#may 4th coalition

[donkeysanddug]

Today marks the 53rd anniversary of the shootings at Kent State University.  On May 4th, 1970, the Ohio National Guard randomly fired into a group of students protesting the Nixon Administration’s bombing of Cambodia (which was technically a neutral country in the Vietnam War).  Thirteen students were struck by bullets and four were killed.  

Of the four killed, two were not even participating in the protest.  The guard simply became frustrated and fired on unarmed college students.  People have claimed all sorts of things about the demonstration to justify the shootings but the reality is there is no evidence to support any of the claims.  They just turned, in unison, and fired into a crowd.  

Donkeysanddug supports freedom of speech, the right to assembly, and student activism.  

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Chris Pandolfo

University of Michigan regent Jordan Acker said masked anti-Israel protesters intruded at his home "with a list of demands" early Wednesday morning while his wife and children were sleeping inside.

In a post on X with more than 1 million views, Acker said a "masked intruder" showed up at his residence with a list of demands, "including defending the police." 

"My three daughters were asleep in their beds, and thankfully unaware of what transpired," Acker wrote.

In a news release, the University of Michigan said more than 30 student protesters staged demonstrations at the private residences of at least one Board of Regents member and went to several other residences. The protesters placed tents and fake corpses wrapped in bloodied sheets on the lawn, marched and chanted in the early morning and posted lists of demands on doors. 

Masked protesters held demonstrations at the private residences of at least one University of Michigan Board of Regents member and went to several others' residences on May 15, 2024, the university said. (University of Michigan)

The protesters hid their identities with masks. On social media, the university's chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) and Transparency, Accountability, Humanity, Reparations, Investment, Resistance (TAHRIR) Coalition took credit for the demonstrations. The same groups were responsible for organizing the anti-Israel encampment on the university's Central Campus Diag, school officials said.

The university said the protesters began to disperse after law enforcement arrived on the scene. 

"This form of protest is not peaceful," Acker wrote. "Public officials should not be subject to this sort of intimidating conduct, and this behavior is unacceptable from any Michigan community member, especially one led by someone who called for the death of people they disagree with."

The university said tactics embraced by the protesters were "a significant and dangerous escalation" in anti-Israel protests that have been occurring on campus. The student groups behind the action said the boundaries of a Gaza encampment on the school's campus are now "limitless."  

Student protesters set up tents and demonstrated outside of Regent Sarah Hubbard's home.  (University of Michigan)

During the school's May 4th commencement ceremony, a group of roughly 50 protesters displaying Palestinian flags and chanting antisemitic slogans marched toward the stage as U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro was speaking and addressing newly commissioned officers. 

In addition, planes flew overhead displaying pro-Palestinian slogans and some of the protesters wore keffiyehs, clothing that has become a symbol of Palestinian solidarity, graduate Benny Shaevsky told Fox News Digital. Law enforcement confronted the protesters and pushed them toward the back where they remained for the rest of the event, he said.

Anti-Israel student protesters have demanded the University of Michigan divest from Israel amid the war in Gaza. Protesters left bloodied stuffed animals outside the private residence of a school official and posted a list of demands on the door.  (University of Michigan)

For approximately three weeks, the University of Michigan has contended with an anti-Israel encampment that sprung up as part of the nationwide protest movement that began at Columbia University in New York City in April. Protesters have clashed with authorities and the school has reported incidents of vandalism. They have demanded that the school fully divest from companies invested in Israel and claimed a third of the university's $18 billion endowment is tied to Israel, which the school has denied, MLive reported.

While the school says it respects the free speech rights of students, officials clarified that "going to an individual’s private residence is intimidating behavior and, in this instance, illegal trespassing. This kind of conduct is not protected speech; it’s dangerous and unacceptable." 

[3rdeyeblaque]

On August 30th we venerate Young King Brother Fred Hampton on his 75th birthday 🎉

Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton was the one of THE greatest orators, leaders, and visionaries to join the Black Panther Party Of Self-Defense 🖤✊🏾

Fred Hampton was born & raised in the Chicago suburbs of Illinois. Civil liberties, rights, and laws were always of great interest to him. After graduating high school, he enrolled in a pre-law program at Triton Junior College in River Grove, Illinois. He joined his local NAACP branch to get involved in the civil rights movement. He rose to the position of Youth Council President for his strong leadership and organization skills. In this position, Brother Hampton mobilized a racially diverse group of 500 young men/women who successfully lobbied city officials to create better academic services and recreational facilities for Black American youth.

In 1968, he joined the Black Panther Party of Self-Defense, headquartered in Oakland, CA. Shortly thereafter, he was selected to head the Chicago Chapter. Here, he created strong personal and political ties with his mentor & chaplain, Father George Clements at the [then] Holy Angels Catholic Church; which served as a safe haven for the Panthers targeted for police surveillance or harassment.

Brother Hampton accomplished a great many things as a young, prolific leader of the BPP Chicago Chapter. He successfully negotiated a gang truce on live television.One of his greatest successes was an unprecedentedly integrated approach to sociopolitical unity; he formed a “Rainbow Coalition”, which included: the Students for a Democratic Society, the Blackstone Rangers, a street gang and the National Young Lords, a local Puerto Rican organization. He was the first leading Panther to achieve this. This alliance is what truly struck the cord of fear in the Chicago P.D. & the FBI. In an effort to neutralize the Chicago Chapter of the BPP, the Black Panthers were placed under heavy surveillance & were subjected to several harassment campaigns.

By 1969, several Black Panthers and Chicago cops either suffered injury or were killed in shootouts across the city, which resulted in the arrest of over 100 members. On Dec 4th of that same year, under the FBI's initiative, the County PD & Chicago PD conducted heinous, unlawful, and unnecessary raid on the Black Panther Party's HQ in the early morning hours while Brother Hampton, leader Mark Clark, and other Panthers slept. They fired over 100 rounds into the apartment without warning. Twelve officers executed Brother Hampton as he slept, drugged by a sedative slipped into his drink by "Panther"/FBI informant O'Neal. Naturally, in Jan 1970, the County Coroner's office ruled the Black Panther leaders' deaths as "justifiable homicide".

Over 5,000 souls attended Brother Hampton’s funeral. Many civil rights activates eulogized him, including his good friend and mentor Father George, who also held a Requem Mass for him at his church.

After many years of coverups, internal investigations, lawsuits, raids, and conspiracies confirmed, the FBI, County PD, & Chicago PD finally admitted to the wrongful deaths of Brother Hampton and Mark Clark. In 1990, and again in 2004, the Chicago City Council passed resolutions commemorating December 4th as Fred Hampton Day. Today, Brother Hampton rests at the Bethel Cemetery in Haynesville, LA where his parents are from - which continues to endure violent desecration from White Supremacist vigilantes/supporters.

" You can kill a revolutionary but you can never kill the revolution. People have to be armed to have power" - Young King Fred Hampton

We pour libations & give him💐 today as we celebrate him for his love of our people, his relentless dedication to the BPP cause, and his young yet wise spirit that lives on. May be the find restful peace in spirit that he was/is denied in the physical.

Offering suggestions: flower offerings at his grave, libations of water, prayers and frankincense toward his elevation

‼️Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.‼️

[daniel-nerd]

when everyone is talking about rafah, and israel passing a law allowing them to ban al jazeera, and then immediately enacting on it. here are some numbers, compiled nicely into 2 graphs

the first graph, is the SCORE reporters without borders(RSF) gave to Israel, USA, and Russia, in their world press freedom index. (higher is better)

as you can see. there is a pretty big drop between 2021 and 2022, lets talk about that

In May of 2021 Israel had a military operation in gaza. on top of that, in march of 2021 israel had the 4th election since 2019, where the Likud got 24.19% of the votes, and Naftali bennett managing to form a coalition, making him the prime minister, ending the strike of netanyahu, which was the prime minister since february pf 2009, the coalition survived until November of 2022, where israel had the 5th election since 2019, the election that formed today’s government of israel, with netanyahu back as prime minister, the coalition is also known as the most extreme right wing government israel saw in years, if not in the entire history of Israel.

the next graph shows the POSITION of each country in the RSF world press freedom index(lower is better)

as you can see, israel slowly started to go downwards to a freer place, with better freedom of press, until 2022 when the current government formed. and haven’t shown any signs of slowing down the suppression of the press.

in 2020: 51 journalists were killed worldwide

in 2021: 48 journalists were killed worldwide

in 2022: 57 journalists were killed worldwide

in 2023: 45 journalists were killed worldwide, the lowest since 2002!!

since October 7th over 105 journalists were killed in gaza alone. easily getting us to triple digits, something that we haven’t seen in over a decade.

currently, any website of Al jazeera except ajplus is banned and blocked in israel. (I have no idea why ajplus wasn’t blocked, but I also haven’t looked around the website, i only found out it was a thing thanks to wikipedia)

changing your DNS server to openDNS seems to bypass the ban,

using VPN seems to bypass the ban,

using the tor browser (obviously) seems to bypass the ban.

I haven’t checked google’s DNS servers but it will probably bypass the ban too.

this post is all over the place, but CHANGE YOUR DEFAULT DNS SERVER

it is very easy! i use OpenDNS, they have great tutorials explaining how to change your DNS. and it WILL bypass most of the blocked sites if your country ever try to block a site.

[girlactionfigure]

🛟 SHABBAT & HOLY DAY — SAFETY BRIEF — for those in ISRAEL 

via ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting the World to Israel in Realtime

EREV SHABBAT

✡️ Erev Shabbat - Parshat Karachi - Numbers 16:1 - Korach incites a mutiny,

▪️DEAL SITUATION ANALYSIS.. (“The Land of Jihad”) What is the connection between the Israeli delegation to Qatar and the threats of an all-out war in the north?  If we examine for a moment the set of levers that Israel has over Hamas, we will find that there are not many of them. The strip is already destroyed (and the Hamas leadership doesn’t care), the IDF has already operated in every sector and the elimination of the senior officials is not in sight (as they stay deep in tunnels or within masses of civilians).

If there are no levers of pressure on Hamas, then we will look for a lever of pressure on the patron - that is, the Iranians. And there is one such, their name is Hezbollah.

The worsening of the rhetoric in recent days against Hezbollah and the threats that after the operation in Rafah the eyes will be on the North, has a dual purpose: one, to deter Hezbollah. But the second goal is more interesting.

When the Iranians realize that Israel is serious and is probably going to make a move that means tremendous damage to Hezbollah, then the Iranians themselves will pressure (Hamas leader) Sinwar to finish the deal.

The Iranians will fight to the last drop of Sunni Arab blood. For them, all Gazans will die on the way to the liberation of Jerusalem. But the Shiite Hezbollah, meat from Iran, is another story. The Iranian interest is to preserve it.

▪️YEMEN ON BEING IN LEBANON.. "We ask the Yemeni brothers living in Lebanon not to leave the country and bear arms together with the people of Lebanon and participate in fighting if necessary, against Israel.  We need to provide protection for Arab honor and our precious lands."  (( Honor, more important than life in their society. ))

▪️LEADER OF THE NEW MAJORITY PARTY IN FRANCE.. Marine Le Pen pledged:  ”Those who identify with Islamic ideology should be excluded and expelled.  French people who adopt the "ideology of the enemy" must be punished.  Radical mosques will be closed.  The Muslim Brotherhood will be disbanded.”

▪️HAMAS CAPTURES PEOPLE TRYING TO TAKE AID, BEATS AND LEAVES THEM TIED IN THE SUN TO DIE..  we are frequently asked for these videos.  Very violent, viewer discretion advised: https://t.me/arabworld301/82876.    And here they are left to die - https://t.me/arabworld301/82877

▪️ON JULY 4TH..  Pro-Palestinian protesters marched on American Independence Day in the streets of New York with Palestinian flags and shout death to America?  

▪️HEZBOLLAH SAYS.. Deputy Secretary General of Hezbollah: We will stop attacking Israel only after a complete ceasefire in Gaza.

▪️DEAL POLITICS - NATIONAL UNITY MK BENNY GANTZ.. his party will support ANY responsible outline that will lead to the return of the hostages. (Meaning he is guaranteeing to provide votes from outside the coalition if Netanyahu can’t get votes from the coalition right wing parties.)

🛟 SHABBAT & HOLY DAY — SAFETY BRIEF — for those in ISRAEL 

via ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting the World to Israel in Realtime

Chief Rabbinute instructions with Risk Adjustments and sensible advise

✡️ Note Israel Realtime DOES NOT POST updates on Shabbat or Holy-days (Israel time) UNLESS life threatening / saving. 

❗️The NORTH, draw a line from  Haifa to Afula and Tiberius, as well as near-Gaza towns..

❗️These are all HIGH risk of rocket and drone attacks.  Shabbat & Holy Day precautions REQUIRED.  Elsewhere, keep them in mind.

➡️ Prepare your safe space before Shabbat/Holy day: unlocked, MAMAD LIGHTS ON, A/C on.

➡️ SAFE TO GO TO SYNAGOGUE?  Prepare for alerts on the way, and in synagogue - know the space safe!

➡️ CHILDREN, ELDERLY, DISABLED?  In higher risk areas it may not be safe to go to synagogue.

➡️ CARRY YOUR WEAPON, even without an eruv.  Pepper spray, legal size knife, legal gun.

➡️ CALL POLICE, DO NOT HESITATE !! - If anything suspicious, CALL POLICE immediately!  Dial 100

➡️ (Silent) MONITOR FOR ALERTS :

.. SILENT TV -  Channel 14 - stream https://www.now14.co.il/live/ (doesn’t work with adblocker)

.. SILENT RADIO - 

• Kol Chai radio - on radio 92.8, 93 and 102.5. - stream https://www.93fm.co.il/radio/players/%d7%a9%d7%99%d7%93%d7%95%d7%a8-%d7%97%d7%99/

• Kol Barama Radio - on radio 92.1, 104.3, 105.7 and 107.6. - stream https://kol-barama.co.il/live/

• Galei Israel - on radio 89.3, 94 and 106.5. - https://www.rlive.co.il/station/galey-israel

.. ON COMPUTER - leave a computer open to https://www.oref.org.il/en (only in Israel) - alerts will display and sound on the screen. Turn OFF screen saver, sleep and hibernate.

.. VIA APP - leave on phone with red alert app.  Set app to YOUR area so it only alerts for your area.

✡️ It is a mitzvah to take actions to protect and save and preserve life on Shabbat, not a violation.  But ONLY actions which do so.

[alias-milamber]

UK Elections For People Who Have No Real Reason To Care

(The following post has many personal opinions and is not meant as an unbiased view on UK politics)

The UK Prime Minister, Rish! Sunak (although if you've lost track, that's not on you) has announced a general election, meaning a massive reelection of all 650 MPs that sit in the House of Commons.

General Elections may be called at any time, but must be announced before the 5th anniversary of the last one, but no less than 25 days before it happens. Sunak had until mid December to call one. He's opted for July 4th, probably so Biden doesn't notice he's not in charge anymore.

Why now? Inflation has fallen for the first time in fucking ages, and nothing's gone disasterously wrong for nearly three weeks, so he thinks it's the best time.

Who will win? The Labour party would have to absolutely fuck themselves directly and repeatedly to lose the upcoming election.

So the Tories again, probably.

Who are these people?

The UK currently has various party blocks. All these parties are a series of smaller parties in a raincoat, to a greater or lesser official extent, but they haven't scuttled between raincoats for a bit.

*deep breath*

Conservatives, blue, Have held the biggest majority (and therefore the premiership) since 2010. Traditionally the party of the right, currently under the banner of "One Conservatism", which is basically "Plebs stay in your lane, we'll stay in ours, and if we all do our bit it'll be the 1800s again before you know it". Over the last score years have slowly drifted further and further right as the disaster-capitalists at the core depowered and destroyed the last vestiges of sanity. They've never been the good guys, but right now they're clinging on by a thread. Been through four leaders in five years, and scraped the bottom of the barrel to find Rishi Sunak, a man without any personality traits at all married to a woman with a very large number of government contracts in her company. Informally known as the Tory party, for reasons historical. Traditionally suprisingly good on LGB issues, increasingly shit on T issues. Current policies include saying anything to make people on the right vote for them.

Labour, Red. The party the Tories have been trading off with for the last hundred years or so. In theory a party "Of The People" standing for worker's rights and the unions, in practice they've been drifting centre-right for the last forty years to capture tory voters as they're flung overboard by that party's fleeing right. A lot of their support still comes from the trade unions, but there's a vast and increasing gulf between the party leadership and Labour's traditional positions. The current leader, Sir Keir Starmer, is a soapstone edifice to police power, dedication to which got him a knighthood. Generally considered The Less Worse Option. Traditionally good on LGBT issues, increasingly shit on LGBT issues. Especially T issues. Current policies include saying anything to make anybody vote for them.

Liberal Democrats, Yellowy Orange. The traditional third party, who were the ones trading power with the aristocracy party up to 100 years ago when Labour took over. After slowly building up a reputation for solid and dependable politics with sensible aims, they hit it big in 2010 when their leader at the time - Nick Clegg - was charismatic enough to get them actual media attention during a general election. They finished third as ever, but took enough of a bite out of the blues that the only way to form a majority government was to form a coalition with either of the leading parties. Labour refused, so the Con/Dem Coalition was formed. Over the next few years, the Dems traded all of their power for magic beans, and took the fall for all of their policies being vetoed by their partners, especially the abolition of student loans - a cornerstone of their campaign and the source of a great deal of their millennial popularity. Nick Clegg is now the head of communication for Meta, and the LibDems have rotated through a series of blank pieces of paper where their leadership used to be, having probably blown their chance of leadership for another century. Most famous currently for putting out leaflets saying "Only LibDems can win against the tories!" with the kind of mislabelled graphs that would get you kicked out of maths class. Most people couldn't pick the current leader out of a lineup, or name a current policy.

Green Party, Green. Probably the most progressive party of the lot, and have really capitalised on the collapse of the LibDem support. Very good on green initiatives, but the aging hippy at the core of their leadership occasionally veers into Edison Was A Witch anti-technologist, especially around anything to do with nuclear power. Extremely good as an argument candidate locally, but have a rough time getting their arguments onto the national stage. Their democratic internals are also somewhat prone to slate-manipulation which has recently put non-socially-progressive candidates in high positions. Which is a more polite than they deserve way of saying that they are occasionally terfy as fuck.

SNP, Yellow & Black: Current Governors of Scotland. To be absolutely honest, I don't know much about them apart from their extremely hard - and justified - boner for getting independence of Scotland from the rest of this shitshow. They've had a bit of a rocky road internally for the last couple of years, but unless they completely fuck everything in the next 40 days, they're unlikely to be dethroned. They're also unlikely to get their way any time soon, more's the pity.

Alba, Blue & White: The former leader of the SNP - Alec Salmond - went to set up his own party with blackjack and hookers after he was turfed out on sexual abuse allegations. Has, to date, only managed to gain seats by converting sitting SNP members. Terfy as fuck.

Sinn Fein, dark green: The party of Irish republicanism, both north and south, though the north is the only bit that is part of this general election. Commenting on Sinn Fein is so far out of my swim lane that I'm liable to be eaten by a shark.

Various Nationalist Parties, Misc. Reform UK (nee Brexit Party), UKIP, Britain First, etc. It's been half a century since Britain had any kind of national identity, really, but that's not any excuse to go back to that one. A selection of gammon-faced shouty-men (and, it's 2024, women) will happily take your vote in return for a promise that Britain can once again crush the world under its heel and get rid of all the darkies once and for all. There's really no reason for them to to be in the section below, but the BBC and other media keep booking them and giving them the oxygen of attention for "balance", and that means they keep coming up like the spaghetti which gave you food poisoning. Which they hate. Because it's foreign.

Misc. There are various single-issue and low population parties, and independent MPs, who don't make this list. I hope one day some of them do.

As a reward for reading all of that, here's a dog photo:

[astralscrivener]

✨ fic directory ✨

i’ve created a post to keep all of my fics in one place. all fics can be found on ao3. (last updated may 4th, 2024)

major ongoing works

STEALING OUR OWN PLACE IN THE SUN

- voltron: legendary defender: a rewrite of vld seasons 4-8. - team focus, broganes, klance, adashi, romellura - rated M, graphic depictions of violence + other warnings in author notes - 22/45 chapters, 251k words (december 25th, 2022) - last posted: chapter 22: season 7, episode 3: elliptical orbit

AT SKYFALL

- voltron: legendary defender: canon-divergent au in which keith and shiro are captured by the galra at a coalition gala. things become more complicated when the team’s search for shiro turns up someone else: adam, shiro’s fiancé.  - broganes, klance, adashi - rated M, graphic depictions of violence + other warnings in author notes - 8/? chapters, 25k words (september 2nd, 2023) - last posted: chapter 8: division and discord

ABCS OF KLANCE

- voltron: legendary defender: oneshots, one prompt for each letter of the alphabet, focused on keith and lance’s relationship - variety of aus, some overlap with squad up (2017-19 modern au), mostly established relationship klance - 18 works, 87k words (may 4th, 2024) - a: artistry • b: brutality • c: comfort • d: defeat • e: elegance • f: faithfulness • g: grief • h: homelessness • i: information • j: jealousy • k: knell • l: loyalty • m: mercy • n: need • o: opportunity • p: pain • q: quest • r: rumor • s: sleep • t: trust • u: uncertainty • v: victory • w: worry • x: xenon • y: yearning • z: zero - last posted: lightning in a bottle (y: yearning)

other ongoing works

THESE 20S ARE RAWRING AND THESE DUNGEONS ARE DRAGONING

- voltron: legendary defender: modern au + d&d series started in 2020 as a stress response to quarantine - team focus, klance, adashi, romellua, hunay

• main work: the rawring 20s XD - chatfic that only updates if i think it will be funny - rated M, no archive warnings apply + other warnings in author notes - 5/5 chapters, 17k words - last posted: chapter 5: there is no easter bunny, there is no tooth fairy, (september 8th, 2022)

- other works include klance-centric oneshots + snippets of the group’s ongoing d&d campaign - 5 works, 37k words - last posted: midnight into morning coffee (february 7th, 2024)

VLD FIC REQUESTS

- voltron: legendary defender: oneshots across a variety of aus written in response to prompts from friends and followers - variety of ships, but mainly klance and adashi - some overlap with squad up  - 15 works, 92k words (july 8th, 2023) - last posted: distraction

major completed works

DECEIT SO NATURAL

- voltron: legendary defender: canon-divergent trilogy in which lance and keith fool their way behind enemy lines and onto lotor’s ship to steal vital information on the galra empire—only for lotor to become far more dangerous than anyone anticipated. - mainly klance, extremely one-sided lancelot - written before gay shiro reveal + age discourse, contains side shallura - 3 works, 315k words - completed june 15th, 2018

• WHERE PEOPLE GO TO DIE - lotor mistakenly believes that lance is a galra soldier spying on the paladins, and invites him to return home. keith follows him undercover as a prisoner, and quickly draws lotor’s ire as things spiral rapidly out of control. - rated M, graphic depictions of violence - 14/14 chapters, 49k words - completed july 9th, 2017

• DYNASTY DECAPITATED - lotor becomes vindictive after having been played for a fool by team voltron, and the team struggles to hold the voltron alliance together while fending off his rapid advances. meanwhile, keith and lance explore a new stage of their relationship and learn exactly what the other means to them. - rated M, graphic depictions of violence - 18/18 chapters, 67k words - completed august 7th, 2017

• STARS GO DOWN - lotor has captured lance and sentenced keith to death halfway across the universe. lance struggles to hold onto himself as he plays the role of an amnesiac, while keith attempts to fight his way back to the team, alone. meanwhile, the team, down two lions and two paladins, scrambles to bring keith and lance home amidst betrayals and tumult in the voltron alliance. - rated M, graphic depictions of violence, temporary major character death + other warnings in author notes - 37/37 chapters, 198k words - completed june 15th, 2018

SQUAD UP

- voltron: legendary defender: modern au written from 2017-19 to cope with the horrors of being in high school and the transition into college - written before gay shiro reveal + age discourse, contains side shallura and shiro/allura/matt - 25 works, 561k words - completed may 10th, 2019

• main work: squad up - chatfic chronicling the gang’s last year of high school - rated M, no archive warnings apply + other warnings in author note - 140/140 chapters, 327k words - completed june 15th, 2018

• main work: a midsummer night’s meme - chatfic chronicling the gang’s last summer before college - rated M, no archive warnings apply + other warnings in author note - 27/27 chapters, 79k words - completed august 31st, 2018

• main work: because guys like us are cool in college - series of oneshots/snippets following keith and lance’s freshman year of college - rated M, no archive warnings apply + other warnings in author note - 84/84 chapters, 83k words - completed may 10th, 2019

LIGHT UP THE PATH (THROUGH A SKY FULL OF STARS)

- voltron: legendary defender: 28 oneshots completed for klance au month february 2019. - klance - variety of aus, including but not limited to modern au, canon-divergent/other paladinsverse, fantasy au, and more - rated M, creator chose not to use archive warnings + other warnings in author note - 28/28 chapters, 49k words - completed february 28th, 2019

additional oneshots not mentioned here can be found on archive of our own ✨ other writing (including drabbles, snippets, and prompts from tumblr ask games) can be found in my writing tag ✨

happy reading!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Brandi Buchman at HuffPost:

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) attempt to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that he was out of line when he purged 1,600 people from voter rolls — which he said was an attempt to keep suspected noncitizens from voting — failed at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over the weekend. The appellate court’s order was unanimous. Youngkin plans to appeal the decision “immediately,” a spokesperson for Virginia Attorney General Jason Mirayes said Sunday. The next step will be the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles decided last week to reinstate 1,600 voters to the rolls in Virginia. In August, just 90 days before Election Day, Youngkin issued an executive order that instructed the Department of Motor Vehicles to remove noncitizens automatically from voter rolls.

Giles found that this likely violated the National Voter Registration Act’s 90-day “quiet period,” which prohibits sweeping, systematic changes or modifications to voter rolls before Election Day. The Justice Department sued Youngkin to stop the purge after plaintiffs including the Virginia Coalition for Immigrant Rights, the League of Women Voters of Virginia, the League of Women Voters of Virginia Education Fund, and African Communities Together had already launched their own lawsuit. The cases were consolidated. Ultimately, both parties argued that the automated purge unfairly swept up eligible citizen voters thanks to errors on DMV forms that incorrectly labeled them as noncitizens. The voter advocacy groups also argued that the purge was discriminatory, but Giles has not reached a decision on that specific claim. Giles’ ruling last week in no way ordered noncitizens to be put onto voter rolls. Instead, it found that Virginia had simply failed to present any evidence backing its decision to cancel registrations for the 1,600 voters. Attorneys for the commonwealth only provided the names and addresses of people impacted by the purge to the court, but whether they were actually noncitizens was unproven.

The 4th Circuit Court ruled against Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) in Virginia Coalition For Immigrant Rights v. Beals that his voter purge of 1,600 people from the Commonwealth’s voter rolls is unlawful.

Expect this case to go to SCOTUS.

[twwpress]

Weekly Press Briefing #97: April 28th - May 4th

Welcome back to the Weekly Press Briefing, where we bring you highlights from The West Wing fandom each week, including new fics, ongoing challenges, and more! This briefing covers all things posted from April 28 - May 4, 2024. Did we miss something? Let us know; you can find our contact info at the bottom of this briefing!

Challenges/Prompts:

There are no open challenges or events on our radar this week. Do you have a challenge or event you’d like us to promote or know of one we’re missing? Be sure to get in touch with us! Contact info is at the bottom of this briefing.

This Week in Canon:

Welcome back to This Week in Canon, where we revisit moments in The West Wing that occurred on these dates during the show’s run.

Season 1, Episode 20: Mandatory Minimums aired on May 3, 2000.

Season 2, Episode 20: The Fall’s Gonna Kill You aired on May 2, 2001.

Season 3, Episode 18: Enemies Foreign and Domestic aired on May 1, 2002.

Season 4, Episode 21: Life on Mars aired on April 30, 2003.

Season 5, Episode 20: Talking Points aired on April 28, 2004.

Season 7, Episode 20: The Last Hurrah aired on April 30, 2006.

Photos/Videos:

Here’s what was posted from April 28 - May 4:

Allison Janney posted a promo video for Dule Hill’s new PBS show, The Expressway (and Bradley Whitford did too!). 

Allison Janney posted stills and video from the season finale of Palm Royale.

Amy Landecker posted a photo of herself and Brad with Luci Baines Johnson, former president Lyndon B. Johnson’s daughter, in Texas. 

Dule Hill posted photos of himself in D.C. advocating for the arts with The Creative Coalition. 

Josh Malina posted a photo of himself with his parents’ Omer counter. 

Josh Malina posted a clip of himself from The West Wing doing an unnecessary trick with a phone receiver. 

Marlee Matlin posted a photo of herself and her husband with their new granddaughter. 

Mary McCormack posted a fun fact from behind the scenes of The West Wing. 

Peter James Smith posted a photo of himself and the cast of Nora with Allison Janney and I, Tonya screenwriter Steven Rogers. 

Peter James Smith posted photos of himself and his castmates from the set of the play he’s in, Nora. 

Richard Schiff posted stills from The Good Doctor shouting out guest star (and his daughter) Ruby Kelley. 

Rob Lowe posted a photo of himself with horses while filming on location. 

Donna Moss Daily: April 28 | April 29 | April 30 | May 1 | May 2 | May 3 | May 4

Daily Josh Lyman: April 28 | April 29 | April 30 | May 1 | May 2 | May 3 | May 4

No Context BWhit: April 28 | April 29 | April 30 | May 1 | May 2 | May 3 | May 4

@twwarchive: April 29 | May 1 | May 3 | May 4

Fics:

Presenting your weekly roundup of fics posted in the tag for The West Wing on Archive of Our Own. 

Josh/Donna

Somebody loved by Shinyrosa | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

Fairytale Ending? by Tyrols | Not Rated | Josh Lymn/Donna Moss | In Progress

Other Pairings/Gen Fic

The Weight We Carry Is Love by piratequeenofgreenthings | Rated T | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | In Progress

An Intriguing Variable by silasfinch for justdreaming88 | Ellie Bartlet/Original Female Character(s) | In Progress

The Race by Goochie0014 | Rated M | No Characters/Pairings Listed | Complete

Multiple Pairings

War & Peace by miabicicletta for krazykitkat, onekisstotakewithme | Rated T | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Andrea Wyatt/Toby Ziegler, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | In Progress

THE WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING TEAM CAN BE REACHED VIA THE FOLLOWING METHODS:

Twitter: @TWWPress

Email: weeklypressbriefing@gmail.com

Feel free to let us know if we missed something, if you have an event you’d like us to promote, or if you have an item that you’d like included in the next briefing!

xx, What’s next?

[homestuck-fanauthor-coalition]

Do you like writing Homestuck fanfic? Do you want a chance to enter a friendly, anonymous writing competition ?

If so, we cordially invite you to sign up for our summer competition and join our discord! Just fill out this google form- give us your ao3 name, your preferred word count maximum (2k, 5k, or 10k), how long you think you’ll need (3, 4, or 5 weeks) and vote on this competition’s prompt! Server members and other readers get to decide which fic is “best in romance”, “best in drama”, “best in action”, and more! You get a cute digital medal!

The four options from our prompt bank are as follows:

68. Parody fic: Write a fic parodying or satirizing an element of Homestuck or the Homestuck fandom.

34. Seer: One or more of the characters reads Homestuck, or a part of it.

74. Beach Episode: Any configuration of characters you like takes a group trip to the beach! Any AU, any canonicity, etc etc

75. June!: Write something featuring fem!jegbert, or other character(s) celebrating pride month

We hope to see you join us!

[mcondance]

Before the day ends I would like to acknowledge that it has been 54 years since Fred Hampton was murdered at 21 years old by the FBI and the Chicago, Illinois police department to prevent his rising as a “Messiah”. His assassination was orchestrated by the blackmail of William O’Neal, a 17 year old facing jail time for stealing cars and impersonating law enforcement. They gave him two options; jail, or betrayal. He chose betrayal. Over the next couple of years, William would become Fred’s trusted friend and bodyguard, giving the police information about Fred and the Black Panthers, eventually leading to giving them the floor plan of the apartment Fred was staying in.

Fred was able to unite people from all walks of life, from poor white people to Black people. He formed what he called a “Rainbow Coalition,” a group of people ready to fight for their rights, to end capitalism’s hold on them. He became Chairman of the Chicago, Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther party at just 19 years old. He was the Messiah that J Edgar Hoover was afraid of.

Fred was arrested for a time before his assassination on charges of stealing ice cream in order to break his and the Black Panther’s spirit and morale. This did not work, and he gave his infamous “I Am a Revolutionary” speech after he was released. In seeing that the jail time did not work, they planned to arrest him again, but they knew still that it would not work.

In the early hours of December 4th, 1969, police kicked down the door of Chairman Fred’s Chicago home and opened fire fired 99 shots. Miraculously, Chairman Fred lived, but did not wake up, because William drugged him at the party thrown for him the night before. Seeing that he was was still alive, the Chicago Illinois police pulled his pregnant wife out of the room, and shot the Chairman twice, point blank, in the head. “He’s good and dead now.” is what was said over Fred’s dead body.

When the shooting went to trial, the police tried to spin it as a gunfight, that the Black Panthers fought back and opened fire first. It was found that out of the 100 rounds fired, 99 were from the guns of the police, and 1 single bullet was from a Black Panther’s gun, from Mark Clark who was on lookout and shot in the chest, who’s gun discharged as he hit the ground.

No one was ever indicted for their involvement in the Chairman’s death. J Edgar Hoover, the primary agent in the orchestration of Fred’s killing, was not charged. The day that the first episode of the two-part documentary “Eyes On the Prize,” the second part starring William O’Neal speaking on his betrayal, was aired, he ran into traffic. His own episode premiered 2 months and 4 days after he committed suicide.

Chairman Fred Hampton Junior was born on December 29, 1669, 25 days after his father was killed.

Rest in peace and power, Chairman Fred. May I and others finish what you started.

[beardedmrbean]

For the first time since the potential return of Boyko Borissov as prime minister became a central theme in Bulgaria's election campaign, a GERB representative explicitly stated: "Regular government with Boyko Borissov as prime minister."

This declaration was made by GERB MP Raya Nazaryan at a pre-election event in Sofia, where she met with business representatives. Nazaryan emphasized that GERB has a 4-year management program covering all sectors and aims to implement it through a regular government with a full mandate, according to the party's press center.

"Corruption, which directly affects business and society, can only be effectively combated with concrete steps towards transparency in every part of the administration and a strong, functioning government. This is only achievable with a regular government led by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov," Nazaryan stated at the meeting.

The idea of Borissov becoming prime minister again has been circulating in recent weeks. On May 10, Daniel Mitov from GERB mentioned on television that Borissov "could become prime minister for the fourth time," but it did not gain much traction. The topic resurfaced on May 19 when "We Continue the Change" co-chairman Asen Vassilev claimed that the Movement for Rights and Freedoms chairman told him that "the plan is for Borissov to become president and Peevski to become prime minister." Peevski responded by saying that Hristo Ivanov had proposed Peevski for the presidency and premiership. On May 24, Borissov himself mentioned that WCC-DB "owes him one rotation" and that GERB would "accept a WCC-DB minister if they have their own strong prime minister." This led to pre-election billboards from WCC-DB in Sofia and Plovdiv featuring the question "Who do you want as your prime minister?" with photos of Nikolai Denkov, Borissov, and Delyan Peevski. After a GERB complaint, the Central Election Commission ordered the billboards removed, citing a violation of the Election Code.

Nazaryan was part of the GERB team, along with Denitsa Sacheva and Temenuzhka Petkova, which held 10 days of negotiations with the WCC-DB team, including Hristo Ivanov, Atanas Atanasov, Kiril Petkov, Asen Vassilev, and Nikolai Denkov. Nazaryan later described the negotiations as a "racket" and accused Hristo Ivanov of signing a coalition government agreement, which Ivanov denied.

[tieflingkisser]

We Are Millions, We Are Billions, We are all Palestinians: Stand with Palestine in DC on November 4th

There is an emergent mass movement in the United States unwavering in its struggle for the liberation of Palestine. Join us in Washington, DC on November 4 for the largest march for Palestine in U.S. history: the Palestinian cause is your cause.

We are witnessing an emergent movement in the United States, one that upholds Black Lives from Ferguson to Minneapolis, champions Native sovereignty from the Hawaiian mountains to the Plains of the Dakotas, knows no borders from the Texas deserts to the California valley and reclaims our stolen labor from the classrooms of Oklahoma to the factories of Michigan and the hotels of Los Angeles. It is a mass base, cross-coalition movement unwavering in its struggle for the liberation of Palestine. Although it may appear disparate at times, its compass is the world-historical refusal of the downtrodden, and as the Palestinian revolutionary intellectual Ghassan Kanafani makes clear, Palestine unites us, for “the Palestinian cause is not a cause for Palestinians only, but a cause for every revolutionary wherever he is, as a cause of the exploited and oppressed.”   

This movement did not begin two weeks ago but builds on decades of grassroots and youth-led struggle wherever Palestinians, Arabs, and those who stand with them against Zionist colonialism find themselves. On November 4th, this movement will make its way to Washington, DC’s Freedom Plaza, to march for an end to the siege on Gaza, a ceasefire, and an end to the U.S. aid to Israel. Organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), National Students for Justice in Palestine, ANSWER Coalition, The People’s Forum, Al-Awda, US Palestinian Community Network, American Muslim Alliance, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Maryland2Palestine and the Palestinian Feminist Collective, this march represents a critical moment in the Palestine struggle, signaling the consolidation of a mass movement in the United States committed to challenging the decades-long role of the American government in the genocide of the Palestinian people.

As of this morning, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported approximately over 8,000 Palestinians have been martyred, including no less than 3,342 children, with one child killed every 10 minutes by the Israeli bombardment. All of this death in just three weeks’ time. Still, there are hundreds more buried in the rubble, scattered across the besieged and leveled neighborhoods. Palestinians cannot count their dead, and Israel—in its never-ending bombardment—has robbed them of their mourning. The occupying colonial power has destroyed over half of all homes in its bombing campaign, displacing 1.4 million Palestinians within the 140 square miles of what is called the Gaza Strip. There is no place to hide from this unceasing assault. Even the places of refuge and medical care—hospitals, schools, mosques, and churches—are brazenly blown to pieces. More US-funded bombs have been dropped on Gaza over the past two weeks than the United States dropped on Afghanistan over ten years. 

A campaign of relentless destruction and massacre is not cheap. Israel needs more bombs, more white phosphorus, more soldiers, and ever more weapons to raze Gaza and fill its mass graves. On October 20, the White House requested $10.6 billion in additional military aid to Israel. According to U.S. President Joe Biden, this material support for the Israeli state’s escalating colonial depravity is “a smart investment that’s going to pay dividends for American security for generations.” Concurrently, Israeli think tanks—operationalizing this investment—have openly laid out their blueprints for the complete ethnic cleansing of 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza. Israeli officials have openly called for genocide, the wiping of Gaza from the Earth, and referring to Palestinians as human animals and children of darkness. This extermination, as both U.S. and Israeli governments assert, is essential for national security. Such revolting claims to national security are not new but predicate U.S. imperialism and the 17-year siege on Gaza: a land, air, and sea blockade that has transformed Gaza into a concentration camp, where new U.S. and Israeli weapons and surveillance technologies are field-tested on a captive population, and Israeli officials proudly exclaim that they are keeping Palestinians in Gaza on a strict diet. 

The movement for Palestine is not confined only to the crowds of big liberal cities but courageously proclaims its imperative in the streets of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Jackson, Mississippi. This movement advances alongside the global people’s struggle to uplift the Palestinian cause from the streets of Dublin and Sanaa, Jakarta and Tehran, Toronto and Cairo, and London to Amman, calling for the end of the U.S.-backed Zionist siege on Gaza. Students walked out of their classrooms on October 25th on over one-hundred campuses across North America; Jewish organizers chained themselves to politicians’ doors and occupied their offices, along with New York City’s Grand Central Station; activists are taking direct action against Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, in Cambridge Massachusetts; Palestinian youth and grassroots organizations from Houston to Detroit organize rally after rally, culminating in some of the largest marches for Palestine the country has ever seen.  

As we march, speak, and sing out our commands for Palestinian freedom and an end to the genocidal siege, we know that we are not alone or small. We hear the mighty chorus tremble through our city streets. We see the feeble Zionist response. It is clear the people are with Palestine. Yet, the corporate media attempts to portray the movement as an isolated radical fringe. The numbers in the streets are outright ignored or under-reported, revising the thousands into hundreds or fewer. When reported on, the movement is depicted as violent “terror” rallies, reinforcing the Biden administration’s Islamophobic incitement of hatred and the dehumanization of the Palestinian people. With these mass mobilizations have also come state repression and violence. The FBI has visited homes of Palestinians, workers and students have been fired from their jobs, and universities have threatened action against the student movement. Lamentably, these are not empty threats. Lives have been destroyed. Our precious martyr, Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year old living with his family in the suburbs of Chicago, was brutally murdered in his home. And as Zionists attack peaceful rallies with their cars and fire guns into crowds in another Chicago suburb, we continue to mobilize in the face of reactionary violence, resolute in the conviction of the Palestinian cause. 

In spite of these attempts to silence and violently suppress the movement, we know that Palestinians in Gaza and throughout the lands of Palestine hear us and see us. We know, just as they have remained steadfast throughout 75 years of occupation and ethnic cleansing, throughout 17 years of blockade, and in the face of the current bombardment of Gaza and reinvigorated effort at eliminating Palestine, our struggle is not in vain, and we too must remain steadfast in mobilizing day in and day out to end the siege on Gaza and stop the genocide of the Palestinian people.  

The national march on November 4th in Washington, DC, is a call to all progressive forces steadfastly fighting against exploitation and oppression: the Palestinian cause is your cause. Transportation is being organized all over the country, from cities including Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Boston, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Indianapolis, Albuquerque, Providence, Philadelphia, and more. Over 200 organizations have endorsed the march and are joining together on Joe Biden’s doorstep—with the combined energy and strength the movement has brought to cities, towns, workplaces, and schools across the country— demanding, loud and clear: CEASEFIRE NOW! END THE SIEGE ON GAZA! END ALL U.S. AID TO ISRAEL! 

The national march on November 4th in Washington, DC, is a call to all progressive forces steadfastly fighting against exploitation and oppression: the Palestinian cause is your cause. Transportation is being organized all over the country, from cities including Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Boston, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Indianapolis, Albuquerque, Providence, Philadelphia, and more. Over 200 organizations have endorsed the march and are joining together on Joe Biden’s doorstep—with the combined energy and strength the movement has brought to cities, towns, workplaces, and schools across the country— demanding, loud and clear: CEASEFIRE NOW! END THE SIEGE ON GAZA! END ALL U.S. AID TO ISRAEL! 

[ifelllikeastar]

Though workers in many states started throwing Labor Day parades throughout the 1880s, it might never have become a national holiday if not for a historic strike and boycott that started in May 1894, when employees of a railcar manufacturer called Pullman Palace Car Company suffered deep wage cuts. They were joined in a sympathy boycott by the American Railway Union, which had around 150,000 members.

This huge coalition disrupted the nation; the USPS couldn't deliver mail in certain parts of the country. Railway transportation was an essential service, and essential workers were demanding better treatment.

In the midst of this unrest, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making Labor Day an official holiday, which some historians say was a move to make workers less hostile and to calm the waters during a period of continued labor discontent.

On July 4th, Cleveland sent 10,000 federal troops to Chicago to brutally end the strike. Thirteen workers were killed and 53 seriously injured there, with more than 30 killed throughout the nation that summer. The strike ended in failure for the Pullman workers, who won none of their demands.

Railway companies started to hire nonunion workers to restart business. By the time the strike ended, it had cost the railroads millions of dollars in lost revenue and in looted and damaged property. Striking workers had lost more than $1 million in wages.

On July 20, 1894, the strike ended. Less than two weeks later, the Pullman Company reopened their doors, agreeing to rehire the striking workers on one condition — they would sign a pledge to never join a union.

[exit-path]

Yes, I'm confirming it now, I did go to Stuyvesant High School.

hi guys, today's my brother's birthday, everyone wish him a happy birthday. anyways i really didn't have a reason to make this post, but here goes.

if you don't know what stuyvesant high school is, that's fine, you don't need to. if you do know what it is, then great, you'll know how prestigious it is. i already hinted at this in my aug 2022 post, but here's an official confirmation.

and i'm surprised no one realized sooner. the path traced out in this post perfectly lines up with the area around the school. and the photos in this post were literally taken from inside the school.

one thing i valued really highly was my ability to balance both my school life and my tumblr blog (i'm surprised i managed to do so in hindsight). the 2020 pandemic definitely made it easier, as my 10th and 11th grade years were now spent in front of a screen where i could be online all day.

i graduated as a pretty average student academically, although the one thing i regret is not utilizing the available resources as well as i could've.

the reason i had a public meltdown on tumblr in jun 2022 is because i was scared to make much the same post you're reading right now. i was going to college and couldn't stay active online for much longer, and i wanted to do a face reveal and quit tumblr for good (the quote "you either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain" greatly informed my actions during this time).

but many months have passed since then, i've been allowed time to reflect, and i realized that– i'm not a two-dimensional character. i don't die at the peak of my fame. i'm still alive.

i still hold the value of an education in high regard, though that may sound cheap coming from someone who poured hours a day into an online fandom. it's just... my story is one you can learn from, not one to be replicated. stay in school.

will i be returning to using this blog regularly? probably not. i realize there's nothing here for me to have fun doing anymore, and mineblr is a shadow of its former glory—no matter now much i wish for it to be otherwise.

maybe i'll reconsider when deltarune ch. 3 comes out. or if minecraft has a second renaissance. or if the GD community takes off here, or better yet, if update 2.2 comes out. or if the walten files ep. 4 comes out. could you imagine that?

anyways, i'll leave you with a few additional fun facts you might not have known:

the minecraft server from this reblog (OP is sketiana) and elaborated on in these posts was actually the Stuyvesant Minecraft Coalition server

i appeared on my school website's home page one time, wearing my halloween costume.

if you ever visit the school, you can find a poster i made on the 4th floor (on the wall behind the escalator). it has my sideblog sona on it

one final request, please don't use my real name or do anything with my real face. also, please don't try anything that could jeopardize my real-life location. i know i'm operating on an honor system here, but i genuinely mean it. everything i willingly shared was because it was a story too important to pass up.

i hope i've tied up all loose ends. thank you, and i'll catch you on the flipside.

[vanilla-cigarillos]

Satanism - A Breakdown and History

Satanism is one of the most widely misunderstood religions I’ve ever come across. With our current culture being dominated by Christianity, it’s easy to understand how Satanism has become one of the most demonized (heh) religions out there. 

In this post, I’m going to do my best to explain Satanism in a way that represents the true nature of the religion, as well as its history. 

TW: Discussion of sexual content, Christianity, bigotry, etc.

*I’m going to do my best to fit as much information into this post as possible, but if I miss anything please please feel welcome to add more!*

What Is Satanism?

Ah yes, the million dollar question. What is Satanism? Well...it sort of depends on who you ask!

Just like Christianity, Satanism isn’t exactly something that can be fitted into a singular box of beliefs and practices. When you look up Satanism on the Internet, you might be met with a definition that looks like this:

Satanism, the worship or veneration of Satan, a figure from Christian belief who is also commonly known as the Devil or Lucifer.

- Britannica

However, if you ask modern Satanists, you’ll find out that many of them don’t even believe in Satan at all! You’ll easily see that many Satanists have personal beliefs that differ widely. 

History of Satanism - Understanding Where We Are Now

Biblical texts themselves do not give Satan a backstory. By the 3rd or 4th century, Satan had begun being presented as an angel who had rebelled against God. By (at least) the 4th century, Christians were regularly terming non-Abrahamic traditions as ��pagan”, though anyone given this label was rarely connected with Satan. 

During the High Middle Ages, it became common for Christians to accuse other groups of actively worshiping the Devil once non-Abrahamic religions were no longer a serious demographical rival. These accusations were made against those in the Jewish faith, as well as Paulicians, Bogomils, Cathari, and Waldenses. It was usually alleged that these groups would worship Satan in rituals that engaged in incestuous sexual orgies, and made human sacrifices (a claim still used by some today).

Saint Wolfgang and the Devil, Michael Pacher

Later on in history, fears of Devil worship were speculated around Freemasonry from the 19th century onwards. In more modern times, the “Satanic panic” spread conspiracy theories about Satanic ritual abuse of children in the 1980s and early 90s. These allegations originated from claims about such abuse from therapists reporting adult patients who had recovered “repressed memories” from their childhood. Said allegations gained massive support and traction from a coalition of Christian groups, social workers, and even aspects of United States and British law enforcement. This cultural panic died down in the early 2000s, however it has recently seen a revival through the conspiracy theories of QAnon in the late 2010s. 

Modern Satanism

Modern religious Satanists can broadly be divided into two camps: atheists/rationalists, and supernaturalists. Atheists/Rationalists may see Satan as a figurehead, a symbol of values they wish to emulate. Supernaturalists, on the other hand, view Satan/Lucifer as a being that exists and whom they worship.

Religious Satanism sees much of its origin in the increasingly sympathetic portrayal of Satan in the literary work of Romantic authors during the early 19th century. Satan, in some cases, was portrayed as a heroic rebel who challenged an unfair (almost arbitrary) authority. Through this lens Satan was sometimes adopted as a symbol for anticlerical groups (later on music groups in the 80s and onwards would see this same perspective).

Church of Satan (CoS)

The first major group to express modern religious Satanism was the Church of Satan, founded by Anton LaVey in 1966. Read my post on organizations to avoid here for the details of why you should NOT support the CoS.

LaVeyan Satanism was formally an atheistic belief system that presented Satan not as a real entity but as a symbol of humanity’s animalistic nature. However, the belief system eventually accepted certain supernaturalist ideas. Specifically it adopted a belief in magic, with LaVeyan Satanists beginning to perform rituals with magical intent. LaVey’s beliefs were informed by right-wing libertarian principles, and he emphasized the idea that Satanists should regard themselves as an “elite set apart from the herd of ordinary humanity”. 

The Satanic Temple (TST)

The Satanic Temple offered an alternative interpretation of religious Satanism to that of the Church of Satan. Established in the United States as well, but later in 2012, TST also claims that Satan does not exist however it deviates by rejecting CoS’s libertarian philosophy. Instead, we see The Satanic Temple promoting a more progressive and politically left-leaning ideology. 

TST became known for its public stunts in defense of legal abortion access, as well as same-sex marriage. They are known for openly opposing the hegemonic role of Christianity in much of American society. They heavily promote the belief of bodily autonomy, the embrace of compassion, empathy, and rebellion against unjust authority. 

Temple of Set 

Unlike the other two groups mentioned above, the Temple of Set maintained that Satan as an entity is real. This group maintained that Satan’s “true” identity is Set, a god drawn from the pantheon of ancient Egypt. This shifted the group’s belief system away from Christian origins to modern forms of Paganism. 

Conclusion

Satanism is not a “one size fit all” label for a set of beliefs. It encompasses a variety of religious, philosophical, and ideological beliefs that differs per person. As with many things, it’s so important to do your research and decide for yourself what you want to believe in and support.