#without even checking if the system will allow you to vote

[notchainedtotrauma]

For those that keep telling people it's vote or die, Texas apparently suspended 2,1 millions voters from their rolls. Just saying.

[therealbeachfox]

Twenty years ago, February 15th, 2004, I got married for the first time.

It was twenty years earlier than I ever expected to.

To celebrate/comemorate the date, I'm sitting down to write out everything I remember as I remember it. No checking all the pictures I took or all the times I've written about this before. I'm not going to turn to my husband (of twenty years, how the f'ing hell) to remember a detail for me.

This is not a 100% accurate recounting of that first wild weekend in San Francisco. But it -is- a 100% accurate recounting of how I remember it today, twenty years after the fact.

Join me below, if you would.

2004 was an election year, and much like conservatives are whipping up anti-trans hysteria and anti-trans bills and propositions to drive out the vote today, in 2004 it was all anti-gay stuff. Specifically, preventing the evil scourge of same-sex marriage from destroying everything good and decent in the world.

Enter Gavin Newstrom. At the time, he was the newly elected mayor of San Francisco. Despite living next door to the city all my life, I hadn’t even heard of the man until Valentines Day 2004 when he announced that gay marriage was legal in San Francisco and started marrying people at city hall.

It was a political stunt. It was very obviously a political stunt. That shit was illegal, after all. But it was a very sweet political stunt. I still remember the front page photo of two ancient women hugging each other forehead to forehead and crying happy tears.

But it was only going to last for as long as it took for the California legal system to come in and make them knock it off.

The next day, we’re on the phone with an acquaintance, and she casually mentions that she’s surprised the two of us aren’t up at San Francisco getting married with everyone else.

“Everyone else?” Goes I, “I thought they would’ve shut that down already?”

“Oh no!” goes she, “The courts aren’t open until Tuesday. Presidents Day on Monday and all. They’re doing them all weekend long!”

We didn’t know because social media wasn’t a thing yet. I only knew as much about it as I’d read on CNN, and most of the blogs I was following were more focused on what bullshit President George W Bush was up to that day.

"Well shit", me and my man go, "do you wanna?" I mean, it’s a political stunt, it wont really mean anything, but we’re not going to get another chance like this for at least 20 years. Why not?

The next day, Sunday, we get up early. We drive north to the southern-most BART station. We load onto Bay Area Rapid Transit, and rattle back and forth all the way to the San Francisco City Hall stop.

We had slightly miscalculated.

Apparently, demand for marriages was far outstripping the staff they had on hand to process them. Who knew. Everyone who’d gotten turned away Saturday had been given tickets with times to show up Sunday to get their marriages done. My babe and I, we could either wait to see if there was a space that opened up, or come back the next day, Monday.

“Isn’t City Hall closed on Monday?” I asked. “It’s a holiday”

“Oh sure,” they reply, “but people are allowed to volunteer their time to come in and work on stuff anyways. And we have a lot of people who want to volunteer their time to have the marriage licensing offices open tomorrow.”

“Oh cool,” we go, “Backup.”

“Make sure you’re here if you do,” they say, “because the California Supreme Court is back in session Tuesday, and will be reviewing the motion that got filed to shut us down.”

And all this shit is super not-legal, so they’ll totally be shutting us down goes unsaid.

00000

We don’t get in Saturday. We wind up hanging out most of the day, though.

It’s… incredible. I can say, without hyperbole, that I have never experienced so much concentrated joy and happiness and celebration of others’ joy and happiness in all my life before or since. My face literally ached from grinning. Every other minute, a new couple was coming out of City Hall, waving their paperwork to the crowd and cheering and leaping and skipping. Two glorious Latina women in full Mariachi band outfits came out, one in the arms of another. A pair of Jewish boys with their families and Rabbi. One couple managed to get a Just Married convertible arranged complete with tin-cans tied to the bumper to drive off in. More than once I was giving some rice to throw at whoever was coming out next.

At some point in the mid-afternoon, there was a sudden wave of extra cheering from the several hundred of us gathered at the steps, even though no one was coming out. There was a group going up the steps to head inside, with some generic black-haired shiny guy at the front. My not-yet-husband nudged me, “That’s Newsom.” He said, because he knew I was hopeless about matching names and people.

Ooooooh, I go. That explains it. Then I joined in the cheers. He waved and ducked inside.

So dusk is starting to fall. It’s February, so it’s only six or so, but it’s getting dark.

“Should we just try getting in line for tomorrow -now-?” we ask.

“Yeah, I’m afraid that’s not going to be possible.” One of the volunteers tells us. “We’re not allowed to have people hang out overnight like this unless there are facilities for them and security. We’d need Porta-Poties for a thousand people and police patrols and the whole lot, and no one had time to get all that organized. Your best bet is to get home, sleep, and then catch the first BART train up at 5am and keep your fingers crossed.

Monday is the last day to do this, after all.

00000

So we go home. We crash out early. We wake up at 4:00. We drive an hour to hit the BART station. We get the first train up. We arrive at City Hall at 6:30AM.

The line stretches around the entirety of San Francisco City Hall. You could toss a can of Coke from the end of the line to the people who’re up to be first through the doors and not have to worry about cracking it open after.

“Uh.” We go. “What the fuck is -this-?”

So.

Remember why they weren’t going to be able to have people hang out overnight?

Turns out, enough SF cops were willing to volunteer unpaid time to do patrols to cover security. And some anonymous person delivered over a dozen Porta-Poties that’d gotten dropped off around 8 the night before.

It’s 6:30 am, there are almost a thousand people in front of us in line to get this literal once in a lifetime marriage, the last chance we expect to have for at least 15 more years (it was 2004, gay rights were getting shoved back on every front. It was not looking good. We were just happy we lived in California were we at least weren’t likely to loose job protections any time soon.).

Then it starts to rain.

We had not dressed for rain.

00000

Here is how the next six hours go.

We’re in line. Once the doors open at 7am, it will creep forward at a slow crawl. It’s around 7 when someone shows up with garbage bags for everyone. Cut holes for the head and arms and you’ve got a makeshift raincoat! So you’ve got hundreds of gays and lesbians decked out in the nicest shit they could get on short notice wearing trashbags over it.

Everyone is so happy.

Everyone is so nervous/scared/frantic that we wont be able to get through the doors before they close for the day.

People online start making delivery orders.

Coffee and bagels are ordered in bulk and delivered to City Hall for whoever needs it. We get pizza. We get roses. Random people come by who just want to give hugs to people in line because they’re just so happy for us. The tour busses make detours to go past the lines. Chinese tourists lean out with their cameras and shout GOOD LUCK while car horns honk.

A single sad man holding a Bible tries to talk people out of doing this, tells us all we’re sinning and to please don’t. He gives up after an hour. A nun replaces him with a small sign about how this is against God’s will. She leaves after it disintegrates in the rain.

The day before, when it was sunny, there had been a lot of protestors. Including a large Muslim group with their signs about how “Not even DOGS do such things!” Which… Yes they do.

A lot of snide words are said (by me) about how the fact that we’re willing to come out in the rain to do this while they’re not willing to come out in the rain to protest it proves who actually gives an actual shit about the topic.

Time passes. I measure it based on which side of City Hall we’re on. The doors face East. We start on Northside. Coffee and trashbags are delivered when we’re on the North Side. Pizza first starts showing up when we’re on Westside, which is also where I see Bible Man and Nun. Roses are delivered on Southside. And so forth.

00000

We have Line Neighbors.

Ahead of us are a gay couple a decade or two older than us. They’ve been together for eight years. The older one is a school teacher. He has his coat collar up and turns away from any news cameras that come near while we reposition ourselves between the lenses and him. He’s worried about the parents of one of his students seeing him on the news and getting him fired. The younger one will step away to get interviewed on his own later on. They drove down for the weekend once they heard what was going on. They’d started around the same time we did, coming from the Northeast, and are parked in a nearby garage.

The most perky energetic joyful woman I’ve ever met shows up right after we turned the corner to Southside to tackle the younger of the two into a hug. She’s their local friend who’d just gotten their message about what they’re doing and she will NOT be missing this. She is -so- happy for them. Her friends cry on her shoulders at her unconditional joy.

Behind us are a lesbian couple who’d been up in San Francisco to celebrate their 12th anniversary together. “We met here Valentines Day weekend! We live down in San Diego, now, but we like to come up for the weekend because it’s our first love city.”

“Then they announced -this-,” the other one says, “and we can’t leave until we get married. I called work Sunday and told them I calling in sick until Wednesday.”

“I told them why,” her partner says, “I don’t care if they want to give me trouble for it. This is worth it. Fuck them.”

My husband-to-be and I look at each other. We’ve been together for not even two years at this point. Less than two years. Is it right for us to be here? We’re potentially taking a spot from another couple that’d been together longer, who needed it more, who deserved it more.”

“Don’t you fucking dare.” Says the 40-something gay couple in front of us.

“This is as much for you as it is for us!” says the lesbian couple who’ve been together for over a decade behind us.

“You kids are too cute together,” says the gay couple’s friend. “you -have- to. Someday -you’re- going to be the old gay couple that’s been together for years and years, and you deserve to have been married by then.”

We stay in line.

It’s while we’re on the Southside of City Hall, just about to turn the corner to Eastside at long last that we pick up our own companions. A white woman who reminds me an awful lot of my aunt with a four year old black boy riding on her shoulders. “Can we say we’re with you? His uncles are already inside and they’re not letting anyone in who isn’t with a couple right there.” “Of course!” we say.

The kid is so very confused about what all the big deal is, but there’s free pizza and the busses keep driving by and honking, so he’s having a great time.

We pass by a statue of Lincoln with ‘Marriage for All!’ and "Gay Rights are Human Rights!" flags tucked in the crooks of his arms and hanging off his hat.

It’s about noon, noon-thirty when we finally make it through the doors and out of the rain.

They’ve promised that anyone who’s inside when the doors shut will get married. We made it. We’re safe.

We still have a -long- way to go.

00000

They’re trying to fit as many people into City Hall as possible. Partially to get people out of the rain, mostly to get as many people indoors as possible. The line now stretches down into the basement and up side stairs and through hallways I’m not entirely sure the public should ever be given access to. We crawl along slowly but surely.

It’s after we’ve gone through the low-ceiling basement hallways past offices and storage and back up another set of staircases and are going through a back hallway of low-ranked functionary offices that someone comes along handing out the paperwork. “It’s an hour or so until you hit the office, but take the time to fill these out so you don’t have to do it there!”

We spend our time filling out the paperwork against walls, against backs, on stone floors, on books.

We enter one of the public areas, filled with displays and photos of City Hall Demonstrations of years past.

I take pictures of the big black and white photo of the Abraham Lincoln statue holding banners and signs against segregation and for civil rights.

The four year old boy we helped get inside runs past us around this time, chased by a blond haired girl about his own age, both perused by an exhausted looking teenager helplessly begging them to stop running.

Everyone is wet and exhausted and vibrating with anticipation and the building-wide aura of happiness that infuses everything.

The line goes into the marriage office. A dozen people are at the desk, shoulder to shoulder, far more than it was built to have working it at once.

A Sister of Perpetual Indulgence is directing people to city officials the moment they open up. She’s done up in her nun getup with all her makeup on and her beard is fluffed and be-glittered and on point. “Oh, I was here yesterday getting married myself, but today I’m acting as your guide. Number 4 sweeties, and -Congradulatiooooons!-“

The guy behind the counter has been there since six. It’s now 1:30. He’s still giddy with joy. He counts our money. He takes our paperwork, reviews it, stamps it, sends off the parts he needs to, and hands the rest back to us. “Alright, go to the Rotunda, they’ll direct you to someone who’ll do the ceremony. Then, if you want the certificate, they’ll direct you to -that- line.” “Can’t you just mail it to us?” “Normally, yeah, but the moment the courts shut us down, we’re not going to be allowed to.”

We take our paperwork and join the line to the Rotunda.

If you’ve seen James Bond: A View to a Kill, you’ve seen the San Francisco City Hall Rotunda. There are literally a dozen spots set up along the balconies that overlook the open area where marriage officials and witnesses are gathered and are just processing people through as fast as they can.

That’s for the people who didn’t bring their own wedding officials.

There’s a Catholic-adjacent couple there who seem to have brought their entire families -and- the priest on the main steps. They’re doing the whole damn thing. There’s at least one more Rabbi at work, I can’t remember what else. Just that there was a -lot-.

We get directed to the second story, northside. The San Francisco City Treasurer is one of our two witnesses. Our marriage officient is some other elected official I cannot remember for the life of me (and I'm only writing down what I can actively remember, so I can't turn to my husband next to me and ask, but he'll have remembered because that's what he does.)

I have a wilting lily flower tucked into my shirt pocket. My pants have water stains up to the knees. My hair is still wet from the rain, I am blubbering, and I can’t get the ring on my husband’s finger. The picture is a treat, I tell you.

There really isn’t a word for the mix of emotions I had at that time. Complete disbelief that this was reality and was happening. Relief that we’d made it. Awe at how many dozens of people had personally cheered for us along the way and the hundreds to thousands who’d cheered for us generally.

Then we're married.

Then we get in line to get our license.

It’s another hour. This time, the line goes through the higher stories. Then snakes around and goes past the doorway to the mayor’s office.

Mayor Newsom is not in today. And will be having trouble getting into his office on Tuesday because of the absolute barricade of letters and flowers and folded up notes and stuffed animals and City Hall maps with black marked “THANK YOU!”s that have been piled up against it.

We make it to the marriage records office.

I take a picture of my now husband standing in front of a case of the marriage records for 1902-1912. Numerous kids are curled up in corners sleeping. My own memory is spotty. I just know we got the papers, and then we’re done with lines. We get out, we head to the front entrance, and we walk out onto the City Hall steps.

It's almost 3PM.

00000

There are cheers, there’s rice thrown at us, there are hundreds of people celebrating us with unconditional love and joy and I had never before felt the goodness that exists in humanity to such an extent. It’s no longer raining, just a light sprinkle, but there are still no protestors. There’s barely even any news vans.

We make our way through the gauntlet, we get hands shaked, people with signs reading ”Congratulations!” jump up and down for us. We hit the sidewalks, and we begin to limp our way back to the BART station.

I’m at the BART station, we’re waiting for our train back south, and I’m sitting on the ground leaning against a pillar and in danger of falling asleep when a nondescript young man stops in front of me and shuffles his feet nervously. “Hey. I just- I saw you guys, down at City Hall, and I just… I’m so happy for you. I’m so proud of what you could do. I’m- I’m just really glad, glad you could get to do this.”

He shakes my hand, clasps it with both of his and shakes it. I thank him and he smiles and then hurries away as fast as he can without running.

Our train arrives and the trip south passes in a semilucid blur.

We get back to our car and climb in.

It’s 4:30 and we are starving.

There’s a Carls Jr near the station that we stop off at and have our first official meal as a married couple. We sit by the window and watch people walking past and pick out others who are returning from San Francisco. We're all easy to pick out, what with the combination of giddiness and water damage.

We get home about 6-7. We take the dog out for a good long walk after being left alone for two days in a row. We shower. We bundle ourselves up. We bury ourselves in blankets and curl up and just sort of sit adrift in the surrealness of what we’d just done.

We wake up the next day, Tuesday, to read that the California State Supreme Court has rejected the petition to shut down the San Francisco weddings because the paperwork had a misplaced comma that made the meaning of one phrase unclear.

The State Supreme Court would proceed to play similar bureaucratic tricks to drag the process out for nearly a full month before they have nothing left and finally shut down Mayor Newsom’s marriages.

My parents had been out of state at the time at a convention. They were flying into SFO about the same moment we were walking out of City Hall. I apologized to them later for not waiting and my mom all but shook me by the shoulders. “No! No one knew that they’d go on for so long! You did what you needed to do! I’ll just be there for the next one!”

00000

It was just a piece of paper. Legally, it didn’t even hold any weight thirty days later. My philosophy at the time was “marriage really isn’t that important, aside from the legal benefits. It’s just confirming what you already have.”

But maybe it’s just societal weight, or ingrained culture, or something, but it was different after. The way I described it at the time, and I’ve never really come up with a better metaphor is, “It’s like we were both holding onto each other in the middle of the ocean in the middle of a storm. We were keeping each other above water, we were each other’s support. But then we got this piece of paper. And it was like the ground rose up to meet our feet. We were still in an ocean, still in the middle of a storm, but there was a solid foundation beneath our feet. We still supported each other, but there was this other thing that was also keeping our heads above the water.

It was different. It was better. It made things more solid and real.

I am forever grateful for all the forces and all the people who came together to make it possible. It’s been twenty years and we’re still together and still married.

We did a domestic partnership a year later to get the legal paperwork. We’d done a private ceremony with proper rings (not just ones grabbed out of the husband’s collection hours before) before then. And in 2008, we did a legal marriage again.

Rushed. In a hurry. Because there was Proposition 13 to be voted on which would make them all illegal again if it passed.

It did, but we were already married at that point, and they couldn’t negate it that time.

Another few years after that, the Supreme Court finally threw up their hands and said "Fine! It's been legal in places and nothing's caught on fire or been devoured by locusts. It's legal everywhere. Shut up about it!"

And that was that.

00000

When I was in highschool, in the late 90s, I didn’t expect to see legal gay marriage until I was in my 50s. I just couldn’t see how the American public as it was would ever be okay with it.

I never expected to be getting married within five years. I never expected it to be legal nationwide before I’d barely started by 30s. I never thought I’d be in my 40s and it’d be such a non-issue that the conservative rabble rousers would’ve had to move onto other wedge issues altogether.

I never thought that I could introduce another man as my husband and absolutely no one involved would so much as blink.

I never thought I’d live in this world.

And it’s twenty years later today. I wonder how our line buddies are doing. Those babies who were running around the wide open rooms playing tag will have graduated college by now. The kids whose parents the one line-buddy was worried would see him are probably married too now. Some of them to others of the same gender.

I don’t have some greater message to make with all this. Other then, culture can shift suddenly in ways you can’t predict. For good or ill. Mainly this is just me remembering the craziest fucking 36 hours of my life twenty years after the fact and sharing them with all of you.

The future we’re resigned to doesn’t have to be the one we live in. Society can shift faster than you think. The unimaginable of twenty years ago is the baseline reality of today.

And always remember that the people who want to get married will show up by the thousands in rain that none of those who’re against it will brave.

[ghostinthegallery]

Second prompt fill for @beril66! Let's have a little fun with this one XD

"Please hold me" for Trazyn/Orikan

###

Solemnace was a planet constantly perched on the precipice of disaster. The wrong stasis breach or mechanical malfunction could spell instant doom for the great museum world. Ashkut faced that reality each day as Solemnace’s Royal Warden. But if Overlord Trazyn decided in his wisdom to house every possible superweapon, demi-god, and monstrosity in the galaxy in once collection, it was Ashkut’s job to ensure he and Solemnace survived the process.

Sometimes he simply wished the job was easier.

The planet’s alarm system alerted Ashkut that there was unusual activity deep within the galleries. Not the display areas, but the “stacks” as the crypteks called the network of storage rooms and study areas near the planet’s inert core. What alarm did not tell him was what kind of unusual activity he might face. 

Ashkut summoned a company of immortals to accompany him down the labyrinthine hallways. Perhaps he was being overly cautious. The alert might be nothing. Intruders did not make it this far without Lord Trazyn’s approval—whether or not they knew they had it. Most likely it was a stasis field failure causing the planet to think there was an intruder where there was only a loose exhibit, which more likely than not was harmless. He thanked all the stars they were nowhere near the tyranid wing.

As he turned a corner he stopped short. Two figures stood before a door, arguing in hushed tones. The first was Sannet, nervously rubbing his fingers together. The other was the Huntmaster, who turned towards the warden and his retinue.

“Ah, warden. Perfect timing,” Huntmaster said. “We need a vote to break the tie.”

“Tie?” Ashkut looked between the two fellow members of Solmnace’s court, alarm glyph still flashing in the corner of his vision. “What is going on here?”

Sannet pointed a shaking hand at the door.  “Lord Trazyn is inside.” 

“Alright,” Ashkut replied slowly.

“He isn’t alone,” Sannet stammered.

That wasn’t exactly unusual. Lord Trazyn occasionally showed people his collection. How willing they were to view it varied, but it was hardly a danger.

Huntmaster jerked his thumb towards the room. “The Diviner’s in there with him.”

“WHAT?” Ashkut roared. “And you two are just standing there?”

He moved to shove past the two fools, but Huntmaster grabbed his shoulder. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. We heard clanging.”

“Clanging,” Ashkut repeated, trying to figure out how that could possibly be relevant when his lord was currently stuck alone in a room with his mortal enemy.

“Clanging,” Huntmaster confirmed, as if that explained anything.

“It could have been a fight,” Sannet said. “Or…”

“Or not a fight,” Huntmaster said.

“Or that.” Sannet shuddered. “But still, we should check!”

“There’s been no call for aid.”

“That could mean Lord Trazyn is in danger and unable to summon any!” Sannet cried.

“Good point. After you then.” Huntmaster extended his arm. Sannet did not move.

Ashkut snapped, “What are you two talking about?” 

Huntmaster tilted his head. “Why warden, I did not think you were so naive. Has no one explained amorous affairs? They can get awfully noisy. I also feel obliged to tell you that typically those engaged prefer not to be disturbed.”

“Are you two trying to tell me that you know Lord Trazyn is inside that room, with a well established enemy, and you two are standing here doing nothing because you cannot decide if they are fighting or….” Ashkut stared at the cryptek and the deathmark in disbelief. “Have you not scried the room?”

“Disabled.” Huntmaster shrugged.

“We did hear something break,” Sannet offered.

“Well there you have it!” Ashkut said. “Lord Trazyn would never allow an artifact on Solemnace to be damaged.”

“That’s the storage room for spare Astartes helmets,” Huntmaster pointed out. “Even his lordship knows he could stand to lose a few of those.”

Ashkut shook his head. “Enough of this. You two may be content to stand out here bickering and neglecting your duties, but I am not.” 

He grabbed each one by the shoulder and pulled them apart, clearing the way to the plain, sliding door. He supposed he should not be too harsh with Sannet. Orikan the Diviner’s last intrusion on Solemnace had nearly ended with Sannet torn apart by a hive tyrant. It was only natural the old curator would not want to run into him again. Ashkut had nearly been killed at the astromancer’s hands himself, but that was no excuse not to face him if he threatened Solemnace or its overlord.

Although on the off chance Huntmaster was right, Ashkut left the immortals behind as he commanded the door to open.

The storage room was dark, lined with shelf upon shelf of astartes helmets in every imaginable color. Ashkut could not see the end of them. He stepped forward and drew his warscythe from its dimensional sheath, letting its glow light his path.

His foot hit something solid. A helmet, knocked from its place. There were more littering the floor before him. Ashkut increased the energy flow to his perception suite. Then he heard it. A definite…clanging sound. Ashkut ran towards it, keeping his tread light. He wanted to keep the element of surprise should he need it.

When he rounded a corner he again saw two figures. Though it took him a moment to realize it was in fact two and not one mass of metal. Limbs tangled together, nodes flashed, and loose tiles torn from mantles fell to the floor.

“Bastard,” hissed an unmistakable voice. One of Orikan’s claws raked across his Trazyn’s back, rending his cloak and leaving a shallow gash in the necrodermis below. The warden gripped his weapon tighter.

“Now Orikan.” Trazyn hoisted the cryptek up and shoved him against the wall. “Is that any way to speak to your host?”

Ashkut prepared to charge.

“I want to hear you ask nicely.”

Ashkut paused.

Orikan’s legs wrapped around Trazyn’s waist. Trazyn pressed him harder against the wall, holding him in place as his tail curled around one of the overlord’s legs. Beyond that, Ashkut could not see, but he did hear a noise that he could only liken to a poor quality recording of an animal in heat.

“Please,” Orikan groaned.

“Better, love. Please what?”

“Touch me.”

“Of course.”

“Please, hold me.”

Ashkut suddenly felt the need to check if the ambient temperature in the room had risen.

An interstitial alert appeared in the corner of his vision. He would have ignored it, had it not been appended with Lord Trazyn’s personal seal.

“I am quite sure,” the overlord’s voice said in Ashkut’s head. “That I am currently alone with my guest. But if I turn around and find that we are not alone, whoever I see will be permanently reassigned to cleaning the slaugth exhibit. Do I make myself clear?”

The royal warden believed he managed to break some land speed record in his haste to vacate the room. 

When the door slid shut behind him, he was met with two expectant monoculars.

“Lord Trazyn is entertaining a guest,” he said, refusing to meet either of their gazes. “He is not to be disturbed.”

The immortals thankfully continued to stare forward without any comprehension of what was going on. Ashkut envied them. As he marched away he heard Huntmaster nudging Sannet in the ribs.

“I told you so.”

In that moment, Ashkut was sure he became the first necron in history to develop a migraine.

[sourcreammachine]

REFORM PARTY "MANIFESTO" 2024 SUMMARY

they say it ain't a manifesto even though it is. they're tryna pretend they're not politicians even though they are. their reasoning is that they know they won't be the next government, so this is what they'd push for as opposition members - just like in the manifestos of the greens, SNP etc. but anyway, this "contract" of theirs is scant and they're running a vibes-based campaign. you don't need to see any actual policies, no no no. you already know if they're for you or not. oh, and if you think they're for you - just like all far right parties, they ain't: they're for capital, they're for vested interests, they're for cruelty. they're for the classic quasi-accelerationist burnout cycle that'll weaken the base of society and the economy and ruin fucking everything. but hey, at least there won't be no immigrants. i'm so sorry if you see them as the future: they're taking you for a ride just as you've been used time and time again, because there is no clearly accessible political solution to improving your material conditions as current politics stand, i'm sorry - that is, within the paradigm you know - there're answers just outside the tunnel-vision you've been forced into. why not take a look sometime. who knows, you might find some hope.

i'm not shitting you, though. the manifesto is not long. go read it. see for yourself the draconian horror they advocate, and will push for these five years, and will endorse with the hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of Short Money coming their way after they get into parliament. this isn't a 2015 UKIP moment, a single-issue agenda that'll flame out. even if they fail in their 2029 campaign with no votes against the tories to count on, these ideas and their influence are here to stay for the medium-term now. even if we remove the rosethorn it'll keep bleeding and bleeding and bleeding

yeah, on account of the scantness, these policies are vague. they're much more like ideas rather than proposals. the general nonsense of them has been fact-checked time and time again so i won't bother. here's just a summary of their rambling ephemeral suggestions

💷ECONOMY

revoke benefits after four months, MANDATORY acceptance of the second job offer on pain of benefit revocation, make all eligibility capability assessments in-person, mandating medical assessments, to catastrophically reduce disability benefit entitlements

raise the personal allowance to §20k/a, cutting individual taxation by §1600/a. raise it to §25k for the married

raise the second band of income tax from about §50k to §70k cutting an ABHORRENT amount of tax from the upper-middle class, far far far far far more than the tax cuts on §20k-earners

leave the World Economic Forum, plummet corporation tax from its already international tax-haven low levels, abolish any business tax for "high-street based" small businesses to create a new class of fat cat burghers, VAT refund for businesses making under §150k/a profit no matter what it is they're flogging

revoke european trade agreements and collapse trade with the mainland

massive tax breaks for defence contractors

'frontload' the child benefit system, plunging it after the child turns four

pour money into giving tourists a full refund on VAT

surge the inheritance tax threshold to §2m BUT "allow the money to be donated to charity instead" (ie allowing massive loophole scams)

massive deregulation, including on the regulation of business and employment laws as "we must make it easier to hire and fire". the manifesto also whines about "6700 eu laws" that still stand, but whines and moves on, implying a mass unbounded deregulation of industry

🏥PUBLIC SERVICES

abolish the NHS and replace it with a private voucher system

catastrophic austerity: every government department to be removed of a 5% of its funding that it must account for itself, reducing spending across the board without central planning or oversight

catastrophic statecapture: abolish civil service leadership and replace them with politicised government appointees "from the private sector"

catastrophic hike on university entry requirements and mandate many be cut to two years

catastrophic privatisation of the remaining public healthcare with surge in outsourcing and contracting, 20% total tax relief for private healthcare

statecapture the BBC with full nationalisation

comprehensive curriculum audit to impose "patriotic education": mandate "any teaching about a period or example of british or european imperialism or slavery must be paired with the teaching of a non-european occurrence of the same to ensure balance", teach children about "their heritage"

public inquiry on "the harm of vaccines"

leave the WHO

end the exemption private schools from the 20% VAT. wait, wait no hang on i've got that wrong. oh right yeah, that's labour's policy, sorry. reform says to impose a 20% TAX RELIEF ON PRIVATE SCHOOLS. sorry peasants, your tax money is funding Eton now

🏠HOUSING

catastrophic tax breaks for small landlords

revoke the renters reform bill

abolish stamp duty (the tax on the buying of homes) under §750k and plummet it above that mark, allowing obscene wealth transfers, massive property buyup, catastrophic housing supply saturation, and the annihilation of first-time buying

🚄TRANSPORT ?

ban and abolish low emission zones

ban and abolish low traffic neighbourhoods

ban and abolish all 20mph zones except outside schools

lower petrol tax

👮FORCE

abolish the human rights act

abolish the equality act

leave the european convention on human rights

freeze "non-essential immigration", and they do not elaborate what they mean or what the policy definition is to be. so they're just gonna be rambling about ephemera to kingdom come. that's the game they're playing

10% HEAD TAX ON IMMIGRANTS via additional national insurance charge

REVOCATION OF CITIZENSHIP FROM IMMIGRANT UK CITIZENS COMMITTED OF CRIMES, without specifying whether or not this applies only to dual-citizens, meaning reform supports the mass imposition of STATELESS status, A GRAVE AND ABHORRENT CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY

invade france. i'm being serious. they'd intercept and arrest small-boat crossers and 'take them back to france', violating french territorial sovereignty on both land and sea via the use of force, gravely violating international law against our neighbour

FORTY THOUSAND new police in five years, around 25% more, massively prioritise pipelining ex-military officers and enlistees into the police, abolish PCSOs and make them regular broken-windows police

labour camps for young offenders

create a US-style coast guard and begin routine patrols for migrants or foreign fishers

surge armed forces funding by the highest amount proposed by any party

"stop Sharia law being used in the UK", ie draconian monitoring of mosques, muslim community organisations, the palestine movement, and any muslim

absolute prohibition on asylum applications from "safe countries", sentencing desperate seekers to political persecution and death by mere categorical definition

increase stop-and-search powers, mandates and centrality in policing tactics, pursue broken windows policing,

MANDATORY MINIMUM OF LIFE for second violent/serious offences or ANY drug dealing, new offence for 'substantial possession of drugs'

catastrophically demolish the legalised definition of hatecrime to de facto prevent its use for any prosecution

mass prison building, convert disused military bases into prison camps

bad internet bill: massive inquiry into 'child social media use' (under their watch requiring catastrophic restrictions), renew the online safety bill as "social media giants that push baseless transgender ideology and divisive critical race theory should have no role in regulating free speech"

abolish the northern ireland framework, seemingly unilaterally, paving the way for a hard border and blowing the starting whistle on The Troubles 2

speaking of which: exempt the armed forces from human rights law

catastrophically plummet the number of student visas and prohibit international students with dependents

end funding for european defence programmes. sorry estonia looks like you're lost. oh also "the west provoked putin" so there's that

require the licensing of foreign trawlers in the eez, beginning a cold war with iceland

halve international development / foreign aid funding from its already tiny budget, with specific mention of "global quangos" (literally how many centuries has it been and antisemitism is STILL invoked by these pillocks)

🌱ECOCIDE

repeal every penny of green investment

abolish all emissions targets including for all public services

abolish all renewable energy subsidies

mandate the use of fertile land for farming, ban natural england from protecting 'farmland' land, end and ban all rewinding programmes

abolish environmental levies

catastrophic surge on oil/gas licensing and open new lithium and coal mines, and support biomass/biofuel

🗳️DEMOCRACY ?

begin trumpist restriction on the ability to vote

abolish all postal voting apart from the elderly and disabled

keep voter ID

"legislate to stop left-wing bias and politically correct ideology"

proportional commons and elected senate

🏳️‍⚧️REACTIONARY AGENDA not otherwise covered

for all transgender schoolchildren who have not been permitted a gender recognition certificate: prohibit the use of correct pronouns by any teacher, prohibit the recognition of social transitioning by any teacher, and require mandatory outing to their parents

ban all unisex toilets

"cut funding to universities that undermine free speech", with no clarification, meaning they get to bully anyone they chose

abolish the public health observatory on racial health disparities

look, yeah. the manifesto is short, their purview is open. the door is not shut. everything is on the table. their one, two, three or more MPs are going to be using your tax money to advocate anything and anything that harms migrants, queer and trans people. nonwhite citizens and any annoying political movement can and will be fair game for total attack and political annihilation. wherever the transphobic tornado goes next they will join in. it is going to be a dangerous time for us. they are going to push for absolutely anything they can to harm trans people. your country. your money. your responsibility to fight them. that is what democracy is

[dailyanarchistposts]

Morality in movement

Don’t be in such a hurry to condemn a person because he doesn’t do what you do, or think as you think or as fast. There was a time when you didn’t know what you know today.

—Malcolm X[158]

Liberal morality seeps into movements in the form of incessant regulation and pacification of struggles. It replaces the transformative power of dignity with moral indignation and its tendencies of shame and self-righteousness. It pathologizes anger, hatred, and destruction, turning non-violence into a moral imperative rather than a tactic. This is the morality of the cop who tells you to calm down with one hand on his gun; the sympathizer whose “support” for you evaporates as soon as things become “violent”; the citizen who says you had better vote or you can’t complain. People in struggle are constantly told about the “correct” way of conducting themselves if they want to be respected and heard. The liberal morality of whiteness converts racism and sexism into matters of individual prejudice. Conversations about violence and oppression are constantly derailed by individual emotions and the erasure of power relations where white feelings matter more than Black lives.

Under the stifling weight of liberal morality, anti-liberal morality has grown in reaction. The targets and the enemies change, but the structure remains, and radical morality can reach new heights of corrosive self-righteousness and punishment. From this perspective, things are always in danger of becoming infected or diluted by liberalism. Liberal or oppressive sentiments must be attacked wherever they are detected. Call-outs and radical take-downs proliferate. Indignation grows: everything is corrupt and tainted; nothing is as it should be. This “as it should be” is no longer determined by Christian priests, or politicians and good citizens, but by a radical certainty that one is on the right side of a moral drama between good and evil.

Like the old Christian morality, new forms of moralism subsist on the evils they decry: to remain pious, the priest must reveal new sins. This can surface as an incessant search for oppression and a ceaseless attack on anyone who is found guilty, including oneself, through new forms of confession, trials, and punishments. The new Other is the not-radical-enough, the liberal, the perpetrator, the oppressor.

A number of our interlocutors have pointed out how these moralistic tendencies toward punishment can end up excluding many of those who are supposed to be centered by anti-oppressive practices: poor people, people without formal education, and others who haven’t been exposed to the ever evolving language of radical communities. In a compassionate way, Kelsey Cham C. shares their experience with call-out culture and language policing upon being introduced to radical communities:

When I came out as queer in Montreal … I started to find accurate words to describe how I felt about the world. Even though this skill was my entry into more political communities, I still felt incredibly judged. It was like an ultra-heightened experience of not being allowed in the cool-kid club in high school — but with all new rules that I had not learned and that no one took the time to explain to me. The language I grew up with could no longer be applied and would sometimes get me kicked out of social settings. My entire experience of growing up was judged and I felt totally isolated in trying to figure out why. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve figured out the “right way” to navigate in these communities by learning language protocol and radical terminology while dropping the offensive and oppressive slang. I don’t disagree with changing language to support systems we care about. I do disagree with judging people for not knowing the rules—especially since radicals are often organizing in favor of marginalized communities who are generally not aware of these rules. If I wanted to fill out a form to describe my identity, I could check a bunch of boxes that would make my experience worth standing up for: Queer. Trans. Person of Color. Former Sex Trade Worker. Ironically, the biggest advocates for people like me—the people ready to throw down stats about harm reduction and youth, gender queer folks, and the vulnerable people in society—many of them had no patience for me. I came into their communities looking for support, friends, and direction. I came having left abusive and sexually manipulative partners. I came in hella lost, unaware, and not very educated. But I came in agreement with their political perspectives, because I knew society was fucked from the time I was twelve—maybe even younger. In high school, while other kids wrote about teen heartbreak, I wrote about injustices I saw everywhere. I came into these radical communities wanting to make change, but all my habits and the language I had learned to protect myself with got me in shit.[159]

Cham C.’s story gets at a common experience in radical milieus, in which language and conduct are intensely scrutinized, and those who fail are often forced out. Far from arbitrary, these rules are often earnest attempts to root out oppressive behaviors, with the aspiration of creating spaces where everyday habits and language are less laden with structural violence. In a world where white supremacy, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, and other forms of violence are incessant, the desire to create spaces that feel a little safer makes a lot of sense. Yet as Cham C. explains, they can become stifling and exclusionary in the enforcement of a “right” way of being.

What reinforces rigid radicalism, we think, is not the attempt to change language or behavior, but the way these attempts can be subsumed by moralism and reinforce shame, blame, punishment, and guilt. Morality is dangerous not only because it can reinforce oppression, but because it can divorce people from their own power. People are reduced to their statements, becoming symptoms or examples of violence, rather than complex and changing beings. Moral indignation can promote stagnation, encouraging complaints and condemnations that lead nowhere. The desire to be morally right can get in the way of here-and-now transformation.

[sastielsfandom]

Little info for all of the mentioned stories above in order:

Pity The Saved, Not The Damned

Sam is on a suicide mission to repent for his sins, and if locking the devil tight in his mind is the way to do so, he'll do it. No matter how damaging it is to his mind and sense of reality.

He'll do whatever is takes to keep humanity safe after setting an apocalypse into their world. Even if it means leaving everyone behind.

First Comes Naps, Then Comes Marriage, And Sharing A Room? And Maybe A Few Things In Between.

Sastiel Stanford Shenanigans. Yep, that's the summary. Not much college stuff, just the college era. And lots of fluff!

Rest Your Bleeding Soul

It's one thing for Sam to relapse on his own, it's another for it to be forced. Castiel is too late to help it from entering Sam's body, but is not too late to help ease Sam's suffering. Castiel refuses to allow Sam to suffer in the panic room, instead offering their own blood to ease the pain. Both are unaware of the consequences and path they've set in front of themselves.

Home

Takes place in season 11, Sam and Cas start to share a room. What starts off as embarrassing mornings, turns into confessions of love.

What Warrants Comfort?

Life is difficult, but having someone there for you can help. They won't solve all your problems, but it's nice being able to smile for a moment when everything else hurts.

Or, Sam and Castiel are there to check on each other, becoming each other's support system.

Peter Parker And His Disastrous Dating Life

Peter Parker is a disaster in all aspects of life, but this is just shedding light on his most disastrous part of life besides being a superhero, his dating life.

I Don't Mind Falling As Long As You Catch Me

Snippets of Sam's and Cas' relationship changing over time and becoming more domestic.

Teaching Moments

Castiel has questions for Sam who is seemingly oblivious to Castiel's feelings.

The World Is Gray Without You

Everyone has a soulmate, some have multiple, not all are romantic but platonic, no matter everyone has one. Until two soulmates meet, they can not see the color of the eyes of their soulmate. Sam hates not being able to see blue, Castiel fears the fact they can not see multiple colors. Castiel has no explanation for why so many colors fall gray, just this has been their world since the beginning of time. Perhaps their dilemmas will change when a certain pair of blue eyes and a certain pair of hazel eyes land on one another.

Other

The link to my unfinished works if none of these are appealing, there's currently seventeen unfinished works there, couldn't fit them all!

(also I advise to not vote for Waking Up Anew in other there's a reason I didn't include it, I'm already going to work on it this week!)

[christiansorrell]

Play-By-Blog #13: The Isle by Luke Gearing

Welcome to my ongoing play-by-blog of The Isle by Luke Gearing! We are playing this adventure with its original system, The Vanilla Game (adjusted somewhat to fit the format). You can check out the Play-By-Blog Repository to get all caught up if you wish.

How Play-By-Blog works:

I write up the situation, NPCs, and more, just like a DM.

You vote in the poll to help decide the character's course of action.

I roll the dice, resolve actions, and write them up next week.

So on and so forth for the rest of the adventure!

Notation:

[Text in brackets is out-of-character/GM text!] "Non-italicized quotes denote text from the original adventure!" "Italicized quotations denotes NPC dialogue."

Our character: Medon Girou - Magic Cutpurse

Our maps: The Isle, The Dungeon (so far)

[You can use the links above to find Medon's Character Sheet and map of the Isle and the so far uncovered portions below the surface. On the Dungeon map, you are currently in Floor 2, Room 20.]

Now, back to the adventure!

Despite the... surprising sanity of Fionn's conversation, you cannot shake the strange darkness of the soul of this place. Why is a place such as this resting below what was supposed to be a monastery? Aren't those god-fearing men meant to be living in such a way that would keep evils such as these far from there door? Not that you've ever believe any of that, but the two keep clashing in your mind. Plus, that monk, the one you killed and sunk in the cove, was so quick to aggression. There's a foul air to everything on this Isle. Best to tread carefully.

You ask Fionn is he can guide you towards his brother, if he knows of any of the dangers that wait nearby, and more, but he just rattled softly in place, humming an old war song while pointing to the southeast (in the direction of neither and both of the doors).

You take your time and cast Wizard Eye as a ritual, allowing it to fall fully and reliably under your control. As its invisible presence comes into existence at your side, you blink and see from its perspective. You think and it moves, slowly but steadily. Out the eastern door, the arcane eye slides silently down a stone hall and into a large, dark chamber [21 on the dungeon map]. Inside, "Three emaciated ponies—legs cut off at the knees, eyes and teeth removed���shuffle endlessly around the room." Their heads swing from side to side strangely and their flesh is rotted. To the eastern side of this chamber, there are two doors, both of rough wood.

You pull the eye back into Fionn's chamber, feeling even more assured of your this place's sickening atmosphere, and send it off to the south. Out the southern door, the eye floats slowly down a stone hall. To the left, the hall branches off to the east. At its end is "a thick stone door carved with images of cauldrons filled with people" [19 on the dungeon map]. The Wizard Eye is not able to penetrate or manipulate the door.

Bringing the eye back into the stone hall and directly south of Fionn's chamber, it enteres into another large chamber [16 on the dungeon map]. "The walls are marred and worn. An amalgam of pony teeth forms a ball which rolls aimlessly about the room chewing air and stone, many-mouthed, without lips or tongue." It is horrifying and formidable. To the eastern side of this chamber, there is "a door marked with a herd of horses." To the southern side of the chamber, there is a "warm, open corridor" and "a dim, orange glow." You watch the disgusting creatures roll and grind around the chamber until the wizard eye vanishes, its magic fully exhausted. You ask Fionn what that was, what the other horses were. The leeches speak in unison.

"Oh, are those strange? You'll have to excuse me, but it's been so long since I have seen the sun. I may have forgotten what is usual and what is not." He returns to his humming and rocking.

[My apologies for the delay! Between the holiday and getting an INTENSE bacterial infection that had me in the emergency room on Christmas Eve/Christmas, I needed some time to recover. That said, I'm happy to be back (though I'm still not 100% so sorry for any typos and whatnot) and interested to see which of the several difficult and disgusting paths before us you choose to lead Medon down. This may be a shorter poll this entry so that I can do the next post on Sunday again and get back on schedule. Heads up! - Christian]

[jtwritesstuff]

New Game+ - Chapter 1

This is my first commission story and first patreon reward for Joey! This is a look into the life of two teenage best friends, one with RARS and the other looking to support him the whole way,  I hope you all enjoy and as a preface, this will be a slower story to come out as it is patreon rewards, thus leading to some skipped months. If you want early access to all of my works, a vote in my monthly story poll and currently I still have two spots open for monthly comms, please check out my patreon! Starts at as low at 3$ a month for votes and early access! patreon.com/JTwritesstuff

__________________________________________________________

The alarm clock buzzed loudly in her room and the only other noise heard at such an early hour was a groan from an overly tired middle schooler rolling over to slap the alarm silent. Lily sat up with a sigh, first day back from spring break, but even worse, first day back without her best friend. Quinn and Lily had been friends since grade school, and were basically attached at the hip through thick and thin. They learned soccer, instruments, video games, everything together…but for the first time seemingly since kindergarten, they wouldn’t. They wouldn’t be riding the same bus, they wouldn’t talk about the few days they spent apart like they were years apart, nor would they be in the same classes they were in together just two weeks prior.

Lily had found out during spring break that Quinn had gotten what was coming to be known as the RARS virus, or Rapid Age Regression Syndrome. He was in the middle of regressing and was one of the youngest known people to get the virus, hence why she was up so early, to quickly hop on her computer before school and message him on Discord. She did just that, yawning and rubbing her eyes as the computer booted up before quickly clicking his name and typing: LRay12: Hey Quinn, you up? QtheQing: Yeah. LRay12: You okay? This hitting you as hard as me? QtheQing: Oh, I dunno, I mean just a week ago I was preparing the rough draft for a science paper, now I’m struggling to not wet the bed and none of my clothes fit, so what do you think Lily? LRay12: Sorry…I know this is hard on you too, harder even just…it’s weird…you’re not gonna be waiting at the bus stop or…at school at all, ya know? QtheQing: Yeah…sorry, just, didn’t sleep well, been anxious all night. LRay12: You need to go to bed then dingus, I may have to go to school but you aren’t even allowed out of your room rn. QtheQing: Believe me..I know… LRay12: Do…you want me to bring you some snacks? Maybe a few pops? QtheQing: If you could…mom’s cooking isn’t cutting it, especially with her being so stressed about my virus. LRay12: I’ll get stuff around and stop by before school, K? QtheQing: Alright, just use the pulley system, I’ll wait to grab it til you’re gone, just to be safe. LRay12: Alright…I’m sure we’d be fine, it’s like 10 feet though. QtheQing: I don’t wanna chance it, just ring the bell when you get here, okay? LRay12: Yeah, see you soon. And just like that she was back offline.

Quinn sat back in the chair that was now a size too big for him and sighed deeply. He was around 10 now he guessed, he’d been 14 just a week ago and he was slipping farther fast. He looked solemnly out his window, two weeks ago he’d been glad spring break was starting and was wishing it’d last longer, now he was wishing he could go to school just to get outside. He watched as lights flicked on across the neighborhood and all the while he was stuck in here, unsure if he was still contagious.

It wasn’t until he heard the footsteps of his older sister walking by the door that it really hit him that she was gonna leave too, head to school and live a normal life without him. He felt the tears welling up again, he couldn’t tell Lily that’s why he’d been up, but if she could see his bloodshot eyes she’d know, she always knew. Whether they were tears of sadness or of anger at what he’d lost, he didn’t know, all he knew was they were coming back, and it took all his willpower to shove them back down.

As he sat, staring at the now gray circle next to Lily’s discord name, he heard a knock at his door and sighed as he shakily answered back. “Yes…?” His mom pretty much shouted through the door, sounding as if she was across the hall “Breakfast is in front of your door hun! You can grab it-” Quinn cut her off and grumbled “In two minutes when everyone is out of the upstairs, we do this every day mom, I get it…” He sighed again and just curled up in his chair, he probably wouldn’t even eat today, given how  anxious he’d been all night and his mom just reinforcing just how scared she was to be around him just…made him feel awful.

He just sat there, counting down the seconds before going to grab the food, to at least appease his mother, opening the door was like opening a forbidden lock, seeing the rest of the house was so close, yet so far. He leaned down and grabbed his tray and brought it into the room, a pretty normal breakfast of bacon and eggs with orange juice this morning. He sighed, setting it on his bed and just staring at it, another sign of the outside world he wasn’t allowed in right now, and when he finally was…it would be all different.

He stood there for a while, just lost in thought and staring at the food as if it might magically fix him, when he was snapped back to reality by an all too familiar sound, a bell. He looked over, seeing the pulley system that’d been in his window for years creaking and moving. The bell had been put in as a “Hey! I’m sending something up!” kind of system, and right now, it was his access to the outside world. He walked over, making sure to stay away from the window as best as possible, not wanting Lily to see his diminished state. He watched as the bucket came up and felt his heart flutter as he saw a freshly made PB&J, something he loved but his mother vehemently kept out of the house as she counted it as junk food, along with red pop and a few odds and ends of snacks and candy.

He smiled and waved out of his window as he pulled everything in, hugging it close as if it might vanish at any second as he heard Lily call out “I’ll stop by later!” before he heard her leaving, her shoes running on the pavement. He pulled the PB&J out and felt like he might cry, even if it was something so simple, it made him soar to the moon with glee. He opened the sandwich and quickly started to eat, sitting with his back against the wall near the window. He sat and enjoyed the first thing that wasn’t his moms cooking in a week when he heard his Discord boop and got up to check it.

He opened discord, seeing a few messages from servers, but specifically one from Lily, he opened it:

LRay12: Hey, so people are asking where you are at the bus stop and on the bus…what do you want me to tell em?

QtheQing: I dunno…that I’m sick or something? Unless someone told em, no one should know I’m sick.

LRay12: Well your sister is on the bus, but she’s dead quiet like always so…I don’t think she did? 

QtheQing: She better not or I’ll cough on her in her sleep.

LRay12: Lmao, well, I’ll just…tell em you got super sick and had to take some time, then I’ll also tell em you’re like…super contagious and could get anyone sick.

QtheQing: Well…least one of those is true, I think.

LRay12: Want me to bring you anything after school? I have some cash my dad gave me for cleaning the kitchen, could maybe get us some mcdonalds or something…could always get you a happy meal.

QtheQing:...Really…

LRay12: What? I’m joking Quinn, you gotta lighten up a bit about this, or it’s gonna drive you crazy.

QtheQing: Kinda hard when soon enough I’ll barely be able to finish a happy meal.

LRay12: Sorry…look I’ll get you a burger or something and a shake, deal?

QtheQing: Deal…see you then…think I’m gonna try to nap.

LRay12: Sounds good, peace

QtheQing: Peace

Lily sighed as she put her phone into her lap, seeing the bus so lively and people acting like nothing was going on, while all she could think about was that kid she briefly saw in Quinn’s window, looking depressed and alone. She watched out the window as the town rolled by, this being the first time in years she didn’t have her best friend to talk about stuff with. It felt wrong, like she’d entered a different dimension and now for some reason, Quinn basically didn’t exist. It would probably only get weirder in school, one desk in each class constantly empty and everyone would act normal, or ask once before moving on.

The bus rode along, picking others up and Lily kept an unneededly sharp eye out for anyone else who might be missing. Not seeing anyone quite yet, though she was sure there had to be others, a sickness doesn’t just hit one kid and then stop. She sighed, wondering how dangerous it might be going to school right now, how many kids might be just at the beginning of their regression. As her mind drifted she felt the bus come to a stop in the bus line at the school and the door opened as everyone started to stand.

She slowly stood, gathering her backpack from the floor and shuffled out in the line of kids heading into the school, she noted that some were wearing masks today. Something must’ve gotten out about it going around the school, and she felt her anxiety spike a bit at that, just how many kids might have it, and was she one of them? She shook her head a bit, trying to calm her nerves as she walked to her locker, opening it quickly and putting her bag in before grabbing some books for her first two classes and quickly making her way to Algebra 2. 

The morning went pretty much normal as Lily noted other than Quinn, around 4 people from each class were missing as well, though she couldn’t be sure it was due to RARS or just a common cold going around. She made her way to lunch, this time trying to just see how many were missing from her class entirely, and while she didn’t know everyone…she had to guess it was close to 20. That was a lot, even for a common cold, she sat and ate, her mind running through the possibilities.

As she thought her mind drifted to the thought of her having the virus possibly, what that might be like…what it might do. She sat and thought about Quinn and how he was feeling, and if she had it, she’d be like that soon as well. Her thoughts also drifted in a positive direction though, maybe her and Quinn would be the same age again..maybe they’d be able to go to the same daycare or preschool…maybe they’d be able to have another go at being best friends. As she thought and the lunch bell rang, she started to realize something deep inside her, she almost…wanted that, to be with Quinn again, to be best friends again, and for it to be just them, as they’d always been, just smaller. 

She had to pull herself away from such a weird fantasy, blushing as she sighed, knowing it was probably just her brain looking for any way to try and keep things as normal as possible. She threw her tray out and shuffled to her study hall, bringing some books with her and of course, her phone. She spent the first half of study hall actually doing work and getting all her homework done before spending the second half doing research on RARS, seeing how contagious it was and what were some of the warning signs for it.

She found out quickly that about 9 out of ten people are immune, but those who aren’t can quickly catch it and once it’s caught, the regression starts within a few weeks of getting the virus. She sighed a bit, so not only was Quinn an unlucky 10 percent chance, she’s likely in the 90 percent who are immune, she’d have to watch her best friend regrow up and likely go separate ways soon enough. She kept looking to see what the age ranges were, finding out that people end up mostly between 2-5, with some outliers a few years younger or older, and a story about a boy who actually stopped at 15.

She scrolled and scrolled and the thing that stopped her was a discord notification from Quinn, she quickly opened it to see what he said.

QtheQing: Hey…just woke up, still getting younger, seems to happen faster when I sleep and of course, I need more as I get younger…

LRay12: I was looking stuff up during study hall…do you want the good or the bad news first?

QtheQing: I don’t know if there can be any bad news to make this situation worse, but I guess go for it.

LRay12: Well…from what I’ve read it looks like you’re gonna be a toddler around two at worst and a kindergartener around five at best.

QtheQing: …Okay so I was wrong, that’s awful, what’s the good news then…?

LRay12: Uh…well, the good news is someone only regressed like…11 years and got stuck at 15.

QtheQing: Lily…you realize 11 years for us is 4 years old right?

LRay12: …Look it’s just a hope that maybe you’ll stop at like…8 or something.

QtheQing: Yes because 8 is SOOOOO much better than 5, thanks, I can’t wait to be a weird third grader obsessed with…I dunno…FNAF or something.

LRay12: Hey! Don’t be dissing FNAF, we both had that phase, and were literally gonna go see the movie before all of this, so shush.

QtheQing: I guess…yeah it could be worse, could be like…an Ipad kid or something.

LRay12: That’s if you don’t just…keep your same personality dingus, which most people do, even if they’re full mental regressies.

QtheQing: And since when did you become the RARS queen of info?

LRay12:...Since I looked it up.

QtheQing: Ah yeah, cause Google never lies.

LRay12: Look, at least it’s something to hope for.

QtheQing: I suppose.

LRay12: Look…I just wanted to tell you that, I gotta go to social studies (Blegh) you try to rest so you stay old enough we can hang out still, got it? I’ll talk to you later when I come by with that burger for you.

Quinn sighed deeply as before he could even start typing his response, she was offline, he rubbed his eyes tiredly and sipped one of the red pops. He sat in just a pair of basketball shorts tied much too tight as he was roughly around nine currently. He could also feel his brain starting to be affected by the virus, it wasn’t terrible or scary just��odd, like a soft blanket being put over the stuff he wouldn’t know at this age, but if he thought real hard about it, he could access that knowledge again.

Unfortunately the regression was making him less and less interested in the stuff he’d normally watch and play and more interested in the stuff from this age. He’d only brought up FNAF to Lily because it was fresh on his mind, having caught himself watching an old playthrough of it with such excitement, he only came back out when the video ended and he realized just how fuzzy his head felt. 

Now he sat quietly, a bit nervous to do much as he wasn’t sure what it might do to him while in this state. He’d closed youtube and now just sat with some lofi playing from his spotify as he thought, trying to think of something that might help him jog his way out of this brain funk. He sighs a bit as his brain immediately jumps to minecraft, the first thing to excite him since watching a “scary” video, at least in that he could do some building or redstone or something rather than just sitting here letting his head run in circles.

He sat up and started the game up, picking a new world and starting to play, smiling a bit as he felt an odd sense of nostalgia. As if it was his first time opening the game even though he had well over hundreds of hours in it, with tons of worlds with many years of builds in them. He decided he was gonna make a treehouse in a jungle for this playthrough and spent most of the afternoon doing just that, working his way through the world, picking woods to build with and just enjoying his time.

He got so sucked into the game he didn’t even hear the handle of his door jiggle and rattle and by the time he did, his door was wide open. He yelped as he spun around, only to see Lily standing there, McDonalds in hand as she had a smile. “Heya Quinn!” She said, setting one of the bags with a strawberry shake next to him as he stared in awe. “H-How did you get in?! Why are you in here?! You realize how dangerous this is?!”

Lily just sat on his bed, pulling out some nuggets and starting to eat, dipping them into barbeque sauce, shrugging a bit. “I mean, I was looking stuff up, and like, if I’m not immune, I already have the sickness so, what’s it matter ya know?” She looked at him and smiled as he just stared, feeling his emotions welling up as this was the first human contact he’d had since he started regressing. She chuckled “You gonna say something? Or you just gonna-” She was cut off and let an oof out as Quinn jumped off his chair and ran over, hugging her. She smiled at him and chuckled as Quinn just hugged his best friend, realizing just how much she was risking, just to see him. He just chuckled and sniffled back tears of joy, letting out a soft “Thank you Lily….” She nodded and smiled, “Anything for you Quinn.” She patted his head and they sat, in silent realization, no matter what now, they were in this together.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Liberalism’s great contribution to civilization is the way it handles conflict. No other regime has enabled large and varied groups of people to set a social agenda without either stifling their members’ differences or letting conflict get out of hand. Bertrand Russell once said that “order without authority” might be taken as the motto both of political liberalism and of science. If you had to pick a three-word motto to define the liberal idea, “order without authority” would be pretty good.

The liberal innovation was to set up society so as to mimic the greatest liberal system of them all, the evolution of life. Like evolutionary ecologies, liberal systems are centerless and self-regulating and allow no higher appeal than that of each to each in an open-ended, competitive public process (a game). Thus, a market game is an open-ended, decentralized process for allocating resources and legitimizing possession, a democracy game is an open-ended, decentralized process for legitimizing the use of force, and a science game is an open-ended, decentralized process for legitimizing belief.

Much as creatures compete for food, so entrepreneurs compete for business, candidates for votes, and hypotheses for supporters. In biological evolution, no outcome is fixed or final—nor is it in capitalism, democracy, science. There is always another trade, another election, another hypothesis. In biological evolution, no species, however clever or complex, is spared the rigors of competition—nor are the participants in capitalism, democracy, science. No matter who you are, you must conduct your business in the currency of dollars, votes, or criticism—no special fiat, no personal authority.

To think of democracy and capitalism as liberal social systems is, of course, commonplace today. To think of science that way is more challenging. Most of us think of science as a kind of machine whose equations and labs and research papers inexorably grind out data and theories and inventions. But philosophers of science have moved sharply away from that view, and toward what has become known as evolutionary epistemology.

Evolutionary epistemology holds that our knowledge comes to us not from revelation, as religious traditions maintain; nor from deep reflection by the wise, as in Plato; nor even from crisp experiments that unambiguously reveal nature’s secrets, as in the mechanistic view of science that prevailed until this century. Rather, our knowledge evolves—with all the haphazardness and improvisation that “evolving” implies. In biological evolution, species and their genes evolve as they compete for limited resources, with mutations providing the raw material for change. In evolutionary epistemology, hypotheses and ideas evolve as they compete under pressure from criticism, with intellectual diversity providing the raw material for change.

The evolutionary view of knowledge recognizes that, in science, trial and error play as important a role as does mechanistic experimentation. It recognizes that scientific consensus doesn’t always march methodically toward a single inevitable conclusion; the consensus often meanders or drifts, and where it comes out on any given day can depend as much on circumstance and fashion, even on personalities, as on nature. (Which is not to say that the results are random; the method of trial and error may be unpredictable in the short term, but in the longer term it produces steady improvement. The path may veer this way or that, but the long-term direction is uphill.) Most important, the evolutionary view recognizes that knowledge comes from a social process. Knowledge comes from people checking with each other. Science is not a machine; it is a society, an ecology. And human knowledge, like the species themselves, is a product of the turmoil of the interreactions of living organisms.

Order emerging as each interreacts with each under rules which are the same for all (order without authority): just as that idea links the great liberal systems, so it also links the great liberal theorists. Darwin is known to have been strongly influenced by the economic ideas of Adam Smith. “The theory of natural selection,” writes Stephen Jay Gould, a paleontologist and historian of science, “is a creative transfer to biology of Adam Smith’s basic argument for a rational economy: the balance and order of nature does not arise from a higher, external (divine) control, or from the existence of laws operating directly upon the whole, but from struggle among individuals for their own benefits.”

And Adam Smith was deeply familiar with the thinking of the British political liberals (he published The Wealth of Nations in 1776, after all). Yet the most intimate connection between members of the liberal constellation is also the least appreciated: the connection between democracy and science. Indeed, the theory of political liberalism and the theory of epistemological liberalism were fathered by one and the same man, the father of liberalism itself.

John Locke proposed, three hundred years ago, that the legitimacy of a government resides not with the rulers but with the rolling consent of the governed. To the argument that “no government will be able long to subsist, if the People may set up a new Legislative, whenever they take offence at the old one,” Locke replied that government based on popular consent will be more rather than less stable than a regime in which the ruler is fixed, initial impressions notwithstanding.2 The genius of Locke (and, later, of Adam Smith and Charles Darwin) was to see, as Plato had not, that social stability does not require social stasis; just the opposite, in fact.

This same John Locke also set on its feet the empirical theory of knowledge. Locke himself never explicitly linked his philosophy of knowledge with his philosophy of politics, but the kinship is not hard to see. To begin with, he was one of the greatest of all the fallibilists (or, in that sense, of the skeptics). Just as no one is absolutely entitled to claim the right to rule, so no one is absolutely entitled to decide what is true. Just as not even a king may infringe on basic rights, so not even the wisest or holiest man may claim to be above error. For any and all of us may be mistaken. “All men are liable to error,” Locke said. “Good men are men still liable to mistakes, and are sometimes warmly engaged in errors, which they take for divine truths, shining in their minds with the clearest light.”

No: however certain you may feel, however strongly you are convinced, you must check. Knowledge of all things except our own being, God’s being, and mathematics can be obtained only by looking to experience—that is, by checking. From Locke, then, comes our public process for picking worthy beliefs, as well as our public process for picking worthy leaders. From him comes liberalism’s defining principle: rule by rules, not by persons.

And—no surprise, this—from him also comes the strongest of all arguments for toleration of dissent. In passages which today define the morality of liberal science, Locke preached the sermon which every generation learns with such difficulty and forgets with such ease: “We should do well to commiserate our mutual ignorance, and endeavor to remove it in all the gentle and fair ways of information, and not instantly treat others ill, as obstinate and perverse, because they will not renounce their own, and receive our opinions. . . . For where is the man that has incontestable evidence of the truth of all that he holds, or of the falsehood of all he condemns?”

This, finally, is why the Constitution protects the speech of Nazis, Communists, racists, sexists, homophobes, and Andy Rooney: they may be right. And, if they turn out to be wrong, it does us good to hear what they have to say so that we can criticize their beliefs and know why they are wrong.

-- Jonathan Rauch, "Kindly Inquisitors"

==

We describe human knowledge as evolving, but this is more accurate than a mere metaphor. We can see it in the decline of religion and belief in gods. And we can see what we might call a kind of epistemic creationism in attempts to - or even demands to - artificially circumvent that evolutionary process.

[prozach27]

By all means, how could any of us ever question the moral purity that comes with… *checks notes* voting for the third party candidate personally endorsed by KKK leader David Duke. If that doesn’t scream “I want to talk about how bad the two party system is but haven’t vetted the third party candidates,” I don’t know what does. The fact you even recognize you need Harris to win in your own post - asking people to vote for her so you can make your moral grandstanding vote without consequence - is the epitome of privilege. Our planet is on fire, so yes, you will be judged for making stupid decisions like the one you just outlined while spouting nonsense about how you’re helping “but please vote for Harris anyway cause we need her” lol.

The idea that “doing something” about the atrocities being committed boils down to a third party vote is genuinely ignorant of the American political landscape. We have two options right now. Neither are perfect. One is an easier battle to convince to reduce tension in the Middle East, the other one has told Israel to “get it done.” Pretending that a throwaway vote for Jill Stein is activism instead of cowardice that allows you to feel morally pure while refusing to engage in the system of violence your own government is perpetrating is privilege. Accept that and move on.

It’s wild the number of posts I come across where people act like voting for or supporting Harris and Walz in the election is tantamount to implicitly supporting genocide. You know what actually helps genocide? Doing nothing while pretending you have the moral high ground. America is deeply tied to Israel and there will be no candidate who is as critical of their actions as we want them to be. We as private citizens do not have the power to make the USA suddenly cease all activity with Israel and demand an uncompromising ceasefire deal. Instead, we have to get our hands dirty and decide what path forward will mitigate as much harm as possible. You have one presidential candidate saying Israel needs to finish the job and another saying that we can’t ignore the tragedies in Gaza while vocally supporting a temporary ceasefire. These are your two picks. Thinking any third party candidate has a shot when none have any wide-reaching name recognition less than 100 days before the election is a fever dream.

The question then becomes, are you willing to say you voted “correctly” by voting for someone who has no shot of winning but is most closely aligned to you? Or are you going to vote for who will do the least harm? The idea that voting for a president involves liking them is a fairy tale. The establishment will always be the enemy of civil rights and safety. You’re voting for which opponent you want in office. The writing is on the wall about which candidate will be less of an uphill battle to fight against, and sidestepping the responsibility of making that decision by throwing away a vote isn’t moral or intellectually groundbreaking - it’s cowardly.

[youlearntrade]

🌟 Decentralized Finance (DeFi): The Future of Banking 🏦

Decentralized Finance, or DeFi, is revolutionizing how we think about banking and financial services. Traditional finance often comes with intermediaries—banks, brokers, and other gatekeepers—who charge fees and slow down transactions. DeFi eliminates these middlemen, allowing users to lend, borrow, trade, and earn interest directly on the blockchain.

Imagine lending your crypto and earning interest on it, or borrowing against your assets without a credit check. With DeFi protocols, anyone can access financial services 24/7, regardless of their location or credit history. Projects like Aave and Compound are leading the charge, enabling users to engage with their finances in ways that were previously unimaginable. 🚀

NFTs: More Than Just Digital Art 🎨

While Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) exploded onto the scene as a way to buy and sell digital art, their potential extends far beyond. NFTs are unique digital assets that can represent ownership of anything—from virtual real estate and music to collectibles and even tweets!

The gaming industry is particularly excited about NFTs, as they allow players to truly own their in-game items, which can be bought, sold, or traded on secondary markets. Imagine being able to take your rare sword from one game and use it in another! The future of gaming is becoming more player-centric, and NFTs are a crucial part of that shift.

Moreover, NFTs are being explored for their utility in areas like ticketing, where they can prevent counterfeiting, or in real estate, where they can streamline the buying and selling process by representing ownership on the blockchain. The possibilities are as vast as our imagination! 🌌

Blockchain Beyond Finance: Impact on Industries ⚙️

The transformative power of blockchain isn’t limited to finance. Industries across the board are exploring its applications.

Healthcare: Blockchain can create secure patient records that are easily shared between authorized providers while ensuring patient privacy. This could streamline processes and improve patient care significantly.

Supply Chain Management: By tracking products from origin to shelf, blockchain can ensure transparency and authenticity. Imagine knowing exactly where your food comes from, or that the luxury item you’re buying is genuine. 🌍

Voting Systems: Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize voting by creating secure, tamper-proof systems that increase transparency and trust in the electoral process.

These applications demonstrate that blockchain is not just a tech trend but a foundational technology that could reshape entire industries.

Community and Governance: DAOs Leading the Way 🏛️

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are redefining governance and community engagement. Unlike traditional organizations, DAOs operate on smart contracts, allowing members to propose, vote on, and implement changes collectively. This innovative structure empowers communities and promotes transparency.

DAOs are paving the way for a new model of collaboration, where every member has a voice. From charity organizations to venture capital funds, the DAO model is being embraced across various sectors, allowing for more democratic decision-making. Think about how powerful it is when everyone has a stake in the direction of a project! 🗳️

The Challenge of Misinformation and Education 📢

As the crypto space grows, so does the misinformation surrounding it. It's crucial to navigate this landscape with a critical eye. Always verify your sources, engage with reputable communities, and share accurate information to combat misconceptions.

Crypto education is vital, and resources are abundant. Websites like Investopedia, educational YouTube channels, and crypto-focused podcasts can help you build a solid understanding of the technology and its implications. Knowledge is power, and the more we learn, the better equipped we are to participate responsibly in this space. 📖💡

The Human Element: Stories from the Community ❤️

Behind every cryptocurrency transaction is a person with a story. The crypto community is filled with innovators, dreamers, and doers who are using this technology to change their lives and the lives of others. From entrepreneurs launching blockchain startups to individuals overcoming financial struggles, the narratives that emerge from this space are powerful.

Sharing these stories can inspire others to explore crypto, helping them see the human side of technology. Whether it’s through blog posts, podcasts, or social media, let's amplify these voices and create a supportive ecosystem for everyone navigating the crypto journey. 📢

Final Thoughts: Your Journey in the Crypto Universe 🌌

The world of cryptocurrency is vast and filled with potential. Whether you’re a newcomer or a seasoned trader, there’s always more to learn and explore. The key is to stay curious, open-minded, and engaged with the community.

As we move forward into this exciting frontier, remember that each of us plays a role in shaping the future of finance, technology, and society. Let’s embrace this journey together, ready to learn, share, and grow. The future is bright, and the opportunities are limitless! 🌈🚀

[starsburnout]

Without irony or abrasiveness intended: I genuinely believe what moves leftist to yell “VOTE BIDEN” isn’t anger towards Trump. It’s fear and desperation in its purest form

Biden is a genocider and so is Trump. The difference is that if Biden gets elected, the Gaza genocide will continue. If Trump is elected, the Gaza genocide will accelerate further, he’ll deport protesters there (he gleefully said that out loud), and he’ll directly or indirectly hurt further Americans who aren’t white rich men.

With Project 2025, which has been set in motion even before Trump got elected in 2016? Of course people are frightened. This guy has been given legal authority to kill people the moment he turns president again, and any form of activism will be squashed by Trump. Him getting elected will have a ripple effect that will harm everything and everybody. For example, it’ll boost the far right in Europe. Putin wants this at all costs since he’s pretty much bought Trump.

Then again, the Palestine protests have been condemned by Biden himself. So fuck him, they’re both the same after all, democracy is a farce, etc.

Except, if the Democratic Party stays in place, there is a genuine chance for change. Two or three SCOTUS MAGA judges are retiring in a couple years, we can put left-leaning judges who don’t make presidents untouchable kings (even if the damage’s done in that regard). The Senate needs to be flipped too - no matter how many Democrats we elect, as long as it’s red there, we’re going nowhere. Local elections can’t be dismissed either.

The key is the parties, not the candidates themselves. And inside the Democrat party, we have supporters of Palestine who have openly voiced their dissent, who are pressuring Biden to step down and stop it with funding the genocide.

Also, the whole “voting 3rd party is a waste of a vote”? It’s true given the current politics. But there’s this option to vote, I don’t recall the proper name but it’d allow coalitions between 3rd parties and the main ones so effectively, no vote would be wasted.

I don’t expect us to agree here, you’ve made your position clear in this regard. There’s indeed many Zionists in the Democratic Party, but there’s also many Gaza supporters - I think we’d better off giving them a platform and a chance for change.

The Democratic Party can be pressured, it has internal fractures in this matter. It’s imperfect, it has blood on its hands, it will always have. I won’t ever deny this. But no political party will ever be morally pure, ever. In this unbalanced system, we need to exert pressure on what we have.

With Republicans, though? If they’re elected, Trump or not, there’s 0 chances the genocide will ever stop.

the genocide is continuing regardless! biden is more than complicit and democrats have shown me they care more about the status quo than making any real change. I just have zero faith in the democrats at this point and I truly hope you realize they don't really care as much as you want them to. I highly recommend checking out Imani Barbarin's videos, she talks about the democrats and such far more eloquently than I could. I just think the democrats at this point are trying to lose. bc they sure as hell aren't trying to win.

[nataliesnews]

lost count of days 31.10.2023

Saturday Ellen and I again went down to Tel Aviv to be with the families of the hostages. It was good to be with people who care but it also amazes me that  so many people do not seem to care. Have I said before how much I admire the British for all the years that they endured the second world war. One month and it is like being in a continuous nightmare. 

Both of us were exhausted and came back in the same state. Saturday night there was another demonstration also in the centre of town and I don't know why but it was perfectly quiet. Only about three  or four police and no hecklers which makes me even more sure that the attack on us a week and a half ago by the police was planned by them. I don't know what happened but maybe they realised they had gone too far. But now they are arresting all sorts of Arabs for posts on facebook and thought I don't like what they like but the extreme Rabbis and people like Ben Givr say and post much worse things and nothing happens to them. I also once said to you that what happens with the Palestinians would eventually  happen with those on the left against Netanyahu. Now a pilot who wrote against Netanyahu has been fired. The time will come when they will pray for him to come back.   AND THIS we would like to draw your attention to thElegislation pushed by far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and set to be voted on in the coming days. This proposal seeks to grant police officers the right to shoot at protesters "obstructing roads or town entrances" with live ammunition. This presents a real threat to human lives and human rights by denying people’s right to demonstrate, and will undoubtedly lead to violence escalation. 

Pictures from the demonstration, two babies who are kidnapped, And the last photo of the phone call all which ended suddenly, either from someone in the army or someone kidnapped  and sometimes the family is still wondering  if the person is lying dead somewhere, kidnapped or what.

\

 In the evening I went again to the centre of the city to call for the captives to be brought home,  but unlike last week, when the police attacked us without restraint and without reason,  throwing women to the floor and calling them prostitutes, calling us traitors, telling us that they should not have to protect ue, this was very quiet. 

There are daily attacks on Palestinians in their homes and on their grounds. Settlers protected by soldiers but I will send it separately. But This is what happened to one Arab doctor and whom Tag Maier  visited:

"We met last night with Dr. Abd Samara of Tira. Director of cardiac intensive care at Hasharon Hospital. Senior center. Dr. Abed put up a post a year and 4 months ago with a green flag, a verse from the Koran and a drawing of a dove of peace. Following the events of October 7th, social media surfers hunting "Arabs" decided that Dr. Samara had posted a support post for Hamas... No one checked with Dr. Samara and so began a witch hunt that ended with a letter of suspension from the Sharon Hospital with the support of a very senior member of the health system. Needless to say, Dr. Samara is a talented, dedicated doctor who has nothing to do with the Hamas movement. Needless to say, the post he posted is unrelated in content and time to what happened to us three weeks ago. We came to embrace Dr. Samara and his family. We call on the Minister of Health to immediately correct the terrible injustice caused to Dr. Samara. Dr. Abd Samara should be returned to his job as director of cardiac intensive care and allowed to save Jewish and Arab lives as he has done to this day with endless dedication".

More and more it is becoming like McCarthy here. |Dani Danieli whom I know from the protests has been arrested and questioned three times. And he is one of many on the left.  One of  the fascists wanted to have Gershon Baskin arrested for speaking to the Hamas, It was through his speaking to them at the time that Gilad Shalit was freed. I would not be surprised if soon they called him in too.

Every night we demonstrate outside the house of Herzog. And  again not against the government but for the release of the captives. Two nights ago the families were there meeting him.  We waited from three to after seven but it was worth it. The first woman who came out was not expecting to see people and when she saw us she covered her face in surprise and wept. They told us not to forget them and we told that we were were every night.  Cars come past and hoot support, others stop and curse us. Everything one does is seen as an act against the government. In the meantime Netanyhua's nightly broadcasts sound like something out of a Charlie Chaplin movie. The only person worth listening to it the army spokesman and one can only wonder how much of what we are hearing is  true.

Anyhow  next morning someone sent me a photo which had appeared in the Jerusalem  post of our demonstration and then I was amazed to get a whatsapp from the daughter of a friend of mine who died some years ago, Hilda with whom I had worked in South Africa.

She said they had been watching the Afrikaans news and suddenly she said to her husband....that is Natalie and she took a screenshot which she sent me. 

I have been volunteering at Hansen to make sandwiches and after a morning of cutting parsley and koesbara and tomatoes I come out feeling like a salad. I take a sleeping pill but still wake up exhausted. 

[8-evil-annoying-catboys]

don’t fucking spread misinformation. lincoln was elected in march of 1861, and didn’t start a draft of the emancipation proclamation until july 13, 1862. that’s over a full year later.

and, by the way, the emancipation proclamation did NOT end slavery altogether in the US. it said that slavery was not recognized as legal by the US in states that were rebelling against the US. meaning that slaves from confederate states would not be punished by the US if they ran away and made it to a state that wasn’t rebelling. chattel slavery was still legal in union states after the emancipation proclamation until the 13th amendment was passed in december of 1865, 3 and a half years after the emancipation proclamation was first drafted, and more than 6 months after the civil war ended.

furthermore, bringing up obama isn’t very relevant, seeing as gay marriage was legalized throughout the US by the supreme court decision in obergefell v hodges, NOT by the president. yeah, yeah, the president appoints the supreme court justices, so obama did influence this decision by appointing two justices earlier in his career… but it’s not accurate to imply that he clearly intended to legalize gay marriage during his presidency while campaigning in 2008, when gay marriage was not legalized until 2015, and he didn’t directly have anything to do with the decision.

in both the case of lincoln and the case of obama, i would take them at their word for what they said during their campaigns as quoted in this post.

lincoln didn’t intend to abolish slavery, he wanted to avoid civil war! when civil war happened anyway, it seems to me that the emancipation proclamation was more of a strategic economic decision and/or political theatre than an expression of lincoln’s opinions on slavery/abolition… the southern, and by extension the confederate economy before and during the civil war was only as prosperous as it was because of slavery. allowing confederate state’s slaves to run away to the union and be free and protected if and when they arrived would significantly affect the confederacy’s workforce and their economy, while also boosting morale in the war by publicly siding with abolitionists.

obama didn’t intend to legalize gay marriage, and he DIDN’T. he appointed two justices to the supreme court within the first 2 years of his first term, who would then go on to both be part of the majority of 5 justices who decided in a landmark case that gay marriage should be legal in all 50 states, like 5 years after he appointed them. he did not pick these justices in the first half of his first term with the intention of influencing the legality of gay marriage in his penultimate year as president. be serious.

all of this information is so fucking easy to find and debunk.

also.. i’m personally still on the fence about voting democrat this election—i’m feeling disillusioned both about the possibility of pressuring kamala to stop the genocide, AND the possibility of my preferred candidate (jill stein) actually winning. but it is my duty, as someone who cares about the victims of genocide, to at LEAST threaten kamala that i won’t vote for her if she and biden don’t do everything in their power to put a stop to this atrocity. holding votes hostage is THE VERY LEAST we can do. vote for whoever you think you should—as much as i wish i could vote my conscience without worrying that i’m “throwing away” my vote, the system isn’t set up to allow me to do that… yet. we’ll see how the tides look in october when the election is on the horizon, and that will decide where my vote lands. but it’s OK to threaten a candidate that you won’t vote for them if they don’t do something you want, even if you already know you’re lying. lying to politicians isn’t just ok, it’s morally correct, and it’s also only fair—they lie to you every fucking day!! in case you didn’t check those last two links, i’ll spell it out for you, HERE is where you can hold your vote hostage today, whether you’re bluffing or not—if every single person who reads this does that, maybe we won’t have to choose between voting for a genocide supporter and betting on a losing horse.

altho, again. my ideal situation is for jill stein to win, institute ranked choice voting, stop selling arms to israel and align with the rest of the world in opposition to the genocide, and start the gears turning for a better world without having to oil them with the blood of rebels and the most vulnerable citizens who will die in a revolution whether they fight or not. sorry if that sounds dumb to you, op, but you sound really stupid to me, spreading misinformation like this just because you can’t find any better way to tell people to shut up about genocide already and hand over their vote, like it’s owed to someone else and doesn’t belong to them. lol. lmao even.

This is genuinely what some of you sound like. Remember, Lincoln FAMOUSLY campaigned on the promise that he was not a threat to the institution of slavery. There were tons of people who were FURIOUS that he wasn't doing enough.

But he realized that he was trying to appeal to a voterbase of WHITE SUPREMACISTS and PEOPLE WHO EXCLUSIVELY BENIFITTED AND PROFITED FROM THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY.

If he was honest about his intentions to abolish slavery, he wouldn't have gotten elected to ANYTHING.

At one point, he even said something along the lines of "I have no intention to threaten the institution of slavery. My soul purpose is to save the union." Meanwhile, he already had a draft of the emancipation proclaimation largely ready to go. Obama is another example. He famously promised often and loudly that he "in no way supported gay marriage". Which ALSO made lots of liberals angry. It is extremely frustrating watching people who don't understand how politics work try to play politics.

[american-communism]

The Celebrity Future Has Been Challenged The Hollering Of Equality In Celebrities Without All Of The Crap

Celebrity checks under a newer system desiged for all the states of the USA. Every single state would be granted 3 movies a year. The USA would place competitions in every single state for the acting roles of these movies! 300 movies a year would be made higher populous states would get up to 6 movies in one year! States would be required to make the three movies!

The movies however would base decision game roles that were alot like american gladiators and so forth, but not all roles call for toughness and strength some call for video game competitions and more even!

These would happen in established stadiums in every state the roles would be posted at the stadium! People come to get on list that meets roll requirement to compete!

Thing is say star wars episode 12 was made by Florida star wars episode 13 could be made by South Dakota! The special effects equipment in sequels just ships to another state that wins the lottery drawing that says there name, no one knows who's going to win. See this brings equality to the celebrity business and sponsorship that no area or person runs celebrity movies or chooses individuals.

Instead everything is competed for and everyone has equal chance yes even wheel chair roles like Xavier would be established in wheel chair races and math tests and stuff like that.

The game shows are told whats being made at these locations before they are even made so people know whats coming its a game show competition that creates revenue to also pay actors and actresses and so forth!

The win the game show get the job and the check.

Looks are meaningless best surgeons to make them stunning if they want the surgery for free and the competition pays for the game show hosts to get whats needed if they want to.

Game show creates the revenue and gains interest amongst spectators and more. TV shows could be determined the same way. The profits go the committee and the contestants and winners are paid. If sequel well then a new actor unless same state gets draw again and they win competition a second time!

Rules I do not determine but the money profits go to the states for improvement of housing in poverty and environment and farmland advancement and so forth buying up old real estate fixing it up and turning it to communist property piece by piece! the long term goal is to create true equality, Offer everything that is needed. This is American-Communism.......... Starting it one way through and moving it another, There is a lot more but the game shows make it to where movies make money to film off the game show before they even make the movie be in the green.

Communism is beautiful when applied right. Im crazy just like anyone who believes in good ad equality. Thing is when fully done worst could happen is your homeless no job, picked up by communist police taken to jail work 20 hours and are released back into society with fully furnished home and clothes and meals. It can only be corrupted if people make it corrupt! But then it would not truly be Free American Communism would it cause I did not write it that way!

Free American Communism people vote for what products are sold not told what will be their choices! Choices get voted on by states! Everything is a free vote and choice choose to vote or do nothing and let the voters take care of you! Everyone is allowed to vote unless convicted of a crime and the ballot is based on crime incarcerated for or convicted of! Surely rapists should not be heard that are tried or convicted on an existing vote! But all decisions outside of the category are entirely different same goes for all crimes no matter what class accept infraction! never have to work more then 20 hours a week! Don't fear robots embrace them as an education to true freedom!

[iamafanofcartoons]

We need to address Ironwood flaws, since his apologists seem to have misogyny for days.

James is a military leader who holds twice the normal voting power on the council, and repeatedly disrespects other people’s authority.  He’s the reason why the huntsman academy of Atlas become a pipeline to the military, thus preventing Atlesians from being allowed to travel the world and help others unless James conditionally allows it. Furthermore, he basically made the Huntsmen System into his own private army, so not only do they not help anyone else in the world unless he says so? They don’t even help ATLAS unless he says so. He basically made Huntsmen into Stormtroopers, and Winter Schnee is a prime example.

Shot TWO random innocent for disagreeing with him, and this was after threatening Ozpin’s right-hand man with murder.

 Tried to nuke mantle just because he was being stymied by a bunch of teenage girls who wanted their friend to act with autonomy.

Ruby didn’t hold Atlas Hostage...Penny chose to protect the people Ironwood told her to protect, and then got furious that Penny chose to prioritize that mission over (checks notes) abandoning every single man woman and child that Ironwood was oppressing, and YES, he was oppressing them.

"We all make mistakes in the heat of passion Jimbo" doesn't cut it when you have systematically manipulated society to look to a single fallible person who presumably if he knew what his semblance was, would know of his flawed nature that was liable to cloud his judgement. 

Sure he ran things well enough on a day to day basis (allegedly without crisis) but efficiency does not equal morality.

Are we also going to ignore how Ironwood literally gatekept Penny from having any friends, Ciel Soleil was the example of Ironwood’s ideal mentality for soldiers, and Ironwood went behind Ozpin’s back to get him fired?

The fall of Beacon was on Ironwood’s hands, not Ozpin’s, but Ironwood can never accept responsibility for his actions anymore than he can accept somebody criticizing him.

Glynda even pointed that out, and NOBODY who stans Ironwood even paid attention to her! So let me remind everyone!

“Why must your answer to everything involve a triumphant display of military bravado!? You treat every situation like it's a contest of measuring di—! “

People can claim James has good intentions all they want. It means nothing if James will do whatever he wants using his power because he has a messiah complex. And yes...James does have a Messiah Complex, his very own theme song reflects that.