#politics December 26

[manasastuff-blog]

December 26th, 2024 News Highlights! #news #trendingnews #shorts #latestnewstelugutoday #latestnews

The December 26th, 2024 news highlights are here, covering the top 10 stories that made headlines worldwide! From groundbreaking updates to shocking revelations, this video dives deep into the most trending events of the day. Stay informed as we unpack the major news in politics, technology, sports, and global affairs that shaped December 26th.

#viralnews #trendingnews #etvnews#viralnewstoday#trending#viral #EtvNews#NewsHeadlines#etvteluguindia #etvnews #telangananews #newsheadlines #etvteluguindia#tv9teluguindia #latest #latestnewstoday

[alpha-mag-media]

Horoscope today, December 26, 2023: Daily star sign guide from Mystic Meg | 4DRUSJM | 2024-01-05 09:08:01 | January 05, 2024 at 10:08AM

Horoscope today, December 26, 2023: Daily star sign guide from Mystic Meg | 4DRUSJM | 2024-01-05 09:08:01 Read More … Check full articles at Source: ALPHA MAG

[vicholas]

July 26, 2024

(...)With the Paris Games starting on July 26, Israel's killing of athletes and players in Gaza, along with its destruction of the enclave's sports facilities, has triggered mounting demands to disqualify Israel from the tournament as activists and spectators question the legitimacy of its participation.

Palestinian writers and sports commentators contend that Israel's Gaza onslaught, which has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians, also represents an attempt to eliminate sports and athletic achievement.

"It's a genocide ... ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, and the attacks on athletes and sports in particular in the Gaza Strip are all very systematic attacks to obliterate and erase sports in the territory," Abubaker Abed, a Gaza-based sports journalist told Anadolu.

Israel's intentions go further than eliminating Gaza's current athletic capacity, according to writer and lecturer Abdaljawad Omar, who held that it was part of a concerted effort by Tel Aviv to undermine Palestinians' achievements in all areas, with sports being no exception.

"Israel systemically seeks to ensure that Palestinian accomplishments and potential in all realms remain dampened and always dwarfed by its own achievements.

"This applies to political, intellectual, economic, and literary fields, where historically, many talented and highly accomplished Palestinians have been targeted. Sports is no exception in this sense," he explained.  

The situation is "extremely worse" for athletes in Gaza, according to football journalist Abed, adding that many players have been killed in the territory.

According to the Palestinian Olympic Committee and Palestine Football Association, about 400 athletes have been killed since Oct. 7, with the football association noting that the war has claimed 245 players in that sport alone, including 69 children and 176 young men.

Some 33 scouts and 70 members of sports unions have also been killed.

According to the association, Israeli forces have also detained players, including 12 in the occupied West Bank.

Israel's attacks have killed several Olympians as well. Sixty-nine have been killed during Israel's ongoing assault, says the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, launched in 2004.  

Besides athletes, sports facilities also have not been spared. Dozens, including gyms, training halls, fields, and stadiums, have been damaged or destroyed since Oct. 7.

A total of 42 facilities have been leveled in Gaza, while seven were destroyed in the West Bank, says the Palestinian Football Association.

Abed pointed out how Israel has destroyed football schools, including the Al-Wahda Academy and the Champions Academy, which "was one of the most promising football projects" in Gaza.

He pointed out how Israel has eradicated talent in football, the most popular sport among Gaza's residents, leaving only one stadium, the Al-Dorra stadium, intact out of the enclave's 10.

Israeli forces have been seizing stadiums in Gaza and turning them into detention centers.

Human rights monitor Euro-Med highlights that the Israeli army turned the Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City into a detention center "to hold and humiliate hundreds of Palestinians, including children, shown naked and stripped of their clothes in footage published by the Israeli media in December 2023."

A report by the group published in May indicates that facilities bulldozed and destroyed include "300 five-a-side courts, 22 swimming courts, 12 covered sports halls for basketball, volleyball, and handball, and six tennis stadiums.

"Twenty-eight sports and fitness centers have been targeted, damaged, and destroyed."  

Israel's offensive has also caused the death of prominent players in Gaza.

This includes Palestine's first-ever Olympian and flagbearer, Majed Abu Maraheel, who died due to kidney failure in a refugee camp in June.

The 61-year-old Olympic distance runner died as Israel's ongoing blockade of humanitarian assistance left many, including Maraheel, lacking medical treatment and facilities.

Maraheel had competed in the men's 10,000-meter race at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

In January, the Palestinian Olympic football team's coach Hani Al-Mossader was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

The same month, Nagham Abu Samra, a karate champion who was set to participate in the Paris Olympics, died in a hospital in Egypt after succumbing to her injuries.

She had been severely wounded by an Israeli attack that left her with head injuries and led to the amputation of one of her legs.

(...)With hours left until the Paris 2024 Games' opening ceremony, experts are still questioning the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision to keep Israel in the tournament.

"Athletes, whether footballers ... whatever the sport is, they don't belong to political factions ... they are targeted and are illegitimate targets for Israeli forces, and this is absolutely prohibited by all international laws and all FIFA regulations," says Abed.

He argued that Israel's actions show that it lacks the Olympic values of peace, tolerance, forgiveness, love, and sportsmanship.

"So, how could Israel even participate in the Olympics?" he asked.

Russia, meanwhile, has been banned from Olympic and FIFA tournaments after it launched its war on Ukraine in 2022, noted Abed, who maintained that Moscow's actions in that conflict were mild compared to the devastation Israel has caused in Gaza.

This "disgraceful stance," he asserts, revealed the hypocrisy of the IOC, as well as the world governing body for football.

The organizers of this year's Olympics have said their decision to keep Israel in the Games while upholding the ban on Russia and Belarus is due to Moscow's annexation of Ukrainian territory, while Tel Aviv has not formally seized territory in Gaza.

Fadi Quran, senior director at US-based rights group Avaaz, said the Olympics and the IOC's current leadership will be remembered for "turning a blind eye to a country committing what the ICJ ruled is a plausible genocide, and said is apartheid."

He was referring to a preliminary ruling by the International Court of Justice that recognized genocide as a plausible risk in Gaza. Israel stands accused of genocide at the top UN court, which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

Quran expects that athletes will protest Israel's presence at the Olympics and fans will boycott events where the Israeli flag is raised.

"Now that the IOC has refused to ban Israel, activists across the world will take action to ensure that the Paris Olympics are branded as the 'Apartheid Olympics,' or 'War Crime Olympics'," he said.

According to Abed, it will take a decade to revive sports in the Gaza Strip.

"The war on Gaza has changed everything. The war on Gaza has killed the dreams of many."

[animusrox]

TOP 10

Past Lives

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

How to Blow Up a Pipeline

Poor Things

Oppenheimer

Barbie

BlackBerry

The Holdovers

The Iron Claw

Killers of the Flower Moon

MY LETTERBOXD Grade A 11.    The Killer 12.    Beau Is Afraid 13.    Dream Scenario 14.    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 15.    Godzilla Minus One 16.    American Fiction 17.    They Cloned Tyrone 18.     Evil Dead Rise 19.    Eileen 20.    The Artifice Girl 21.   Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 22.    Talk to Me 23.    Reality 24.    Leave the World Behind 25.    A Thousand and One 26.    Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One 27.    Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. 28.    Theater Camp 29.   Carmen 30.    Merry Little Batman 31.    Priscilla 32.    Society of the Snow 33.    Infinity Pool 34.    Enys Men 35.    Sanctuary 36.    Rye Lane 37.    Skinamarink 38.    Monster 39.    Anatomy of a Fall 40.    Landscape with Invisible Hand 41.    Reptile 42.    Sisu 43.    Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game 44.    No One Will Save You 45.    Tetris 46.    May December 47.    The Zone of Interest 48.    V/H/S/85 49.    Dumb Money 50.    El Conde 51.    Arnold 52.    Maestro 53.    Napoleon 54.    20 Days in Mariupol 55.    Influencer 56.    The Creator 57.    Origin 58.    Thanksgiving 59.    Next Goal Wins 60.    The Boy and the Heron 61.    Bottoms 62.    Wonka

[Press Keep Reading For The Full Graded List]

Grade B

63.   God Is a Bullet 64.    No Hard Feelings 65.    Joy Ride 66.    Fair Play 67.     Cocaine Bear 68.    NYAD 69.    Asteroid City 70.    Nowhere 71.    The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster 72.    Divinity 73.    The Equalizer 3 74.    The Last Voyage of the Demeter 75.    Venus 76.    Butcher’s Crossing 77.    Somewhere in Queens 78.    The Persian Version 79.    Boston Strangler 80.    Polite Society 81.    Miguel Wants to Fight 82.    The Color Purple 83.    The Royal Hotel 84.    Saw X 85.    All of Us Strangers 86.    Fallen Leaves 87.    Ferrari 88.    Elemental 89.    Peter Pan & Wendy 90.    Renfield 91.    Cat Person 92.    Scream VI 93.    The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes 94.    BS High 95.    Blue Beetle 96.    Huesera: The Bone Woman 97.    When Evil Lurks 98.    Dark Harvest 99.    A Good Person 100.    Final Cut 101.    Knock at the Cabin 102.    Quiz Lady 103.    Leo 104.    Air 105.    The Super Mario Bros. Movie 106.    Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham 107.    John Wick: Chapter 4 108.    Beaten to Death 109.    The Wrath of Becky 110.    Passages 111.    Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 112.    Gran Turismo 113.    65 114.    Sick 115.    Sister Death 116.    The Blackening 117.    Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain 118.    Flamin’ Hot 119.    Nimona 120.    Cobweb 121.    Totally Killer 122.    What’s Love Got to Do with It? 123.     Sharper 124.    Unseen 125.    Dunki 126.    Bird Box Barcelona 127.    The Marvels 128.    Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Grade C

129.   Wildflower 130.    Freelance 131.    M3GAN 132.    Strays 133.    Sympathy for the Devil 134.    Creed III 135.    Chevalier 136.    The Marsh King’s Daughter 137.    A Haunting in Venice 138.    The Little Mermaid 139.    Silent Night 140.    Master Gardener 141.    The Flash 142.    Fast X 143.    The Pope’s Exorcist 144.    Saltburn 145.    Kandahar 146.    Stand 147.    Plane 148.   Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 149.    Fingernails 150.    Quicksand 151.    Fool’s Paradise 152.    Migration 153.    Rustin 154.    The Covenant 155.    Good Burger 2 156.    The Pod Generation 157.    Alice, Darling 158.    Insidious: The Red Door 159.    Missing 160.    Shotgun Wedding 161.    You Hurt My Feelings 162.    The Boogeyman 163.    Showing Up 164.    Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom 165.    Champions 166.    Consecration 167.    The Nun II 168.    Biosphere 169.    House Party 170.    The Exorcist: Believer 171.    Big George Foreman 172.    Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 173.    Children of the Corn 174.    The Beanie Bubble 175.    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Grade F

176.    Anyone But You 177.    Marlowe 178.    Paint 179.    Extraction 2 180.    It Lives Inside 181.    Deliver Us 182.    Trolls Band Together 183.    Finestkind 184.    Corner Office 185.    Wish 186.    Prisoner’s Daughter 187.    Pain Hustlers 188.    Foe 189.    The Mother 190.    Old Dads 191.    Ghosted 192.    Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken 193.    Haunted Mansion 194.    Mafia Mamma 195.    Five Nights at Freddy’s 196.    The Machine 197.    Justice League: Warworld 198.    We Have a Ghost 199.    What Comes Around 200.    Legion of Super-Heroes 201.    The Boys in the Boat 202.    Attachment 203.    Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre 204.    About My Father 205.    You People 206.    Meg 2: The Trench 207.    Pathaan 208.    Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire 209.    Assassin 210.    Dalíland 211.    Vacation Friends 2

Bottom 10

212.    Sound of Freedom 213.    Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 214.    When You Finish Saving The World 215.    Heart of Stone 216.    Family Switch 217.    Expend4bles 218.    Sweetwater 219.    Hypnotic 220.    80 for Brady 221.    Spinning Gold

[truth-has-a-liberal-bias]

But once the babies are here, the state provides little help.

When she got pregnant, Mayron Michelle Hollis was clinging to stability.

At 31, she was three years sober, after first getting introduced to drugs at 12. She had just had a baby three months earlier and was working to repair the damage that her addiction had caused her family.

The state of Tennessee had taken away three of her children, and she was fighting to keep her infant daughter, Zooey. Department of Children’s Services investigators had accused Mayron of endangering Zooey when she visited a vape store and left the baby in a car.

Her husband, Chris Hollis, was also in recovery.

The two worked in physically demanding jobs that paid just enough to cover rent, food and lawyers’ fees to fight the state for custody of Mayron’s children.

In the midst of the turmoil in July 2022, they learned Mayron was pregnant again. But this time, doctors warned she and her fetus might not survive.

The embryo had been implanted in scar tissue from her recent cesarean section. There was a high chance that the embryo could rupture, blowing open her uterus and killing her, or that she could bleed to death during delivery. The baby could come months early and face serious medical risks, or even die.

But the Supreme Court had just overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed the right to abortion across the United States. By the time Mayron decided to end her pregnancy, Tennessee’s abortion ban — one of the nation’s strictest — had gone into effect.

The total ban made no explicit exceptions — not even to save the life of a pregnant patient. Any doctor who violated the ban could be charged with a felony.

Women with means could leave the state. But those like Mayron, with limited resources or lives entangled with the child welfare and criminal justice systems, would be the most likely to face caring for a child they weren’t prepared for.

And so, the same state that questioned Mayron’s fitness to care for her four children forced her to continue a pregnancy that risked her life to have a fifth, one that would require more intensive care than any of the others.

Tennessee already had some of the worst outcomes in the nation when measuring maternal health, infant mortality and child poverty. Lawmakers who paved the way for a new generation of post-Roe births did little to bolster the state’s meager safety net to support these babies and their families.

In December 2022, when Mayron was 26 weeks and two days pregnant, she was rushed to the hospital after she began bleeding so heavily that her husband slipped in her blood. An emergency surgery saved her life. Her daughter, Elayna, was born three months early.

Afterward, photographer Stacy Kranitz and reporter Kavitha Surana followed Mayron and her family for a year to chronicle what life truly looked like in a state whose political leaders say they are pro-life. [...]

[metamorphesque]

On March 1, 1984, a short article titled "Imprisoned Armenian Dies" appeared in the New York Times: “Gourgen Migirdic Yanikian, an Armenian author and engineer who killed two Turkish consular officials in California in 1973, died Monday in prison of natural causes. He was 88 years old. He was sentenced to life in prison in July 1973 for first-degree murder."

But who was this man? And why did he commit this "crime"?

Gourgen Yanikyan was born on December 24, 1895, in the city of Karin, Western Armenia, into a traditional Armenian family. Gourgen was six months old when the hamidian massacres began, claiming the lives of approximately 300,000 Armenians. His father had good relations with the Persian consul in Karin, and with the consul's help, the Yanikyan family found refuge in the Persian consulate, escaping the massacres. After two weeks of safety, they were transferred by a mountain road to the village of Kyotah near Kars on the consul’s orders. Suddenly, it was discovered that Gourgen was missing. He had fallen on the road from his mother’s arms that were numbed from the cold. Despite the danger, his mother and brother Hakob went back and, after walking about six kilometers, found Gourgen nearly lifeless. They revived him with the warmth of their bodies.

Six years later, the mother returned to Erzurum with Gourgen and Hakob, intending to take back the money and documents hidden in their barn back. While digging, two turks arrived, captured Hakob, beheaded him, and took the iron chest. The mother and Gourgen witnessed everything from their hiding place. A terrified Gourgen tried to scream, but his mother held his mouth shut. Gourgen never forgot this tragedy throughout his life. For political reasons, he became a Persian citizen and later moved to Switzerland with his family, where he continued his education, which he later pursued in Tbilisi and Moscow.

Like many Armenians of his time, he experienced the devastating effects of the massacres committed by the turks against Armenians. He lost 26 family members to the Armenian Genocide of 1915, as well as his homeland—Western Armenia.

Although Gourgen was far from his homeland, the injustice of the genocide never left him. He had exhausted all peaceful means to inform the world about the genocide and hold turkey accountable for the atrocities they committed.

He chose cinema as the means to achieve his goal: “Our plan was very simple. With our personal funds, we secretly planned to make a film showing the world the sufferings of our people and the barbaric turkish massacres, not forgetting the Armenian genocide and the conspiracy of so-called civilized nations against our rights."

Yanikian's factual book "Paradise" (originally in English), which his wife Shushanik had titled, became the basis for a screenplay. Several foreigners joined the film project, and they shot 20 hours of material depicting turkish atrocities with striking authenticity.

"The film was to be shown simultaneously in the capitals of three different countries, free of charge. Flyers explaining the purpose and our demands were to be distributed with the tickets… The goal was to return the land stolen from the Armenian people to its rightful owners and provide compensation for our two million victims. Many individuals were to join the cause once the film was ready."

Despite the strong dedication to completing "Paradise," the endeavor was unsuccessful because U.S.-Turkey alliances and strategic interests were prioritized, and the US government hindered the production of the film.

Yanikyan, by then old but not despairing, had spent decades using every peaceful means to punish the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide and avenge his compatriots, but he ultimately felt compelled to choose an alternative.

"In all my writings, I always defended the belief that violence should disappear from our lives. But when all of this happened and humanity and the world remained silent about the Armenian Question, I made the decision to take action in order to bring the Armenian cause to the attention of humanity and world governments."

On January 27, 1973, at the age of 78, Gourgen Yanikyan, without hesitation, fired 13 bullets at the turkish consul and vice-consul in Santa Barbara in his room at the "Baltimore" hotel. Following a highly publicized trial, Yanikyan was sentenced to life imprisonment, and in 1984, with a clear conscience, he passed away into eternity.

But his sacrifice was not in vain: the Armenian Question was finally brought back from the dusty archives of history. By sacrificing his freedom, Yanikyan ignited a movement. His act became the catalyst for a wave of Armenian activism, inspiring the creation of ASALA, who would go on to fight for the recognition of the genocide.

Everyone condemns violence but, alas, it is the only language the world understands.

[sgiandubh]

Wonder if Sam will take his new legal American bride to Italy? He will be married, although unlike Caitriona's it will be a fake marriage, by 31 Dec. He needs the residency.

Dear Married Anon,

Three possibilities on this one: a) you watched 90 Days Fiancé for way too long and with no attention to details; b) you think I am an idiot, with no legal knowledge or experience; c) you are an idiot, with no legal knowledge or experience.

Your question comes with two strong biases, too: a) that you somehow are privy to such nonsense and b) the old & stale fake vs. organic marriage refrain, regarding C (that, by the way, proves that I did hit a nerve).

I am not very sure to whom exactly do you think you are talking, here. But if I do know one thing is that you, honey, are a Mighty Twat. If you wanted to be consistent with the crap the Gay Crowd spreads around, you could have gone for 'he needs a more solid/credible beard than that', instead of the completely inane 'he needs the residency'. What is he, Burmese? Oh, FFS. And by 'Burmese', I mean exactly this: are his life/personal safety in clear and present danger, in his home country, because of his ethnicity and/or political views? The answer is no, and he could still use his right of asylum. Does he need the US residency in order to secure a better paid job for himself? The answer is no: lots of other avenues can be explored and are routinely being used by thousands of foreign actors/performing artists, in order to legally work and reside in the US. I have even mentioned it before:

(Full October 2023 post, here: https://www.tumblr.com/sgiandubh/729979831079649280/mordor-says-he-returned-only-for-visa-reasons)

But let's suppose even a nanoshred of what you wrote could technically be correct. When you are an US citizen and you want to bring your significant other to live with you there, you basically are offered two options:

Scenario One: you want to bring your fiancé(e) to the US and get married there. You will need the K-1 visa, as anyone even remotely familiar with that reality show I mentioned knows. That doesn't exactly click with a hastily cobbled 'new American bride' he would marry until December 31 and this is why, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) own website:

[Source, LOL: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/A2en.pdf]

'You have met each other in person within 2 years before you file this petition'. Who is it, then? The whore? She is French. The chatty influencer? She's 'so over him' (FFS, LOL). Alice 'he's mine and will never be yours'' Panikian? If you think so, you are aff yer heid on cheap gin. Hm? Ashley Hearn? Met her too late and you all know it. A secret lover? ROFLMAO. And psst: Raya girls are just for fun, they don't think homestead. Cross my heart, Anon.

Current and official USCIS average processing time for fiancé petitions at their (logically) California Service Center is:

But it could be as long as 26 months and a half, if he decides to settle for a Vermont beauty (LOOOOOOOL).

You should also know a couple of other things, Anon. First thing is he will not be able to enter the US under the type of visa he currently more than probably holds, in order to do so - that would be a heavily punished immigration fraud:

Mhm. Restrictions on his ability to future immigration benefits/permanent residence, fine and imprisonment. I hope I do not need to further develop, on this one.

Last thing you should have taken into consideration before writing this bullshit is that the fiancé visa would restrict his ability to go back to his own home country during all the waiting time. Why would an actor refuse work opportunities in the UK or in Europe for the sake of a fake marriage, as you called it yourself? Oh, if you only had a brain!

Need I say more about the grueling in-person cross-check interviews ? You should watch a wonderful movie starring Gerard Depardieu (a pig alright, but he is perfect, in there) and Andie MacDowell: it's even called Green Card, LOL. Few things changed since 1990, and if anything, the screw got only tighter. Not to mention the fact he will be unable to work in the US during the waiting process and she will have to prove she can sponsor/provide for him! ROFLMAO.

Scenario Two: you get married abroad and want to bring your spouse to the US, afterwards. You will need to file the Form I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative):

[Source: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/A1en.pdf]

All this does, in reality, is put the spouse in line with thousands of other similar applicants. Residency will be granted only after extensive background checks and this is where I would like to stop for a while, Anon. You are with the Gay Crowd, right? Then how does this logically click with your long established talking point about his 'once very public gay life? Ah: he isn't gay? ROFLMAO. You see, being gay is a bit like being pregnant, Anon: you can't be 'just a little bit pregnant' and you certainly can't be 'just a little bit gay', either. Spare me the drivel 🙄. Kindly note those background checks are dead serious and could result in deportation - thought you should know, before you spew idiocies again.

Onwards with that residency thing:

If S were in Scotland/the UK when the 'legal fake bride' would file in the petition, he would not be allowed to come visit or work in the US: why would an actor be forced to turn down lucrative opportunities in Hollywood or elsewhere in the country, for the sake of bearding or circus only? And while S could technically apply for permanent resident status if he already were in the US at the time of the application for I-130, he would still not be able to work and therefore must be sponsored by the 'legal bride'. ROFLMAO, again.

I mean, this is so ridiculous I could cry. He would be invited to come to the US only after the petition is approved, which does not click with your suggested timeline and the seeming 'emergency situation' ('he NEEDS the residency', your ask shouts at the Entire Universe) . Why the haste? Just because you wanted to somehow shoehorn it in, somewhere before Inauguration Day? I have no words, but my paunch hurts with laughing right now.

Finally let's have a look at processing current times:

But it could go as long as...

I cannot stress enough that permanent residency will be granted only after the processing time is completed.

Why, oh, why would someone so inextricably complicate his entire existence in such an idiotic fashion, Anon? And finally, give me and yourself a break and read the damn political room, here, too. I will not elaborate, but I surely hope you do not live under a rock.

I rest my case, thank you, fuck off.

[houseofpurplestars]

Free Khalida Jarrar! The feminist, leftist, and Palestinian scholar was seized from her home in El-Bireh, occupied Palestine, in the morning hours of 26 December 2023 as part of mass arrests by Zionist forces in the West Bank of occupied Palestine during the genocide in Gaza.

Jarrar is a historical leftist leader with the PFLP and is currently a scholar and researcher at the Muwatin Institute at Birzeit University. In fact, she was scheduled to appear on 27 December at a panel convened by Jadaliyya on imprisonment in the time of genocide.

She is a lifelong advocate for the liberation of political prisoners and was targeted specifically for her statements and advocacy for the liberation of Palestinian prisoners.Jarrar has been imprisoned on multiple occasions by the occupation regime, including in 2015, when her administrative detention without charge or trial drew global protests before she was then transferred to the occupation military courts.

In 2019, she was once again seized by the occupation regime. While she was imprisoned, her daughter Suha tragically passed away. She was denied the right to see Suha's body and attend her funeral before she was released again in 2021.

During both of her times of imprisonment, she established independent educational programs to teach the imprisoned minor girls the high school education they were denied as well as the adult women prisoners their rights under international law.

She discusses her imprisonment in the book by RamzyBaroud and Ilan Pappe, "Our vision for liberation;" her piece is published at the PalestineChronicle:

Samidoun network

@ SamidounPP

[ishido-enjoyer]

So I know I haven't been so active in the Napoleonic community in recent months, as I've been pretty absorbed with studying Japanese history and the Japanese language, but the more I've learned about Hideyoshi, the more I found myself comparing him to Napoleon, so here's a post where my two main historical interests get to intersect. :)

Toyotomi Hideyoshi has often been referred to as Japan’s Napoleon Bonaparte. Perhaps a bit Eurocentric given that Hideyoshi was born in 1537, 232 years before Napoleon--if anything it could be said that Napoleon was France’s Hideyoshi, but unfortunately Hideyoshi is not a name most Westerners recognize—otherwise it’s an excellent comparison. I’ve read a great deal about Napoleon over the past several years, and, although my studies on Sengoku Japan are only really in their infancy, I couldn’t help but notice a striking number of parallels and similarities between the lives and military/political careers of Hideyoshi and Napoleon.

Both men came from relatively humble origins and experienced meteoric rises through the ranks via their military service. Napoleon’s family on Corsica were minor nobility—they were not wealthy by any means but at least possessed enough connections to get Napoleon into a military academy; once his training was completed, he was commissioned as an artillery officer. Hideyoshi was born a peasant; his father was an ashigaru (foot soldier) who served a samurai. Hideyoshi followed in his father’s footsteps and became an ashigaru himself, which at the age of 26 brought him into the service of Lord Oda Nobunaga, who was soon the most powerful daimyo in Japan. His talents and intelligence impressed Nobunaga, and Hideyoshi rose to become one of his top generals and retainers by his early thirties. When Nobunaga was betrayed and assassinated in 1582, Hideyoshi, then 35, moved quickly to step into the ensuing power vacuum; within three years he had defeated his main rivals, consolidated his power, and become the most powerful man in Japan himself. Napoleon Bonaparte became a general at age 24 and crowned himself Emperor of the French at age 35. Hideyoshi was never Emperor, nor, being from a peasant background, did he receive the title of shogun, but he was designated kampaku (Imperial Regent) by the Emperor at age 38 and was the real power in the land from this point until his death in 1598.

As a result of their respective meteoric rises and remarkable military successes, both men came to view themselves as destined for greatness. Napoleon frequently spoke of destiny and believed himself guided by it. “Is there a man so blind,” he wrote in December of 1798, “as not to see that destiny itself guides all my operations? Is there anyone so faithless as to doubt that everything in this vast universe is bound to the empire of destiny?” (Broers, Napoleon: Soldier of Fortune, 195) This belief, which pervaded through his life, also made him take great risks, convinced that he was destined to succeed in his endeavors. Hideyoshi came to genuinely believe his own rise was divinely inspired and even developed his own backstory, giving himself celestial origins, and making sure to mention them frequently in his letters to others as a means of convincing them of the rightness of his cause. “At the time my mother conceived me,” he wrote on one occasion, “she had an auspicious dream. That night, a ray of sun filled the room as if it were noontime. All were overcome with astonishment and fright and when the diviners had gathered, they interpreted the event saying: when he reaches the prime of life, his virtue will illuminate the four seas, his authority will emanate to the myriad peoples.” (Berry, Hideyoshi, 9). He even went so far as bringing up his supposedly heavenly origins in a letter to the King of Korea, in hopes of pushing his case to the King to permit his armies safe passage through Korea so he could carry out his planned conquest of Ming China.

Both were regarded as military geniuses by their contemporaries. Napoleon’s quick, dominant successes in Italy, and his crushing victories against Austria, Russia, and Prussia between 1805-1807, solidified his reputation as one of the greatest generals in European history, and arguably the best military commander of his time. Hideyoshi never suffered a defeat in the numerous campaigns he waged over the years to complete the work of unifying Japan that had begun under Nobunaga.

Likewise, both men’s reputations for military genius were severely tarnished by campaigns driven out of an increasingly megalomaniacal drive for conquest abroad. Hideyoshi, his confidence bolstered by his string of military successes, began setting his sights on China, and even hinted in his correspondence that one day, after China had submitted as his vassal, he might even attempt to conquer India. To begin his conquest of China, he first needed to bring his armies through Korea. He attempted to negotiate with the King of Korea to gain safe passage for his armies, but Korea had strong ties to the Ming Dynasty, the negotiations soon broke down, and Hideyoshi sent his armies to invade Korea in 1592. The Japanese initially smashed through the pitiful Korean defenses and made a rapid drive up the peninsula, but with Ming reinforcements soon arriving to turn the tide, and the Japanese navy being repeatedly pummeled by the brilliant Admiral Yi Sun-Sin, the Japanese advance was soon stalled. Eventually the Japanese forces retreated to the southern coastline, where they hunkered down in hastily-built fortifications while peace negotiations dragged out for years between Hideyoshi’s court and the Ming court. When these negotiations also eventually broke down, Hideyoshi launched a second invasion of Korea, less for the sake of conquering China this time than simply for punishing Korea as much as possible for thwarting his initial plans. Hideyoshi himself never actually personally led his armies in Korea—he never went to Korea at all—but relied instead on the reports of his generals and inspectors, whose reports often downplayed or whitewashed the truth of Japanese defeats out of fear. Additionally, some of his primary commanders (like Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa) openly hated each other and their quarrels and personal rivalries occasionally hampered military operations, not unlike the quarrels of Napoleon’s commanders in Russia. The second invasion was turning into a stalemate when Hideyoshi abruptly died in September of 1598 at the age of 61. The remnants of the Japanese army eventually returned to Japan, and a six-year period of nearly relentless horrors and atrocities in Korea had all been for nothing. Napoleon, of course, launched his infamous 1812 invasion of Russia, which, while of much shorter duration than Hideyoshi’s war(s) in Korea, led to a much more thorough destruction of his armies and arguably contributed to his fall from power in 1814. Not that the Korean conflicts left the Toyotomi forces unscathed, and it can also be argued that the extent to which the Western armies had bled themselves out in Korea helped contribute to the victory of Hideoyoshi’s rival, Tokugawa Ieyasu, against his Toyotomi-loyalist enemies at Sekigahara in 1600, as Ieyasu, based in Japan’s eastern Kanto region, had pointedly kept his own forces out of the war.

Both men enacted sweeping reforms in their respective societies which long outlasted either them or the dynasties they both failed to leave behind. Both initiated nationwide cadastral surveys and land registries to make tax collection more accurate and efficient. In 1595, six leading daimyo under Hideyoshi drafted, on his behalf, a code comprised of fourteen brief articles, all of which were centered around keeping the peace, carrying out justice, and governing the behavior of the various social classes in Japan. Napoleon issued his civil code (also not written by himself), now known as the Napoleonic Code, in 1804. While not as brief as the Toyotomi regime’s code, it was written in the vernacular to make it more accessible to the average person.

Both were patrons of the arts; in Hideyoshi’s case, of Noh theater (which he became so passionate about he eventually even performed in plays in front of his subordinates), tea ceremonies, and painting; Napoleon also patronized painters, established art museums and, while not up to becoming a performer in his own right like Hideyoshi, he did attend the opera regularly.  

Both Hideyoshi and Napoleon struggled to produce an heir. Hideyoshi’s only son, Tsurumatsu, died at the age of 2 in 1591. Hideyoshi named his nephew Hidetsugu his heir in the meantime, but hoped to have another son. Neither his wife nor his considerable number of concubines were able to give him a child, leading historians to speculate that Hideyoshi may have been sterile by this point, possible as the result of a sexually transmitted disease. In 1592 his concubine Yodo-dono, also known as Chacha, gave birth to a son, Hideyori, who would become Hideyoshi’s only heir (the unfortunate nephew, Hidetsugu, was soon charged with treason and forced to commit seppuku not long after Hideyori’s birth). Hideyoshi’s inability to create an heir with so many other women led to rumors spreading, even before he died, that Hideyori was not really his child. Napoleon also struggled to produce an heir for years after crowning himself Emperor, but, as he demonstrated no problem creating sons with his mistresses, the problem was attributed to his wife’s infertility. He divorced Josephine, married a much younger princess, and soon enough had an heir of his own.

When Hideyoshi died in 1598, his heir was only five years old; when Napoleon fell from power in 1815, his heir was four years old. Both Hideyoshi’s heir and Napoleon’s heir died at the age of 21.

[mariacallous]

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s opposition to providing additional funding for Ukraine demands to be taken seriously. While Europe is cumulatively the larger financier of Kyiv’s defense, Washington provides more military aid and is Ukraine’s largest bilateral supporter. If Trump withdraws U.S. financial support, Kyiv may be unable to afford the vast military expenditure—which will cost around $54 billion in 2025, or 26% of Ukraine’s GDP—required to defend itself against Russia’s onslaught.

But there is another way that Ukraine’s defense can be financed. In 2022, the G-7 and its allies froze roughly $300 billion of Russian sovereign assets, rendering them inaccessible to President Vladimir Putin. But while the United States and Canada have moved  to seize these assets and make them available to Ukraine, Europe has yet to confiscate the approximately $220 billion in its jurisdiction. To motivate Europe to stand on its own in the era of Trump, President Joe Biden should set the precedent for sovereign seizure and confiscate the estimated $4-5 billion of Russian assets in the United States’ jurisdiction.

Congress has already given the United States the authority to do so, as part of the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act (REPO) that became law in April. However, the Biden administration has refused to exercise that power until Europe passes similar legislation.

But Europe has demurred, citing negative impacts to the euro and concerns over the European Union’s international financial role. Saudi Arabia, for example, has threatened to sell its European debt holdings if Europe seizes the frozen assets. Yet, since G-7 members have pledged not to unfreeze Russia’s assets unless it ceases its occupation and pays reparations to Ukraine, it falls to the United States to prove that there is functionally little difference between an indefinite freezing and seizure.

The G-7 has already broken the taboo of harnessing Russia’s frozen assets. In October, it finalized its extraordinary revenue acceleration (ERA) loan efforts to provide Kyiv with at least $50 billion in returns earned from Russian assets; of that, the United States on December 11 provided $20 billion, with the remainder provided by the other G-7 partners. The European Commission is also providing $20 billion, but has announced it could provide up to $36 billion under the plan, demonstrating Europe’s willingness to continue funding Ukraine when supported by allies. Yet the ERA funds are insufficient for Ukraine’s sustained defense. With Europe overseeing the bulk of frozen Russian assets, including the $180 billion stored in Belgium’s Euroclear, it will remain the war’s lead financier.

The Biden administration’s timid military assistance throughout the war will leave a mixed legacy on Ukraine, but in its final weeks it has signaled a willingness to respond in kind to Russia’s escalation. On Nov. 21, it levied the most significant unilateral sanction since 2022 by blacklisting Russia’s Gazprombank, a step that makes any future European gas purchases unlikely. But with the World Bank’s most recent estimates putting Ukrainian reconstruction and recovery costs at $486 billion over the next decade, more financial assistance is necessary, and seizing the frozen Russian assets under U.S. jurisdiction is a final action that Biden can and must take to help Ukraine.

Washington has refrained from acting unilaterally thus far, preferring to wait until “the political will is there” among European policymakers to seize the far larger pile of funds frozen on their continent. The Biden administration held off not because its share of Russian assets is less than Europe’s, nor for fear of Putin’s retaliation, but because it knows sanctions are most effective when levied multilaterally. Together, in 2022, the G-7 had coordinated the freeze of Russia’s assets and later negotiated the ERA loan efforts.

But any skittishness the Biden administration may have over acting unilaterally should now be cast aside. With a dissolved coalition in Germany preventing any substantial outlays until its February 2025 election and an obstinate Hungary blocking progress on an updated European sanctions regime, significant multilateral action is unlikely during Biden’s remaining time in office.

That is not to say the United States must act alone. Canada, which prepared the authority for sovereign asset seizure as early as October 2023 but has yet to pass legislation, could swiftly follow suit. In the United Kingdom, Foreign Secretary David Lammy has called for the same authority, as did his predecessor, David Cameron. But neither ally will act unless they are following Washington’s lead. By setting a precedent for exercising asset-seizure authority, and demonstrating Putin’s limited ability to respond, the United States and its allies can help smooth the legislative path to asset seizure in Europe, opening the possibility for the European Parliament to finance Ukrainian resistance if the next U.S. presidential administration does pull back its support.

There will be costs. Putin has warned against “stealing” Russia’s assets, and it may retaliate by seizing U.S. corporate assets. Russia claims to have held as much as $288 billion in Western assets in its National Settlement Depository, citing 2022 figures it has not updated. However, roughly half of these assets resided in offshore havens, such as Cypriot and the Netherlands, favored by Russian corporations and individuals—suggesting the true amount of endangered assets is considerably lower. Of course, the Kremlin has already seized billions in Western assets, an effort that—regardless of the fate of its own sovereign assets— shows no sign of slowing down.

On the other hand, concerns that sanctions against Russia would diminish the U.S. dollar’s role as the global reserve currency have proven unfounded, with more than two years of data showing no significant consequence for the dollar’s share of foreign exchange reserves. Trump, with a penchant for unilateral sanctions, has threatened tariffs against countries that seek to shun the dollar-based system. Ironically, this would position him to defend against any blowback from the Biden administration’s asset seizure.

Nevertheless, the costs to Putin must be greater, and Russia’s war economy is showing signs of weakness. Defense spending will consume more than 41 percent of Russia’s state budget in 2025, equivalent to around $169 billion. Payments to wounded Russians and the families of those killed in action will cost Russia another $29 billion. Now is the time to signal that short-term palliatives are insufficient for a long-term war effort.

The caution that the Biden administration and Ukraine’s Western allies have demonstrated thus far over seizing Russian assets is now outweighed by practicalities. Euroclear, once reluctant to meddle with the assets under its stewardship, now encourages seizure to help fund its defense against Russian lawsuits and compensate it for losses if the Kremlin retaliates by confiscating Euroclear’s funds in Russia.

More importantly, North Korea has deployed more than 10,000 troops to fight alongside Russian forces in exchange for oil and modern missiles—a “massive escalation” that threatens to dramatically increase the conflict’s threats, including to Asia. Russia has also hired mercenaries from other third parties and renewed the specter of nuclear war over Ukraine after the unprecedented use of an intercontinental ballistic missile in conflict.

These latest provocations demonstrate that Putin prefers escalation over negotiation as long as he remains confident that financial fatigue will set in among the G-7. The hope that had stayed the U.K.’s hand was that the frozen assets might serve as a bargaining chip in any negotiations. This is no longer realistic. And the best argument against asset seizure—that it was economically unnecessary—expired with the twin forces of a new U.S. administration uninterested in supporting Ukraine’s defense and Europe’s increasing inability to fund that defense on its own.

A proportional countermeasure to recent military aggression is appropriate, and further funding is what is needed. Seizing Russian assets and putting them in Ukraine’s hands is the way for the Biden administration to shore up Kyiv’s ability to defend itself and push Europe to act on its own in an era when further U.S. support cannot be relied on.

[voguefashion]

The Kennedys' on LIFE magazine (Part 1/3)

"Senator Goes A-Courting" (John F. Kennedy & Jacqueline Bouvier), July 20, 1953.

"Author Kennedy" (John F. Kennedy), March 11, 1957.

"Jacqueline, Caroline and Jack Kennedy", April 21, 1958.

"Jackie Kennedy A Front Runner's Appealing Wife" (Jackie & John F. Kennedy), August 24, 1959.

"Hubert And Jack In Wisconsin" (John F. Kennedy), March 28, 1960.

"The Victorious Young Kennedys" (Rose Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, John F. Kennedy and Jean Kennedy Smith), November 21, 1960.

"The Kennedys And Their Son At Christening" (John F. Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy & John F. Kennedy Jr,), December 19, 1960.

"The Kennedy Inauguration" (John F. Kennedy & Jackie Kennedy), January 27, 1961.

"The Kennedys In Canada" (Jackie Kennedy), May 26, 1961.

"Kennedy In Paris" (John F. Kennedy), June 9, 1961.

"Any dangerous spot is tenable if brave men will make it so" (John F. Kennedy), August 4, 1961.

"The First Lady She Tells Her Plans For The White House" (Jackie Kennedy), September 1, 1961.

"Year-old JFK Jr. Plays with Gifts from Charles de Gaulle" (John F. Kennedy Jr.), November 24, 1961.

"Hard-headed, Hard-driving, Kid brother Capital's No.2 man, Bob Kennedy closes in" (Robert F. Kennedy), January 26, 1962.

"The Senate Seat Scramble In Massachusetts; Head on Collison of Three Political Clans: Eddie McCormack, Teddy Kennedy & George Lodge" (Edward M. Kennedy), June 29, 1962.

"Kennedy In Mexico City" (John F. Kennedy), July 13, 1962.

"The Fun Of Being Caroline" (Caroline Kennedy), September 7, 1962.

"Charming Album Of Jackie Growing Up" (Jackie Kennedy), April 26, 1963.

"Hospital Vigil Over Kennedy Baby: Lighted Window A Compassionate Nation Watched", August 16, 1963.

"President John F. Kennedy 1917-1963" (John F. Kennedy), November 29, 1963.

[alpha-mag-media]

Horoscope today, December 26, 2023: Daily star sign guide from Mystic Meg | QMHB84X | 2023-12-28 09:08:01 | December 28, 2023 at 10:08AM

Horoscope today, December 26, 2023: Daily star sign guide from Mystic Meg | QMHB84X | 2023-12-28 09:08:01 Read More … Check full articles at Source: ALPHA MAG

[thislovintime]

On the set of “Monkees Mind Their Manor,” the season two episode directed by Peter (filmed December 5-7, 1967, and originally aired on February 26, 1968).

“Peter used the classic one-camera technique [for ‘Monkees Mind Their Manor‘], whereas Micky used two cameras shooting simultaneously [for ‘Mijacogeo’]. ‘I found that The Monkees — both the series and the actors — were very tough to direct,’ Tork said. ‘I was fortunate because I had the help of some very inventive supporting players.’ […] Both boys edited their episodes themselves.” - Calgary Herald, March 1, 1968 “The four speak to each other as acquaintances and one gets the impression of a working-hours-or-sessions relationship only. They appear to be a little too polite to each other, too aware of each other for comfort. Peter defers to Micky’s talent as a director. ‘You know, like we were doing one TV show with Micky directing,’ Peter imitates Micky’s muggings. ‘He takes the script, flips it open and says, “Let’s see here now… we shoot starting with page seven… here boys,” he calls over the camera crew and in bright sunlight shoots in four hours with no rehearsal what it normally takes 12 hours to shoot.’ Micky grins, bows politely with a ‘Thank you, kind sir.’” - article by Peggy King, Oakland Tribune, December 7, 1968 “Super-director Tork is so good that the boys actually get through early and spend the last 30 minutes or so chit-chatting with you. When you ask Peter how he feels after having directed the Monkees segment, he thinks for a minute and then says, ‘Micky was much more radical than I. I used one camera — making master shots and close-ups. Micky did the opposite. I don’t know whether the Monkees are hard to direct or whether I am just not experienced enough, but it wasn’t easy. Even so, I’m hooked, man. I am really going to try it again. You know what? Now I would like to direct a musical spectacular!’ Mike and Davy, who have been eavesdropping, suddenly crack up. ‘Hey, man — we think you were great!’ they exclaim. And all at once you realize that they are not joking; that they had a ball working with Peter and really mean what they said.” - article by Gloria Stavers, 16 Magazine, May 1968 “I must say that as I look back on it, the show is very, very mild, very quiet, very low-key. If I had it to do over again, I might have tried to direct it a little more slam-bang, you know, that’s sort of Micky’s style. I think Micky’s job, Micky’s ‘Frodis Caper,’ I thought that was a brilliant job, and, and I think I did well, I don’t think I did as well as Micky by a long shot, but I thought that I did do some funny bits, and captured some moments that — I loved throwing Jack Williams, our prop man, into the show. And I loved doing, you know, break-the-frame reality kinds of things, the couple of running jokes which I thought were really fine. And I enjoyed myself directing very much. And I’m glad to say, what with a little competent help, we were able to help me cover my own weak spots, we were able to do, I thought, a real creditable job.” - Peter Tork, Headquarters Radio, 1989

[bleue-flora]

So um, in light of my last post I was inspired to look into other dsmp people's ages because I feel like we don’t really think about it too often and oh does it make things interesting…

Just for reference and consideration, here are some United States Legal Age Minimums:

Drive: 16-18

Adult: 18-21

Vote: 18

Drink Alcohol: 21

Political Office: 25 (Representative) 30 (Senator) 35 (President)

Military: 17-18

Also Note: On average the brain is scientifically not fully developed until age 25 - and oh wouldn't you know it 90% of the server fall under that, meaning no wonder we have a bunch of wars their prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed and wouldn't you know it that part of the brain is responsible for regulating attention, behavior, and emotion as well as the processing that Actions Have Consequences... huh whelp that makes sense.

Anyways… age data is below (I didn't do everyone nor every event - nobody got time for that ;D... I didn't have time for this to begin with lol...) But I specifically want to highlight that not only was Dream 21 from Jan-Aug of his Imprisonment, but Sam was also 21 till Jun, and Quackity was literally 20 while he was daily torturing Dream... 20?! They were roughly a year apart, all of them so close. Like can you imagine, treating your peer like that? Sam is like a couple months older than Dream and that's it. Quackity can't even drink legally in the United States. That's insane...

(* to signify canonical Immortality)

Ok, so the full list of members and ages is at the bottom, but first, here are so key events I picked just to highlight their ages at the time.

Server Creation - April 24, 2020

GeorgeNotFound - 23 Callahan - 23 Dream - 20 Sapnap - 19

L'Manberg War - August 2, 2020

BadBoyHalo - 25 WilburSoot - 23 GeorgeNotFound - 23 Callahan - 23 Punz - 23 Eret - 21 Awesamdude - 21 Dream - 20 Fundy - 20 Skeppy - 20 Ponk - 20 Quackity - 19 Sapnap - 19 Niki Nihachu - 19 Jack Manifold - 17 Purpled - 16 Tubbo - 16 Tommy - 16

Pogtopia vs Manberg War - November 16th, 2020

Philza - 32* BadBoyHalo - 25 HBomb - 26 WilburSoot - 24 GeorgeNotFound - 24 Callahan - 23 Punz - 23 Karl Jacobs -22 Antfrost - 22 CaptainPuffy - 22 Eret - 21 Technoblade - 21* Awesamdude - 21 Dream - 21 Connor - 21 Schlatt - 21 Fundy - 21 Skeppy - 20 Ponk - 20 Quackity - 19 Sapnap - 19 Niki Nihachu - 19 Jack Manifold - 18 Purpled - 17 Ranboo - 17 Tubbo - 16 Tommy - 16

Exile - December 4, 2020

Ghostbur - 24 Technoblade - 21* Dream - 21 Ranboo - 17 Tubbo - 16 Tommy - 16

Doomsday - January 6, 2021

Philza - 32* HBomb - 27 Callahan - 23 Punz - 23 CaptainPuffy - 22 Eret - 21 Technoblade - 21* Dream - 21 Fundy - 21 Ponk - 20 Quackity - 20 Sapnap - 19 Niki Nihachu - 19 Jack Manifold - 18 Ranboo - 17 Tubbo - 17 Tommy - 16

Disc Confrontation - January 20, 2021

HBomb - 27 BadBoyHalo - 25 Callahan - 24 Punz - 23 Antfrost - 22 CaptainPuffy - 22 Eret - 22 Awesamdude - 21 Dream - 21 Ponk - 20 Quackity - 20 Sapnap - 19 Niki Nihachu - 19 Jack Manifold - 18 Ranboo - 17 Tubbo - 17 Tommy - 16

Quackity’s First Prison Visit - March 16, 2021

Awesamdude - 21 Dream - 21 Quackity - 20

Techno's Visit- June 6, 2021

Technoblade - 22* Awesamdude - 21 Dream - 21

Jailbreak - November 28, 2021

Philza - 33* HBomb - 27 BadBoyHalo - 26 George - 25 Callahan - 24 Punz - 24 Karl Jacobs - 23 Antfrost - 23 CaptainPuffy - 23 Foolish Gamers - 22 Eret - 22 Technoblade - 22* Awesamdude - 22 Dream - 22 Connor - 22 Fundy - 22 Skeppy - 21 Hannahxxrose - 21 Ponk - 21 Quackity - 20 Sapnap - 20 Niki Nihachu - 20 Jack Manifold - 19 Purpled - 18 Ranboo - 18 Tubbo - 17 Tommy - 17

Comprehensive List From Oldest to Youngest: Name - Date of Birth (Current Age) - [Join Date] Age when Joined

Philza- March 1, 1988 (36) – [Nov 16, 2020]  32 *Immortal*

HBomb- Jan 4, 1994 (30) – [Sept 22, 2020]  26

BadBoyHalo- April 2, 1995 (28) – [May 19, 2020]  25

Wilbur- Sept 14, 1996 (27) – [July 12, 2020] 23

GeorgeNotFound- Nov 1, 1996 (27) – [April 24, 2020]  23

Callahan- Jan 19, 1997 (27) – [April 24, 2020]  23 

Punz- Jan 31, 1997 (27) – [July 7, 2020]  23  

Karl Jacobs- July 19, 1998 (25) – [Aug 26, 2020]  22 

Antfrost- Aug 27, 1998 (25) – [Sep 5, 2020]  22 

Captain Puffy- Sept 18, 1998 (25) – [Nov 16, 2020]  22

Foolish Gamers- Dec 18, 1998 (25) – [Jan 16, 2021]  22 *Immortal*

Eret- Jan 9, 1999 (25) – [July 19, 2020]  21

Technoblade- June 1, 1999 (23) – [Sept 22, 2020]  21 *Immortal*

Awesamdude - June 8, 1999 (24) – [April 28, 2020]  20 

Dream - Aug 12, 1999 (24) – [April 24, 2020]  20

Connor- Aug 26, 1999 (24) – [Nov 16, 2020]  21

Schlatt- Sept 10, 1999 (24) – [Sept 20, 2020]  21 

Fundy- Oct 10, 1999 (24) – [July 7, 2020]  20 

Skeppy- Jan 17, 2000 (24) – [July 18, 2020]  20 

Ponk- April 18, 2000 (23) – [May 7, 2020]  20 

Quackity- Dec 28, 2000 (23) – [Aug 11, 2020]  19 

Sapnap- March 1, 2001 (23) – [April 24, 2020]  19 

Niki Nihachu- Nov 3, 2001 (22) – [Aug 6, 2020]  18 

Jack Manifold- Aug 14, 2002 (21) – [Aug 3, 2020]  17 

Purpled- Oct 24, 2003 (20) – [July 9, 2020]  16

Ranboo- Nov 2, 2003 (20) – [Nov 17, 2020]  17 

Tubbo- Dec 23, 2003 (20) – [July 7, 2020]  16 

Tommy- April 9, 2004 (19) – [July 4, 2020]  16 

They are all babies confirmed... things make so much more sense... brain development guys it's important ;)

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

On December 12, 1905, the first Soviet republic, the Novorossiysk Republic, was proclaimed in Western Russia. It lasted until December 26 of that year.

The Novorossiysk Soviet, formed on December 8-10, 1905, during a political strike, proclaimed its goal to fight the autocracy and establish popular self-government. Under the influence of revolutionary agitation, the Soviet was joined by soldiers and Cossacks of the local garrison. They disarmed the police, and the workers' squads, including those created in Sochi, Tuapse and Gagra, took control of the ports and the railway.

On December 14, by order of the Soviet, all government agencies, except for banks, were closed, the strike was partially stopped, work committees were organized at enterprises and an 8-hour working day was introduced. The newly-created people's court freed all political prisoners. The press organ of the republic was Izvestia of the Soviet of Workers' Deputies.

On December 24, the government sent a military expedition to Novorossiysk. On December 25, with the support of an armada, imperial troops entered the city. Martial law was declared, arrests and repressions began. The Black Sea Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) was forced to go underground. A military court sentenced 7 leaders of the Novorossiysk Republic to the death penalty, which was replaced by life imprisonment, and 13 people to various terms of hard labor.

Via Red Carnation

[powerful-niya]

— (α lσvє rєвσrn.)

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚hαppч nαruhínα mσnth єvєrчσnє!

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟼: 𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚢 + 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚢 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 + 𝚁𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜 - (𝙽𝙷𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑𝟸𝟹)

Link to Oneshot below ↴

Pt 1: Wattpad | AO3

Pt. 2: Wattpad | AO3

Pt. 3: Wattpad | AO3

Pairing˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚Naruhina

Synopsis˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡Love was a risk, a risk that cost Naruto everything, leading to the loss of the life he always knew and an everlasting separation from his beloved: Hinata Hyūga. 

His forbidden love for her brought about a curse that condemned him to live as a monstrous beast, forever wandering alone in despair. 

Yet, in this new lifetime, with a woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to his beloved now miraculously in reach, love could very well be the solution to his salvation.

Content Tags˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ Alternate Universe - Medieval • Arranged Marriage • Beauty & The Beast • Destiny • December 2 • December 5 • December 26 • Emotional • Fairytale • Fairytale Curses • Fantasy • Falling In Love • Family Issues • Fate • Forbidden • Forbidden Love • Heavy Angst • Historical Eras • Hurt & Comfort • Knight AU • Love • Love Confessions • Monster • Mutual Pining • Mythical Beings And Creatures • NHmonth • NHmonth23 • Non-Human AU • Princess AU • Pining • Prophecy • Psychological Drama • Romance • Reincarnation • Reincarnated Lovers • Royal AU • Soulmates • Tooth-Rotting Fluff • Tragedy • Tragedy With Happy Ending • True Love • 1600s era • 1700s era • 2023

NSFW Tags: Body Worship • Cave Sex • Claiming • Coming Untouched • First Time • Fluff • Fluff And Smut • Hickeys • Love • Love Making • Magical • Outside Sex • Ownership • Praise Kink • Tail(s) • Scent Kink • Scratching • Sensation Play • Size Difference Kink • Unprotected Sex • Vaginal Sex • Virgin • 2023

Overall Word Count˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

Part #1: 12.5K

Part #2: 9.2K.

Part #3: 17.6K.

Tumblr Post: Word Count˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚1.8K

Preview ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

The Beginning 

17th century.

1600s.

---

Naruto Uzumaki 

Naruto wasn't supposed to love.

He had taken a solemn oath—never to love, never to wed, never to father children.

He wasn't meant to fall for anyone.

Certainly not Hinata Hyūga—the Princess of the Kingdom of Konoha, the delicacy of the land, the diamond of the ton. 

Not to mention, she was the daughter of Hiashi Hyūga himself. He was a king, a formidable ruler known throughout the land for his unwavering authority and strict governance—a man of principles, tradition, and nobility.

A man of steel. 

Having such a man as a father meant that Hinata's upbringing was meticulously planned down to the finest detail. From childhood to adulthood, she was taught to walk with poise, to speak with eloquence, and to conduct herself with the dignity befitting a princess. 

Her every move was scrutinized, and her every action was held to the highest standards. 

Her attire was always immaculate, her manners impeccable, and her education comprehensive. She was trained in the fine arts, fluent in several languages, and educated in the intricate politics of the court. She was even skilled in musical instruments, having mastered the piano, harp, and violin. 

Hinata was groomed to be flawless, and untouchable. 

Absolutely perfect. 

And that is what she became—a beacon of perfection in the eyes of society, more than suitable to one day marry, bear children, and assist the Hyūga lineage flourish and prosper. 

Hinata was the epitome of beauty and grace, off-limits to all except suitors with suitable titles—a precious gem that no commoner or knight could ever hope to touch.

Certainly not a knight like him—not Naruto.

He was her royal guard, a position of great honor. He was meant to safeguard her, to be by her side for all of her days, to protect her and remain loyal—not to love her.

She was supposed to be off-limits to him. Yet, he crossed those limits. 

He fell in love with her.

Naruto recalled the subtle moments when it all began—the fleeting smiles, the accidental touches, the stolen glances, not just from him, but from her too. 

Her gaze began to linger on him just a second longer than usual, and in those moments, he saw a spark of something more in Hinata's shy eyes—an unspoken connection, a shared understanding that he couldn't ignore.

At first, Naruto thought it was just him.

He figured he was just imagining things. But then he started to see that spark in Hinata's eyes more and more—a twinkle of longing, a yearning for the freedom she saw in him. 

Each interaction, each shared glance, built a bridge between them, one that was both exhilarating but terrifying. 

It felt so new. 

...so wrong.

Naruto wasn't sure how it all happened. 

The progression from duty to love was a blur. It was as if one day he was merely her protector, and the next, his heart was entirely hers. The line between his oath and his feelings had blurred, and he suddenly found himself drawn to Hinata in ways he could neither control nor comprehend.

It was the greatest victory of his life.

And the greatest mistake of his life.

Nights in the moonlit garden of Konoha palace were where they began to meet in secret. 

One night led to another, and another, and before long, they were meeting almost every night.

They would spend their evenings together under the starry night sky. They would sit on the soft grass, surrounded by the fragrant blooms, and talk for hours. They shared their days, struggles, dreams—anything and everything. It didn't matter to them, as long as they were together.

They would even have playful moments where they chased each other through the garden, past the flowers, and under the stars. 

Naruto recalls the sound of Hinata's laughter echoing through the night, her delicate hands clutching her dress as she ran, her face glowing with happiness.

And he would chase after her. Always.

"Catch me, Naruto-kun! Catch me!" She would cheer.

And indeed, he would catch her, their laughter mingling as they collapsed onto the soft grass, breathless and happy.

These moments became the only light in Naruto's world.

Hinata became the only light in his world.

The sweetness of her smile, the warmth of her embrace, her lavender eyes full of love, her silky midnight blue hair, her sweet scent, her heartfelt laugh, and her gentle spirit—all of it stayed with him.

Deep in his heart. 

Day after day, despite the risk, despite the danger, despite duty or even mere common sense, the two were drawn into an ever-going routine. 

Princess and knight by day.

And lovers by night.

Both were always eager for nightfall, when Hinata would slip out of her bed chamber, and Naruto would desert his post to meet in the garden of Konoha palace.

Some nights, when they met together, they would just lie on their backs, gaze at the stars and imagine a future where they could be together. 

During these times, Hinata often grew vulnerable with him. She shared her deepest fears and her greatest desires, opening up in a way she couldn't with anyone else.

Hinata even confided in him about her longing for freedom and the strict control her father exerted over her life. 

"He is determined to marry me off—my f-father," She told Naruto that night, nearly driven to tears, "Love was never supposed to be a consideration for me. That's what my father has always told me, that I need to marry. I need to choose my family. I need to choose duty. But I f-feel—" Hinata admitted, but then she stopped herself.

Naruto listened intently, as he always did, trying his best to lighten her heart and unburden her.

"You feel differently, don't you, Hinata-sama?" Naruto asked gently. 

"You've chosen love, haven't you, hime?" He added softly.

And the look that appeared in her eyes then touched his heart deeply.

Yes. I choose love. I choose you, her eyes had told him.

But there was more. 

Her eyes showed a plea for freedom, for something real and true, beyond the cold, heartless world she had always known.

Naruto's heart ached for her, it truly did. 

He found himself leaning close, taking her hands in his, and he made the mistake of promising to always protect her. He gave her hope that he could save her from such a horrid life, to be the source of freedom and love she so desperately sought.

"I'll figure something out. I'll save you, I promise," He had assured her.

Naruto remembered the joy that instantly appeared in Hinata's eyes, how she believed him wholeheartedly, placing all her trust in him.

That night, she actually kissed him for the very first time.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun," She whispered against his lips.

But he should have known better than to make such a promise.

What they had was fragile yet unbreakable when they were together, a beautiful dream they lived each and every night.

But dreams were fleeting. 

Reality was cruel. 

And, forbidden love never lasts.

They were caught. 

Hinata and Naruto thought it would be another quiet, hidden night together in the garden, a sanctuary where they could steal moments away from prying eyes, just like all those times before. 

But they were wrong.

Naruto could still remember the rustling of leaves and the snap of a twig that alerted them too late.

Suddenly, they were ambushed. 

King Hiashi's guards emerged from the darkness, torches in hand, intent on seizing them both.

Naruto fought back fiercely, for Hinata, for both of them, but there were just too many. Their sheer numbers overwhelmed him, and despite his best efforts, they managed to subdue him. 

Subdue them both.

The guards then dragged them away, tearing them from their sanctuary.

And just like that, their secret was out. 

Naruto had no idea how they had been discovered that night, but it didn't matter. The truth was out, the damage done, and they were now at the mercy of the King—a furious Hiashi Hyūga.

And oh, was he furious.

Their punishment was as cruel as it was merciless.

Hinata's punishment was given first. For defying her father's orders, daring to love someone beneath her stature, and tarnishing her family's honor, she faced severe consequences.

She was forbidden to see Naruto ever again.

Her tear-streaked face and dull eyes were the last sight Naruto saw of her as the guards forcibly took her away to her chambers. Naruto had never seen her so broken. Her desperate cries and pleas echoed through the cold, stone halls, her voice screaming his name the entire time. 

He could still hear her cries.

His punishment, however, was far worse. 

He was beaten, humiliated, and dragged before the King, where he was forced to his knees and made to face Hiashi's wrath.

"You have betrayed your duty, dishonored my family, and defiled my daughter," The King declared, his voice cold and unforgiving.

"For that, you will pay the ultimate price."

Naruto had accepted his fate. 

He believed he deserved it for turning his back on his knight's oath and causing Hinata so much pain. He expected his punishment to be death, a swift end to his suffering. He braced himself for it, thinking it would be a merciful release compared to the agony of being separated from Hinata.

But fate had a crueler design.

Instead, Naruto was brought before a dark, malevolent witch, and he instantly knew what was in store for him. 

He would be cursed.

Indeed, the witch cast a spell upon him, a powerful one. She transformed him into a beast—a creature so hideous that Hinata would never again be able to love him. 

"You will live out your days as a beast," The witch declared, her voice dripping with malice, "Banished from this palace, condemned to wander the forest for all eternity. You will outlive her, always knowing she is beyond your reach."

Pain tore through Naruto as his body twisted and changed, the curse taking hold. His once strong hands became claws, his noble and formidable body transformed into something large and terrifying, his face a grotesque mask of the beast he had become. 

The guards then threw him out of the castle, casting him away from his home, away from people, and away from Hinata.

Discarded like trash. 

Now, Naruto roamed the vast, lonely forest that surrounded the palace he once sworn to protect, his heart aching for the love he had lost. 

The forest was his prison now, and loneliness was his constant companion. 

Each step he took reminded him of Hinata, of the tender moments they had shared and the future that had been stolen from them. 

His curse was relentless, ensuring he would never forget. He was cursed to remember, to feel the pain of their love that could never be, every single day.

The only way his curse could be broken was if he was loved again. True love. 

But how could that ever happen? 

He was now a beast, feared and shunned by all who saw him. The idea of someone seeing past his beast form to the man within, understanding his pain, and loving him, seemed utterly impossible.

It was all wishful thinking. An unattainable dream. 

A painful hope he no longer allowed himself to wish for.

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— (⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☾ 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 ☽₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆)