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faulknxr · 11 months

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american graffiti (redux).

closed starter ft. @agtchopin

setting: temporal bureau headquarters / modesto, california

timeframe: august 8, 1996 / june 12, 1962

summary: where were you in '96 '62?

content warnings: none for this part. future content includes depictions of criminal activity (attempted kidnapping) and mild violence.

Two Tupperware boxes labeled with 080896 sit on the corner of Agent Faulkner's desk in his office, keeping a serving of galette and crêpe (ham, cheese, and arugula; banana, blueberry, quick oats, and cinnamon-spiked Nutella) warm. Inside each box is a smaller container with a lid. Underneath its plastic surface is a gleaming pool of maple syrup. Faulkner checks again to see if he has enough sachets of single-use cutlery at the side table near the water cooler installed in his office — the drawer glides out, and yes, it has remained unchanged since Faulkner checked five minutes ago. This time, though, he plucks two from the orderly pile along with napkins and places them on top of each Tupperware.

It is nearing seven hundred hours, the appointed meeting time he established with Agent Chopin last night.

The new pairing for this assignment has piqued Faulkner’s interest, but not enough to question when the mission handler says, “We will expect a detailed report of all events, including agent activity, Agent Faulkner.” Faulkner picks up on the coded order. This is as much a rescue mission as it is a supervisory one for a newly graduated Agent of certain notoriety among the Bureau’s internals.

It almost rings of nostalgia, but this Agent will never hear it. The identity of selfish Ulysses, who has poured wax in his ears and confined Faulkner to row, remains elusive and unknown at large. Ignorance is bliss, and isn’t Innocence and Justice always depicted as blind? Is it right to rob a man of insanity of his own choice? Or an act of noble protection?

God may know, and machines should be unaware.

Besides, that past is best left unmentioned. The Bureau’s revolving doors are clockwork. Figures and their shades enter and exit, pushing through for passage. What is of importance is the constant turn, like time, like a spiral forever running to its center. The never-ending motion, always in the present of being.

Now.

Codenamed Chopin, the newest agent, completed his training at forty-eight, customarily regarded as prime retirement age. With a sizeable height, a lively voice, long and flowy salt-and-pepper hair matched with an impressive beard, Agent Faulkner would be remiss to not keep an eye on the newest recruit. Frankly speaking, this agent has snuck a glance or two at the bullpen from his office window and often finds his sight landing on Chopin’s unique build.

(He assumes it is the curiosity of a new face on the floor.)

When Faulkner approached the other agent last night at his desk in the bullpen, their talk was nothing longer than deemed perfunctory. Exchanging pager numbers, setting up a schedule, and a concluding handshake. And what a handshake it was.

From their first meeting at Agent Chopin’s official introduction to the team, the man’s handshake has been a simile to static electricity. It’s a zap-like connection, noticeably tight and a beat too quick on the upswing. Faulkner jittered then, jolted again last night, caught in the tempo of Agent Chopin’s full-body shake.

No matter the invisible appearance of neutrality, something within them resides in opposite polarities. Also called triboelectric charging, static electricity occurs when two materials touch and separate. Electrons cling, and the object becomes electrified. Then, from an imbalance of positive and negative charges in their atoms, the buildup of tension discharges via second contact. Hence, the spark.

This simile extends.

It is discomfiting. That’s what has been the conclusion; Faulkner is aware he is making the other person uneasy— even someone like him can parse the physiology of reluctance after years of witnessing it, causing it. But he doesn’t understand what he has done. Not yet.

(When he does, Faulkner will correct his conduct. Be a complete being.)

Faulkner straightens his stance and reaches for his two-way pager clipped at his waist. Rapidly, his fingers press the keys, typing up:

Good morning, Agent Chopin. This is Agent Faulkner. This is a reminder to ignore the listed hours on my office door. It is open for you.

Although he is sure the other agent might know, it doesn’t hurt to give a gentle nudge.

Additionally, we are needed for launch at eight hundred and thirty hours at Terminal A. Therefore, please arrive by seven hundred and fifteen hours if you are running tardy. If we cannot convene for our pre-briefing, I will be sure to meet you at Terminal A for the official brief. Thank you, Agent.

After finishing his task, Faulkner reviews the extra documents he’s got on hand. These are new, not part of the briefing package he passed along last night to Agent Chopin. On his desk, two stapled copies of a ten-page report sit next to the Tupperboxes, typed in 10-point Pica Typeface on his Underwood-Remington Noiseless 77, a result of his own research into the era with the help of the Coordinate Analysts and History Researchers. A web of family trees, historical events, mini-biographies of the people involved, and anything else that had a connection or tie to the case that Faulkner felt was significant fill the pages. There is even a title page and a table of contents.

One of the copies has a brightly colored staple. It is a festive green. Old habits die hard.

That idiom is of unknown origin. However, the earliest citation of its existence is from 1758, penned by Benjamin Franklin, and has survived and endured to 1996, a span of 238 years. There aren’t other quotes that can boast their long lives because to have kept stagnant in the face of evolution negates the effects of nature itself.

Languages change. Words alter their appearance and their meaning. Significance. And some tongues even die.

Anything that has lived this long is timeless. Or is a specter haunting when it should have passed.

Agent Faulkner blinks, thinking he hears the click of his doorknob turning. He confronts the noise and politely acknowledges the source.

“Good morning, Agent. How are you today? Please, take a seat.” Agent Faulkner instructs, hand outstretched to the guest chair in front of his tidy desk. He also takes his own seat, tending to his suit’s button so that his posture doesn’t crease his suit (it never does).

“We can enjoy breakfast if you haven’t had any yet while we look over our notes for Mission #2007. 1962, Modesto, California. The kidnapping of thirteen-year-old Laurie Beckett.”

#post; thread #thread; chopin #event; ch0 #( here we go!! )#( hope this is okay! )

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suspiciouslypinkrosegarden · 3 years

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The Passed Out Princess Chapters 1-2

Pairing: My CMC (Uyu, Dan Byeol) x Suit Saeran

Description: On days 7-9 of Ray’s route, the player is denied food as “Saeran” makes his presence first known. But, what if MC fell very ill under this method of torture due to a medical condition? Sadly, my custom MC, Uyu (full name Dan Byeol), would deal with exactly this dilemma.

Content warning: Descriptions of throwing up, passing out, and meal skipping. Every food related issue mentioned is strictly medical, and based on my own condition.

This was written under the assumption that you have played Ray’s route in full, so route spoilers ahead! This takes place during the very beginning of day 8, and according to the timings and contents of the chat rooms, it would take place before Saeran cuts contact with the RFA and before he installs a camera to monitor MC in her room. It is timed to match closely around to when I’d get sick myself.

My CMC’s condition deals chronic with low blood sugar, meaning she has to eat to keep it up or suffer the consequences as seen here. It is not diabetes related, it is something she is born with as am I and is linked to more complicated matters I left out to keep it simple. Some symptoms include: growing light headed, severe dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and passing out. See all chapters

I wrote this with flexibility for whichever HC for Saeran you follow (DID or BPD), because whether or not he has one of the following, Rika has drilled it in his head that Ray and Saeran are separate entities, and Saeran views it this way. Consider it written the way Cheritz writes him, with nothing exactly too set.

To make things easier for myself, I’m uploading multiple chapters on each post, chapters only separated by lines. Here is 1 and 2

Ping!

The sound of Dan’s phone alerted her to rise and greet the day with a new chat room open.

As the morning sun took its place in the clear blue sky, the little woman sat up in her big bed, bangs sticking out in all directions as her head thumped with a dull pain. Hunger induced pain, she noted, as her stomach felt empty.

Despite the beauty of this early morning, the light pouring through the windows creating a rosy glow which engulfed the princess room; there was no beautiful light shining on the brunette’s new situation, seeming so dreary and dim.

Uyu still found herself wrapped up in this place, whisked away to a castle tucked deep within mountains known as Magenta. Every corner of the building was constructed brick by brick with a beautifully ornate architectural design, but the bright exterior was only a façade. If she was left caged like this for long, what would become of her? Driven to insanity, perhaps she’d attack and claw at the walls which confined her, unable to turn her anger to Saeran, the real victim in all this. The “savior” made it clear she was the true ruling figure who lurked about as the moon rose, the mastermind behind this place’s pain and suffering.

The night before, after being so kindly introduced to “Saeran”, this golden-haired angel confirmed herself to be quite the wicked witch of the west indeed, and it took everything out of Uyu to not call her harsher names to her face.

Mint Eye was hell redecorated to wear the guise of heaven, but pretty gardens and saccharine words could not fool her. Because Dan wore no wool over her eyes, the savior had no intention of allowing her to live long enough to become the new narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper”; and she had no shoes to click together at the heel to wish her way home with who she came here for originally.

Just as Ray’s suit did, he changed, flipping like a light switch.

Saeran, the name V previously called him by, did succeed in giving her a good fright, his attitude being the least thing she expected to see after Ray’s earlier sobs over the phone.

Uyu was mainly focused on one solid question after their encounter, though. Just what did that “cleansing” entail in full detail? What did this place do to him, to make him weep and beg for a warm hand to hold one minute, only to push back and try to scare her the next?

It was as if he was caught, dragged by the feet somewhere inescapable, a pit damp and dark down under; rising from a shivering grave cold to the touch.

If it weren’t for her position, she wouldn’t have allowed it.

Now more than ever, this room built on the foundation of fantasy and delight felt like a birdcage which barely allowed her to wiggle an arm through its bars. She relied on her song, her sweet words which Ray claimed to tickle at his heart and hold a power over him like no other before. Her goal, of course, was to use this for good, influencing him to learn to appreciate and care for himself like he should. But now, she felt unable to do even that much, not that she’d give up trying.

Saeran wished to dismiss her and her actions entirely, evident from his need to spew the fact that he bestowed upon her the label of being less than a person, his toy. His play thing.

That sick twisting she felt pooling in her gut upon first hearing the term “cleansing” seemed all too in place.

Ray, as sweet as her prince charming was, had a knack for leaving out important details about this museum of wonder. To her best guess, it was done to avoid panic as none of what went on here could be viewed as normal, or ok. He only briefly mentioned things like the “elixir”, such as on the night V arrived to spiral this place’s plans into chaos.

That was the night she could officially mark a great importance in staying, despite the vast network of lies.

Uyu wasn’t entirely stupid, she had an idea of what the elixir might be a while back, but it was still hard to process regardless.

Saeran threatened to give her one of these cleansing ceremonies...and said he could “draw out the maximum pain in the process”, telling her whatever happened to him hurt. A “no duh” moment indeed, but it was confirmation.

Ray suffered, for no reason other than he was too enwrapped in his blooming feelings for her, something that shouldn’t be taken as a negative but was. It displeased the savior that his chains which bound him by the ankles began to jingle with his new yearning to take flight.

She couldn’t allow herself to lie down and give the savior the satisfaction of breaking her, not when she still had so much to do, and not when Saeran and the RFA were at risk.

As the cool night-time air blew around them, feeling its whisper through her long locks of hair, Ray opened up about Mint Eye’s beliefs as a sanctuary for the “weak”, who had no choice but to lock themselves away to avoid further hurt.

He clearly viewed himself as someone in this category. Weak. But Saeran? Saeran shoved and shouted, which felt like a complete opposite to Ray’s whimpers and pleading. He even went as far as to accuse her of manipulation, of treating Ray like a puppet as she watched him dance to the harp she plucked.

Looking past his outburst and itch to watch her squirm, there stood a man seething with hate sparked entirely by twisted lies and his own fears. He gave himself away rather quickly as he attempted to say she messed with “hisna vefeelings” for some “big plan”.

She had to trust that there were boundaries he wouldn’t cross, being so close to her and forceful...and that was where her panic truly lied. But for now, she’d bank on the idea that he just wanted to scare her, staying alert in case he went too far. There were vases around from Ray’s various gifts that could be used as a weapon during the extreme. Unlike her, Saeran had no fighting skills either, but currently she was a bit too ill for those measures.

For once, a room so pink made her feel neither cozy nor at home.

Uyu’s fuzzy morning vision was then attracted to a black blob hanging on the doorknob. With a little eye rub, she made it out to be a dress, and a rather pretty one at that. In the way it was cut, it would expose much of her shoulders and upper back, the top front of it connected to a bow tied around the back of a neck piece with strings of fabric; like an attached choker. She could only assume it was a “gracious gift” bestowed upon her from the man she saw take Ray’s place. Apparently, he has a thing for black.

Her little device chimed again, and then once more, third time giving her the last push of annoyance she needed to reach over and respond to the opened chatroom.

She sighed with relief seeing Seven was the person active online, as she could now pester him with questions about what he was seeing on his end of the fight. They typed away, Uyu expressing concern for both of the hackers as they discussed Ra-Saeran’s new careless and aggressive tactics to snag him a victory.

As time passed, Jumin joined to ask questions as well, mainly circling around the governmental commendation from the Prime Minister to recognize the RFA for their charity work. Uyu stuck to her gut and pushed against the idea of it being a complete positive.

While both V and Seven acted oddly around the idea of the commendation, the RFA was also just a small organization which had only held two parties previous to Rika’s “passing”. The award was too fishy to trust in her judgment, especially now that she understood things going on around here weren’t at all what they had seemed to be.

Mint Eye wasn’t the only organization she was caught in that held its secrets.

After a bit of talking, Jumin agreed that the prime minister’s reasoning had to be figured out before any final decisions could be made. Everyone logged off, Seven returning to the battlefield and Jumin to stitching in his car.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The need for food grew worse.

Uyu showered and changed into the outfit provided…not having much of a choice to do otherwise unless she wanted to rewear old clothing. She felt down and sluggish as she dressed the way her toy maker willed, the dark frills of her attire tickling against her thighs as her step dragged. She was still ok enough to make herself look presentable, even if done at such a pace.

Her hair changed to a solid dark brown color as it took in the shower water, the gold ombré reaching her tips returning upon giving it a blow dry, making sure Saeran would have less to scoff next he saw her. She wasn’t aiming to avoid his crude comments, but instead trying to make herself feel good. Call her smelly all he wants, she knows she isn’t.

Saeran was aiming to play into her insecurities, maybe full well knowing she had so very many of them as he tried to wind her up. The least she could do was confirm his lies to be lies in the ways she knew how, if not for him then for her. She couldn’t allow him to figure out what made her gears stop, whether his words were true or not. This was no game of knife throwing, and she was no target.

11:00 AM crept up on her as she moped around quietly in her dollhouse, waiting for Saeran to come and try to take a good yanking on her marionette strings.

Dan sat upon the bed as the empty-headed feeling and banging in her temple raged, shifting to lay down fully and make herself more comfortable. If she stood for too long, she’d sway and wobble as her vision turned to black, purple and green swirls, momentarily clouding both her sight and mind.

Despite her numerous texts and occasional calls, she still heard nothing from Saeran. Not a peep.

She was growing restless as well as worried for him, and what would become of her as she continued to go unfed.

Her phone buzzed, shifting her attention over to it groggily, eyes half lidded as she wanted to sleep off this sinking feeling. Soon, she’d start to go down like the Titanic as lunch time acted as her iceberg.

Uyu hoped it was her self-proclaimed master, only to let out a grumble seeing that it wasn’t. Instead, it was Zen who had logged on.

She chatted with him, trying her best not to voice her ever-growing discomfort from skipping last night’s dinner as well as that morning’s breakfast, lunch time now creeping just around the corner.

After a quick talk, she’d call Saeran again...as uncomfortable as that conversation would be, it was her only viable option to kill the onslaught of nausea.

As they talked for a while, Yoosung joined the conversation as well….with talk of food; stew he was in the middle of making to be precise. She felt her stomach churn and rumble as the need for rest fell over her like a weighted blanket, being the only escape from the inevitable vomit now building up inside.

She logged off within another couple of seconds as the hot sweat began.

Dan swallowed thickly as her stomach went haywire, guts twisting, coaxing her to run to the toilet and empty out the water she could at least keep herself going on from the bathroom tap.

Leaving her phone on the bed, she rose to her feet best she could, stumbling till she reached the cold tiles of the bathroom floor. There, she fell to her knees, pulling her long hair back and away from her damp face, lifting up the toilet seat before her.

Within a mere moment, she felt the contents claw at the inside of her throat with a burning sensation, attempting to break free. She shuddered as her body suddenly fell in temperature, before allowing whatever her tummy could offer up to slip past her lips, color in her face all too faded away, displaying her illness. Gagging and choking noises echoed throughout the small room as the rather clearish liquid flowed from her mouth, tears from the discomfort blurring her vision as she blinked them away.

She stayed like that by the toilet for a while, throwing up a couple more times before making certain that event was over for the time being. Uyu considered herself extremely lucky that none was able to touch her or end up in her hair, but not nice to say vomiting wasn’t new to her. She knew the tricks.

Oddly, when something like this would happen, it gave her a tiny amount of strength back. It was strangely relieving, although emptying her stomach further. Her tummy was able to untense a tad.

She blew her nose and wiped her eyes before giving it all a flush down.

A fast teeth brush followed before she stumbled over to bed where she had left her phone. She fiddled with the RFA app until she could reach Saeran’s contact profile. Trying not to let the dread of being ignored again wash over her, she dialed up his number, both nervous and praying this time for a response.

After that last fit was over, her condition would move her into another stage, passing out being the only thing to come next without the blood sugar spike she needed.

The ringing went on for what felt like an eternity as she groaned and pressed her face into the pillow.

“Pick up...pick up damn it please pick up…”.

Uyu wished that she had made a bigger fuss over this earlier rather than attempting to swallow it and wait it out. Being distracted by “the savior” and Saeran’s screaming was something she shouldn’t have allowed herself to do in the midst of endangering her own health. What was she thinking? She knew it would reach this point, it always does if left unchecked. She internally cursed herself for not speaking up more assertively.

After another moment, his angry voice finally came through the speaker and she sighed softly with relief. The last she had heard from him was at four in the morning.

“Feeling this lonely and desperate already, hmm? Tch...what makes you think you have the right to contact me over and over again when I’m doing important work unlike you?”

She huffed on the other end, which he paid no mind.

“All you do is fiddle around like a good for nothing. You didn’t seem so happy to chat with me last time we spoke, but now you’re all eager and ready? You’re just itching for another visit aren’t you? Impatient little princess~.”

He let out an airy chuckle, finding her repeated acts of calling him rather amusing.

“Don’t worry. I have play time all planned out for you soon, you pest. I’ll bother you ten times more than you ever bothered me-”

She cut off his angry rambling, mumbling quietly as she spoke.

“Saeran...can you please come here? I’m not well right now and I don’t know how much longer I can keep myself functioning...I already threw up-”

“Speak up, you complainer! Seriously? You want to see me so badly that you’d put on an elaborate show? Princess...you can’t win any sort of sympathy from me by acting like a brat. Ugg, I’m going to hang up now. I’ll be imagining the million ways I can punish you for this later, stupid toy. I’m busy! Too busy for a bug like you to understand! You waste my time-”

“Wait please...please come here...it’s harder for me to explain over the phone. I...mentioned this problem earlier..please…”

And she had, briefly attempting to bring it up as he invaded a chat room between her and Jaehee.

“Begging now?”

He took on a sad tone of childish mockery as he continued.

“Please please please...please come see me... AHAHA! You airhead. I know what your medical records look like, and therefore I know you’re spinning a lie. You’re not to be trusted just as my savior says. There’s nothing there pertaining to some sort of eating issue other than the fact that your weak little body can’t handle milk…‘Uyu’~.”

He teased at her chosen nickname, and while the irony was why it was picked, this was less than fun.

“Now quit whining over an empty stomach when it hasn’t even been a full day! It’s no fun to see you give up so fast!”

Dan tried her best not to slur her speech, the task assigned to speak up being too hard of one to follow.

“Fine...fine don’t believe me. But…..it doesn’t hurt to come anyways. Since you want to see me suffer….or whatever….”

“Or whatever??? Toy, if I come see you right now...you won’t like what you’re going to get. I haven’t an ounce of pity in me to give you if that’s what you’re searching for. I'm not the type to let you rest in my lap as I stroke your hair and tell you it will be alright, and I won’t give in and feed you. Instead, I’ll make sure you never wish to call me again.”

“...ok…”

“Ok? Ok?? Haha! ...ok then. Let’s see how pathetic you’ve become as you beg and plead to me in person, little actor. Playtime is happening earlier today than I had planned. Congratulations! I’m extra pissed.”

Call ended.

She let out a puff of air, dropping her phone down next to her before closing her eyes, not bothering to stand in preparation for his arrival.

Next chapters All chapters

#suit saeran #ray mystic messenger #saeran x mc #Uyu #Dan Byeol #mystic messenger cmc

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twentiethcenturymoviesandtv · 4 years

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Star Trek: The Characters

Storytelling, especially where it regards movies and television, is always evolving.

Whether it’s in deeper themes, better effects, different genres, or evolving archetypes, there is always something that is changing, except, perhaps, where the importance of characters are concerned.

Characters are an integral part of storytelling, particularly where it concerns television. When it comes to television, the setup is everything, and the characters are part of that setup, that ‘home base’ that the audience returns to at the start of every episode. The characters are the people that the audience gets to know, who star in each adventure. Characters are what holds the audience’s investment, the reason fanbases tolerate bad episodes and praise good ones. In the end, the main characters keep an audience’s attention, making each episode, even the bad ones, enjoyable.

In short, characters can make or break a television show. It is vital that they be likable, or at the very least, interesting, lest the audience utter those eight deadly words:

I Don’t Care What Happens To These People.

Once those words are uttered, it doesn’t matter how gripping your narratives are. The viewers will start to leave.

See, while a film can get away with some lesser characters by distracting with an interesting concept, set-piece or a fast-paced story, television can’t. Thanks to a smaller runtime and a smaller budget, television, by necessity, tends to be character based. As a result, the main cast of a television show has to be able to work in multiple stories of different kinds.

This means that writing for characters on television can be pretty difficult.

The best television characters tend to merge two ideas together: That of relatability and entertainment value.

You see, television, like all stories, tells stories of exaggerated versions of reality, especially in the cases of science-fiction adventure shows like Star Trek. The only way to make an audience buy an unbelievable world is to create believable characters to place in that world, that relatability in the stories and characters. When we see McCoy’s frustration, or Kirk’s boldness, or Spock’s reservedness, we see elements of ourselves, our own personalities and lives. It is vital to make characters seem real, if not realistic.

The question is, does Star Trek manage to do that?

That’s the question we’re going to be answering today. Let’s take a look, starting with the Captain of the Enterprise Crew: James Tiberius Kirk.

Kirk truly was The Captain in every sense of the word. A Reasonable Authority Figure who did far more adventuring than realistic counterparts would have, Kirk was an Action Man, level-headed, dutiful, and always loyal to his ship and his crew. A Bold Explorer (it’s in the job description), Kirk, while not fearless per say, took the Chains of Commanding quite seriously, and would often face down hugely powerful beings, power-mad computers, or other forces beyond him in order to save his crew. A Determinator to the last, known for his interesting ways to think outside the box and refusal to accept a ‘no win scenario’, he is the unquestionable Hero of the show, the Leader, who often throws the rules aside to do what he feels is right, in a constant battle To Be Lawful or Good. He was a Charmer, an expert fast-talker, and very smart. In later installations of the franchise, Kirk would become a Living Legend, much as he became in our own pop culture.

All that being said, the common cultural image of Captain Kirk isn’t quite right. Allow me to adjust it, as best I can.

More than any other character in Star Trek, or perhaps the history of television in general, Captain Kirk is possibly the most misrepresented character of all time. Since the ‘60s, Kirk has evolved into an icon of heroism, machismo, and brash boldness, with even the recent Star Trek reboot depicting, not Kirk, but rather, the distorted, separate idea of Kirk in the modern light.

This idea, quite frankly, is just not right. While Kirk did have his share of romances, he was no womanizer, often entering into dubiously consented-to relationships reluctantly, in order to save the ship. The relationships he did actively pursue, he threw himself into wholeheartedly, and he was just as crushed as the other party every time they fell apart (for proof, watch City on the Edge of Forever or The Paradise Syndrome). Kirk was no player. As a matter of fact, he was a deeply compassionate man who respected the women in his life as much as he respected Spock and McCoy. It just so happened that the women in his life tended to not stick around, unlike his one true love: The Enterprise.

Even his reputation of the ‘Cowboy Captain’ isn’t accurate. As I mentioned before, Kirk was defined by compassion. His moments of ‘rule-breaking’ wasn’t to impose ‘the way he thinks things should be’, it’s because Kirk cannot bear to watch helpless people in trouble. The few times where he does break the famous ‘Prime Directive’ (To not interfere with less developed races) is to help. Kirk was a deeply moral character, determined to not stand by while people were taken advantage of. He wasn’t rash, either. While it may be accurate to say that the ship’s doctor, Leonard McCoy, was a bit on the hot-headed side, it is entirely inaccurate to accuse Kirk of the same. Kirk was an extremely smart man, a level-headed captain who was an expert at thinking fast. He trusted his instincts, but he trusted his advisors too, often finding a balance between McCoy’s impulsiveness and Spock’s cold rationality. Kirk’s intelligence and competence is often lost, overshadowed by his more extreme companions, and some audiences have forgotten the truth of Kirk’s character: a cunning problem-solver capable of saving the day under enormous pressure, whose decisions are far from based in irrationality. He is a romantic, duty-bound to protect his ship and crew, greatly exaggerated and mis-characterized in the years following his captaincy.

As such, Kirk was a well-rounded, balanced character, far more three-dimensional than the modern idea of him tends to give him credit for.

That’s all well and good, sure, but how does he fit as a main character in a television show?

As a matter of fact, absolutely incredibly.

Kirk serves as a wonderfully effective lead, compelling, entertaining, and interesting. Infinitely more developed than most leads of his time, and even more modern examples, Kirk was a game-changer, a revolutionary kind of protagonist who just worked. The perfect balance of the main trio of the series, Kirk is the perfect face for Roddenberry’s ideals: a hopeful pragmatist, an idealist who proves the best of humanity: compassion mixed with intelligence, boldness combined with understanding. A man of action surrounded by True Companions, Kirk was an extremely gripping protagonist who felt intensely, a perfect person for the audience to connect to and be invested in. He drove the stories, opposed the villains, and always saved the crew, as a hero should, but it’s important to note that Kirk was hugely human, possessing many of our greatest attributes, but some of our failings as well. He wasn’t perfect. Sometimes he made the wrong choice. In the end, though, he was us, or us as we should strive to be: always learning and helping, and always reaching for the stars.

But of course, Kirk wasn’t alone in his position as the ‘lead’ of the show. It’s doubtful the show would have survived in the popular culture as well as it did if it weren’t for his support team, his True Companions: Dr. Leonard McCoy, and, more famously: Mr. Spock.

If Kirk represented the best of humanity, Spock represented the critique of it. In a previous article, I pointed out that Spock exists as a very unique character: a half alien, half human crewmember who, while equally valuable to the script and the characters as Kirk was, served a different purpose: to point out and explore humanity from the outside.

Like I’ve mentioned before, Spock is a different sort of character than Kirk is. Where Kirk is a demonstration of the best of humanity as we see it, Spock is a demonstration of humanity as someone else might. He served as a criticism of the human condition, a character at war with himself and his heritage, split between the emotional humans, and the rational Vulcans. Spock is the Number One, almost Comically Serious as he eschews his more illogical half and chooses to embrace the stoicism of the Vulcan people. A Gentleman and a Scholar, Spock has Hidden Depths, a heart of gold and deep emotions that he usually succeeds in hiding.

Most of the time. More on that in a minute.

Spock’s role in the show was The Smart Guy, the Stoic who had all the answers, all the statistics. He was the champion of impartial logic, of cold rationality. His job was to give Kirk the hard answers, to bring to him the facts and give him their options, especially the unforgiving ones. He is the cold to McCoy’s hot, a stern-faced, cold-blooded computer.

Or is he?

Much like Kirk, there is a lot more to Spock than meets the eye. While the cultural perception of Spock has often mutated into a parody of itself, much as it has done to Kirk’s reputation, Spock remains a much deeper character than he, or a brief skim of the series, lets on. As I said earlier, Spock is at war with himself, uncomfortable in his own skin. He insults humans for their humanity, but has strong, deep friendships with them. He is not above expressing frustration and their emotional natures when pushed (usually by other forces that knock his guard down), but isn’t frustration a human emotion?

Spock is a bag of contradictions, a supposedly emotionless master of sarcasm, a man without feeling who invites his close friends (emotional humans) to a private Vulcan ceremony, a cold-blooded creature with undying loyalty who occasionally makes ‘illogical’ decisions that would make Kirk proud. A lover of music and a sympathizer to space hippies (Not one of Star Trek’s better episodes, admittedly), Spock was an outsider who fit neither fully as a Vulcan or Human, a person who was struggling to find his place in the universe.

At first, this seems incongruous with the ice-cold exterior he projects, however, rather than being an example of inconsistent writing, it’s a shining example of development and nuance.

You see, Spock never gives up his following of logic. He just begins to approach it differently.

Spock’s style changes slightly as Star Trek progresses (most notably in the films, released ten years after the show’s final season), from cold, ‘computer’ logic to something else: human logic.

One thing of especial note in the original Star Trek show is that you could see characters visibly affecting one another. Kirk, Spock and McCoy all influenced each other in the ways they thought, reacted, and planned, and worked best as a unit. In this, the humanity of the main cast affected Spock in his slow, reluctant appreciation of human merits. In time, Spock began to make one or two decisions based on human logic, intelligence and emotion. In episodes like The Menagerie or The Galileo Seven, Spock makes decisions that seem out-of-character for him, based in emotion.

Spock is, in many ways, Star Trek’s best known and favorite character. The most visibly recognizable, as well as the most distinct, Spock is given more episodes exploring him than any other character, with installments like Amok Time and Journey to Babel, (the latter of which we explore his parents, and discover why it is that Spock has such a hard time with his human half) helping to examine Spock as a character.

The end result was a beloved science fiction icon, Kirk’s right hand man, an analytical, fascinating character as well-crafted and loved as Kirk himself.

Spock and Kirk are often remembered fondly, and are typically considered the most memorable and iconic characters of the franchise, but they don’t work alone. Their dynamic is as effective as it is because of balance. Spock is one extreme, and Kirk is the middle, but it’s no good without the other extreme: Dr. Leonard Horatio “Bones” McCoy.

McCoy is all hot-blooded human, the third of the main Power Trio. An old-fashioned competent doctor who wasn’t entirely thrilled with deep space, McCoy is a deeply emotional character, duty-bound to follow his morals. He clashed with Spock regularly, routinely criticizing him for his perceived lack of emotion. Despite the fighting, McCoy respected Spock greatly, counting him as a close friend, despite their arguments and different perspectives. A cantankerous pacifist (though not above getting into the action when needed), McCoy is a Super Doc and a Sarcastic Devotee, a Grumpy Old Man who serves as the Heart to Spock’s Brain (hah!), a man who values Honor Before Reason who values the Good Old Ways. He’s a Determined Doctor who does everything he can for his patients, and a Deadpan Snarker to the point where he can match Spock in verbal sparring.

Bones represents the unpolished rawness of humanity, getting carried away with his emotions sometimes, but always with the best intentions. Another Jerk with a Heart of Gold, McCoy’s gruff nature accompanied a deeply moral man, very concerned with human empathy and doing the right thing. No philosophical discussion was complete without McCoy’s two cents, telling Kirk what he thought the right thing to do was. He was the quintessential Knight in Sour Armor, who would follow Kirk to the ends of the earth, complaining the entire way.

Despite the fact that he’s not as well-known as the other two members of the Power Trio, Bones was a vital component to the True Companions dynamic. His Vitriolic Best Buds relationship with Spock made up one of the most interesting and compelling dynamics on the show, serving as perfect counterbalances to one another. However, although his most famous role in the show was arguing with Spock (and delivering phrases such as ‘He’s Dead, Jim’), there is another, equally important position that he held in the trio.

McCoy served as a foil to Kirk, as well as one to Spock, a confidante, a close friend, providing perspective. While Spock was focused on the logic, Kirk on the best thing for the mission, McCoy’s focus was purely on the ‘patients’, the people, the right thing to do. No matter the situation, McCoy was the closest to empathy with the people involved, and provided the audience with another surrogate, saying the things that the viewers are thinking.

While not being a terribly big fan of space (and liking transporters even less), Bones was the epitome of the Frontier Doctor to the stars, taking care of every patient, even if they weren’t humanoid (Devil in the Dark) or a heavily pregnant woman who refuses to listen (Friday’s Child). McCoy was painfully human, reminding us of our most problematic traits while also holding onto that wild, fiery compassion that made him so incredibly humane, relatable, and understandable, making him just as vital to the Enterprise and her crew as Kirk or Spock.

The trio worked best together, providing a perfect main cast for an audience to follow. The formula was an interesting one, allowing the audience to hear separate viewpoints and ideas, listen in to the philosophical banter, and truly feel the strong friendship holding the leads together. The dynamic between them was powerful, an extremely vibrant bond that connected all three very different characters.

The result? Extremely dynamic characters that remain iconic and memorable even to this day.

But the cast didn’t stop there.

The other characters of Star Trek, while not quite possessing the pop-culture iconography of the main trio, still hold their own rather impressive cultural footprint.

None more so than the chief engineer, Montgomery Scott.

Scotty’s job was to be a miracle worker, solving impossible problems in impossibly small amounts of time. Whether it was the transporters, the phaser banks, the shields, or the engines, Scotty was the man for the job. Nobody had a better understanding, or love for the Enterprise than Scotty (except maybe Kirk). He was the king of outside-the-box solutions, and had the Enterprise jury-rigged to push her past her limits more times than can be easily counted. As the name implies, he was also Scottish, and extremely stereotypically so. Kilt, whiskey, haggis and all, Scotty was extremely proud of his heritage (though not quite as much as Chekov). Fitting the traditional stereotypes, Scotty had a fiery temper, with a Berserk Button triggered by any insult to the Enterprise. A Gadgeteer Genius (and the inventor of Scotty Time) as well as a Genius Bruiser, Scotty was both the brains and brawn, more than capable of holding his own in a fight, or thinking of a new, creative way to push the Enterprise past her capacity.

Scotty also held the distinction of being third in command, routinely taking the Captain’s chair when both Kirk and Spock were in the landing party. He was also the focus of a few episodes, making him a rare character with a Day in the Limelight, with episodes such as Wolf in the Fold, The Lights of Zetar, By Any Other Name, and The Trouble with Tribbles giving him a little more screen time and story than is typical. Scotty was an indispensable member of the crew, a life-saver on more than one occasion, and another of the legendary, iconic characters of the original Star Trek.

But it didn’t stop there.

Lieutenant Nyota Uhura was another prominent character. As the ship’s communications officer, she codified the term ‘Bridge Bunny’, although she proved herself far more useful than she’s typically thought of. Whenever given the chance, Uhura is a capable Action Girl, intelligent, witty, and good at her job, being extremely fluent in multiple languages. She too got her days in the limelight, with episodes such as Mirror Mirror, The Gamesters of Triskelion, and The Trouble with Tribbles giving her more to do than just sit at her station and say ‘hailing frequencies open’. Uhura was Silk Hiding Steel, not typically in the heat of the battle, but tough as nails when she had to be. (I’ve talked about Uhura’s extensive influence on the real world in the Legacy article, but even that doesn’t scratch the surface of what Uhura’s impact has been.)

There were others on the bridge crew of equal importance, including the ship’s helmsman, Hikaru Sulu.

Sulu was a level-headed officer, amiable and cultured, with an extensive knowledge of botany, fencing, and antiques. Yet another Deadpan Snarker (it must run in the cast), Sulu is another Genius Bruiser, as skilled in fighting as he is in his piloting, with a great sense of humor. He is given special attention in episodes like Mirror Mirror and The Naked Time (Albeit as evil, and Brainwashed and Crazy), but often got great character moments in multiple episodes (especially Shore Leave). A reliable officer and loyal to the core, he made an interesting character by himself, although he did end up forming a fun ‘Those Two Guys’ dynamic with the youngest of the cast, Pavel Chekov.

Chekov was introduced in season 2 as the navigator of the Enterprise. A bright young man with a fierce, passionate loyalty to Mother Russia (which evidently invented every good thing known to man), Chekov tended to be at the receiving end of a lot of the embarrassing agony in the series (mostly because Walter Koenig had a great scream). Also serving as a relief science officer, Chekov was plenty smart, if a bit of a Cloudcuckoolander, and the king of Cultural Posturing. Reckless and impulsive to balance Sulu’s calm good humor, Chekov’s temper tended to get the better of him. Like the others, he’s given a bit more screen time in episodes such as Mirror Mirror, The Trouble with Tribbles, The Way to Eden, The Deadly Years and Spectre of the Gun, but got to shine in plenty of other episodes, demonstrating his capabilities (despite being ‘The Intern’ and the Plucky Comic Relief) as a competent officer. Unsurprisingly, he was yet another Deadpan Snarker, lending his style of jokes well to bounce off of Sulu’s drier humor.

But there was more to the crew than the bridge.

Another crew member of note was Christine Chapel, one of the nurses who operated in the sickbay. Chapel was notable for having an attraction to Spock, as well as being another in the long line of Enterprise Deadpan Snarkers. One of the most caring of the Enterprise’s crew, Chapel was given larger roles in episodes like The Naked Time, What Are Little Girls Made Of?, Amok Time, and Plato’s Stepchildren.

Arguably though, one of the most important characters in all of Star Trek was the Companion Cube: the Enterprise herself.

The Enterprise was one of the most powerful ships in Starfleet, a character in her own right. The epitome of the Cool Starship, the Enterprise was well known for Explosive Overclocking, and always coming through in the end (with a little help from Scotty). A Lightning Bruiser of a ship, the Enterprise became as legendary as her captain and crew, as beloved as the characters themselves to the point where one of NASA’s shuttles was named after her.

The characters of Star Trek are legends, both in and out of universe, and they are for a reason. No member of the crew is useless. Everyone has a purpose and a job to do, and each was distinct and unique. No two characters were the same, and each brought their own special personality and abilities to each episode they appeared in.

And that’s what made the drama of the show work so well.

Each character felt real, memorable and genuine. We as an audience worry for them with each danger, and cheer with each victory. We liked these people. We cared about what happened to them.

And they worked.

In each scenario and situation, the characters found new and interesting ways to deal with the circumstances, while never losing the core elements of their personalities. That’s important, hugely so. These characters were loved, and still are, for a reason. They work very well as characters, both in main and supporting roles, providing entertaining and compelling figures for the audience to invest in. The balance between relatability and entertainment was hit perfectly for every single character, allowing everyone to shine in their own ways in each episode. They felt real, and in the end, that’s the point of a character.

After all, one doesn’t get to be some of the most iconic television characters of all time by being boring.

Thank you guys so much for reading! Join us next time as we discuss Star Trek’s place in the times and the culture. If you have anything you’d like to say, don’t forget to leave an ask! I hope to see you all in the next article.

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eretzyisrael · 4 years

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The Iran Policy Shipwreck

The other day YouTube decided that I wanted to see a compendium of large ships crashing into each other or into docks, cranes, and other installations. What impressed me was the unavoidability of the crashes: the ships moved ponderously, inexorably, toward their fates as tiny humans scuttled around on the decks, horns blowing with great urgency (I imagine the ship’s captains shouting “Full astern!”), but all for nothing when the almost irresistible force of the ship meets the almost immovable object of its nemesis in a crescendo of crushing, grinding, and snapping.

Whew. And this reminded me of the situation with Iran. The Iranians have ramped up their production of enriched uranium and activated advanced centrifuges in their Natanz facility, and they are threatening to kick out IAEA inspectors on 26 February. They are telling US officials that if they want to reenter the (worthless) deal, they’d better hurry and start removing sanctions while there is still time. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, for his part, is demanding that the Iranians first “return to compliance,” although what that would mean in practice considering the progress they have made is unclear.

What is becoming clear is that the Biden Administration is dead set on a course of returning to the deal, although Blinken, at least, wants to renegotiate it. On the other hand Robert Malley, President Biden’s choice for Special Envoy to Iran, wants to jump back into the deal as it was when President Trump took the US out of it. Malley’s think tank published a position paper a few days ago, which contained this:

The Biden administration should pursue U.S. re-entry into the 2015 nuclear deal, starting by revoking the 2018 order ending U.S. JCPOA participation and initiating a process of fully reversing Trump-era sanctions while Iran brings its nuclear program back into full compliance. As further confidence-building measures, Washington could support Iran’s International Monetary Fund loan request as a sign of good-will in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and perhaps engage Tehran in discussions on a prisoner swap.

Do you hear the horns blowing and the captains shouting yet?

Persia was among the earliest known places where the game of chess was played, and the Iranians have proven to be very good negotiators. A strategy that calls for American concessions up front (“confidence building”) will fail, as it did under Obama. Only a tough strategy that demands action by Iran as an alternative to more pressure (“an offer that they can’t refuse”) will succeed. The Trump Administration left the US in a strong bargaining position toward Iran, with very painful sanctions in force. The US should insist on concrete, verifiable steps by Iran before removing any sanctions, and should threaten to take even stronger action if Iran does not comply.

Biden’s administration is replete with former Obama Administration officials (conservative blogger Jeff Dunetz calls it “the reBama Administration”), including Malley, who incidentally is also very out front about his pro-Palestinian sympathies. From the standpoint of American or Israeli interests, Malley is a wretched choice. He is far more pro-Iranian than even Blinken, Jake Sullivan, or Wendy Sherman, all former Obama-era Iran hands retreaded by Biden.

One wonders why Biden picked a team that is unlikely to produce better results than it did under Obama, and may even do considerably worse. Maybe Blinken vs. Malley is a good-cop bad-cop routine. But who knows if Biden was responsible for those choices, or if they were made for him?

Fortunately I am not Prime Minister of Israel, but if I were I would not expect better performance from a reBama Iran team than from the original one. And I think this could have been known for some time. Biden announced his intention to reenter the deal in September of 2020. From then on, it became clear that any military action by Israel – even special operations short of war – would be construed by the new administration as a slap in the face.

This could be the reason that Biden announced so early that he would be re-entering the deal: so that the “slap in the face” argument could be used against any last-minute Israeli action before Biden took office, or even before the election. And it was indeed deployed (by Obama surrogates Ben Rhodes and John Brennan) to criticize Israel’s assassination of the head of Iran’s nuclear program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, on 27 November.

Rhodes and Brennan said that Israel’s act was “aimed at undermining diplomacy” between the US and Iran, and that seemed ridiculous. How could anyone see it as anything but an attempt to slow Iran’s progress to the bomb? But in fact they were sending a message: after Biden becomes president, we’ll remember anything you do now, and you’ll be sorry.

I missed this. On 1 October, I wrote that I had expected that if Biden won the election, Israel would act against the Iranian nuclear facilities in the last weeks of the Trump Administration. I was wrong. Apparently our government got the message that the Americans would not forgive Israel if she eliminated the need for an Iran deal before Biden could sign one.

The weeks passed, Iran ramped up their processes, and Israel did nothing. Now that Biden is in the White House, it is even less likely that Israel will act, despite the recent sabre-rattling of our Chief of Staff.

Israel is in the position of a helpless observer on the deck of a small vessel who can only watch as a huge cruise ship or supertanker plows into it – which is just where the people pulling Biden’s strings want us.

Abu Yehuda

#Iran #US-Israel relations

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years

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Survey #397

“you’re my religion, you’re my reason to live / you are the heaven in my hell”

Do you think that you’ll always love who you love now? Even if we're never together again romantically, I will ALWAYS love her at least as a best friend. Have you ever made out with a random person? Yeah, no. If you could do your first kiss over, would you? No. I'm lucky that my first kiss was honestly cute as hell. Do you like your country’s president or prime minister? Well I voted for him, so I obviously can't hate him. He seems to be doing fine so far, though take that with a grain of salt seeing as I don't keep up with politics. Even before voting for him, I just did a small bit of researching on his values. What color is your house? Yellow with white accents. Do you listen to Christmas music during the holiday season? No, I don't enjoy it. Man, Jason's mom sure did, though... I loved how in the spirit she'd get and always played Christmas music in the car during that time of year. I miss that woman and I sure as hell hope she rests easy now. Do you like ginger ale? Solely if I have a stomach bug, and I can only ever sip it. What are you listening to? "Electric Sugar Pop" by Jeffree Star. What’s the last thing you watched on TV? The TMS office has the TV on, and the woman who overlooks it (I have zero idea what her position is called) tends to have it either on a cooking channel or a home improvement one. Today was a cooking one. Is your favorite author the author of your favorite book? I don't have a favorite author. Describe someone you find really attractive: M-Mark Fischbach. *___* If you HAD to look like someone else, but could choose who, who would you choose? Hm... maybe my friend Alon. I've mentioned I feel like a million times that she is like, ethereal with how gorgeous she is. Have you ever seen someone get a tattoo done? If so, what was it? Did they cry or were they in a lot of pain? Yeah; it was a watercolor feather with "ohana" written below it. She didn't cry at all, but she grit her teeth a few times. Do you have anything you couldn’t go a day without? Some form of technology. Have you ever gotten caught doing something illegal? No. What’s your favorite flavor of Vitamin Water? I don't even think I've ever tried it. Is there someone you wanna date right now? Yeah. What first attracted you to the last person you kissed? If we're talking the very first, our vast similar interests. How many brothers does your father have? None. Does your best friend have any tattoos? No. Do you like Ben + Jerry’s? Yep. Man, I want their Phish Food ice cream now. Would you ever wish to be the opposite sex? Nah. Do you think you’re attractive? Nope. What is your favorite card game to play? Magic: The Gathering. I really miss my PS3 where I had Duel of the Planeswalkers installed on it, it was really fun. Do you own a globe? I don't think we still do. What is your favorite wild cat? Perhaps clouded leopards. If your bedroom had three portals to anywhere, where would they lead? South Africa, Sara's place, and maybe a nice little cabin in the mountains for when I'm feeling a peaceful getaway. You can ask any author one question about their story. What do you ask? I have zero idea. What’s a place you have a strong emotional connection to? The pond behind the local community college. Jason and I took our first prom pictures there. Do you take yoga classes? No, but I'm actually considering it since they offer those at the YMCA Mom and I now go to. What is a decision you’ve made that changed your entire life? To let Jason go. It's pretty great, my PTSD has been less of a bother lately! Have you ever made any money from a side-hustle? Could you consider being paid to take pictures once in a blue moon a "side hustle" when I don't even have a main job? Do you ever wonder what kind of person you’d have turned out to be if a certain event never happened to you? Ugh... it's incredibly painful to wonder how life would be if Jason never left. If you could have anyone’s singing voice, whose would you choose? Adele's or Amy Lee's, probs. What are your top 3 favorite genres of music? Metal, hard rock, alternative. Do you think Mars will be colonized in your lifetime? No. Have you ever been homeless? If so, what led to your homelessness? Technically, yes, because Mom couldn't afford the rent. She, my little sister (who still lived with us at the time), and I each were accepted into the homes of willing, kind people, though. Have you ever been on a ship? No. Who was Van Halen’s better singer - David Lee Roth, or Sammy Hagar? David. Which fictional character has the most memorable quotes? Heath Ledger's Joker is quoted all the time, so probably him. What do you think of the "Healthy At Every Size" movement/philosophy? Before I answer this, I want you to keep in mind that this is coming from someone who is obese, so I would positively love to agree with that for my own self-confidence, but I don't. I believe it's a very dangerous mentality. I think you should cherish your body unconditionally, like it's an amazing machine, but I firmly believe you should have an active interest in becoming what is physically healthy. You couldn't pay me millions to convince me that, say, a 300 lb. person is healthy. What was the name of the first person you ever had a crush on? Why did you like them? I think my first *real* crush was this guy Sebastian my freshman year of high school. I thought he was very sweet, funny, caring, and attractiveness was a bonus. What food will you absolutely not, under any circumstances, eat? Sashimi, caviar, raw eggs... Which famous person would you like to be BFFs with? Bindi Irwin, for one. What kind of natural disaster is most common where you live? Hurricanes. Have you ever had an animal get into your attic? No. Have you ever been bitten so hard that there teeth marks were there after? I mean I've had hickeys before if that's what you're asking. Ever gave one? Oh, I guess you were. Yeah. Do you think its weird if guys wear make-up like eyeliner? Not at all. Would you ever date a disabled person? (Be honest) Yes. Would you rather adopt or have your own child? IF I wanted kids, I'd rather have one myself because I'm well aware I personally need that special connection. Stepkids count, too, because they'd be my partner's and therefore very important for me too. What is the most personal question you have ever been asked? Probably TMI, so here's your fair warning, but I've been asked before if I "touch" myself and I was absolutely repulsed that someone would ask me that. Were you abused by your parents? No. If you’re not straight, who was the first person you came out to? Sara. Were you one of the smartest in your class? Up to finishing high school, modestly, I was. Where did you meet your first crush? Art class my freshman year of high school. Do you ever go places with wet hair? Yeah, idc. Who is your favorite little girl? My niece Aubree. She's such a wonderful girl. Does your best friend have kids? No. If you were pregnant, would you want a boy or a girl? Hypothetically, a girl. What place outside of your own home do you spend the most time at? Um, maybe my older sister's house? Have you ever participated in a medical study? No. Do you have any family members who are cancer survivors? Yes, including my mother. Twice. Are you allergic to any medications? None that I've tried. Do you have any licenses other than your driver's license? I don't even have that. If you’re atheist, would you raise you kids believing in God or not? No; I wouldn't intervene with their own spiritual (or lack thereof) journey. They'd learn what they'd learn and decide themselves what they believe. Do you like reading self-help books? No, I just can't get invested in those. What is your opinion on sex change? If you're unhappy with your body, you're more than free to surgically change that with no judgment from me. Do you have any goals for this summer? If so, what are they? Yes, to lose weight. Can you get a strike at bowling? I have before. There was one occasion where my first go was a strike RIGHT after saying I sucked at bowling, hahaha. Do you ever take pictures of negative moments? Well, I photograph roadkill, and that's one hell of a sad moment. I actually wouldn't mind broadening my horizons of photographing negative moments (with permission of course), because I actually find these very impactful and even builds empathy. I will never, ever forget this one picture I saw sometime of an emaciated boy huddled in the dirt with a vulture close by watching him... like fuck, it made me want to sob. No one should ever have to live like that, especially a child. Would you ever post a picture of yourself crying on social media? No. I know that sounds contradictory to what I just said, I just wouldn't be able to do it myself. Have you ever held a newborn baby? Once, when my last niece was born. I'm terrified of holding them because they're just so fragile. Do you know anyone who has twins? My friend just had triplets. What is your favorite country in Europe? Germany. Are you thriving in your life right now? BOY HOWDY- Do you remember to water plants? I don't keep plants. Name three YouTubers you aspire to be like. 1.) Markiplier in a vast plethora of ways; 2.) Jeffree Star for his incredible work ethic; and 3.) Shane Dawson for his incredible compassion. Yes. I know the controversy, but regardless, he cares a lot about people. Who is your favorite character from Harry Potter? I wouldn't know, given I haven't read the books or seen the movies. Do you watch PewDiePie? Not anymore; his content doesn't interest me anymore. I watched him religiously back in the day when he was a serious let's player, though. Do you have a Steam account? Yes. Have you ever played Five Nights at Freddy’s? No, not personally. I like watching LPs of it and I find the story fascinating, but it's not the kind of game I'd enjoy playing. Have you ever tried Akinator? Yes. I don't think I ever beat it, except maybe once. Are you wearing socks right now? No; unless I'm wearing closed-toe shoes like sneakers, I never do. I hate the feeling of them. Can you twerk? Haven't tried, don't wanna. Do you like dabbing? No, it looks stupid. Do you like fishing? I honestly do think it's fun with all the anticipation and thrill of seeing how big the fish is, however I don't support it anymore unless, like hunting, you genuinely need it for food. The only case where I'd go again was if my dad asked me, because that's always been our bonding experience. Do you have a Spotify account? Yes. Have you heard of Blizzard Entertainment? Well, they're the company behind World of Warcraft, so obviously. Do you like bananas? Yes, but only for a VERY short window of time. I am beyond picky with the ripeness of bananas. Are you addicted to anything? Caffeine and technology. Do you know your phone number? I actually don't. Do you swear in front of children? No.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''here for you'' by ozzy osbourne

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girlactionfigure · 4 years

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Plan Z

In the Fall of 2012, Bibi Netanyahu and then Minister of Defense Ehud Barak had a plan to destroy Iran’s capability to make nuclear weapons. The plan was not executed because of opposition from the Cabinet, the Israeli security establishment, and of course the Obama Administration, which was facing an election and secretly negotiating with Iran toward what would become the JCPOA.

The “nuclear deal” that was ultimately signed in 2015 provided Iran with cash for its Hezbollah terrorists and its expansion into Iraq and Syria, as well as fully legitimizing Iran’s nuclear project in 10-15 years. Even before then, the JCPOA lacked adequate safeguards to prevent cheating, and Iran took advantage of the loopholes to pursue development of uranium and plutonium bombs.

The Obama Administration was following a playbook developed – in part by advisor Ben Rhodes – in the 2006 Iraq Study Report, which intended to extricate the US from Iraq and bring about overall stability in the region by appeasing and empowering Iran and Syria (there was still an independent Syria then) at Israel’s expense. It seemed to me then, and still does today, that the negative consequences for Israel from the plan were not simply an unfortunate byproduct of it, but rather a desired outcome.

President Trump took the opposite tack, choosing to weaken Iran and empower America’s traditional allies in the region, Israel and the Sunni Arab states. He took the US out of the JCPOA, re-imposed sanctions on Iran, recognized Israel’s sovereignty in the Golan and Jerusalem (the 2006 plan envisioned Israel transferring the Golan to Syria), and encouraged an alliance between Israel and the Sunni Arab states.

If Trump’s policy to build up a strong countervailing power while weakening and isolating Iran would continue, then it might be possible to force Iran to give up its nuclear dreams without military action. But if, as seems likely, Joe Biden takes office as President of the US on 20 January 2021, then everything may change.

The following is sheer fantasy. I don’t know what the PM of Israel is thinking, I am not acquainted with anyone in the Trump Administration, the Biden team, or Israel’s defense establishment, and I have no insider knowledge about anything.

By Chanukah 5781 [10 December 2020], it became clear to the Prime Minister of Israel that President-elect Biden, although personally not particularly anti-Israel, was assembling a team heavy with individuals that were less than sympathetic to our point of view, like Susan Rice, Jake Sullivan, and Daniel Benaim. Biden had also made appointments that were concessions to the extreme left wing of the Democratic party that had almost defeated him in the race for the nomination. Intelligence reports showed a continuous flow of communications between Biden and the headquarters of the group led by Barack Obama, located only about 3 km. from the White House.

The PM of Israel was worried. Biden had already announced his intention to re-engage with Iran, which would probably mean a loosening of sanctions. The PM knew that the Iranians had recently made significant progress toward the development of a nuclear arsenal. He had no confidence that the Biden Administration would have the will to stop them; he could imagine a repeat of the JCPOA process, in which Iran made a fool of US negotiators.

Israel would have to stop Iran, or nobody would.

The PM knew that during the Obama Administration the Americans considered Israel a prime target for intelligence-gathering. The Americans had been operating a radar installation in Israel since 2008 that could spot air activity anywhere in the country, even small drones. Electronic communications in Israel’s defense headquarters, the Kiriya in Tel Aviv, have been tapped for some time. It would be very hard to take almost any kind of military action against Iran without the Americans finding out.

The PM decided that if Israel were to take action, it would have to be before 20 January, when Biden would be inaugurated. Indeed, considering the precedent of the incoming Obama team which aborted the ground invasion of Gaza in January 2009, it would have to be before Biden’s people got themselves organized. Otherwise, he was sure the Americans would act, diplomatically or even kinetically, to prevent Israel from striking the Iranian nuclear program.

Such an operation would not be simple or easy. The Iranian assets that would need to be destroyed are buried deeply underground and defended by surface-to-air missile batteries. The moment Israel attacked, the Iranians would unleash Hezbollah in Lebanon, which had some 130,000 short range rockets and longer range missiles, some with precision guidance. They are fitted on mobile launchers and ensconced in the homes of civilians. Hezbollah has plans to invade across the northern border, and kill Israelis and take hostages.

But the IDF has been preparing for this for some time. There is a plan called tochnit zayin [Plan Z]. The Prime Minister convened his mini-security cabinet, a subset of a subset of the cabinet, including the Minister of Defense and several others, together with the IDF Chief of Staff and a few key officers, including the Air Force and Navy commanders. The meeting took all of 15 minutes. The clock began to tick on tochnit zayin.

The IDF announced that it would carry out a defensive exercise on our northern border. It was not a massive exercise, and only a small number of reserve units were called up. Several days later an Israeli submarine moved into position in the Persian Gulf (or, if you prefer, the Arabian Gulf). At 0200 on the 4th day of Hanukah, the submarine fired a missile almost straight up. The missile contained a small nuclear bomb designed to maximize the production of gamma rays, and it exploded high in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 100 km. A person on the ground might see a small dot of light if he knew where to look; he would not be injured or even feel anything.

Most of the gamma radiation from the explosion was absorbed by the air. The gamma rays ripped electrons from atoms in the air, and the electrons spun downward; their motion in the Earth’s magnetic field produced a powerful pulse of electromagnetic radiation, lasting only one millionth of a second but containing an enormous amount of energy. Much of Iran was blanketed by this pulse. Electrical conductors that it passed over had high voltages induced in them, and semiconductor devices, especially those connected to power lines or antennas, were reduced to inert lumps of silicon. Telephone and cellular networks, broadcasting equipment, internet routers, the power grid, and countless other things became inoperative. Even emergency generators, with their solid-state controls, didn’t start.

When Israeli aircraft arrived to bomb the nuclear sites with multiple bunker-busters, Iranian radar was dark. When eyewitnesses tried to alert their commanders, they were unable to do so. When they finally drove to Teheran to inform their leaders (most vehicles were still operative, especially older ones), their leaders could not communicate with each other, or, importantly, with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Lebanon is too close to Israel to receive the same treatment, but units of Israeli special forces penetrated its borders and destroyed communications infrastructure and cut cables at key points. A bombing campaign followed, aimed primarily at the nervous system of the country – the power grid and communications systems. In 2006, the IDF was surprised by its inability to intercept and interrupt communications over Hezbollah’s fiber optic network. Since then, it’s been documented and mapped. It was quickly destroyed. Since 2006 the IDF has collected good intelligence about Hezbollah’s installations, including the hiding places of mobile rocket launchers and weapons depots. Many of them were destroyed almost immediately.

The Hezbollah leadership was targeted; unlike in 2006, the IDF knew where they were and was able to kill them. Without a head and a nervous system, and without support from Iran, Hezbollah was demoralized, and was unable to sustain a massive rocket attack. There was some damage to Israel’s home front, but Iron Dome and Arrow antimissile systems significantly reduced it.

All this happened in a couple of days. By the time Hanukah was over, the Lebanese government – less Hezbollah – was suing for peace. In Iran, economic paralysis had begun to set in.

The US and the Russians, who had been informed only an hour before the operation, offered to help Iran and Lebanon to rebuild, as did Israel and the Gulf states – on condition that the mullahs in Iran and what was left of Hezbollah in Lebanon would have no role in the government. They accepted.

By the time Joe Biden became president, he faced a whole new Middle East.

Abu Yehuda

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finding-fallen-stars · 3 years

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YGO Questionnaire Part 2 Electric Boogaloo

So, my gf/bf @howaboutalittlehelpneos tagged me to do this again a... good long while ago, and I had wanted to wait until I'd finished my GX rewatch before trying this again. But ouch oof I accidentally also got through all of 5Ds again before getting to this lol

But the 5Ds rewatch definitely reshaped a lot of my thoughts, so... cracks knuckles. This won't be spoiler free, fair warning~

Favorite Series: ugh the formatting killed my original essay on this but okay GX and 5Ds are pretty tied in my book, now-- I love them equally, but in different ways! GX fulfills my love for subversive coming-of-age stories with a heartwarming, humorous, and also soulcrushing touch, and I love how each season brings a new story and new characters-- it's like reading installments of a novel series, and I think the formatting works wonders for it as a whole. It has some absolutely phenomenal character writing, too-- even the characters I dislike are ones I can appreciate for what they introduce to the story! And honestly, not enough people give the first two seasons of GX the credit it deserves: they're half the charm, really. How are you going to feel the full impact of the heartbreaking content in seasons 3 and 4 if you aren't properly attached to the characters?

But on 5Ds's side of things... it fulfills my love for stories with time loops, found family, human nature, and of course, love and death and how they intertwine. I love how the leading characters are just a bunch of broken kids from broken circumstances who all find a home with each other, and of course, how it highlights class disparity and how fucked up the prison/"justice" systems are. Yea, sure, maybe it underwent executive meddling and all, but I genuinely love it for what it is and I wish more people appreciated it... my only problem with 5Ds is the untwist with Z-ONE and then the ending s m h I adore it overall and I could go off for a long while on it. Overall, these are my two instinctive recommendations for anyone getting into Yugioh!

(look at these boys they're so important) Favorite Protagonist: Oh, believe me, absolutely nothing has changed here-- Yusei Fudo is and always will be my favorite protagonist, and my rewatch only solidified that.

I just... love him so much? He's seen so much hell in his life and carries so much guilt on his shoulders, but he still has room in his heart to believe in others and to believe that anyone can defy fate and find hope even at rock bottom. I love that he's initially introduced as this quiet, brooding figure when he really just turns out to be a huge softie who wears his heart on his sleeve half the time and wants to bring about change for Satellite and its people. Plus I just really love that his greatest flaw is something that would ordinarily be a positive trait-- he's Overly self-sacrificial, to the point where he's basically setting himself on fire to keep others warm, and that's not really framed as something Heroic

Just... he makes me so happy. I have two Yusei charms that I ordinarily keep on my keys (one was a gift from Zenzen) and they're a constant source of serotonin for me. He's Peak comfort character for me. Best protag in my book Favorite Rival: Same deal here-- still Manjoume!

look at him he's so important

While he spends a lot of the anime getting the good old damsel in distress treatment (getting suckered into a cult, getting knocked into a coma, becoming a zombie, getting fucking Killed, etc), I still think his character arc is really well-written overall and I only appreciated it even more when I watched GX again. I love the fact that he's got a soft heart he buries beneath the edgy facade, and that he's simultaneously really sharp and also kind of dense lol. He's just a fun character and watching how he evolves from episode one to episode one hundred eighty is such a satisfying journey.

Plus, props to him for being such a versatile duelist-- 50 wins in a row is HARD as is, let alone with a deck full of cards he just found laying around in the Arctic. Three ace monsters, three different archetypes... he's a really good duelist and I'm proud of him for it

Oh, but honestly, I don't really dislike any of the rivals-- I'm neutral towards Revolver and Reiji, but the remaining four (Kaiba, Manjoume, Jack, and Shark) compel me. yes I accidentally wound up liking Jack Atlas shhh Favorite BFF: Honestly, I really like most of the characters who fit this archetype-- Joey, Crow, Gongenzaka, Soulburner... I still lean a little bit more towards Joey, but I really appreciate all four of them. I'm gonna say Joey again, just because I find his evolution as a character the most compelling, but I appreciate the other three a lot. Soulburner has the best design though Favorite GFF: Oh absolutely still Aki, but I honestly... really love most female Yugioh characters? I'm assuming this is lead girls only, but like. I'm dumb and gay and I love Girls so this is naturally the most difficult one for me to answer lol

Aki just resonates with me the most because she's the prime example of how trauma doesn't always manifest in palatable ways-- when we first meet her, she's angry and lashes out at anyone and anything just because she wants the world to suffer in the same ways she's suffered, and then... we get to watch her grow from that, once she's free from Divine and able to heal the way she needs to heal. I know the second half of 5Ds didn't give her character the attention it deserved, but I'm still proud of her for winding up on the path she did-- seeing her channel her power and energy into wanting to heal and help others was just so good and was one of the few things I really Loved about the 5Ds ending.

oh, but like. Asuka Tenjoin and Aoi Zaizen are very close seconds for me!!! Aki just has a vice grip on my heart Favorite Villain: Okay, it's still technically Vector-- I think he's the most entertaining, well-written, and effective villain out of all of the ones we've seen so far, but... I also want to add Takuma Saiou and then all of Yliaster as honorable mentions?

As someone fond of tarot myself, I was naturally pretty intrigued by Saiou the first time I watched GX, but my attachment to him only grew the second time around where I actually got the chance to understand his character better. Plus, like... the visuals with him are fucking astounding and he's always so interesting to watch.

As for Yliaster, I just... really love how the big bad of 5Ds turned out to just essentially be a broken man desperate to save anyone and anything and three robotic reconstructions of the friends he'd lost. I still think the untwist with Z-ONE was stupid and I much prefer the idea of him and Yusei being the same person, but I'm still compelled by the other three-- well. Paradox less so, because we don't get a lot of Paradox lore, but. Aporia and Antinomy for sure.

ugh Yugioh has some damn good villains

Favorite Card: now that I actually play the TCG game...

Stardust is always going to be my favorite of all cards because it checks every box for me (my favorite YGO character's ace monster, space theme, what more could I want), but Aromaseraphy Rosemary has really become one of my aces in my best TCG deck! I'm still mastering irl plays, but I'm happy with my progress and I love my plant gang...

Favorite Episode: alright, here's where there's actually been a Lot of change, so...

Season 0: Episode 16: "Turnabout by a Hair's Breadth - The White-Robed Crisis" -- The more I think about this one, the more I love it; there's a... lot of corruption in the medical industry, and I've seen a lot of it firsthand, so just. Seeing a corrupt doctor get what he deserved at the end was cathartic, in a way? Plus, a Jounouchi-centric episode is always a good time.

Duel Monsters: Episodes 96-97: "Darkness vs. Darkness/One Turn Kill" -- this hasn't changed, I still love seeing Marik and Bakura bitch at each other for two whole episodes LMAO

GX: Episode 152: "Activate Super-Fusion! Rainbow Neos" -- This one hasn't changed and it likely never will-- I take so much pride in seeing Judai push forward, past the fear and guilt he's carrying, all to save Johan... it's cathartic and I never get sick of watching it.

5Ds: sweats. still all of Crash Town, but also episodes 137-147-- the Ark Cradle is one of my favorite parts of 5Ds and one of my favorite YGO arcs period, and even though each duel is a fucking gut punch, I love the emotional intensity and weight in each episode... It hurts but in a mostly good way

Zexal: Episode 143: "The Aloof Duelist 'Nasch': The Destined Final Duel" -- this one hasn't changed! Still hurts, still love it, I still weep over Ryouga Shark Kamishiro on a daily basis

Arc-V: Episodes 81-82: "Our Respective Battlefields/The Ultimate Falcon VS The Black-Feathered Thunder" -- Okay, honestly, this was hard because I... genuinely. really don't like Arc-V very much at all lol (it's just not my cup of tea, but more power to those who do like it!), but I thought this duel was a lot of fun! Shun is my absolute favorite from Arc-V and I really like the friendship he struck up with Crow a lot, so here we are

VRAINS (so far): Episode 25-26: "Virus Deck Operation/Three Draws Leading to Hope" -- honestly I am so biased because I just really love Blue Angel and I loved seeing her get a well-deserved victory like this lol. I'm not done with VRAINS, so this is probably gonna change, but anytime Blue Angel or Soulburner are on screen, I'm happy

Favorite Decks to Use: Aromages will always have my heart, but I adore Cyber Angels too! I'm building my Trickstar deck, my Synchron/Stardust deck (just waiting on Dawn of Majesty...), and my Magician Girls deck, too! Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum, or Link?: Synchros my beloved... but also Ritual Years in fandom: I've been here for just a little over one year now! and I wuv it... I'm never looking back Who am I tagging: no one I'm too shy

#yugioh #ygo tag meme

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gamingst417 · 4 years

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Why does gaming show under data usage warning

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woodsmokeandwords · 4 years

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"The hours after English magic had been restored, duly restored - he still marvelled at the concept - were strangely mundane. Mr Childermass, his face still bleeding, had ridden off in a great hurry and returned hours later, quiet and wan with the look of a man trying to remember something that kept slipping away." Segundus has questions, Childermass has an wound that needs tending to. I shan't pretend this is anything other than indulgently trope-y. My first foray into writing JS&MN fic after years in the fandom Read on AO3 above or keep reading below

The hours after English magic had been restored, duly restored - he still marvelled at the concept - were strangely mundane. Mr Childermass, his face still bleeding, had ridden off in a great hurry and returned hours later, quiet and wan with the look of a man trying to remember something that kept slipping away. With him came the somehow even more bedraggled Vinculus, throat covered in bruises that no one could look at for very long. But before they had returned, a hundred questions tripping in at their heels like wind blown autumn leaves, the house had been... normal. More normal than it had been for months. With the faerie’s enchantment lifted the shifting, labyrinthine passageways of Starecross had ceased their slow merger with the Other Lands and become once more confusing in a reliably mortal way. The overpowering press of faerie magic had ebbed away like the tide and in its place Segundus had sat quietly with what he gradually began to appreciate as the comforting presence of His Own Magic. If he concentrated he could still feel the spell tingling in his fingertips, akin to the last traces of pins and needles. Lady Pole had been fussed over by the cook and the maid and was now settled in the parlour with a stack of paper and pen and ink, furiously committing her experiences in thrall to the faerie to paper. Segundus had not asked what she intended to do with this record of her mistreatment at the hands of Norrell, she might send it to the Prime Minister, or to The Times, or both and be completely justified, in his opinion. He did not need to know, all of England would know soon enough. The lady had been silenced long enough and one did not need to be particularly attentive to see that her anger was as a storm that has long since been sighted on the horizon breaking at last. Whilst Lady Pole seemed to brim with energy, Segundus found that he was sorely lacking in it. The tingling in his fingers was accompanied by a slight tremor, as though after strenuous activity, although he had performed none. Except the magic. Childermass’ words continued to ring in his head - Do The Magic - over and over. Well, he had done it and now they would have to see. He sat at the quiet kitchen table and watched the sun begin to slip down the sky. First to meet the trees on the distant hills, their bare winter branches like spidery writing against the pale February sky, and then to glare at him from between their twisted trunks and finally to wink at him from behind the crests of the hills until its comforting warmth disappeared from the kitchen and he was left with the glow from the hearth at his back and a cooling cup of tea sheltering between his tingling hands.   -

A great banging pulls him from his reveries. He has lost track of the hour, the sun is fully set and his tea is cold and only half drunk. The banging comes again and slowly he realises that it is the front door.

The door wrenches open and reveals Mr Segundus, who blinks at him from the gloom of the entrance hall. Childermass steps forward into the scant light escaping past Mr Segundus and out into the night. Vinculus, half leaning into him, half propped against the porch, comes with him like flotsam. “We had not expected you back, Mr Childermass?” “They are gone.” He hears himself reply, and adds “Strange and Mr Norrell.” belatedly realising this might need some explanation. “Gone? Gone where?” his large brown eyes are full of questions and sincerity. “I do not know.” Childermass sighs and gestures passed Segundus into the hall. It is at this moment that Segundus seems to take in Vinculus’ near-prone form and his manners catch up with his curiosity. “Please, do come in!” He says, stepping aside to allow them entry. “I put Brewer in your stables, I hope you don’t mind?” “No, no, of course not. Mr Childermass, what happened?” Childermass heaves Vinculus onto the settle in the hallway and looks away as the man slumps back in his seat and his hands wander towards the cruel bruising on his throat. He meets Segundus’ gaze and almost as one their eyes travel down to the blood soaking the cuff on his left wrist. “Many things. More than I think I can remember presently.” “How do you mean?” Segundus’ careful examination of him transfers from his wrist to his face, to the cut on his cheek that is somehow no longer a cut. “I cannot yet say...”

Mr Segundus was too polite a host to badger him with the questions Childermass could see he was brimming with. At least not straight away. And so he is settled in one of the empty guest rooms, Vinculus installed in another, and left to himself. The maid brings in a steaming pitcher of water and a bowl and is followed by the footman with his saddlebags, he nods his thanks as they leave the room. For some time he stands, caught in a web of indecision, unable to do anything but stare at the worn leather of the saddlebags that contain his possessions. He is a frugal man, he has never had many things, let alone an attachment to them, but in this moment it seems important to him that he has them with him. Some record of his life in physical form. He had watched Hurtfew vanish. Swept out of existence in a whirl of darkness and stars and with it a significant part of England’s magical future. Regardless of what Vinculus believed.

As if dazed he strips off his greatcoat, jacket and waistcoat. His reflection in the small mirror above the dresser is pallid against the gory mess of his shirt. He had thought he had caught the blood from his face but in actuality it has soaked into his neckcloth and the collar and shoulder of his shirt. He begins to remove them and set them aside, he’ll scrub the blood out later, he does not have the luxury of many shirts, but stops with it clutched in his hands as he catches sight of the cuts he had made to his forearm. Unlike his face they have not healed without explanation and the few King’s letters he had managed stand out raw and angry against the pale skin of his arm. Bloody fool Had he really thought to carve The Book into his own flesh? Looking at the poor job he’d done he is relieved he had dismissed the idea. Childermass splashes his face with water, then uses his ruined neckcloth to wipe the dried blood from his skin and goes to fetch his spare shirt from his bags. Back in front of the mirror the glisten of water on top of the scar on his cheek catches his attention and he leans in the better to see it. Healed, perfectly. As if it were years old and not mere hours. How? He brushes his fingers across it and in that touch feels the ghost of another, there is something... parental in it? And he remembers black hair but he cannot now be sure if he is remembering something from that afternoon or the shade of his mother, some scrap of half forgotten memory from his childhood. However it was done, it is fortunate. Lascelle’s knife had been sharp and it had cut deep, there is not a doctor or barber-surgeon around for miles who could have repaired his face so neatly.

A clock somewhere in the house chimes and he takes a breath, as if he has been underwater. It shudders into his lungs. He takes another. And then one more. Careful not to jostle his forearm and restart the bleeding he dons his clean shirt and his waistcoat, he has nothing with which to bind the evidence of his foolishness on the moor and so will have to prevail once again on Mr Segundus’ hospitality.   -   Segundus for want of company had returned to the kitchen. He’d had soup from luncheon, some hot toast and a pot of tea sent up to Vinculus after Mr Childermass’ back had disappeared up the stairs and suddenly without an immediate purpose he had felt melancholy. He kept returning to the words Childermass had spoken on the doorstep; they are gone. But where had they gone? Were they coming back? How were they to go on without the foremost magicians of the land? What was to be done? They were questions that he sensed were without answers, or at least not simple answers at any rate.  Sarah was finishing the washing up in the corner and the clatter of crockery and pans was a welcome, grounding racket for his mind which felt like it might be on the verge of flying away, spiralling up into the aether like a sparrow in flight.    “Oh, sir- Mr Segundus?” he glances over his shoulder and sees Sarah, drying her wet hands on her apron, looking between him and the doorway. Standing at the top of the two steps down into the kitchen is Childermass. He is in his shirtsleeves, with the left sleeve rolled up exposing the raw skin of his forearm, bearing strangely shaped wounds that stand out grotesquely from his pale skin. And he is pale, more so than he ever usually is, there is a sunken, defeated look in his eyes that makes something in Segundus’ chest ache. They have never been close, they have never even been on good terms. Any potential for acquaintanceship would have withered under the oppressive knowledge of who Childermass served, even if Segundus had contemplated such a connexion. The scant few times they had met he had been under the distinct impression that he was on the back foot and forces outside of his control had manoeuvred them into position, whether that force was Norrell, English magic, fate or simply Childermass’ own mysterious machinations Segundus could never have said.  “Thank you, Sarah. Please feel free to go to bed, the washing up can be finished in the morning.” he does not take his eyes off of Childermass as he speaks, in his periphery the girl executes a clumsy curtsy and walks quickly towards the door, head down. Childermass steps backwards to let her pass and she awkwardly half-nods-half-curtsies to him too.   Segundus watches as the blank expression on his face is replaced by something faintly bemused as he descends the steps onto the flagstone floor of the kitchen. It is gone again however when he looks up and their eyes meet over the large table.  “She is rather new.” Segundus says to break the silence, Childermass nods once.   “I’m sorry to trouble you, Mr Segundus but have you anything with which I might bind this?” He gestures vaguely to his wounded arm and Segundus makes himself look away from his eyes for the fist time in minutes.   “I- Oh. Oh yes, of course. Just one moment.” He half turns, trying to remember where they keep the cloth set aside for exactly this purpose, hesitates and then, “please, have a seat. I’ll be back in a moment.” He pulls out the chair he had been sitting in a little further and hurries off to fetch the bandages.   They keep a box of neatly trimmed strips of linen in the upstairs landing closet. He remembers distinctly when Stephen Black had quietly informed him that Lady Pole had once been in the habit of hurting herself and Segundus had that very afternoon sent into town for two yards of linen and had sat up that evening cutting it into strips and rolling them himself. Whilst he is there he fetches a clean cloth and then brings his bundle of supplies back down to the kitchen. Childermass is sitting at the table examining his arm with care, he glances up when Segundus sets the roll of bandages and the cloth down on the table.  “How did it happen, Mr Childermass? It is a strange injury.” he asks as he goes to the dresser and retrieves a clean bowl, fills it with a little cold water and places it on the table next to the bandages.  “You will think me a fool, sir, but I did it myself.” Segundus halts only for a moment in the act of placing the kettle on the hook over the fire.  “If you did such a thing, I suspect there was a very good reason for it.”  “There was, although it proved needless in the end. A good thing, for no matter your tactfulness, it was indeed foolish.” He looks towards where the kettle hangs above the flames in the grate, “you will not have seen in the dark but Vinculus… Vinculus is very special. He- Did you ever hear of the Book of the Raven King, sir?”  “Only vague allusions to it in theoretical texts, nothing tangible.” Childermass nods, seemingly to himself, at this. “I do not know how it came to be but Vinculus is that book. It is written on his skin, has been since his birth and today he insists that he is changed. That he does not say what he said before.”  “What?” Segundus cannot help his stunned reaction. He drops into one of the other chairs at the table.  “Just so… When I found him on the moor he was hanged. I… I had to cut him down and as I laid him on the earth I saw it there on his skin, in a strange alphabet. Having no ink or paper I could not think of a way to replicate it and in a moment of foolishness thought to cut it into my own skin.” Childermass is looking down again at the marks on his arm, large and jagged and surely no approximation for the words he says cover Vinculus’ own skin.   “Mr Childermass-” he gasps and covers his mouth.  “Now you see, foolishness.”  “But,” he says collecting himself, “how can it be that Vinculus was hanged when he is currently upstairs eating toast?”  “I cannot account for it, sir. If I understood it at all I would tell you.” he shakes his head again and wipes a hand over his face momentarily covering his eyes. It is then that the kettle starts to boil so Segundus gets up and removes it from the fire, pouring a little of the hot water into the bowl and the rest into his teapot from earlier. He pulls out the chair next to Childermass and sits down in it before spooning an extra helping of leaves into the pot.   “May I see your arm, Mr Childermass?” he asks and Childermass twists in his chair and offers out his left arm. The cuts are fairly shallow and mercifully clean of any dirt but the curving letters Childermass tried to replicate have cruel edges and it looks painful. Segundus very gently takes the proffered arm and dipping his cloth into the bowl of warm water ever so lightly draws it across the wounds. He squeezes it slightly and lets the water drip onto them before wiping away the excess. He continues for some time and is surprised when Childermass speaks.  “I appreciate this, Mr Segundus.” Childermass sounds awkward and slightly gruffer than usual, Segundus feels himself colour and is glad he has an excuse not to look up. It is a long moment before he can think of a proper response.  “Please, think nothing of it. I would be a poor sort of colleague not to offer my help.”  “Colleague?”  “Are we not both magicians now, sir?” Segundus sets his cloth aside and reaches for the bandages.   “I suppose we are.” Childermass says and shifts a little in his seat. They are quiet for some time as Segundus winds the bandage around Childermass arm and ties off the end. When he has done this he stands and fetches a clean cup and saucer from the dresser and fills it with tea before setting it in front of Childermass.  “I had not thought to find you here.” Childermass says, glancing between Segundus and the cup of tea that has been placed in front of him. “In the kitchen? It is not befitting of a gentleman, I know, but I like to sit here to think.”  “Your staff do not mind?”   “There is not such a vast amount of difference between them and myself, Mr Childermass. I have been a bachelor for many years and until recently… Well, you are aware that I was not a man of means. I still am not, were it not for the kindness of Mrs Lennox I would not be in the position I am currently in.” he busies himself with fetching a plate and cutting two slices of bread which he then sets about toasting.  “There are not a great many gentleman who would bandage the arm of a servant, or make him tea.” Childermass says quietly and Segundus hums noncommittally.  “No, I suppose not but I do not mind being unlike them if it means that I helped a person in need.” he finishes toasting the bread at that moment and almost as if to reinforce his stance on helpfulness sets it down on the plate beside Childermass’ tea. “We have some fresh butter in the pantry, and cheese? Or perhaps honey?” he asks.   “Just butter is fine, thank you, Mr Segundus.”   -    He has been watching the gentleman bustle about the kitchen making tea and toasting bread and now he watches as Mr Segundus fetches the butter dish from the pantry for him with a sense of surreal detachment. He is very conscious of the fact that he has been a thorn in this man’s side for ten years and yet has found nothing but kindness under his roof this evening.  “Here you are.” Segundus says, returning with the butter and resuming his seat at the table. His chair is still close from when he was bandaging Childermass’ arm, he seems to realise this halfway through sitting down and rises again to nudge it backwards slightly.   “My thanks.” Childermass manages.   He is almost grateful for the overwhelming weariness that sets in as he eats his toast, it falls over him like a quilt, blanketing many of the concerns that have been rattling around in his head since he saw Vinculus hanging from the twisted branches of the hawthorn tree. A grim tableau against the windswept, desolate moor. Mr Segundus does not seem to mind the silence, his is a comforting presence as he carefully sips his tea and stares at a knot in the wood of the table.   “Who else knows about Vinculus?” he asks quietly, surprising Childermass.  “No one. My master knew he had a book, Vinculus boasted of it to him many years ago, but Mr Norrell never saw it, I searched for it to no end for some time.”  “You mentioned- You said earlier that- that they are gone, Mr Strange and Mr Norrell. What did you mean?” Mr Segundus is looking at him, his large brown eyes full of questions again. Childermass sighs and leans back in his chair.   “We rode from the tree to Hurtfew and found it vanished. I left as Mr Strange arrived with his pillar of night that we have heard so much about in the last weeks and when I returned with Vinculus it was simply as if the Abbey had been cut out of the countryside.”  “But how?”  “I am not certain, it was as if it had been unpicked and the space either side of where it was stitched back together, edge to edge. Vinculus said it was the King’s doing. His spell spinning out to its natural end.”  “I do not think I understand.” Segundus frowns down at his hands, clasped in his lap like a schoolboy.   “I am sorry, sir. I’m afraid I am doing a bad job of explaining anything tonight.”  “No, it is I who should apologise, you are exhausted and I am plying you with questions. Please, Mr Childermass, answer no more of them and go and get some sleep. We can talk more on the morrow.” Segundus looks up then and smiles apologetically at him.   “I’m much obliged to you for your kindness this evening, sir. I will do my best to set everything out clearly in the morning, two heads are better than one as they say and two magicians are sure to have more success than one alone also.”  “Goodnight, Mr Childermass”    -   In the bright, winter sunshine drenching the dining table the following morning Childermass does his best to explain to Mr Segundus and to an imperiously inquisitive Lady Pole exactly what he had seen first upon the moor and then later at Hurtfew. Neither of them have much more insight into the matter than he himself does but Lady Pole does have a few choice words on the subject of unreliable, meddling magicians, present company only somewhat excluded.  In the days that follow, when the letters trickle in and reports of the disappearance of not just Hurtfew but of the houses at Ashfair, Hanover Square and Soho Square begin to surface, Mr Segundus and Childermass do their best to respond to them together. Careful not to say too much to their associates and acquaintances, mindful of events progressing too quickly.   Some two weeks later Sir Walter arrives to meet with Lady Pole and the two magicians absent themselves to the far reaches of the garden when the ensuing shouting match between the couple proves too loud for them to pretend they are giving them any privacy from the next room.   “I think I shall go to York soon.” Childermass says, watching a snowflake settle on the leaf of a holly bush.   “You will go through with it then? Call a meeting of the York Society?"  “I will, it is time they knew.”  “They will wish to meddle.”  “Let them, unlike Her Ladyship I am of the opinion that some good can come of meddlesome magicians. After all, without your intervention things may be very different.” Childermass drags his eyes away from the holly bush and watches the pink flush on Mr Segundus’ cheeks that was already present from the chill air deepen considerably.  “There are some days that I wonder what would have happened if I had not asked the question.” Mr Segundus replies, a little wistfully.   “Do not wonder, Mr Segundus. In fact,” he says, a winding path unfurling before him in his minds eye, “I think I should like you to be at this meeting and ask another question.”   The end

#jonathan strange & mr norrell #john childermass #john segundus #johnsquared #jonathan strange and mr norrell #JS&MN #JSAMN #fic #my fic #this really is disgustingly indulgent #and my first time properly writing fic for this fandom which means I'm NERVOUS #there's so much good fic for this pairing I am in the presence of gods #but I hope anyone reading this enjoyed it

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southeastasianists · 6 years

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Thailand’s 2019 general elections will be the first since the passing of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, or Rama IX, on 13 October 2016. Concomitantly, they will be the first elections in Thailand not held under political conditions of royal hegemony and the Bhumibol consensus since 14 October 1973, when the late king intervened in support of students and civilians protesting against the dictatorship of Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn. October 1973 crystallised Bhumibol’s popularity and his quasi-divine status as the protector of the people, culminating the reinvigoration of the monarchy’s presence in public life that was promoted under the rule of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat throughout the 1960s.

Under Bhumibol’s populist-guided democratic reign, Thailand saw 40 long years of royal hegemony (here, hegemony is used to mean leadership by consent and non-coercive compliance a la Antonio Gramsci). The effect was to bind the development of Thailand’s democratic system and the monarchical institution in, as described since the 1978 constitution, “a democratic regime of government with the king as head of state” (ระบอบประชาธิปไตยอันมีพระมหากษัตริย์ทรงเป็นประมุข). Under such a regime, the reforms that can be initiated via democratic process, particularly the potential for fundamental, radical change, are reined in and hinge on the approval and initiative of the monarchy. Under conditions of royal hegemony, political, economic and cultural change was tempered by the following characteristics of governance: (1) Governance primarily involved participation by and benefited elites, rather than common people. (2) The distribution of power and benefits was hierarchical-cum-clientelist, rather than egalitarian. (3) Rather than democratic, governance became authoritarian with a moralistic and technocratic inclination. Expressed in the terms of those who espouse it, that authoritarian governance represented “Thai-style modernity”—a conservative, cautious approach to reform.

Yet the inevitably corporeal and impermanent agency of monarchy meant that not even royal hegemony could endure forever. This inevitability was not lost on the monarchical network, which prepared for the post-Bhumibol scenario as early as the politically reformative constitution of 1997. In place of Bhumibol’s charisma, the institution of the Constitutional Court was established to function as a surrogate king, whose supreme judicial authority under the constitution was supposed to maintain the legitimacy of the democratic regime of government with the king as head of state.

What nobody predicted were the cumulative effects of the Tom Yum Goong Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and the 1997 Constitution. The intent of the constitution was to “close off corruption, open up efficiency, and strengthen leadership”, especially the authority of those in peak governance positions—the prime minister and leaders of large political parties. The method to do so was a party-list, proportional representation electoral system under which the entire country was a single constituency for 100 seats in the House of Representatives (the remaining 400 were elected through a first-past-the-post system in single-member constituencies). The result was the rise to power of Police Lieutenant Colonel Thaksin Shinawatra and his pluto-populism.

Politically, the Thaksin regime represented a wholesale recalibration of electoral competition and structures of political power. Provincial-boss dominated, clientelistic politics evolved into party-dominated, policy-based politics led by a populist leader. Economically, the Thaksin regime overturned a system of distributing benefits amongst various elite factions based on competitive clientelism, whereby political leaders in mutually-beneficial arrangements with prominent capitalists competed in rent-seeking. In its place, a system of monopolistic clientelism emerged. Thaksin and those close to him in Thai Rak Thai monopolised political power, and the privileged economic connections and control over rent that came with it. It may be said now that the democratic regime of government with the king as head of state was not designed to support the co-existence of two populist leaders. One came into being by royal birthright and the other through democratic elections, but both claimed to speak in the name of the nation. In the end, one had to give way unceremoniously to the other.

It is worth mentioning that the coup on 19 September 2006, which took place a month before general elections were scheduled, was led by a junta that deliberately called itself, if translated literally, the Council for Administrative Reform Under a Democratic Regime of Government with the King as Head of State (the junta later clarified its English name to be the Council for Democratic Reform, before changing this to the Council for National Security). The significance of the name lies in its hinting that the Council desired political and administrative reform of some kind. Such reform was not, however, to involve fundamental regime change but rather was to be enacted under the framework of the democratic regime of government with the king as head of state. Revealingly, this indicated that balance between the two central components of the regime—the democratic system and the monarchical institution—had been lost under Thaksin’s government, to the point that electoral results had become a threat to royal hegemony. Reform would be necessary to tame the democratic system.

In this context, the ambitions of the Council for National Security (CNS) were always to bring about a return to the political and economic arrangements that existed under royal hegemony before the rise of Thaksin. This same goal was shared by the so-called “judicial review” activism spearheaded by the Constitution Court in the aftermath of the April 2006 elections, whereby, among other interventions, the Court annulled the electoral victory of Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai party and dissolved the party in 2007. A return to royal hegemony was also desired by royal-nationalistic movements, whether it be the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) from 2005–09 or the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) from 2013–14.

Against this background of unravelling royal hegemony, what are we to make of the political turmoil of the past 12 years (2006–18)? During that period, Thailand has seen 8 prime ministers (including 2 who have been acting prime ministers) and 2 coups: by the CNS on 19 September 2006 and by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) on 22 May 2014. Mass movements in opposition to alternating governments-in-office have come in 7 waves, led by: the PAD in 2006, the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) in 2007; the PAD in 2008; the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) in 2009; the UDD in 2010; the Pitak Siam Group in 2012; and the PDRC from 2013–14. Crackdowns on protest on 4 occasions (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013–14) cumulatively led to the deaths of hundreds, the injuring of thousands, and several hundred billions of Baht in economic loss. Last but far from least, the country has seen four constitutions (an interim constitution in 2006, a new constitution in 2007, an interim constitution in 2014, a new constitution in 2017). Has all this unrest been part and parcel of the growing pains involved in transitioning to democracy? I do not think so.

Substantively, all of the above has been imbricated instead in elite efforts to transition to a stable and enduring non-democracy with the king as head of state. The essence of this project is the reduction of elections to window-dressing. Ideally, institutions in which office depends on the outcome of elections or which draw their authority from an electoral mandate—including the legislative assembly and the executive government—are subsumed under the control of constitutionally-safeguarded institutions whose composition are unelected. These include the Electoral Commission of Thailand, the Senate, the National Strategy Committee, the Constitutional Court and the National Anti-Corruption Commission. The difference between past and ongoing efforts to install non-democracy lie only in where they intended to redirect power from democratic institutions. For example, the draft constitution of 2015, overseen by Borwornsak Uwanno as president of the drafting committee, intended to vest decision-making power in “moral and good people” from non-governmental organisations. Meanwhile, the 2017 Constitution, of which Meechai Ruchuphan headed the drafting committee, is designed to vest powers that once lay with democratic institutions in the hands of judicial authorities—even as the NCPO desires to vest those powers in the Armed Forces.

Political change from the general elections next year will then likely be limited to only a transition from closed to electoral authoritarianism. Electoral legitimacy, especially in the eyes of Western countries, will distinguish the regime that emerges from the elections from the closed authoritarianism of the NCPO. That legitimacy, however, will come hand-in-hand with democratic uncertainty. The NCPO has sought to mitigate the contingency involved in democratic competition through the 2017 Constitution, especially in its provisional clauses (one which, for instance, stipulates that all 250 members of the senate will be chosen in the final stage by the NCPO). The constitution also sets out an electoral system that advantages the NCPO and the parties that support the continuation of military rule, at the expense of large parties such as Pheu Thai. In particular, the new mixed-member apportionment system removes the separate vote for party-list seats, replacing it with a single vote for a candidate. The effect in both the electoral process and parliament will be to further undermine the political importance and representative strength of parties against the military and bureaucratic elite.

After the elections, it is probable that Thailand will be nominally governed by a coalition government of weak, medium-sized parties led by an unelected prime minister who did not earn a seat in the House of Representatives. That government will operate under the constrictive oversight of unelected, constitutionally-enshrined institutions, which will largely be constituted by high-ranking military officials, senior or retired bureaucrats and prominent businessmen, all appointed by the NCPO or the parties associated with it. The substance of electoral competition will tend to regress back to provincial-boss dominated, clientelistic politics once again.

Some have argued that the electoral-authoritarian regime will look something like a return to semi-democracy under the premiership of General Prem Tinsulanonda from 1980–88. Much like the current constitution, the 1978 constitution allowed for an unelected prime minister and established a bicameral National Assembly constituted by an elected legislature but an appointed senate. Nevertheless, the military-guided semi-authoritarianism that is likely to emerge from the 2019 elections will be distinct from the model of Premocracy. Under Prem’s premiership, parliamentary structures represented substantive power-sharing between elected and unelected office-holders.

As Prajak Kongkirati observes, “The power-sharing mode of the 1978 constitution reflected the army’s willingness to compromise and adapt to the changing political environment, which saw the rise of business classes who demanded participation in state affairs”. The trajectory inaugurated under General Prayuth is distinct in the establishment of several institutions via the constitution whose membership are unelected, and which are poised to act as external checks on parliament. These institutions were never seen under Prem’s premiership, indicating a turn after the 2019 elections towards authoritarianism rather than power-sharing.

What about a return to bureaucratic polity, as during the era of Sarit Thanarat, who from 1959–63 consolidated dictatorship by rationalising cohesive military–civilian bureaucratic structures? The NCPO has struggled to coordinate the highest centres of power in the state bureaucracy, which has historically already been plagued by problems of internal unity. Several contemporary factors have exacerbated the Thai state’s bureaucratic dysfunction. First, the NCPO’s rule coincides with the transition from a long-standing generation of senior officials to a less-qualified generation. Second, the strictness of new regulations against corruption have had the effect of discouraging initiative, flexibility and the enthusiasm of bureaucrats. Third, political conflict and extreme division between yellow shirts rallied against Thaksin and red shirts rallied in support of Thaksin has spilled into and wrought havoc upon the bureaucratic system. As rival sides alternated in controlling the government, each purged the bureaucracy of those allied with the opposition, taking turns to “clean up” the bureaucracy again and again. This has been especially true of military governments which have tended to exercise arbitrary powers, circumventing usual legislative process, standing rules and regulations. The uncertainty of bureaucratic life is demotivating, producing a hesitant, fractured system far removed from the Sarit era.

Finally, what will be the legacy of the NCPO’s rule upon the military–monarchy pact that is at the heart of the network monarchy? Under Rama IX, the head of the privy council operated as an intermediary between the two institutions, with the network marked by the dominance of the monarchy over the military. Some analysts have predicted a reversal in this arrangement, whereby the military will ascend to the position of dominance. Such evaluations may be premature, as the balance of power between the two institutions has yet to settle clearly. Though the new king may not possess charisma comparable to his father’s, he is clearly leveraging the law to expand royal prerogatives, both through his demand for specific amendments to the constitution and in his assumption of direct control over institutions related to the Bureau of the Royal Household, especially the Crown Property Bureau and the expanded Royal Guard Command.

The NCPO’s ambitious project to install non-democracy faces formidable obstacles, most notably rapidly-changing socio-economic conditions, a lethargic state bureaucracy and the dispiritedness affecting ordinary people in an era bereft of royal hegemony. It may be said that the Bhumibol Consensus no longer exists with enough stability and effectiveness to ensure the junta’s efforts to establish a non-democratic regime of government with the king as head of state.

#Southeast Asia #Thailand #Politics #Elections

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postedbygaslight · 6 years

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You’ll Be the One to Turn - Part 32: The Tinkerer

...

Consciousness came screaming back to Armitage Hux as he sat up bolt straight on the boarding ramp of Kylo Ren’s command shuttle. Thick black smoke swirled above him, and the Taris horizon was a blast of yellow-orange. The tableau of the sky provided a stark backdrop to the plasma bursts that tore through the air all around the airdrome tower.

Hux staggered to his feet, his head pounding. He took a few cautious steps away from the ramp and emerged out onto the windswept platform. Ren was nowhere to be seen. Hux felt his sleeve for the hidden knife, but it wasn’t there. He’d done it, hadn’t he? He’d stuck the knife between Ren’s ribs. Watched as the insufferable princeling’s face twisted into a mask of fury and dawning horror. But Ren had had enough presence of mind to fling him away, and the stinging throb at the crown of his skull was testament to that.

The general cast about, looking for a clue as to where Ren’s body had ended up. They had been close enough to the edge of the platform that Hux surmised Ren might have reeled away from the attack and pitched over the side. But everything had happened so fast, and the wind was even stronger then, and it didn’t seem likely that any blood trail was going to avail itself to his scrutiny. He peered over the edge anyway, a wave of vertigo rocking him as the nearly two hundred foot drop mesmerized his senses. No sign of a body. No sign of anything but the thunder and bedlam of war.

Things truly appeared to have spiraled out of control, Hux realized as he surveyed the landscape. There were now thousands of stormtroopers in the streets and collapsed structures below. It didn’t take a military genius to know what was happening. Like a virus infecting new tissue, with each company and battalion deployed, defections were happening as soon as boots touched the ground. Some of the drop ships, Hux knew, were probably commandeered by traitors before they even disembarked the capital ships above. Protocol insisted that any kind of mass rebellion of this kind in the ranks was to be met with an unyielding response. In this case, that seemed to mean adding more oxygen and fuel to an already unmanageable fire.

There had really never been an option for an orbital strike. No commander would ever dream of firing on a position while the Supreme Leader was planetside. And even had Hux been aboard the Finalizer, any such command would have been intercepted by someone in the command chain who would have balked at the audacity of such a move. But none of that mattered now. The stormtrooper corps was in full revolt, and what began as a small skirmish during an unremarkable anti-insurgency operation had become the Battle of Taris.

Hux straightened his coat, and smoothed his hair back where it had fallen lank across his brow. He felt the drip of something cold on his forehead and it was only then he realized his glove was slicked with blood, and that he’d just smeared his face and hair with it.

No matter. Too much time had been wasted. He was no fool. He wouldn’t just assume Ren had perished. He had to move fast. He boarded the command shuttle and closed the ramp behind him. The shuttle hadn’t been built to be piloted by one person, but Hux was finished playing second to anyone else’s authority, and this vessel was the symbol of the Supreme Leader. It was his now by right. He set the controls for autopilot back to the Finalizer, and leaned back in the captain’s chair, his breathing finally calming.

Through the windshield of the shuttle, he could view a more impressive vista of the battle. The ruins were alight with pockets of red, blue, and green, plasma impacting on every surface. He could see something of a front line forming out in the distance to the north, but the snarl of ruined streets became more treacherous as the sprawl edged southward, and there the fighting was pure chaos. Out beyond the debris line, there were more transports landing, and he didn’t even have to check his monitors to know that someone had summoned another Star Destroyer and deployed a second division.

There were thousands of stormtroopers on the surface of Taris, fighting a civil war that never should have started at all. But Hux wasn’t about to mourn the loss of traitors. Let them all be weeded out. When the new dawn came to the galaxy, he would be left standing astride the greatest power that remained. He needed only to strike now, while panic was still thick in the air.

As the command shuttle broke free of Taris’ atmosphere, Hux regarded its distant horizon, the twinkle of cityscapes blinking along its curved edge. Billions of people lived there, stacked in tenements and housing units, rats rutting together in their own filth. The trio of Star Destroyers soon came into view, and as he began his docking sequence, Hux thought of the traitors below and the wretched people in the cities above, and thrilled in the purity with which he would soon grace them all.

***

By the time Hux arrived on the command deck of the Finalizer, he’d had time to piece together what he needed to do. If the emitter stations were active, all that needed be done was to install the kyber heart, and the weapon would be ready. The technologists would object to using the weapon before testing, but Hux was finished with waiting. His time had come, and there would be no dithering with wasteful procedure or distractions. The galaxy would shake loose the reins of superstition and prophecy at long last.

Striding through the command deck main corridor, the general seethed. Everywhere he cast his attentions, he was confronted with rank incompetence. Even the bounty hunter had failed him. He’d known he would have to safeguard against his plans coming to light, and had chanced descending from orbit to intercept the Supreme Leader should it come to that. It was a fortunate thing, too. If he’d have trusted to the hunter to carry out her task as contracted, he would likely have been rotting in the brig or spaced with the rest of the refuse by now. No, that was not his destiny. Where the hunter had failed, Hux had succeeded. Ren was finished, and Hux had required nothing more than a few simple tools and the will to power.

On the bridge, Hux could see the monitors telling a tale of disaster. Each squad, each battalion, was reporting heavy losses and defections.

“Report,” Hux shouted. Captain Peavey leapt to attention and hurried to where the general stood.

“General, we’ve deployed the 14th Division and have requested—“

Peavey stopped, his mouth hanging open, staring at the side of Hux’s face that was smeared with drying blood. Hux sneered at the officer.

“Never mind that, continue.”

“Uh, yes, sir. As I was saying, we’ve deployed another division. The Star Destroyer Fortitude arrived within the last hour and has been supplying fresh troops in our efforts to put down the rebellion.”

“And an excellent job you’ve all done in my absence. Every transport you send down there is filled to bursting with turncoats ready to join the other side once they land,” the general said, his voice thick with derision. “Are there any regular troops still on board here?”

“One company, sir.”

“Deploy them now. Arrange a battalion to keep order here, and make sure the men selected are loyal. As for the rest, send them down to the grinder on the surface. I don’t want any of those scrap feeders on my ship.”

“Of course, General.”

Peavey hurried to relay the order to a deck officer and set about preparing more troop transports. Hux walked to the bank of windows, and surveyed the scene from orbit. Everything looked serene from this vantage, the perpetual layer of man made clouds shifting and churning with the spin of the planet with barely perceptible motion. No one looking on from here would ever guess that below those clouds men were dying by the hundreds.

“General, the deployment is underway,” Peavey said, returning to Hux’s side.

“Good. Make sure we have the remaining units on alert for acts of sedition. Contact the fleet. We muster at Naboo. We’re going to scorch this wound before it has a chance to bleed any further.”

“General,” Peavey offered with a note of meekness, “if I may be so presumptuous, shouldn’t we wait for the Supreme Leader to—“

“Ren is dead or a traitor,” Hux almost hissed. “I am in command now.”

“Of course, sir, but don’t you think it would be wise to request—“

“I AM IN COMMAND NOW!” Hux screamed, his face red and contorted in a ghoulish scowl. “Set course for Naboo, and do it before I have you hauled off and split from keel to collar!”

Peavey flinched, his face growing pale. He saluted and scurried down into the navigation pit to make ready for the jump to light speed. Hux took a last look at Taris as the ship came about. He considered what it might be like to see what the people of Hosnian Prime had witnessed in the moments before they were delivered unto the fire. He considered it, and felt his will strengthen. It was he who now wielded that fire, he who would visit its justice where and upon whom he deemed fit.

As the Finalizer jumped to light speed, Hux felt confident the traitors on Taris would never see the light of another day. Neither them nor anyone else.

***

Hours later, Hux was still standing on the bridge. It had been at least two days since he last slept. His coat was rumpled and stiffening with dried blood. He hadn’t cleaned the streaks of browning crimson from the side of his face, and it looked now like the remnant of war paint flaking off of his skin and hair. He was the very image of a towering conqueror, he thought, and the First Order— his order— would see its glory stamped upon each sunrise and starfall from the Core Systems to the Outer Rim.

The vista above Naboo was glorious to behold. Far below, on the planet’s surface, the command center and containment array was easily visible, a ring of chrome spikes amidst the verdant greenery. The emitter station in high orbit above the planet shone brightly, a sphere of polished metal and crystalline glass glinted with starlight.

“Give me the status on the other emitter stations,” Hux said to the nearest deck officer. Peavey had vanished some time ago, but the general could hardly be bothered to wonder where the captain had gone.

“Eight of twenty online,” the officer replied. “An additional seven in preliminary systems checks.”

“Do we have a targeting alignment for Taris?”

“We do, General.”

Hux smiled broadly as he turned to face the officer, the pale light of the Naboo sun reflected icily against his eyes.

“Ready the weapon.”

#reylo #reylo fanfic #star wars fic #armitage hux #kylo ren #taris #naboo #kyber crystals

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pooma-education · 3 years

Text

Mr. Ashish Bhatnagar

Mr. Paul Vincent Moses

Mr. Nahid Raiza

TOPIC:

What are the Challenges of Global School Education and where India stand on that?

Group: National UN Volunteers.

Time: No limit. Whenever you wish to share your views you can. 6 am- 10pm

🍁

Aim and purpose of Education:

Education, at its best, is about helping people discover, refine, and develop their gifts, talents, passions and abilities; and then helping them discover how to use those gifts, talents, abilities in ways that benefit others and oneself.

When the purposes are for the upliftment of our society, then no doubt is in to have number of challenges in global education system or local education system.

¶ Challenge: 1

Right to education RTE.

We have existing learning organizations where learners are part of that organization for sime years without having a journey of discovery to discover what is within them till now.

We came to the point now as education the fundamental right of a man.

In real sense Education is life itself. It is not a right to claim. When shall we reach or take Education to the state of life from rights.

¶ Challenge: 2

Testing & Assessment

Testing should exist as a servant to the main goals of education.

Whenever people start to build learning organizations and experiences around tests instead of designing tests to serve and amplify the organization’s mission, vision, and values; we have a problem. Such organisations will face lot of challenges to exist or to continue.

We should know here one thing. Education itself a tool designed by nature to test users. Whereas we design a tool to test Education.

And the design is of the mindset of the designer. We consider him or her as the standard designer.

It can be explained with an example-A teacher of your school is a question setter of his subject. Means he is one of the designer of a tool to assess Education.

Can he be a standard designer.? Can a school assure of this?

Then where is the standard assessment or test? That's beyond our imagination and understanding.

If we get such a test then there won't be challanges in Education.

Therefore assessment or test is to assess the complete person as the Education is for shaping the complete man.

But our design for assessment is assesment of education in a person and not the outcomes of Education in that particular person.

Reminder: The purpose of Education is man making first.

¶ Challenge:3

Nurturing the nature of learners.

Character, virtues, and non-cognitive skills have always been an important part of a person’s growth and maturation, not only into adulthood but throughout life.

If we want to invest in aspects of education that have a huge impact on the lives of individuals, their families, their communities, their places of work, and the entire world around them; we are wise to devote time and attention to how we can nurture these important elements that less frequently show up in a list of learning objectives for a course or goals for a formal program.

We are talking about traits like grit, courage, conscientiousness, integrity, personal ownership, the capacity to postpone gratification, collaboration skills, the ability to plan and prioritize, and many others.

Nurturing aforementioned already existing nature in users of Education is the prime purpose of Education. But it is not happening in most of the learning organisations.

¶ Challenge:4

Purpose of Education is misunderstood.

Formal and informal Education are the two categories of it. Formal is to detect the skill within. And informal is to develop and make use of it. Formal education is for learning and informal is for earning. That is for job opportunities and openings.

But what do we do is reverse. Our challenges are due to which when right things are chosen for wrong. That's Education for employment. Education is often about teaching people to critique, but that must be accompanied with nurturing the capacity to create, to discover and embrace the purpose and meaning in the world around us…and beyond.

Education is not mere for employment. Education is not a passport or password access to a job.

The very purpose of Education is limited into one's qualification in our country or community.

Is it correct?

¶ Challenge 5:

Factors that affect learning.

Students of different countries have different capabilities owing to what they have learnt. Learning capacities also vary due to environment. We in India mostly follow rote method while learning. Most of the schools in India, including the so-called International schools, test students' memory instead of testing their intellectual abilities. Self-learning is hardly. Any learning process that makes students self-dependant is hardly found.

Free education up to some level is quite good. But if it extends the limit, especially for male candidates, the value of education and the course pursued is found to have diminished.

CBSE is trying to change now. I can see many welcome changes to the syllabus, curriculum and approach now.

As we give value to money, what is paid, is similarly given value. Many in India are graduates but are jobless.

I hope the points you mentioned will be considered especially with the new NEP. Rote learning has been there for ages but there are some good signs I can see in some schools. Many changes have been there so far, but nothing proved to be very productive. It takes time to see some significant changes.

May be, but it depends on the government. Rote learning is not completely bad. But it doesn't help any student develop his/her intellectual skills. We are still in the third world status; 72 yrs since we've got independence; still how long?... Is, unfortunately, one of the questions being posed with no positive answers and outcome left. Are we comparing ourselves with those who are already developed or with those who are under-developed?.

Our wonderful politicians don't keep us updated with new techniques and methods to have them implemented in schools and colleges.

Q: What is your qualification?

R: B.Tech.

Q: What are you?

R: Customer-care Executive.

Let's See the above...

The qualification of the person has nothing to do with the job the person is doing.

¶ What is the purpose of education?.

This is what's going on in our country. The study field and the job field has a lot of difference. What are schools doing these?. It all depends in students' interest, parents' involvement; active or passive; institutions' maintenance of quality while giving the quality stuff to its benefactors (students) for what they are paid. But it again reflects on the nation's disability in giving its students what is best.

Egoistic feelings among politicians and social groups installed in some families or indians' minds keep our present youth from learning the best or at least something better. A real learner learns any good even from an enemy. Are we? Are our children taught to learn alike?. A real education is a moral food. Do we know ow how many are taking are that as a poison?

There are numerous such examples.... Raghuram Rajan, Nirmala Sitaraman,. And many more.

I appreciate them for they belong to the past. We are in the present world. But examples of?. We need the examples of those who work according to what they aimed at. Very few are there. I still doubt if you should say there are many. What is our population? How many complete their Degrees, PGs and Ph.Ds.a year?. How many do possess research minds?. How many are involved in the research process?. How many scholars are discouraged by their guides while in the research completition?. How many are able to get their doctoral degrees successfully without being harassed by their guides or professors?. Out of those many (if yes), how many are worthy of those doctorates?. How many research minded children are developed by our schools and colleges in our country? How many of them are encouraged to ask questions? How many of such questions are tolerated?. How many good citizens have we made so far? A citizen is a responsible person for the place, district, state, Nation and society he/she lives in.

¶ Challange 5

Marking system for marketing in Education

One of the main problems with our Indian education system is its marking system.

The intelligence of the students is judged by the way they perform in a 3 hour theoretical paper rather than by their overall performance in the class.

In such a scenario, learning lessons to get good marks becomes the sole aim of the students. They are not able to think beyond it. They are not bothered about understanding concepts or enhancing their knowledge all they think about is to look for ways to get good marks.

Another problem is that the focus is only on theory. No importance is given to practical learning.

Our education system encourages the students to become bookworms and does not prepare them for handling the real problems and challenges of life.

Academics are given so much importance that the need to involve the students in sports and art activities is overlooked.

Students are also overburdened with studies. Regular exams are held and students are scrutinized at every step.

This creates acute stress among the students. The stress level of the students continues to grow as they advance to higher classes.

The scores are one of the main criteria in marketing the school for its existence. The teachers and leaders are evaluated by the way of secured scores.

All other activities are of no use Infront of scores and all other facilities are unimportant if the scores are good. Fee structure is fixed by the scale of scores.

The vision and mission of a school take last bench Infront of the score.

Totally all over development of a child is restricted to the scores.

Now here are some

¶ WAYS TO IMPROVE INDIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM

Some of the ways to improve the education system are, focusing on skill development; it is the time for the Indian schools and colleges to stop putting so much importance to the marks and ranks of the students and focus on skill development instead.

The cognitive, problem solving, analytical and creative thinking skills of the students must be enhanced. Imparting practical knowledge, practical knowledge is very important to develop a thorough understanding of any subject.

However, our Indian education system focuses mainly on theoretical knowledge. Revising the curriculum, the curriculum of our schools and colleges is the same since decades. It is the time to change it as per the changing times so that the students learn things more relevant to their times. Classes on developing good communication skills as it are the need of the hour.

Looking beyond academics, the education system of our country must look beyond academics. Sports, arts and other activities must also be given importance to ensure the all-round development of students.

Certainly there is a way in NEP 2019.

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rahkshirock · 6 years

Text

here we go again rewriting a 6 year old game

so if i were writing me3 some things would be added: for example, our “big” antagonist, introduced in me2 and now physically present in me3, is Harbinger

who really isn't present in me3′s writing

instead we get the backstory of the reapers told to us by the space hallucination child (who sucks) and the leviathans (who could, but don’t, not suck)

in me3 as it is, the reapers are like the geth; machines that turned against their masters. but since its implied that the geth are an uncommon occurrence in the cycles and that the reapers are interested in turning them into servants, this doesn't add up at all

furthermore it would mean that harbinger, the “first reaper” is completely synthetic or that the leviathans came up with the harvest and completed it all on their own the first time, which also doesn't add up.

instead, i propose another option: the first reapers were gestalt beings that a species once willingly uploaded all of themselves into. this “first reaper” bears no distinguishing marks, and is not special compared to the rest. this first species (or community of many species) of the cycle created the predecessor to the mass relays, attempted to uplift various developing species to full sentience, and were generally really cool

and then stars began to explode.

when biotic fields interfere with one another, they detonate, ripping apart any matter within them. now imagining this happening to an entire galaxy.

this occurrence could not be stopped, but it was exacerbated by wild and chaotic prolonged use of biotics by trillions of individuals across hundreds of worlds.

the first, “prime” reapers were each the summit of their species’ growth: each a nation, like the geth they would reach consensus before any action, and their use of biotics was fairly minimal, used only communally to power their starship shells.

as such, these beings would actively encourage entire peoples to do the same: millions becoming one glorious being that would do the minimal amount of harm to those around them

except what is good for one species is not good for all of them, and many refused this operation

seeing no other option, the reapers begin the first cycle: as their stars slowly detonate under the strain, the reapers begin to forceably convert or annihilate those who wouldn't obey.

in order to wage this first war, they turned eventually to a few species that weren’t really followed up on in me proper very well:

the thorian is one of several species (including the rachni and the leviathans) that can touch another’s mind. I'm going to posit that a creature like the thorian, in order to have evolved, must have had billions of years of evolution behind it, with billions of individuals, and its line stretches all the way back to the original reapers, who studied the leviathan (an intelegent but entirely aquatic species that could dominate humanoid life to be its slaves) and the thorian (who needed a nanite spore infection to do the same) and used this technology to unite not only the peoples they were attepting to conquer, but to steel themselves for the task ahead: to indoctrinate THEMSELVES with the surety of their purpose, in order to never waver from their task. (the thorians themselves were used to create the husk nanites and eventually the implants that allow direct control, before being annihilated. this is an ongoing battle for the reapers, and the last one would eventually be destroyed by commander shepard on feros.

So where does Harbinger fit into this if he isn't the first reaper? well quite simply the reapers are, millions of years later, devoid of their culture and original purpose. their once beautiful shells are converted to weapons of terror and war. the reapers have boiled the harvest down to a science: just before stars are projected to explode, the reapers come and pacify. their network of relays has been perfected to encourage upcoming species to culturally develop on specified paths.

but there is a weapon that has passed down, cycle to cycle like a torch for millions of years: a weapon that will use the relays as a conduit to eliminate the reapers entirely in one fell swoop. a species comes to power one cycle that might just pull it off: they were warned of the reapers thousands of years in advance, whereupon they begin to create the crucible, their method being to pillage every planet they can find for the resources. they are ruthless in their task and eventually succeed. they build the crucible in its entirety, with one small problem. they have also found buried dragon’s teeth, and records of the reaper wars. They also begin to run experiments on indoctrination; a useful tool in the “right” hands

They begin to see their stars die

and they fall in line with the reaper’s mandate before the harvest begins.

they begin to harvest their own people, and to construct their own reaper.

when the reapers emerge from dark space, they find their work already done, and their new leader sends the control signal.

see, the reaper’s mandate includes the unspoken assumption that the gestalt of millions of minds is the highest form of life, and that all sentient beings deserve the chance to be one. Harbinger though introduces the idea of slaves; if a species is unable to be uplifted, they would begin to assist in the next cycle. the keepers are the first of these species, and the collectors the most recent.

the crucible would continue to be passed down, improved, untouched by the modifications harbinger made to it, until another species attempts the same thing

how do you communicate this story over the course of the story? well its simple: you have the collectors return as an enemy faction, and you discover cerberus’ plans for humanity. even after their base is destroyed, as a last desperate action the cerberus infiltrates the crucible and installs the control module. at the very end, after overcoming the illusive man, you can chose to either destroy the reapers, or control them. (fuck synthesis) with harbinger hovering right there staring at you: humanity in its eyes has earned its spot at the dinner table: join me it says, and you can become a god (if you are a renegade)

alternately, if you didn’t assemble enough war assets, in order to destroy the reapers you have a boss fight where you try to make it to the switch while harbinger desperately tries to rip the station apart around you, whereupon the station self-destructs and you die but the reapers are all destroyed.

or, if you have all the war assets you can reasonably get (and multiplayer should NOT factor into this) you can kill Harbinger right then and there. after you kill him, the new control signal dies, and the reapers are not only vulnerable to destruction or control, (and you live, no matter what) but doubt. you can denounce them, their crusade, and the fucking horse they rode in on. remind them of the peoples they once were. show them the entire galaxy willingly united under one cause for one purpose.

and without firing another shot, the reapers surrender or self destruct, seemingly at random, and those that survive begin to build a better future

and as a last note you notice that the geth don't use biotics? I think they know whats up. I think both they and the quarians would both have ideas on how to regulate the biotic rip-field, allowing individual people to be free and use superpowers, using a galaxy wide system of dampening nodes. you can make up whatever: just show that the base problem is fixed and that the reapers could have been fixing it the whole time if their mandate of utter despair hadn't blinded them tho the possibility of FIXING THE DAMN PROBLEM.

alright I'm gonna go play citadel now! see ya!

#mass effect 3 #mass effect

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newstfionline · 4 years

Text

Friday, December 18, 2020

Snow continues to fall on Northeast US, with vaccines in tow (AP) Snow continued to fall Thursday, days after the start of the U.S. vaccination campaign and in the thick of a virus surge that has throngs of people seeking tests daily. Snow fell from northern Virginia to parts of New England on Wednesday. It carried on north into the evening, sustaining a storm that was poised to drop as much as 2 feet (0.6 meters) of snow in some places by Thursday. The National Weather Service said Wednesday that the storm was “set to bring an overabundance of hazards from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast,” including freezing rain and ice in the mid-Atlantic, heavy snow in the New York City area and southern New England, strong winds and coastal flooding, and possibly even severe thunderstorms and some tornadoes in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

New York Spent $1 Billion on Virus Supplies. Now It Wants Money Back. (NYT) As the coronavirus ravaged New York this spring, state officials faced a terrifying prospect: Casualties were mounting, and the reserve of ventilators and masks was dwindling. As doctors considered rationing lifesaving treatment, the state rushed into $1.1 billion in deals for supplies and equipment. Now, New York wants much of that money back. State officials are trying to get at least partial refunds on a third of that spending, by clawing back millions paid to vendors that they said failed to deliver on time, and working to extricate the state from deals now that stockpiles are sufficient, an analysis by The New York Times shows. The same is true in New York City, where officials have canceled $525 million in agreements for virus-related goods. The reversals follow a frantic buying spree during the virus’s ferocious surge through New York. After Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio suspended normal rules for bidding and oversight, their administrations sometimes turned to companies with colorful résumés and claims of access to manufacturers, but little experience. On the chance these suppliers might deliver, officials made quick agreements involving a used car seller, a shoe importer, a military consulting company, an old acquaintance of the state’s health commissioner, and even a company that sold sex toys along with medical devices. They sometimes paid up front—a practice not normally sanctioned—to secure the merchandise.

Civil asset forfeiture (ProPublica) Many states allow police departments to confiscate money and possessions of people accused of crimes, a process known as civil forfeiture that was rolled out with the notion that if you take assets away from people you think are criminals, crime will go down. A new study of crime in New Mexico, which banned civil forfeiture in 2015, has determined that’s wrong, and that arrest and offense rates were flat after ending forfeiture, indicating that it was less a “disincentive to do crime” and more “the government ripping money away from poor people who can’t fight it.” The data revealed that civil asset forfeiture—rather than removing the ability of sophisticated criminal syndicates to obtain capital—just rips the bottom dollar of low-level offenders, as the median forfeiture average across 21 states studied was just $1,276. In Michigan, half of forfeitures were less than $423, and in Pennsylvania half were less than $369. Those smaller dollar forfeitures, rather than giving the police a reason to get INTERPOL on the line to land the big bust, mainly are making it functionally impossible for indigent and poor defendants who can’t afford a lawyer to recover.

As Mexico’s security deteriorates, the power of the military grows (Washington Post) When President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office, his senior aides were blunt. Mexico’s security system was “in ruins,” they warned. Homicides were at record highs. Local police forces were infiltrated by crime groups. Tens of thousands of people had been forcibly disappeared. The country, they concluded in an analysis sent to the national Congress, had been “transformed into a cemetery.” López Obrador, an icon of the Mexican left, was a longtime critic of the U.S.-backed war on drugs. “Soldiers should be returned to the barracks,” he had insisted. But confronted with the highest levels of violence in 60 years, he responded as his predecessors had: He called on the military. Two years into López Obrador’s term, Mexico’s armed forces have assumed a broader role in the country’s affairs than at any point since the end of military-led government in the 1940s. The government has deployed record numbers of troops to deal with the deteriorating security situation. They’re patrolling cities, raiding drug labs and protecting strategic installations. But it doesn’t stop there. The military is increasingly the president’s go-to force for tasks previously managed by civilian agencies, from running ports to repairing hospitals to building airports.

French President Macron tests positive for COVID-19 (AP) French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, the presidential Elysee Palace announced on Thursday. It said he would isolate himself for seven days. “He will continue to work and take care of his activities at a distance,” it added. It was not immediately clear what contact tracing efforts were in progress. Macron attended a European Union summit at the end of last week, where he notably had a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He met Wednesday with the prime minister of Portugal. There was no immediate comment from Portuguese officials.

Putin Faces Grilling After a Rough Year (Foreign Policy) Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts his annual end-of-year press conference today. Like most world leaders in a pandemic year, Putin has had a mixed 2020. On the positive side of the ledger, he succeeded in making changes to Russia’s constitution—allowing him to run for two more terms as president if he so wishes. Russia also continued its opportunistic foreign policy in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, proving kingmaker in the latter conflict. Other developments cast a shadow, however. Falling oil prices depressed the country’s economy and could spell more trouble if global demand remains low. Months of protests in Belarus against President Aleksandr Lukashenko showed the weakness of a key ally. Closer to home, a challenge to Moscow’s leadership in the southeastern city of Khabarovsk over the summer revealed that all is not well on the country’s periphery. The poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, allegedly carried out by Russian security forces, won’t make it any easier for the West to accept Russia back into the fold. International sanctions will likely persist. Putin will also have to face up to a new U.S. president in Joe Biden, who has named Russia as “the biggest threat to America right now in terms of breaking up our security and our alliances.”

China Brings Moon Rocks to Earth, and a New Era of Competition to Space (NYT) China may have been a latecomer to the moon, but when its capsule full of lunar rocks and soil returned to Earth early Thursday, it set the stage for a new space race over the coming decades. The country’s Chang’e-5 spacecraft gathered as much as 4.4 pounds of lunar samples from a volcanic plain known as Mons Rümker in a three-week operation that underlined China’s growing prowess and ambition in space. The United States and the Soviet Union competed for supremacy in an epic space race in the 1960s and ‘70s, during which they brought back lunar samples, but that was a different era. Now China is in the fray, and today’s competition—once seemingly the realm of science fiction—could be equally intense and more mercantile. The Chinese are eager to flaunt their technical skills and explore the solar system. Like the United States, the country has a broader goal to establish a lunar base that could exploit its potential resources and serve as a launching pad for more ambitious missions.

Tokyo says strain on hospitals is severe (Reuters) Tokyo said on Thursday the strain on its medical system was severe, raising its alert level to the highest of four stages as the number of cases spiked to a record daily high of 822. A health official said it had become difficult to balance the care of COVID-19 patients with regular ones as hospital beds filled up, assigning a “red” alert for medical preparedness for the first time.

‘The fear is intense’: Afghan ‘sticky bombs’, used by Taliban, on the rise (Reuters) Killings by small, magnetic bombs slapped under vehicles are unnerving Afghan officials, activists and journalists, who blame the Taliban for the attacks that are increasing despite peace talks aimed at ending two decades of war. At least 10 government officials and their aides have been killed by “sticky bombs” in recent weeks, mostly in the capital Kabul. The tactic, senior security officials and Western diplomats say, is meant to instil fear while avoiding large-scale civilian casualties. “Internal intelligence memos reveal that the Taliban are systematically eliminating mid-career, ambitious government officials and other prominent individuals who are clearly against their hardline stance,” said a senior Western diplomat responsible for Afghanistan. The rebels “are not killing the government’s top brass as they can’t afford to generate large-scale furor, for it would impinge upon the peace process,” the diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Palestinians left waiting as Israel is set to deploy vaccine (AP) Israel will begin rolling out a major coronavirus vaccination campaign next week after the prime minister reached out personally to the head of a major drug company. Millions of Palestinians living under Israeli control will have to wait much longer. Worldwide, rich nations are snatching up scarce supplies of new vaccines as poor countries largely rely on a World Health Organization program that has yet to get off the ground. There are few places where the competition is playing out in closer proximity than in Israel and the territories it has occupied for more than half a century. Israelis could soon return to normal life and an economic revival, even as the virus continues to menace Palestinian towns and villages just a few miles (kilometers) away.

Nigerian security forces rescue more than 300 schoolboys kidnapped by gunmen (Reuters) Security forces on Thursday rescued nearly 350 schoolboys who had been kidnapped in northwestern Nigeria and taken into a vast forest, the governor of Katsina state said, bringing relief to many families. It was not immediately clear whether all the missing boys had been recovered. The abduction gripped a country already incensed by widespread insecurity, and evoked memories of Boko Haram’s 2014 kidnapping of more than 270 schoolgirls in the northeastern town of Chibok.

Cookies, hot cocoa, pick-me-up notes: ‘Sparks’ of kindness (AP) A tin of cookies is left on the running board of an ambulance outside a nursing home with a note for the emergency workers who operate it: “You’re AMAZING! Yes, you!” A baggie sits on the edge of a fountain with dozens of copper coins and another message, for anyone who passes by and fancies tossing one in: “Take a penny. Make a wish! Hope your dreams come true.” This is the world of Sparks of Kindness, an online community of people going out of their way to put a smile on the faces of others through small but touching good deeds, especially in tumultuous times of pandemic, protests and political division. “There’s so much bad in the world, and that’s kind of what we hear about,” said Debbie McFarland, a 53-year-old photographer from Peachtree City, Georgia, who founded the group on Facebook. “But I found that there’s so many people that want to do good—they just don’t really know how to start.” That’s where Sparks of Kindness comes in. It has lists of ideas for “sparks,” or small kindnesses people can do such as thanking a teacher with candy or leaving coloring books in a hospital waiting room. McFarland said she encourages people to do “sparks” when they’re struggling in their own lives. It helps them cope with their own traumas.

#headlines #news

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