#welfare state my ass

[ofieloafi]

guess who got fucking rejected by the trans clinic for the second time 🥰

[hijinxinprogress]

Civilian Gothamites realizing they can get vengeance through Sword!Robin

Gothamites figuring out if they happen to mention a rogue treating animals poorly within hearing range of sword!Robin that rogue will be in custody with at least four fractures and a concussion and Damian being completely aware that like 63% of these people are lying but it’s the only way he can get experience with the nonlethal takedowns he’s experimenting with bc everyone keeps complaining about how he treats his opponents and allies 

Like he’s guiding a civilian to safety and they mention that “this would be the worst thing to happen to me today if riddler didn’t stab my fucking cat” and this civilian does not own a cat but they did own a car that was just paid off but riddler fucking crushed it with a stupid ass hot air balloon that’s shaped like a fucking question mark and Damian is aware of this bc he was the one that verified the insurance claim (but he’s been looking for a reason to punch Nygma in the throat since his last Arkham escape when he called Damian a moron)

And he also knows that if he plays along with it and says ‘as if I’d let that gaudy and tactless imbecile get away with committing such atrocities’ when prompted that he’ll get away with barely a slap on the wrist like he gets three half hearted but long lectures he’s not going to listen to and an online sensitivity training seminar he goads Tim into completing (Damian and Tim 100% try to trick each other into doing work they don’t want to do and full heartedly believe the other has no idea what they’re doing)

Bruce’s tendency for finding small crashouts at risk of becoming future rogues in Gotham and deciding they need love & supervision but what actually happens bc he’s so fucking awkward is they get almost the same amount of supervision just with like an hour of intense helicopter parenting a week but honestly besides that they just have more money and resources to do fuck shit

Tim 🤝🏾 Damian: using the manipulation tactics they learned from their mothers then later improved on with help from an assassin cult and bat/cape interrogation questioning techniques on the homies

[faery-snow]

I'm fucking boggled, man. $10k/month for NOTHING??!!!! Do you know how hard I've worked just to make $2k/month??!!!!!! Now I'm disabled and fucking unable to work and living completely on the charity of friends and family. If I could have a mere $1k/month...my god, I could have a little bit of a life again. Like, holy shit. What rich bastards are living on $10k/month and suffering 😅

actually for fusies, let’s make it a poll

original post for context:

[frostbitebakery]

A Disturbed State Of The Natural Environment, Gods-Fucking-Dammit

A Pada-Wan Story

for @lttrsfrmlnrrgby

“Obi— Commander Kenobi-“

“You can call me Obi-Wan, Cody,” the kid huffs. “Neither you nor I will suddenly combust into a ball of fire if you do.”

You don’t know that, Cody thinks, not liking how his voice sounds in his mind.

Four days since the incident - or, “The Incident,” how Boil and Waxer like to say in unison with the bucket lights under their chins -, two since the 104th of all Battalions received their signal and towed the 212th fleet to the nearest station within the Republic that would allow them to overhaul the ships’ electronics.

It has been exactly two point five hours since Wolffe stopped wheezing at Cody over comms. Nearly as much time as the kid had vanished from under Cody’s paranoid nose.

“Councilor Kenobi is safe and sound,” General Koon had assured him while Wolffe stood at perfect parade rest a step behind, shriek-laughing his armor off.

The kid sighs. “You have come here for a reason?” he asks, stubborn and prim. “Or is Wooley babysitting me not enough?” He points a thumb over his shoulder to Wooley popping up several yards away, waving.

“If you haven’t noticed Hook, Line, and Sinker also keeping an eye on you, my trepidations are justified.”

The kid rolls his eyes, gesturing to three empty looking spots in the distance. “I am well aware Master Koon is in league with you.”

Cody will not explain safety precautions again. He’s saving that for when the kid really sets out to stomp on any and all walls Cody had to hastily and thoroughly built when his General, his partner, suddenly turned into a child at the worst possible development stage for Cody’s sanity.

The kid studies him while Cody is trying to come up with a legitimate reason for looking for him. Direct admittance to personal concern would backfire on Cody in multiple, entertaining ways, and he frankly doesn’t want to deal with that. From the kid being smug that Cody cares about him very much so keeping his distance must mean something more. To accusations of not trusting Obi-Wan (which, correct, Cody doesn’t know him after all), seeing him as a kid (also true) when he’s sixteen and basically a stone’s throw away from becoming a geezer.

Sixteen. Cody shudders. He remembers very well that half year when he was that developmental age. He shudders again. Gods, the mood swings alone.

“I am reasonably paranoid about your welfare,” he says at last. Wooden which makes him cringe but he’s never lied to Obi-Wan and he’s not starting now.

The kid stares at him for a while. One corner of his mouth quirks up with a shrug and a shuttered look in his eyes Cody desperately wants to make better. “It’s different when they really are out to get you, isn’t it.” The Council had explained how precarious his older self’s safety was at the best of times. Cody had only seen the aftermath and the accompanying ranting about life choices with the occasional visibly happy understanding that Obi-Wan could, actually, grow a non-patchy beard when he’s got a few more years on him.

“May I sit with you?” Cody asks. Shoveling his own metaphorical grave is so much easier with mixed signals after all. But he misses the older Obi-Wan. It’s not fair of him but he needs this.

The expected blush blooms on freckled cheeks. “Yes, of course!” is the eager reply, followed by more blushing.

It’s endearingly cute and Cody would like to chew on his bucket now.

The kid scoots over, wide eyed and expectant.

Gingerly, Cody lowers himself, ignoring the armor digging into his ass and thighs. And lets the silence stretch.

This, really, is what he came here for. A self-indulgent little break to catch his breath. The High General of a Systems Army is compromised and that fact has to remain eyes only to an exclusive handful of people. Only the Jedi Council knows out of obvious necessity. So it’s up to Cody to keep everything else running, keeping the admiralty in the dark because even teenaged Obi-Wan had said he’s got a bad feeling if they were to tell the brass. So they haven’t.

Usually, when flimsiwork and war horrors keep stacking up and expand into an avalanche, Obi-Wan and Cody sit together in silence, sharing a precious cup of real tea, being together and lending support and strength they can’t find for themselves but can always, always find for each other.

Selfishly he wants that strength from Obi-Wan now, the warmth of his body nearby. He’s already breathing easier.

The kid is looking at him curiously, but Cody chooses not to say anything. Instead he turns forward once more, watching the busy night markets of the station and the stars behind it. After a moment the kid does the same.

Shoulders slowly relax and the silence becomes comfortable.

[peridot-tears]

The way that Europeans in particular say "this is US-centric" or "typical Americans" when someone (usually a white person) acts ignorant or has privilege in another country (usually outside of Europe, the US and Canada, Australia and New Zealand) as a knee-jerk reaction is actually a sign of a much deeper issue.

(Buckle up, when I say "Europeans" in this post, I mean specifically Western, Central, and Scandinavian Europe. The ones with the history of colonialism and imperialism and the strongest, most influential economies and education systems. I know Scandinavia didn't colonize the Americas, but your education and welfare systems are so high-ranked, there's no excuse for the ignorance you display. Sorry boo.)

I never get mad about people insulting my country, because quite frankly, despite being born and raised in the United States, this is the same country that's committed hate crimes towards me and my neighbors and put its imperializing little hands on our ancestral homelands. We're the ones fighting every day to make this stupid-ass country a better place.

The reason Europeans defaulting to "America stupid" is such a horrible way to respond to a westerner acting out isn't because I'm in denial of American exceptionalism, but rather because Europeans exhibit the same behaviors, and by pushing it onto another country, shift any accountability for those behaviors aside, never to address them, let alone correct them.

There's just something so ironic about Europeans dubbing two entire continents with rich, ancient civilizations "the New World," systematically wiping out the thousands of cultures here and coercing everyone to live by their own...and then turning around and laughing at the mess they made, using it as a scapegoat for when they don't want to confront the terrible things they're still doing. They're pointing at the mirror and laughing at their own reflection. "I didn't do that, they did."

[hella1975]

SHE IS HOME

i want to go to bed but my flatmate had to take someone from her society to hospital and im one of those people that just Can’t Switch Off until i know we’re all home safe but it’s been THREE HOURS

[redphlox]

I noticed the ask about why you like Toya's character, I love edgelords with a heart of gold too.

I also love that he's petty, like he didn't have to reveal Hawk's family lineage. He did that out of spite because the video of him killing Hawk's would have been enough as well as him exposing his dad's ass in the middle of the war while on top of Gigantomachia.

My boy Dabi is petty and I love it.

What was your favorite thing about Dabi's dance?

Mine was how he planted seeds of doubt onto the heroes and single handedly broke hero society psychologically.

I mean, he didn't only do it just to be petty. Hawks's lineage was the piece that tied everything together. He exposed Hawks's roots with the intention of pointing out that Heroes can and do lie. They can be as corrupt as villains. He was trying to use to his advantage the fact that Japanese society extends capability to family members of criminals in a "birds of a feather flock together" type of way. "Endeavor is fundamentally a bad person, and he's a hero. Hawk is so drawn to him because he's also a bad person... and it makes sense because his dad is a villain, too" type of way. This information was supposed to completely tear down people's belief and trust in heroes.

Except, nothing came of this reveal because the narrative has a double standard that only applies to certain characters. For example, the Todoroki family, with well-to-do members of society like a medical welfare student and a teacher and a future hero, is being drug through the mud and living through hell because they're related to a criminal. Fuyumi felt forced to quit her job, and Shouto felt like he couldn't be around the rest of his classmates while UA was being used as a shelter because of who his father and brother were. The story tells us that the public does not view them favorably. And while many readers explain this away with cultural context that Japanese society tends to ostracize family members of criminals and praises the story for being realistic, then isn't it unrealistic that Hawks doesn't face any skepticism or fall from grace for being related to villains? It makes no sense that he wouldn't face at least a little bit of backlash. This is where the themes and messages of BNHA fall flat and we end up right where we started at the beginning of the story - people are not all born equal.

The revelation about Hawks's father - and even Dabi's reveal - all amounted to nothing because Horikoshi set up a double standard in the story that favors the Heroes. You have a license to kill and act in criminal ways if you have a hero license. Even Endeavor benefited from this to a certain extent because the narrative shows us a few civilians stating that they don't care what Endeavor has done in his private life as long as he does his job as a hero. Yes, the majority of the public hates him, but he still has his supporters - Hawks, his sidekicks. And yes, My Hero Academia is a story about giving people second chances, so I'm not saying the support is inherently bad. But the fact that only Endeavor is being supported and not Touya only reinforces the fact that certain people get second chances. People are not all equal.

What do I mean by this? Well, it's like when you have a friend whose family you haven't met. Your friend tells you that their aunt is dying in the hospital. So you're like, "hey I'm here if you need me." You're supporting your friend, and technically not the aunt. That response makes sense because you don't know the aunt and you are nurturing your relationship with your friend. But in the Todoroki situation, society does have an obligation to Touya because he is a part of society. Turning our backs to criminals AKA villains only exacerbates social problems and forces people to turn to crime in the first place.

Anyway. In the end, yes, the reveal video planted seeds of doubt, but those seeds did not come to fruition, and the status quo did not change. But I did enjoy Dabi's dance immensely. It's one of my favorite moments not only in the story but also in any media I've consumed. The video reveal was fascinating, but I really enjoyed that he had the chance to speak his truth to his abuser.

[communistkenobi]

Hi, you tend to have well-thought-out political opinions (I don't always agree with you, but your reading liveblog were the kick in the ass to make me read Orientalism, and you have managed to change my mind more than once), maybe might have a better answer here than me.

Is there an ideological reason that American (b/c it typically is, god help me) left-of-center types love electoralism so much online (and offline too, tbh. College continues to deal new and fun kinds of psychic damage), but only in the context of the general national elections? I so often receive various extensive breakdowns of reasons that I MUST vote for Biden in 2024, but less about the benefits of, like, getting really invested in my city council elections or the school board.

We have so many freaking elections for goddamn everything because the US/Canada are fuck-off huge that it's super easy to argue for the importance of participating in electoralism and instead I (especially recently) see so many people picking the worst hill to die on, that I really struggle to. Well. Understand why.

I’ll speak mostly to Canada since that’s where most of my formal knowledge comes from and also because I live here lol. Also a lot of what I’m talking about is coming from books I’ve read - Still Renovating by Greg Suttor for example is a pretty in depth history of social policy (primarily housing) in Canada, it’s very dry but is useful for this conversation. This is off the dome and not meant as a PSA or anything, it’s my own perspective, if people want sources for what I’m discussing I can go dig those up, but I’m just putting this disclaimer at the top in case this post leaves my circle.

To answer your question, my instinct is that it’s because north american democracy is increasingly necrotic and disconnected from the general public (with the usual list of caveats about how much liberal capitalist democracies have ever been “for the people”). Reading up on social policy in Canada directly post-WWII is pretty bleak when comparing it to today - social housing used to be a robust part of the housing market, people were paid far better and had far more economic security, our healthcare was freshly socialised and invigorated, the promises of the Keynesian welfare state were generally being met (for a predominantly white middle class electorate, of course), and so on. Even conservatives were basically on board with these things in the 60s, at least in Canada, although that obviously did not last long. And over the decades we have become entrenched in neoliberal cutbacks, the gutting of public institutions, the sale of public space and utilities, the downloading of responsibility for social welfare onto provincial and then municipal governments who have smaller budgets and more limited institutional power, the massive expansion in public-private partnerships, the militarisation of the police - these things really kicked off in the 80s/90s in Canada and have showed little signs of stopping or even really slowing down since (something that also obviously happened in the US). People make the joke that if libraries were suggested as a policy goal today it would be called a communist plot, but it’s true - all of the shit the government offered us forty years ago is unthinkable to even suggest now. Life in general has gotten more difficult as private wealth and deregulation has taken a progressively stronger hold on domestic affairs. This happened slowly over the course of decades, and as political horizons shrunk in terms of what you could expect/demand of your government, there was a real air of this being inevitable, not a result of conscious political decisions but just some organic outcome that no one had control over (“the invisible hand of the market”). Democratic civic responsibility demands we vote as citizens of our country, but for all the reasons outlined above plus a bunch of others I’m sure I’m forgetting, the liberal conception of democratic participation shrunk to the ballot box alone.

And while we all joke about everyone having the historical memory of a goldfish, I think the pandemic made this a deeply dissonant position to hold onto - we saw the government seemingly awake from a long slumber to exercise its might. It placed eviction bans on landlords, enforced mass quarantines and social distancing measures, provided economic relief to people who lost their jobs, stationed itself inside every building and public space to enforce mask mandates, rolled-out universal vaccination programs that were mandatory if you wanted to keep your job - we saw the government flex its power in labour, in housing, in healthcare, in civic life, and at the border in a way previously unheard of, particularly for people who were not alive to experience the welfare state of the 50s and 60s and even 70s. The state revealed itself as the life-structuring force it always had been before receding again, telling everyone to go back to normal as if nothing had happened, as if millions of people had not died in a global plague, as if it had not just demonstrated to everyone in the country that the state can at the drop of a hat order your landlord to stop evicting you and your boss to give you paid time off. This of course didn’t really happen in the US, or at least not nearly to this degree, which resulted in the deaths of over a million people.

So now when politicians perform this same incapacity to do anything, when they trot out hyper-specific policies that might benefit a couple thousand people at most, when they make stupid non-promises and shrink away from even mild forms of social democracy (eg Sanders-style campaign promises), I don’t know how much people buy it. I’m not particularly optimistic about the pandemic radicalising large amounts of people, but I think even if it doesn’t, we saw what happened! And we’ve all seen a million fucking articles about how people don’t want to go to work anymore, about labour shortages, we’ve seen essentially every sector of labour go on some kind of strike in the past two or three years - there is popular organised political participation happening far away from the ballot box, and is only growing in power by the day. Socialism is now a word that exists in the national consciousness, something that was unthinkable even a decade ago. Currently right now we are seeing an international conversation about (and global popular support for) indigenous sovereignty, we are seeing a full-throated articulation of what a LandBack policy would look like, and this comes on the heels of the national Canadian conversation of residential schools and missing and murdered indigenous women. Decolonisation is now a household term. In the case of the US, we are seeing people make the very obvious point that America can conjure billions of dollars to bomb hospitals and civilians, but any social policy to help its own citizens is too expensive, pie in the sky fantasy nonsense.

And by the same token, there is organised right-wing and fascist violence happening in the streets, massive increases in hate crimes, insane political stunts and demonstrations like the Freedom Convoy and 1 Million March 4 Children (inspired by the Capitol Hill storming in the US), Qanon plots to kidnap and execute elected officials - things that right wing parties are actively encouraging, particularly the PPC and CPC. More and more we see that electoral politics is the domain of the far-right, whose culture war issues have the best chance of being realised through the sacred portal of the ballot box. Democrats can’t even offer people legalised abortion now!

I think this is why liberals are in a state of hysteria. A healthy liberal democracy does not require constant, unrelenting reminders to “vote your ass off.” Liberals are very much aware, even unconsciously, that voting does less and less of what they want every single day - you see this openly admitted to by American liberals, who are now doing Hitler % meter calculations about which fascist to vote for come the next federal election. Voting itself is what matters, even as they openly, frantically admit it will do nothing but slightly delay the inevitable.

So to like directly answer your question: I think it has less to do with federal elections as a specific political strategy and more just an expression of anxiety about the fact that voting does not do what you want it to do, or what it once did - perhaps encouraging larger questions if voting does anything at all. If national federal elections don’t do anything, if you voting for the most powerful position on the planet doesn’t really change very much regardless of who’s in power, what is the point of voting at all? So I don’t think they are articulating an actual political strategy or way of doing politics, because by their own admission it’s not going to do much of anything (while at the same time being an existential crisis). I’m in a similar boat to you, I vote in smaller elections where I feel they will do some measure of good (in part because municipalities are responsible for so much more of civic life than they were a few decades ago), I have engaged with the Ontario NDP for several years (although that has come to an end now because of their position on Palestine). Electoralism is a compromise, it is an avenue for potential good, but not always, or even most of the time.

Thankfully there are other avenues for politics - labour organising, protesting, mutual aid support networks, getting involved with community work, even something like local neighbourhood councils. Those are places of political potential, and a single person’s presence in them can make a legitimate noticeable difference (speaking from several years of heavy involvement in community orgs). I have never really felt like I was making a change while voting, but I have felt that way helping community members not get evicted, or offering them free daycare a few times a week, or running programs from lgbtq kids who don’t want to go home after school. Those things legit save peoples’ lives, a lot of them are low stakes relative to their benefit, and they help stave off the alienation and loneliness I know everyone feels. Obviously you run into the same structural problems you would everywhere else, it’s not a paradise by any stretch of the imagination, but they are so many avenues outside of voting that do actually help people around you.

And I think if liberals admit that these actions are more powerful, more effective than voting, they are admitting to themselves that their core beliefs are wrong, that the communists and anarchists are correct and have been correct long before their dumbass was born. They can no longer point to any institution that gives a fuck about them as a defense against left-wing critiques of liberal electoralism. I think that is part of what animates their hysteria, their temper tantrums, their screaming about the only thing to do is do nothing at all. It is a full-throated defense of self-defeat. They are wailing as everything they believe in dies. I’d be pretty upset too if that were me! Luckily I grew out of that when I was like 19

[ofieloafi]

I should get a lance or spear or some sort of polearm...

[realasslesbian]

I just had to share this email I got so all y'all can appreciate the absolute state of welfare services in Australia with me:

The NILs Loan Scheme is a government funded, no interest loan scheme for people on low incomes, but this leaves me wondering exactly who tf can qualify for their loans. Because it seems like if you have any symptoms of poverty it's a no.

I applied because I need the clutch replaced in my van, which I live in. It's lucky that I actually CAN afford the cost myself (due to living in a van & not participating in Australia's increasingly ridiculous housing market). I thankfully can afford such an expense these days & was just looking for a responsible financial buffer, just in case. But if this had happened to me a few years ago when I first became homeless and was far less financially stable, then my next living situation wouldn't be "affordable housing" it would be a fucking tent.

Anyway, the backwards ass state of a GOVERNMENT FUNDED welfare scheme refusing to assist those who need welfare the most because they don't want to encourage homelessness or whatever the dumb fuck? Just really rustled my jimmies tbh. Just screams "yet another govt welfare scheme that's actually just about handing out money to fake charities & not helping the poor". Good Shephard just got on the "do not donate to these grifters" list along with the Salvos😒

[jeanniebug623]

🕸️🕷️ Weaving the Web 🕷️🕸️

Chapter 19: Joint Custody

“There’s nothing to discuss, General Ardmore.” Quaritch eventually managed to find the words after a few moments of shock at not only the subject of Spider’s guardian, but Nash McCosker’s presence for it. “Spider is on the road to recovery, albeit with some bumps along the way. His primary care team have suggested some medications he can try to control the outbursts.  I have him scheduled for an E.E.T to determine his level of education. If need be, I’ll enroll him with virtual professors-” 

“Don’t waste your time.” McCosker interrupted, crossing his arms and looking back up at the recom, “That boy gave up on learning anything past the age of 12. All he cared about was being out in the forest.” 

“As his former guardian, that sounds like your fault for not enforcing his education.” Quaritch growled back. 

McCosker grit his teeth, having a hell of a lot more courage in Ardmore’s office than he did in the interview room. He retorted with a gruff raspiness, “Couldn’t get much in through that thick skull when he would pay attention.” 

“Again, sounds like your fault for failing him.” Quaritch growled again, ears pinning back. 

“No worse than his parents did.” McCosker snapped back quickly. It was like he was taking every opportunity to tell the closest thing to the dead human Quaritch what he really felt. But before Quaritch could lose his temper anymore by the quick thrash of his tail, Ardmore cleared his throat. 

“Gentlemen, this isn’t about the boy’s past.” Ardmore reasoned like she was ending a squabble between children, “Colonel Quaritch has made it abundantly clear, against my better judgement, to take Miles Socorro under his wing and it has been done in a civilized and legal manner. At least as far as the RDA’s PR department is concerned. But all that effort will be wasted if this child is deemed more of a distraction or threat to RDA operations. Including pulling top men from the field ahead of schedule because of a little panic attack.” 

Now Quaritch’s anger was directed at the general. He knew returning from the mission early was going to come back and bite him in the tail. He tempered his tone quickly before explaining, “Spider wasn’t just experiencing a panic attack, ma’am. I provided a medical update with my closing mission report. He was suffering migraines and an unexplained onset of heightened levels of paranoia. Given his condition and the lack of risk to my men, I entrusted them to finish the remaining trek home under Corporal Wainfleet.” 

Ardmore stared at him, studying him like a cell under a microscope. Quaritch knew she was looking for emotional tells...cracks in the armor. The armor Quaritch had become to protect Spider. It was clear to anyone with eyes how much the boy had come to mean to him over the last couple months. Some people said it was guilt; others said he was trying to make up for lost time. There was even a rumor that it was all just a ruse to put the boy back together enough just to break him all over again for information... 

“But again, gentlemen,” Ardmore continued, “This isn’t about the past; this is about a sixteen-year-old boy’s future and welfare. It’s clear he needs constant guardianship. Security acting as babysitters isn’t going to protect him or this base, colonel.” 

“Nash McCosker is no father to Spider.” Quaritch said affirmatively. 

“Nor are you, Miles.” Ardmore said so casually it made Quaritch want to slam his fists on her desk as quickly as he’d ripped the table from its bolts when McCosker stated his boy should have been put down. 

When did Spider become his boy? How long did it take for his views of the kid being nothing more than a pain in the ass to someone he would risk break protocol and orders for? 

“What I have determined is not a complete transition of custody, but stand-in guardianship while you’re in the field.” Ardmore said as she calmly looked from Quaritch to McCosker. “After some extensive discussions following the incident in the mess, Mr. McCosker has volunteered for this task.” 

“Why?” Quaritch couldn’t even snap his teeth shut fast enough to stop the word from coming out as he too whipped his gaze down to the man. 

“I didn’t always do right by the kid and I’m betting he, or some side of him, is just waiting to stab me in the back, but I know Miles better than anyone here.” McCosker answered lowly, keeping eye contact with the imposing colonel. 

“If you knew him better, you’d know to call him Spider.” Quaritch hissed. 

Silence fell between the two men and the general just watched. She was waiting for the next move. Quaritch knew she was moving her pieces around the board, and he was starting to get cornered. A question was burning in his mind...but he couldn’t ask it. 

“You realize he could kill you? Leave your wife a widow and your kids without their father?  And I don’t mean Spider when I say that...you gotta deal with Miles when that time comes.” the recom said quietly, backing down to avoid complete defeat on the matter. If he refused the terms, Spider would likely be taken away for good. And even if the boy didn’t end up with the poor excuse of a turncoat before him, no one else in Bridgehead would protect him. 

 “I know the risks,” McCosker said with more finality than Quaritch was expecting, “I read the incident report and saw the brain scans. I may not have always been the best for him, but I sure as hell never broke him like that either...” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fact that Quaritch did not rip off both McCosker’s AND Ardmore’s head after the meeting about Spider’s future custodial arrangements was a miracle. Maybe that Eywa fairytale Spider always talked about gave him enough control not to get himself and the boy in some seriously deep shit. Ardmore explained how it would all go down. It wouldn’t be an instantaneous transition. They had to reintroduce Spider and McCosker in a controlled setting first... 

The recom cursed under his breath when he checked his watch. It was almost 1430. He completely missed lunch with the squad and Spider’s E.E.T. Even though he knew Wainfleet would pick up where he left off, Quaritch still felt guilty for breaking the promise to the kid that he would go to the testing with him. He was relieved when he returned to the recom barracks to hear laughing and jeering. 

“Four of a kind, bitch.” Spider said smugly as he threw a poker hand down on the table with Mansk, Lopez, and Zdinarsk. Based on the laughter at Lopez’s expense and him cursing in Spanish, it was clear he’d been dethroned as the squad’s resident poker king. Even kneeling on the chair at the recom-sized table, Spider looked like he belonged there. He smirked and looked mock offended at something Lopez said, “I am not counting cards, you just suck!” 

“You speak Spanish too?” Lopez said, realizing that every quip he’d made about the punk the last few months didn’t go unheard. 

“I speak twelve languages, actually.” Spider said matter-of-factly. 

“Thank god we’re not betting against the kid...” Wainfleet grumbled as he got up from the couch when Quaritch came in. 

“He looks ok.” Quaritch observed, watching Spider start spitting out fluent Spanish and started what he assumed was a playful argument with Lopez. 

“Yea, he’s good, boss. He ate a good meal then I took him to his test. Finished it in twenty minutes!  He was bored as hell waiting for the hour timer to go off.” Wainfleet reported. 

“Twenty minutes? Did he even read the damn thing?” Quaritch said and looking to his friend, this bit of info concerning him. He thought about what McCosker said. That Spider had ‘stopped learning’ at 12. He sighed deeply and asked, “What grade do I have to put him in?” 

“Depends.” Wainfleet said with a cocky grin and pulled his tablet out of his cargo pocket, “You want him to get his bachelor’s degree or go straight for a doctorate?” 

Quaritch stared at Wainfleet, speechless at the question. It wasn’t until the corporal brought up the test results that tallied up after the timer ended. His golden eyes scanned over the results and every category was checked off as exceeds expectations or greater. Quaritch didn’t think Spider was dumb by any sense of the words, but this?! This is not what he was expecting...and he scolded himself for letting that fucker McCosker make him doubt his boy in any way. 

“Wait...” Quaritch said, ears flicking back and raising an eyebrow as he pointed at a number at the bottom of the results, “Is this accurate?” 

“Yes, sir.” Wainfleet said, knowing his friend was swelling with pride but hiding it when he confirmed. “142. That’s his IQ, boss.” 

“Kid’s a fucking genius...” Quaritch said, cold dread spreading through his body about not only the physical damage the boy suffered at the hands of the RDA but now the literal mental assault. The potential this boy had was almost destroyed by his serious lack of judgement. 

“Koaktan!” Spider’s voice rose above the others and across the room to Quaritch’s ears. He had a sly grin and held up the deck of cards. “You in? I mean, supposedly , Lopez is the best card player you got but I need to make sure by kicking all of your asses.” 

With a pat on his back as Wainfleet took back the tablet, Quaritch nodded and walked over to the table. But he couldn’t hide the surprise and admiration on his face looking at Spider. The expression made the teen’s eyes dart around before he asked, “What?” 

“Nothin’, kid...Lopez just talks too much.” the colonel said as he pulled out an empty chair, “Deal me in, smartass.” 

Spider just chuckled as he rolled his eyes and shuffled the cards. Quaritch and him would talk after he had a little more time of carefree fun. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“General, I hate to agree with the man, but...the colonel is right.” McCosker said as he sat slumped in a chair in her office after Quaritch left. “That kid is going to kill me.” 

“Mr. McCosker, you’ve lived here a lot longer than most so you know everything on this planet wants to kill any one of us if given the chance. You’re just fortunate to have a controlled threat.” Ardmore said, completely unmoved by McCosker’s concern, “The colonel is right about another thing and that’s that you have a history of changing loyalties.” 

“Mistakes were made.” McCosker said quickly, as if that was enough to convince Ardmore that he felt remorse for being part of the first round of rebel scientists fifteen years prior. 

“Then consider this a chance to fix them.” Ardmore said, leaning back in her own chair and slowly rapping her fingertips on the arm of it, “Spider may not be willing to give anything up, but that doesn’t mean one of his ‘other sides’ will be as loyal.” 

[haleviyah]

Gaza Strip Vs. Rio Grande Valley: Who Really Needs Help?

I recall as a child that it takes about 35 -40 minutes to drive straight from Mission, Texas to Mercedes, Texas. This is the same distance to drive across the Gaza strip (South to North) with no traffic or detours.

From Lopezville to the River? roughly 8 - 12 minutes. That's how far Gaza is from east to west. Or should I say, that's how far WE are from the river Rio Grande.

McAllen's population alone in 2024 is 145 K with about 90% or more being of Mexican Latino descent, however the current metro population of McAllen FINALLY broke 1.1 million in 2024 with a healthy increase of population excluding immigration. (Congrats!)

As of right now:

Rio Grande Valley as a WHOLE is 2,671,028 and counting.

Gaza is CLAIMED to have 2 million. Yet Gaza received more in foreign aid in 9 months than the city of McAllen's police force has received in 20 years! Mind you, the State of Texas' Troopers and Rangers are their own and fighting a battle against human traffickers and cartel members. Biden never visited once to congratulate/support our force directly.

So... Biden, D.C. Pro-Hamas folk, Netanyahu... explain your logic here!

How does a strip of sand filled with radical militants get all the sympathy or media attention in contrast to honest Hispanics protecting their home?

I am not angry at Israel, but Zion my rebuke to you is you should know better and quit listening to what the government says, likewise with the United States. Israel, listen to the Rio Grande. We know the hearts and the underbelly of American Politics like our sister cities along the border. We know what they are really like and if they won't give a rat's ass about us, they won't give a rat's ass about you, Israel. I hate to say it but it's true. So don't fall for their charms. Need proof? Ask them "What about the Rio Grande? Are you going to help border security near McAllen?" and watch them dodge the question or clam up I guarantee that. Just try it and watch, Israel. You'd be amazed of how much these guys don't care... You are going through enough as it is, the last thing we want for you is to be fed more BS from D.C. Keep that in mind.

Now for Netanyahu: You are a lot of things, but humble isn't one of them. You do realise you drove the Jews out of Gaza during your political career while Arik Sharon was PM. You were the one who okay'ed the kibbutzim to have realestate near the border of Gaza unarmed... yet you're flabbergasted when the Hamassacre happened? WOW! And I thought D.C. treated the Rio Grande poorly...

Israel is even paying up the welfare for everything while you drag your feet and kick the can down the road... and you are surprised how your enemies are taking advantage of you? Taking advantage of "being nice" or "being friendly". I guess you were too distracted by your own dumb decisions on "making friends" you fail to realise that your war is costing others as well beyond Gaza. I am not talking about the universities shouting "From River to the Sea!", I am also talking about US border towns such as the Rio Grande and Yuma, Arizona. We have seen our fair share of radical extremists come through the river thanks to men like Biden, Netanyahu! THAT SHOULDN'T BE HAPPENING! Why are Latino towns suddenly seeing Hamas headbands?

American Jews are being attacked by these people sneaking in, this open border policy Biden wants is fuelling the antisemitic invasion into the USA... And you're not going to talk about it?!

I don't know why in Hell you congratulated Biden's illegitimate ass back on November 3, 2020 but know this: if you give a shit about America, Benjamin, if you say we're "friends" or "allies" or even see us as "New Zion" as some Jews have fondly nick-named us, then tell Biden to close the border NOW! Tell Biden to leave Gaza and Ukraine alone and fix his own borders first!

Am Yisrael Chai. The Holy Land deserves and WILL receive better than someone like you.

And as for Biden... you want to say "Sorry"? You want to say "Let's send help!"

You're too late.

50+ years too late!

Let's not forget how cartels spiked ever since you started your career, Joseph. You were ILLEGALLY sworn as a Senator of Delaware, since then you had every open opportunity to send the Coast Guard of Delaware since '69 to Texas to fight king pins taking over Latin America.

Ohio did it recently.

Florida is helping Texas.

Where the hell are you?!

Pablo Escobar's cocaine empire was taking off in the 80s, you were still in office Joseph, and you just sat on your ass with "Just Say No"... you do realise that sometimes people don't have the option of saying "No".

There are hundreds of cases where there are women and kids that were kidnapped and trafficked over the border because of YOU! They never had a chance to just say "no" because they were COERCED! Do you know what that word means, Biden? It means they were FORCED to come with the cartel otherwise they'll kill their families or loved ones. Some kids that were kidnapped their parents are probably dead by now, there is no way they can return home. The men and women posing with them at the check points aren't even their real parents and yet you want them to come in... "Come in, come in" Kamala said. "Thank you, Biden" the coyote responded on the Rio Grande... I remember those instances.

Biden, do you know why the cartel kills the parents? No witnesses! They want to leave the impression that they were never there, they work in the shadows and the best way to cover their trail is by DEATH. Killing anyone who spills the beans or even low-key saw what they were up to. Just like how Hamas is treating Gazans and Israelis... they're just like the cartel if not worse! And yet you're giving them leeway to keep going.

So that little "Just Say No" slogan didn't do shit then and won't do shit now. For 50 years you didn't do shit and you're still not doing shit! Yet you want to latino vote with your couch of a wife chopping up Spanish faster the your son chops cocaine?

No.

You abandoned the Rio Grande Valley for a strip of sand that hates us and Israel for hatred's sakes... there is no making peace with Hamas or the cartels. That opportunity was gone ever since the first shots were fired; they want everyone - Jew and Gentile - dead, and yet you give money to them... You abandoned you post as "president" to these United States and chose a bed with terrorists and king pins that are killing us all. You don't care about anyone but your own form vengeance for Beau - everyone else be damned.

I hope you remember this before you close your eyes one last time Biden: YOU DID THIS, YOU FANNED THESE FIRES!

You will see the people you screwed over in the next life, including people from the Rio Grande, Gaza, Israel and Mexico... and no amount of ass kissing to G-d or the devil is going to save you.

[broitsf-ckingfreezing]

Fandom vs. Dooku: Religious Affiliation

Okay, my first rant has been making the rounds, so I wanted to come back and do a more in-depth approach (WITH EVIDENCE). Last time I was rapidly keyboard mashing on my phone whilst simultaneously howling my grievances to the moon, so hopefully everything should be a smidge more... coherent in this one.

This is taking HOURS to type up, so everything will be split into different posts. Possibly, idk. Look I have opinions and ADHD. Gotta peel those layers back like a particularly rancid onion.

(thanks @eloquentmoon for the dividers!)

Something that Star Wars as a fandom often fails to realise is that Jedi Master Dooku (or Yan Dooku, I suppose, if that's your headcanon) and Sith Apprentice Darth Tyranus are not the same. Well, they are literally the same person, but that's not what I'm getting at. The point I am trying to make here is that a character can in fact be an inherently good guy and also a genocidal psychopath. In Star Wars, one is not born a Sith. You cannot just... be a Sith and nothing else. Much is the same with a Jedi. One is either born with the ability to reach/manipulate the Force or they aren't (Force-nulls, for sake of clarity), they are not born Jedi or Sith. Jedi and Sith are religious orders. Like Protestants and Catholics, Jedi and Sith follow the same faith but with different philosophies and restrictions (or complete lack thereof regarding the Sith; anything is game if it eventually means absolute power).

Let's take a look at the best established religious order of Star Wars in canon and Legends. Mandalorians.

(A GIF of the Armourer in The Mandalorian. The subtitles read: "According to Creed, one may only be redeemed in the living waters beneath the mines of Mandalore.")

In Legends, to be Mandalorian is to dedicate yourself to the Resol'nare or the Six Actions:

Wearing the armour

Speaking the language

Defense of oneself and one's family

Raising children as Mandalorian (this is the Way)

Contributing to the clan's welfare

Answering the call of the Mand'alor or Sole Ruler

Canonically, to go against the word of the Creed, such as removing your helmet to outsiders or non-clan, was to declare yourself dar'manda or No Longer Mandalorian (not stated explicitly in canon, but widely accepted in fanon/features in SW: The Old Republic). In Christian equivalent, this would be committing sin. As shown in the GIF above, one could be redeemed for "sinning" in Mandalore's living waters. Kind of like confession and repentance in Christianity.

And like the many differing dedications to the concept of God, like Jedi and Sith as you will soon see, Mandalorians have their thoughts on the Force. The only difference here is that where God is not provable beyond doubt, the Force is. Its existence cannot be denied. However, how the Force is/should be interpreted varies from person to person, from religion to religion.

The Jedi Code

Jedi and Sith also follow Creeds.

(An image of the Jedi mantra in Basic and Aurebesh. It reads: "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the force.")

The Jedi Code places great emphasis on compassion and bettering one's self; particularly, maintaining control over your emotions and learning to let go. Here especially is where fans like to pick and choose their understanding of canon like rooting through a jar of lollipops at the doctor's to get the orange one. So, I'm gonna highlight my point here with some big ass text:

Jedi do not condemn emotion

(be warned: LOTS of italics incoming)

(An edit of a still of Anakin Skywalker from Attack of the Clones. The text reads: "Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi's life.)

Sure, where Anakin is obviously not the prime example of what a Jedi should be, and he is clearly trying to butter up Padme to embrace his frankly awful flirting attempts, we must also remember that he had been living by the Jedi Code for almost (if not exactly) ten years at this point. AND. AND AND AND. We have IMPERICAL EVIDENCE from the Clone Wars that while not often stated outright (if at all; forgive me, I only just reached the Mortis Arc and believe me, I have OPINIONS), Jedi DO love unconditionally.

(A GIF from The Clone Wars of Mace Windu. The subtitle reads: "I'm going to do whatever I can to help these people.")

Often, their first instinct unless guided otherwise by alternate intel or the Force itself, is to have faith in those who would call upon them for help. There's literally an entire movie about Ahsoka and Anakin delivering the child of Jabba the Motherfucking HUTT back to him. They could've killed the child. Held him for ransom until Jabba conceded to a beneficial alliance. Instead, they hold to the hope that Jabba would hold to some kind of honour as a parent and allow an alliance negotiation on good faith. Jabba. A literal owner of SLAVES. Who planned, because of intel from a Sith Lord, to stab the Jedi in the back.

I bring your attention to this iconic line from my last post:

(A GIF of Ki-Adi Mundi from Attack of the Clones. The subtitle reads: "He is a political idealist, not a murderer)

He is talking about Dooku, ex-Jedi, now publicly politically aligned with and the leader of the Separatist movement: AKA the "let's leave the Republic because we believe them and, by extension, the Jedi, to be corrupt" crew. He is a mark of shame upon the order. One of the Lost Twenty--Legends lore, for those who don't understand, is that there have only been twenty Jedi (including Dooku) ever to leave the Order past achieving Master status)--and yet, they still honour him as one of their own, literally saying: "he was once one of us." If that isn't a sign of unconditional compassion, then I'll eat my lightsaber collection.

I now move on to this:

(A GIF from Attack of the Clones of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The subtitle reads: "Don't let your personal feelings get in the way!")

To be in control of yourself and your reactions isn't to abandon emotion entirely. That is literally impossible. In fact, emotions are valuable to Jedi. However, they are taught to be mindful of how emotions can affect their logical reasoning.

When Obi-Wan Kenobi is ordered to hunt down Darth Vader, whom has just sworn himself to the Sith Lord and literally murdered possibly hundreds of Jedi Masters, Knights, Padawans, and Initiates by his own hand, he actually abandons his logical reasoning and refuses to kill the man he raised and fought beside for the last 13 years.

(A GIF from Star Wars III: The Revenge of the Sith of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The subtitles read: "You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you.")

This is a direct parallel to Anakin's refusal to kill recently-revealed Sith Lord Palpatine, Darth Sidious. Both of these instances were done for entirely selfish reasons.

Anakin twists a tenet of the Code upon its head and refuses to kill Sidious because, at the time, he is without a weapon, and Jedi are sworn never to kill an unarmed opponent. Logically, we must reason that these rules do NOT apply to the Sith because A) they had been thought extinct and therefore didn't need exceptions written into the Code, B) it is literally proven within that very same scene that an unarmed Sith Lord is still extremely dangerous, and C) Jedi are sworn to uphold the balance of the Force within themselves and the galaxy, therefore the Sith must be destroyed. In this moment, Anakin has allowed his fear of his wife and unborn children dying to cloud his judgement, allowed the Lord to live, and subsequently doomed the galaxy.

Obi-Wan, canonically a far better Jedi than Anakin, allows his love for the man he raised to stop him from killing him. Even out of mercy as Anakin burns in the heat of Mustafar. Yes, he walks away, believing Anakin will certainly die, but again: an unarmed Sith (literally because ya boy has NO ARMS, lmao) is still extremely dangerous. Just as Maul survived from literally being sliced in half, so did Anakin survive Mustafar. Allowing love, grief, desperation to cloud his judgement, Obi-Wan has (although unknowingly until the Obi-Wan Kenobi series set ten years later) assisted in dooming the galaxy.

It is not Obi-Wan's love for his former-padawan that has done this. It is his refusal to let him go, his fear of being the one who has to kill Anakin, despite being the only one capable of doing so because of Anakin's incredible skill and power.

Despite these contradictions: Obi-Wan Kenobi is still a good guy, and Anakin Skywalker is a bad guy.

Obi-Wan would go on to repent for the rest of his life, cutting himself off from the Force to hide his presence and watch over Luke Skywalker on Tatooine, even though the Lars family do not welcome him at all. And he will go to great lengths, putting himself in constant danger, to save Leia Organa. When this is all over, he will face his student one last time and sacrifice himself to ensure the safety of the children, to give the darkened galaxy just one more chance at hope.

(And, as an aside, Obi-Wan's final sacrifice is also to teach Luke about the Jedi tenet of letting go and dedicating yourself to something greater than your own wants and physical being, just as Qui-Gon did for Obi-Wan decades before.)

Anakin, in the meantime, Darth Vader by this point, is literally running around blowing up planets. Let me repeat that: BLOWING UP PLANETS. With billions if not trillions of lifeforms on them. And also murdering Jedi Purge survivors. And, you know, killing basically anyone that doesn't agree with the rule of the Empire. Also, enslaving a lot of people. Like, a lot of people. Including the clones he once thought brothers until he... idk, kills them all? They all die of rapid old age? I'm not exactly sure what happens to them.

Obi-Wan loved unconditionally. He was compassionate. As was in accordance with his Creed.

Anakin Skywalker was possessive. He loved only that which he wanted and that which loved him in return, but only if it was love to his standards. Obi-Wan, who surely loved him as a brother and a son, tried to stop him from taking the galaxy, therefore he had to destroy his former Master.

This is what attachment is.

Unwillingness to let go of something you can no longer have.

Do you pro-genocide fans think Obi-Wan wanted Qui-Gon Jinn to die? He literally cradles him in his arms and cries, for goodness' sake. And do you know what Qui-Gon does in his last moments? He does not fear for himself. He does not tell Obi-Wan everything will be okay. Because he knows it will. He knows Obi-Wan will be okay. Because his padawan will mourn, but he will also accept that it was Qui-Gon's time to pass into the Force. And he knows that Obi-Wan knows that he will always be with him in the Force. There is no death. There is the Force.

What he does instead is so loving and compassionate and so caring. All he wants in his final moments is to make sure that Anakin, the boy in his care, will be safe.

(A GIF from Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace of Qui-Gon Jinn comforting Obi-Wan Kenobi as he dies. He reaches up and brushes Obi-Wan's face with his fingertips)

Those who can see that GIF, look at it and tell me that it is not a highly emotional, beautifully intimate moment between a dying father and his son. Look me in the eyes and tell me that and I will call you a liar because your pants are on fire, mother fucker.

The Sith Code

We have a better understanding of the Jedi Code than we do the Sith, largely because Sith are chaotic pathological liars who constantly break their own rules.

(A GIF from Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace of Yoda and Mace Windu. The subtitles read: "Always two there are. No more, no less. A master and an apprentice.")

Only two, huh? Then tell me, Tyranus and Sidious:

WHO THE HELL IS THIS?!

(An image of Asajj Ventress from Star Wars: The Clone Wars wielding two red lightsabers)

Like Satanism to Christianity, the Sith Code stands as a direct and deliberate contradiction to the Jedi Code.

(An image of the Sith Code in Basic and Aurebesh. It reads: "Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion I gain strength. Through strength I gain power. Through power I gain victory. Through victory my chains are broken. The force shall free me.")

Let's take a quick look at the two Creeds side by side:

(An image of the Sith Code (left) and the Jedi Code (right). The one on the left reads: "Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion I gain strength. Through strength I gain power. Through power I gain victory. Through victory my chains are broken. The force shall free me." The one on the right reads: "There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the force.")

Pretty big differences there.

One of these Creeds is dedicated to learning, maintaining balance in the Force, and achieving personal betterment through peace of mind. The other is dedicated to becoming strong, powerful, and unbeatable by comparing putting the needs of the many before the wants of yourself to slavery.

I'll let you take a guess which one is which.

I mean, it is almost explicitly said that an important initiation process for becoming a Sith is to fucking murder a Jedi. In Tales of the Jedi, which is considered canon in the current state of the series (meaning should someone with authoritative control over Star Wars later retcon this, then it will no longer be canon), Dooku kills Master Yaddle as his official initiation after the death and funeral of Qui-Gon--don't forget, before this point Dooku may have been Fallen, but he was not Sith until Sidious loses Maul as an apprentice. Say what you will about Palps, but you gotta give him credit for abiding by the Sith Rule of Two, otherwise the galaxy would've been a lot more utterly fucked than it was. Until this was canon, anyone who was not versed in Legends lore (AKA me) generally headcanoned that Dooku murdered and assumed the identity of Sifo-Dyas for his Sith initiation.

Also, I feel it is imperative to note that the Sith Code was literally inspired by Mein Kampf. You know, ADOLF HITLER'S MANIFESTO. Need proof? Here, straight from the Star Wars Wookiepedia:

What's The Point?

I've been writing for almost 3 hours and I'm only JUST getting to the bit that's actually about Dooku. Let's take a breather and re-establish some points:

Jedi and Sith are religious Creeds

You are not born Jedi or Sith

To be Jedi or Sith is to make CHOICES that align with the tenets of the Creed

To be Jedi is to be compassionate, mindful, and a protector of those who are defenseless

Jedi have rules and regulations to protect their Order from corruption and abuse of power

To be Sith is to put your wants first, to become all-powerful, and to be victorious over all others

Sith do NOT have rules and regulations (that they actually follow faithfully aside from the Rule of Two, which is broken by Dooku multiple times anyway)

Got it?

Cool let's move on.

This is what I mean by the separation of Jedi Master Dooku and Darth Tyranus. On the matter of Dooku, the fandom largely seems to be divided between:

He was manipulated by the Sith! He was actually a good guy who knew the Senate was corrupt! He was just trying to save the galaxy!

And:

He was a shit Jedi and everyone should've known he was Darkside. He abused Qui-Gon. He abused padawans. He hated children. He didn't Fall because he was always evil.

My guys.

My dudes.

My homies.

Just... WHAT?

For point A, I present to you:

(A GIF from The Clone Wars of Dooku. The subtitle reads: "I would kill you both if I didn't have to drag your bodies.)

He literally just threatened murder. Actual murder. In another scene, season 1, if someone could find the GIF that would be fantastic, Dooku says he wants the death of the Jedi. All of the Jedi. He wants to slaughter children, the people he once considered family. In season 4, to Savage Oppress, he offers the galaxy. "We will rule the galaxy together." That is a dictatorship. These are not the signs of a healthy man doing what is best for the people. This is selfish desire. This is Sith Creed.

For point B:

(A GIF from TOTJ. Dooku stands before Qui-Gon's favourite tree on Coruscant). Look, I'm not great at image and GIF descriptors. If someone would like to fix this for me, please do. I worked real hard on this analysis and I want it to be accessible.

A man who did not love his padawan, his pseudo-son, would not have visited their favourite place on the entirety of Coruscant upon their death. This was inconvenient. Him visiting this tree when he shouldn't have because he'd just infiltrated the archives and deleted evidence of Kamino brings suspicion upon him that he could've avoided by simply staying away. But he couldn't. He had to go one last time.

He also, in Attack of the Clones, expresses regret at never meeting Obi-Wan before then. Qui-Gon always spoke very highly of him. Yes, because an abused child whose evil, evil master, again, abused him, would ever speak of his own child to said-abuser. Dooku may be a Sith of a decade by that point, but don't forget that Sith are entrenched in negative emotion. We have no idea what he was feeling meeting the son of his son for the first time. He could have easily murdered Obi-Wan before Anakin and all of the Jedi arrive. He later tries to multiple times. The first thing he does is offer an alliance. An apprenticeship. He even tells Obi-Wan the truth of Palpatine in the Senate, not that he (Obi) has any reason to believe him (Dooku).

Again, what's my point?

My point is that he is both a good guy and a bad guy.

He can be both.

He was once good. He Fell. He was not always one or the other. Because that is how Star Wars WORKS. His doubts over the Senate, his fears that the Order is falling to darkness, his utter grief at the death of his child; it crippled him. He could not overcome the Darkside. And so he Fell. Perhaps originally he had good intentions.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions after all.

Eventually, the anger, the grief, the fear, corrupted him. As is how the Darkside works. Yes, it is a choice. It is a Creed he chooses to follow. But to walk back from the Darkside is also a journey that requires incredible strength.

In canon, only one achieves it. Anakin Skywalker.

Early on, perhaps Dooku could have been saved. But by the time of Attack of the Clones, he is utterly corrupt and evil and literally planning an absolute takeover of the galaxy. He is far beyond redemption.

Look, thanks for coming to my TED talk. If you enjoyed this post and would like to see more, please consider tipping! I am an unemployed chronically anxious and depressed sewer rat. I also accept love in reblogs and comments XD

I feel like @jedi-enthusiast and @antianakin will like this.

[historia-vitae-magistras]

Expanding on the parental feelings ask (in a non-current events direction):

What do you think about Arthur specifically? He's the quintessential jaded bastard, as you've noted, but he also has those very strong paternal feelings. But he's also constantly quashing them due to aforesaid jadedness. So how does that shake out with his people, in general and throughout time? (Like, he's trying to be a better parent to the weans post-world wars - does that translate at all into more paternal feelings for his people?)

Also, if I can ask for two - what about François? More paternal because his people aren't disappointing (sorry Mattie!), or is he just not that type in general?

So after the war, the world, but especially the west, saw a massive baby boom. It's the first time in human history that the vast majority of children grow up to become adults. Some historians theorize this allowed parents to become very invested in their children and, when paired with the suffering the war generation went through, created a contemporary culture in the anglosphere that was very family-centric. People are just popping out babies left, right, and centre. Cultural shifts affect nations the same way they affect people.

So Arthur, who is rapidly losing hard power and increasingly reliant on soft power, is doubly motivated to act paternally. And that does reflect in his interactions with his people. He's always been relatively good with children as they are small and nonjudgmental and tend to like him, but a large part of that extreme jadedness that has coloured his worldview does dissipate somewhat. He wants those policies about the NHS, housing, public welfare, parks and everything else that increases the quality of life more than he ever has. He wants more education; he might even make a scholarship for Kiwi students together in Zee's name at Oxford when he downsized properties. When he's not a toff, drunk off his ass or otherwise terrifying, his citizens will just hand him their children on a train, tram, or bus like, "hold this for me while I tie my shoe, would you?" And suddenly, Arthur just has his hands full of some cranky toddler named something insanely British. Prunella or something similar. And the kid is now utterly contented in what's supposed to be a complete stranger's hold. But Arthur is the weird mascot of like one-third of an island asking, "Yes, good morning, how do you do? Rather a rude face you're making at me, little one, but it is quite early!" So the child is happy enough.

As for Francis, in nationverse, he's paternal in a very broad way. He wants his women to have babies and his schools and universities full of talented children. He wants to make the best of everything he has at his disposal. The French State was the first in the world with regard to what we would now call pro-fertility reforms. And in the aftermath of two world wars, I can see him taking a much more vested interest in the lives of his individual citizens. He's protective, he will absolutely throw shit to protest alongside them. He enjoys young adults very much, and many French university students have had an unexpected cash windfall if they impressed him. He'll move himself on the train for pregnant women or women with small children. He'll even help a tourist haul their overly large stroller down the steps because Americans never plan for facilities lacking elevators. But I don't see him enjoying time around children very much at all. Francis holds a baby fine and will find them a novelty if they're beautiful or otherwise charming babies. Outgoing, social and mature children catch his eye. Francis can engage them for at least a short while, but he doesn't enjoy and has little tolerance for any who are shy, clingy, picky eaters or otherwise excessively needy. The second a baby starts crying, it's back to its mother or caretaker. He's a fastidious man very attached to aesthetics, who likes to eat good food and drink good wine, has nice things and enjoys peace and quiet. Children are messy and unorganized, they're picky eaters, they can't exactly drink a 1997 Chateau Gilette Creme de Tete, and children break things and cry often.

[samueldays]

@eightyonekilograms asked:

What are the actual bits of legislation and policy which discourage people from having more children? I mean, people can and do argue furiously over this question, but

I don't know, but I think it would be funny to present some spurious correlations and non-correlations from Gapminder, to hint how high the bar for "evidence" is (or arguably should be) in these furious arguments. I have no specific conclusion here, only a sort of confused interest in the subject and a feeling that it should get more attention. I have my quibbles with Gapminder, but it provides a lot of easily visualized data.

Maybe the problem is low infant mortality. If you killed more infants, people would have more children to replace the dead ones. /s Note log scale:

I am confident in saying this is obviously not a real cause despite the high correlation; if you want to show a real cause then you should be able to present a correlation at least this strong to stand out from the noise!

(Color coding is blue=africa, red=asia, yellow=europe, green=americas)

Same data without the scaled-to-population data discs, and with one weird country highlighted:

Israel is clearly doing something right to have low infant mortality and lots of babies, and Israel is also such an absurd outlier on many other counts that trying to get policy from Israel is probably ineffective.

Maybe personal computers are to blame:

This is a linear scale but looks like a log chart anyway, and it's suggestive of needing less than 1 PC per 5 people to reproduce at replacement. Log off, go outside, touch ass. (Gapminder auto-adjusts years sometimes when it doesn't have later data, hence the 2006.)

81 suggested it's NIMBY housing policy and I didn't find a good measure of that, but here's something at least vaguely related to construction regulation, for what that's worth: Procedures to build a warehouse.

Mmmm not seeing a correlation there.

To some degree, a lot of the stats from Gapminder are proxies for prosperity, and there's something about prosperity that's negatively correlated with reproduction.

If you measure something like "energy use per person" or "life expectancy" or HDI, it's going to closely track GDP per capita. So let's look at some stats I think are less associated with GDP per capita.

Unemployment rate? This ain't it chief.

Motorcycle death rate? Nah.

(The far-right dot is Thailand. TIL!)

Here's another which is correlated with the overall GDP per capita. Rich states can afford more of it, and they do. It's similar to some programs suggested to increase birthrate:

Gapminder doesn't have specific data on parental leave or child subsidies, but the fact that welfare is so tightly correlated with lower birthrate suggests that you can't subsidise your way out of this.

(The outlier dot here is, again, Israel.)

In closing, consider more teen pregnancy:

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Joseph's Brothers Return to Egypt

1 And the famine was sore in the land.

2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, “Go again, buy us a little food.”

3 And Judah spoke unto him, saying, “The man did solemnly declare unto us, saying, ‘Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.’

4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food.

5 But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down, for the man said unto us, ‘Ye shall not see my face, unless your brother be with you.’”

6 And Israel said, “Why dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?”

7 And they said, “The man asked us strictly about our state, and about our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father yet alive? Have ye another brother?’ And we told him according to the tenor of these words. Could we certainly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

8 And Judah said unto Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and thou, and also our little ones.

9 I will be surety for him; from my hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not unto thee and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever;

10 for had we not lingered, surely now we would have returned this second time.”

11 And their father Israel said unto them, “If it must be so now, do this: Take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds.

12 And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand. Perhaps it was an oversight.

13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man;

14 and God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved!”

15 And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and they rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, “Bring these men home, and slay a beast and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.”

17 And the man did as Joseph bade, and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.

18 And the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, “Because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time are we brought in, that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and also our asses.”

19 And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house

20 and said, “O sir, we came indeed down the first time to buy food.

21 And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; and we have brought it again in our hand.

22 And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food. We cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.”

23 And he said, “Peace be to you, fear not; your God and the God of your father hath given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money.” And he brought Simeon out unto them.

24 And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.

25 And they made ready the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

26 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves before him to the earth.

27 And he asked them of their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spoke? Is he yet alive?”

28 And they answered, “Thy servant our father is in good health; he is yet alive.” And they bowed down their heads and made obeisance.

29 And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother of whom ye spoke unto me?” And he said, “God be gracious unto thee, my son.”

30 And Joseph made haste, for his heart yearned for his brother, and he sought somewhere to weep; and he entered into his chamber and wept there.

31 And he washed his face and went out, and restrained himself, and said, “Set on the bread.”

32 And they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men marveled one at another.

34 And he took and sent portions unto them from before him, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him. — Genesis 43 | 21st Century King James Version (KJV21) The Holy Bible; 21st Century King James Version Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc. Cross References: Genesis 12:10; Genesis 32:13; Genesis 33:3; Genesis 35:24; Genesis 37:7; Genesis 42:2; Genesis 42:13; Genesis 42:20; Genesis 42:24-25; Genesis 42:27; Genesis 42:35; Genesis 44:1; Genesis 44:23; Genesis 44:25; Genesis 45:1; Genesis 45:2-3; Genesis 46:34; Numbers 6:25; Daniel 6:4; Matthew 8:10; Luke 7:44; John 19:22; Philemon 1:18-19

Summary of Genesis 43