#be vigilant

[moonbean117]

[crnlflwrs]

One Day I Will Return To Your Side: Disco Elysium and Hauntology

[coupleofdays]

I commissioned the amazing @emily-e-draws to draw a version of the "Barbie mugshot" meme with the two main characters from one of my favorite old games, Beneath A Steel Sky (and its sequel, Beyond A Steel Sky).

And yes, the smiling android is in fact named Ken, that's why I thought it was so funny to see him in this meme.

[defensive-tactics]

Be aware of your surroundings whenever you are in public.

[sisterofoblivion]

There's not much more I can say that hasn't been said on the m*rder of Nex Benedict. There are far more people more eloquent than me speaking on this... fuck, I hate to say "topic" because this is about a child's life.

My blog is safe. I am a safe person to talk to; I'm AFAB, and in my late twenties, so I am an adult. I'm uncertain my gender identity because, more often than not, I simply don't care. It isn't important to me. But whatever yours is, whatever you identify as, you can message me. Talk to me. Rant to me. Scream, cry, laugh, whatever. You are not alone. You will never be alone.

I'm not going to sit here and write some sappy shit about "it gets better" because I don't know if it will, I just know that it can. I'm not making promises I can't keep. I don't know your situation, you don't know mine. I probably don't know you, you probably don't know me. But for your sake, if you just need to word-vomit and have the response be "rant received" or "you're seen/heard/understood" etcetera, I can do that. I'm a very busy person these days, so I can't always respond. If you find yourself in an emergency, please dial your respective emergency response number. For the US, it's 911.

I'm not licensed in anything, and I'm not going to claim to be. But I grew up in a small-ass town with a population under 3,000 people with legacy last names in the rural Midwest. My best friend is a gay man, and because of everything he went through, he didn't come out until he was in his twenties. We all could guess, but he wasn't treated kindly by some very loud voices, one of which has an uncle as the Chief of Police. The stereotypes write themselves.

I, myself, am bisexual. And I'm fairly certain my gender isn't cis, but again, I'm indifferent.

I'm not going to out you. I'm not gonna tell anyone. But for fuck's sake, please, please hold on if you can. Please. What happened-- what keeps fucking happening-- is vile, disturbing, and unjust.

Bottom Line: I wasn't old enough to hear about the first brick. I'm sure I'll be dead before someone throws the last. But never, ever stop throwing bricks until they let us live and love.

Justice for our queer families. Justice for our queer youth. Justice for Nex Benedict.

[aspirant1598]

[whotgirl-whomie]

Time to lose what few followers I still have:

For many Americans, their first real dive into foreign policy has come from seeing the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, where complex conflicts are often reduced to debates that feel like moralistic grandstanding or moments of virtue signaling. But this narrow focus misses the broader picture of how the U.S. wields its power and influence globally.

Take NATO, for example—the military alliance the U.S. leads alongside European countries. A lot of attention has been on whether or not a Trump-led U.S. would leave NATO, but fewer people are talking about something just as important: the Mediterranean Dialogue.

This is a framework where NATO cooperates with countries in the Mediterranean, like Israel, without making them full members. If Israel strengthens its influence here, it could reshape security in the Mediterranean without officially being part of NATO, giving it new leverage in the region.

As Americans, our discussions on foreign policy can’t just stop at the headlines. Real changes are happening through these types of alliances, which might not be in the news every day but could impact how the U.S. interacts with the world—and, in turn, what it means for our future security and diplomacy.

If we truly care about what happens both at home and overseas, we need to educate ourselves and stay vigilant. These alliances and policy shifts may seem distant, but they impact our security, our economy, and our standing in the world.

Though we cannot pour from an empty cup, meaningful change demands more than we may be used to giving. If we are who we believe ourselves to be, we must step up, investing not only in our own strength but in a world where our values are reflected beyond our borders.

[aprilflowers2040]

While I said in a previous post, I'd talk about my trip to Israel, I feel it's necessary to dive into issues when it comes to aspects of the Pro-Palestinian movement. So consider this as me swapping around parts 2 and 3.

While a majority of people in the movement are in it with the best of intentions, it shouldn't be ignored that there are those within it that are there for less then pure reasons. For starters, while not as prevalent as in the Pro-Israel, there have been neo-Nazis who have decided that their islamophobia and Arab-based xenophobia is secondary to their hatred of Jewish people.

I re-posted a video before talking about the subject so I will re-blog it after this is posted. In summary, it's how genuine anger towards the Likud led government of Israel is co-opted in certain circles to sneak in classic antisemitic talking points, such as Jewish people controlling the media, that the Jewish Diaspora and Israel are to be conflated with one another, by both antisemites, and extreme Zionists.

this goes into my next point, that there are those who proclaim support for Palestine, yet downplay the religious, ethnic and historical connections Jewish people have to the region in order to justify their own viewpoints, that extend to a denial of any nation-state representation. While I'm more for unity unless under certain circumstances, unfortunately, we live in a post-Balfour world, so we deal with the cards dealt. However, I digress.

Back to the matter of weaponized Pro-Palestinian elements. A trend I notice with far too much frequency in posts proclaiming Pro-Palestine is "Death to Israel" or referring to Israel as "IsNotReal" or "Israhell". This isn't even with any effort on my part, but seems to be baked into elements of the Pro-Palestine fringe. This is troubling given the above mentioned conflation of Jews and Israel. It seems downright hypocritical for people like this profess a desire to recognize Palestinian statehood, which it rightfully deserves and is now receiving, while denying Israel's own existence. While Likad propaganda isn't exactly in short supply on social media ,see the litany of porn bots on Tumblr and Twitter, there has also been enough disinformation from people who support Palestine that it should raise eyebrows. For example, footage of people in Ben Gurion Airport which was used to proclaim that people were fleeing back to places like the United States and that they were settlers, when in reality it was people returning home from Passover celebrations. However, it's not only those on the far-right that are spreading falsehoods. There are those in left-wing circles that ascribe to a "West = bad" mentality. While this isn't entirely wrong, as Western governments, including and especially the United States, have used their power for their own selfish interests, the views of Tankies are so black and white, that it borders on pure brain rot. This especially is apparent in their contrasting feelings when it comes to places like China and Russia compared to Israel. Each is currently enacting genocide, with China's CCP against the Uyghur people, Russia's Putin against the Russian queer population and the people of Ukraine, and of course Israel's Likud government on the Palestinians. However, while Tankies are quick to decry Israeli crimes, they remain slavishly loyal and excusatory about the crimes of Russia and China because they aren't "western powers" (looking at you, Hasanabi. Check out Lonerbox's videos on him and his Russian dick riding), which basically results in cutting your nose to spite your face, or in this case supporting one group of authoritarians to spite another group of authoritarians. Thus it extends to apologia towards Hamas and the actions of Palestinian groups both past and present, that used outright terrorism to get what they wanted. If these same people support Palestinian independence while preciously saying that Ukraine should kowtow to Russia's own territorial invasions, turn and run for the hills.

Which brings me to Hamas and previous Palestinian leaderships. Oh God, where do I even start. Firstly, I should clarify that I believe that armed resistance isn't an inherently bad thing. There are times where it's the only solution remaining. However, what you do with it can still be judged, and in this case, Palestinian "liberation" groups have shown a far too common trend of targeting civilian populations such as what happened on Oct.7th. It would be one thing if it was on military or government spaces, yet these actions on civilians screams of utter cowardice on the parts of Hamas. While both the IDF and Hamas have done these things, I've only noticed the IDF being called out, and although their blatant disregard for life should be decried, it's troubling how identical behavior by Hamas and other Palestinian leadership has been swept under the rug for the sake of "support". Hamas has its origins in the Muslim Brotherhood which is a very ultra-orthodox sect of Islam that has multiple bigoted aspects to it which include antisemitism, which Hamas inherited from its parent movement after separating, that wasn't "officially" removed until 2017 (I have their manifesto linked above twice just to be sure of any inconstancies given these are translations.). As for previous incidents, the Munich terrorist attack of 1972, where a combined group of the Palestinian extremist group Black September alongside West German Neo-Nazis killed eleven Israeli Olympics athletes and coaches. While it has been weaponized for darker purposes, it should be noted that while the Palestinian factions had every right to be upset by the destruction of their communities which was what led to this event, their way of dealing with it was horrifically misplaced.

For those who say that Hamas doesn't represent all Palestinians, then you are correct. They don't. They were elected in 2006 before a large portion of Palestine's current population were even born, and yet here they must suffer because the leaders they never elected, chose to break a ceasefire and murder 1,200 people and kidnap 240 more, that opened the gates of Hell upon them from an equally genocidal government with a trigger happy military, and a civilian population primed by 2,000 years of exile and (understandable) generational trauma at the hands of multiple countries and empires, mixed with propaganda and exposure to only the worst of Palestinian society in the form of terrorism to explode in anger with zero consideration for the innocent. That being said, there are Israelis and Jews who support Palestinian struggles that also point out that the Likud don't represent them either, yet those of bad faith are willing to blind themselves to this fact.

This went on longer then I meant it to, if I'm being honest. I wish this was more put together, but this was something I feel I needed to talk about. Still, for those wishing to learn more, I've linked to other sources that are more articulate. For now, I leave it here. Next time, I will get to my critiques of Israel outside of its "relationship" with Palestine.

I just want this to end. I want things to heal. All we can do is take action however we can, and cling onto hope for those who are gone, and those who continue on.

[ceevee5]

[batneko]

Got a scam in my DMs yesterday and one in my askbox today. I barely read the first one but the second one was pretending to be from Gaza, so remember to stay vigilant and don't let con artists prey on your kindness.

[lithiumseven]

Y’all more than 250 bots followed me in the 8 hours I was asleep. I’m so tired

[official-chekov-enjoyer]

Anti-strike propaganda?? What is this? The 1890s? Is big Hollywood gonna contact the Pinkertons to start strikebreaking v 2?

Implicit storytelling in two tweets:

[cath-lic]

images that WILL go triple platinum if i have my way

[brinaarcadia]

BE VIGILANT

[princessmo]

[beamer7thepoko]

^