#tax justice network

[siliconpalms]

Tax haven ranking: UK protects itself while keeping world defenceless to British tax havens

Global findings British Virgin Islands, Cayman and Bermuda remain the biggest threat to countries’ public purses, while the UK raises its own defences against global corporate tax abuse The UK’s “rules for me, not for thee” attitude is why countries must press on with plans to agree global tax rules democratically at the UN, the Tax Justice Network urges Lax rules on royalties and service…

[millionmovieproject]

In this week's episode, at the 6 month mark of the US/Israeli terror campaign against Palestine and the surround countries, we discuss the lack of public support vs the US government's ongoing supplying of weapons and funds, the attack on World Central Kitchen aid workers and Iranian embassy, and more.

[soon-palestine]

We write this call from our student movement in the Gaza Strip, from the heart of occupied Palestine, from under the brutal Zionist bombing, explosions, and the clutches of the monstrous nightmare of death that lurks around us in every corner, house, and street.

We raise it from prison cells, from beneath the destruction, and from inside the rubble, to send it to our fellow students, our comrades, brothers and sisters, in all the universities, schools and institutes of the world everywhere, & we address the global student movement… that was launched in order to stop the genocidal war that is being engineered and financed by the governments of the United States, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia and others… this courageous student movement that was born in the universities as an integral part of our struggle, that expresses the conscience of students and peoples who yearn for justice and freedom.

We in the Gaza Strip look at you with pride and honour, as you are a revolutionary fighting vanguard, and a natural and integral part of our Palestinian liberation movement. You have come in a resounding, honest and clear response against the Israeli massacres and those who finance them, confronting the companies of the Zionist war of genocide and ethnic cleansing that have claimed the lives of thousands of Palestinian students of all ages… including hundreds of struggling Palestinian student cadres, wounded and imprisoned, in addition to our great loss in the martyrdom of our professors and teachers, and the destruction of our universities, institutes and schools.

Today, we call on you, from the midst of massacres and siege, to a new revolutionary phase of comprehensive escalation. We call on you to raise the pace and ceiling of your struggle and your honorable stances, quantitatively and qualitatively, against the institutions, corporations, and governments that participate in the slaughter of our children, our students, and our people.. In Rafah, Jabalia, Khan Younis, and the entire Gaza Strip, and against the settler gangs, armies of Zionist killers, that commit their crimes in camps, cities and villages in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. We call on you to besiege the White House in Washington, and to surround Western colonial governments and Zionist embassies, and the corporations that finance the Zionist entity and arm its criminal army with all kinds of bombs and means of death and destruction. These criminal colonial symbols represent the forces that support “Israel” to kill us – with your tax money and the money spent at complicit corporations, to destroy our homes, our society, and our future.

Therefore, we call on you to blockade them until the American Zionist aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip stops. At the same time, we renew our call to the teaching, academic, and union bodies in universities, as well as cultural, academic, and scientific figures, to advocate for and support student movements until they achieve their goals. Today we turn to high school students all over the world to participate widely in the struggles and activities of the university student movement, organizing demonstrations, and organizing educational days about the Palestinian struggle for liberation and return.

Secondary schools constitute a strong fortress and a great support for university students everywhere. Once again, we send special greetings to our brothers and sisters, the students of Palestine in the diaspora.

We greet our comrades and colleagues in Students for Justice in Palestine, the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Palestine Action, and the academic boycott and divestment campaigns, and we salute everyone who participated and participates in student encampments. The duty and responsibility of Palestinian students in the Gaza Strip and all of occupied Palestine is steadfastness, commitment, resistance, unity, and alignment with the resistance and the people… …until the U.S. – Zionist aggression stops and the occupation is defeated and removed from our land — all our land, from the river to the sea.

Long live the struggle of Palestine’s students for return and liberation.

Long live international solidarity. And together we will be victorious!

Secretariat of Palestinian Student Frameworks – Gaza Strip

(available in AR original, EN, ES, FR, NL, DE)

https://samidoun.net/2024/05/a-call-from-the-palestinian-student-movement-in-gaza-time-for-revolutionary-escalation-of-the-global-intifada/

[black-fist-order]

This gentleman was a college professor in political science. He gives some intriguing insights here...

"Friends,

A political disaster such as what occurred Tuesday gains significance not simply by virtue of who won or lost, but through how the election is interpreted.

This is known as The Lesson of the election.

The Lesson explains what happened and why. It deciphers the public’s mood, values, and thoughts. It attributes credit and blame.

And therein lies its power. When The Lesson of the election becomes accepted wisdom — when most of the politicians, pundits, and politicians come to believe it — it shapes the future. It determines how parties, candidates, political operatives, and journalists approach future elections.

There are many reasons for what occurred on Tuesday and for what the outcome should teach America — about where the nation is and about what Democrats should do in the future.

Yet inevitably, one Lesson predominates.

Today, I want to share with you six conventional “lessons” you will hear for Tuesday’s outcome. None is or should be considered The Lesson of the 2024 election.

Then I’ll give you what I consider the real Lesson of the election.

None of these are The Lesson of the 2024 election:

1. "It was a total repudiation of the Democratic Party, a major realignment."

Rubbish. Harris would have won had there been a small, less than 1 percent vote shift in the three main battleground states. The biggest shift from 2020 and 2016 was among Latino men. We don’t know yet whether Latino men will return to the Democrats; if they don’t, they will contribute to a small realignment.

But the fact is America elected Trump in 2016, almost reelected him in 2020, and elected him again in 2024. We haven't changed much, at least in terms of whom we vote for.

2. "If the Dems want to win in the future, they have to move to the right. They should stop talking about 'democracy,' forget 'multiculturalism,' and end their focus on women’s rights, transgender rights, immigrants’ rights, voting rights, civil rights, and America’s shameful history of racism and genocide. Instead, push to strengthen families, cut taxes, allow school choice and prayer in public schools, reduce immigration, minimize our obligations abroad, and put America and Americans first."

Wrong. Democrats shouldn’t move to the right if that means giving up on democracy, social justice, civil rights, and equal voting rights. While Democrats might reconsider their use of “identity” politics (in which people are viewed primarily through the lenses of race, ethnicity, or gender), Democrats must not lose the moral ideals at the heart of the Party and at the core of America.

3. "Republicans won because of misinformation and right-wing propaganda. They won over young men because of a vicious alliance between Trump and a vast network of online influencers and podcasts appealing to them. The answer is for Democrats to cultivate an equivalent media ecosystem that rivals what the right has built."

Partly true. Misinformation and right-wing propaganda did play a role, particularly in reaching young men. But this hardly means progressives and Democrats should fill the information ecosystem with misinformation or left-wing propaganda. Better messaging, yes. Lies and bigotry, no.

We should use our power as consumers to boycott X and all advertisers on X and on Fox News, mount defamation and other lawsuits against platforms that foment hate, and push for regulations (at least at the state level for now) requiring that all platforms achieve minimum standards of moderation and decency.

4. "Republicans cheated. Trump, Putin, and election deniers at county and precinct levels engaged in a vast conspiracy to suppress votes."

I doubt it. Putin tried, but so far there’s no sign that the Kremlin affected any voting process. There is little or no evidence of widespread cheating by Republicans. Dems should not feed further conspiracy theories about fraudulent voting or tallying. For the most part, the system worked smoothly, and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to election workers and state officials in charge of the process.

5. "Harris ran a lousy campaign. She wasn’t a good communicator. She fudged and shifted her positions on issues. She was weighed down by Biden and didn’t sufficiently separate herself from him."

Untrue. Harris ran a good campaign, but she had only a little over three months to do it. She had to introduce herself to the nation (typically a vice president is almost invisible within an administration) at the same time Trump’s antics sucked most of the oxygen out of the political air. She could have been clearer about her proposals and policies and embraced economic populism (see below on the real lesson), but her debate with Trump was the best debate performance I’ve ever witnessed, and her speeches were pitch perfect. Biden may have weighed her down a bit, but his decision to step down was gracious and selfless.

6. "Racism and misogyny. Voters were simply not prepared to elect a Black female president."

Partly true. Surely racism and misogyny played a role, but bigotry can’t offer a full explanation.

--

Here’s the real Lesson of the 2024 election:

On Tuesday, according to exit polls, Americans voted mainly on the economy — and their votes reflected their class and level of education.

While the economy has improved over the last two years according to standard economic measures, most Americans without college degrees — that’s the majority — have not felt it.

In fact, most Americans without college degrees have not felt much economic improvement for four decades, and their jobs have grown less secure. The real median wage of the bottom 90 percent is stuck nearly where it was in the early 1990s, even though the economy is more than twice as large.

Most of the economy’s gains have gone to the top.

This has caused many Americans to feel frustrated and angry. Trump gave voice to that anger. Harris did not.

The real lesson of the 2024 election is that Democrats must not just give voice to the anger but also explain how record inequality has corrupted our system, and pledge to limit the political power of big corporations and the super-rich.

The basic bargain used to be that if you worked hard and played by the rules, you’d do better and your children would do even better than you.

But since 1980, that bargain has become a sham. The middle class has shrunk.

Why? While Republicans steadily cut taxes on the wealthy, Democrats abandoned the working class.

Democrats embraced NAFTA and lowered tariffs on Chinese goods. They deregulated finance and allowed Wall Street to become a high-stakes gambling casino. They let big corporations gain enough market power to keep prices (and profit margins) high.

They let corporations bust unions (with negligible penalties) and slash payrolls. They bailed out Wall Street when its gambling addiction threatened to blow up the entire economy but never bailed out homeowners who lost everything.

They welcomed big money into their campaigns — and delivered quid pro quos that rigged the market in favor of big corporations and the wealthy.

Joe Biden redirected the Democratic Party back toward its working-class roots, but many of the changes he catalyzed — more vigorous antitrust enforcement, stronger enforcement of labor laws, and major investments in manufacturing, infrastructure, semiconductors, and non-fossil fuels — wouldn’t be evident for years, and he could not communicate effectively about them.

The Republican Party says it’s on the side of working people, but its policies will hurt ordinary workers even more. Trump’s tariffs will drive up prices. His expected retreat from vigorous antitrust enforcement will allow giant corporations to drive up prices further.

If Republicans gain control over the House as well as the Senate, as looks likely, they will extend Trump’s 2017 tax law and add additional tax cuts. As in 2017, these lower taxes will benefit mainly the wealthy and enlarge the national debt, which will give Republicans an excuse to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid — their objectives for decades.

Democrats must no longer do the bidding of big corporations and the wealthy. They must instead focus on winning back the working class.

They should demand paid family leave, Medicare for all, free public higher education, stronger unions, higher taxes on great wealth, and housing credits that will generate the biggest boom in residential home construction since World War II.

They should also demand that corporations share their profits with their workers. They should call for limits on CEO pay, eliminate all stock buybacks (as was the SEC rule before 1982), and reject corporate welfare (subsidies and tax credit to particular companies and industries unrelated to the common good).

Democrats need to tell Americans why their pay has been lousy for decades and their jobs less secure: not because of immigrants, liberals, people of color, the “deep state,” or any other Trump Republican bogeyman, but because of the power of large corporations and the rich to rig the market and siphon off most of the economy’s gains.

In doing this, Democrats need not turn their backs on democracy. Democracy goes hand-in-hand with a fair economy. Only by reducing the power of big money in our politics can America grow the middle class, reward hard work, and reaffirm the basic bargain at the heart of our system.

If the Trump Republicans gain control of the House, as seems likely, they will have complete control of the federal government. That means they will own whatever happens to the economy and will be responsible for whatever happens to America. Notwithstanding all their anti-establishment populist rhetoric, they will become the establishment.

The Democratic Party should use this inflection point to shift ground — from being the party of well-off college graduates, big corporations, “never-Tumpers” like Dick Cheney, and vacuous “centrism” — to an anti-establishment party ready to shake up the system on behalf of the vast majority of Americans.

This is and should be The Lesson of the 2024 election.

What do you think...?"

Robert Reich...

[cosmic-daydreamz02]

Career Reading

Placements to look at for your ideal career:

2nd house-how you make money

6th house-daily routine and work

10th house-career and public image

MC- career point.

11th house-social networks, long-term goals, opportunities for advancement (2nd from MC, so it shows the income from the career)

North Node - your life purpose and direction ; what you are meant to move towards in this lifetime

Part of Fortune - Where you find joy and success in this life, linked to both material and spiritual fulfillment

Vertex - represents fated encounters in your life. Where and how your destiny unfolds/ your turning point in life (not normally linked to career, but I think it can show what leads you to your true calling in this life especially if yours is in one of the money or career houses)

Saturn- rules discipline, structure, and long-term achievement, where you need to put in consistent effort to achieve success. Indicates your approach to responsibility in your career

Sun- core identity and life purpose, where you shine the most

Jupiter- expansion luck and growth. It shows your opportunities for success

Venus - where you can use your artistic abilities and social charm. It can also be how you attract money and resources

Signs and Career

Aries

• Career style: Assertive, pioneering, energetic, independent.

• Fields: Leadership roles, entrepreneurship, sports, military, anything involving action or competition.

• Drive: You take initiative and thrive in dynamic, fast-paced environments where you can be first.

Taurus

• Career style: Steady, practical, patient, and value-oriented.

• Fields: Finance, banking, agriculture, real estate, art, luxury goods, anything involving material wealth or beauty.

• Drive: Security, stability, and a focus on building long-term wealth. Aesthetic and sensory satisfaction are important.

Gemini

• Career style: Communicative, versatile, adaptable, intellectual.

• Fields: Journalism, writing, teaching, marketing, sales, technology, anything that involves communication or travel.

• Drive: Curiosity and intellectual stimulation. You thrive in dynamic, social environments where you can multitask.

Cancer

• Career style: Nurturing, protective, intuitive, emotionally driven.

• Fields: Healthcare, caregiving, real estate, hospitality, education, psychology, anything that involves caring for others.

• Drive: Emotional security and a need to create a safe, supportive environment. You work best when you feel connected to your work on an emotional level.

Leo

• Career style: Charismatic, creative, confident, leadership-focused.

• Fields: Entertainment, arts, fashion, politics, sports, anything involving self-expression and performance.

• Drive: Recognition, fame, and the desire to shine. You excel in careers where you can showcase your talents and leadership.

Virgo

• Career style: Detail-oriented, analytical, service-minded, organized.

• Fields: Healthcare, administration, research, editing, writing, data analysis, anything involving precision and service.

• Drive: Efficiency and perfection. You aim to serve others by improving systems or contributing to something meaningful.

Libra

• Career style: Diplomatic, collaborative, partnership-oriented, aesthetically inclined.

• Fields: Law, diplomacy, art, design, beauty, fashion, anything involving partnership or justice.

• Drive: Harmony and balance in professional relationships. You thrive in roles where teamwork, fairness, and aesthetics are valued.

Scorpio

• Career style: Intense, transformative, secretive, powerful.

• Fields: Psychology, research, finance (especially investments, taxes, inheritance), surgery, anything involving transformation or mystery.

• Drive: Power and control. You are drawn to careers that allow you to dig deep and uncover hidden truths or manage shared resources.

Sagittarius

• Career style: Adventurous, philosophical, expansive, freedom-loving.

• Fields: Education, travel, law, publishing, international business, anything that involves exploration and knowledge-sharing.

• Drive: Freedom and expansion. You seek opportunities that allow you to learn, grow, and explore new horizons.

Capricorn

• Career style: Ambitious, disciplined, authoritative, responsible.

• Fields: Business, politics, government, finance, engineering, management, anything that involves structure, authority, and long-term goals.

• Drive: Success and achievement. You are career-focused and work tirelessly toward building a solid reputation and legacy.

Aquarius

• Career style: Innovative, humanitarian, unconventional, forward-thinking.

• Fields: Technology, science, social reform, innovation, group work, anything involving progressive change or social impact.

• Drive: Making a difference and creating a better future. You work best in collaborative or unconventional environments that allow for innovation.

Pisces

• Career style: Compassionate, imaginative, spiritual, idealistic.

• Fields: Art, music, healing, psychology, spirituality, charity work, anything that involves creativity, intuition, or service to others.

• Drive: Helping others and finding deeper meaning. You’re drawn to careers where you can use your empathy and creativity to make a positive impact.

Houses and Career Focus

1st House (Self-Identity, Public Persona)

You identify closely with your career. You're meant for careers where you're the leader or face of whatever you do, you're meant to be in the public eye somehow.

2nd House (Money, Resources, Values)

Financial stability and security is what drives you in your career. You would do good in careers related to banking and finance or sales (more like selling luxury goods or real estate)

3rd House (Communication, Learning, Siblings)

Communication, education, and travel. Or working in media. Teaching, writing, or sales/ anything that involves exchanges of info

4th House (Home, Family, Roots)

Home design, family business, real estate. Care giving or working from home. Emotional fulfillment through your career

5th House (Creativity, Pleasure, Children)

Creative fields, working with children. Career allows for self-expression. performance or leadership roles

6th House (Work Environment, Health, Service)

Service industry, Healthcare (especially if you have heavy virgo/pisces or 6th/12th placements), administration, work that requires tedious precision and detail

7th House (Partnerships, Marriage)

Collaboration, requires partnerships in career. Law, any counseling/consulting work, diplomat

8th House (Shared Resources, Transformation)

Finance (other peoples money like taxes, inheritance, etc), psychology, research/investigation

9th House (Philosophy, Travel, Higher Education)

Higher education, travel, law, publishing, career could be linked to foreign lands, (travel vlogger, professor, resort owner?)

10th House (Career, Reputation, Public Life)

Leadership, recognition, achieving goals, public image and success are emphasized

11th House (Community, Goals, Social Networks)

Community service/humanitarian work, technology, collective work

12th House (Spirituality, Solitude, Healing)

Healing, spirituality, charity work, hospitals, or creative/behind the scenes work like set design, director etc

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

Vice President Kamala Harris has captured the support of a key coalition of progressive, youth-led and environmental justice-focused climate advocates, with the Green New Deal Network slated on Wednesday to announce its endorsement of her candidacy.

The development can cut two ways for the Democrats. On the one hand, it’s a boost for Harris from members of a voter segment that analysts agree will be key to victory in November. On the other hand, it’s fodder for former President Donald Trump’s campaign as it coalesces around a strategy of painting Harris as a radical leftist who will block U.S. oil and gas development.

Whether it helps or hurts Harris, the endorsement shows how the Democrats’ late-season candidate switch has upended the 2024 campaign among climate voters.

The Green New Deal Network never gave its endorsement to President Joe Biden, who had rankled coalition members on a wide variety of issues, from his support of Israel in its Gaza offensive to his approval of a large fossil fuel project in Alaska.

Although Biden has taken historic action on climate change, polls showed that he never regained traction with the young voters who lifted him to victory in battleground states in 2020. The Green New Deal Network said it sees Harris as bringing to the race a unique record of opposition to Big Oil and an ability to communicate forcefully on environmental justice as a woman of color.

“This has really lit a candle of hope for a lot of us that have been in the doldrums for the past year or so,” said Kaniela Ing, national director of the Green New Deal Network.

He said the support is not just about climate, but also represents hope for more robust U.S. policy to protect the people of Gaza and Harris’ voice as a champion of abortion rights and communities burdened by pollution. Ing himself is a Native Hawaiian who has written about the combination of historic social injustice and climate change that has threatened his home island of Maui, devastated by deadly wildfire a year ago.

“What the Green New Deal really is, is understanding that everything’s connected,” Ing said. “Making sure our tax dollars aren’t just going to kill children abroad, but to build schools and hospitals here at home. … Local control of resources, self-determination of our communities. That’s the vision Kamala Harris, given her background—being bused to schools, really being a product of a lot of our social programs—really understands.”

[adarinas]

(WIP) Resources Masterlist

*Note: a lot of these are geared toward American and/or English-speaking populations, my apologies, but plenty of them are global!

GENERAL

End Global Genocides Master Document | Another Master Doc | Tumblr Post - Links to Informational Articles/Websites

Donations: Fundraisers - Gaza, Sudan, Congo, and more | Doctors Without Borders | Care.org | World Central Kitchen | Operation Olive Branch | Islamic Relief USA

Discord: Global Strikes Against Genocide Discord Server

SUDAN

Eyes on Sudan | Sudan Solidarity Collective | Linktree - Sudanese Diaspora Network

Info: 500 days of war... | Sudan War Explained - Interview

Petitions/Letters: Stop Sudan War | Justice for Human Rights Abuse Victims in Chad and Sudan | Stop Arming Saudi Arabia and the UAE to stop the Sudan genocide

Donations: Sudan Funds | Tumblr Masterpost - Sudan Orgs/Fundraisers | Water for South Sudan

ROHINGYA

Free Rohingya Coalition

Info: CNN - Hundreds of Rohingya face drone strikes / ethnic cleansing in Myanmar

Spotify - Rohingya Culture Interview

Petitions:

Donations: Mutual Emergency Aid 4 Rohingya | Emergency Aid for Rohingya Orphans and Disabled Families

TIGRAY

Tigray Action Committee

Info: Omna Tigray - What's happening in Tigray? | Tghat News | UN Article from Sept 2023

Petitions/Letters: Petition - Demand Aid to Tigray | Stop the Tigray Genocide

Donations: Places to Donate for Tigray Tumblr Post | Ahwatna Relief

DRC

Friends of the Congo | Focus Congo | Congo Resources Tumblr Post

Info: DRC: Inside the world's forgotten war | Congo Genocide Explained - Interview

Petitions: No Tax Dollars to Fund Congo Genocide | Halt the Ongoing Genocide in Congo

Donations: SOS Congo (organized by Goma Actif) | IRC in Congo | Action Kivu

KASHMIR

Stand with Kashmir | Kashmir Masterlist Tumblr Post

Info: Kashmir - Paradise Lost (BBC)

Petitions/Letters: Stop Arming Indian Occupation of Kashmir

Donations: KASHMER

EAST TURKESTAN

Campaign for Uyghurs | Uyghur Truth Project | Camp Album Project

Info: Persecution of Uyghurs in China - Wikipedia

Petitions/Letters: Change.org - Uyghur Muslims

PALESTINE

Jewish Voice for Peace | USPCR Stop Gaza Genocide Toolkit

Info: Wizard Bisan, a Palestinian journalist

Petitions/Letters: Not Another Bomb | Amnesty - Demand a Ceasefire | Tumblr Post with Petitions | Ceasefire Now | (JVP) Tell Congress - Arms Embargo Now

Donations: Gaza Funds | Low on Funds Palestinians Fundraisers | Vetted Gaza Evacuation Fundraisers | Arab.org Daily Click | Middle East Children's Alliance

ARMENIA

Learn for Artsakh | Help Armenians Carrd | Artsakh Genocide Action Toolkit

Info: Denying Your History - Armenian Genocide

Petitions/Letters: Petition - Stop Erasing Armenian Culture | International Recognition of Artsakh

Donations: Fund for Armenian Relief | Armenia Fund | CARITAS Armenia | ARS of Eastern USA inc.

INDIGENOUS AMERICANS

MMIWG2S | Indigenous Action | NDN Collective

Petitions/Letters: Stop sterilizing Indigenous women without consent | Free Leonard Peltier

HAWAII

Info: Tourism's Negative Impact on Native Hawaiians | Noho Hewa Film (2008)

Donations: Hawaii Community Foundation

HAITI

Haiti Liberation Google Doc

Donations: Hands Together for Haitians | Haiti Outreach | Hope for Haiti | Twitter Thread of GoFundMes/Donation Links

WEST PAPUA

Free West Papua Website | West Papua Resources/Info Tumblr Post | We Need to Talk about Papua Carrd (last updated 2021 but has good info)

Info: United Nations - Indonesia: Shocking abuses against indigenous Papuans | Twitter Thread of Helpful Articles

Petitions/Letters:

ALSO:

The Kurdish Project

KEEP BOYCOTTING, PROTESTING, AND DOING EVERYTHING YOU CAN! FREE ALL OPPRESSED PEOPLES OF THE WORLD!

If you can't donate, share!

If you have any concerns with the links I've posted, please share! I tried my best to verify everything but please let me know if you are doubtful of something! Also, please please share other resources from people who are directly impacted by these genocides!!

LAST UPDATED SEPTEMBER 16 2024.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Andrew Perez and Adam Rawnsley at Rolling Stone:

THE CONSULTING FIRM led by Leonard Leo, the architect of the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority, has worked for billionaire Charles Koch’s political advocacy network and a dark-money group that is currently arguing a Supreme Court case designed to preempt a wealth tax, according to documents obtained by Rolling Stone. The firm even worked to promote a book by Donald Trump cronies Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie. Leo has played a central role in shifting the high court and its decisions far to the right. As former President Donald Trump’s judicial adviser, Leo helped select three of the Supreme Court’s six conservative justices. He also leads a dark-money network that boosted their confirmations and helps determine what cases the justices hear and shape their rulings. The Supreme Court connection has paid off for Leo — big time. In 2021, he was gifted control of a $1.6 billion political advocacy slush fund. Over the past decade, Leo’s dark money network has plowed more than $100 million into his for-profit consulting firm, CRC Advisors. 

Leo co-chairs the Federalist Society, the conservative lawyers network. He is also the chairman of CRC. Like many consulting firms, CRC does not publicly disclose its clients. However, several of the firm’s clients were named in resumes that applicants submitted to an online jobs bank hosted by the Conservative Partnership Institute, which accidentally left the files exposed online. One CRC employee’s 2024 resume says his clients include the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a dark-money group arguing a case before the Supreme Court this term that is designed to slam the door shut on a federal wealth tax. Experts say the case could upend the nation’s tax code.  “In the last Congress, legislation to establish a wealth tax was introduced in both the House and the Senate,” CEI wrote in its petition to the Supreme Court, adding that justices should act now to “head off a major constitutional clash down the line.” During oral arguments in December, Justice Samuel Alito presented a hypothetical where “somebody graduates from school and starts up a little business in his garage, and 20 years later, 30 years later, the person is a billionaire,” and asked whether the government “can Congress tax all of that.” According to the CRC employee’s 2024 resume, Leo’s firm has also worked for the Koch network’s political advocacy arm, Americans for Prosperity. AFP’s super PAC spent more than $40 million supporting former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s failed Republican primary campaign against Trump this election cycle. AFP’s charitable arm has supported a case at the Supreme Court this term pushing justices to block the government from influencing content moderation by social media platforms.

Rolling Stone exposes radical right-wing SCOTUS puppetmaster Leonard Leo's consulting firm CRC Advisors, whose clients were leaked online.

[transfloridaresources]

Today (05/06/24), 4:30pm, Orlando

[Photo ID: Pink to white gradient image with various logos and info boxes. Text reads: 'Save the date: May 6th 4:30pm. Press Conference. 5205 South Orange Avenue - Orlando, FL 32809. Not one step back! Identification for all! Not one step back. Every Floridian. Every Identity. Every ID.' Logos for Orlando for Gender Equality, Free Mom Hugs, Inc., Dream Defenders, Zebra Youth, Come Out with Pride Orlando, HRC Orlando / Central Florida, Spektrum Health, The Center Orlando, GLSEN Central Florida, HOPE CC. /End ID]

[Photo ID: White box with rainbow border. Text reads: 'Statement on DMV Policy Change. LGBTQ+ advocates from around the state organized and mobilized in great numbers this past legislative session. Through actions like protests, letter-writings, die-ins, and more, we defeated 21 out of 22 anti-LGBTQ+ bills attempting to move through the Florida legislature. One of these bills, HB 1639, sponsored by local representative Doug Bankson, was particularly egregious. It sought to redefine "sex" in a way that excludes transgender, non-binary, and intersex people, and to prohibit a person's state identification documents from reflecting their gender identity. As the bill was heading towards its downfall in the legislature, the Deputy Executive Director, Robert Kynoch, of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) released a memo to county tax collectors in late January rescinding previous department policy (IR08 - Gender Requirements), which allowed for Florida residents to change the gender marker on their ID to accurately reflect their gender identity. The memo wrongly excludes gender identity from "sex" in an effort to subvert the democratic process to redefine sex - and prohibit gender marker amendments - absent legislative authority. In a similar way, the legislature continued its attacks on the rights of immigrants and people experiencing homelessness in the form of HB 1451. This bill, which passed and was signed into law by DeSantis, restricts the acceptance of community IDs issued by community organizations to immigrants and individuals experiencing homelessness. Community IDs are essential for demonstrating that a person is a resident and member of a given community. It is already tremendously difficult for these groups to acquire valid identification, and this law imposes yet another barrier to identification.' /End ID]

[Photo ID: White box with rainbow border. Text reads: 'Statement on DMV Policy Change. Accurate identification is a human right; we must demand access to legal authenticity for all. Advocates for transgender individuals, immigrants, and people experiencing homelessness must stand together in the fight for equitable access to accurate identification. We demand that the FLHSMV restore their previous IR08-Gender Requirements policy to ensure that transgender people can obtain accurate IDs. Furthermore, we demand that legislatures take action to protect trans people's ability to obtain accurate identification as well as protect the acceptance of community IDs. Join us for a rally and press conference at SPEKTRUM Health (5205 South Orange Avenue) on May 6th at 4:30pm! WE CANNOT LET THEM TAKE US ONE STEP BACK! Signed, Orlando for Gender Equality, GLSEN Central Florida, HRC Orlando/Central Florida, SPEKTRUM Health, HOPE CC, PRISM, Zebra Youth, Youth Action Fund, Central Floridians for Social Equality, Justice Advocacy Network, Voices of Florida Fund/Women's Voices of Southwest Florida, UCF Students for a Democratic Society, Central Florida Queers for Palestine, LGBT+ Center Orlando, Inc., Come Out with Pride, Free Mom Hugs, Inc., Dream Defenders, Corey Hill, Vance Ahrens, candidate State Senate District 19, Amy Phillips, Beverly Washington, Orlando Drag Queen.' /End ID]

[lgbtpopcult]

Lithuania and Estonia move towards expanding rights of same-sex couples - Baltic News Network

Lithuanian parliament’s Committee on Justice and Order supported last September the legislative draft on civil unions. However, until now there was not enough votes to approve it.

Once the law has been passed, partners who enter into a civil union will have joint ownership, but will have the option to establish a different property regime in a separate agreement, inherit under the law and not pay inheritance taxes. They will also have the opportunity to act in each other’s name and interests, to represent each other in the field of health care, to receive health-related information and similar rights and obligations.

ESTONIA’S RIIGIKOGU, MEANWHILE, HAS PASSED IN THE FIRST READING AMENDMENTS THAT PROVIDE SAME-SEX COUPLES EQUAL MARRIAGE RIGHTS STARTING WITH THE 1ST OF JANUARY 2024.

Estonian Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo explained that since 2014, when the parliament passed the Registered Partnerships Law, but no other legislative acts received amendments, there have been many residents who live in a state of legal uncertainty, which needs to end.

“Now is the time to provide all people in Estonia equal rights. Social changes do not happen overnight. But with these legal changes, which are technical and very symbolic, will definitely reduce the number of people with hateful voices,” said the minister.

She added that laws provide foundation and influence public opinions. This is why legalisation of equal rights for marriage for all couples is a step towards creating a sense of safety and equal rights for everyone.

The amendments passed in the first reading in the Estonian parliament provides the right for marriage for two adult persons regardless of gender. Alongside marriage, the possibility to enter into a registered partnership will be maintained, which provides for the right of the partners to participate in decisions affecting the partner and to receive compensation and benefits if necessary. Amendments provides a simplified approach to transition from registered partnership to marriage.

Both marriage and registered partnerships provide rights and obligations for couples that are not shared by persons in informal relationships. The rights and obligations relate mainly to the receipt of benefits, the management of property, housing and inheritance.

[siliconpalms]

Demystifying Offshore Finance: Understanding The Financial Secrecy Index

In the realm of international finance, the concept of financial secrecy often raises eyebrows and sparks curiosity. Understanding the dynamics of offshore finance requires delving into various metrics and indices, one of the most prominent being the Financial Secrecy Index (FSI). In this article, we aim to demystify the Financial Secrecy Index, its significance, and its implications for investors…

[millionmovieproject]

Ugh the Vote: Uncommitted? | Flour Massacre & Photo Op Aid Drop | Vets Burn Uniforms

SOCIAL CONTRACT live Tuesday 3/4 @ 1pm est

Come by and say hi!

Catch up on our past shows HERE

[anoncryinginthecorner]

TL: You are Her Most Loyal Child (13/?)

TL notes before we get started: This is the 13th chapter in a series, but is good enough to be read as a oneshot. Despite what the author says about this being very fluffy, it is just unmitigated angst. Some context: Reader (Name: Peruvie) is an orphan of a fallen royal family from Natlan, who inherited a lost forbidden art that offers their entire being, soul included, as a sacrifice to gain its strength. Reader used this forbidden art in the fight against Celestia and the Heavenly Principles to sever Arlecchino’s curse from said Heavenly Principles, assuring Arlecchino’s survival and subsequently Teyvat’s victory. In true Shaoji fashion, Reader dies in Arlecchino’s arms after, exchanging their final goodbyes in silence. The original text heavily implies that Reader and Arlecchino never really had a relationship of Father and Child, even though technically Reader is a child of the House. More of this in post story TL notes.

EDIT: I have forgotten to include: Reader set up her own force, The Sixteenth Battalion, based in the Northern Wilds. In summary, they are a Battalion of Knights that are really strong combat wise and are loyal to Reader [There is a LOT of context in the original story that I am not shortening because I will not do it justice]

Reader here uses female pronouns. Not sure if the raw has AFAB. My brain was fried when I wrote AFAB.

Original here: https://hechushishen.lofter.com/post/74d05c86_2bbdd892b

53

The next time Arlecchino looked up, the aurora was dancing in the Snezhnayan sky.

Clervie… Peruvie[i]… One she tried to hold onto, one who tried to hold onto her. Alas, she lost both.

Arlecchino is tired.

She was taut as a bowstring, not really sure when she would snap. She never had the time to mourn your death, even five days later. There were too many losses made for the victory, too many sacrifices.

To The Knave, you were just one of her dead subordinates. To Father, you were just one more grave in the graveyard.

Handling the intelligence networks, placating the Sixteenth Battalion, expanding the influence of the House of the Hearth… Even with Lyney’s help, the workload was still taxing on Arlecchino.

She was nothing more than a robot, obtaining information, processing information, writing orders and giving orders.

Arlecchino really did want to turn into a machine.

So she wouldn’t feel the dull ache at the bottom of her heart reminding her – the person she had lost was important to her.

When you were around, she never felt that the (now suddenly) empty table was in her way. When you were around, she would never feel that her office was too quiet.

Sometimes, Arlecchino would fall into a daze. She would look at that table, seeing you fail to make sense of the intelligence reports, pout, and sneak a glance at her. And when you realised she took notice, you would turn beet red and mumble something trivial from the current report. When you sighed, Arlecchino would feel her mouth curve slightly, a curve that she would wipe from her face when you turned over and stare blankly at you instead, her concern remaining unsaid. Arlecchino’s heart melted from your antics, your small bursts of emotion washing away all her woes.

But when she comes to her senses now, the only thing that greets her is emptiness.

…

Right. You’re not alive anymore.

You died in that fight.

She buried you with her own hands.

She sealed your sword[ii], The Hearth, and sent it to eternal slumber with you in your coffin.

…

Time to wake up, Arlecchino.

Nobody will remind you that you’ve worked yourself to the bone, or ask if you want company on the way home anymore.

Nobody will remind you to eat regular meals anymore.

Nobody will stay with you on the nights your curse flares up anymore.

Nobody will risk everything just to love you anymore.

Arlecchino, night has long since fallen. Since you won’t dream, face your reality.[iii]

54

Lyney and the rest of the children stayed by Arlecchino’s side worryingly.

Arlecchino knew, even without anyone saying anything, that everybody thought she would not, cannot, accept your death.

After all, they were the ones who saw how she soullessly carried your body away from the battlefield into your coffin. They were the ones who saw how she emptily lowered your coffin into your final resting place. Her stare remained hollow and blank, a shadow of who Arlecchino was.

The children agreed – it was her grief. Her grief had brought her to her knees. The passage of time now only served as an exacerbating factor, one that would bring her closer to her breaking point.

They worry that Arlecchino would implode one day. Like a lover woken from their sweet dream to find that their love no longer existed in reality.

Even if Arlecchino never admitted that she loved you all this time.

But that never stopped the children from acknowledging that Arlecchino was just forcing herself to stay functional.

Because she is Father, and she needs to uphold the House.

Arlecchino doesn’t explain herself, letting the children’s thoughts run wild. Once enough time passes, they should forget. And they would learn how The Knave, Arlecchino, is an emotionless, cruel and bloodthirsty machine, one who would sacrifice anything and everything to achieve her goals.

“Father…” Lyney hesitated. He handed another stack of documents to Arlecchino, who worked over her ever-growing pile without looking up.

“Speak.”

“Would you like to take a break?” Lyney inquired hesitatingly, but honestly.

“Our comrades who sacrificed themselves have been cared for, and we have distributed the reparations to their families. The Sixteenth Battalion has returned to the North, and have settled there. Peru- She… She handed over everything before leaving for the battle, so there shouldn’t be any problems with succession.”

But to put it simply, everything has been settled. You can take a break now, Father.

“Excellent job.” Arlecchino praised. But she glossed over Lyney’s suggestion. She doesn’t want to stop working.

If she stopped, she doesn’t know what she would do. Or what she should do.

Lyney sighed internally. With Arlecchino’s response sidestepping the issue at hand, he had to raise it directly. Even if it was rude, trespassing on Arlecchino’s – on Father’s - boundaries, he had to make it said. You were dead, and Arlecchino cannot continue on like this, unless she wanted to work herself into her grave right then and there.

“You need rest, Father. The House of the Hearth is in good hands with us, you can rest assured while you take your break.”

Arlecchino looked up to face Lyney for the first time that week. “Perhaps you also feel that I cannot accept that Peruvie has died, and am using work to numb myself?”

Lyney’s silence proved his agreement.

“Grief, anger… These emotions will never affect me, Lyney. Your concerns are appreciated, but unfounded.”

~

Now that Teyvat’s crisis was over, the colored lights made the Snezhnayan sky their permanent home. They waltzed through the night sky, a stunning dance that served as a subtle reminder of the paradise Teyvatians were denied until their blood cleansed the Heavenly Throne.

It also served as a reminder to Arlecchino how half a decade ago, when you first came to her side and finished your first mission, you had wished for her company under the same night sky. Under the same dancing lights.

“I wish that you would be able to spend my birthday with me!”

A lifetime ago, she agreed. That day, she bought a cake and accompanied you on a stroll through Snezhnaya’s streets. That day, you gazed longingly at the products the different shops had to offer, living the life that you should have led.

That night, you were happy, and that brought joy to Arlecchino. As a prank, you spread some butter on her forehead, only to be met with a small smile instead of disapproval.

That night, she read your lips as you mouthed your wish.

I wish for Arle to remain healthy, happy and safe.

That night, the sky came to life with gold, a rare sight under Celestia’s watch.

“Arle, look! It’s the aurora!” “Looks like my wish will definitely come true!”

That night… how did she respond? Right. She patted your head softly. “I’ll try.”

You never heard Arlecchino’s response properly, and looked softly at her, a silent plea to repeat what she just said. But she never repeated it, and you decided to leave it there.

A lifetime later, she buried her feelings under the snow. The red, green and blue lights in the sky the only witnesses to the unspoken regrets left behind in Snezhnaya’s cold.

~

Lyney caught Arlecchino recovering from a daze again. And again, her eyes had a tinge of sadness hidden deep beneath the surface.

“Father. You need rest.” He emphasized. “This is Her Majesty’s order, too.”

“Noted. I will finish these documents first and hand them over to you.”

Arlecchino dropped her façade of strength, if only by a bit.

55

Her Majesty gave Arlecchino a summons to her Palace and let her off on long break.

The Tsaritsa still commanded an overwhelming presence, but her gaze was no longer cold. The warmth in it reflected the warmth that was now allowed to spread across her land.

“Peruere.”

Arlecchino was taken by surprise. She had not used that name in years. She knelt.

“Your Majesty.”

“My condolences.”[iv]

See? Even The Tsaritsa thinks that you’re grieving. But, other than the ache in your heart that permeated the numbness, you do not feel anything.

If Arlecchino had as much grief when every single child died, she would not be able to do anything but mourn. So why would this death be any different?

“I humbly thank Your Majesty” “Do you have any plans?”

Plans? Arlecchino does not. She was not supposed to be on holiday.

She only accepted the offer to put the children at ease. To show Lyney and Lynette that she is fine, when they inevitably watch her from the shadows.

She would show them that she was not heartbroken, was not grieving, was not… was not mourning the death of you to the point she forgot that she was human, too.

“Then walk in her footsteps.”

Neither party needed any hint. Much less Arlecchino, who knew who Her Majesty was referring to.

Walk in Peruvie footsteps? She never went to many places to begin with. Just a couple. Fontaine, Natlan, the Northen Wilds…

“I will.” Arlecchino agreed.

Silence hung in the air. Just before Arlecchino could excuse herself, The Tsaritsa spoke again.

“She loved you.”

Silence again. Arlecchino nodded. “I know.”

It was obvious.

She didn’t even need to look hard to know. Your eyes lit up brightly whenever she was around.

No matter how hard you tried, you were never able to hide it from her.

“Someone like her is difficult to find. When she established The Sixteenth, she wrote to me. She explained why she set it up.” “This is a force that is loyal to Arlecchino, and only Arlecchino. Its existence is to protect Arlecchino and her safety, and it will never be an aggressor.” “Perhaps The Captain has already known this, from the Sixteenth’s movements in the North. The Doctor did say that it was named after you. They are your battalion of knights.” “I approved this force’s existence in my land, because of her plea. For her sake, Peruere, travel in her footsteps. See the marks that her love for you has left behind.”

“You have done enough in these years. Put down your mask as Arlecchino, and live your life as Peruere.”

“This holiday will have no set length. The House of the Hearth will be under Lyney’s control, and he will take over the duties of The Knave in your place.”

Do not run anymore, Peruere. Accept your love for her. Accept Peruvie’s love for you. There will be a soul crushing sorrow awaiting you when you do, but then, and only then, will the past and its regrets stay there, where they belong.

56

After leaving Her Majesty’s throne room, Arlecchino took a small stroll through the vast hallways of the Palace.

The Sixteenth Battalion… Her name?

Arlecchino knew not where “Sixteen” came from. She mapped out all possible connections the number had to her, Her Majesty’s voice playing in the background.

No wonder The House of the Hearth did not have much movement in the Northern Wilds. No wonder her investigations into ‘Peruvie’ were always unsuccessful.

Many questions were answered, but many more arose and left unanswered.

For example, her grief. Her eyes went dry long ago. They cried for nobody. Her heart was cold and numb. The only emotion she could squeeze out was a small hint of sadness.

Song made its way through the halls.

It was the Damselette. Colombina.

Arlecchino followed the song to its source, finding the girl sitting on a windowframe, singing an old tune.

“A surprise seeing you here, Arlecchino.” “It has been a while, Colombina.”  

Outside the window, Arlecchino could see the sky’s colors.

That aurora again. Just like that night.

“Thinking of that child again?”

Colombina smiled softly and warmly. You had left your impression on her even in the few years you were around.

“No.” Yet the speed at which Arlecchino denied it all but proved that she was.

Colombina giggled. “Arlecchino, admitting that she is your weakness is nothing to be ashamed of.” “She was a girl worthy of such praise after all.”

Arlecchino leaned on the windowframe next to her. “I was not aware that The Damselette was this acquainted with my subordinates.”

The sudden quip of jealousy caught Colombina off guard, but it made her smile even brighter. She couldn’t resist teasing Arlecchino.

“Weren’t you the one who wanted to transfer her over to me, then wouldn’t stop talking about her?”

There was nothing Arlecchino could say in response. She did do that.

She did think of transferring you to Colombina’s forces many times. When you finished your competency test as an agent, when you came back injured on your first mission, when you were pursued by The Narzissenkreuz Ordo, when you came back from the Northern Wilds…

But not once did she succeed. How could she, when she saw your love for her in your eyes.

“Someone like her, who loved you so much, who dedicated her entire being to you… Is such a rare find…” The Damselette sighed. When you were alive, she had her gaze on you many, many times. Yet the only person whom you truly looked at and served was Arlecchino.

She knew. That your feelings for her ran beyond that of an orphan and their caretaker.

“But I lost her.” Arlecchino’s eyes darkened, her voice soft and low. “I shouldn’t have hesitated.”

Arlecchino regretted many things. She should have known that you would have put yourself in harm’s way just to ensure her safety. She should have sent you away from the battlefield much sooner. But she couldn’t bear to.

The ache buried deep in her heart morphed into a knife stabbing pain, one sharp enough that her eyes felt wet again.

She thought that she would be by your side, protecting you from danger. She was overconfident. And now, the only thing she has left is regret.

“But you know she’ll do whatever it takes to remain by your side, right?” Even in death. Colombina shook her head, the smile never leaving her face. Even she knew that you would never leave Arlecchino alone to face reality, regardless if you were dead or alive.

“You should rest for a bit, Arlecchino. You’re too tired.” The children in The House were not the only ones who were aware of this. The Damselette, too, was well aware that the best phrase to describe Arlecchino as she is right now would be “precariously dangling off the edge”.

Take a break. Embrace your new life after you come back. By then, everything would be set in stone.

“I will be leaving Snezhnaya.” “On Her Majesty’s orders?” Arlecchino nodded; Colombina understood.

“Do you know what the word, ‘Sixteen’, has to do with me?” Arlecchino quipped suddenly.

“Sixteen?” “The Doctor said, The Sixteenth Battalion was named after me.”

“Sixteen…” Colombina sunk into thought. “I remember you mentioned, she likes Liyuean culture?”

Arlecchino nodded.

“Write your name in Liyuean?”

Arlecchino drew upon her flames, and traced her name in embers in the air.

“Yanre[v]… No wonder…” “Yanre?” “It’s your ‘no’.” Colombina smiled softly, pointing at the character floating in the air. She silently thanked Regrator for going on his endless tirade about the history of Liyuean characters for the first time in her long life.

“Yanre, her alias in Fontaine.” “Similarly, sixteen… Happens to be the number of strokes in your ‘le’ too[vi].” “That child really, really likes you, don’t you think?” “Oh, and Peruvie… When I first heard that name, I had assumed that you were the one who thought of it.”

Arlecchino ended that conversation there. She bid Colombina farewell, and returned to the House.

57

Yanre… Sixteen… Peruvie… Hearth…

Her mind travelled back. Back to a lifetime ago, when you gave yourself a name you chose. Your first name was bestowed upon you by her, so Arlecchino hoped that you would choose a name that fit you best in Fontaine.

You had stood outside her door for a long time before mustering the courage to tell her.

“Yanre? Why this name specifically?”

Caught unawares, you stumbled on your words, only mumbling broken phrases under your breath. She frowned. “Are you sure?”

You nodded, without hesitation.

“Then it is settled.” Arlecchino did not prod further on your nervousness and your beet red face. There was nothing suspicious going on since before that, there weren’t many times where her presence alone didn’t turn you into a freshly ripe tomato.

Were you scared that I would notice, and disagree with your choice? Arlecchino thought.

You had let her into your daily life in many ways. Even your personal sword, The Hearth. And she had questioned you before, a lifetime ago.

~

“Why this name? Not much why. Arle, I was really happy when I came back. Home is where you are. This name makes me feel at ease, just like… just like you Arle, how you stand by my side and protect me! Holding Hearth makes me think of it, and makes me fearless!”

You had answered back then.

The Hearth’s sword flames surrounded you, and under its soft glow, your smile struck Arlecchino’s heart.

She never asked you why you named your force The Sixteenth Battalion. Much less thought of how the force she thought was for your way of protecting yourself, was actually set up to protect her instead.

And only then, did Arlecchino finally, truly, understand the meaning behind Lyney’s words.

…

It was the night before that fateful battle.

She had ordered Lyney to take you away from the battlefield should the opportunity arose, by whatever means necessary.

Back then, Lyney hesitated before agreeing.

“Is there a problem?” “After Peruvie’s return, I did ask her why she came back. She said she wanted to leave a normal life, one with domestic bliss, without the worry of dying the next day.” “She had already achieved such a life in the Northern Wilds. She had no need to come back.” “But she said – ‘Brother Lyney, it’s because Arle is here. I need to make sure she is safe first.’” “‘Because before I learnt how to protect myself, I learnt how to protect Arle.’”

“I will follow your orders and make an opportunity to bring her away from the battlefield, Father. But I cannot guarantee that I will be able to do so.” “Because when it comes to matters regarding you, Father, Peruvie’s concerns were never about herself.”

…

‘Because before I learnt how to protect myself, I learnt how to protect Arle.’

Arlecchino found herself lying on her bed, holding The Sixteenth Battalion’s Seal of Authority[vii]. Her tears fell slowly, making small drops on the red gloss of the wood.

The color came from the rivers formed from bloodshed. There was your blood, your enemies’ blood, your comrades’ blood. The Seal only became more meaningful once one understood the sacrifices made to ensure its existence.

And you gave it to her, to Arlecchino.

This was your biggest strength, as it was your greatest show of love.

Arlecchino will only ever weep for two people. The first was Clervie, her comrade in arms in her youth. The last was Peruvie, her lover whose love went unanswered until it was beyond reach.

And now, Arlecchino has truly understood the love she has lost. Her realisation tastes like salt and tears.

TL Notes I thought this was going to be a relatively short translation, until I got to the 5th page and realised that I just read things really quick. That and Chinese is a much, MUCH more complex language than English (am a native speaker in both but it feels like I’m just dumb in two languages).

Thought this was a really good standalone even though it’s actually part of a longer series. My own writing style is similar to the original author’s, more fast paced if anything, so I found translating the style a bit easier.

According to the author (istg they’re like shaoji), there will be a continuation to this where the Arle isn’t left alone anymore. There is a chapter after this and I don’t doubt them after reading it. It’s just that I want to send them a flower bouquet of fake guns just for this angst. It had me sobbing the first time I read it. There is a LOT of two sided pining.

On the part of their relationship, Reader is indeed a child of the HotH but has never considered themselves as a child of Arlecchino. In the raw, Reader has always referred to Arlecchino as 姐姐 (jiejie), which means older sister. Similar situation to the Onii-chans you always see, just make it gay and turn it Chinese. Essentially she has never seen herself as being below Arlecchino but rather views Arlecchino as an equal generation wise. Reader's generation is also quite awkward, she refers to Lyney in a similar way that Lynette does but Lyney calls Arlecchino "Father". Granted, this can be excused because even in game, Arlecchino actually isn't that old. The age gap between her and Lyney is actually closer to a sibling age gap than a parent/child, it's just that Arlecchino has gone through enough that she's mentally a 40YO Dad.

I might translate the rest, but only if I can eke out the time between HSR, Genshin and touching grass

There were some subtleties I couldn’t really translate to begin with… They’re explained in endnotes below.    

[i] Reader being named Peruvie. The name for reader in the raw is 佩薇儿 (pei wei’er). The 佩 comes from 佩露薇利 (Peruere) and the 薇 can come from either 佩露薇利 (Peruere) or 克雷薇 (Clervie) since they both share the same character. The 儿 is usually what you put behind shortened names, and it’s usually used by (older) family members or close friends.

So I just went ahead and named reader Peruvie.

[ii] Swords are a huge thing in Chinese culture, and in situations like this where the parties actively use their swords as weapons for combat, they would have a personalised sword. One crafted for them and suited for their own needs. It’s essentially an extension of your body. In fantasy, high quality swords have been depicted to have their own consciousness, making for some interesting interpretations. 封剑 AKA sealing the sword usually happens when the owner intends to never use it anymore either through giving up combat entirely or when the owner dies.

The most well known one in the fandoms I’ve been to would be MDZS’s Suibian (随便), where after the death of its owner, the sword sealed itself in its sheath and never allowed anyone to use it.

[iii] This line is an absolute PAIN to translate. There are quite a few different interpretations to it, and the structure itself is impossible to bring over to English.

阿蕾奇诺，长夜已深 既然不睡，就该清醒

A lot of Chinese idioms come in fours, and there are a lot of things that you can explain in four characters. You simply don’t have this complexity in English.

阿蕾奇诺: Arlecchino, this one’s simple enough.

长夜已深: Here, 长夜 refers to a long night, which can be interpreted as an unending night too because the theme here is Death and Heartbreak, which usually is irreversible. 已深 means that it’s already quite deep into the night, which reflects the passage of time. Usually the time would be midnight, or sometime in the witching hours like 2-3am but the translation will not fit here.

‘The never-ending night has long since fallen.’ But translating this would break the writer’s style, which tends to be short but sharp.

既然不睡: 既然 has a meaning similar to “since”, which is why it’s translated as such. 不睡 , translated literally, means that one won’t sleep. But here, sleeping is dreaming, is falling into the delusion that reader is still alive and well, and that they are just away on a mission. Arlecchino knows that Reader has died and will no longer return to her, but she has not fully accepted the fact yet. She is not sleeping or dreaming to delude herself (which suits her character, see Arle’s story quest RE: Clervie), but she is not fully awake yet - ie she has not fully come to terms that Reader has died.

就该清醒: 就该 in this context sounds like a very harsh “you should, because that is what is expected of you”, which lends to the accusatory tone that the rest of this scene has. 清醒 literally means to be alert, and when seen next to the 不睡 of the previous line means that one should be awake AND alert. In this case, alert wouldn’t mean up and about, but refer to being accepting of reality and Arlecchino acknowledging the fact that reader is, well, dead.

Put together, it can refer to a monologue Arlecchino tells herself, or it can be her conscience hounding after her and denying her true rest. When seen in context to the rest of the scene, it sounds very accusatory. I’m inclined to think that this is her conscience (which is also seen in italics in later portions of the fic) bashing her, but this being her actual monologue would also be very in line with her character (accept the harsh reality and not sink into sweet delusion)

[iv] The raw here used is 节��� which is a polite way to respond to someone who has a loved one who died. It has the politeness of ‘condolences’ but also has the double meaning of ‘don’t be so sad/cheer up’ albeit in a subtle and polite manner. Here it’s used to imply that even the Tsaritsa thinks Arlecchino is very upset, which is the case, only Arlecchino herself has not realised it yet.

[v] Oh boy. Yanre. The raw for this calls reader 言若. Arlecchino’s name in written Chinese is 阿蕾奇诺.

The last character, 诺 (nuo) has two parts. The left and the right. Think of it like a prefix, only this one is usually used in words that refer to speech or spoken language. 言 (yan) is used to describe that portion of the word. As for 若, it can be read two ways. One is ruo, which is used in a similar way as “like” in English idioms. It is also the most common way you read the word. The other one is re, which is used for nouns (though for a character’s name both would technically work). There are characters that use this word in two ways in different fandoms, like 若邪(ruoye) from TGCF and 阿兰若 (a’lan re) from Eternal Love of Dream.

Think of it as reader taking a portion of Arlecchino’s name and claiming it as her own! Which is why reader was so worried about Arlecchino finding out upon questioning (lol)

[vi] I am not translating this accurately here because the original character used is 蕾(lei). Le will not flow as smoothly off the tongue, so a character that pronounces as lei was chosen instead (is what I am inclined to believe). But yes, if you write this properly, it does contain 16 strokes, hence the Sixteenth Battalion. Reader is really smitten to see this, I bet she writes the name when she’s spacing out. Almost nobody in their sane mind would count the strokes unless they were really, really obsessed.

[vii] Seal. Seal in Chinese is 印 or 玺 (though the latter refers more to that passed down by the royal family). Generals tend to pass down 符(fu) which tend to be intricately carved objects. The raw here uses令牌, which is a flat piece of carved wood/jade/metal/(insert material). It’s not a seal per se. But the meaning is still similar, all individuals in the group must swear allegiance to whoever has possession of the item, in this case, Arlecchino having the authority over the Sixteenth whether its knights acknowledge her or not.

[eretzyisrael]

BY PARK MACDOUGALD

The “movement,” in turn, while it recruits from among students and other self-motivated radicals willing to put their bodies on the line, relies heavily on the funding of progressive donors and nonprofits connected to the upper reaches of the Democratic Party. Take the epicenter of the nationwide protest movement, Columbia University. According to reporting in the New York Post, the Columbia encampment was principally organized by three groups: Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and Within Our Lifetime (WOL). Let’s take each in turn.

JVP is, in essence, the “Jewish”-branch of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, backed by the usual big-money progressive donors—including some, like the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, that were instrumental in selling Obama’s Iran Deal to the public. JVP and its affiliated political action arm, JVP Action, have received at least $650,000 from various branches of George Soros’ philanthropic empire since 2017, $441,510 from the Kaphan Foundation (founded by early Amazon employee Sheldon Kaphan), $340,000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and smaller amounts from progressive donors such as the Quitiplas Foundation, according to reporting from the New York Post and NGO Monitor, a pro-Israel research institute. JVP has also received nearly $1.5 million from various donor-advised funds—which allow wealthy clients to give anonymously through their financial institutions—run through the charitable giving arms of Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, Vanguard, and TIAA, according to NGO Monitor’s review of those institutions’ tax documents.

SJP, by contrast, is an outgrowth of the Islamist networks dissolved during the U.S. government’s prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) and related charities for fundraising for Hamas. SJP is a subsidiary of an organization called American Muslims for Palestine (AMP); SJP in fact has no “formal corporate structure of its own but operates as AMP’s campus brand,” according to a lawsuit filed last week against AJP Educational Fund, the parent nonprofit of AMP. Both AMP and SJP were founded by the same man, Hatem Bazian, a Palestinian academic who formerly fundraised for KindHearts, an Islamic charity dissolved in 2012 pursuant to a settlement with the U.S. Treasury, which froze the group’s assets for fundraising for Hamas (KindHearts did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement). And several of AMP’s senior leaders are former fundraisers for HLF and related charities, according to November congressional testimony from former U.S. Treasury official Jonathan Schanzer. An ongoing federal lawsuit by the family of David Boim, an American teenager killed in a Hamas terrorist attack in 1996, goes so far as to allege that AMP is a “disguised continuance” and “legal alter-ego” of the Islamic Association for Palestine, was founded with startup money from current Hamas official Musa Abu Marzook and dissolved alongside HLF. AMP has denied it is a continuation of IAP.

Today, however, National SJP is legally a “fiscal sponsorship” of another nonprofit: a White Plains, New York, 501(c)(3) called the WESPAC Foundation. A fiscal sponsorship is a legal arrangement in which a larger nonprofit “sponsors” a smaller group, essentially lending it the sponsor’s tax-exempt status and providing back-office support in exchange for fees and influence over the sponsorship’s operations. For legal and tax purposes, the sponsor and the sponsorship are the same entity, meaning that the sponsorship is relieved of the requirement to independently disclose its donors or file a Form 990 with the IRS. This makes fiscal sponsorships a “convenient way to mask links between donors and controversial causes,” according to the Capital Research Center. Donors, in other words, can effectively use nonprofits such as WESPAC to obscure their direct connections to controversial causes.

Something of the sort appears to be happening with WESPAC. Run by the market researcher Howard Horowitz, WESPAC reveals very little about its donors, although scattered reporting and public disclosures suggest that the group is used as a pass-through between larger institutions and pro-Palestinian radicals. Since 2006, for instance, WESPAC has received more than half a million in donations from the Elias Foundation, a family foundation run by the private equity investor James Mann and his wife. WESPAC has also received smaller amounts from Grassroots International (an “environmental” group heavily funded by Thousand Currents), the Sparkplug Foundation (a far-left group funded by the Wall Street fortune of Felice and Yoram Gelman), and the Bafrayung Fund, run by Rachel Gelman, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune and the sister of Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman. (A self-described “abolitionist,” Gelman was featured in a 2020 New York Times feature on “The Rich Kids Who Want to Tear Down Capitalism.”) In 2022, WESPAC also received $97,000 from the Tides Foundation, the grant-making arm of the Tides Nexus.

WESPAC, however, is not merely the fiscal sponsor of the Hamas-linked SJP but also the fiscal sponsor of the third group involved in organizing the Columbia protests, Within Our Lifetime (WOL), formerly known as New York City SJP. Founded by the Palestinian American lawyer Nerdeen Kiswani, a former activist with the Hunter College and CUNY chapters of SJP, WOL has emerged over the past seven months as perhaps the most notorious antisemitic group in the country, and has been banned from Facebook and Instagram for glorifying Hamas. A full list of the group’s provocations would take thousands of words, but it has been the central organizing force in the series of “Flood”-themed protests in New York City since Oct. 7, including multiple bridge and highway blockades, a November riot at Grand Central Station, the vandalism of the New York Public Library, and protests at the Rockefeller Center Christmas-tree lighting. In addition to their confrontational tactics, WOL-led protests tend to have a few other hallmarks. These include eliminationist rhetoric directed at the Jewish state—such as Arabic chants of “strike, strike, Tel Aviv”; the prominent display of Hezbollah flags and other insignia of explicitly Islamist resistance; the presence of masked Arab street muscle; and the antisemitic intimidation of counterprotesters by said masked Arab street muscle.

WOL’s role appears to be that of shock troops, akin to the role played by black block militants on the anarchist side of the ledger. WOL is, however, connected to more seemingly “mainstream” elements of the anti-Israel movement. Abdullah Akl, a prominent WOL leader—indeed, the man leading the “strike Tel Aviv” chants in the video linked above—is also listed as a “field organizer” on the website of MPower Change, the “advocacy project” led by Linda Sarsour. MPower Change, in turn, is a fiscal sponsorship of NEO Philanthropy, another large progressive clearinghouse. NEO Philanthropy and its 501(c)(4) “sister,” NEO Philanthropy Action Fund, have received more than $37 million from Soros’ Open Society Foundations since 2021 alone, as well as substantial funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Ford Foundation, and the Tides Foundation.

[attackofopportunity]

You there! American Leftist! Vote for Harris!

Note: This is non-comprehensive and probably either won't go anywhere, will make people mad, or both. And yet.

Vote for Harris! Doing so is not only compatible with your political goals, but furthers them. Look, you already know about project 2025, and about the kind of president Trump intends to be if he wins. House Republicans are teeing up to try to repeal the ACA again. They probably won't be able to, but if they have enough people, they will make it a priority. Trump has pledged to appoint RFK Jr in a public health role, which will mean that vaccinations will be even more endangered. Our health care system sucks. Their goal is to take away the few assurances we have. You don't actually want Trump to be president. You are hoping Harris wins.

"But I hate the two-party system!"

So do I. However:

1) it's increasingly clear that on a federal level, both parties are effectively coalition parties. You only need to look at the tussle over the Speaker of the House over the last couple years to see that.

2) More importantly, if only the Republican party gets popular support, then we have a one-party system. It is harder to expand from a one-party system than from a two-party system.

Trump has already appointed one-third of the Supreme Court. If he wins, there is every chance he will get to appoint two more justices, presumably with hyper-conservatives in their thirties who will make everyone miserable for another forty years.

"Democrats never get anything done! They make too many compromises."

Republicans block them from doing a lot of the things they try to do. This is part of the standard push-and-pull of politics/government. It has gotten worse since Obama was elected, because conservatives were so freaked out by a Black president that they decided to start filibustering everything. That didn't used to be standard, but now it is. The specific Republican ploy is to block Democrats from doing things and then use that as proof that government doesn't work. The Obama and Biden administrations have still accomplished a lot in spite of this, even though both have fallen short of their goals.

It has been frustrating to see lofty goals get whittled down, but a bill that does something positive that gets passed is better than a bill that does everything well and never makes it out of committee.

Harris has a lot of goals that would be objectively good for most people and that fit in with leftist goals. She wants to raise the minimum wage, and has specific goals for expanding social services by taxing the capital gains of the incredibly wealthy. These things are good. I do not know whether, if elected, she will manage to do all or any of them. I would rather have her try to do that than have Trump cut social services and cut taxes on the incredibly wealthy. It is better to have a little of something good than a lot of something bad.

"Government aid is unreliable. We need to just focus on supporting each other through mutual aid."

That is a great thing to do! However, mutual aid works better when we don't have to give each other everything. If the public pushes the government toward even slightly more robust social services, it will allow mutual aid networks to go further.

"Voting isn't enough. I engage in direct action."

That's great! But if the direct action you're engaging in doesn't take up every hour of November 5, you can also vote. These things are not mutually exclusive.

"I'm a single-issue voter, and that issue is Palestine. Any political cost is worth it to stop the war."

In October, Trump spoke on the phone with Netanyahu congratulating him on expanding the war into Lebanon. He has told him to "do what you need to do," and has encouraged him to hold fast against calls for a ceasefire. He will not stop the war. Harris, meanwhile, has emphasized that her goal is a permanent ceasefire and a release of hostages and political prisoners.

"The Democrats could have stopped the war already."

The US does not have an "off button" for any other country. The administration is continuing its ongoing aid to Israel, which has crossed both parties and many administrations, while trying to broker a treaty. Biden's calculation is that the second the US stops that aid, the Israeli government will stop speaking with him at all and kick Blinken and other diplomats out of the area. I do not know whether keeping diplomats in Gaza is helping, but I absolutely believe that Netanyahu will stop communicating with anyone in the US if the aid stops, given that he's essentially threatened so. I do not think that the war would stop if we stopped providing aid - Israel has its own military, and despite that story that Tumblr passes around about Reagan, calling Netanyahu and yelling at him over the phone will not make him stop doing what he's doing.

I do not know how or when this will end, but I do know that Harris is the only presidential candidate who intends to contribute to any outcome other than "Netanyahu crushes all his enemies while ignoring anything his own people actually need or want."

"Jill Stein will stop the war."

Jill Stein will not be president. Jill Stein also does not have an "off button" for any other country.

"Punishing Democrats for their actions up until this point is more important than doing anything else."

Then your single issue is not Palestine; it's punishing Democrats.

"I don't want to legitimize this country or this system by supporting it or engaging with it."

The thing is, we all legitimize this system every day just by living in it. We pay taxes. We live in the framework of the laws. Our money points guns at our neighbors and at the rest of the world. It sucks, but it's true. Not voting doesn't mean you aren't involved with this country. We all are.

Please, let's all do what we can to try to make the future a slightly better place.

[kemetic-dreams]

Aro Confederacy

The Aro Confederacy (1690–1902) was a political union orchestrated by the Aro people, Igbo subgroup, centered in Arochukwu in present-day southeastern Nigeria. The Aro Confederacy kingdom was founded after the beginning of the Aro-Ibibio Wars. Their influence and presence was all over Eastern Nigeria, lower Middle Belt, and parts of present-day Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Arochukwu Kingdom was an economic, political, and an oracular center as it was home of the Ibini Ukpabi oracle, High Priests, the Aro King Eze Aro, and central council (Okpankpo). The Aro Confederacy was a powerful and influential political and economic alliance of various Igbo-speaking communities in southeastern Nigeria. It emerged during the 17th century and played a significant role in the region until the late 19th century.

The exact origins of the Aro Confederacy are not precisely documented, but it is believed to have been established around the mid-17th century. The Aro people, who were part of the Igbo ethnic group, inhabited the region around present-day Arochukwu in Abia State, Nigeria. They were skilled traders and missionaries who played a pivotal role in connecting various Igbo communities. This migration and their military power, and wars with neighboring kingdoms like supported by their alliances with several related neighboring Igbo and eastern Cross River militarized states (particularly Ohafia, Edda, Abam, Abiriba, Afikpo, Ekoi, Bahumono, Amasiri etc.), quickly established the Aro Confederacy as a regional economic power. The Aro Confederacy's strength came from its well-organized network of Aro agents who were dispersed across different communities in the region. These agents acted as intermediaries in trade, diplomacy, and religious matters. They facilitated commerce, resolved disputes, and spread the worship of the Aro deity known as the "Long Juju" oracle."The Opening Up of Nigeria, the Expedition Against the Aros by Richard Caton Woodville II" 1901

The "Long Juju" oracle was the spiritual centerpiece of the Aro Confederacy. It was housed in Arochukwu and considered a potent source of political authority and religious guidance. The Aro people used the oracle to enforce their influence and control over surrounding communities. It also served as a means to administer justice and settle disputes, often attracting pilgrims seeking solutions to their problems.

The Aro Confederacy gained significant economic power through trade and commerce Their economy was primarily based on agriculture, with the cultivation of crops like palm oil, yams, and cassava. They were also involved in trade with neighboring communities and European merchants. They controlled trade routes that passed through their territories, collecting tolls and taxes from traders. The Aro also engaged in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade by capturing and selling slaves to European traders.

Aro activities on the coast helped the growth of city-states in the Niger Delta, and these city states became important centres for the export of palm oil and slaves. Such city-states included Opobo, Bonny, Nembe, Calabar, as well as other slave trading city-states controlled by the Ijaw, Efik, and Igbo. The Aros formed a strong trading network, colonies, and incorporated hundreds of communities that formed into powerful kingdoms. The Ajalli, Arondizuogu, Ndikelionwu, and Igbene Kingdoms were some of the most powerful Aro states in the Confederacy after Arochukwu. Some were founded and named after commanders and chiefs like Izuogu Mgbokpo and Iheme who led Aro/Abam forces to conquer Ikpa Ora and founded Arondizuogu. Later Aro commanders such as Okoro Idozuka (also of Arondizuogu) expanded the state's borders through warfare at the start of the 19th century. Aro migrations also played a large role in the expansion of Ozizza, Afikpo, Amasiri, Izombe, and many other city-states. For example, Aro soldiers founded at least three villages in Ozizza. The Aro Confederacy's power, however, derived mostly from its economic and religious position. With European colonists on their way at the end of the 19th century, things changed.Burning of Arochukwu 1901

During the 1890s, the Royal Niger Company of Britain bore friction with the Aros because of their economic dominance. The Aro resisted British penetration in the hinterland because their economic and religious influence was being threatened. The Aro and their allies launched offensives against British allies in Igboland and Ibibioland. After failed negotiations, the British attempted to conquer the Aro Confederacy in 1899. By 1901, the tensions were especially intensified when British prepared for the Aro Expedition. The invasion of Obegu (in Igboland) was the last major Aro offensive before the start of the Anglo-Aro War. In November 1901, the British launched the Aro Expedition and after strong Aro resistance, Arochukwu was captured on December 28, 1901. By early 1902, the war was over, and the Aro Confederacy collapsed. Contrary to the belief that the Ibini Ukpabi was destroyed, the shrine still exists, and is intact in Arochukwu and serves mainly as a tourist site.