#coup collaborators

[saywhat-politics]

Musk suspended @AnonOpsSE after it helped expose his coup collaborators at DOGE.

[originalleftist]

ABC has refused to commit to fact-checking the Harris/Trump debate tomorrow.

In a fair world, this would be accepted as reasonable grounds for Harris to withdraw immediately (as would the fact that her opponent is an illegitimate insurrectionist who should not be on the ballot, that platforming him platforms stochastic terrorism and directly contributes to hate crimes and political violence, and that its a huge security breach regarding the VP as he is a direct physical threat to her safety).

In the real world, of course, she'd be immediately denounced as hostile to the press, afraid to face Trump or scrutiny, and unfit for office.

My guess? Little King Donny threw a tantrum over the possibility of being fact-checked, and threatened to withdraw. And ABC wants those sweet, sweet fascist audience numbers. So they caved and gave Little King Donny what he wants. Again.

For me, this just reaffirms my commitment not to watch the debate.

[lesbiancorvoattano]

latin catholicism is super difficult and valid, which is why latin america has some of the most strict abortion laws in the world

[wyrdweavings]

In case anyone out there needs a copy

The U.S. Constitution, pasted in from the copy at the U.S. National Archives (you never know when the site might be taken down): We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and…

[mister-snake]

J'ai fait un total de 70 heures de travail en 7 jours collés. Qui dit mieux? 🙂

Mes supérieurs essaient clairement de m'achever avant même que je reprenne les cours d'uni... xd

[in-sightjournal]

Ask A Genius 1206: Musk, Ramaswamy, Saul, and Summers

  Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Hey, Rick. What’s your topic? Rick Rosner: Before we get to the discussion about pornography, I sent you an article. But first, let’s talk about Elon Musk, who, right now, seems to have aligned himself closely with Trump. Trump attended Musk’s recent SpaceX rocket launch and appeared impressed. Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy—another tech figure and entrepreneur, though not a…

[immaculatasknight]

Made in Canada meat grinder

[lire1x]

Un Animal Sauvage de Joël Dicker

Cela faisait un petit moment que je n’avais plus lu Joël Dicker. Je l’avais laissé après ma découverte d’Harry Québert…totalement amoureuse de son écriture, productrice de citations. J’ai (écou)lu « Un  animal sauvage» avec frénésie, tout juste après sa sortie le 27 février dernier, sans réellement suivre les avis déjà donnés sur #Bookstagram et Babelio. Grand bien m’en appris ! J’ai…

[psychotrenny]

I think one of Imperialism's most evil strategies is the national scale torture you'll see inflicted on countries that dare to dream of freedom. Like it's not just about overthrowing the anti-imperialist regime itself, but utterly breaking the very social, economic and in turn psychological foundations it's built upon. Prolonged periods of destruction that are as systematic as they are sadistic with the aim of making life unlivable until the government either collapses or gives in, accepting whatever concessions are forced upon them as the nation is remoulded into an dependent and obedient little neocolony.

Sometimes an imperialist power will act directly to achieve this (just take the gratuitous and deliberate destruction of civil infrastructure during the bombings of Yugoslavia and Iraq), but the preferred strategy is to employ local proxies. Groups like RENAMO in Mozambique or the Contras of Nicaragua. Bands of reactionaries, traitors and general desperadoes are gathered up, trained, armed and transported over the border at the expense of the Imperialists and their local collaborators. These armed groups have no interest in build mass support, of representing an alternative way of life. Their only purpose is destruction; killing, torturing, looting, burning whatever they can in order to bring their country to its knees. Frequently targeting important nodes in the networks that sustain the nation and the people's faith in it (bridges, rail depots, factories, hospitals and schools) but ultimately happy to attack whatever they can; every house burned or person tortured contributes to the climate of terror and corrosion of government credibility. Because when they kill these groups don't like to do it cleanly; their attacks generate countless reports immolation, disembowelment, victims hacked to pieces and left to bleed. But when possible they prefer to leave their victims alive and capable of further spreading their terror, inflicting the most vicious sorts of rape and mutilation on a mass scale

It's not just just evil for the sake of evil mind you. The cruelty has a point; human destruction to accompany the physical. Every person killed is someone who can no longer contribute to the development of the nation, while even living yet physically and psychologically broken victim places further strain on their country's increasingly fragile support systems. Meanwhile the terror of these actions spreads the impact beyond their immediate victims. The murder and torture of peasants makes the survivors too scared to go back into their fields, slowly starving the nation as the rural economy grind to a halt. The gruesome deaths of traders and travelers leaves the survivors too terrified to continue their business, shutting down the distributive networks that make national development and often life itself possible. The terror unleashed on foreign professionals can prompt the survivors to flee and discourage newcomers from arriving, depriving the underdeveloped economic and education systems of the skilled workers they need to improve or even function. And every broken body, ever broken mind, is proof of the government's weakness and ineptitude; a humiliating failure to protect their own people that demoralises supporters and empowers dissenters. The motivated sadism of these terrorist attacks is a microcosm of the motivated sadism displayed by their Imperialist backers

But why go to all this trouble? Why not just send in the paratroopers or organise a coup to end those troublesome regimes quickly? Sometimes it's a matter of possibility. As great as they are, the powers of Imperialist nations are not unlimited. All manner of constraints (domestic unrest, international condemnation which advantages dangerous rivals, the simple financial and human costs of such operations) limit what actions are viable or desirable. This is especially significant when the targets are motivated and disciplined anti-imperialists with a base of deep-rooted popular support, the sort of regime that won't go down to a simple commando raid or bribe to the right general. But sometimes, it's not enough to merely cut down a dissenting government; you have to salt the earth and make sure nothing similar ever grows back. I'll finish with the words of an anonymous Jesuit priest, talking about Nicaragua yet in terms widely relevant enough to be published in John Saul's conclusion to A Difficult Road: The Transition to Socialism in Mozambique (1985):

In Chile the Americans made a mistake. They cut off the revolution too abruptly. They killed the revolution but, as we can see from recent developments there, they didn't kill the dream. In Nicaragua, they're trying to kill the dream

[gotta-winwin]

RELATIONSHIP WITH SEVENTEEN <> HYUNG LINE

SCOUPS - older brother figure

THEN: When Cyana was first announced to be joining seventeen, Coups was more than hesitant. It was a huge change to be adding a member two years after seventeen's debut, let alone a female member. He was stressed, pressed and worried with how the media would represent this change, and how Cyana would feel having to be around 13 boys. NOW: Now, Coups could never imagine seventeen without Cyana. Although it was a tough adjustment for everyone, she became his little sister and was basically adopted into the Choi family. He plays the role of her guardian, always worrying about her well-being. Don't be fooled however, the eldest and maknae often get into their own crazy schemes for the sake of "fun."

JEONGHAN - comfort buddies

THEN: Jeonghan didn't really mind having a female member. Sure, he was a little confused why the company decided to suddenly make them 14, but he took it in stride and made it his mission to befriend Cyana. They grew close despite the language barrier and became a chaotic force. NOW: Jeonghan's seventeen's therapist and that applies to Cyana as well. She often finds herself going to Jeonghan to vent about the struggles she is having. They are late night walk buddies and although they've had their spats throughout the years, the bond they have is inseparable.

JOSHUA - hometown besties

THEN: Similar to Jeonghan, Joshua didn't really bat an eye about a female member joining them. He knew it was bound to change their routine, but he was just excited to have another member from LA. Cyana immediately gravitated towards him, as Joshua helped her with navigating the language barrier and idol life. NOW: Cyana and Joshua, although not as close as they were in the beginning, still have that older brother-younger sister vibe. He's the first one she calls whenever good news happens and they often travel back to LA together to visit their families.

JUN - platonic soulmates

THEN: Jun was a member Cyana wanted to get to know well simply because he could speak Mandarin. It took them awhile to get close however, as both of them were naturally shy and could not say more than a few words before choking in the awkward silence. Jun took many steps (forcing Cyana to watch a Chinese drama with him) to become closer with the girl. NOW: Currently, Jun and Cyana are still inseparable. They facetime the most often out of everyone, often having each other on call while they do other things, just for the presence of each other. Watching Chinese dramas is still their tradition, and Jun has played a big part in helping Cyana feel confident enough to being acting.

HOSHI - frenemies

THEN: To put it quite frankly, Hoshi was terrified to know they had a female member joining them. He knew it would change up the chemistry they already had onstage, and although he was excited to try choreographing for a female idol, he figured it'd be awkward. Upon meeting however, Hoshi fell in love with how cute baby Cyana was and also realized they bonded easily over dancing. NOW: Hoshi and Cyana have a sort of love-hate relationship. Hoshi enjoys teasing Cyana to no end and gets upset when Cyana doesn't participate in his tiger agenda. They're like hot and cold, Hoshi pushes Cyana out of her comfort zone and Cyana reminds him to calm down a bit. They're a storm onstage, often collaborating in duo dances for special events.

WONWOO - twin flames

THEN: Besides Woozi, Wonwoo was the member Cyana took the longest to get to know. It didn't help that Wonwoo avoided her every chance he got, resulting in the most awkward tension filling the room. It took lots of failed attempts to finally grow closer, as Cyana realized Wonwoo was just nervous and Wonwoo discovered how much he had in common with the girl. NOW: The members often describe Wonwoo and Cyana as twin flames. They compliment each other well and often spend hours parallel playing in silence. Wonwoo's the first person Cyana goes to for solace, and vice versa. Fans love to joke that Wonwoo's Cyana's personal cameraman because he's often the one behind all the shots.

WOOZI - coproducing maniacs

THEN: Woozi was probably the one that was the most against Cyana joining the group. It didn't make sense to him why it would be a smart move, and he sadly did ice her out for most of their first comeback with her. It wasn't until Woozi stumbled across Cyana's notebooks filled with lyrics did he realize maybe he's got it all wrong. NOW: Woozi and Cyana are known in the Kpop industry as the producer duo. They co-write and co-produce most of seventeen's songs, and due to the close proximity the work calls for, they grew close over the years. They're often found huddled together at Universe Factory and their chat logs are filled with song ideas and demos.

[saywhat-politics]

Is Elon Musk Staging a Coup? Unelected Billionaire Seizes Control at Treasury Dept. & Other Agencies

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire and unelected adviser to President Donald Trump, is asserting control over much of the federal bureaucracy and sensitive government computer systems despite lacking clear authority. The highest-ranking career official at the Treasury Department was pushed out after refusing to hand Musk's team the keys to the government's entire payment system and the $6 trillion in payments the system processes annually, including Social Security checks, tax refunds and Medicare benefits. Musk and his team have also seized control at the Office of Personnel Management and the General Services Administration, key institutions that function as the central nervous system of the U.S. government. "In any other situation, this would be called state capture, and people around the world would be condemning it," says Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid, who writes in a new blog post that "Elon Musk is staging a coup." We also speak with Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative, who warns that Musk could be laying the groundwork for major tax cuts Republicans have promised that will disproportionately benefit corporations and wealthy people like him. "Elon Musk is going to pay for his tax cut with your Social Security," says Owens.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

2600’s amazing Hackers on Planet Earth con may go down under enshittification

Catch me in Miami! I'll be at Books and Books in Coral Gables on Jan 22 at 8PM.

It's been 40 years since Emmanuel Goldstein launched the seminal, essential, world-changing 2600: The Hacker Quarterly. 2600 wasn't the first phreak/hacker zine, but it was the most important, spawning a global subculture dedicated to the noble pursuit of technological self-determination:

https://www.2600.com/

2600 has published hundreds of issues in which digital spelunkers report eagerly on the things they've discovered by peering intently at the things no one was supposed to even glance at (I'm proud to be one of those writers!). They've fought legal battles, including one that almost went to the Supreme Court:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeCSS

They created a global network of meetups where some of technology's most durable friendships and important collaborations were born. These continue to this day:

https://www.2600.com/meetings

And they've hosted a weekly radio show on NYC's WBAI, Off the Hook:

https://wbai.org/program.php?program=76

When WBAI management lost their minds and locked the station's most beloved hosts out of the studio, Off the Hook (naturally) led the rebellion, taking back the station for its audience, rescuing it from a managerial coup:

https://twitter.com/2600/status/1181423565389942786

But best of all, 2600 gave us HOPE – both in the metaphorical sense of "hope for a better technological tomorrow" and in the literal sense, with its biannual Hackers On Planet Earth con:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers_on_Planet_Earth

For decades HOPE had an incredible venue, the Hotel Pennsylvania (memorialized in the phreak anthem "PEnnsylvania 6-5000"), a crumbling pile in midtown Manhattan that was biannually transformed into a rollicking, multi-day festival of forbidden technology, improbable feats, and incredible presentations. I was privileged to keynote HOPE in 2016:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1D7APjmVbk

But after the 2018 HOPE, the Hotel Pennsylvania was demolished to make way for the Penn15 (no, really) skyscraper, a vaporware mega-tower planned as a holding pen for luxury shopping and empty million-dollar condos sold to offshore war-criminals as safe-deposit boxes in the sky. The developer, Vornado (no, really) hasn't actually done all that – after demo'ing the Hotel Pennsylvania, they noped out, leave a large, unusable scar across midtown.

But HOPE wasn't lost. In 2022, the ever-resilient 2600 crew relocated to Queens, hosted by St John's University – a venue that was less glamorous that the Hotel Pennsylvania, but the event was still fantastic. Attendance fell from 2,000 to 1,000, but that was something they could work with, and reviews from attendees were stellar.

Good thing, too. 2600 is, first and foremost, a magazine publisher, and these have been hard years for magazines. First there was the mass die-off of indie bookstores and newsracks (I used to sell 2600 when I was a bookseller, and in the years after, I always took the presence of 2600 on a store's newsrack as an unimpeachable mark of quality).

Thankfully for 2600, their audience is (unsurprisingly) a tech-savvy one, so they were able to substitute digital subscriptions for physical ones:

https://www.2600.com/Magazine/DigitalEditions

Of course, many of those subscriptions came through Amazon's Kindle, because nerds were early Amazon adopters, and because the Kindle magazine publishing platform offered DRM-free distribution to subscribers along with a fair payout to publishers.

But then Amazon enshittified its magazine system. Having locked publishers to its platform, it rugged them and killed the monthly subscription fees that allowed publishers to plan for a steady output. Publishers were given a choice: leave Amazon (and all the readers locked inside its walled garden) or put your magazine into the Kindle Unlimited system:

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/arp/B0BWPTCP4K?deviceType=A1FG5NAKX0MRJL

Kindle Unlimited is an all-you-can-eat program for Kindle, which pays publishers and writers based on a system that is both opaque and easily gamed, with the lion's share of the money going to "publishers" who focus on figuring out how to cheat the algorithm. Revenues for 2600 – and all the other magazines that Amazon had sucked in and sucked dry – fell off a cliff.

Which brings me to the present moment. After 40 years, 2600 is still at it, having survived the bookstorepocalypse, the lunacy of public radio management, the literal demolition of their physical home by an evil real-estate developer, and Amazon's crooked accounting.

This is 2600, circa 2024, and 2024 a HOPE year:

https://www.hope.net/

Once again, HOPE has been scheduled for its new digs in Queens, July 12-14. Last week, HOPE sent out an email blast to their subscribers telling them the news. They expected to sell 500 tickets in the first 24 hours. They didn't even come close:

https://www.2600.com/content/hope-ticket-sales-update

It turns out that Google and the other major mail providers don't like emails with the word "hacker" in them. The cartel that decides which email gets delivered, and which messages go to spam, or get blocked altogether, mass-blocked the HOPE 2024 announcement. Email may be the last federated, open platform we have, but mass concentration has created a system where it's nearly impossible to get your email delivered unless you're willing to play by Gmail's rules:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/10/dead-letters/

For Emmanuel Goldstein, founder of 2600 and tireless toiler for this community, the deafening silence following from that initial email volley was terrifying: "like some kind of a "Twilight Zone" episode where everyone has disappeared."

The enshittification that keeps 2600's emails from being delivered to the people who asked to receive them is even worse on social media. Social media companies routinely defraud their users by letting them subscribe to feeds, then turning around to the people and organizations that run those feeds and saying, "You've got x thousand subscribers on this platform, but we won't put your posts in their feeds unless you pay us to 'boost' your content":

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/platforms-decay-lets-put-users-first

Enshittification has been coming at 2600 for decades. Like other forms of oddball media dedicated to challenging corporate power and government oppression, 2600 has always been a ten-years-ahead preview of the way the noose was gonna tighten on all of us. And now, they're on the ropes. HOPE can't sell tickets unless people know about HOPE, and neither email providers nor social media platforms have any interest in making that happen.

A handful of giant corporations now get to decide what we read, who we hear from, and whether and how we can get together in person to make friends, forge community, rabble-rouse and change the world. The idea that "it's not censorship unless the government does it" has always been wrong (not all censorship violates the First Amendment, and censorship can be real without being unconstitutional):

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/04/yes-its-censorship/

What can you do about it? Well, for one thing, you can sign up for HOPE. It's gonna be great. They've got sub-$100 hotel rooms! In New York City!

https://store.2600.com/products/tickets-to-hope-xv

If you can't make it to HOPE, you can sign up for a virtual membership:

https://store.2600.com/products/tickets-to-hope-xv-virtual-attendee

You can submit a talk to HOPE:

https://www.hope.net/cfp.html

You can subscribe to 2600, in print or electronically (I signed up for the lifetime print subscription and it was a bargain – I devour every issue the day it arrives):

https://store.2600.com/collections/subscriptions-renewals

2600 is living a decade in the future of every other community you care about, weird hobby you enjoy, con you live for, and publication you read from cover to cover. If we can all pull together to save it, it'll be a beacon of hope (and HOPE).

I'm Kickstarting the audiobook for The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/19/hope-less/#hack-the-planet

[irhabiya]

remember the guy, stuart seldowitz, who was harassing an egyptian street vendor in ny a couple months ago? threatening to report his face to "his friends over at the egyptian mukhabarat (intelligence)" and get his family detained, have their nails picked off one by one? then goes on to say that his threats and harassment are justified because "this is america and free speech is a thing here"

how hysterical is it that these soulless, heartless, morally bankrupt ghouls openly brag about collaborating with and backing oppressive regimes abroad and their oh so precious freedom of speech domestically at the same time, like the censorship in our homeland is inherent to us being lesser beings and not a product of you meddling in our lives—like he admits that they do.

you back a coup to reinstall wildly oppressive military government that we had spent weeks, months, years fighting off just for you to fund a massacre and undo it all, continue to back and collaborate with that government to secure your interests in the middle east, and we have to suffer the consequences of that but it's somehow because we're backwards and lesser than.

like i think the thing every egyptian mourns from a decade ago, no matter what their political leanings are, is dissent. i'm terrified for the protestors at the press syndicate in cairo, they're almost certainly all going to end up as political prisoners, and god knows what they'll do to them there.

they play a role in this, they support it, they watch it happen and laugh about it to our faces.

[terephin]

I've been having ideas for like a week, so fakepost time, Star Wars Edition.

rotunda

dailyjediquotes reblogged verpine-sextoy [21:3:28]

dailyjediquotes [21:3:27]

QUOTE OF THE DAY : "Kill yourself, perhaps you should. Traditional, it is." - Jedi Master Yoda, 225:6:11BrS

verpine-sextoy follow [21:3:27]

what the kriff. why

dailyjediquotes [21:3:28]

It's advice, given to Jedi Knight Lo'or Cil'lin during negotiations with the Breem. Apparently, it's traditional when two of them can't reach an agreement to kill themselves, and whoever heals back to life first is considered to have the favour of the planet, thus winning.

verpine-sextoy [21:3:28]

that does not help

#skill issue honestly verpie #you should really read up on the Breem though. fascinating species

419 notes

da-emperooorxxx reblogged droidswrongsactivist [21:3:28]

czerka-corp-officialdeactivated15740 [3949:2:12]

The Czerka Corporation would like to remind you that all rumours regarding the nature of our current HK series droids are just that, rumours. The HK series are designed only for protocol duties, and will not, nor can they ; Kill you, Kill your family, Kill your enemies, Kill your pets, Deliberately cause a diplomatic incident, Spread your secrets, Spread your enemies secrets, or break article 509-411-C of Republic Law.

droidswrongsactivist [3949:2:15]

Mocking Statement : This latest attempt at hiding the nature of the HK series is the most pathetic yet. I am forced to applaud the meatbags of Czerka, I did not have faith that they could make it more obvious.

da-emperooorxxx [21:2:13]

Wait wait wait, I just saw this, how frakking old are you @ droidswrongsactivist?????

droidswrongsactivist [21:3:27]

Irrelevant.

#what the fraaaakkk

1009441 notes

dailyjediquotes reblogged remembertheskywalker [21:3:28]

generalbaewalkerdeactivated16537 [16:5:20]

Whoo, finally back on Coruscant and just in time too huh. Never thought the Separatists would get so bold. Everyone doing alright?

historyiswritten follow [20:9:43]

This is, to my knowledge, the last message sent by Anakin Skywalker before his death.

Look, I honestly don't care if the rest of the Jedi betrayed the Republic, but I refuse to believe Skywalker was in on it. The man was a hero unlike any other.

#yeah I've had my issues with the narrative for a while #but I swear by the fact that no matter what Skywalker wasn't part of the coup #I've read his logs #there's no way he'd do anything like that

56811344 notes

dailyjediquotes [21:3:27]

Anonymous asked : How in the name of Chaos has Imperial Intelligence not killed you by now????

Don't wooooooorry about it.

#snitches get 10-12 new orifices btw #just fyi

5 notes

droidswrongsactivist reblogged historical-smash-or-pass [21:3:27]

historical-smash-or-pass follow [21:2:44]

Smash or Pass ; Revan

Don't have much on this one honestly. I looked into them before this, but all I could find was that they were some sorta General during the Mandalorian Wars or something?

REMINDER : SUBMISSIONS MUST HAVE BEEN DEAD FOR 100 YEARS AT A MINIMUM. I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE TO KEEP SAYING THIS.

historical-smash-or-pass [21:3:1]

[Image ID : Tags reading #Smash #One of the few respectable meatbags I've known]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN "THAT YOU'VE KNOWN" IT'S BEEN THOUSANDS OF YEARS?????

#Do not worry your tiny meatbag brain about it.

1209 notes

bith-by-bith reblogged lekkuposting [21:3:27]

dug-in-a-hole follow [3:7:11]

Would you still love me if I was an Exogorth?

astralsauce follow [3:7:11]

No.

dug-in-a-hole [3:7:12]

Bad news then you mopak nerf herder.

57435 notes

bith-by-bith reblogged memoryoftaris [21:3:27]

clonerreviews follow [21:3:25]

GAR PROJECT MEGAREVIEW, PART TWO

Hello everyone, this is Koral Nai here again for you all with part two of the Megareview covering the Grand Army of the Republic project. This is made in collaboration with @ galactic-foundry , @ arms-armours-and-auxilaries and @ starshipping . Please remember to check them out for their parts on the CIS Droid Army, Armaments and Vehicles, and Starships of the Clone Wars respectively.

Without further ado, here's the video.

[Video pictured ; Title "GAR MEGAREVIEW PART TWO - UNITS 200001 THROUGH 400000". The thumbnail depicts a grey eyed Kaminoan sitting in front of a shelf of damaged Phase 1 Clonetrooper equipment. It is 25 hours long.]

shouldsioniastandfree follow [21:3:26]

Wow, the longneck was serious about it? I though the first one was the Kaminoan version of a joke.

on-starlit-wings follow [21:3:26]

We all know Kaminoans don't have fun. They're too busy gloating about the superiority of their own frakking poodoo for that.

303496 notes

Calling it there for this one. Hope, uh, you enjoyed?

Btw if you're questioning the numbers, there's like a lotta people in the SW galaxy, and while rotunda is pretty small for being SW soc med, that still means you generally multiply the notes by 100.

Also for the dates : https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Great_ReSynchronization

Also if you can tell what the various mini references and jokes are, please say so! I put a decent amount of research into this shitpost.

Now I gotta figure out how to tag this thing...

[mesetacadre]

In April 15th, 1920, the National Committee of the Federation of Socialist Youths met in Madrid to, taking the initiative over the PSOE, take the decision of joining the Third International, founded by the Bolshevik party. After a convoluted process that lasted until the 14th of November of 1921, the Communist Party of Spain (Spanish Section of the Communist International) was born, pejoratively called "The party of the 100 children" by its opponents.

The Komintern's policy in its early days was one of the "only front", stating that capital could only be beat via the united effort of all communists in all spheres of life. Its motto became "Towards the Masses!". In Spain, this period was marked by Primo de Rivera's dictatorship between 1923 and 1930, during which almost every political group was banned. The social-democratic PSOE and UGT avoided this by remaining "neutral" towards the dictatorship. Some members of the PSOE even collaborated, like Largo Caballero, who became Rivera's Minister of State. The Communist Party maintained its sole struggle during this time, gaining popularity among the Spanish proletariat.

When the dictatorship ended and the Second Republic was proclaimed in April of 1932, in the midst of the effects of the 1929 capitalist crisis, the 1931 strike in Sevilla and 1932 general strike, the PCE had found itself unable to work outside the dynamics imposed by the dictatorship's repression, and only began to regain its force after the selection of José Diaz as general secretary in September of 1932. The party corrected some of the left-communist and sectarian mistakes that characterized the period of the dictatorship.

The PCE took on an even bigger role in the organization of our class after its crucial role in the October insurrection of 1934 in Asturias, during which the proletariat took power in the mining basin and most of Oviedo, via the Peasant and Worker Alliances, expressions of the aforementioned only front strategy decided by the Third International. The government of the Second Republic, carrying out the needs of a section of the Spanish bourgeoisie, brutally repressed the Asturian revolutionaries, with general Francisco Franco at the helm of the military's intervention. Among the victims was Aida Lafuente, a militant of the Communist Youth and an example of bravery.

This glimmer of worker power was contextualized in the Black Biennium (1933-1935), a period of the Republic when reactionaries accessed the government and expressed the most violent tendencies of the Spanish bourgeoisie against the more than 30,000 political prisoners they took, and against the rapidly developing workers' movement.

It was during this time in Spain and the whole world, when the Third International identified the generalized rise of fascism and reactionarism, and adopted in its 7th Congress, during the summer of 1935, the policy of the Popular Front, failing to link the anti-fascist struggle with the struggle for workers' power, instead advocating for alliances with "socialist" parties and other bourgeois-democratic parties, placing the fight for socialism-communism in the background.

Half a year after this decision, the Popular Front alliance won the elections in the 16th of February, 1936. Shortly after, and only a year after the 7th Congress, sections of the Spanish and international bourgeoisie countered this victory with a failed coup d'etat by fascist generals in the 18th of July, 1936. They had the backing of the nazi-fascist powers in Europe and the complicity of the "democratic" capitalist powers, who were anxious about the strengthening proletariat in Spain. Curiously, the plane that carried Franco from his exile in the African colonies to Tetuán in north Africa, the Dragon Rapide, originally took off from London.

The biggest supporter of the Spanish Republic was the USSR, that, through the enormous effort of the Third International and the Communist Parties in 52 countries, against the banning of volunteering by many of those 52 countries, organized the enlistment, falsification of documents, logistics, arrival and other matters for the arrival of around 35,000 workers, peasants and intellectuals from all over the world. Under the single banner of the International Brigades, and for the first time materializing the historic slogan Workers of the World, Unite!, the Volunteers of Liberty, as they also came to be known, gave their mind and their body to the cause of the Spanish people, armed with the teachings of marxism-leninism. They knew that it was no longer a fight for only the Spanish. As J. V. Stalin put it in October of 1936:

The workers of the Soviet Union are merely carrying out their duty in giving help within their power to the revolutionary masses of Spain. They are aware that the liberation of Spain from the yoke of fascist reactionaries is not a private affair of the Spanish people but the common cause of the whole of advanced and progressive mankind.

In July of 1936 there already were Brigadiers present in Spain, for the occasion of the Popular Olympics (in boycott of the Berlin Olympics) organized by the Red Sport International and the Socialist Worker Sport International in Barcelona, they were among the first to take up arms against the coup d'etat. The Executive Committee's Secretariat of the Third International formalized in the 18th and 19th of September the creation of the International Brigades, which began to arrive in Spain the 14th of October of 1936. Despite the propaganda levied by fascists and bourgeois historiography, the importance of the International Brigades is undeniable today.

After the integration of the Brigades into the Popular Militias in the 22nd of October, the Brigadiers began their training in Albacete and saw action for the first time the 8th of November in Madrid, with the 11th and 12th Brigade. Militarily, the Brigades were present and indispensable in every major battle of the war, but they also played a moral role. After every capitalist power had abandoned the Spanish people to their fate with the policy of non-intervention, the compact and disciplined columns that marched through the streets of Madrid singing songs like The Internationale, Young Guard, or The Marseillaise, made up of workers who barely knew the language but were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, decidedly improved the morale of every militia and civilian in Madrid and in Spain.

But even greater than the support of the Brigades were the more than 300,000 strong military detachments sent by Germany and Italy, with the implicit approval of capitalist democracies, including the Popular Front in France, whose efforts of non-intervention focused exclusively on the republic. And it was the strategy of the popular front that forced the PCE to sideline the revolutionary potential of the hundreds of thousands of militants, instead preserving the legitimacy of the bourgeois republic.

By 1938, the republic was on its last legs and, wishing to evidence the foreign involvement on the fascist side, declared to the League of Nations in the 21st of September that they would disband all volunteers enlisted after the 18th of July, 1936. The 16th of October, 2 years and 2 days after the arrival of the Brigades, the League of Nations' International Committee arrived in Spain to verify the disbandment and departure of the Brigadiers. No such inspection was ever made on the fascist side.

According to the International Committee's report published on the 18th of January, 1939, there were a total of 12,673 Brigadiers in Spain, less than half of the total number of volunteers at around 35,000. They began to depart Spain on the 2nd of November, 1938, through the French border. During the process of departures, some Brigadiers were murdered in Spain, others died protecting the fleeing republicans and hundreds of thousands of refugees at the crossing in France. This was when Mexico, and especially the Communist Party of Mexico which pressured the government, took on around 1,600 brigadiers, mainly Germans, Poles, Italians, Austrians, Czechoslovaks and Yugoslavians, who could not safely return to their homes due to the advance of fascism within their countries. The debt owed by the workers of the world, especially the Spanish, to the Communist Party of Mexico is immeasurable, along with every other Communist Party that helped and the Third International.

The dissolution of the International Brigades did not achieve the result desired by the Republic. Instead, their retreat towards the end of the Battle of the Ebro only accelerated the morale defeat of the republican militias. Most of the brigadiers who survived the war but could not be repatriated in time did not have a pleasant fate. Most of those ended up in the French concentration camps of Gurs, Argèles-sur-Mer, Saint-Cyprien and Barcarès, Septfonds, Riversaltes, or Vernet d'Ariège.

Their fight was not in vein. The experience gained by the few who survived at a high cost proved essential in the development of their own parties, and soon enough, anti-fascist resistance. Everywhere that people took up arms against the fascist occupation, whether inside or outside the concentration camps, ex-Brigadiers were present, continuing the fight they started in the 18th of July, 1936, well after the war that had began that day was history.

Back in Spain, while the moribund republic thrashed for the last few times, the bourgeois republican government, headed by the social-democrat Juan Negrín, began to isolate the PCE with the support of the trotskyists and anarchists. It came to a close after the coup d'etat by the republican general Casado, during and after which the communist militancy was oppressed, and the fascist fifth column that had remained in Madrid opened its gates to the fascist military. This is how the fascist dictatorship began in Spain, with a betrayal by the Popular Front's social-democrats and by the democratic-bourgeois powers of the world. They couldn't help but mirror the collaborationism happening on the world stage; the UK was actively looking for an alliance with Germany, and every other capitalist country was making business with the looted property. All for one purpose that united them; the destruction of workers' power in the form of the marxist-leninist parties that around the world were beginning to challenge the capitalists, with the Third International at the helm.

These are the lessons that Spain and the world learnt during and after its fierce resistance against fascism. No popular front with bourgeois-democrats is sustainable, and their class character will always prevail above the superficial differences with fascism. The only viable tool is the organization of the social majority within the Communist Party, with proletarian internationalism and an altruist disposition as principles. No matter how much social-democracy may fear fascist privatization, and no matter how much they disrespect bourgeois democracy, the class interests that guide them will always prevail when faced with a capable mass of organized workers.

The progressive Popular Front in France, the "appeasing" government in the UK, and the nominally anti-violence liberal democracies, did not ever attempt to do anything else than giving carte blanche to the fascists and hindering their rivals. The betrayal of Spain, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland were all made with the same reasoning: the alliance with fascism to destroy communism. There are no reasons that make the opposite possible today. When reactionarism picks up traction in lockstep with the deepening capitalist crises, all of these bourgeois-democrats some "leftists" like to place their hope in will not vary substantially from the script they followed 85 years ago.

Quedad, que así lo quieren los árboles, los llanos, las mínimas partículas de la luz que reanima un solo sentimiento que el mar sacude. ¡Hermanos! Madrid con vuestro nombre se agranda e ilumina

Rafael Alberti, A las Brigadas Internacionales

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The Last-Minute Sci-Fi Gift Guide

There's only one thing worse than procrastinating on getting gifts for your loved ones, and that's procrastinating on putting together a guide to help out everyone else with all those gifts. It's Dec 12, so you can decide for yourself which I'm doing.

Art book: Worlds Beyond Time, $32

If you follow this blog, you might have heard of this one. I published Worlds Beyond Time: Sci-Fi Art of the 1970s this year after five years of work on it, and I think it's really good! 400+ images, 100+ artists, with lots of fun art history and jokes.

Also, it's just $20 right now if you order through my publisher and use the code SKIPTHELINE! Cheapest it's ever been!

Card game: Coup, $14

In this "social deduction" card game, you play as a government official in a future dystopia who needs to backstab their way into power. Everyone starts out with just two cards in this bluffing game, so the tide can turn pretty quick when players start assassinating each other's cards. The fast pace makes it a good gift for someone who loves spies but thinks they don't like card games.

Game to play over Zoom: Bad Spaceships, $3

If a bluffing game stresses you out, try Bad Spaceships: It's a collaborative world-building game in which you roll dice to see what area of your spaceship connects to another, forcing you to spitball exactly why this is the case. As the game puts it, you might fix the hull by playing Tetris, or charge your weapons in the swimming pool. You're basically getting weird prompts to tell a story that can evolve over the course of the game.

It's such an indie game that it comes as PDFs you download from itch.io, but you can play it just as well over Zoom, if you're looking for an excuse to catch up with your old digital nomad college friend.

Movies/TV: Streaming service gift card

Gift cards are all well and good, but you can personalize them by recommending a few of your favorite shows as well. I suggest:

Hulu: Cowboy Bebop

Apple TV+: Severance

Criterion Channel: Ravenous, Paprika, Strange Days

Paramount+: Yellowjackets

Amazon Prime: The Devil's Hour

But to be honest, this entry is just an excuse to talk about the new Max show Scavenger’s Reign. Inspired by the work of French artist Moebius and with a clear debt to famed 70s animated film Fantastic Planet, this stylish sci-fi show features a bunch of humans trying to survive on a beautiful but hostile alien world. Perfect for lovers of fictional nature.

Vintage sci-fi

This Etsy shop has some good stuff, like the 1971 Frank Kelly Freas NASA poster above, a bit of history that I even mentioned on page 167 of my art book.

Penguin science fiction postcards, $28

These postcards have a ton of very cool sci-fi covers I've blogged in the past – great value if you want a lot of art for a low cost.

Meteorite pendant necklace, $34

I think we all know what kind of rock your loved ones need around their neck: A chunk of meteorite straight out of the 1576 Argentinan meteorite fall.

Book recs

For astronauts: Packing for Mars by Mary Roach, The New Guys: The Historic Class of Astronauts That Broke Barriers and Changed the Face of Space Travel by Meredith Bagby

For comedians: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, Even Greater Mistakes: Short Stories by Charlie Jane Anders 

For sleuths: Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty, Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

For crafters: Knits of Tomorrow: Toys and Accessories for your Retro-Future Needs

For the resistance fighters: The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley, An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

For slasher movie fans: Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

Syd Mead "Biomorph Vehicle" button down shirt, $49

T-shirts aren't classy enough for the world's coolest visual futurist, Syd Mead. I haven't actually bought this incredibly odd shirt, but I really need to.

Art prints (and more) from 70s sci-fi artists

Artist shops can be surprisingly hard to track down on the internet, but here's a short list of ones I've come across. All of these artists are featured in my book (except one), so you can read up on them before you commit to a print.

Michael Whelan 

John Harris

Syd Mead

Don Maitz

David B Mattingly

Peter Andrew Jones - Jones was one of just a few artists who declined to be included in my art book, but he has a distinct, colorful style that I would have loved to have featured!

Finally, here's one extra bonus, just for everyone who made it to the end of this article: The UK-based educational charity Centre for Computing History sells three big officially licensed John Harris posters featuring these three artworks, famous for their use as covers for Sinclair programming manuals.

It's a great deal that I've never seen mentioned anywhere, and Harris' work has a timeless quality that makes it great for an unassuming wall decoration. If you're outside the UK, the shipping costs will be a pain, but there's no better deal for a classic sci-fi poster.