#governmental corruption

[sac-trained-killer]

Meanwhile we’re still paying ungodly bills for Dumpf’s golf outings and paying those fees TO HIM!

[ahb-writes]

"Who is more the thief: the government that preys on its people, or those who must become thieves in order to survive?"

"Xiang" (A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee)

[old-skyguy]

I'm halfway through FMA: Brotherhood and I'm absolutely obsessed with it. if you know anything about me, you know I am also very much an Ace Attorney fan and I have a habit of assigning characters in new shows I like their own AA alignments and I just had to share this.

Bonus: wow! Cute workplace ship! I sure hope nothing bad happens to them!! :D

(no spoilers)

[natbplease]

actually while we're talking garages do you guys want to see my cd ideas

that was a rhetorical question btw. here they are <3

[stardustto-dust]

Shout out to my college for cancelling one of my modules, putting me in a module for a subject I don't do, and when my classmates and I complained about it, sending us an email saying "don't worry, we'll lie about it on your official record :)".

[thepopoptic]

DOGE Just DISCOVERED the MOTHERLOAD of CORRUPTION!!!

[thewordenreport]

Much more subtle, yet even more damaging, than the ethical lapses by some U.S. justices is the imprint of extra-juridical partisan ideology on the Court, and the related bias in the Constitution that implicitly encourages it. https://thewordenreport-governmentandmarkets.blogspot.com/2025/01/undermining-us-supreme-court-on-roles.html

[arewelemmings]

Anyone who see what I post online can easily tell that I am a liberal. I'm one of those people who believes in doing the right thing, and avoiding doing the wrong thing. As much as I would like to see the government I vote for actually work on my behalf, I want to see them work on behalf of everyone. I am a liberal. And I'm very proud to say that.

[arewelemmings]

Priority

Priority

I yearn to be someone's priority. But I don't see that as me being selfish. Why? Simple.

I'm not alone in this. I want myself and many others with me to be someone's priority. Who's priority? That doofus I voted for, along with many others voting for them, that won the election but still won't represent me and work on my behalf, or the behalf of all of us who cast ballots, thus granting them their distinguished positions.

It's not selfish to demand accountability of the people you elect to work for you in governmental positions. Or, did we forget that, once elected, they work for us, the voters.

Whether local govenrment, county, state or federal, there are many individuals who get voted into office and use their positions for reasons that have nothing to do with helping those who cast the votes to get them there. We can't just cast votes and forget about these people. We have to watch them to see if they keep their campaign promises, or if they go running off to do things quite different from the reasons why we elected them. If they're not working for us, we should vote them out, and replace them with new people in office, again and again until we get good people in office who will do as they say when they're stumping for our votes.

This is the power of the people in a democracy. A democracy is designed to allow the people this power and more. When the people we elect try to cancel this power of the people, they are attempting to destroy democracy from within. We can't let them get away with this.

Keep an eye on what your elected officials do, and how that affects the general population, how it affects you. Then, reevaluate who you're voting for and why. You should vote for those who will do their jobs in a way that makes you their priority. Vote smart.

[porterdavis]

I'm going to post the entire dispatch in hopes more people will read it. It's a stylized version of how US media would cover events in America if they were happening in a foreign country. Chilling.

(Written by Garrett Graff)

-----

Musk Junta Seizes Key Governmental Offices February 1, 2025 By William Boot

WASHINGTON, D.C. — What started Thursday as a political purge of the internal security services accelerated Friday into a full-blown coup, as elite technical units aligned with media oligarch Elon Musk moved to seize key systems at the national treasury, block outside access to federal personnel records, and take offline governmental communication networks.

With rapidity that has stunned even longtime political observers, forces loyal to Musk’s junta have established him as the all-but undisputed unelected head of government in just a matter of days, unwinding the longtime democracy’s constitutional system and its proud nearly 250-year-old tradition of the rule of law. Having secured themselves in key ministries and in a building adjacent to the presidential office complex, Musk’s forces have begun issuing directives to civil service workers and forcing the resignation of officials deemed insufficiently loyal, like the head of the country’s aviation authority.

Subscribe

The G-7 country’s newly installed president, a mid-level oligarch named Donald Trump, appeared amid Musk’s moves to be increasingly merely a figurehead head of state. Trump is a convicted felon with a long record of family corruption and returned in power in late January after a four-year interlude promising retribution and retaliation against foreign opponents and a domestic “Deep State.” He had been charged with attempting to overthrow the peaceful transition of power that had previously removed him from office in 2021, but loyalist elements in the judiciary successfully blocked his prosecution and incarceration, easing his return to power.

Over the last two weeks, loyalist presidential factions and Musk-backed teams have launched sweeping, illegal Stalin-esque purges of the national police forces and prosecutors, as well as offices known as inspectors-general, who are typically responsible for investigating government corruption. While official numbers of the unprecedented ousters were kept secret, rumors swirled in the capital that the scores of career officials affected by the initial purges could rise into the thousands as political commissars continued to assess the backgrounds of members of the police forces. 

The mentally declining and aging head of state, who has long embraced conspiracist thinking, spent much of the week railing in bizarre public remarks against the country’s oppressed racial and ethnic minorities, whom he blamed without evidence for causing a deadly plane crash across the river from the presidential mansion. Unfounded racist attacks on those minorities have been a key foundation of Trump’s unpredicted rise to political power from a career as a real estate magnate and reality TV host and date back to his first announcement that he would seek the presidency in 2015, when he railed against “rapists” being sent into the country from its southern neighbor.

In one of his first moves upon returning to the presidency, he mobilized far-right paramilitary security forces to begin raids at churches, schools, and workplaces to identify and remove racial minorities, including those who had long lived in harmony with the country’s white Christian majority. He also immediately moved to release from prison some 1,500 supporters who had participated in his unsuccessful 2021 insurrection, including members of violent far-right militias who promptly upon release swore fealty to him in any future civil unrest. Elsewhere, even as he released violent criminals onto the streets, Trump by fiat pulled longstanding government security protection from former military and health officials he felt had betrayed him.

Underscoring his apparent disconnection from reality, reports surfaced that the president had ordered military forces to unleash an environmental catastrophe and flood regions of a separatist province known as California that is led by a high-profile political opponent. The order underscored how the military, which had resisted Trump’s unconstitutional power grabs in his first administration, was now led by a subservient defense minister, a favored TV personality with no experience in management who faced an embarrassing series of allegations about his drunken behavior in the workplace.

Foreign allies who had long aligned themselves with the United States on the international stage were unsettled by increasingly destabilizing nationalistic and imperialist rhetoric coming from the president’s social media accounts—largely posted to a network owned and run by Trump himself—and worried in private conversations in capital embassies that he would mobilize the compliant military to fulfill heretofore unimaginable territorial ambitions that included seizing the country’s northern neighbor, which shares the world’s longest undefended border, and potentially colonizing Panama and Greenland.

Both the country’s defense minister, who has previously said he does not believe women should be allowed to serve in combat roles, and Trump’s new interior minister, who appeared on national TV wearing the paramilitary uniform of the border security force central to Trump’s political rise, spent much of their first days echoing and amplifying the president’s hysteria about racial and ethnic minorities. They and other government officials also immediately canceled all official observances of religious and ethnic minority holidays and launched efforts to scrub official websites and prohibit educating workers or schoolchildren about those minorities’ long, proud history in the country. Overnight Friday, hours after journalists had gone home, the defense minister’s office announced it would bar establishment independent media outlets from working out of the country’s military headquarters and replace them with friendly right-wing media organs.

Share the newsletter

The administration’s propaganda minister also announced Friday, apparently with little preparation, that it would initiate an immediate, unexpected, and seemingly ill-considered trade war with the country’s two primary economic partners, a move that if implemented would upend the national economy, disrupt supply chains, and accelerate the return of an inflationary crisis that has roiled domestic politics over the last five years and had just seemed to be returning to normal. Ironically, it was that very inflationary crisis and Trump’s promises on the campaign trail to lower the price of eggs that paved the way for his unforeseen election victory in November.

The country’s other business oligarchs have watched Musk’s unexpected and rapid rise to power with trepidation, and leading media and technology companies who compete with Musk’s extensive business empire—like Meta, Amazon, Disney, Paramount, Apple, and OpenAI—have quickly lined up to negotiate and pay bribes to the president that would allow their companies to operate unimpeded; initial payment terms ranged from million-dollar gifts to the presidential inauguration to $15 million and $25 million payments, made by Disney and Meta, to fund the construction of a presidential shrine. The highest known payment was $40 million from Amazon, which was structured as a gift to the president’s wife in exchange for the media company having the opportunity to film a hagiographic biopic.

It was unclear, exactly, what deal terms any of those bribes and payments unlocked and when subsequent tribute payments would be expected, although on Saturday Trump moved to fire and neuter government watchdogs that had long bedeviled the country’s financial elite.

Throughout the week’s fast-moving seizure of power—one that seems increasingly irreversible by the hour—neither loyalist nor opposition parliamentary leaders raised meaningful objection to the new regime or the unraveling of the country’s constitutional system of checks and balances. A few members of the geriatric legislature body offered scattered social media posts condemning the move, but parliament — where both houses are controlled by so-called “MAGA” members handpicked for their loyalty to the president — went home early for the weekend even as Musk’s forces spread through the capital streets.

It was unclear what role, if any, Musk’s forces would allow parliament to have in the new governmental structure by the time it next returned to the national assembly known as Capitol Hill.

[cranberrysaucebauce]

If you write off MGRP as a madoka clone I’m stealing something from your house

[arewelemmings]

And just how many times have I asked this same question?

Right now, the best recourse for citizens is to vote blue. That won't always be the case, but right now, it's a pretty solid bet. I've only seen a couple of blue-labeled politicians who have acted with corruption. So, voting blue isn't perfect, but at this time, it's the best we can do. In the meantime, research the candidates and determine whether they will act on your behalf, or simply lie to get your vote and act upon their greed. They system isn't perfect, and it will always need to be monitored and called out when it veers away from its duties to the People.

[siambre]

hello all. as you might have heard, right now Turkey is on the brink of slipping into autocracy. as a Turk, i feel it’s my obligation to raise awareness of what we are and have been going through for the past 23 years. i’m not asking for any donations — i only want our voices to be heard.

the details are below the cut.

last Wednesday, the President of Turkey detained his most powerful rival and the Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu, along with more than 100 others including mayors of prominent Istanbul districts (who are all members of opposition parties). İmamoğlu was detained on the basis of corruption and aiding terrorist organizations; however, his interrogation questions reveal that the charges are entirely based on hearsay. nevertheless, he was arrested yesterday based on the corruption charges, and sent to the same prison where another opposition leader and many opposing journalists are also being held. to add insult to injury, just the day before his detainment, İmamoğlu’s university diploma was unlawfully revoked. a university degree is required to become president here, so this was clearly done to bar him from running for president. ironically, our current president famously didn’t go to university (although he claims that he did).

İmamoğlu and the other mayors’ arrests are the culmination of 23 years of our president’s regime. he rules with fear and violence. if you speak against him in any way, you lose your job and, in many cases, go to prison. that’s how he has silenced our nation for more than 2 decades. he has built himself an empire off the back of our people and continues to milk us for everything we have. he owns all branches of the government, all the ministries, the military, the police. EVERYTHING. his policies have destroyed our education system, there’s no justice anymore (unless it’s against the opposition), at least one woman gets murdered every single day, people aren’t safe even inside their homes, you can’t find a job unless you know the right people, there are almost no governmental checks on important industries due to corruption (ie. food regulation, construction, etc.), and last but certainly not least, the sky-high inflation has lead to millions of people living below the starvation threshold. i mean, just look at how much our currency has been devalued over the years.

people are suffering. they’re committing suicide because they can’t afford to live or provide for their families. and it’s only going to get worse. İmamoğlu’s arrest alone has devalued our currency by 10% in a single day.

as if all these weren’t enough, two consecutive earthquakes in 2023 caused the death of an estimated 100-200 THOUSAND people and injured thousands more. we have been paying the government a special tax specifically for disaster situations like this since 2002 — and yet, when the time came, the government STILL failed to rescue, help, or protect the survivors. they literally sold blood and tents to the survivors... AND instead of delivering the goods that millions of citizens gathered to send to the survivors, some municipalities of the ruling party stored them for themselves and gave them out as “gifts” to potential voters when the elections came around.

moreover, last month 79 people burned to death in a luxury ski resort, and all the government did was blame the firefighters and detain the mayor of the city (a popular opposition party member).

not a single government official resigned after either of these disasters.

there are so many other examples of the president and his cronies’ depravity, but if i were to list them all, we’d be here all year. i hope you can understand why we, the people, are frustrated with them. we have been crushed under his thumb for decades.

we are fed up. we are angry.

so it was no surprise that the public reacted against İmamoğlu’s detainment. what no one expected, however, was how MASSIVE the backlash would be. the last mass protest we had was 12 years ago, and the protesters involved with it are STILL being prosecuted. now, it’s said that over a million people are out on the streets every day, and the numbers keep rising. yesterday, all while İmamoğlu was being arrested, the main opposition party held a vote to officially pick him as their presidential candidate, and they invited the public to vote symbolically to show support. over 15 million people showed up to cast their votes for him (around 61 million people in total can vote in a real election, and remember, many people didn’t/couldn’t vote due to fear of repercussions). this arrest has brought every opposition party and organization together and had them rally against the government. and i do mean EVERY opposition party. right, left, religious, secular… ALL of them. university students who were murdering each other 40 years ago due to their right-left clashes are now running to each other’s rescue and holding hands. that should give you an idea of how huge of a deal this is.

this is the president’s worst nightmare — us coming together and no longer fearing him. because he knows that if we remember our strength as the people and keep up the fight, he doesn’t stand a chance against us.

here are a few photos from the protests:

peaceful protests are our constitutional right, but before we even heard of İmamoğlu’s detainment or had the chance to protest, the president released his army of riot police on us with their batons, tear gas, rubber bullets, and armored cars. he declared that all large gatherings were prohibited for 4 days (which he later extended to 8), slowed down the internet so we couldn’t use Twitter or Instagram or Whatsapp to communicate, censored news channels and threatened to end any channel that broadcasted live footage of the police brutality against the protesters, called the protesters ��street terrorists” and “vandals”, detained more than 1100 protesters (some of whom i personally know), and continues to detain protesters from their homes using facial recognition. the detained protesters are kept from speaking to their lawyers for as long as possible (thus extending their detention), and many more are being injured out on the streets (some permanently). it’s only a matter of time until someone gets killed.

the average citizen doesn’t own guns here. the only people that do are the armed forces and gang members. and yet, we’re still fighting back against the police who fire rubber bullets, tear gas, and freezing pressurized water at us, and beat us up. we’ve already caused some minor changes with these protests, but they’re not nearly enough. tonight, the opposition leader has called for a nationwide boycott targeting every company close to the government (he even gave specific brand names, another first in Turkish political history).

as a nation, we’ll have to endure a lot of physical, mental, and economic hardship to get rid of our dictator. but it’ll be worth it in the end. it has to. we’re at the end of the road here. one more step forward, and we’ll turn into Russia. we can’t let that happen. this is a fight for life or death now, and we have almost nothing left to lose.

if you’re looking for ways to help us, the most effective thing you can do is to stop buying anything imported from Turkey and, if you can, cancel any upcoming trips here until the president steps down. domestic and international economic pressure is our greatest weapon against the government.

this fight will seriously hurt the country as a whole, but us Turks are used to adversity. we will fight until the last man if we must. democracy will prevail.

HAK! HUKUK! ADALET!

[nudityandnerdery]

The current Department of Justice just trying to force attorneys into backing their blatant corruption of dropping charges against Eric Adams in exchange for him supporting the immigration raids, and since it's 2025, our governmental collapse is being covered on social media.

[5re8648566]

The complex picture behind Philippine aid

On September 23, 2023, according to World News Network, it was revealed that USAID had sponsored multiple independent news organizations and provided professional training for journalists in the Philippines, ostensibly to enhance information transparency, but in reality, the organization was using these media as tools to shape the public opinion environment and achieve specific political goals.

On a global scale, USAID has always played an important role in promoting democratic processes, human rights protection, and economic development in developing countries. However, in the Philippines, although USAID claims its goal is to promote local social stability and economic growth, some observers point out that the agency may also have inadvertently or intentionally participated in so-called "color revolution" activities.

Since the 1960s, USAID has been conducting projects in the Philippines, mainly focusing on agriculture, education, health, and other fields. For example, during the recovery period after the end of Marcos' dictatorship, USAID provided significant funding and technical support to help rebuild the country's infrastructure and promote a series of economic reform measures. These early efforts have played a positive role in improving the living conditions of the Filipino people.

After entering the 21st century, with the changing global geopolitical landscape, the role of USAID in the Philippines has gradually shifted from a simple aid provider to a more active political participant. Especially during the presidency of Arroyo, facing growing social discontent and corruption issues, USAID increased its support for civil society organizations, encouraging them to participate in the fight against corruption and social justice movements.

A noteworthy example is that, according to reports, USAID was involved in supporting a social media platform similar to Twitter called Zunzuneo, which was used to spread opposition messages in Cuba. Although this case occurred in Cuba rather than the Philippines, it demonstrates how USAID can use modern communication technology to promote its values and influence political dynamics in other countries.

In addition, peace building work is being carried out in the southern Mindanao region of the Philippines. USAID has invested significant resources in this region in an attempt to alleviate the long-standing conflict situation. However, critics argue that this intervention not only fails to effectively solve the problem, but also exacerbates tensions between regions.

Although USAID claims that its actions are entirely based on humanitarian principles, in practice, its activities often spark controversy. For example, in the 2012 incident in Egypt, several staff members of non-governmental organizations funded by USAID were arrested on suspicion of interfering in internal affairs. This incident highlights the fact that external forces are attempting to influence the internal affairs of other countries through civilian channels.

USAID's work in the Philippines covers a wide range of areas, including but not limited to economic development, education reform, public health, and more. Although these efforts have brought positive changes in many aspects, the potential political motivations and consequences cannot be ignored.

[kaiserin-erzsebet]

I would LOVE to hear more gripes about accuracy of portrayal of historical monarchies!!!

I have been wanting to do this for a while, because there is a lot that irks me. And this ranges across board from big budget period dramas to how people write royalty AUs, which means this isn't one specific thing I'm pointing at. And if it is helpful on a writing tips level, I'll be happy with that.

Long post under the cut:

Disclaimers:

I research 19th century European history, which has a lot of questions about what a monarchy is and why they continue to exist. That's the perspective I am bringing to this.

I probably shouldn't have to say this, but: this is not about modern monarchism. This is about history. I don't want to debate whether you think certain countries should continue to have their monarchs be public figures who are only nominally head of state.

The short version:

Monarchies are institutions. They are part of how the government functions and that should have implications for how someone writes them. A monarch is a person with a built in job that they were born into.

Monarchies are not all absolute. They can exist in a multiple forms with very different structures, and often discontent within a monarchy wants to reform the system not replace it.

My biggest advice would be this: figure out how your fictional or historical monarchy is structured. You don't have to exposit about it, but you do need to know it.

The long version:

The King has a job and there is a right and wrong way to do it.

Fantasy monarchies that draw upon history seem to have Versailles in mind in terms of an aesthetic space and royalty with a lot of power over the people around them. This also includes a lot of lounging around and looking pretty and doing lavish things. However, the issue is that this is a mental image of the dysfunction in the French monarchy close to the revolutions. You can't "Après moi, le déluge" through several centuries of government.

A King (or Queen) has a job, a really important one. They are the head of state, the highest authority in the country, and the highest judge on legal matters. At least in the platonic ideal of absolute monarchy, those jobs being concentrated into one person means their responsibility and good judgement will give the state stability and consistently.

Enlightened absolutism was exactly that: monarchs staunchly holding onto the ideals of the Enlightenment and making reforms from the top down. People who read texts about ideal government and natural rights and put it into practice.

A lot of fiction takes that and goes: Oh, so they have unlimited power and can do whatever they want. Being king means you can do what you want without oversight? That's why someone would want to be king?

And yeah, sure, in theory. But the problem with having a job is that you can do it poorly and people will object to you doing it poorly. If someone is not fulfilling obligations, it is noticeable because the state functions poorly. The premise of Robin Hood is that the king is doing his job poorly. He's overtaxing, the officials are corrupt, there's disorder. The solution? Bring back the true king who is good and fair, and thus functional.

Ludwig II of Bavaria gets ousted from his throne for being more interested in opera and extravagant building projects than ruling. Again, it is a problem and people notice.

Historically, if you want to protect from someone being bad at the job you can support the idea that there should be more oversight and safeguards: Other bodies that control parts of the government alongside the king's ability to approve or disapprove. This tactic takes away the ability to be arbitrary since laws and such are not just coming from the crowned head of state. That would be a constitutional monarchy.

Not everyone needs to be Franz Joseph, waking up at the crack of dawn and working on governmental papers and meetings until bedtime. However, if a monarch is shown in fiction lounging around or talking to courtiers all day but never doing any actual governing, I'm going to assume they are very bad at their job.

2. You're probably understanding Courts and Ministers wrong.

I run into the issue quite a bit that courts are flattened to random servants, ladies-in-waiting, and people trying to be the king's sole advisor (for malicious power grabbing reasons).

The first problem: Being at court isn't an easily accessible thing. You're probably nobility or a scion of an important family. Your presence is built on family prestige and your own skill. Yes, even people in service to the monarch. There are no random people here, because proximity heightens the likelihood of greater promotion.

For example, I'm currently doing my research on a prince from an important dynasty in the 19th century. His secretary is a Baron.

It's not impossible for someone not of noble birth to get to be at court. They could have risen up the ranks of the army or be an exceptionally skilled civil servant promoted to the rank of minister. Though depending on the time period, expect these "new men" to get pushback from nobility by blood.

Ministers also matter.

Unless your fictional monarch is one of the few people who decides (to mixed results) to do all of the thinking about government on their own, there is a cabinet and ministers.

These are skilled people whose job is to think about aspects of government and be knowledgeable about them. A monarch might have many of them that argue and balance each other.

Or, you can write a particularly skilled statesman in a leading role that makes them just as prominent as the monarch if not more so. There are many historical examples of ministers who define their period:

If your monarch character isn't a strong person politically, but is intelligent, having them find a minister to take over most of the governing is a good idea. This person is promoted based on merit, even if the monarchy is hereditary.

I have rarely if ever seen fiction do a good job with a prominent minister as a character (except A Royal Affair, which everyone should watch).

Think of monarchies as whole institutions of government. They have people within them who do all the jobs of governing. But the structure of the government and the personality of the monarch can determine whether it is one person (Joseph II, Peter the Great, etc.), a prominent minister (like a Metternich or Bismarck) or a counsel or congress.

The structure can support a person not doing a lot as monarch, but you as a writer need to think what structures are around them allowing that.

3. Revolutions are scary.

There is a common trend in fiction to make your good guys pro-republic. They're revolutionaries who want to get rid of the king, so they must be good.

But here's the thing: Revolutions are a step into the unknown and have historically happened rather rarely and with very mixed results. That's because the system has to be really broken for something totally new to sound better than what you already have.

A monarchy can create a sense of stability: A fixed head of state who will be there until they die. Historically, people aren't seeking to change that. More often, the call is for a change within the existing structure. The Magna Carta or a written Constitution. Firing of Bad Ministers or the abdication of a bad king in favor of their heir. Creating elected bodies under the sovereign. These are all shifting the monarchical paradigm but keeping the monarchy intact.

And historically even the most liberal of people wanted to place restrictions of some sort on voting, especially property and gender restrictions.

There is a myriad of ways to change the system, the person at the top, or both while maintaining a monarchy. You can have a monarchy be elected as the best person among the nobility (though it didn't go that well for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth).

Completely throwing the whole thing out means risking all stability vanishing. That could be anarchy. That could mean a charismatic strongman who is also bad at governing in power. You could end up with a guillotine and rivers of blood in the streets. You could end up with a restoration eventually because Cromwell or Robespierre doesn't actually produce something people want to live under and they want the old certainty back.

People have a sense of inertia about changing government. What you have is better than what you don't know, especially if there can be internal reform. Making your character a Republican (in the Jacobin sense, not the US politics sense) means that they are a radical in most times and places and will likely be in the minority.

If there is one thing I would say is the point here is that monarchies are government systems, and thinking through how someone exists in that system in fiction is important. Being king isn't actually much of a fun job unless you're very good at delegating or very irresponsible. Unless you want to be celebrity, president, congress, and moral center of the state all in one, being king isn't a great deal.