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lokiinmediasideblog · 15 days

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FISA 702 HAS PASSED THE HOUSED. WE MUST STOP IT!

Fax your legislators! TELL THEM YOU WON'T VOTE FOR THEM IF THEY VOTE YES ON FISA (Fy-zah) 702!

You can also fax your legislators for FREE at:

From Edward Snowden's Twitter:

If you were mad about your House rep voting to let the government spy on you without a warrant ("FISA 702" - fy-za seven-oh-two), we may have one last shot. CALL YOUR REP @ (202) 224-3121 and say "𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟳𝟬𝟮, 𝗜 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂."

From the article link:

House lawmakers voted on Friday to reauthorize section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or Fisa, including a key measure that allows for warrantless surveillance of Americans. The controversial law allows for far-reaching monitoring of foreign communications, but has also led to the collection of US citizens’ messages and phone calls.

Lawmakers voted 273–147 to approve the law, which the Biden administration has for years backed as an important counterterrorism tool. An amendment that would have required authorities seek a warrant failed, in a tied 212-212 vote across party lines.

Donald Trump opposed the reauthorization of the bill, posting to his Truth Social platform on Wednesday: “KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!”

The law, which gives the government expansive powers to view emails, calls and texts, has long been divisive and resulted in allegations from civil liberties groups that it violates privacy rights. House Republicans were split in the lead-up to vote over whether to reauthorize section 702, the most contentious aspect of the bill, with Mike Johnson, the House speaker, struggling to unify them around a revised version of the pre-existing law.

Republicans shot down a procedural vote on Wednesday that would have allowed Johnson to put the bill to a floor vote, in a further blow to the speaker’s ability to find compromise within his party. Following the defeat, the bill was changed from a five-year extension to a two-year extension of section 702 – an effort to appease far-right Republicans who believe Trump will be president by the time it expires.

Section 702 allows for government agencies such as the National Security Administration to collect data and monitor the communications of foreign citizens outside of US territory without the need for a warrant, with authorities touting it as a key tool in targeting cybercrime, international drug trafficking and terrorist plots. Since the collection of foreign data can also gather communications between people abroad and those in the US, however, the result of section 702 is that federal law enforcement can also monitor American citizens’ communications.

Section 702 has faced opposition before, but it became especially fraught in the past year after court documents revealed that the FBI had improperly used it almost 300,000 times – targeting racial justice protesters, January 6 suspects and others. That overreach emboldened resistance to the law, especially among far-right Republicans who view intelligence services like the FBI as their opponent.

Trump’s all-caps post further weakened Johnson’s position. Trump’s online remarks appeared to refer to an FBI investigation into a former campaign adviser of his, which was unrelated to section 702. Other far-right Republicans such as Matt Gaetz similarly vowed to derail the legislation, putting its passage in peril.

Meanwhile, the Ohio congressman Mike Turner, Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee, told lawmakers on Friday that failing to reauthorize the bill would be a gift to China’s government spying programs, as well as Hamas and Hezbollah.

“We will be blind as they try to recruit people for terrorist attacks in the United States,” Turner said on Friday on the House floor.

The California Democratic representative and former speaker Nancy Pelosi also gave a statement in support of passing section 702 with its warrantless surveillance abilities intact, urging lawmakers to vote against an amendment that would weaken its reach.

“I don’t have the time right now, but if members want to know I’ll tell you how we could have been saved from 9/11 if we didn’t have to have the additional warrants,” Pelosi said.

Debate over Section 702 pitted Republicans who alleged that the law was a tool for spying on American citizens against others in the GOP who sided with intelligence officials and deemed it a necessary measure to stop foreign terrorist groups. One proposed amendment called for requiring authorities to secure a warrant before using section 702 to view US citizens’ communications, an idea that intelligence officials oppose as limiting their ability to act quickly. Another sticking point in the debate was whether law enforcement should be prohibited from buying information on American citizens from data broker firms, which amass and sell personal data on tens of millions of people, including phone numbers and email addresses.

Section 702 dates back to the George W Bush administration, which secretly ran warrantless wiretapping and surveillance programs in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks. In 2008, Congress passed section 702 as part of the Fisa Amendments Act and put foreign surveillance under more formal government oversight. Lawmakers have renewed the law twice since, including in 2018 when they rejected an amendment that would have required authorities to get warrants for US citizens’ data.

Last year Merrick Garland, the attorney general, and Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, sent a letter to congressional leaders telling them to reauthorize section 702. They claimed that intelligence gained from it resulted in numerous plots against the US being foiled, and that it was partly responsible for facilitating the drone strike that killed the al-Qaida leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in 2022.

#us politics #internet #mass surveillance #censorship #lgbtqia #palestine #islamophobia #FISA 702 #KOSA

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moonlayl · 6 months

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This...got super long and to be clear nothing I have experienced nor will ever experience will come close to the horrors that Palestinians are facing right now. I just need to say that and make that clear, but these are just things I've been wanting to say for a while now.

Just a thought that came to my head, but I remember arguing with lots of liberals before about how I don't really support the idea that people shouldn't be able to say anything they want (except obviously spreading misinformation especially if you're in certain professions), even hate speech not because I ever want to hear hate speech, but because I can't trust any government to decide what hate speech is, and I was told to give an example

I remember at the time saying "what if one day, me speaking about Palestine starts to become classified as antisemitism or terrorism?"

I was told that was silly and would "obviously never happen" (I didn't believe them and called them naive at the time)

well....looking at certain countries right now, trying to ban Palestinian flags, ban common Palestinian/muslim sayings, ban any peaceful protest in favour of Palestine, even looking at imprisoning/fining people etc.... is kind of just proving my point.

Like most of us don't feel included or part of any western communities even if we're lived here our whole lives for so many reasons and it almost always boils down to us being Arabs/muslim.

can't speak for non Arabs and non muslims, but a lot of us feel this way.

seeing how fighting for the people who need it the most (2000+ Palestinians have been killed. 800 of them being children. 45 families completely wiped out, entire bloodlines, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, children, nephews, nieces, grandchildren, etc....like this is actual genocide. their entire family tree has been completely wiped form existence) is being banned or branded as "terrorism", or we're losing our jobs, or we're being silenced, like it says a lot about theses countries and the governments that run them.

They tried to suspend humanitarian aid to innocent people of Gaza for the love of God!! Thank God there were 5 decent countries who voted no!

Israel gets away with every goddamn crime and ANY "condemnation" of any warcrime it commits is just talk, while they continue to aid and support it.

How am I supposed to trust these governments, and MY government to decide what's acceptable and what's not when I know that during the most critical moments that matter the most, they won't be on our side, and they'll side with oppressors because they themselves are just that? That the little I can actually do for Palestine and any other country could be completely taken away?

These are "democratic" countries by the way, or they're supposed to be, and sure we can challenge all these things but there are things even we can't do. the onslaught of propaganda shared everywhere by the same news stations that refuse to invite Palestinians (and refuse to air the few times they do) and refuse to fact check their content, or report on what's actually happening in Gaza, can't really be stopped. We can do our best to spread what's actually happening, and to correct false information, but the damages have been done.

And its getting harder and harder to hear form the people of Gaza because of the bombs, cut of electricity, cut off internet access, and also, you know, the fact that the people sharing news are being killed one by one.

There's also many social media platforms completely erasing anything about Palestine. suspending our accounts and hiding our posts. I can't believe I'm saying this but maybe it's a good thing Elon Musk took over twitter because at least I've been able to talk about Palestine as much as possible without nay censoring and I'm still able to. Palestinians are still able to share their stories and the reality yon there. And sin't that crazy? Elon musk is kind of doing something right???

And you know something else? Israel killed one of their own journalists, and those people weren't able to properly report on it. They couldn't directly say it was Israel that killed one of their own workers. Like....its crazy (and they're cowards). Israel also killed 12 UN workers.

That crime is not making as many headlines as the fake stuff did. Those "journalists" and "reporters" who repeated false information (that resulted in far too many people believing them and suddenly being okay with genocide) are still working. they still have a job and they're still out there spreading more propaganda.

this post isn't well written because I'm just putting out my thoughts and what I've witnessed but to make one thing clear, I won't ever silence my voice or allow anyone to silence my voice when it comes to something like this, and i'm not afraid of what they'll do, but isn't so fucked that I could actually lose my job and have trouble finding another one for supporting the oppressed? Like isn't that just..disgusting?

Like what's that supposed to tell me other than majority of western countries are against us? It's not exactly surprising because I've known this, but everyone being VERY open about it is kind of tough to witness ngl.

Like this is not a complicated issue. if you have any morals and you're not biased against Palestinians/arabs/muslims already, then this is a very clearcut case. Israel is an apartheid state. Israel is and has been committing genocide and ethnic cleansing for literal decades and its been doing it long before Hamas came into the picture. Israel's war crimes and treatment of Palestinians is the reason Hamas even exists in the first place. you can condemn Hamas while also recognising that Israelis have no right to that land and that nothing justifies their never ending crimes. Palestinians are demanding for their rights ot live, be citizens, have rights and freedoms, and have their land that was brutally taken from them. None of those things are unreasonable.

You know what is unreasonable? the world deciding Israel is suddenly gonna be a thing and expecting Palestinians to just be okay with it. You know what is unreasonable? Palestinians being painted as the bad guys for "not wanting to share" when they literally shouldn't have to (especially because of the obvious scams of all those "treaties" and "agreements" that all gave every benefit to Israel)

Like the whole world literally let this happen and supported it and cheered for it. Some stayed silent but are showing their real colours (which those of us who haven't been blind have already seen) now.

We've got girls crying about how "they want to kill us T-T" at a university campus because people were protesting in support of Palestine, while a six year old boy was killed in his own home for being Palestinian. In the same country.

We've got celebs talk about how scared THEY are while 800 Palestinian children have been murdered.

We've got celebs posting "pray for Israel" while using pictures of Gaza in ruins or Palestinian children looking at rockets in the sky.

It's insane.

We had a protest for Palestine the other day. People were telling us to go back to our country. They were telling Palestinians to go back to their country.

....that's....that's what they want? Like we're very much aware of how much we're not wanted here just to be clear, and Palestinians across the damn globe would do ANYTHING to be able to go live in their homeland. except they can't. Israel won't let them. That's part of what we're fighting for. Any jewish person can go get a citizenship easily in Israel (even if they've never stepped foot in the country and none of their ancestors had either) but people who were born in Palestine or who's family owns property there can't get it in at all. It's absolute insanity.

I'm not sure how to end this but on every level this has been horrific. But despite that, the propaganda, the genocide, the threats, the whole world being against us, that's not gonna stop us from fighting for the oppressed and standing up for them. It's not gonna stop us from going out into the streets and no words can explain the bravery of everyone who continues to stand with Palestine but especially to the Palestinians who continue fighting and resisting (despite everything they've been through). Continuing to use our voices, donating, protesting etc... is the absolute least we can do and its our responsibility. and I truly, from the bottom of my heart wish the absolute worst for everyone who disagree with this. Like you guys are gonna pay for it. Maybe not today maybe not for many years maybe only in the afterlife (because I do believe in it) but it's gonna happen and every Israeli supporter or zionist is gonna deserve every second of it.

If you're silent, if you try to throw the "two sides" bs, and if you try to act like Palestine and Israel are in any way equal, you're included in this.

You're part of the problem.

Silence is compliance.

And screw every government that supports Israel in any way. Screw the double standards, the hypocrisy and the absolute cruelty towards innocent Palestinians.

I can't speak for everyone else but no matter what happens moving forwards, I'm never gonna forget this and I'm never gonna forgive.

I'm gonna keep trying to do everything possible which unfortunately is not much and thats frustrating on every level but I'm gonna keep doing it. feel free to unfollow/block me, but I'm not gonna stay silent about this ever. and I'm not gonna entertain any bigot or zionists either. it's gonna be a straight up block.

my asks are open, and my page is currently full of information, this site is as well, but I'm not gonna entertain those who clearly care very little bout genocide, because if you haven't opened your eyes by now, I doubt anything I say will change that. you're welcome to go through my blog or send me a polite ask (can't promise I'll get to it right away but I'll try) but I'm not tolerating pointless arguments that are basically me just repeating that Palestinian people deserve to live in their own country with all their rights and freedoms while the other person disagrees. I prefer not to argue with those who are depraved.

#free palestine #layl.text #anti israel

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comparativelysuperlative · 2 months

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What was the book? With the Definitely Real Banishment

Spoilers (obviously) but it's the Lightbringer series. That villain was pretty good! The word-by-word writing is fine! The plot is, for several books' worth, aimed at being Very Generic Fantasy (for reasons that will make sense later). Incoming long post about its philosophy, with even more spoilers.

It's not often that I read a book and immediately go "I can tell you what kind of middle school this author went to." In this case, it was drawing on the author's experience of exactly the theology I grew up with, which was almost eerie.

(I read book one years and years ago, and didn't retain much other than "cool magic system." Probably everything in this post is true about book one as well, but I wouldn't know.)

Google will tell you that the series gets gradually very Christian, to the point where the climax of the last book contains a sermon. But it's more specific than that. These books scream "Protestant, American, classically educated, does not travel internationally very often, male, straight, probably white, the kind of person who would vote straight-ticket Republican until that meant Trump at which point all bets are off." I did not bother confirming most of those. They're just obvious.

The loudest part--to me at least--was the "classically educated." (If you're not familiar, it's this thing.) The series would mention quotes from fantasy medieval Catholics or fantasy ancient Greeks or whatever, and I'd recognize the quotes or the names because they'd be real people I ran across in school. Sure enough, author went to Hillsdale.

Lightbringer is interesting for having an actual vision of a conservative society, not just about hating the right/wrong people. Not being on that team anymore I don't actually like this vision very much, but compared to current conservatives, credit for having one at all.

Differences between people obviously don't affect your value as a person, they just might make it easier or harder or mean you have to specialize differently to accomplish as much For The Group.

(That opinion makes perfect sense for characters in an elite military unit/training for that unit. But that context is mostly specific to book two, and the philosophy really isn't.)

This applies to everything. Physical condition, including strength/weight/gender. Color-blindness. Superpowers. Being straight. (I'm genuinely not sure if that part was intentional. Characters kept getting distracted at terrible times, and the narration outside their head sounded exactly the same as when someone can't run a mile without Trying Very Hard.)

It does not matter whether your mental illness turns out to be literally demons in your head. Either way you've still got to either work through it or specialize around it.

Tradition matters, even when we don't understand the reason behind it.

If you happen to be in a fantasy book and have access to magic, consorting with demons is evil but fancy physics is fine. You can just BET this author got into fights with other Christians about whether Harry Potter was anti-Jesus.

"Irredeemably bad" isn't really a thing. "Not in fact going to be redeemed" is, but it's worth trying to show mercy if you have the chance. If you don't have the chance, kill 'em. Don't enjoy it, though.

Forgiving people for actually-bad things is hard, can't just go "idk, they're good guys now," but it's also important. (I do think this is underrepresented in secular fiction, where it's either depicted as "how could you work with THEM" or "come on, get over it already and team up against the whatever.")

One of the big reveals at the end is "the Christian God is real." The answer to the problem of evil is indeed the popular answer in the denominations I grew up with. Human choices something something mumble free will.

Very incrementalist. You do as much good as you can as fast as you can, but obviously without overthrowing the entire order or anything. Only evil opportunists would want to do that. Yes, even if the existing order is corrupt all the way through.

Speaking of which, you know that organization/political entity claiming to represent God? Corrupt all the way through. God is more personal than that. Protestantism!

Personal morality matters. Your leaders absolutely must be good people, or at least trying to be, or you're screwed.

Personal morality matters. It is safe to assume you'll end up as exactly what your peers expect of you, so pick good peers.

A man should be faithful to one (1) wife. Viewpoint characters speedrun figuring out the philosophy behind this.

(IMO monogamy was a legitimate human rights win by early Christianity, relative to what came before, and I think something similar applies in this setting. But since the real-life alternatives today are so much better than women being property, giving this a lot of screen time sounded like the book is fishing very hard for things historical Christianity did right.)

Also, once you are married you Are Married. It's not that changing that would be unthinkable, just that if you do treat it as an option you're obviously doing it wrong.

Gay people don't exist. Any variety of non-straight, really. Nobody says that it should be that way. It just doesn't come up. Characters are written in enough detail that I can tell you how they'd react if you asked them, and it's mostly the "not my business" + "prefer not to think about it" kind of low-grade homophobia. A few would be explicitly okay with it. But it does not come up. If there were a gay relationship depicted, I'd expect it to be "coincidentally" problematic in some other way.

(I guess there's that one slaver-antagonist whose sexuality is just "sadist." Yeah, one might call that problematic.)

Practically dripping with Great Man Theory of History. There's a scene where the protagonist has a self-affirming/emotional moment about not relying on his family name and meritoriously earning his first kingdom. This is played completely straight.

Don't worry, he uses it for good. At least as much good as he can without overthrowing the existing order etc.

If there are end times prophecies, they might well be true but you can't trust any specific interpretation so it's wiser to just do your best without reference to the prophecy. (This is an interesting take! And not heresy but also not common! I bet the author's reacting against some interesting strains of fundamentalism there.)

A cool idea where angels and demons can be anywhere in any world at any time in history, but are very reluctant to actually do that because they can't pick the same time twice. You can just tell it's the author's Christianity headcanon.

You win by doing your best and having faith in God. The villains are very much a sideshow.

(I think if everyone followed this book's philosophy more it would be a mostly bad thing. Let's not do that.)

(But wow, I wish modern conservatives were only this bad.)

It probably sounds like I didn't like this series. But I did read five doorstoppers' worth. This post is just about the opinions, and the opinions sucked.

Anyway. This has to be on purpose, right, and 10 or 15 years ago I was pretty much the target audience for this. Guess I'm old.

I used to explicitly think "I'm Christian, but atheist fiction is more interesting," and this book is the kind of thing that...tries...to counter that. Fails, because resolving major conflicts with divine intervention is tricky to make interesting. But you'll see why it's going for Every Other Book, But Christian. (Also, the amount of sex in these books is much higher than you might think, given everything. I wish I knew less about what body types the author is attracted to.)

Anyway, I can't really say I would recommend it. But if you're interested in what would happen if Card or Sanderson tried to be Evangelical Lewis for adults, Lightbringer isn't bad.

#brent weeks #the black prism #lightbringer series

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sun-in-retrograde · 8 days

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Uranus Conjunct Jupiter - Hope Just Spat Out a Tooth

The Jupiter-Uranus Conjunction is a lot of things, but one way to think of it is basically the new moon of the way the two planets relate - the end of a cycle that started at the last Jupiter Uranus conjunction and the start of something new. I wanted to give a little time to thinking about what we’re putting down, and what we might be able to do with the new energy.

An Aries Cycle

Uranus entered Aries 27 May and stayed there till mid August before retrograde. The conjunction completed 8 June.

Here’s the astro-seek data:

For the first half of the cycle, the energy of the relationship was pretty intense - Jupiter aspected Uranus, then went retrograde and aspected in again, then moved on. It was a slow build up, reaching a pinnacle in 2016/7 before winding down.

Think of this in terms of a lunar cycle. While Jupiter is waxing, building upon the Uranus energy it picked up in its conjunction, Uranus was in Aries. The process was laborious, intense.

Uranus in Aries came with promises - it started with the Arab Spring. Uranus in Aries was a freedom fighter establishing itself. It had rebel without a cause vibes. It came in with riots in the UK over the London Metropolitan Police shooting a black man, the Occupy Movement, the student fees protests and anti-austerity. It came in, fundamentally, with the first Conservative government since 1997.

The last one is important. 1997 was the last election in the UK where power changed hands. Power didn’t change hands in 1983, but the structure of the system changed fundamentally. Uranus and Jupiter can oversee revolutions.

What house is your Aries in? Where was the energy of Uranus active in your life while it was there? Was there anything that took time to develop? Any lessons that had to be learned again and again?

It feels to me almost like Uranus in Aries built up power and worked and grew, then the waning end of the cycle was a release of pressure. For example, in 2010 Britain elected a Conservative government under a Jupiter-Uranus conjunction. The Conservatives got in under a plan to unify the right and temper it’s weirdest and worst aspects. Or at least make it palatable. In 2014, under the square, a right of conservative party group called UKIP became a major party. In 2016 as the opposition completed itself, Britain voted to leave the EU.

In 2018, Uranus entered Taurus - traditional, slow moving and comfortable Taurus is a weird place for Uranus. What happens when Conservatives encounter the nervous energy of Uranus with its connections to queerness and difference? They react with fear. Since the Uranus-Jupiter cycle reached its waning phase, mainstream conservative movements in Britain have been ideologically captured by increasingly deranged conspiracy theorists. This process has felt relatively easy, and fast.

Another example: in 2010 the Lib Dems confirmed they wanted to bring in gay marriage and they had the power to push for it. In 2014, the square gave us gay marriage, but also Time Magazine’s “Transgender tipping point” - the key issues and demands of queer activism started to change. In 2017, at the opposition point of this cycle, the government announced that it would hold a consultation on gender recognition act reform. Then in 2018 Uranus entered Taurus and Gender Critical reactionary anti-trans rhetoric really stepped up. The tenor of the conversation has changed. In 2017 the Tories wanted to be pro-LGBT to be on “the right side of history”. These days the prime minister jokes about murdered trans children in front of their parents.

Cycles and cycles

Of course, we haven’t lost every cultural battle since Uranus entered Taurus, and the Uranus Jupiter Cycle isn’t the only cycle that’s going on. But it has been a tough old cycle. Maybe it was tough for you personally, or maybe the area Uranus has been active in has been blessed with luck from Jupiter. Maybe for you it feels like on a personal level the hard work of Uranus in Aries paid off in an easeful period of Uranus in Taurus. Maybe you’ve even won your political struggles.

It’s worth considering the public and personal issues you’ve been through in this period, and whether they may be coming towards the possibility for something new.

The future

In the next cycle, while it starts in Taurus it’s not there for long - just the conjunction. Then for 14 years Uranus will be active in Gemini, then Cancer.

Taking the last phase as a pattern, the first part of this stage feels relatively easeful - there are no repetitions. In Gemini I wonder if we may find Uranus active in how we respond to, incorporate, and resist technology. This seems reasonable. We appear to have entered one of those periods where technology is shifting.

What interests me is the 2030s. Uranus enters Cancer and we do the work of coming home, nurturing, integrating something. Looking at the cycle we’re about to start - it starts with Uranus in a sign where it’s deeply reactive, and uncomfortable (arguably, Uranus has its fall in Taurus). But, I hope, it’s heading to a kind of integration and better wholeness. There’s the potential in this cycle to learn cool shit and, ultimately, to learn to live with it. To maybe even heal a bit, if we’re lucky.

But, more importantly, it’s a new revolution. Revolutions go around. We didn’t win every fight in the last Jupiter-Uranus cycle, but we won some, and we can win some this time, too.

#astrology #uranus #jupiter

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musicfren · 6 months

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A message to my fellow USAmericans

As we continue to fight against the genocide in Palestine, I would like to say something for us going forward (that a lot of people have said much better than me already XD). We still need to do everything we can right now to fight, but I want us to also learn something from this: These last weeks I think should be a wake-up call for anyone not yet on board that we need an organized leftist party in the US right the fuck now. The best time to start on this was decades ago and the second best time is today. The fact of the matter is that, while the US has seen a tremendous outpouring of energy for Palestine, with millions of people showing up to protest, calling our representatives and fundraising, we have not managed to mobilize the kind of mass action that would seriously threaten the US war effort. We US leftist should see this as our failure, not a personal failure but a structural, organizational failure. Here are some things that really would have helped if we were able to do them (and still would! If anyone is currently trying to organize these I salute you!): -A general strike, with many unions in a city coordinating to shut it down for multiple days -A national refusal by shipping unions to move weapons and goods to Israel -A coordinated and sustained program of direct action to block weapon shipments and weapon plants across the country. -A centralized, public campaign to deny the democratic party votes unless they pull all US aid for Israel Many of these are things leftist movements in other countries are already doing and have been practiced at doing for a long time. Some groups in the US have taken efforts towards these things, and I am immensely proud of their energy, but they are fractured and lacking nationwide support. All of these things require not just leftists, but a party of leftists, a coordinated, national organization. We can not do this on our own. We can however individually join organizations and direct our energy towards building this movement. Currently, there are several organizations in the US that want to be this leftist party. All of them have problems, all are imperfect. But (almost) any of them succeeding would be better than nothing. -The Party For Socialism and Liberation (PSL) is on the rise and commands a lot of attention and followers, but hasn't yet managed to translate that into a connection with labor movements or direct action. -The Communist Party USA (CPUSA) has international connections with many other communist orgs and a long history, but is fractured and lacking central coordination -The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have tremendous numbers and a lot of energy, but are split into many disconnected subgroups, and lack central leadership. -Many labor unions are starting to become aware of the need for mass cooperation. The Starbucks and Amazon unions have done tremendous work at building inter-union solidarity and mobilizing it for political ends. More work is needed. In all of these groups there is valuable work to be done. If we want to fight against a state that will grind the rest of the world under its heel and us with it, we need a weapon. A more powerful weapon than the kinds we've been fighting with so far. This weapon is called a party. We have failed to build this weapon, and we are thus failing to fight US Imperialism (and to fight for ourselves!) the way we need to. As soon as possible. Today we must continue to fight for Palestine with the weapons we have on hand. I hope that tomorrow we arm up with bigger guns.

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insanityofvaas · 10 months

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My Island, My Rules

Vaas is trapped in hell. Or, trapped in his own mind, but it's practically the same fucking thing at this point.

His people have all turned against him.

Jason keeps showing up no matter how many times he kills him.

And there's Citra.

Vaas can't get five fucking minutes of peace it feels like. And okay, he's getting used to Jason showing up everywhere. Hell, he's even starting to enjoy it. They've had a lot of fun and there are still so, so many possibilities. This place is free of laws, free of logic, and Vaas is all about seizing opportunities.

But Citra? She's fucking ruining it. Well, almost.

Like now. Now, when Vaas is prowling through the prison camp after dark, like a big cat stalking its prey. That prey is Jason. He's just across the camp. All Vaas needs to do is wait for the right moment.

It'd be easy if not for Citra's voice growing more insistent, more annoying. The words she's saying aren't important. Vaas has learned to tune them out, only bothering to engage when he's bored.

This time he snaps.

"Can you shut the fuck up? I am trying to hunt your boyfriend."

The words no sooner leave his mouth and inspiration hits, like a lightning strike or a light bulb switching on. It makes Vaas grin, crazed and thrilled.

Sometimes he loves his mind.

"On second thought, I hope you're listening carefully. I hope you're watching. Because that boyfriend? I'm gonna make him mine. Oh, baby, he's gonna get fucked so good that he won't even remember your name!"

Vaas knows there would be disbelief and anger and so many protests. That is, if he was actually listening. He's not. And, sure, maybe this is a stupid idea. That's okay. This is his island. His mind. His rules.

Vaas can do whatever he wants here. It's going to be so fucking fun. —FIN— ---------------

Sometimes an idea pops into my head and I just let it loose. I've also been replaying the DLC a lot, so yeah.

And, for the hell of it, let's take a vote!

#my writing

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necrocrunk · 11 months

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thats it i AM going to post this draft:

can i be honest. the “americans dont give a shit about (insert whatever thing) until it affects them” is so stupid and specifically treats americans like we just dont have any problems and also hate everyone else. the individualistic vocal minority who are fucking batshit are disliked by Most People. they just are so aggressively disliked that algorithms prioritize showing their content for clicks and views. like,. you realize we also have problems

the wildfires are happening and people are worried about their lung health esp in a country where covid was genuinely not handled well and left people with lasting lung issues. the fact is we literally DO NOT KNOW these things are happening in most cases! but this is one that directly affects us so of course we’re speaking about it! why are you acting like it’s genuinely a move of weird nationalism that we “didnt care about the wildfires till now”??

additionally, the way that non-americans joke about america in making fun of things that americans have no grasp, bearing, or ability to change is so fucking infuriating. do you think we all like the lack of gun control? that protesting isn’t genuinely a risk of your life, being charged with a felony or considered a terrorist (and having a felony means you cant vote AND some jobs can deny you employment, meaning you cant support yourself or family or make any meaningful votes against the people who put those laws in place). the creators of the BLM movement were all found dead by things like fires in their cars and ruled suicides. you dont think it’s real odd that that shit happens and nothing is done? protesting is something people ARE doing right now and are brave enough to do, but even in the last few months protesters have been killed. it is necessary to protest but it has very very real danger behind it. its not a silly thing we do

americans do have a habit of being american based, and thats understandable! because its almost like the media in every country is focused on their country and what is happening within it. our country is huge, bigger than so so many, and there is a Lot going on. a lot to keep up with. additionally, just because you didn’t see some fucking guilt trippy post about it on tumblr or twitter yet does NOT mean people arent talking about it. trying going outside.

additionally, the way that people SPECIFICALLY seem to rag on things from the south and tear down the south, when the south has an incredibly high population of minorities that define anything from culture to the food common here? remember that british mf making of exclusively southern foods? that the shit im talking about. it’s this weird... xenophobia that especially europeans seem to level at americans as if we are too stupid and fat to function.

i understand that america sucks and america is terrible to other countries and i fully support tearing down the war crimes,etc america has committed for ex and overall complaining about your experience w americans. but throwing punches at the american people who literally have NO CHOICE but to just BE here (its VERY EXPENSIVE to emigrate !) is literally punching down. none of us like living in the middle of late stage capitalism man. it sucks. what do you win for making fun of us.

#kain speaks #this is such a stupid complaint but ive been dealing with this to my face recently and its been starting to piss me off

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wearyrains · 1 year

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The Campbell. Located on Vanderbilt Avenue in the Grand Central Terminal, these four walls have seen many a lost traveler through many a late night. It calls to people with its expensive cocktails and candlelight ambiance. The bartenders know better than to speak with their patrons. They make the drinks strong and serve them with a small knowing smile. It’s the kind of place where you can feel the souls of the dreams that died in the cesspool that is New York City. Where someone would come to drink one more drink, before tucking their tail between their legs and returning to whatever po’dunk town they call home.

Olivia likes it here. A place to pretend that she doesn’t call this sleazy city home either. A place where she can pretend she is escaping all of the violence and pain she knows exists around every corner. Tonight, escaping the rape tree they found hanging in an abandoned apartment in the Fulton Houses. This is what has become of the city now, returning to its former ugliness of pre-Giuliani. Back before he was a raving lunatic. Back when he took credit for cleaning up the city, but that wasn’t him. That was her and her fellow officers, back when being a cop meant something more. Now she looks at the kids around her, good people aren’t taking over the watch. She feels as if she’ll never be able to retire. How is supposed to turn her job over to a bunch of misogynist, who want to abuse their power and go around shooting people. Olivia is not an idiot, she knows that cops have always had an abuse of power issue. But she also knows that, most people used to get into this line of work to actually help people. She doesn’t think that’s true anymore. Not after the summer of 2020. Not after watching too many of her brother officers kneel on necks. Maybe she should retire, she doesn’t want to be associated with them. She doesn’t want the world to think that she thinks George Floyd wasn’t murdered, because he was. And so were countless others, the names too numerous to remember clearly. She saw the videos of her brother officers deploying tear gas, and knocking over peaceful protesters. She saw reporters being arrested trying to cover their actions. She almost set her gun and shield on her desk and walked away right then. But something makes her stay. Maybe it’s her thirst for justice. Maybe it’s her fear of what happens to Manhattans rape survivors if she were to leave. Maybe it’s just that she doesn’t know how to do anything else. So she stands watch, and tries to change the culture of policing from the inside, as if it’s not alienating her from the rest of the good ole boys. She’s usually alone, when she’s in here this late, but not tonight. Tonight at three am, there’s her and a blonde. A blonde sitting at the end of the bar, nursing a whiskey. A blonde that she recognizes as America’s last great hope of 2020. Olivia walks to the opposite end of the bar and orders a bourbon, her drink of choice on nights like tonight.

Elizabeth has always liked this bar. She first came here when she was eighteen, taking her final train home from New York State. It made her feel grown up. Even though she wasn’t, even though she was only graduating person form Houghton to have to get home by themselves. She didn’t feel alone in here. Like Piano Man, every shares a drink called loneliness in this place. Elizabeth didn’t let Henry come with her today. For a reason she cannot place she’s ashamed of the award that sitting on the bar. The 2022 Human Rights Prize given to her by the UN. She doesn’t deserve it. It’s not the only award she’s gotten in this vein. Her early public career, starting when she left the CIA was rife with articles in newspapers across the country obliterating the Human Rights abuses being committed in the name of anti-terror. She’s slammed the far right for as long as she can remember. But somehow it was never enough. She watching her country fall to the modern Nazis. It sickens her, and she can’t fix it. She won popular vote, and she thinks about that a lot. She used to understand the Electoral College, but not anymore. After all it supposedly was invented to keep people like Owen Callister out of office. And now every morning when she reads the news, she wishes she had just won Arizona. That’s all she needed. She thought she had it clenched, with it being Morejon’s home state. Mike did too, it’s why they didn’t spend enough time there. But maybe she was never going to win, because the south was never going to give a woman that job. No one’s ever said as much to her, but she knows it to be true. She grew up there. People forget that about her, but she’s a daughter of the American South. She’s winning an award today for her work in human rights advancements in Manufacturing in Europe and Asia, as her own country removes books from classrooms. As her own country is passing laws to make child labor easier. As her own country is starting a witch hunt to murder trans people. No she didn’t deserve this award. She didn’t want to go accept it, she tried to send Mike to do it on her behalf. But Henry convinced her to. He thought she needed to be reminded that she has done good work. That not winning her election doesn’t mean she wasn’t good enough. But she wasn’t good enough. And this country that she was once willing to lay her life down for is no longer the same place. Or maybe, it was always bad, and she was too naive, or brainwashed to realize it.

Addison has never been in here before. But getting off the train, not quite ready to make her way to her hotel she saw it. It’s like it called to her. Come be angry here, it’s a good place for it. So she walks in, sharing the bar with two others who look as defeated as she feels. She’s exhausted. She’s spent the last six months constantly traveling. Testifying before state congresses and local town halls. Explaining why abortion care is a human right. Explaining why it’s important. Explaining to men, who aren’t actually going to listen to her, how it saves lives. It’s been for naught, their god has spoken, or they have spoken and chosen to blame their god. In every place she’s stopped, she trained other doctors on the lifesaving procedure that is the dilation and curettage. She’s listened to other OBGYNs cry to her about losing their patients to preventable and treatable conditions. But the men making these laws don’t actually care about the women who are dying. No matter how many times she says the phase that if mom dies, so the fetus. The baby, she makes sure to appeal to them in the way they want. Because ninety-nine percent of all surgical abortions she’s preformed have been on grieving mothers. Mothers who sobbed their way through the procedure as she removed their non-viable fetus. Mothers who had painted nurseys and picked out names. And the other one percent, the woman who didn’t know they were pregnant until late in the game. Who agonized over the decision. She wonders if the men know that, that once the test has two lines, every decision you make decision you make changes the course of your life. Addison knows this, she and Mark would have a teenager now, but she wasn’t ready to give up her marriage. But she doesn’t regret it, it lead her to where she is. She has her beautiful little boy Henry, and Jake. Jake the man of her dreams. But the men making the laws would call her a slut and a murderer. Would tell her that she didn’t deserve the happiness she has since found in motherhood. They want to rot in their hell.

They share the bar in silence for thirty minutes. At three-thirty the bar tender looks up.

“Last call ladies.” They each order one more drink, raising it in a silent toast to one another. Solidarity among them. The promise to go on and fight for at least one more day.

#law and order svu #madam secretary #greys antony #olivia benson #elizabeth mccord #american politics #leftism #abortion is healthcare #abortion is not a crime #black lives are human lives #black lives matter #acab #all cops are pigs #ron desantis can go fuck himself #i hate it here #america sucks #trans lives are human lives #go punch a nazi

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phoenix-knight · 2 years

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To all the ignorant cluster fucks at SCOTUS who voted to overturn Roe v Wade,

We fucking hate you. The whole world and whoever can still use their braincells, hates you. Not just for the rights you have robbed women of, but for what it represents for the rest of us. For years, American politicians have been absolute attention whores who act like the whole world revolves around the US, and the other countries should just fall in line. Right now, your country is burning in hatred and despair because of the things you have done. The young and old are on the streets demanding their rights, and there is resentment in the very air. Fuck, I was so angry I couldn't sleep, that's why I am here ranting. Finally, you have ripped off the bandages yourself and shown the world what power hungry monsters you really are.

You're coming for our rights of bodily autonomy and freedom of choice as women, and this is likely not to end here. You will come for contraception, same sex marriages, interracial marriages, and everything else you have convinced yourself is "bad". Congratulations, you have successfully built the opposite of a fanbase in every world conscious person in the US who still has their wits about them.

Oh, and special mention to Clarence Thomas, cause what an ignorant disgraceful dickwad you are. The communities most affected by the overturning of Roe v Wade will be the marginalized poor POC, specifically black women. How the fuck can you sit and smile along with the old white supremacists in the same photo, as if you did not just conveniently ignore hundreds of years of black history and systemic racism. They will turn on you, Thomas, and when they do, we will lead you to the slaughter.

Also, Amy Coney Barrett? How can you still identify as a woman and claim to be a voice of women in the Supreme Court? How the fuck do you even look into the eyes of other women? Your behavior and ideology is abhorrent, disgusting and vile. How dare you act as if your Christianity gives you the right to dictate how the rest of us with a uterus live? How dare you act as if you give a fuck about anyone but your own stupid little self? Please identify as an imbecile from now on, maybe people will recognize you better.

Y'all, if this was really about children, there would be universal health care, better foster care and child services, free education, growth opportunities and access to mental health facilities, therapy, less widespread hunger and poverty... But of course they overturn a law which only has any real implications on everyone except rich white old men, politicians and government officials! These fuckers will just take their jet and fly themselves to a state where they can get all the abortions they want for their mistresses and daughters.

Guns have more rights than girls in the US. When the price to pay for rape is less than abortion of a raped impregnated child, its pretty fucking obvious this was never about anything but power and control over women's bodies. Regressing back to the 1950s is not a good example to make when talking about "the land of the free, home of the brave".

It's like they want more babies, so more taxes, more abandoned children, overpopulated foster care, abuse, resorting to addiction, contributing to drug epidemics already making strides... all of this so that the moment the children go to pre-school, the children who "could've cured cancer", are shot in cold blood by an 18 year old with a semi automatic machine gun he thought was cool to play with.

You ignorant fuckers have made more enemies in a day than you ever could in the presidential elections. You just told almost 30 million women/people who have uteruses that their rights, freedom and choice don't matter for shit. We, and our allies, from all spectrums of identities, will fight. This is not over. And you will not have the last word on our fucking bodies. Not before we vote you the fuck out of government. It's ridiculous that we still have to protest this shit, but here we are. We will not stop, and we will revo-fucking-lutionize until our rights are protected. The bottom line is, You're fucked and We're coming for you.

Yours insincerely,

Every fucking person who has a uterus on the planet

#supreme court #abortion #roe v wade #rant #scotus #womens rights #bodily autonomy #reproductive justice #reproductive freedom #repro rights

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forza-lh44 · 6 months

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Bit weird to say that people aren't holding politicians accountable... almost every protest on the streets rn is against the governments of their respective countries, especially in the Western world where the majority of governments support Israel. Its just that when celebrities speak out it makes a much more massive impact than your local mayor telling you who you should vote for or whatever.

A lot of people are apolitical, or choose to distance themselves from the news due to the misinformation/hatemongering etc... some people just don't care because they don't know enough about it... if a celeb they idolise and look up to talks passionately about this topic they will be more inclined to listen. I personally have friends who only learnt of the latest news through Gigi Hadid and the backlash she received for supporting Palestine, and they are fully against Israel now after educating themselves... it's not that hard to ask a person who millions idolise to do a good thing

Logically speaking a celebrity can bring awareness to a thing but they can't make any useful change on the ground.

Lewis saying "fk Israel. Free Palestine" will not change the reality of the ppl being murdered.

And that's what I'm talking about, ppl act as though celebrities have more pull and reach than they do and I find that a bs take.

When I say hold politicians responsible I'm not even talking about the mayor....I'm talking about presidents and prime ministers and the governing bodies of countries that decide what their militaries do.

I think Lewis is cool af but I'm not waiting for him to move before I do, that's a senseless approach to life. If ppl don't want to do the research on a global issue that's on them not a celebrity.

Holding ppl who are just extremely popular to such high expectations is unrealistic and creates more issues than it solves.

I'm not fighting the celebrities I liked that came out in support of Israel, I unfollowed them and know that they're not my kind of ppl.

My issue specific to Lewis is that he is expected to be the IT BOY of F1 and encourage and guide everyone whilst there are 19 other drivers. I have no idea how much impact the FIAs ban on politics can and does impact him but he did say something. Didn't "side" with Israel and therefore raised awareness of the issue.

I'm also personally annoyed because ppl I thought had commonsense took their queues from celebrities (that are supporting genocide) and I cannot fathom why.

#im really just disappointed that critical thinking isnt common

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civildisorderstream · 1 year

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The Worst Congress

I said I'd make this my political thought dumpster. I made as well follow through right? Real quick though, AGDQ 2023 is ongoing at the moment, which basically means my time is claimed for the week as I like to tune in. Streaming-wise I'd just decided to do two short streams a day, one at noon and the other at 9pm. It's the best way to get around all my work at home.

So, on to business.

We have a new Congress in America, lead by the Republicans. Well, "lead" is a really strong word. In their opening week, they failed to officially title a Speaker (the person in charge of all the business, what order they do it in, etc). It took fifteen goddamn attempts and that alone has made this the worst House in my lifetime. I'm almost 40, to put some perspective on that. There's been a LOT of Congresses in my life that were dead in the water policy-wise or actively harming people policy-wise. This one is going to be one of those two, probably leaning the latter, at minimum. But the fact that it can't function in the most basic of ways really shows how degenerated my country has become when it comes to its perception of what it means to hold an elected office and how to do the job. Professionalism has gone out the door in favor of posturing and grandstanding. Funny thing for a guy named "Civil Disorder" to say, right?

Today though they actually started doing things. They passed their ruleset for the next two years, which has made the goof of giving the insurrectionists what amounts to veto power to stop procedures. They got rid of the Ethics Committee, again, despite all of the "we need to DRAIN THE SWAMP" talk from Republicans. And they've also established things to go after peoples and entities investigating the insurrection attempt, and bringing justice those who were involved in it.

The thing is, the hypocrisy isn't a surprise. Nor is pointing out the means of making them stop in their tracks. The hypocrisy is the point. They very much intend to do it, they boast about it. For all the talk varying people have about the SECRET CONSPIRACY EVIL government does, from one party or another, the truth of the matter is when our government is being wrong to others or even evil, it's really banal and just plain-as-day business. It's not thrilling nor happening in secret, it doesn't require reading between any lines. They just say, "We want to do this bad stuff to people here's how we're doing it." The only secret criminality that happens when it comes to the government is at an individual level, usually for financial crimes like embezzlement / fund misappropriation. Really boring stuff - stuff that still needs to be brought to justice, but it's not exciting.

My angle in talking politics is almost always rooted in "avoid the doomspeak, here's what we can do directly about this specific thing." For now, we're still in the super early stages of this iteration of our government. Luckily, the House doesn't have single-handed power to make legislation happen. The POTUS has veto power, the Senate has to vote in favor of legislation, so honestly I wouldn't expect much in the way of federal law. However, the committee stuff they're going to be doing is going to be VERY OBNOXIOUS, particularly to me because I'm the idiot that actually pays attention to this stuff so you, dear reader (if any of you exist yet), don't really have to. I still have my document on hand about protest safety and support on hand, and will bring it out when needed in the coming two years. But for now, my advice?

Make these assholes' lives miserable. Not in any criminal sense. Don't harass them or stalk them or anything. But you can definitely do some persona non grata stuff. Refuse them service if you just so happen to work at the restaurants Republicans go to. It's "discrimination" to not serve them, true, but it's not the federally illegal kind. Because you're refusing to serve assholes, which are not a protected class. That's just one of many examples you can do. Hell if you want, you can even boo them when they appear in public. Like I said, don't hang around them to do it, just in passing. Give them the finger. This is all "for now" stuff. We have to see what nonsense they attempt in the coming days to get more concrete ideas. For the moment we can certainly play by all the rules legally speaking, be it practical or the cult-like following of Constitutional allowances. If they can weaponize it, so can we.

#politics #congress

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preppernewstoday · 1 year

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(Psst. The FTC asks me to remind everyone that this website includes affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link, you might earn a small commission. This doesn't increase the cost of the item or decrease its awesomeness. ~ Daisy) By the author of Get Ready for Anything as well as the online course Create a Better Pantry with a Less Budget In particular, over the past six years, our confidence in the election process has fallen. Half of the country predicted voter fraud during the midterm elections. Only 20% polled believed they could vote in our elections. This is largely due to our politicians and media who doubt close elections before they happen. They scream foul before the fouls happen. They scream in pain at the thought of someone cheating if they lose. It can't be all blamed on right-wing voters, despite the popular opinion. Do you remember 2016? Do you remember the moment Mrs. Clinton refused to Donald Trump during the 2020 election? She still claims that the election was unfair, and she repeatedly called Trump an " unlegitimate president" and saying that there was "wide consensus that this election [in 2016] wasn't on the level." We don't know the truth. There are other factors involved, despite the fact that the mainstream media has portrayed Trump supporters and Republicans as the " threat democracy ". Clinton also planted this seed and continues to fertilize it with suggestions such as the one that Biden shouldn't concede the election in any circumstance in 2020 if Trump was elected. This doozy Right-wing extremists have already plotted to steal the next presidency election. They're not hiding it. The Supreme Court, which is controlled by the right, may rule that state legislatures have the power to reverse presidential elections. Clinton did not show leadership or try to calm down the riots that erupted following her election loss. She remained silent and that is complicity. This is not a Clinton problem. This is a Democrat problem. They've disputed every loss in the history of 2000s. Then came the 2020 election. Fears of voter suppression, dead voters, voting machines malfunctioning, and ballot dumps were all rampant during the Trump vs. Biden campaign. Both sides were involved in this. It was almost like a replay of 2016 except that Trump claimed the election was rigged and there were no riots in the American cities on Election Night. Extreme protests broke out during the January 6th 2022 demonstrations as Biden's election was certified by Congress. There was another important difference. Participants in the event were called "insurrectionists" by law and they are still being tried today. Nobody was ever prosecuted for the violence and property damage that occurred after the 2016 election. A documentary was created. Dinesh Dauza made a documentary called 2000 Mules. Here is the description of the film. 2000 Mules exposes a vast network of coordinated fraud in all five states that decided the election. This fraud was sufficient to alter the outcome. Two types of evidence are used in the film. Geotracking is the first. It monitors the movements of mules and paid criminal traffickers, who deliver illegal ballots to drop boxes. This is a brand new technology that was used to stop an old type of fraud. The second is video evidence. It's obtained from official surveillance cameras that have been installed by the state. You are taken back to the crime scene, and you can watch it again and again. The film allows you to see the criminals in action. The film answers the crucial question of who won the 2020 election. This movie documents the largest heist in American History. It reveals how the heist happened, who committed it, and how we can prevent it from happening again. It was not surprising that the mainstream media immediately called it " The debunked conspiracy movie" and said it was also a threat for democracy. The documentary was viewed by watchdog groups as a pretext for future "restrictive voting laws."

Before the 2022 midterms polticians and pundits were fond of election manipulation. This was the most closely contested election I have ever seen. There were also warnings about fraud in elections. Hillary Clinton wrote This is a coordinated effort to undermine democracy and delegitimize multi-racial democracy. It's all happening in full view of the American people. It's not enough for Democrats to oppose one law, one case, or one election. This blatant, broad effort requires us to change our thinking and fight back. Ironically, she also concluded that her 2016 loss was her own fault. "We should respect elections in which the people have their say. These statements are not partisan; they're characteristics of a functioning democracy. Donald Trump stated this on his Truth Social platform. The same thing is happening to voter fraud as in 2020? ? Clark County, Nevada has a corrupt voting process (be careful Adam! As do many other places in our soon-to-be Third World Country. Arizona even stated that "by the end the week!" -- They want more time for cheating! Kari Lake must win! Now, they claim that 20% of Maricopa County's so-called Voting Machines aren't counting Votes that were placed in the Machine. Only Republican areas? WOW! This disaster is causing great harm to Blake Masters and Kari Lake. This can't happen again! Attorney General Mark Brnovich, I believe, is on the case. He could be the greatest hero and save the country from the inside! ! Pennsylvania Democrats have stated that Pennsylvania may not have a final vote count for many days and that they still use expensive machines for speed. See PAPER BALLOTS, ONE-DAY VOTING, MUST HAVE A VOTER I.D. PROBLEM SOLVED. You can also save a lot of money! ! Georgia's Stacy Abrams went to court to overturn her failed gubernatorial race. She lost her suit and lost again in her match against Governor Kemp in 2022. It doesn't matter what election results you have, it is important that your family can eat. To help you with this, download our QUICKSTART guide . Everybody seems to believe that the electoral system is flawed. It's not just a right-wing or left-wing thing to lack trust in the electoral process. It's all the damned bird. No matter where you stand on the issue, almost everyone thinks that our electoral system is flawed. Both parties agree that this is true, but it's not clear why they accuse the "others". Partisan lines are blurred by the lack of confidence in the country’s ability to hold an honest election. 33% of Democrats who have seen their party leaders struggle to protect the country's voting rights are extremely confident in the U.S. elections. Only 1 in 5 independents consider themselves to be "very confident" about the country's elections. A smaller number of Republicans (13%) are less confident than the majority (59%) who have little faith in this system. They responded that they are either not so confident or not at all, a sign of growing skepticism... Here's my question: Does it matter who the winner is if no one believes that the results were valid? While the person who is sworn in to the office will be granted temporary power, it doesn't mean that anyone other than their supporters will believe that they are legitimately there. How will they ever accomplish anything? The system is now distrusted by everyone. There are many reasons to doubt our elections, our government and our media. We don't trust one another when we don’t trust our elections. The Washington Post reported 28 percent of voters, including 41% of Republicans, stated that they have little or no faith in this year's midterm election results. It seems that political disagreements are affecting every day life. 49% of voters believed that political views reveal a lot about a person's character, and 34% said it only revealed some. Nearly one fifth of voters said that political disagreements have hurt relationships with family and friends.

"I agree that the greatest threat to our democracy is survival, but it is the divisiveness which is creating this threat," stated Ben Johnson, 33, a New Orleans filmmaker and Democrat. It feels like people on both sides aren't agreeing anymore on facts. If we don't agree on basic facts, it's impossible to meet in the middle. If you don't agree on facts, it will be difficult to move forward as a country and continue to exist. ... The opposition party was viewed as a major threat to democracy by a majority of voters from both parties. Our very existence as a nation will be at stake if we don't find a way to cooperate. What's the point of trying if we feel that our voices aren't being heard? It doesn't matter if there are actual shenanigans. Our election process is a failure if no one accepts the result when their candidate loses. What is the point? I don't know the answers. I know that the United States of America is gone. What will replace it? (Want to have uninterrupted access The Organic Prepper? Subscribe to our paid newsletter. ) What do you think? Are you confident in the results of the midterms'? Which evidence is sufficient to make you believe or not? Are you feeling represented? What can we do to move forward as a nation? Let's discuss it in the comments. About Daisy Daisy Luther is an adventure-seeking, coffee-swigging blogger. She is the publisher and founder of three websites. 1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2) The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work has been republished in numerous other media outlets and she has been interviewed many times. Daisy is the best-selling author and editor of five books traditionally published and 12 self-published books. She also runs a small digital publishing business with PDF guides and printables and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com. You can find Daisy on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

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yoontual · 6 years

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monsta x probably got stuck in traffic either going to the venue or returning to their hotel when they were here and just imagining them there stuck in the middle of the pro abortion protest has me dying

#i live 1 hour away from buenos aires and it took me almost 3 to get there that day #akshsj can you imagine them there its so funny #also in ther concert they played videos when they were chnaging and stuff #but my section had like a column in front that blocked the screen #so bc we couldnt see ppl were just on their phones following the protest #and gettinf information about what was happening in the senate #(bc they were voting to legalize abortion or not)#and there was a point in which it looked like the pro abortion side was going to win #and everyone was so happy and cheering and hugging each other #like one time they had already even returned to the stage and my section #was not paying attention bc we were so happy :(#anyways they probs got stuck there and i find that so funny #zz.txt

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vampireinterview · 3 years

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what exactly is going on in Poland right now

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise when the Polish Constitutional Tribunal proclaimed abortion illegal in the case of a fetus with a defect and/or one which is potentially dead. Perhaps there is some truth to the statement that the people should have seen it coming for years. And the same thing could be said about the fact that today, on a peaceful Wednesday on January 27th, the ruling was officially published, making it the letter of the law.

So, what does this mean, exactly? Well, for one it makes abortion virtually illegal. The only instances in which a fetus can be legally removed are as follows: (a) legal proof of rape or incest and (b) endangerment of the life of the person carrying the fetus.

(source)

In reality, the numbers speak for themselves: while about a thousand abortions used to be performed every year in Poland, roughly 40 of them will now be legal (for example, the data from 2019 says that out of the 1110 operations performed that year, 1074 would be illegal as of today). Rape is undeniably almost impossible to prove in court, not to mention even getting a ruling within the first few months (realistically such cases take years and are almost never ruled in favor of the victim). Abortion therefore isn’t fully illegal, but almost unreachable for anybody (even if their health is at risk, an example of which might be the case of Alicja Tysiąc who wanted to perform an abortion because of her health and was denied that right, later on fully losing her eyesight upon being forced to give birth).

The previous law did not allow choice in the case of a healthy fetus & a healthy mother, making it one of the strictest law systems in this regard in Europe, but what it did is it offered a way out for people who were carrying a fetus that was dead or ill. So what happened? In short: the Constitutional Tribunal happened.

(source)

What the Tribunal is supposed to be is a body meant to guard the constitution from the potential laws imposed by the ruling parties. The politicization of the Tribunal is widely regarded to have made it into the exact opposite of that: it seems like an institution almost openly repurposed to solidify conservative and right wing reform drafted by the ruling party (Law and Justice). With its politics leaning heavily into the positions taken by the Catholic Church, the ban had already been attempted multiple times in the past. The justices put into the positions of power at the Tribunal voted on the abortion ban on October 22nd but they had yet to publish the ruling.

Meanwhile, people took to the streets. Tens of thousands marched for weeks, with the red lightning as their symbol, screaming about the many injustices the ruling party and the Polish Catholic Church have committed. The many instances of police brutality did not scare people away as they formed what is estimated to be the biggest street protests in the history of the country. The anti choice lobbyists celebrated but the overwhelming majority of the country disagreed with the Tribunal’s ruling (according to some polls as much as 75% of Poles wish to re-institute the old abortion “compromise” which consisted in the right to remove a fetus with defects, and when surveying among people aged 18-29, that percentage rose all the way up to 96%).

That being said, the social unrest started making people question the previous “compromise”, and there was a public debate about perhaps even fighting for a full pro choice option, allowing Poles to perform abortion surgeries as freely as the people from other European countries have done for the past decades. The ruling party backed down for a while, hesitant to publish the official law, waiting all the way to the last moment.

(source)

Today marks the day when abortion, in practice, becomes illegal in Poland. The publishing of the ruling was sudden, quiet, unannounced in hopes of reducing the public outrage. Performing an abortion has become a luxury for the people who can afford leaving the country and paying for a surgery at a private clinic somewhere abroad. That is virtually impossible for the members of the working class. Groups that are also especially vulnerable are LGBTQ+ people and people from rural areas who often find no financial or emotional support in their local communities and family members.

And so it goes. Many of us are taking to the streets again. Big cities outside of Poland will also be hosting protests in solidarity with the people in Poland. I decided against posting any direct links to the events but you can easily find them on social media, they usually gather around Polish embassies. You can also consider donating a couple of bucks to the Abortion Dream Team (an organization helping Polish people with financing abortions in foreign countries and/or help in covering the travel expanses) or to the Women’s Strike (an organization which organizes the protests).

If you want to learn more & see more of the protests in November and December, here are some mainstream videos in English you can watch: (x) (x) (x) (x)

#this is a somewhat simplified and shortened guide to help you understand the ongoing issues #hope this is informative #poland #politics #polish #polish politics #news #international news #protests #human rights #women's rights #activism #social justice #social rights #europe

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queerprayers · 2 years

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hey, do you have any lent ideas? i’m not a very observant/emotionally spiritually engaged catholic at this point in my life. but i am mentally and culturally there. like i want to keep doing this tradition, even if i haven’t been to church in a while and don’t imagine taking myself for a long while.

however, i just don’t know what i can give up. i really don’t spend money on anything i don’t need, and taking away some of that from myself just seems cruel. limiting luxuries wouldn’t be noticeable. idk what to do!

much love <3

Hello, beloved! Great question!

If your life is already simple, especially if you don't have very much, you're right, taking away something that makes you happy would just be miserable. There's a lot of assumption that goes into Lent suggestions/guidelines, and one of those is that the person reading them is reasonably well-off, regularly has enough to eat, and has a lot of extra things/activities in their life. For so many of us, these things aren't true.

So let's take the focus away from punishing/limiting and find a practice that you can add/include in your life! Here are some ideas—and anyone's welcome to add their own suggestions in the replies.

Start a daily/almost-daily/whenever-you-can prayer practice! We got the rosary, prayer books, guided meditation, taking a walk in the woods, crying—all great ways to pray. (My prayer tag)

Start/come back to/continue reading the Bible! (My Bible tag)

Set aside a day of rest/prayer! You could look into the Jewish Sabbath tradition (note: we're researching & taking inspiration here, not appropriating specific practices), follow a more traditional Christian Sunday-is-the-Lord's-day practice, or create your own way to, once a week (or when you can), remember who you are, that work isn't everything, and that rest is God-ordained.

Start/continue a creative practice, like journaling, poetry, or art! Maybe start keeping a daily journal or write a poem every day. No perfectionism allowed, and no one ever has to see what you create—create for yourself and God. The Artist's Way is a book/practice that really helped me create a spiritual philosophy re: my art. It can be a bit self-help-y/cheesy at times, but it definitely introduced me to a new frame of mind. You can start with its creative affirmations.

Pick a book to read—there are many Lenten devotionals available, but it could be any theme/genre. My absolute favorite Lent book is queering lent by the poet slats, and this year I'm checking out O Beautiful Dust by RW Walker, which was just published by one of my friends!

Pick a subject to research! It doesn't have to be specifically religious—learning about anything can bring you closer to God and the created world. I've been learning a lot about Mary Magdalene recently.

Start/continue being politically active! Register to vote, call your local officials (see this website if in the US), attend a protest, join an organization, learn about an issue.

Volunteer! My favorite suggestion will always be your local library, but you can also look into food pantries, animal shelters, and children's programs. You can also volunteer for a variety of online projects here.

Reach out to someone you haven't talked to in a while—maybe someone you've harmed or has harmed you (if it's safe), or someone you accidentally never replied to, or someone you want to get closer to. God is love, and your relationship to God is bound up in your relationships with others.

Start/continue a physical practice, such as yoga. I always always will shout out Yoga With Adriene. (If you're not Indian, and especially if you're white, maybe check out Decolonizing Yoga as well.)

That's what I got for now. There's no pressure to reinvent your religious/spiritual life, and there are not have-to's when it comes to this season. However we get to Easter, we get there. Even if nothing at all about your life changes in the next forty days (+ Sundays), Easter will come. Memonto mori (remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return), memento vivere (remember that you are alive, and you will be resurrected).

<3 Johanna

#lent #asks #never said the memento mori/vivere thing before #not sure where i got it from #but now i'm gonna think about that for a while #i say the wildest things when answering asks in the middle of the night

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