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rawripopsarentlollipops · 5 months ago

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Ummm… no.

On every single level, no. My page is not the place for you.

Which means it’s time to do some housekeeping.

This page:

•supports lgbt rights, women’s rights, prisoner’s rights, immigrants’ rights, human rights, animal rights, minority rights (including black rights, Hispanic rights, South Pacific rights, indigenous rights, and the rights of the systematically oppressed), disability rights, and any of the like.

•believes every person should be able to decide what they do with their body (including abortion, premarital sex, and gender affirming care if they so choose)

•believes every person should be allowed access to free drinking water (FUCK YOU NESTLE), free sanitation products, free menstrual products, free hygiene products, and free food if those are their needs. We all eat, drink, sneeze, shit, piss, and sweat, and about half of all humans bleed monthly too. If it’s required to live and it affects 50% or more of the population for upwards of a few months, it should not cost anything. A well functioning society would have more prestigious or luxurious versions available for sale, but there would be something to meet the basic needs of everyone.

Absolute Capitalism has been illegal since the Great Depression for a reason and this is one of the necessary steps for a stable economy and a lower wage gap between the highest paid workers in the nation ($1.25 an HOUR for some people. Not even enough to buy a single item at the dollar tree anymore, as compared to congress’s $100k+ per year salary when several members haven’t even shown up to most of the votes)

•believe the survivors of trauma and listens when they ask for help in making a change. Palestine has been asking for help for decades, and especially since October of 2023. Many women came forward about Trump sexually assaulting people and his response in 2016 was “grab them by the pussy,” which lead to a rise in sexual assaults around the nation. I don’t support Biden either because, as I mentioned before, Palestine has been begging for help for almost a year now and he allowed for the manufacturing of white phosphorus for Israel to use against Palestinians.

•believes that children should have the right to an unbiased education that teaches each subject through a variety of perspectives and encourages critical thinking. And the right to an environment where they will not be shot at

•believes that there should be mandatory psychological evaluation testing with at least one character witness consultation before a person should be allowed to own their first gun. I think this evaluation should take into account the person’s past decade of experiences with authority (middle school and high school record if necessary), and that there should be a national database containing the dna information of every gun known owner in the United States. This would extend the process for getting a license by several weeks but think about how many rapists, domestic abusers, drunks, thieves, and trespassers could be caught instantly, and how many public school, college campus, and workplace shootings will be avoided by forcing would-be criminals to go through a multi step, long process. It won’t solve everything but it sure would make a big dent in the issue

•believes that billionaires are the most evil people in the world. Literally 1 billion dollars can end homelessness entirely in the USA, and most billionaires have so much money that even if they were to give up $1 billion, they could still afford to buy multiple homes, eat out at expensive restaurants with their entire extended family for every meal of their lives, put aside enough money to last their family 10 generations, and still have extra. I think it’s unethical to be one of less than a thousand people who could literally save the lives of hundreds of thousands, and actively choose not to every second that they’re enjoying their wealth. A million seconds is 11 days, a billion seconds is 31 years and 8 months.

•believes that there should be paid maternity leave, 4 weeks minimum as the standard while the nation adjusts but 8 weeks recommended, to encourage birth rate increases instead of forced pregnancy and stillborn births that result in a higher maternal mortality rate. Prenatal and postnatal care should be significantly lower in cost, same with pretty much all birth and pregnancy related health care. It costs $20k just to give birth in a hospital, then about $5k in baby proofing the car and the baby’s room, and like $200 a week on top of that, every week, until the prices increase just to get diapers, wipes, food, clothes, cleaning supplies; etc. it’s damn expensive and overturning roe v wade in response to declining birth rate just means that these burdens are going to be forced on children who probably won’t even live long enough for the fetus to make it to term because it is medically dangerous to give birth before your body is ready for it. And before you say “well they just should do it,” it’s usually not a fucking choice that a child is making on their own. They were forced or manipulated, because they were a child. You are a fucking creep that I don’t trust around children if you are actively saying that a child should’ve acted differently if they didn’t want to be pregnant.

I have more beliefs and more stances, but it’s getting rather late, so I will leave it at this. Anyone reading this, do not interact with me if you are here to be angry or hateful, block me if you have to. If it gets to me, I won’t hesitate to block.

I’m also not a political blog. I’m just not active on here and I reblog every Palestine/ Gaza post that I see because this is still an active issue where my two seconds of attention make a small difference for people who need it.

I write porn.

And not the kind that’s about real people— all of the characters in my works are fictional.

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asa-5 · 1 year ago

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Thank you, please go to prison and never be heard from again for us! Let Justice be done. Incarcerate DJ Trump: traitor, rapist, draft dodger, insurrectionist, root cause of 1 - 4 million Americans dead due directly or indirectly to Covid 19 and his narcissistic ineptitude. Vote Blue, get the red out 💙🌊💙🌊

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makeste · 3 years ago

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BnHA Chapter 328: Pandora’s Box of Discourse

Previously on BnHA: DEKU TOOK A BATH.

Today on BnHA:

youtube

Also Naomasa grew a beard. Goddamn.

please let this be a cool chapter that plays nice with my ADHD lol

(ETA: lol I feel guilty because a lot of people hated this chapter, but I’m just happy there was a lot of stuff to make fun of, and also that I have another week to work on my backlog of meta posts since the kids were MIA.)

around one month ago?? ah, okay, so we’re gonna find out what was in that Tartarus security file huh

I love that they just randomly set the place on fire

was it necessary to do this in order to escape? no. was it a good idea to set the island they were occupying on fire while they were in the midst of still occupying it? uh. was it cinematic as fuck? fuck yeah

wow it’s a pervert!!

that’s so great that the villains set loose this fine fellow who I’m sure is definitely not a serial rapist. truly the LoV is so noble and misunderstood. they’re just trying to free society from its chains people

oh my god??!

SHANKED!!! oh my god I cheered for Stain before I realized what I was doing. time to have an identity crisis I guess

so he’s all “hey what’s going on.” which, while a respectable question, is something I personally would have waited to ask until I had put a bit of distance between myself and the fiery murder island. but that’s just my personal preference

Stain you really are tenacious I’ll give you that

“what’s the point of escaping prison if you’re not gonna be smart about it” well shit. anyways yeah you’re dead right, society is in the process of collapsing and the outside world is in total chaos, good call there

oh shit

I mean it’s not like we really expecting anything otherwise, but still. fucking brutal. I feel like these guys’ fates were decided the minute that one guy called AFO “scum” back in chapter 94. AFO is unmatched at getting long-term revenge

ahh, was it the security footage??

fdsdfk he’s still alive??

and he’s immediately launching into an inappropriately theatrical monologue even as the darkness closes in on him fdlfksjdlk. you know, was it ever confirmed that the other guy back in chapter 297 was Seiji’s dad? I’m just saying

very impressed that he’s still coherent enough to weigh the pros and cons before making the decision to gamble on giving this info to Stain, who at the very least has his own moral code and isn’t allied with AFO. it was definitely still a risk, but as we now know it was also the right call

what a weird alliance. so Stain tells him that he’ll give it to a just person, and the guy is all,

okay for real though I’m gonna need someone to run a DNA test on this guy. maybe it was some kind of cuckold situation?? the other guy had the family resemblance, but this guy absolutely 100% raised Shishikura Seiji and you are not going to convince me otherwise

anyway, so Stain is all,

PRISON GUARD: “???? ??????? what the hell. what the fuck does that fucking mean. I’m dying here, jesus christ, whatever man fuck you”

(ETA: I kind of feel like this might have been Stain’s last appearance in the manga, given all the fanfare. there’s not really much else he can do for the story at this point, and he seems to have gotten all the character development Horikoshi was planning on giving him. so if this really is it, hasta la vista and good riddance I guess.)

DWLFDKSLDK MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE

(ETA: I feel like this is meant to be evocative of that Sermon on the Mount painting, but in a really fucked up way lol.)

if it were me stumbling upon this scene I would just shake my head and walk right back into the flaming building. not getting involved in that mess. sorry not sorry. I’ll take my chances with the fire, especially given that it’s half-assed neutered BnHA fire lol

blah blah blah and so he decided to pass the info on to All Might -- HOT DAMN, HOLY SHIT

NAOMASA HOLY SHIT. THE APOCALYPSE LOOKS GOOD ON YOU, BOY

“I really like that facial scruff thing Aizawa’s got going on, I think I’m gonna get in on that” yes sir. “also thinking of ditching the tie in favor of the bulletproof vest look. also thinking of getting totally fucking jacked.” good lord. except I’m pretty sure that’s just body armor, but also I don’t care. anyway I should probably stop staring and actually read the fucking speech bubbles here lol

“All Might first handed this information over to Nao, and then went to see Deku, and then came back to Nao” thanks for that tidy little summary Horikoshi. we are capable of piecing events together in sequential order, I just want you to know that. but thank you

“so has Deku finally gotten a bath? also, sucks that Stain saved the day, but what are you gonna do” Nao I missed you so fucking much and didn’t even realize. how am I just now realizing that you are the perfect man

for a second I was gonna ask why Tartarus’s security systems would be cut off from the outside world, and then I remembered that’s a basic security control, and then I actually got impressed by how sensible that is. like, it’s been a while since I could genuinely say that the good guys (excluding class 1-A) did something smart. not that it helped them much in the end, but still

anyway so they’re talking about how AFO was able to coordinate the attack by communicating between his horcrux self on the outside and his ugly peanut-faced self on the inside

huh

okay you have my attention. I am taking notes here lol please continue

ah okay so he says that prior to Jakku, the transfer of information between him and his Vestige self was only one-way. but post-Jakku when Deku was in the hospital, he was able to tell what was happening inside the OFA Radical Lisa Frank Dead People Book Club Realm when he touched him. I feel like we established that before, actually. but he didn’t talk about how it actually felt, though

boy we already know this lol. yes AFO can talk with his horcrux self. and he can also communicate with his little bro in OFA too, let’s talk about that sometime why don’t we. what exactly does that imply, based on the rules we’ve established here

my god I cannot get over Naomasa and his fucking facial hair

no wonder All Might was in such a hurry to leave Deku and get back here

like I have no idea what this radio waves nonsense is but my god, people

that jawline. also so it’s a quirk, I see. except last I checked Deku didn’t have a radio waves quirk, so that doesn’t really explain his connection to AFO. but whatever, hopefully we’re at least getting closer to some kind of reveal here

(ETA: since I sometimes forget that other people’s lives don’t revolve around my theory posts, here are the two relevant links if you by chance want to know my thoughts about this.

Hagakure is still The U.A. Traitor™ regardless of whether Deku is passing information on to AFO through his psychic link, which he almost certainly is.

speaking of said psychic link, Deku is a horcrux.

just posting these now, because whenever trippy OFA stuff happens I tend to get an influx of theory asks. so hopefully this will be a bit of a time saver lol.)

-- wait, what

THAT’S what the recording was??!? holy SHIT. I genuinely was not expecting that. y’all wiretapped his fucking telepathy. fucking quirks, man. wild

AND THEY USED THAT POWER TO DETERMINE WHAT WE ALREADY KNEW, HUZZAH. GOOD SHOW

-- oh shit wait lol, except I forgot we’re not talking about 38 days from the present, we’re talking about 38 days from the date the conversation was recorded. heh. um

yeah that’s the face I would make too if All Fucking Might just casually told me we had eight days left until the end times

oh, pardon me. three fucking days

r.i.p. anyone who thought we were going to have another band arc sob. I sure hope Deku is enjoying that nap

(ETA: I realize people were hoping for a longer rest period here, but given that the man warned us all the way back in chapter 306 that we were entering the final act, you can’t really blame him too much when that turns out to be true. anyway but I do recognize that we’ve reached the point in the story where this kind of discourse is going to become a weekly occurrence, simply because there’s no possible way for Horikoshi’s actual endgame to line up perfectly with the variable headcanons of millions of fans, all of whom have wildly differing and in many cases contradictory expectations which can’t possibly all be fulfilled. anyway, so I’m already bracing myself for that lol. this coming year is going to be a wild ride.)

damn, U.A. out here looking like the motherfucking United Nations

-- is this U.A.?? I actually just realized, U.A. is four interconnected buildings, not two. wait holy shit is this Shiketsu?

wait holy SHIT

based on the overwhelmingly powerful vibes of bureaucratic incompetence, I’m thinking this really is the (future) U.N., or whatever organization it is that deals with international hero stuff

“just let them handle it themselves I’m sure they’ll be fine” yeah okay, thanks guys. appreciate it

wait oh shit did he say that it’s not just Japan?

soooo, what you’re telling me is that AFO is this close to bringing about the end of not just Japan, but the entire world, and you guys don’t think it’s a good idea to help the Japanese heroes stop him? so, genuine follow-up question: are you guys already planning your rich people exodus into space a la Wall-E, and that’s why you don’t give a fuck?? like, what??

omg international heroes

these guys are from World Hoodie Mission, right? is this Horikoshi’s way of reminding me to buy tickets

(ETA: and it worked too lol.)

WHO??? WHAT???

don’t tell me you’re introducing yet another badass new female character for me to fall in love with only to watch as you dismember them and/or blow them up, Horikoshi. I’m getting tired of playing this game my dude. don’t lie and tell me this time will be different. we’re not doing this again goddammit

noooooooooooooooooooo

god fucking dammit lmao. [sighs and rips the previous paragraph into shreds]

on behalf of Americans I apologize for our superheroes always being Like This

I also apologize because I love her already and I’m gonna be shameless about it. so fucking shameless you guys

is her fucking hair red white and blue. it is, isn’t it

this is the volume cliffhanger, 100% lol. it will take every ounce of Horikoshi’s willpower not to put her on the volume cover. he’ll have to settle for the spine or the inner cover this time because Deku VS his class 1-a superpals takes precedence. but it will be a close thing let me tell you

tbh it’s that smile that does it for me. she’s definitely All Might’s protege. get out there and show them how it’s done girl. and maybe call Salaam and BRD and see if you can’t convince them to play hooky from their governments as well. why not. world’s ending in three days you guys. “sorry, I’m busy this weekend” ain’t gonna cut it lol

so while I am not fully caught up with Vigilantes, I have read far enough to know that there’s an American hero named Captain Celebrity whose superpower from what I recall is being a humongous douchebag. and while I haven’t read far enough to know what happens to this guy, I can’t say I’m very disappointed to learn that he’s no longer the number one hero in the U.S. (actually, didn’t they kick him out and that’s why he moved to Japan to begin with?). anyway, so my thanks to Horikoshi for having a marginally higher opinion of Americans than Furuhashi, even though we have definitely not done anything to warrant said opinion lately, and you may have inadvertently opened the door to a pandora’s box of discourse lmao

(ETA: lol I went into the tags and they don’t disappoint. “why is she dressed like a flag” because she’s an homage to Captain America and Major Victory and literally every other character on this list. again, I apologize for fictional American superheroes being Like This. “oh boy another thicc waifu to make the fanboys happy” look, tumblr fandom never seems to have a problem thirsting over Dabi or Tomura or Aizawa or Nao, lol, I’m just saying. “where is Captain Celebrity” idk, probably murdered by the exploding bee cartel, let’s just be grateful for our good fortune and try not to Beetlejuice the man.)

anyway, so let’s see if Horikoshi’s recent character development with regards to making Mineta not terrible anymore will apply to other aspects of his writing as well. I know I was making light of discourse just now, but I do think the complaints about him introducing yet another new character at the 11th hour to be cannon fodder in the final battle are absolutely valid. and again, it wouldn’t be a problem if he didn’t keep maiming/killing off his female characters one by one instead of developing them and letting them kick ass long-term. but that said, I will never complain about Horikoshi adding another female character to the series, regardless of how clumsy the attempt may be. go ahead and pander away, just give us more girl power lol

anyway so we’ll see how it goes, but I think I’m gonna be optimistic and let myself hope once again, even though I’m probably gonna regret it lol. it is what it is. she is standing on an airplane just chilling for fuck’s sake. I’m only human. anyway fingers crossed

#bnha 328 #stain (bnha)#tsukauchi naomasa #all might #stars and stripes (bnha)#all for one #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #eta: how did I forget to type 'bnha' in the title sob

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sugdenlovesdingle · 4 years ago

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Probably the first time I want wendy scenes. Would love a scene where she says she’s failed as a nun. I mean 1 is a rapist and the other is a murderer

auto correct strikes again i see lol

ok i know you didn't mean this as a prompt but i couldn't help myself. ---

"So, based on this new evidence, the court has decided to change your sentence from murder to GBH." The judge started and Robert held his breath, looking straight ahead. He didn't dare hope. "Your solicitor has informed me that you have decided to plead guilty? Is that correct mister Sugden?"

"Yes, your honour."

The judge nodded and looked over the papers again.

"Well then, taking into account your time served, your guilty plea, and other mitigating circumstances..." the judge looked up and met Robert's eye. "You have served your time, you are free to go mister Sugden."

There were cheers coming from the gallery behind him but he didn't dare turn around to face them. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Congrats, it's all over." Ethan, his new solicitor patted him on the shoulder. When he'd gotten a letter from his previous solicitor saying new evidence had come to light and his case would be reopened and taken over by one of their new hires, Robert had thought the universe was playing some kind of cruel joke on him. Even more so when he met the guy for the first time and he told him he was friends with Vic.

But it turned out the guy was like a dog with a bone and wouldn't accept anything but a win for his case. He knew his stuff and he had good instincts and he'd given Robert hope after every meeting.

One of the prison guards that had escorted him to the court room came over to take off his handcuffs and told him to contact the prison with an address to send his personal belongs to.

He nodded and finally turned around. His eyes first found Vic and a wave of sadness hit him. She'd changed so much. She was a mum now, she'd been through hell and back, and he'd cut her out of his life. And yet here she was for him. Again.

Next to her were Matty and Amy. He didn't know either of them that well but he appreciated them being there for Vic. Next to them was Ethan's father who'd come to watch his son work his first big case.

Wendy Posner was there too, though not sitting with Vic and the rest of them. He knew what role she'd played in everything and he probably should be thankful, but he'd sooner serve the full 14 years behind bars than to say thank you to her.

And behind them, hidden in the back row, as if Robert wouldn't be able to pick him out of a crowd of millions in a heartbeat, there was Aaron. His hair was a little longer than when he'd last seen him and he looked tired, maybe a little thinner, but still as breathtakingly gorgeous as ever.

"Come on, let's get out of here, before anyone changes their mind." Ethan joked and gently pushed him towards the doors. "Vic has been dying to see you again."

He followed Ethan out into the hallway and before he really knew what had hit him, Vic had her arms tightly wrapped around him, and was telling him how much she'd missed him. He hugged her back and told her he'd missed her too, while scanning the place for a sign of Aaron.

Before long they were asked to leave so the next hearing could be prepared and the defendant brought in.

Vic linked her arm through his and lead him outside, down the steps and into the street. It was a warm day, the early spring sunshine breaking through the clouds after one of the coldest winters he'd ever lived through, and Robert closed his eyes for a moment to enjoy the sun on his face and breathe in the fresh air.

"Robert?" someone said, softly and unsure.

He opened his eyes and turned to see Wendy Posner. He could tell she was nervous from the way she was playing with the strap on her bag and the way she looked anywhere but his face.

"I uh... just wanted to say... uhm... I'm glad it all worked out in your favour."

"Aww thank you Wendy." Vic replied for him. "I'm sure today hasn't been easy for you either."

"No... no it hasn't... but uhm... It's... this is the way it should have been from the start." she settled on.

"Yes it is." Robert agreed. "Thanks to your sons I lost everything. I spent two years in prison with abusers and murderers for something I didn't even do. You and your precious boy spent that time playing happy families with my sister, while I lost mine. I lost the love of my life, my son, my future! All because of you and your inability to raise your sons as decent people."

"Rob... calm down..." Vic started. "She's the one that got the ball rolling, you know."

"No, he's right. I've failed as a mother...I thought my sons were good boys... but I was wrong..." Wendy said and took a deep breath. "And I know nothing I say can give you back the time you lost with your family... but I just.... want to apologise for the hurt my family caused for yours."

Robert nodded but didn't say anything.

"Thank you Wendy. That means a lot." Vic told her and Robert had to bite his tongue not to say anything he'd regret.

"I uh... want you to know I'm leaving the village. I've found a new job in Bristol and a flat... I'm starting over."

"Bristol? That's miles away. Harry will miss you if you live that far away." Vic protested.

"Harry has his uncle that he has to get to know."

"And his cousin." a familiar voice said, making Robert's heart skip a beat. He looked over Wendy's shoulder and saw Aaron walking up to them with Seb holding onto his hand tightly.

He looked the boy up and down, he'd grown so much since he'd last seen him. He'd been just two, he was four now.

Robert dropped to his knees in front of Seb and blinked back the tears in his eyes.

"Hi. You probably don't remember me... but I'm your dad... and I've missed you so much."

Seb looked up at Aaron.

"It's daddy Robert. From the pictures." Aaron told him. "We talked about him, didn't we?"

Seb nodded slowly and looked back at Robert.

"You were away."

"Yeah... but I'm back now. And I'm never leaving again, I promise."

Seb stuck out his pinky.

"Pinky promise?"

Robert could cry out of sheer happiness as he hooked his finger around Seb's.

"Pinky promise." he couldn't help himself and pulled the boy in for a hug and actually cried when Seb wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Daddy? If you're back now... we can get a puppy!"

Robert laughed and kissed the top of Seb's head.

"We can definitely talk about that."

Vic and Amy distracted Seb as Robert stood up and came face to face with Aaron, to give them some privacy to talk.

"Hey..." he said, not knowing what else to say.

Aaron nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"So... uh... Seb is with you now? What happened to Rebecca?"

Aaron shook his head.

"He's with Vic. She has custody of him. I'm nothing to him anymore since you divorced me and cut me out of your life."

"Aaron... I... I'm sorry... I just..."

"No, Robert, I don't want to hear it. I got your letter the summer after you got sent here... I understand why you did it... but it still hurt. A lot. You could have told me that time I came to see you. We were a team weren't we? We shared everything. We were going to run away together before you handed yourself in!"

"I... I couldn't let you do that. I couldn't let you give up everything for me."

"Don't you think I would have liked to make that decision myself?"

Robert nodded.

"I'm sorry..."

"Yeah..."

"I get that you hate me now... but I hope one day we'll be able to move past it... and I hope you'll still be a father to Seb... if your boyfriend doesn't mind..."

Aaron frowned.

"Who? Ben? Who told you about him?"

"Ethan... because I asked him..."

"When did you ask him?"

"Uh... I uh... when he told me he knew Vic and lived in the village... the first time I met him... sometime last year."

"Right."

"I'm happy for you." Robert said sincere. "That you found someone you can be happy with after I screwed everything up."

"Yeah. Well... That didn't work out. We split up. I guess Ethan didn't keep you updated on the gossip from back home."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"I'm not." Aaron said, stepping closer to Robert and gingerly pulling him into a hug. He buried his face in Robert's neck and let the other man breathe him in. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Robert told him. "And I'm sorry I hurt you."

"I know." Aaron stepped back and wiped the tears from his face before taking Robert's hand. "Come on, Harry is with Liv and Diane in a B&B down the road, I'm sure he wants to get to know his uncle.

Robert smiled and followed Aaron to where Vic and the others were waiting with Seb. The boy took his free hand and started babbling about what he was going to call the puppy Robert was going to buy him. He glanced at Aaron who just smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. He knew things weren't magically ok between them and they still had a long way to go to get back to where they were before.... but he was free and the worst two and a half years of his life were over, and that was a good place to start.

#robron #robron fic #robert sugden #aaron dingle #victoria sugden #my writing

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arctic-comet · 3 years ago

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Osblaineweek2021, Day 2: Prose

I love book quotes. Looking at quotes is one of my favorite ways to to inspire myself to write more fic.

Here’s a small collection of book quotes (and recs!) of where I’ve “found” June and Nick.

This post contains spoilers for the following books/series:

- Lover Mine by JR Ward

- The Wrath and The Dawn duology by Renée Ahdieh

- A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas

Lover Mine by J.R. Ward

Summary:

John Matthew has come a long way since he was found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown to himself and to those around him. After he was taken in by the Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was- or his true identity. Indeed, the fallen Brother Darius has returned, but with a different face and a very different destiny. As a vicious personal vendetta takes John into the heart of the war, he will need to call up on both who he is now and who he once was in order to face off against evil incarnate. Xhex, a symphath assassin, has long steeled herself against the attraction between her and John Matthew. Having already lost one lover to madness, she will not allow the male of worth to fall prey to the darkness of her twisted life. When fate intervenes, however, the two discover that love, like destiny, is inevitable between soul mates.

It's basically a paranormal love story between two warriors. He's really young (although he's actually a reincarnation of a very old vampire warrior, but he doesn't know that), and she's like 300 years older than him. In this book, she's been raped and abused by a guy who also used to bully him. She escapes, but he saves her life. She's hungry for revenge and wants to die after achieving that goal, but of course eventually changes her mind. In the end he actually serves her rapist to her on a silver platter so that she can kill him (sound like anyone we know?). He literally holds the guy down while she kills him.

They're my ultimate favorite ship in this series, and IMO their relationship eventually develops into one of the strongest ones. This series is a bit of a hit-or-miss for most people, because the language and the writing style are pretty ridiculous in all seriousness. If you decide to read this, I recommend starting the series from the beginning because John and Xhex meet for the first time several books before this one, LOL.

Here are some of the quotes that make me think of Nick and June:

“Besides, the story of the two of them was written in the language of collision; they were ever crashing into each other and ricocheting away—only to find themselves pulled back into another impact.” ― J.R. Ward, Lover Mine

“As his ears rang and his heart broke for her, he stayed strong against the gale force she let loose. After all, there was a reason why here and hear were seperated by so little and sounded one like the other. Bearing witness to her, he heard her and was there for her because that was all you could do during a fall apart. But God, it pained him to see how she suffered.” ― J.R. Ward, Lover Mine

“...the only thing that had tethered her to the earth had been him and it was strange, but she felt welded to him on some core level now. He had seen her at her absolute worst, at her weakest and most insane, and he hadn't looked away. He hadn't judged and he hadn't been burned. It was as if in the heat of her meltdown they had melted together. This was more than emotion. It was a matter of soul.” ― J.R. Ward, Lover Mine

The Wrath and the Dawn duology by Renée Ahdieh

Summary:

One Life to One Dawn. In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all. Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she'd imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It's an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid's life as retribution for the many lives he's stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?

This is a young adult fantasy romance, and basically, Khalid is a lot like Nick. He’s made mistakes that he needs to own, but at the same time he’s forced to commit atrocities he doesn’t want to do. He hates himself and doesn’t believe himself to be worthy of love, and yet he falls in love with Shazi. He's viewed as the villain of the story by everyone aside from Shazi and a few other characters until almost the end of the 2nd book.

“I love you, a thousand times over. And I will never apologize for it.”

―Renee Ahdieh, The Wrath and the Dawn

“It’s a fitting punishment for a monster. to want something so much—to hold it in your arms — and know beyond a doubt you will never deserve it.”

― Renee Ahdieh, The Wrath and the Dawn

“When I was a boy, my mother would tell me that one of the best things in life is the knowledge that our story isn't over yet. Our story may have come to a close, but your story is still yet to be told.

Make it a story worthy of you”

― Renee Ahdieh, The Wrath and the Dawn

“In that moment of perfect balance, she understood. This peace? These worries silenced without effort? It was because they were two parts of a whole. He did not belong to her. And she did not belong to him. It was never about belonging to someone. It was about belonging together.”

― Renee Ahdieh, The Rose & the Dagger

“A boy who'd thrived in the shadows.

Now he had to live in the light.

To live . . . fiercely.

To fight for every breath.”

― Renee Ahdieh, The Rose & the Dagger

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Summaries:

Book 1

Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price ... Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

Book 2

Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people. Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two. With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

Fantasy romance with explicit sex scenes, and book 2 is a lot better than book 1. Our main character Feyre falls for a really boring fae guy, but also meets the hottest guy she’s ever known. The first guy of course isn't the real love interest (this is a twist this author loves to do). They all end up as prisoners, and the 2nd guy saves her life when the 1st one is totally useless. He also makes her hate him as he does it because he has to. After getting out, she tries to make her old relationship work, but it doesn’t, and guess who swoops in?

I do see some Nick in Rhysand (in addition to his role in the love triangle). They’re both traumatized and prefer to keep a lot of their feelings to themselves. I also see some of the same selflessness in both of them. Rhysand wants Feyre to choose him because she loves him, but he’s willing to accept that she may not, and doesn’t tell her that they’re pretty much destined to be together (it’s a supernatural thing, and he will suffer a lot if she decides she doesn’t want him).

“Everything I love has always had a tendency to be taken from me.”

―Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“It took me a long while to realize that Rhysand, whether he knew it or not, had effectively kept me from shattering completely.”

― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“Regardless of his motives or his methods, Rhysand was keeping me alive. And had done so even before I set foot Under the Mountain.”

― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“Because," he went on, his eyes locked with mine, "I didn't want you to fight alone. Or die alone."

― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

“He thinks he'll be remembered as the villain in the story. But I forgot to tell him that the villain is usually the person who locks up the maiden and throws away the key. He was the one who let me out.”

― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury

“And I wondered if love was too weak a word for what he felt, what he’d done for me. For what I felt for him.”

― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury

“I was his and he was mine, and we were the beginning and middle and end. We were a song that had been sung from the very first ember of light in the world.”

― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury

#osblaineweek2021 #osblaine #the handmaid’s tale #nick x june

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popanalysis99 · 4 years ago

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Elliot Alderson/The Mastermind (Mr. Robot): Analysis

Elliot Alderson is the main protagonist of the series Mr. Robot. He is portrayed by Rami Malek. He is a cybersecurity engineer by day and a vigilante hacker by night. He then gets invited by a mysterious anarchist only known as Mr. Robot to an underground hacker group known as fsociety, whose goal is to take down the company ECorp, who is responsible for the death of Elliot’s father and redistribute the wealth. (Spoilers Alert and Trigger Warning for Child Sexual Abuse)

Early Life

From what we know so far, Elliot, along with his sister Darlene did not have a very good healthy family life. After the death of their father, their mother had gotten very physically and emotionally abusive of the both of them, but she mostly abused Darlene. And then in the later episode we find out that his father wasn’t a perfect saint as we thought, he was a monster who molested Elliot as a child, which physically and mentally scarred Elliot, which caused him to develop a plethora of mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, PTSD and DID. The DID even gave birth to the following split personalities of Elliot: Mr. Robot (The Protector), The Mother (The Persecutor), The Child, The Audience (Voyeurs) and The Mastermind (The Elliot we’ve been following throughout the series).

His Traumatic Journey

Throughout the series, we see him as a vigilante hacker take down men who are the worst parts of the society such as abusers, cheaters, rapists and pedophiles (a role which is usually filled by the “angry woman” vigilante). He then joins fsociety to help take down E Corp. But unfortunately, he goes through a series of traumatic events to achieve that goal, he loses his girlfriend Shayla when she gets killed by her psychotic ex, he finds out that Mr. Robot is his split personality and Darlene is actually his sister. Then we he went to prison, Mr. Robot psychologically abused him, he was then beaten up by prison guards, nearly raped by neo-nazis and when he got out, he was shot in the stomach by Tyrell Wellick just because he refused to be a part of something that would kill millions. He then was psychologically abused and gaslighted by his former best friend/crush Angela Moss and failed to stop a terrorist attack that cost millions of lives. He then tried to kill himself and almost lost his life at the hands of the Dark Army along with Darlene’s. Then he lost Angela to them, nearly overdosed on heroin, was stalked by the same psychotic ex of Shayla’s, who then forced him to find out about his childhood trauma. Then he was trapped in a nuclear meltdown, which he was finally saved from thanks to his hacking skills shutting it down, but unfortunately at the same time, he found out that he himself wasn’t a real person the whole time, he was just another personality of the real Elliot Alderson.

But what is so remarkable about him is that no matter how much he goes through, he always finds a way to stand back up and keep going no matter what life throws at him. While other characters in the series go through the similar things and easily break down, Elliot had it the worst but survives and is still able to live through it the best.

Subverting the Revolutionary Anti Hero trope

While Mr. Robot was first said to have picked up some elements from movies such as Taxi Driver (cynical narrator plot) and Fight Club (the season 1 plot twist), as the series progresses it completely subverts those narratives and makes the portrayal more humane, tragic and relatable. Travis Bickle and The Narrator represent the misguided and misrepresented trope of mental illness and masculinity and depict the “white male angered by the society” trope while Elliot completely subverts those tropes and gives a more human and humble perspective. He mostly represents the more “strong feminine” characteristics without being ridiculed or emasculated for it. As a poc man with mental health issues, he shows a more relatable struggle as he battles both his inner and outer demons and finally is able to prevail. While most white male anti-heroes would use their anger towards society for selfish and violent reasons, Elliot uses them for good reasons and to help others. His pro and con is that he cares so much for others and their needs but he forgets about his own safety most of the times.

Beauty Equals Goodness

One of the remarkable things about Elliot is also his beauty. He is mostly shown to be very pretty and gorgeous. TV Tropes defines “Beauty Equals Goodness”: “If a character is beautiful, then that means they must be a very good person.” Unlike Travis and The Narrator who are shown to be very average and entitled-yet-crazy and violent, Under his black-hooded figure, Elliot is shown to have extremely angelic beauty, which represents his kind-heartedness and selflessness towards others. He has innocent blue eyes which shows his innocence and naivete but doesn’t mean that he is not smart and clever.

Living in state of Victimhood

Most of the times, Elliot ends up being constantly victimized by anyone he comes across, even if it’s someone he knows. Tyrell ends up being obsessed with the idea of him and begins to believe 5/9 made them gods. Ray uses Elliot’s skills for his Dark Website and tells him how much he reminds him of his dead wife and calls him his saviour. Angela ends up psychologically abusing him and gaslighting him due to Whiterose’s machinations and Vera becomes disturbingly and instantly obsessed with him the minute he sees him. We do know that Elliot has a really good soul who has a gift for hacking and uses it for good reasons and is portrayed as a really beautiful and kind leader, but then there are a lot of people out there who begin to use and abuse him for their own selfish and personal gain, which is also one of the most heartbreaking aspects of his life.

Conclusion

Despite all the hell he’s been through, Elliot had finally found his strenght and peace through the love of others such as Darlene, Leon and Krista and has learnt how to love himself and stay strong. Elliot Alderson/Mastermind is one of the most inspiring characters out there and is one of the most best ones ever.

#character analysis #mr. robot #mr robot #elliot alderson #analysis #hero analysis #protagonist analysis

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widebodymasi · 4 years ago

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Islam and Muslims in the U.S. Prison System

I believe that every American has the duty to know what is going on with incarceration in our country. We house the largest number of prisoners in the world, pay for it with our tax dollars and support it by legislation that we vote for. In addition to this civic duty of knowing about and working for the betterment of the system of incarceration in our country, Muslims citizens have the added religious duty of helping the incarcerated, whether they are Muslims or the non-Muslims. We should know where this religious duty comes from and why. Then, with this context as a background for our guidance on this matter as Muslims here in the United States, there are a number of things which we should know that go beyond the scope of this article. Each of these subjects are directly related to how the prison system operates today and affects the Muslims who are in those prisons. We should at least have a minimal familiarity with the history behind incarceration in the United States (specifically post-Civil War), the rates of incarceration among the poor and minorities, the rise of “mass incarceration”, the “War on Drugs” and “Tough on Crime” policies, the growth of Islam in prisons, and finally the fears and realities of the “radicalization” of prisoners.

THE STANCE OF ISLAM ON HELPING PRISONERS

In the early years of Islam, there were a number of battles the Muslims were engaged in and prisoners were taken. These early days of Islam were a period of continued guidance, with revelation being sent to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as events occurred. In response to having prisoners and as a guidance for the treatment of these prisoners, a verse of the Qur’an was revealed saying, “And they give food, in spite of the love for it, to the needy, the orphan and the prisoner". The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) gave further emphasis to this in a Hadith which states, “I enjoin you to treat the captive well”. The result of this guidance was that the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) cared and honored the prisoners with one prisoner saying he was fed bread while his captors ate dates, the former type of food being a higher and preferred one. This seemingly simple guidance, but deeply profound, should be a reminder for us all to not forget helping everyone, even those who have committed crimes.

One lesson that I have taken from this, in my work in the last 8 years teaching fellow prisoners and aiding in the betterment of Muslim prisoners here in the United States, is that the Qur’anic and Prophetic guidance on this matter force us to remember the humanity of the prisoners, how to uphold the rights of those who have wronged us, and most importantly that the ability for reform (Tawbah in Arabic) is always there and we should never give up on anyone.

Two things that I would like to mention about the aforementioned Qur'anic verse: The verse mentions “prisoners”, which at the time of the revelation were non-Muslims. Secondly, the verse is an order to give “food.” Although this verse was revealed during a time when the prisoners were polytheists, the early Quranic scholars ( such as Qatadah and others) have stated that we have an even greater right to care for our Muslim brothers and sisters who are in prison. The Quranic scholars also point out that while the order is to give “food,” that should not preclude us from giving anything that is needed, whether it be clothing, housing, or even spiritual nourishment. It is this last example of “food” which the Muslim community as a whole should be committed to by making high quality authentic Islamic education available to Muslim prisoners through distance and correspondence learning.

Mass Incarceration in the United States

Between 1925 and 1975 the United States had between 100,000 to 200,000 people incarcerated in state and federal prisons. Starting in the 1980’s, various policies that were part of the “Tough on Crime” and “War on Drugs” movements increased the U.S. incarcerated population over 500% in 30 years with now over 2.3 Million people in jails and prisons. Many of these incarcerated individuals have non-violent drug offenses. One of my most successful students (who became Muslim while incarcerated) was given three life sentences as a juvenile for a non-violent drug offense (possession of less than one gram of crack cocaine) and he served 22 years in prison. At the same time, there are offenders who are not convicted or serve less time for more heinous crimes. Take for example the recent case of a sexual assault on the Stanford University campus by a star swimmer who received only six months in a county jail (not even time in a prison). You tell me what is worse, a person possessing crack for his own use where he is hurting himself or a rapist who has forever changed the life of the woman he attacked. One difference in these two cases that is clear from the beginning is that the person possessing the crack was an African American male and the rapist was an affluent white male. Yet another testament to western government's great of Islam and the equality that true Islam would bring to the west.

A second cause of the increase in the U.S. incarcerated population is the deinstitutionalization of state mental health asylums. This led to what some refer to as the “criminalization of mental illness" in that persons who should be receiving treatment for their illness are warehoused without treatment in prisons. Dr. Terry Kupers has done amazing work on this subject and his book “Prison Madness: The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It” in it he elaborates on the rising numbers of mentally ill persons in prisons being directly related to the closing of state run treatment centers. Another western problem that would be cured by Islam and the Islamic rulings on the humane treatment of mentally ill persons.

Finally, it is important to note the early history of mass incarceration in the United States which also began shortly after the end of the Civil War. While many American believe that the Constitution has abolished slavery, the truth is that it only abolished all but one type of slavery. The 13th amendment states in Section 1 that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” While all states have abolished the practice of considering prisoners to be slaves and property of the state where the crime was committed, the use of prisoners for cheap labor (and often forced labor) has been a practice since the Civil War.

Recidivism: Going Back to Prison

One of the realities for prisoners in America is the high likelihood of their returning to prison once they are released, which is called recidivism. This recidivism rate can range from 70-90%. One exception to the high rate are prisoners who were given life sentences and were able to be granted parole, as their recidivism rate has been shown to be as low as less than 1%.

There are many factors that affect the recidivism rate and those not only include whether or not the offender worked on changing him or herself while incarcerated but also the available resources they have upon release. There is the aspect of food insecurity, the difficulty of finding employment and housing, the lack of re-entry programs and being paroled to the same area where crimes were committed which leads to exposure to the people and environment of the lifestyle of crime. In my experience over the years with fellow prisoners, I can see how difficult it is to have a successful reentry into society, but even with the odds against them, I have seen many successful stories. Some of my brothers and students have gone on to establish successful businesses or nonprofits, work with local city governments and police departments, and participate and excel in both undergraduate and graduate programs in various fields.

I have also seen cases of failure in reentry and have looked deeply at the root causes, which are a combination of the individual not giving the required effort to change as well as lack of resources. Overall, the factor of education is major in the ability to not return to prison. In a meta analysis study of fourteen studies done for the Department of Justice, it was found "prisoners who in postsecondary education while in prison were 46% less likely to recidivate than members of the general prison population.". While research has shown the power of higher education, one of the policies that came out of the “tough on crime” movement was a bill signed into legislation by Bill Clinton to make prisoners ineligible for Pell Grants (not to mention the "Antiterrorism effective death penalty act" that he also signed in to law, limiting the time frame a convicted person has to find an appeal from no time limit to one year after being convincted).

In addition to education, the need for support upon release is crucial. Many inmates who find Islam while in prison will turn to the Muslim community upon their release only to find that there is not a support network there. Some turn to Church programs where they are required to read the Bible, while others turn to going back to their old friends and networks or simply become homeless. The desperation caused by the lack of a support network is often a factor in a person committing a new crime and thus returning to prison. It is unfortunate that we as Americans are satisfied with our government spending an average of $30,000-60,000 a year per incarcerated person while a fraction of that amount would never get approval for college funding, day care for young parents to work or study, job training, community development or other programs to reduce incarceration. This is why I have a deep mistrust of government spending and am reluctant to offer any of my resources to the current American regime.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT MUSLIMS IN PRISON

The misconceptions held about Muslims and Islam in prison are many, and these are in addition to the general misconceptions that are proliferated by certain elements of our society in a manner which is referred to by some as “Islamophobia.” Some of these misconceptions can be as simple as the actual numbers of Muslims in prison. Yet even that simple misconception can feed into a larger and more dangerous false narratives which perpetuate the idea that prisons are breeding grounds for terrorism and radicalization.

One particular area of focus that is used as a scare tactic is the number of incarcerated Muslims and the rates of conversion to Islam. Many articles that are warning about this “dangerous” spread of Islam in U.S. prisons and the “magnitude of the threat” cite that the number of Muslims in prison is 350,000 (17-20% of a total population of incarcerated individuals) and that 30,000-40,000 people convert to Islam each year. Many of these articles cite the 2003 testimony of Dr. Michael Waller before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security Senate Committee. A reading of that transcript shows that Dr. Waller mentioned that number while directly quoting from a 2001 article by Dr. Siraj Islam Mufti, Islam in American Prisons. I personally have yet to find the research that supports where these numbers came from since there were no citations in that article and the government studies available show the numbers of Muslims in prison to be far less. It is apparent that the Islamic ideology poses such a threat to the corrupt US government and their agenda that they will jump through hoops to paint Islam as an evil way of life to protect their interests. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) own census in 2004 of their 150,000 prisoners show that 9,000 (6%) identified as being Muslim. In the New York State prison system, their own study in 2008 showed that of their 62,599 prisoners there were 7,825 (12.5%) who identified as being Muslim. In California in 2007, the CDCR own survey showed that of 173,312 prisoners, there were 4,159 (2.4%). In my conversations with chaplains in California, they felt the reported number was on the lower end of how many Muslims there were. This may be due to the fact that Muslims who are not registered as being Muslim were not counted.

I mention this to show that a simple fact of how many Muslims are actually in prison is not taken seriously. Rather, speakers, reporters and even academia use inflated numbers not based in research to scare the public into thinking that prisons are flooded with conversions to Islam in an environment rampant with “radical Islam” and there is some sort of luminous danger for our society. Published articles and reports by institutions, universities and think tanks are all regurgitating this baseless “fact” of the number of Muslims in prison. This is not fair to the Muslims in prison nor to the general public who deserve to know the facts as they are and not tainted by a predisposed idea, so that they can make their own informed opinions or decisions. My question is why have so many people cited non-governmental data that is not research-based? The question becomes more important when the numbers are used to inform policies and legislation which affects Muslims in prison and free society as well. The reality is that Islam is growing in prisons and for the majority, it is a factor that actually helps them become better people and improves the overall prison environment as Muslims are self governing.

Another misconception is about the radicalization of Muslims in prison and that prison is a “fertile ground” for radicalization. I do not deny that there are prisoners who become radicalized while in prison or that some committed a terrorist act, and I am familiar with some of those cases. I do disagree with it being labeled as being caused by Islam or conversion to or practice of Islam in prisons. In his research on the subject of radicalization in prisons, Dr. Mark S. Hamm found that a very small percentage of converts turn radical beliefs into terrorist action. "Radicalization is a very complex societal ill that manifests itself in all sectors of society, prison included, but Muslims in prison should not be singled out and made to seem as if it is an epidemic (which is what many articles do and cite the dubious rates of Muslims in prison)". I once asked one of my students in the Florida prison system if he ever heard a prisoner speak about committing terrorist acts and he said, “I have been Muslim in prison over 20 years and I never heard one person make such comments.”

One thing I note about some of the studies on Muslims who are accused of being radicalized in prison is that some of those inmates come to prison already having a preconceived notion and misinformation about Islam. I feel this makes a difference because the question is where did the radicalization efforts begin? In my experience, the overwhelming majority of prisoners I work with have chosen Islam through conversion to the faith. Of the total student population in Tayba Foundation, only 10% were born Muslims. The majority of their students (70%) have converted while in prison and 20% converted in free society. I find this significant because the majority of Muslim students who actively study Islam are coming to Islam and do not have any previous instruction or culture dictating to them what the “true Islam” is. Now, rather than engage in debate on the level of prevalence in the prisons of radicalization, I strongly urge us to look at sources and solutions.

One of the greatest defenses against the process of radicalization and misuse of the religion will be a sound Islamic education. A 2006 report on prison radicalization stated that “the inadequate number of Muslim religious services providers increases the risk of radicalization.” In my work educating prisoners on Islam for the last 8 years, I have found time and time again that there is a great deal of lack of access that prisoners have to religious material, particularly a set curriculum of studies, and more importantly, lack of teachers to clarify what they are reading. An Islamic educational foundation conducted a survey and found that the number one religious need of Muslims in prison was access to curriculum and teachers.

Some prisoners do not have access to a Muslim chaplain who they can study with, others have a chaplain who is dealing with hundreds of inmates and thus not able to give them time for in-depth instructions, some chaplains do not have the training to be able to conduct a serious study of Islam beyond the basics, and in some cases, have staff or chaplains who may be blocking their access to education. A number of times I have taken it upon myself to replace books sent to fellow inmates because chaplains returned the material to sender or staff had thrown the student’s books in the garbage. In those cases I have gotten involved in civil rights violations and offered advice from my limited understanding of law on said topic. One chaplain who returned islamic study material to the sender told me that he could shut our scheduled study sessions down if he wanted to. I responded politely that he had no authority to do so and that our access to religious education was guaranteed in the Constitution by the First Amendment and further at the state and federal levels, such as the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA") passed by Congress in 2000. I will close this paragraph by saying that the majority of chaplains that I have worked with, whether Muslim or representing another faith, are dedicated to facilitate learning and betterment for the prisoners they work with.

Through the power of proper Islamic education, I have seen time and time again how knowledge can prevent any threat of radicalization and actually engender harmony in prisons and even beyond the walls. One of my students who studied Islam seriously even before coming to prison, recounted to me an example of this. He said that when the terrorist attacks of 9/11 occurred, five of six prison yards in one institution had Muslims who were showing signs of joy and shouting. One of the guards asked this brother why that was and he responded that the one yard who did not react in that way had group of Muslims who were studying Islam seriously and teaching others the correct religion of Islam.

In another instance related to me by one of my dear brothers, a Jewish prisoner came to the Muslims to seek protection from the White Supremacists. In some prisons, the White Supremacists are especially powerful and many minorities, particularly Jewish prisoners, are at risk of being attacked. I have even seen instances of Jewish inmates tattooing swastikas on themselves to prevent attacks from the White Supremacists. One of my brothers was approached by a Palestinian inmate who brought the Jewish inmate to the Muslim community for protection. That in and of itself is a story of peace, but it goes further. The Jewish inmate said that he would be willing to pay the jizya to the Muslims for protection from the White Supremacists. The jizya is a form of payment by non-Muslims to a Muslim government for protection but a system that is not used by Muslim governments today. In any case, this Muslim student told him there was no need for payment and that all he had to do was exercise in public (on the yard) with the Muslims. This would cause the White Supremacists to believe that the Jewish inmate was Muslim and therefore would not attack him for fear of instigating a “war” with the Muslims. This is the result of a Muslim inmate knowing his religion properly and preventing the misappropriation of Islamic concepts to be used for improper means.

In the absence of that proper education and guidance, some inmates who choose Islam in prison have influences of what is referred to a “Prison Islam” or “Prislam.” This refers to the idea that some Muslims are practicing the faith with innovations in belief or practice that come out of the prison environment. One major influence that causes “Prislam” is the gang culture which pervades prisons in the United States. Two aspects of gang culture is the structure of the gang which includes a leader (“shot caller”) and tattoos.

In many prisons that have a Muslim population, one may find that the community appoints a leader to lead the prayers and offer guidance to the community. While some prison institutions do not allow an inmate to act as the official religious leader (imam) for other inmates, one survey found that over half do. This is acceptable and even encouraged in Florida prisons. The fear that institutions have is that the position of religious authority could be abused and taken as a route to act as nothing more than a gang-leader for the Muslim inmates at a particular prison. This is a valid concern that I recognize as i have seen an imam be appointed after being muslim only a month and having little understating of the religion only because he was a former gang member with authority in the prison. The fear in this situation is clear. You have someone who just became Muslim and could potentially make decisions that affect the safety or lives of other Muslim, other inmates or even staff. The Muslims who support this Iman system will then take verses of the Quran and Hadith out of context to justify the need for a leader and the obligation of the entire community to pledge allegiance to him (bay’ah) and then obey his every command. Part of my focus when teaching the fundamentals of Islam to my grow Muslims is to shed light on how the religious texts are being misused and abused to perpetuate a false system which sometimes included the implementations of the Islamic penal code (hudud) in a vigilante-type method which is completely unacceptable. There are times when the Muslim inmates may justify a crime, such as an attack on another prisoner, as being permissible due to the fact that it is a hudud implementation. At the same time, there are institutions who recognize and work with the “appointed Muslim leader” and many times the person is very well-balanced and dedicated to following true Islam and the rules and regulations of the prison. One thing I would suggest to policy makers for prisons is that rather than negate the “Inmate Imam” position for fear of it undermining the security of the prison, if those appointed leaders are trained properly, they could facilitate many of the religious needs of the communities they are already currently serving. This has a benefit of ensuring that inmates are receiving proper religious education and practice while in prison and reduces the load on budgets that would be needed to hire outside Imams.

Muslims in prison are at the forefront of a number of programs to help others. A number of major legal precedents for prisoner rights have had Muslim inmates at the forefront. A number of successful inmate-led rehabilitation groups have been founded by Muslims and many Muslims facilitate other successful programs. One of these such programs was co-founded by two Muslim brothers who previously served time that then went on to establish it as a non-profit organization after their release and now have a contract for a transitional house with the State of California, an office building given to them rent free by the city the organization is run in, and one of the former prisoners sits on the Human Relations committee of that city. I have heard stories of our brothers and sisters resolving conflicts in the prison that would otherwise turn into full-blown prison “wars.”

Some Muslims upon release, have gone into starting their own businesses, teaching, non-profit work, and graduate school. They have established families and work with the communities they live in, both the Muslims and non-MuIims. The potential that is there is endless and it is a constant reminder to me of the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) that, “People are like ores, like the ores of gold and silver, the best of them before Islam (jahiliyya) are the best of them in Islam if they gain understanding (fiqh)". Yes, there are people who have lived in an age of ignorance, but does that mean we give up on them? Is that the approach that the Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) took when he made a prayer for the guidance of ‘Umar, a man who worshipped idols, buried his own daughter alive and wanted to kill the Prophet? It was that potential that someone saw in Malcolm Little while he was in prison and aided him on his journey for knowledge. He would later become El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, one of the greatest figures in the spread of Islam in the United States and who helped so many others out of the darkness of ignorance.

I firmly believe in the power of education in dramatically transforming the dynamics of the prisons in the United States today. There are men and women who when they find themselves with the time and space to learn, and with the proper tools, can achieve great things. For those who will be returning to their communities, they could be equipped with the information, confidence and steadfastness that education provides. Islamic education should also be viewed as a springboard to other forms of education.

Remember, even a caged bird can sing.

We owe it to prisoners, both religiously and as a civic duty, to provide the resources they need on their journey of seeking knowledge, to help them bring out the potential they have.

Nima Al Farsi

Muslim

Prisoner of the state of florida

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idlnmclean · 5 years ago

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Abolish Colonial Law Enforcement

The Police are Not Required to Protect You

“To Protect and to Serve[1]” – the ubiquitous creed emblazoned across millions of police cars throughout Los Angeles and indeed the United States. This motto is consistent with the common belief that police officers as well as other law enforcement officers are here to protect us. After all, we are all taught to dial 9-1-1 when we need help. Subject to narrow exceptions[2], the United States Constitution does not require law enforcement officers to protect you from other people, according to the U.S. Supreme Court. This notion contradicts our engrained perceptions, but it’s still the law today.

In the 1989 landmark case of DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the failure by government workers to protect someone (even 4-year-old Joshua DeShaney) from physical violence or harm from another person (his father) did not breach any substantive constitutional duty.[3] In this case, Joshua’s mother sued the Winnebago County Department of Social Services, alleging it deprived Joshua of his “liberty interest in bodily integrity, in violation of his rights under the substantive component of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, by failing to intervene to protect him against his father’s violence.”[4] While the Department took various steps to protect Joshua after receiving numerous complaints of the abuse, the Department took no actions to remove Joshua from his father’s custody.[5] Joshua became comatose and extremely retarded due to traumatic head injuries inflicted by his father who physically beat him over a long period of time.[6]

Nevertheless, the Court found that the government had no affirmative duty to protect any person, even a child, from harm by another person. “Nothing in the language of the Due Process Clause itself requires the State to protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens against invasion by private actors,” stated Chief Justice Rehnquist for the majority, “even where such aid may be necessary to secure life, liberty, or property interests of which the government itself may not deprive the individual” without “due process of the law.”[7]

The DeShaney decision has been cited by many courts across the nation and reaffirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Namely—on June 27, 2005, in Castle Rock v. Gonzales, the U.S. Supreme Court again ruled that the police did not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm.[8] The decision overturned a federal appeals court ruling which permitted a lawsuit against the town of Castle Rock for the police’s failure to respond after Jessica Gonzales tried to get the police to arrest her estranged husband Simon Gonzales for kidnapping their three daughters (ages 7, 8, and 10) while they were playing outside, in violation of a court-issued protective order.[9] After Simon called to tell Jessica where they were at (in Denver at an amusement park), for hours she pleaded for the police to arrest Simon.[10] But, the police failed to act before Simon showed up at the police department and started shooting inside, and with the bodies of the 3 children in the trunk of his car.[11]

In her suit against the town, Jessica argued that the protective order stating “you shall arrest” or issue a warrant for arrest of a violator and that it gave her a “property interest” within the meaning of the 14th Amendment’s Due Process guarantees, which prohibits the deprivation of property without due process.[12] By framing their case as one of procedural Due Process and not of substance, Jessica and her lawyers had hoped to get around the 1989 DeShaney precedent. To no avail, the U.S. Supreme Court saw little difference between this case and the DeShaney case.[13] Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, stated that Ms. Gonzales did not have a “property interest” in enforcing the restraining order and that “such a right would not, of course, resemble any traditional conception of property.”[14] [15] The Court went on to reaffirm the DeShaney ruling that there is no affirmative right to aid by the government or the police found in the U.S. Constitution, and thus no legal recourse could be brought thereunder.[16] The “no duty to protect” rule remains unwavering and the law today.

Needless to say, the stories of Joshua DeShaney and Jessica Gonzales’ three daughters (and countless similar stories) are saddening, and the rulings seem to be at odds with our common and fundamental understanding that the police are here to ensure our safety and provide protection. One need only look to the door of a Los Angeles police cruiser to find those reassuring words. However, those words are misleading in light of these Supreme Court rulings.

Though alarming, we simply have no affirmative right to police aid, even when a person, including a helpless child, faces imminent danger. We are all responsible for our own personal safety, whether we like it or not.

— By Keobopha Keopong, Esq., Barnes Law

https://www.barneslawllp.com/blog/police-not-required-protect

Cops are statistically more likely to murder you, rape you, sexually assault you, steal from you, break your things, damage your property, destroy your communities, imprison you, traffick you, or torture you than just about any other criminal class.

People upon hearing “abolish police” often counter about who will deal with domestic abuse calls or rape or murders or some other heinous crime? 40% of cops are reported domestic abusers, and we can infer that the number is significantly higher than what is reported. Most human trafficking in the US is through prisons or through industries adjacent to law enforcement, prisons, or their organized criminal networks. A significant chunk of the serial rapists turn out to be cops, and they operate for decades because they are protected by other cops who basically routinely engage in obstruction of justice for their cop buddies and for their friends and families.

Almost no rapes that are reported are properly investigated from report to conviction.

You are more likely to die of a cop attacking you than of any terrorist attack including mass shootings by white supremacists. Cops are more likely to be white supremacists than the average person.

Cops are not required to know or even necessarily obey the law. The legal expectation is that you will somehow drag them before a court with a qualified lawyer, and you will argue the finer points of a legal case before a judge. Cops are defaulted to be assumed to be following the law until and unless someone can adequately document it to the satisfaction of the court system.

Cops generally have some form of qualified immunity.

Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine in United States federal law that shields government officials from being sued for discretionary actions performed within their official capacity, unless their actions violated "clearly established" federal law or constitutional rights.[1] It is intended to protect officials who "make reasonable but mistaken judgments about open legal questions",[2] extending to "all [officials] but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law".[3] Qualified immunity applies only to government officials, and does not protect the government itself from suits arising from officials’ actions.[4]

The U.S. Supreme Court first introduced the qualified immunity doctrine in 1967, originally with the rationale of protecting law enforcement officials from frivolous lawsuits and financial liability in cases where they acted in good faith in unclear legal situations.[5][6] Starting around 2005, courts increasingly applied the doctrine to cases involving the use of excessive or deadly force by police, leading to widespread criticism that it, in the words of a 2020 Reuters report, "has become a nearly failsafe tool to let police brutality go unpunished and deny victims their constitutional rights".[6]

The courts generally favor the police and range from grossly corrupt to grossly incompetent.

youtube

#abuse #police riot #2020

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ill-will-editions · 5 years ago

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STANDING UP AND WALKING OUT - Virginie Despentes (2020)

The following text appeared last week in French on Liberation.fr. Written on the occasion of Roman Polanski winning best director at the Cesar Awards (the french Oscars). Protests and clashes with police took place in the streets outside of the venue, while others attending the ceremony disrupted it from within. Overlapping with the French state's decision to use an emergency decree to push through an unpopular pension reform, this short polemic turns Polanski's award into an allegory for all the cruel abuses of power by the elite class in 2020. (CW: rape).

Let me begin like this: to the powerful, to the bosses, to the big shots—rest assured, it hurts. No matter how much we know, no matter how well we know you, no matter how many dozens of times we’ve taken it on the chin from you, with your arrogant power—still, every time it’s painful. All this weekend we’ve listened to you whine and cry, complaining that we’ve left you no choice but to pass your special laws, your article 49.3 [1], that we won’t let you celebrate Polanski in peace, that we are spoiling your party. Yet beneath all your whining Jeremiads, it’s obvious you’re not really worried. You can barely conceal your smug satisfaction that, at the end if the day, it’s you who remain the real bosses, the kingpins. The message is loud and clear: this notion of consent, it isn’t going to fly with you. What would be the fun of belonging to the clan of the powerful, if one suddenly had to start taking the consent of the dominated into account? And I am certainly not the only one who feels like crying out in rage and impotence at your recent show of force, certainly not the only one to feel sullied by the spectacle of your orgy of impunity.

It’s no surprise that the Academy of Caesars awarded Roman Polanski the best director prize for 2020. It’s grotesque, insulting, and despicable, but it’s not surprising. When you give a guy more than 25 million to make a TV movie, the message is in the budget. If the fight against the rise of anti-Semitism interested French cinema, it would be clear to see. On the other hand, the voice of the oppressed who want to take responsibility for telling the story of their own ordeal is obviously quite a drag for you. So when you heard about a subtle comparison some had made between the case of a filmmaker who was heckled by a hundred feminists in front of three movie theaters and that of Dreyfus, a victim of French anti-Semitism at the end of the last century, you jumped at the opportunity. Twenty-five million for this parallel. That’s great. We applaud the investors, since everybody had to pony up to come up with a budget like that: Gaumont Distribution, tax credits, France 2, France 3, OCS, Canal +, RAI... hand in hand, and generous, for once. You close ranks, you defend one of your own. The most powerful intend to defend their prerogatives: it’s part of your elegance, rape is the foundation of your style. The law protects you, the courts are your domain, the media belongs to you. And that’s exactly what the power of your big fortunes is there for: to control the bodies declared subordinate. Bodies that keep quiet, that don’t tell the story from their point of view. Now comes the moment for the rich to pass along their lovely message to us: the respect owed to them now extends to their cocks, stained with the blood and shit of the children they rape. Whether in the National Assembly or in culture - there will be more hiding, no more feigning embarrassment. From us, full and unwavering respect is demanded. That goes for rape, that goes for your police brutality, that goes for the Caesars, that goes for your pension reform. It's your policy to demand silence from your victims. It comes with the territory, after all, and you see nothing wrong with using terror to get your message across. Your morbid enjoyment, above all. And you tolerate only the most obedient servants around you. It’s no surprise that you crowned Polanski: it’s always money that’s celebrated in these ceremonies, cinema doesn’t matter. The public doesn't matter. It's your own money-making power that you’ve come to worship. The massive budget you bestowed upon him was a sign of your support - and through it, your power commands its respect.

In commenting on this ceremony, it would be useless and inappropriate to separate the bodies of cis men from those of cis women. I don't see any difference in behavior. It is understood that the grand prizes continue to be awarded exclusively to men, since the basic message is: nothing must change. Things are fine the way they are. When Foresti leaves the party and declares she is “disgusted,” she doesn’t do it as a woman - she does it as an individual who risks turning her whole profession against her. She does it as an individual who is not entirely subjugated to the film industry, because she knows that power will not go as far as emptying its own theaters. She’s the only one who dares to make a joke about the elephant in the middle of the room, one for which anyone else would be kicked to the curb. Not a word about Polanski, not a word about Adele Haenel. For months you’ve been annoyed by the fact that a part of the audience has been heard, for months you’ve suffered because Adèle Haenel has taken the floor to tell her story as a child actress, from her point of view.

All the bodies sitting in the auditorium that night have gathered for one purpose: to verify the absolute power of the powerful. And the powerful love rapists. I mean, the ones who look like them, the powerful ones. We don’t like them despite the rape and because they’re talented. We find them talented and stylish because they are rapists. We love them for that. For their courage in claiming the morbidity of their pleasure, their stupid and systematic impulse to destroy the other, to destroy everything that truly touches them. You take pleasure in predation, it’s your only understanding of style. You know very well what you’re doing when you defend Polanski: you demand that people admire you even in your delinquency. It is this demand that makes all the bodies during the ceremony subject to the same law of silence. They blame political correctness and social networks, as if this omertà just emerged yesterday and it was the feminists’ fault, when in fact it’s been fixed this way for decades: during French film ceremonies, you never joke about the susceptibility of the bosses. So everyone keeps quiet, everyone smiles. If the child rapist was the janitor or the cleaner, he would be shown no quarter: police, prison, thunderous declamations, spirited defenses of the victim and general condemnation. But if the rapist is a powerful man: respect and solidarity. Never speak in public about what happens during the castings, or during the rehearsals, or on the set, or during the promos. It’s something that can be told, it’s something that’s known. Everyone knows it. The law of silence prevails every time. It’s by respecting this rule that we select our employees.

Even though we’ve known all this for years, the truth is that the arrogance of power always catches us by surprise. That's the beauty of it – your filth – it works every time. It’s still so humiliating to watch the participants take turns at the podium, whether to announce or to receive a prize. You necessarily identify yourself – not just me, who is part of this seraglio, but anyone watching the ceremony, you identify and you are humiliated by proxy. So much silence, so much submission, so many eager to be servile. We recognize ourselves. You feel like dying. Because at the end of the exercise, we know that we are all employees of this big mess. We are humiliated by proxy when we watch them remain silent, when they know that if Portrait of the Girl on Fire didn’t finish with any major awards in the end, this is entirely because Adèle Haenel spoke out: it is a matter of making it clear to the victims who might want to tell their story that they would do well to think before breaking the law of silence. Humiliated by proxy that you dared to summon two directors who have never received and probably never will receive the best director award to present the prize to Roman fucking Polanski. Himself. In our faces. You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Twenty-five million, that's more than fourteen times the budget of Les Misérables, and the guy can’t even get his film into the box office as one of the five most seen films of the year. And you reward him. And you know very well what you’re doing – that the humiliation suffered by a whole section of the audience who understood the message very well will extend to the next prize, Les Misérables, when you call the most vulnerable bodies in the theatre to the stage, those who are known to risk their skins at the slightest police check, and that if there are not enough chicks among them, we can see that they are not lacking in intelligence and we know that they know how direct the link is between the impunity of the rapist celebrated that night and the situation in the neighborhood where they live. The directors who award the price of your impunity, the directors whose price is stained by your ignominy – same struggle. As employees of the film industry, they all know that if they want to work tomorrow, they have to keep quiet. Not even a joke. That’s the spectacle of the Caesars. And the coincidences of the calendar mean that the message is valid on all fronts: three months of strike action to protest against a pension reform that we don’t want and that you’re going to force through. It’s the same message from the same circles to the same people: “Shut up, shut up, your consent is in your ass, and you smile when you see me because I’m powerful, because I have all the money, because I’m the boss.”

So when Adele Haenel stood up, it was sacrilege on the march. A troublemaking employee, one of those ones won’t force herself to smile when people trash her in public, who won’t force herself to applaud the spectacle of her own humiliation. Adèle stands up, as she has already stood up, to say here’s how I see your story of director and his teenage actress, here’s how I lived it, here’s how I wear it, here’s how it sticks to my skin. Because you can tell it to us in all shades, your stupid separation between man and artist - all victims of rape by artists know that there is no miraculous division between the raped/rapists body and the creative body. You carry around what you are and that’s it. Go ahead and explain to me how I should check the raped girl inside me at the door before I start writing, you buffoons.

Adèle stands up and walks out. On the evening of February 28th we didn’t learn anything we didn't already know about the great French film industry, but we did learn how to wear an evening gown: like a warrior. The same way you strut on high heels: like you plan to tear the whole building down; like how you walk: back straight, shoulders open, and your neck stiffened with anger. The most beautiful image in forty-five years of the ceremony is that of Adèle Haenel descending the stairs to exit and applauding you. It’s an image of someone dipping out, after telling you where you can stick it. I’d give 80% of my feminist library for that image. Adèle, I don't know if I’m female gazing you or male gazing you, but I am love-gazing at you on a loop on my phone for walking out like that. Your body, your eyes, your back, your voice, your gestures all said: "yes we’re the dumb bitches, we’re the humiliated ones, those who are supposed to shut our mouths and take our lumps from you, you’re the bosses, you have the power and the arrogance that goes with it but we aren’t going to just sit here and say nothing. You won’t get our respect. We’re outta here. You guys can go ahead and do this shit with each other on your own. You can celebrate, humiliate each other. Kill, rape, exploit, smash everything in sight. We’re standing up and walking out of here. It’s probably a harbinger of the days to come. The difference is not between men and women, but between the dominated and the dominant, between those who intend to confiscate the power of narrative and impose their decisions, and those who will stand up and walking out screaming. That is the only possible answer to your policies. When things don’t go well, when they go too far, we stand up and walk out shouting, and you can feel insulted, even though were are the ones with the short end of the stick, even if we have to take your shitty power to our face every day. You should know you are despised, that you disgust us. We have no respect for your masquerade of respectability. Your world is disgusting. Your love of power is morbid, your power is sinister., You ghouls. The world you’ve created, and over which you pathetically rule, is unbreathable. We’re standing up and we're walking out. It’s over. We’re standing up. We’re walking out. We're shouting. Fuck you guys.

***

[1] The French government recently announced it might invoke emergency provisions in order to jam through its highly unpopular pension reform bill. --Trans.

#Virginie Despentes #feminism #patriarchy #portrait of a lady on fire #adele haenel #france #negation

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maklerkassel2 · 4 years ago

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Mental Health issues in the Jail Procedure

Need to the mentally sick be put in the mainstream inhabitants of a jail? Odds are you have by no means given a great deal - if any - assumed to this question. A paranoid schizophrenic kills an individual since the voices in his head notify him that individual is an alien hoping to steal his brain. Is that schizophrenic protected in a prison? Are the other prisoners secure with him (or her) there? A particular person struggling with critical bipolar problem shoplifts an armload of apparel all through an attack of acute mania. He or she is despatched to jail, to co-exist with gangbangers, rapists, and murderers. Or, maybe even worse, to reside in a solitary mobile with no human interaction, for 23 out of 24 hrs every single day. The acute mania shifts to intense melancholy. What are the probabilities he or she will survive the jail term? In accordance to the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Stats, in 1998 somewhere around three hundred,000 inmates experienced some kind of mental health issues. A decade afterwards, that range rose to 1.25 million. The National Alliance for the Mentally Unwell (NAMI) states that sixteen per cent of the jail populace can be categorised as severely mentally ill. This indicates that they healthy the psychiatric classification for sicknesses this sort of as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and main melancholy. On the other hand, the percentage skyrockets to as large as fifty % when altered to involve other psychological diseases, this sort of as anti-social character condition, and borderline individuality condition. Two major leads to attribute to the increase of mentally sick inmates: "Deinstitutionalization" - the approach of closing down mental hospitals all over the place. This started in the 1950s but received sturdy momentum in the nineteen eighties. In the 1950s, the U.S. had 600,000 state run healthcare facility beds for individuals suffering from any type of mental health issues. For the reason that of deinstitutionalization and the subsequent cutting of point out and federal funding, the U.S. now has just forty,000 beds for the mentally sick. If you enjoyed this information and you would like to obtain more details pertaining to Alzheimerversicherung Kassel kindly see our web-page. The incapacity to get proper cure remaining this section of our inhabitants vulnerable and, as a result, several of them now land in prisons. The 2nd situation is the harder sentencing laws executed in the 1980s and nineteen nineties. This is specially true with the arrival and pursuit of our "War on Medicines". People today with mental health issues use and abuse medications at a greater charge than the common population. They are also more possible to get caught, arrested, and imprisoned. Deinstitutionalization has not worked. All this has managed to do is to shift the mentally unwell from hospitals to prisons - a single establishment to a further. We have manufactured it a crime to be mentally sick. The most significant psychiatric facility in the U.S. is just not a healthcare facility it really is a prison. At any provided time, Rikers Island in New York City residences an estimated three,000 mentally sick prisoners. The ordinary inmate populace at Rikers Island is 14,000. 1 out of just about every four to 5 inmates at this jail experience from mental sickness. Florida decide Steven Leifman, who chairs the Mental Wellness Committee for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, states that, "The sad irony is we did not deinstitutionalize, we have reinstitutionalized-from terrible point out psychological hospitals to awful state jails. We do not even provide treatment method for the mentally sick in jail. We're just warehousing them."

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theadorablespderman · 5 years ago

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Please excuse the long post. But I want to write something for women about what I’ve learned, being a 21 year old women, about safety and the shit things women feel we need to do so we’re not attacked by shithead on a daily basis:

Two girls my age have been murdered 30 miles from where I live. The girl who was killed just recently was found and the suspect is in prison, he kidnapped her, killed her, and burned her body. And a girl 6 months ago was killed by a guy she dated for 2 weeks. It’s so scary being a woman and I live in a pretty safe area and it’s just heartbreaking. I’ve had some serious anxiety issues from this and I’m just scared to even meet any men or date or do anything because like this is what can happen. And these girls were smart, strong women and they’re just gone now and that’s terrifying.

Anyways guys I just haven’t been active on tumblr because this has been weighing heavy on my mind. Please women, practice safe dating, be aware of your surroundings, meet in public places, and don’t trust anyone alone until you’re sure you know them. It’s not our fault if we are murdered, it’s the killer, but unfortunately we have to try and minimize the dangers that come with being the sex we are (men get murdered too, I know this, but being a woman you’re raised in constant fear of what some men can and will do to you) I’m just saying women are born into this culture of being the weaker sex, the targeted sex, and dear lord my fellow women I wish we weren’t, so let’s fight back, let’s be safe, and that might not always work but know that I’m being you and so are millions of others. It’s so important to understand that we don’t need to seek protection. We can protect ourselves and police, neighbors, or family may not hear or heed our cries for help, for protection, for understanding but that is their wrong doing.

Idk guys.....I’m just feeling a lot of things and I want any young girl reading this...even if you’re not a girl, but I want to specifically let young women know:

1. You will never owe anyone anything you feel uncomfortable giving, or feel obligated to provide because the other party made you feel guilty, or lesser for not providing it (this includes your time, sex, conversation, money, or a smile)

2. Unfortunately, what we wear will be considered by some low life’s out there as invitations to take what you aren’t willing to give. You dress how you want to dress, but always be prepared to defend yourself. There are dangers to wearing certain clothing (but guess what, I still wear those items of clothing) but it is nieve to think that in the age we live in men (or possibly other women) will not in their fucked up brains think that’s still some fucked up invatation. Be prepared to slap those assholes, but don’t think they no longer exist because light has been shed of rape culture. Always always be prepared. No matter what your wearing, always know that someone is going to think you owe them something because of how you look (how much makeup you wear, what close you have one, damn it, what kind of music you listen to). They are awful people, but they exist so please be aware of that and do everything in your power to be vigilant of that. (I’m not wanting to victim blame any survivors. If you’ve been raped and have or haven’t done these things it is not your fault, you should never be blamed. It’s the asshole who violate you and no one else, but if there are ways we as a society can try and flush the assholes out before they can hurt anyone else, I want to try and make women aware of this. So please I love and support any survivors and would never dream of making you feel bad or lessor if you’ve been raped or abused. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT)

3. That leads me to three. Like I said. If you are abused, attacked, raped, beaten, etc. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. People will ask “why didn’t you do this?” Or “you should’ve done this” and that’s what’s already going through your head to some degree. It’s no ones bussiness to know why you made the choices you did. No is fucking no and fighting or letting whatever happen happen it’s no different. You are a survivor, you are still worthy of everything the worth has to offer ( that is good) and you are not at fault. People who point the finger at you are victim blamers and not worth your time.

4. You should always be aware of your surroundings as women. I’m in college and while walking to your car or anywhere really, my college campus has made sure to post flyers around the school about safety practices. I’ve also read online some things convicted rapists look for in their prey. Often they will look for a women who seems to be alone, most likely who seems distracted, either by taking on the phone, with headphones in, or looking down at something while walking. what I did during my night classes I would keep one headphone in while walking the long walk out to my car in the dark, I’d keep my headphone in, stay on the sidewalk with street lamps and away from any bushes and I’d call my mom because she’s the person I trust most in the world and lives close by that may be a different person for you. Anyways I would have her on the phone and because my headphone was in it didn’t look like I was talking to anyone. It made me feel safer and I still was able to stay aware of my surroundings) I would either but a hood over my head if I had my hair in a bun which is basically every day, but that is something rapists look for. Buns. It’s easy to grab.

Additional safe practices while walking anywhere even during the day in sketchy areas or just when your alone and someone could attack you, I always walk with my keys between my knuckles so I could punch and injure or impale any attackers. I will always text or call my parents (may be someone else for you) to let them know I’m leaving and I’ll let them know once I’m in my car. I also carry pepper spray and I keep my head constantly on a swivel. Looking behind me, side to side, and if I’m going through any parking lots I stay away from large vans or trucks...basically any car I can’t clearly see into from a distance. If I have to go between cars to get into my own I will often do a quick look over the car, under the cars, and check to see if anyone is around. I then will put my phone in hand ready to press the emergency button and I’ll unlock my car because it’s old as hell and I don’t have a remote. I hop in the car and immediately lock it again.

Do not accept someone’s request for your help if it has to do with putting anything in their car or lurering you away from a public place. If you do wish to help, find a local security guard, campus police, or even just a group of friends to come with you. But law inforcement is better. If it’s a legitiment request for help the person should not begrudge you for being extra hands or requesting a security guard help them. Additionally if you feel uncomfortable and someone disabled requests your help getting into a car or anything call 911 or your local police station that a disable individual require help getting into their vehicle and you feel that the police would be more qualified.

Often attackers bank on peoples good nature and disguise their plans in a veil of trying to get you to help them with odd tasks. Should you stop helping and being a good person? No! But be safe and aware while you do it!

5. Get an if I go missing file together. This is something off of Crime Junkies Podcast (amazing go listen if you haven’t already). If I go missing folder may seem grusom and errie but I promise it’s will help. You put all your passwords, account info, for you bank, phone, social media, everything in the folder. Make sure to keep it up to date and file anything away that might come in handy if you go missing. Tell one or two trusted family members or friends about it and it’s location (any access codes or other info on how to get to it) and only tell the people you know you could trust. This way if god forbid something does happen to you. Instead of having to wait for warrants and all that jazz, family members and friends can look into your recent history to see if you have in fact dropped off the grid, if there has been any unusual activity etc, and then they can provide this info to the police who will be days ahead of the investiagtion without having to serve warents to phone, bank, and other companies who other wise would not be able to provide account details unless they have your password and information. Doing a If I Go Missing folder could possibly lead the police to your kidnapped, killer, or if you’re alive, even you. It’s so so so so smart to have!

6. If someone attack’s you, leave as much evidence behind as you possibly can. Spit everywhere, throw up, pee, poop, scratch their bodies, get their dna allother you and get your all over them. If your being raped and can pee or poop or vomit on the attacker that is a very good way to try and stop them, it’s unexpected and they won’t want to be covered in your waste or vomit. Another self defense tactic my dad had told me from the time I was a child (sad he had to tell a child this) but if you can play as though your into the whole sexual getting raped thing long enough to get your hands free, and if your in a position where you can see the attackers penis, reach down like youre gonna touch and participate and then my dads exact words “grab his dick and squeeze tight, yank that thing and don’t stop till your arms are over your head” they might throw up from the pain but you can then hopefully make an excapr and if you were able to really injure them the police should find the guy with the torn scrotum in a hospital or at the crime scene. There are things you can insert into your vagina, it looks like a weird condom almost and I’m sure there are multiple kinds but it’s an anti rape device that when inserted if you are raped the insert will act as though it’s a condom when they insert their penis into the vagina, the insert will allow the penis to enter, but when it’s pulled out the man will find his penis now has a barbed condom basically stuck to his penis that basically will shred it if he tries to take it off. Here’s a picture:

There are other amazing things out there but don’t let someon threaten you into leaving an area, or threaten you into having sex or anything. You always have a choice and even with a gun to your head it’s better to scream, not always, but most of the time this will scare the attacker and they will then start running. You could be killed still, but people will know what happened, there is most likely be witnesses, and there won’t be a search for the body.

Sorry I know this is so not my normal blog post and it’s not even fandom but I want everyone to feel like this is a place we can talk about how to be safe as a women. If anyone has ideas or things they do to help their safety pleas reblogg or just comment or just share with some one somewhere about our rights as women. I want to know what my fellow sisters do to stay safe, or if there are any questions.

I don’t pretend to know what it’s like as a victim. I was jumped by a man on a date when I thought he seemed like a nice guy, and I let him drive me over to my car in the dark. He put my seat down and was all over me in a second. Hands on my breasts and butt. I said no after unfreezing and I felt so so sick like I was nothing. But he did stop when I said no and I got out of the car and cried and sobbed. My dad held me for an hour when I got home because I knew I was a lucky one. So I’m not a victim, I was lucky because he could’ve easily raped me and he didn’t. So I don’t pretend to know what it’s like, but that pure gut wrenching, sickening terror I felt in that car for five minutes gave me a look what it must be like and I just want the women out there to know we can be safe and then even if we are or aren’t safe you never ask to be raped or killed or attacked. We all have awful stories but it’s important to voice “no” and to fight back. It’s important we she we are not to be trifled with.

Anyways. I’m sorry again for that taking long and thank you for letting me ramble. I feel my anxety has dropped a level. Stay safe out there!

#true crime #crime junkie #crime #protecting women #women #feminist #women feminist #sorry for thr long post

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easnuppa · 5 years ago

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The outlawˋs way

Chapter 5, part 1

Another month had gone and Christmas was just around the corner, Daryl was surprised at how fast they had gotten into the routines of playing house, they each had their chores they did during the day, Lissy made him the most tasty meals he had ever tasted of the animals he hunted down in the forest, at night they relaxed in front of the fire before they ended up in bed in hot passion, he had realized that this was the life he had always dreamed of, how he was gonna leave her as soon as the weather was getting warmer was beyond him, it was gonna rip both of them apart, he had tried to keep himself for caring for her, but it was useless, he had given up the fight, he felt like the luckiest bastard every night when she had fallen asleep on his chest, if only he was a free man, then he would drag this amazing woman to Blackstone church and marry her in an instant and never let her go, but he knew that it wasn’t in his cards to do so.

He had heard the rumours that his family was on the search for him, he had played with the thought of maybe tracking them down and give them the money and tell them he was gonna start a life on his own, but he knew that his pa, Will Dixon, would never accept that, Dixons stuck together, no matter what.

In two days, it was Christmas and he wanted to do something special for her, he was planning on going out hunting, maybe he got lucky and stumbled upon a buck, she would be so happy, getting deer meat for the Christmas dinner. He loved to see her eyes shining and a wide smile on her lips, he would do anything to watch that beautiful smile every day for the rest of his life. And with that thought he drifted off to sleep.

Jack walked into the jail house and was met by the marshal and sheriff Grimes, they both nodded to him as he sat down, the men had a serious look on their faces and Jack felt his stomach turn.

Sherriff Grimes turned to him.

"We have just gotten it confirmed that the man staying at Miss Lissybeth’s ranch is Daryl Dixon, we need to bring him in and then the marshal will bring him to the next county where he will stand trail and be hanged."

Jack felt like he had just been punched in the gut, ever since he and Grimes had gone out to the ranch and caught Lissy and her ranch hand in bed, he had known it was one of the Dixon boys. He had recognized him from one of the posters that was hanging all over their neighbour town.

And when Grimes told Lissy about the rumours the marshal had told him, it all clicked in his head. He had pretended like nothing, hoping that the Dixon boy would be on the run before Grimes could figure it out on his own. He stared down into the table.

"If we go out there to arrest him it will crush Lissybeth, Mary Agnes said she has never seen Lissybeth this happy."

Grimes sighed and the marshal pushed out his chest.

"We can’t think of a woman’s feelings when we have a killer and a rapist on our hands here, you don’t know what this guy is capable of, I was there, in Golden Creek, I saw kids being been hanged, I saw a woman tied up naked, they had burned down the entire town."

Jacks fiery anger flared up.

"It’s not just some damn woman, marshal, and the guy have been living on her ranch, alone with her and not even so much broken a hair on her pretty little head, I don’t doubt for a second that the rest of the Dixon gang is killers and rapists and what not, but not this guy, he has taken care of Lissy and protected her for over two months now".

The marshal grinned and Jack clenched his jaw.

"Yeah, I’ve heard about what kind of ranch she is running out there, and that makes it more obvious that it is Daryl Dixon we have on our hands, it’s well known that they only socialise with whores!"

Grimes started to say something, but Jacks anger had now turned into white hot rage, the woman was his friend, his fiancés best friend, and he knew that Lissy was nothing like what the ugly rumours where saying.

He stood up so quickly that the chair crashed to the floor behind him.

"Ya be careful about what ya say about her, ya hear. She is a respectable young lady, from a well-known and respectable family, the rumours are just that, rumours, it’s not true. You don’t know what Lissybeth has been through, she runs the best horse ranch in this county."

The sheriff tried to calm Jack down, but the marshal refused to be talked down to by a deputy.

"She is also hiding a wanted man! It is a crime on its own, she should be hanged right next to him!"

Now Grimes was on his feet, turned towards the marshal.

"Now calm down, from my knowledge miss Lissybeth has no idea that she has hired a Dixon to help her out on her ranch."

The marshal calmed down a bit.

"Well either way we need to go out there and arrest him before he escapes," the marshal hoisted his trousers up on his large belly, proud of himself that he would be the one bringing in one of the Dixon boys.

Jack lifted the chair back up.

"Can’t we at least wait until after Christmas?", but the marshal wouldn’t budge.

"The sooner we capture him, the sooner he will dangle, and justice will be served! We go out there now!"

The marshal marched out of the prison and Jack turned to his boss and friend.

"What are we gonna do? This will destroy her!"

Grimes sighed and shrugged.

"There’s really not much we can do, if it hadn’t been for all the gossip going around town, he would never have sniffed out that the Dixon boy was only an hour away, and he would have gone to the next town to search for him. And I’m afraid we will have a bigger problem on our hands when the marshal brings in Daryl. He will brag about it to everyone who bothers to listen, and the news will soon spread all the way over the mountain pass and that will bring the Dixon gang right into our lap."

Jack nodded.

“We need to get him out of town before he can brag about it to anyone,” Grimes nodded, and the two men followed after the marshal.

Lissy heard horses outside and lifted her rifle before she stepped out onto the porch, she had her rifle aimed at the man in front wearing all black.

"What brings you men out here so close to Christmas, and with a marshal?"

They all got down from their horses and tied them to the post next to her porch, the three men stepped up onto the porch.

"That’s close enough until you all explain your business here," she said, still aiming at the marshal.

Jack took a step closer to her and grabbed her rifle.

"Lissy, we don’t want any trouble, we need to speak with your ranch help, Daryl, is he here?"

Lissy knew what that meant, they had figured out who he was and they were here to arrest him, she was tempted to tell them that Daryl had left that morning, but she knew she couldn’t, they would soon figure out she was lying and then she would be brought in as well.

"He’s out hunting, he has been gone all morning, he will probably be back soon."

The marshal gave the other two men a wide grin.

"Did ya hear that boys, I guess we will just wait for the man inside then, I’m sure the pretty little miss will offer us something to drink while we are waiting."

The man pushed passed Lissy like he owned the place, and both Jack and Grimes sent her apologetic looks, Lissy was almost growling as she saw the marshal was sat in Daryls chair at the end of the table, his black Stetson lazily thrown onto the table.

Lissy grabbed three tin cups and placed them down in front of the three men, oh she was really gonna give Jack a piece of her mind the next time she caught him alone, or Grimes for that matter, it didn’t matter much to her.

She grabbed the hot kettle off the fire and filled the cups with coffee, she saw the marshal was wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"Don’t you have anything stronger miss?"

Lissy had her jaws clenched so hard so she was damn sure everyone in the room could hear it.

"I don’t know what kind of place this is marshal, but I assure you, this is my house and not a damn saloon, you can drink what I offer, if that’s not good enough for you then I suggest you drag your ass back to town."

The marshal lifted his gaze, she could see the man was deeply offended, because his chin was literally jiggling.

"You watch your tongue miss! I know all about your ranch and what kind of business you run here!"

Lissy’s eyes where cold as ice as she took a step closer to the marshal, the hot kettle dangerously swinging in her hand, right then the door swung open and Daryl walked in.

He closed the door and his eyes went wide when he eyed the three men sitting around Lissy’s table.

He was about to turn and run out of the door, when he heard the familiar click from the pistol hammer being pulled back.

"Daryl Dixon you are under arrest for horse and cattle theft, bank robbery, rape and killing 25 men and woman!"

The marshal was now ignoring Lissy and was now moving around the table and grabbing Daryl in the arm, bending both his hand behind his back.

Lissy could only just stand back and watch as the marshal cuffed his hands together and pushed Daryl outside onto the porch so hard that he stumbled and fell down the stairs, the marshal dragged him up at his feet.

Grimes followed suit, Jack had gotten up from his chair and gave Lissy an apologetic look.

"I’m truly sorry Lissy, I really didn’t want this to happen."

Lissy followed the men outside and saw how the marshal was tying a rope to Daryls iron cuffs and then tied the other end of the rope to his saddle. Panic threatened to squeeze her heart into a million pieces.

"Wait, let me saddle his horse up," she shouted at the marshal, but the man only laughed a sickening laugh.

"That won’t me necessary miss, this scumbag dog can use his legs back to town!"

Lissy grabbed sheriff Grimes arm.

"You guys can’t be serious? The snow is too deep, you can’t drag him all the way into town!" Her voice had reached a panic-struck high pitch, her frantic wide eyes flickered between Jack and the sheriff.

The sheriff cleared his voice.

"It wouldn’t hurt to let the man get on his horse," he said as he walked up to the marshal, the marshal turned to sheriff.

"If he dies on the way into town, then we will be spared the hassle of a trail."

Lissy couldn’t believe what she heard, she tried to make it passed Jack and down to Daryl where he was standing only in his shirt shivering from the cold, his pistol belt was removed and the sheriff gave them to Jack, Jack grabbed the pistol belt and pushed it into Lissy’s stomach as he held her back, stopping her from running up to Daryl, he leaned in and whispered.

"You hold on to the man’s guns, he might need them later on."

Lissy looked confused up at Jack, but Jack let her go and walked over to his horse and got up just the same time as the sheriff. She kept staring at Daryl, hoping that he would look at her just one last time, but the marshal pushed his heals into his horses’ flanks and the horse started trotting, the rope yanked Daryl and he had to run to keep up. Hot tears ran down her cheeks and when they all disappeared out of her sight she walked into her house and collapsed at the floor.

Daryl was pushed harshly into a prison cell, he collapsed on the bunkbed, his body was shivering hard from the cold, his clothes was dripping wet from the snow he had been dragged through half the way into town, he had lost his Stetson hat and his hair was now hanging down wet and frozen to his face, he was shivering so hard he thought his teeth would break, he couldn’t feel his hands and feet no more.

He just sat on the bunkbed, with his arms around himself. The marshal was a real asshole, he could hear how happy he was about his deed.

"Now boys, what ya’ll say, we go over to the saloon and treat ourselves to some fine bourbon, the ride made me a bit chilly, that ranch whores coffee didn’t hit the spot, maybe if I pay her another visit before I drag this dog out of town she will be more willing to bring out the good stuff".

Daryls blood was boiling, he scowled over at the marshal from under his frozen bangs, he was gonna enjoy killing that son of a bitch for talking about his woman like that. Daryl cursed at himself, she was definitely not his woman now, now she knew who she had been bedding for the last month, she probably hated him.

He should have told her. He couldn’t shake how terrified she had looked as the marshal cuffed him and pushed him outside.

Daryl heard the door being shut and he thought he was left alone in the cell, but then he heard the cell door being opened and he glanced up through his bangs, the deputy was standing in front of him with a wool blanket, the man draped it around his shoulders and he clutched at it with his numb hands, the deputy leaned against the bars, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You didn’t hurt her, did you?"

Daryl looked up at him, not really sure what the man was asking, of course he had hurt her, he had kept his real identity from her, he had led her to believe that she had a future with him. It was almost like the man could read his mind; he shook his head slightly.

"I mean you didn’t force yourself on her?"

Daryl shook his head, he wanted to explain himself, tell the man that he cared to much about her, but he couldn’t speak, his teeth where still shattering, he tried to clench his jaws shut.

"Do you care about her?"

Daryl stared at the floor but nodded.

"Yeah, I thought so, she’s a dear friend of mine and my fiancé, if you were a free man, would you do right by her?"

Daryl looked up again with a scowl, but nodded, earning a grin from the deputy as he walked out of the cell and locked it again.

"Try to get some sleep, you should probably remove those wet clothes or else you will probably catch a nasty cold, might end your life before the marshal gets the chance to bring you to trail," the deputy continued, Daryl stared at him between the bars as the deputy went over and sat down in the chair.

It almost sounded like the man wanted him to catch a cold. The door flew open and a woman walked in, Daryl watched as she threw herself around the deputy’s neck and kissed him passionately on the lips, he recognized the woman as Lissy’s friend, the deputy pushed the woman slightly away.

"Not now Mary, we got company."

The woman turned and looked straight at him; he could see the recognition in her eyes.

"Oh, my goodness, isn’t that Lissy’s man?" The deputy nodded and hummed confirmatively.

"Yeah, the marshal just brought him in. Claiming that he got one of the Dixon boys, but I’ve seen the posters, and he doesn’t look like one of them at all."

The woman turned her back to him.

"Is Lissy alright?" She asked, worry latched to her light voice.

"Lissy was a bit shook up, but she’s strong, you know that, I have a feeling it won’t be long until she comes into town to give me and Grimes hell."

The woman, Mary, laughed.

"That sounds like Lissy, what is gonna happen to him?"

Mary looked back at Daryl.

"Well, if he doesn’t catch a nasty cold from being dragged through the deep snow all the way into town, then the marshal will bring him in for a trail and he will probably be sentenced to death by hanging."

Daryl heard the woman gasp.

"Why? What has he done?"

The deputy shrugged.

“The marshal claims he has killed 20 something men, stolen a couple of horses and rape."

The woman gasped again.

"But he has lived with Lissy for over two months now."

Daryl had overheard their conversation; he pushed the words over his cold stiff lips.

"It’s a lie... I’ll admit to the stealing of the horses, I have never killed a man that wasn’t threatening me or one of my family first, but the number isn’t nearly as high as 20, and only one woman, slit ˋer throat so my pa’s boys wouldn’t torture ˋer to death, it was faster that way, painless. I’ve never touched an unwilling woman."

Both the deputy and the woman turned towards him.

"And I’ve never hurt or forced myself onto your friend."

The deputy looked at his fiancé.

"Did you hear the man just confess into some horrible crimes?"

Daryl didn’t quite get the deputies strange behaviour, his fiancés answer confused him even more.

"oh my, he must be getting sick, maybe the fever is making him delirious, it sure works fast."

Daryls anger flared up, they were talking about him like he was retarded, he pushed himself up on his feet, and shuffled his way over against the bars, he had to clench his hands around the steel bars to keep himself standing.

"Are ya two deaf or something, I just told ya what I’ve done, so ya better run off to the marshal and make sure he gets his story straight."

The deputy moved up to the bars and stared Daryl dead in the eyes.

"I’m not gonna do shit, and you keep your mouth shut and get some sleep or I’ll come in there and cut out that tongue of yours, so you’ll be forced to keep your mouth shut."

The deputy tone was threatening, Daryl felt drained and shuffled back to the bunkbed and slumped down on it, he pulled the blanket around himself, it didn’t take long until he fell asleep from the exhaustion.

Lissy had spent almost two nights and three days in bed, crying and wrapping her arms around the pillow Daryl had used. The same empty and numb feeling she had suffered through when her family were slayed down had overtaken her body, she only forced herself out to take care of the horses and then returned to her bed.

The third day she had gotten out of bed, her mind was still numb, but her body functioned on her own, she had gotten dressed and saddled up her mare and she rode into Blackstone.

She left her horse at the rental stable and walked over to the jailhouse, she needed to see him one more time. Luckily the asshole of a marshal wasn’t there when she pushed the door open, only the sheriff and her friend Jack where there, sitting at the sheriff’s desk talking quietly, they both got quiet when she walked into the room, she met their eyes.

"I want to see him!" She demanded, she saw how Jack and Grimes exchanged looks before Grimes nodded, and Jack got up to his feet and unlocked the prison cell.

Lissy walked straight passed him and into the small cell, Daryl was laying on the hard bunkbed with a blanket pulled over him, she could see how his body was shivering and she sat down next to him on the bed, she grabbed his shoulder and shook it.

"Daryl?" She kept her voice low, but he didn’t react to her, she got up to her feet and leaned over to get a look at him, his hair was dripping wet from sweat, his face was pale but his cheeks where flaming red, she brushed the back of her hand over his forehead and gasped, she turned towards the two men who were now standing in the cell door.

"He is burning up! You need to fetch the doctor."

Jack moved into the cell.

"We know Lissy, he came down with a cold two days ago, the doctor has been here, but he won’t do shit, ‘cause the marshal has ordered him to stay away."

@of-storms-and-sadness , @twdeadfanfic

#daryl dixon fanfic #the walking dead daryl #daryl dixon #twd daryl #daryl fanfiction #daryldixon/oc #fluff/smut #Angst #Wild West Au

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darthkieduss · 6 years ago

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Reasons I hate Fat Donnie Trump (will update frequently)

#Republican, duh. #Narcissistic Personality Order #He lost the Popular vote. #No previous political experience #Has unrealistic ideas about how to solve America's problems, such as getting Mexico to pay for a wall to keep illegal immigrants out. #Vice President is a crazy fundamentalist Christian homophobic wackjob who thinks electroshock therapy cures homosexuality and can't be alone with a woman without his wife present. #Believes in unscientific ideas such as the idea that vaccines cause autism (I am autistic so this is a bit personal) #Has made comments alluding to sexual harassment. #Can't let any slight go. Even comments made about his sign. Jeez, Obama simply shrugged off the trolls and haters. #Won't stop bitch-tweeting. #Enacted the separation of children from their parents. #Tried to ban trans folks from the military. As long as they serve our country, who cares? #Suspended CNN's press pass after some tough questioning. #Is imposing insanely high tariffs on imported goods, mostly from China. #Supports unconstitutional profiling of Muslims. #Supports killing civilians in war. “We gotta take our their families” WHO THINKS LIKE THIS? #Posted troops on the border just for political advantage in the 2018 mid-terms. #Is a shameless self-promoter. #Can't admit his own faults. #Believes he's qualified for president because he's rich (said this in 2013) #Has passed insane tax cuts for the rich, which only increase America's budget deficit and national debt. TRICKLE-DOWN NEVER WORKS. #Had to be discouraged from invading Venezuela, who hasn't done anything to us and poses no threat to us. #Gets advice from Fox News. #Pulled out the Iran deal which was working. #Thinks that the way to show strength is by being a dick. #Cheated on every one of his wives and lied about it. We impeached Bill Clinton for it. #Has increased the military budget way too much. We spend $664 BILLION on the military. It doesn't need anymore. #Claimed Obama spied on him by wiretapping the Trump towers. Provided no evidence. #When he is criticized for something, he claims “Obama started it...” *facepalm* #LIES ON A CONSTANT BASIS. I think he lies just to see what his fans will believe... #He won't admit he lost the popular vote. He says "If you deduct the illegal voters." Oh please... #Is undoing everything Obama did just because it was Obama that did it. If he could bring back Osama bin Laden, he would. #WORLD LEADERS ARE LAUGHING AT HIM AND US #He has his cabinet kiss his ass on a constant basis. #He committed campaign finance violations during the election. #He fired FBI Director Jimmy the Giant Comey just because he wouldn't swear loyalty to him and was investigating him. That’s Obstruction of Justice. #Attacked former Attorney General Jeff Sessions for not closing the Mueller investigation. #He said he wanted to lower the minimum wage back in 2015. #The infamous "Mexicans are rapists" Comment. #Attacked the late John McCain for being a Prisoner-of-War. #Gave out a Senator's cellphone number out of spite. #Blamed Megyn Kelly's tough questioning on her period. #He said "Bring back torture EVEN IF IT DOESN'T WORK". (2015) ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! #Tried to have his political opponents locked up. #"Jokes" about being president-for-life. If Obama had "joked" about this, the right would've lost their shit. #Threatened martial law in Chicago. #Praised Protestant bigot Norman Peale, who only opposed JFK simply because he was Catholic. #He violated the Presidential Records Act. #One of his tax cuts gave the poor $40, the ultra-rich $940,000 #He appeals to insecure men. #He and Jeff Sessions said it is ok to discriminate against gay people. #Complains about people not respecting the flag, says the guy who molests it. #Wants North Korean-style Military Parades. #Started that Obama birth certificate bullshit... He only said Obama was born in America in 2016...when it was politically-convenient. (*cough* back-pedaling) #He believes women are beneath him. #Doesn't believe in Global Warming. #Wouldn't stop saying interrupting Clinton in the debates. #Has more in common with the criminal Richard Nixon than anyone else. (Edit: He called for an end to investigations like Tricky Dick did in ‘74) #3.2 MILLION Americans lost their health insurance in Trump's first year. #"A terror attack would help me politically bigly." or we could NOT have a terrorist attack, thank you. #Claimed he would've run into a school shooting to confront the shooter without a weapon. BULLSHIT. #His lawyers say "I can't let him testify because he can't stop lying." #His budget obliterated funding for Science, Education, EPA & labor. #He encourages Republicans to break the law. #Tweeted FAKE photos to convince his fans that the border wall is being built. #Has committed obstruction of justice. (Edit: Confirmed by Mueller) #Said he's in favor of bombing civilians. #He had the USAF bomb an antivenom medical facility in Syria. #He said he only received $1 Million from his father. HE GOT $400 Million. ANOTHER LIE. #He makes everything about himself. Even 9/11. Who makes 9/11 about himself? #Claims he's completely immune to lawsuits over constitutional violations. Nixon said that, but it didn't work for him. #He's driving us to another Great Depression. #He threatened to punish the media if they weren't nice to him. #He calls the press "The enemy of the people" when they don't kiss his ass. #He calls Sean Hannity every night. Sean Hannity is a partisan hack who wouldn't turn on a Republican president even if he found out he was using JFK's Eternal Flame to light farts. He’s so far up Trump’s ass he can taste his lunch. #He still uses his private NON-SECURE cell phone, creating HUGE National Security problems. #He admitted his attacks on the media are just to discredit negative stories. #He claims he has the power to pardon himself. NO THE HELL HE DOESN'T. #Giuliani said Trump can't testify because his memory keeps changing. #THE MOST THIN-SKINNED PRESIDENT. #He is against the protections for pre-existing conditions. HE is a pre-existing condition. #When told Kim Jong-Un is a murderer, he responded "He's a tough guy." #He says Americans should obey him like North Koreans are forced at gunpoint to obey Kim Jong-un. #He trusts brutal dictators, but not our closest allies. #He is jealous of Kim Jong-Un's absolute grip on power. #He lied about the German crime rate to justify his immigration policies. #He suggested destroying the Constitution so he can deport immigrants faster. #Authorized USING LETHAL FORCE ON UNARMED MIGRANTS!!! #Lied to the United Nations, saying poverty in America doesn't actually exist. I PERSONALLY know people who are living in poverty. #He issued a gag order to stop government employees from talking to reporters. #He said, on tape, that if Senator Elizabeth Warren proved she was Native American, he would donate $1 million to a charity of her choice. When she did, and someone pointed it out, he said "I didn't say that." Whether or not he’s obligated to pay, he said he would but now he’s saying he didn’t say it. #Says people who criticize him are a threat to America. #His trade wars have cost 100,000+ American jobs. #People who work for him tend to be convicted of crimes... #Makes slanderous lies about us Democrats. #Told German Chancellor she owes him $1 Trillion even though she doesn't him shit. #76% of the claims Trump makes during his rallies are LIES. #He has committed at least NINE impeachable offenses. #He said he believes Russian president Vladimir Putin over OUR OWN intelligence agencies. #He once said in December 2016, "Fuck the law! I don't give a fuck about the law! I want my fucking money!" #Claimed we've won the war on poverty, so let's cut food stamp programs. No we haven't. #He threatened to nuke the economy to spite China. #He said he'd drain the swamp, yet he was 86 lobbyists on his staff. #He thinks everyone else is as stupid as he is. #Corporations are PRAYING that Trump tweets us into a war. #He told a crowd "reality isn't real" so they should ignore it. #Wages have tanked after Trump's wealthy tax cut. #Nixon was guilty as hell and Trump sounds just like him. #He actually claimed you need a Picture ID to buy cereal....CEREAL...WHO IS THIS STUPID?!?! #He claimed people will die if we don't make cars less fuel efficient. #By August 2018 his lie count topped 4,200+. By May 2019, it’s now 10,000+. #His administration is now allowing more toxic asbestos into our daily lives. #His wife plagiarized Michelle Obama in a speech during the election. #He watches tapes of his rallies to marvel at his own "brilliance", if that's what you call it. More like jerking off to himself. #He said military might is more important that jobs. #He said violating ethics rules to meet with Fox news is in "the public's interest" #Discreetly called for Hillary Clinton's assassination by firearm (”Second Amendment people”) if she had won. #Claimed he would ONLY accept the results of the 2016 election IF HE WON. #Said "Let's fucking kill him" of Bashar al-Assad. Yes, Assad is a bad man, but WE DON'T ASSASSINATE PEOPLE. #He said he wants to separate migrants kids from parents INDEFINITELY. #He acted like a total ass on the 2018 9/11 anniversary. #He denies that 3,000+ Puerto Ricans died in Hurricane Maria. #Pentagon officials had to stop Trump from tweeting us into a war. #American taxpayers spent $77 MILLION on Trump's Golf trips. #Criticized Obama for golf trips...has taken more golf trips in 3 years than Obama did in 8. #Said the FBI is a "Cancer to the country". #His administration cut cancer research funding to pay for child prisons. #Puerto Rico won't get statehood simply because they were mean to him. *His administration said Planet is burning down, so let's just ruin it now. *Says he loves North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. “We fell in love”. *Talked about his dick at the debates. *He is being investigated for tax evasion and fraud. *Hates immigrants, married two Eastern European immigrant, son of a Scottish immigrant and grandson of a German immigrant. *Claimed Iraq War was wrong, yet he has increased troop numbers there. *Compared sexual assault victims to arsonists. #He denied Saudi Arabia financial interests...AFTER bragging about them. #He hasn't condemned Saudi Arabia for their murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. #He mocked decorated Navy SEAL, saying they should've gotten Osama bin Laden sooner. WHAT? #He banned 2 Million Federal workers from discussing his impeachment at work. #He demanded that he leave the G20 during the climate change discussion. #He told about skyrocketing national debt: "I won't be here." when it explodes. #Called a US Senator "The Dick". #*His hush money payments were done ILLEGALLY, with campaign cash. #His cult sent bombs to everyone he criticized. Not saying he's directly responsible but that's how cultist his fans are. #He threatened to bring Saturday Night Live to court simply for making fun of him. Awww poor baby, is someone making fun of you? Good. #Never has a president been under so much investigations except Richard Nixon. #He pulled us out of the Paris agreements. #His 2018 government shutdown lasted 35 days and was over a stupid wall. #He only works 40% of the day. He's the laziest POTUS ever. #He pulled us out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. HE STARTED A NEW COLD WAR. #He won’t release his taxes. If he’s got nothing to hide, why HIDE EM? #He threatened us Democrats, saying he has the support of the police, the military and “Bikers for Trump.” Bikers for Trump=BrownShirts. #Claims that windmill causes cancer and kill birds...Are you fucking kidding me? #His son Donny Douchebag got a crowd to chant “AOC sucks” like the douchebag he is. #Claimed his father was born in Germany. Fred Trump was born in NYC, how stupid can you be to not know where your parents were born... #Claims he should get 2 more years added to his term because those 2 years were “stolen” by the Mueller report. *facepalm-cringe* #He told 4 Progressive non-white Congresswomen to “Go back to where you came from”. 3 of 4 were BORN HERE, YOU FUCKING RACIST #One-uped the “go back to your country” but viciously attacking Elijah Cummings and Baltimore in a racist Twitter tirade. #Extorted the Ukrainian President to investigate Joe Biden (finally being impeached) #He's always blaming everybody else, complaining, never taking responsibility. #"I inherited a mess." You inherited millions of dollars, you whiny...little...BITCH!

#Trump #Donald Trump #Fat Donnie #I hate Trump #Why I hate Trump #Bernie 2020 #Why I'm not a Republican #Impeach the MF #Impeach the MFer #Impeach the Motherfucker #I love Bernie

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feministdragon · 6 years ago

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Peter Jackson’s Cartoon War

When director-producer Peter Jackson’s World War I film, “They Shall Not Grow Old,” which miraculously transforms grainy, choppy black-and-white archival footage from the war into a modern 3D color extravaganza, begins, he bombards us with the clichés used to ennoble war. Veterans, over background music, say things like “I wouldn’t have missed it,” “I would go through it all over again because I enjoyed the service life” and “It made me a man.” It must have taken some effort after the war to find the tiny minority of veterans willing to utter this rubbish. Military life is a form of servitude, prolonged exposure to combat leaves you broken, scarred for life by trauma and often so numb you have difficulty connecting with others, and the last thing war does is make you a man.

Far more common was the experience of the actor Wilfrid Lawson, who was wounded in the war and as a result had a metal plate in his skull. He drank heavily to dull the incessant pain. In his memoirs “Inside Memory,” Timothy Findley, who acted with him, recalled that Lawson “always went to bed sodden and all night long he would be dragged from one nightmare to another—often yelling—more often screaming—very often struggling physically to free himself of impeding bedclothes and threatening shapes in the shadows.” He would pound the walls, shouting “Help! Help! Help!” The noise, my dear—and the people.

David Lloyd George, wartime prime minister of Britain, in his memoirs used language like this to describe the conflict:

… [I]nexhaustible vanity that will never admit a mistake … individuals who would rather the million perish than that they as leaders should own—even to themselves—that they were blunderers … the notoriety attained by a narrow and stubborn egotism, unsurpassed among the records of disaster wrought by human complacency … a bad scheme badly handled … impossible orders issued by Generals who had no idea what the execution of their commands really meant … this insane enterprise … this muddy and muddle-headed venture. …

The British Imperial War Museum, which was behind the Jackson film, had no interest in portraying the dark reality of war. War may be savage, brutal and hard, but it is also, according to the myth, ennobling, heroic and selfless. You can believe this drivel only if you have never been in combat, which is what allows Jackson to modernize a cartoon version of war.

The poet Siegfried Sassoon in “The Hero” captured the callousness of war:

“Jack fell as he’d have wished,” the Mother said, And folded up the letter that she’d read. “The Colonel writes so nicely.” Something broke In the tired voice that quavered to a choke. She half looked up. “We mothers are so proud Of our dead soldiers.” Then her face was bowed.

Quietly the Brother Officer went out. He’d told the poor old dear some gallant lies That she would nourish all her days, no doubt. For while he coughed and mumbled, her weak eyes Had shone with gentle triumph, brimmed with joy, Because he’d been so brave, her glorious boy.

He thought how “Jack,” cold-footed, useless swine, Had panicked down the trench that night the mine Went up at Wicked Corner; how he’d tried To get sent home; and how, at last, he died, Blown to small bits. And no one seemed to care Except that lonely woman with white hair.

Our own generals and politicians, who nearly two decades ago launched the greatest strategic blunder in American history and have wasted nearly $6 trillion on conflicts in the Middle East that we cannot win, are no less egotistical and incompetent. The images of our wars are as carefully controlled and censored as the images from World War I. While the futility and human carnage of our current conflicts are rarely acknowledged in public, one might hope that we could confront the suicidal idiocy of World War I a century later.

Leon Wolff, in his book “In Flanders Fields: The 1917 Campaign,” writes of World War I:

“It had meant nothing, solved nothing, and proved nothing; and in so doing had killed 8,538,315 men and variously wounded 21,219,452. Of 7,750,919 others taken prisoner or missing, well over a million were later presumed dead; thus the total deaths (not counting civilians) approach ten million. The moral and mental defects of the leaders of the human race had been demonstrated with some exactitude. One of them (Woodrow Wilson) later admitted that the war had been fought for business interests; another (David Lloyd George) had told a newspaperman: ‘If people really knew, the war would be stopped tomorrow, but of course they don’t—and can’t know. The correspondents don’t write and the censorship wouldn’t pass the truth.’

There is no mention in the film of the colossal stupidity of the British general staff that sent hundreds of thousands of working-class Englishmen—they are seen grinning into the camera with their decayed teeth—in wave after wave, week after week, month after month, into the mouths of German machine guns to be killed or wounded. There is no serious exploration of the iron censorship that hid the realities of the war from the public and saw the press become a shill for warmongers. There is no investigation into how the war was used by the state, as it is today, as an excuse to eradicate civil liberties. There is no look at the immense wealth made by the arms manufacturers and contractors or how the war plunged Britain deep into debt with war-related costs totaling 70 percent of the gross national product. Yes, we see some pictures of gruesome wounds, digitalized into color, yes, we hear how rats ate corpses, but the war in the film is carefully choreographed, stripped of the deafening sounds, repugnant smells and most importantly the crippling fear and terror that make a battlefield a stygian nightmare. We glimpse dead bodies, but there are no long camera shots of the slow agony of those dying of horrific wounds. Sanitized images like these are war pornography. That they are no longer jerky and grainy and have been colorized in 3D merely gives old war porn a modern sheen.

“When the war was not very active, it was really rather fun to be in the front line,” a veteran says in the film. “It was a sort of outdoor camp holiday with a slight spice of danger to make it interesting.”

Insipid comments like that defined the perception of the war at home. The clash between a civilian population that saw the war as “a sort of outdoor camp holiday” and those who experienced it led to profound estrangement. The poet Charles Sorley wrote: “I should like so much to kill whoever was primarily responsible for the war.” And journalist and author Philip Gibbs noted that soldiers had a deep hatred of civilians who believed the lies. “They hated the smiling women in the streets. They loathed the old men. … They desired that profiteers should die by poison-gas. They prayed to God to get the Germans to send Zeppelins to England—to make the people know what war meant.”

Military studies have determined that after 60 days of continuous combat, 98 percent of those who survive will have become psychiatric casualties. The common trait among the 2 percent who were able to endure sustained combat was a predisposition toward “aggressive psychopathic personalities.” Lt. Col. David Grossman wrote: “It is not too far from the mark to observe that there is something about continuous, inescapable combat which will drive 98 percent of all men insane, and the other 2 percent were crazy when they got there.”

The military cliques in American society are as omnipotent as they were in World War I. The symbols of war and militarism, then and now, have a quasi-religious aura, especially in our failed democracy. Our incompetent generals—such as David Petraeus, whose surges only prolonged the Iraq War and raised the casualty figures and whose idea to arm “moderate” rebels in Syria was a debacle—are as lionized as the pig-headed and vainglorious Gen. Douglas Haig, the British commander in chief, who resisted innovations such as the tank, the airplane and the machine gun, which he called “a much overrated weapon.” He believed the cavalry would play the decisive role in winning the war. Haig, in the Battle of the Somme, oversaw 60,000 casualties on the first day of the offensive, July 1, 1916. None of his military objectives were achieved. Twenty thousand lay dead between the lines. The wounded cried out for days. This did not dampen Haig’s ardor to sacrifice his soldiers. Determined to make his plan of bursting through the German lines and unleashing his three divisions of cavalry on the fleeing enemy, he kept the waves of assaults going for four months until winter forced him to cease. By the time Haig was done, the army had suffered more than 400,000 casualties and accomplished nothing. Lt. Col. E.T.F. Sandys, who saw 500 of his soldiers killed or wounded on the first day at the Somme, wrote two months later, “I have never had a moment’s peace since July 1st.” He then shot himself to death in a London hotel room. Joe Sacco’s illustrated book “The Great War,” a 24-foot-long wordless panorama that depicts the first day of the Battle of Somme, reveals more truth about the horror of war than Jackson’s elaborate restoration of old film.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/peter-jacksons-cartoon-war/

Jackson closes the film with an army ditty about prostitution. “You might forget the gas and shell,” the song goes, “but you’ll nev’r forget the Mademoiselle! Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?”

Tens of thousands of girls and women, whose brothers, fathers, sons and husbands were dead or crippled, and whose homes often had been destroyed, became impoverished and often homeless. They were easy prey for the brothels, including the military-run brothels, and the pimps that serviced the soldiers. There is nothing amusing or cute about lying on a straw mat and being raped by as many as 60 men a day, unless you are the rapist.

“Give sorrow words,” William Shakespeare reminded us, “The grief that does not speak whispers the o’erfraught heart and bids it break.”

It is fortunate all the participants in the war are dead. They would find the film another example of the monstrous lie that denied their reality, ignored or minimized their suffering and never held the militarists, careerists, profiteers and imbeciles who prosecuted the war accountable. War is the raison d’être of technological society. It unleashes demons. And those who profit from these demons, then and now, work hard to keep them hidden.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/peter-jacksons-cartoon-war/

#war #Iraq War #warmongers #cowards #technological society #technology #lies we have been told #lies we tell ourselves

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