#looking like war

[zvaigzdelasas]

The creation of the "Alliance Fleuve Congo" was made official on Friday in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. At the helm is Corneille Nangaa, the former chairman of the Electoral Commission. 

In a video posted on social networks, he openly allied himself with several rebel movements, including the M23, which took up arms against the government in November 2021. 

The movement, which is active in the east of the DRC and, according to sources, supported by Rwanda, was represented in Nairobi by its president Bertrand Bisimwa.

Corneille Nangaa has announced that his platform currently comprises 17 political parties, two political groupings and several armed groups. 

A close associate of former president Joseph Kabila, he is calling on armed groups scouring swathes of the DRC to join his movement.

According to its founder, the aim of the "Alliance Fleuve Congo" is to save the DRC, which has been in a state of chronic instability for three decades, mainly due to the weakness and absence of the state, to re-establish its sovereignty and put an end to insecurity.[...]

Corneille Nangaa also thanked the Kenyan authorities for their hospitality. Nairobi, whose soldiers involved in the East African force recently left the DRC [is alleged to collude] with rebel groups, including the M23. 

15 Dec 23

[PulseLive is Private Kenyan Media]

"The Ministry of Foreign & Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Kenya refers to press reports that some nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo claiming association with rebel groups within DRC addressed a press conference in Nairobi and made statements that are prima facie inimical to the constitutional order of the Democratic Republic of Congo," Mudavadi stated.

"The Ministry wishes to note that Kenya is an open and democratic state where freedom of the press is vouchsafed. As such, nationals and non-nationals may engage the Kenyan media without reference to the government.

"Kenya strongly disassociates itself from any utterances or activities likely to injure the peace and security of the friendly Nation of DRC and has commenced investigation to determine the identities of the makers of the statement and the extent to which their utterances fall outside constitutionally protected speech. Kenya further affirms its non-involvement in the internal affairs of DRC and commits to continue supporting the peace, security, and democratic consolidation of the country." Mudavadi added in the statement.

17 Dec 23

[BBC is UK State Media]

[Machine Translation]

Corneille Nangaa of the Alliance Fleuve Congo released the first announcement that he is in Rutshuru

The head of the political and military coalition that opposes the government of Kinshasa recently formed in Nairobi, Kenya, issued his first statement signed from Rutshuru in the province of North Kivu, asking the public to reconcile and remove "urgently" President Felix Tshisekedi.

In a statement presented by M23's Bertrand Bisimwa , Corneille Nanga, who headed the electoral commission of DR Congo in the 2018 presidential election that gave victory to Tshisekedi, condemned the latest election.

This month, on the last day of the campaign, President Tshisekedi said that this conference of Corneille Nangaa in collaboration with the M23 movement was a "Nairobi joke" organized by Rwanda.

He said: “If they provoke us even a little, very little, I will gather both houses of the Legislative Assembly and ask for permission to declare war on Rwanda.

He added: "...don't be afraid, today our army can shoot in Kigali in Goma... Kagame [the president] will not sleep in his house, he will sleep in the forest, playing with other people and not playing with Fatshi Beton (Felix Tshisekedi)."

29 Dec 23

#looking like war

[odinsblog]

🗣️THIS IS WHAT INCLUSIVE, COMPASSIONATE DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE

Minnesota Dems enacted a raft of laws to make the state a trans refuge, and ensure people receiving trans care here can't be reached by far-right governments in places like Florida and Texas. (link)

Minnesota Dems ensured that everyone, including undocumented immigrants, can get drivers' licenses. (link)

They made public college free for the majority of Minnesota families. (link)

Minnesota Dems dropped a billion dollars into a bevy of affordable housing programs, including by creating a new state housing voucher program. (link)

Minnesota Dems massively increased funding for the state's perpetually-underfunded public defenders, which lets more public defenders be hired and existing public defenders get a salary increase. (link)

Dems raised Minnesota education spending by 10%, or about 2.3 billion. (link)

Minnesota Dems created an energy standard for 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. (link)

Minnesota already has some of the strongest election infrastructure (and highest voter participation) in the country, but the legislature just made it stronger, with automatic registration, preregistration for minors, and easier access to absentee ballots. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded the publicly subsidized health insurance program to undocumented immigrants. This one's interesting because it's the sort of things Dems often balk at. The governor opposed it! The legislature rolled over him and passed it anyway. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded background checks and enacted red-flag laws, passing gun safety measures that the GOP has thwarted for years. (link)

Minnesota Dems gave the state AG the power to block the huge healthcare mergers that have slowly gobbled up the state's medical system. (link)

Minnesota Dems restored voting rights to convicted felons as soon as they leave prison. (link)

Minnesota Dems made prison phone calls free. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed new wage protection rules for the construction industry, against industry resistance. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a new sales tax to fund bus and train lines, an enormous victory for the sustainability and quality of public transit. Transit be more pleasant to ride, more frequent, and have better shelters, along more lines. (link)

They passed strict new regulations on PFAS ("forever chemicals"). (link)

Minnesota Dems passed the largest bonding bill in state history! Funding improvements to parks, colleges, water infrastructure, bridges, etc. etc. etc. (link)

They're going to build a passenger train from the Twin Cities to Duluth. (link)

I can't even find a news story about it but there's tens of millions in funding for new BRT lines, too. (link)

A wonky-but-important change: Minnesota Dems indexed the state gas tax to inflation, effectively increasing the gas tax. (link)

They actually indexed a bunch of stuff to inflation, including the state's education funding formula, which helps ensure that school spending doesn't decline over time. (link)

Minnesota Dems made hourly school workers (e.g., bus drivers and paraprofessionals) eligible for unemployment during summer break, when they're not working or getting paid. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed a bunch of labor protections for teachers, including requiring school districts to negotiate class sizes as part of union contracts. (Yet another @SydneyJordanMN special here. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a state board to govern labor standards at nursing homes. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, which would set price caps for high-cost pharmaceuticals. (link)

Minnesota Dems created new worker protections for Amazon warehouse workers and refinery workers. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed a digital fair repair law, which requires electronics manufacturers to make tools and parts available so that consumers can repair their electronics rather than purchase new items. (link)

Minnesota Dems made Juneteenth a state holiday. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned conversion therapy. (link)

They spent nearly a billion dollars on a variety of environmental programs, from heat pumps to reforestation. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded protections for pregnant and nursing workers - already in place for larger employers - to almost everyone in the state. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a new child tax credit that will cut child poverty by about a quarter. (link)

Minnesota Democrats dropped a quick $50 million into homelessness prevention programs. (link)

And because the small stuff didn't get lost in the big stuff, they passed a law to prevent catalytic converter thefts. (link)

Minnesota Dems increased child care assistance. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned "captive audience meetings," where employers force employees to watch anti-union presentations. (link)

No news story yet, but Minnesota Dems forced signal priority changes to Twin Cities transit. Right now the trains have to wait at intersections for cars, which, I can say from experience, is terrible. Soon that will change.

Minnesota Dems provided the largest increase to nursing home funding in state history. (link)

They also bumped up salaries for home health workers, to help address the shortage of in-home nurses. (link)

Minnesota Dems legalized drug paraphernalia, which allows social service providers to conduct needle exchanges and address substance abuse with reduced fear of incurring legal action. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned white supremacists and extremists from police forces, capped probation at 5 years for most crimes, improved clemency, and mostly banned no-knock warrants. (link)

Minnesota Dems also laid the groundwork for a public health insurance option. (link)

I’m happy for the people of Minnesota, but as a Floridian living under Ron DeSantis & hateful Republicans, I’m also very envious tbh. We know that democracy can work, and this is a shining example of what government could be like in the hands of legislators who actually care about helping people in need, and not pursuing the GOP’s “culture wars” and suppressing the votes of BIPOC, and inflicting maximum harm on those who aren’t cis/het, white, wealthy, Christian males. BRAVO MINNESOTA. This is how you do it! And the Minnesota Dems did it with a one seat majority, so no excuses. Forget about the next election and focus on doing as much good as you can, while you still can. 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

👉🏿 https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1660846689450688514.html

#politics #minnesota #social justice #culture wars #this is what democracy looks like #republicans are evil

[mroddmod]

everyone be quiet i'm manifesting

#the bad batch #tbb #star wars #star wars the bad batch #sw tbb #tbb omega #tbb wrecker #tbb crosshair #tbb echo #tbb tech #tbb hunter #mods art #mods draws #my art #YAYYYYY ITS DONE #i've been tinkering w this for like a couple weeks now i think #just on and off #whenever i was nervous about their fates or just generally sad about them i would work on this #it was supposed to make me feel better but it would usually just make me more sad 😭😭 #but i still really like how it turned out!!! so that's cool #very self indulgent but!!! whatever #i think i'll add this to my inprnt soon too :) so keep a look out for that i guess lol #okay byeeeeee #ALSO THE NEW EP WAS SO GOOD #okay bye fr

[captain-mozzarella]

I headcanon that all of Yoda's finest teacups were made by younglings

In fact most masters of the order's finest teacups were made during crèche crafting time when the kids were learning pottery.

#what im saying is that if one jedi is mad at another #they will serve tea in a normal store bought boring looking teacup and not the wonky colourful child made ones #like they can feel the joy an creativity flow from the cups in the force amd it just makes tea time just so much better #so receiving tea in a store bought cup feels more lifeless (unless its a gift from a friend outside the temple or sth idk) #you know youve made it as a jedi when a youngling gifts you a teacup #yoda has multiple of those vitrine shelves to showcase his gigantic collection #Star Wars #obi wan kenobi #mace windu #shaak ti #plo koon #yoda #jedi council

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

so in an attempt to actually use positive thinking, anytime i fuck up and my brain reacts as if ive cause a minor apocalyptic event, i compare my fuck up to the 4 minute fuck up committed by the crew of the uss william d porter.

and only today, as i was having to explain what happened to my mom when i was explaining the whole comparison thing, did i realise that most people dont know about it and ive decided that needs to change because its objectively hilarious.

...which is a weird thing to say about an event that occured on a warship in 1943, specifically november 14th.

see the uss william d porter was a fletcher-class destroyer but you dont need to know what that means, just that she had guns that went bang bang and that she was escorting another ship, the uss iowa, to cairo.

while they were on their way there, they performed some gun trials like testing the anti-aircraft guns or the torpedos. and while they were running a torpedo drill, the crew of the porter managed to fire a live torpedo straight at the iowa which you know, in terms of a list of things to do while escorting a ship, shooting a torpedo at them is not on that list.

especially if the president of the united states is on board.

yeah so fdr was on board and the gun trials were actually his idea, and part of the trials was that they were conducted under radio silence.

and that means the crew of the porter couldnt just call the iowa to be like "move out the way, we accidentally shot a torpedo at you."

but they did have signal lamps and you know, the signalman on board was trained to signal this exact kind of message.

...and uh never mind, the signalman did manage to successfully tell the iowa that a torpedo was coming toward them but wasnt as successful when it came to the direction the torpedo was coming from.

not all hope is lost though because the signalman could still use the signal lamp to correct his previous mistake and-, never mind, he announced that the porter was reversing, which she wasnt.

yeah so at catastrophic mistake number 3, they broke radio silence to warn the iowa and she managed to turn out of the way just in time which meant no one got hurt. and even though the inquiry into the incident led to chief torpedoman (fantastic job title btw) lawton dawson being sentences to hard labour, fdr intervened and waved away his sentence, saying it was all an accident.

but yeah, so thats my new measure for "how much did i really fuck up?" and when i compared accidentally picking up a pencil case without a tag on it in wilko, turns out it was a very minor fuck-up. yes, the cashier had to ask another worker to grab a duplicate so they could scan the barcode, but i didnt nearly kill the president during wartime via accidental friendly fire

#kai rambles #so like #i enjoy ships and learning about them and looking at them but like #i dont really care for warships #i dont hate them viscerally like i do cruise ships but i never really care for them #apart from the ones that were just like either ridiculously designed like the hms captain or the vasa or the novgorod #or the ones where just insane shit happened like with the william d porter #like this isnt even the extent of the porters unfortunate incidents like shr was sank by a kamikaze attack that MISSED #but somehow ended up below the ship and exploded and just like yeeted the porter out of the water #william d porter #uss william d porter #ww2 #world war 2 #world war ii #warships #again warships are really not my thing but god some of them are so fucking funny #uss iowa #fdr #franklin d. roosevelt #this suddenly got so many notes in like less than 24 hours what the fuck #shipposting

[eggdrawsthings]

a duet in a galaxy far, far away

#the quote belongs to @/spoiler4you on twitter #sr if it looks a bit shitty #i don't normally paint a scene like this YvY #my art #din djarin #grogu djarin #grogu #i refuse to use the din grogu tag until further notice skjdfs #pedro pascal #clan mudhorn #a clan of two #the mandalorian #the mandalorian spoilers #star wars

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

just to be completely clear, the amount of military power and political influence Israel has has NOTHING to do with its settlers being Jewish. Israel is a force for American & European interests in the region and they're just doing what America does and allows/encourages its close allies to do.

war crimes aren't considered war crimes when someone America finds useful is doing them. european and american pushback against anyone criticizing Israeli apartheid & genocide is 100% because these crimes are useful to American & European hegemony.

Governments that are deeply antisemitic, like France, aren't suddenly caring about Jewish people. Jewish people, persecuted the world over, don't hold some kind of hegemonic power outside of Israel.

The state of Israel and its attendant brutal treatment of the locals are both incredibly useful to the US, and American hegemony means we're expected to celebrate both.

not bc they're Jewish. this isn't a break in the pattern of western antisemitism and it's not evidence that antisemitism doesn't exist.

it's just like how you could get fired for saying shit against the US war in Afghanistan when i was growing up. it is 100% about US military and political interests (ok slightly western europe too but lbr)

#this widespread support has NOTHING to do w Israelis being Jewish apart from evangelicals wanting to use them as pawns for armageddon #the primary reason this is all being treated like it's ok is cuz it's useful to the usa #i feel like this post is going to bring terrible ppl into my inbox but i'm gonna leave it rebloggable for now #if our (US+EU) governments push back at all it will be because it stops being useful to us #either because Israel isn't doing this as quickly & efficiently as promised and it looks like Palestine might actually do some damage #or if it otherwise becomes too politically costly by causing too much tension between the US & other nationstates #either allies like Saudi or if states we aren't quite ready to have war w seem to be ready to throw down over it

[nyerusnova]

yeah... things are pretty yikes right now in the current batfam storyline,

but at least Tim is rocking those thigh-high boots and I just wanted to appreciate that for a sec

#tim drake #batman spoilers #batman 138 #comics #they look so good on him ok #thigh high socks/leggings/boots/etc are just MWAH *chefs kiss* #in fact i fully support making the boots reach up even a bit higher mister jiménez pls #edited out dialogue to avoid spoilers but also because... lol #dcu #bc this kinda popped off i want to mention. i actually am quite liking gotham war so far. #gonna let zdarsky cook with this!!!

[elbiotipo]

Count Dooku: The Republic is corrupt and undemocratic, and the Jedi are elitist and out of touch, they have opressed us for far too long!

Separatist: I agree! We need to make a new path, down with the Republic, we'll join you!

Count Dooku: Good choice my friend! Welcome to the Dark Side of the Force. My name is Darth Tyrannus. You can join me at the Star Destroyer Malevolence with my friend, General Grievous.

Separatist: wh

Separatist: why are you called like that

#why are you led by a hologram that looks like death #why do you have a red lightsaber conde duque? #cosas mias #star wars #the hottest star wars take I have is that the separatists were actually right #but they were led by darth tyranny general manslaughter and mr. insidious. come on.

[abucketofweird]

I can’t get over this one shot:

It’s the version of Ahsoka in TCW that we knew. She was badass and deadly.

But now we see that she’s also a kid. She was trained to be a child soldier. This is her after years of fighting and learning how to handle herself in a battlefield.

#but also she looks so fucking cool #like I want to recreate this shot immediately #ahsoka spoilers #ahsoka series #ahsoka show #ahsoka show spoilers #ahsoka #ahsoka tano #star wars

[snawleyy]

#rations have run out and they're improvising #is anakin eating bugs still canon? #it better be #they look like mnms #disaster lineage #ahsoka #ahsoka tano #star wars #star wars art #star wars fanart #sw tcw #obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #star wars anakin #obi wan star wars #obi wan and anakin #jedi #the clone wars #my art #snawleyys art #digital art #krita #togruta are predators pass it on

[starwarjotta]

looking for someone on Tatooine

#commander cody #coday #cody day 2224 #codywan #tatooine husbands #looking for obi-wan obviously DUH #ARE YOU GUYS READY FOR CODAY???? #I've overdone myself and drawn THREE pieces for today like what???? #I did not think I'd get them all done but somehow I did #I'll post them all during this day with little gaps in between #cody my beloved #I gotta say #I've never drawn as good looking rocks as I did here #the ones Cody's sitting on like #THEY AREN'T EVEN THAT GOOD but I suck at any type of background shit so I'm so happy they look decent hahaha #I also live for scavenger/ rebel/ hobo -outfit Cody #and also that he still keeps some parts of his armor #just to be able to kick ppl and droids if the need arises ofc #I love Cody so much I'm so ready for today #star wars

[romansmartini]

ever since i was a little girl i knew i wanted to speculate about the sexual and romantic undertones of celebrities’ professional relationships

#thinking about the larry thing again. all my life i’ve been a believer 🙏 #obviously many times of misguided beliefs were there before i like. learned how the world works. now i practice rpf discernment #but quite frankly there’s nothing like the drug of looking at star wars ot promo and being like man. #carrie fisher and harrison ford definitely fucked didn’t they. #and then for carrie fisher to drop the princess diarist and be like yeah me and harrison had the most torrid 70s affair #you can possibly imagine. #VINDICATIONNNNN #quite frankly they are the reason i still believe something similar happened with gillovny. we just need the memoir drop #rpf quiz

[yamineftis-art]

Grogu likes Din’s mustache.

So I’m hella excited over the third season coming I just pray we get some more of Din’s feelings about his past, so I finally drew this little thing I’ve been thinking about for a while ;v;

I firmly believe wearing a helmet for your whole life is no reason to not style yourself like you want, so let Din have a mustache if he wants™!, but also I like to think he looks at himself on the mirror and can’t help but think of his dad :’) so he keeps the mustache.

Also pls let Din adopt Grogu and show him his face when they’re alone!!!!

#the mandalorian #star wars #grogu #din djarin #clan of two #arts #aq vetina #the most fun aside drawing Pedro's beautiful face was looking at the actor who played his dad #they're so alike but also different I loved drawing him ;; #I like to think Din just does his everyday stuff with Grogu just sitting on his chest #I love them so much i can't want to have them back aaaaaa #pedro pascal #themandaloriandaily

[hunrising]

all this blood is on the hands of everyone who decided to ‘stand with israel’ this week, knowingly or unknowingly, every single one of them

#war crime by definition but strangely not being denounced by any western governments who are so interested in calling for peace #does this look like peace to you??? is genocide your definition of peace??? #you know anyone who paid attention in history class is recognising these signs #the feeling of helplessness is one that never goes away #it’s devastating #free palestine

[jedi-starbird]

Palpatine: My boy, Master Kenobi is lying to you!

Anakin: ?...yeah? He does that? Lying is Obi-Wan's favourite sport. Bant told me that he was dropped on his head by Master Qui-Gon when he was a child and Master Qui-Gon was really tall, so the fall shook loose some things in his brain and now Obi-Wan is allergic to giving straight answers. It took me 3 years to figure out his favourite colour. and his birthday. 5 to figure out that he's allergic to shellfish. I once told a restaurant that Obi-Wan can't have shrimp and he told me to "stop giving information to the enemy". I've made a game of it really.

Palpatine: *muttering under his breath* ok try using shrimp next time

Anakin: what?

Palpatine: Nothing!

#look it'd be so funny if palpatine slandering obi wan doesn't work because anakin has accepted that obi wan is just the weirdest person ever #rako hardeen arc where instead of unstable angst anakins like oh hope obi wans having fun he's had a fake death vision board for ages #anakin saying all this as if he is not also the weirdest person ever to non-jedi and even most other jedi mr my dad is a cosmic energy #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #anakin and obi wan #star wars