#i don’t condone the actions of the us military specifically even though i know these guys are in the fucking royal army or whatever

[unspecifiedfigure]

Honey, just put your sweet lips on my lips

We should just kiss like real people do🧡

[ivymarquis]

Hi loves 💕💕 I saw requests are open so I figured I'd send one in! I absolutely love your work you're so talented and I binge read all of your fics!!

I would like to request fem reader x soap where Soaps wife adopted a dog she found on the streets and keeps her even though he hates the idea.( he has a cannon fear of dogs which I find a little funny) slowly but surely he warms up to the dog but not fully. While he's out on a mission there's a robbery and the dog protects the reader and scares off the intruder. Soap hears about this and is instantly is best friends with the dog because even though he hates dogs he loves that the pup will protect his wife (I also hc that mabey it's not a street dog but a retired k9 reader adopted to feel safe while he was gone and she just didn't tell him until he comes home and sees a dog. it's up to you what you pick💓)

Hello anon I appreciate your patience!! I did pick and choose a wee bit to make the fic make sense for me, I hope you like it!

The Exception to the Rule

Pairing| Soap x Reader Rating| T Word Count| 1.9K Content/Warnings| Housekeeping first- this fic is SFW so if you find it in the tags I won’t be bothered about minors reading it but I am an MDNI blog and I will block any minors or ageless blogs who follow me. Got it? Cool. The author is an American attempting to write a Scottish accent, likely inaccuracies about how military dogs in general or bomb dogs in specific work. Allusions to prior animal injury, allusion to potential dog choking (in the context of choking off a working dog who won’t release its quarry), allusion to home invasion, dog bites, Johnny is not happy, the author does not condone getting animals you know your partner has issues with (but the plot necessitates it so on we go!)

Soap knows his wife well enough to know when she’s taken a “ask for forgiveness rather than permission” course of action. It’s written all over her face when she accepts his FaceTime call and answers his greeting of “What did ya dae, hen?“ with a “Please don’t be mad.”

Now certain men might have to worry about their brides stepping out on them on deployment. Soap knows her well enough to not even entertain that notion, so the wheels start turning for what exactly she could have done that has her looking this guilty out the gate.

The answer comes very suddenly in the form of a bark on the other end of the screen.

John Soap MacTavish sputters, something he is not often inclined to do, “Is that a fuckin’ dog?” And not just a dog. That wasn’t a little yappy fluffball who can be picked up with two fingers if need be. It sounds like one of the damn bomb dogs always yapping over in the kennels.

“Please don’t be mad!” She pleads again.

“Well a’m not happy, that’s for sure. Where and why did ye git that thing?”

This is completely out of character for her. Soap’s disdain for dogs (and why) is well known. She bloody well knows. So what the hell?

“It’s not permanent! You said this deployment would be a long one, and there’s been break ins in the neighborhood and I got nervous and my friend told me about this rescue group that helps rehome retired military dogs.” Her explanation is all in one breath. “They approved us” (Us??) ”as a foster family. He’s already got applications in for a permanent home. It just feels,” she pauses to catch her breath, and Soap can feel himself softening ever so minisculely to the dog- as long as he’s on the other side of the world, away from it, “safer here, with him here since you’re gone. The break ins have been really scary, they haven’t caught the guy yet.”

Fucking hell how is he supposed to argue with that? Especially if there’s some prick on the loose breaking into houses.

“Cujo better nae be oan th’ bed wi’ ye,” he grouses, acquiescing while still making his displeasure known.

“His name is Kabar and I’ll have the bed freshly stripped when you’re due back I promise.”

Soap is a god damn sucker for those pleading doe eyes, giving a big exasperated sigh to signal he’s letting her off the hook. “Fine. Bit he better be gaen by th’ time I pull intae th’ driveway. Let’s see th’ damn thing then,” Christ he hopes it’s not a Belgian Malinois. He knows they’re popular for military dogs but his darling is not built to handle a maligator, retired or not.

“Okay hang on,” she replies, notably cheerier as she taps the screen.

It’s a German Shepherd, thank fuck (Johnny must be having a stroke to be grateful for the sight of a German Shepherd in his bed)

He knows as well as anyone else they can be intense, but they’re a step down from the Malinois at least.

The coloring is traditional, but Soap’s brain starts nudging him that something is wrong with the dog. It takes a moment to click before he realizes the problem.

The damn dog only has three legs. “Is he a tripod?” The question is out before he can stop himself because no he is not inquiring about the damn dog. It was just a thought that escaped.

“He is a disabled veteran!” His bride corrects cheekily, before much more solemnly adding “He was a bomb dog.”

Oh Christ. He did not need to know that. Doesn’t need to think about the damn animal waking up one day with four legs and clocking in to work with his handler before boom.

“A’m only entertaining this because of the break ins, hen, am ah clear?”

Maybe having that booming bark rattling the windows will keep any would-be intruders at bay. This is the worst part of the job- being stuck on what might as well be the other side of the world when she’s got something to deal with.

“Absolutely crystal clear!” She’s all too agreeable, pleased as hell to have her cake (the dog) and eat it too (Johnny tolerating it).

Somehow this is going to blow up in his face and he’s going to permanently end up with a fucking military dog he doesn’t want, he just knows it.

But there’s no fucking way he can tell her No. Absolutely not. He goes back today, with a potential threat lurking around the neighborhood. He’d never forgive himself.

The rest of the conversation is much more in line with what he usually anticipates with their phone calls being- He doesn’t much like talking about work off the clock although lets her know of any interesting shenanigans around the base, and listening with baited breath as she regails him of tales both extraordinary and, well, extra ordinary.

Usually their phone calls end when she passes out in bed, and they’re perfectly poised to continue that habit tonight also.

“Ye made sure all th’ doors and windows are locked, hen?” He asks as she starts snuggling into the bedding underneath her.

“Yeah Johnny, I,” she cuts herself off with a big yawn “-I double checked them.”

It’s a few minutes later that the phone slips from her hand, camera pointing at the ceiling as she drifts off.

Johnny can almost imagine he’s at home laying on his back, watching the rhythmic movements of the ceiling fan in time with his lovely girl snoring slightly in his ear (despite her verbose protests that no she doesn’t snore- okay. Whatever you say, gorgeous.)

It’s an incredibly comforting moment that lets him feel a bit closer to home that is ruined by the sound of snuffling by the speaker.

The dog’s nose appears on screen, the angle making him look like an aardvark as he sniffs the phone before laying down, presumably relishing in the fact there’s not a damn thing Soap can do about this situation.

“Ye better keep an eye oan my girl, Cujo.” Soap grumbles as he begrudgingly hangs up the phone.

The mission ends quicker than expected- substantially quicker- and as content as Soap is with getting home he also is annoyed.

The mission got cut so short, and it’s so damn late by the time Soap is driving home that he knows the fucking dog is still there. The agreed upon date has not yet passed, which means that fuck is lazing about on his side of the bed.

Not to mention the mere obstacle of convincing a former military dog he’s never met, in the middle of the night, that yes this is his fucking house and he’s the one paying the bills around here and yes that actually is his spot on the bed so kindly fuck off.

At a point during his drive home, a police car flies by him. Then another. Then another.

Must be the fucker that’s been breaking into homes. Hopefully he gets caught and that’s one less thing to worry about when Johnny leaves again.

Except the red and blue lights seem to be fucking honed in from the spot that he’s steadily driving to, and Johnny’s convinving himself that he’s seeing things. There is no way that those lights and sirens are stemming from his house, thank you very much.

Even still, he feels himself driving faster. The sooner to quiet his anxiety that’s brewing.

The anxiety doesn’t dissipate as he makes each turn to his home. If anything it gets worse.

Because all that noise and the flashing lights are stemming from his own fucking home. Johnny can barely get the thing in park before he’s flying out of the vehicle. He can hear screams and specifically her crying and in an instant Johnny’s beyond being keyed up.

One of the officers attempts to intercept Johnny- thinks he’s just some nosy fuck from who knows where- and it takes everything in him not to blow his top entirely as he cuts the man off with a stern “This is mah house ‘n she’s mah wife!”

The sound of his voice booming into the night is enough to catch her attention and bring her running to him. Johnny embraces her as she flings herself at him, crying into his shirt as he strokes her back and soothes her.

He can piece together the general what happened, although he’s completely unaware of the details.

One piece begins to fit into place as he starts to hear what all the screaming is. His initial attention completely fixated on ensuring his wife is whole and hale, now he can check that off the mental list he now has the bandwidth to listen to the bellowing.

“Git it aff me! Och Jesus, someone git it aff o' me!”

“Cannae git th’ damn thing tae release him,” Johnny hears one of the officers comment dryly.

“Can always choke him off if the owners can’t git him tae let go,” the other one supplies.

“Eh, ah guess,” the first one responds in a bored tone that makes it clear he has a this guy fucked around and now he’s finding out, and I don’t see a reason to hurry- the dog looks happy anyway, stance to the situation.

On the side of the house, face down in the grass is the man who presumably broke inside.

He is so incredibly lucky there are witnesses and a sobbing wife to curtail the dark, angry thoughts swirling around in Johnny’s brain. Otherwise all it would take would be one phone call to Laswell and this prick disappears forever.

Attached to the calf of that man is Cujo, happily laying on the ground with his tail wagging slowly like his teeth aren’t sunk inside a man’s flesh. If the dog gets too annoyed with the man’s wiggling he shakes him like a chew toy, starting up a fresh round of someone git this fucking dog aff o’ me! until he lays still.

The mention of choking the dog off the would-be intruder doesn’t slip past his darling in the slightest, looking up at him with wet, pleading eyes.

Damn it all, he’s always a sucker for that look.

“Johnny, do you know how to make him let go? I don’t want him choked!”

He decides she’s probably better off not being told how often that ends up having to happen, and that Cujo will be just fine minus a few brain cells if push comes to shove.

But he has spent enough time (against his will, mind) around the dogs that he’s learned the basic commands over the years through repeated exposure.

“No promises, hen, bit we’ll see.” The dog has never met him a day in his life- there’s no guarantee he’s going to listen to a man that’s a stranger barking orders at him, but Johnny gives the sharp German command anyway.

To his surprise, the dog lets go immediately and turns towards them, giving the skipping lope that a 3 legged dog does before placing himself in a heel at Soap’s side, eyes wide and head tilted.

Johnny doesn’t want to think about what could have happened tonight if it wasn’t for Cujo- Kabar- taking such an involved roll in apprehending the man stupid enough to break into his home.

And he’s most assuredly not magically over his aversion to dogs- especially military dogs- but he might be able to tolerate an exception if it means having some peace of mind that his wife is safe at home.

[joestarsecrettecnique]

I am so very sick and tired of the toxicity that’s been poisoning the snk fandom as of the last couple years. I gave myself time to digest the ending and my feelings on it, before embarking in a journey to debunk many misconceptions and critiques I’ve seen floating in the fandom.

By the way, by no means I think this ending is perfect. I think this is textbook execution by Isayama to tie together every loose end left behind in an orderly manner, and I think that it was a bit rushed and oversimplified. I would’ve wanted more of Eren and Armin’s conversation, more of the squad realizing what his true goal had been, and some narrative choices I don’t 100% agree with. But still, what I saw in other fans’ critiques post 139 frankly appalled me, so I feel the need to make this. Also, this obviously are my own interpretations, I am not Isayama himself lol

“Ew, so Eren did pull a Lelouch after all”

No, Eren did not pull a Lelouch. While his action and the final result may seem similar, I find very different nuances between the two. Lelouch wanted for the whole world to be united in fighting against him, and thus he made himself the world’s greatest enemy. His will to turn himself into a monster was selfless. Eren didn’t give a damn about the world, he had no noble intentions whatsoever. He said it in chapter 122, his goal was to protect Paradis and, more specifically, his closest friends. He turned himself into a monster, killed 80% of human population, and endangered the lives of those very friends he wanted to protect, so that by stopping him, those friends could be safe. Eren had no intentions to break out of the cycle of hatred or unite the world against himself, he just wanted to give his friends a chance to survive, and that is not selfless, it’s selfish. Eren’s goal was incredibly selfish, and biased, and driven by his feelings instead of rationality. Nothing like Lelouch!

Now this, this I myself am not the greatest fan of. I feel like it makes that great scene in chapter 122 loose a bit of its strength, Ymir obeying the king for 2000 years just because she loved him. Honestly, I always thought there was a bit of Stockholm Syndrome going on, but I didn’t think it would be the only reason. However, like it or not, it’s undeniable that it makes perfect sense in the narrative that aot has always strived to tell. Love has been a theme strongly woven in the story, and it also draws a great parallel between Karl Fritz/Ymir and Eren/Mikasa. Ymir was a slave to her love for King Fritz, just like Mikasa was a slave to her love for Eren, in that she struggled to accept reality until the very end despite the atrocities that Eren committed. Ymir stayed bound by her love for King Fritz, until she saw Mikasa break from her own poisoned love, aknwoledge it, and kill Eren despite of it, or maybe because of it. Only Ymir knows that one, heh. But the point is, Mikasa showed Ymir that she could break free of a toxic love, she was that someone that Ymir had been waiting for to finally free her of her burden.

“What? But that makes no sense!”

Now, on my first read, I simply thought that Eren had ordered Dina to avoid eating Berthold, and that he had made her walk down that road unaware that his mother was trapped (because we know that the Attack Titan’s future memories aren’t infallible, there are still gaps), killing her indirectly. I’ve since then read some theories stating that Eren willingly killed his own mum in orther to give kid himself a reason to feel enough hatred to kickstart the whole story. Honestly, I like this version maybe more! But let me explain to you why this is not a plothole, like many people think. In this same chapter, we have Eren explaining how the Founder’s power works in synergy with the Attack’s: “There’s no past or future, they all exist at once”. This means that time travel in aot doesn’t work in a manner where Eren extracts himself from time and space, and from a separate realm he operates on the past. The way I understood it, the mechanics works kind of like Tokyo Revengers’ time travel. MInd you, I only watched episode one, so my understanding might be jackshit.

Spoilers for Tokyo Revengers’ episode one. In the show, the main character loses consciousness and finds himself reliving his past. He interacts with someone in this “new” past, and when he wakes up again in the present, past events had been over-written by the changes he made. I think this is how aot timetravel works, with the exception that, since past and future (and present, of course) all happen at once, side by side, there is no old past to be rewritten, neither a future to return to, and present Eren wouldn’t be aware of the changes that his future self would make. It creates sort of a time paradox, yes, in the sense that there’s a loop where present Eren’s mom has been eaten because future Eren, in the future, operated on the past by causing past Eren’s mom to be eaten, but all these Erens are one and the same, as all timelines exist at once.

“Boo-hoo they ruined Eren’s character, he’s such a wimp!”

I have to confess (isn’t this appalling, that this is a thing that I have to confess, what the actual fuck), I am an Eren stan. I absolutely do not consider myself a Jaegerist, I think Eren’s option was better than Zeke’s, yes, but it was morally wrong and awful and he absolutely was not only in the wrong, but also if he wasn’t dead I’d want him to be punished for his crimes. I didn’t particularly enjoy him pre-timeskip, and I started to like him because I found his evolution fascinating. I wanted to understand his motives, what was going on in his head, he was a puzzle that I wanted to solve. Maybe because I’m a psychologist, who knows. Anyways, if you’re an Eren stan only because he acted like a chad and now you cry his character was ruined, I’m sorry to say, you never understood him. Eren was not a god, he was not a strategist playing 5d chess with perfect rationality, Eren was the same he has always been. He was a young man spun along by his passions. Eren feels things with burning intensity, he lets himself be driven by his emotions. He almost flattened the world because he was disappointed that he and his friends weren’t the only human beings inhabiting it, for fuck’s sake, he’s always been irrational, selfish, and immature. Of course he doesn’t wanna die, of course he want’s to live with all of them. You really expected a 15 year old hot-headed brat to become Thanos after he suddenly found out he killed his own mum and all his dreams had been crushed? Of course he felt conflicted, of course he suffered, of course he wanted to live, “because he was born in this world”. Honestly, when I read his meltdown, I felt relieved that his character hadn’t been turned on its head, it was heartbreaking to see that he really was the same brat he’d always been, that he’d tried to steel himself to do horrible shit for his friends’ sake and that he felt bad about it! It made me appreciate his character a lot more, I felt nostalgic towards the times when I was irritated by his screaming and pouting. Suffice to say, this is also my answer to all those people that believe his internal monologue to convince himself the Rumbling was what he really wanted were bullshit since he “pulled a Lelouch”. How can it be bullshit? Maybe he planned to be stopped, but he also said that he thought he would’ve still done it if they hadn’t. He also said that killing a majority of the population was something that he wanted to do, not a byproduct of the alliance not stopping him early enough, because with the world’s militaries in shambles Paradis would’ve had time to prepare accordingly. Anyways, of course he needed to convince himself to do this awful thing even if he knew he wasn’t gonna succeed completely, can you imagine how horrible it would be to know your only chance is to kill thousands?

I also maybe think it was because of the spine centipede thingy? When Eren says “I don’t know why I did it, I wanted to, I had to”, he gets this faraway look on his face and we get a zoom in on one of his eyes, which is drawn very interestingly and kinda looks like the Reiss’ eyes when they were bound by the War Renounce Pact? So maybe it was also the centipede’s drive to survive and multiplicate that forced Eren to do the Rumbling so that its life wouldn’t be endangered. I don’t know how much I like this, I feel like it takes some agency away from Eren and also makes it feel like he’s not as responsible for the genocide he committed that we initially though, which mhhh maybe not, let’s have him take full responsibility for this. As I said, I’m not defending Isayama blindly, I do have some issues myself with what went down.

“What the fuck, did he say thank you for the genocide?”

Guys c’mon, this is like,, reading comprehension. Yes, it was poorly worded and a bit rushed, but by now you should have full context to make an educated guess on the fact that no, he didn’t thank him for committing a genocide what the fuck you guys. Armin started bringing up the idea that maybe they should have Eren eaten because he was doing morally questionable things ever since the Marley Arc, which for manga readers was like what, 2018? Isayama has been showing for three years how not okay Armin was with Eren’s actions, how could it make sense for him to thank him for a genocide? You see some poorly worded stuff, and your first instinct is to ignore eleven years’ worth of consistent characterization to jump to the worst interpretation possible? Let’s go over this sentences and reconstruct what they mean.

“Eren, thank you. You became a mass murdere for our sake. I won’t let this error go to waste”. Armin recognizes that Eren had no other choice, but does not condone it. He clearly calls it an error, which feels like an euphemism but for all we know the japanese original term used could’ve been harsher. Point is, he clearly states he think what Eren did was wrong. But he recognizes that Eren’s awful doing opened up a path for Paradis to break out of the cycle of hatred. Not a certainty, but an opportunity. He thanks Eren for giving them this chance, and promises not to waste it, even if it was born out of an atrocity. He thanks Eren for sacrificing himself for their sake, even if he doesn’t agree with the fruit of his labor, so to speak. He’s thanking Eren for the opportunity that his actions gave them, not for the actions themselves! Where the hell do you read “thank you for the genocide” guys, sheesh. I’m mad at y’all.

“How could Eren send MIkasa memories if she’s an Ackerman and an Asian, and their memories can’t be manipulated by the Founder? I call plothole!”

Now, here we’re going into speculation territory, so you’ve been warned. I don’t think that that information they gave us was true, about Ackermans being immune to memory manipulation. We know at least that the clan is in some way subject to the Founder’s power, or Mikasa and Levi wouldn’t have been called in the Paths by Eren multiple times. Stories never being entirely true or false, or relativity, better said, has been a strong theme in the story, we know this by Marley’s and Eldia’s different accounts of history compared to the actual Ymir backstory we got. So who’s to say that the belief that Ackermans aren’t manipulable is the truth? Maybe they’re just hard to control, not impossible. We know that by the Founder’s ability Eren experienced past and future happening simultaneously, so he could’ve very well been trying to send those memories into Mikasa’s head ever since the beginning of the story, only just succeeding in chapter 138. It would at least explain Ackerman’s headaches as Eren trying to manipulate their memories and failing. Of course, we’d need Levi side of thing to know for certain, as he had headaches too and we weren’t shown in the chapter if Eren spoke to him in paths like he did with the rest of the squad. We know he didn’t talk to Pieck, but he even went and spoke to Annie who he basically hadn’t seen since Stohess, so I hope he spoke to Levi too. Who knows, maybe he even spoke with Hanji, but she died before she could remember. I wish we were shown that, honestly, I’m sad that it was skipped, especially after Levi said in an earlier chapter that “there was so much he wanted to tell Eren”. Fingers crossed for the anime to expand on it.

“So Historia’s pregnancy was useless”

What? No, it wasn’t useless! Eren told her to get pregnant to save her life, so that she wouldn’t be turned into the Beast Titan. If she became the Beast Titan, then Eren would’ve had to enact the plan with her instead of Zeke, and yeah, Ymir brought the power of the titans with her, so theoretically Titan Shifter Historia would’ve had her time limit removed, but we saw that the only way for the Alliance to stop the Rumbling was killing Zeke, so Historia would’ve had to die. Useless to say, when Eren talked to her about his plan, she was very vocally against it, so I don’t think she would’ve helped Eren with his plan. It was Zeke or nothing, and the only way for Zeke to keep his titan was for Historia to be unable to be turned, hence the pregnancy. Did y’all read the same thing I read? Anyways, she could’ve definitely been handled better, but she wasn’t necessary to the plot anymore, and her being removed from it in such a way was sad, yes, but it made sense.

“They massacred Reiner!”

Yeah, can’t really say anything about this. I definitely understand the sentiment behind this scene, which I appreciate. It’s to show that thanks to his Titan being removed and the times of peace approaching, Reiner was finally able to shed the weight he bore on his shoulders and “regress” to his more carefree persona he had when he thought he was a soldier, instead of a warrior. I am very happy for him, and I think it’s a nice conclusion to his arc, that he’s finally happy, but it could’ve been portrayed in a less comic relief-y way. It just sledgehammers all his characterization. Feels surreal that we saw him attempt suicide a couple month ago in the anime and now he’s sniffing Historia’s handwriting.

Guys, this absolutely sends me. There are people who unironically believe Eren actually reincarnated in a bird? Guys. It makes no sense, it violates every rule that Isayama established for his universe’s power system. How could he even reincarnate in a bird? Guys, c’mon, this is symbolical! Birds have been heavily used in aot to portray freedom, and this is a nice, poetic, symbolic way to show that Eren who lived his whole life chasing freedom and never actually got it, is finally free, like a bird, now that he’s dead. It’s also a pretty explicit nod to Odin, I think. Aot is heavily inspired by Norse Mithology, and I think there were some pretty clear parallels between Eren and Odin/Loki in the later arcs of the story. Eren has been shown to “communicate” through birds like with Falco in chapter 81, or with Armin in chapter 131. Emphasis on “communicate” because again, this is symbolic, I don’t think he actually spoke through the birds, he simply talked to them via paths, but birds are associated with Eren’s character (see also the wings of freedom, y’know?) and the shots were framed so to give the impression that he was talking through the birds, but he wasn’t. Symbolism. Anyway, I really think they were supposed to be a nod to Odin’s crows.

Aaaaand that should be it! Even though I most definitely forgot some other criticism on the chapter, it’s crazy the amount of negativity floating around. Hope I didn’t bore you!

[richardgrimes]

This might be controversial, but I kinda feel bad for John Walker. Before anyone comes at me, I’m not condoning his actions. You can’t violently murder a man in broad daylight and have their not be consequences. He deserved to have the shield taken away, and ultimately, I don’t think he has the leadership skills and personality to be captain America. That all being said though, his character is clearly heading down the villain path, and I just feel like it could’ve been prevented. If Sam and Bucky had actually tried to advise him, if the US military actually provided proper PTSD counseling, if the US government had actually given him proper guidance and support as captain America. He’s done bad things and deserves the in narrative consequences. But I feel like at the end of the day, he was just a dude trying to do the right thing who had no idea how to actually do that. Like this could’ve gone another way, but now he’s passing the point of no return

I’m sorry if the John Walker ask is annoying. This show and unexpectedly his character are giving me a lot of feelings, and I don’t know how to talk about them without people calling me a bad person. (Not you specifically, just general tumblr anons)

i see what u mean. but i bet that even if sam and bucky worked with him he still would have acted up. i personally don’t like him and the things he says rub me the wrong way (though i think it’s supposed to). i think they are doing a good job showing why sam is a much better fit to be cap than john

[heroofthreefaces]

Look, don't throw literal shit at Gal G-dot, but don't deny her slipups and crimes too! #FreePalestine 🇵🇸

If you can still give Gal dignity and acknowledge her humanity even with blood on her hands and beliefs, then WHY can’t you do the same for the rest of them? WHY?! They probably feel the same as Gal when you fling them poop too! So cut this selective “teaching a lesson to”?! Leave all alone or call all out, don’t be a double standard shitfuck!

Come on, it is obviously known she did:

- Serve in the IDF during the 2006 Lebanon fiasco

- Expressed her support and praise IDF from time to time even after her mandatory service, her most famous one being the 2014 Gaza bombings which lost 4 boys. Even Holocaust survivors in the Haaretz spoke out against that incident saying it’s gone too far. Never apologized or retracted that. That specific FB post also still up.

- Allegedly responded poorly to a former friend’s r*pe and blamed the friend while defending the perpetrator

Why people don’t care about Palestinians or military brutality war crimes in this case:

- “Gal is too hot and cute!!!12!! I’m gay for her!!!11!!”

- Gotten too attached to her thru watching her “relatable moments” and funny or sweet-presenting propaganda where she “being herself”…‘psycho’ actresses sure can mask well, can’t they?

- Tried to hamster away her exact words by claiming she sorta apologized in some other way or “said something to counter that!!11!!1”. She only stood up for Arabs with Israeli citzenship ONLY, still not the Palestinian neighbours so simps stop bluffing! And saying “peeaceeee” multiple times is so vague. Does that word to Gal imply taking Palestine land and genociding the children?!

- pull the “Palestine is not oppressed” card. But when you just attack neutral run-of-the-mill Palestinian citizens and families and prevent vaccine supplies from them and go beyond apartheid, you know you’ve crossed some serious lines and can conclude Palestine is oppressed too.

- feel sympathy for her even though they hypocritically say “you shouldn’t feel sympathy for supremacists or terfs or military bootlickers!!!11!!“ 

- they have become stupid simps for her

All while no problem attacking and cancelling other people like Sia, Gina, Letitia Wright - NOT defending or condoning their deeds too but Gal is in such a similar boat don’t excuse it

How do you scrub this kind of idiotic self-righteous hypocrisy and pious smugness?!?! If you can still give Gal dignity and acknowledge her humanity even with blood on her hands and beliefs, then WHY can’t you do the same for the rest of them? WHY?! They probably feel the same as Gal when you fling them poop too! So cut this selective "teaching a lesson to”?! Leave all alone or call all out, don’t be a double standard shitfuck!

Edit: Admit that the USA’s coverups and censorship of Gal’s pro-idf and borderline supremacist views also helped some!

You know America is all about stanning Israel and military, same with their allies, so obviously not letting too many know about Gal’s statements and putting out good propaganda of her to cover it would boost. 

When US wants her as a token, they will have her as a token.

After mulling this submission over for a few days, and then forgetting about it for a week or two, I’ve decided two things: I will continue to enjoy and support the first Wonder Woman movie despite the problematic actions of only one or a few of its creators as I continue to support e.g. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and Firefly (for details on this perspective see recent entries in my Joss Whedon tag); but I will continue not to support or enjoy Wonder Woman 1984 due to problematic elements of the work itself as I’ve refrained from supporting e.g. Music or The Lone Ranger (2013) or Gods of Egypt.

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 33

Chapter Summary -   Having been a couple privately for just over a month, Danielle and Tom talk on the phone while she is on set. When news that Taylor's private jet is in London reaches them, Tom reassures Danielle it is not what the online rags are suggesting, he is not meeting with her. But then, it comes to light why Taylor's plane is there, and Tom is not her focus.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

Note - Smut in this chapter.

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog  @jessibelle-nerdy-mum@nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

“I can’t wait to see you.” Tom’s voice seemed husky over the phone.

“Go to sleep, I can hear the jetlag from here.” Danielle scolded.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Tom stated; she could almost hear him doing a military salute. “When are you back?”

“Saturday, but I have to go straight to Suffolk, I really need to see poor Mac, he must think I’ve abandoned him.”

“Mum says he is curled up in front of the fire as happy as Larry.” “I really want to know who the hell Larry is, and why is he always so happy.” She commented back. “Yes, so do I.” Tom chuckled. “So, if it’s alright with you, I was hoping I could see you this weekend?”

“Your mum, though. How can we possibly manage that?” “I know, I know it will be more difficult, until we tell them, by the way, why aren’t we telling her?”

“Tom, can you imagine what she is going to say?”

“She is going to be happy; you know that she adores you.” Tom countered before he yawned. “I am going to get some sleep and head to mum’s tomorrow.” “I’m not there til the weekend.” “But I want mum to cook me food.” “You are such a mummy’s boy Tom Hiddleston.” She laughed. “You say that as though I would deny it.” That only caused her to laugh more. “Are you enjoying it, your job I mean?” “Yeah.” There was a small waver in her voice.

“Elle?” “I’m just…I feel so drained, you know?” “Yes, I do. You see it a lot, I mean, the cast have it fairly tiring, long hours, learning lines, hours of standing around waiting for it to be perfect conditions, retake after retake, but while they are doing that, the crew are there before them, working through, and even after.” He explained.

“Exactly.” She smiled, happy he understood her. “I miss you.” “I miss you too, darling.”

“Shit, I am being called back, I will text you as the day goes on, Tom.” “Not if I text you first.” His smile audible through the phone. “You are adorkable, you know that?” “So I have been told. I better let you go. I will talk to you later. Bye, darling.” “Bye Tom.”

Tom smiled as he came off the phone, excited for the few days ahead, getting to see his mum and Danielle, all away from the hustle and bustle of city life. He went to call his mother to check if she minded him coming, knowing full well she wouldn’t. When he realised there was a text from Benedict.

Ben – Just a heads up.

And under it, a link to an article stating that Taylor’s plane was in Stansted, and the article implying she was back in Britain to see him.

Tom – Cheers mate.

Ben – You might want to warn Danielle.

Tom – Why?

Ben – Well, I know she is not one to jump to conclusions man, but she needs to be reassured, same as anyone else.

Tom – Right. Good thinking.

Tom got up Danielle’s number.

Tom – Darling, there is a story going around online that Taylor is in London, to see me, I know I don’t need to tell you, but I am not meeting her, I just wanted to give you reassurance.

Danielle – Not sure why you thought I would be worried. : )

Tom – Well, Ben thought it best to warn you, just in case.

Danielle – That is very good of you both. Tell him I say thank you.

Tom – He is still badgering me regarding when this dinner is happening.

Danielle – Shit, I am busy for ages after this at evening time.

Tom – I know, you mentioned that already. We could invite them to Suffolk?

Danielle – Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Can you check if they can come, it’s a long enough drive for them for some dinner! Shit, I am needed, apparently, there is talk of an explosion, why do they want explosions, there is no need for a fucking explosion.

Tom – Don’t work an action film, darling.

Danielle – The stress would kill me. Bye. Xx

Tom smiled at the phone for a moment before getting back to Benedict.

Tom – She’s not overly bothered.

Ben – Good. Now, about that dinner….

Tom – Are you and Sophie available anytime over the weekend?

Ben – we are, but I thought you said she was in Suffolk.

Tom – She is going to be, and I am going to be there tomorrow.

Ben – Then how is that conducive to us all having a meal?

Tom – can you and Sophie come here?

Ben – What day suits? Apparently, the idea of not being hostess is enticing to my pregnant wife.

Tom – Saturday, 7 pm.

Ben – I’ll get my parents to mind Kit.

With plans made, Tom beamed excitedly; he gave Elle a quick text to say what was going on and went to grab his running gear.

*

“So, any plans for the Bank Holiday, Irish?” Jack, a member of the sound crew asked as the crew all circled the food tent.

“Home, see my dog, my boyfriend, have a few friends over, you?”

“Football.” He beamed.

“Soccer.” She nodded. “Any good matches on? Or are you just waiting to see Man Utd sink to the bottom of the table gracelessly?” “A woman who actually understands the Premier League, a rare commodity around here.” “I just like sports.” She shrugged, “Soccer is sort of a religion here, so you know, can’t help but know about it.”

“And who do you support?” Jeff, the gaffer, asked. “Who says I support it?” “Do you?” “Arsenal.” She grinned. “My uncle lived next to Highbury for years, I remember him bringing me to a game as a kid.” They ate discussing the soccer, and the rise and fall of great players and teams for a while. When they say the director coming over, they groaned slightly.

“It’s not two yet,” Jeff complained.

“No, but we are being told to hurry on.” He groaned.

“You sound as happy as us about that.” Mike, a sound technician noted.

“Apparently, our whole movie is in the way of a not previously booked music video shoot.” His irritation clear.

Danielle had a sinking feeling in her stomach. “Really?”

“Yes; and this princess is not one to be said no to.”

“Because, let me guess, she is richer than we’ll ever be, and saying no to her means about four scathing songs and a lawsuit saying we cost her a hundred million in lost revenue?” The crew looked at her. “You sound like you know who it is?”

“I have a fair idea.” “So you know Taylor Swift?” The director asked. “Have you worked with her before?” “Fuck no,” Danielle commented. “I….I have had less than pleasant interactions with her, and I very much would like to keep the interactions I have had as the only ones I will ever have.” She rose to her feet. “Where am I needed, and how quick can I get out of here?” “The set is ready for inspection.” The director commented, looking at her carefully. “She is shooting a video here in an hour.” “We can’t get the scene done in that.” One of the camera crew groaned.

“We can and we will if the cast do it right, apparently she has a new song that needs to be shot in this studio, today, and regarding you going home Danni, I’m afraid you are asked to stay behind, there are safety concerns.” “Surely her video production company have people that deal with that, she is effectively their greatest financial asset, so surely they have people that they trust not to want to her get hurt.” She stated immediately. “I mean it, Bill, I am going home.” “Danni…” “Seriously, fire me if you have to, I am fucking not going to be here when that bitch arrives.” She stated and stormed off.

“Well now, that is interesting,” Jeff commented. “What’s that about?” Condon sighed. “Danni has been photographed with Tom Hiddleston and linked to him when he was with Swift, apparently they are close family friends and Ms. Swift was none too happy about it, there are even stories that Danni is the one that caused them to break up.” “Jesus.” Jeff laughed. “So there is a fair chance that Danni is the person the song is about then?” he joked.

Bill gave him an odd look. “It was Swift herself that said to have her here; she specifically asked the studio that Danni be the Safety Officer.” “Why would she do that if she hates her?” “Because, I think Jeff’s right, whatever she is squawking on about this time, it is for Danni to hear, up close, front and centre.”

* Danielle was forced to swallow back her tears of anger. It was made clear, the manager of the production studio came to her himself, either she does as she was told and remain on set, or she would be fired on the spot and her name blacklisted. Taylor choosing the studio was bigger than she ever could be, and they were willing to bend over backwards for the American star. If she wanted Danielle there, then Danielle would be there.

Danielle knew why she wanted her there, she knew it was to say something, to do something, to make Danielle angry, to try and provoke her, make the pop tart the victim of another terrible mean bully; so, composing herself, she readied herself for whatever was to come, knowing that whatever it was, she could take it, because, at the end of the day, Tom had chosen her over Taylor.

[empiregalaxy]

Don’t you love it when people reblog your posts, and then block you so you can’t reply? Love it. *sarcasm*. Either way, I’m going to respond to this whether that user likes it or not. Heads up, a lot of text.

There are so many things wrong with post and I’ve seen it just a few times too many so I needed to react. (And disclaimer: I’m not a Jalsa ‘hater’; I don’t even know what Jalsa is so there.) 

You may not attack Jonsa, but so many people who are pro- Daenerys do, up to the point of calling us ‘delusional’, sending anon hate, and mocking them constantly. Just cause you don’t take part of it, doesn’t mean others don’t. So -yeah- I’m going ot have a problem with that.

“Dany tortured a child.” I presume you’re talking about the wineseller’s daughter here…? In that case, context is everything. What eventually happened to the wineseller’s daughter remains vague. Apart from that, torturing her was never Dany’s idea to start with. Throughout the series, we see her being protective of children and struggling with her ideas of motherhood. The idea to torture the wineseller’s daughter came from Shakaz. And when Dany thinks about the murder of her people - especially Rylona Rhee, a freed woman -, she agrees to Shakaz’s notion. I don’t condone that, I think it’s 100% wrong and I wish Dany acted differently here. But to take this action out of its context - a city besieged from within, while Dany tries to protect her people, amongst whom there are children as well! - in order to proof Dany is a Horrible Person is a strawman argument imo.

Well, I completely disagree with that meta linked. Context? You mean, ‘cool motive, still a war crime.’ I don’t give a shit what motivated Daenerys to torture a child. I don’t care that the city was under seige. Just cause it’s not ‘your idea’ doesn’t mean you don’t hold the power in that situation. Daenerys is a Queen. Shakaz is part of her council. Who holds the influence at the end of the day? Daenerys does. And it’s not ‘vague’ if you know what medieval torture was. Flaying, pulling out teeth, burning, snapping bones. Want a full list? Happy to provide one. I suppose the Wineseller’s daughters don’t count as Daenerys’ ‘people’. Her prior protection of people (and any “context” doesn’t make the wineseller’s daughters less tortured and brutalized. So it’s not a strawman argument at all. 

Is practically an imperialist.” Nope, I don’t agree with this, sorry. There are a lot of racial issues with Dany’s Slaver’s Bay storyline but I think these stem from problems with Martin’s writing rather than Dany’s characterization an sich. There are people who can talk about this way more eloquently than I can but in short I don’t think Dany’s an imperialist and/or has imperialist motives. This post is excellent in explaining why that’s so

I never once talked about the racial undertones of Slaver’s Bay. Never did. I called her an ‘imperalist’ in relation to her wanting to overtake Westeros and imposing herself as ruler of Meereen. I’m just going to quote from a meta I wrote

She uses military forces to take Meereen, Yunkai and Astapor. She’s not simply the Princess Of Dragonstone, but the Queen Of Meereen, a title which has nothing to do with Targaryen legacy, but she creating in some Slaver’s Bay Empire. She used the Unsullied and Second Sons to do so. What Daenerys did does fit the definition of imperalism. (...)

As for imperalism and it being justified, well- you are justified in getting rid of slavery. You are, however not justified in changing a culture to see how you feel fit, you are not justified to execute whoever you feel wronged by, you are not justified to torture children, you are not justified in bringing three weapons of mass destruction into a city with the intent of using them- even if they are your ‘children’. Imperalism gives an appeal- power goes to the mightiest and in the case of Daenerys, someone with more humanity than the slave masters. But it’s not that simple. Any imperalism comes fire, blood and destruction.

(...)

Critics of Daenerys do not just call her an imperalist in relation to Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen. It’s also about Westeros. The Targaryens lost their right to rule when they committed the atrocities under King Aerys II. Back to Aegon The Conquerer, the ‘conquered’ Westeros. But the Baratheons, under Robert- conquered the Targaryens. So it’s technically a Baratheon state. Daenerys wants to change that, and revert it back to the Targaryen way. Changing how things works, who is in charge and who sits on the throne is imperalism. She wants to bring imperalism to Westeros. Therefore, Daenerys is an imperalist and more importantly will continue to be so.

“Called Ned an usurper dog.” Well, eh, it’s kinda logical Dany would think that, no? Eddard was crucial in the downfall of House Targaryen. We, the readers, know Robert’s Rebellion was justified but in Dany’s mind - the mind of a girl who had to flee her homeland, grew up with Viserys and relied on his version of events of what happened when she was just a babe - Eddard is an usurper who contributed in the fall of her House, the murder of her family and the loss of her home. I think accepting what her father has done, acknowledging that dark part of her ancestry is and will be one of the driving forces of Dany’s arc and characterization in the series. She isn’t there yet; she’s still holding onto her idealized version of her family and history. That’s rather ignorant and wrong of her but c’mon, it’s understandable; it’s human. I really don’t understand how you (or anyone for that matter) can fault her for not looking favorable upon Eddard Stark. Why in the seven hells would she, considering she doesn’t know the whole truth about her father’s reign?

Her counsel includes Barristan Selmy, who tried to tell her differently that Ned advocated for her life. She chose to not listen. Next point.

“Dishes out ‘justice’ to the Grand Masters without trial.” Lol, somehow I find this one extra funny. I would totally agree with such a complaint, if we were talking about a real life situation with real life people. However, the world of ASoIaF is not real life; it’s fantasy. A fantasy world where the capital punishment is very much a thing, where the ruler of a city, city state, state, kingdom, et cetera rules supreme, where faux ‘trials’ are in vogue and where the murder of slaves is everyday business. That doesn’t mean you can’t be bothered by the fact Dany ordered the deaths of slave holders and traders but in that case, I would fully expect you to be just as bothered with Arya’s sense of justice, or Jon’s, or basically anyone in the series who kills ‘bad’ people without a trial first. Dany is the Breaker of Chains; she wants to destroy the slave trade and free the people of Slaver’s Bay. For me, especially in the context of ASoIaF, that’s a noble enough goal to justify killing the Grand Masters and it doesn’t make me like Dany any less.

You do know that the grand masters who were nailed to the cross were picked at random? Not by measure of atrocity, or their actions.... she just grouped them all together and at random, chose 163. It is totally not comparable to Arya Stark, a fierce warrior. In the books- she wants to know the names of the Freys responsible. She just doesn’t go on a rampage like Lady Stoneheart does and kill them all. Arya is very specific in who she wants to kill- Daenerys is not. 

“Can’t control her dragons for shit.” Okay, what. A) Literally NOBODY (or at least nobody Dany came in contact with) can at this point. NOBODY. B) Dany regularly reprimands herself for that very fact throughout the series. She even locks up Rhaegal and Viserion, who she considers to be her children* and who are her biggest weapons and the foundation of her power, in order to make sure the people are safe. She constantly berates herself for the murder of Hazea. *I think the fandom really underestimates this fact. The dragons are not just her ‘pets’, they are her children, her salvation, her means of going back home (the very thing she longs for most). C) May I remind you that it’s Quentyn Martell (the poor fool) who lets Rhaegal and Viserion escape at the end of ADwD? D) At the very end of her ADwD arc Dany is actually succeeding in taming Drogon. With only a whip. (Favorite chapter ever.)

Point being: she should have done it sooner. I do get what you are saying about the dragons being her children, but Hazea’s death could have been avoided if Drogon wasn’t roaming around that day. I don’t -hate- Daenerys because of it, I just find it careless on her part. 

6. & 7. I’m going to combine your last two arguments, because they boil down to the same thing: a leader under siege in the world of George R.R. Martin does things like to that in order to survive. A leaders threatens people. A leader takes hostages (hostages that are in Dany’s case well taken care of by the way). And Dany took the children hostage because she wanted to stop the killings. Wow, she’s such a Jerk. Amazing. I sincerely wish Dany didn’t have to do these things but it’s not like she was in a very comfortable, safe position when she made these decisions. Once again for the people in the back: context is everything.

Yes, war and seiges put leaders in a corner. Do they have to be children, though? Just cause she takes care of them well doesn’t change the fact that they are hostages. Just cause she won’t harm them (even though it’s been established she’d torture innocent people)

Accept that not everyone is going to like your ‘fav’. We have valid reasons, and you can’t just scream ‘sexism’.

[scifimagpie]

Political Oroboros: Why Marx Is Not Enough

First of all, I realise the title of this piece is inflammatory, so let me lay out some caveats.

I am absolutely not conservative. (One of the first things to know about leftist fighting and discussions online is that 'liberal' has two different meanings; the broad sense in which conservative commentators use it, and the more specific and technically correct sense that leftists sometimes use it - as well as the tertiary sense of, "anyone who isn't quite radical enough.') 

I wouldn't necessarily call myself a liberal in the sense of condoning a capitalist system; I do find the most common ground with proponents of democratic socialism. However, some elements of communist ideology do seem solid, although I tend to like many of the ideas I've seen from anarcho-syndicalists more.

Confused by those terms? You're not alone, but some of the hippest trends among the youth of today are not just trap music and street wear - it's political and philosophical discourse. Different streams of communism and anarchism and debating the concepts of idealists through the ages is pretty great, but treating those ideas as a firm road map and, perhaps, the only acceptable solution or map, is not so excellent.

After several weeks of careful surveillance and investigation, I also came to some unsettling and unsavory conclusions.

Source 

There's a weird and disconcerting mix of progressive and regressive ideas in this new wild west of a political movement; using "gay" and "retard" as insults in this year, and talking about second-wave feminist gender concepts (Penis =  man! Vagina = woman! are not scientifically validated ideas anymore, even if they have held sway for a long time) as though they're based on reality is...a special kind of confusing, frankly.  The person mentioned below isn't actually the "leader" of Antifa (antifacism is a general belief and approach, not an organization; the Black Bloc is something different) but the points they're making shouldn't actually have to be made. And yet, here we are. (To clarify: this person's opinion is, as far as I'm concerned, correct, because it's a summary of historical facts.)

We can try to tweak the perspective on things and change the way someone is seen, but facts have this tendency to assert themselves. And when those facts take the form of thousands of dead bodies, politely covering them up or scootching them out of the way is a bit harder. In the case of leaders such as Winston Churchill, it's been easier to laud their successes and forget the death toll because they were victorious, but it doesn't erase his contributions to the Bengal Famine and his decision to test gas weapons on Kurdish villagers. 

Yet even when we debate the value and leadership of dictators, history tends to reassert itself. 

“History isn’t like that. History unravels gently, like an old sweater. It has been patched and darned many times, reknitted to suit different people, shoved in a box under the sink of censorship to be cut up for the dusters of propaganda, yet it always—eventually—manages to spring back into its old familiar shape. History has a habit of changing the people who think they are changing it. History always has a few tricks up its frayed sleeve.”  ― Terry Pratchett, Mort

 Nobody is good enough

Of course, just because someone agrees with history (!) and is willing to unflinchingly consider mass murderers as guilty of their crimes doesn't mean they'll avoid participating in the cannibalistic discussions of leftist politics. A particularly difficult issue has been criticism of the Youtuber Contrapoints, who has both been lauded for her very real effects in de-radicalizing extremists, and criticized for fumbling her way through understanding non-binary genders (and struggling to deal with the flood of online criticism afterwards.) But merely liking a figure who is problematic (or worse, Trash, if they have failed one time too many) can be grounds for a friendship breaking up or the sort of extremely tense, stressful discussion that keeps one awake for hours afterwards.

As I said on Facebook one night, "Whiny comment of the night: it would be easier to unite the left if the radicals weren't so dead-set on everyone just converting to their beliefs as much as possible.And Seems like you can learn about Marxism, cultural history, feminism, and all of that...but it's impossible to unlearn American cultural hegemonic approaches and seeing violence as the default/best option."  But to clarify, this isn't speculation without sourcing. I did a bit of an investigation into a few leftist pages, and it was really unnerving to see the number of pro-gun and "eat the rich" and "fetch the guillotines" sorts of remarks and posters. The thing is, we've all done that dance before, and it's going on in other countries at the moment. Riots and protests are excellent when they work, but sometimes, they don't - and we don't talk about what happens when they don't. 

The risk of small government

At the risk of sounding like a cranky old lady, smaller governments are still governments. People who think some military junta of kids with guns can replace all the architecture and organizational levels of "the state" are welcome to try working in a city planning office as an admin assistant some time. Having done that myself, I would welcome anyone who wants to just replace and rewrite all those land laws, which by the way exist for reasons, to maybe take a civil engineering course or two.

And if you DON'T want to replace all that architecture, just get rid of the bad stuff - congrats, that's actually just reformism, which is still a far cry from "just accepting things the way they are." 

As a fan and casual scholar of cults, I've had many opportunities to see examples of small, ideologically-driven communities turn rotten. Frankly, I wouldn't trust my own town to just secede and govern itself, even though I'm very pleased with our mayor's decisions. I know too much about white people and sociology and Christianity (as well as other religions and groups) to trust that small, self-governing, autonomous groups will be fine on their lonesome. We're kinda in a globalized society with many, many supply chains. If you don't like that, get working on a time machine.

Yet even if one were to travel back in time, we've always had international trade and whatnot, and isolationism has never worked especially well. Also it's how you get fascism in the first place, so...history says it's how you make the exact monster you're trying to fight. Worst of all, these defenses of fascists and murderers do nothing but divide us along sectarian points of conflict. 

Sometimes I worry the Revolution will just be online and never actually get offline

— 🏴🛡Justin🛡🏴 (@sharkle82) July 19, 2019

What do we do? 

Honestly, my approach lately has just been to ignore Leftbook and debate spaces and not engage. Trying to discuss theory and concepts has led to some arguments over the applications of violence that have, honestly, made me stop trusting and just lose certain friends altogether. One otherwise brave and locally committed person said, "violence is neither good nor bad. It's a tool." Although I agree that self-defense actions are not exactly violent, I just don't think we should glorify aggression, or be eager to shed blood. It tends to lead to bad results, and it's uncomfortably similar to the stance we're opposing. My take?

Personally, I don't trust anyone who thinks the problems will all be fixed if we just kill a few of the right people.

The people who sit around day-dreaming about 19th century revolutionaries aren't necessarily the ones helping to, say, actually fight the battles that need fighting here and now. It may seem ridiculous to say, "hey, watch out for this," and also, "but you can basically ignore it," but frankly, that approach has worked extremely well for me in real life. 

The key is this. What do you want to accomplish, in practical terms? Forget about "praxis" and "theory"; what are the concrete, fundamental changes you want to see, and the results you want in society and your community? Every change comes incrementally. Evolution is unavoidable. However, we have an existing system that we can use - and dare I say it, that we can apply our strength to if we're determined enough. 

How to change the world 

Writing actual letters to politicians in my city, province, and country, engaging in the community fight for preservation of a local Safe Consumption Site, signing petitions for various environmental protection causes, and applying pressure to politicians, as well as keeping an eye on actual local white supremacists, fascists, and extremists has done more and had a greater impact than anything in my decade or so of arguing with people on the internet. 

My only regret is that I didn't start using my skills in the real world much, much sooner. It turns out that all the people who insist that those in power won't listen to "us" are, unequivocally, wrong. And while I do have white and cis privilege to thank for some of my results, I would also argue that we on the left must not presume our own helplessness and confine ourselves to training arenas online.  Get out there. Talk to politicians. Stay up to date on the news and follow multiple sources, rather than reading 150-year-old essays. And above all, embrace the power of both individual actions and solidarity. 

I have more to say about this topic, but instead of creating another series, a few essays may be cropping up. Until then, however, I have real work to do, both in the political world and out of it. For one thing, books aren't going to finish themselves! 

***

Michelle Browne is a sci fi/fantasy writer and editor. She lives in Lethbridge, AB with her partner-in-crime and Max the cat. Her days revolve around freelance editing, knitting, jewelry, and learning too much. She is currently working on other people’s manuscripts, the next books in her series, and drinking as much tea as humanly possible.

Find her all over the internet: * OG Blog * Mailing list * Magpie Editing * Amazon * Medium * Twitter * Instagram * Facebook * Tumblr * Paypal.me * Ko-fi

[thecorteztwins]

MUTANT EMPIRE: SIEGE

I thought I had misplaced this book while cleaning, but I remembered today I had taken it to a LARP to read during downtime and then forgotten it was still in the bag. Chapter Five was more of the outer space plot, and Chapter Six...is still not back to Magneto's Manhattan, so I won't tag the magnets this time, but it does focus on Charles, so I will tag @captaindicks and @hexiva because we find out Charles’s preferences in women, who he’s okay with pushing his chairs, and the one person to ever guess Professor Xavier has anything to do with the X-Men.

Basically, Charles is getting ready to address the media. When he does so, he says that the President's current cautious course of action is correct and that the mass attack by the military suggested by Senator Kelly and Graydon Creed would, due to the Sentinels that Magneto has under his control, cause nothing but property damage and likely civilian casualties. While he agrees force is not unwarranted, this particular method would be useless. I think that's a good thing to note about Charles---he doesn't demand every situation be always handled peacefully, he obviously does see force as an option, and an option he frequently uses/condones. He just believes in looking at other options first, and also judging what SORT of force is needed for the right outcome. Hence why the X-Men have currently gone into Manhattan to handle this (the ones who aren't in space, anyway) I'm not sure if the public is aware of that, I've been kinda skimming for the parts that interest me. Also, reminder that this is the 90s, so as far as everyone knows, Professor Xavier is a human expert on mutants/mutant rights proponent, but he is a HUMAN and has NOTHING to do with the X-Men. He is then asked about the killing of humans by Acolytes “in cold blood” caught on tape and “the abduction of local reporter Trish Tilby and her cameraman” If you'll recall from my last post, Trish and her cameraman have not in fact been abducted, but chosen to stay in Manhattan of their own volition. It's understandable that people on the outside would assume a kidnapping though. Also, while the Acolytes did kill two humans last chapter, I would not say it was done in cold blood. A human mob was swarming them, and two attempted to kill them. Specifically, a man fired a gun at the teleporter Amelia Voght, who by reflex teleported the bullets away from herself and into him. Then a woman came at her with a knife, and Amelia teleported her high in the air, where she died from falling. The latter was deliberate, and definitely uneccessary, Amelia could have chosen another way to defend herself, such as teleporting the knife away, and the text specifies she's choosing to use this as a show of force to scare the others into submission. So I definitely would call it murder, unlike with the man, where it was automatic self-defense. But I can't see it as truly cold-blooded when the woman was still coming at her with the intent to kill or at the least cause bodily harm (albeit with good reasons of her own---as she herself said, this is “our city” and the Acolytes are the invaders taking over with the intent to make humans second-class citizens---in another story, this young woman would be the hero) But, I can see the cameras capturing a very different scene, especially since Amelia tried very deliberately to look remorseless and terrifying, since, again, it was an execution meant to discourage further attacks. Xavier condemns the actions of the Acolytes, but then defends Magneto, saying that though he may be a fanatic and terrorist, he is not a cold-blooded murderer and would never have committed such acts himself. I'm inclined to disagree, I think he damn well would kill humans threatening him with the same, but then, if the tapes don't show the aggression by the civilians, if they show Acolytes just picking two random humans for slaughter, then, yes, I agree, he's never been that type and the Acolytes have (as I mentioned in a previous post) However, Xavier doesn't let Mags off the hook either—he notes that Magneto is responsible for the actions of those under him and that “he had foreknowledge of the Acolytes penchant for death when he became their leader” which is indeed true. I would just like to note at this time that these are the SECOND gen Acolytes that Xavier is speaking of here; I play the first gen who, while terrorists, were shown to be more noble and scrupulous in their brief time alive than the largely bloodthirsty second-gens. Just so we're clear, folks. Don't want any confusion. He is then asked if it's true that he's working with the X-Men, a theory raised in this book by the anti-mutant government liason Gyrich, aka the one damn person to put two and two together on this as far as I can tell. Xavier totally deflects by saying he does know some of them such as Henry “the Beast” McCoy (whose identity is public) and then saying that things can be “misconstrued” and jumping into how the IMPORTANT thing is that the American people know that they are safe and turns that into a little speech. Lololol Charles. He also feels “strangely attracted” in an “odd sort of way” to the lady interviewing, thinking that “she still cares” unlike many of her jaded peers in the media business. The text says “But then, he had long since established a history of being attracted to beautiful, odd women. Moira MacTaggert. Gabrielle Haller, Amelia Voght, Lilandra...” and also that “He loved no other above Lilandra” but the X-Men needed him and that was why he returned to Earth after having lived for a time on the Shi'ar throneworld with her as her Imperial Consort. Basically, he was her Sexy Alien Babe and I love that. I also love his type is apparently not just “hot” but also “powerful and kinda weird in some way” Charles also wonders if his ability to walk is the price he paid for his dream, because...his spine was repaired in space by Lilandra's people, but when he came back to Earth, it got fucked up again by the Shadow King and he wound up back in the chair again. No, Charles, that's just the writers boomeranging. We also learn he generally prefers for his chair NOT to be pushed, and that when help is offered by anyone who isn't the X-men or someone he's close to, he generally declines. He also thinks how “the problem with Gyrich”, who I wrote this post on here, “wasn't evil or even “bad” and that “Gyrich was not a villain, but he was an extremely dangerous man all the same” which about sums it up really. You don't need to be “evil” to be dangerous. In a book which strongly features Magneto, I think that’s a pretty good theme to bring up (and I like that it gets to apply to people other than Mags too--I think remembering that bigots are human is a really important thing, because when you start thinking of them as just evil, you stop being able to imagine you or those you know could have bigoted ideas, because you’re not evil, y’know?)

[coin-river-blog]

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Anti-government activists in Thailand are using crypto tech to help prevent authorities from censoring “Rap Against Dictatorship,” a controversial music video that has gone viral in the country. The video, which excoriates Thai government and military authorities on a number of social issues, has achieved runaway success in Thailand, amassing more than 28 million views on YouTube since it was released on October 22.

‘Rap Against Dictatorship’ Finds a Home on the Blockchain

“Rap Against Dictatorship” goes after authorities in the kingdom, lambasting them for their role in Thai problems such as government-level corruption, military high-handedness, censorship, and legal double standards, among other matters. Though comments were turned off on the video, it has gathered more than 925,000 “likes” on YouTube and just 25,000 “dislikes,” indicating that its message resonates with the majority of viewers.

Spooked by the video’s potential to encourage anti-government public discourse in the country which has famously repressive anti-dissent laws, Thai authorities have already responded with a series of actions aimed at creating a chilling effect on any movements sparked by the video. The country’s deputy national police chief, Srivara Ransibrahmanakul, has warned that the video may be breaking the law, and a number of artists who created the video have been summoned to testify before the country’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

In an attempt to prevent the video from being lost to censorship, an unknown individual has placed “Rap Against Dictatorship” on the Zcoin blockchain using an IPFS link embedded in a transaction on the blockchain. Zcoin is a privacy coin which is the first full implementation of the Zerocoin Protocol, not to be confused with the Zerocash Protocol. The video now has a permanent and indelible copy in the IPFS link on the Zcoin blockchain at block number 111089.

Speaking about the pioneering development, Poramin Insom, who is the founder and lead developer of Zcoin, as well as a Thai national, said:

“We don’t know who added the IPFS link to their transaction, but this link has been secured by the blockchain and cannot be removed or hidden. Furthermore, by using Zerocoin protocol, the Zcoin blockchain keeps the link is private and therefore the identities of the uploading parties cannot be known.”

Exclusive Interview With Zcoin Founder

CCN recently had a chat with Poramin to get his take on what the development means for activism in Thailand and for the expanding usage of blockchain technology globally.

CCN: Let’s say the Thai government succeeds in getting this video taken off YouTube, how will people in the country be able to access it from the Zcoin blockchain? Poramin: The primary technology behind this is Inter Planetary File Systems (IPFS) where the actual file is being stored in a distributed way and replicated throughout the IPFS network. It is the IPFS link that is uploaded on the blockchain as a kind of uncensorable and permanent bookmark.The easiest way to access the file is to go to https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/ and then enter the IPFS link that is embedded into the Zcoin blockchain on block 111089. This will play the video. This allows an easy to share link even if it is blocked from YouTube. Even if the government blocks gateway.ipfs.io, it still can be accessed by downloading the IPFS program and then accessing the file using that same link. The role of Zcoin’s blockchain is merely embedding the link permanently in a place where it cannot easily be taken down, while doing it in such a way (via the Zerocoin protocol) where there is no trace to who put up the link.

CCN: Are Thai authorities aware of the reality of non-censorship that the blockchain can create? What do you think their next move will be?

Poramin: I believe Thai authorities are still coming to grips on blockchain technology, and although there have been many positive developments — for example with regulation and licensing of digital exchanges — I think they are yet to realize the full implications of the technology. It’s just a matter of continuous engagement and education.

In this case, it is actually IPFS that does the storage, with the blockchain serving as a timestamp and “uncensorable bookmark” of sorts. The posting on the blockchain seems to be more of a statement of the futility of censorship rather than anything else.

For those evading censorship, the allure of blockchain is that it offers permanence. Websites, social media and other places can be blocked or brought down, but it’s nearly impossible to alter a public blockchain like Zcoin. Although other blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum can be used as well, they don’t hide transaction history, so a determined blockchain analyst may still be able to identify the poster.

While I’m uncertain how Thai authorities will react, I do hope they realize that blockchains change the way information is disseminated, much akin to how social media in the past decade or so has played a pivotal role in politics. Attempts to censor social media have generally been unsuccessful, perhaps with the exception of China, with its nation-wide implementation of its Great Firewall.

CCN: If this video’s permanent record on the blockchain becomes a rallying point against censorship and government malfeasance in Thailand, do you see similar actions being taken in other parts of the world?

Poramin: The use of blockchain for anti-censored content is rather low, as social media is still a much more convenient and widespread [medium] used to incite public outrage in most parts of the world. However, in China, where they do succeed in blocking and monitoring social media, blockchain was used to embed the text of a controversial open letter which spoke against Peking University. There is also an interesting use case when Catalonia, who sought independence from Spain, used IPFS (not blockchain) to let people know where to vote.

I am excited to see the use of technology like Zerocoin, which allows anonymous but verifiable voting or polling where you can prove that someone has participated in the vote, but not which way they voted. This means people can vote without fear. This would be an amazingly powerful tool for governments and citizens alike, and combined with a permanent recording of votes on the blockchain, allows for an unforgeable and anonymous voting system.

CCN: On the flip-side, what if someone were to use this functionality to upload something objectively wrong like child pornography? Is there any protocol for dealing with such an eventuality? Would that perhaps help the Thai government and other repressive governments around the world to make a case against blockchain technology?

Poramin: Zcoin’s blockchain is not hosting the content itself, it’s only hosting the link to the content on IPFS. Also we are technologically neutral and a public utility. As with the internet, blockchain can be used for both good things and bad things. In this case, I think its potential and various use cases are much greater. IPFS has some inbuilt mechanisms where those running IPFS nodes can optionally choose to implement blacklists should they wish to do their best to comply with their local laws.

Also, for most people, you would need a block explorer and to know exactly which block to find the link. Unlike messages or political statements which can be made public and permanent, child pornography links would not really make sense to be stored on a public blockchain as there are many other more discreet ways to share it, such as on the deep web (not that we are condoning it).

CCN: There are thousands of competing blockchains in existence. In your opinion, why was Zcoin chosen specifically to store this very important video? Poramin: Zcoin is dedicated to enhancing privacy, whether digital, financial, or social. Our blockchain is designed to prevent the exposure of identities or any shared data, so its privacy mechanisms will naturally appeal to those wanting to resist censorship. While it was never Zcoin’s intention to be a platform for this specifically, it’s interesting to see how the technology can serve people in many different ways. Zcoin has also had some significant exposure in Thailand, which may have also resonated with the person who posted the video on the Zcoin blockchain.

Featured Image from Shutterstock

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[giancarlonicoli]

Mass Hysteria

by

Mike Mish Shedlock

5 hrs

-edited

The mass hysteria following Trump's meeting with Putin is likely to last for days. Most are outraged. Few see the light.

My article Congratulations to President Trump for an Excellent Summit with Putin spawned numerous some I could not tell if they were sarcastic or not.

For example,   reader Brian stated " There is zero doubt now that Putin stole the election from Hillary. So much so that she MUST be given the nomination again in 2020. All potential challengers must step aside. To refuse her the 2020 nomination would be evidence of traitorous activities with Putin."'

I congratulated Brian for brilliant sarcasm but he piled on. It now seems he was serious.

Mainstream media, the Left an the Right were in general condemnation.

Numerous cries of treason emerged from the Left and the Right (see the above link)

It Happened - No Trial Necessary

A friend I highly respect commented "There is simply no question that they did it.  You can legitimately claim that it’s not important or that there has been no tie to Trump shown.   On the Russians’ side, they can say, screw off, we were pursuing our interests.  But you can’t take the view it did not happen. It happened."

There is a question who did it. Indictments are just that, not proof.

The US fabricated evidence to start the Vietnam war and the US fabricated WMD talk on the second war in Iraq. US intelligence had no idea the Berlin Wall was about to fall. The US meddled in Russia supporting a drunk named Yeltsin because we erroneously thought we could control him.

They Are All Liars

It's a mystery why anyone would believe these proven liars. That does not mean I believe Putin either. They are all capable liars.

Let's step back from the absurd points of view to reality.

US Meddling

The US tries to influence elections in other countries and has a history of assisting the forcible overthrow of governments we don’t like.  

Vietnam

Iran

Iraq

Libya

Drone policy

All of the above are massive disasters of US meddling. They are all actions of war, non-declared, and illegal.

I cannot and do not condone such actions even if they were legal.

911 and ISIS resulted from US meddling. The migration crisis in the EU is a direct consequence of US meddling. The Iranian revolution was a direct consequence of US meddling.

Now we are pissing and moaning that Russia spent a few million dollars on Tweets to steal the election. Please be serious.

Let's Assume

Let's assume for one second the DNC hack was Russia-based.

Is there a reason to not be thankful for evidence that Hillary conspired to deny Bernie Sanders the nomination?

Pity Hillary?

We are supposed to pity Hillary?

The outrage from the Right is amazing.

It's pretty obvious Senator John McCain wanted her to win. Neither faced a war or military intervention they disapproved of.

Common Sense

Let's move on to a common sense position from Glenn Greenwald at the Intercept.

Debate: Is Trump-Putin Summit a “Danger to America” or Crucial Diplomacy Between Nuclear Powers?

Greenwald vs. Cirincione: Should Trump Have Canceled Summit After U.S. Indictment of Russian Agents?

Greenwald vs. Joe Cirincione

​GLENN GREENWALD: In 2007, during the Democratic presidential debate, Barack Obama was asked whether he would meet with the leaders of North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria and Iran without preconditions. He said he would. Hillary Clinton said she wouldn’t, because it would be used as a propaganda tool for repressive dictators. And liberals celebrated Obama. It was one of his greatest moments and one of the things that I think helped him to win the Democratic nomination, based on the theory that it’s always better to meet with leaders, even if they’re repressive, than to isolate them or to ignore them. In 1987, when President Reagan decided that he wanted to meet with Soviet leaders, the far right took out ads against him that sounded very much just like what we just heard from Joe, accusing him of being a useful idiot to Soviet and Kremlin propaganda, of legitimizing Russian aggression and domestic repression at home.

GLENN GREENWALD: It is true that Putin is an authoritarian and is domestically repressive. That’s true of many of the closest allies of the United States, as well, who are even far more repressive, including ones that fund most of the think tanks in D.C., such as the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia. And I think the most important issue is the one that we just heard, which is that 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons are in the hands of two countries—the United States and Russia—and having them speak and get along is much better than having them isolate one another and increase the risk of not just intentional conflict, but misperception and miscommunication, as well.

​JOE CIRINCIONE: Right. Let’s be clear. Glenn, there’s nothing wrong with meeting. I agree with you. Leaders should meet, and we should be negotiating with our foes, with those people we disagree with. We’re better off when we do that. And the kind of attacks you saw on Barack Obama were absolutely uncalled for, and you’re right to condemn those.

​JOE CIRINCIONE: What I’m worried about is this president meeting with this leader of Russia and what they’re going to do. That’s what’s so wrong about this summit coming now, when you have Donald Trump, who just attacked the NATO alliance, who calls our European allies foes, who turns a blind eye to what his director of national intelligence called the warning lights that are blinking red. About what? About Russian interference in our elections. So you just had a leader of Russia, Putin, a skilled tactician, a skilled strategist, interfere in a U.S. election. To what? To help elect Donald Trump.

GLENN GREENWALD: I think this kind of rhetoric is so unbelievably unhinged, the idea that the phishing links sent to John Podesta and the Democratic National Committee are the greatest threat to American democracy in decades. People are now talking about it as though it’s on par with 9/11 or Pearl Harbor, that the lights are blinking red, in terms of the threat level. This is lunacy, this kind of talk. I spent years reading through the most top-secret documents of the NSA, and I can tell you that not only do they send phishing links to Russian agencies of every type continuously on a daily basis, but do far more aggressive interference in the cybersecurity of every single country than Russia is accused of having done during the 2016 election. To characterize this as some kind of grave existential threat to American democracy is exactly the kind of rhetoric that we heard throughout the Bush-Cheney administration about what al-Qaeda was like.

JOE CIRINCIONE: Why does Donald Trump feel that he has to meet alone with Putin? What is going on there? I mean, that—when Ronald Reagan met with Gorbachev at Reykjavik, at least he had George Shultz with him. The two of them, you know, were meeting with Gorbachev and his foreign minister at the time. This is—it’s deeply disturbing. It makes you feel that Trump is hiding something, that he is either trying to make a deal with Putin, reporting something to Putin. I tell you, I know U.S. intelligence officials—I’m probably going right into Glenn’s wheelhouse here. But U.S. intelligence officials are concerned about what Donald Trump might be revealing to the Russian leader, the way he revealed classified information to the Russian foreign minister when he met privately with him in the Oval Office at the beginning of his term. No, I don’t like it one bit.

GLENN GREENWALD: I continue to be incredibly frustrated by the claim that we hear over and over, and that we just heard from Joe, that Donald Trump does everything that Vladimir Putin wants, and that if he were a paid agent of the Russian government, there’d be—he would be doing nothing different. I just went through the entire list of actions that Donald Trump has taken and statements that he has made that are legitimately adverse to the interest of the Russian government, that Barack Obama specifically refused to do, despite bipartisan demands that he do them, exactly because he didn’t want to provoke more tensions between the United States and Russia. Sending lethal arms to Ukraine, bordering Russia, is a really serious adverse action against the interest of the Russian government. Bombing the Assad regime is, as well. Denouncing one of the most critical projects that the Russian government has, which is the pipeline to sell huge amounts of gas and oil to Germany, is, as well. So is expelling Russian diplomats and imposing serious sanctions on oligarchs that are close to the Putin regime. You can go down the list, over and over and over, in the 18 months that he’s been in office, and see all the things that Donald Trump has done that is adverse, in serious ways, to the interests of Vladimir Putin, including ones that President Obama refused to do. So, this film, this movie fairytale, that I know is really exciting—it’s like international intrigue and blackmail, like the Russians have something over Trump; it’s like a Manchurian candidate; it’s from like the 1970s thrillers that we all watched—is inane—you know, with all due respect to Joe. I mean, it’s—but it’s in the climate, because it’s so contrary to what it is that we’re seeing. Now, this idea of meeting alone with Vladimir Putin, the only way that you would find that concerning is if you believed all that.

JOE CIRINCIONE: So, Trump knew that this indictment was coming down, before he went to Europe, and still he never says a word about it. What he does is continue his attacks on our alliances, i.e. he continues his attacks on our free press, he continues his attacks on FBI agents who were just doing their job, and supports this 10-hour show hearing that the House of Representatives had. It’s really unbelievable that Trump is doing these things and never says one word about it. He still has not said a word about those indictments.

GLENN GREENWALD: That’s because the reality is—and I don’t know if Donald Trump knows this or doesn’t know this, has stumbled into the truth or what—but the reality is that what the Russians did in 2016 is absolutely not aberrational or unusual in any way. The United—I’m sorry to say this, but it’s absolutely true. The United States and Russia have been interfering in one another’s domestic politics for since at least the end of World War II, to say nothing of what they do in far more extreme ways to the internal politics of other countries. Noam Chomsky was on this very program several months ago, and he talked about how the entire world is laughing at this indignation from the United States—”How dare you interfere in our democracy!”—when the United States not only has continuously in the past done, but continues to do far more extreme interference in the internal politics of all kinds of countries, including Russia.

GLENN GREENWALD: The United States funds oppositional groups inside Russia. The United States sent advisers and all kinds of operatives to try and elect Boris Yeltsin in the mid-1990s, because they perceived, accurately, that he was a drunk who would serve the interests of the United States more than other candidates who might have won. The United States interferes in Russian politics, and they interfere in their cyber systems, and they invade their email systems, and they invade all kinds of communications all the time. And so, to treat this as though it’s some kind of aberrational event, I think, is really kind of naive.

GLENN GREENWALD: It wasn’t just Hillary Clinton in 2016 who lost this election. The entire Democratic Party has collapsed as a national political force over the last decade. They’ve lost control of the Senate and of the House and of multiple statehouses and governorships. They’re decimated as a national political force. And the reason is exactly what Joe said. They become the party of international globalization. They’re associated with Silicon Valley and Wall Street billionaires and corporate interests, and have almost no connection to the working class. And that is a much harder conversation to have about why the Democrats have lost elections than just blaming a foreign villain and saying it’s because Vladimir Putin ran some fake Facebook ads and did some phishing emails. And I think that until we put this in perspective, about what Russia did in 2016 and the reality that the U.S. does that sort of thing all the time to Russia and so many other countries, we’re going to just not have the conversation that we need to be having about what these international institutions, that are so sacred—NATO and free trade and international trade organizations—have done to people all over the world, and the reason they’re turning to demagogues and right-wing extremists because of what these institutions have done to them. That’s the conversation we need to be having, but we’re not having, because we’re evading it by blaming everything on Vladimir Putin. And that, to me, is even more dangerous for our long-term prospects than this belligerence that’s in the air about how we ought to look at Moscow.

Indictments and First Year Law

Mish: I now wish to return to a statement my friend made regarding the idea "No question Russia did it".

From Glenn Greenwald

As far as the indictments from Mueller are concerned, it’s certainly the most specific accounting yet that we’ve gotten of what the U.S. government claims the Russian government did in 2016. But it’s extremely important to remember what every first-year law student will tell you, which is that an indictment is nothing more than the assertions of a prosecutor unaccompanied by evidence. The evidence won’t be presented until a trial or until Robert Mueller actually issues a report to Congress. And so, I would certainly hope that we are not at the point, which I think we seem to be at, where we are now back to believing that when the CIA makes statements and assertions and accusations, or when prosecutors make statements and assertions and accusations, unaccompanied by evidence that we can actually evaluate, that we’re simply going to believe those accusations on faith, especially when the accusations come from George W. Bush’s former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who repeatedly lied to Congress about Iraq and a whole variety of other issues. So, I think there we need some skepticism. But even if the Russians did everything that Robert Mueller claims in that indictment that they did, in the scheme of what the U.S. and the Russians do to one another and other countries, I think to say that this is somehow something that we should treat as a grave threat, that should mean that we don’t talk to them or that we treat them as an enemy, is really irrational and really quite dangerous.

Mish - Six Questions

Is this a trial or a witch hunt?

Do we need to see the evidence or do we believe known liars?

Is Trump guilty of treason? Before we even see proof Putin was involved?

Is the CIA incapable of fabricating evidence?

Even if Russia interfered in the election, why should anyone have expected otherwise?

Has everyone forgotten the US lies on WMDs already?

Irrational and Dangerous

I don't know about you, but I have no reason to believe known liars and hypocrites.

I disagree with Trump all the time, in fact, more often than not.

The amount of venom on Trump over this is staggering.

Adding a missing word, I stand by my previous statement: "Nearly every political action that generates this much complete nonsense and hysteria from the Left and Right is worthy of immense praise."

If you disagree please provide examples. The only two I can come up with are Pearl Harbor and 911. In both, the US was directly attacked.

For rebuttal purposes I offer Vietnam, Syria, Iraq, Russia, Iran, WWI,  treatment of Japanese-American citizens in WWII, and McCarthyism.

Greenwald accurately assesses the situation as "really irrational and really quite dangerous."

Indeed.

And if indictments and accusations were crimes, we wouldn't need a jury.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock

[olaluwe]

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo in a detailed letter talked about the numerous issues bothering Nigeria as a country and made some suggestions. In a statement titled, The Way Out: A Clarion Call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement, released on Tuesday, January 23, Obasanjo reflected about the political journey of the country, recounting how he backed the current president, Muhammadu Buhari, against former president Goodluck Jonathan. Obasanjo, though vented no regret supporting the current president, but said Buhari has performed far below expectation just as he added that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is not the solution to the country's many challenges. He advocated a new movement, which he called, Coalition for Nigeria, (CN) to which all well-meaning Nigerians can belong. Finally, he added that the movement, does not need to be a political party, will be dedicated to "taking Nigeria to the height God has created it to be." Read the full letter below: "Since we are still in the month of January, it is appropriate to wish all Nigerians Happy 2018. I am constrained to issue this special statement at this time considering the situation of the country. Some of you may be asking, “What has brought about this special occasion of Obasanjo issuing a Special Statement?” You will be right to ask such a question. But there is a Yoruba saying that ‘when lice abound in your clothes, your fingernails will never be dried of blood’. When I was in the village, to make sure that lice die, you put them between two fingernails and press hard to ensure they die and they always leave blood stains on the fingernails. To ensure you do not have blood on your fingernails, you have to ensure that lice are not harboured anywhere within your vicinity. The lice of poor performance in government – poverty, insecurity, poor economic management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, condonation of misdeed – if not outright encouragement of it, lack of progress and hope for the future, lack of national cohesion and poor management of internal political dynamics and widening inequality – are very much with us today. With such lice of general and specific poor performance and crying poverty with us, our fingers will not be dry of ‘blood’. Four years ago when my PDP card was torn, I made it abundantly clear that I quit partisan politics for aye but my concern and interest in Nigeria, Africa and indeed in humanity would not wane. Ever since, I have adhered strictly to that position. Since that time, I have devoted quality time to the issue of zero hunger as contained in Goal No. 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. We have set the target that Nigeria with the participating States in the Zero Hunger Forum should reach Zero Hunger goal by 2025 – five years earlier than the UN target date. I am involved in the issue of education in some states and generally in the issue of youth empowerment and employment. I am involved in all these domestically and altruistically to give hope and future to the seemingly hopeless and those in despair. I believe strongly that God has endowed Nigeria so adequately that no Nigerian should be either in want or in despair. I believe in teamwork and collaborative efforts. At the international level, we have worked with other world leaders to domicile the apparatus for monitoring and encouraging socio-economic progress in Africa in our Presidential Library. The purpose of Africa Progress Group, which is the new name assumed by Africa Progress Panel (APP), is to point out where, when and what works need to be done for the progress of Africa separately and collectively by African leaders and their development partners. I have also gladly accepted the invitation of the UN Secretary-General to be a member of his eighteen-member High-Level Board of Advisers on Mediation.There are other assignments I take up in other fora for Africa and for the international community. For Africa to move forward, Nigeria must be one of the anchor countries, if not the leading anchor country. It means that Nigeria must be good at home to be good outside. No doubt, our situation in the last decade or so had shown that we are not good enough at home; hence we are invariably absent at the table that we should be abroad. All these led me to take the unusual step of going against my own political Party, PDP, in the last general election to support the opposite side. I saw that action as the best option for Nigeria. As it has been revealed in the last three years or so, that decision and the subsequent collective decision of Nigerians to vote for a change was the right decision for the nation. For me, there was nothing personal, it was all in the best interest of Nigeria and, indeed, in the best interest of Africa and humanity at large. Even the horse rider then, with whom I maintain very cordial, happy and social relationship today has come to realise his mistakes and regretted it publicly and I admire his courage and forthrightness in this regard. He has a role to play on the sideline for the good of Nigeria, Africa and humanity and I will see him as a partner in playing such a role nationally and internationally, but not as a horse rider in Nigeria again. The situation that made Nigerians to vote massively to get my brother Jonathan off the horse is playing itself out again. First, I thought I knew the point where President Buhari is weak and I spoke and wrote about it even before Nigerians voted for him and I also did vote for him because at that time it was a matter of “any option but Jonathan” (aobj). But my letter to President Jonathan titled: “Before It Is Too Late” was meant for him to act before it was too late. He ignored it and it was too late for him and those who goaded him into ignoring the voice of caution. I know that praise-singers and hired attackers may be raised up against me for verbal or even physical attack but if I can withstand undeserved imprisonment and was ready to shed my blood by standing for Nigeria, I will consider no sacrifice too great to make for the good of Nigeria at any time. No human leader is expected to be personally strong or self-sufficient in all aspects of governance. I knew President Buhari before he became President and said that he is weak in the knowledge and understanding of the economy but I thought that he could make use of good Nigerians in that area that could help. Although, I know that you cannot give what you don’t have and that economy does not obey military order. You have to give it what it takes in the short-, medium- and long-term. Then, it would move. I know his weakness in understanding and playing in the foreign affairs sector and again, there are many Nigerians that could be used in that area as well.They have knowledge and experience that could be deployed for the good of Nigeria. There were serious allegations of round-tripping against some inner caucus of the Presidency which would seem to have been condoned. I wonder if such actions do not amount to corruption and financial crime, then what is it? Culture of condonation and turning blind eye will cover up rather than clean up. And going to justice must be with clean hands. I thought President Buhari would fight corruption and insurgency and he must be given some credit for his achievement so far in these two areas although it is not yet uhuru! The herdsmen/crop farmers issue is being wittingly or unwittingly allowed to turn sour and messy. It is no credit to the federal government that the herdsmen rampage continues with careless abandon and without finding an effective solution to it. And it is a sad symptom of insensitivity and callousness that some Governors, a day after 73 victims were being buried in a mass grave in Benue state without condolence, were jubilantly endorsing President Buhari for a second term! The timing was most unfortunate. The issue of herdsmen/crop farmers dichotomy should not be left on the political platform of blame game; the federal government must take the lead in bringing about solution that protects life and properties of herdsmen and crop farmers alike and for them to live amicably in the same community. But there are three other areas where President Buhari has come out more glaringly than most of us thought we knew about him. One is nepotic deployment bordering on clannishness and inability to bring discipline to bear on errant members of his nepotic court. This has grave consequences on performance of his government to the detriment of the nation. It would appear that national interest was being sacrificed on the altar of nepotic interest. What does one make of a case like that of Maina: collusion, condonation, ineptitude, incompetence, dereliction of responsibility or kinship and friendship on the part of those who should have taken visible and deterrent disciplinary action? How many similar cases are buried, ignored or covered up and not yet in the glare of the media and the public? The second is his poor understanding of the dynamics of internal politics. This has led to wittingly or unwittingly making the nation more divided and inequality has widened and become more pronounced. It also has effect on general national security. The third is passing the buck. For instance, blaming the Governor of the Central Bank for devaluation of the naira by 70% or so and blaming past governments for it, is to say the least, not accepting one’s own responsibility. Let nobody deceive us, economy feeds on politics and because our politics is depressing, our economy is even more depressing today. If things were good, President Buhari would not need to come in. He was voted to fix things that were bad and not engage in the blame game. Our Constitution is very clear, one of the cardinal responsibilities of the President is the management of the economy of which the value of the naira forms an integral part. Kinship and friendship that place responsibility for governance in the hands of the unelected can only be deleterious to good government and to the nation. President Buhari’s illness called for the sympathy, understanding, prayer and patience from every sane Nigerian. It is part of our culture. Most Nigerians prayed for him while he was away sick in London for over hundred days and he gave his Deputy sufficient leeway to carry on in his absence. We all thanked God for President Buhari for coming back reasonably hale and hearty and progressing well in his recovery. But whatever may be the state of President Buhari’s health today, he should neither over-push his luck nor over-tax the patience and tolerance of Nigerians for him, no matter what his self-serving, so-called advisers, who would claim that they love him more than God loves him and that without him, there would be no Nigeria say. President Buhari needs a dignified and honourable dismount from the horse. He needs to have time to reflect, refurbish physically and recoup and after appropriate rest, once again, join the stock of Nigerian leaders whose experience, influence, wisdom and outreach can be deployed on the sideline for the good of the country. His place in history is already assured. Without impaired health and strain of age, running the affairs of Nigeria is a 25/7 affair, not 24/7. I only appeal to brother Buhari to consider a deserved rest at this point in time and at this age. I continue to wish him robust health to enjoy his retirement from active public service. President Buhari does not necessarily need to heed my advice. But whether or not he heeds it, Nigeria needs to move on and move forward.I have had occasion in the past to say that the two main political parties – APC and PDP – were wobbling. I must reiterate that nothing has happened to convince me otherwise. If anything, I am reinforced in my conviction. The recent show of PDP must give grave and great concern to lovers of Nigeria. To claim, as has been credited to the chief kingmaker of PDP, that for procuring the Supreme Court judgment for his faction of the Party, he must dictate the tune all the way and this is indeed fraught with danger. If neither APC nor PDP is a worthy horse to ride to lead Nigeria at this crucial and critical time, what then do we do? Remember Farooq Kperogi, an Associate Professor at the Kennesaw State University, Georgia, United States, calls it “a cruel Hobson’s choice; it’s like a choice between six and half a dozen, between evil and evil. Any selection or deflection would be a distinction without a difference.” We cannot just sit down lamenting and wringing our hands desperately and hopelessly. I believe the situation we are in today is akin to what and where we were in at the beginning of this democratic dispensation in 1999. The nation was tottering. People became hopeless and saw no bright future in the horizon. It was all a dark cloud politically, economically and socially. The price of oil at that time was nine dollars per barrel and we had a debt overhang of about $35 billion. Most people were confused with lack of direction in the country. One of the factors that saved the situation was a near government of national unity that was put in place to navigate us through the dark cloud. We had almost all hands on deck. We used people at home and from the diaspora and we navigated through the dark cloud of those days. At that time, most people were hopelessly groping in the dark. They saw no choice, neither in the left nor in the right, and yet we were not bereft of people at home and from the diaspora that could come together to make Nigeria truly a land flowing with milk and honey. Where we are is a matter of choice but we can choose differently to make a necessary and desirable change, once again. Wherever I go, I hear Nigerians complaining, murmuring in anguish and anger. But our anger should not be like the anger of the cripple. We can collectively save ourselves from the position we find ourselves. It will not come through self-pity, fruitless complaint or protest but through constructive and positive engagement and collective action for the good of our nation and ourselves and our children and their children. We need moral re-armament and engaging togetherness of people of like-mind and goodwill to come solidly together to lift Nigeria up. This is no time for trading blames or embarking on futile argument and neither should we accept untenable excuses for non-performance. Let us accept that the present administration has done what it can do to the limit of its ability, aptitude and understanding. Let the administration and its political party platform agree with the rest of us that what they have done and what they are capable of doing is not good enough for us. They have given as best as they have and as best as they can give. Nigeria deserves and urgently needs better than what they have given or what we know they are capable of giving. To ask them to give more will be unrealistic and will only sentence Nigeria to a prison term of four years if not destroy it beyond the possibility of an early recovery and substantial growth. Einstein made it clear to us that doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the height of folly. Already, Nigerians are committing s*uicide for the unbearable socio-economic situation they find themselves in. And yet Nigerians love life. We must not continue to reinforce failure and hope that all will be well. It is self-deceit and self-defeat and another aspect of folly. What has emerged from the opposition has shown no better promise from their antecedents. As the leader of that Party for eight years as President of Nigeria, I can categorically say there is nothing to write home about in their new team. We have only one choice left to take us out of Egypt to the promised land. And that is the coalition of the concerned and the willing – ready for positive and drastic change, progress and involvement. Change that will give hope and future to all our youth and dignity and full participation to all our women. Our youth should be empowered to deploy their ability to learn, innovate and work energetically at ideas and concepts in which they can make their own original inputs. Youth must be part of the action today and not relegated to leadership of tomorrow which may never come. Change that will mean enhancement of living standard and progress for all. A situation where the elected will accountably govern and every Nigerian will have equal opportunity not based on kinship and friendship but based on free citizenship. Democracy is sustained and measured not by leaders doing extraordinary things, (invariably, leaders fail to do ordinary things very well), but by citizens rising up to do ordinary things extraordinarily well. Our democracy, development and progress at this juncture require ordinary citizens of Nigeria to do the extraordinary things of changing the course and direction of our lacklustre performance and development. If leadership fails, citizens must not fail and there lies the beauty and importance of democracy. We are challenged by the current situation; we must neither adopt spirit of cowardice nor timidity let alone impotence but must be sustained by courage, determination and commitment to say and do and to persist until we achieve upliftment for Nigeria. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and we believe that our venturing will not be in vain. God of Nigeria has endowed this country adequately and our non-performance cannot be blamed on God but on leadership. God, who has given us what we need and which is potentially there, will give us leadership enablement to actualize our potentiality. The development and modernization of our country and society must be anchored and sustained on dynamic Nigerian culture, enduring values and an enchanting Nigerian dream. We must have abiding faith in our country and its role and place within the comity of nations. Today, Nigeria needs all hands on deck. All hands of men and women of goodwill must be on deck. We need all hands to move our country forward. We need a Coalition for Nigeria, CN. Such a Movement at this juncture needs not be a political party but one to which all well-meaning Nigerians can belong. That Movement must be a coalition for democracy, good governance, social and economic well-being and progress. Coalition to salvage and redeem our country. You can count me with such a Movement. Last time, we asked, prayed and worked for change and God granted our request. This time, we must ask, pray and work for change with unity, security and progress. And God will again grant us. Of course, nothing should stop such a Movement from satisfying conditions for fielding candidates for elections. But if at any stage the Movement wishes to metamorphose into candidate-sponsoring Movement for elections, I will bow out of the Movement because I will continue to maintain my non-partisan position. Coalition for Nigeria must have its headquarters in Abuja. This Coalition for Nigeria will be a Movement that will drive Nigeria up and forward. It must have a pride of place for all Nigerians, particularly for our youth and our women. It is a coalition of hope for all Nigerians for speedy, quality and equal development, security, unity, prosperity and progress. It is a coalition to banish poverty, insecurity and despair. Our country must not be oblivious to concomitant danger around, outside and ahead. Coalition for Nigeria must be a Movement to break new ground in building a united country, a socially-cohesive and moderately prosperous society with equity, equality of opportunity, justice and a dynamic and progressive economy that is self-reliant and takes active part in global division of labour and international decision-making. The Movement must work out the path of development and the trajectory of development in speed, quality and equality in the short- medium- and long-term for Nigeria on the basis of sustainability, stability, predictability, credibility, security, cooperation and prosperity with diminishing inequality. What is called for is love, commitment and interest in our country, not in self, friends and kinship alone but particularly love, compassion and interest in the poor, underprivileged and downtrodden. It is our human duty and responsibility so to do. Failure to do this will amount to a sin against God and a crime against humanity. Some may ask, what does Obasanjo want again? Obasanjo has wanted nothing other than the best for Nigeria and Nigerians and he will continue to want nothing less. And if we have the best, we will be contented whether where we live is described as palaces or huts by others and we will always give thanks to God. I, therefore, will gladly join such a Movement when one is established as Coalition for Nigeria, CN, taking Nigeria to the height God has created it to be. From now on, the Nigeria eagle must continue to soar and fly high. CN, as a Movement, will be new, green, transparent and must remain clean and always active, selflessly so. Members must be ready to make sacrifice for the nation and pay the price of being pioneers and good Nigerians for our country to play the God-assigned role for itself, for its neighbours, for its sub-region of West Africa, for its continent and for humanity in general. For me, the strength and sustainable success of CN will derive largely from the strong commitment of a population that is constantly mobilized to the rallying platform of the fact that going forward together is our best option for building a nation that will occupy its deserved place in the global community. May God continue to lead, guide and protect us." The end. This being the full text of the Letter written by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to President Muhammadu Buhari.

[nancy-astorga]

The Marine Corps’ nude photo-sharing scandal is even worse than first realized

The scandal that prompted an investigation into hundreds of Marines who allegedly shared naked photographs of their colleagues in a private Facebook group is much larger than has been previously reported, Business Insider has learned.

The practice of sharing such photos goes beyond the Marine Corps and beyond one Facebook group. Hundreds of nude photos of female service members from every military branch have been posted to an image-sharing message board that dates back to at least May 2016. A source informed Business Insider of the site’s existence on Tuesday.

The site, called AnonIB, has a dedicated board for military personnel that features dozens of threaded conversations of men, many of whom ask for “wins” — naked photographs — of specific female service members, often identifying the women by name or by where they are currently stationed.

The revelation comes on the heels of an explosive story published earlier this week by journalist Thomas Brennan. He reported on a Facebook group called “Marines United,” which was home to approximately 30,000 members that were sharing nude photos of colleagues, along with personal information and even encouragement of sexual assault. 

The report led the Marine Corps to open an investigation, spurred widespread outrage in the media and in Congress, and prompted sharp condemnation from the Corps’ top leaders. According to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, investigators in that case are considering felony charges that could carry a maximum penalty of up to seven years in prison.

An official familiar with the matter told Business Insider the Marine Commandant, Gen. Robert Neller, would be briefing members of the House Armed Services Committee on the scandal some time next week.

“We’re examining some of our policies to see if we can make them punitive in nature,” the official said, adding that the Corps was taking the issue very seriously.

Facebook group exodus leads to message board’s popularity

Brennan’s story also led to an apparent exodus of members from the private Facebook group, though some appeared to have found the publicly viewable message board soon after — with the express intent of finding the cache of nude images Marines in the Facebook group were sharing.

“Come on Marines share the wealth here before that site is nuked and all is lost,” wrote one anonymous user who posted on March 6, just two days after Brennan’s story was published. Follow-up replies offered a link to a Dropbox folder named “Girls of MU” with thousands of photographs inside.

Dropbox did not respond to a request for comment.

Members on the board often posted photos — seemingly stolen from female service members’ Instagram accounts — before asking others if they had nude pictures of a female service member.

For example, after posting the first name and photograph of a female soldier in uniform on January 21, one board member asked: “Army chick went to [redacted], ig is [redacted].” Another user, apparently frustrated no pictures had yet been found, posted a few days later: “BUMP. Let’s see them t——.”

On another thread, a member posted a photograph on May 30, 2016, of a female service member with her breasts exposed, asking, “She is in the navy down in san diego, anyone have any more wins?”

One user followed up on June 13, offering another nude photo of the purported female sailor.

“Keep them coming! She’s got them floating around someone [sic] and I’ve wanted to see this for a while,” another user wrote in response.

Some requested nude photographs by unit or location.

One user in September 2016 asked for photos of women in the Massachusetts National Guard, while another requested some from the Guard in Michigan. Other requests included nude pictures of any women stationed at Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Bragg in North Carolina, McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, or Naval Medical Center in San Diego, along with many more US military installations around the world.

In statements to Business Insider, military branches universally denounced the message board and promised discipline for any service members who engaged in activities of misconduct.

“This alleged behavior is inconsistent with our values,” Lt. Col. Myles Caggins, spokesperson for the Department of Defense, told Business Insider.

Capt. Ryan Alvis, a spokesperson for the Marine Corps, told Business Insider the service expects that the discovery of the Marines United page will motivate others to come forward to report other pages like it.

“Marines will attack this problem head-on and continue to get better,” Alvis said.

Lt. Col. Jennifer Johnson, a spokesperson for the Army, told Business Insider: “The Army is a values-based organization where everyone is expected to be treated with dignity and respect. As members of the Army team, individuals’ interaction offline and online reflect on the Army and its values. Soldiers or civilian employees who participate in or condone misconduct, whether offline or online, may be subject to criminal, disciplinary, and/or administrative action.” 

Air Force spokesperson Zachary Anderson told Business Insider: “We expect our Airmen to adhere to these values at all times and to treat their fellow service members with the highest degree of dignity and respect. Any conduct or participation in activities, whether online or offline, that does not adhere to these principles will not be tolerated.  Airmen or civilian employees who engage in activities of misconduct that demean or disrespect fellow service members will be appropriately disciplined.”

The Navy did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Hope we can find more on this gem’

The image board hosts disturbing conversations from what appears, in many cases, to be between active-duty personnel.

“Any wins of [redacted]?” read one request, which shared further details about a female Marine’s whereabouts, indicating the anonymous user likely worked with her in the past.

Another thread posted in November 2016, which saw dozens of follow-up comments as users acted as cyber-sleuths to track down the victim, started with a single photograph of a female Marine, fully clothed, taken from her Instagram account.

“Any wins?” that user asked, telling others the Marine’s first name and where she had been stationed.

One user hinted at her last name as others scoured her Instagram account, posting more photos that they had found. One photo of the victim and her friend prompted one user to ask for nude photos of the friend, as well: “Any of the dark haired girl in the green shirt and jeans next to her?”

The thread carried on for months.

“Amazing thread,” one user wrote. “Hope we can find more on this gem.”

In December, a nude photo was finally posted. “dudeee more,” one user wrote in response. Many others responded by “bumping” the thread to the top, so that others on the board would see it and potentially post more photos. Indeed, more photos soon appeared from the victim’s Instagram account, which was apparently made private or shut down numerous times.

On the board, users complained that her Instagram account kept disappearing, apparently due to the victim trying to thwart her harassers. But others quickly found her new accounts and told others, with the new Instagram account names being shared throughout the month of February.

“Oh god please someone have that p—-,” one user wrote. 

  The site that hosts the message board seems to have little moderation and few rules, though it does tell users: “Don’t be evil.” Its posting rules instruct members to not post personal details such as addresses, telephone numbers, links to social networks, or last names.

Still, large numbers of users on the board do not appear to follow those rules.

In one popular thread started on January 9, an anonymous user posted non-nude pictures of a female airman, teasing others with the caption: “Anyone know her or have anything else on her? I’ve got a lot more if there is interest. Would love for her friends and family to see these.”

The user, who suggested he was a jilted ex-boyfriend, judging by the accompanying captions, posted many more photos in the following hours and days.

“She knows how to end it all. If she does get in contact with me I won’t post anymore. So get it while it’s hot!” he wrote.

Later in the thread, the man even referred to the airman by name and told her to check her Instagram messages.

“Wow, she blocked me on Instagram!” he later wrote. “Stupid c— must want me to post her s— up. I gave her a choice, it didn’t have to be this way. I’m not a bad guy, she had a choice. Oh well, no point in holding back now. I want you all to share this everywhere you can, once I start seeing her more places I’ll post her video.”

Aside from those serving on active-duty, even some who identified themselves as cadets at some military service academies started their own threads to try to find nude photos of their female classmates. 

In a thread dedicated to the US Military Academy at West Point, some purported cadets shared photos and class graduation years of their female classmates. 

“What about the basketball locker room pics, I know someone has those,” one user asked, apparently in reference to photos taken surreptitiously in the women’s locker room. “I always wondered whether those made it out of the academy computer system,” another user responded.

In 2012, an Army sergeant who helped to train and mentor cadets was discovered to have secretly filmed more than a dozen women in the bathroom and shower areas at West Point. The soldier pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced in 2014 to 33 months in prison.

A spokesperson for West Point did not respond to a request for comment. 

“Bumping all 3 service academies’ threads to see who can post the best wins in the next 7 days. Winning school gets the [commander’s cup],” one user wrote. “Go Army, Beat Everyone.”

‘This has to be treated harshly’

The existence of a site dedicated solely to sharing nude photographs of female service members is another black mark for the Pentagon, which has been criticized in the past for failing to deal with rampant sexual harassment and abuse within the ranks.

A 2014 Rand Corporation study found that more than 20,000 service members had been sexually assaulted in the previous year. Nearly six times that number reported being sexually harassed. In some cases even, the military has pushed out victims of sexual assault who have reported it, instead of the perpetrators.

“I’m kind of surprised. I’m still naive I think, on some level,” said Kate Hendricks Thomas, a former Marine Corps officer who is now an assistant professor at Charleston Southern University. “I am really disappointed to hear that the reach is broader than 30,000 and a couple of now-defunct websites.”

Thomas criticized past responses to the problem, in which some have indicated the issue is too difficult for the military to wrap its arms around.

“This renders us less mission-effective. It’s got to be a priority,” she said.

“These websites are not boys being boys,” she added. “This is a symptom of rape culture.” 

The message board also presents a challenge for military leaders, who may face an uphill battle in trying to find, and potentially prosecute, active-duty service members who share photos on the site. Unlike the Marines United Facebook group, where many users posted under their real names, the newly-revealed message board’s user base is mostly anonymous, and the site itself is registered in the Bahamas, outside the jurisdiction of US law enforcement. 

Brad Moss, a lawyer who specializes in national security issues, told Business Insider the military may have a hard time convincing the internet service provider to shut down the website. Instead, he explained, the victims themselves may have more legal standing when contacting the ISP in order to get photos removed.

Still, Moss believes the military could squash the behavior if it adopted a “zero-tolerance” posture.

“I think that absolutely 100% should be the policy. If they catch the main perpetrators who are sharing these photos around and essentially engaging in revenge porn,” Moss said. “They should have a zero-tolerance policy, and boot them from the military with a dishonorable discharge.”

“If they do anything less, it’s only going to incentivize this behavior in the future,” he added. “This has to be treated harshly.”

SEE ALSO: Marine commandant to troops sharing nude photos: ‘Do you really want to be a Marine?’

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