#us election played a part even as a non-american

[tyrannuspitch]

as someone who has never been in the spn fandom and wasn't even really aware that the fandom was still active in 2020, canon destiel day absolutely WAS about spn. like for spn fans it was about spn for obvious reasons. but as an outsider who'd been on tumblr since i was 13 but hadn't experienced the queerbait firsthand, it was 100% still about destiel and i was completely reeling because it was the last thing i would EVER have expected to happen. and in fucking 2020 of all years

[mask131]

Since the French news have been blasting about the US elections since this morning, here are (if you are interested) some of the points highlighted by French commentators, journalists, politicians, politologists, and that I randomly caught this morning. If you wonder how French media are seeing this:

There are "racial minorities" among the Trump supporters and followers, despite Trump's openly racist and borderline eugenic discourse. Especially among the Latino people, where Trump gained quite a following. Why? Most of the non-White voters of Trump are men, and adhere to his conservative ideals beyond his racism. Especially over one point: homophobia. His Latino followers are hoping that by electing him they will get rid of transgenders people and the "woke madness" once and for all - this specific point of his campaign, despite actually being quite "minor", truly was a big thing for them, and his fearmongering about "Schools will turn your little boys into little girls" echoed with them. Latinos aren't the only minority to vote for Trump, but they are the ones French media speak the most about.

Turns out, Kamala Harris didn't cause a massive support of women across America: many of them still voted Trump. On a related note, commentators noted that it seems the United-States really are not willing to have a female president at all.

Part of the reason why people didn't see the red wave coming was because they under-estimated the middle-class, which is where Trump has his greatest following. The middle-class, and the literal middle of America, as this is where he resonated the most, unlike the coasts where he met some resistance (though it has been noted the coasts are more "upper-class" than the rest of the country)

Another part is how people neglected the economical factor: most Trump followers, many of those that voted for Trump, are putting their hopes and faith in him for bringing back the financial ease and comfortable lifestyle they used to have, for battling the financial crisis and inflation. Turns out, money IS indeed the motor of everything, and it was Trump's promises of money and wealth for everybody that truly won them over.

That and immigration: these are apparently the two big points that truly had Trump winning, from New-York where people are inded fed up with the mayor's handling of immigrants, to Kansas where... there's one of the smallest number of immigrants, almost none, but they're still very firghtened and angry at the issue. Trump's promises of sending the army down to the Mexican border had already formed a following base years before, but now he is also pulling on the lever of "I will bring back your men home so that they won't have to die in another land for foreigners". Interestingly, it means that with him (and his followers) the USA is giving up its former role of being the arbitrator of the world and the "policeman global conflicts". Trump promises that the American army will only care about the USA, its borders and nothing else. Even though it is also a lie because whole he speaks of bringing the soldiers home, he of course has a whole different discourse when it comes to the weapons and political plays. By this I mean:

Trump is very insistent on defending, protecting, helping Israel - or, to be more precise, he is very clear that he is a good friend and the main support of Netanyahu, and that he will help him lead his wars as much as he can. He will also helps them worsen, because unlike for example Biden and Harris which after unconditional support for Israel admitted things were going to far, a ceasfire was needed, and denounced Israel causing disastrous mass-deaths, Trump is very clear that he doesn't believe in ceasefires, nor does he belive that Israel and Palestine can coexist peacefully. Furthermore: Trump aligns on Israel because he has a strong personal beef with Iran, which is one of Israel's main enemies, originally in a more indirect, but now much more direct way. Trump even suggested that Israel be more open and violent in its attacks of Iran, even saying they should hit nuclear sites. It doesn't help that Iran is one of the countries suspected of trying to mess up with the votes and parazite the campaigns with misinformation (the other big one being Russia, but since Trump loves Putin he doesn't speak much about THIS invasion of American politics).

The fascinating thing is that there ARE Muslim followers of Trump. Muslim Trumpists exist, despite all the above, and Trump's fearmongering based on Islamic terrorism. French journalists asked them why they voted for Trump, and their answer was "To punish Biden". They wanted to punish Biden (and by extension Harris) for helping Israel in the Israel-Palestine conflict. When answered back that Trump vowed to prevent any Muslim person from entering the USA and to reject Palestinian immigrants, the Muslim voters explained that at least Trump only closed the frontier, while Biden "killed" their "brothers".

Another consequence of Trump's promises to have all American soldiers return home: it is likely the American forces will pull out of Ukraine. It was already a big complaint on his part to send so much money in Europe, and when he met with Zelensky he publicly said that he considered on the same level as Putin and wouldn't favor any of them. Add to that how much he said that Putin was great and his friend, and how he said with him the Ukrainian war would be solved in 24 hours, and how ominously Putin's official message after the election was "The Kremlin will judge the new president on his actions, not his intentions"... Oh yes and how Trump LITERALY SAID "Ukraine is gone" not that long ago, despite Ukraine still fighting for its life and to defend Europe as a whole... It is pretty clear that Trump just wants to kick Ukraine into Russia's maw, and that his "solution" for the war is to have Russia win Ukraine. As he said for the Israel-Palestine conflict, he doesn't believe in ceasefire nor in peaceful cohabitation... It also helps that a LOT of his followers don't know where Ukraine is or what it looks like, and that many of them didn't even know Ukraine existed before Russia attacked it.

Because of this, the French president official reaction to Trump's election was first a message saying "Congrats for winning by a landslide", quickly followed by another one saying "I am very happy to announce that me and the Chancellor of Germany are going to work on making a stronger, safer, more independant Europe". Aka: we know that Europe can't count on America anymore, we know that we have been too Americanized and have grown dependant of the USA, time to pull ourselves together and let America in its own mess.

Oh and also: since Trump believes climate change is a scam, despite huge storms hitting twice where he lives with disastrous consequences, and promises to rely a lot on fossil fuel and polluting business to bring back American economy to the top and make the USA the wealthiest country... The world is kind of fucked as a whole, and the weather is going to be FAR WORSE.

Plus: this time Trump's domination is far more powerful than before, as he got almost full powers, benefits from the consequences of his previous presidency, doesn't have people against him in his own party (unlike the first time he got elected), has gotten rid of those that tried to criticize or slow him down around him, AND this time he actually knows what he is doing, as the first time it seemed he wasn't planning on actually becoming president.

There's probably more about it, but that's just a handful of what I got from the news channel this morning as I woke up. Be it true or false, whether you agree or not, I just share in case you ever wondered how it looks from over here.

Now back to regular programs.

[heian-era-housewife]

Going North

This is not a fic. But it is a story. My story. Or at least, part of it.

When I started this blog I wanted to maintain as much anonymity as possible. Six months in and here I find myself publicly journaling my most guarded secrets. Funny how things change.

Warnings: ⚠️⚠️⚠️ Please proceed with caution. I have done my best to put the appropriate tw/cw tags in place, but be aware this post mentions nonconsensual sex, SA, suicide, mental health, mental illness, grief, and loss.

I'm writing to you from the depths of a very severe depressive episode and hoping that, in doing so, I may start to find my way out.

So...where do I begin?

For those who don't know I am, regrettably, American. This election has affected me more profoundly than I could ever have imagined.

I recently discovered that my entire family, including my parents- who have always been my best friends, voted for the man who represents everything I reject. Everything I despise.

This comes during a time I find myself exploring and redefining my gender identity. During a time where the healthcare system has repeatedly failed me in treatment and diagnosis of a reproductive condition. During a time when I am learning that ectopic pregnancy is a potentially fatal reality for me. While living in a state where abortion and life-saving reproductive care have been made illegal.

I was 13 the first time I was raped. With 8 months of continuous and repeated rape and sexual assault to follow. The only person I told was my family doctor. A Christian. Who told me sexual activity was an act against God. I never spoke of it again.

Not until I was 18 and had my first "real boyfriend". In explaining why I wanted to wait to be intimate, I told him my story, unaware he would weaponize it. Once again I found myself an unwilling participant in an act called "love". Only this time it was years, not months. The day I escaped I was punched in the face and thrown down the stairs. I still have a scar on my leg from fleeing my boyfriend assailant.

I ran to the safest person I knew. A friend from high school. A kind and gentle person. Someone who, in time, would show me that love and intimacy can exist in a non-toxic capacity. And though our eventual relationship would come to end in mutual respect as he came to explore his own sexuality and gender identity, I still credit him with playing a role in saving me.

Unfortunately, I was unable to return the favor when, just two months ago, he took his own life on the eve of his 30th birthday. I can't say for certain why he chose to end his journey, but I can only imagine that his race as a POC and sexuality were attributing factors as we stare down a future of continued systemic hate and bigotry.

In some ways, I still consider myself lucky. I never became pregnant. I never lost hope in finding love. I am married to a wonderful man who supports my every endeavor. His kindness is unrivaled, and his empathy knows no bounds. He meets me in my darkest places. He reminds me why I must continue to fight- to live. Even on the days I no longer want to...

And now, with the recent election, and the terrifying days ahead, I can't help but feel sometimes that it really is me and him against the world.

My family has chosen to stand behind a man who promised to lower the price of eggs, while creating a country wherein my life and those of countless other are at risk. Where it seems our validity as human beings is in question.

I am not even sure how I am supposed to continue a normal job, when every waking moment I am revisited by the traumas of my past with people shouting "Your body, my choice". Or fearing that another friend may take their life in the wake of the hatred that is blooming here.

I miss my parents. I used to call them every day. Now I am unsure how to even speak with them.

I am unsure of a lot of things.

In large part thanks to friends I have made here, I have begun the process of seeking further psychological support and evaluation.

Moving forward, I also plan to put more time and energy into my art. I am currently seeking ways to support myself financially in a work-from-home capacity as my deteriorating mental health is making working a regular job nearly impossible at the moment.

I'd like to remain active on this blog and continue building friendships over the love of JJK- something that, as silly as it is, brings me so much joy.

I hope that, if you've read this far, you'll continue this journey with me. And if you have read this far, thank you so much for being part of my life, sharing in my memories, my grief, my struggles. Thank you for listening to this story. Hopefully the next few I post will be more cheerful, and fictional, of course.

Thank you also to my international friends who have shown so much incredible love and support. You have no idea how much it means to be extended a friendly hand in a time where the world is justifiably furious with and untrusting of Americans.

I want to fight for a brighter future. I want to see what happens if we don't give up. I am determined to find peace and to one day look back on this post and be glad I chose to go North.

With love and gratitude,

Yuri 🩷

[naivety]

my sense of urgency for this election was all used up watching a genocide play out live on instagram while my mom continued to talk about which politician might make the housing market better and i tried not to genuinely lose my mind over the dissonance. in all honesty short of bombs dropping on americans' houses my adrenal glands are beyond checked out. i'll show up to the polls and do my part and try to plug into the bare bones direct action i can find in the middle of nowhere deep red county state but god. there are so many posts circulating trying to fear monger me into voting for one genocidal president of this genocidal nation over another and i may as well live on a different planet. i can fathom the urgency but i could not make myself feel it short of being held at gunpoint. which may even be on the ballot but that's how americans have been voting for decades now and each of them regardless of party has worried about the idea of being held at gunpoint while a right of theirs is taken away while there are people who are already being held at gunpoint and their rights have already been taken away by the very people being beamed into my eyeballs as the escape from this hypothetical violence that's already non-hypothetically happened to millions who aren't US liberals because of the america they're trying to save from trump the same america regardless of democrats or republicans or whigs or federalists and does anyone else feel like they're going crazy

[solarbird]

The long arc of Boomer politics, of resistance, and what Millennials & Zoomers can win starting now

Yesterday, I wrote – mostly to GenX, but also to Millennials and Zoomers – about holding the line one more time. In that post, I talked a little about how some of us have been doing that job this long in order to keep some semblance of a Republic until the cavalry – in the form of a group larger than the Baby Boom – could show up, and still have the tools to take power peacefully, and in a timely fashion.

Today I’m writing for Millennials and for Zoomers. I’m going to expand on yesterday, talk about history, talk about why politics have been as they’ve been in ways you maybe haven’t heard before, and I’m going to talk about the massive opportunity you have now to change this fucking game.

But I have to talk about history first. There’s context, and you need it.

Most of you reading this have never seen actual Generation X politics. Unless you’re from Seattle, or the greater Seattle area, you definitely never have. You’ve only seen Baby Boom politics. What you’re seeing now is still Baby Boom politics, the underlying dynamic unchanging and now crystalised, ritualised, and radicalised over the decades since they took power.

That’s happened in part because the Baby Boom never wanted to talk to anyone else, and didn’t have to. They had a saying – “don’t trust anyone over 30” – that inverted and became “don’t trust anyone under 30″ the moment they hit their 30s. As a group, they’ve despised everyone younger than them my entire life, writing early on that GenX was either “a generation of Darwinesque hyper-predators” (fun stuff if you’re 12) or “useless lazy slackers incapable of achievement” from the very beginning. Most of the time it manifests as simply being locked out and ignored, but I’ve had that raw generational contempt thrown directly at me, more than once – even here in Seattle.

But the thing about Seattle is… we outnumber them here. It’s the only place in the US where we outnumber them. They’ve had to deal with other people, whether they liked it or not. Because of that, they couldn’t really lock into that inward-facing self-reinforcing spiral. They had reality checks and external feedback they had to grapple with, and so… their politics stayed way, way more normal.

So if you want to know what Generation X politics would’ve looked like in a more traditional American pattern, where each generation is larger than the previous – hi. It’s in Seattle, and to a lesser degree Washington State. We’re willing to elect socialists who call themselves socialists and actually have something like a centre-left, and it’s not just downtown.

I mean, there are reasons that Donald Trump didn’t win the white vote here, and this is a big part of it. According to exit polling at the time, he didn’t get the non-college-educated white male majority here in 2016. It was close! But even with the dry side of the state involved – a lot of which is rabidly christofascist – Donald Trump didn’t even win non-college-educated white men, his core, statewide in 2016.

(It’s also a factor in why the Battle of Seattle could happen, I am just saying. I was there.)

But outside Seattle, and outside Washington State, you’re generally looking at Boomer politics. And I think Generation X has always kinda known that was going to happen, in that we were never going to have a turn at power. Certainly not at the national scale.

Some of us, in fact, have not just known that but have also understood it, which is a different thing. I spent enough time east for school, I could see what was coming and how it was going to play out, and how it was going to be such a long, long war for the Republic – and largely, an effort just to hold. To be a backstop. A centre-left line to keep civil society and elections until someone bigger than them could finally come along.

The fact that we even managed to win on a few fronts – queers, I’m looking at us, but not just us – that was amazing. And also outliers, let’s not kid ourselves. But I’ll take those victories and celebrate them.

So when everything looks so rigid and hopeless and stale, and when you’re seeing “elections don’t fix it, everything just gets worse,” that’s why it looks that way, even when it isn’t actually like that.

Because thanks to their sheer size, their sheer numbers, the Boom just plain outmassed everyone else since like 1980 and everyone’s had to play by their rules all this time.

We could win a round here and there, and even make some real progress in narrow but important areas. But we couldn’t change the game. Hence our fight to keep a civil society not in the politeness sense but in the sense of functional institutions sense, and the fight to keep elections not in the “technically there are elections” sense but in the “elections that can have outcomes Republicans don’t like” sense.

We are at the very tail end of that war now. We have almost won a war most people haven’t even been aware that we’ve been fighting.

2024 is the last best shot they have. They want to keep power, because of course they do. They grabbed it early – skipping ahead of the Silent generation – and haven’t talked to anyone else about power since, just like so many of them never talked to anyone outside their cohort they didn’t have to. But this year is pretty much the end of their dominance unless they can rig everything to keep the appearance of power until they actually die, and they know it.

And by “they know it,” I mean, I actually heard Boomer rightists saying things to that effect in 2016, amongst themselves.

That’s why everything changes after this election, but not during this election. 2024 is the tipping point. Still the old rules, but hopefully the end of them.

If we win – and we will win if we fight – it’ll be because Millennials and Zoomers stepped in and said “that’s enough, grampa.” And everyone who actually works and understands politics will know it.

And since everyone will know it, everything – EVERYTHING – will start to re-orient itself around you. Around Millennials and around Zoomers. It won’t be all at once, but it will absolutely happen.

As long as you keep showing up, as long as you start doing the work, every mechanic of power, every political interest group, every big money, every piece of the machine will start to turn towards you. Because whatever else may be true, the professionals know where the power lies, and it’ll lie with you.

Not us, not GenX. We have a voice in Cascadia, and I love my country-not-a-country bioregion, but that’s the only place we get one. The power brokers will skip us, like they always have. They’ve never figured out how to market to GenX, they thought they were going to “own” Millennials (literal quote there on ‘own’ btw), and they have no idea at all what to do with Zoomers and I thank the gods for it.

It’ll be you, Millennials and Zoomers. You. You will be the ones everyone cares about, as the new power centre of politics. The Baby Boom will try to grab power back, but as long as you keep showing up, they won’t pull it off. In practical terms, it’ll be over.

If we win. Which we will, if we fight and fight together.

But for this election, we’re still under the old rules. The Baby Boom rules, the Baby Boom politics, the Baby Boom control. That’s why I’m praying this can be GenX’s last hurrah as a resistance force, and that’s why I write so much about holding the goddamn line once again, just like so many of us – not all of us, but so many – have done our entire lives.

One more time, no matter how much you hate having to pick between two doddering old monsters…

…we gotta hold the line. We gotta hold the line for your sake, and for our own. Just like we always have.

But after that?

After that, as long as you keep showing up…

…it’ll be all about you.

You’re so close to being able to start taking power and setting the agenda. After all these years, it’s finally the time when you can actually start to do it.

But you gotta help us hold the line in ’24, first. We gotta hold again one, last time, the old way.

And then it’ll be yours.

If you’re willing to take it.

Are you ready?

110 days remain.

-----

[extended commentary and a lot of replies at source]

[newstfionline]

Sunday, June 2, 2024

UN refugee chief says 114 million have fled homes because nations fail to tackle causes of conflict (AP) The number of people fleeing their homes because of war, violence and persecution has reached 114 million and is climbing because nations have failed to tackle the causes and combatants are refusing to comply with international law, the U.N. refugee chief said Thursday. In a hard-hitting speech, Filippo Grandi criticized the U.N. Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, for failing to use its voice to try to resolve conflicts from Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan to Congo, Myanmar and many other places. He also accused unnamed countries of making “short-sighted foreign policy decisions, often founded on double standards, with lip service paid to compliance with the law, but little muscle flexed from the council to actually uphold it and—with it—peace and security.” Grandi said non-compliance with international humanitarian law means that “parties to conflicts—increasingly everywhere, almost all of them—have stopped respecting the laws of war,” though some pretend to do so.

After Trump’s Conviction, a Wary World Waits for the Fallout (NYT) The world does not vote in American presidential elections. Nor do its jurors play a part in the American judicial system. Nevertheless, the conviction of Donald J. Trump on all 34 felony counts in a hush-money trial in a New York court on Thursday has again made clear how consequential what happens in the United States is for the rest of the planet. Many America-watchers are grappling with the same questions posed by people in the United States: Can Mr. Trump still run for president? (Yes.) And if so, will the guilty verdicts cut into the support from his political base? (Unclear.) Foreign observers also began wondering if Mr. Trump, already a volatile force, would become even less likely to stay within the guardrails of normal politics and diplomacy if he won the presidency again in November.

Mexican candidate assassinations hit grim record ahead of Sunday’s election (Reuters) Mexico’s election is now the bloodiest in its modern history after a candidate running for local office in central Puebla state was murdered on Friday at a political rally, taking the number of assassinated candidates to 37 ahead of Sunday’s vote. Jorge Huerta Cabrera, a candidate who was running for a council seat in the town of Izucar de Matamoros, was gunned down in the attack, according to the state prosecutor’s office. The killing takes the number of assassinated candidates in the 2024 election season to 37, one more than during the 2021 midterm election.

Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea levels (AP) On a tiny island off Panama’s Caribbean coast, about 300 families are packing their belongings in preparation for a dramatic change. Generations of Gunas who have grown up on Gardi Sugdub in a life dedicated to the sea and tourism will trade that next week for the mainland’s solid ground. The Gunas of Gardi Sugdub are the first of 63 communities along Panama’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts that government officials and scientists expect to be forced to relocate by rising sea levels in the coming decades. Gardi Sugdub is only about 400 yards (366 meters) long and 150 yards (137 meters) wide. Every year, especially when the strong winds whip up the sea in November and December, water fills the streets and enters the homes. The Gunas have tried to reinforce the island’s edge with rocks, pilings and coral, but seawater keeps coming. Residents will move to the new site on the mainland that the government developed at a cost of $12 million. The concrete houses sit on a grid of paved streets carved out of the lush tropical jungle just over a mile from the port, where an eight-minute boat ride carries them to Gardi Sugdub.

Cuba laments collapse of iconic sugar industry (BBC) Cutting cane is all Miguel Guzmán has ever known. He comes from a family of farm hands and started the tough, thankless work as a teenager. For hundreds of years, sugar was the mainstay of the Cuban economy. It was not just the island’s main export but also the cornerstone of another national industry, rum. Older Cubans remember when the island was essentially built on the backs of families like Mr Guzmán’s. Today, though, he readily admits he has never seen the sugar industry as broken and depressed as it is now—not even when the Soviet Union’s lucrative sugar quotas dried up after the Cold War. Spiralling inflation, shortages of basic goods and the decades-long US economic embargo have made for a dire economic outlook across the board in Cuba. But things are particularly bleak in the sugar trade. Last season, Cuba’s production fell to just 350,000 tonnes of raw sugar, an all-time low for the country, and well below the 1.3 million tonnes recorded in 2019. “It’s a disaster. Today the sugar industry in Cuba almost doesn’t exist,” says Juan Triana of the Centre for Studies of the Cuban Economy in Havana. “We’re producing the same quantity of sugar Cuba produced in the middle of the 19th Century.”

NATO ministers meet in Prague as allies ease restrictions on Ukraine’s use of their weapons (AP) NATO foreign ministers were meeting in the Czech capital Friday to prepare for this summer’s leaders’ summit as the alliance boosts support for Ukraine and countries one-by-one remove restrictions on how Kyiv can use western-supplied weaponry to combat Russia’s invasion. A day after U.S. President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the go-ahead to use American munitions to strike inside Russia for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv, numerous ministers, including those from the Netherlands, Finland, Poland and Germany, expressed approval of the decision, saying that Ukraine has the absolute right to defend itself from attacks originating on Russian soil.

The Kremlin is all-in on war in Ukraine (CSM) Amid its grinding war of attrition and economic mobilization against Ukraine, Russia is changing fast. As the Defense Ministry spends ever-increasing amounts of money to procure the equipment it needs and to recruit more soldiers, the country’s business environment and economic geography are being reshaped. And the military-industrial complex, which was vastly downsized in post-Soviet years, is reviving quickly. Confounding observers in many ways, Russia’s war economy, despite Western sanctions, is now back at a level that outproduces the entire West in some key military goods. And the Kremlin appears to be committed to a war economy approach for the long haul, as suggested by the recent reshuffling of Defense Ministry leadership. Whether such an economic policy is viable is in debate. Optimists say the rapid economic development is economically positive on balance, or at least that Russia can sustain high levels of military spending for the foreseeable future. Pessimists argue that the Kremlin is building a permanent war economy, much like the one that strangled the Soviet Union, and that hopes of building a prosperous consumer economy are fast vanishing. But for the moment, Russian President Vladimir Putin appears all in.

Voting begins in the last round of India’s election (AP) A six-week-long national election in India that is a referendum on Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decade in power neared its end Saturday as the last phase of voting began. The election is considered one of the most consequential in India’s history. If Modi wins, he’ll be only the second Indian leader to retain power for a third term after Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first prime minister. The seventh round of polls covers 57 constituencies across seven states and one union territory. It will complete a national election to fill all 543 seats in the powerful lower house of parliament. Nearly 970 million voters—more than 10% of the world’s population—were eligible to elect a new parliament for five years. More than 8,300 candidates ran for the office. Most polls show Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party leading over the broad opposition alliance that’s challenging them, led by the Congress party. The votes will be counted Tuesday, with results expected by the end of the day.

Israeli views of the Israel-Hamas war (Pew Research Center) Some 39% of Israelis say Israel’s military response against Hamas in Gaza has been about right, while 34% say it has not gone far enough and 19% think it has gone too far, according to a survey conducted March 3-April 4. But Israelis see the war in vastly different ways depending on their political ideology, religion and other factors, including stark divides between Jews and Arabs. According to the survey, conducted in March and early April, roughly two-thirds of Israelis are also confident that Israel will either probably (27%) or definitely (40%) achieve its goals in the war against Hamas.

Israel confirms its forces are in central Rafah in expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city (AP) The Israeli military confirmed Friday that its forces are operating in central parts of Rafah in its expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city. Israel launched its ground assault into the city on May 6, triggering an exodus of around 1 million Palestinians out of the city and throwing U.N. humanitarian operations based in the area into turmoil. Still, it has yet to amount to a “major operation” in the eyes of U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, according to the State Department. Up to around 300,000 people are believed to remain in the Rafah area, with an unknown number still in the city itself. Most have flocked to rural areas on the Mediterranean coastline west of the city, said Shaina Low, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian group that operates in the area. That area has seen deadly Israeli strikes the past week. Palestinians who fled the city have scattered around southern and central Gaza, most of them living in squalid tent camps.

Israel maintains a shadowy hospital in the desert for Gaza detainees. Critics allege mistreatment (AP) Patients lying shackled and blindfolded on more than a dozen beds inside a white tent in the desert. Surgeries performed without adequate painkillers. Doctors who remain anonymous. These are some of the conditions at Israel’s only hospital dedicated to treating Palestinians detained by the military in the Gaza Strip, three people who have worked there told The Associated Press, confirming similar accounts from human rights groups. While Israel says it detains only suspected militants, many patients have turned out to be non-combatants taken during raids, held without trial and eventually returned to war-torn Gaza. Eight months into the Israel-Hamas war, accusations of inhumane treatment at the Sde Teiman military field hospital are on the rise, and the Israeli government is under growing pressure to shut it down. Rights groups and other critics say what began as a temporary place to hold and treat militants after Oct. 7 has morphed into a harsh detention center with too little accountability.

Google scales back AI search answers after it told users to eat glue (Washington Post) Google said it was scaling down the use of AI-generated answers in some search results, after the tech made high-profile errors including telling users to put glue on their pizza and saying Barack Obama was Muslim. The change is the latest example of Google launching an AI product with fanfare and then rolling it back after it goes awry. The tech industry is in the throes of an AI revolution, with start-ups and Big Tech giants alike trying to find new ways to put the tech into their products and make money from it. Many of the tools have been launched before they’re ready for prime time, as companies jostle to be the first to market their products and cast themselves as cutting-edge. One answer, which Google has since fixed, told people to drink plenty of urine to help pass a kidney stone. Another said John F. Kennedy graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in six different years, three of which were after his death.

[theswordwizard]

i cannot believe i keep seeing posts congratulating biden for a four day "ceasefire" (where the IDF CONTINUED to shoot people) over BLACK FRIDAY WEEKEND and saying "ohhhhh he's trying so hard guys we need to clap for him and the DNC, aren't we so glad we have a democrat in office right now" after they gave over 14 BILLION dollars to the israeli military? they scheduled a halftime break in the bombing and you act like they accomplished something real?

i'm also not that surprised, but definitely disappointed, at the amount of posts i've seen blaming "russian bots" for anti-biden posts. its over a year until the next election, and joe biden is CURRENTLY, RIGHT NOW, perpetuating zionist lies about Palestine and actively funding their genocide to the media! you realize that if a YEAR in advance of an election, if people are saying "hey this is fucked up, i'm not voting for someone who does this," the DNC doesn't actually have to run joe biden for the democratic nominee? biden said barely a year ago that he didn't intend to run again!

if every election "season" (that seems to get longer every year, proper campaigning for PARTY nominees have barely started, my god) every liberal blasts the messaging "Vote Blue No Matter Who," that the message you are sending to the DNC is that you will vote for whoever they pick out for you, regardless of whether it's in the people's best interests? if YOU TELL THEM that the only messaging they have to have is how the republicans are worse, then that will be their strategy! and we already saw how that played out with hillary!

hillary did not lose because you didn't yell at enough people online, hillary lost because the DNC played poker and INTENTIONALLY propped up and gave additional airtime to trump because they thought that even a generally disliked democratic nominee could win against him! and they were wrong! you CANNOT win an election on "that other guy sucks," because the average american is not reading your callout posts. the average, non-party aligned american, is gonna watch the debate and go "wow I don't really like either of them, I can't afford to not get paid for the hours it would take to vote," because the average american is not a hard leftist or a chronically online liberal.

joe biden won because he campaigned on the promise of student debt relief and fixing covid, and he did neither! sure, he made some small, unflashy, means-tested improvements, but no one even got the 10k reduction that he kept dangling. we can blame the republican party all we want, but what people remember is that joe biden did not do what he promised people. prices are still getting higher and people are still struggling more and more. it's not convincing, and he's not likeable.

if you want to yell at people for not toeing the party line or whatever, a better use of your time would be calling your representatives and getting more involved in local elections. school boards, city councils, state and district representatives, those will immediately effect people's lives in your area!

as more and more information comes out about what is happening in Palestine and the US's part in it, the more unappealing joe biden is as a candidate. if anything, you should call your senator and tell them YOU and anyone you know won't be voting for him, if you really want a chance for a democrat to win the next election.

[gascon-en-exil]

I am almost never inclined to be political, but as yesterday was Québec Fête Nationale I've been having some more thoughts in their direction.

I have had friends in Montréal for around a decade now; I met two of them in the usual way when they came to visit New Orleans, and I've been a small part of their circle ever since. The more I've learned about Québécois politics from them, the more I've realized that, despite the differences in circumstances, they share many underlying similarities with Louisiana politics, and the political affiliations of the Louisianais in particular, i.e. as opposed to the non-French population of Louisiana, who consider themselves Americans and are politically dominated by the Bible Belt Anglos that control the north of the state. When Louisiana votes red or however you say it in US elections, those are the people to blame.

From what I've seen, Québécois politics are just as dramatic, and their interests defy neat categorization into conservative and liberal causes as defined by Canadian/US politics. A few months ago one of my friends and I discussed this similarity, and how it leads to Canadian/US conservatives calling us liberals and their liberals calling us conservatives - which inspired (in least for me) a moment of solidarity in feeling that no one will ever be on our side. Obviously the motivation behind this differs somewhat; the cause of Québec separatism has had real political weight and supporters and detractors from all across the spectrum, whereas New Orleans entices and reviles all because we are a city committed to the indulgence of every imaginable vice and to the fatalistic, apolitical allure of death. (Also there are the Cajuns, who trust no one outside their own communities and trust the US government even less.) Humorously this has even cropped up in my online life, as I've had trolls on Tumblr, YouTube, and a certain Discord calling me variously a hardline religious conservative or a delusional SJW liberal, according to whichever affiliation they hate.

If I were politically inclined and had the resources to do so, I could see myself moving to Montréal and helping the Québécois cause in what way I could, with an added eye for outreach toward Louisiana and connection with the organizations here dedicated to preserving the French languages and cultures of the state. It's just about the only cause* that I've ever really felt passionate about. Unfortunately I don't think that's ever going to be a feasible goal for me, for financial reasons if nothing else - but every once in a while I can dream of something beyond hedonistic cynicism.

*One might question why I don't feel the same passion about being queer, but as it happens being a gay French New Orleanian has always felt rather effortless - even expected in a way. Anglos, after all, think of French people as kinky pansexuals out to seduce their significant others with our irresistible Latin charm, and New Orleans has for centuries played host to crossdressing Carnival masquerades and drag performances in reputable establishments, to the point that the Pride initiated by New York City almost feels like a footnote here with the wild abandon of Mardi Gras on the one side and dark, raunchy Decadence on the other. It's taken considerably more active effort on my part to affirm myself as a Frenchman here: interested in the broader Francophonie, and invested in the fate - however grim and inevitable - of the Louisianais.

[fantabulousblog]

Bees Protection

I'm a lover of nature, I've always been passionated by the bees.

As a child, I was captivated by their skillful organization, their effective communication, their intricate social structure, and their capacity to collaborate for the benefit of the swarm - and this fascination has only grown as I became an adult.

I am deeply concerned about the decline of the bee population and I am doing whatever I can to help. The most concerning part is that I can see the slow decline of their population even from my balcony.

I've created a few artwork on this subject to raise awareness, try to remind people of the current situation of bees and explain why they are essential to the ecosystem.

Importance of bees in human food production

Bees are one of the most important pollinators of crops and wildflowers. They play a vital role in the ecosystem and are responsible for the pollination of around 80% of the world’s plants.

If we just consider them under the angle of human feeding, they are responsible for the pollination of 75% of cultivated plants including 90% of fruit trees ! Without them, therefore, almost no more fruits and vegetables, or oilseeds (rapeseed, peanuts, olives, …), nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, …) …

In addition, the presence of wild pollinators in a field makes it possible to increase – sometimes double – the yields of certain fruits and vegetables, such as apples or tomatoes. They also aid in the genetic mixing of plants and their adaptation to weather hazards. Ultimately, pollinators are vital for the quality, quantity, and diversity of our food.

Threats to Bee Populations

Despite their importance, bee populations are in danger. They are facing a multitude of threats to their survival, from disease and parasites to the devastating effects of climate change.

As temperatures rise and habitats become increasingly disrupted, bees are struggling to find the resources they need to survive.

In addition to their already weakened immune systems, they are also at risk of contracting deadly diseases like the American foulbrood.

Parasites such as the Varroa or the Small Hive Beetle can also wreak havoc on bee colonies, destroying their habitat and leaving them vulnerable to attack. But that's not all – the Asian hornet is the ultimate predator, posing an even greater threat to bee populations.

As if that weren't enough, bees are also struggling to cope with the changing climate, which is causing their traditional habitats to become increasingly inhospitable.

They are being forced to search for new areas to feed, and the lack of suitable food sources is taking its toll. It's clear that if we don't take steps to protect bees, their future is in serious jeopardy.

All of these factors contribute to the steep decline in bee populations, putting our food system and ecosystems in danger.

How to Protect Bees

There are many things that individuals and organizations can do to help protect bees. Here are some examples:

- Avoid using harmful chemicals: Choose natural alternatives to pesticides and herbicides to reduce harm to bees and other wildlife.

Find a list of chemicals to avoid in your garden etablished and maintained by the center for food safety here

- Plant native flowering plants: Bees need food sources, and native flowers can provide needed nutrients.

Find a list of native flowering plants useful to the bees classified by state here (United States)

- Support organizations that protect bees: Nonprofits and other groups play an important role in bee conservation.

Find a short list of non-profit worldwide organizations that protect bees here (there are many more)

- Advocate for bee protection: Speak up for bees and encourage others to do the same by contacting your elected officials or through social media.

Conclusion

Bees may be small creatures, but they play a critical role in our world. By protecting bees and their habitats, we are not only safeguarding our food systems and ecosystems but ensuring our own survival on this planet. Whether you’re a farmer, a consumer, or simply someone like me who cares about the environment, there are many ways that you can help make a difference !

Discover Fantabuloustef bees artwork on Redbubble

Discover Fantabuloustef bees artwork on Zazzle

Discover Fantabuloustef bees artwork on Spreadshirt

The money made from the sales of my artwork around bees will help me planting and taking care of bee-useful flowers.

[kaapstadmk]

Not gonna lie, I'm a little in the doom and gloom camp, having watched populist leaders and dictators make power plays on a regular basis.

I saw Zuma kneecap Mbeki and a host of other populist hopefuls trying to ride his coattails and milk the system. Thankfully, he was finally deposed, but only after 9 years of undoing strategic international marketing and business agreements.

I watched Mugabe keep a death grip on power

I watched nepotism and cabinet incompetence

I remember watching the ANC creep closer and closer to a 2/3 parliamentary majority and all the constitutional fear-mongering that went along with it

I remember watching Gaddafi endlessly try to prop himself up as leader of the AU.

I remember seeing refugees from the DRC and Rwanda, members of my church, and hearing their stories of why they left, their journeys, and their worries over family left behind

I hope you understand that, for some of us, this feels all too familiar, and not in a good way. To add to that, some of us are, or have family members who are racial, sexual, or gender minorities. You can't tell us not to be worried about the well-being of our families

I understand many Americans are still hopeful things will turn around, and I genuinely hope their hope and optimism isn't misplaced. Just, please, don't write off all us skeptics as gloomy naysayers and contrarians. Many of us have seen some shit; for some, it may have even been traumatic. Regardless, our experiences have left us very sensitive to the degree of potential badness that may arise, and, while taking individual, local action can be satisfying, it doesn't calm the national fear roiling underneath the surface.

So, yes, by all means, push for local change and take an active part in local non-profits and midterm elections, but also don't look down on those who may be going through a fear response while you're at it.

Kthxbai

Hey

Hey Americans.

The federal government is about to get useless for at least a bit. This is a GREAT time to get involved in state level environmental orgs. That's where you're gonna be able to do the most for the next few years. Even a bit of casual volunteering can make a big difference.

I've done this off and on for years and when we go local we WIN. And friends winning feels good. This is how a lot of progressive agendas have won in this country. The whole US isn't out of this. People ARE still fighting climate change all around you.

You could be one of those people, in community with other people who are doing something.

doom and gloom "oooh everything is pointless oooh I'm so deep and edgy because I love trying to be the death of hope" people will just get blocked. I'm not talking to your crab-bucket ass.

[dasboligrafo]

Short-ish Takes

Dark Noon (sometime in summer 2024?) at St. Ann's Warehouse -- ughhhh...the play that finally, definitively dispensed with my tolerance for S.A.W.? Has St Anns ever staged anything not apparently calculated to earn my loathing? A play celebrated for its "South African" take on American racism and violence (lol like seriously? what a glass house to aim a stone from), and sure the actors were all black South Africans, but the playwright is...Danish. Not surprisingly the play exploited them. Unpleasant, at times grotesque, entirely devoid of even a moment of original aesthetic beauty, the only tolerable parts being samples of (American) music. I even hated the sets, which I guess were supposed to look like South African shanty towns (way to subversively showcase the beauty of South Africa I guess). Incoherent underdeveloped message about the exportation of violent culture via American popular media, a clear example of "when a good idea lands in the hands of someone too literal, simple and self-satisfied to develop it."

We Are Your Robots (Theatre for a New Audience 11/12/2024) -- also underdeveloped (arguably), but this was merely mediocre and corny, maybe a little disappointing because it's an interesting and timely idea: a musical about robots gaining sentience. The music was...clever, I guess, but only ever that. This is the kind of content that tickles your whimsy until you feel dead inside. There was a woman/twee monster next to me (on a date?) who (literally) snorted with laughter, so loudly and frequently, that she may have shaded my interpretation of this performance. A true artifact of painfully white culture (there were other non-white people in the audience though, something I genuinely love about TFANA).

Gatz -- by Elevator Repair Service (Nov 3, 2024 at the Public Theatre.) This is the play where they read The Great Gatsby, in its entirety, on stage. This was very good, though my impression is surely shaded by admiration for the feat that is this work: an EIGHT hour long play (there are intermissions, including a dinner break) that actually works as a play. Gatsby is legitimately great, a rightfully hallowed American literary classic, a book that yields new meanings every time I pick it up, decades apart, a book about the promise and impossibility of the American dream (specifically for Black people, queer people, women and those who don't inherit wealth. Not to sound woo, but I knew Tr*** would win after I saw it, mere days before the election.) Can you feel us dancing at the edge of the roaring 20s, car driving up the darkened driveway because nobody told us [the free media is dead]/only finding out when we get to the darkened mansion, that the party is over, and we are being borne back ceaselessly against the past etc. So like maybe this play would be more impressive with a book that wasn't this great and timely, though faulting it for picking a great source material feels miserly.

[cyarsk52-20]

these moments are giving heavy deep negro sigh

Here Are the Worst Black Moments of 2024

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Though 2024 came with a handful of highs, it also came with a handful of lows in everything from the political sphere to entertainment and pop culture.

As the year comes to a close, we thought it would be fitting to take a look back on some of the worst moments of 2024 and reflect on the “Ls” Black people took as a collective. Hopefully, by the time 2025 rolls around we can all put these things in the rearview mirror and gain some more “Ws” in the next 12 months.

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Vice President Kamala Harris Losing the 2024 Presidential Election

Now you already know we had to start off strong with one of the biggest, worst moments of the year. Despite making history with record donations and strong debate performances, it still wasn’t enough for Vice President Kamala Harris to win the presidential election. Her loss sparked sadness, frustration and resolve from Black women in particular who decided they’d no longer play their part in helping save the nation from itself anymore. and when black ppl said that they are done it means they are DONE! So if you wonder why they are not gonna be outraged by the upcoming deportations remember this: those who voted for it could have prevented this.

Mike Tyson Losing the Fight Against Jake Paul

Now sure, maybe we all shouldn’t have really expected a nearly 59-year-old boxing champion to win a fight against somebody nearly 30 years his junior, but seeing Mike Tyson—of all fighters—get tired and worn out and ultimately lose against Jake Paul was a moment of time I, personally, wish we all didn’t have to witness.

James Earl Jones’ Death

After years of false alarms of James Earl Jones’ death on social media, folks all over were shocked when it was announced the “Star Wars” and “Lion King” star had actually transitioned to the other side on Sep. 9.

Frankie Beverly’s Death

As if losing James Earl Jones wasn’t bad enough, less than 24 hours later, Black folks were dealt another blow when we learned that beloved singer Frankie Beverly died. As one of the voices that were paramount to the soundtrack of Black America, Beverly’s death was and still is hard to deal with.

Tito Jackson’s Death

Not even five days after Frankie Beverly’s death, the grief of Black America was deepened even more when the news that Jackson 5 member Tito Jackson had passed away on Sep. 15. Having lost three legends back to back to back, the month of September definitely got off to a rough start. Seriously to hades with this freaking month of September, you horrid little bastard (I’m kidding, but seriously come back when you’re not as bad in 2025, you hear me)

Quincy Jones’ Death

It was already a hard year when it came to losing music legends but the cake was arguably taken when the news of Quincy Jones’ death on Nov. 3 was made public. With his talents and contributions spanning across TV and film in addition to music—Jones’ legacy will undoubtedly live beyond him for years to come.

“The American Society of Magical Negros” Release

The swiftness with which Black Twitter dragged the trailer for “The American Society of Magical Negroes” back in Dec. 2023, should’ve been a good indicator of how badly the movie would be received when it hit theaters the following March. But it’s clear that it wasn’t as the film received double lashings shortly after its release thanks to the lack of actual magical negroes using their powers for other Black folks and the non-Black love interest to name a few things. If you’re going to make a powerful movie regarding black ppl with magic you better make it at least slightly enjoyable or just watch the first(and unfortunately only) season of HBO lovecraft country

Raygun Winning Breakdancing at the Olympics

The news that breakdancing was an official category in the 2024 Olympics put a lot of smiles on a lot of Black folks’ faces. But, those smiles were quickly wiped away when Australian dancer with the rhythm of a wet macaroni noodle and puzzling choreography got all the attention. 

I’m mad this moment will forever be etched in history because it was truly horrific. Like it’s over fifty years since breakdancing and this is what it led to? The breakdancers who went to the big dance show in the sky are turning into their graves

“DEI Mayor” & the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

As if seeing the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore shockingly collapse back in March wasn’t one thing, seeing the racist response to Mayor Brandon Scott and him being called the “DEI Mayor” in the aftermath made an already bad situation that much worse. Thankfully he handled it with tact and wit but that still didn’t take away from the overt racism lobbed against him.

John Amos’ Messy Death & Funerals

Prior to John Amos’ death on Aug. 21, we’d all gotten privy to the drama that was brewing between his two children: daughter Shannon and son KC. But things took an even weirder turn for the worse when the world found out about the elder Amos’ death and that he was cremated nearly two months after he’d already passed away. What followed was even more online mess between his kids and even two separate funerals. 

Ray J’s Fight With Diddy’s Kids and the Unlikely Mediator

Though Sean “Diddy” Combs has enough problems to deal with on his own thanks to his federal indictment, his kids Justin, Quincy and Christian apparently took up the mantle to defend him when they engaged in a “heated face off” with Ray J of all people after a Halloween party back in Oct. Fortunately Chris Brown (yes, that Chris Brown) was there to diffuse the situation. 

Unfortunately, this incident would be the kickoff to several more bizarre Ray J moments which included a wide-ranging and weird interview with Nicki Minaj, allegations about attempts on his life and more. Ray j, Just stop. Seriously

Tyrese Not Retiring From Social Media

Though Tyrese Gibson has given us out fair share of memes and memorable interviews, he sparked joy all over when he announced he’d be retiring from social media—leading us all to believe we’d finally be spared from his antics.

Sadly, that admission proved to be a lie as the “Lately” singer continued to post and ended up adding even more fodder for conversation thanks to his emotional “Breakfast Club” interview and a bizarre Instagram post in which he refuted rumors he was gay and a devil worshipper.

R. Kelly’s Daughter Heartbreaking Abuse Revelation

Though it’s well documented just how much harm R. Kelly inflicted on numerous young girls and boys, the internet was set ablaze back in October when a new documentary about the disgraced R&B singer revealed that he’d allegedly sexually abused his own daughter Buku Abi. it’s already bad enough that he abused many young boys and girls but his own daughter?!? 31 years in prison is not enough for him, he got a sweetheart sentence.

Nikki Giovanni’s Death

In the last month of 2024, just when we thought we’d be spared another heartbreaking death: esteemed author, poet, and activist Nikki Giovanni passed away on Dec. 10. Just like with the previous deaths of Frankie Beverly, James Earl Jones, Tito Jackson, and Quincy Jones—Black folks around the country had to grieve once again over the loss of yet another legend

[kitty-pelosi]

I am willing to bet everyone in this thread is a white person (because this is tumblr and it’s white queer city) and it’s because this whole conversation completely dances around one topic:

the fact that the primary drive behind online discourse for not voting in this election, along with the historicity and testimony of people who say they can no longer vote for democrats all have one thing in common - the centering of immigrant, black and indigenous voices invested in anticapitalist decolonization.

I would say that it is true that white people are MORE WORRIED about Donald Trump than black people in America. And my people (white people) HATE to recognize this and will refuse to recognize this because they are themselves the privileged political class that sees itself in the structure of governance. But they don’t see how others do not see themselves in the same structure, or how asking people who are certainly already NOT a part of that structure to throw themselves into it is… a complete non-starter for a dialogue. And it makes you seem like an out of touch white liberal to a person who is already very adept in ignoring out of touch white liberals.

I feel like nothing said here actually matters remotely if you’re in touch with the fact that for the past 35 years, Democrat or Republican, asking a black person to vote is asking them to vote for the same white oppressor. There is a reason that the most successful presidential candidate in recent Democratic politics was a black man who was speaking to black Americans directly and not through a party organizing apparatus. And then he turned out to have the same problems all the white men have in their liberal politics. So telling people that they HAVE to vote for Biden because Trump is “pro cop city!” while at the same time democratic legislatures at the state and local level (not to mention the overwhelming conservatism of federal democrats) are abetting the construction of these cop cities is not productive. Being righteous online about voting for someone who goes on TV and justifies genocide actively reduces the value of your words to these people. You (vaguely targeted to the Democratic voter and organizer) are honestly shooting yourself in the foot. You and the way you communicate are the primary obstacle to your own success, and you don’t even see it. People don’t want to be involved with you, because at this point in history and given the matrices of oppression at play, you just disgust them.

and white people just do not see how insulting and ridiculous they seem when they ask - no, DEMAND black votes. because they need black votes or else they won’t win, but the internal party structure has made it plain as day - to those of us who aren’t in line - that their voices are to be silenced and averted at any cost at all times, even when it damages the Democratic Party. (see: 2016, 2020, and 2024 and the actions of the DNC)

White liberals don’t see any of this because they view themselves as the righteous protectorate of the American underclass (black folk) and their ability to access civil liberties. They think black people should be more grateful for their work. While at the same time people who aren’t white in America are asked to vote for two different men - a difference only white people get to see and know, and that the rest of us don’t experience.

and if you want to know what the plan is for after the election, it’s to actually have some white people with money on our side again. because those people only care about humans when a Republican is in power (they are themselves democrats) but feel righteous fulfillment when a Blue Guy is in office, which terminates their desire to help others. We see it in canvassing, we see it at polls, and we see it at protests. It makes organizing easier, it makes it more productive, and it’s because white people will donate money to us out of a neurotic fear of Donald Trump. Just how the Democratic Party primarily markets itself now off of not being Trump, we can capitalize on those same fears at the donation drive and in local politics. The impending failure and collapse of the Democratic Party will provide a great opportunity to radicalize millions, given that it is really the Democratic Party and its infrastructure that has been a HUGE obstacle in effective grassroots organizing and Marxist movements.

i kind of wish the anti voting people wouldn’t dance around the idea of what happens after the election. Like okay, the democrats lose, you taught them a lesson (and fwiw, I do think its a legitimate message to send- the people are not happy with the actions and status quo of the DNC). Now What. Trump, the multiply indicted crime president who incited a violent mob upon the capitol, is now President. He has all the qualities you hate about Biden, AND more, except he and his administration have even less reason to be sensitive to the wishes of their democratic constituents. He is a puppet for the far right and white supremacists and christian nationalists. I really shouldn’t even have to go over this- we LIVED it already. Genuinely asking, is this what you want? Because frankly I do not think 4 more years of Trump is worth it over Biden. Your hands are not clean, this is the future you want to choose. I just don’t understand why.

[lost-technology]

A thought on my mind: I apologise for not hustling butt on getting any new chapters of Survivor's Guilt out for those of you who are reading it in any kind of timely manner. I never had an update-schedule for it, anyway. It was always a pantsted, meandering "working with ideas as they come" fic - although, at this point, I have rough plans in mind for how it's going to go, up until the end. (I want to end it coinciding with the end of Trigun Stampede and upon release of Stargaze, make an entirely new sequel fic if I want to continue the storyline). I've had some hiccups between chapters. When I started it way back, I wrote out one chapter to get the basic idea out - and then I got The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and was basically just playing that for 2 1/2 months straight (well, not straight, I ate and slept, but you know). Considering that I was grieving a very dear loved one at the time, I really threw myself into that game as a distraction from life because nothing is as good a distraction for me as video games. And then I got back onto the fic and was really chugging along for a while - until I got a much-sought after and needed part-time job. My job took some time from me. It's okay - I've actually worked out storylines for the fic in my head while working! Nowadays, well, I'm an American and our very important Presidential (and general 4 year election for Senators and Representatives) is coming up. I think that even some of you who AREN'T American are paying attention to it because "when America sneezes, the world catches a cold." It's an incredibly important / world shaking one, too, as we have the potential to either have the first Madame President in our entire history or to re-elect an increasingly unhinged, publicly demented fascist who has loyalists in place to actually create a fascist government for him at his behest. I have, so far, kept politics off this blog (my rantspace for it is my main blog), but I am deeply afraid. The U.S. has a very wonky system for selecting a President whereby they don't have to win the majority vote of the actual people, but a series of representative slates of the states and that's how the jerkface that's running for a non-consecutive second term got in in the first place. He Who Shall Not Be Named was BAD years ago (arguably responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths due to his adminstration's purposeful mismanagement of the Covid pandemic). He's said and done things that SHOULD have gotten him shitcanned for EVER having a place in politics, but...somehow... he's around and has people (such as our Supreme Court) bending over backwards for him and I honestly wonder if he promised his firstborn son as a sacrifice to the Devil or something. Anyway, we're on the cusp of a decision that can go really right or go really wrong - and I have a lot of fears because... well... for all our supposed progress, we remain a deeply racist and sexist country and there are just some elements that have roughly half of us ready to chuck good ol' Democracy away for a potential dictatorship. And I happen to live in THE most coveted "swing state" - Where I live is said to basically decide the Presidency. (And there are people here who are already trying to pull voter-suppression shenanigans). And the advertisements and the signs and... I am losing my mind. (I've EATEN at the McDonald's that He Who Shall Not Be Named cosplayed at. I'm that close to the action).* - *in the past, not on the day, I'm not a supporter. So... too scared, too stressed to write. That's where I am right now. And who knows? The fic may wind up abandoned because I'll wind up being bare-bones survival, looking to flee my country or just jumping off a bridge or something on an impulse. Or you know, getting imprisoned for being in the wrong political party. Or shot for protesting. Anything can happen here.

[frankbelloriley]

I'm voting for Kamala Harris. I had to go through some hoops in order to vote in Texas, and I didn't do all that to either do nothing or vote for a rapist (and I sure as shit know that motherfucker doesn't need my vote in Texas). I'm saying that right out of the jump, so the following words do not get twisted.

Vote scolding doesn't work. Read those four words again, internalize them, then stop fucking doing it. I have neither the privilege nor the snobbery nor the lack of self-awareness to tell those directly affected by this administration's policy and are begging the Harris campaign for a reason to vote for her over the other guy and still being met with silence at best and outright hostility at worst to vote for her. "Oh, but he will be so much worse." Absolutely. And the lesser of two evils is really fucking evil right now, literally "allowing hospitals to be bombed" evil. And then there's the Harris campaign message of complete throwing of immigrants under the bus and catering to xenophobia. I'm old enough to remember the campaign of 2020 when Democrats were like, "Trump's border wall is bad," and now the message is, "Trump's wall sucks because he couldn't get it done"? What the absolute fuck. What the fuck are you talking about? Literally only bad things happen to political parties that decide immigrants can be used as scapegoats. "Slippery slopes" are a logistical fallacy, but that is a big red flag of where the party believes they should head next. That should be enough to lose my vote and sit out the election, and it would be if, well, the other guy wasn't on the other side.

Since I've already shown to be capable of compromising my ideals to push the can further down the road, let's get so cynical right now. The Harris campaign has demonstrated through actions that they care more about Republican moderates votes than leftists votes. They know catering to one will dispel the other, and they believe there are more of the former than the latter. That is their calculation and their risk. Let them fucking take it. If the Harris campaign loses (which I don't think they will, even though their campaign fucking baffles me, because I believe everyone underestimates just how boring Trump is by now to his non-stans and how hated all of his flunkies are. Dude got shot at and got absolutely no sympathy polling bump), it will be because of that assessment. If the leftist voting bloc was so strong in this country that it could affect state elections, then the Harris campaign should have made some minor concessions like, idk, letting a Palestinian-American Democrat from Georgia, now a swing state, speak at the DNC over a Republican because I don't recall a time where any Democrats spoke at the Republican National Convention. And if they're not, as the Harris campaign seemingly believes, then leftists sitting out on the vote does not matter. To say this again for clarity: I am not saying that your vote doesn't matter if you lean left, but I am saying the Harris campaign is sure acting like it. Let them find out.

And all of you vote scolds are vote scolding because you've seen this play out before in 2016, and I ask you this: why the fuck are you fine with the Harris campaign doing 2016 Part 2 of "what are you gonna do, not vote for me?" and why are you doing free fixer PR for dummy consultants getting paid 500 grand?

[head-post]

House rejects temporary funding bill to avoid government shutdown

The House declined Speaker Mike Johnson’s proposal to tie temporary funding for the federal government to a mandate that states require proof of citizenship when registering to vote, according to AP News.

Next steps for government funding remain uncertain. Lawmakers face difficulty in finalising the dozen annual appropriations bills funding federal agencies over the next fiscal year. They will need to approve a temporary measure to avert a partial shutdown when the fiscal year begins on 1 October.

We’ll draw up another play and we’ll come up with a solution. I’m already talking to colleague about their many ideas. We have time to fix the situation and we’ll get right to it.

Johnson withdrew the bill from consideration last week as it lacked the votes to pass.

Requiring new voters to provide proof of citizenship has been a top Republican priority on the campaign trail. However, critics argue the requirement would disenfranchise millions of Americans who do not have a birth certificate or passport at hand.

But Johnson said it was a serious issue, since even a tiny percentage of non-citizens could determine the outcome of an extremely close race. He noted that Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa won the seat back in 2020 by a margin of six votes.

It’s very, very serious stuff and that’s why we’re going to do the right thing. We’re going to responsibly fund the government and we’re going to stop noncitizens voting in elections.

House Democrats argued that a proof-of-citizenship requirement should not be part of a bill to fund the government and urged Johnson to work with them on a measure capable of passing both chambers. Pete Aguilar stated:

[The SAVE Act] is not going to become law. This is Republican theatrics that are meant to appease the most extreme members of their conference, to show them that they are working on something and that they’re continuing to support the former president of the United States in his bid to demonise immigrants.

SAVE Act

The bill would fund agencies generally at current levels through 28 March while lawmakers settle their disagreements on a full-year spending agreement. However, Democrats and some Republicans are pushing for a shorter delay. A temporary solution would allow the current Congress to craft a final bill after the election and send it to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.

However, Johnson and some of the more conservative members of his conference are pushing for a six-month extension in the hope that Trump would win and give them more leverage in crafting a year-long bill. Meanwhile, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky declined to offer an opinion on how long to extend the funding.

The one thing you cannot have is a government shutdown. It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election because certainly we would get the blame.

The House approved a bill with a citizenship verification mandate back in July. Some Republicans who see the issue as popular with their constituents, pushing for another chance to show their support.

Read more HERE