#The 50th Law

[booksofrobertgreene]

Image: The Sun. It can only be appreciated by its absence. The longer the days of rain, the more the sun is craved. But too many hot days and the sun overwhelms. Learn to keep yourself obscure and make people demand your return.

The 48 Laws of Power

#The Books of Robert Greene #Robert Greene #The 48 Laws of Power #The Art of Seduction #The 33 Strategies of War #The 50th Law #Mastery #The Laws of Human Nature #The Daily Laws #The Law of The Sublime

[alessandroblqck]

Keep moving - Calculated Momentum

#The 50th Law

[mostlykind]

I’m in Amsterdam and we went to the Van Gogh museum today. tell me why I literally started crying in the middle of the exhibition 😭😭😭😭😭😭

#it was SO TRAGIC #I WANTED TO SOB BUT I PULLED MYSELF TOGETHER #it’s the 50th anniversary so they’ve done thsi rly interactive setup #and it showed how his brother and sister in law and nephew had faith in him and rly wanted him to get the attention he deserves #and like THE POWER OF LOVE AND FAMILY BRO #IT WAS JUST TOO MUCH 😭😭😭😭😭 #even thinking about it now. I’m not strong enough #if anyone goes Amsterdam literally go it’s a must #rahma’s rambles

[flying-potato2]

#my name is walter hartwel white #I live at 308 negra arrya lane #albuqerque new mexico #87104 #this is my confession #If youre watching this tape im probably dead #murdered by my brother in law hank schrader #Hank has been building a meth empire for over a year now and using me as his chemist #shortly after my 50th birthday #he asked that I use my chemistry knowledge to cook methamphetamine which he would sell using connections that he made through his career #with the dea #alr im not typing out any more of this fuck you #breaking bad

[janedoeremi]

Tumblr Memes of 2023

January: Polls, Bug Race, Tumblr Sexyman Round 2, No Fly List Leak

February: Vanilla Extract, Tumblr Sexywoman Polls, Homestuck Fandom Commiting Voter Fraud, Miette decimating Todoroki in Blorbo Polls, Just so many polls

March: Dean Winchester and his Time Traveling Impala in The Winchesters, Celebrating Ides of March a week early, March 14th: The Day Krabs Fries, Ides of March, Autism Swag Poll, Ultimate Cat Girl (Gender Neutral) Poll, Putin having a warrent for his arrest, The Bots returned with a vengance

April: April Fools Day, Sonic the Hedgehog died, Trumps arrest, Barbie Arresting Trump, Everyone getting a Barbie description, Poll with Nina Tucker and Alexander needs them to tie to move on together, hyperspecific polls, Misha Collins assigned Bisexual by the WB, Elon Musk being the victim of Murphy's Law, It's gonna be May

May: Dracula Daily cast is stuck in a time loop, Trigun stan causes book: This Is How You Lose the Time War to become a bestseller, whatever the fuck happened with Eurovision, TOTK releases and gave us our feral Link back, Barbie and Ken arrested template.

June: Pride month, Across the Spiderverse... just all of it, trump getting arrested...again, The Great Reddit Migration & r/196, Horse Race, Meows Morales, The week long Titanic Oceangate Iron Lung Clusterfuck, Destial 'i love you' news meme trends at least 4 different times for different reasons, Papyrus says fuck day

July: Twitter post rationing causing Tumblr Migration 2: Electric Boogaloo, ao3 went down for 2 days, ao3 readers debating on going back to wattpad/ff.net, Barbieheimer double feature, Tree Law invoked, Elon renamed Twitter to X

August: Tiktok trying and failing to make their own Goncharov: Zepotha, Destiel confirmed canon again by not-so-rouge translator, Riverdale polycule finale, Trump mugshot, One Piece Live Action Pirate-Clown annoys Tumblr users

September: Mole Interest, Ice King became a Tumblr Sexyman again, 21st of September.

October: Spooky month, Merlin Twitter updates for first time in years to show streaming options confusing fans, The Amazing Digital Circus and Nerdy Prudes Must Die both trend for a week straight, trying to insert Markipler into the FNAF Movie

November: Nov. 5th 3rd year anniversary, Zach and Cody get their dinner reservation after 15 years. Goncharovs 1st 50th anniversary.

December: Gavle Goat being devoured by Jackdaws, Hbomberguy lives up to his name and nukes James Somerton's plagerism ridden channel, Its Dec 10th, We're gonna have to kill this guy template, almost Christmas, one more sleep til Christmas (screams internally), Halloween trends on Christmas Eve

#tumblr #tumblr memes #memes 2023 #memes #polls

[lafemmemacabre]

Haven't been online much lately but this 9/11 is the 50th anniversary of Pinochet's coup in Chile. There's still barely any (quite laughable) reparations, there's still countless missing bodies upon missing bodies extra-officially tortured and executed by the dictatorship that'll never be found -- many of pregnant women, minors and very young adults.

There's still mostly impunity, there's still no laws against denialism of the crimes against humanity and quality of dictatorship of Pinochet's "government", and the Chilean right wing is still either openly downplaying or proudly supporting the atrocities committed, with many politicians who were active agents of the dictatorship still active in mainstream Chilean politics.

No forgiving, no forgetting.

[blanket-burrito-protocol]

The 50th anniversary of AIMs (American Indian Movement's) occupation at Wounded Knee is coming up, so the Lakota People's Law Project is leading another push to free an AIM activist who was wrongly convicted of killing two federal agents in 1975- Leonard Peltier. He was convicted on false evidence and false testimony and sentenced to two life sentences. He is now 78.

LPL has a formatted email up on their website now which you can personalize and send to Biden to ask for clemency. (Please personalize emails like this so it doesn't get filtered as spam. Just move some words around, add some, take some, you don't have to write a whole email.) Please pass this around.

#leonard peltier #aim #american indian movement #leonard peltier defense committee #wounded knee #protest #occupation #political prisoners #petition #president biden #clemency #action #lakota #ojibwe #advocacy #native rights #indigenous people #legal action #federal prison #indian boarding schools #boarding school #history #bishop desmond tutu #nelson mandela #dalai lama #chase iron eyes #legal defense #activists

[don-lichterman]

Morrisey celebrates 50th anniversary of landmark women’s’ sports law | News, Sports, Jobs

Morrisey celebrates 50th anniversary of landmark women’s’ sports law | News, Sports, Jobs

CELEBRATING TITLE IX — From left, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, Christiana Holcomb Kiefer with the Alliance Defending Freedom, Lainey Armistead, and Delegate Margitta Mazzocchi, praise Title IX protections for female athletes while defending a law preventing transgender girls and women from participating in girls and women’s sports. — Steven Allen Adams <!– SHOW ARTICLE –> CHARLESTON — With…

View On WordPress

#50th #anniversary #Celebrates #Jobs #Landmark #law #Local News #Morrisey #Morrisey celebrates 50th anniversary of landmark women’s’ sports law #Morrisey celebrates 50th anniversary of landmark women’s’ sports lawNews #News #sports #womens

[booksofrobertgreene]

Mentally framing a negative event as a blessing in disguise makes it easier for you to move forward.

The 50th Law

#The Books of Robert Greene #Robert Greene #The 48 Laws of Power #The Art of Seduction #The 33 Strategies of War #The 50th Law #Mastery #The Laws of Human Nature #The Daily Laws #The Law of The Sublime

[montereybayaquarium]

🌊Did you know southern sea otters are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act? 🦦

This year is the 50th anniversary of the ESA—one of the most effective conservation laws the U.S. has and a big reason why there are now 3,000 southern sea otters! 🌟

Join us today in letting federal officials know that a strong Endangered Species Act matters to you. Sign the petition now to help southern sea otters & many more species well into the future.

#monterey bay aquarium #sea otter awareness week #protect what you love

[witchofthesouls]

You know the film Who Framed Rodger Rabbit where humans and Toons live there together?

Imagine the sheer chaos to occur if any Transformers iterations landed on that type of Earth. No one knows who the fuck these giant robots are as they definitely aren't Toons. Meanwhile the bots can't help but be confused by these strange creatures living alongside the organics.

The Toons however see both factions as perfect targets for mischief. Starscream crashing into a wall via a super realistic painting, poor Optimus getting flowers full of dynamite or Bumblebee having multiple 'Kick Me I'm Fake' signs plaster on his bumper by Toon cars. Megatron feels like they landed in a looney bin as he fails to intimidate the 50th cartoon rat on the ship.

This probably lead to kidnapping a human cause no one is making progress when they're constantly getting menaced by law defying entities.

Oh man, the childhood nostalgia is so real here 🤣🤣

Look, the Toons would break the Autobots and the Decepticons. Cybertronians are not strangers to special powers, but beings that regularly defy all sense of laws in such a blase, hilarious manner without one ounce of logic yet yield so much damage?

The factions' respective medbays will be constantly full of mecha with processor crashes and circuit burnout. Soundwave, Prowl, and Red Alert will have to be put into long-term stasis for their mental and emotional health.

You want peace? Or a long-term armistice? Send in Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck as Trojan Horses.

There is no escape from their antics. Those creatures are everywhere.

Land. Sea. Air. Fucking space in a random astro-suit.

(Mechs would be driven mad trying to find who the hell is Marvin the Martian in any database. Including the Galactic Alliance.)

Even Megatron will break.

He will become hollow mech, desperate for respite, and beg for mercy. A new phobia for the fear of the sound of carrots being crunched and chewed would be implemented in their disorders. As well as Daffy's crazed laughter once they can reliably track it.

But the biggest kicker? All the humans would just chuckle or outright laugh at their declarations. Aliens? Really? Are you sure? What's the gimmick?

Many humans shake their heads, elbowing people around them because there's a new joke going around. Apparently, the Toons caught into the mecha anime explosion, so now they have sentient Gundams walking around with an epic battle of good versus evil.

(Que some Americans shouting things in Japanese. Some want to improve or keep up their language skills. Others just want to be dicks. It would be funnier if humans had so much experience picking out the robots in disguise from the Toons' general mayhem and shenanigans.)

The Toons know that those are real aliens but are too delighted by the sheer potential chaos of having fresh meat, ahem, new neighbors.

#ask #crossover #transformers #who framed roger rabbit #looney tunes #bugs bunny #daffy duck #megatron #prowl #soundwave #red alert #maccadam #my thoughts #fic ideas #look the sheer chaos in this verse is absolutely frightening #Bugs Bunny is an amoral trickster god based on social bureaucracy #Daffy is just Insane in the Membrane

[zvaigzdelasas]

On october 16, 1962, John F. Kennedy and his advisers were stunned to learn that the Soviet Union was, without provocation, installing nuclear-armed medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba. With these offensive weapons, which represented a new and existential threat to America, Moscow significantly raised the ante in the nuclear rivalry between the superpowers—a gambit that forced the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear Armageddon. On October 22, the president, with no other recourse, proclaimed in a televised address that his administration knew of the illegal missiles, and delivered an ultimatum insisting on their removal, announcing an American “quarantine” of Cuba to force compliance with his demands. While carefully avoiding provocative action and coolly calibrating each Soviet countermeasure, Kennedy and his lieutenants brooked no compromise; they held firm, despite Moscow’s efforts to link a resolution to extrinsic issues and despite predictable Soviet blustering about American aggression and violation of international law. In the tense 13‑day crisis, the Americans and Soviets went eyeball-to-eyeball. Thanks to the Kennedy administration’s placid resolve and prudent crisis management—thanks to what Kennedy’s special assistant Arthur Schlesinger Jr. characterized as the president’s “combination of toughness and restraint, of will, nerve, and wisdom, so brilliantly controlled, so matchlessly calibrated, that [it] dazzled the world”—the Soviet leadership blinked: Moscow dismantled the missiles, and a cataclysm was averted.

Every sentence in the above paragraph describing the Cuban missile crisis is misleading or erroneous. But this was the rendition of events that the Kennedy administration fed to a credulous press; this was the history that the participants in Washington promulgated in their memoirs; and this is the story that has insinuated itself into the national memory—as the pundits’ commentaries and media coverage marking the 50th anniversary of the crisis attested.

Scholars, however, have long known a very different story: since 1997, they have had access to recordings that Kennedy secretly made of meetings with his top advisers, the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (the “ExComm”). Sheldon M. Stern—who was the historian at the John F. Kennedy Library for 23 years and the first scholar to evaluate the ExComm tapes—is among the numerous historians who have tried to set the record straight. His new book marshals irrefutable evidence to succinctly demolish the mythic version of the crisis. Although there’s little reason to believe his effort will be to any avail, it should nevertheless be applauded.

Reached through sober analysis, Stern’s conclusion that “John F. Kennedy and his administration, without question, bore a substantial share of the responsibility for the onset of the Cuban missile crisis” would have shocked the American people in 1962, for the simple reason that Kennedy’s administration had misled them about the military imbalance between the superpowers and had concealed its campaign of threats, assassination plots, and sabotage designed to overthrow the government in Cuba—an effort well known to Soviet and Cuban officials.

In the 1960 presidential election, Kennedy had cynically attacked Richard Nixon from the right, claiming that the Eisenhower-Nixon administration had allowed a dangerous “missile gap” to grow in the U.S.S.R.’s favor. But in fact, just as Eisenhower and Nixon had suggested—and just as the classified briefings that Kennedy received as a presidential candidate indicated—the missile gap, and the nuclear balance generally, was overwhelmingly to America’s advantage. At the time of the missile crisis, the Soviets had 36 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), 138 long-range bombers with 392 nuclear warheads, and 72 submarine-launched ballistic-missile warheads (SLBMs). These forces were arrayed against a vastly more powerful U.S. nuclear arsenal of 203 ICBMs, 1,306 long-range bombers with 3,104 nuclear warheads, and 144 SLBMs—all told, about nine times as many nuclear weapons as the U.S.S.R. Nikita Khrushchev was acutely aware of America’s huge advantage not just in the number of weapons but in their quality and deployment as well.

Kennedy and his civilian advisers understood that the missiles in Cuba did not alter the strategic nuclear balance.

Moreover, despite America’s overwhelming nuclear preponderance, JFK, in keeping with his avowed aim to pursue a foreign policy characterized by “vigor,” had ordered the largest peacetime expansion of America’s military power, and specifically the colossal growth of its strategic nuclear forces. This included deploying, beginning in 1961, intermediate-range “Jupiter” nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey—adjacent to the Soviet Union. From there, the missiles could reach all of the western U.S.S.R., including Moscow and Leningrad (and that doesn’t count the nuclear-armed “Thor” missiles that the U.S. already had aimed at the Soviet Union from bases in Britain).

The Jupiter missiles were an exceptionally vexing component of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Because they sat aboveground, were immobile, and required a long time to prepare for launch, they were extremely vulnerable. Of no value as a deterrent, they appeared to be weapons meant for a disarming first strike—and thus greatly undermined deterrence, because they encouraged a preemptive Soviet strike against them. The Jupiters’ destabilizing effect was widely recognized among defense experts within and outside the U.S. government and even by congressional leaders. For instance, Senator Albert Gore Sr., an ally of the administration, told Secretary of State Dean Rusk that they were a “provocation” in a closed session of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in February 1961 (more than a year and a half before the missile crisis), adding, “I wonder what our attitude would be” if the Soviets deployed nuclear-armed missiles to Cuba. Senator Claiborne Pell raised an identical argument in a memo passed on to Kennedy in May 1961.

Given America’s powerful nuclear superiority, as well as the deployment of the Jupiter missiles, Moscow suspected that Washington viewed a nuclear first strike as an attractive option. They were right to be suspicious. The archives reveal that in fact the Kennedy administration had strongly considered this option during the Berlin crisis in 1961.

It’s little wonder, then, that, as Stern asserts—drawing on a plethora of scholarship including, most convincingly, the historian Philip Nash’s elegant 1997 study, The Other Missiles of October—Kennedy’s deployment of the Jupiter missiles “was a key reason for Khrushchev’s decision to send nuclear missiles to Cuba.” Khrushchev reportedly made that decision in May 1962, declaring to a confidant that the Americans “have surrounded us with bases on all sides” and that missiles in Cuba would help to counter an “intolerable provocation.” Keeping the deployment secret in order to present the U.S. with a fait accompli, Khrushchev may very well have assumed America’s response would be similar to his reaction to the Jupiter missiles—rhetorical denouncement but no threat or action to thwart the deployment with a military attack, nuclear or otherwise. (In retirement, Khrushchev explained his reasoning to the American journalist Strobe Talbott: Americans “would learn just what it feels like to have enemy missiles pointing at you; we’d be doing nothing more than giving them a little of their own medicine.”)

Khrushchev was also motivated by his entirely justifiable belief that the Kennedy administration wanted to destroy the Castro regime. After all, the administration had launched an invasion of Cuba; had followed that with sabotage, paramilitary assaults, and assassination attempts—the largest clandestine operation in the history of the CIA—and had organized large-scale military exercises in the Caribbean clearly meant to rattle the Soviets and their Cuban client. Those actions, as Stern and other scholars have demonstrated, helped compel the Soviets to install the missiles so as to deter “covert or overt US attacks”—in much the same way that the United States had shielded its allies under a nuclear umbrella to deter Soviet subversion or aggression against them.

Khrushchev was also motivated by his entirely justifiable belief that the Kennedy administration wanted to destroy the Castro regime. After all, the administration had launched an invasion of Cuba; had followed that with sabotage, paramilitary assaults, and assassination attempts—the largest clandestine operation in the history of the CIA—and had organized large-scale military exercises in the Caribbean clearly meant to rattle the Soviets and their Cuban client. Those actions, as Stern and other scholars have demonstrated, helped compel the Soviets to install the missiles so as to deter “covert or overt US attacks”—in much the same way that the United States had shielded its allies under a nuclear umbrella to deter Soviet subversion or aggression against them. [...]

The Soviets were entirely justified in their belief that Kennedy wanted to destroy the Castro regime.

Kennedy and his civilian advisers understood that the missiles in Cuba did not alter the strategic nuclear balance. Although Kennedy asserted in his October 22 televised address that the missiles were “an explicit threat to the peace and security of all the Americas,” he in fact appreciated, as he told the ExComm on the first day of the crisis, that “it doesn’t make any difference if you get blown up by an ICBM flying from the Soviet Union or one that was 90 miles away. Geography doesn’t mean that much.” America’s European allies, Kennedy continued, “will argue that taken at its worst the presence of these missiles really doesn’t change” the nuclear balance. [...]

Moreover, unlike Soviet ICBMs, the missiles in Cuba required several hours to be prepared for launch. Given the effectiveness of America’s aerial and satellite reconnaissance (amply demonstrated by the images of missiles in the U.S.S.R. and Cuba that they yielded), the U.S. almost certainly would have had far more time to detect and respond to an imminent Soviet missile strike from Cuba than to attacks from Soviet bombers, ICBMs, or SLBMs. [...]

On that first day of the ExComm meetings, Bundy asked directly, “What is the strategic impact on the position of the United States of MRBMs in Cuba? How gravely does this change the strategic balance?” McNamara answered, “Not at all”—a verdict that Bundy then said he fully supported. The following day, Special Counsel Theodore Sorensen summarized the views of the ExComm in a memorandum to Kennedy. “It is generally agreed,” he noted, “that these missiles, even when fully operational, do not significantly alter the balance of power—i.e., they do not significantly increase the potential megatonnage capable of being unleashed on American soil, even after a surprise American nuclear strike.”

Sorensen’s comment about a surprise attack reminds us that while the missiles in Cuba did not add appreciably to the nuclear menace, they could have somewhat complicated America’s planning for a successful first strike—which may well have been part of Khrushchev’s rationale for deploying them. If so, the missiles paradoxically could have enhanced deterrence between the superpowers, and thereby reduced the risk of nuclear war.

Yet, although the missiles’ military significance was negligible, the Kennedy administration advanced on a perilous course to force their removal. The president issued an ultimatum to a nuclear power—an astonishingly provocative move, which immediately created a crisis that could have led to catastrophe. He ordered a blockade on Cuba, an act of war that we now know brought the superpowers within a hair’s breadth of nuclear confrontation. The beleaguered Cubans willingly accepted their ally’s weapons, so the Soviet’s deployment of the missiles was fully in accord with international law. But the blockade, even if the administration euphemistically called it a “quarantine,” was, the ExComm members acknowledged, illegal. As the State Department’s legal adviser recalled, “Our legal problem was that their action wasn’t illegal.” Kennedy and his lieutenants intently contemplated an invasion of Cuba and an aerial assault on the Soviet missiles there—acts extremely likely to have provoked a nuclear war. In light of the extreme measures they executed or earnestly entertained to resolve a crisis they had largely created, the American reaction to the missiles requires, in retrospect, as much explanation as the Soviet decision to deploy them—or more.

The Soviets suspected that the U.S. viewed a nuclear first strike as an attractive option. They were right to be suspicious. [...]

What largely made the missiles politically unacceptable was Kennedy’s conspicuous and fervent hostility toward the Castro regime—a stance, Kennedy admitted at an ExComm meeting, that America’s European allies thought was “a fixation” and “slightly demented.”

In his presidential bid, Kennedy had red-baited the Eisenhower-Nixon administration, charging that its policies had “helped make Communism’s first Caribbean base.” Given that he had defined a tough stance toward Cuba as an important election issue, and given the humiliation he had suffered with the Bay of Pigs debacle, the missiles posed a great [electoral] hazard to Kennedy. [...]

But even weightier than the domestic political catastrophe likely to befall the administration if it appeared to be soft on Cuba was what Assistant Secretary of State Edwin Martin called “the psychological factor” that we “sat back and let ’em do it to us.” He asserted that this was “more important than the direct threat,” and Kennedy and his other advisers energetically concurred. Even as Sorensen, in his memorandum to the president, noted the ExComm’s consensus that the Cuban missiles didn’t alter the nuclear balance, he also observed that the ExComm nevertheless believed that “the United States cannot tolerate the known presence” of missiles in Cuba “if our courage and commitments are ever to be believed by either allies or adversaries” (emphasis added). [...]

The risks of such a cave-in, Kennedy and his advisers held, were distinct but related. The first was that America’s foes would see Washington as pusillanimous; the known presence of the missiles, Kennedy said, “makes them look like they’re coequal with us and that”—here Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon interrupted: “We’re scared of the Cubans.” The second risk was that America’s friends would suddenly doubt that a country given to appeasement could be relied on to fulfill its obligations.

In fact, America’s allies, as Bundy acknowledged, were aghast that the U.S. was threatening nuclear war over a strategically insignificant condition—the presence of intermediate-range missiles in a neighboring country—that those allies (and, for that matter, the Soviets) had been living with for years. In the tense days of October 1962, being allied with the United States potentially amounted to, as Charles de Gaulle had warned, “annihilation without representation.” It seems never to have occurred to Kennedy and the ExComm that whatever Washington gained by demonstrating the steadfastness of its commitments, it lost in an erosion of confidence in its judgment.

This approach to foreign policy was guided—and remains guided—by an elaborate theorizing rooted in a school-playground view of world politics rather than the cool appraisal of strategic realities. It put—and still puts—America in the curious position of having to go to war to uphold the very credibility that is supposed to obviate war in the first place.

If the administration’s domestic political priorities alone dictated the removal of the Cuban missiles, a solution to Kennedy’s problem would have seemed pretty obvious: instead of a public ultimatum demanding that the Soviets withdraw their missiles from Cuba, a private agreement between the superpowers to remove both Moscow’s missiles in Cuba and Washington’s missiles in Turkey. (Recall that the Kennedy administration discovered the missiles on October 16, but only announced its discovery to the American public and the Soviets and issued its ultimatum on the 22nd.)

The administration, however, did not make such an overture to the Soviets. Instead, by publicly demanding a unilateral Soviet withdrawal and imposing a blockade on Cuba, it precipitated what remains to this day the most dangerous nuclear crisis in history. In the midst of that crisis, the sanest and most sensible observers—among them diplomats at the United Nations and in Europe, the editorial writers for the Manchester Guardian, Walter Lippmann, and Adlai Stevenson—saw a missile trade as a fairly simple solution. In an effort to resolve the impasse, Khrushchev himself openly made this proposal on October 27. According to the version of events propagated by the Kennedy administration (and long accepted as historical fact), Washington unequivocally rebuffed Moscow’s offer and instead, thanks to Kennedy’s resolve, forced a unilateral Soviet withdrawal.

Beginning in the late 1980s, however, the opening of previously classified archives and the decision by a number of participants to finally tell the truth revealed that the crisis was indeed resolved by an explicit but concealed deal to remove both the Jupiter and the Cuban missiles. Kennedy in fact threatened to abrogate if the Soviets disclosed it. He did so for the same reasons that had largely engendered the crisis in the first place—domestic politics and the maintenance of America’s image as the indispensable nation. A declassified Soviet cable reveals that Robert Kennedy—whom the president assigned to work out the secret swap with the U.S.S.R.’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Dobrynin—insisted on returning to Dobrynin the formal Soviet letter affirming the agreement, explaining that the letter “could cause irreparable harm to my political career in the future.”

Only a handful of administration officials knew about the trade; most members of the ExComm, including Vice President Lyndon Johnson, did not. And in their effort to maintain the cover-up, a number of those who did, including McNamara and Rusk, lied to Congress. JFK and others tacitly encouraged the character assassination of Stevenson, allowing him to be portrayed as an appeaser who “wanted a Munich” for suggesting the trade—a deal that they vociferously maintained the administration would never have permitted.

Arthur Schlesinger Jr. “repeatedly manipulated and obscured the facts.”

The patient spadework of Stern and other scholars has since led to further revelations. Stern demonstrates that Robert Kennedy hardly inhabited the conciliatory and statesmanlike role during the crisis that his allies described in their hagiographic chronicles and memoirs and that he himself advanced in his posthumously published book, Thirteen Days. In fact, he was among the most consistently and recklessly hawkish of the president’s advisers, pushing not for a blockade or even air strikes against Cuba but for a full-scale invasion as “the last chance we will have to destroy Castro.” Stern authoritatively concludes that “if RFK had been president, and the views he expressed during the ExComm meetings had prevailed, nuclear war would have been the nearly certain outcome.” He justifiably excoriates the sycophantic courtier Schlesinger, whose histories “repeatedly manipulated and obscured the facts” and whose accounts—“profoundly misleading if not out-and-out deceptive”—were written to serve not scholarship but the Kennedys.

Although Stern and other scholars have upended the panegyrical version of events advanced by Schlesinger and other Kennedy acolytes, the revised chronicle shows that JFK’s actions in resolving the crisis—again, a crisis he had largely created—were reasonable, responsible, and courageous. Plainly shaken by the apocalyptic potentialities of the situation, Kennedy advocated, in the face of the bellicose and near-unanimous opposition of his pseudo-tough-guy advisers, accepting the missile swap that Khrushchev had proposed. “To any man at the United Nations, or any other rational man, it will look like a very fair trade,” he levelheadedly told the ExComm. “Most people think that if you’re allowed an even trade you ought to take advantage of it.” He clearly understood that history and world opinion would condemn him and his country for going to war—a war almost certain to escalate to a nuclear exchange—after the U.S.S.R. had publicly offered such a reasonable quid pro quo. Khrushchev’s proposal, the historian Ronald Steel has noted, “filled the White House advisors with consternation—not least of all because it appeared perfectly fair.” [...]

By successfully hiding the deal from the vice president, from a generation of foreign-policy makers and strategists, and from the American public, Kennedy and his team reinforced the dangerous notion that firmness in the face of what the United States construes as aggression, and the graduated escalation of military threats and action in countering that aggression, makes for a successful national-security strategy—really, all but defines it.

The president and his advisers also reinforced the concomitant view that America should define a threat not merely as circumstances and forces that directly jeopardize the safety of the country, but as circumstances and forces that might indirectly compel potential allies or enemies to question America’s resolve.[...]

This notion that standing up to aggression (however loosely and broadly defined) will deter future aggression (however loosely and broadly defined) fails to weather historical scrutiny. [...]

Moreover, the idea that a foreign power’s effort to counter the overwhelming strategic supremacy of the United States—a country that spends nearly as much on defense as does the rest of the world combined—ipso facto imperils America’s security is profoundly misguided. Just as Kennedy and his advisers perceived a threat in Soviet efforts to offset what was in fact a destabilizing U.S. nuclear hegemony, so today, both liberals and conservatives oxymoronically assert that the safety of the United States demands that the country must “balance” China by maintaining its strategically dominant position in East Asia and the western Pacific—that is, in China’s backyard. This means that Washington views as a hazard Beijing’s attempts to remedy the weakness of its own position, even though policy makers acknowledge that the U.S. has a crushing superiority right up to the edge of the Asian mainland. America’s posture, however, reveals more about its own ambitions than it does about China’s. Imagine that the situation were reversed, and China’s air and naval forces were a dominant and potentially menacing presence on the coastal shelf of North America. Surely the U.S. would want to counteract that preponderance. In a vast part of the globe, stretching from the Canadian Arctic to Tierra del Fuego and from Greenland to Guam, the U.S. will not tolerate another great power’s interference. Certainly America’s security wouldn’t be jeopardized if other great powers enjoy their own (and for that matter, smaller) spheres of influence.

This esoteric strategizing—this misplaced obsession with credibility, this dangerously expansive concept of what constitutes security—which has afflicted both Democratic and Republican administrations, and both liberals and conservatives, is the antithesis of statecraft, which requires discernment based on power, interest, and circumstance. It is a stance toward the world that can easily doom the United States to military commitments and interventions in strategically insignificant places over intrinsically trivial issues. It is a stance that can engender a foreign policy approximating paranoia in an obdurately chaotic world abounding in states, personalities, and ideologies that are unsavory and uncongenial—but not necessarily mortally hazardous.

2013

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Joe Biden will sign legislation protecting access to abortion care into law if Democrats win control of Congress in midterm elections this fall.

In remarks to a Democratic National Committee event on 18 October, the President announced plans to sign a bill to codify Roe v. Wade protections on the 50th anniversary of the US Supreme Court decision – what he intends to be his first act of 2023.

In June, the nation’s high court struck down precedents established by Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey that affirmed the constitutional right to abortion care.

Following the latest ruling, more than a dozen states have outlawed most abortions or severely restricted access to care, leading to the closures of dozens of clinics. Patients and providers across the US have warned of devastating consequences to losing access to legal abortion, while Democratic officials have made abortion rights central to their midterm campaigns as Republicans mull national abortion restrictions.

“If Republicans get their way with a national ban, it won’t matter where you live in America,” Mr. Biden said on Tuesday. “The only sure way to stop these extremist laws that have put in jeopardy women’s health and rights is for Congress to pass a law.”

Democrats would need to pick up several seats in the currently evenly split US Senate for abortion protections to prevail.

Mr. Biden also said he will veto any anti-abortion legislation passed by a Republican-controlled Congress.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives passed the Women’s Health Protection Act earlier this year, though Senate Republicans have repeatedly obstructed its introduction in that chamber. That bill would codify the right to abortion care as affirmed by Roe v. Wade.

House Democrats were only joined by three Republicans to pass the Ensuring Access to Abortion Act, which would protect the right of abortion patients who live in states that have outlawed or severely restricted care to travel to other states without risking prosecution or legal action in their home states.

The bill also would protect providers and others who help patients travelling out of state for their care.

Legislation would also shield interstate shipments of US Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs used for medication abortion, the most common form of abortion care, accounting for more than half of all abortions in the US.

In a briefing with reporters on Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Republican-led abortion restrictions “disturbing” and “very dangerous.”

“It’s backwards, again, it’s dangerous and it’s severe, in stark contrast to the President and the commitment that he has to leave these decisions between a woman and her doctor,” she said.

This fall, voters in several states will determine whether their state constitutions include explicit protections for abortion care, while elections for control of state legislatures, governors’ offices and secretaries of state will also determine the fates of abortion access across the US.

In his remarks on Tuesday, President Biden pointed to Kansas voters shooting down a recent anti-abortion ballot measure in that state, signalling the electoral consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision in midterm elections.

“One of the most extraordinary parts of [the Dobbs decision] was when the majority wrote, ‘women are not without electoral or political power.’ Let me tell you something – the Court and extreme Republicans who have spent decades trying to overturn Roe are about to find out,” he said.

#us politics #news #the independent #2022 #president joe biden #biden administration #Democrats #codify roe #roe v. wade #abortions #reproductive rights #reproductive health #abortion is a right #planned parenthood v. casey #Women’s Health Protection Act #Ensuring Access to Abortion Act #food and drug administration #Karine Jean-Pierre #us supreme court #scotus #2022 elections #2022 midterms

[marmorafarms]

"Good Boy" Sebastian x Cis female reader

This fic was requested by the lovely @darlingsama630

18+ ONLY please and thank you!

Summary: After a family dinner with the parents, you and Sebastian go home. Sebastian wants to know if he had been a good boy. You decide to respond accordingly.

Word count: 2,294 words

Warnings/content: fem dom, soft dom, sub Sebastian, face sitting, orgasm denial, cis female reader

I hope you enjoy!

"Thank you for dinner tonight Robin," you said warmly to your mother-in-law as you packed up to go home. You and Sebastian had been invited over to celebrate Demetrius' 50th birthday with a small get together. Demetrius was never one for huge celebrations, preferring to spend this time with family and family only.

"No need to thank me," Robin said kindly. "I'm just so glad you and Sebby showed up."

You turned to Demetrius, and shot him a gentle smile. "Happy Birthday Demetrius," you said. "I hope you had a great one!"

"Well, that rice pudding you made for me certainly made it better!" Demetrius said good naturedly. "I especially appreciated how practical your gift was. I always need a new journal to write notes in, and I hate frivolous items."

Robin rolled her eyes behind his back. Everyone in the room remembered with clarity the argument Robin and Demetrius had last year in front of the whole family. It was in regards to the new bed she had made. Demetrius had scoffed at how she chose beauty over function…though you still didn't understand that. It still did the job, it just looked pretty.

The whole situation had been awkward, and Demetrius left in a huff when you softly agreed with Robin that it was indeed a lovely bed. Maru had stared at the floor the whole time while Sebastian and Robin looked smug.

Sebastian had suggested you get him a pack of pencils since Demetrius always got annoyed when given anything that was deemed "not useful." You gave Sebastian a look, and he grumbled out that the two of you could buy him something a bit more personalized.

"You know," Robin said in a low voice as she walked you out the door, "You have been a fantastic influence on my son. To think your marriage started out with our husbands arguing over which spoon size was best…and has now bloomed into a wonderful birthday dinner without a single argument! Whatever magic you're working, keep it up!"

You laughed lightly, looking fondly at Sebastian who was politely pretending to understand an obscure science joke Maru had just made.

"I'll do my best," you said, and Robin grinned.

"I think it's your sweet and gentle nature that cools his heat," Robin mused. "I've never heard you raise your voice. When I first met you, I don't think I even heard you speak more than a few words to anyone in town!"

"I'm a bit shy, I'll admit it," you said bashfully. "I'm so grateful that this town has truly accepted me."

With one last hug from Robin and Maru, and a firm handshake with Demetrius, you and Sebastian headed back to the farmhouse. You talked casually about how it was nice to have everyone together again. Sebastian even made jokes about Harvey being at the next family dinner. But you both solemnly agreed that Demetrius would be passive aggressive about dating getting in the way of Maru's dreams so…maybe Harvey wouldn't show up after all.

When the door closed behind the two of you as you entered the living room, you could feel the mood shift. You went about your nighttime routine as usual, pretending not to notice a thing. As you were putting your clothes in the hamper, Sebastian cleared his throat.

Here we go, you thought to yourself.

"So," Sebastian said, standing at the foot of the bed, "Was I good?"

You kept your face neutral, but inside you were cheering, jumping up and down and throwing confetti. He was doing it.

The first time you had asked him to be good had ended in Demetrius and Sebastian nearly getting into a fist fight over who got to use the little spoon at the table. 

"You were terrible tonight!" You had hissed at him when you got home.

"He was asking for it!" Sebastian said, arms thrown wide.

"You are 25, not 12!" You barked out. "I should punish you for this!"

At these words, Sebastian had gone still. The two of you were eyeing each other, both wondering the same thing.

"Maybe you should," Sebastian said evenly.

You walked over to your closet and pulled out a large box you had never shown him before. He had never asked about it, and you hadn't been sure when would be the right time to bring it up. You were aware of Sebastian's kinkier side, but this?

Rummaging around, you finally found what you were looking for, and presented the item to him. "You have to wear this," you said simply, "until you apologize to Demetrius."

Sebastian's eyes went wide. You were nervous, but you refused to let it show.

"A cock cage?" he asked, staring at it warily.

"Yes. I'll keep the key, and will unlock it only when you apologize to your step father." 

Sebastian thought about it, and then nodded.

"Doesn't seem that bad to me."

Oh how wrong he was.

The poor boy couldn't cum for a whole week because his stubborn streak was preventing him from apologizing. When he finally gave in and was allowed to orgasm, it was one of the best he'd ever had.

That had started your play with orgasm denial. But when it came to meetings with Demetrius, you got to decide if he was good or bad. You had started doing a new thing for that situation. It didn't take the wizard much convincing to make you a bracelet that would prevent the user from being able to have any sexual pleasure. No sex, no masturbation, no nothing. It would deliver an electric shock every time the perso tried to get off. Sebastian was willing to try it out, curiosity winning over apprehension.

The best part was, only the person who put it on could take it off. You typically had him wear it for an entire week as punishment, and got great results.

But if he was good…

You pondered Sebastian's question for a moment and then turned to him.

"For the most part," you said. 

"What…what do you mean?" he asked, fear in his eyes. You let out a low chuckle.

"You don't need to worry kitten," you said, using the name you only gave him in this situation, "you won't have to wear the bracelet. But you didn't wish your step dad a happy birthday. That's not what a good boy does."

"I'm sorry Miss," he said, ducking his head. "I should've done better."

"Should-a, could-a, would-a, DIDN'T," you said, narrowing your eyes. "You'll get your reward for not being a brat at dinner. But you still need to be reprimanded."

You walked over, and grabbed his jaw forcefully making him look at you. "Good boys get to cum. Bad boys don't. You know the rules."

"But…"

"I don't want to hear your voice," you said, letting go. "Strip."

Sebastian did as asked, quickly discarding his clothes in a heap. You looked him over, disapproval on your face, but lust in your heart. He had the body of a Greek god, and you lived to see him naked. You loved it when he sent you lewds, and on the rare occasion, full nudes.

But now wasn't the time to drool over his body. You had work to do.

"On the bed," you snapped, and in an instant he was sitting in the center.

"Eyes closed," you said. "I'm going to undress, but you don't get to look. Open your eyes once and you wear the bracelet. Got it?"

Sebastian squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.

"I asked a question," you snarled.

"Yes Miss, I understand," he said quickly. Pleased with his response, you slowly removed your clothing, making sure that he could hear the rustling of fabric. His dusky pink cock was rising to attention as he sat there, clearly listening closely. You knew he was imagining what you were doing, and it was an ego boost to know that the mere thought of you was making him hard.

You climbed onto the bed, and heard him whimper. 

"Eyes stay shut kitten," you said softly. "Now lie back."

Sebastian got down on his back, and you climbed on top. You knew exactly what you were going to do, and were excited to begin.

"If you touch me, or buck your hips, you wear the bracelet for two weeks," you said firmly. Sebastian let out a whine, squirming slightly.

"Yes Miss," he said.

"Repeat to me what you won't do."

"I won't touch or–ahh!" he gasped, eyes nearly opening. 

Your pussy was on his cock, and you were moving your hips, rubbing yourself along his length. He was lost for words, absorbed in the sensation.

"I said repeat what you won't do," you said calmly, continuing your movements.

"I-I won't…touch or…or b-buck my hips," he moaned out.

"That's right," you said. You leaned forward and rubbed your thumbs over his nipples. Sebastian was panting hard. You could feel his hips stutter as he forced himself not to move. He was trying so hard to be good for you.

You finally moved from his cock, and frowned as he spoke.

"What did you say?" you snapped.

There was a deadly silence. Sebastian had a lot of room to fuck up right now, and he knew it. Lying was not an option.

"I…I asked why you were stopping," he said meekly.

"I don't remember asking you to speak," you said. "Let's put your mouth to better use."

Sebastian was practically vibrating with anticipation as you positioned yourself, lowering your pussy down to meet his mouth. His arms jerked, but ultimately stayed still. You knew he was desperate to hold your hips.

"Lick," you commanded.

If there was one thing your man was good at, it was eating pussy. He had been a natural from the start, and the first time he ate you out you flat out refused to believe he hadn't done it before.

You moaned as his tongue explored your folds, darting inside you before flicking your clit. You rocked against his face, and you felt him groan in pleasure. The vibrations from his noises made you bite your lip, eyes fluttering shut.

Your hips rocked faster as you chased your orgasm. Any time you let out a word of praise, Sebastian moaned and licked faster. You liked feeding into his praise kink, it made everything so much better.

Crying out in pleasure, you let your orgasm overtake you. Sebastian continued to lap at you, your cum drenching his face. As you got off of him, you could see how painfully hard he was. It took all your self control not to slide down onto him.

"You did such a good job kitten," you said, and Sebastian flushed with pride. "Felt so good." You settled in between his legs and ran a finger down his length. Sebastian shivered.

"You even managed to keep your eyes closed," you said. "Since you've been doing well…you can open them."

Sebastian's eyes opened, pupils blown with lust as he looked you over. His eyes roamed greedily, and you knew he wanted to touch. 

"Do you want something?" you asked.

Sebastian gulped. "Yes Miss," he said.

"What do you want?" you asked. "Good boy's use their words."

"Wanna…wanna touch you. Want you to ride me and let me touch you," he panted out. You raised an eyebrow at these words.

"You think you deserve it?" you asked.

"I've…I've been good!" Sebastian pouted. "Only a little bad…but I've been good!"

He looked so pitiful beneath you, and it melted your heart. 

"You have been good," you said, and guided his hands to your waist. He looked at you in wonder, in disbelief that he could touch.

"Hold on," you murmured, and sank down onto him in one swift movement.

"Thank you!" Sebastian cried out. "You're so good to me!"

"You deserve a little something," you said with a smile. "But your hips stay still. If they move, this ends."

"Yes Miss!" Sebastian breathed, and threw his head back in pleasure as you began to move. It felt amazing for you, and you knew he was loving it too. His eyebrows began to furrow, and he pulled his lower lip into his mouth. These were tell tale signs that he was close. You smirked at him, and immediately stopped moving.

Sebastian let out a truly pathetic whine, and you laughed.

"You really thought I'd let you cum that easily?" you taunted.

Sebastian looked at you with wide eyes and a trembling lip. You clicked your tongue and shook your head.

"What do you do you do if you want to cum?" you asked in a sing song tone.

"Please," he whined. You rolled your eyes at him.

"Please let me cum," he amended.

"Better," you said, but still didn't move.

"Please!" he begged, "Please ride me, I want to feel your pussy on me, want it to make me cum! Please Miss!" 

You smiled at him, and wiped away the tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

"Good boy," you said, and began to move again. 

He didn't last long, hot ropes of cum painting your insides white. Sebastian howled in ecstasy, eyes rolling back. When he finally managed to regain his senses, you pulled off and laid down next to him. Your eyes locked, and you gave him a soft kiss.

"Shower?" you asked, and he nodded with a sleepy smile.

The shower was long, as was typical after something like this. Sweet kisses were shared, and, as always, you ended up with your legs around his waist, back against the shower wall, as he fucked you one last time.

The two of you fell asleep in each other's arms. He really was a good boy.

#stardew valley smut #sdv fanfic #sdv smut #stardew valley sebastian #sdv sebastian #stardew sebastian x reader #stardew fanfic #reader insert #female reader #my writing

[atsualek]

i know this probably isnt very relevant to most tumblr users, but if could take a bit of time to read this, id really appreciate it... i know portugal is a very small country in europe, but i just wanted to call awareness to the fact that two days ago, fifty fascists were elected to represent us in the parlament.

They belong to a party led by an openly transphobic, racist, xenophobic and misogynist guy. this on the 50th anniversary of our revolution agaisnt a fascist dictatorship, more than one milion people voted for the same thing again. the lider of the party (CHEGA) literally reused the motto of the old fascist leader, just added the word "work" to it. (its god, homeland, family and work) they want to "erase woke ideology from schools" they want to review our abortion laws, the laws in support of the queer community, review immigration laws, and are openly xenophobic and racist. they have stated they want to "fight" gender ideology, and are vehemently agaisnt trans people using the right bathrooms. there are multiple videos of them doing the nazi salute. its true, portugal is in very bad political state rn and the people want extreme changes, and thats why we now have a rightwing majority on our parlament. but its fucking terrifying. most CHEGA voters dont even know what they are voting for, but we still need to hold them accountable for this.

most of my friends are queer. its so deeply disheartening to watch your own country vote against you, against your right to exist. we dont feel safe anymore, and we know that in the next few years we will watch the already short list of laws that protected us be erased. they claim to want to build a "better future" for the young generations, but if we are queer, it seems that we dont belong in it.

#politics #awareness #chega #portugal #fascism #voting #democracy

[r-aindr0p]

did you see that rollo ranked 50th in the yumejoshi poll on twitter... he beat malleus and leona... i'm so happy for him honestly

Omg I went to check right away I’m so happy he got this much recognition aabhdfhb Idia made it as well this is great

And I was surpised to see so many twst characters in the top 100 ??! Honestly proud of them all ✨

Also congrats to some other characters I like and recognized from other shows like Gintoki, im impressed he’s still loved so much but its also very understandable. So happy for Trafalgar Law, this guy has been a brainrot of mine for a few years in a row during my middle school years and I still like him a lot ! Congrats to Oberon (fgo) I don’t play fate or watch but his character design is a solid 20/20 for me he is flawless, blorbo material. And finally confused congratulations to Hibari Kyouya from Katekyo Hitman Reborn, like… What is he doing here ??? The manga has ended a long time ago already I’m really surprised, but understandable as well given his personality and looks, one of my fave reborn characters so it’s cool.

#twisted wonderland #twst shitpost #ace slander in here im sorry #also the only obey me character that made it to the top was my lest favorite as well ahh… #mammon and ace are on the same level of annoyance for me i cant #like please im trying to have a moment with lucifer could you idk go away #even sebek is bearable i’m willing to endure his banter more than hanging out with ace #im sorry ace fans #Vibin w/ Deuce Cater and Trey tho they’re cool #confused as to why son many ppl like that wocestershire guy from genshin impact I havent played in a while