#defense alliances

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Erin Reed at Erin In The Morning:

On Tuesday, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris announced that her pick for Vice President is Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota. In recent years, as trans and queer people have come under attack from over a thousand proposed bills, Walz is expected to serve as a source of optimism for LGBTQ+ people. The governor’s long track record on LGBTQ+ rights positions him as a strong oppositional force against what has become a national attack on LGBTQ+ people, particularly transgender individuals.

“I am proud to announce that I've asked Tim Walz to be my running mate. As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he's delivered for working families like his. It's great to have him on the team. Now let’s get to work. Join us,” read Harris’ statement on Twitter. Walz has taken decisive action against attacks on transgender people in surrounding states, making Minnesota a refuge for those seeking care. In 2023, he signed an executive order protecting transgender people from out-of-state prosecution if they seek care within Minnesota’s borders. The executive order also issued a bulletin to health insurance companies, mandating coverage and initiating investigations into health insurance denials in the state.

In 2024, Walz signed a bill banning the gay and transgender panic defense. This defense is often used to help individuals avoid murder charges or receive lighter sentences by asserting that they were "deceived" by a romantic partner who was gay or transgender. According to one study, the transgender panic defense has been used at least 351 times. Walz's pro-LGBTQ+ record goes back much further than his time as governor. In 1999, he sponsored the first gay-straight alliance at his high school while working as a teacher. In Congress, he co-sponsored the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and voted to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D)’s track record on LGBTQ+ issues has been stellar, dating back to his pre-Congress days.

This makes me glad that he is the nominee.

[netmors]

Concept art for the Eleventh Fleet - Mitt'raw'nuruodo.

Hands got to the rendering of Mitt'raw'nuruodo's sketches. It was unusual to draw him without the Grand Admiral’s signature hairstyle, but I really wanted to make a strong contrast between his life “before” and “after” starting his service in the navy. Life on his home planet certainly wasn't easy.

+ some parallel with Ezra and his fate.

…And I still think the idea of ​​making Thrawn's kintsugi-style form during his exile is my best idea :3 After red eyeliner on Karyn's eyes, of course.

[gadmiral-thrawn]

O MY FUCKING GOD GUYS IM SO HAPPY THE THRAWN COMMUNITY THING GOT APPROVED TO IF U WANT TO JOIN THE FUCKING COMMUNITY JUST REBLOG THIS POST OR SOME SHIT IM ACTUALLY SO HAPPY

[klazje]

meow meow meow meow meow

[valkorianknight12]

Aww, they’re teaching each other cuss words

[lurafita]

Shadowhunter/Downworlder teamwork to not have to suffer their leader's bad mood

Alec gets sassier and saltier the longer he and Magnus get cockblocked. At some point, his subordinates just can't take it anymore, and countermeasures need to be implemented.

Both Alec and Magnus have important positions and are often called upon to deal with various things. So when the NY shadowhunters know that their boss is on a date with the high warlock, and something popps up, they do their level best to handle the situation quickly.

And if they need to establish better relations with the Downworld in order to get the help of another warlock for something just so they don’t have to call Magnus away from Alec, then that is damn well what they do.

New York shadowhunter/downworlder alliance as a byproduct of people not wanting to deal with their leaders when they haven't been laid enough.

"You think Lightwood gets bad? Magnus pouts. It's a lot more disturbing than you think! And he keeps sighing forlornly. And then he tries to distract himself by getting into everyone's business or inventing new things. Do you know how some things sound like good ideas at first, and then turn out to be horribly annoying? It's that 24 fucking 7 every time the High Warlock doesn't get to see his boyfriend enough."

[mintelsa]

another star wars costume design rant:

THE CHISS EXPANSIONARY DEFENSE FLEET UNIFORMS ARE SO SEXY AND THE COMBAT UNIFORM IS SO UGLY

LIKE THIS??? sexy hot. The BELTS!? So good. The cut is so nice. Overall just so mouth watering. It’s very similar to the Imperial tunics but yet distinctly different. Love the rank insignia on the collar, the buckles on the belts. So crisp. Mm.

and then …

THESE are your combat versions????The green!? Atrocious. Abhorrant. I honestly think the color is the main issue. But the cut is soooo unflattering! It’s so bulky and stuffy.

anyways thanks for listening

[storgicdealer]

i think its really obvious with my chosen & dark obsession at this point but i NEED to see them being friendly & domestic and more gentle with each other in canon at least as a flashback

[uchiha-gaeshi]

Changing My Blog Name

I think i'm due for a blog name change. As you can see, i've changed my username from sasuke-did-nothing wrong to uchiha-gaeshi. I will forever be pro-Sasuke, and no one can convince me that he did anything wrong.

But, right now, Sasuke is not my character of focus (i.e. my blorbo). That title belongs to grandfather gay Uchiha Madara. It is well-established that he did do things wrong, but I still support them, and I will always cheer him on as he annihilates the Shinobi Alliance.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

In late May, 19 Republican attorneys general filed a complaint with the Supreme Court asking it to block climate change lawsuits seeking to recoup damages from fossil fuel companies.

All of the state attorneys general who participated in the legal action are members of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), which runs a cash-for-influence operation that coordinates the official actions of these GOP state AGs and sells its corporate funders access to them and their staff. The majority of all state attorneys general are listed as members of RAGA.

Where does RAGA get most of its funding? From the very same fossil fuel industry interests that its suit seeks to defend. In fact, the industry has pumped nearly $5.8 million into RAGA’s campaign coffers since Biden was elected in 2020.

The recent Supreme Court complaint has been deemed “highly unusual” by legal experts.

The attorneys general claim that Democratic states, which are bringing the climate-related suits at issue in state courts, are effectively trying to regulate interstate emissions or commerce, which are under the sole purview of the federal government. Fossil fuel companies have unsuccessfully made similar arguments in their own defense.

RAGA’s official actions — and those of its member attorneys general — closely align with the goals of its biggest donors.

The group, a registered political nonprofit that can raise unlimited amounts of cash from individuals and corporations, solicits annual membership fees from corporate donors in exchange for allowing those donors to shape legal policy via briefings and other interactions with member attorneys general.

A Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) analysis of IRS filings since November 24, 2020 shows that Koch Industries (which recently rebranded) leads as the largest fossil fuel industry donor to RAGA, having donated $1.3 million between 2021 and June 2024.

Other large donors include:

• American Petroleum Institute (API), the oil and gas industry’s largest trade association

• Southern Company Services, a gas and electric utility holding company

• Valero Services, a petroleum refiner

• NextEra Energy Resources, which runs both renewable and natural gas operations

• Anschutz Corporation, a Denver-based oil and gas company

• American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, a major trade organization

• Exxon Mobil, one of the largest fossil fuel multinationals in the world

• National Mining Association, the leading coal and mineral industry trade organization

• American Chemical Council, which represents major petrochemical producers and refiners

Many of these donors are being sued for deceiving the public about the role fossil fuels play in worsening climate change: many states — including California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — as well as local governments — such as the city of Chicago and counties in Oregon and Pennsylvania — have all filed suits against a mix of fossil fuel companies and their industry groups. In the cases brought by New York and Massachusetts, ExxonMobil found support from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who filed a friend-of-the-court brief in defense of the corporation.

Paxton has accepted $5.2 million in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry over the past 10 years, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets and reviewed by CMD.

Fossil Fuel Contributions to the Republican Attorneys General Association Includes aggregate contributions of $10K or more from the period November 2020 to March 2024.

Note: This funding compilation does not include law firms, front groups, or public relations outfits that work on behalf of fossil fuel clients, many of which use legal shells to shield themselves from outright scrutiny. For example, Koch Industries, through its astroturf operation Americans for Prosperity, has deployed a shell legal firm in a major Supreme Court case designed to dismantle the federal government’s regulatory authority.

CARRYING BIG OIL’S WATER

This is far from the first time RAGA members have banded together to try to defeat clean energy and environmental regulations. In 2014, the New York Times initially reported on how RAGA circulates fossil fuel industry propaganda opposing federal regulations.

The Times investigation revealed thousands of documents exposing how oil and gas companies cozied up to Republican attorneys general to push back against President Obama’s regulatory agenda. “Attorneys general in at least a dozen states are working with energy companies and other corporate interests, which in turn are providing them with record amounts of money for their political campaigns,” the investigation found. That effort, which RAGA dubbed the Rule of Law campaign, has since morphed into RAGA’s political action arm, the nonprofit Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF).

Since then, RAGA’s appetite to go to bat for the industry has only grown.

In 2015, less than two weeks after representatives from fossil fuel companies and related trade groups attended a RAGA conference, Republican AGs petitioned federal courts to block the Obama administration’s signature climate proposal, as CMD has previously reported. Additional reporting revealed collusion between Republican AGs and industry lobbyists to defend ExxonMobil and obstruct climate change legislation.

There was also the 2016 secret energy summit that RAGA held in West Virginia with industry leaders, along with private meetings with fossil fuel companies to coordinate how to shield ExxonMobil from legal scrutiny. Later that year, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey — aided by 19 other Republican AGs — successfully brought a case before the court that hobbled Obama’s signature climate plan.

Morrisey is currently leading the Republican effort to take down an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation that targets coal-fired power plants.

Often, the attorneys general bringing these cases share many of the same donors who backed the confirmation of Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices, as pointed out by the New York Times.

And in 2021, Republican attorneys general from 19 states sent a letter to the U.S. Senate committees on Environment and Public Works and on Energy and Natural Resources hoping to persuade senators to vote against additional regulations on highly polluting methane emissions, a leading contributor to global warming.

Since 2022, RLDF’s “ESG Working Group” has been coordinating actions taken by Republican AGs against sustainable investing. Communications from that group obtained by CMD show that it was investigating Morningstar/Sustainalytics and the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. Republican AGs announced investigations into the six largest banks for information on their involvement in the Net-Zero Banking Alliance later that year.

LEGACY OF RIGHT-WING ACTIONS

It’s not only about fossil fuels. Attorneys general who are members of — and financially backed by — RAGA have a long track record of pursuing right-wing agendas. In Mississippi, Attorney General Lynn Fitch helped bring the legal case that ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade. In Texas, Paxton has attempted to overturn the Affordable Care Act and sued the federal government over Title IX civil rights protections, and safeguards for seasonal workers, among other policy irritants to the far Right. With support from fellow Republican AGs, he also led one of many efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

In recent years, other pro-corporate major donors have included The Concord Fund, which is controlled by Trump’s “court whisperer” Leonard Leo, Big Tobacco, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform.

[smimon]

Hi, I was preparing my coffee and forgot to add coffee. How is your morning going

[netmors]

Sunday's two-hour Thrawn's sketches.

After the release of the second part of the comic book about the continuation of the Grand Admiral's story, the desire to do something more or less normal with the combat equipment of the then Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo did not disappear anywhere.

Only changed a couple of details, but I already like how the design echoes the regular CEDF officer's uniform.

[jorrmund]

Grand Admiral Thrawn redraw 😊

[mud-castle]

Hey in DM, does Riverthunderclan all live in one camp? Or are they separate now? If living separately, do the three hop between the clans to see both parents?

Riverclan and Thunderclan are political allies, not joined together, so they live in different camps.

The three will stay put in Thunderclan, it's about where to put Hawkfrost, and that is determined by whether or not I make him Leopardstar's son. If he is, then he is a warrior from a powerful family, but still just a warrior. And as such spends most of his time in Thunderclan when the kits are under 6 moons old.

If he's not, then he's the deputy of Riverclan, and he does the equivalent of visiting every weekend or so.

I'm leaning more towards the former since, regardless of his loyalties, Mistystar making someone so young and somewhat impressionable deputy is unlikely to say the least. That and keeping one of Leopardstar's kids in a different clan and in the eye of two clans while the other is in the medicine den might subconsciously put her at ease. I'd assume she'd get a bit paranoid after committing regicide then dealing with the children of the worst dictators in modern clan history.