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bantarleton · 1 year ago

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Who Were the "Hessians"?

A good article from Facebook by Dr Alex Burns;

Myth 1): German troops were all Hessians.

Although most came from the mid-sized German state of Hessen-Kassel, troops from six different principalities (Hessen-Kassel, Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, Hessen-Hanau, Ansbach-Bayreuth, Waldeck, and Anhalt-Zerbst.) Indeed, the current leading progressive reenactment group portraying these soldiers represents Regiment Prinz Friedrich, essentially a garrison unit from Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel.

If you include the larger, global war outside America, fought in places like Gibraltar and India, troops from the state of Hanover (Braunschweig-Lüneburg) also fought for the British outside of the Holy Roman Empire (the pre-German territorial entity.) So, while over 60% of these troops came from Hessen, they really hailed from all over the western and central Holy Roman Empire. As a result, it might be better to call them something other than Hessians. "Germanic" has been put forward, but that usually conjures up images of the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Myth 2): They were mercenaries.

Imagine you are a soldier in the United States Army, serving in West Germany during the Cold War. You are stationed there because of longstanding agreements and alliances, which stretch back decades. The United States Government and the West German government have a financial understanding that helps maintain your presence in the region. Are you a mercenary? The situation was very similar for the German-speaking soldiers who fought in the American War of Independence, They had a longstanding relationship with Great Britain, stretching back decades. They had fought with alongside the British since the 1690s, both in continental Europe and in the British isles. As a result of the Hanoverian succession in 1714 (the British Royal family was drawn from Hanover) they had longstanding marriage connections with Great Britain. Horace Walpole, a British politician from the 1730s, referred to the Hessians as the Triarii of Great Britain.

These soldiers did not personally or corporately take on contracts from the British. they were members of state militaries: their governments were paid a subsidy by the British in order to fight in their wars. Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia, received subsidies from the British during the Seven Years War. As a result, the modern German term for these troops is *Subsidientruppen, *or subsidy troops. **Thus, it might be better to speak of the German-speaking subsidy troops, as opposed to calling them Hessians, or mercenaries. **Historians have argued that it might be fitting to call their countries "mercenary states". This is different from saying they were mercenaries.

Myth 3): They were sold to America because their princes were greedy and wanted to build palaces and pay for their illegitimate children.

The princes of the Western Holy Roman Empire lived in an incredibly dangerous world during the eighteenth century. Their territories were small, rural, principalities, trapped between the military giants of France, Austria, and Prussia. As a result, from the 1670s, these princes attempted to use subsidy contracts to build themselves larger armies, in order to preserve their independence. These subsidy contracts were a standard feature of European politics, diplomacy, and conflict resolution. They allowed the princes to better protect their small domains. None of the princes who formed subsidy contracts with Britain during the American War of Independence were doing something radically new or greedy. Instead, they were following on decades of practice which had allowed them to maintain their own independence. The Hessian (Hessen-Kassel) Landgraf Friedrich II actually used the funds from the contract, in part, to promote economic development and the textile industry in his territories. **Some of them had illegitimate children. Some had palaces. Portraying them as sex-crazed misers limits our understanding of the economic and security necessities which actually underpinned their subsidy policies. **Following the long-standing practices of their governments, princes in the Western Holy Roman Empire entered subsidy agreements to maintain the costs of their states.

Myth 4): They committed many brutal war-crimes in America.

The subsidy troops had been used in messy civil conflicts before. Hessian troops were used against the Jacobites in 1745-6, where they remarkably refused to take part in the repression against the Scottish Jacobites. Their troops were remembered in Perthshire, Scotland, as "a gentle race," and their commanding Prince (Friedrich II) declared, "My Hessians and I have been called to fight the enemies of the British crown, but never will we consent to hang or torture in its name." (Duffy, *Best of Enemies, *p. 133). English officers in the Seven Years War, noted that their troops were reprimanded for plundering more than Hessian forces. (Atwood, *The Hessians, *p. 173). In North America during the War of Independence, the Hessians once again behaved better than their British counterparts. Although there was a surge of fear about Hessian brutality early in the war, after the first few years of the war, Americans believed that the Hessians treated them better than British soldiers. Aaron Burr wrote of Hessian atrocities: "Various have been the reports concerning the barbarities committed by the Hessians, most of them [are] incredible and false." (Matthew Davis, *Memoirs of Aaron Burr, *Vol 1. p. 107). Comparing the brutality of the Napoleonic Wars with the American War of Independence, a Hessian veteran who served in both wars commented: "Everything which the author has subsequently seen in this regard greatly exceeds what one should term cruelty in America, which in comparison with more recent times, can be regarded as nothing more than a harmless puppet show." (Adam Ludwig von Ochs, *Betrachtungen Ueber die Kriegkunst, *60-61.) Hessian troops committed crimes in America, there is no doubt. What is clear is that these crimes were not excessive for an eighteenth-century conflict.

Myth 5): Many of them deserted to America, where life was better.

Many Americans claim Hessian ancestry. As a result, it is common to encounter the sentiment that these "mercenary" troops were simply waiting to switch sides. In reality, most of these troops returned to their homelands in the Holy Roman Empire. A very small number switched sides before the end of the war, a larger (but still small) percentage elected to remain in America after the war ended in 1783. Far from being an act of rebellion, the princes encouraged their subsidy troops to remain in America if they desire: this would cut costs, and make the process of slashing the military budget easier in peacetime. Most returned to celebrations, public parades, and being welcomed by loved ones. For more on exact data of desertions, as well as the subsidy-troops' return home, see Daniel Krebs' book, *A Generous and Merciful Enemy. *The majority of these troops remained loyal to their princes, and returned home to their own native lands.

Who Were the Hessians?

The experience of 37,000 soldiers mainly drawn from six small counties is not all one thing. There are elements of truth to each of the myths about the Hessians, but their story is more complex than the myths that are told about them in English-speaking circles in North America. They were drawn from a fascinating world in Central Europe with its own customs, practices, and traditions. They entered the American story, and as a result, it is worth taking the time to understand and remember their path in it in a complex way.

A "Hessian" Reading List:

Rodney Atwood: "The Hessians: Mercenaries from Hessen-Kassel in the American Revolution"

Friedrike Baer: "Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War"

Stephan Huck: "Soldaten gegen Nordamerika Lebenswelten Braunschweiger Subsidientruppen im amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg"

Charles Ingrao: "The Hessian Mercenary State: Ideas, Institutions, and Reform under Frederick II, 1760–1785"

Daniel Krebs: "A Generous and Merciful Enemy: Life for German Prisoners of War during the American Revolution"

#history #military history #18th century #american revolution #revwar #american war of independence #hessian #hessians #german

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doamarierose-honoka · 4 months ago

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Ten years ago, musician Usman Riaz grabbed a pencil and started to sketch.

He might have hoped, but didn't know at the time, that it would start him on a path to making history.

That initial drawing became The Glassworker - Pakistan's first ever hand-drawn animated feature film.

It follows the story of young Vincent and his father Tomas, who run a glass workshop, and a war that threatens to upend their lives.

Vincent's relationship with violinist Alliz, the daughter of a military colonel, begins to test the bond between father and son.

Usman tells BBC Asian Network the characters ultimately come to learn "that life is beautiful but fragile, like glass”.

He describes The Glassworker as an "anti-war film" set in an ambiguous and fantastical world that takes inspiration from his home country.

“I wanted to tackle issues and themes that would have been difficult to tackle if it was based in Pakistan," he says.

The country doesn't have the thriving film industry of neighbouring India and there is no government support or incentive for budding creatives like Usman.

So The Glassworker was a passion project, he says.

“These 10 years for me have just been purely driven with passion and obsession.

“Since I was a child, I have loved hand-drawn animation and there's something so magical about it.

"The beauty of the lines drawn and painted by the human hand always resonated with me.”

Usman says he travelled the world looking for mentors and his search took him to Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli.

The influence of the Oscar-winning artists behind classics such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke can be seen in The Glassworker's own style.

Usman says the industry veterans at Ghibli were also the ones who encouraged him to start the production himself.

After raising $116,000 through a 2016 crowdfunding campaign he founded his own studio, Mano Animations.

From there it's been a painstaking process, especially since full production started in 2019.

“What you are watching is essentially a moving painting,” says Usman.

“Every single frame you see, whether it's a background or the character moving, it's all drawn by hand.”

Usman says that, so far, he hasn't made any money from the project and has been unable to pay his wife Maryam and cousin Khizer, who he recruited to help him.

But there's hope that the labour of love could be the start of something bigger.

Usman Riaz says he's always been a fan of animation

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is another experienced industry figure Usman turned to for advice about getting The Glassworker off the ground.

She directed 3 Bahadur, a computer-generated tale that was Pakistan's first-ever animated feature film.

On its 2015 release it broke box office records, even surpassing US imports and dethroning previous record-holder Rio 2.

Her studio was also the country's first female-led animation studio, and she understands the challenges of getting started better than most.

“Everything in Pakistan is driven by passion” she says. “I had to run pillar to post.

“We're a country that has limited access to electricity and our industry is heavily taxed.

"We're unable to import computers and hardware needed for animation.”

But Sharmeen – who is going to direct upcoming Star Wars film New Jedi Order – says The Glassworker could be a “monumental step” for Pakistan’s animation scene.

If it finds commercial success, she believes it will “ignite” something in the country, but there are barriers to home-grown animation becoming a red-hot trend.

The Glassworker is partly about the romance between characters Vincent and Alliz

Arafat Mazhar from Lahore-based Puffball animation agrees that “the technical skills are already there” in Pakistan despite there being “no formal training or schools available”.

But “how do you not censor yourself?” he asks.

It's a question facing any Pakistani filmmaker who has to deal with its strict board of film censors.

“Every time there's a good film that comes out that's sincere, the state ends up censoring it,” says Arafat.

He doesn't believe the rules are likely to relax soon.

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Is Hollywood finally doing anime right?

Sharmeen agrees the government will only encourage the domestic film industry to grow if they work to "provide opportunity to create a level playing field for us to compete with the rest of the world".

“There is a lot of scope in Pakistan for animation," she says. "We've just never been given the opportunity to create it."

She shares Arafat's pessimism about the pace of change.

"Unfortunately, it will just be a few filmmakers who have that passion, who will continue to create films," she says.

But Sharmeen says she is eager to see how the world embraces The Glassworker.

"I know that there is so much in there that will touch people's hearts," she says.

Usman says The Glassworker has an anti-war message

Usman will finally get to find out how audiences react to the work he's spent 10 years pouring his energy into as The Glassworker goes on general release.

He says he hopes to “put Pakistan on the map” and show it can stand up to the giants across the border in Bollywood.

But he admits the process has been “gruelling”.

“It is extremely difficult, but we've done something nobody has ever done in the country before," he says.

"I think we've created something special that can stand toe-to-toe with the rest of the animation produced in the world.”

Listen to Ankur Desai's show on BBC Asian Network live from 15:00-18:00 Monday to Thursday - or listen back here.

#the glassworker #pakistan #anime #anime news #ghibli films #ghibli movie #asian #film #animation

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thoughtlessarse · 1 day ago

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Some 15 years ago, on December 5, 2010, a historian writing for TomDispatch made a prediction that may yet prove prescient. Rejecting the consensus of that moment that US global hegemony would persist to 2040 or 2050, he argued that “the demise of the United States as the global superpower could come…in 2025, just 15 years from now.” To make that forecast, the historian conducted what he called “a more realistic assessment of domestic and global trends.” Starting with the global context, he argued that, “faced with a fading superpower,” China, India, Iran, and Russia would all start to “provocatively challenge U.S. dominion over the oceans, space, and cyberspace.” At home in the United States, domestic divisions would “widen into violent clashes and divisive debates.… Riding a political tide of disillusionment and despair, a far-right patriot captures the presidency with thundering rhetoric, demanding respect for American authority and threatening military retaliation or economic reprisal.” But, that historian concluded, “the world pays next to no attention as the American Century ends in silence.” Now that a “far-right patriot,” one Donald J. Trump, has indeed captured (or rather recaptured) the presidency “with thundering rhetoric,” let’s explore the likelihood that a second Trump term in office, starting in the fateful year 2025, might actually bring a hasty end, silent or otherwise, to an “American Century” of global dominion. Making the Original Prediction Let’s begin by examining the reasoning underlying my original prediction. (Yes, of course, that historian was me.) Back in 2010, when I picked a specific date for a rising tide of American decline, this country looked unassailably strong both at home and abroad. The presidency of Barack Obama was producing a “post-racial” society. After recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, the United States was on track for a decade of dynamic growth—the auto industry saved, oil and gas production booming, the tech sector thriving, the stock market soaring, and employment solid. Internationally, Washington was the world’s preeminent leader, with an unchallenged military, formidable diplomatic clout, unchecked economic globalization, and its democratic governance still the global norm.

#us #us pol #trump #us imperialism #us hegemony #us decline

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lol-jackles · 11 months ago

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Anon: but... but... the Gaza attack was due to 75 years of colonization......!

Me: Well gee, I guess the Armenian genocide ought to be considered in the context of…the previous 1500 years of Armenian Christianity’s existence, and 450 years of non-Muslim Armenians living peacefully under Ottoman rule and paying a special tax in order to do so. And while we're on that subject, I guess the Omagh bombing, which killed 29 people including non-Protestants and non-English people, should be considered in the context of 800 years of British political and military involvement in Ireland. And I suppose the Cambodian genocide has to be considered in the context of centuries, if not millennia, of class warfare which preceded it. Or something.

Fucking. Bull. Shit.

And let's not forget an important fact, immediately after the U.N created the partition, Jordan annexed Palestine (Jordanians and Palestinians are the same people living in different locations). So Palestine never actually technically existed. It was only after the Jordanians got their asses kicked twice in wars they started with Israel that Jordan gave up and renounced the "Palestinians" citizenship. The terrorist Yasir Arafat, in a remarkably successful P.R. move then decided to create this new myth of a Palestinian People with Israel as its homeland.

This is the translated meme that gets passed around in the Arab nations mocking the gullible liberal Westerners like you for falling for Arafat lies.

Now Anon, try to imagine Mexicans get uppity over losing territory to United States of America and begin a campaign of terror against the USA. Mexico launches missiles across the border wall into San Diego, Tuscon, San Antonio and more. They dig tunnels under the border wall and generally make themselves a pain in the ass.

But this time they launched a full scale incursion, took over several border towns, massacred most of the population and took the rest as hostages back into Mexico. They post videos online of raped and tortured hostages, who only barely cling to life. Mexicans now say they will start killing hostages, unless USA abandons New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, California and Nevada and calls on the entire world to join in their crusade.

How do you think the USA would respond to that? Hmmmm?

You can switch countries if you want. Russia took land from Finland, China from Tibet, India and Pakistan have their antics, there’s the perpetual issue of Western Sahara and so on. Can you think of one example, only one example, where the response would be more restrained, if a militarily weaker force did that to a larger, stronger neighbor in such a manner? All it takes is one.

#palestine #gaza #israel #hamas

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sea-owl · 1 year ago

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I feel like Penelope, Michael, and Sophie would be such menaces and cause so much mayhem if they teamed up.

We all know Michael and Penelope were menaces to society. Penelope had the Ton wrapped around her finger so tight that her column even made it to the countryside. Michael was an international menace from his time in the military and his four year trip to India. Sophie wasn't all that much of a menace in her book mainly because she had to dodge Benedict, but she gave off the vibes she had the potential to be. Like give her a chance and time away from Benedict's horny radar, and she'll take it.

If Penelope wanted to pull some people from the ton in on her business empire, those two would be some ideal informants. Michael could charm gossip out of members of the ton while Sophie could help by keeping her ears on the ground and talking with the servants. I also feel like Michael and Sophie would agree just for the fun of it. Plus the pay is nice.

#bridgerton #let this trio cause mayhem #as a treat #they deserve it #penelope featherington #sophie beckett #michael stirling

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stephensmithuk · 5 months ago

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"Army-crammer"

You may be wondering what one of these was, so I'll give a quick explanation.

An idea imported from Imperial China, where it had been going since the end of the 6th Century CE, the British at this time had a series of competitive exams you would do if you wanted to join the civil service (either UK or Indian) or become an officer in the British Army. These has been introduced to improve the quality of the men in the organisations and get rid of the problems caused by patronage by selecting on merit.

You would take this exam, covering a wide range of topics from the classics (of course) to modern languages to geography. If you passed, you were eligble for a role, although still needed to undergo the other sorts of checks you still do for employment today - background checks, health checks and also oral testing to make sure you knew your stuff.

Some more stuff here:

I think the "Modern Major-General Song" was influenced by this - officers who had a lot of broad knowledge, but not that much of use in a military context. Although the croaking chorus from The Frogs of Aristophanes would make a great password.

youtube

You would have various organisations, either tutors or full-time schools, to help young men prepare for these exams.

The exams are largely a thing of the past in the UK, but are still very much around in India, where the UPSC to join their civil service is considered possibly the toughest exam in the world:

Those who got into the Army officer training programme would either go to the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich (for the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers) or the Royal Military College in Sandhurst (infantry and cavalry).

However, while these exams were designed to make the Army more merit-based, it still tended to be the richer guys who ended up as "Ruperts". You had to buy a lot of your own kit and maintain it too. You still do have to pay for full ceremonial dress (generally red or black), No. 1 Dress (blue, for ceremonial events) and "mess dress", which is basically the military equivalent of evening wear.

This uniform could be bought from various places, including the Army & Navy Stores, a chain of department stores run by officers from both as a co-operative. Their stores covered a whole range of stuff for soldiers and their families, ranging from groceries to guns. They even expanded to India, although those branches went with independence. In 1973, they were bought out by House of Fraser; a chain that has had a bad last few years, with a large number of its stores closed or closing.

You can get allowances and tax relief on uniform costs today. There is also a big second-hand market.

Also, living the lifestyle associated with being an officer and a gentlemen wasn't cheap. You had to pay your mess bills, ensure that your sword was in good condition, keep up a decent social life etc.

Professor Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes also was an army coach in his past, by the way.

#letters from bunny #history #factoids #the wrong house #raffles #WRON #Youtube

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whencyclopedia · 2 months ago

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XYZ Affair

The XYZ Affair was a diplomatic incident that occurred in 1797-98, involving diplomats from the United States and Revolutionary France. Amidst rising tensions between the two nations, President John Adams sent envoys to Paris to negotiate a treaty, only to find that the French would not open negotiations unless the US paid a bribe. This helped to incite the Quasi-War.

The affair came at a time when the concurrent French Revolution (1789-1799) was already creating divisions within American politics. The nationalist Federalist Party – of which President Adams was a member – was horrified by the violence of the French Revolution and wanted to move the United States away from France's sphere of influence. To do this, they sought to foster closer political and economic ties with Great Britain, which they viewed as the natural ally of the US. This caused outrage amongst the rival political faction, the Democratic-Republican Party (Jeffersonian Democrats), who believed that closer ties with Britain would only undermine republicanism in the United States. At the same time, the French Republic viewed the budding relationship between the US and Britain as an act of aggression and authorized attacks on American merchant vessels in late 1796.

In 1797, President Adams sought to resolve the issue diplomatically and sent three envoys to France. These envoys had expected to be received by the French foreign minister, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord; instead, they were met by three French intermediaries (referred to in coded dispatches as agents 'X', 'Y', and 'Z') who insisted that the United States pay a large bribe in order to meet with Talleyrand and begin negotiations. When this became public knowledge in the US, it inflamed public opinion against the French, leading to increased support for Adams and the anti-French Federalists. Rising Franco-American tensions led to a brief, undeclared naval conflict called the Quasi-War (1798-1800), as well as the passage of the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts (1798).

Background

In 1778, the Kingdom of France signed a Treaty of Alliance with the fledgling United States. The American Revolutionary War had been ongoing for three years, and the Americans had time and again proven their resilience and determination in battle against the British; however, it was clear to all that the American rebellion would falter if they did not receive support from a European power. France was happy to oblige, seeing that a victory in America would humiliate and weaken its rival, Great Britain. France provided the Americans with arms, ammunition, uniforms, troops, and ships, and it turned the war into a global conflict by threatening the valuable British colonies in India and the West Indies, forcing Britain to spread its military resources thin. French soldiers and ships proved vital to the decisive American victory at the Siege of Yorktown, the engagement that solidified American independence. Certainly, the French contributed greatly to the ultimate American victory and succeeded in striking a blow to British prestige in the process.

But such a war came with a monstrous cost, and France soon found itself drowning in debt. Attempts to tackle the problem failed, and France's economic misfortunes blossomed into a revolution. News of the Storming of the Bastille in July 1789 was sweet to American ears, as was the proclamation of the First French Republic three years later. Americans were jubilant that their French brothers-in-arms were following their lead and casting off the shackles of monarchism, with Thomas Jefferson and his supporters even welcoming the new French Republic as "our younger sister" (Wood, 182). But then came the violence: the September Massacres, the trial and execution of Louis XVI, and the start of the Reign of Terror made the streets of Paris slick with blood and plunged the young French Republic deeper into chaos. Under the new Jacobin regime, hundreds of thousands of French citizen-soldiers swept into Europe, vowing to deliver liberty and equality at the point of a bayonet. The French Revolutionary Wars were soon underway as the great powers of Europe – Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain among them – took up arms against the French.

Even now, the French Revolution had support in the United States, with men like Jefferson believing that a little violence was the price to pay for liberty. They believed that the 1778 Treaty of Alliance was still in effect and urged the Washington Administration to offer support to their sister republic. However, President George Washington was reluctant to offer any such support. He knew that doing so would risk antagonizing Great Britain, with whom relations were already low, at a time when the United States was completely unprepared for war. Instead, Washington issued a Proclamation of Neutrality on 22 April 1793, in which he promised to keep the United States out of the French Revolutionary Wars. The following year, his administration negotiated a deal with Britain – the controversial Jay Treaty, ratified by Congress in 1795, created stronger economic and political ties between Britain and the United States. While this achieved the goal of the Washington Administration and the Federalist Party of avoiding another war with England, it outraged the Jeffersonian faction of Americans (Democratic-Republicans), who still wanted to support France and feared that the treaty placed the US too closely within Britain's sphere of influence.

Jay Treaty

John Jay (Public Domain)

The French Republic itself was also incensed by the Jay Treaty, which it interpreted as a British-American alliance. The French felt especially double-crossed because they believed the 1778 Treaty of Alliance was still in effect and had been expecting American support. They retaliated in 1796 when French privateers began attacking American shipping in the British West Indies. Within the next year, nearly 300 American merchant ships were captured, their crews often subjected to maltreatment; in one instance, the French tortured the American captain of the Cincinnatus with thumb screws to get him to confess that he was carrying British goods. Amidst these rising tensions, Washington, who was preparing to leave office, recalled James Monroe as ambassador to France, feeling that Monroe was too pro-French. In his place, Washington sent Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, a hardline Federalist from South Carolina; but when Pinckney arrived in Paris, the French refused to even receive him. This was how matters stood when John Adams was inaugurated as the second US president on 4 March 1797 – a discontented pro-French faction on American soil, and an aggressive French Republic looking to assert its will.

#History #XYZAffair #NapoleonBonaparte #JohnAdams

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f1ghtsoftly · 15 days ago

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All The Women’s News You Missed Last Week

11/4/24-11/11/24

Donald Trump wins the US presidential election. His party also won control of the Senate and could take the House, potentially giving Republicans control of all three branches of the Federal Government. Women in Gaza continue to suffer disproportionally from indiscriminate Israeli attacks on citizens. Raygun retires. The Pope initiates dialogue with abortion activists.

Read my election special report here.

Want this in your inbox instead? Subscribe here

Trump Transition:

Anti-abortion advocates press Trump for more restrictions as abortion pill sales spike

Democrats had bet on women showing up in force. They didn’t

Susie Wiles: Who is Trump's new chief of staff?

US Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor ignores pressure to retire - reports

Melania Trump, enigmatic first lady who might do it differently this time

Women’s Health:

Olympic Boxer Imane Khelif Takes Legal Action after Leaked Reports Claim She Is a 'DSD' Athlete

Nigeria offers free Caesareans to poorer women

Pope pays house visit to veteran Italian abortion rights advocate

With little water, displaced Lebanese women worry about periods

Male Violence:

McGregor rape accuser telling 'web of lies', court told

‘Catfish killer used my photo to trap other girls’

Church of England leader Welby urged to quit over abuse cover-up

Trial starts over rape, murder of junior doctor in India's Kolkata

Nigeria rights body finds 'no evidence' military conducted secret mass abortions

Women In The News:

South Korean president sorry for controversies surrounding wife

Raygun retires from breaking after Olympic backlash

How a Chinese maths 'prodigy' unravelled in cheating storm

Princess Kate attends Remembrance Day event in return to public duties

Gaza mother struggling to feed children says only death can end their suffering

Gaza women, children are nearly 70% of verified war dead, UN rights office says

Arts and Culture:

Judith Jamison, a dancer both eloquent and elegant, led Ailey troupe to success over two decades

Movie Review: In Andrea Arnold’s ‘Bird,’ a gritty fairy tale doesn’t take flight

Taylor Swift wins big and Rita Ora pays tribute to Liam Payne at the MTV EMAs

Mattel says it ‘deeply’ regrets misprint on ‘Wicked’ dolls packaging that links to porn site

As always, this is global and domestic news from a US perspective covering feminist issues and women in the news more generally. As of right now, I do not cover Women’s Sports. Published each Monday afternoon.

#radblr #radical feminism #radical feminist #char on char #radical feminists do touch #radical feminist theory #radfem safe #radfems #radfem

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mariacallous · 8 months ago

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Conspiracists and far-right extremists are blaming just about everything and everyone for Tuesday morning’s Baltimore bridge collapse.

A non-exhaustive list of things that are getting blamed for the bridge collapse on Telegram and X include President Biden, Hamas, ISIS, P. Diddy, Nickelodeon, India, former president Barack Obama, Islam, aliens, Sri Lanka, the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, Wokeness, Ukraine, foreign aid, the CIA, Jewish people, Israel, Russia, China, Iran, Covid vaccines, DEI, immigrants, Black people, and lockdowns.

The Francis Scott Key truss bridge collapsed when the MV Dali cargo ship collided with one of the bridge supports. Six construction workers, who were filling potholes on the bridge’s roadway at the time, are presumed dead. The ship is owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and the 22-person crew were all Indian. The ship was en route to Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the time of the accident.

This did not stop people from “asking questions” about the incident, a frequent conspiracist response to major events. And though conspiracy theorists are having a hard time pinpointing exactly what conspiracy caused the collapse, the one thing they do agree on is that this incident is a “black swan event.”

The term black swan event has been around for decades and is used to describe a major global event (typically in the financial markets) that can cause significant damage to a country’s economy. But in recent years, the term has been co-opted by the conspiracy-minded to explain an event triggered by the so-called deep state that would signal an imminent revolution, a third world war, or some other apocalyptic catastrophe.

One of the first people to call the bridge collapse a black swan event was disgraced former US national security adviser Michael Flynn. “This is a BLACK SWAN event,” he wrote on X. “Black swans normally come out of the world of finance (not military) … There are harbor masters for every single one of these transit points in America that are in charge of assuring the safety of navigation … start there.” Flynn’s post has been viewed 7.2 million times.

Misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, who has been charged in Romania with rape and human trafficking, also posted on X early on Tuesday morning, writing: “Nothing is safe. Black Swan Event imminent.” The post has been viewed almost 19 million times.

The term black swan quickly began trending on X, and soon conspiracists, extremists, and right-wing lawmakers began coming up with explanations for what or who triggered this “black swan event.”

One post claiming a link between the bridge collapse and the film Leave the World Behind has been viewed more than 1.2 million times. The post claimed that because the ship was headed to Sri Lanka, which has a lion on its flag, then the situation was linked to the ship that runs aground at the beginning of the film which was called White Lion. The post also points out that the film was produced by Obama.

A post from Anthony Sabatini, a former Florida state congressman, declared, without evidence, that “DEI did this”—and its been viewed over 2.2 million times.

Some politicians have boosted the conspiracy as well. “Is this an intentional attack or an accident?” Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, an influential and conspiracy-minded member of the GOP, posted on X above a video shared by a prominent QAnon conspiracist.

Under previous iterations of X, formerly Twitter, such speculation would typically have gained little traction, as the algorithm would have prioritized trusted news sources and primary evidence. But under Elon Musk’s reign, anyone willing to pay for a blue check can have their posts artificially boosted by the algorithm. This means that conspiracies like this are ending up in the news feeds of millions of people.

On Telegram, one prominent election denier claimed the incident was linked to the fact that the bridge was named after Francis Scott Key, who wrote the words for the Star Spangled Banner, and was thus an attempt to undermine America.

“Don't let them erase our history,” the conspiracist wrote.

Investigators are looking into the cause of the tragic incident, but William DelBagno, the FBI special agent in charge, said on Tuesday that there are no indications of terrorism.

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rauthschild · 3 months ago

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The British Raj.....Part 1

Once you understand that the British Monarch is the "Prince" in charge of a Company called "the United States of America" and another Company called "Great Britain", as well as the CEO of various incorporated British Business Entities calling themselves by names like this: "the United States of America, Incorporated" and "the United States Government, Incorporated" ---and that the British Monarch also works as an Overseer for the Pope who grants the "King" his "Crown" ---- and their British Crown Corporation franchises doing business as "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" (INCORPORATED) and "USA" (INCORPORATED) and so on, the present state of the world makes more sense.

Once you also understand that these various business entities have, for the past century and a half, been commandeering the American Military and using them as cheap British Territorial Mercenaries, everything comes into a clearer focus.

What everyone has been mistaking as American Armed Forces and American aggression, has in fact been British Mercs and British Commercial aggression, promoting an endless cavalcade of vicious "Mercenary Conflicts" all over the globe, and promoting equally vicious and obnoxious "occupation" of the civilian populations at home.

These bogus commercial "armies" of occupation have pretended that they had legitimate standing as lawful militaries engaged in declared wars, when in fact, they were always completely out of line and acting outside the Law of War and were illegally occupying The United States and all these other countries, precisely as they occupied India when using their own uniforms (not ours) and earned their nasty reputation as the "British Raj".

We might as well speak of the "German Raj" and the "French Raj" and the "Swedish Raj" and the "Canadian Raj" and the "Australian Raj" and the "Japanese Raj" and the "Iraqi Raj" --- because wherever these British Mercenary Forces disguised as American Peacekeeping Forces have operated, they have used the exact same model as they used in India and most infamously, South Africa.

They showed up and pretended to be legitimate peacekeeping forces engaged in helping the native government in some acceptable capacity, invited themselves in, quietly moved in and "occupied" the country --- and began plundering its natural resources, commandeering its trade policies, and ruling over the people as corporations under contract to the British Monarch and the Pope to provide "essential government services" ---services that, in most cases, the people were already providing themselves.

Think of it as a sort of hostile corporate takeover.

You have your own government in place and are muddling along and doing alright for yourselves, paying your national bills, minding your own business, and living within your means ---- and this other organization shows up and starts providing "essential government services" you didn't ask for.

Pretty soon, Australia and its unincorporated government has been taken over by a foreign corporation in the business of providing government services, and merely calling itself "Australia".

Just as the United States of America, Incorporated, drops the word "Incorporated" and presents itself as the United States of America instead, Australia, Incorporated, doesn't mention its incorporated status and nature, either. It just calls itself "Australia" and lets people mistakenly assume that it is a legitimate unincorporated government entity.

The Perpetrators conveniently fail to add the telltale word, "Incorporated" to the name, lest people wake up and see "Australia, Incorporated" and wonder -- why is a foreign corporation (it turns out) aping our government and taking over the functions of our government?

Why is this foreign corporation -- a private entity -- charging us "taxes" when it has no taxing authority, and why, then, is a privately owned foreign corporation dictating our economic policies and charging its expenses to our credit?

Because they are crooks and the Principals operating these corporations "as" governments under color of law are crooks, too.

This is precisely what Cecil Rhodes and his "British South Africa Company" did in South Africa. They received a charter from the British Government to provide government services in South Africa and this commercial company obliged Parliament by stealing gold and diamonds and everything else they could lay their hands on --- all for the benefit of the King and his Agents acting under color of law, of course.

It was so wildly profitable and safe to commercially rape and pillage a defenseless country that was dependent on the "good faith service" of these mercenary corporations, that Parliament was encouraged to repeat the same bait-and-switch fraud in India and throughout the world.

In this regard, it becomes apparent that the "King" of Great Britain (Company) is acting in the capacity of a "President" or as they term it in England and in the Definitive Treaty of Paris (1783), the "Prince" of the corporate service provider in Territorial Jurisdiction.

It's also apparent that this practice and process of subcontracting with deceptively named commercial corporations to provide government services and using these legal fiction entities to evade contractual service obligations and to undermine and usurp upon the lawful national governments of other countries is both illegal and unlawful.

So is their armed "occupation" of other countries illegal and unlawful. BlackRock, Haliburton, Wagner, and yes, the U.S. Army, Inc. are all mercenary organizations; they are all illegal racketeering and privateering organizations by definition, too.

That conclusion has already been concluded to the satisfaction of the entire world and made manifest in 1948-49, when the phony foreign government being "provided" to India by His Majesty and the Government of Westminster was overthrown by non-violent non-cooperation and some of the largest public protests ever seen on Earth.

It should not be necessary to say that the question has already been decided and that no form of the British Raj "System" is acceptable.

All the Substitution Frauds and incursions of this kind by commercial interests imposing themselves on or "as" national governments, and then allowing their own private bank creditors to charge direct taxes for their "services" on civilians, are unjustified and unjustifiable crimes.

The Perpetrators have attempted to excuse their activities in a number of ways.

After promoting an illegal mercenary conflict on our shores in the 1860s and deceitfully calling it "the American Civil War" so as to cloak the nature of this fight as a Mercenary Conflict, these Vermin pretended that our lawful American Government simply disappeared, whereabouts unknown.

They then pretended that this created an "emergency" and granted themselves Emergency Powers never imagined by the people of this country --- and they settled in to very quietly occupy this country, and began their entire regimen of theft, misrepresentation, and coercion, aimed at credit hacking, embezzlement, asset stripping, and using Americans as cheap mercenaries under color of law.

This False Pretense that our national government disappeared meant that other countries accepted their Big Lie and allowed them as Subcontractors of our Government, to "represent" us in our purported Absence.

Our actual Government was being kept in the dark in the wake of the so-called Civil War, subourned, coerced, moth-balled, and attacked under False Pretenses. The men responsible for running our Federation of States and our State Governments were progressively threatened, beaten, robbed, murdered, forced to flee for their lives, slandered, and had their homes and businesses burned under the pretense that they were "rebels" and "insurrectionists".

No wonder our actual Government appeared to "disappear".

We are sure that it's a great surprise to learn that not only did our American Government survive, it's been perking along all these decades, wondering who or what is being charged for all these "services" we never ordered? And being astonished to hear from Third Parties, that we are in "interregnum".

This is all British doing and all the blood and criminality must be laid on the head and hands of the British Government(s), which includes the British Crown Corporations, and the Pope, in his capacity as the ultimate creator and director of the snake-like British Commercial Raj operations that have led this planet to the brink of destruction.

This excuse of needing to come in and restore order and provide a government (or rather, government services) after some disaster that they caused, proved to be so handy that the same Perpetrators have used it again and again.

All seventeen of the Western Countries occupied by the so-called Allies after the Second World War are still illegally occupied by the same Miscreants using the same excuse -- oh, the national governments haven't reappeared, so we had to come in and provide the people with services and support -- at gunpoint.

Even if there was a need for government services early on, it does not explain the continued presence of these foreign commercial forces almost eighty years after the end of hostilities.

Nor does it explain how and why American men and women are being used to impose this dreadful criminal bunk, giving the impression that our country is doing this, when in fact, our countrymen are being unwittingly employed as foreign mercenaries and are participating in this British-led crime spree without a clue that they are doing anything wrong.

It doesn't explain why Americans are paying 96% of the defense costs of these European nations, either.

The Commonwealth countries were suborned first as Territories of the British Empire that were bankrupted by their Sovereign's spending and then replaced by what appeared to be "American" corporations in the business of providing government services and running the same old scheme from 1910 to 1965.

The excuse used to commandeer the national governments was, "Oh, their Territorial Governments (commercial corporations substituted for legitimate governments) are bankrupt! They need order and assistance!".

But these invading corporations, "Canada" Incorporated, "Australia" Incorporated, "New Zealand", Incorporated, were just profit-making enterprises of the British Monarchy and Papist Holy Roman Empire, not governments in fact and certainly not accepted as governments by the people of any of these nations.

By 1965, public awareness and outcries and embarrassments related to the British Colonial System and Colonialism in general, led to a big publicity stunt, in which the dissolution of the Commonwealth (another bankruptcy staged by the guilty corporations) was announced.

The victims, the people of each country impacted, had no idea what was going on and they weren't told, either.

So the guilty British Territorial (aka, Commonwealth) Government stood down for seven years and waited, and when the people failed to spontaneously fund and staff and erect a separate national government --- not knowing that that was what they were expected to do for themselves --- the Rotters came back in, re-established their corporate hegemony, and shrugged.

The Perpetrators of this circumstance say, we attempted to give them their freedom; they must like being ruled over by us and by our governmental services corporations. Let's just assume that, from the fact that they didn't organize a new national government for themselves....

This is the same exact Modus Operandi which has been used as their excuse for their coercive undermining of the national governments worldwide; their embezzling, credit hacking, misrepresentations, and war profiteering have been carried out under the pretense that the people in all these countries have "voluntarily" accepted their rule, when in fact these same people have been kept in the dark and never even asked the questions pertinent to any such purported acceptance.

Certainly, nobody ever laid the facts on the table and asked any American, "Do you want the British Territorial corporation called the USA, Incorporated, to rule over you and tax you whatever they like?"

Please consider for a moment what you should, logically, believe--- not only about the situation in America and the purportedly "voluntary" Federal Income Tax System, but all similar systems and organizations worldwide.

These corporations and their taxation schemes and their so-called "social security" or "social insurance" programs have all operated under conditions of deceit and fraud. They have all depended on constructive fraud and misrepresentation and impersonation of living people as corporate franchises.

The entire circumstance and everything attached to it is just one huge, interlocking fraud scheme, designed to steal the assets and credit naturally belonging to living men, for the benefit of foreign corporations.

This is why we call the system of governance engendered by this criminal enterprise "Corporate Feudalism".

There is no actual King of England sitting on a throne and accepting "pledges" of feudal serfs, but instead, we have Fat Tick CEOs who have obtained their riches and powers by fraud and force, imposing exactly such pledges of our assets and credit by impersonating us as franchises of their own commercial and municipal corporations.

These corporations are doing this by secretly imposing the obligations of foreign citizenship upon us and everyone else in every affected country, using a practice of False Registration of babies and taking unauthorized copyrights on their Given Names, and again, via an equally False Public Trust system used to latch upon their living estates, taxing them, mortgaging them, indebting them and impersonating them.

Everyone involved in this hopelessly corrupt business should be ashamed of themselves for preying upon little babies in their cradles and engaging in such a disgusting, unconscionable, and self-interested system of premeditated and malicious fraud and impersonation.

As the actual lawful and sovereign nations of this country operating in international jurisdiction as the States of the Union, by and through the instrumentality of our Federation of States doing business as The United States of America (Unincorporated) ever since 1776, we are calling these corporations out for it and bringing an end to their predatory reign of terror on our shores.

The Principals responsible for all this have received Due Process and Judgment already and are called upon to "surrender" insomuch as this term can be applied to illegal Mercenary Forces; all the banks that have been glutting themselves on the proceeds of these crimes are called upon to Cease and Desist extending our credit to these criminals, and are additionally advised to reform their operations in accord with our directions.

The ruination of yet another dishonest foreign central bank on our shores cannot be used as another excuse to promote more war (and profits for the Perpetrators) against us or any of the numerous other victims of this crime cabal.

Instead, their maritime corporations need to be liquidated or directly forfeited to the actual owners --- the living people and national governments of each country impacted by these crimes. It's time.

This process of nationalizing corporations and bringing them under land law is called "lawful conversion".

Banks and other corporations that undergo lawful conversion will be set free of obnoxious and expensive regulatory powers and taxes-- and while they may not reap the profits made possible by inland piracy, they will be on solid ground again, functioning as honorable men again, and providing worthwhile services again, instead of defrauding and demeaning their customers.

We have chartered this bank on the land and soil of this country, and through it, prepaid redemption credit can be obtained for commercial accounts and Sovereign Accounts; asset accounts are to be lodged with The Global Family International Trade Bank. The gold-backed American Federation Dollar is now circulating.

RMA-API connectivity meeting and exceeding Basel IV standards are available to bank members of our new "Blue Dot" Bilateral Banking System. A simple one-page Bank Treaty Agreement is required.

Please bear in mind that the Federation of States delegated all delegated powers to all Federal Subcontractors and is fully enabled and empowered to perform all delegated duties and subsume all delegated powers when the Subcontractors fail to perform. This includes the power to issue money and credit.

Insomuch as our American Federal Republic has failed and awaits Reconstruction, and in full view of the facts summarized above and in our International Public Notice: Impersonation, showing that the remaining foreign Federal Subcontractors have operated in Bad Faith and Breach of Trust and have been fully informed, received Due Process, and have received Judgment of Gross Breach of Trust and Violation of their Service Contracts--- and this has been published for more than seven (7) years worldwide--- there can be no doubt that the Federation of States is well-within its rights to exercise these Powers and undertake these functions.

Please note that our "full faith and credit" guarantees were extended to the Congress of our "United States", operating under The Constitution for the united States of America, and they depend upon our specifically delegated powers both to the original Confederation of States-of-States, and to our American Federal Republic.

When the Confederation of States-of-States lost a quorum to operate, the American Federal Republic also failed --- and the full faith and credit guarantees, too.

We, the Federation of States and our State Members, did not underwrite the Sovereign and Public Debts of Great Britain or the Holy Roman Empire; we only guaranteed to pay for enumerated services provided under our own enumerated and delegated powers and stipulated service contracts.

Any other interpretation of our grant of "full faith and credit" as a plenary grant is not indicated by the Federal Constitutions, and cannot be derived from any action undertaken by the "plenary" government established for the City of Washington, DC, either -- as the operation and purpose of this oligarchy was strictly limited and vouchsafed to the members of our own United States Congress, not to members of the British Territorial U.S. Congress, and not to the Congress of the United States Municipal Government, either.

The last authorized draw upon our full faith and credit was in January of 1861 for the first quarter operations of the American Federal Republic, made by the Several States in Congress Assembled, styled simply as the United States Congress, not the Congress of the United States, not the U.S. Congress, and not the UNITED STATES CONGRESS.

All later representations of any "United States Congress" have been staged by members of the HRE Municipal United States Government, pretending that the "United States Congress" is the same body as their "Congress of the United States". More fraud, in other words.

Since then, the foreign British Territorial Subcontractors have delegated their merely "presumed" and "assumed" responsibility to handle our money (Abraham Lincoln operating as Commander in Chief of the United States of America, Incorporated, issued General Order 100 without authority related to us and our money) and to receive our credit --- to their own creditors, the same Jewish Bullion Bankers from Amsterdam and their progeny, that the British Territorial Government has been in debt to since 1694 --- the

#blacklivesmatter #blackvotersmatters #donald trump #joe biden #naacp #blackmediamatters #blackvotersmatter #news #ados #youtube

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