#military representatives

[gwydionmisha]

If this is your critter and you have something to say about his vote:

If you can't safely contact them in person, here are some other options:

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to the representative of your choice. Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/ To get your Critters' numbers to call direct: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

[jacketpotatoo]

The thematic implications of Caitlyn transitioning from solely a sharpshooter, to learning the ropes of hand-to-hand combat, and how it follows her growing distrust in Ambessa. If the weapon is a reflection of mentality, it prefigures Cait's mental expansion - away from narrow-minded thinking and acting from a distance. Instead of tackling from afar, she melds her skills in accuracy and deduction *with* close-up action. This is her power play. "Vision" is cait's strength (as opposed to "Might" and "Guile" and "Sacrifice") and Ambessa qualifies this with the phrase "tunnels in your eyes". Ironically, she trains Caitlyn and literally gives her the tools to pull away from her rifle-mindset. In teaching her how Noxus views strength, she offers her the keys to dismantle it

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Trudy Ring at The Advocate:

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a defense spending bill that includes a provision denying insurance coverage for gender-affirming care for transgender children of service members. The National Defense Authorization Act, providing for $884 billion in military spending for fiscal year 2025, passed Wednesday on a vote of 281 to 140, with 124 Democrats and 16 Republicans voting against it.

The controversial provision in the act would prohibit coverage under the TriCare insurance plan of any medical intervention for “gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization” for anyone under age 18. That would mean an end to care for any military families using TriCare as their health insurance. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a far-right, anti-LGBTQ+ Republican, had backed this section of the bill. The bill now goes to the Senate, which has a narrow Democratic majority. However, it is still expected to pass there, Breaking Defense reports. President Joe Biden has pledged to veto any anti-trans legislation. Civil rights groups and Democratic politicians quickly condemned the House's action. “Military servicemembers and their families wake up every day and sacrifice more than most of us will ever understand," said a statement from Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. "Those families protect our right to live freely and with dignity — they deserve that same right, and the freedom to access the care their children need. Today, politicians in the House betrayed our nation’s promise to those who serve. Not since the ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ passed almost 30 years ago has an anti-LGBTQ+ policy been enshrined into federal law. For the thousands of families impacted, this isn’t about politics. It’s about young people who deserve our support. Those who have courageously stepped up to serve this country should never have their families used as bargaining chips. Now, the Senate has the opportunity to reject this and any bill that includes these dangerous anti-trans, anti-military family provisions, and remember the fundamental promise of our democracy: that everyone deserves dignity, respect, and the right to healthcare.”

81 cowardly Democrats voted to deny Tricare insurance coverage for gender-affirming care for trans children of service members in the NDAA that passed 281-140. Shame on them!

This will go to the Senate, and we hope to have that provision removed there.

See Also:

LGBTQ Nation: House passes NDAA bill restricting military families from getting trans healthcare

AP, via HuffPost: House Approves $895B Defense Bill With Military Pay Raise, Ban On Transgender Care For Minors

[dykedvonte]

My only defense of conceptual follower Benny is that he was a warrior nomad and a raider, that still has it in him if we take the All Roads comic into consideration, and how he is not like a real dainty soft hand city slicker, cause it’s mostly an act.

So in scenarios where he is forced to travel with the Courier I 100% think he’d be like “What do ya mean you can’t scale a mountain, pussycat? Watch how the pros do it.” And then you see him scuttle up a cliff face scarily fast only to have to save him when he bumps into a Cazador nest.

[smilingdawn]

I love how, no matter which version of Starscream people draw, his human version will always sport whatever kind of royalty-military uniform this is

[decepti-geek]

tbh an important part of my take on the 'don't be like Sentinel' question is that hours earlier D16 had very decidedly assumed leadership of the High Guard, after which any attempt at resolving his very understandable personal trauma via murder was also, on a wider affects-everyone/your-new-power-means-something scale, inherently going to count as a military coup.

yknow. the thing Sentinel did to assume power/hand it over to the quintessons in the first place

[eugenedebs1920]

So I’ve been researching voter suppression and was planning on writing a whole, overly long, data driven, boring diatribe (still might) when I ran in to this. Rep. Takano lays it out better than I could.

Here is House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Ranking Member Mark Takano addressing Republican Committee members when voting to subpoena the VA for documents regarding registering veterans to vote.

9/10/2024

“Good Morning and thank you. Prior to our January 11 vote to authorize a subpoena regarding documents in the Committee’s investigation into sexual harassment at VA, this Committee had not voted to issue a subpoena since 2016. 

 When I held the gavel during the last two years of the Trump Administration, this Committee did not issue a single subpoena. There were plenty of occasions we could have issued subpoenas for the sake of performance over real oversight, but we chose to put veterans over politics.  

We relied on the independence of the Inspector General to thoroughly identify and investigate wrongdoing, and we chose not to interfere with ongoing investigations to score press and media hits. 

Yet now, the Republican Majority this Congress has threatened to subpoena VA on at least a dozen occasions for its supposed failure to comply with the Majority’s impossible requests. This severely cheapens this Committee’s oversight authority.  

We have been through this exercise several times before under the current Majority, and the script is highly predictable.  

The Chairman makes a vague, onerous, and overly burdensome document request of VA with a purposely unmeetable deadline. VA produces documents in response to the request.  

The Majority doesn’t like the answer they receive, screams that VA failed to meet their unmeetable deadline and then threatens to, or in this case goes through with, issuing a subpoena to compel VA to produce documents they don’t have, are already trying to produce, or have already produced.  

The question we must ask is why we see such temper tantrums from our current Majority?  It is not out of an earnest desire to acquire information and hold VA accountable for its failings. No, clearly it is not. Rather, this subpoena resolution, and frankly the hearing that will follow, is a red herring meant to distract veterans from the truth: that this Republican majority has absolutely nothing to show for its time in charge other than chaos, dysfunction, and paranoia.  

I hope the veterans who are watching see this subpoena for what it is, an anti-democratic and purely political effort to stoke conspiracy theories and ultimately suppress efforts to help veterans and their caregivers vote. Why does the Majority want to suppress the votes of veterans and caregivers? We should want all veterans and caregivers to be able to vote. With how much control elected officials wield over veterans’ health care and benefits, the stakes are enormously high for veteran voters, and their voices should be heard. It is dumbfounding to me that my colleagues would take issue with veterans exercising their right to vote, a right they served and fought for and sometimes died to protect.  

The Heritage Foundation, the same organization responsible for Project 2025, is using the Republican-led committees across Congress to suppress voter access.  

They have literally published a public-facing memorandum outlining strategies to frustrate efforts to encourage Americans to exercise their fundamental right to vote.  

But what makes this subpoena particularly weird and confusing, is that its underlying premise is that VA should not promote veterans’ access to voting, though it has been VA policy to do so since the Bush Administration. This policy was most recently renewed during the Trump Administration.  

Even weirder, the law underpinning this policy and President Biden’s Executive Order has been in place for thirty years. The National Voter Registration Act explicitly allows states to request that federal agencies or non-governmental agencies accept the designation as a voter registration agency.  

Pursuant to this law, VA is partnering with the state of Michigan to be a voter registration agency, but VA has considered partnerships with Kentucky, Georgia, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Nevada to help veterans access the polls.  

Yet the Majority is insistent that VA’s efforts constitute electioneering or some sort of partisan political effort to affect voting in swing states and districts. How is registering veterans to vote, no matter where they are, inherently partisan or political?  

Through the partnership with Michigan, VA is providing voter registration assistance to veterans in very limited circumstances when processing a change of address or during a Public Contact Team appointment. VA employees were given training by state officials, which included a review of prohibited partisan political conduct while assisting veterans with registration as required by law.  

If my colleagues are so concerned with states and agencies following the letter of the National Voter Registration Act, why aren’t they spending their time repealing it?  Instead, my colleagues are attacking VA for helping veterans register to vote. They are making a mockery of the Committee’s subpoena authority to the most anti-democratic end I have ever witnessed on this Committee. And I am frankly appalled that they have decided to go to these lengths to serve their political aims. This is not Congressional oversight. This is voter suppression.  

In the hundreds of documents VA has already produced for the Majority, there is nothing to indicate that VA has violated the law in any way. The only thing I am concerned about in terms of VA’s actions here is why they are not doing more to register veterans to vote.  

Later this week Congress is voting on the SAVE Act, which requires proof of citizenship before registering to vote in federal elections.  The Majority has no credible evidence that foreign citizens are voting in federal elections; in fact, this is already an illegal practice.  

But this Majority has proven that it will never be deterred by facts or evidence, so it is no surprise they are going to plow forward with this bill. I am opposed to it and will be voting no. But what’s shocking is that in their rush to block people from voting, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have decided that blocking veterans from voting is just as important as blocking undocumented immigrants.  This subpoena is a gross and obvious effort to stifle veteran voter registration. This is voter suppression.  

But again, it is also a red herring, a distraction from the Majority’s inability to lead, their inability to govern, and their inability to accomplish anything meaningful for veterans.  

I certainly do not have veterans banging on my door demanding to know why VA is helping veterans register to vote. However, I do have service members stationed overseas contacting my office saying that they need better access to voting – an issue I am working on. I also have veterans and their providers asking me what our plans are to ensure VA has the resources it needs to continue delivering health care and benefits to those who have earned them. So, I must ask who does this Majority serve – veterans or Project 2025?  

I also must ask, to what end is this exercise? I have yet to see my Majority colleagues produce any legislation that actually addresses the issues we’ve spent countless hours of Committee time considering in hearings to help improve VA.  

All I have seen is wasted time on deeply flawed bills that have no outlook for becoming law because they are Project 2025 pipe dreams that will do nothing to actually improve VA or help veterans.  

Mr. Chairman, using the subpoena authority of the Committee to investigate conspiracy theories is beneath us and should never be considered.  

The Committee must hold itself to the highest possible standard, because abuse of the subpoena for political gain – especially when it implicates fundamental constitutional rights – is a very real risk.  

 By fear mongering and stoking conspiracies that VA is doing something nefarious by registering veterans to vote, my colleagues are showing how little they trust veterans to actually exercise their right to vote. But I will say to veterans: I know how smart you are, and that you will see through the Majority’s partisan efforts.  

And I know how powerful you are as a voting bloc… I have seen it and felt it.  

It is important for everyone to participate in the electoral process, including veterans.  And I encourage my colleagues to vote NO on this subpoena resolution. With that, yield back.”

There’s one party in America that encourages the vote. There’s one who does all they can to suppress it. What side do you want to be on?

[lesbiansloveseokjin]

day 38/548 of jungkook's military service

these selcas were posted on 140113, the day of the MBC idol athletic championships

[richardcameron]

neil perry + all these things i've done - the killers

[kryptonbabe]

Mischievous Krypto disrupting military tests and having fun with it was the anarchist icon we didn't know we had in the 1960s

From Adventure Comics #269 (1960) by Jerry Siegel & George Papp

[emmedoesntdomath]

reasons why one should join the top gun fandom

(this is totally not a post aimed directly at a specific person, such as @needtobemedicated. definitely not. me? pfff- never.)

I want to preface this post with a disclaimer: these movies and this fandom are NOT just movies and a fandom that are for american military enthusiasts and veterans. while, of course, they are and can be to an extent, they are also for other groups of people who appreciate it for very different reasons. namely, the girls and gays who watch it for the ✨plot✨.

today, I will be selling these movies and fandom to said girls and gays with the ✨plot✨ and literally nothing else because nothing else is important.

reason #1- maverick and goose friendship

look, who doesn’t need a young, smirking, snarky tom cruise in their life? AND a cackling anthony edwards in the back, providing his best friend with absolutely no help whatsoever? sign me up.

reason #2- kelly mcgillis in 1986

look at her. just look at her.

#3: ICEMAN AND MAVERICK BANTERRRR

oh my god, the bantering. there are insults, subtle innuendoes, lil’ comments thrown here and there. *sniffs* it’s such a beautiful enemies to lovers I mean, friendship.

#4. training exercises

they’re playing a big game of tag with really expensive planes. I see no downsides here.

#5. YOUNG BRADLEYYYY

goodness gracious, great balls of fire

#6. volleyball

ha. (-coming from someone who’s not that attracted to anyone in the scene.)

#7. ICE AND MAV

because there’s no forced heterosexual relationship that makes me uncomfortable to speak of. nope. instead, there’s a lovely locker scene. yes, you read that right. I’ll just…leave that there.

#8. uh…a reason to cry?

I- yeah.

#9. MORE ICE AND MAV

tom cruise does his pilot thingie with the dots and plays tag with the other planes, and saves val kilmer. it’s enemies to lovers for a reason, people.

***casually skips ahead by more than thirty years***

#10. HANGMAN

glen powell is the captain of this fandom, and any other opinion is just wrong. sorry.

#11. PHOENIX

LOOK AT HERRRRRRR

#12. BOB

anyone named bob deserves love, okay?

#13. PAYBACK

his name is rueben.

#14. FANBOY

just yes.

#15. BRADLEYYYYYYYYYYYYY

miles teller saying “you look good” absolutely destroys me

#16. pool table

also yes. (thank you miles and glen)

#17. daddy issues

what’s a good story without a healthy dose of daddy issues? (nothing. that’s what it is.)

#18. parallels

ENEMIES TO LOVERS, ANYBODY? EXES VIBES, ANYBODY??

#19. ICE AND MAVVVVVV

my jaw was ON THE GROUND THE ENTIRE TIME

#20. football

ha. (pt. 2)

#21. pov: you’re crying. again.

…

#22. miracles one AND two

trust me, you will be rolling on the ground at the sheer audacity.

#23. talk to me, dad

THE DADDY ISSUESSSSS ARE A’COMIN

#24. PARALLELS PARALLELS PARALLELS

look, glen knows what he’s doing, ok? sir knows what he’s doing with that smirk and drawl. (and by what knows what he’s doing, I mean he is gleefully dumping fuel onto the fires of hangster media while miles is standing beside him laughing) (I adore them both)

#25. and then they all lived happily ever after

…they did, ok, shut up.

there’s a full list of reasons. you’re welcome.

[sadsongsandwaltzes]

My mom was a high school math teacher when 9/11 happened. Every year she recounts the handful of students who had previously had other plans sign up for the military in the weeks following the attack.

It’s something else not to plan on joining the military at all, but doing it anyway, giving up everything else, knowing you are most likely going to war, because you feel a sense of urgency to protect your home with the cost of your life if necessary.

These are the men to emulate. These are righteous and good values and they should be honored and respected. You do not have to believe in every political cause and government institution to acknowledge these good men and their strength and conviction. It should be applauded. There is far too much to discuss regarding the politics of warfare, the government, the reality of war, and the reality that many join either from desperation or tyranny. So much noise that we forget the individual is not represented by these arguments. In the midst of your highfalutin political speeches and nihilistic evangelism, remember that good men exist. Good men who want to protect those weaker than them exist. Good men who want to save their loved from the harsh evils of the world exist. And the denigration of these men and their values is what will destroy us as a people (and ultimately as a country). These men and their values should be encouraged.

Honor a strong man. Be a strong man.

[agnesandhilda]

the superhero genre as a whole is full of male characters who are unusual in how explicitly they're meant to represent hegemonic masculinity (side effect of the superhero genre being fundamentally based around empowerment fantasies) but homelander is really in a class of his own

[clove-pinks]

First book down on the 2025 to-read list! While the title promises the Western theatre of the War of 1812, in his introduction to the book the author makes it explicitly clear that he is focused on the role of Kentuckians in the conflict. (Not that I can pretend to be shocked, because I've listened to David Kirkpatrick on Kentucky history podcasts). It's an appropriate focus, given that an astonishing five out of every six(!) white male Kentuckians of military age served in the War of 1812, and they made up the majority of US casualties. Kentucky drove the US war effort not only in terms of War Hawk propaganda, but the actual boots on the ground.

Kirkpatrick is a Kentucky-based archivist and librarian with a master's degree in history, so this book has some academic chops. You can find a few reviews in peer-reviewed journals, I think the one in The Journal of Southern History is the best summary of the book's strengths and weaknesses. As the reviewer notes, "nonwhite, non-Kentuckian viewpoints remain opaque." Fair enough, given the author's stated focus, but he also doesn't really interrogate his sources and takes them at face value. Also annoying: the footnotes are an endless series of "ibid," and you frequently have to search the past four or five citations to find whatever source Kirkpatrick is using (this is NOT proper Chicago style, fyi.)

Nitpicking aside, I enjoyed the book a lot, and the deliberate centering of Kentuckians made for an engaging and fresh narrative. Isaac Shelby emerges as a hero of this story: tirelessly advocating for Kentucky troops and drawing on his experience as a Revolutionary War veteran before saddling up to participate in the Battle of the Thames at the age of 62. He was definitely one of the most qualified and intelligent military leaders on the US side. It's also striking how there's a blurry line between the War of 1812 in the West and settler-colonial violence directed at Indigenous people. (This is where interrogating the viewpoints of primary sources would help.)

In one jarring passage, Kirkpatrick quotes Shelby complaining about the depredations of British troops, including "the plundering of negroes." He is not talking about Black people being robbed by the British; he sees enslaved Black people as being property or possessions that can be "plundered" i.e. liberated from chattel slavery. It's a real ugly glimpse at the worldview of a person who is otherwise depicted as compassionate and judicious.

The War of 1812 in the West is very, very, very pro-American in its perspective (zero airtime for Sir George Cockburn's funny quips in the burning of Washington, for example), and deeply pro-Kentucky. I enjoyed Kirkpatrick's defense of the beleaguered Kentucky militia at the Battle of New Orleans, but once again he glosses over or ignores other, more critical perspectives. For what it is (a roughly 200-page popular history), the book succeeds and it's a fun read.

[c-53]

Im anti AM babygirling btw. Its not blockable by me by any means but I am judging you and your understanding of the story.

[steeltwigz]

Saw a post abt the Sonic movies that was like "plz filter negativity posts better" which is GOOD AND TRUE you should be doing that. Ok. But then they kept going to imply that the criticisms of the Sonic movies are all entirely Personal and Ignorable and not like. Usually abt the horrific copaganda, misogynistic writing, and Paramount's disgusting zionism.... Guys a lot of ppls problem w the Knuckles show wasn't JUST a bastardization of Knuckles' character or thinking Wade was annoying or whatever, but like was focused on the grotesque Zionist message from that one episode 😭😭😭 you can enjoy something and still recognize that it has intrinsic and huge glaring flaws and talk abt them. I think actually you Should be speaking up abt the misogyny, zionism and propaganda the SCU supports and discusses, ESPECIALLY if you like the movies! Its important to be able to recognize these things in media and admit that even media you personally enjoy can be deeply problematic, instead of hiding it away and pretending those HUGE FLAWS aren't issues actually....