#other egyptians encouraged to respond to this

[matan4il]

Update post:

The biggest thing everyone's talking about on the news in Israel right now is the finding of a MASSIVE Hamas compound underneath UNRWA's main headquarters in Gaza, and finding proof that UNRWA were supplying the compound with electricity and internet services, supply which allowed Hamas to develop their intelligence, used during the Hamas massacre among other things. When Israel published the finding of the compound, the head of UNRWA claimed they found nothing up until October, and weren't able to check anything since. Israel responded by pointing out that a compound so developed most likely took no less than ten years to dig and build, and that UNRWA was repeatedly told that Hamas is operating under its headquarters, but chose to ignore this. What I think is most telling is a tour taken by an Israeli journalist in the compound, where they showed him that the server farm in the Hamas compound is found directly under the server farm of UNRWA, and that cables from the latter were running down into the terror tunnel compound directly beneath it (source in Hebrew, here's a vid in English giving viewers a tour of the compound, I'll attach the vid itself below, too). Something like that doesn't happen by coincidence, and without the knowledge of those in the server farm above groud. Some of the cables were also cut in the UNRWA server farm, like someone realized the IDF was coming, and tried to hide the link between the two server farms. As one officer pointed out, if you're an innoncent, interenational humanitarian aid organization, you have no reason to cut the cables of your own server farm, or remove the name tags from the doors of the rooms inside your headquarters. You only do that if you have something to hide.

Israel's army has been fighting Hamas in all of Gaza, except the southern city of Rafiach (Rafah in English). There are a lot of Gazans there, who have been evacuated from other zones. There's also 4 Hamas regiments there, which means Israel will have no choice but to fight there. So the only question is how to fight in that city, in order to minimize the harm to the civilian population. There are reports that Israel's Prime Minister has asked the IDF to present plans both on how to fight Hamas in Rafah, and how to evacuate the civilians.

In that context, I got to hear a radio interview with an Israeli minister, who used to be the head of Shabak (Israel's equivalent of the FBI). When asked about the US warning for Israel not to fight in Rafah during the upcoming month of Ramadan, Avi Dichter said that it has never been a month during which Muslims have not fought in wars. In fact, in 1973 the Egyptians and Syrians (with soldiers from even more Arab countries fighting alongside them) chose to attack Israel on Oct 6, despite Ramadan that year starting on Oct 4, causing the war to be known in the Arab world as "The Ramadan War." More than that, in Israel Ramadan is always a time of peak alert, because so many terrorist attacks are carried out during it (here's an example from Mar 2023, when Hamas was encouraging individuals to carry out terrorist attacks during Ramadan, and here's another from 2022). Dichter suggested that if Muslims can carry out terrorist attacks during Ramadan (and it has happened outside Israel, too), the war in Gaza which was started by Hamas can continue during it.

On an Israeli TV news panel, someone shared the estimate that over 100,000,000 dollars (one hundred million dollars!) is the sum of money that Hamas made just since the start of the war from selling to the civilian population the humanitarian aid that was allowed into Gaza, and which Hamas stole from the Gazans (more than once, by using violence).

This is Chagit Rein.

She lost her son Benaya in the Second Lebanon War, back in 2006. I got to hear an interview with her following the fact that during this war, she decided she would try to visit the shiva (the mourning week following a burial) of every fallen soldier. According to her, she has so far visited the families of 400 soldiers killed on Oct 7 or since. "If they see me, then it's living proof that there can be a life alongside the loss. That was our kids' last will and testament. They died so we could live. So we have to live." When asked what she's asked most often when she visits the families, she said it was what she did first after her son's shiva. "My other son was being drafted into the army, so the first thing I did was to accompany him in that." She was asked whether there were moments when she was overwhelmed herself. She replied that she's seen wounded soldiers making incredible effortrs to come to the shiva of others who were killed, to offer their families some comfort. In one case, an injured soldier recognized her, and told her that it was thanks to her son Benaya that he was an officer in the armored forced. He tried to hug her, but was at first unable to get up or reach her from the stretcher he was on. Chagit recounted that she tries to make sure her visits would be about the families she's conmforting, not about herself, but that's when she broke down and cried.

This is Doctor Elai Chogeg-Golan with her husband Ariel and their baby daughter, Yael. On the right, their house in kibbutz Kfar Azza.

On Oct 7, due to Hamas' massive rocket attack, Elai was inside the bomb shelter in her home with her family from 6:30 in the morning, when Gazan civilians got in at around 1 in the afternoon. The Gazans tried to get the family to come out, but it wouldn't. Then, those invaders set the house on fire, probably thinking that would force the family out. Instead, Elai and the family tried to keep themselves safe using water. At some point, she recounts they even fought face to face with the Gazans, who tried to beat them with sticks from the outside. She said she managed to grab a stick, and beat them back. These Gazans then threw in two gas balloons into the burning house. Elai says that most of the burns she sustained were from the fire ball that that created. At some point, the Gazans moved on, and that's when the family got out, because the whole place was on fire, they were choking from the smoke, and even the roof collapsed. They hid nearby, but then baby Yael lost consciousness, and the parents decided to try and get out of the kibbutz. At the entrance, they met soldiers who helped get them to a hospital. Elai had severe burns on over 60% of her body. She was in a coma for 53 days, but incredibly, they all survived.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[aoi1dee]

OLNF Week Day 1: Soulmates/First Meet

@olnfweek2024 a short fic is down below...

(This idea was based on the red string of fate and the Egyptian-Greek myth which posits that humans originated in pairs, bound in one body, with one original soul, but were split in two)

Everyone has a soul, even if you can’t actually see it, it’s there. It’s what makes people who they are according to Alex’s Mama. That string attached to his chest is what shows it. Mama explained that a long time ago before the world and humans were a thing, souls were complete in their body and that was how the world was supposed to be. Until one day, right before the true beginning of the world, a lightning strike hit every single soul and split them into two. The two souls were separated and forced to search the world hoping to one day find their other half… The only thing that connects the two souls is that string that connects to your heart (which is apparently where your soul sits). Nobody can see that string other than you and your soulmate. No matter how far away your other half is, that string will still be there and will lead you to them. But that story doesn’t mention two things:

Not every soul got split.

Some souls were split into more than two.

And that second one is exactly what is wrong with Alexander Morello. It was very weird for him. To always hear about everyone being excited to finally find their other half. He has never heard anyone say anything about finding their other halves plural… When he tries to explain to people that he has two strings of course no one believes him. He’s the only one who can see it. Though the one person who truly believes him is his Mama. There were only a couple of things Alex knew about his soulmates: they were very far away in the same direction and that they tugged at the string a lot. Alexander never responded; he didn't want them to get their hopes up. What if he wasn’t good enough for them? Alex is an anxious kid who is afraid of every single thing in the world. How is he able to protect them from all the dangers and sad things in the world if he can’t even protect himself?! Even the kids at school agree that he will be useless to his soulmates. Well maybe he shouldn’t listen to what other mean kids think… Luckily, he most likely won't meet his soulmates super soon. Mama said that he won't meet his soulmates until college at least. So maybe he has time to figure everything out! Oh but she was sooooo wrong… Cause now here he was standing in front of his two soulmates in the middle of the forest in the new town that he just moved to maybe ten minutes ago. They both stare at him in two completely different ways. The boy on the left, his name is Qiu Lin, is looking between him, the string that is attaching the two of them together, and the string that is attaching him to his other soulmate. That other soulmate, her name is Tamarack Baumann, is practically bouncing up and down in pure excitement. Alex honestly can’t tell what is going on behind her red eyes.

How did Alex manage to meet both of his soulmates in one day? That's what he was wondering too.

It starts with a simple request from his Mama. She explained to him that he should go out and take a peek around the neighborhood since they were going to be living there for a bit. Alex at first was honestly terrified but after a little encouragement from Mama, he tiptoed away from the porch and into the middle of the cul-de-sac. For a second he really didn’t know where he was supposed to be going until something poked his shoulder. Of course his honest reaction was to scream at the top of his lungs alerting the entire neighborhood to his location. Give him a break, it scared him. Though that scream was for nothing it was just a paper airplane. But that paper airplane had his name on it! With a code? What were those words supposed to mean together? It was a mystery worth solving!!

So Alex made his way to the location of where the airplane had come from. When he walked up to a fork in the road he noticed something. The strings went down separate roads! Looking at the path on his right, it looked like his soulmate was closer than before. So he followed and met his first soulmate. God they were so excited to see him. The first thing the kid did when they saw him was jump down from their fort (gave Alex a genuine heart attack (it didn’t it just felt like it)) and start spewing out words Alex had a hard time comprehending. He was in another dimension, was this really his soulmate??!! They gave quick introductions and then Alex showed Qiu the note. He had explained that he owned the paper and wrote what was on there but didn’t send the airplane. Which unlocked a new mystery to solve!

Alex brought this new boy along to the other fork in the path where his other string went. He should’ve known something was wrong when Alex had mentioned the other string and Qiu had responded, “What other string?” But they continued on in hopes to find who sent the airplane and oh he did alright.

A girl burst out from a pile of leaves in the middle of the forest and squealed immediately when she saw Alex, “YOU’RE MY SOULMATE???”

That was where they are now, well after Tamarack had grabbed her bag and introduced herself.

“Your string goes to her too? Is that what you meant earlier when you mentioned another string?” Qiu questions. They aren’t connected?? Wait, why aren’t they connected?

“Wait! You’re connected to him too?” Tamarack looks up at Qiu wanting an answer.

“You two aren’t connected??” They both shake their heads in response. That doesn’t make any sense… Mama said that all three of them should be connected to each other. So why aren’t they???

“A-And you two can’t see that I’m connected to both of you?” Alex asks, trying to hold back bursting into tears. This isn’t how it was supposed to go… the three of them were supposed to be soulmates together!

“No” Tamarack immediately answers.

Qiu gets closer to Alex, “Hey, it’s okay!” He places his hand on his shoulder, “We don’t have to figure this out immediately!” Qiu’s attempt at reassuring Alex only slightly worked. The only thing that was on his mind was the pure fact that his worries were true, they were disappointed after meeting him. They probably were so excited to meet their soulmate, maybe having wonderful dreams but instead they find out that their soulmate is also soulmates with someone else… they’re probably heart broken.

“I-I’m sorry…” Tears begin to fall down his cheeks.

“What are you sorry for? It’s not your fault.” Tamarack grabs onto his hand, “Qiu is right, we can figure this out later!” Her smile is so bright…

“Yeah! Not like you can control who you are soulmates with.” Qiu looks down at him with a reassuring smile, “We should all totally hang out some more!” He giggles.

They want to hang out with him? They don’t hate him?

“Yes yes yes!!” She squeals, “Oh but my Omi would probably want me home…”

“Your Omi?” Qiu asks.

“Oh! It means grandma in German. They’re German.”

“Wait, does your Omi live in the big gray house in the cul-de-sac over there?”

“Yes!! I’m living there now!!” She once again bounces up and down.

“Alex and I live in the two other houses! He just moved here today!” Their voices fade as Alex begins to wander through his thoughts again. They’re all neighbors… both of his soulmates live next door to him… they want to hang out with him more… they don’t hate him… maybe.. things won't be as bad as he thought.

(I am not proud of this.. I genuinely didn’t know how to write it. I’m sorry I swear that the other days are much better…)

[mariacallous]

German NGO Medica Mondiale and local Kosovo NGO Medica Gjakova, which works with survivors of sexual abuse from the Kosovo war, published a report on Thursday highlighting that most wartime rape survivors in Kosovo are still suffering serious psychological and physical consequences.

Titled “I am not guilty for what happened to me”, the report includes data from a questionnaire which 200 survivors responded to and also 20 interviews.

“The research found that 73 per cent of participants in the study qualify as suffering from Complex PTSD. An additional 13 per cent meet all the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis,” the report concluded.

It added that despite high levels of PTSD, respondents said the work of Medica Gjakova with survivors had helped to alleviate their difficulties.

Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, CPTSD, C-PTSD or cPTSD, is a mental health condition that can develop from prolonged or repetitive trauma. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, is a mental health disorder that can develop when a person experiences one traumatic event.

“Nearly all of the study participants (95.5%) meet the criteria for clinical depression,” the report noted. while 59 participants reported suicidal ideation within the past week and 101 reported self-harm ideation since the war, 142 thought life was not worth living.

“The vast majority (96%) of the participants reported high levels of anxiety, and 57% (114) reported (self-)medication with sedatives,” it said.

The report quotes an anonymous Kosovo Albanian woman as saying: “I am never calm because when I go out I see that [the scene of trauma] and I remember everything, I feel very tired.”

Another woman, from the Roma, Ashkali, or Egyptian community, said that “wherever I went out I was scared. If somebody came to the door, I would think they were coming again, that fear remained.”

The study also says “a clear relationship was found between sexualised violence and sexual dysfunction among the survivors. About two-thirds of respondents (100) said they have problems during intercourse, while roughly one third (45 participants) said they do not, with 55 participants declining to answer.”

“Six out of the nine male survivors said they have problems during sexual intercourse”, it added.

An anonymous Kosovo Albanian man is quoted as saying his abuser ��hit me on the head, he hit me on my body and he threw me on the concrete pavement nearby… Not only did he rape me, he beat me on my head and my neck… I can never get it out of my mind… I begged them twice, three times, especially the one holding an automatic rifle, to kill me, but in vain”.

Around 45 per cent of respondents claimed they knew other survivors who did not speak out about their abuse mainly because of the fear of bringing shame to their family.

More positively, “a vast majority (79%) of participants reported high levels of resilience; 64% said that despite the pain they have experienced some form of growth,” the report reads. It noted “a coexistence of strength and growth on the one hand, and suffering on the other”.

The consequences of the abuse have also caused generational trauma, with around 67 per cent of respondents claiming it has affected their families completely and around 29.4 per cent claiming it has affected their family to some extent; 48 per cent claim it has affected their children.

“Only 11.5% explicitly responded that they do not think that their experience affects their children,” the report said.

A Kosovo Albanian woman is cited as saying: “I passed the fear on to the children – the dark rooms, the unknown streets, I was always afraid something might happen.”

Survivors advise other survivors not to deal with the experience on their own, with some encouraging them “to speak up” in safe and confidential environments in order to avoid “victim-blaming”.

“Many participants explicitly recommend contacting Medica Gjakova and other support organisations, some saying that this helps with forming new friendships and developing a sense of belonging,” the report says.

It adds that “participants demand understanding and acknowledgement of survivors and their experiences – from society more in general and Kosovar society in particular. This includes empathic comprehension of their suffering and pain, as well as demanding that survivors are treated with respect by those in their immediate environments as well as their fellow citizens in general”.

The report recommends the institutional strengthening of services for survivors of wartime sexual assault to overcome stigmatization; development of new services, especially psycho-social support and outreach strategies, especially for male survivors and survivors from Serbian, Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities.

It also recommends interventions to change patriarchal norms and gender roles; improved access to reparations, including the amendment of the 2014 Law on the Status and the Rights of the Martyrs, Invalids, Veterans, Members of Kosovo Liberation Army, Sexual Violence Victims of the War, Civilian Victims and their Families, to reflect the findings of the study and needs of the survivors.

The report further recommends the removal of time limits to apply for the official status of wartime rape victim, which confers certain state benefits, considering that some survivors might not apply because they fear certain family members, or do not want to “shame” them.

It urges the authorities to “amend the timeframe for war-related incidents of sexualised violence covered by the law to encompass the whole period of conflict. The current temporal limitation discriminates between survivors and disproportionately withholds survivors from ethnic minorities from exercising their rights. The suggestion is to adopt the timeframe stipulated in the Law on Missing Persons, which ranges from 1 January 1998 to 31 December 2000”.

It is estimated there are around 20,000 survivors of wartime rape in Kosovo.

[masterhallmark]

SUNE ISN'T THE SEX GODDESS

SHARESS IS THE SEX GODDESS

Stop mixing them up

Edit: I should probably clarify with more details.

Sune

Sune is a goddess of love, which can include sex. The issue is people are mistakenly thinking she focuses on the sex side of love, when typically she focuses on the emotional side more. She even has some doctrine relating to platonic love, in addition to romantic love. Sunite clerics are supposed to make FRIENDS with the lonely as part of their quest to spread love

Her dogma is as follows

Beauty is more than skin deep. It issues from the core of one’s being and reveals one’s true face to the world, fair or foul. Believe in romance, as true love will win over all. Follow your heart to your true destination. Love none more than yourself except Sune, and lose yourself in love of the Lady Firehair. Perform a loving act each day, and seek to awaken love in others. Respond to love at least once a day. Encourage beauty wherever you find it. Acquire beautiful items of all sorts, and encourage, sponsor, and protect those who create them. Keep your own body as comely as possible and as attractively displayed as situations warrant. Let hairstyle and clothing best suit your personal appearance, striving to stir and delight others who look upon you. Moreover, hide not away, but always seek to present yourself to those around you in a pleasing variety of garbs and activities so as to move them with love and desire. Love those who respond to your appearance, and let warm friendship and admiration flower where love cannot or dares not.

Her doctrine is mostly about following your heart. If your heart says have a sex with some people you love, THEN you go for it. If not, then you don't go for it.

Sharess

SHARESS is the one who focuses on all manner of pleasure, particularly (but not exclusively) sexual pleasure. Her doctrine is as follows

Life is to be lived to its fullest, in decadent sensual fulfillment of yourselves and others. That which is good is pleasurable and that which is pleasurable is good. Pleasure is to be sought out at every opportunity and life is to be lived as one endless revel. Spread the bounty of Sharess so that all may join in the endless revel of life and bring joy to all those in pain. Infinite experiences await those who would explore, so try the new as well as savoring the old.

Sharess is more focused on the "pleasure" side of things than Sune. Followers of Sharess focus on spreading pleasures of the senses to ease suffering in the world, but focus much less on the emotional side than Sune. Also, she's a cat lady. As in in addition to her having cats, she also is sometimes Bast from the Egyptian Pantheon.

[head-post]

Gaza ceasefire talks continue without Hamas, US urges action

Negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release will resume on Thursday in Doha, Qatar. The US and mediating partners Egypt and Qatar will be joined by Israeli representatives, but Hamas will not attend the talks, a member of the negotiating team confirmed on Wednesday.

Hamas will resume talks if it receives a “clear commitment” from Israel on its latest offer, a member of the group’s politburo said. The official familiar with the talks said he told the mediators he was ready to meet with them after Thursday’s meeting if there were any changes or Israel gave a serious response.

State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said Qatari diplomats “assured us that they would work to ensure that Hamas is represented at the talks.”

Biden’s plan failed to go through

At the latest talks in Rome last month, Tel Aviv officials pushed for additions to the scheme announced by President Joe Biden on May 31, including the military retaining indefinite control of the Gaza-Egypt border, according to officials familiar with the process who spoke on condition of anonymity. US officials said Hamas seemed to have complied with the terms of the proposal announced by Biden. But a key member of his negotiating team was Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed last month.

The proposal called for a six-week ceasefire and partial hostage releases in the first phase, to be accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from population centres and the free return to northern Gaza of civilians who fled south to escape Israeli bombardment. Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for the delay in reaching an agreement.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday discussed the importance of a ceasefire in Gaza with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is expected to attend the talks, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, the State Department said. The United States is expected to be represented on Thursday by CIA Director William J. Burns. The White House’s Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, is also expected in the region.

Trump and Netanyahu discuss Gaza ceasefire

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and discussed a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release agreement.

Trump’s call was aimed at encouraging Netanyahu to agree to the deal, but stressed that he did not know whether the former president had actually told Netanyahu exactly that. Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Netanyahu visited the US late last month and met with President Joe Biden, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and former Republican President Trump.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli calculations.

Israel’s subsequent attack on the Hamas-run enclave killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, and displaced nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide charges at the World Court, which Israel denies.

Read more HERE

[asianartsblog]

THIS WEEK @ ASIA NORTH 2024

Exhibition

Love Letters to Baltimore + the DMV

Friday, May 3-Saturday, June 1

16 W. North Ave. and Motor House

Gallery Hours:

16 W. North Ave: Friday - Saturday 5-8pm

Motor House: Tuesday - Saturday 4-10pm

APIMEDA (Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern and Desi American) artists based in Maryland, DC and Virginia creatively express their ideas of love and home, including the meaning of home, how they respond to the question, “Where are you from?” and more. Through research from AA&CC’s Greater Baltimore Asian Community History Project, this exhibit honors the Station North neighborhood's ongoing transformation from a historic Koreatown to a diverse arts district. Curated by Nerissa Paglinauan with Guest Co-curator Ryan Jafar Artes.

Exhibition

Forest Haven: Trisha Gupta Solo Exhibition

Friday, May 3 – Saturday, June 1

Gallery Hours:

Thursday & Friday, 4 – 8 p.m.

Saturday, 11:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Night Owl Gallery

What happens when the treatment is worse than the disease? Trisha Gupta’s solo exhibition at Night Owl Gallery is a collection of research, documentation, and classification of 3 years of study centering around Forest Haven Asylum in Laurel, Maryland. It has come to light that in the 1960s-70s, the staff there criminally abused, tortured and murdered over 387 patients that were then unceremoniously buried in unmarked graves on the campus.

Guided Writing Workshop & Open Mic

Love Letters to Baltimore + the DMV

Wednesday, May 29, 7 – 9 p.m.

16 W North Ave

Participants will engage with each other and themselves by way of a guided writing workshop, during which we will explore easy conversations with each other and ourselves. The aim of the evening is to engage with and generate dialogue around what we consider to be our homes, as a way of understanding our individual and collective power to change our homes into what we desire them to be. Directed by Ryan Jafar Artes and Mohammad Rohaizad Suaidi. The writing workshop will be followed by an open mic, during which audience members will have the opportunity to share their just-written work.

Closing Event

Asia North 2024

Friday, May 31, 5 – 9 p.m.

Motor House, 16 W North Ave, and Sidewalk in front of the North Avenue Market

Celebrate the conclusion of Asia North 2024. Congratulate the artists featured in Love Letters to Baltimore + the DMV. Enjoy performances by Meki's Tamure Polynesian Arts, Sutradhar Institute of Dance, Steve Hung, and Spike Yee & Proper. Hosted by Adrianna Morgan.

Makers Market

Asia North 2024

Friday, May 31, 5 – 9 p.m.

On the sidewalk in front of the North Avenue Market (30 W. North Ave) and Motor House

By us and for us from all over the Asian diaspora, the Asia North 2024 Makers Market highlights and showcases local APIMEDA artists/makers and their goods. Connect and resonate with others in a season of transition through community care, cultural work, and crafts. Goods featured include art prints, jewelry, pottery, home goods, and much more. Participate in a Flowerhands Natural Nail Dye workshop with Adele Yiseol Kenworthy. Enjoy Egyptian street food by Koshary Corner. Curated by WeiAnne Reidy.

Workshop

Flowerhands Natural Nail Dye with Adele Yiseol Kenworthy

Friday, May 31, 6 – 8 p.m.

Motor House

Free Limited Registration Required:

https://www.eventbrite.com/.../flowerhands-natural-nail...

Flowerhands is a natural nail dye workshop based in the traditional practices of Korean women dyeing their nails using the petals and leaves of the rose balsam (impatiens balsamina) flower. Participate in a multi/intergenerational workshop, cultivating a space of sharing practices of self and community care with one another, rooted in Kenworthy's own memories of care embodied, delving into gestures of adornment as the place of collective liberation. All are welcome to participate, attendees are encouraged to invite an elder, your kids, a childhood friend.

Exhibition

Into the Calligraphy

Friday, May 31 – Sunday, June 2

Atrium Art Space

Gallery Hours: Friday 8 – 11 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.; Sunday 1 – 10:30 p.m.

This exhibition features work by contemporary master calligrapher Setsuhi Shiraishi that has been made throughout the years she has worked in Maryland, Baltimore, and across the DMV. Curated by Michael Miki Young. Presented by OTS Productions. Sponsored by T. Rowe Price, BKSCC, BXSCC, BCSCC. In partnership with MIMA + Asia North 2024.

Opening Reception+BSC Social

Into the Calligraphy

Friday, May 31, 8 – 10 p.m.

Atrium Art Space

Free RSVP

https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSdxYxbHZK.../viewform

Enjoy performances by Setsuhi Shiraishi and Lucia Li. Celebrate Asian Pacific American Islander Heritage Month with the Baltimore Sister Cities. Presented by OTS Productions. Sponsored by T. Rowe Price, BKSCC, BXSCC, BCSCC. In partnership with MIMA + Asia North 2024.

Closing Reception

Forest Haven: Trisha Gupta Solo Exhibition

Saturday, June 1, 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Night Owl Gallery

Location Information:

16 W North Ave, Baltimore, MD 21201

Motor House, 120 W North Ave, Baltimore, MD 21201

Baltimore Improv Group 1727 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21201

Sidewalk in front of the North Avenue Market, 30 W North Ave, Baltimore, MD 21201

Night Owl Gallery, 1735 Maryland Ave, Upstairs Unit A

Atrium Art Space, 2029 Maryland Ave.

INFO: www.towson.edu/asianorth

[summarychannel]

Dangerous | Coca-Cola and McDonald's launch a distress call after their profits collapse, and Israel reveals the dangerous secret Updates on the Al-Aqsa Flood operation presented in this episode of Samri Channel. The beginning of the Egyptian/Arab boycott campaigns for American brands against the backdrop of the latter’s support for Israel. Reuters published a detailed report on the impact of the campaigns on the damage to the branches of these brands in some Arab capitals, led by Cairo, Amman, Kuwait, and Rabat. Reuters wrote: “In Cairo, in the middle of the evening one not long ago, a worker was cleaning tables in an empty branch of the McDonald’s restaurant chain.

 Branches of other Western chains of fast food restaurants in the Egyptian capital appeared to be without customers. As the boycott campaign began to spread, its calls circulating on social media expanded to include dozens of companies and products, prompting shoppers to shift towards local alternatives. In Egypt, where there is no opportunity to protest in the streets due to security restrictions, some see a boycott as the best or only way to make their voices heard.

 Reham Hamed (31 years old), who lives in Cairo and boycotts fast food chains and some American detergents, said, “I feel that even if I know that it will not have a terrible impact, it will not have a drastic effect on the war... This is the least we can do.” As peoples, no one feels that his hands are stained with blood.”

McDonald's said in a statement last month that misleading information about its position on the conflict "appalled" it and that its doors are open to everyone. The party holding the Egyptian concession confirmed that it was owned by Egypt and pledged to provide 20 million Egyptian pounds ($650,000) in aid to Gaza.

In Jordan, residents supporting the boycott sometimes enter McDonald's and Starbucks branches to encourage the few customers to move elsewhere. Video clips of what appear to be Israeli soldiers washing clothes with detergents of well-known brands have spread, urging viewers to boycott them. “No one buys these products,” said Ahmed Al-Zaro, customer purchases account clerk at a branch of a large supermarket chain in the capital, Amman, where customers chose alternatives to local products.

In Kuwait City, a tour last Tuesday observed that seven branches of Starbucks, McDonald's, and Kentucky Fried Chicken were almost completely empty of customers. A worker at a Starbucks branch who refused to reveal his identity confirmed that there were other American brands that were also affected. In the Moroccan capital, Rabat, a worker at a Starbucks branch said that the number of customers decreased significantly this week. Neither the worker nor the company provided any numbers. Starbucks did not respond to a request for comment about the campaign. In a statement on its website updated last October, it said it was a non-political organization and denied rumors that it provided support to the Israeli government or military.

In another context, a report broadcast by the British Financial Times newspaper said that low-ranking Israeli soldiers submitted memorandums to their leaders in the Israeli intelligence services days before the attack of last October 7, warning them of the preparations of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas to carry out a massive attack on the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip, but the response He downplayed these estimates, describing them as a fantasy scenario. These testimonies are further evidence of the widespread intelligence negligence within Israeli intelligence regarding what happened in the first week of last October, and will necessarily be presented when the current Prime Minister and his senior statesmen are tried following the end of the war in the Gaza Strip.

#Palestine #Egypt #Gaza

[deathfavor]

when it comes to sekhmet , it is vital to pay your thanks to her shortly after her aid. otherwise , you could have just damned yourself / your side as well.

 the best way is to celebrate in her honor , as in a full on celebration ( especially after calling her for something big like power or war efforts ). food , wine , music , all of that will help appease her and ensure that she doesn’t turn against those who called for her. because if you call for her but don’t express your thanks shortly after , she will take it as disrespectful. animal sacrifices are also something she is particularly fond of as her high priests would be aware of. ( a note her is that animal sacrifices were not a bloody event for ancient egyptians , it was very clean and respectful . animals were carefully checked and prepared and killed elsewhere before being presented to the alters as sacrifices. )

 but the most important offering is typically some type of red alcohol. this is especially important when calling for her aid in battle , murder , raw power , inflicting revenge , etc. if you are calling her for healing , justice , etc , it is not as important. but anything with blood , it’s a necessity. whether its red wine , beer dyed red with pomegranate juice , food coloring , or some other kind of red alcohol , the type doesn’t matter. but in her bloodlust state , she’ll drink it regardless with the assumption it is blood and then get drunk and cease her violent rampage or potential bloodlust.

 however , music and stories are also a fair way to celebrate her , especially those who call upon her for her healing skills or the more positive aspects she represents. she enjoys listening to such sounds and will respond well. while offerings of some kind are highly encouraged and rarely would anyone do so without , those could suffice if it came down to it. statues , paintings , and other things in her honor will also lead to being on her positive side.

[smitcr]

𓅖𓆓𓂧𓐦𓀭 ≈ "ꜱᴍɪᴛᴇʀ", "ᴄʀᴜꜱʜᴇʀ".

─ indie rp blog for the ancient Egyptian god, "ᴍᴇᴅᴊᴇᴅ" (mḏd, or metchet). An obscure god of punishment and smiting. Private, Selective, low-activity, lighthearted, & primarily iconless. Sideblog to @bcneheaded. Loved by Emory. * beta only user. Primarily Moonknight related, but otherwise fandomless.

✧ mobile friendly rules + muse info under the cut ✧

RULES:

➤ Well hey! My name is Emory; I’m 27 (they or he please!). Thanks for coming to read this! I’ll try to keep it as brief as I can. This is a selective, low-activity blog for an OC of mine. Created, developed and loved by me! :)

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➤ Ships will be based on chemistry and mun to mun comfort, and are possible here. Though given the nature of the muse, it may be a bit of a long game, or a difficult thing to initiate. Discussion for pre-established relationships of any sort are super welcome and encouraged though! He's never been in love before

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➤ NSFW content of sexual nature is very unlikely to appear here... but ya never know I guess. NSFW themes may be more likely to appear in terms of DARK themes, as this muse is horror based. (depictions and mention of death, parental death, violence, animal death, etc will all appear here.) But these kinds of things will be tagged as such. The catchall tag will be “ ( horror tw ) ” if it warrants it.

~ These rules subject to change over time, but if/when they do I’ll be sure to make a post about it to let ya know! Thank you for your time; it’s appreciated!

_________________

BACKSTORY:

(X) <-- from here, basic info below.

Medjed is a lesser known Egyptian god that had only been rediscovered recently. Not much is known about Medjed as he was written about on very few occasions, unlike most Egyptian gods who are commonly depicted through art, Medjed only has two known pieces of art depicting him. All of this adds to his mysterious nature.

Medjed as the god of punishment, punishing those who do evil deeds including the gods.

Medjed was rediscovered in the Book of the Dead. Medjed for a long period of time was relatively unknown, no other manuscripts mention Medjed. But in 1910 the Greenfield papyrus, a 121 foot mosaic was discovered with the full appearance of Medjed.

When the Greenfield papyrus was shown off in japan, Medjed grew exponentially in popularity in japan. He quickly became a cult icon.

Appearance

Medjed's appearance is commonly described as unknown or unseen. However in the art depicting him Medjed is depicted as a being with a body of cloth, human feet, and two eyes.

As most Egyptian gods are depicted in a side profile, Medjed's frontward facing depiction alienates him from the rest of the gods even more.

Personality

Medjed is commonly described as strange, his general disposition puts most gods at unease. His presence causes all in his path to freeze in fear.

His relationship with Osiris is more friendly however, the two are on friendly terms as Medjed deals out the Justice onto the dead that Osiris presides over.

Despite his status as a god, Medjed's justice isn't only for humans, as he has fought and killed several evil gods in the past.

Myths and Legends

Medjed is a member of the house of Osiris, his role in Du'at is unknown. However in the Book of the Dead he is described as the smiter, in other translations Medjed was described as being someone with great authority, which has led to the belief that Medjed was a god of justice who dulled out punishment to those who did evil.

[captnjacksparrow]

Hello!! Well this came to my mind and would be interesting to put into words.

Something that her fans were right is that she hadn't to accept Rock Lee's confession and love. For them a No was No, which is hilarious becase their princess didnt do this with sasuke lol but anyway. After Lee saves Sakura in Death Forest, she changes her attitude towards him and started to be nice , she even defends him when Naruto said something aboout bushy-eyebrows. Even more, i dont actually remember scenes where she is rude against him after that incident in the forest. She tried to encouraged him and most of the time she was "nice" with Lee. In the Hospital in part 1 she was going to visit Sasuke and she also thought of Lee, so she gifted him some flowers too.

-All of this I speak from the anime canon, manga i dont remember tbh. Also in movies I remember her being nice with Lee too- So, what's my point and question? Why is she so bitchy towards Naruto? While she is nice -or try to- with Lee (which he fucking deserves this treatment of course) , why she is still so ungraceful towards Naruto? Naruto saved her much more times than Lee, but still she can be nice with him. I get that when you are confident with someone, you tend to "insult" more lets say. But i get that feel when naruto is around of shikamaru or the other guys. We know how he and Sasuke treat each other ♥ But still, i dont get this with Sakura. Even more, did she ever defend Naruto? From other people I mean. If she could change her attitude for Lee, being almost a good friend.

I always think about this @melody-of-lost-souls 🤔🤔🤔.... Why is she bitchy towards Naruto alone??

There is this hard fact that every author with just half a braincell knows, that is, 'IF YOU WANT A CHARACTER TO BE LIKEABLE, MAKE IT BEHAVE NICER TOWARDS THE MAIN CHARACTER'.

To be honest, I started to like Sasuke because of that very fact 'He was extremely nice towards Naruto in his own way' and later I started to adore him because of his own backstory. But the first spark was because of Episode 3, Orphan insult scene.

It seems Kishi never had that intention to make Sakura be an honest friend with Naruto even in The Last movie. So, ummm.... Yup.

Like you said, Sakura changed her attitude towards Lee and she encouraged him when he was wounded after fighting Gaara. But anyways, she again went onto being a bitch in the Kage Summit Arc, by leaving Lee on the road without any care!!! So... That's what you can expect from her🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ But that's not the point of this post. Is it??

Point to be noted : Sasuke and Naruto insulting each other shows their comfort level with each other. Sakura harassing Naruto is not the same thing. Never.

I think she spoke for Naruto before Sasuke twice. One, In the forest of the Death. Two, Under the Bridge. But it doesn't matter.

She should've defended Naruto from Sasuke's attacks in Orochimaru hideout like Sai.

She should've worried about Naruto's wounds after Naruto came back like an Egyptian Mummy from fighting in VoTE in part 1. Instead she was worried about Sasuke alone.

She should've fought Sasori for Naruto's safety sake instead of getting information about Sasuke.

She should’ve stayed with Naruto when he went with Karui to deal with Sasuke’s Akatsuki activities. 

She should've stood up for Naruto in her final confession like 'Sasuke-kun, if you touch Naruto, I'll have to kill you eventhough I love you'... Yeah, she wouldn't stand a chance against Sasuke. But her character would've shined a lot.

So, Nope. She defending Naruto couple of times but letting him down countless other times doesn't matter.

WHY SAKURA TREATS NARUTO BADLY ?

After thinking about all the possibilities,

SOCIAL STATUS OF NARUTO

Sakura is the reflection of the Villagers' mindset. That is, The object of Hatred who should be treated like pest.

She definitely gave me that vibe in Episode 3. She literally treated him like a plague and I wanted to slap her so hard ever since. But even after the Pain Arc, I mean after Naruto became a Hero by making peace with Nagato, she still behaved like a Worst Bitch.

If she truly represents the social dynamics of the Villagers, she should have become a good friend like Shikamaru or Neji long back. But she didn’t.

So, we can safely eliminate this possibility.

SAKURA THINKS NARUTO IS 'THIRDWHEELING'

Well, This is from Chapter 3. So, I think whenever Sakura makes a move on Sasuke, Naruto accidentally comes in between her one-sided ‘duck dreams’ and spoil her party. It seems this has been going on for a long time. So, she just hates him for that. 

I found this ‘coming between’ thing twice in part 1. The first time was when Naruto stole the ‘First Kiss’ of Sasuke.

Second time was when Naruto was about to fight Gaara.

Here, Sakura was fretting over Sasuke’s cursed Seal and when Naruto asked her a question, she responded with a ‘Devil Face’. I mean is there any need to get angry at this time? There’s a monster standing before them and all she worries about is her poor ‘Sasuke-Kun’ and not even bothered about her surroundings, because Naruto will do the dirty job. All she can do is touch and worry about Sasuke. 

Well, In reality she is the one coming between them and she never realized that. What a self-absorbed Trash!!!

SAKURA IS JEALOUS

Naruto receives something from Sasuke that she never got from him, not until the very end and even today. That is, Attention. 

I noticed this in the Manga. Surprisingly, I guess none of the SNS bloggers brought this very cute panel up for discussion. It’s not in the Anime though!! 

This is from Chapter 3 page 6. (Geez!!!! Chapter 3 is a Gold Mine for SNS)

As you see Sakura was watching Sasuke up close like a Fruit Cake. It seems, Sasuke doesn’t give 2 fucks about her or anyone!!!

Now Let’s go back to Page 5 and see what happened earlier.

Naruto has been intensely throwing knives from his eyes. And you know what!!! Sasuke noticed it and asked him ‘What?’. To which Naruto asks, ‘What do you mean what?’. LOLLLLLL.

This is their First official conversation in the Manga.😍😍😍😍😍

Sakura looking at him with love doesn’t get any reaction and Naruto’s angry stare get his attention. Well, this is not an one time occurrence!!

In the Same chapter, it occurred again

This panel screams, ‘Why pay attention to Naruto, when he is not here?’. Kishi established this dynamics in freaking Chapter 3 and it never changed towards the end. LOLLL.

Even during Chakra Training, Sakura climbed the tree very easily in the hopes that Sasuke would appreciate her or notice her with admiration. But he was never bothered about her achievements even by a bit, but he paid attention to Naruto when he found out he was slowly catching up to him🤭🤭🤭.

I always find this scene very funny and cute because just like before, Naruto throws Daggers at him visually and Sasuke was like, ‘What did I do this time?’. 😍😍😍

And this is after getting the pass to participate in Chunin Exams

Well, I don’t have to add the scenes from Orochimaru Hideout, Bridge scene and War Arc, Do I?

And the best part is Sakura knew that Naruto gets his attention. So, her jealousy is probably the reason for her to treat him so badly. Just like how she treats Ino. Since Naruto plays dunce in front of her, she takes advantage of it and used him like a Tooth Brush.

This is also one of the reason for her to treat him badly.

Because Lee never came in between Sakura and Sasuke. It was Naruto, the whole time. And that's why she was like a bitch to Naruto.

Kishimoto in his own words,

I mean, Come On!!!, Sakura is nothing compared to Naruto's power level, strength or jutsu varieties to consider him as a rival in these departments. Still she is considering Naruto as her rival.

In what????

The only thing that connects them is their obsession towards Sasuke's Acknowledgement. And Kishi himself is hinting at a love triangle with Sasuke as the central figure.

Does it means Naruto also loves Sasuke and Sakura was jealous of it???🤔🤔🤔🤭🤭🤭🤭.

Well, that makes more sense. 😂😂😂. Because I can think of no other reason for her to be a bitch towards Naruto.

Curse You, Kishimoto!!!!!!

[hellzabeth]

i have opinions about The Prince of Egypt musical adaption and you’re going to listen to them: An Essay

So, quick disclaimer: The Prince of Egypt is one of my favourite movies of all time. The casting, the music, the animation, I think it’s one of the top-tier movies that have ever been made. I went into seeing the London West End production of PoE with a full expectation that nothing I saw on stage would ever live up to how much I love the movie. I was fully aware there are plenty of limitations to what can be shown live on a stage with human actors and props.

That being said, I was enormously disappointed with how the whole thing was handled.

The Good

Now before I launch into a whole tirade of what I didn’t like about the production, it does behoove me to say what I think they did do well. 


The casting of the role of Moses was done fantastically, as was Miriam, Tzipporah, and Yocheved. The swings and the ensemble were really engaged and well placed, going through lots of quick changes to go from Hebrews to Egyptians to Midianites and back.


The two Egyptian queens, wifes of Seti and Ramses, are actually given names, lines, and character beyond being simply tacked onto their respective kings. We get to see how they feel about the events happening around them, and there’s even a scene where Ramses meets his wife and courts her, whereas in the movie, she stands in the background and says nothing. This is one of the areas I was hoping the musical, which would naturally have a longer run-time, would expand on, and I was pleased to see the opportunity was taken.

Light projections on enormous curtains were used to very good effect, taking us instantly inside the walls of the palace and then out to the desert. 


Over all, the work was really put in to be engaging and emotional, and the orchestra really worked to deliver the right musical beats.


One of two stand out scenes as being done very well was the opening “Deliver Us”, which included a bone-chilling moment of Egyptians separating a mother and her baby, with her screams as she’s dragged off-stage, and the blood on the guard’s sword. It really brings home the fear as Yocheved tries to lead Aaron and Miriam to the river with her, not to mention Yocheved’s actress nailed the lullaby. 


The second was at the other end of the show, “When You Believe” was beautifully performed by the whole cast, though it was somewhat stunted by what came before...

The Bad

Oh boy.

So the main problem with this show is not the music, not the staging, not even that sometimes the ensemble was a little off-beat (the lai-lai-lai section in Though Heaven’s Eyes comes to mind). Any mistakes there can all be forgiven, since sometimes things just happen in live performance, someone’s a bit off or something’s just not possible to do on the budget allotted. 


The problem is in the script.

The Prince of Egypt movie is a story that stands not only on the shoulders of its fantastic music and visuals, but also on its emotive retelling and portrayal of the characters within - mainly Moses and Ramses. And while the stage musical does spend a lot of time with the two mains, it neglects two other, incredibly important characters.

Pharaoh Seti, and God. 


In the movie, Seti strikes an intimidating figure. He is old, hardened, and wise in the ways of ruling his kingdom - and is voiced by Patrick Stewart, who brings his A-game to the role. Both Moses and Ramses admire him and look up to him immensely as young men, and the relationship he has with both of them deeply informs their characters as the story progresses. It’s from Seti that Moses learns that taking responsibility for your actions is the respectable thing to do (and later, the true horror of having your idol turn out to be not what you think), and it’s from Seti that Ramses takes a huge inferiority complex.

There are two lines that Seti gets in the movie, one spoken to Moses, and one to Ramses. These two lines define Moses and Ramses’ actions later on in the story:

To Ramses - “One weak link can break the chain of a mighty dynasty!” To Moses - “Oh my son... they were only slaves.”

Guess which two lines are absent from the musical?

One Weak Link is turned into an upbeat song, rather than shouted at a terrified and cowed young Ramses. Instead of being openly a traumatic, internalised moment of negative character development for Ramses, it’s treated as a general philosophy that Seti passes down to his son. Instead of a judgement that is hung over Ramses’ head like a sword of Damocles, lingering in his mind through the whole story and coming up in a shouted argument with Moses later, it’s said and then moved on from. 


The “they were only slaves” comment, on the other hand, is absent entirely. This changes Moses’ relationship with Seti enormously, as well as his relationship with the Hebrew people. Upon finding the mural depicting the killing of the slave children, Moses is appropriately horrified, and Seti shows up to comfort him and defend his terrible actions. Moses leaves this interaction... and then sings about how this is indeed all he ever wanted! He has no moment of horrific realisation that his father thinks of the slaves as lesser, as lives that can be thrown away. This means that the scene where he kills the guard doesn’t lead into a discussion of morality with Ramses as he runs away, but rather Moses breaking down about his heritage as though it’s a negative, instead of something he’s realised is just as valuable as his life as an Egyptian. Instead of Moses being shown as having a strong moral core that protests against the idea of any life being lesser, he bemoans his Hebrew blood loudly, and makes little mention of the man he killed. His issue that causes him to run away is being adopted, rather than his guilt that he’s a murderer, and nothing Ramses can say will change it.

Later on, we don’t see Ramses express this opinion either (in the movie - M:”Seti’s hands bore the blood of thousands of children!” R:“Hah, slaves!” M:“My people!”) so it seems the core reasoning for the necessity of the extremes God had to go to in order to convince Ramses to let the Hebrews go is completely gone.

Which leads us into God Himself, as a character. 


God is a tricky topic in general. He is hard to talk about as a concept and as a character, and even harder to depict in a way that won’t offend someone. The Prince of Egypt movie always struck me as a very good depiction of the Old Testament God - vengeful and strong-willed, commanding and yet nurturing, capable of great mercy and great cruelty in one fell swoop. God is incredibly present in the story, a character in and of Himself, speaking with Moses rather than simply commanding him. The conversation at the Burning Bush is bone-chillingly beautiful. Moses is allowed to question, he’s allowed to enquire, he’s allowed to express how he feels about God’s choice, and God is given the chance to respond (and reprimand, and comfort).

In the musical, the Burning Bush scene lasts all of two minutes, during which God (the ensemble cast, acting as one moving flame, speaking in unison) monologues to Moses, and Moses is not given room to question, talk to, or build a relationship with God. Later on, once some of the plagues have gotten underway, Moses rails against God, flinches in his resolve, and tries to back out... and God says nothing. It’s Miriam and the spirit of Yocheved that convince Moses to keep going. As a character, God is nearly absent. Even when it comes to calling upon the Plagues, or parting the Red Sea, God’s voice is absent. Moses does not pray. He does not even use the staff that God encouraged him to pick up as a symbol of his becoming a shepherd of the Hebrews out of Egypt. 


It’s these little changes, these little absences of such vital lines and presences, that ends up changing the whole vibe of the show. Seti is more like a dad than an emotionally distant authority figure, and God is more like an emotionally distant authority figure than a character at all. Ultimately, the whole feeling that one is left with at the end…

The Ugly

… is that the script doesn’t like God, or religion in general.

A bold statement to make, considering the source material is one of the central biblical stories in EVERY Abrahamic religion. Moses as a figure is considered so important and close to god, that The Prince of Egypt, even with its sensitive portrayal, cannot be aired in a number of Islamic states, because it’s considered disrespectful to depict any of the prophets, especially an important one like Moses. Moses is arguably the MOST important prophet in the Jewish canon.

However, I haven’t highlighted one of the most noticeable script changes - the elevation of Hotep, the high priest, to main antagonist.

In the original movie, Hotep is a secondary villain, a crony to the Pharaohs, bumbling and snide and two-faced. He and his fellow priest Hoy are there primarily to juxtapose how charlatans can control power through flattery and slight of hand, reassuring Ramses that Moses’ miracles are merely magic the same as what they can do. They even get a whole villain song, “Playing With The Big Boys” which is a lovely deconstruction of lyrics vs visuals, where while the priests boast that their gods and magic are much more powerful, in the background the staff, transformed into a snake by god, devours and defeats the priests’ snake handily. The takeaway from the song is that God’s power is true, and doesn’t need theatrics.

It’s a good little nugget of wordless world building. And it is completely absent from the stage musical, with only a vague reference to the chant of all the gods names.

Hoy is gone, and Hotep is the only priest. He actively speaks out against the Pharaoh, boasts about having all the power, and is played as bombastic and proud. He’s a wildly different character, even threatening Ramses at one point. In the end, it’s shown that Ramses won’t let the Hebrews go not because he has inherited his father Seti’s cruel attitude towards the lives he considers beneath him, but because he is being actively bullied by the priest, and will lose his power and credibility if he doesn’t do as he’s told. Ramses is even given a whole song about how little power he really has. The script desperately wants us to feel sorry for Ramses’ position and hate the unrepentantly, cartoonishly evil priest.

That’s another matter as well - a LOT of time is dedicated to making the Egyptians more human and sympathetic, portraying them as largely ignorant of the suffering beneath them, rather than actively participating in slavery. Characters speak out of turn without regard for formality and class, even to the royal family. They are casual, chummy even. And this would be fine - in fact, it’s good to have that sort of third dimension to characters, even ones who are doing reprehensible things, to show the total normalcy and banality of evil - if it were not for the fact they still include a completely open-and-shut case of evil right next to them.

Hotep has no redeeming features. And on the other side, God is barely present, certainly not in a relatable context. Moses has several lines about how cruel and unnecessary God’s plagues are - and you know what, in this version, they are unnecessary! Ramses is not the stone-hearted ruler that his movie counterpart is, he has no baggage over being a potential failure, because it was never really given to him in the same way! By taking away Ramses’ threatening nature, numbers like the Plagues lose half their appeal, as the back-and-forth ‘you who I called brother’ lines between Moses and Ramses are completely absent. Moses is faithless, and is less torn between the horror of what he’s doing and the necessity of it for the freedom of his people, and more left scrabbling for meaning that he doesn’t find. And the only thing hanging over Ramses is Hotep nit-picking everything he does and threatening him, which is considerably less compelling than the script seems to think it is.

This is best exemplified at the end, when all the issues come to a head. The angel of Death comes and takes the Egyptian first borns (which was actually a well done scene), and the Hebrews leave to a rousing rendition of When You Believe. But then we cut to Ramses and Hotep, with Hotep openly threatening to revolt against the Pharaoh - whom was believed, especially by the priesthood, to be a living god! Hotep is so devoid of redeeming features he cannot even be trusted to stand by his beliefs! - unless Ramses agrees to chase after the Hebrews. Reluctantly, Ramses is badgered into the attempt.

Back with the Hebrews, Moses parts the Red Sea… not with his faith, not by praying to God for another miracle, not even by using his staff as in the most famous scene of the movie… but by holding out his hand and demanding the ‘magic’ work. Setting aside the disrespect of Abrahamic religions to call one of the most famous miracles “magic” (and my oh my, if there was a fundamentalist of any religion in the audience they might have gasped to hear it), it again belittles the work of God, and puts all the onus on Moses, not as a conduit for God’s work, but as the worker himself. Then, the Egyptians arrive in pursuit, lead by Hotep, not Ramses. Moses sends the Hebrews through first, lead by Miriam, and stays behind with Tzipporah… to offer his life in penance to Ramses! The script has completely stripped both Ramses and Moses of their convictions towards their causes, and Moses cannot even stand by his decision to lead his people.

Then, in a moment of jarring melodrama, Moses has a sudden vision that Ramses, his brother, will one day be called Ramses the Great (an actual historical Pharaoh who reigned 1279-1213 BCE). There is no historical evidence that this was the Ramses that ruled over the Hebrews (there are 11 Pharaohs called Ramses through the history of Ancient Egypt), and maybe if the scene was acted a little better, it wouldn’t have been so sudden or jarring. Even more jarring, is that then Hotep arrives with the rest of the army, and Ramses refuses to lead the charge into the parted sea. Hotep does so himself, and is the one to have the final dramatic moment, being crushed under the water.

The Takeaway

After watching the show, I’m afraid I could never recommend it as either a play, an adaption, or even as a faithful retelling of a bible story. Its character drama isn’t compelling enough to be good as a standalone play, with it two main characters declawed and their core motivations reduced to a squabble between brothers rather than a grand interplay between two cultures and ideas and trauma handed down from their father. As an adaption of the movie it’s upsettingly bad, with grand numbers like the Plagues rendered piecemeal and fan favourites like Playing With The Big Boys missing entirely. As a retelling of the bible story, it’s insulting, completely cutting God out of the equation, taking no opportunity to reintroduce Aaron as an important character (which he was, in the bible, as Moses was a notoriously bad public speaker, with a stutter, and Aaron often interpreted for him) and more importantly, completely erasing God’s influence from the narrative.

I don’t know who this show was… for, in that case. If it wasn’t for drama lovers, movie fans, or people of the faith, then who the hell was it for? Why change such a critically acclaimed and well-beloved story? Why take away all these defining moments? If you wanted to tell a story about how religion is the true evil, how God can command people to do terrible things, and how those who uphold organised religion like Hotep are unrepentant, one-dimensional monsters… why would you tell that through the Prince of Egypt?

Underwhelming at best, infuriating at worst… just watch the movie. Or read Exodus. At least the Bible’s free.

[yamayuandadu]

Wikipedia troubles, or “Father Enlil, (...) don't let your precious metal be alloyed there with the dirt of the underworld“

clarification regarding my post about troubles with a certain site i’ve been contributing to a lot for the past few months. To preface this with a mythical metaphor: in Inanna’s Descent, when Ninshubur pleads with the other gods to save Inanna, she uses the formula “don't let anyone kill your daughter in the underworld. Don't let your precious metal be alloyed there with the dirt of the underworld. Don't let your precious lapis lazuli be split there with the mason's stone. Don't let your boxwood be chopped up there with the carpenter's wood.” Currently this is what is happening to the Inanna article, I am afraid.

So, long story short, as most of you probably have noticed I am contributing relatively often to wikipedia as of late, starting with the creation of a Matara-jin article a few months ago. Among other things I wrote, rewrote or at least significantly improved the following:

articles about Mesopotamian medicine goddesses:

Ninkarrak from the western frontier, Nintinugga, who was associated with funerary offerings, Ninisina, who took over Inanna's gimmick in Isin, Bau, who became a healing goddess by chance, Gula, who eclipsed her peers - as expected from someone named “the great” articles about Inanna's courtiers and associated goddesses:

Ninshubur, her sidekick (my best work overall imo, the one article I wrote which I think fully deserves the “good” badge but I am not vain enough to apply myself), Ninegal, a goddess turned into her title, Nanaya, just the horny part distilled (bought a book just for this one!), Irnina, inexplicably cthtonic personified victory

articles about Mesopotamian gods too insignificant for anyone else to care about them:

Tishpak, a god so foreign nobody knows where he came from, Sebitti, seven warlike brothers, Enmesharra, Enlil's evil uncle, Urash, not the earth goddess – there are two... Urashes, Ningishzida, Dumuzi but with a snake gimmick, Zababa, a war god who's NOT Nergal, Ninimma, Enlil's court scribe, Gatumdag, popular as ersatz mom among kings of Lagash, Manzat, the rainbow

articles about Mesopotamian goddesses whose main trait was being someone's wife: Marduk's wife Sarpanit, Adad's wife Shala, Shamash's wife Aya

articles about Hurrian gods: Alalu, primordial vanquished king of gods, Kumarbi, his son, divine Saturday morning cartoon villain, Ninatta and Kulitta, a pair of divine musicians who always appeared together, Allani, oddly joyful queen of the dead, Šauška, who was so firmly genderfluid there's two of them in the most famous image of the Hurrian pantheon, Lelluri, a mountain goddess, Kubaba, who isn't Cybele, Goddess of the Night, who has no proper name despite being a case study in important religious rituals, Belet Nagar, who was like Ashur before Ashur got popular, Nupatik, who was important but we don't know why

articles about Eblaite gods: Ishara, “independent lady of love associated with scorpion and cannabis” popular everywhere where she went, Aštabi, a war god who really wanted to be like the weather god, Hadabal, who used to be famous but vanished out of blue, Kura, whose mask had to be renewed each year, Adamma, who left her husband to hang out with Kubaba

articles about Elamite gods: Pinikir, sort of like a bootleg Ishtar and an international sensation, Jabru, who exists only in Mesopotamian texts about Elam, Humban, mandate of heaven personified, Ruhurater, oddly obscure creator of mankind, Inshushinak, the underworld judge and his Akkadian helpers Lagamar and Ishmekarab, and Simut, the “strange star”

articles which were borderline unusable before due to low quality of sources:

Astarte, who was much more than vintage Bible scholars might lead you to believe (but not a fertility goddess), Dagan, who wasn't a fishman, Qetesh whose existence proves that Egyptians were fond of making ocs for their favorite foreign franchises

assorted articles about general topics pertaining to Mesopotamia:

Sukkal,  Hurrian religion (ongoing project), List of Elamite gods; also a much needed overhaul of List of Mesopotamian deities (ongoing project)

and, last but not least, a solid chunk of the Inanna article.

Two guiding principles of these ventures were the following:

people who cannot access academic resources or don't know how to use them and as a result rely on wikipedia aren't any less deserving of receiving up to date, credible information

Wikipedia's mode of operation isn't flawed in itself and the only problem is lack of will to edit it

I think I did a pretty good job at these two things, honestly. I made sure to rely on rigorous, credible, and, if possible, easy to understand sources, and removed the horrors which sometimes were hidden in bibliographies: a book written by a hate preacher who believed Bush didn't start enough wars; 1930s race science; what I can only describe as a hybrid of Woman's Encyclopedia and a bdsm manual; a fringe book asserting that Minoan palaces were graveyards and that Egyptians only learned mummification from superior Minoans; etc. Of course, it’s a thankless job, but as long as I could make the site more credible undisturbed, that’s fine by me. I even got some help in a few cases, most notably that of the god list, indicating that the work was on some level appreciated. The only problem I've encountered prior to today came from editing the Ereshkigal article – I've removed the claim the Burney relief depicts “Lilith”; this edit was however undone. I left a message on the editor's page, complete with links to articles about the Burney relief AND about the possible Mesopotamian forerunners of Lilith (who are undeniably not depicted on the Burney relief). They're responded rather dismissively to it, and asserted that even if unproven, a connection existed, so I pretty quickly gave up, as they relied on sources which were outdated or fringe. I focused on fixing two long, important articles instead: the god list, and the Inanna article. Some parts of it were alright, but there was much work needed: fringe theories trying to assign greater antiquity to relatively late myths, and frankly insane hyperdiffusionism, had a prominent place in the article, while well attested association between Inanna and similar deities from cultures closely associated with Mesopotamia wasn't, much of the info was outdated, scandalous hot takes about Dumuzi's treatment were all over the place, the section on Inanna's descent favored Jungian confabulations over credible research, etc. My progress on fixing that had been slow and steady. However, today the aforementioned person intervened when, in between editing the Inanna article and the god list, I reverted a dumb, brief , unsourced edit – made by a third party - which asserted that Inanna's descent is “similar to Persephone” which it isn't – if anything is similar to Persephone in Mesopotamian mythology it's Nergal and Ereshkigal. They pretty clearly didn't take it well: not only the unfounded speculation went back up, but they also added a “source” affirming it, from a controversial -medical- author, not an Assyriologist. They also added Persephone to the list of Inanna equivalents in the infobox, removing any credibility whatsoever from it. The author of the claim this is all about relied on sources so antiquated that they interpreted Inanna's sexual character as her being a child-snatching boogeyman. Inanna's primary connection to boogeymen is that she was invoked, alongside Nanaya whose sexual connection is even more blatant, to -ward off- child-snatching boogeyman Lamashtu (whose character was not sexual, because sumerians and akkadians weren't victorian aristrocrats and weren't paranoically afraid of sex - and why would a demon representing death in infancy be sexual in nature, anyway?). Simply put, the book in mention is worthless as a source. Of course, I reverted that; when it went back up (despite a justification being included in my reversal) I edited the Inanna article to remove this outlandish claim (you have a limited number of possible reversions per day for some arcane reason), also adding other information about Inanna I had prepared: a few tidbits on Assyrian royal inscriptions which involved the warlike and erotic aspects at once, suggesting that transgressors should lose both potency and bravery in battle, some info on love poetry about her and Dumuzi, that sort of stuff. The weird person reverted my edit – removing valuable info – and reinstated the claim. For a moment I lost my cool and reverted this edit, which sadly put me in the reversion overuse danger zone, but which was a necessary sacrifice to save the credibility of article I put weeks of work into. See the edit history here. As you can guess HaniwaEnthusiast is me. I left messages critical of this decision on the talk page of the article and on the talk page of the outlandish editor. Sadly, they responded rather rudely, and basically declared Wikipedia isn't meant to be credible, and that favoring academic sources over random crap is an “ivory tower” approach and should be discouraged; they also insulted me but that's much less relevant and much less hurtful than their desire to spread lies. If you ask me it's more of an ivory tower attitude to say people who cannot access or don't know how to use academic sources do not deserve equally credible info and need to be at the mercy of weird wikipedia editors. What's the main problem here, though? That person is a mod. Not a random user. They have 16 years of Wikipedia experience. They spread fringe, pop-spiritual claims about Lilith and the like, so I assume they have an ulterior religious agenda of some sort, which they seem to actively encourage judging from these ventures. I'm not sure if the Inanna article is a lost cause yet but I do think the weird addition of Persephone they made is a step into some hellish direction, and I am entirely certain I cannot win this conflict. Simply put, I think that if this is the sort of staff the site has, this is a lost cause. I am not sure if I will go back to editing.

[queensconquest]

  When  it  comes  to  Sekhmet  ,  it is  VITAL  to  pay  your  thanks  to  her  shortly  after  her  aid.  Otherwise  ,  you  could  have  just  damned  yourself  /  your  side  as  well.

   The  best  way  is  to  celebrate  in  her  honor  ,  as  in  a  full  on  celebration  (  especially  after  calling  her  for  something  big  like  power  or  war  efforts  ).  Food  ,  wine  ,  music  ,  all  of  that  will  help  appease  her  and  ensure  that  she  doesn’t  turn  against  those  who  called  for  her.  Because  if  you  call  for  her  but  don’t  express  your  thanks  shortly  after  ,  she  will  take  it  as  disrespectful.  Animal  sacrifices  are  also  something  she  is  particularly  fond  of  as  her  high  priests  would  be  aware  of.  (  A  note  her  is  that  animal  sacrifices  were  not  a  bloody  event  for  Ancient  Egyptians  ,  it  was  very  clean  and  respectful .  Animals  were  carefully  checked  and  prepared  and  killed  elsewhere  before  being  presented  to  the  alters  as  sacrifices.  ) 

   But  the  most  important  offering  is  typically  some  type  of  red  alcohol.  This  is  especially important  when  calling  for  her  aid  in  battle  ,  murder  ,  raw  power  ,  inflicting  revenge  ,  etc.  If  you  are  calling  her  for  healing  ,  justice  ,  etc  ,  it  is  not  as  important.  But  anything  with  blood  ,  it’s  a  necessity.  Whether  its  red  wine  ,  beer  dyed  red  with  pomegranate  juice  ,  food  coloring  ,  or  some  other  kind  of  red  alcohol  ,  the  type  doesn’t  matter.  But  in  her  bloodlust  state  ,  she’ll  drink  it  regardless  with  the  assumption  it  is  blood  and  then  get  drunk  and  cease  her  violent  rampage  or  potential  bloodlust.

   However ,  music  and  stories  are  also  a  fair  way  to  celebrate  her  ,  especially  those  who  call  upon  her  for  her  healing  skills  or  the  more  positive  aspects  she  represents.  She  enjoys  listening  to  such  sounds  and  will  respond  well.  While  offerings  of  some  kind  are  highly  encouraged  and  rarely  would  anyone  do  so  without  ,  those  could  suffice  if  it  came  down  to  it.  Statues  ,  paintings  ,  and  other  things  in  her  honor  will  also  lead  to  being  on  her  positive  side.

[kamilah-is-queen]

Could you do one where Kamilah and mc have a bloodkeeper daughter, so she can see her moms' memories. But after she know about Kamilah's past, their relationship become distant.

The Memories

Tagging: @queenkamilah, @wisebananapatrol, @paodequeijofeliz-blog, @fundamentalromantic, @kamilahtopme

If you wish to be added, or deleted from tag list then notify me.

Amy and Kamilah’s daughter walked in through the front door, tossing her backpack aside carelessly as she ruffled her hair with a hand. “Darling! Your back already. How was school?” Amy’s voice muffled against her daughter’s shirt, wrapping the young girl in a tight embrace, “it was great.”

Kamilah stepped out of the kitchen, holding out a wooden spoon filled with a rich tomato sauce, “Hello Alina, how was school?” She said as she raised the spoon to Amy’s lips.

“It was good, tiring, but fine.” A said with a small smile. Kamilah nodded, turning her attention to Amy. “How does it taste? Too much salt, or not enough?”

Amy chuckled, placing a gentle kiss to Kamilah’s cheek to calm her, “it’s perfect Kami.” With a curt nod, the Egyptian stalked back to the kitchen, determined to finish the meal by herself.

Later that evening…

Amy, Alina and Kamilah sat together, quietly eating through the dish Kamilah prepared. Amy gently placed a hand on Alina’s shoulder, beaming as was the Egyptian.

Without notice, their daughter was pulled into a vision. She looked around, only to see a portal. A portal in which she could see Kamilah, with another vampire. Around them, the city was burning.

People were scrambling and screaming for mercy, as Alina stepped into the portal, she was mortified. There were hundreds, perhaps even thousands of bodies sprawled across the floor. Limbs and blood coated everything in her sight, and in the middle of it all was her mother, and Gauis.

She watched with a tear streaked face, terrified at how pleasurable the couple thought it was. To take innocent lives and punish people who committed no sins in which they deserved such a horrible death.

How awful it seemed to view Kamilah in this way, daggers in her hands and fighting relentlessly as blood kept pooling from her lips. Not too far away, was Gauis, encouraging her. “That’s it, My Queen. They don’t deserve to see the light of day again. Kill them. Every single one of them.”

Just as quickly as she was pulled into the vision, she quickly returned back to the present time. Alina looked around the table, her gaze falling to Kamilah. The older vampire offered a comforting smile, oblivious to the vision her daughter had witnessed.

With a quick gust of air, she was gone, Amy and Kamilah looking at each other in confusion. “Is she alright?”

Amy simply shrugged, standing and setting the bowls in the sink before turning her attention back to Kamilah.

“Perhaps she’s got something on her mind, let her sleep on it. I’m sure she’ll be fine by morning.” Amy offered a smile, embracing Kamilah in a warm hug as they settled in for the evening.

A couple of days later….

Kamilah passed by Alina’s room, stopping at the hushed noise of quiet cries. She slowly opened the door with a creak, only to find her daughter rocking on the floor with a face full of anger.

Alina’s head snapped up at the sight of Kamilah, scrambling out the door in a hurry. “What’s going on Alina? Is something wrong?”

Kamilah wore a concerned expression, outstretching her arms only to see her daughter ignoring her completely.

She ran out of the room and down to the living room, where Amy was perched on the sofa with a book in hand. Amy looked up as the two arrived, eyebrows raised in curiosity.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know Amy, you tell me. Our daughter won’t talk to me, let alone look at me!” Kamilah huffed before setting herself down on the sofa, rubbing her temples.

“Alina, explain yourself.” Amy demanded, wrapping an arm around her wife and soothingly rubbing circles on her back to calm her.

“Explain myself? I’ve seen everything, everything she did.” Pointing a slender finger in Kamilah’s direction, “I saw you destroy towns and cities with that wretched prick, saw all the people killed. Innocent lives gone, at your hands!”

Kamilah’s head fell into her hands, exhaling deeply as she murmured, “my past isn’t something I’m proud of, child.”

“You have to understand that your mother was deceived, dear. She would never have done that, given a chance to relive those memories again.”

“I could never call such a monster, mother.” Replied Alina, storming out of the room before giving either of her parents a chance to respond.

Amy was quick to spring up from the sofa, grabbing her daughter’s wrist and restricting her from moving.

“I know that what you’ve seen was terrifying and shocking. I know Alina, I’ve seen it myself. But, do you realize that your mother has been repenting each minute of every day for those actions?

When I first met her, she was so isolated from the rest of the world. So lost in her own feelings, that she couldn’t feel anymore.”

Her eyes widened in shock, her gaze shifting from Kamilah to Amy as Amy continued.

“I remember the first time she held you, my child. She had tears in her eyes, smiling so wide that not even the sun could shine brighter and she told me how beautiful you looked. That day, that day was the first time I’ve ever seen her experience pure joy, Alina.”

Amy wrapped her in a warm hug, soft sobs muffled into her shirt. “I-I didn’t know, I was quick to jump to conclusions and-and..”

“I know, it’s okay my heart.” Amy spoke with a tender voice, resting her chin atop her daughter’s head. “We all make mistakes, none of us are exceptions to that. But, we’ve all learned, especially your mother, how to overcome them.”

Amy felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her, a warmth pressed against her back and a soft kiss against the back of her head. With another muffled noise, the faint words, “I’m sorry…” was a mere whisper.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. What your mother said is absolutely right. No matter what happened in the past, we both are here with you, alright?” Kamilah said with a small grin, shifting to embrace the two in a tight hug.

[j-mysticalien]

That Alex O'Connell story you mentioned in a post, yes I would love to know more sounds so goooood

Okay okay okay I wasn’t expecting ANYONE to respond to this (except romeomahbromeo I had a feeling you’d encourage this lmao) so I have to admit that its not exactly written yet- I am the OP of this - BUT here’s some  more details rattling around in my head: 

(this took longer than anticipated bc I kept accidentally deleting parts of it)

- No one has names yet, I need to work on that (feel free to offer suggestions)

- Character 1: folklorist friend. American who went to Oxford or Cambridge or whatever super duper British school Alex definitely went to. They became friends in a freshman writing class on museum ethics. They got into a heated debate in front of the class over illegally acquired artifacts in the British Museum (in short, She’s very much a “give that shit back” and Alex is neutral leaning towards “keep some of that shit”) Academic rivalry quickly turned to mutual respect and they’ve been best friends ever since. 

-Character 2: bio anthro love interest. Another American (Alex rolls his eyes constantly bc of this. Once character 2 learns Rick is an American he torments Alex about it)This is a stem guy. Alex and 1 are their for the *culture*, the *lore*. he’s there for the biological evolutionary blah blah I don't like this particular branch of anthro but its his thing. He balances out the other’s adventure fantasy humanities bs.  Down to earth, straight to the point, casually cocky. He’s got this lopsided smirk and--K maybe I’m in love with this character but you know what goof for Alex. They don’t get each other at first but with time they understand each other and are quietly yearning until their epic. romantic confessions, more on that later

General plot stuff: 1 pops up and visits Alex at the museum “catch up” though she quickly reveals that there's some spooky newly discovered site and she wants to have an adventure and drag him with her “get you away from all these artifacts before you become one. yourself”. Alex feels he’s fairly content with his life (and low-key high-key was traumatized by The Mummy Returns but more on that later) but reluctantly decided to go along for old times sake, curiosity, and to make sure 1 doesn’t get herself killed. 2 is 1′s friend from the states, they has some internship together, and’s he’s along for the ride. One site turns into the trio traveling the world getting into one complicated, dangerous, and often mystical situation after  another. 

Dynamics and such: When it comes to magic and stuff 1 is loosely a believer and 2 is very much not. Alex is understandably open to anything but 1 and 2 assume the opposite. 1 knows who his parents are as the famous egyptologists but the whole started-the-apocalypse-and -saved- the-world-twice thing isn’t common knowlege. This combo leads to fun early convos like

1: hey Alex, what are your thoughts on reincarnation?

A: Well...my mother os the reincarnation of Egyptian princess Nefertiti and I was kidnapped by the reincarnation of Anck Su Namun...so I'd say it’s quite possible.

1:...

2:..You could just say no lmao

Like for a WHILE they think he’s being sarcastic about ALL of it. And when the group inevitably gets in dangerous situations it gets more confusing for 1+2. 1 isn’t physically the strongest but she can fend for herself if necessary. 2 acts all tough and carries a weapon or two around on their journey. Alex was raised by Evie and Rick- the guy is a badass but a secret badass. First time 2can’t pull out a gun in time and it looks like it’s the end early on? BAM Alex suddenly reveals he’s had years of training and knows his shit

2:...did you know he had....that he could-

1: No....Alex you’ve been secretly ripped this WHOLE TIME-

Anyways on to the romance. 2 and Alex. Alex is kind of obnoxious at times, fairly consistent as his characterization in the movies but now he’s grown up. o he’s a little stuck up and 2 is a little cocky and they do not get along at first. Lots of banter but other ever serious. They go through a lot together though and develop a friendship-still full of banter and quips. Alex falls for him by watching 2 when he’s in the zone, full on geek mode. Alex’s “oh shit I might like him” moment is when it just the two of them one night, 1 is off somewhere, and 2 is explaining something they’ve found in full detail. He’s completely absorbed and fascinated by it, he’s got that sparkle in his eyes and excited smile and his hands are moving wildly as he describes why its so cool. And instead of talking about his own stuff or rolling his eyes and one-upping him intellectually as he had before, Alex asks him questions and 2 excitedly continues while Alex watches, a small smile inevitably tugging at his face. 

For 2 it’s when Alex has a total Rick moment when their in danger. There’s a badass one-liner, intense glare at their adversary, shirt totally showing off his arms- 2 realizes later he had made mental notes of the details while he really should've been paying attention to the guns pointed at their heads. Alex knocks them out like the badass he is and they make their escape. Not a second after safety is secured Alex is all over 2, scolding him for getting them into the situation and bloody hell getting hurt in the process how stupid are you let me see that hand no I'm not asking a second time give it here, how the hell did you manage that where are the bandages-and 2 laughs. 

OKAY THAT’S ENOUGH FOR NOW BUT I DO HAVE MORE AND MAYBE I’LL ACTUALLY WRITE IT SOME TIME SOON

[summarychannel]

Cairo International Airport was hacked in support of Hamas and an American warning about Egypt’s reaction

Updates on the Al-Aqsa Flood operation presented in this episode of Samri Channel. The beginning was with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who responded to statements attributed to Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich regarding the displacement of Palestinians outside Gaza, and said that they were “irresponsible, violate international law, and are completely rejected.” Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, said in a statement, published on the ministry’s official Facebook page, that the Egyptian Foreign Minister’s comments came during statements by diplomatic editors, in response to the Israeli Minister of Finance’s statement about “considering the voluntary displacement of the population of Gaza as the most appropriate humanitarian solution.” .

The spokesman added, "Sameh Shukri said that it has been observed over the past period, a fluctuation of irresponsible statements attributed to Israeli government officials, which in their entirety violate the rules and provisions of international law and international humanitarian law." The Egyptian Foreign Minister stressed that “the statement of the Israeli Minister of Finance is an expression of the Israeli government’s policy that violates international laws, and that any attempt to justify and encourage the displacement of Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip is completely rejected by Egypt and internationally,” according to the statement.

 The ministry spokesman added that the Foreign Minister "deplored talking about the displacement process as if it were occurring voluntarily." Shukri believed that “the displacement of citizens in Gaza is the result of deliberate military targeting of civilians in the Strip, and intentional siege and starvation operations, aimed at creating conditions that lead citizens to leave their homes and areas of residence, in a full-fledged war crime, in accordance with the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949,” according to a statement. Ministry. Shukry affirmed “Egypt’s position categorically rejecting policies of forced displacement of Palestinians, or deliberately withholding humanitarian aid and necessary services, which creates unbearable conditions for civilians, or allowing the liquidation of the Palestinian cause.”

Shukri said, "Anyone who claims to care about the humanitarian situation in Gaza must work to stop the military operations that led to the killing of civilians, including children and women."

On the other hand, the Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Air Forces, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said that there is a possibility of the war expanding in the region, and that Tehran is prepared “for all possibilities.” On the other hand, former Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said that the entry of Iran and Hezbollah into the Middle East conflict is “the ultimate hope of Israel.”

 Hajizadeh said in reference to the continuation of conflicts in the region: “Today the war has extended and Lebanon is involved in it. It is possible that the conflicts will expand further.” The statements of the Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Air Forces come at a time when clashes are intensifying between the Israeli army and Hezbollah near the Lebanese border. Six people were injured following the missile attack launched by Hezbollah on northern Israel yesterday, Sunday. It was reported that an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanese territory, hitting several civilian cars in the "Metula" area, near the Lebanese border.

 In contrast, the Israeli army responded to Hezbollah's movements with artillery fire and air strikes. Many Lebanese activists use the slogan “Lebanon first, not the Islamic Republic” on social media to stress the need for Beirut not to enter into regional conflicts. Activists believe that Hezbollah militias seek to meet the interests of Tehran, not the Lebanese people. Hajizadeh added that the Americans do not "threaten" Iran, but in their correspondence with Tehran they speak "in the language of wishes and requests."

Finally, Dr. Engineer Abdel Khaleq Mohamed, Head of the Information and Communications Technology Sector at Cairo Air Port Company, commented on the Cairo Airport website being hacked during the last hours, stressing that since the beginning of the day, the site has been subjected to a cyber attack, the purpose of which is to disrupt the Cairo Airport website. about job.

Abdel Khaleq Muhammad added that this attack is from outside Egypt, and its clues are being traced, noting that it has been reassured that all data is on the site and that none of the data contained on the site has been leaked. Engineer Abdel-Khaleq Mohamed confirmed that the site displays some services inside the airport, and not data on flights, their timing and appointments, stressing that Cairo International Airport has the highest degree of security for data on flights and products. The head of the Information and Communications Technology Sector at Cairo Air Port Company indicated that by the end of the day; All services will return, and the Cairo Airport website will be available for everyone to deal with.

#Egypt #Palestine #Gaza