#what happened in iraq just can't happen again
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Biden's visit has concluded. Israel has spent his entire visit trying to muddy the waters of what happened to Al Ahli Hospital and despite their cartoonish efforts, it hasn't worked
The Global South and especially West Asia know who is responsible for the bombing and no amount of AI voice recordings of 'Hamas operatives' can change that.
Israel war crimes continues to backfire on them even in America
Biden backing Israel has had an impact on America's image. Here's a Wall Street Journal article warning that America's continued support is turning countries towards Russia and China which is code for turning countries against America
An EU official said that the EU will pay a heavy price in the Global South for its continued, unabashed support for Israel
There's also speculation that the Biden administration knew about the bombing before it happened.
Countries that were/are allied with Israel continue to distance themselves from Israel like Russia. The reason I keep highlighting Russia is because the West has been running out of ammunition due to the Russia-Ukraine war and that includes Israel which is rumoured to have sent 80-90% of its ammunition to Ukraine. If this conflict lasts a long time, Israel will need to buy weapons and ammunition and Russia would be one of the countries they would turn to (same with China)
So, where are we in terms of the conflict? After days of waffling over a ground operation in Gaza, Israel postponed it until some time after Biden's visit and now we're back here again
Now I'm no military expert but constantly going back and forth on whether or not you'll invade Gaza is bound to do damage to your troops' morale. No wonder they're dealing with mass desertions while their citizens demonstrate on the streets. The Israeli leadership has no plan besides bombing Gaza.
I've seen people on twitter say that the hospital bombing was done deliberately to normalise IDF soldiers to mass civilian deaths in places like hospitals, schools, places of worship, etc. I don't know if I believe that - I think they wanted to push Iran and Hezbollah's buttons before hiding behind Biden. I don't think these people are thinking strategically.
As far as the possibility of regional war is concerned, all indicators show that the West preparing for the war to escalate
Seems to me the Israel has seen what Ukraine has received in just a year and a half of war. They're done receiving a paltry 3.8 billion every year and now prepared to drag out the conflict and I can't say I blame with Biden proposing a 100 billion package for both Ukraine and Israel. This will stretch America too thin as far as funding in concerned. Cracks are already showing
There are parts of the US government that is unhappy that the Ukraine war is losing attention. During the Ukraine war, you had parts of the government that wanted focus to shift from Russia to China. Because of that, the US government has spent the past year alternating between hostility to Russia and threatening to go to war with China over Taiwan. When Niger expelled France from within its borders, America was preparing to join that conflict until Mali and Burkina Faso declared they would fight with Niger. Now they're entering a third front in West Asia. In short, the mighty empire is expending a lot of resources right now and it is not the threat it was when it invaded Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s.
At any rate, the ground invasion of Gaza won't go the way Israel and America hopes it will
The coalition of Palestinian resistance fighters are still patiently waiting for the IDF to come meet them. Their allies aren't backing down either
The reason I keep making these posts is to remind people that, while the genocide of the people of Gaza is horrifying, the war for the liberation of Palestine has not yet been lost.
Do not lose hope. From the river to sea, Palestine WILL be free
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Bad Influence
Ray Person - Generation Kill
Rating: 16+
"Alright, Ray, I've got that hose you were looking for." You approached the humvee and waited for Ray to pull his head out of the hood.
Sweating buckets from a mixture of the hot steam and stifling Iraqi heat, Ray looked up at you. "You brought me hoes? Where?" He whipped his head from left to right.
Unamused, you placed a hand on your hip and stared him down. "Do you want me to fix your humvee for the millionth time or not?"
"Work your magic." Ray stepped away from the vehicle and held his hands up in defeat. "I can't seem to get the bitch working."
"I don't suppose that's the first time you've had trouble turning a bitch on, now is it, Ray?" you quipped as you took over for him and began to replace the radiator hose.
Ray grimaced. "You know, I liked you a lot better when you were the quiet, sweet mechanic."
"Blame yourself for teaching me such inappropriate language then," you accused him. "I was such a nice, innocent girl before I met you."
Ray smirked as he pulled his sunglasses out of his breast pocket and slid them on. "Hell yeah, you were. I love being a bad influence."
"I'm sure you do."
While you worked away on the humvee, thoroughly coating your hands and t-shirt in grease and God knows what other lubricants Ray had used in a desperate attempt to get his vehicle working again, Ray stood by and watched. Every once in a while he would tell a joke or throw in some unwanted advice, but generally speaking, he was useless.
"Do you think when your parents popped out a perfect baby girl, they imagine a future of fixing old ass humvees in the Iraq desert surrounded by some of the most depraved men in the world for her?" he asked out of nowhere.
Wiping the sweat from your brow with the back of your arm, you glared at Ray. "Do you think when your parents popped out a perfect baby boy they-" You paused. "Oh, wait. Never mind."
Stepping away from the vehicle and taking a quick break, you wiped your hands on the rag you carried in your back pocket the best you could before using the bottom on your t-shirt to wipe your face. With your lower stomach exposed, Ray let out a low whistle.
"You know, I think I've had a dream like this before," he said. Arms folded across his chest, he let his eyes trail over your body as you furrowed your brows. "Oh yeah, I've definitely had a dream like this before."
"Ray, if one more HR violation comes out of your mouth, I'm going to leave you and your broken humvee in the dust while the rest of us invade Iraq," you threatened. "Is that what you want?"
"What?" Ray retorted, defensive. "You're hot! It's a compliment."
Ignoring the comments, you returned to the task at hand, hoping you could get it done ASAP and head back to your tent to get out of the sun. With a couple more adjustments, you were sure you could get the hose attached and tightened properly. Hopefully, that would do the trick.
"This would be a lot more fun to watch if you took your shirt off."
You felt your eyes roll into the back of your head. "Ray, shut your fucking mouth before I come over there and shut it for you."
"Is that a threat or a promise?"
Drawing in a deep, calming breath, you focused on fixing the radiator hose. Once it was done, you slammed the hood back down and marched over to Ray, hands still slick with grease.
"Both." You grabbed his face with your hands, completely throwing him off guard. His relentless banter was a constant in your life, but he never actually acted on any of the things he said; and never in a million years did he think you would act on them.
You felt him inhale sharply as you leaned in, lips inches away from his. "I'm both terrified and extremely turned on right now," he whispered.
"Just how I like my men," you whispered back, lips ghosting over his.
"Are we about to kiss right now? Is this actually happening?"
"Ray," you breathed out, and when his hands lifted to your hips, you smirked. "I would rather wrap my mouth around the humvee's exhaust pipe and suck than ever kiss you."
With that, you pulled away and shook your head. Ray stared back at you, completely oblivious to the two greasy hand prints on either side of his face.
"Man, that's fucked up! Messing with a guy's emotions like that," he complained, clearly embarrassed with how quickly he had become caught up in the moment. "I don't want to kiss you anyway. You smell like sweat and grease."
"That'll teach you to harass me when I'm doing you a favour," you said as you grabbed the rag out of your back pocket again. "The humvee should be fine now. Go ahead and give it a try."
Narrowing his eyes at you, Ray slid into the driver's seat and turned the engine over. After a couple sputters, the vehicle roared the life, significantly quieter than it had been previously.
"Hey!" Ray slapped his hands down on the steering wheel. "You did it! And to think they said women weren't any good outside of the kitchen."
A defeated sigh fell from your lips. Then, you smiled. "Never change, Ray."
"Wouldn't dream of it," he replied. "Seriously though, thanks."
Your smile widened. "No problem."
As you turned to leave, you heard Ray clear his throat and stopped to look back at him. "You know, I don't actually think kissing you would be so terrible." His cheeks were redder than usual. "I mean, you do smell like sweat and grease, but we all do so its not exactly a turn off, considering the circumstances."
You chuckled. "And I suppose kissing you wouldn't be as bad as sucking on an exhaust pipe. A marginal increase in enjoyment, probably."
"So ..." He eyed you. "Should we, you know ...?"
"Absolutely not."
"No, yeah, it's probably a bad idea. You're right."
You shook your head as you began to leave. "I'm walking away now before things get weird again. Goodbye, Ray."
"Smart move. Goodbye."
#lostinthewiind#fanfiction#hbowar#generation kill#generation kill fanfiction#gen kill#ray person#ray person x reader#imagine#female reader#reader insert#x reader
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Historians:
Hello. My name is Dims, and I am currently 21. It is 4:56 AM on May 10th, 2024.
Rafah is currently being bombed and invaded.
I don't know how much of a digital footprint we'll leave behind, if any, but if I can do one thing with my time here on this Earth, I want you all from the future to know that we tried.
Us, the citizens of the United States of America, are fighting so hard to stop the genocide happening in Palestine. We see their suffering, we hear their voices. A vast majority of the citizens of not just the US, but the entire world are on Palestine's side. But no matter how hard we fight to change the world, to give to the Palestinians and let them know they're not alone, it's not up to us.
The only people with the real power to ceasefire and help Palestine are our leaders and politicians. And none of them will help.
We're trying- don't you doubt that for a second- but we can protest as much as we want, and if they still hold any power over us, they won't bend unless they think it's financially beneficial to do so.
President Biden has said he's delivering aid to Palestine, but all he's really been doing is sending them expired food that tastes like shit, dumping it in the ocean, and making them swim for it while Israeli soldiers fire upon crowds of innocent, starving people.
President Biden has said that he will not allow Israel to invade Rafah, but here we are. He hasn't lifted a damn finger to stop them.
President Biden has said that all people deserve life insurance, all while allowing a LITERAL GENOCIDE to occur, with his blessing.
Genocide Joe does not speak for us.
Historians, if you are reading this, please don't let our voices be erased with time. I know about my country's habit of erasing it's own atrocities and painting itself as a shining bastion of freedom, and I have no doubt in my mind that it will do that once again after the dust of this conflict has settled. No matter what happens- a ceasefire, or total destruction, the United States will write in history books that it either helped to defeat a terrible foe, or it came down on Israel with an iron fist and stopped it dead in its tracks.
My country is responsible for the genocide of thousands of indigenous tribes.
My country is responsible for the war, violence, and massacre of many countries overseas, including Iraq, Palestine, Yemen, the Congo, and so, SO many more.
My country is responsible for the colonization of Hawaii, as well as the entire rest of the land we occupy.
My country WILL try to sweep this under the rug.
Don't let them. No matter what, PLEASE don't let them.
To any Palestinians that are reading this message right now, be it once this is posted or far into the future, we hear you. We see you. We will continue to fight for you. It's not over, and I refuse to stop raising awareness and talking about Palestine until you are free. And, if that doesn't come to pass, then by God we won't let them forget. We won't let you all get swept under the rug. This genocide is a stain on my country's already bloody past, and we can't let them pretend it's not there anymore.
We are failing you now. I am so, so sorry we can't do more. But we will continue to fight for as long as we can. I promise.
FREE PALESTINE!
#palestine#free palestine#gaza#free gaza#rafah#free rafah#palestinian genocide#gaza genocide#rafah genocide#stand with palestine#stop genocide#stand with rafah#ceasefire now#stop the genocide#all eyes on rafah#rafah under attack#dimond speaks#thinking about making this into a video and show my face as well but for now this is my stance and i want to make that blatantly clear
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israel as a state has no reason to exist and there is no resolution except one where settlers return every single iota of land and power to the people they stole it from.
this being said, the idea that mass Israeli death will happen if the above comes to pass is literally just pathetic settler anxiety and projection.
israel as a state has no right to exist – i agree. i wish it had never been founded.
you need to define what you're talking about when you say "settlers". if you mean settlers from the west bank, those who are stealing palestinian land right now as we're speaking, those who are currently represented in the knesset by smotrich and ben gvir and their friends – you're absolutely right. this is a black and white situation, there is no nuance here. they need to be stopped and they need to get the fuck out of palestine and those among them who came from the us for the sole purpose of stealing palestinian land need to get the fuck back to the us (this is a phenomenon that does very much exist. it doesn't mean every settler is american).
if you're referring to every single jew in what's currently known as israel as a settler, it's more complicated than that and i encourage you to read about it. it doesn't mean we're not still on stolen palestinian land, that is absolutely the case. but a lot of jews came to israel as refugees, because they didn't feel like they had another choice (and sometimes they really didn't). no, me or my family can't go back to iraq. i dont think that's what you were suggesting, but a lot of other people seem to think that's the case.
again, this doesn't mean we're not living on stolen land. the right of return to palestinians is a necessity. reparations are a necessity. the land should be given back. you're absolutely right. i don't know what that would look like in practicality, i don't think you do either. but we agree on this.
i agree with everything you said. i am not going to ask you where you think all israelis should go in that case, because that would be a bad faith question. i dont know if you meant to argue with me, but there's not much for us to argue about.
israel shouldn't exist. the fact is, though, that it does. the right of return is a necessity, and there has to be a solution here that doesn't include the notion of israeli jews going "back to where they came from". when people say "from the river to the sea", that is what i choose to hear. i choose to believe no one wants me to disappear. this is what i believe, this is what i actively work for. the situation is what it is. the only way forward is to live together.
i do know, however, that on tumblr.com this isn't always true. people on here do want me to disappear. they do want me to die. and those people aren't palestinians, they're usually americans with a fandomized perception of justice. and i'm allowed to call it out. i'm allowed to say that i don't feel safe on this website as a jew. and this is nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it's still happening. and i will not talk about the rise in antisemitism in the diaspora because i'm not there. but when i ask you, the people of tumblr.com, to look at yourselves in the mirror, i fucking mean it with my whole heart. i don't need to hear "there are no civilians" and "they all have dual citizenship" and "they're all from new jersey". and i absolutely don't need to hear it from people who actually are from new jersey.
hope i managed to make myself clear.
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I've been seeing a lot of posts talking about the upcoming election, and that because of the atrocities happening in Palestine, which are genuinely horrific and need to stop, that voting for Biden is the same as voting for Trump, because they're both terrible people, Biden doubly worse because he's put the US on Israel's side. I'm not Palestinian, I can't even imagine the horrors they're going through and do not deserve. Palestine deserves to be free, full stop.
And to be supportive of a free Palestine may mean not siding with either Trump or Biden, but for me, yes, Biden is no better on this policy than Trump would be, I honestly think if you're the president of the US, no matter who it's been, there's never been a policy that I can remember that's made the middle east a better place, or hasn't been selfish in nature. The US's policy towards Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, for instance, has never been a policy of peace or support for the people who have to live under oppressive/muderous regimes. So I don't care if it's been Carter, Bush, Clinton, Obama, Trump, or Biden, the innocent civilians in those countries will always be canon fodder and unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
But as someone who is a citizen of the US, while I can hate what my country is doing with their foreign policy, I also have to worry about what happens HERE. With women's rights, lgbtq rights, minority rights, voting rights, the list goes on.
If Republicans gain control of the White House again, if they gain control of congress, we are done. That's it, game over. Trump and his cohorts have made it abundantly clear that if they get it back, they will do everything they can to never give up that power up again. And if you don't think they' have the balls to do it, just remember January 6th.
If you think roe v wade repeal was bad, just look at what else they've done to reproductive rights on the state level, imagine if they could ban abortion or other reproductive services on a federal level! Don't forget the book banning here, anti lgbtq laws there, and it can't be missed that the Supreme Court, which is full of Trump appointees, have shown that they're not afraid to throw the constitution or precedent under the bus and rule according to their own, and right wing MAGA, whims!
So yes, it may seem contradictory on my part, to say I'm pro Palestine but still voting blue across the board, and I'm probably going to get a lot of hate for saying any of this, but for me, and this is partly selfish and partly for the future of so many different communities in the US, if there is no difference in foreign policy between Trump and Biden, there at least is an EXTREMELY BIG DIFFERENCE in domestic policy when it comes to rights for the people who live here too.
If anyone really thinks those with a MAGA mindset are no different than the party that doesn't actively want to take away reproductive rights or want to protect our right to vote or don't want to make trans people disappear, then I'm sorry, your rightful indignation at what's happening to the Palestinian people is making you forget what can happen to you, your family, your friends, and strangers across this country if Trump and his cohorts win this upcoming election. And I understand why, because the genocide that's happening is beyond atrocious, and the country I live in is playing a part in it. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel that you can want the atrocities to stop, to care about what's happening, but also care about what's happening in your own backyard, in your own country too.
Remember, no one thought Trump could win, and he did. And he did what we all feared. He pushed through like-minded people into one of the most powerful institutions in this country, and they reversed a nearly 50 year old ruling protecting the right to choose. Then they took Affirmative Action. And even though state law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, they ruled in favor of homophobes who don't want to create sites for same-sex weddings. And as of now, they'll be hearing cases on access to medication for abortions, and emergency abortion care at hospitals. Who knows what else will land at their feet next, and who else they may try to appoint if an opportunity comes to get another one of his people in there.
This got way too long, but I wanted to get out my feelings on this. I know this is not a both sides issue, just like reproductive rights are not a both sides issue, or racism isn't a both sides issue.
Palestine deserves to be free. Palestinians deserve to live a life without fear of death and persecution. They deserve to live, period.
I also can't ignore what happens here either. So I will continue to vote blue no matter who, because that's what I can do right now, and that's the only choice I feel I can make with the shitty cards we've been dealt.
#2024 elections#us politics#joe biden#vote blue no matter who#vote blue#voting rights#reproductive rights#minority rights#lgbtq rights#trans rights#human rights#united states politics#anti republican#anti trump#fascisim
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One interesting feature of growing up in the US is the fact that we're constantly flooded with propaganda but often we don't realize it until later. For example, you ever think about how many popular shows and movies revolve around cops or people working in the CIA or FBI? Oftentimes it's a pretty simple "officers catching Bad Guys" and the Bad Guys in question are usually unambiguously evil and will do stuff like kill kids for seemingly no reason. Or our main characters go to a prison to get info and the place is filled with unrepentant murderers and rapists who would do it again if they had the chance. And of course lawyers and officers rightfully pointing out how overzealous our main cast are will inevitably be framed as "pencil-pushers keeping the heroes from Doing Their Job and listening to them means letting the Bad Guys Get Away" because in this fictional world, anyone coming under the scrutiny of the law is evil. So notions of human rights or police accountability are laughable and police should get to be judge, jury and executioner because doing so will Keep These Streets Safe. Oh, and sometimes they'll make the main cast diverse just to avoid the whole "the system is biased against certain groups" thing. Now, while I do have a certain appreciation for simple "popcorn entertainment" of good guys vs. bad guys, it becomes an issue when the "good guys" are real life institutions that have gotten god knows how many innocent people killed, while the "bad guys" are criminals who, realistically, may simply be individuals living in poverty who had few (if any) available options.
And this is just crime stories. Not even mentioning how many movies seem to feature the US military in a positive light. Marvel movies get a lot of flack for this, but I've noticed that the majority of USAmerican action movies seem to do this. The movie starts and our protagonist is just in some ambiguous desert area, obviously meant to be Iraq or Syria (it's always a desert too, because a lot of people see that region as a desert and nothing else, oldest agricultural civilizations be damned), being all gallant and heroic before something weird or supernatural happens or they just return home to find something's changed; maybe the film is even about their own experiences as a soldier. But regardless, there's no need to explain what they're doing there in the first place, because everyone already knows that we send soldiers overseas to fight Bad Guys in Desert Region.
Michael Parenti has so many good works and I can't recommend his stuff enough, but he did one lecture that's always stuck with me titled "Rambo and the Swarthy Hordes" where he describes how often these action movies present us with the basic dichotomy of "civilized human beings vs. savages" Who exactly the human beings are, where they're located, and who the savages are evolves over time but that same basic set up remains. It doesn't matter if they're Arab Muslims, Black Africans, Vietnamese, Koreans, Russians, or whoever. They are simply vast hordes of bloodthirsty beasts for our heroes to gun down without remorse.
And a lot of USAmericans are quick to dismiss all of this as just being simple entertainment and that people like me are politicizing a non-political topic. This can be for a lot of reasons that I won't get much into here, but regardless, USAmericans are heavily propagandized and it's so effective, at least in part, because many won't even recognize that the propaganda is there.
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CW: mentioned past sa/rape
someone in my brain came up with a fic idea based on this post, specifically the second part (essentially, while luke was in the army, some other soldiers abused/sa'd civilians in iraq, and at some point, they forced him to participate) where the government or whatever investigates the conduct of his unit, and luke has to talk about everything he saw and did.
at this point, statute of limitations protects him, but he never really processed any of it, instead just kinda shutting those memories out.
so now, when it's brought up again, and he has to unbury abusing and SA-ing someone, the guilt crushes him.
spencer is there to take care of him, trying to remind luke that he's also a victim in this situation, but it's all just too much, and he just. Shuts Down completely.
and for a little extra spice, adding my completely made up backstory about luke's ex girlfriend:
all of this also brings up things he never processed from his ex's abuse, and he's dealing with that on top of everything. he's been in both places, the abused and the abuser, and a lot of his flashbacks sorta blend together until he can't figure out what actually happened and what his brain is making up about both situations.
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Oh, I didn't mean to imply you were ok with what was happening over there and I apologize for that. To be absolutely honest I had opened Instagram to double check something before sending the ask and the literal first thing on my for you page was a Palestinian man carrying the bottom half of what looked to be a ten year old child out of a building... and it wasn't really blurred, so my state of mind was off and I didn't articulate myself correctly. In retrospect I should have held off and gathered myself before saying anything. Or should not have sent the ask at all. Like, I've seen plenty of that type of stuff since October... but I'm always in a bad place when its children, obviously.
And... I guess that's a point I was trying and failing to get to. It's hard to be nuanced and articulate when you keep seeing parents putting pieces of their babies in plastic bags. It's hard to not hate those responsible (or who you perceive as responsible) and everything gets clouded and people can take advantage of that. But its definitely fucking Netanyahu and his cabinet that are responsible. And fucked up individuals (civilian and military).
But not ALL of the people of Israel.
It's impossible for anyone to have a clear head in this situation. No matter the side or point of view. Situation is fucked.
then stop watching it.
and i don't mean to sound cold by saying that, but like... you have to take care of yourself, too. and you can be aware of atrocities committed without having to watch every little gruesome detail that comes out. at some point, it almost becomes snuff porn.
like, my generation went through something similar. i had friends in high school who would watch the videos of americans being beheaded by al'qaeda. and, rather unsurprisingly, they all inevitably ended up in the dick cheney cult of "if you criticize the president, you support the terrorists" and started calling for us to nuke iraq.
and we didn't have tiktok back then. i can't imagine how much worse it is now. back then, my friends had to go out of their way and go digging for those videos. now, they just pop up on your feed uninvited.
but that's kind of how propaganda works. you get bombarded with this over and over again until your views become more and more extreme. you saying:
"It's hard to be nuanced and articulate when you keep seeing parents putting pieces of their babies in plastic bags. It's hard to not hate those responsible (or who you perceive as responsible) and everything gets clouded[.] [...] It's impossible for anyone to have a clear head in this situation."
like, that's the point. that's what the intention is. this is how the nuance gets lost, this is how the rhetoric gets twisted.
be informed. be aware. but don't be consumed. the more you focus on the details, the more the bigger picture gets lost, and hate has room to grow.
and that's kind of what i was saying. the more you do this, the less you care about justice, and the more it becomes about revenge. but hate can't drive out hate.
if hate worked, then there wouldn't be any wars left to fight. but hate only causes more war. our focus needs to be on peace, especially when it's fucking hard.
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Could I ask why so many people call Obama a war criminal? I see that so often that I feel like for a lot of people online it's eroded the good things he did
It's because of the Online Leftist/tankie brainworm culture that pervades so many supposedly progressive spaces, when people can tell you eagerly why Democrats are terrible and Not Leftist Enough. If you ask them why Obama was a "war criminal," they will tell you that he authorized a lot of drone attacks in the Middle East -- which, valid, he did do that, I don't think that was a great plan either, and no American president is institutionally or systematically innocent or detached from the lethal force that they are able to wield with near-total impunity.
However, and here's where the tricky part comes in for people whose grasp of foreign policy stretches no further than "America is bad and therefore must be at fault for everything ever, no other country or actor has any volition, only America can do anything, Democrats are evil, I am very progressive," that is not actually a war crime. It's been a fairly standard part of covert warfare and executive operations for many countries, not just America. And this massive expansion of the executive branch, especially in regard to conducting operations abroad with sole legal authority, came under... you guessed it, Reagan! See the invasion of Grenada in 1983 and the Iran-Contra scandal in 1986, both of which were way beyond anything Obama did. This privilege was then also wildly expanded in the Dubya years, while Dubya and company actually were committing actual legal war crimes by the bushel in Iraq and Guantanamo, or at least very deliberately letting them be committed and finding ways to legally sanction them after the fact. "Extraordinary rendition," anyone?
So, like -- if you want to have a conversation about the bloated and evil American military-industrial complex, the unmoored expansion of executive power (Trump was also, for obvious reasons, a big fan of this policy), the wrong-headedness of American policy in the Middle East, and the absolute clusterfuck of twin armed foreign wars that Obama inherited, then we can do that. But you also need to acknowledge that a) Trump ordered even MORE drone strikes, much more indiscriminately, than Obama (remember how he killed a top Iranian general and almost started WW3 for a few weeks?) and b) Biden has scaled them way back, as well as ending the war in Afghanistan (however chaotically that happened and how much of a human rights disaster it has been since the Taliban re-took over).
In short, you have to have a conversation that encompasses all these things, and if all you do is yell about Obama being a war criminal -- which by the rules and laws and regulations of people who actually prosecute this for a living, he is not -- all that tells me is that you're an idiot with a grasp of political and legal nuance that is the approximate depth of a kiddie pool. It doesn't mean Obama is innocent or his foreign policy is flawless, it just means he's not a war criminal. Especially when Dubya and his administration, who actually did meet the legal standards for it, are right there.
Anyway. Once again, if I can't tell the difference between a militant right-wing nut yelling that Obama is the antichrist, and a bunch of braindead leftist tankies yelling the same thing, that means their rhetoric and logical precepts are pretty much the same, and equally stupid. As usual, it's a bunch of people wanting to get Moral Cred Points by ripping the Democrats, while having absolutely no idea what they're talking about and being deliberately unwilling to consider it in actual historical, political, or social context.
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One frustration I have with people opposed to American support for Ukraine is they offer little policy solutions to how to handle the situation. However I do sympathize with their fears that the war can go on for years and result in a stalemate. I have always squared this circle in my mind because supporting Ukraine to improve its bargaining position and supporting Ukraine to allow it to win outright are the same. Do you think the Doves have any fair points, or are they fear mongering?
I think they're fear-mongering, and I'd argue that plenty of opponents, when you really get into the nitty-gritty, are more or less have policy positions that are contradictory to their stated aims, and the better explanation for their policies is that they desire either a Russian win or a treaty that leaves Ukraine in a diminished state for self-serving political gains.
For example, the current brouhaha in the United States is that the money spent on Ukrainian aid would be better serviced in East Palestine, Ohio, where the train derailment and chemical spill happened. But most Ukrainian aid is in the form of military hardware - you can't use a Bradley to fund a chemical cleanup operation. A lot of the MAGA opposition to aid in Ukraine is clumsily associated with the Hunter Biden story, turning it into a conspiracy theory where somehow that money gets funneled back to corrupt Biden politicians and appointees, but again, how exactly do you use Javelins in a payback scheme? It's already been debunked that US aid has been sold on the black market - that was already exposed as a Russian psyop. It does however, make sense if you see it as wanting a Ukrainian loss to hurt Democrats and establishment Republicans (Mitch McConnell and establishment Republicans are largely supportive of US/Western aid to Ukraine), to paint them as idiots pursuing wasteful policies to further their own political careers.
Similarly, the Chomskyite path for American leftists (your DSA/CodePink types - the progressive and socdem circles in America have also largely been supportive of aid to Ukraine) about wanting to secure peace via negotiation to end the war promptly is a fairly transparent lie, since encouraging a pro-Russian settlement would incentivize further territorial aggression by provide concrete benefits for taking those action - that's basic psychology. Similarly, given that Ukraine is willing to fight, opposing aid for Ukraine just means more dead Ukrainians and more categorical civilian atrocities such as what happened in Bucha. No one can really compel Ukraine to negotiate, so the idea that cutting off aid will create a peace deal is one more lie even if you sincerely believed that Russia wouldn't engage in ethnic cleansing. However, it does make sense if you see it as wanting to deliver a defeat to the West, along with fracturing and dissolving NATO and preserving Putin as a figurehead of authoritarian anti-Westernism. There's a large undercurrent in a lot of these circles for punishing CEE folks for overthrowing communism, de-legitimizing the movement, and joining the West, hence why the outcries on Russian atrocities are so muted and engage in so much whataboutism. Just compare Chomsky's writings on Yugoslavia to his writings on Iraq; this is just the latest example of that worldview.
The anti-MIC types who argue that more money being devoted to military production means less money devoted to consumer goods or social programs are also wrong. The goods, for the most part, have already been made and paid for, you can't convert an old AFV into social spending by selling it on the open market due to the restricted nature of arms exports. I'd even go so far as to say that the anemic defense spending in Europe, the "peace dividend" helped enable this conflict by refusing to establish credible European deterrence and outsourcing defense needs to the United States and NATO. The genie is out of the bottle, increased defense spending will continue until the destabilizing factor is resolved. So that doesn't make sense from a policy standpoint, but it does make sense if you want to paint aid to Ukraine as a doomed endeavor. There's also a psychological component, fear that the hawks and defense contractors hold the moral high ground, which has honestly been hilarious.
So no, I don't really see any merit to their proposals. Many are firmly rooted in disinformation like "Donbas genocide" or "NATO expansion," and don't hold up when scrutinized. But if there's an actual serious dovish proposal that isn't like the others, please let me know.
Thanks for the question, Cle.
SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King
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I just want you to know your post about Baghdad's history and how important it is really touched me as a historian who tries to educate people regularly on the importance of history ♥️
Your people will continue, we all will rebuild and grow
thank you so much for your ask and for your wish. it makes me so happy to read it. my mom was a history professor. she taught history all her life. she's the one who made me appreciate history even before i learned how to read. we still talk about history for hours even today. i tell her about the books i read and she tells me too.
i think history is so important. it's like what they say, "history doesn't repeat itself, it rhymes." I believe that when you can't make sense of the present, usually it's history that tells you what's going to happen. I believe that wholeheartedly. reading history gives me hope now even when it feels so helpless.
by the way, when baghdad was burnt by the Mongols back in the 13th century and all that civilization was destroyed, a historian who lived at the time, Ibn Al-Atheer, refused to write about the horror he witnessed for years saying he wouldn't write the "eulogy of our nation". He thought that it was the end and that we were never going to rise again. yet, 2 years later, an egyptian army, that was barely big enough to protect egypt, stopped the mongols army and took iraq and the levant back. the mongols were supported by crusaders at the time. that battle? it's called the battle of ain jalut and it took place in Palestine.
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25 Days of BeChloe Christmases 2022
Day 10 - Blue Christmas [Part 1]
Author's prompt: Chloe's a combat field surgeon assigned to a mobile surgical hospital in Iraq. Just before Christmas, Beca gets some devastating news. Is Christmas ruined, or will devastation turn into a celebration? This one's a bit angsty (I'm sorry in advance for those who may need a tissue). You can't say I didn't warn you.
Captain Chloe Beale, a combat field surgeon, was resting in her tent when the siren suddenly sounded, and "INCOMING!" screeched over the speakers in the mobile surgical hospital compound. Everyone knew that the U.S. had been losing ground for the past few weeks, so it wasn't surprising to anyone that the battle had reached them.
At the first sound of the siren, personnel began running to their posts to await the injured. Dr. Beale exited her tent and ran to the main entrance of the compound, and stood waiting for the transport trucks to arrive.
An explosion could be heard; it sounded close. Another explosion sounded almost immediately after the first and was much closer.
Chloe didn't flinch anymore; the bombs had been going on around them for days, and she was nearly immune to them now.
"Those bombs are getting too damned close," Dr. Chloe Beale muttered as another truck careened into the compound.
She ran over and jumped in the back to begin triage on the wounded. An explosion sounded, again closer than the last.
"Too damned close," she muttered and then turned to yell out the back, "Take this one straight to the operating tent."
"Yes, ma'am," a soldier said as he and another soldier climbed inside and did as ordered.
After the patient was removed, Chloe moved on to the next. The next thing she knew, bombs were exploding all around, and everything went black.
~~ 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~~
Beca Mitchell-Beale was enjoying a nice leisurely lunch at her Malibu home with her good friends, Jessica and Ashley.
"Have you heard from Chloe lately?" Ashley asked as they sat on the back deck looking out over the ocean.
"Not for a while," Beca said, gently rubbing her belly. "She's been gone for six months, and I've only had a chance to speak with her four times since she was assigned to the mobile surgical unit in Iraq. I was hoping she'd be here by the time this one was born, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen."
"Or maybe she's on her way home to surprise you for Christmas," Jessica said, smiling. "It's only two weeks away."
"I wish," Beca said. "I know if she were on her way home, she'd find a way to let me know. If she hasn't called, something's happened."
Jessica and Ashley shared a look. They both knew Beca was right but silently prayed that she was wrong.
"Maybe you could call Aubrey and see if she has spoken to her father," Jessica suggested. "Chloe and General Posen are stationed together, aren't they?"
Beca shook her head. "Not since Chloe was assigned to the surgical unit. Plus, Aubrey said her dad was back in DC, working at the Pentagon."
"But Aubrey could find out something about Chloe through her father, right?" Ashley asked.
Unbeknownst to Beca, as she and her friends continued their conversation, Aubrey was outside Beca's front door with her father. General Posen had called Aubrey to inform her that something happened to Chloe and said he was going to inform Beca personally of the situation. Aubrey insisted her father let her accompany him when he spoke to Beca.
General Posen arrived in LA earlier that afternoon; Aubrey picked him up from the airport and drove straight to Beca's house in Malibu.
The father and daughter stood quietly on the porch. Aubrey sighed and looked at her father; at his nod, she rang the doorbell. Aubrey could hear it echoing through the house.
Beca stood, saying 'excuse me' to Jessica and Ashley. Beca made her way inside and blanched as soon as she opened the door and saw who was standing there.
"General Posen?" Beca said. "What's happened? Is Chloe okay?"
"May we come in?" Aubrey asked.
Beca stepped aside and opened the door wide to allow Aubrey and General Posen to enter.
Aubrey grabbed Beca to her, whispering, "Something has happened, but we don't know exactly what yet."
Aubrey stood holding Beca, trying to keep her tears at bay.
~~ 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~~
Jessica and Ashley were beginning to worry about Beca as she had been gone for more than a few minutes.
"Maybe we should go check on her," Ashley said.
Jessica nodded, and she and Ashley went inside to find Beca. They stopped short when they saw Aubrey holding Beca. They both gasped when they saw General Posen standing by the door.
"Oh, no," Jessica mumbled as tears came to her eyes.
Ashley grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. Aubrey pulled back from Beca and wiped her face.
"Let's sit down," Aubrey said.
Jessica and Ashley stood where they were, not sure of what was happening or what they should do.
Seeing their uncertainty, Aubrey said, "Jessica, Ashley, we're all friends here. If it's okay with Beca, you two should join us. "
"Please," Beca said, sagging in Aubrey's arms.
Aubrey managed to keep Beca from falling to the floor. Jessica ran over to help Aubrey, and the two of them got Beca to the sofa. Once Beca was settled comfortably, the two sat on either side of her. Ashley joined them and sat in the chair at the end of the sofa nearest Jessica; General Posen sat in the chair nearest Aubrey.
Beca was sitting with her hands covering her face.
"Beca," Aubrey said, getting Beca's attention. "My dad is going to explain what they know so far. Dad?"
"Beca," General Posen said, clearing his throat. "One week ago, there was a major incident, and Captain Beale's surgical unit was bombed. We don't know the status of our people yet, as we have been unable to communicate with anyone in the unit. There is a large presence of Iraqi troops in the area, and we are also unable to get our ground troops close enough to determine if the compound has been taken over, although we believe it has. We sent in air surveillance, but they were shot down before they reached the location."
"Are they okay?" Beca asked. "The ones shot down?"
"Yes," General Posen responded. "We were able to evacuate them fairly quickly."
"So, um, are you saying that Chloe is missing?"
"That is our presumption," General Posen said. "Without air surveillance, we do not know what condition the mobile surgical compound is in. We have opened a line of communication with the Iraqis, hoping to get some intel on what happened to Chloe and the others. So far, we haven't received anything useful from them. I don't want to alarm you, but you should prepare yourself for the worst and hope for the best."
Beca sobbed and grabbed Aubrey and Jessica's hands. Jessica put her free arm around Beca and gently rubbed her back.
"I'm sorry, Beca," General Posen said. "I wish I had more information to give you."
"Um," Beca said, sniffling as tears ran down her face. "Could Chloe, um, have been captured?"
"That is a likely scenario," General Posen replied.
Beca's vision was blurred as more tears came to her eyes. She looked up to the ceiling, blinking rapidly to keep the tears from falling. She was a soldier's wife, after all. Once they learned Beca was pregnant, Chloe made Beca promise that no matter what happened to Chloe, she would remain strong for their child. She wasn't sure she was going to be able to keep that promise.
Beca sniffled, using her shoulder to wipe what tears she could while still maintaining a hold on Aubrey and Jessica's hands. They were the only thing keeping her grounded.
"Wh-what," Beca cleared her throat. "What will they, um, do to the prisoners?"
General Posen shared a look with Aubrey.
"Just tell her," Aubrey said.
General Posen nodded as he looked at Beca and said, "I'm not going to lie, Beca. Prisoners don't usually fare well. Especially women prisoners."
"Oh, god," Beca cried, bowing her head.
"I'm so sorry, Beca," General Posen said. "I wish I had better answers for you."
"It's fine, General," Beca said. "I appreciate your honesty. Thank you for that."
Beca stood, releasing Aubrey and Jessica's hands. "I'm kind of tired. I think I'm going to go lie down for a while."
"Do you want one of us to go with you?" Ashley asked as she, Jessica, and Aubrey stood.
"No thanks," Beca said. "I'll be fine."
"Is there anything we can do for you?" Aubrey asked.
"Could you call Stacie and ask her to come over?" Beca said.
"I can do that," Aubrey said. "Do you want me to tell or about Chloe? Or do you want to tell her yourself?"
"Would you mind telling her?" Beca said. "She's going to have a lot of questions, and I don't think I'm up to answering them."
"No problem," Aubrey said. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to stay for a while."
"We'd like to stay, too," Jessica said as Ashley nodded in agreement.
"It's fine," Beca said, turning toward the stairs. "Help yourself to anything you want."
"Holler if you need anything," Ashley called after her.
They all watched until Beca was no longer in sight.
"What now?" Jessica asked.
"I'm going to call Stacie," Aubrey responded, running a hand through her hair. "After that, I don't know."
~~ 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~~
The bedroom door opening, admitting a shaft of light directly on her face, woke Beca.
"Chloe?" she mumbled as she sat up.
"Sorry, sweetie, it's me," a voice Beca recognized as her cousin, Stacie, said. "You've been asleep for a while, so I came to check on you."
"What time is it?" Beca asked.
"Just after eight," Stacie said, climbing onto the bed and wrapping her arms around Beca.
Beca let out a sob. "I can't do this without her, Stace."
"I know," Stacie murmured. "But, let's think positive thoughts, okay?"
"I want to," Beca cried. "But every time I think about what she might be going through, I just. I can't. God, Stacie, what am I going to do if she doesn't-. I'm not supposed to do this alone. She promised we'd do this together. And now."
Beca covered her mouth, trying to hold in her sobs.
"You're not alone, Beca," Stacie said. "You have me. And Aubrey, Jessica, Ashley, and Emily. There are so many of us who love you and will be there for you. And the baby."
"We're having a boy," Beca said, trying to calm herself down. "I haven't told anyone because Chloe doesn't know yet. When I found out about the baby's sex, she said not to tell her so she would be surprised. Now, our son will grow up never knowing how much she loved and wanted him."
"Yes, he will," Stacie said, letting her own tears fall. "He'll have us to tell him all about her."
"Did Aubrey leave?" Beca asked.
"No, she's still here," Stacie said. "So are Jessica, Ashley, and General Posen. They wanted to make sure you were okay. I could go down and tell them you are, but I think they'd like to see you for themselves."
"Okay," Beca said. "I'm going to splash some water on my face, and I'll be right down."
"I'll give you ten minutes," Stacie said, letting Beca go and getting off the bed. "If you're not down there by then, I'm going to send Posen up to get you."
Stacie left, and Beca sat on the side of the bed for a few minutes before going to the ensuite and splashing water on her face. She grabbed a towel to dry her face. She stiffened when she saw herself in the mirror. The tears didn't seem to want to stop.
"God, Chloe," Beca whispered. "What am I going to do? How am I supposed to raise Dylan without you? " Beca leaned on the sink and lowered her head. She worried her lip before lifting her head and looking in the mirror again. "I know you don't know it, but we're having a son, and his name will be Dylan." Beca sniffled and used the towel to wipe her tears; another sob escaped. "Where are you, Chloe? Give me a sign to let me know that you're out there somewhere. Give me some hope that you're coming back to me."
Beca jumped, and another small sob escaped when there was a soft tap at the door. She turned to stare at the door, half expecting it to open with Chloe standing on the other side.
"Beca?" Aubrey's voice came through the door. "Is everything okay in there?"
Beca let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.
"I'll be right out," Beca said.
~~ 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~~
Two weeks later, Beca was no closer to knowing what happened to Chloe than she was the day she learned Chloe was missing. Stacie, Jessica, Ashley, Aubrey, and Beca's cousin Emily, took turns ensuring she wasn't alone. They were all worried about Beca and her baby, so they made sure Beca ate, slept, and made it to her doctor's appointments.
It was Christmas Eve, and they were all gathered around Beca's living room when Aubrey's phone rang. When she saw a number she didn't recognize on her caller ID, she excused herself and went to the kitchen to take the call.
"Hello?"
"Aubrey, are you with Beca right now?" General Posen's voice came through the phone.
"Yes," Aubrey said. "What's going on, dad?"
"I need you to give Beca your phone," General Posen said. "There's someone here who really wants to talk to her."
"Oh, my God!" Aubrey screamed.
In the living room, the girls all jerked around in surprise when they heard Aubrey scream.
"What the hell?" Stacie said and made to head for the kitchen.
Stacie hadn't made it two steps when Aubrey came bursting through the door.
"Beca! Beca!" Aubrey yelled as she ran into the living room, holding out her phone.
"What's wrong?" Beca asked as Aubrey stopped in front of her.
"Take it," Aubrey said as tears ran down her face. "It's for you."
Beca looked around as she hesitantly reached for Aubrey's phone. Her hand shook as she put the phone to her ear.
"Hello?" Beca said, her voice trembling.
"Hey, baby."
A/N: Yes, I am that bitch. If you read the title, you will note that it says Part 1; Part 2 will be posted tomorrow and will be more fluff than angst, I promise.
#bechloe#Christmas 2022#25 Days of BeChloe Christmases 2022#beca mitchell#chloe beale#aubrey posen#stacie conrad#jessica smith#ashley jones#angsty#Part 1 of 2#bechloeislegit
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Hey! I saw your tags in my post. Just curious about why you can't trust the Chinese government? What did they do to you?
Hello! ill try to give a comprehensive answer, but i apologize in advance if it feels like rambling and my sources are weird, bc im mostly used to following politics in my own language.
that being said, I'd like to first clarify that my apprehension and distrust in chinese government is different from the anti-chinese propaganda currently happening in america. from what ive seen, the fear of chinese government meddling in us politics and economy is fearmongering for the sake of increasing the military budget. china wouldnt start a war like this. china would, instead, join a war in middle east.
first id like to point out that im iranian, and so ill be talking about chinese government in relation to iran. i know some stuff about other countries, but ill leave the matter to people who know it better than me.
china has been known to sell arms to iranian military and aid them in using new technologies in war. this might seem like a positive matter to a leftist westerner at first glance, bc they are doing it under the guise of helping middle easterners defend themselves against us military's invasive actions, but in reality its not a good thing for several reasons—most obvious of them all: giving the military even more power will only lead to more tension in the region. currently most of the fights in middle east are bc of the sunni/shia dispute. on one hand, you have saudi arabia, advocating sunni, and on the other hand, iran is the one advocating shia. shia is significantly less popular than sunni, but iran has its way of appealing to marginalized shia groups in sunni-majority countries. bc of the iran-saudi proxy conflicts, and the power-hungry governments, saudi arabia and iran have been at war, but not in their own countries—in other countries such as syria, iraq, lebanon, etc. for more information on this, you can check out this source. china has sold arms to both saudi arabia, and iran, for many years. they have, indirectly, added fuel to the flame of wars happening here. (sources: 1, 2). china has also been helping iran in developing nuclear weapons (source), despite it being a bad idea (for obvious reasons, i dont think i need to explain why giving nuclear weapons to governments are bad. but if ur wondering just look at us government and the bombing of hiroshima and nagasaki).
i think i should point out a certain hypocrisy, and that is the issue of the genocide of the Uyghurs. if you dont know what exactly is happening, its basically like holocaust, with concentration camps, taking the children away from the families, and persecuting people for their religion and their race. for more on the matter, check this and this, but be warned, its pretty brutal. youd think that, considering that the current tension in the middle east is bc each branch of islam deems itself the true salvation of all muslims, their collective silence on this is deafening. yet its not really silence, is it? they have publicly defended chinese governments horrendous inhumane actions, as u can see it reported here. the real reason behind it is bc the chinese government has been supporting and aiding many of the governments who have yet to speak against the genocide happening right now. again, iranian government claims itself to be the true leader of the muslims, so why are they covering their eyes when they see uyghurs who have no one stand up for them?
thats bc the chinese government also does the same for these countries! for example, i dont know if you know about the protests happening in iran since last september. an innocent girl was murdered by the morality police, and since then hundreds have been murdered, thousands have been captured without even knowing where they are being kept, tortured, raped, abused. aside from that, the internet connection has been limited, often cutting off entirely when a huge protest has been happening. chinese government has not only aided iran in suppressing the protesters by granting them weapons and the technology of controlling the internet (for real, google is on safe-lock unless we use vpns. we cant use twitter, tiktok, instagram, whatsapp, twitch, and we dont have access to many websites such as bbc news, iran international, etc. they have also been controlling the vpns, killing them one after another. you'd be lucky if a vpn works for more than a month for you, and i cant stress this enough: u cant do anything without the vpns. its just the hell we're living in), they have also publicly defended irans rights to oppress the people, saying that the UN shouldnt interfere with a countrys affairs. (source) dont get me wrong, i dont believe that any of the western countries are trying to help us for the good of their hearts or whatever—they just want to omit a rival from the board, thats all. but siding with the oppressors leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, especially since i know they have also been brutally oppressing their own protesters, as we saw in the hong kong protests a few years ago.
aside from that our country has basically signed a contract with china that literally sells our everything to china to get arms and stuff (heres the whole contract shared in a propaganda website run by the iranian government and heres the wikipedia page for it breaking it down).
tldr: the chinese government has been actively aiding iran in the recent murdering of the protestors, and also the fact that they have been an indirect benefiting factor in the various middle eastern wars makes me suspicious of the sudden peacemaker mask theyre putting on.
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I did my time in 92 in Iraq! At 36 you were what 6? Have you ever been in a war torn country? You seem like someone that is just tired of working at 36. Oh God snow flake, I was told at 18 it's time to go! But my dad and I are closer because of it. Are you ex military? I'm ex Marine? Just asking. Don't disappoint
You're a proud ex military person? Then you are a proud moron. USA is the largest terrorist organization in the world. We have the largest most expensive military in world history. Name ANYONE in history with as many bases as us AND were the good guy. TRY IT OUT! THEN when they come back with PTSD and disease from burn pits (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/11/us/politics/burn-pits-military-veterans.html) we throw them in the gutters and treat them like trash. WHY in the FUCK would you be proud? You went to a country that never once directly or indirectly made your life worse (again, can't prove me wrong) and harmed innocent people. Just-because-you-were-told-to. Pathetic. You can't think for yourself so you spout garbage because, honestly? You made the world worse, YET you get to live a pretty decent life till you die, so fuck it for the rest of us, right? Is the world better from you going to war? YOU BET YOUR ASS IT ISN'T. Also, chief-the GENOCIDE happening in Palestine is FUNDED by the usa government. Take pride in that too you psycho. Fucking poser. ps-watch Fahrenheit 911. Might learn something. Go jerk off to fox news.
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Dear Marvin.
I saw the question you asked Mr. Gaiman. That was smart, asking a public figure you know lots of people trust.
Be more careful with random strangers on the internet like me. Many people do mean well, or at least don't mean any harm! But you just can't be sure. So take what I and any stranger says with a grain of salt.
That said, I'm DMing you because your plea to Neil Gaiman tugged at my heart, and I wish I could help. Being a teen is never easy, and if you have any kind of humanity, it's harder to feel hopeful when current events are... distressing.
I don't know what's making you scared, but I remember feeling hopeless and afraid as a teen during the Cold War.
It turns out, the very year I was most afraid, when a classmate's father came from the Pentagon to tell our social studies class about Mutually Assured Destruction, the nuclear war we kids weren't supposed to worry about even though it could kill us at any second almost DID happen. Twice.
In September 1983, one Lt. Colonel Stanislav Petrov heard the warning sirens at his station in Soviet air defense telling him that US nuclear missiles were launching. One. And then another. And then another. Five intercontinental missiles, incoming.
According to his orders, he should have notified his superiors and prepared a retaliatory nuclear strike. He didn't. Something felt off. Why start armageddon with only five missiles? It was a false alarm.
A few months later, there was an even bigger scare. In November 1983, the US and its NATO allies were holding a huge joint military exercise, Able Archer, practicing how they'd respond to a Soviet attack. Unfortunately the USSR didn't believe it was an exercise and thought they were mustering for WWIII. They prepared accordingly, including loading live nukes onto squadrons of planes for air strikes. Top military and government officials debated whether to strike before the west could launch its attack, or what constituted provocation. The US Air Force's Lt. Gen. Leonard Perroots saw these preparations, including the nuclear-armed squadrons, but opted not to respond. This time he, and probably many others making small but crucial decisions, kept us from falling over the cliff of nuclear annihilation.
Afterwards, when it became clear to both sides the exercise had nearly triggered WWIII, Reagan and his Soviet counterpart Andropov began to hammer out lines of communication to avoid such misunderstandings happening again. The Cold War began to thaw.
I'm telling you this history lesson which I've learned myself only in the past ten years. Back then, it felt hopeless. I was convinced the world was on a one-way course to a nuclear apocalypse, and I wouldn't live to see 30.
 A lot of terrible things have happened since then, like AIDS, the Rwandan Genocide, 9/11, and the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. But also, so many good things. The World Wide Web. Seeing the face of Pluto, and learning it has a heart The birth of a lot of great people, including you.
No matter how bad things are, there will always be some people who look at crap choices when the time comes and say, "HELL no, I am not doing that" or"Let's see if we can make this better." There's not always That One Person at the right place and time, and people can't always succeed, but they try often enough that there is always hope.
And there's something else. Teens have gone through some pretty harrowing times in human history. That's not to belittle your fear or depression or any of the challenges you face — we're all different, and hard is hard — but to say that if other ordinary, imperfect, confused, hormonal teens dealing with family drama and stress and periods and mental health issues got through wars and plagues and riots and all the other crazy stuff that's happened on this planet— they made it, so there is hope for any of us.
And you have one tool they didn't in the palm of your hand. You have the power to reach out to other people far away, to ask questions, to seek answers, to make connections, and to affect people... maybe just for a moment with a word or thought, maybe in more lasting ways. You can make a difference. Or you may find people who understand, at least a little.
There is hope in that, too.
Thank you, Marvin, for inspiring me to think about hope.
I hope I haven't scared you with this huge wall of text, or this essay on hope in uncertain times.
Take it if it helps. Or close the window and walk away.
— Ellen
Thank you so so much for this (and the psa about stranger danger) it feels so incredibly scary to exist and live on this floating space rock we call home but to see so many people reach out and offer advice and differing perspectives gives me some sort of hope for at least a short future. I'm scared for a lot of reasons, I see my rights and the rights of my friends being taken away at every turn, I see genocide happening daily, I see myself not knowing who I am or who I want to be. seeing older generations talk about their experiences and learning from them is incredibly helpful and I hope more people can benefit from this ask like I have. Thank you Ellen for sharing your story. Things have always been bad but things could get better and I think that's what matters most. I'm still incredibly terrified for the future but this has given me some small shred of hope.
-Marvin
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2023 / 16
Aperçu of the Week:
"With so many things coming back in style, I can't wait until morals, respect and intelligence become a trend again."
(Denzel Washington, US-American actor)
Bad News of the Week:
In recent days, the spotlight has shifted to a country that should have done so sooner because of its problems: Sudan. For 30 years, the autocrat Umar al-Bashir, who came to power in a military coup in 1989, led (not to say suppressed) Sudan with a hard hand, it is an unfortunately classic state story in Africa. Since South Sudan's independence in 2011 at the latest, the country, wracked by regional separatist movements, has no longer been a functioning state. After al-Bashir was deposed - by a military coup, of course - the military leadership and the opposition agreed on a transitional government that was supposed to democratize the country and prepare it for free elections. What didn't happen.
Now two factions of the military are fighting each other for power: the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) under de facto head of state General Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under his former deputy General Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, better known as Hemeti. Both lead the so-called Sovereign Council, which is effectively a military junta. Fighting began when RSF troops took control of the Soba military base south of the main city of Khartoum a week ago. Since then, there has been fighting over strategic locations such as the international airport and the headquarters of state television, and there have been constant explosions and confrontations throughout the city, which have reportedly already claimed the lives of some 500 civilians.
The population is largely holed up in their homes. Without supplies of food or medicine, and often with outages of electricity and water, the suffering of the people is unimaginable. Foreign countries call for a ceasefire and evacuate their diplomatic personnel and some of their nationals. That's it. There is no real leverage, and military intervention is unlikely, given the increasing withdrawal from comparable conflict areas in recent years, such as Mali. Is there any reason for hope? I fear not.
In the future, Sudan will vegetate as a failed state just like Libya or Iraq. Only this time, probably without an ultimately useless intervention by the West. It will be interesting to see whether China, which has been present in the south since the 1970s and is a kind of godfather to South Sudan, will intervene again. This is supported by the fact that China is increasingly buying influence on the African continent if, for example, there are rich mineral resources, as in this case. The fact that they have never intervened militarily, which would probably be indispensable in this case, speaks against it. In any case, it will end badly for the population. Whether with or without China, there will be no human rights, prosperity, democracy, welfare state, domestic peace, education for all, and so on.
Good News of the Week:
What a lot of ranting there is about government and its reluctance to take effective action against, or at least mitigate, the effects of climate change. The four biggest areas where change is needed are industry, energy, transportation and construction/housing. Industry is already on a solid path and reached the set targets - albeit with the help of pandemic-related production reductions - in 2022. In energy (generation), at least something is happening, although too little. There is hardly anything to be seen in the area of transportation, which is not surprising in view of the car lobby, the traditionally conservative ministry and various taboo topics such as a speed limit.
Let's move on to construction and housing. The first part is partly industrial, for example the production of building materials, and partly private, i.e. dependent on the owners - for example the decision to install thermal windows. In addition to private energy consumption, which can also be covered (in part) by photovoltaic systems on the roof, the dominant issue is heating. The majority of German heating systems are still powered by oil or gas. Which, in addition to the dependencies for which we are now all paying bitterly, is above all extremely harmful to the environment. As is always the case when a fossil fuel is burned.
So a paradigm shift is needed here. For example, by replacing a gas boiler with a heat pump. This is currently regarded as the ideal solution because, apart from the operating electricity, which can come from renewable energy sources, it only needs to convert thermal energy. A bit like a refrigerator, but in the opposite direction. The problem is that high peak temperatures are not reached, usually at 40 degrees Celsius is the end. In well-insulated houses that have large radiating surfaces such as underfloor heating, this is sufficient. In poorly insulated houses, where a classic radiator is usually also placed on a thinner wall of all places under an old window, this is often not enough.
Last week, an amendment to the Building Energy Act was now presented by the green-led Ministry of Economics and approved by the cabinet. The key point: as early as next year, all newly installed heating systems must be powered by at least 65 percent renewable energy. This effectively means the death of all oil and gas heating systems, with the latter having a shaky future with hydrogen - which, however, is not yet available at the moment and will be very expensive later on. This leaves electric heating. And the mentioned heat pump, which is more expensive than, say, a gas boiler, combined with cost-intensive building renovations required because of the radiation surfaces and insulation.
This is hitting the population at precisely the time when new construction financing and, above all, rental cost levels are going through the roof anyway. Particularly in areas that are in demand and characterized by an influx of people, such as here in the Munich area, housing is slowly becoming a luxury that often already eats up more than half of the income. For this reason, the state offers subsidies of between 30 and 50 percent for the replacement of fossil-fuelled heating systems. Regardless of whether this is voluntary and proactive or forced because the old system is simply no longer repairable or maintainable. There are also subsidies or at least low-interest loans with repayment subsidies for the accompanying renovation.
The good thing about this is not only that climate-friendly measures and only climate-friendly measures are finally being subsidized. When it comes to mobility, for example, driving a car is still treated in exactly the same way as taking the train. The ambitious timetable is also good. As I said, the law will take effect as early as next year and is not, as is so often the case, just some lax target agreement by the end of the decade. Yes, this will be problematic, as there are likely to be bottlenecks in both heat pump manufacturing and their professional installation. But that doesn't have to matter. Otherwise, we'll end up in an infinite loop like with electromobility: vehicle sales stall because there's a lack of charging capacity. And these are not being created because demand is too low, since not enough e-cars are being bought. Those who only invoke the dilemma of a Catch 22 situation will never get off the ground.
Personal happy moment of the week:
At work, I was able to successfully coordinate that I will have a week off in about two months. After that never worked out last time, because I stayed at home - too close to the home office - this time we will go on a trip. Namely to the "The sea of stone" in the Austrian Alps. Where there is no digital accessibility at our mountain inn. Smart move. Actually, I could have thought of that earlier.
I couldn't care less...
...that Michael Kretschmer from Saxony is now the first German prime minister to call for a stop to the immigration of refugees. Even for former local staff from Afghanistan. Not everyone has yet understood that our society needs immigration to maintain its prosperity. Especially against the backdrop of aging and a shortage of employees, especially in less demanding fields of activity. The real problem, after all, is the lack of integration and qualification. Both are not only a debt to be collected, but also a debt to be brought.
As I write this...
...Ramadan is coming to an end. For the first time this year I have seen it with different eyes. Thanks to my new work colleague Tarek. A Syrian. And Muslim. That reminds me that I have a Koran - fortunately in an annotated version for amateurs - on my bookshelf. Which I will (hopefully soon) read. Because just like the Bible, it is far more than just a religious pamphlet. It defines the cultural basis of whole nations. And this foundation should be known. And respected. Especially to enable one to evaluate dubious spin-offs by oneself.
Post Scriptum
Last week, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel received a medal. The "Grand Cross in Special Execution." As the third bearer after her predecessors in office Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl. Of course, there was not only praise in this context, but also criticism. Both justified. In her 16 years in office, she "outlasted" 13 party leaders of the Social Democrats, the primary political competitor of her conservative party, the CDU.
So I'll take the liberty of quoting the current incumbent, Saskia Esken: "Her opponents - from her own ranks as well as from outside - cut their teeth on her integrity and her fine sense of humor." Merkel's "diplomatic skills and empathic wisdom, with which she repeatedly succeeded in forging viable coalitions and compromises on both the national and international stage," she said, deserved special praise. Because: "Especially in our troubled and crisis-ridden times, an almost invaluable skill." Merkel, she said, had therefore "navigated Germany with a sense of proportion through the many crises of her time in office."
#thoughts#aperçu#good news#bad news#news of the week#happy moments#politics#denzel washington#trending#Sudan#failed state#africa#south sudan#china#climate change#fossil fuels#heating#mobility#housing#heat pump#holiday#refugees#immigration#ramadan#koran#angela merkel#austrian alps#catch 22#gas#military coup
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