#since double is now legally independent

[shyacross]

Double Trouble's Double has been emancipiated from Double Trouble and is it's own legal individual

[heritageposts]

By Haidar Eid, associate Professor at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza.

Now that we have heard the interim judgement the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, we can confidently say a new world order is in the making. The World Court confirmed today that South Africa’s charge under the Genocide Convention that “Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza” is “plausible”. It has further ruled that Israel must “take all measures” to avoid acts of genocide in Gaza. The court has stopped short of calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, which has already been demanded by an absolute majority of world nations. Still, most of the “provisional measures” called for by the Republic of South Africa have been endorsed by the court. It is difficult to see how Israel can implement these measures and fulfil its obligations under the Genocide Convention, without agreeing to a ceasefire. There is no indication, of course, that Israel has any intention of heeding the Court’s provisions. In fact, since the ICJ heard South Africa’s case two weeks ago, Israel has doubled down on its genocidal acts in Gaza. In the past 24 hours alone, it carried out 21 mass killings, murdering 200 and injuring 370 civilians. So Israel’s message to the Court, and the world at large, is clear: It does not care for the opinion, demands or “measures” of any international institution – legal or political. It will do as it pleases. [...] Israel may not heed the court’s rulings and provisions, but South Africa’s historic stance will still have consequences. As stated by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa after the ICJ’s interim decision: “Third States are now on notice of the existence of a serious risk of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. They must, therefore, also act independently and immediately to prevent genocide by Israel and to ensure that they are not themselves in violation of the Genocide Convention, including by aiding or assisting in the commission of genocide. This necessarily imposes an obligation on all States to cease funding and facilitating Israel’s military actions, which are plausibly genocidal.” With this case, South Africa has put not only Israel, but the entirety of the global justice system on trial. This case is a major turning point for humanity, because it marks the first time in history when a Global South country bravely crossed a red line drawn by the colonial West and demanded its favourite settler colony, Israel, be held to account for the crimes it has long been committing against an Indigenous people. Today, thanks to South Africa, the entire colonial West, and its centuries-long history of theft, dispossession, and injustice is on trial at the World Court. Future generations will remember January 26, 2024, as the day on which the world has finally decided to hold a genocide state, and its powerful backers, accountable for repeated, longstanding violations of international law. Yes, a new world order is in the making.

. . . full article on al jazeera (26 Jan 2024)

[colourstreakgryffin]

Hi I’m the anon who submitted the ‘Hi! I hope you’re having a good day, I was wondering if you could do a platonic fanfic with parental Husk and Angel dust with a teen reader who tries to sneak out to prove their ‘adult’ enough to go out on their own. Maybe they get caught w a secret S/O 🤔’ ask and to answer your question I think a Huskerdust parental duo would be killer, thanks!

Hmmm… okaaay! That can work! This is my first Angel Dust writing as well! Let’s just pretend HuskerDust isn’t built on sexual harassment and that these two get married after a healthy relationship— just a little AU for a, could be, cute couple… if it’s handled better! Also, sorry… this is kinda short

Husk and Angel Dust- Growing Up

Before anything starts. Let’s establish how these two gay dads treat their adoptive teenage child!

Husk is a doting and caring but also strict and wise father. He gives off the most brutal but truthful advice and reality facts. He is a loving parent and won’t tolerate his child being mistreated or bullied so you can always turn to him when upset or in need for help, he is emotionally intelligent and protective after all

Angel, on the other hand, is the most affectionate and mindful father you’ll ever meet and have. He isn’t the one to deal out the punishments, he’s the fun one. Playing with his child, giving them unconditional love, support and encouragement but he is also quite protective. He will come running at the drop of a hat

Whilst both Husk and Angel encourage their kid to be independent and not rely so much on them, they aren’t a fan of letting you out on your own. You are still fifteen and therefore, completely vulnerable to this nightmarish hellfire realm called H E double hockey sticks

However, you’re determined to prove to both of your dads that you’re capable of defending yourself and be an adult so you’ve been recently sneaking out of your home and going around Pentagram City. On your own, no protective powerful Overlord father or protective infamous actor father

You’ve been doing it for weeks now. Going behind your dads’ back to prove to yourself, then to anybody, your complete and utter independence… but of course, all good things must end

And both of your dads had caught you escaping the house through the window and your beloved partner, a demon you fell in love with and begun dating in secret, just waiting in the backyard of your home whilst you climb out

Husk is very annoyed and ordering you to explain yourself, not at all happy with what you’ve done whilst Angel is dragging you off the windowsill and is resisting the urge to cry since his heart is broken

Your dads fend off your lover, not wanting to deal with them at this moment whilst they are trying to scold their child for doing this… and yes. This causes a big old fight with your parents. You just wanted to prove that you can handle yourself whilst your dads aren’t happy that you did something so reckless and harmful to yourself

Husk takes a bit longer to own up to his accident. Making you cry and angrily go to bed. You’re nearly a legal adult and they are shackling you… Angel can sense how you feel and immediately apologies for his lashout and tries to encourage his husband to do the same thing

When they do. They talk to you, accepting and encouraging, to try make a compromise inbetween you wanting to go outside at night to have fun with your lover, and talking to them and informing them about your location so you three will be happy

Husk lays down the must text them rule with this accommodation himself and his husband have made for you, their precious baby, that you must follow this at all causes whilst Angel is actually excited about you going to have fun on your own but begs you to inform either himself or his husband if anything bad happens to you

They just love you… please. Give them a break, they’ll try their best to let you do whatever you want on your own… as long as they know you’re okay

“Heartthrob. Do you have your present for your partner? Yes? That’s good. When you get to the party, text me or your father so we know you’re okay. That’s all we ask now. Here, let me finish rolling you up before you go”

“Fluffball! Fluffball! Fluffball! Aww! You look so precious! You’ll blow the competition off the dancefloor and you’ll make that partner of yours’ jaw drop! Make sure to shoot me or your dad a text when you’re there, ‘kay?“

[driftwithme]

Hopeful Pacific Rim Headcanons!!!!

Getting exposed to the anteverse made Raleigh healthier, somehow. The theory is that the breach did something to him when it scanned his genetic code, the same as Mako.

Newt and Hermann only know about it 'cause they drifted with that kaiju brain and recognised the strange part of their blood samples. They are also currently working on their memories to see if they can learn more about the kaijus and prevent another breach from happening.

Mako, Newt, Hermann and Raleigh are not entirely human anymore? They are not sure either way.

The closing of the breach, as violent and unexpected as it was, warped Earth time frame. It took LOCCENT some hours to notice that Sttiker Eureka seemed to be floating in the ocean as if nothing had happened. It didn't cure Pentecost like it happened with Raleigh, but it kept them (Stacker and Chuck) alive.

Herc doesn't believe in miracles and he doesn't give credit to the kaijus for the good in his life. For him, getting Chuck back is entirely a product of the skill of the rangers he works with. Humanity doing the impossible time and time and time again.

As an apology for defunding the jeager program and almost dooming humanity in the process, the United Nations kept the PPDC running. There's not enough money to return the jaeger program to what it was, so they all have to adapt.

The PPDC focus is on an hypothetically second invasion now.

J-techs work on creating a new mark of jaegers, smaller, safer, cheaper, but still enough to face a kaiji and win. There are some improvements they want to make as well, like a mechanism of defense that protect the jaeger limbs, maybe spikes or something like that; new escape-pods for the pilots; a kaiju dna detector/radar; and many more.

Along with the classic studies, K-science now includes a whole side dedicated on studying the social and possibly cultural aspects of the kaijus and the anteverse. Another side is dedicated to a better use of the kaiju remins and parts, lile studies on how to regenerate skin or reverse brain damage or use the same system of the kaijus to help the decontamination of the planet.

With the experience of former jaeger pilots, the program's updating the whole cadet training. New simulations based on double and even triple events with Slattern as a possible enemy, new fight techniques for underwater and on air scenarios, a basics of kaiju anatomy and strategies... The pilots also help with the majority of the research nd development of the other areas!

The UN also granted the PPDC the right of working independently of any nation and the exclusivity of jaeger creations. Super important to avoid military forces trying to create their own jaegers to use against mankind, or companies trying to use the drift technology for cold profit, with no ethics attached.

The PPDC allow teens above 16 years old to start their studies in ares like k-science and j-tech, but to join the jaeger pilots program the person must be 18 years old and only become legal rangers after their 22th birthday. Without the kaijus threatening the world, the PPDC has the luxury of going slow with the cadets, selecting only the best and even providing a lot of experience and grow before putting them in charge of a real jaeger. That's to prevent another Scott Hansen, or to prevent teens like Chuck and Raleigh from jumping into the fire before properly maturing, since there's no need of being in such a hurry.

The wall becomes a giant memorial, with artist allowed to practice their crafts on it as they pleased. It's also a reminder: humanity is not alone, the kaijus could come back. Yet, as long as the jaeger program exists, there's always hope to cancel the apocalypse, stop the clock.

[centrally-unplanned]

Since I myself have often been a counter-critic to the AI art critics, lets flip that around. Was some of the "IP law hypocrisy" discouse floating around today, you know the stuff - oh everyone hates on Big Brother Nintendo or Disney or w/e for their machine gun copyright lawsuits, but now that generative AI is out its all about IP-senpai being a dashing prince coming in to save them. Either you like it or hate it, right? Pick a lane.

Which, for sure btw this describes some of them. Those who pretty much want AI dead for essentially spiritual reasons, yeah. But I think those are the weakmen, because the rub is that IP law is not gonna change any time soon. Those reform efforts seem pretty dead in the water, the artistic socialist utopia isn't happening. Which means you need to live in the world you have, which means you need to play the game that everyone else is playing.

OpenAI is gonna use copyright law to its advantage! As will Disney and co when fighting/balancing/dealmaking/collaborating with OpenAI and its slate of competitors. Every AI company is going to work as hard as possible to train models as cheaply as possible and sell them as expensively as possible, and part of that is going to be to push IP law in its favor around what counts as fair use, what is ownership, etc.

And while all law is really process, forever contested & changing, that is double+ true for IP law. If you think the New York Times has no chance in its lawsuit against Open AI for its use of its article archives, I think you are insulting their extremely-qualified legal team who knows way more than you. All of this stuff is up for grabs right now, no one really knows how it will shake out.

So if you are an actual career independent artist, there is in fact a lot at stake. What is the legal line for mimicking someone's "style"? Does explicit training on your previous art to generate equivalents count as transformative work? These are quasi-open legal questions, and again since the system is absolutely not going away in any form, its extremely logical to want that system to work for you. "Free art" isn't on the table; the real question is who is gonna be at the table to write the next iteration of owned art. Being at the table is an obvious desire to have. You can still wish there wasn't a table to begin with, that isn't hypocritical at all.

[richincolor]

New Releases - Week of Oct. 9, 2023

We have history, fantasy, a contemporary rom-com, a memoir, and a retelling this week. It's quite a range in just four books. Does anything catch your eye?

Brooms by Jasmine Walls Levine Querido

It’s 1930s Mississippi. Magic is permitted only in certain circumstances, and by certain people. Unsanctioned broom racing is banned. But for those who need the money, or the thrills…it’s there to be found.

Meet Billie Mae, captain of the Night Storms racing team, and Loretta, her best friend and second-in-command. They’re determined to make enough money to move out west to a state that allows Black folks to legally use magic and take part in national races.

Cheng-Kwan – doing her best to handle the delicate and dangerous double act of being the perfect “son” to her parents, and being true to herself while racing.

Mattie and Emma — Choctaw and Black — the youngest of the group and trying to dodge government officials who want to send them and their newly-surfaced powers away to boarding school.

And Luella, in love with Billie Mae. Her powers were sealed away years ago after she fought back against the government. She’ll do anything to prevent the same fate for her cousins.

Brooms is a queer, witchy Fast and the Furious that shines light on history not often told – it’s everything you’d ever want to read in a graphic novel.

The Fall of Whit Rivera by Crystal Maldonado Holiday House

Frenemies Whit and Zay have been at odds for years (ever since he broke up with her in, like, the most embarrassing way imaginable), so when they’re forced to organize the fall formal together, it’s a literal disaster. Sparks fly as Whitney—type-A, passionate, a perfectionist, and a certified sweater-weather fanatic—butts heads with Zay, a dry, relaxed skater boy who takes everything in stride. But not all of those sparks are bad. . . .

Has their feud been a big misunderstanding all along?

Blisteringly funny and profoundly well-observed, The Fall of Whit Rivera is a snug and cozy autumn romcom that also tackles weightier topics like PCOS, chronic illness, sexuality, fatphobia, Latine identity, and class. Funny, honest, insightful, romantic, and poignant, it is classic Crystal Maldonado—and it will have her legion of fans absolutely swooning.

Huda F Cares by Huda Fahmy Dial Books

Huda and her sisters can’t believe it when her parents announce that they’re actually taking a vacation this summer . . . to DISNEY WORLD! But it’s not quite as perfect as it seems. First Huda has to survive a 24-hour road trip from Michigan to Florida, with her sisters annoying her all the way. And then she can’t help but notice the people staring at her and her family when they pray in public. Back home in Dearborn she and her family blend right in because there are so many other Muslim families, but not so much in Florida and along the way.

It’s a vacation of forced (but unexpectly successful?) sisterly bonding, a complicated new friendship, a bit more independence, and some mixed feelings about her family’s public prayers. Huda is proud of her religion and who she is, but she still sure wishes she didn’t care so much what other people thought.

Realm of Wonders (The Queen’s Council #3) by Alexandra Monir Disney Hyperion 

Jasmine thought that she had earned her happily ever after when she and Aladdin defeated Jafar. Then her beloved father dies and, overnight, all her plans for the future change. Instead of her wedding, she’s now planning a funeral and a coronation—her coronation, to become the first woman to rule Agrabah. Jasmine has always been headstrong, but for the first time in her life, she finds herself faltering.

Then from beyond the grave, her father seems to pass along a message: Someone is coming. She must find the book. Before Jasmine can figure out what that means, her claim to the throne is called into question.

Her father’s old counsellors decree that the best way to determine the true ruler is a tournament; a series of tests, each one increasing in difficulty—and danger. Now, with help from the mystical Queen’s Council, Jasmine must assemble her own team of advisers, win the tournament, and uncover the mystery of her father’s last message, so she can prove to her people—and herself—that she deserves to rule Agrabah.

[kimabutch]

a double congrats on seminary!! feel free to ignore this if it's too personal/complicated/you don't want to answer for any reason, but i wasn't aware that the anglican church was chill about queer people? most of my knowledge comes from having a special interest in cs lews though lol. is it one of those denominations that varies from church to church?

Double thanks!!

And the Anglican Communion is... complicated. Unlike the Roman Catholics, each national Anglican Church is independent and autonomous, and while they have occasional get-togethers (Lambeth Conferences) and make resolutions, those resolutions aren't legally binding. What this means is that Anglicanism can look pretty different depending on where you are and Anglicans worldwide have some pretty deep disagreements.

Queer people are one of those points of deep disagreements, and in fact at our last few Lambeth Conferences, there have been intense debate about it — at the conference last year, some conservative bishops refused to take communion with pro-queer bishops, and many pro-queer bishops (including my own!) wrote a letter affirming queerness.

The Anglican Church of Canada specifically is generally better about queer people; as you said, it varies, but more at a diocese (regional) level than a church-to-church level, because of the power afforded to dioceses to make their own decisions about things. My own diocese has allowed priests to preside over gay marriage for over 10 years, and has been blessing gay unions for 20. In various dioceses in Ontario, we've had openly gay priests and at least one gay bishop, and Manitoba's got an openly trans priest (so at least I wouldn't be the first in Canada!) I marched with my church and diocese in my local pride parade this summer; my church has a gay flag on it and has been pro-queer since before Canada allowed gay marriage. I have so many wonderful little stories about my church being affirming, actually, but I'll save those for another time — I'll just say that it's one of the places that I feel safest as a nonbinary person.

Other regions, particularly in the prairies, aren't so chill. Some conservative churches have broken away from the Anglican Church because anyone likes gay people. There's been a lot of effort at a national level to pass an act that would allow gay marriage throughout all Anglican churches in Canada, but it's still not happened, for reasons ranging from homophobic churches to COVID-19. I think one day it will, but for now, it's super shitty and sometimes causes me a lot of grief and anger. It's the reason I considered leaving the Anglican Church entirely, despite loving so many of its traditions and ways of worship. I decided it was worth it in the end, especially as I'm so supported in my region, but yeah, it's hard.

Anyways, yes, it's complicated!

[wromwood]

Something happened in therapy recently that has definitely happened to me before, and I wanna think about it for a bit.

So, I'm transitioning from one social worker to another because the new one will likely be a better fit for me. During our last session, I answered a few final questions in the previous social worker's assessment of me. In a past session, I'd mentioned that I was autistic, so she asked if I'd had any specialized learning plans or teachers/tutors during elementary/grade school, particularly after any evaluations I'd had. I answered no, but whether or not I needed that kind of help, an evaluation would've been amazing to have at that time.

The social worker looked a little surprised and asked when I had my autism evaluation. She got even more surprised when I answered that it happened a couple of years ago.

"But that's so recent," she said, double-checking my age to confirm that I had, indeed, been a legal adult two years ago.

"Uh, yeah," I said. I explained that I'd only gotten my evaluation at all because I was fed up with failing to convince my parents to do anything since I'd started asking about this in my teens, and finally realized "Wait a minute, I'm a legal adult now. I can schedule my own damn autism evaluation."

After confirming that I'd been evaluated in a legitimate medical setting (in fact, it was a research center in the clinic's own larger medical system), she asked what sort of autism I had. I had to explain where on the spectrum I was, how I didn't have "special needs" as most people understood them, how I could be independent, the whole thing.

I guess the reason this stuck out to me so much is that she didn't ask all these questions when I first mentioned that I was autistic, or when we discussed how an ideal social worker would be one who was experienced with autistic people. We talked about this, but she only asked further questions when she realized I wasn't someone who had been diagnosed in childhood. I suppose the assumption was that if I'd been diagnosed in childhood, then it would've shown in my schoolwork or social life in a very noticeable way, but as an adult, I would've worked through it and become the relatively-not-very-autistic seeming adult I am now. Or that I only would've sought out an evaluation as an adult for more "severe" signs of autism that would be more apparent when talking about my life.

I dunno, I'm not upset about it or anything, and otherwise, the social worker is great at her work. I just it's just a clear sign that there's still a stigma (perhaps lighter now than it used to be) about when and why someone would get evaluated for autism.

[anthonybialy]

Bill of Wronged

Our rights have been taken to not be safe.  People get every benefit otherwise.  Attempting to manipulate the universe on our behalf is super kind of authorities who expect the gesture to compensate for not actually doing it.  We only get a vote technically.

Wondering how could one be in favor of guns is popular amongst those not into free will.  Sanctimony about how implements hurt bodies and feelings replaces not thinking out that naughty types might obtain them, perhaps even in defiance of legal restrictions.  The mere existence of that choice dissuades villains from initiating nefarious plans.

Figuring what crimes never occurred is hard to measure.  But it’s easy to see what happens when the only people restricted from bearing arms are those who comply with laws.

Trying to get virus season going again is for your benefit.  You’re acting a bit too independently.  A sequel scare might get you to remember who rules over you.  Visionary faux epidemiologists have to plan panic ahead, as one can’t spring fear a month before an election.  The timing of picking a new president is surely coincidental.  Paranoia is a symptom immune to vaccination.

Thoroughness is not a virtue when the right to shop elsewhere is treated as a sin.  The fear of an even worse shutdown sequel serves as an extension of the sickly notion that government should and can be responsible for one’s health.  You don’t get a choice.  That’s supposed to make you feel reassured.

Treating companies who heal you as Satan’s minions is lamentably consistent.  Contempt is similar to what simply must be justified demonization of the gun industry, as they couldn’t merely be offering a product customers want.  Shooting bowling pins in the woods is almost as fun as scaring off potential muggers and tyrants.  But aspiring buyers are told they’re beholden to diabolical shootie-manufacturing conglomerates that would profit any way they could and truly enjoy doing so off suffering.  Compensation for offering something we want is tough to accumulate, anyway, what with inflation remaining a stubborn problem ever since corporations realized they could exploit the populace for excessive profit just after Joe Biden took office.

Pretending money isn’t involved makes life costly.  We’re trying complimentary living right now to see how much more expensive existence can get.  You may notice your consent wasn’t sought.  Being aware of losing liberty is the extent of rights. so be grateful perception remains legal.  That’s only because it’s tough to ban.  The Biden White House’s efforts to control social media narratives through coercion show they try their hardest.  It’s too bad they couldn’t invest efforts to suppress narratives into learning trades.

A caring government lovingly protects serfs from the torture of choice.  Politicians who’ve never run businesses dream of reducing options down to one.  The ensuing dream world will just like what happens when government kindly consolidates industries and takes your money without asking.

Bad examples to avoid will have to count as progress.  Your rulers show their contempt for profit by taking as much of it as possible.  They spend it at will to illustrate the peril of greed.  A biblical situation leads to losing niceties such as options.  Imposing unwieldy burdens upon amalgamations is justified by demonizing them as cruel indulgers of decadence.  Similar logic leads to thinking efficiency means reducing options, not multiple options reducing supply.

It’s their fault for both charging too much and not offering enough.  Those who think the only crime is paying bills also coincidentally double as enemies of capitalism, which as a reminder is another name for trading.  Dragging down others because they have nothing which would enable them to participate flaunts a distinct lack of empathy.

If you want to spend six or seven years which could be spent getting a plumbing business going instead majoring in political science, don’t expect to pay.  College shouldn’t cost anything, at least according to attendees.  Students who take classes in self-righteousness specialize in claiming they benefit society, which is a common delusion amongst the least useful graduates.  Humans who actually help went into business for themselves and contributed to society functioning as a byproduct.  I thought liberals believed in collective benefits.

Endless interventions are based in the seemingly reasonable and wholly delusional notion that life should feature protections.  Wanting to be free of fear is as natural as it is impossible.  Evidence isn’t going to deter a plucky hero like your incumbent executive.  We’re learning the notion does indeed alter our world.  The problem is it’s for the worse.  Making an impact on the world is easy as long as you don’t care what kind.

Deciding which amendments they exploit while scoffing at them is how de facto autocrats respect our Constitution.  They’re free to say any moronic thing they want while law-abiding firearms carriers keep them safe.  You don’t have to worry about sluggish trials or, if you’re a Biden, testifying against yourself.  Meanwhile, the country is presently propped up by states possessing the option to have rights.  Liberals would quarter troops, but only if they work for the IRS.  They endure the cruel and unusual punishment of having to live with themselves.

[mariacallous]

As a key supporter of Ukraine, the largest post-communist country in the European Union, and a staunch U.S. ally, Poland’s October 15 parliamentary elections will have far-reaching consequences. Poles will choose between four more years of a populist government accused of several violations of the rule of law, undermining the EU, and xenophobic policies since it first came to office in 2015, or its long-standing opposition, and the chance for Poland to restore its democratic institutions and its international reputation. Regardless of the outcome, Polish politics will remain polarized.

The incumbent Law and Justice party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) gained power in 2015 on promises of “good change” and appeals to moderation. Its controversial chair, Jarosław Kaczyński, the country’s prime minister from 2006 to 2007, did not run for a leadership position, relying instead on more palatable proxies. It was only after PiS gained power that the party suborned the judiciary, used government media as a propaganda mouthpiece while limiting the free media, and eroded independent institutions of monitoring, oversight, and accountability. It has also built a loyal constituency of older, more rural, more conservative voters that brought the party to power in 2015 and reelected it in 2019.

The campaign

The electoral gap has narrowed between PiS and the opposition Civic Coalition (Koalicja Obywatelska, KO), led by Donald Tusk, prime minister from 2007 to 2014 and president of the European Council in Brussels from 2014 to 2019. PiS has been polling around 36%; KO around 30%. Other players include Confederation (Konfederacja), an economically libertarian and politically conservative party aimed at young voters; the Third Way (Trzecia Droga) coalition, made up of the Peasants Party and a movement led by a television celebrity; and the New Left (Nowa Lewica), a coalition of left-wing parties. The hundreds of thousands of supporters marching in the huge opposition demonstration in Warsaw on October 1 was a show of opposition strength — and utterly ignored by the state media.

So far, PiS has used strategies familiar from previous elections: giving retirees extra pension payments, increasing subsidies for children by 60%, lowering gas prices to the point that wholesale prices are higher than those in gas stations, and attacking its rivals as un-Polish, traitorous, and for “punishing children for praying in Polish.”

These may not be enough: Despite many popular policies and the party’s support for Ukraine, PiS faces a demographic problem. Its electorate is overwhelmingly elderly and may be dying off. Inflation and a worsened economic situation may also lead many of its voters to stay at home. Voter mobilization is crucial, since most voters are already loyal to either the government or the opposition.

To mobilize this electorate and ensure its victory, PiS has pursued three additional tactics.

The first is doubling down on popular policies. Despite having signed off in June on the EU’s new migration pact — which aims to create a fairer distribution of asylum-seekers and (at least according to critics) reduces overall protections for them, the party has now announced its opposition to it. It is counting on a repeat of 2015, when the party’s hostility to the wave of immigrants then arriving in Europe was seen as instrumental to its victory. PiS representatives have also been traveling to small cities and highlighting local investments (most of which are funded by the EU).

The second, and least effective, was a new bill that would investigate “Russian influence” in Polish politics and bar those found guilty from politics, a thinly-veiled attack on the opposition. The bill, rife with legal contradictions and vague specifications, was immediately ridiculed and has foundered since.

Third, the party announced in mid-August that the October ballot would also include a four-question referendum: with leading questions on the sale of state enterprises, raising the retirement age, supporting “the admission of thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa,” and removing the wall on the border with Belarus. The idea is to transform anger into turnout.

The opposition, for its part, has decided to focus on substantive alternatives — in the case of KO, exactly 100. The party is mobilizing women by declaring abortion, in vitro fertilization, and contraception to be fundamental rights, especially important after a near-total ban in 2021. Other policy ideas include simplifying gender self-identification, and civil partnerships for same-sex couples (almost two-thirds of Poles favor the latter). The left has also pursued a similar course, proposing to expand the definition of rape and giving women menstrual leave from work. Finally, the opposition has made hay of a recent corruption scandal, where bribed Polish officials were found to have sold Schengen visas despite PiS’ anti-immigration rhetoric.

So, what is at stake?

Ukraine

Poland has been one of Ukraine’s biggest backers after the Russian invasion began in 2022. Poles warmly welcomed over 3 million Ukrainian refugees in 2022, and the government has steadfastly supported Ukraine with military and humanitarian supplies, and in various international organizations, such as NATO, the EU, and the United Nations.

But this strong relationship has recently come under fire: Ukraine is selling grain in Poland. It is within its rights to do so, since the EU’s April embargo on Ukrainian grain sales in Europe has expired. But the timing is awful: The rural agricultural electorate is critical to PiS, and Ukrainian grain flooding the market sent prices plummeting earlier in the year.

PiS is choosing its voters over its commitment to Ukraine and is criticizing Ukraine in unusually harsh terms. President Andrzej Duda referred to Ukraine at the U.N. as “a drowning man” who is dangerous because he pulls his saviors into the water, while Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced that Poland is not transferring new arms to Ukraine because it needs to defend itself.

These statements, which have been highly controversial within Poland itself, are more indicative of PiS’ anxiety over the electoral returns than a fundamental volte-face. Polish governments have repeatedly rejected Russian influence (whether political or material). No matter which government is in power after October 15, it will not turn to supporting Russia (unlike their counterparts in Hungary, or the winner of the September 30 Slovak elections, the notoriously anti-Ukrainian SMER party).

European Union

Much like its Hungarian neighbor, Poland under the PiS has had a difficult relationship with the EU. On the one hand, the two illiberal governments rely on EU funding to survive, and EU policies have allowed them to thrive. On the other, they have repeatedly criticized the EU as infringing on their sovereignty, and are themselves regularly rebuked for violations of the rule of law. While some observers have argued that the Russian invasion of Ukraine will shift the EU’s center of power more toward Poland, that is unlikely: While Poland was right about Russian intentions, it has not developed a sophisticated vision for the future of the EU, much less built a coalition around it. Instead, the party pursues petty conflicts with Germany designed to appeal to domestic supporters.

These are partly partisan problems: A more liberal government in Warsaw would have much easier relations with its EU peers. But some of these issues are structural: On topics such as the European Green Deal, the euro (the EU’s common currency, which Poland has not adopted), or immigration, we can expect little change, thanks to an economy still dominated by agricultural and coal interests and an insistence on Polish sovereignty and border security in Warsaw that transcends party lines.

Domestic politics

For the 2023 elections, the party is waiving any pretense of moderation. Kaczyński himself announced that currently, there is “no democracy” in Poland, but “this time, no one will stop us” in further transforming the polity. For example, the party’s 300-page program announces further judicial changes. If implemented, the policies would further limit judges and the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction and ability to review the government’s policies and actions. The program also calls for the reorganization of the court system and the abolition of the current Supreme Court. The new judges, presumably, would be replaced by PiS-verified candidates. So much for an independent judiciary.

If PiS again governs alone, we can expect the further deterioration of both Polish democracy and its relationship with the European Union. If KO wins, it faces an uphill battle in renewing Poland’s commitment to democracy and reversing PiS’ attempts to shape the constitutional order to its advantage. If either party governs with a coalition partner, its commitments will be diluted and its hold on office more vulnerable, in keeping with the venerable Polish tradition of unstable coalition governments. Whatever the outcome, Polish society will remain polarized. Poland might revert to full democracy — but that can also mean government instability and the promise of more elections to come.

[wolfclaire]

I forgot to specify-

When I said 'blessed by divine powers' I think of it more as someone gaining enough to independently travel universe from universe at their own leisure using their own power with minimal to no damage to themselves, most of them were made already divine but weren't Gods or Saints. If I remember correctly, Celestials in some contexts are servants to Deities much like Angels, but I hc them as they were never alive in the first place and really don't have any obligation to Gods other than they were made by them and are supposed to be their servants but because of the number of Angels already there they basically just went 'Well, the Gods have much more servants than they can ever wish for' and fucked off to experience life

Simplified since I'm terrible at explaining:

(Most) Celestials were made by Gods to be powerful servants for them, eventually there were too many Angels that they were rendered effectively useless, so instead of staying up in heaven or wherever the God that made them was they decided to wander the universe and experience life for themselves

Okay, I think I understand now.

I honestly do not care about any religions (you believe in whatever you want, just leave me out of it) so I do have several blank spots when it comes to it.

I just know that if I do decide to do smt with the Celestials, their powers won't allow them to travel between universes all willy-nilly or however they want. HC-9 Gem can travel between Hermitcraft and Empires, but that's basically it. Even Witch Cleo needed to do a "not-so-legal" spell and needed those anchors to somehow get in her spirit form to the Double Life Cleo.

We can't have it simple here ;)

[accapitalmarket]

Trump Trade reignited, Gold faces deeper downside

Equities in Australia and Japan leapt over 1.0% higher today, with US equity index futures also rallying. Markets greeted Friday's soft PCE data with relief, as the data has taken the edge off the Fed's hawkish rate cut last week.

After the PCE data print, the US dollar remains steady, possibly benefitting from fresh inflows into the US bond and equity markets.

There was no solace for the UK as the underwhelming procession of economic data continued. UK final QoQ GDP flatlined at 0.00%, with the damage limited by QoQ business Investment rising a higher-than-expected 1.90%.

GBP/USD looks tenuous as it has continually failed at triangle resistance since late September. Although US dollar momentum has eased for now, GBP/USD remains just above multiple support layers between 1.2450 and 1.2500. Failure would initially signal a fall towards 1.2200.

GBPUSD

USD/JPY continues its slow rally after the Bank of Japan blinked and left rates unchanged last week. At 156.60, USD/JPY remains solidly anchored in the middle of its one-month rising channel and well above its 100 and 100-day moving averages. A couple of daily closes below 154.50 would be required to change the bullish technical picture, even if the double top at 162.00 looks like a bridge too far for now.

USDJPY

Gold could be the canary in the mine if readers were looking for a signal that the buy-everything Trump/AI trade has temporarily run out of momentum. Gold continues trading on the lower side of its triangle formation. Resistance is at $2,715.00 an ounce, but failure at $2590.00 (also taking out the 100-DMA) could trigger a deeper correction.

XAUUSD

Christmas Eve means markets are either closed, open in spirit only, or on half days across the globe today. China will release its one-year MLF decision, and the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of Australia release the minutes of their meetings last week. I suspect Asia will be in for a quiet session, in any case.

The US releases Durable Goods and New Home Sales.

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[kobold-wizard]

Making a kobold alchemist for a P2E game.

Heres the current lore dump, subject to change

Degree Brix. Named after a method for measuring percent alcohol in wine (by hydrometer).

Tall for a kobold, 3’ 6” clever. Full of secrets. Hails from [City name here] a city that is now 60% kobold, 20% tallmen 10% dwarf 10% other

City was to doubled in size so the dragon Empyre hired a clan of dwarves to create a new kobold quarter thats well designed to work eat and live in an area, as well as develop the other side of the city for new arts, trading and some residency for taller humanoids.

Empyre is like “the Taylor swift of dragons” to kobolds. This is important because politically the city has elections where the % of power is distributed by % of votes. Most popular is president, second is vice, and after that its consolidated power of individuals who form boards and committees.

Point being this celebrity of a dragon always wins president and treats the govt work as secondary to being an artist. Vice goes to a board of tallmen merchants then its a kobold committee. Dwarves are now independent due to a reexamination of their contract with Emypre compared to the tallmen deal and there was a legal loophole that the land is to the dwarf clan and is considered a separate territory so they are now independent.

So on one hand the infrastructure is pretty good due to early developments but kobolds are being left behind since the “Taylor swift of dragons” spends more time on art than ruling the city.

Alchemist working for the Empyre, primarily for like wine and scalecare products but also a secret project division to either create a dragon or like turn a kobold into a dragon to either create a dynasty for Empyre or its like a way to uplift the kobolds into their own independence depending on how the technology is used. Doesnt have to be a violent revolution but the idea of a small dragon raised as a kobold with kobold ideals…. That could challenge the reign of empyre for popularity.

Brix will have a familiar lab assistant which looks like a kobold of average height, i can see this assistant either being a random bold, or a clone, or like Brix laid an egg and stole um genetic material from Empyre to create a kobold/dragon “half dragon”

Could go a few ways from a frankenstein approach to like a rocky horror vibe of creating the perfect draconic being.

[dammit-theclown]

Wish i was still in academia… wish i could finally take specialized courses and have somewhere to go every day with people my age passionate about the same ultra-specific nerdy bullshit. I haven’t used my degree to have a fun conversation in months if not years and I can owe those few circumstances to my boomer-age coworkers in the education/advocacy field. Wish I had deadlines to cram and essays to write instead of nothing to do every day. I know people look down on me for not being in university right now and I don’t even have the energy or heart to tell them I genuinely legally can’t attend school or work right now. Been doing this shit my entire adult life and all i have to show for it is a decent-looking apartment and the same independence adultification I’ve been performing since before my age hit the double digits. Party

[hardynwa]

INEC Blocking Inspection Imo Electection Materials Despite Court Order - Achonu

The Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Imo State, Senator Athan Achonu, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of frustrating his legal team’s efforts at inspecting the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other electoral materials used for the election despite getting a court injunction. Addressing a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Achonu said the election that produced Senator Hope Uzodimma as Imo State governor, was marred by several electoral malpractices which the party is prepared to prove at the tribunal. He alleged that INEC is deliberately placing obstacles on the path of the Labour Party in order to prevent them from pursuing their case before the Imo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal. “What is happening now as I speak is that we went to the court, and got an order to be allowed to inspect the BVAS. This is a governor who claimed won the election by a landslide. There has been no celebration in the entire Imo State,” he said. “Imo Sate looks like a graveyard. But (when) the judgment for Owerri municipal came out the other day (in favour of) the Labour Party candidate, Clinton Amadi, Owerri erupted into joy. The whole streets were almost closed. “Now I begin to wonder how a governor who INEC has declared has won an election. INEC has refused to let us inspect the BVAS. As we speak, lawyers and experts we hired at a huge cost of N30 million are there. We are not been allowed to inspect them in spite of the court order. What is INEC up to? I don’t understand what is going on in my country.” Achonu’s allegation comes a week after he led his supporters to protest at the national headquarters of INEC in Abuja over its failure to issue them the true certified copy of the just concluded poll result. The LP candidate who was accompanied by the National Youth Leader, Kennedy Ahanotu, had accused the electoral umpire of playing a double standard at the November 11 off-cycle election where Governor Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress was declared winner. While Uzodimma polled 540,308 votes, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Samuel Anyanwu polled scored 71,503 votes. Achonu came third with 64,081 votes. Both the PDP and LP candidates have since rejected the outcome of the election and have headed to court to claim what they insist is their mandate. Read the full article

[xtruss]

World Exclusive: Pakistan Ex-PM, The Legend of Legends and One & Only, Imran Khan Says Defying U.S. Policy Led to His Downfall

— By Tom O'Connor | June 10, 2023 | Newsweek

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chair and Former Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks to Newsweek from his residence in Lahore on June 9. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Khan was illegally ousted from the Prime Minister’s Office in a Conspiracy by the “United States, Corrupt to their Cores Lowlives Army Generals who are Ruling Pakistan for the Past 75 Years, Since Pakistan’s Independence, directly/Indirectly, Politicians and Judiciary.”

In an exclusive interview, former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks with Tom O'Connor, Newsweek's Senior Foreign Policy Writer and Deputy Editor of National Security and Foreign Policy, about the ominous road the country he once led is going down, his deepening legal troubles and what he believes was the role of the United States in his ousting from power over a year ago.

With the nuclear-armed nation of nearly 250 million people mired in economic and political turmoil, the conflicting narratives over Khan's saga has threatened to push Pakistan over the edge.

It's the second time in less than two years that Newsweek has interviewed the cricket star-turned-politician who leads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, having spoken with him in September 2021 during his premiership. The following April, he faced a no-confidence vote that pushed him out of power, which was followed by a slew of charges lodged against him under the incoming administration of current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, whom Newsweek interviewed last August.

Today, Khan is largely confined to his residence in Lahore while on bail from successive court appearances on allegations ranging from corruption to terrorism and even murder. In all cases, he has maintained his innocence and accused the Sharif administration along with the influential armed forces of pursuing a concerted campaign to silence him as elections loom in October.

Khan asserts that the conspiracy began while he was in office, as he claims political forces within Pakistan swayed Washington to portray Khan as an enemy of the U.S. Though he rejects this characterization of his views, he does accuse the West of double standards and defends his own non-aligned policy in international affairs, even if he believes it ultimately helped lead to his removal from office and the beginning of a long, growing list of problems.

The Following Transcript Has Been Lightly Edited For Length and Clarity:

Newsweek: It's been less than two years since the last time I interviewed you, when you were on the cover of Newsweek magazine. Then, of course, you were the prime minister. And since then, you've been ousted, you've been shot, you've been arrested, and you're still in the midst of this arduous legal process. Can you tell us what's happened, and where are you right now in this process?

Khan: Well, the people who conspired to pull down my government, which was the ex-Army Chief [Qamar Javad Bajwa], and afterwards, he quite clearly stated [as such]. Because within his own circles, within the army circles, they kept asking, "Why did they remove me?" So, he actually then justified it that I was dangerous. He claimed I was dangerous for Pakistan. And they gave some other reasons, too.

So, what happened subsequently was unique in Pakistan, because on April 9 last year, my government was removed. And on April 10, which has never happened in this country, hundreds and thousands of people came out on the streets to protest. So that took the military establishment, which means the army chief—by the way, military establishment means one man. There's no democratic process there. It's just one man that makes decisions, and he's very powerful. Over the years, the army chief has gathered powers which probably no other army chief has in the world, I guess [except for] places like Myanmar and Sudan, but in democracies, it's unheard of.

But when the people came out, it was a shock to everyone, including myself. By the way, I'd never expected people because we never planned it. It was a spontaneous reaction. And then I went to the public, had a series of rallies, and all were massive rallies, bigger than any rallies in Pakistan. And then there were by-elections. So, my party swept. Out of 37 by-elections, my party won 30, with the army siding with the government. Normally, it is said that the establishment makes you win, but the establishment was on the other side with all the 22 parties or 12 parties. And despite that, we swept 30 elections.

Clearly what happened was, having realized that they made a mistake, the army chief, and whatever his advisers do, they decided that, whatever happens, I should not be allowed to come back.

So, what you're seeing right now is that same process going on, the assassination attempt was part of it. There were two, by the way, there was another assassination attempt on me on March 18. They were part of that, whatever happens, I can't come back. Then, this false flag operation, which happened on May 9, they could easily have come and pick me up, the police could have come and said, "Here's your warrant, and we're taking you to jail." That could have happened, but instead, while I'm sitting in the High Court [of Islamabad], I have this commando operation where they come and smash everything...They beat up everyone. I was hit over my head.

And then they took me away like I was some sort of the biggest terrorist in this country, not someone who was having the biggest party in the country. But the moment I was in the jeep, suddenly they were completely polite, very courteous and polite.

So, when I look back, it was a planned thing because they want a reaction. And as a result of the reaction, this arson took place. Now, my party has been [around] 27 years [since] I started [it]. Never have we indulged in arson or violence, even when I was shot. There were demonstrations, but there was no arson. This time, when I'm inside, three days or four days later, the Supreme Court calls me up and then releases me. It was unlawful, clearly what they did was unlawful. They call it abduction. It wasn't an arrest.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chair and former Prime Minister Imran Khan (left) leaves from the High Court in Islamabad on June 8, a day before his interview with Newsweek. Khan says he is facing up to 150 charges, having received bail for 19 so far. Farooq Naeem/AFP/Getty Images

Meanwhile, I come out and find that this corps commander's house had been burned and a television radio station had been burned, so I was quite surprised. And I thought maybe the mob had gone mad. Then we discovered that it was a planned thing. I mean, everywhere the word started coming that there were these people planted who did this. And amazingly, the corps commander's house is the most heavily guarded house. And yet, while the crowd took two hours to get to his house, the police knew where they were going, there was no protection. And yet the head of our Punjab party is sitting there, this woman [Yasmin Rashid], and she's telling everyone on the loudspeaker not to go inside the house.

Yet, not only are we blamed, but in in the next 48 hours, or maybe slightly more, my entire leadership is in jail. But worse, 10,000 of our workers are put in jail. Now this couldn't have been unless it was a planned operation, pre-planned. How can you immediately know where the workers were? So immediately, 10,000 workers are put in like a military operation. The rest of the workers are in hiding. The senior leadership can only come out if they go on the media and say, "I'm quitting the party." So, that's how the senior leaders have come out. Most of my people are in hiding now who are not in jail.

So, I'm quite isolated right now, and I have to face cases. I've got over 150 cases. Yesterday, I was in court, I had 19 cases. It's unheard of—19 bail cases, and ranging from murder—I mean, the latest case that they blamed me for murder. Out of the 150 cases, one of the cases was that some lawyer had done a treason case on me, which was a frivolous case, it would have been thrown out, irrelevant case really, and the lawyer gets shot in Quetta, which is a remote province. And they put a murder case on me.

So, this is the situation now. I have these cases against me, my leadership is in jail, unless they renounce, and a lot of them have renounced being in the party, and the other office bearers are either in hiding or in jail, the few of the 10,000 people, and it's ongoing, the arrests are happening.

But it's not just that. The entire media, which has asserted its independence over a period of time, the last 20 years, from a controlled media we went to a completely, in fact, overboard media...but very vibrant, they have been [told] that my name cannot be mentioned on television today—there are about 30, 40 channels. Everyone has been instructed. First, they stopped my interviews and speeches, and now I'm completely blacked out.

But the worst thing is our judiciary. There too was a movement. Sixteen years ago, I was put in jail when I joined the movement for an independent judiciary. Our chief justice had been removed by the then-dictator General [Pervez] Musharraf. So, we all stood for an independent judiciary. And actually, that movement worked. The chief justice was reinstated. And from then onwards, the judiciary became fairly independent—in other words, they would be protecting us from the excesses of the executive. And so, we were moving more towards democracy with an independent judiciary, vibrant media. And the only issue was the Election Commission, which was still a bit controlled. Now everything is rolled back.

The judiciary is now controlled; they [government officials] don't listen to the verdicts of the judiciary. One of our office bearers, five times he got bail in the cases he's been in. Five times they slapped another case and put him back in prison...He can only get out if he renounces being part of PTI.

So, this is the situation right now. The party is being systematically dismantled. But bear in mind, this party has ratings today over 70 percent. It is by far the most popular party in our history, and it's a federal party. Normally, the parties are confined to the four provinces. So, the rating is unprecedented in our history. I mean, in what Pakistan is now, no party is as popular, but they're trying to dismantle it. But in trying to dismantle it, they're actually dismantling the democracy.

United States, Corrupt to their cores Army Generals, Politicians and Judiciary Backed “Pakistani Crimes Minister Shahbaz Sharif,” (The Most Corrupt, Looter, Money Launderer, Killer, Terrorist and out of Jail on bails Criminal) sits below a portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who first led Pakistan after independence from the United Kingdom and partition with India in 1947, on February 2 in his office in Islamabad. Sharif heads the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party, named after his brother, Corrupt, looter, Traitor, Killer, and disqualified by The Supreme Court of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, who served three non-consecutive terms as premier, but, like every other leader in Pakistan's 75-year history, did not complete any of them. Office of the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

What you're outlining and what you're saying, is this planned operation, a false flag, a conspiracy. And you've named the military establishment, you've named the Sharif administration, and you've named the United States before. Who's behind this, and how are they coordinating? Where are they trying to achieve here in Pakistan? What's their goal?

Let me just give you exactly what happened. March 6, 2022, there's a meeting between the Pakistani ambassador Asad Majeed [Khan] and the U.S. Under Secretary of State for South Asia Donald Lu. A cipher is the secret, coded message that you get from your ambassadors...So, I get this message. Donald Lu is telling the ambassador that unless I, Imran Khan, am removed as the prime minister in the no-confidence motion, there'll be consequences for Pakistan. I mean, there were other things, but this was the main thing.

Next day, there's the no-confidence motion tabled in the National Assembly. And before that, we see that the American Embassy is meeting our parliamentarians, our backbenchers...[We know] they were meeting because we had the report of meeting... Some of the guys who were going into the American Embassy beforehand were first to jump ship. So, I was puzzled, because I didn't quite understand why would the U.S. object to a deal.

One thing was, I had gone to Russia. Unfortunately, when I arrived, that's the day [Russian President Vladimir] Putin moved into Ukraine. I mean, he certainly didn't consult me. Otherwise, had I known, obviously, I wouldn't have gone. But at the time, our foreign office had said we didn't have a good relationship with the Russians for a long time. And the whole sort of stakeholders, including the army leadership, they all wanted me to go because there was military hardware they wanted from Russia, and then we wanted cheap oil from Russia, plus get a pipeline, plus wheat—we have 2 million tons of wheat we import from them.

So, that's why the trip was planned. When I got there, of course, the same day, Putin walked into Ukraine. So, I think I was criticized for that. But what could I do?

When we got back, there was one issue, they [the U.S.] wanted us, through the United Nations, to condemn Russia. But I kept telling them that, look, if we condemned them, we had done a deal with them for cheaper oil, just like India, same deal as India, and also wheat—we were, as I said, 2 million tons short of wheat—so I said, if we condemn them right now, what about the impact it's going to have on our population?

Because the biggest reason for inflation in our country is always oil. Thirty-six percent of our imports are petroleum, and the oil prices already were going up. Now, they're about $70 to $80 a barrel—then it had reached $110. Anyway, my point was, let's stay neutral like India. I think maybe that was it.

Maybe it was the Taliban. [For] 20 years I kept saying there would be no military solution in Afghanistan, because I know the history. We already [have a] bordering province to Afghanistan, which is also Pashtun. Taliban are Pashtun, they're also Pashtun...So anyway, I'd been saying this throughout, that there was no [military] solution. So, I think that was maybe taken as anti-American, because I didn't believe in that military solution.

But later on, we discovered that it was the army chief. We found out six months after my government went, that the army chief actually had appointed a lobbyist, an ex-Pakistani ambassador called Hussain Haqqani, and he had paid him $30,000, when my government was in power, and we didn't know this. He was lobbying for the army chief who wanted an extension, and he wanted clearance from the U.S. And so, this guy was actually working [for the army chief]. He actually did a tweet that General Bajwa is pro-American, Imran Khan is anti-American.

So later on, we discovered that this was actually my own army chief [who] was feeding this thing. So, it wasn't really initiated from the U.S. It was him who had sort of made me into some anti-American...So, it was a conspiracy. It was the army chief, it was the guy who's the prime minister right now, and the U.S. came into it thinking as I'm someone anti-American.

I would like to talk a little about the situation in Pakistan right now, where we have a severe economic crisis, the effects of climate change and, on top of that, some real security concerns with the rise of militant activity. Are you concerned about the future of Pakistan's stability and the worst-case scenarios in terms of, perhaps, a return to military control, or even a total state collapse of a nuclear-armed nation?

When I discovered that General Bajwa was in the last two, three weeks actually trying to undermine my government, I had a meeting with him, and I tried to explain to him that, look, this is a commodity super cycle going on, where the energy prices have hit the roof. We are very delicately balancing our economy. If this government goes at this period, it will create political instability. And once there's political instability, the economy will go into a tailspin. And these guys who you're going to bring because they're the alternative, they have already been three times in government and twice they've left the economy bankrupt.

So, I said they won't be able to control it. Then I sent my finance minister the next day to Bajwa, who explained to him how delicately the economy was balanced. But once there's instability, there will be a lot of problems, especially on our currency, and then we won't be able to control it. So, he was warned. And this is exactly what happened.

The economy from then onwards started going down, our currency started going down. And then it started hitting our industry. The measures they took then to cut the current account deficit, that had an impact on our industry, which was growing. This is all recorded in the economic survey of Pakistan. We actually were growing in the last two years on an average of 6 percent. We were one of the highest growth rates in Pakistan.

And our industry was all around, the agriculture, production sector, agriculture and industry were really after 17 years growing. So, the moment the measures they took once the current currency started falling, inflation started going up, because the moment your currency falls, all imports, especially the inflexible imports like oil and food, palm oil, all of them go up. So, the inflation started going up.

And since then, it has just kept going down. Now we are in probably the worst economic situation in our history. We have the worst inflation. A year ago, when we were there, it was 12.2 percent. Today it is 38 percent inflation, highest in our history. Our exports are falling. So, the dollar income is going down, our exports have gone down by 13 percent, remittances from overseas have gone down by 13 percent. We have record debt. Right now, we've increased the amount of debt. Our entire revenue collection goes into servicing the debt, the debt is still there, but just paying the interest on the debt, the whole revenue goes in there.

So, it is the worst economic situation right now. And the worry is that what this establishment is trying to do right now to crush us is only creating more economic instability.

The only thing that can bring stability are free and fair elections. What you would want in Pakistan in this situation are free and fair elections, a government coming with public mandate, backing of the public, which then can take the very difficult decisions of restructuring the whole economy, bringing in reforms, the whole governance reforms needed and so on. For instance, our government corporations are making huge losses, but unless you have public backing, public mandate, you cannot really restructure them.

So, therefore, we are stuck in this situation. The measures they are taking are creating more economic instability and political instability, which then is feeding into the economic instability. Our currency is now even worse than Sri Lanka, our inflation is even higher than Sri Lanka right now. And this is unsustainable, because sooner or later something will give, because...in just one year buying power has fallen by about 35-40 percent.

Laborers sit under the shade of a wall along a street in Rawalpindi on June 9. Pakistan failed to meet any economic growth targets for the fiscal year 2022-23, according to a key government report released on June 8, a day before the new budget is to be presented to the National Assembly by the corrupt PDM Government under the Umbrella of The Corrupt Traitor Army Generals, Politician sand Judiciary. Farooq Naeem/AFP/Getty Images

Last time we spoke beyond Pakistan itself, we spoke about China, we spoke about Afghanistan, we spoke about the situation in the region and in the world, and there have been these great geopolitical shifts, both while you were in office and after you've been in office, the current battle for influence between the U.S. and China, Russia's war in Ukraine. Where is Imran Khan in all of this, and where is Pakistan, where should Pakistan be in your vision?

Look, what Pakistan needs desperately is stability. For stability, Pakistan should stay out of any conflict. Because that war on terror that Pakistan joined—which by the way I did oppose—it was a ridiculous thing for us to join the U.S. war on terror, simply because we had trained the mujahideen in the '80s to fight the Soviets. Fighting them was considered jihad, and jihad was glorified, and we have trained people in jihad to do guerrilla warfare against the Soviets.

So, the whole war against the Soviets was conducted from the Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan and, again, 70 percent of Pashtuns on our side of the border, 30 percent on the other side, and Taliban are Pashtun. Most of the mujahideen commanders were Pashtun, except for Ahmad Shah Massoud. So, I kept telling them, "Look, if you now join the U.S. war, how are you going to convince these people that fighting the Soviets was jihad, but fighting the U.S. is terrorism? They are going to turn against us. How can you suddenly convince them that jihad is no longer glorious?"

And that's exactly what happened. 80,000 Pakistanis died in that [war on terror]. And over $100 billion was lost to the economy, because there were suicide attacks, bomb attacks going on all over the country. So, I opposed that at the time. And I think that also might have been considered being anti-American. Because, for some reason, if you don't agree with the U.S. foreign policy, you turn anti-American.

But all I'm saying is that Pakistan, the lesson we learned from that was that we need peace and stability. We have a population now of almost 250 million people. Now 250 million people with over 100 million people vulnerable, 50 million people below the poverty line. What Pakistan needs is stability, to have trade with its neighbors, to have peace in Afghanistan, so you can trade with the Central Asian countries who can go through Pakistan to the Indian Ocean.

So that was my idea, that look, we should stay neutral in conflicts. We need to worry about our population, which is the fastest-growing population. We have a huge amount of illiterate, out-of-school children, our health issues are terrible, we have very high child-mortality rates.

So, my concentration always was, "first worry about your own people rather than getting involved in conflicts." And I basically agree with the Indian foreign policy, because India throughout stayed non-aligned. India's foreign policy, look at them, now—they're trading with China, they're trading with Russia, and yet they're part of the strategic alliance with the United States. And that's how it should be, because your foreign policy must reflect what is in the interest of your own population. And that somehow, in the terms of I guess the U.S., is considered anti-American.

And if Pakistan does not achieve this stability, where is the nation headed?

You know, we are at a genuine crossroads in our history of 75 years. Now we are facing either you have free and fair elections, and you go towards democracy and rule of law and strong democratic institutions, or where we are headed right now [which] is basically a totalitarian state. We are now headed towards those dark ages of martial law where there are no fundamental rights.

I mean, our people picked up—10,000 people being picked up. The maximum people involved in the arson could not have been more than 200. There were only four places that got burned. So, 200, okay, 300? How do you justify 10,000 people for one month have been put in jail in inhuman conditions?

I take pride in the fact that the first time women started participating in politics, taking part in peaceful protests was PTI. It's the first time it's happened. And if you see the footage of our protests, whether it is on the 25th [of March] last year, or our rallies, [there is] a huge amount of participation of women and families. And what they did, the sort of brutality against women is just in our part of the world inconceivable. Women have a certain respect in this society. It's never happened that the women get beaten up and jailed and living in these terrible conditions. It's never happened before.

So, I think this brutality is to spread fear, terror. It is actually to spread terror. That is to stop people supporting my party. Anyone associated with my party is jailed, anyone. I mean, even TikTokers, social media people are picked up. Two or three of our best investigative journalists, one was killed last year, because he was very supportive of my point of view, and anti-this regime change. Arshad Sharif was one of our best journalists. First, they had sufficient cases against him. He then left the country, went to Dubai. From Dubai, the Pakistani government pressured to have him ousted. He left Dubai, went to Kenya, where he was murdered.

Now this other guy, who again, is very anti-the regime change and pro-my point of view, and he has the highest viewership on YouTube, because they didn't allow him on our main TV channel, so he went on YouTube. He's disappeared for 20 days. The court asked him to be produced there. The police said, "We don't know where he is." So, he's disappeared for 20 days and he's one of our top journalists. We fear the worst. We think he's been tortured so much—there's a lot of custodial torture going on. So, we feel that if he arrives in court in that condition he's in, that will create a lot of uproar in the society. And that's why he's disappeared.

So, this is what we are facing right now, them trying to crush this party is actually dismantling the democracy, the whole democratic structures, and basically the future of our country.

Staged by the corrupt to their cores Army Generals and Politicians and Blamed to Imran Khan. Proofs are out now and no one can deny them. Black smokes billows from a building allegedly set ablaze by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party activists in support of PTI leader and former Prime Minister Imran Khan during a protest against his arrest on corruption charges, in Peshawar on May 10. (It’s a Totally Bullshit and Blatant Lie) Though the Islamabad High Court initially approved his detention, the Supreme Court of Pakistan later overruled the move and he was released after two days of massive demonstrations that at times turned violent. Abdul Majeed/AFP/Getty Images

For the readers from around the world who say, "that's happening in Pakistan and that's not my problem," what would you say? Why should people around the world be invested in the fate of Pakistan and your fate, specifically? Why does it matter to them? And what are the concerns if things do not turn out well?

You know, I'm not really that worried about my own fate, because that's secondary. The main thing is the future of Pakistan, which is what I'm worried about. Because I really fear now that this path which we are being taken on, there is nothing but darkness ahead.

Because, apart from anything else, our whole democracy is being dismantled. And remember, our journey to democracy has had many hiccups, because half the time we were ruled by military dictators, each time around a decade, and once the dictator left, then we had to start all over again. And so, then the whole process will start again.

And unfortunately, we had these two families who would intermittently rule this country, they also have three times in power. And so, from that, the progress started with our media. Twenty years, as I said, our media started asserting its independence, until then it was controlled. The government controls the media. The government controls the judiciary.

So, this 20-year period by the Musharraf martial law was liberal compared to what is going on right now. Because I was in the opposition, I went to jail for a few days in Musharraf's time, but it was liberal compared to what is happening now. So then started this movement called the Lawyers' Movement, which went for independence of the justice system. And secondly, the media asserted itself. Some of the media, some of the journalists actually suffered in this time. But we progressed. So, we had moved to a point when we are actually moving towards a genuine democracy.

What has now happened is that this is basically rolled back everything. And unless there's a course correction, by which I mean, free and fair elections, it means basically, that the country has no future, because the economy without rule of law is not going to pick up. Our biggest problem is that, because out of 140 countries, Pakistan on the rule of law index is 129. And this is before this crackdown happened. Now God knows where we are, we'll be closer to Myanmar and all these countries' model because we must have slipped much further back, because then at least there was a judiciary that was protecting us. Now the judiciary is completely subdued.

I dissolved my two provincial governments because we couldn't perform, so we dissolved the assemblies, and the Constitution clearly states that the elections had to be held in 90 days. The federal government refused. After I dissolved my governments, I then went to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court ordered the elections to be on May 14. The government refused. So, if the government doesn't listen to the Supreme Court, what confidence would investors have in investing in this country?

So, the opposite has happened. Rather than any investment coming into Pakistan, there's a flight of capital. People are taking their money out of the country. In the past eight, nine months, 900 professionals have left Pakistan. I run the only specialized cancer hospital in Pakistan, a charity hospital, and it's very difficult to attract cancer specialists because they are in great demand all over the world. And any specialist can get three to four times the salary which he gets here. So, 10 percent of our consultants from our hospital are leaving. Such is this situation right now.

And this would be happening everywhere. People who can get jobs abroad, who are professionals, they are the ones you don't want to lose. So, in this hopelessness, where we are headed right now, with a bunch of guys who have failed consistently, 60 percent of the cabinet was on bail on corruption cases, the sitting prime minister was under trial for one of the biggest scandals, and General Bajwa stopped his cases because he could, and the guy [Sharif] is now the prime minister.

So, in the way we are headed right now, there is hopelessness. And the hope will come with free and fair elections.

As to your point, "Why should the world worry about us?" The world should not worry about what is happening to me. It should be worried about—and I'm talking about the Western world—the professed values of rule of law, of human rights, fundamental rights, custodial torture, democracy. All those professed values are completely being violated in Pakistan.

You can't just use these things when you want to beat up China on Hong Kong or on Uyghurs, or Russia. You have to be consistent. When they see these violations going on, they should speak out. But, having said that, countries always fix their problems from within. I don't expect any interference from outside, like they did in Afghanistan or Iraq to bring in democracy.

But condemnation of values that are professed, they should be a bit consistent in that. There's a complete silence from the U.S. government and the British government, and they're saying it's an internal matter. Since when were human rights violations and custodial torture and democracy being wound up—how can that be purely an internal matter? Because they comment about everywhere else.

An activist of corrupt and illegal ruling party Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) stomps a wall poster denouncing former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party members, in Rawalpindi on May 27. Crime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his administration have accused Khan of weaponizing his massive support base to undermine legal processes. The Wall Poster was Sponsored By the Corrupt to their Cores Army Generals and PDM Government Who are So Scared of Imran Khan that they Continuously Disobeying the Rule of Law and Constitution of Pakistan. Farooq Naeem/AFP/Getty Images

And I have to ask if you see any parallel between what's happening to you and what's happening in the U.S. right now, given yet another indictment against our former president, the first time in history, and concerns here regarding rule of law and electoral integrity?

There's a lot of difference in what's happening in the U.S. For instance, when [former President Donald Trump] challenged his election, and he thought that there was electoral fraud, very quickly, it was proved to be wrong. It was found to be wrong immediately, because you have very good systems there. And secondly, the attack on Capitol Hill, I mean, if it happened in Pakistan, we would be the first to condemn it.

But if you are trying to say about me and Donald Trump, our worldviews and our ideologies are completely different. I am opposite to his neoliberal economics. And he thinks greed is a great thing because the more you make, the more you grow.

I'm not really against that because our country, we have a bad experience. Basically, there's a ruling elite that has captured our country. So, when I talk about real democracy and rule of law, I was inspired when, as a teenager, I went to England to study and then I played professional sport. It was the first time I discovered what is rule of law, because we had at that time martial law, you actually have rules there, you're not independent, you're not a free country. So, it's the first time I understood what rule of law meant.

And I used to compare my own society all the time, because half the time I was playing for a long time professional sport in England, and half the time I was in my own country. So, when I gave up cricket and started my politics, the main reason was rule of law. I called it Movement for Justice [the English name for Tehreek-e-Insaf], justice and rule of law. Because this elite was sucking the blood of our country. They were above law.

Either we were military, which was above law, or we had these politicians who would indulge in corruption, but they were above the law. They would not be challenged by our judiciary or institutions. And even when they were caught, they would then be given immunity from the corruption cases, which was given by what was called the NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance] by Musharraf.

My whole movement was to bring the powerful under the law, which is the only difference between prosperous societies and poor societies. This is, as a 17-year-old, my experience of the world, the difference between prosperous countries and poor countries is just one: rule of law. If you have rule of law, you have prosperity. Because all the things, you attract investment, people feel safe.

In Pakistan's case, I mean, our people from here are investing in Dubai. Just in the last few years, $10.4 billion of property was bought by Pakistanis in Dubai, because they feel there's rule of law there. So not having rule of law means we are deprived of investment from the 10 million overseas Pakistanis. Ten million Pakistani's GDP is more than 250 million Pakistanis here. And if you could have attracted their investment, we would not have been in this problem right now. But the problem is they cannot invest in this country, because they do not trust our justice system.

And when you're 129 of 140 countries before this crackdown you can understand that they would go and invest in Dubai and Malaysia, in other countries, but they don't invest in this country. So, if we could only track their investment, Pakistan would be able to stand on its own feet. India and China when they opened up, the first investment started coming from overseas Chinese and overseas Indians.

Newsweek has reached out to Hussain Haqqani (More than 99% People of Pakistan Consider this Schizophrenic a TRAITOR) and the Pakistani Embassy to the United States for comment on allegations made throughout the interview.

Reached for comment, a U.S. State Department spokesperson referred Newsweek to deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel's remarks during a press conference Tuesday in response to Khan's allegations that Washington was manipulated into backing efforts to oust him.

"These allegations are categorically false; you have heard me say this before. Pakistani politics are a matter for the Pakistani people to decide and for them to pursue within the auspices of their own constitution and laws," Patel said at the time. "The U.S. values our longstanding cooperation with Pakistan, and we've always viewed a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as critical to U.S. interests. And that remains unchanged." (No One Believes United States. US is an Arrogant, Stubborn, Hegemonic, Liar, Double-faced, War Monger, War Criminal, Fake Democracy Preacher and a Conspirator. United States’ History is full of Bullshits and Interferences in Other’s Countries Affairs and Toppling them to Bring Puppets in Powers Who Love to Lick Its Scrotums and Accepts their Destructive Policies. Unfortunately Imran Khan Says F*** You United States!. I will run Pakistan with Independent Foreign Policies. So STFO Uncle Sam.)