#politics is a shitshow and i hate this government

[lookthetart]

Italy is the broken McDonald's ice cream machine, but as a country

[hussyknee]

THE LEFTIST THIRD PARTY HAS WON SRI LANKA'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.

WE HAVE A PRO-LGBT, PRO-UNION, ANTI-ETHNOFASCIST, ANTI-IMPERIALIST PRESIDENT. MY ANTHROPOLOGY PROFESSOR IS GOING TO BE PRIME MINISTER. A COMPETENT ACADEMIC WHO HAS WORKED ON FEMINIST INITIATIVES AND RESEARCH ALL HER CAREER.

please please please please god don't let them fuck this up don't let them turn into a bunch of cunts to retain their new voter base don't let them fuck up the economy don't let them let the minorities down please please please they won't ever get another chance if they ruin this one we'll be stuck with more idiot corrupt nepo babies till we die please please please PLEASE LET THIS BE THE END OF THE EXECUTIVE PRESIDENCY AND PREVENTION OF TERRORISM ACT AND PERSECUTING THE NORTH please please please let them decriminalize being gay and not bury LGBT rights please please please let there be a god I can't take anymore of this shitshow please please please don't let hope be something that keeps pissing in our faces please please please please please please please

ANURA KUMARA DISSANAYAKE WILL BE THE NINTH PRESIDENT OF SRI LANKA. TAKE THAT YOU TWO PARTY VOTING MOTHERFUCKERS.

Edit:

WHAT DO YOU MEAN FUCKING COLOMBO WENT TO THE IDIOT NEPO BABY???

AKD HAD 52%!!!!! HE WAS ALL BUT SWORN IN?????

THEY HAVE TO COUNT THE SECOND PREFERENTIAL VOTE FOR ONLY THE SECOND TIME IN HISTORY??

There is a very real chance that nobody will get over 50% of the vote. That would be really, really bad.

Fuck.

I HATE YOU MOTHERFUCKING URBAN MIDDLE CLASS LIBERAL CUNTS SO MUCH. PLAGUE ON THE WHOLE DAMN COUNTRY. FUCK YOU.

Edit 2:

Ok so first counting gets AKD 42% and SP 32%. It's very likely the preferentional vote will put him over the 50% line.

It's so poetic that Ranil's greed for power ended up handing the country to the very Marxists that his uncle hunted like animals. You love to see it. 🥰

Edit 3:

So the preferential vote didn't give anyone a 50% majority and we're still at AKD 42% and SP 32%. But apparently that's enough to declare AKD President as per the Constitution. I don't think that's ever happened before. He was sworn in an hour ago.

Point of clarification: The NPP are not Marxists. Foreign news is just uncritically regurgitating the pro-government Red Scare propaganda. AKD and his JVP party used to be Marxists back in the '80s and '90s. They're now more very pro-union socialist. The NPP is their coalition, which is even more mildly social democrat and just happens to be a little more left than the other two. Calling them a Marxist is like how MAGA thinks the Dems are commies. 😂

I truly don't have great hopes that much will change, but there's a chance one or two important things might. Which is more than we've been able to hope for in decades.

See this post for a run down of the what's really been happening.

Edit 4:

I retract the "openly bisexual" part with many apologies. I completely misremembered. It wasn't AKD but JVP senior K. D. Lalkantha, who said in a 2018 interview is that he has also had same sex encounters with his friends as a boy and young man, and that he knows others who have had as well. And he specifically said he doesn't see the need to maintain a label for his sexuality. Still, the fact that his party allowed this in a country that still criminalises homosexuality, to a Sinhalese magazine, speaks to a commitment to LGBT rights. He also explicitly stated his support for women's rights, trans rights, polyamory, open relationships, explicit sexuality in media. It's impressively progressive for this country. The interview is in Sinhala and you can read it here.

Here's an excellent write-up of AKD's career, political outlook and creation of NPP in The Hindu by correspondent Meena Srinivasan, a journalist whose reporting I've always liked.

[incorrectfatui]

ok only one person asked for this, but I'm really bored, so: memes about our government collapsing, here you go. feel free to ignore it otherwise, next post will be about more harbingers xD

But politics talk beyond this point- dw, I get it if you dont wanna see that

Context will be below the pictures- please keep in mind that german humor is...well, german. Also, I can't figure out how to post multiple pictures at once, so uh...this is gonna be a long one. ALSO look at the ALT text I tried my best to translate & give more context

So of course, everyone immediately started memeing about Lindner. Why? Because most of the country fucking hates the guy. I don't think I specified enough how awful he is. The current government is incredibly inneficient, and he's a major reason why. He's an ultra-capitalist, in love with a free market economy, frequently has temper tantrums in parliament, and is INCREDIBLY anti social. He wants higher pension ages, less subsidies for unemployed people, the works. What people are also making fun off is Scholz, our chancellor, who was practically nonexistent for the last 3 years, only to deliver a VICIOUS speech about how awful Lindner is. So yeah! Government collapse is fun if you have the right memes. Hope at least some of those were funny to you guys as well

thaaats most of the ones I could fit. Which brings me to: the context. oh my god where do i begin.

Okay, so, the german parliament is made out of multiple parties, right? When we have elections, the chancellor is from the party with the most votes, but they don't rule alone, because they need a majority (<50%), and we have so many parties that they don't get there. So, they have to form coalitions with the other parties. When they do that, the leaders of the other parties get to be in high positions as well. Every party that isn't in the coalition is the opposition.

More often than not, we have what is called a Grand Coalition- the two biggest parties, CDU and SPD. However, in our last elections (which was also the first time in 16 years that our chancellor changed), this did not happen. We instead got the so called traffic light coalition, made up of the SPD (winner, got the Chancellor), FDP (our other main protagonist in this story) and the Greens.

So, they've ruled for about 3 years now, and it's been an utter shitshow- because of multiple factors, of course, but one of the major ones was the FDP. See, the Greens and the SPD are (or, well, were, but thats for another story) more left leaning, ESPECIALLY on stuff like climate change, while the FDP are mostly focused on the economy. So, there's been lots of conflicts, and all the parties in the coalition, but especially the FDP, have lost immense support. The FDP to a point where they might not get ANY seats in parliament for the next election.

Now, some of our current biggest issues are inflation, climate change, and the war in Ukraine. I'm simplifying this to hell and back, but essentially, we have a so called debt-brake in our constitution, which means that the country cannot go over a certain amount of money. Sounds good, right? Well, not entirely. Right now, we are trying to go over this limit. See, the debt-brake has an intentional loophole, which says that in emergencies, you CAN go over it, like natural catastrophes (e.g. COVID).

Germany, right now, wants to fund our infrastrcuture, our military, Ukraine, and social subsidies. For this purpose, the SPD and Greens agreed to go over the limit. Except they can't, without the approval of their coalition partner, the FDP, and their finance minister, Lindner, who RUNS the FDP. They've been fighting about this for A WHILE, and yesterday, Scholz (the chancellor), gave Lindner an ultimatum: allow them to go over the limit, or get fired. Lindner asked for snap-elections instead, did not accept the proposal (which was already heavily in his favour) and got fired.

Which wouldn't be a problem is he was any common minister- but he's a coalition partner, so the coalition broke apart- and without the FDP, the SPD and the Greens alone do not hold a majority in parliament.

What this boils down to, is that we will likely have a minority-government (who will have BIG difficulties passing any laws) until January, and at the start of January, the Chancellor will call for a vote of confidence (yes, like in star wars), which he will lose. Meaning: Snap Elections in March (at the latest), less time for the parties to prepare their candidates, and MASSIVE profts for the right wing parties, which are currently leading in the polls.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Summer 2024 Anime Overview: DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION

A giant mothership is hovering over Tokyo. The aliens haven’t done anything or even made themselves known yet, but Japan and America are already trying to blow that UFO up, and show off who has the best weapons, causing many civilian casualties along the way. While all this happens, two girls are just casually living their lives. But are they as normal as they appear?

One thing I want to say is if you watch this anime and care about being intensely spoiled, do not watch "episode 0" until you've finished episode 16. It actually slots chronologically between episode 16 and 17, and that's where the episode took place in the manga, so I have no idea why they did that. Fortunately I had someone to warn me about that, so I will be that someone for you.

Dead Dead Demons DeDeDeDe Destruction or De x 8 as I will be calling it, can be really tough show to watch—not because it’s bad, it’s very good, but because of how depressing and visceral it is at times, and how devastatingly accurate it is to the shitshow of our world. This tends to be balanced a bit by the touching friendships (and possibly? More?) of the very likeable cast of teenagers…but you also feel a huge sense of dread about their safety as things ramp up and their stories deepen.

The anime goes hard on criticizing the military industrial complex, Japan’s government, America’s government, xenophobia, treatment of immigrants, rich people, and conspiracy theorists. All things I also hate, so that’s great. What hurts is how you could easily see the events happening—waging war on the aliens despite no provocation, people using an app to to hunt down and slaughter them...

It shows how even some of the protestors of the genocide use their movement to cover their own selfish motivations, meanwhile countries taking the situation as an opportunity to vie for power and dominance, rich government officials lie to their people and abandon them…obviously there's a lot of commentary here on how we dehumanize immigrants and minorities and enable genocides for capitalism and political power.

It's very bleak, and there were a lot of episode that had me just feeling sad, especially comparing it to current events. But there's also this interesting focus on normal people trying to live their lives during this alien "invasion", and the kids who still go through the dramas and upsets of everyday life. And especially the “I’d burn down the world for you” intense emotional relationship between Kadode and Ouran, the two teen girl leads.

Ouran is the main lead, and she’s a chuuni beyond chuuni, acting wacky and cheerful and spouting nonsense-- except if you pay attention, she's saying some pretty valid things—critiques of capitalism, war, government surveillance—but then following it up with something wild like “and that’s why I should rule the world”. You get the sense she’s cloaking an awareness of how shit the world is in humor, and as the show goes on and as her surprisingly intense and weird backstory unfolds, it becomes clear why that is.

The relationship between Ouran and Kadode is the center of everything--their bond IS the show. It's that kind of ride-or-die, I'd-kill-for-you, I'll-be-by-your-side-even-if-the-whole-world-is-against-you, in-every-life-i'd-find-you-and-love-you, soul-bonded, fiery devotion and love. They are the most important person in each other's lives, full stop. It's those kind of relationships that are so transcendent it goes beyond simple definitions of romantic and platonic. In other words, my kind of shit exactly.

But, as far as romance goes, Ouran, at least, is definitely queer and the depths of her determination to keep Kadode safe in a world that wants to destroy her girl that would make Homura Madoka Magica blush. (Kadode is more ambiguous, but she’s definitely soul bonded with Ouran. And honestly should just date Ouran because god she needs to be rescued).

There’s also a gentle empathy for marginalized people underneath all the horror—the girls befriend an alien trying to survive in the guise of a human, and it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that the first person our alien tells absolutely everything to is the gnc/potentially trans person of the group, Makoto (To be specific, they seem to still be figuring out their identity, but they definitely present feminine and specifically came to Tokyo because their small town wouldn’t be okay with how they like to dress). The way Makoto immediately shields their alien friend from others when they make the reveal that they saying “Don’t let them see, it’s not safe” and how it’s followed up by the alien reassuring Makoto that their friends will be okay with it if they take their wig off to swim...it makes the metaphor extremely clear, and it’s always nice when a series can explore marginalized characters both textually and metaphorically.

Through the kids, we get kernels of hope in this story, a reassurance there are kinder people in this world, and a hope that kindness will endure.

As depressing as the story can be, what it has to say is important and it doesn’t hold back in making you see what it’s going for—from the “Cool Japan” logo flashing right before the  Japanese government gives a weapons demonstration that will later kill citizens and destroy innocents...

...to the Trump-alike American President (and let me tell you it’s startling to be watching a show in Japanese and suddenly Donald Trump impression in perfect English) *(had to use the manga here because Crunchyroll didn't close-caption this part :/)

Then there's the American tourists, who were clearly va’d by someone really good at English, potentially a native speaker, and it’s incredibly funny how much of their dialogue has “fuck” in it and seeing the subtitles skip over that. Also much of their dialogue is treating the devastated Japan as a tourist attraction and saying how funny it all is to them. Logan Paul has entered the chat.

De x 8 very clearly hates America and recognizes it as a blood thirsty colonial power, which is correct, but the show is just as hard on it’s own country, saying the Japanese government would happily get back on the colonizing horse if they had an excuse, and many citizwns would mindlessly support them.

A small thing I appreciate is far from the usual anime aesthetic where everyone is blandly cute, the anime gives a ton of people ridiculously cartoony features that make everyone distinct—and being goofy looking is not meant to indicate a character is stupid or ugly—Makoto’s a super sympathetic character with giant cartoon buck teeth and one character that’s even pointed out as pretty has like, a pig snout nose. (It also makes it so the character noted as being drop dead gorgeous...actually is, instead of coming off as just as conventionally attractive as the rest)

Soooo a lot of good stuff going into this story. Let’s talk about some caveats.

There’s a continuing storyline between Kadode and her adult teacher, who takes her to his place to have sex with her. When he does, she ends up ditching him because of her feels for Ouran (gay) and I thought that would be the end of it, but nooope he’s a groomer, they pick up dating again when she’s in college, literally months after the previous encounter. The dude is presented as a scumbag, he cheats on his girlfriend, he seems generally apathetic, his clear discomfort with Kadode calling him “sensei” shows that he knows what he’s doing is wrong …and ultimately the relationship is shown to be unfulfilling, with Kadode directly stating so and acknowledging he’s just advantage. That doesn’t stop it from being uncomfortable though, especially since it’s confirmed he and Kadode have sex eventually (offscreen, thank god) and honestly, I felt it dragged on way too long. The first encounter pretty much demonstrated everything we needed to know about the whole thing in my view.

And of course there’s a ton of potentially triggering content in a story like this—from genocide to suicide to child murder to almost anything you can think of. Also like, one character has a sister complex, but on the milder side for anime. One where it’s conceivably platonic, and it’s not like he goes after her boyfriend Yuri Forger style, so it doesn’t bother me too much. There's also a good dose of fatphobia. And finally moment where a woman reveals she has ADHD (which I've never actually heard anyone say in anime so I actually got a little excited the more fool me) and then is almost immediately shown to be faking it.

The ending…is another big sticking point for me. It feels disconnected from the rest of the series, mainly focusing on a character we barely know and likely don’t care about and spending very little time with the characters we do, presenting an interesting status quo and immediately abandoning it, and while earlier episodes of the series presented "actions have consequences and we gotta live with them" as a major theme, it was suddenly like, actually they don’t!

The ultimate ending, again, hinges on a decision from a character we don’t care about and honestly feels like a deus ex machina. It felt almost like the author really wanted a happier ending but knew that wasn’t in line with the story he’s told so far, so he just tacked it on. Or maybe it was an editorial mandate, who knows. I think the most satisfying way to see watch episode 1-16 as its own pretty satisfying complete story (which works really well), and then treat episodes 0 and 17 as their own separate thing, a potential additional ending but not the definitive one. At least that’s what I did.

Overall, De x 8 is a show with a lot to say and it gives you plenty to chew on. While it is often depressing, it is very rewarding. The unbreakable bond between two messy girls, as well as the moments of ordinary joy and small human/alien journeys are the core of the show, and what makes it shine. I definitely encourage you to give it a watch. It's being really slept on, and it shouldn't be.

[tanadrin]

For some reason I get a lot of asks imagining I'm sitting over here in Europe, watching the U.S. political system set itself on fire and cackling with glee, rubbing my hands from the safe and totally unperturbed perch of glorious European social democracy.

I'm not! I want the U.S. to do well, both out of self-interest (what happens in the U.S. affects the whole world; I have many friends and family there), and because I like it when countries do well in general. And there are things that even for all the shitshow that it is the U.S. does not consistently fuck up like Germany fucks up--for instance, you do not have the police arresting people at protests in the U.S. right now simply for holding up signs criticizing Israel, because it turns out that when you make technical carve-outs for "hate speech" in your free expression laws, a lot of shit that the government doesn't like gets reclassified as hate speech.

German politics is deeply fucked, it's just fucked differently from American politics.

[carryoncastiel]

Rambling about politics (german and in general)

To say I've become disillusioned with politics over the last year is an understatement. I've been very much in the "not voting/voting for a very small party that has zero chance at winning is very bad" camp for a long time but everything that happened over the last year has pushed me over the edge. Other (nonwhite, less priviliged) people have been there much longer and they've been right this whole time.

Yes, a lot of people still grit their teeth and vote for "the lesser evil" and it's good that they do. But in the end you are voting for the status quo and if the status quo is already unbearable then it's very disingenuous to blame people for not voting for parties that not only completely fail to represent them but also go against their morals by supporting the brutal murdering of thousands upon thousands of innocent people.

You can say this about the US election but it's very much true about any election.

I'm not looking forward to elections in Germany next year because we're in a very similar situation to the US (even if we have quite a few more parties to choose from).

Nazi party that's getting more and more votes, conservatives and "moderates" who are basically doing the same bullshit the Nazis are doing but in a slightly nicer package, currently governing "progressive" parties who are doing a surprised Pikachu face at every right wing win and then go "Guess we need to do more right wing, racist politics to get these voters back" which only puts off the people who actually voted for them before (myself included).

And that is on top of literally every (relevant) party and the entire media landscape being 100% pro Israel and now trying to criminalize any opposition by just branding it antisemitism and also insinuating, or in some cases outright saying, it's "imported" aka immigrants, especially muslims, are the real problem.

Which is incredibly rich - especially considering our countries history and the deadly right wing extremism still very much prevalent today.

It's a fucking shitshow.

Now the day we got the US election results the chancellor has fired the finance minister which will break the coalition.

I would've been happy about this two years ago because that minister and his party have been doing nothing but blocking any and all even remotely progressive policies the other two parties proposed.

I hate that neoliberal asshole and his party from the bottom of my heart and the damage they've done with their bullshit cannot be overstated but right now is probaly the worst time to break the coalition.

We were gonna have a new election in September next year anyway (which was already not looking great) but now it's gonna be months earlier when the popularity for the Nazi party is so high and the aformetioned problems with every other party makes me not want to vote for any of them at all.

It's looking bleak to say the least.

[doedipus]

it's really confounding that we're in a political situation right now where a trans woman just won a seat in the house for the first time, but the kill the fags party probably managed to finesse near total control of the government otherwise. what a shitshow. I fucking hate this stupid, stupid country.

[porcelain-rob0t]

ive gotten a bunch of followers lately bc of certain posts and i have a much bigger following than i am used to. i try not to post a lot about current politics bc this website is a shitshow when it comes to talking about politics with nuance, so i will make my points clear and in a dialectical way. multiple truths do and have to exist at once and acknowledging that is essential to understanding anything.

i do not support the Israeli government, i hate Netanyahu and i want him dead

you should learn what "zionism" means before you decide it means "Jews i dont like"

you should fact check everything and examine why is is being posted the way it is. there is motive behind every post, examine that.

you are not immune to propaganda

the Palestinian people deserve safety and to live without oppression

call out antisemitism and islamophobia whenever you see it

listen to Jewish people and Muslims when they call out bigotry without getting defensive

listen to people when they talk about their own experiences without getting defensive in general

only people who experience the oppression can define it, if you are not in that group you cannot define it for them

check your sources

learn what dogwhistles are and call them out when you see them

dont take everything in bad faith if its not warranted

its really weird to interrogate random Jewish people who are not affiliated with Israel in anyway what their opinions on zionism is

dont be racist, dont be antisemitic, dont be islamophobic, its literally not hard

dont be a jerk

doomscrolling doesn't help. being sad isnt activism.

the world is so full of negativity, uplift others in your political activism. uplift oppressed groups instead of wasting all your energy on hating the oppressors. share their art, give money to charities, offer kindness in a world that wont do the same

be decent to each other

[no-goodbyes-no-regrets]

By the way, do you live anywhere near Amsterdam? The news here has been all about the football match related violence and its political ramifications. Sometimes I wonder about how much harm two years of lockdown has done. It was like we all went into lockdown as civilized human beings and came out of the lockdown as hate-filled, war mongering, intolerant, bigoted baboons who have forgotten that communities are based on certain rules and norms and mutual respect for each other.

I don't live near Amsterdam but I've heard all about the shit hitting the fan around the football match. It was basically a small group of people starting shit, and then EVERYBODY that was looking for an excuse to start a fight joined in. Which... happens a lot around here. There was a pro Palestine protest at a university a while ago which was fairly peaceful, but then people from outside the university started getting involved and it turned into one giant shitshow and the riot police got involved. Which is also not unusual. (don't ever let people tell you the netherlands is so open and tolerant because it's not - there are way too many people way too happy to start shit over nothing)

as for political ramifications? I doubt there will be any. our government (and I use that term loosely) blindly supports Israel and hates non white people and people with an Arab/Muslim background so there's no question on who they'll "blame", and the mayor of Amsterdam just says she's shocked an appalled but that it wasn't a high risk match and that's why fans from both teams were allowed to be there.

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

I just need to rant okay. As a kid who has grown up hearing pretty much everyone complain about the government this and our horrible society that I’m honestly just… done all around. No Grandma Agnus, I don’t care about how you think lgbtq+ people are all going to a hell I don’t even believe in but you know what, cousin Cadence? I also don’t care about how all homophobic people are the true evil ones. No, I don’t care that trans people exist but guess what? I also don’t care that there are people who think differently because people are entitled to their own fucking opinions so long as they aren’t actively harming others (if you don’t like them don’t interact with them more than you have to on both sides, it’s not a hard concept).

Yes I understand that racism has played a huge role in our country but I’m pretty sure that’s not why they got your order wrong at Wendy’s Uncle Jason. Yes I understand that women have had it tough in the past but guess what, last I checked we’re doing a hell of a lot better and no men are not stupid or evil for fuck’s sake and yes they do have problems of their own even though they’re not women

No, I don’t think that all rich people are evil or owe us something (and that’s coming from someone who used to live in a tiny little trailer and only got a small packet of gum for Christmas once) but I also don’t think that workers are over-exaggerating some of their horrible conditions such as payment. No, I don’t care what pronouns you use Finley but guess what when you come at me for “assuming your gender” or whatever twice in the same day despite the fact that it changes literally every hour then that’s where we start to have problems. No, I don’t care that you believe in god but fun fact I am a heavy believer in the separation of church and state and will you look at that, it seems like church and state are getting a bit too chummy up in this house when you claim that all women who get abortions are murderers who are gonna go to hell and abortion should be criminalized for the sake of their souls Auntie Susana.

On top of that I become old enough to vote and stuff soon but honestly I don’t really want to. All I’ve seen my whole life are a bunch of adults going at each other’s throats like rabies-infested dogs and for what? So that they can try to get an extra bit of rope in ya’ll’s tug-of-war? And then older people come at people my age who don’t want to be involved in the shitshow? It almost makes me want to laugh my ass off because that’s like polluting a well and then pleading for the townsfolk to drink that nasty water.

Sorry for my harsh words. I just had a lot of frustrations and really needed to say something anywhere. Know that none of this was directed at you or anyone with strong opinions in a malicious way, I’m honestly just so tired. It feels like everyone everywhere is fighting and for what? No one listens to anyone anymore. I do fully intend to vote when I’m old enough, I’m just done with everyone shouting at me from all sides.

I am very confused as to why this rant was brought to me, because I literally am one of the people you're complaining about.

When I saw this ask, I had to stop looking at this website for like three days. It's a very privileged take, honestly. I don't blame people for getting tired of hearing about politics and world issues all the time, it is exhausting. But as someone who's frequently called exhausting, well, I'm fucking sorry if hearing about the people suffering around you is bothering you. That is a privilege. You can feel that way, but recognize you feeling that way is a luxury.

Your (I'm assuming) metaphorical Grandma hating gay people isn't the same as your metaphorical cousin calling homophobes evil. As I said to my mom yesterday in a very similar conversation, your grandma has the luxury of leaving that conversation any time. So do you. I, as well as other gay people, do not have that luxury. Getting annoyed or tired about any debate on basic human rights I understand, but equally at both sides is bizarre to me. It's like getting mad at a random person in 1912 and the Titanic passengers equally for continuing to talk about the Titanic. One of these groups hAS TO BE TALKING ABOUT THE TITANIC RIGHT NOW. You're not on the Titanic, so you can shut your newspaper and get annoyed it's all you hear about. THE TITANIC PASSENGERS CANT! One side is there because it's literally them being talked about. The other is there because they have too much free time and are demons.

I understand why you feel like people are fighting all the time. They are. But politics are not very black and white. In America it's really just the right and the farther right. But individuals are fighting because things need to be fought for, simply enough. Silence is complicity, and your first two paragraphs are just that.

@antigirlb0ss look at this shit

[ashadowofburnedoutstardust]

More pictures have surfaced of the so in love newly married happy couple from the party in NYC. Before they got up to the paparazzi, they weren’t even holding hands. They look like they can’t even stand each other and when they get to the paps Chris tries to grab her hand and she doesnt even give it to him she pulls it up to her chest. They both look totally miserable and like they totally hate each other. So much for that newlywed bliss and glow! 😝😂😂

Hello anon

The only thing I see when I look at those photos is a bad circus act of greed, ignorance, and a power play designed for the use and disposal of those they consider less important than them

People who have more than others will always be willing to sacrifice certain things in order to hold onto whatever influence they have

This entire shitshow is purely a demonstration of his willingness and ability to lie through his teeth for the purposes of retaining power, popularity, and money

I should act surprised but I'm not

This man's political beliefs hinge on the branding of what is essentially a right wing party whose only claim to "left-dom" is being slightly to the left of actual facists. Only the lesser of two evils.

To elaborate on that, it may interest you to be made aware of the fact that Bernie Sanders is technically at least on a global scale, centrist; my countries entire government system including the opposition party that just came into power is to the left of him

Congratulations on your failed brand Christopher

[rescuefield-arch1]

i didn't add all the info yet because i just love ( sarcasm ) procrastinating so much BUT i did reiterate that claire was in the organization committe for benford's presidential campaign, so let's start with that:

i feel like i should lead with the information that claire holds a grudge against the man due to the fact that he let simmons be sherry's guardian. after the events of cv claire fought tooth and nail to be granted custody just to be rejected every single time. her anger might be somewhat misplaced all things considered, but that's beside the point - he's the lesser evil, and him being willing to expose the corruption between government & umbrella is a goal that aligns with hers.

because of that i will do what capcom didn't, aka have claire be involved in the tall oaks outbreak; she's there both because she worked hard for the campaign and to finally see umbrella's formal fall, but also as a representative of terrasave ( since she'd be its leader by this point ) but of course things go downhill and from there her story would follow the events of the scrapped dlc.

we're obviously back at square one after that, but claire is definitely relieved simmons is not around anymore. however now there's the whole issue of who is actually running the whole circus, which is something claire can't investigate on by keeping herself out of the loop. i've always said claire's story leans heavily on a political angle, and i think that what dylan told her affected her mind more than she'd ever let anyone know. terrasave has been created in the aftermath of what happened in RC, as a unit they will never prevent any outbreaks from happening because it's never been their purpose - so around late 2015-2016 claire decides to run for senator representing the state of new york.

to put it simply, it's a shitshow. as soon as the news spreads four other candidates pop up and while it's painfully obvious they're meant to make her election more difficult, she manages to win barely reaching the required amount of votes. one of her first act is proposing a bill to deal with bioterrorism, and even though it keeps being pushed aside she's still trying to get it to pass ( also worthy of note, her fellow ny senator is a pawn, they end up arguing more often than they should and barely get shit done, claire hates it )

[jechristine]

I think a key part of the Florida school library shitshow that may be hard for non-Americans to understand is the context of Republican politicians at the moment.

Many many Republicans in Congress are simply auditioning to be the next cable TV host, the next Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity. That kind of position pays very well in (a certain kind of) prestige and money and requires nothing. In Congress that works because our political system is broken and can’t govern. Matt Gaetz is probably the prime example. He can spout off and fearmonger and demagogue, and it’s all of little governing consequence because he can’t ultimately act on his dangerous ideas. He needs to get other people to vote with him, and there’s not much evidence he cares about that when it comes to legislating. He just wants to get on TV.

But ooops Ron DeSantis thinks he’s living Matt Gaetz’s life but he’s a governor and has much more power and ability to act. He fearmongers and demagogues and it has actual legal consequences that quickly get away from him.

I don’t think he intended to have librarians and teachers clear off book shelves. I think he just wanted to pretend there was some problem with pornography in schools that there clearly isn’t, and to use his platform to bully LGBTQ+ people and POC. But his most hateful acolytes jumped on his demogoging to actually fuck shit up.

Basically I think DeSantis is a complete fucking idiot in addition to being a bully. But that’s not a great combination, I guess.

[morningstargirl666]

Tagged by @garglyswoof and @purplesigebert. I honestly don’t rewatch films as much nowadays, since I just watch a LOT of films in general and don’t have any remaining time to rewatch stuff as well. But I do have a load of comfort movies I think, so here we go.

Top 10 Comfort Movies (in no particular order)

1. Ever After (1998) Because Gabby made an excellent point, that movie is amazing, it’s pretty historically accurate and has some good moral life lessons thrown in. Cinderella movies, just in general, are a comfort movie for me, and I went through a phase when I was younger of just watching every variation ever made (even the shitty versions, much to my horror).

2. A Cinderella Story (2004) Again, it’s a cinderella movie, and an iconic one at that. I’m a secret romantic at heart.

3. Deathnote (2017) Yes I realise this was generally hated by all. But this was my first introduction to Death Note (I binge watched the anime series straight after don’t worry) and whatever your grievances for this movie, William Dafoe is brilliant at whatever he does, and playing Ryuk is no different. For a live action adaptation, I thought the design of Ryuk was pretty spot on and beautifully terrifying, and although the storyline crosses over into cheesy American, it’s easy to watch. Which is why it ended up as a comfort movie for me while I was taking my GCSEs - I often put it on in the background while working on my art coursework.

4. The Day After Tomorrow (2004) Here’s the thing guys - disaster movies are my comfort movies. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the bitter, Gen-Z in me, but I enjoy watching the world descend into chaos and destruction. They’re easy to watch, the good guys often prevail against the ruthless attack of nature herself in the end, and idk, I like seeing a little death, a little fire. I’m just made different. Sometimes the shittier the disaster movie the better, so I’m talking things like Greenland (2020), Geostorm (2017) etc. That being said, zombie movies also fall into this category, just love all kinds.

5. White House Down (2013) Along the similar vein as disaster movies, I love the-government-is-under-attack movies, so the Olympus Has Fallen (2013) trilogy too. Just something about very American, cheesy action movies that are just easy to watch, require no brain power, and are just a fun ride.

6. Don’t Look Up (2021) Did I mention disaster movies are my jam? This one is pretty political, but I’m British, so I think I also enjoyed it so much because I can just sit to the side, eating my popcorn, and watch as the shitshow enfolds like the chaos gremlin I am, with no true existential crisis about how doomed my country is. 

7. Inglorious Basterds (2009) Quentin Tarantino is an amazing filmmaker on a whole, and although gory, brutal and - let’s face it - a little crazy, his movies are always a blast to watch. And you get to see the characters kill a load of Nazis, inlcuding Hitler, so it’s a win win.

8. Love Actually (2003) Felt obligated to put another rom-com on here because I can be a normal person and watch rom-coms for comfort (I promise). It’s also a christmas movie, so like will only watch it around December, but eh, still counts.

9. The Impossible (2012) Another disaster movie, but it’s a true story this time, and I’ve re-watched this one a lot. It’s sad and angsty yes, but there’s something hopeful about the family reuniting after such a traumatic event, and how humanity comes together in crisis to help each other.

10. The Batman (2022) Maybe it’s become a comfort movie because I’ve rewatched it so many times for my dissertation but I really love this film, and I can’t get enough of it. I just love every aspect about it. And will get a craving where I’m like ‘I need to watch The Batman again’. And so I do.

Lol and that’s it. I will say I tend to watch Friends now if I want something on in the background, or just something to cheer me up. That’s my all-time piece of comfort media I tend to watch. Otherwise, these also work. And I love them all.

[jewelleria]

to be clear, people have absolutely not forgotten context is a thing—in fact, they remembered it exists so hard they ended up using it wrong. (see the entire shitshow that was the ivy league congressional hearings, during which former president magill of upenn refused to say that calling for the genocide of jewish students was against the university’s code of conduct because, to her, it was a “context-dependent decision.”)

the very basis of pro-hamas and october 7th defending rhetoric—poorly “disguised” as advocating for palestinian rights—is that “the october 7th attacks didn’t happen in a vacuum.”

it all depends on the context, they insist, because pointing out the past struggles of palestinians somehow reframes barbaric, animalistic acts of terrorism “freedom fighting.” it all depends on the context, because a jew (read: most jews) being a zionist is apparently enough “context” to chant for their death.

so, in short, context is absolutely essential, but it’s being used wrong. it’s constantly weaponized to excuse antisemitism when in reality it’s the true context that they’re ignoring.

(disclaimer: i’m going to be discussing the american laws and constitution specifically.)

i also believe that disagreeing with someone’s political opinion is never an excuse to “take away their rights.” meaning, a person should be able to believe & say whatever they want without being legally prosecuted, convicted of a crime, and yes, without being verbally abused. that includes hate speech; the entire point of permitting free speech is that while we are granted the right to express ourselves however we want, the assumption and expectation is that we will do so without causing others emotional distress and without making them fear for their safety.

same goes for free will. in judaism, we don’t believe that god is responsible for/in control of the actions taken by the people he created, for the simple reason that he created them with the ability to choose. the holocaust was not divine punishment, it was a crime committed by humans. in giving us free will, god made it clear that he believed in us to make the right choices. whether that belief was justified is a different matter.

so yes, hate speech is legally protected in america, but is has to be. outlawing hate speech also outlaws every other type of speech, including all forms of self-expression, except the type the lawmakers decide is allowed. so yes, hate speech is legal—but just because something is legal doesn’t make it right. hate speech absolutely must be legal. the issue that needs to be addressed is not the laws allowing people to speak this way. it’s the fact that people think it’s morally acceptable to speak this way in the first place, regardless of whether the law permits it or not.

however, going so far as to apply the same logic to people’s actions is where the line must be drawn. that sentiment contributes to the mob mentality attitude of “someone’s actions does not suddenly take away their rights.” when someone takes an action that is illegal (such as physically attacking jewish students), their ability to act freely is, simply put, taken away (they get arrested and prosecuted for assault).

let me rephrase that. when someone IN THE WESTERN WORLD takes an action that is illegal, they are penalized by no longer being able to take those actions. murderers go to prison. rapists go to prison. kidnappers go to prison. in the western world, in democratic society, terrorists are prosecuted.

but in the middle east (excluding israel), society is the opposite of democratic. governments are authoritarian dictatorships (example: iran) built on colonialist and genocidal values with the goal of conquering land. conquests, which by definition use ethnic cleansing, sexual violence, forced conversions, and oppression to actually do the conquering, are an ideal. organizations like hamas, the houthis, hezbollah, ISIS, al-qaeda, the taliban, and the bazillion other terrorist regimes in the region are existentially dependent on islamic fundamentalist imperialism. that, if you didn’t know, is not islam—it’s the belief that islamic sharia law should be implemented via the conquest and reform of the world into a unified and entirely muslim country, or a caliphate.

in other words, colonization. in other other words, freedom of absolutely nothing.

in a world like that, you are allowed to do whatever you want, but you’re only allowed to do it if the government says it’s okay. in a world like that, islam is not just a religion, it’s the only religion. in a world like that, women have no education and are owned by their husbands. in a world like that, being queer isn’t just forbidden, it’s a crime almost always punished by the death penalty. in a world like that, there is no “woman, life, freedom.” there is no autonomy or free will, there is no self-expression, and the government makes sure that there’s no escape, either. (unless, of course, you do the bidding of said murderous authoritarian dictatorship “government.”)

that’s what it means when we say that openly queer, trans, jewish, and all-non muslims would inevitably end up murdered if they stepped foot in gaza. it’s never okay to wish that upon someone, but simply saying that if the average self-proclaimed “pro palestinian” were to hypothetically find themselves

that’s what it means to say freedom of belief is always allowed without specifying that it’s actually only allowed in the western world. and by pointing that out, i’m not saying that i think that’s how it should be, because i don’t. i’m saying that’s how it is. i’m saying that in an ideal world, no one should be able to follow a belief system that leads to and advocates for violence and oppression. ever.

context matters. in the real context of what’s happening, israel is the only democracy in the middle east. it’s surrounded by countries that are all built on a desire to bring about its destruction. in israel, women are political leaders, pride month is celebrated, half the population are vegan hippies (lmao), anti-war protests happen every five minutes, and churches, synagogues, and mosques stand next to each other. and it’s all allowed.

yeah, the israeli government as it is now is the most right-wing it has ever been. but that does not mean it shouldn’t exist. slogans and chants like “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea” are literally just a death wish to israel, and to democracy in the middle east as a whole.

hate speech needs to be allowed, because hate speech is free speech. but so is love speech, and peace speech, and life speech. you cannot have one without the other. you can’t have good without the bad, and accepting the good means accepting the bad, too. it’s a package deal kinda thing. democracy comes with its limits and downfalls, but it needs to have flaws in order to be a democracy. that’s what “for the people” means. a democracy that tries to be perfect is just a dictatorship.

I feel like people forget context is a thing which is important.

I have been seeing posts saying that zionists don't get to celebrate pesach/passover because zionists bad. These posts are mainly from goy.

Firstly, pesach is literally about jews returning to our homeland after being freed from slavery in Egypt to give the briefest history on the holiday. Whilst it's not a holiday about zionism as zionism is about having a modern day state and it's celebrating our return historically, it still is ignorant as fuck.

Secondly and more importantly; goy, you do realize that you are going "jews i dont like have lost the right to participate in their religion in my eyes".

Like you do realize that someone's political opinions or even their actions do not suddenly remove their religious rights.

You are literally going "I don't like your political view so you deserve less rights"

Pesach is a holiday which all jews have the right to observe.

And that's all jews. Zionist jews, antizionist jews and non zionist jews. All jews are equally valid in their jewness and can celebrate whatever Jewish holidays they want to.

[engineer-gunzelpunk]

Triple Threat Gunzel Fest

First of all, I’d like to celebrate New South Wales Government Railways C-38 Class 3801’s 82nd birthday…, she went into service on the 22nd of January 1943 in her first guise, the Grey Nurse livery.

She got her famous green paint with yellow whiskers in 1947 and the Waratah on the cone in later years. She’s still steaming as of today, not without peaks and valleys in her career. But this Victorian gunzel doffs their hat to Australia’s own answer to Flying Scotsman, whose presence in Oz rail culture is indelible and incomparable.

Second of all, on this day in 1981, Museum (now Melbourne Central Station) was opened. It was part of the Melbourne Undeground Rail Loop (MURL) built to ease congestion at Flinders Street. They are now making significant changes to it to accomodate the new Metro Tunnel stations they are building.

Here’s a little book I have the then named VicRail put out, with some very 80’s pen and ink illustrations.

And finally, the last of the rail related triple threat today, the Puffing Billy Railway has done something to annoy conservatives.

They’ve done this by… explicitly not observing Australia Day/Invasion Day on the 26th of January, but instead are encouraging people to ‘reflect on the values of inclusivity, understanding and unity that are central to a multicultural Australia”. Link

Perfectly anodyne, perfectly thoughtful, right?

Wrong. (I will not link to any of Murdoch’s publications).

It’s gotten the Murdoch media and the Victorian Liberal Party all pissed off, a party that’s full to the brim with OzTrumpists, TERFs and various other Rightwing scum, who are now attempting to pressure the incumbent Government to force a volunteer-run railway to bend the knee to a symbol of vulgar Australian chauvinism that has come to symbolise everything ugly and embarrassing about the Australian mentality. The stupid flags as capes at the Big Day Out, the Howard-era ‘relaxed and comfortable’ mentality that goes hand in glove with a fearful xenophobia, the almost-‘Murica!’ levels of self-congratulatory jingoism that was cultivated in that period between 1996-2007 that almost everyone here is too young to remember and that I hated growing up in. (My apologies if you are Aussie and were around for the John Howard-era shitshow).

It sounds absurd, but given what is going on in the United States under and how Australia Day/Invasion Day has become a localised Culture War issue, it pays to keep alert to these sort of highly charged symbolic battles. It’s already coming at a time with a failed vote for the Voice, increasingly hysterical attacks on Welcome To Country ceremonies and the ultra-Right Federal Liberal leader, ex-cop and evil potato-Hannibal Lector hybrid hell-spawn Peter Dutton’s history of racism.

You may not believe in politics, but politics believes in you. Even if you take an anodyne political stance.

Here is hoping Puffing Billy Railway refuses to bend.