, people misbehave all the time and so, as a newcomer, I was really taken advantage of by people who had no such moral inhibitions.

You still seem relatively gentle and prudent. How did you manage to maintain that demeanor despite all the negativity that was beating down on you?

I've been studying Buddhism for almost 30 years and that helps me find inner harmony. But I’m not a person who scourges myself and walks around in a hairshirt. And I can't complain either. I had a good life.

You will never give up, even if you are no longer passionate about filmmaking?

No, there are so many other things that interest me. I keep doing my documentaries. We should each make the most of our life, to become more aware. It's a big responsibility. And we shouldn't say to ourselves: “It doesn't matter.” Otherwise we would live in a state of nihilism, and that doesn't work.

-Rudiger Sturm interviews Oliver Stone, Augsburg General, Oct 18 2020 [x] Translated.

[nemobookaholic]

What if ...

Loki where a 21st century woman?

Part 2

Scene 8

Back at home, we enter a room where Kevin and Loki are sitting face to face. As Kevin had said, an hour a day - now we know he meant it. Yet, just because he looks like an Irish leprechaun, it doesn’t mean he has the same wit. Indeed we can assume that he has inherited more but the ginger hair. Loki seems like she’d figured it out already, according to her staring. It’s like the game we all played as kids. A staring contest, losers gonna look away first. Both of them want to be at the winning side. We start to wonder what kind of therapeutic use this game shall have, as Kevin breaks the silence, not looking away of course.

‘You really think that you are Loki of Asgard?’

‘I do not think so. I know who I am!’

Not the best opening line for a therapist. Here we see the trainee.

‘Good… had you ever the desire to — well, use the boy’s bathroom, or play with cars instead of dolls?’

We move our angle, so we can see what Kevin writes down on his notepad.

‘Seriously? That is what you want to know? — To be honest I was thought to play with knives and illusions, as well as with my brothers foolishness. Trust me, gender never was a big deal for me. I can be whatever I want to,’ Lokis boasts.

° narcissism

° dissociative identity disorder

° a lot of anger/rage

Is what we can read by now. Dr. Freud might had added hysteria.

‘Tell me about your brother,’ is Kevins next question.

‘I would not know why,’ Loki appeals stubborn.

‘We have a deal, remember?’

‘I don’t see any sense in it, as you obviously don’t believe me, but here you go. Thor, god of thunder. Not the brightest glowing candle. Likes his hammer… a lot. Future king of Asgard, if you’d ask him. Has a soft spot for Midgard. I came here to say hello,’ she’s checking on her fingernails while speaking.

‘To me it sounds like there is a rivalry between you and your brother?’ for a second we catch discomfort in Lokis eyes.

‘He’s not my real brother. It’s not that long ago when I was told, I am adopted.’

‘Who told you so?’

‘My fa…, Odin. He promised me a throne! Just to tell me, that I was nothing more than a hostage.’

°daddy issues

Kevins pen is wandering on the paper.

‘Tell me about your mum.’

‘She’s kind an loving. I’m afraid, I might never see her again, only in my dreams.’

‘Why do you think so?’

‘Never mind! There is witchcraft, even in dreams. You would not understand. — By the way, how come this reality is blocking out almost every magic?’ Loki’s time for questions.

‘Honestly? As you really seem to believe it, I have some bad news for you: There is no magic, and no gods or stuff like that. Most of us, including me, don’t believe in sorcery or different realms. I’m sorry to disappoint you.’

We don’t fail to notice how Kevin is struggling, to take the topic serious. Meanwhile Loki has an enlightening moment.

‘That must be part of the problem! People don’t believe…,’ she mumbles to herself. Aloud she says, ‘tell me about your world, please. I know a bit from Barton but me seems this one is unlike his. What is the history of this country for instance?’ Lokis eyes are glowing.

‘Are you kidding me? — You don’t know?’ Kevin looks puzzled.

‘Would I ask otherwise?’ annoyance is speaking out of her voice.

Kevin starts a lesson in english history. Loki is rather interested in the war of the roses and the Tudor King. We start to get a bad feeling, that this might won’t end well; with her question, ‘you are saying, England has never grown out of monarchy and is ruled by a Queen until today?!’

‘Yes and a King, - people always seem to forget about him, poor guy,’ Kevin sights.

‘Tell me everything about them!’ there is a lot of motivation in Loki’s behaviour now.

‘I think that’s enough for today. I’m not that interested into royal gossip, - if you want to know more, you can look it up on the internet, or go to the library,’ he sounds tired.

We suspect that this session didn’t proceed as planed. He has our empathy, cause he doesn’t know who he’s dealing with. Or at least he doesn’t believe it. Not all of us would, but we have the benefit of knowing Loki, and we are just observer. We should feel sorry for Kevin, as he doesn’t realise what Loki’s mind is wandering of to. We remember well, how much Loki desires a throne. Not that she didn’t mention it while talking about Odin.

‘The leprechaun showed me how to use this thing called internet. I’m impressed! I had known that it could be a useful weapon, yet I had no clue how much. It’s like an addiction, all those informations. Makes it a pushover to take over this kingdom! Ehehehehe. I read on, a plan is growing, I like how it sparkles. The discovery of the actual age, of the monarchs, makes it even better. Their son isn’t that much younger. To my satisfaction, there are two princes next in row, to follow the crown. Not the baddest idea to become a woman. Nothing is going to stop me!

‘Helloho! I’m talking to you, freak. Stop that creepy laughing and help me to cook dinner, would you?! If you want to share our home, you can do something for it. Maybe Kevin is alright with you behaving like the Queen of England, well I’ll tell you something, I ain’t!’ the warrior has her hands pressed to her hips and usually I wouldn’t give much about her complaining, but for the sake of learning from them, I follow her into the kitchen.’

Scene 9

Picturing Loki and Beatrix in the kitchen, we feel a little smile stealing onto our faces. The idea, of Loki doing the cooking, is hilarious. Beatrix commanding her, comes close to a catastrophe and is a test for Loki’s self-control.

Let’s get a bit closer and listen to their conversation, shall we?

‘Did you never cut a tomato?’ we hear Bea.

‘Not with a dull knife. If you would have let me use my dagger, I would have been faster!’ Loki mutters.

‘Yeah, as if this dirty piece, wherever you hide it, was made to cut vegetables with. I don’t like to imagine your family dinners,’ Bea folds her arms, waiting for Loki to get the veggies ready.

‘Sure, the are awkward. I have to approve, you are right. The dagger was made to cut into meat,’ Loki let the knife run through her fingers, staring at Bea in disgust.

‘Sorry to disappoint you missy, but one of our rules is: No meat for dinner, nor in this kitchen. I am vegan and no dead animals will cross our door!’ Bea turns around to light the gas of the stove.

‘Who said I was talking about animals?!’ Loki mutters to herself.

‘What?’ Bea turns around with a pan in her hand, pointing it at the other girl.

‘Nothing. I’m done with the vegetables, what’s next?’ Loki grins, swirling the knife again.

‘Would you please stop?!’ she points a finger at Lokis hand, ‘it’s a bit dangerous, don’t you think?’

‘What, the knife?’ she looks at it impenitently, ‘not really, unless I decide it should.’ Loki grins again. Annoying Bea, gives her satisfaction.

The girl, almost done with her nerves by now, tries to take away the sharp object from her reckless flatmate. Unfortunately, Loki is a lot taller and has enough strength back, to use her magic pockets. What makes the knife disappear every time Bea comes close.

‘What are you, David Copperfield for the poor? Hand me the bloody knife, or I swear I’ll…,’ she doesn’t come any further as Kevin enters the room, in the exact moment things almost escalated.

‘I see you start to get along a bit better?’ he smiles naively. We start to wonder how he will ever be a psychologist? Maybe he just picked the wrong job?

From Lokis face we capture a innocent, but satisfied look into Kevins direction, as Beatrix let go of her to roast the vegetables.

‘Veggies again, … what are you cooking love?’ Kevin steps closer to see what is in the pan.

‘Rice with tomato, carrots and peas,’ Bea lists the ingredients.

‘Delicious, can’t wait for it,’ he rolls his eyes behind her back, ‘I’ll cook something proper when she has her night out,’ he whispers into Lokis ear, while handing her a towel. For a second she stands there holding it, not sure what Kevin wants. Soon enough she figures, he wants to do the dishes while Bea is busy at the stove. We might make a guess, that Kevin is frightened of his friend, when she’s in such a mood. Or maybe we have to admit, that he is more cunning than anyone could tell.

‘The food that the warrior princess has cooked, isn’t as bad as I’d expected. Not that I would tell her. She’s a ghastly person. I’ll have to tolerate it, until I’ve found a way into Buckingham palace. For now I can have my fun with both of them. Nonetheless I’ll have to keep an eye on Kevin. He hasn’t shown all his cards yet, I can sense it. Plus I’m unsure if I can trust him.

Anyway, it’s exhausting with them.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t had enough rest, but I’m dead tired. All I want to do, is to lie down and think of a plan, to infiltrate the royal family. To my disappointment, we have to do the dishes — again! For the warrior has done the cooking. Not enough that she forced me to help her with it.

‘Are we done now? I’m tired,’ I tell the leprechaun after the last, clean fork.

‘Sure, but don’t you want to join us? We have our movie night. Could be a good chance to get to know each other better,’ he shows me those puppy eyes. Something in them beg me to join, I can’t help myself.

‘Fine. If it’s that important to you,’ I sigh.

Plans can wait until tomorrow, I guess. Let’s see what kind of pleasures a movie night might bring.

‘Yay! I’ll make popcorn and get everything ready. Do you want to take a shower in the meantime?’

That’s a good idea. It has been a long time since water has seen my body. A short sniff approves my misgiving. I smell.

The ginger almost pushes me into the bathroom, while explaining everything. He hands me fresh clothes and faster than I can soak in all informations, he has left. I’m alone in the middle of the tiny room. The only space, to place my wardrobe, is the toilet seat or optional, the ground. I have to make a sacrifice, fresh clothes onto the toilet, the stuff I’m wearing onto the ground. I can’t wait to feel the water refreshing me. The only thing that keeps me away from it, is the bloody bra! What kind of sadistic person has invented this fastener?

Probably one of the torturers from Hel.

The quiet ‘plop’ as it opens, couldn’t be more satisfying. I almost jump into the shower and turn the water on. A mistake as it turns out. The water is cooking. It burns my freed breasts.

Who the fuck takes a shower this hot?!

The water becomes a moderate temperature, as I soap myself with a strange smelling piece, I’ve found on the tray in the corner.

Afterwards my hair is nearly impossible to comb — should I have used those bottles instead? Probably would have thought about it, if I had not been that distracted by my new body.

Anyway, time to get dressed and see what kind of night lies ahead.

I stop after entering the living room, not sure what is expected of me.

The two mortals are sitting on a sofa, cuddling.

‘Ah, there you are. Come, sit! We have waited for you,’ Kevin says.

‘Like forever. What have you done in there?’ the warrior is still grumpy, but not as much as during dinner.

I take the offered seat, on the edge of the sofa, cause the leprechaun is looking at me in expectancy, ignoring the comment of the veggie queen.

‘Come a little closer, or do you want to fall over? Allow yourself some comfort,’ he hands me a bowl with ‘Popcorn’ as he calls it, and I’m surprised by it’s buttery, salty taste. I like it!

I almost start to get comfortable but the strange behaviour of my seat mate destroys that feeling. Why is he sniffing at me?

My gaze must have made him aware of his doing. He stops, turning red.

‘I’m sorry! It’s just… which bottle of shampoo did you use?’ he wants to know.

‘None of them. Didn’t trust their substances. I’m all for the old-fashioned way in showering! I took the soap.’

The burst out of laughter from the girl disturb me, ‘what have I done wrong?’

‘Oh well — that was Hina’s special soap, against rash. We try to avoid it, because of this strong smell of marigold -‘

‘Now you smell like a granny!’ Bea’s giggles interrupt Kevin.

‘- you must know, sometimes it makes your skin burn or become itchy, if you use it without the need to ease your rash,’ he adds.

‘Great! Thanks for the warning.’ I almost yell at him.

‘Calm down. Here, have a nice glass of wine and a blanked, you must be cold.’

I suppose he never heard of Frostgiants, anyway, I take the blanked and if it’s only to cover this ugly thing that doesn‘t deserve the name pyjamas. A big sip of wine, helps me over the fact that the warrior is still laughing. I swear by Odin, I’m going to cut her throat , in her sleep, if she doesn’t stop soon.

‘ ‘kay ladies, enough silliness for now. Let’s get to the movie. Are you ready?’ Kevin asks, while he presses a button on the remote control.

The movie starts while Kevin explains to me that it is called ‘Star Wars’. After a few minutes I lose interest in it. This species has no clue what is going on in the universe. Not to mention the horrible special effects and this stupid emperor in a mask, calling himself Vader … they should meet Thanos!

At some point I decide to enjoy the food and the wine to let my thoughts wander. To correct the movie was fun, until they got angry with me because of the steady interruptions.

All those delicious details I’ve learned today!

The grandson of the Queen, Edmund, has been in the newspapers a lot, for his excessive party live. Would be stupid if I didn’t use it to make my way into the palace. The only problem will be my lack of patience. Every detail has to be perfect, so this croutons won’t realise how I infiltrate them. Maybe I should have ‘sight-seeing’ around Buckingham Palace tomorrow… ?’

As always, I’m happy about constructive feedback. Tell me what you think about it, if you’ve read until the end. And I’m sorry for the pic,.. next time I’ll draw a better one 🙈 it’s not that easy to transform him,...

[es-mentiras]

I Can't Stop Watching Contagion | Folding Ideas

Coping with crisis in the real world by confronting it in fiction

[O]ne purpose of fiction is that it allows us a space to practice intense emotions and states without exposing us to the complexities or harms of those states in reality. ... Watching a disaster film in a disaster, particularly one as sociologically driven as Contagion, is an extension of this. Rather than practicing intense emotional states before they happen, this instinct of exposing ourselves to what we’re already experiencing, amplifying existing emotional states, it works as a form of emotional inoculation. I am scared and anxious and uncertain, and so I will make myself more scared and more anxious and more uncertain, because it’s still fiction, it’s still safe, it still has an end. It is bounded. Things will get bad, things will then get worse, people will die. The world is unfair, it is unbalanced, it is unjust, and catastrophe will bring out both the best and worst of all of us. And then it will end.

...

There is an escapism to a story about horrible things, because that story is complete. It is bounded. It provides a framework to horror that doesn’t exist in the real present. Our future is uncertain, beset on all sides by devils, and we can come out better or we can come out worse or we can die and none of us knows which it will be and we’re all screaming at those in power to make the moral choice, to choose better.

...

On one hand I am deeply privileged to be in a position where I am and can remain isolated. On the other hand I can’t even think about the other hand.

Disease does not have a narrative meaning, it does not have an eye for poetry or twists or closure. The only meaning is in how we respond. So I watch Contagion over and over and over again. Because I need to practice emotions, and I need to live in a bounded world, and I need to believe we can choose better.

full video transcript under the cut:

[video is Dan Olson of Folding ideas lying on his couch, staring unmoving into the camera. scenes from Contagion are projected over him.]

VOICEOVER: This video is not an essay, it is a raw nerve.

Contagion is a 2011 film directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring an ensemble cast including Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Winslet. The film revolves around the origin, contraction, spread, and cure of the fictional MEV-1 virus, a highly contagious, aggressive, and fatal strain of hybrid bat and pig flu.

The initial patient, Beth Emhoff, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, contracts the virus in Macau after shaking hands with a casino chef who has recently handled an infected pig. She spreads the virus to several other people in the casino after they handle objects that she’s touched, such as gambling chips, a martini glass, and her cell phone. An important aspect of the film is that the fictional virus is highly transmissible via fomites, which are objects that an infected person has touched after touching their mouth or nose, coughing or sneezing on the object, or otherwise leaving infectious residue on an otherwise inert, non-biological object. A local waiter who handled her glass returns home, infecting members of his family before wandering into traffic in a fever-induced delirium where he is struck by a vehicle and killed. A Japanese businessman who shared chips with her returns to Tokyo where he falls ill rapidly, dying suddenly of a seizure on a crowded bus, infecting several bystanders who touch him or handrails that he touched. A Ukranian model who handled Beth’s phone flies to London where her symptoms also escalate rapidly while she transmits the disease to others via handling portfolios and riding in a cab.

Beth returns to America where she infects several people in Chicago, first her ex lover Jon who contracts it when they have sex while she is on layover, and a bartender at the airport who handles her credit card, before flying to Minneapolis where she infects the coworker who drives her home from the airport and her son Clark. A day or two later Beth’s husband, Mitch, played by Matt Damon, picks up Clark from school after Clark begins to exhibit a fever. While Beth and Mitch are talking in the kitchen Beth suddenly has a seizure. Mitch rushes her to the hospital, leaving Clark with a babysitter, but Beth’s condition continues to worsen, she fails to respond to treatment, and she dies. As a stunned Mitch is driving home he gets a call from the babysitter that Clark has possibly had a seizure and might not be breathing. Mitch tells her to call 911 immediately, but before anyone can get there Clark is already dead.

From there the story expands to encompass the doctors, politicians, reporters, hucksters, and ordinary people who are swept up in an all-encompassing pandemic that threatens to kill a quarter of the global population. The movie is an incredibly tense hundred minutes of society pushed to its breaking points, not as a fantastical disintegration into wastelands of leather-clad murder gangs or a zombie apocalypse, but one rooted in the historical reality of epidemics.

And I can’t stop watching it.

I have watched Contagion over fifteen times in the last two weeks. Several days I’ve just watched it on repeat two or three times. And I'm not alone. According to Netflix it is, at the time of writing, the second most watched thing in Canada. For weeks it has sat in the top ten.

Unlike many similar films, such as the 1995 film Outbreak starring Dustin Hoffman, the film is not about any one person, and there is no singular twist of victory. Rather it is an example of sociological storytelling. It’s about the systems and networks that these characters exist within, and how they both influence and are influenced by those systems, and what happens when those systems are placed under tremendous strain. Kate Winslet plays Dr. Erin Mears, a front line worker for the CDC who is sent to Wisconsin to track the transmission of the virus and contain its spread. Half way through the film she catches the virus herself, and then her condition worsens, and then she dies. It is unceremonious. It is not foreshadowed  or paid off because it is not poetic, because pandemics are not poetic and don’t have a tight arc or an eye for narrative fulfillment. It doesn’t have meaning, the only meaning is in how we choose to respond.

Because this is sociological the movie doesn’t end when doctor Ally Hextall develops a vaccine. What would be the singular victory moment in most films is instead the beginning of a slow, painful march back to stability as first the vaccine needs to be mass produced, and then distributed to billions of people worldwide. It is a dangerous task that needs to be tightly controlled as it requires access to the isolated virus and thus is very slow to ramp up. The film trudges through the immense societal tension that is created when there is a cure, but it will take over a year to make and distribute enough for everyone, a situation that lays bare every societal privilege. Dr. Orantes, played by Marion Cotillard, is kidnapped and held ransom for the vaccine by Chinese villagers who are keenly aware that in the priority of global politics the poor, the rural, and the non-white are at the very back of the line. They are terrorists, but they’re not wrong, just desperate. They are at the back of the line, and the government throws them under the bus anyway. Despite the existence of a vaccine Mitch continues to keep his teenage daughter, Jory, under aggressive quarantine out of legitimate fear of the disease that has been amplified to paranoia by the trauma of losing Beth and Clark, the survivor’s guilt of being naturally immune, and the uncertainty of whether his daughter would share that immunity or not.

In December 2019 the coronavirus COVID-19 was identified by doctors in the city of Wuhan. Over the course of January and February the spread of the virus began to be identified in South Korea, Japan, and Italy and, gradually, most of the rest of the world. The disease itself is not exceptionally lethal when compared to epidemics such as the Black Death in the mid 14th century or the spread of Smallpox through indigenous populations following contact with Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries, but, first of all, “better than the black death” is a pretty bad standard, and second on a global scale a mortality rate of 1-2 percent in an unchecked pandemic still means, in absolute terms, millions and millions of preventable deaths. This is compounded by the strain that mass illness, even one that is not terribly lethal, inherently places on an already strained society: crowding healthcare systems, disrupting infrastructure, and forcing people to choose between working while ill, and thus infecting others, or losing their jobs. A low mortality rate is often the result of adequate care, but the quality of care goes down as the number of severely ill goes up, as the number of infected healthcare workers reduces the number of people qualified and capable of administering that care. This, in turn, has a knock on effect where unrelated illnesses and injuries become more dangerous. A heart attack or broken leg that would be easily managed under normal circumstances becomes that much worse when there aren’t enough people to help, aren’t enough beds to go around. The more people who are exposed, the more need to roll the dice against that one to two percent, and the more are going to lose.

As of March 2020 most of the United States and Canada have entered a period of uncertain quarantining. Non-essential businesses are closed, events are canceled, workers are being sent home or laid off, borders are being shut down,and the economy is in freefall. Every existing societal problem, from income inequality to housing inequality to healthcare, is being stressed and amplified by not only the virus but the complicity of our governments. News comes out hourly about warnings the people in charge received months ago, and the ways in which they were either ignored or exploited for personal gain. Several American politicians were briefed on the security risks of COVID 19 in late January, and then took to Twitter to decry public fear as a partisan hoax while they dumped their stocks in preparation for a crash that they knew was coming. People in government, their corporate donors, and their pundit allies are getting anxious, debating breaking quarantine and telling everyone to go back to work and roll the dice on whether or not they’re going to die for the economy. We are standing on the precipice of a very uncertain future, and we don’t know if that future is days, weeks, months, or years away. This could be the new normal for a very long time.

So why do I keep watching Contagion?

A dimension of narrative that I like to bring up pretty regularly is the idea that one purpose of fiction is that it allows us a space to practice intense emotions and states without exposing us to the complexities or harms of those states in reality. This is typically in the context of the fanciful: reckless stunts, wild sex, gun fights, or general risky behaviour. We talked about this with Fifty Shades and the idea of non-consent as a fantasy subject.

Watching a disaster film in a disaster, particularly one as sociologically driven as Contagion, is an extension of this. Rather than practicing intense emotional states before they happen, this instinct of exposing ourselves to what we’re already experiencing, amplifying existing emotional states, it works as a form of emotional inoculation. I am scared and anxious and uncertain, and so I will make  myself more scared and more anxious and more uncertain, because it’s still fiction, it’s still safe, it still has an end. It is bounded. Things will get bad, things will then get worse, people will die. The world is unfair, it is unbalanced, it is unjust, and catastrophe will bring out both the best and worst of all of us. And then it will end.

Is there looting, and arson, and murder? Yeah. But it is, ultimately, out of the ordinary. People get paranoid, people get desperate, they riot under stress, but even when food supply lines break down, the world isn’t summarily turned over to those with the bullets and the willingness to use them. There is no Mad Max dystopia, no Fallout post-apocalypse, because at the end of the day humans are pro-social. The cooperative survive.

In 1349, in the midst of the black death, it must have looked like the end of the world. Entire households, entire villages, dying a gross, horrifying, pain ful death, month after month after month. Then for generations, every year wondering if this was the year the plague returned. Was this the year there would be no one left to bury the dead. But people survived. The working class, who bore the brunt of the disease and saw the bodies of their families, clans, and communities piled like cord wood, fought back against the aristocrats who isolated themselves in their towers and remote estates. It was messy, and bloody, and it took decades, but in the end serfdom was abolished. Europe lost upwards of sixty percent of its population over the course of five years, but it wasn’t Armageddon. Things kept going, people kept going, and Europe would go on to be absolute bastards to the rest of the world.

The disease in Contagion is not unrealistic, real diseases have been as deadly, or worse, but it is dramatic. It moves very, very quickly, is highly contagious, and kills a huge number of those who are infected. In reality this aggressiveness would kinda work against the disease, and, morbidly, would help responders limit the spread. It moves so fast and kills so quickly that there’s little question of who has it, and within a couple days everyone who has it is either recovered or dead. This was the aspect of the SARS epidemic that allowed response teams to effectively quarantine the virus where it burnt itself out. That said it’s not impossible that something could spread so aggressively, be so incredibly contagious, that it could spread like wildfire and become almost impossible to contain before anyone even knows what’s going on. But it’s undeniably dramatic and emotionally effective.

48 hours. We can contain two days in our head. A situation where things will get materially worse literally tomorrow or the day after if nothing is done right this second, that’s a comprehensible timeline. Forty eight hours is short enough that in a catastrophe, driven by adrenaline and stress and necessity, you can stay awake that long without even realizing it. COVID’s life cycle is closer to a month. By the time you get sick you’ve already been sick for two weeks, and now you’re in for hell for another two to four weeks. It’s just past the range where it really feels real. Two weeks isn’t long, but it’s still over the line into the indeterminate “future”.

This problem extends in both directions. There’ s only so much space in the mind for time. As the news ramps up, as things get worse, the present crowds out history. The distance between the irrelevant past and the now contracts. ’Days ago’ becomes distant. ‘Months ago’ is irrelevant. Years ago is ancient. By evening even earlier the same day is suspect in its relevance to the Now. We remember January but it has as much presence in the mind as childhood. Our lives become superliminal, displaced from time, as we wrestle with our own minds and how they try to process the chronology of our own existence. By Sunday, Friday no longer feels real, and yet every day’s news is the consequence of decisions made fourteen, twenty one, twenty eight days ago. Today’s responses won’t yield results until well into next month. This flaw in our meat is a gap into which charlatans, hucksters, and conmen can drive a wedge and pry us open, and pry they will try.

When I first saw Contagion in 2012 I thought the weakest element was what I considered at the time to be the demonization of online media. Jude Law’s character plays an online pundit and conspiracy theorist who preaches to an audience of millions about an herbal tincture of forsythia that he claims is the cure, a cure he just-so-happens to be selling. It is, in 2020, the realest element of the film. Herbal cures, hydrogen water, steam treatment, teas, magnets, suspensions of silver, tinctures, and tonics. We’ve got pastors standing at the pulpit telling their congregation it's all a hoax, that there’s no reason to suspend services, that their nebulous enemies are just trying to shut them down. We now live in a world where the US president told people based on a rumour that chloroquine, a drug used for treating malaria and lupus, was the cure, so a man in Arizona ate a packet of fish tank cleaner containing the chemical. He’s dead now. And that is, again, all part of it.

There is an escapism to a story about horrible things, because that story is complete. It is bounded. It provides a framework to horror that doesn’t exist in the real present. Our future is uncertain, beset on all sides by devils, and we can come out better or we can come out worse or we can die and none of us knows which it will be and we’re all screaming at those in power to make the moral choice, to choose better.

And I am in an absolute haze. My daily life has not much been impacted, overtly. I’m already an agoraphobic shut-in wh o worksonline and has a bad sleep schedule. But it’s too much. I’m tired all the time. I can’t pay attention to the news and  Ican’t not pay attention to the news. Working is difficult.  I have a long history of respiratory illness. I am at risk.

On one hand I am deeply privileged to be in a position where I am and can remain isolated. On the other hand I can’t even think about the other hand.

Disease does not have a narrative meaning, it does not have an eye for poetry or twists or closure. The only meaning is in how we respond. So I watch Contagion over and over and over again. Because I need to practice emotions, and I need to live in a bounded world, and I need to believe we can choose better.

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