#famous-leadership-quotes

[quotelr]

Don't let your past dictate your future,

Chris Mentillo, A True Tale of Horror

[thepersonalwords]

God didn't call me to kill me. He called me to glory and virtue. My body has dropped on His feet to follow me home no more. Who the son of God set free is free indeed.

Patience Johnson, Why Does an Orderly God Allow Disorder

[thearticlheaven]

Some Ratan Tata Most Famous Quotes For Inspiration

This article explores Ratan Tata's impactful philosophies, highlighting his thoughts on collaboration, facing challenges, and continuous learning. It also features a curated collection of motivational quotes that embody his legacy and wisdom.

[newsepick]

Ratan Tata's Impact on India - True Indian - Tribute to Sir Ratan Tata

From architectural marvels 🏛️ to ground-breaking business ventures 💼, Ratan Tata's impact on India is undeniable. Before leading the Tata Group, he studied architecture and designed architectural gems in Jamshedpur 💎. His philanthropic spirit shone through, with Tata Sons and Tata Trusts pledging Rs 1,500 crore to combat COVID-19 💪. He championed environmental sustainability 🌳, establishing the environment division at CII to support industry efforts. Tata's unwavering support for Indian startups, like Motopaws 🐶, fostered innovation and entrepreneurship 💡. A man of adventure ✈️, he obtained a pilot's license and co-piloted a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter plane 🚀. His passing on October 9, 2024, left a profound legacy of vision, compassion, and innovation 🙏. News Card Contents: 👉 Who is Ratan Tata? 👉 His Passion for Architecture 👉 His Philanthropic Pursuits 👉 His take on Sustainability 👉 His Support for Startups 👉 A Licensed Pilot 👉 Tata: A Man Beyond Legacy For more news on the world of Business, check out Newsepick: https://app.newsepick.com

[vox-anglosphere]

"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat."

Sir Winston Churchill

[compacflt]

If you want, and only if you want to, could you explain about making Logistics a big part of Ice's career path? Not only did fit so well with your Ice's characterization, it was just so neat I've made it my HC for Ice's career path.

yes!

I got REALLy deep into the defense policy weeds in this post so I’m putting a cut to save people’s dashboards

1. when i was rewriting chapters 8 &9 last winter i did literally the bare minimum of research about the current set of high-level officers. the commander of the pacific fleet at the time had previously been the director of pacific fleet logistics ordnance & supply. So that was easy to yoink. a proven chain of succession.

2. but also: it fit ice’s (or his alter ego admiral Kazansky’s) neat, orderly, effective, collected, strategic characterization. And as professional tactics go, there would be no better promotion for a high-level officer looking to take over the fleet than DFLOS. understand the fleet by the numbers, you comprehensively understand the fleet.

3. In terms of secret-keeping logistics, ice is supposed to be kind of the best. like, because of his logistical thinking, he & maverick get away with it. Or that’s how I would’ve written it if I were a little smarter. Obviously in practice a bunch of people find out so it’s not great. but the navy AS A WHOLE doesn’t find out.

4. The field of military logistics is rigorously bureaucratic, boring, soulsucking, selfdefeating, notoriously corrupt, and yet entirely necessary for the military to succeed at any level (in the very first draft of WWGATTAI i included a famous US marine corps maxim that most people have heard at some point: “amateurs talk tactics. professionals talk logistics.” but that was literally the only good thing about the original chapter 6 which got entirely rewritten a month after i published it). So logistics as a field of specialization fit in perfectly with my secondary character thesis that rising through the boring bureaucratic ranks of the Navy sucked all the humanity & will to live out of ice one day at a time.

a couple related interesting things that I’ve never talked about on this blog & might never get the chance to again:

a) ice canonically joins the navy as a fighter pilot & ends his career as a glorified bureaucrat. that sucks. obviously the struggle to rise in the ranks is a notoriously cutthroat, political, sleazy business (you do not get to the top of the United States Navy by being nice to people), but i would also not be the first person to say that—for exemplary officers—leadership is an EXPECTATION that can counterbalance someone’s natural drive to excel, if that makes sense. You get promoted because you’re good at something (flying), but you get promoted away from the thing you were good at. There is an extent to which you have to fight for a promotion—but there is also an extent to which commanders above you pick you for the job, suck you up along the pipeline. Loss of agency—a major major component of joining the military—does still apply to upper-level officers.

B) to that end, i am reminded of one quote from Todd Schmidt’s 2023 book “Silent Coup of the Guardians: US Military Elite Influence on National Security.” This is an Army training & doctrine commander speaking: “the military has a lot of two- and three-star senior leaders that were confident, charismatic commanders at the O-6 level. But that’s the end of the story. One in fifty, maybe one in a hundred, truly have what it takes to operate successfully at the strategic level and make a real difference for their service. The problem is that they all tend to think that, since they have stars on their shoulders, they’re the one.” —I’ve been writing ice as “The Chosen One,” the officer unicorn, for two reasons: one, it provides him cover for his illegal relationship (and also asks an interesting chicken-egg question: does he get away with his rlnship because he’s so good, or is he so good JUST to get away with his relationship?); and two, he’s “the chosen one” in canon, i.e. he already has four stars in canon: canonically he is not a mediocre officer. But most officers (cough cough maverick) are not cut out for high-level leadership.

C.) in Thomas E. Ricks’ book “The Generals,” Ricks argues that (at least in the Army) mediocrity in the general/flag officer ranks is unfortunately by design. In WWII, if you were a mediocre officer, you got relieved! You got fired! It’s part of why we won: merciless culling of the general officer ranks! But between WWII and Korea, officer relief began to be associated with shame & wasted resources. Mediocre officers got promoted anyways. The military elite pipeline sucks mediocrity up the chain of command. Ricks blames this issue for (at least the Army’s) shit leadership in every post-WWII war, including but most especially Iraq and Afghanistan. There’s no penalty for mediocrity. That in turn reflects on military strategy (mediocre strategists at the helm) & the outcome of every military foray (mediocre outcomes).

D) additionally. There’s a whole neverending debate in the field of civil-military relations (an extremely interesting field of study btw) about the corporatization of the military—lots of high-level talk over the years of “running the military like a business.” If you get kinda into defense policy like me (am i still antimilitary? Idk! but i CAN easily tell you i am against the navy’s littoral combat ship program! It sucks!) then you will know that the navy is struggling right now on a lot of different fronts (procurement [shipbuilding esp. is a disaster—ford-class carriers are under budget though 👍🏽], recruitment, theatre prioritization, general preparedness, readiness against major adversaries [China in particular]). Simply, the navy is pretty mediocre at the minute. I talk a big game about ice being COMPACFLT & SECNAV, but if those are true, & if he “exists” in our current timeline, or even canon timeline (COMPACFLT in 2020), then he’s complicit in a lot of why the navy is sucking ass right now. He didn’t do his job very well. LOL. So, because I love (especially my version of) ice too much to see his legacy suffer, I am stating for the record that my timeline is a different timeline where ice saves the navy from itself and fixes all its issues & solves all its problems & makes it the pride of the armed forces & the tip of the spear of American defense :) because I said so

E.) unrelated but important. It sounds obvious but it must be said. Ice dies on the job in TGM canon. To the extent that in earlier drafts of the script, not-his-sister-Sarah even points out to maverick that ice is still active duty, in the same breath as she tells him ice is sick again. (A wise move to remove that line.) ice does not resign his commission. Ice does not retire to spend time with his family at the end of his life. Ice dies as commander of the pacific fleet. He dies on the job; he dies FOR the job, bureaucratic as it is. If you were wondering why I wrote ice so dormantly suicidal, it’s because canon (i argue) has made it clear that—since the second ice signed up to be a fighter pilot during the Cold War to the second he died active duty—ice has ALWAYS been ready and willing to die for his honorable Navy career.

[troutymouthwhisperhug]

━━━ CHAPTER SIX .ᐟ ⋆｡˚

as they arrive at spencer's house, they head to his room. spencer's room is a cozy haven, with playbills from various musicals and theater productions adorning the walls, interspersed with posters of famous physicists and inspirational quotes. the room is filled with a mix of school supplies, books, and personal mementos, creating a space that is both organized and warmly cluttered.

miles and spencer lay on spencer's king-size bed, while winston sits in the desk chair, which is turned toward them, busy on spencer's laptop creating campaign posters.

"how about 'step into my heart: vote miles for a journey of love'?" miles suggests, his voice carrying a hint of mischief.

spencer chuckles, their shoulders brushing. "not bad, but what about 'vote for miles: because every step counts'?"

miles pokes spencer's side playfully. "oh, come on, you can do better than that!"

spencer grins, retaliating with a tickle to miles' ribs. "oh, you think so?"

within seconds, the two are engaged in a full-blown tickle fight, laughter filling the room as they wrestle playfully. spencer's fingers find all of miles' ticklish spots, and miles squirms, trying to get the upper hand.

"okay, okay, i surrender!" miles gasps between giggles, finally managing to pin spencer's arms down. "you win!"

"that's what i thought," spencer teases, their faces close, both of them breathing heavily from the playful exertion.

winston rolls his eyes and suggests, "um, how about 'miles: your voice, your choice'?"

miles and spencer exchange a glance before bursting into laughter again. "too formal, chewy," spencer says, still giggling.

"yeah, way too formal," miles agrees. "we need something catchy but still cool."

"okay, okay," winston sighs, resigned to being the voice of reason amidst their playful antics. "how about 'miles ahead: your future, our vision'?"

"that's better," spencer nods. "it's got a nice ring to it."

miles grins. "i like it. but let's take a break and regroup."

"good idea," winston says, stretching. "i could use a snack."

miles and winston head to the kitchen to help themselves to some snacks while spencer lays on the bed, texting his group chat with lola, frankie, and shay.

in the kitchen, winston looks at miles. "you know, you and spencer have always been flirty, but today it seems... different."

miles sighs, opening a bag of popcorn. "i don't know, winston. it's complicated. we've always been like this, so i'm not sure if he likes me like that at all."

winston, the only person who knows that miles has liked spencer since middle school, says, "i think he really likes you, man." grabbing a few of san pellegrinos from the fridge, he continues, "you should just go for it."

miles hesitates. "it's not that simple. what if it ruins everything?"

"it won't," winston reassures him. "you guys have something special. don't let fear hold you back."

miles takes a deep breath, nodding. "maybe you're right," he says, but deep down, he feels unsure. his face betrays his uncertainty, and winston sees this.

"hey," winston says gently, "just take it one step at a time. you've got this."

"when did you get so wise?" miles jokes.

they head back up to the room with a bowl of popcorn and some san pellegrinos. as they walk in, miles throws a drink at spencer and spencer catches it and miles suggests, "you know what would earn us some serious votes? a pool party."

spencer perks up, liking the idea. "yeah, that could work. we could invite the whole school."

miles sits back down, setting the bowl of popcorn between them, and stares at spencer, thinking about the conversation he just had with winston.

spencer notices. "what?"

"nothing," miles says, shaking his head. "just thinking about the pool party idea."

"it's a great way to engage with the students and showcase miles' leadership skills," winston nods in agreement.

"exactly," miles says, already envisioning the event. "plus, who doesn't love a good pool party?"

"and you know what else would be a hit? my cupcakes!" spencer says. "i can bake a bunch and pass them out at the party. people will vote for miles just to get a taste of them."

miles couldn't contain his excitement. "my mouth is already watering! you're a genius, spencer!" he reaches over, pulling spencer into a warm embrace.

spencer is taken aback by the suddenness of the gesture, but he melts into the embrace, his heart racing with a mixture of surprise and delight.

for a moment, they remain locked in the embrace, the world around them fading into insignificance as they savor the warmth of each other's presence.

as they pull away, their eyes meet, and they smile awkwardly.

winston watches them, a mix of fondness and frustration in his eyes. for years, he's witnessed the unspoken connection, the shared laughter, and the way their eyes light up in each other's presence.

yet, he also senses the hesitance, the unspoken fears that hold them back from fully embracing what they could have together. winston wants nothing more than for miles and spencer to realize the depth of their feelings before it's too late.

he wants them to acknowledge the undeniable chemistry that crackles between them. as he watches them share a smile, winston makes a silent vow to do whatever he can to get them together.

"okay, lovebirds. let's focus," winston says, breaking the moment. "we need to plan this party and get the word out."

"right," spencer agrees, pulling himself together. "i'll start working on the cupcakes."

"and i'll handle the invitations," miles says, glancing at winston. "we'll make this the event of the year."

winston nods, already brainstorming ideas. "let's do this."

[nordic-noire]

'The way out of the conflict is for Russia to leave Ukraine.'

[jewishvitya]

I got called naive for my views, because someone interpreted them as "what if we all stopped fighting? 🥹" but that's not what I'm trying to express.

When people in Israel talk about peace, it usually means Palestinians accepting their fates as occupied and expelled people. Refugees living their lives in diaspora without hoping to return, people in the West Bank and Gaza not fighting back anymore. They pretend this would mean our soldiers won't be "forced to" kill anyone anymore. It's still the mentality of Golda Meir's famous quote - "We can never forgive the Arabs for making us kill children."

This is what I perceive as "what if we all just stopped fighting." And it's not a solution to anything. There's no justice there.

What I'm talking about is ending occupation, ending Israeli violence not just by laying down weapons but dismantling the system that necessitates them fighting back, and correcting what we can. Israel has so much power, it practically orchestrates the conditions here.

Israel basically imposed Hamas on Gaza, nurtured it to divide Palestinian leadership, and now every Palestinian person is expected to condemn them before they get to talk about losing their families. They're identified with Hamas by force - both by this game of "condemn them" and by being given no other path to resist. Pushed far past what any group of human beings would tolerate, in conditions that make radicalization inevitable, and then branded as evil and violent by nature because they respond like every single group of occupied people responded before.

If Israel wanted to, it could start a process of deescalation. It could find actual solutions in conversation with Palestinians, instead of "sign this, we'll control your borders and resources but you'll technically be a country, and btw we take all the good farm lands and you get the rest - oh, you don't want to! See, you never wanted peace!"

But as long as Israel is a colonialist ethnostate, the tools it uses match that. And I know no oppressive force ever just let go of the power they held. That's why I encourage people to talk about this and support Palestine. Political pressure. Hopefully the violence Palestinians are suffering can be stopped. Maybe the violence necessary to end this can be minimized too, I don't know.

So I guess my position isn't "what if we just stopped fighting," it's "what if the whole concept of a colonialist ethnostate was dismantled." If this sounds like the result won't be Israel as we know it, well, I guess it won't be. But Israel as a state is immoral and discriminatory by nature. You can't create a country that enforces an ethnic majority and prioritizes that group, treating the existence of another ethnic group as an existential threat, and not have that be sliding fast in the direction of fascism. "Us vs. them, their very existence is a threat to ours" is pretty much a one-way ticket.

Framing the question as "we have the right to live in our ancestral homeland" is misleading. The real question is "do we have the right to expell other people from their homeland." And we never had that right.

[motivateandinspiretoday]

Calvin Coolidge Words of Wisdom #like #freedom #subscribe #facts #love...

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States, is often associated with the ethos of persistence encapsulated in his famous quote about pressing on. He emphasized that persistence and determination were more important than talent, education, or genius in achieving success. Coolidge believed that unwavering effort and resilience in the face of challenges were the keys to overcoming obstacles and achieving long-term goals.

His perspective was shaped by his personal life and career, which included enduring personal tragedies and navigating the complexities of political leadership. Coolidge's advocacy for pressing on reflects his belief in the power of perseverance as a defining trait of character and success.

[quotelr]

Be humble: have the courage to speak the truth.

Ken Poirot

[thepersonalwords]

It is not your duty to run from the devil but resist him and he will flew from you.

Patience Johnson, Why Does an Orderly God Allow Disorder

[prettyvintageafternoon]

Daily reminder that the anti-abortion position will never be a feminist, left-wing or progressive position, and the pathological need of pro-lifers to tokenize minorities and certain experiences that we have needs to be studied.

First off, I find it very funny that an organization known for having its white members engage in physical violence, trespassing and digging in the trash for fetal remains is now trying to lecture black women about intersectionality with regard to pregnancy and childbirth.

Reproductive justice is both a term and an ideology that black women specifically came up with in order to acknowledge how race and economic class play a role in reproductive access and decisions. The fact that an organization run and represented by white people pretending to be progressive is trying to check the women who came up with an actual progressive framework of beliefs to better represent their own interests is hilarious to me.

Second, PAAU is not a progressive organization. Its founder, Terrisa Bukovinac, is on the board of the Leadership Institute, a politically conservative training organization, and has gone to events hosted by the Heritage Foundation - a right-wing conservative think tank helping to drive anti-abortion legislation around the country by supporting conservative Republican politicians in various ways.

You even have members of this organization like @secularprolifeconspectus on Tumblr who will do interviews with people like Sebastian Gorka, who has had ties to the Order of Vitéz - a Hungarian order of merit which allied itself with Nazis during WWII.

(BTW, the IRONY of spending time talking about how Planned Parenthood is rooted in eugenics while talking about how conservatives are so much nicer than leftists to someone who has ties to a Nazi-sympathizing organization. Ma'am... 😬)

Then again, @secularprolifeconspectus also likes to spread lies like Abortion Pill Reversal™️, which isn't real, and repeats quotes from Abby Johnson, the famous anti-abortion activist who had two abortions and said that the police would be smart to racially profile her black sons in the wake of the Black Lives Matter Protests of 2020 following George Floyd's murder. 🙃

@secularprolifeconspectus has me blocked, but I'll just say this.

The irony of pretending to care about the interests of black people while rubbing shoulders with far-right political figures and reposting words from racist white women but also being confused as to why leftists don't like you is very telling.

Third, the information posted is wrong. It's very convenient that PAAU is "worried" about maternal morality in the DMV area when the U.S. states with the highest maternal mortality rates are Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina (CDC, 2023) - states with higher concentrations of black people that are also dominated by white, conservative political leadership which puts anti-abortion legislation in place. The DMV area is actually lower in comparison to these places, yet PAAU conveniently ignores that im order to paint a false narrative.

Source: Which states have the highest maternal mortality rates?, USA FACTS

Fourth, I also find it very funny that "progressive" pro-lifers have the audacity to accuse organizations run by minorities of hijacking progressive principles when that's all pro-lifers do by...

Using terms like "Abortion Industrial Complex" after anti-war advocates have been discussing the Military Industrial Complex for years

Acknowledging how finances and money plays a role in people choosing to get abortions but only every criticizing pro-choicers for supporting abortion access (*and conveniently never holding the very conservative anti-abortion movement accountable for the policy-making role they play in making people not want to have children in the first place)

Saying that abortion access is a part of Big Pharma, when forcing women to have children they don't want literally creates another patient pool for Big Pharma to subsist off of

Arguing that affordable healthcare, housing and clean water and nutrition - things that pro-choice activists have spent years advocated for (*and that conservative pro-lifers have spent years voting against), somehow cannot co-exist with abortion access

So yeah, removing abortion access from people who want it will never be progressive, and the fact that pro-lifers still try to tokenize minorities (and chastise us when we don't support their worldview) shows how little they actually care about those of us people of color.

[wejustvibing]

just read that george quote about the w15 being designed around “lewis’ wishes” and “hopefully it will translate into lap time”????

lmfao ah yes the famous leadership qualities of *checks notes* taking absolutely zero responsibility or accountability and pointing fingers

this man is a joke, good luck to merc 💀

😭 he's just making sure his ass is covered either way. please respect the hustle of a true leader

[haggishlyhagging]

The summer after the [1988] election, the National Organization for Women met in Cincinnati, just three weeks after the Supreme Court's famous Webster decision restricting women's right to an abortion, and just as the Bush administration was applauding the court's historic retreat from reproductive choice. Some NOW delegates, weary of what they saw as an endless round of betrayals of women by both political parties, proposed the convention talk about forming a third party, one that would, among other causes, champion women's equality. The motion passed unanimously.

The press, which generally ignored NOW conventions, exploded with outrage, anger, and derision. "Not NOW—It's Time for Consensus, not Conflict," ordered the Washington Post's Outlook editor Jodie Allen in an opinion piece. "Somebody has to say it, Molly Yard [NOW president], shut up." As for the rest of the NOW leadership, the editor ordered, "[R]ework your act or bow off the stage." The dozens of other editorial temper tantrums were little different. Some sample headlines: "NOW Puts Her Worst Foot Forward," "NOW's Fantasy," and "NOW's Flirtation With Suicide." Newsweek warned that "the shrill voices of NOW" could destroy the pro-choice movement and quoted an anonymous attendee of the conference, who supposedly said, "I wish we could take out a contract on Molly Yard." (Given that the conference gave unanimous support to the third-party proposal, this dissenter's identity is something of a mystery.)

In its overheated response to the proposal, the press managed to get the story all wrong. They accused NOW president Molly Vard of foisting the third-party idea on the convention delegates, but grass-roots delegates came up with the proposal in a workshop, proposed it, and passed it—while a startled NOW leadership stood and watched. The leaders, in fact, had proposed a much more modest work-inside-the-party plan; Yard had only suggested calling for gender balance on the two parties' slates. And these delegates were hardly the "rabid radicals" that the media conjured: because it wasn't an election year for NOW's leadership, many longtime activists and members from the more liberal East and West coasts had stayed home. The delegates dominating this conference were midwestern, middle American women; in fact, an unusually large proportion of them had joined NOW for the first time that year. Further, their resolution didn't even call for a new party—only for "an exploratory commission" to consider the possibility of having one. And the party the delegates wished to consider wasn't even, as the press had dubbed it, a "woman's party"; the delegates defined it broadly as a human-rights party that would confront racial inequality, poverty, pollution, and militarism, too.

The phobic response from the press corps and members of the political establishment—who, from the president to the Democratic National Committee chairman to the governors of Maine and Michigan, provided a bountiful supply of condemnatory quotes—was even more ludicrously out of proportion when one recalls that half of the last forty-nine presidential elections have all been three-party elections, seemingly without damage to the American political process. No editorial writers proposed taking a contract out on John Anderson or Barry Commoner when they made their third-party bids just eight years earlier. (It might also be pointed out that the Republican party itself began life as a third party and elected Lincoln in a four-party race.) That an almost timidly worded proposal could generate such fury stunned NOW leaders. "I mean, normally we have to really work for the press to pay even the slightest attention!" a baffled Eleanor Smeal, former NOW president, says. "For the president of the United States of America to mention the NOW resolution [in a TV interview] is unfathomable, incredible! . . . The only thing I can conclude is that many of the powers-that-be are worried."

The hail of disdain poured on NOW's third-party proposal achieved its aim: extinguishing the spark of an idea before it had a chance to spread. Leaders of one women's rights organization after another rushed to the public podium no prove their personal distaste for the women's party—often in ladylike language. Kate Michelman, executive director of the National Abortion Rights Action League, even called reporters while she was on vacation to say that she opposed the third-party plan, because she didn't want the many "friends" of women in the GOP and Democratic parties "to feel like we're going to abandon them." This was a far different response from 1980, when feminist leaders used the third-party card to force the Democratic party to support a full women's rights agenda: they threatened then to endorse independent candidate John Anderson if the Democratic party didn't put the ERA, abortion rights, and child care on its agenda.

The intense mockery that the third-party idea provoked should have tipped off women in politics to the equally intense insecurity such taunts concealed. Smeal was probably right; the powers-that-be were worried. The political establishment had to deride NOW's proposal as "cockeyed" and "silly" because it was in fact neither— it was credible and threatening. After all, of all the battles that Bush faced in the '88 race, it was the candidate's successful combat against the gender gap that his advisers singled out as the "major accomplishment" of his campaign. "Is it all over for white males?" asked veteran newsman David Brinkley, floating the question nervously on the air as he anchored NBC's television coverage of the 1988 Democratic national convention. Political commentator George Will returned a gaze of equal consternation and replied, yes, it did seem they were witnessing "the eclipse of the white male." Behind them, a Democratic podium was awash in a sea of white male faces—but that hardly mattered to the two male pundits.

By the close of the decade, it didn't require an overactive imagination to sense the anger and alienation of the majority of American women—first cheated by the Reagan administration, then shut out of the 1988 presidential campaign and finally demoralized by the Webster decision restricting abortion. Women's anger was, in fact, surfacing in spectacular ways in the national polls. A 1989 Yankelovich Clancy Shulman survey found that a majority of women believed both the Democratic and Republican parties were "out of touch with the average American woman." And who did they believe was "in touch"? A majority of women cited the following three groups: NOW, the leaders of the women's rights movement, and feminists. When analyzed by age, the Yankelovich survey results painted a grim picture indeed for the future status of the Democratic and Republican parties: younger women in the poll identified the least of any age group with the traditional parties—and the most with feminist groups and leaders. Among women twenty-two to twenty-nine years old, only 36 percent believed Republicans were in touch with the average woman; on the other hand, 73 percent of these young women said NOW was in touch with their needs. The youngest women, sixteen to twenty-one, weighed in with the most overwhelming figures—83 percent of them believed NOW spoke for them.

By the close of the decade, women could have constituted an immensely powerful voting bloc—if only women's-rights and other progressive leaders had mobilized their vast numbers. But in the 1980s, the backlash in the Capitol kept this historic political opportunity for women in check—with a steady strafing of ostracism, hostility, and ridicule. The women most discouraged by this bombardment, understandably, were the ones in closest range. And so, just as the middle American women at NOW's midwestern convention were ready to take action, many of their female leaders in Washington were running for cover.

-Susan Faludi, Backlash: the Undeclared War Against American Women

[gameknigh]

Anyways here is a list of about 200 things I am no longer allowed to do within the UNSC ONI or Spartan Operations, I do not regret any of these

My proper military title is ‘Spartan Sam’ not ‘Princess Anastasia’.

Not allowed to threaten anyone with black magic.

Not allowed to challenge anyone’s disbelief of black magic by asking for hair.

Not allowed to get silicone breast implants.

Not allowed to play ‘Pulp Fiction’ with a suction-cup dart pistol and any officer.

Not allowed to add ‘In accordance with the prophesy’ to the end of answers I give to a question an officer asks me.

Not allowed to add pictures of officers I don’t like to War Criminal posters.

Not allowed to title any product ‘Get Over it’.

Not allowed to purchase anyone’s soul on Government time.

Not allowed to join the communist party.

Not allowed to join any militia.

N ot allowed to form any militia.

Not allowed out of my office when the president visited Boston.

Not allowed to train adopted stray dogs to ‘Sic Brass!’

Must get a haircut even if it tampers with my ‘Sampson like powers’.

God may not contradict any of my orders.

May no longer perform my now (in)famous ‘Barbie Girl Dance’ while on duty.

May not call any officers immoral, untrustworthy, lying, slime, even if I’m right.

Must not taunt the Harvestians any more.

Must attempt to not antagonize ODSTs.

Must never call an ODST a ‘Wanker’.

Must never ask anyone who outranks me if they’ve been smoking crack.

Must not tell any officer that I am smarter than they are, especially if it’s true.

Never confuse a Revian soldier for a Martian one.

Never tell a German soldier that ‘We kicked your ass in World War 2!’

Don’t take the batteries out of the other Spartan’s alarm clocks (Even if they do hit snooze about forty times).

The Irish Spartans are not after ‘Me frosted lucky charms’.

Not allowed to wake an Non-Commissioned Officer by repeatedly banging on the head with a bag of trash.

Not allowed to let sock puppets take responsibility for any of my actions.

Not allowed to let sock puppets take command of my post.

Not allowed to chew gum at formation, unless I brought enough for everybody.

(Next day) Not allowed to chew gum at formation even if I *did* bring enough for everybody.

Not allowed to sing ‘High Speed Dirt’ by Megadeth during airborne operations. (‘See the earth below/Soon to make a crater/Blue sky, black death, I’m off to meet my maker’)

Can’t have flashbacks to wars I was not in. (The Interplanetary War isn’t over).

Our medic is called ‘Sgt Larwasa’, not ‘Dr. Feelgood’.

Our supply Sgt is ‘Sgt Watkins’ not ‘Sugar Daddy’.

Not allowed to ask for the day off due to religious purposes, on the basis that the world is going to end, more than once.

I do not have super-powers.

Camouflage body paint is not a uniform.

I am not the atheist chaplain.

I am not authorized to fire officers.

Not allowed to trade military equipment for ‘magic beans’.

Not allowed to sell magic beans during duty hours.

Not allowed to quote ‘Dr Seuss’ on military operations.

Not allowed to yell ‘Take that Cobra’ at the rifle range.

Not allowed to quote ‘Full Metal Jacket ‘ at the rifle range.

‘Napalm sticks to kids’ is *not* a motivational phrase.

An order to ‘Put Kiwi on my boots’ does *not* involve fruit.

An order to ‘Make my Boots black and shiny’ does not involve electrical tape.

The proper response to a lawful order is not ‘Why?’

The following words and phrases may not be used in a cadence- based, necrophilia, I hate everyone in this formation and wish they were dead, all Marines are latent homosexuals, Arcadian yoga, Gotterdammerung, or any references to squid.

May not make posters depicting the leadership failings of my chain of command.

‘The Giant Space Ants’ are not at the top of my chain of command.

It is better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission, no longer applies to Spartan Sam.

Command decisions do *not* need to be ratified by a 2/3 majority.

There are no evil clowns living under my bed.

There is no ‘Anti-Mime’ campaign on Harvest.

I am not the Spartan Ops Mascot.

I may not line my helmet with tin foil to ‘Block out the space mind control lasers’.

May not pretend to be a fascist stormtrooper on duty

I am not authorized to prescribe any form of medication.

May not conduct psychological experiments on my chain of command.

The MP checkpoint is not an Imperial Stormtrooper roadblock, so I should not tell them “You don’t need to see my identification, these are not the droids you are looking for.”

I may not call block my chain of command.

I am neither the king nor queen of cheese.

Not allowed to wear MJOLNIR to any army functions.

May not bring a drag queen to the battalion formal dance.

May not form any press gangs.

Must not start any SITREP (Situation Report) with “I recently had an experience I just had to write you about….”

Must not use military vehicles to ‘Squish’ things.

May not challenge anyone in my chain of command to the ‘field of honor’.

If the thought of something makes me giggle for longer than 15 seconds, I am to assume that I am not allowed to do it.

Must not refer to the Commander as ‘Dad’.

I am not authorized to initiate Jihad.

When asked to give a few words at a military ceremony ‘Romper Bomper Stomper Boo’ is probably not appropriate.

Nerve gas is not funny.

Crucifixes do not ward off ONI officers, and I should not test that.

I am not in need of a more suitable host body.

The proper response to a chemical weapon attack is not ‘Tell my chain of command what I really think about them, and then poke holes in their masks.’

A smiley face is not used to mark a minefield.

Claymore mines are not filled with yummy candy, and it is wrong to tell new soldiers that they are.

I am not allowed to mount a bayonet on a crew-served weapon.

Rodents are not entitled to burial with full military honors, even if they are “casualties of war”.

My commander is not old enough to have fought in the Second American Civil War, and I should stop implying that he did.

Vodka, green food coloring, and a ‘Cool Mint’ Listerine® bottle is not a good combination.

I am not allowed to bum cigarettes off of anyone under twelve.

I may not trade my rifle for any of the following: Cigarettes, booze, Unggoy, Kalishnikovs, Covenant Armored vehicles, small children, or bootleg CD’s.

Must not mock command decisions in front of the press.

Should not taunt members of the press, even if they are really fat, exceptionally stupid, and working for the UEG.

I am not authorized to change national policy in the Eastern Orion Arm.

Never, ever, attempt to correct a Spartan II about anything.

I am not qualified to operate any Covenant, UNSC, Banished, or Swords of Sanghelios Armored vehicles.

I cannot trade my CO to the Covies.

Crucifying mice – bad idea.

Burn pits for classified material are not revel fires – therefore it is wrong to dance naked around them.

I cannot arrest children for being rude.

An EO briefing is probably not the best place to unveil my newest off color joke.

Radioactive material should not be stored in the barracks.

I should not teach other soldiers to say offensive and crude things in Sangheli, under the guise of teaching them how to say potentially useful phrases.

Two drink limit does not mean first and last.

Two drink limit does not mean two kinds of drinks.

Two drink limit does not mean the drinks can be as large as I like.

‘No Drinking Of Alcoholic Beverages’ does not imply that a Jack Daniel’s ® IV is acceptable.

“Shpadoinkle” is not a real word.

The Microsoft ® ‘Dancing Paperclip’ is not authorized to countermand any orders.

‘I’m drunk’ is a bad answer to any question posed by my commander.

The loudspeaker system is not a forum to voice my ideas.

The loudspeaker system is not to be used to replace the radio.

The loudspeaker system is not to be used to broadcast the soundtrack to a porno movie.

Shouting ‘Let’s do the village! Let’s do the whole ****ing village!’ while out on a mission is bad.

Should not show up at the front gate wearing part of a Sangheli Combat Harness, messily drunk.

Even if my commander did it.

I am not authorized to sell mineral rights.

Not allowed to use a broadsword to disprove ‘The Pen is Mightier than the sword’.

I should not drink three quarts of blue food coloring before a urine test.

Nor should I drink three quarts of red food coloring, and scream during the same.

J should not threaten suicide with pop rocks and Coke ®.

Putting red ‘Mike and Ike’s’ ® into a prescription medicine bottle, and then eating them all in a formation is not funny.

Must not create new ONI forms, then insist they be filled out.

On Sports Day PT, a wedgie is not considered a legal tackle.

The proper way to report to my Commander is ‘Spartan Sam, reporting as ordered, Sir’ not ‘You can’t prove a thing!’

The following items do not exist: Keys to the Drop Zone, A box of grid squares, blinker fluid, winter air for tires, canopy lights, or MJOLNIR oil.

Shouldn’t treat ‘piss-bottles’ with extra-strength icy hot.

Teaching Sangheli children to taunt other soldiers is not nice.

I will no longer perform ‘lap-dances’ while in MJOLNIR.

The revolution is not now.

When detained by MP’s, I do not have a right to a strip search.

No part of the MJOLNIR armor is edible.

Bodychecking General officers is not a good idea.

Past lives have absolutely no effect on the chain of command.

Take that hat off.

There is no such thing as a were-virgin.

I do not get ‘that time of month’.

No, the pants are not optional.

Not allowed to operate a business out of the barracks.

Not allowed to ‘defect’ to Covenant during training missions.

On training missions, try not to shoot down the General’s helicopter.

‘A full magazine and some privacy’ is not the way to help a potential suicide.

I am not allowed to create new levels of security clearance.

Furby ® is not allowed into classified areas. (I swear to the gods, I did not make that up, it’s actually ONI policy).

We do not ‘charge into battle, naked, like the Celts’.

Any device that can crawl across the table on medium, does not need to be brought into the office.

I am not to refer to a formation as ‘the boxy rectangle thingie’.

I am not ‘A lesbian trapped in a man’s body’.

On Army documents, my race is not ‘Other’.

Nor is it ‘Secretariat, in the third’.

Pokémon® trainer is not an MOS.

There is no FM for ‘wall-to-wall counseling’.

My chain of command has neither the time, nor the inclination to hear about what I did with six boxes of Fruit Roll-Ups. ®

When operating a military vehicle I may *not* attempt something ‘I saw in a cartoon’.

My name is not a killing word.

I am not the Emperor of anything.

Must not taunt officers in the throes of nicotine withdrawal, with cigarettes.

May not challenge officers to ‘Meet me on the field of honor, at dawn’.

Must not make s’mores while on guard duty.

Our Warthogs cannot be assembled into a giant battle-robot.

The proper response to a briefing is not ‘That’s what you think’.

The Masons, and Gray Aliens are not in our chain of command.

Shouldn’t take incriminating photos of my chain of command.

Shouldn’t use Photoshop ® to create incriminating photos of my chain of command.

I am not allowed to give Spartan augmentations

Not allowed to lead a ‘Coup’ during training missions.

I should not confess to crimes that took place before I was born.

My chain of command is not interested in why I ‘just happen’ to have a kilt, an inflatable sheep, and a box of rubber bands in the back of my car.

Must not valiantly push officers onto hand grenades to save the squad.

Despite the confusing similarity in the names, the “Safety Dance” and the “Safety Briefing” are never to be combined.

“To conquer the earth with an army of flying monkeys” is a bad long term goal to give the re-enlistment NCO.

NEVER nail a stuffed bunny to a cross and put it up in front of the Battalion Headquarters sign as an “Easter Desecration.”

Don’t write up false gigs on a Warthog PMCS. (“Broken clutch pedal”, “Number three turbine has frequent flame-outs”, “flux capacitor emits loud whine when engaged”)

Not allowed to get shot.

Not allowed to play into the deluded fantasies of the civlians who are “hearing conversations” from the CMA, ONI, UNSC and SoS due to the microchip the aliens implanted in their brain.

Must not make T-shirts up depciting a Grunt with the writing “Breath Oxygen or Die” in Unggoy to bring as civilian attire when preparing to deploy to their homeworld.

Must not go on nine deployments in six years that require a security clearance that I don’t have, even if the ONI tells me repeatedly that I have one and I have no reason to question them.

Do not convince NCO’s that their razorbumps are the result of microscopic parasites.

Do not lick Spartan IIs

Do not change Smart AI’s avatars to “obscene” things or pictures of my Cat

Do not show up to the UNSC Infinity in a “Anime Bunnysuit and fishnets”

Do not use a 560 year old H&K XM8 because ‘it looks enough like a battle rifle’

Well, that concludes the list. I probably shouldn’t have done some of these, but I definitely don’t regret the second to last (I looked hot AF).