#fuck this entire country

[magical-grrrl-mavis]

Hey so this post is gonna be slightly unhinged because im having a terrible day

Alternatives to things now on the FBI's domestic terrorism list.

Anarchy Symbol: A politician of your choice with their face half blown off

ACAB: SPOF (set the pigs on fire)

Eat the Rich: Inject fluoroantimonic acid into the bourgeoisie's veins (sadly it doesn't have the same ring but I think it gets the message across)

[retoxdiet]

Love paying $3000 for an iron infusion that I will die without and costs nothing to produce. Love that it costs me $1000 to see my oncologist per visit. Love that it’s significantly cheaper to go to a private healthcare spa for B12 injections that I would also die without. Love that it costs so much money for the very minor things I need to survive.

But hey, I’m almost at my $8000 deductible for my $500 per month insurance. So everything will be “free” after that.

It’s too fucking expensive to live.

[boyczar]

89 year old men that rule this country

[hussyknee]

Trying to explain what the fuck just happened in Lankan politics today.

The leftist party has won 159 seats out of 218 in the Parliamentary elections. The single biggest landslide win since we broke from the British and achieved universal franchise in 1948.

Any party achieving a super majority in the executive and legislative is, objectively speaking, bad. It disables checks and balances, which is a catastrophic thing for any democracy, and the only two other times it's happened for us has irrevocably eroded the fabric of civic rights and democratic freedom. Also, the reason the NPP won the North and East is that the colonized, genocided and subjugated people there have no faith in electoralism anymore. The way this government has engaged minority issues has been utterly abysmal and now they've been rewarded for it.

On the other hand:

The winners. Are all. Grassroots. Candidates.¹

We have voted out every single career criminal that's been barnacled into the Lankan political arena since before I've been alive. The fascist party has only three seats.² The other fascists didn't win a single seat. The neoliberal legacy party won none. There are only forty people in Parliament that represent any sort of dynastic political legacy. After 76 solid years of nothing but political dynasties.

This is barely five years after the Rajapaksas swept in and absolutely glutted the Parliament with their family members and cronies end to end.

This is the illegitimate interim government we had for most of the last 18 months. We literally, physically, chased the Rajapaksas out of the country and this fucking demon set up a puppet government just so he could finally sit in that goddamn chair and be the despot he'd always dreamed of in exchange for letting them all come back. He's now gone. His entire circle is gone.

THEY ARE ALL FUCKING GONE.

In US terms, just imagine that, five years from now, when Trump's GOP has control of everything, the entire GOP and the worst of the Dems are all purged from Congress and Senate, the Green Party in control of all three branches of government under a pro-union left-wing President and an unmarried female LGBT rights activist Vice President, and the Dems reduced to barely 20% of the House.

This is my anthropology professor. She joined politics from the small nascent leftist coalition to help keep the government accountable. She's now the Prime Minister and the most popular Parliamentary candidate in the nation's history. (Edit: She was knocked off first place by a dude in the final result. Boo.)

(On the other hand— the woman who helped make me a radical anarchist and literally helped write a book on political dissent and resistance...now is the state. Uh.)

But there are so many women in Parliament! We had the lowest female representation in a South Asian Parliament and some of them were from the list of seats reserved for parties rather than elected ones. Most were either anti-feminist conservative embarrassments, widows and daughters of elite politicians and neoliberal shills. It's still only an increase of a few percentage points (Edit: from the previous 5% to 10% in the final result!) but now we have elected academics, feminist advocates, activists! There Is a representative for Malaiyaha Tamils in the Central Province for the first time in history and it's a young woman! (Edit: now it's two female Malaiyaha MPS!!) This is the plantation community that still live in conditions closest to the slavery the British forced upon them two hundred years ago!

I'm like. Completely mindfucked. To be very very clear, the NPP coalition formed around the nucleus of the JVP that used to be communist but haven't been in 30 years, they're now just social democrats who are left of places like the US and UK, whose "left" is now center-right. They're only threatening to the Western mainstream media for some reason who can't stop bleating about how we have a "Marxist" government now. In reality, the actual chances for radical reform are still quite low, and the opportunity for further erosion is quite high with a super majority government regardless of affiliation.

On the other hand:

What the fuck.

Sometimes living through historical events is really damn amazing.

---

¹ Well, nearly. There are a few career politicians and a nepo baby but they aren't so bad either.

² Goddamn it, Baby Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka's answer to JD Vance have wormed their way in using the list of Constitutionally reserved party seats for non-elected members. FUCK the National List.

[inkskinned]

one of the things that's the most fucking frustrating for me about arguing with climate change deniers is the sheer fucking scope of how much it matters. sweating in my father's car, thinking about how it's the "hottest summer so far," every summer. and there's this deep, roiling rage that comes over me, every time.

the stakes are wrong, is the thing. that's part of what makes it not an actual debate: the other side isn't coming to the table with anything to fucking lose.

like okay. i am obviously pro gun control. but there is a basic human part of me that can understand and empathize with someone who says, "i'm worried that would lead to the law-abiding citizens being punished while criminals now essentially have a superpower." i don't agree, but i can tell the stakes for them are also very high.

but let's say the science is wrong and i'm wrong and the visible reality is wrong and every climate disaster refugee is wrong. let's say you're right, humans aren't causing it or it's not happening or whatever else. let's just say that, for fun.

so we spend hundreds of millions of dollars making the earth cleaner, and then it turns out we didn't need to do that. oops! we cleaned the earth. our children grow up with skies full of more butterflies and bees. lawns are taken over with rich local biodiversity. we don't cry over our electric bills anymore. and, if you're staunchly capitalist and i need to speak ROI with you - we've created so many jobs in developing sectors and we have exciting new investment opportunities.

i am reminded of kodak, and how they did not make "the switch" to digital photography; how within 20 years kodak was no longer a household brand. do we, as a nation, feel comfortable watching as the world makes "the switch" while we ride the laurels of oil? this boggles me. i have heard so much propaganda about how america cannot "fall behind" other countries, but in this crucial sector - the one that could actually influence our own monopolies - suddenly we turn the other cheek. but maybe you're right! maybe it will collapse like just another silicone valley dream. but isn't that the crux of capitalism? that some economies will peter out eventually?

but let's say you're right, and i'm wrong, and we stopped fracking for no good reason. that they re-seed quarries. that we tear down unused corporate-owned buildings or at least repurpose them for communities. that we make an effort, and that effort doesn't really help. what happens then? what are the stakes. what have we lost, and what have we gained?

sometimes we take our cars through a car wash and then later, it rains. "oh," we laugh to ourselves. we gripe about it over coffee with our coworkers. what a shame! but we are also aware: the car is cleaner. is that what you are worried about? that you'll make the effort but things will resolve naturally? that it will just be "a waste"?

and what i'm right. what if we're already seeing people lose their houses and their lives. what if it is happening everywhere, not just in coastal towns or equatorial countries you don't care about. what if i'm right and you're wrong but you're yelling and rich and powerful. so we ignore all of the bellwethers and all of the indicators and all of the sirens. what if we say - well, if it happens, it's fate.

nevermind. you wouldn't even wear a mask, anyway. i know what happens when you see disaster. you think the disaster will flinch if you just shout louder. that you can toss enough lives into the storm for the storm to recognize your sacrifice and balk. you argue because it feels good to stand up against "the liberals" even when the situation should not be political. you are busy crying for jesus with a bullhorn while i am trying to usher people into a shelter. you've already locked the doors, even on the church.

the stakes are skewed. you think this is some intellectual "debate" to win, some funny banter. you fuel up your huge unmuddied truck and say suck it to every citizen of that shitbird state california. serves them right for voting blue!

and the rest of us are terrified of the entire fucking environment collapsing.

[apollos-olives]

btw "arab israelis" are palestinians. there are a lot of headlines going around using terms like "arab israelis" and whatnot and it's exhausting. they're palestinians. many palestinians have israeli ids, and are legally considered "israelis" even though they are still palestinians. my mom and a lot of her family are from jerusalem, and that city is under israeli control, so she's considered "israeli" even though she is palestinian.

and guess what, even though they're "israeli" ? they're still treated like shit. "arab israelis" are treated like dog water. there are literal lynch mobs all over israel attacking palestinians with israeli ids. they're chanting "death to arabs" even though those palestinians are considered "israeli". there are palestinian jews getting attacked. there are anti zionist israeli jews being attacked. israel doesn't give a shit about it's "civilians". they want to decimate palestine. they want to remove the word "palestinian" and replace it with "arab israeli". they want to get rid of palestine as a whole, every trace of what was once before. but we won't let that happen. we will never forget, and we will never forgive.

glory to the intifada 🇵🇸

[vaguely-concerned]

everyone comments on villa dellamorte being all fancy, but since I'm running this mission with emmrich and ingellvar I can just imagine these two insufferable mourn watch assholes looking around and politely being like 'well it's no van markham mausoleum mansion from the steel age built entirely out of gilded and polished black marble inserted with gems, the hushed halls of which have known only the footsteps of the dead for centuries. but it's cosy enough to be getting on with while you're still alive for sure! and the wallpaper is lovely'

[bitegore]

Zionists want you to conflate Judaism and Zionism. Zionists want you to believe that Judaism cannot exist without Zionism and that all Jews are Zionists. Zionism would have Jews believe that a Jewish state is the only way that they can be safe from antisemitism and will point to any instance of antisemitism as proof that Zionism is the solution- so Zionism wants gentiles to be antisemitic in their support of Palestine. They want you to conflate all Jews with Zionism and the state of Israel, and they want you to treat all Jews regardless of political affiliation as the face of Israel. Antizionist Jews exist, and incidences of antisemitism ostensibly acting against Zionism will not help dismantle the forces propping Zionism up.

Don't do their work for them.

[elbiotipo]

I honestly think this map is a bit fucked up no les parece

oh nothing it's just the US military casually (not so casually) admitting "we aren't a force to defend our country, we are a force to enforce our empire, and that empire is the entire planet"

[faaun]

last night i got home kind of tipsy and very much in tears and my mother told me the force you exert to keep someone in your life is proportional to the force with which they will leave your life. if you have to fight tooth and claw to keep them, their leaving will be just as hard, just as harsh, and just as definite.

[lastoneout]

Tbh the whole "making an exception for country music made by women" thing also rings really fucking hollow because women can be nationalistic and racist and shitty just like the rest of humanity(the person who screamed horrid shit at Beyoncé during her performance of 'Daddy Lessons' was a woman) and also it completely glosses over all of the black men making country music rn who deserve recognition. Just continues to prove that the "men = bad / woman = good" form of feminism is flawed as hell and kinda just hurts everyone in the long run.

I also just hate the idea that country music has to either be about how america sucks, unions, and/or women killing their husbands to be worthy of recognition. Like it's fine if you don't like party anthems and they sure are NOT all made equal but I don't think any artists in any genre should be forced to write about heavy topics to be taken seriously. If we can have pop party anthems that get defended because it's fine to write shallow party music then idk why we can't have country songs about going to the BBQ and drinking beers with the boys. Like come on, y'all love 'Country Roads' and that song is legit just about how much this dude loves living in West Virginia. It doesn't have to be about heavy shit to be good.

[castielsprostate]

y'all please be watchful of accounts posting political memes, especially since the american elections are coming up. more and more blogs are looking like they're up to election interference in favour of the republicans and it's looking EXACTLY like the 2016 russian bot invasion. THIS IS NOT A JOKE. be mindful, fact check and question everything and VOTE BLUE.

[chronologically-challenged]

You know, it's implied that that before the island was wished away, the people there knew that the colors disappeared with a wish.

"colors.....shades people can't see anymore......it's silly, but somehow this feels familiar to you" -Siffrin, when you reexamine the color book

I wonder if colors being a thing was about as common knowledge as stars. Then after the country disappeared, so did color knowledge.

Either that or it was only common knowledge in the Forgotten Country, and just sort of a fun fact everywhere else. Like "Oh yeah? There used to be colors and something happened with that one ritual craft from the country up north?" Only people who studied wishcraft specifically know the connection between colors and wishcraft.

Perhaps the colors disappearing were used as an example for young ones. Something to caution them against big wishes. "See?" They'd be told, "We used to be able to see color, and a wish changed that. Be mindful of your wants, for the Universe will hear you for better or for worse."

And when the Forgotten Country was gone, so was the knowledge of wishcraft. So were colors.

Now 10+ years later colors were "rediscovered". Was it though the casual mention of them in old texts? Did old communication with the Forgotten Country resurface and bits and pieces of color theory were able to be deciphered? Or did they get a hint from someone washed up from the Forgotten Country?

It was always odd to be that Bonnie knew about colors despite them being a relatively new discovery in the world. Not that the kid isn't smart, but it always seemed like something very specific for them to learn about, especially since Isabeau didnt seem to know about them (unless he was lying and pretending to be stupid who knows with that lad).

Regardless, maybe it isn't so strange that Bonnie knew if you consider Bambouche was very close to the Forgotten Country. Knowledge finds its way to spread after all. Perhaps the knowledge of color did too.

[etakeh]

hate hate hate hate

[infiniteglitterfall]

It's been incredibly difficult to hear from Palestinians in Gaza, not to mention center their experiences and platform their voices. Because ever since Hamas violently kicked the Palestinian government out of Gaza in 2007, it's denied Palestinians the right to free speech.

(Here's Palestinian human rights activist Hamza Howidy sarcastically wondering why Hamas isn't stopping the theft of humanitarian aid when it had the power to arrest him for a social media post within 4 hours.)

I'm working on a series of posts of Palestinians to platform. I came across this thread from someone who used Snapchat to talk to people in Gaza, so I thought I'd post it here in the meantime.

I've seen videos of Palestinians talking about not being able to evacuate because "Hamas has closed all the roads," a video of a Palestinian telling the IDF that Hamas has a car blocking the Salah-al-Din road (the evacuation route) and is pointing guns at people and telling them to turn around. But even as someone searching for Palestinian voices and looking for information about this, I hadn't heard that Hamas had been killing civilians trying to evacuate. (And probably reporting their deaths as part of the daily total.)

I mean, just the fact that the Gaza Strip is run as a separate country from the rest of Palestine is a huge barrier for Palestinians. It's hard to be accepted as a full member of the UN when your country functionally has two or three different governments.

(Confusingly, the PLO is considered the government of Palestine internationally. Abbas is the president of both PLO and the Palestinian Authority, so it sort of works as long as nobody has an election. But the fact that Palestinians have been denied an election for 18+ years, because Abbas keeps cancelling elections and Hamas is Hamas, is also a pretty big fucking problem.)

But it's also true that a huge number of the people in the Gaza Strip, while obviously having a big problem with the Israeli government, have at least as big of a problem with Hamas.

And for all of our decades of talk about Free Palestine, in the progressive movement, we pay shockingly little attention to that.

[siryyeet]

Oh you have complicated feelings towards Germany? Let me make 91836373 assumptions about it with my piss poor understanding of history, not listen to germans at all and then come to a horrendously bad and false conclusion on why that is! Also I think you germans should stop feeling guilty and be proud of your country again!