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reasonsforhope · 4 months

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"As countries around the world begin to either propose or enforce zero-deforestation regulations, companies are coming under growing pressure to prove that their products are free of deforestation. But this is often a far from straightforward process.

Take palm oil, for instance. Its journey from plantations, most likely in Indonesia or Malaysia, to store shelves in the form of shampoo, cookies or a plethora of other goods, is a long and convoluted one. In fact, the cooking oil or cosmetics we use might contain palm oil processed in several different mills, which in turn may have bought the raw palm fruit from several of the many thousands of plantations. For companies that use palm oil in their products, tracing and tracking its origins through these obscure supply chains is a tough task. Often it requires going all the way back to the plot level and checking for deforestation. However, these plots are scattered over vast areas across potentially millions of locations, with data being in various states of digitization and completeness...

Palmoil.io, a web-based monitoring platform that Bottrill launched, is attempting to help palm oil companies get around this hurdle. Its PlotCheck tool allows companies to upload plot boundaries and check for deforestation without any of the data being stored in their system. In the absence of an extensive global map of oil palm plots, the tool was developed to enable companies to prove compliance with regulations without having to publicly disclose detailed data on their plots. PlotCheck now spans 13 countries including Indonesia and Malaysia, and aims to include more in the coming months.

Palm oil production is a major driver of deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia, although deforestation rates linked to it have declined in recent years. While efforts to trace illegally sourced palm oil have ramped up in recent years, tracing it back to the source continues to be a challenge owing to the complex supply chains involved.

Recent regulatory proposals have, however, made it imperative for companies to find a way to prove that their products are free of deforestation. Last June, the European Union passed legislation that prohibits companies from sourcing products, including palm oil, from land deforested after 2020. A similar law putting the onus on businesses to prove that their commodities weren’t produced on deforested land is also under discussion in the U.K. In the U.S., the U.S. Forest Bill aims to work toward a similar goal, while states like New York are also discussing legislation to discourage products produced on deforested land from being circulated in the markets there...

PlotCheck, which is now in its beta testing phase, allows users to input the plot data in the form of a shape file. Companies can get this data from palm oil producers. The plot data is then checked and analyzed with the aid of publicly available deforestation data, such as RADD (Radar for Detecting Deforestation) alerts that are based on data from the Sentinel-1 satellite network and from NASA’s Landsat satellites. The tool also uses data available on annual tree cover loss and greenhouse gas emission from plantations.

Following the analysis, the tool displays an interactive online map that indicates where deforestation has occurred within the plot boundaries. It also shows details on historical deforestation in the plot as well as data on nearby mills. If deforestation is detected, users have the option of requesting the team to cross-check the data and determine if it was indeed caused by oil palm cultivation, and not logging for artisanal mining or growing other crops. “You could then follow up with your supplier and say there is a potential red flag,” Bottrill said.

As he waits to receive feedback from users, Bottrill said he’s trying to determine how to better integrate PlotCheck into the workflow of companies that might use the tool. “How can we take this information, verify it quickly and turn it into a due diligence statement?” he said. “The output is going to be a statement, which companies can submit to authorities to prove that their shipment is deforestation-free.” ...

Will PlotCheck work seamlessly? That’s something Bottrill said he’s cautiously optimistic about. He said he’s aware of the potential challenges with regard to data security and privacy. However, he said, given how zero-deforestation legislation like that in the EU are unprecedented in their scope, companies will need to sit up and take action to monitor deforestation linked to their products.

“My perspective is we should use the great information produced by universities, research institutes, watchdog groups and other entities. Plus, open-source code allows us to do things quickly and pretty inexpensively,” he said. “So I am positive that it can be done.”"

-via Mongabay, January 26, 2024

Note: I know it's not "stop having palm oil plantations." (A plan I'm in support of...monocrop plantations are always bad, and if palm oil production continues, it would be much better to produce it using sustainable agroforestry techniques.)

However, this is seriously a potentially huge step/tool. Since the EU's deforestation regulations passed, along with other whole-supply-chain regulations, people have been really worried about how the heck we're going to enforce them. This is the sort of tool we need/need the industry to have to have a chance of genuinely making those regulations actually work. Which, if it does work, it could be huge.

It's also a great model for how to build supply chain monitoring for other supply chain regulations, like the EU's recent ban on companies destroying unsold clothes.

#deforestation #palm oil #indonesia #malaysia #agriculture #european union #united states #save the forest #open source #technology #mapping #forestry #satellite #good news #hope #climate solutions #environment

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jmdbjk · 7 months

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Praise and worship

I finally figured out the meaning of the Standing Next to You MV!!

But first, did Kookie wax his pits or does he always have that landing strip of hair there?

Anyway, sorry for the immediate digression but you know it is imperative to dissect everything, even pit hair.

Back to the MV...

The opening scenes include this very non-inclusive sign:

Only limos, no sportscars, SUVs, pick up trucks, family sedans or mopeds welcome here. They are keeping the riff-raff out. ONLY LIMOS THEY SAID CAN'T YOU READ THE SIGN?

Obviously makes sense when we see this dystopian scene where less than a dozen people are walking around inside some sort of derelict compound. A FORTRESS FOR ONLY THE STRETCH LIMO PREFERRING POPULATION!

Incidentally, stretch limos represent 1 percent of the options available from limo companies in the U.S. (I googled it).

Amazing that they found this many in Budapest.

What was once a sign of affluence has now fallen on hard times... hence the decrepit dystopia pictured above.

Enter our female antagonist. Who does she represent? I'll get to that later...

Our antagonist is antagonizing beautifully throughout but starts off antagonistically in her leather coatdress and 1980's heavy black eyeliner and bobbed hair. After all, the song is a throwback to that era of the late 70's/early 80's. All she is missing is the peach blush in the hollows of her cheeks. Hand me a Maybelline Blooming Colors Blush Palette and I'll fix it.

Then the dark angel makes his appearance. Ah, yes, sweet angel, come closer.

I think he has come down or up from where ever dark angels habitate in order to correct an injustice... the injustice being the duck-billed cups of this atrociously antagonistic dress our antagonist is made to wear:

For real... they couldn't find a better fitting dress? At least grab a roll of toilet paper and stuff those titty cups to fill them out? They are so sad and droopy looking... props to her Maybelline Expert Eyes Turquoise eye shadow though.

I suppose the stacked pancakes... I mean bra cups... could have meant to be an homage to another 80's icon: Madonna and her cone shaped bra... but ... nah... try again. They look like hamburgers. Now I can't unsee it. So, so sad.

We do a lil spin and our protagonist spins himself up into a jewel encrusted, crotch grabbing, finger pointing master of his game.

I think he's here to conduct a worship service.

It's time to be churched:

Stretch limos (because no riff-raff remember?) enter the opening in a temple-of-Petra-like giant wall emblazoned with JK's sacred heart logo. Very symbolic.

In they go to gather for worship. Others sit in theatre seats while Ms. Antagonist sits on the car like a hood ornament.

So... who is she and what's going on here?

No clue. She sits haughtily and antagonistically on her outdated stretch limo, while her little minions sit in the rows watching the object of their desire preaching the holy choreography.

However, Mr. Protagonist is about to really lay down the religion.

But first, gratuitous shot of Kookie prancing in heeled chelsea boots.

Back to religion... the religion of Bangtan dance... one of these is not like the other.

(*covers Hobi-hyung's eyes* Don't look its too painful.)

Did they not monitor this mess?

I don't meant to be disrespectful and I know these guys are some of the best dancers in the industry but next to Jungkook, they look like a herd of elephants. Just sayin'.

Anyway, Protagonist proceeds to become angry at the sloppy choreo and all the limo drivers gather for a gang-brawl in the middle of the church. Probably arguing over the spelling of chauffeur. I couldn't find an urban slang reference for limo, limousine or limo driver. I'm sure some exist but being the innocent thing I am, I don't know what they are.

Mr. Protagonist brings down the wrath and puts the fear of Hobi into his crew:

Then the climax of the whole darn thing: a dance break. Holy communion commences with serious thrusting into crotch grabs (some are enjoying it more than others):

Service concludes and I wonder how many takes before they got one where Kookie didn't bust out laughing with his bunny giggle?

But seriously, the MV does seem to be an homage to an era where Michael Jackson thrilled us with his brilliant music and dancing. Jungkook is continuing to pull us and BTS as a group along, forging new paths for them in the music industry. Like Kookie, I am anxious for them to reunite and get back on that stage together. And like Yoongi, I too believe they will devour the world.

(It's humor, y'all.)

#worship at the altar of jungkook #its humor #sarcasm #parody #its not serious #i apologize if i offended anyone #however Bangtan Church of Choreography is very serious #standing next to you #jungkook golden #looking forward to a choreo performance mv please

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sstormyskyess · 5 months

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Pitch Black - Prologue

author's note: hello hello everyone!! welcome to my first long form series on this blog! i'm excited to share this story i've been cooking up since summer last year and i hope everyone likes it as much as i've had fun brainstorming it 😊 this is gonna be a little short prologue to set the mood and give a little context for reader so things make sense later on! please enjoy 💜

cw: descriptions of injury, mentions of vomiting

word count: 1400+

Everyone and their mother knows that Russian winters were ruthless. It was a widely accepted fact, even for those who hadn’t personally experienced one of said agonizing winters. Snowfall was common for six months out of the year, and the temperatures could reach —44 degrees fahrenheit.

Cold air seeped in from under the door of the tiny room you were confined in. You shivered while you sat on the old, flimsy cot against the back wall of the solitary prison cell. Your vision was unfocused and blurry, though it was hard to tell because it was too dark to see anything. The walls were made of dark concrete and half-rotted wood slats. It smelled musty and stale, the air circulation in the room severely lacking.

You wince when the door suddenly opens, squeezing your eyes shut and trying to block out the blinding LED lights beaming into the room out of nowhere. Your breath catches in your throat from the surprise, your chest stinging from the feeling. You peek an eye open when a metal food tray clatters to the floor. The sound was deafening as it cut through the murky silence you had been wallowing in, making you bring your hands up to cover your ears. The man that dropped the tray barks something at you in Russian before slamming the door shut once again.

Konni Group.

An up and coming Russian private military company, the target of your squad’s operation, and the people that had taken you prisoner.

The stated goal of your team was to clear out a known Konni base and to capture or kill the colonel they knew was posted up there. The POI had led a recent attack on a U.S. arms convoy and taken a number of highly lethal weaponry from the wreckage. The weapons were likely hidden somewhere in the base, and it was imperative to locate them before they were used anywhere.

The operation had gone less than optimally. It was doomed to fail from the start; the intel your squad was given was faulty, you had your cover blown by an ambush, and to cap it all off, the chaos allowed for Konni to get their hands on you and whisk you away.

The only thing you could think of was time. How long had it been since you’d been thrown in here? Days, weeks, months? You couldn’t tell. Just thinking about it made your head hurt.

The only measurement you had was how long it was between the miniscule amount of food you were granted by your captors on a seemingly random schedule. You were practically able to feel your body consuming itself, your stomach growling at you angrily. You would cry, but the waterworks had run dry ages ago. You couldn’t afford to lose any more water; you didn’t have that privilege anymore.

Years of active service in the U.S. Marines had gotten you used to grueling conditions, but nothing like this. Even out in the field, dispatched from whatever base you were stationed in, you knew you’d be able to secure some kind of sustenance. Food and water felt like a luxury now.

Despite the cold, the hunger, and the wear and tear on your body, both internal and external, the worst part was the lack of contact. You couldn’t even hear anyone moving outside, no matter how hard you strained your ears. There was no light peeking from under the door, so you couldn’t track shadows moving. The only indication that someone was behind the door was the meager rations being put into the cell. Between those meals, for all you knew, no one was present in the facility anymore.

Too much time had passed for anyone to still be looking for you or trying to rescue you. It hurt, at first. The feeling of being forgotten or being considered disposable had been crippling for a while, so painfully debilitating that it had you weeping endlessly for days, maybe even a week or more. The muscles of your stomach ached afterwards. Mixed with all the kicks and punches you suffered from interrogations, your heaving sobs had you nauseous and throwing up bile frequently.

You ruminated over what could possibly be the reason you were still being kept here instead of being executed. You weren't being interrogated anymore by now. You were just left with the wounds that you sustained from hours upon days upon weeks of interrogation. The bruises had healed, but the cuts were infected from the shoddy cauterizing job they had attempted. It felt like the bones that were broken were healing incorrectly.

You sigh shakily, your perpetually shivering body getting uncomfortable, so you try to shift a bit. The only thing you accomplished by trying to roll over on your tiny stone cold cot was falling face down onto the floor. You wince and give a weak groan, curling up and holding your stomach. You try your hardest to just close your eyes and get some sleep, no matter how restless it was.

When you woke up, you were finally back in the present. You were finally back in the little old house that you found after escaping that Konni facility, the sun just barely rising over the horizon.

It had been two years since you were abducted. The realization hit you hard. Two years you spent in that dark, cold, suffocating cell. Two years you spent withering away, slowly but surely. Two years you spent in your own special hell, alone, battered and beaten, left scarred for years and years to come.

You roll over and get out of the bed, a headache already springing forth in your head, making you rub your temples. You sigh and amble over to your rucksack full of all the essentials—well, most of them at least. You frown at the sight that greets you. Only a few MREs left and all of them were your least favorites. But, you’ve been through worse.

You pace around the room as you eat, reading some of the files you pulled off the rickety table in the corner of the tiny one room cabin. You scan the files and run a thumb over the insignia on the front of the manila folder containing everything you needed for your next job.

Al Qatala.

A terrorist organization based out of Urzikstan, the current boogeyman of the western world, and your current contractor.

The life of a freelance intel agent was an interesting one, to say the least. You had been around the world making problems for a countless number of political and military bodies, but the money was worth it. Not to mention the anonymity that came with not being tied down to any one organization.

You went off the grid after you escaped from Konni. You wanted to go back to normal life, but something in you told you to stay away from it all. Maybe it was the fear of being found and captured again. The logical side of your brain told you that there was no reason they would want you back, but it was hard to reason with a brain torn apart by the sort of trauma you went through.

You hadn’t cared to check up on any of your old teammates. There was an underlying resentment present in the back of your mind. You were betrayed by them, after all. They left you for dead and didn’t look back. Thinking back on it made you frown. You watched them leave you behind with no hesitation, run away without looking back. So much for no man left behind, right?

By the time you snap out of your frustrated thoughts, you’re already finished with your food. Your headache has gotten worse. You groan and pinch the bridge of your nose. You would really have to invest in some painkillers.

Based on how high the sun has gotten, you figure it’s about time to get moving. At least focusing on this job would keep your mind off the events that led you here. You flip through a folder and look at the location that was printed on one of the papers. Then, you take a peek at the pictures of the people you were meant to track.

Task Force 141.

A multinational task force recently founded, a team dedicated to making the world a better place, and ones that had been causing problems for your current contractor.

You take a deep breath and pack all your things away, ready yourself for the trek to the task force’s current location, and leave the cabin with the determination that kicks in whenever you set out on a mission.

𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

#tf 141 x reader #konni group #al qatala #mw2 fanfic #mw3 fanfic #mw2 #mw3 #modern warfare 2 #modern warfare 3 #cod mw2 #cod mw3 #modern warfare fanfic #cod mw2 fic #cod mw3 fic #mwii #mwiii #sstormyskyess pitch black #storm's creations #sstormyskyess

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blueiskewl · 1 year

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Very Rare Roman Gold Coin is Returned to Greece

A Very Rare Gold Coin, Minted by Brutus to Mark Caesar’s Death, Is Returned to Greece

The gold coin, which dates from 42 B.C. and is valued at $4.2 million, is thought to have been looted from a field near where an army loyal to Brutus camped during the struggle for control of Rome.

A rare and ancient gold coin that morbidly celebrates the stabbing death of Julius Caesar was returned this week to Greek officials by investigators in New York who had determined it was looted and fraudulently put up for sale at auction in 2020.

The coin, known as the “Eid Mar” and valued at $4.2 million, features the face of Marcus Junius Brutus, the onetime friend and ally of Caesar who, along with other Roman senators, murdered him on the Ides of March in 44 B.C. According to historians and experts, Brutus had the coins minted in gold and silver to applaud Caesar’s downfall and to pay his soldiers during the civil war that followed the killing.

The return Tuesday came at a ceremony attended by officials of the Manhattan district attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, who cooperated on the case.

The coin, one of 29 artifacts returned to Greek officials, was given up earlier this year by an unidentified American billionaire who, investigators said, had bought it in good faith in 2020. The British dealer who helped to arrange the sale was arrested in January, and the coin itself was recovered in February, officials said.

Experts said the coin, minted two years after Caesar’s death, is about the size of a nickel and weighs about 8 grams, and is one of only three known to be in circulation. A silver version of the coin was also minted and about 100 are known to exist. Those can sell for $200,000 to $400,000.

“The Eid Mar is an undisputed masterpiece of ancient coinage,” Mark Salzberg, the chairman of Numismatic Guaranty Corp., which verified the coin but does not research provenances, said in a statement in 2020.

Experts said they believe the coin was likely discovered more than a decade ago in an area of current-day Greece where Brutus and his civil war ally, Gaius Cassius Longinus, were encamped with their army.

The front, or obverse, of the coin features an engraved side view of Brutus and the Latin letters “BRVT IMP” and “L PLAET CEST.” Experts say the former stands for “Brutus, Imperator,” with imperator referring not to emperor but to commander. The latter stands for Lucius Plaetorius Cestianus, who was a treasurer of sorts for Brutus and oversaw the minting and assaying of his coins.

The reverse features two daggers on either side of a cap known as a pileus. The daggers stand for Brutus and Cassius and reflect the manner of Caesar’s death, experts say, while the cap is a symbol of liberty that was worn by freed slaves. Overall, the image is meant to celebrate the murder as an act by which Rome was liberated from Caesar’s tyranny. Beneath the symbols is the Latin inscription “EID MAR,” designating the Ides of March — March 15, 44 B.C. — the fateful day on which the conspirators left Caesar dead on the floor of the Roman Senate.

Historians see irony in the fact that Brutus, who had admonished Caesar before the murder for the self-aggrandizing act of putting his face on Roman coinage, wound up doing the same with his own coins.

Ultimately, the forces who favored the dead Caesar, led by Mark Antony and others, defeated Brutus and his men in October of 42 B.C. at the Second Battle of Philippi, and Brutus and Cassius committed suicide.

According to investigators, the coin is first thought to have come to market between 2013 and 2014. Richard Beale, 38, director of the London-based auction house Roma Numismatics, put it up for sale on his company’s website and over several years shopped it at coin shows in the United States and Europe before it was sold in October 2020. The $4.2 million was the most ever paid for an ancient coin, according to the Numismatic Guaranty Corp.

Mr. Beale is charged with grand larceny in the first degree and several other felonies and was released on his own recognizance. His lawyer, Henry E. Mazurek, declined to comment on the case.

Among the other Greek antiquities repatriated on Tuesday were figurines of people and animals; marble, silver, bronze and clay vessels; and gold and bronze jewelry. Their total value was put at $20 million.

In remarks at the ceremony, Konstantinos Konstantinou, Greece’s consul general in New York, said his country has been hit hard by the illicit trading of antiquities and is seeking their return “in every possible way.”

He praised investigators for “striking down the illegal international criminal networks whose activity distorts the identity of peoples, as it cuts off archaeological finds from their context and transforms them from evidence of people’s history into mere works of art.”

By Tom Mashberg.

#Very Rare Roman Gold Coin is Returned to Greece #Julius Caesar #Marcus Junius Brutus #Eid Mar #gold #gold coin #collectable coin #ancient artifacts #history #history news #ancient history #ancient culture #ancient civilizations #roman history #roman empire #Mark Antony #Second Battle of Philippi #long reads

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 10 months

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday in Chile that it was imperative for the United States to declassify documents that could shed light on Washington’s involvement in the South American country’s 1973 coup.

“The transparency of the United States could present an opportunity for a new phase in our relationship between the United States and Chile,” Ocasio-Cortez said in Spanish in a video posted on Instagram alongside Camila Vallejo, the spokesperson for the left-leaning government of President Gabriel Boric.

The Democratic congresswoman from New York is part of a delegation of lawmakers who traveled to the capital of Santiago ahead of the 50th anniversary of the coup against President Salvador Allende on Sept. 11, 1973.

The delegation had first traveled to Brazil and will now go to Colombia, both of which are also ruled by left-leaning governments.

The goal of the trip was to “start to change … the relationships between the United States and Chile and the region, Latin America as a whole,” Ocasio-Cortez said outside the Museum of Memory and Human Rights that remembers the victims of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who ruled from 1973 to 1990.

“It’s very important to frame the history of what happened here in Chile with Pinochet’s dictatorship. And also to acknowledge and reflect on the role of the United States in those events,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Ocasio-Cortez said she has introduced legislation to declassify documents related to Chile’s coup and Vallejo said a similar request had been made by the Chilean government.

“In Chile as well, a similar request was made … that aims to declassify documents from the Nixon administration, particularly certain testimonies from the CIA director. This is to attain a clearer understanding of what transpired and how the United States was involved in the planning of the civil and military coup, and the subsequent years that followed,” Vallejo said. “This is very important for our history.”

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, a Democrat from Texas, said after the delegation’s approximately hourlong visit to the museum in Santiago that it was important to recognize the “truth” that “the United States was involved with the dictatorship and the coup.”

“So that’s why we’re here,” Casar said in Spanish to journalists, “to acknowledge the truth, to begin a new future.”

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro from Texas said the visit to the museum was a reminder that it was important “to make sure that a tragedy and a horror like this never, ever happens again in Chile or in Latin America or anywhere else around the world.”

Earlier in the day, the delegation also met with Santiago Mayor Irací Hassler.

Reps. Nydia Velázquez of New York and Maxwell Frost of Florida also traveled to South America as part of the delegation sponsored by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington-based think tank.

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mrs-liebgott · 7 days

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Ya'll bitches who watched Masters of The Air?? Our boys Cleven and Crosby went WILD in academics.

Buck:

"After the Second World War, Cleven stayed in the US Air Force serving in Korea, Vietnam and with a spell at the Pentagon. He retired in 1964 with the rank of Colonel. While in the service Cleven had earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a doctorate in physics and following retirement initially worked in IT for Hughes Aircraft. Later he took over the management of Webber College in Florida which at the time had only fifty students and a poor reputation. He was able to turn it around and it later became a university specializing in business studies. " - Gale Winston Cleven | American Air Museum IM SORRY A FUCKING DOCTORATE IN PHYSICS???? COLONEL. DR. GALE WINSTON "BUCK" CLEVEN???? Croz:

"On returning to the US, Crosby resumed his studies, completing his M.A. in 1947 and his PhD in 1953. He taught English composition, writing several books on the subject. He also carried out work for the US Air Force Academy and the Pakistan Air Force Academy. In 1993, Harper Collins published his memoir of his wartime experiences, titled A Wing and a Prayer." - Harry Herbert Crosby | American Air Museum

"Returning to school, Crosby graduated from the University of Iowa in 1947 with his master's degree, and then earned his PhD from Stanford University in 1953, where Wallace Stegner supervised his dissertation. Harry taught English composition and American literature at the University of Iowa, and was the Writing Supervisor of the Rhetoric Program (1950–1958).[2]

In 1958, Crosby moved with his wife and four children to Newton, Massachusetts, for a faculty position at the College of Basic Studies (CBS) at Boston University. He retired from Boston University in 1984, after chairing the Department of Rhetoric at CBS and authoring or co-authoring with CBS colleagues six textbooks on college writing:[2]

College Writing – The Rhetorical Imperative; Harper & Row, 1968 Just Rhetoric, Crosby/Esty; Harper & Row 1972 The Shape of Thought: An Analytical Anthology, Bond/Crosby; Harper & Row, 1978 Building College Spelling Skills, Crosby/Emery; Little Brown; 1981 Better Spelling in 30 Minutes a Day, Crosby/Emery; Harper Collins 1994 Skill Builders – A Spelling Workout, Crosby/Emery; Harper Collins, 1997

During his early retirement, Crosby served as Director of the Writing Center at Harvard University." - Harry Herbert Crosby - Wikipedia CROZ GRADUATED FROM FUCKING STANFORD, A PHD TOO!!! in conclusion, these boys are academic weapons P.S. Croz's Autobiography in case any of ya'll were interested: Amazon.com: A Wing and a Prayer: The "Bloody 100th" Bomb Group of the US Eighth Air Force in Action Over Europe in World War II: 9781504067331: Crosby, Harry H.: Books and a list of libraries it's in across the world: A wing and a prayer : the "Bloody 100th" Bomb Group of the U.S. Eighth Air Force in action over Europe in World War II | WorldCat.org

Mostly USA but as of (5/29/24 or 29/5/24) there are

457 in USA 8 in Canada 1 In Ireland (Dublin) 35 in UK

if you chose yes^ feel free to dm me/send an ask with facts or stories you find and i'll try my best to post them!! (you can send pictures with too!! my discord is babydoll_donowitz)

#hbo war #gale cleven #mota #harry crosby #masters of the air #buck cleven #ww2 history #the bloody hundredth #100th bomb group

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mariacallous · 6 months

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While the failure to break through Russia’s fortified defensive lines on the southern axis this summer has been disappointing for Kyiv, the news on the diplomatic and political front is far more alarming.

Speaking about the progress of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in early December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told The Associated Press: “We wanted faster results. From that perspective, unfortunately, we did not achieve the desired results. And this is a fact.”

While Ukraine has achieved some limited successes this year, with results in the Black Sea in the summer and a Kherson-region bridgehead firmly established east of the Dnipro River in the fall, the lack of significant territorial gains is a bitter pill to swallow for Kyiv.

But despite these setbacks, with the final taboos overcome regarding providing the heavy weaponry and long-range missile capabilities needed to win this war, the trajectory of the conflict was still arguably trending in Ukraine’s favor, according to many Western military experts, just as long as the coalition of democratic nation states maintaining Ukraine’s wartime economy held strong and the arms transfers kept arriving.

Winter’s developments, however, paint a far worse picture. Given the immense risks ahead, it is imperative that Kyiv starts preparing now for a future in which that coalition has fragmented.

In Europe, election victories for allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Slovakia’s Robert Fico and the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders have potentially added further blocks on European Union financial and military aid packages. Hungary’s Viktor Orban now has more leverage in his attempts to disrupt the bloc’s Ukraine policy, including holding up a new round of sanctions on Russia and a proposed 50 billion euro ($54.9 billion) aid package, even if his opposition to the EU opening accession talks for Ukraine has been successfully navigated by the bloc.

Orban was previously isolated inside the EU, which overtook the United States as the largest overall donor of aid to Ukraine over the summer. If Wilders manages to form a governing coalition and become prime minister, it could not only imperil the planned transfer of Dutch F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, but also become a major threat to future EU aid packages going forward.

Winter has also seen a truck driver protest in Poland and Slovakia, which have been blocking Ukrainian border crossings in a dispute over EU permits for Ukrainian shipping companies, which has in turn impacted the flow of volunteer military aid coming into Ukraine.

While Kyiv will be disappointed by these events, they are not insurmountable. Support for Ukraine remains high in Brussels, and Orban has proved himself capable of relenting on similar packages in the past, leveraging Hungary’s veto in exchange for EU concessions toward Budapest. Individually, member states such as Germany and the Baltic nations also continue to send substantial military aid to Kyiv outside of the structures of the European Union.

The news from the United States, however, is far more bleak. Speaking to reporters on Dec. 4, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan laid out in stark terms that the funds allocated by the government for Ukraine were spent, warning that if Congress did not pass further funding bills, it would impact Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.

“Each week that passes, our ability to fully fund what we feel is necessary to give Ukraine the tools and capacities it needs to both defend its territory and continue to make advances, that gets harder and harder,” Sullivan said.

The White House has been trying to pass a $61.4 billion aid package for Ukraine (part of which would go to replenishing U.S. Defense Department stocks), tied together with a package of aid to Israel and Taiwan, which is being blocked by congressional Republicans in a dispute over the Biden administration’s border policies.

Despite a majority of Republicans supporting increased military aid to Ukraine, bills trying to secure further funding have stalled in both the Senate and the House of Representatives since the caucus of far-right, pro-Trump House Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy as the speaker of the House of Representatives, replacing him with Ukraine military aid opponent Mike Johnson.

After Johnson was elected speaker, he appeared to walk back his opposition to Ukraine funding, in an apparent bid to win over some of his Reaganite skeptics in the Republican Party. However, he has chosen to try to leverage the urgency of the Biden administration’s Ukraine package to advance the Republicans’ anti-immigration platform.

This is no longer isolated to the House, as even pro-Ukraine senators, such as Lindsey Graham, joined Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in blocking the White House’s security package amid chaotic scenes in the Senate. With Senate Republicans falling in line with the legislative agenda of the House’s hard-right “Freedom Caucus” Republican wing, Ukraine will enter the Christmas period under sustained Russian aerial bombardment with depleted air defense ammunition stocks.

The United States is incapable of replenishing those stocks due to the domestic political wrangling of a small band of hard-line, anti-immigration Republican lawmakers, and Ukrainian civilians will likely die as a result of this amoral legislative obstinance. In Kyiv, where I live, the sense that these conservative lawmakers are willing to recklessly endanger Ukrainian lives for selfish political ends is palpable.

The Biden administration has expressed a willingness to compromise in order to try to break the impasse, but there is no certainty in where these negotiations could go. The size of this aid bill is itself a strategic move. The $61.4 billion package dwarfs any of the previous U.S. aid packages to Ukraine (which as of August 2023 totaled more than $77 billion), representing a more “one and done” approach to meeting Ukraine’s military aid needs for the entirety of 2024 and the remainder of President Joe Biden’s term.

If it passes, there will be no further opportunities in the short term for the Make America Great Again caucus to hold Ukrainian aid to ransom.

But the problems don’t stop there. The United States and Europe have both failed to produce enough artillery ammunition to meet Ukraine’s needs, and this shortfall led to South Korea becoming a larger supplier of artillery ammunition in 2023 than all European nations combined. But Korea’s supplies are not limitless, and U.S. and European production is still not at the levels needed to sustain Ukraine going forward. If this shortfall is not addressed, the consequences could be disastrous.

There are more hopeful signs that these problems are well understood, and that the coalition of nations supporting Ukraine remains committed to the cause in the long term. “Wars develop in phases,” said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in a recent interview with the German public broadcaster ARD in early December. “We have to support Ukraine in both good and bad times,” he said.

Everything now points to a long war in Ukraine, although none of this should have been unforeseeable for Western policymakers and defense chiefs. Ukraine’s top military c, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, gave a much-publicized interview with the Economist in November, in which he said “just like in the first world war, we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate.”

These comments, however, despite appearing to create the impression of a public rift between Zaluzhny and Zelensky, are not a concession of defeat from the four-star general. Zaluzhny made clear that he is trying to avoid the kind of grinding attritional warfare that favors Russia’s long-term strategy for wearing Ukraine down.

But a long war also heightens one of the biggest threats. Even if the Biden administration manages to get the new aid package over the line, effectively securing Ukraine’s military funding for 2024, the specter of another presidency for Donald Trump still looms large on the horizon. The polling for Biden less than one year away from an election is deeply concerning, and Trump’s prospects for victory need to be taken seriously, even in the face of his growing legal jeopardy.

A second Trump presidency would imperil not just U.S. democracy, but also the entire global world order, and the consequences for Ukraine could be potentially devastating. Trump’s refusal to commit to continuing to support Ukraine should be setting off alarm bells—not just in Kyiv, but across Europe too, where the greatest impacts from this change of policy would be felt.

Trump’s first impeachment was over his attempt to extort Ukraine to search for compromising material that he could use against Biden in the 2020 election, and there is no reason to believe that Trump has moved on from this. Many in Washington expect that a second Trump presidency will be marked by his desire for revenge against anyone that stood in his way. As the U.S. analyst and author Michael Weiss told me, “Trump’s first impeachment was over Ukraine, and he sees it as an abscess to be lanced. … A Trump presidency would be an unmitigated disaster for Ukraine.”

There are also signs that the Russians are acutely aware of this, and that their strategy in the short-to-medium term is simply to hold out in Ukraine long enough for a Trump presidency to pull the plug on the vital military aid keeping the Ukrainians in the fight. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recently remarked that the Russians expect the war to last beyond 2025, and in an address to his own propaganda think tank, Putin said that Ukraine would have a “week to live” if Western arms supplies were halted.

Ukraine cannot plan for a war that may extend beyond 2025 without preparing for a potential Trump presidency and all that would entail. The Ukrainian government must prepare for every eventuality, including a White House that is actively hostile toward Kyiv. To his credit, Zelensky appears to have acknowledged this possibility, going as far as inviting Trump to visit Kyiv.

Putin has made it perfectly clear that he sees his war in Ukraine as being part of a wider war that he is waging against the entire West. Western policymakers to take him at his word on this. Putin and his regime have been waging a hybrid war against the West for many years, and he considers his support for European extremists such as Fico, Wilders and France’s Marine Le Pen to be part of that war and part of undermining the Western liberal democratic institutions, such as the EU and NATO, that stand in opposition to Putin’s tyranny.

But there is no single individual on the planet more important to Putin’s global war agenda than his pet authoritarian in Mar-a-Lago.

Moscow’s goals in Ukraine remain unchanged; the Putin regime still maintains maximalist aims in Ukraine and is in this war for the long haul, with the total subjugation of Kyiv as its goal. Putin made his position very clear during his annual news conference. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also been explicit about this, and Europe should take the ongoing threat that a Trump administration poses to Ukraine seriously. There may well be a potential future in which Europe is forced to carry the burden of Ukraine’s war without its North American ally at the helm of the coalition, or even at the head of the collective defense strategy at the heart of European foreign policy.

Looking forward to 2024, there remains no path to peace in Ukraine without a Russian defeat. Looking beyond 2025, the future of Ukraine as a free and democratic nation-state, and potentially the entire security of Europe, hang in the balance.

This is why Europe, in particular, cannot afford to be complacent in the face of the rising threat of a Trump presidency. Opening EU accession talks for Ukraine is a good start, but until the bloc can match or outperform Russia’s current levels of ammunition production, the tide will start to turn against Ukraine if U.S. leadership on this war continues to falter. The truth is that U.S. leadership on this and on any other pressing international issue cannot be guaranteed.

For Ukraine to stand a chance of victory, its allies must begin preparing for catastrophe now.

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lonestarbattleship · 4 months

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"Newport News, Virginia Aerial photograph of the yard's pier area. USS West Virginia (BB-48) is fitting out in the left center. In right center is S.S. Leviathan, refitting for commercial service."

Date: February 1923

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command: NH 93533

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power-chords · 5 months

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Let me speak directly to Jewish students at Harvard.

I know that it’s alienating and hurtful to so many of you when campus Jewish organizations, like Hillel and Chabad, take positions that exclude your voices. To those students, I say: The Jewish tradition is much deeper than any organization. No one has a monopoly on Judaism.

Continue to learn Torah, Jewish history, and our ethical traditions. Continue to draw from these sources — your sources — to find yourself, to build community, to build your own power, and even to build your own Jewish organizations.

Be boldly critical of Israel — not despite being Jewish, but because you are. There is no tradition more central to Judaism than prophetic truth-telling, no Jewish imperative more urgent than bravely criticizing corrupt leadership, starting with our own.

As someone who spent over forty years running programs in which Jews, often young people, were under my care, the safety of Jews has always been my highest priority — and, frankly, the thing that keeps me up at night. I have myself been the victim of antisemitism, including, on more than one occasion, serious violent attack.

I know what antisemitism looks like and I do not take the issue of violence against Jews lightly. I have monitored, with vigilance, the kinds of speech that Israel-aligned parties are calling “antisemitic,” and it simply does not pass the sniff test.

Let me speak plainly: It is not antisemitic to demand justice for all Palestinians living in their ancestral lands.

Emphasis mine.

#:)

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sunlightmurdock · 1 year

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Safe Zone | 0.7 | Bradley Bradshaw and Jake Seresin x Reader

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Masterlist

Synopsis: A team of elite naval aviators holding down the fort at the North Island Air Base while they wait for reinforcements after a virus sweeps the continental U.S. - only, it’s been three months and no one has shown up.

Warnings: gore, death, violence and pretty graphic mentions of all things zombie related, love triangle, (18+, minors dni), angst etc, clear power imbalance in this chapter especially

…

Containment has been at the forefront of this operation since the beginning. Closing off the big cities, securing the safe zones like the plan detailed. That’s why this worked. It’s why there are as many survivors as there are, it’s why those survivors grow disillusioned to the danger that they’re in every single day and it’s currently the military’s sole purpose.

There were provisions in place that came before all of this, and ones that have been developed since with the intel provided. Infection is spread mostly by bites, scratches, blood and saliva. Direct contact, for the most part. This was established early on, confirmed in a series of rushed tests and trials, and was imperative in slowing the spread.

Now, rumour has it that old women are just waking up and reanimating out of the blue, without so much as a bruise on them. Two autopsies in and still no indication of the origin of the infection in Mrs. Hewitt.

Containment doesn’t just begin and end with the walls surrounding the North Island Naval Base, that’s not where Admiral Cain’s jurisdiction ends. For as far as the eye can see, he’s the only jurisdiction that matters nowadays, and his word goes.

So, when he decides that the accommodation block gets put on tier three lockdown, it goes. Exceptions and express exams are to be made for volunteers, room will be allocated for them in the Officers wing. Other than that, the residents of Block C will remain locked in their rooms with senior officers sweeping the building every four hours.

It’s done quickly and quietly in the middle of the day. Little fuss, no one in and no one out after the front door is locked. Infection doesn’t just appear out of nowhere and containment is key.

Jake puts his head down and hightails it back to his room the second that he sees your brows scrunch at the poor son of a bitch whose duty it is to tell you that you can’t enter the block. He just spent an entire afternoon fucking your brains out, and he knows that you’re going to try to bash his out once you know that he kept this from you.

Seconds away from the safety of the door to the officer’s building, his shoulder meets something moving at an equal pace and he stumbles.

“Sorry — you alright, Hangman?” Rooster. Of course it fucking is. Jake lifts his head and forces an almost polite smile, nodding his head slowly as he steadies himself and gives Rooster a quick glance over. Ready to start his afternoon and evening coverage, he’s freshly showered and his curls are still wet, he’s got this stupid chirpy look on his face that Jake could quite easily wipe off if he chose to recount his day right now.

“Just trying to grab some sleep before I cover Payback’s gate shift later.” Jake rolls his shoulders back and opts not to lie.

The walkie strapped to Rooster’s belt crackles, interrupting the small talk between two people who have never really been friends. He grabs it instinctively and lifts it in time for them to both hear a rather panicked ensign declare, “H-Hey Rooster, we’ve got an issue over here at Block C.”

Jake’s lips almost quirk. He can only imagine the trouble you’re causing over there. He’s glad that Birdbrain has to deal with it, since he’s going to be busy washing away the evidence of your afternoon together. Rooster leans his head back and groans. Jake shoots him a quick smile and heads for the shower.

Rooster hears you before he sees you. Causing trouble by the front door, arguing with the poor nineteen year old who is assigned to stand guard.

It’s the end of the day, you’re tired and you’re covered in sweat — more of it Jake’s than it is yours. You stare ahead of you at the young recruit that’s stopping you from entering your building. He’s young, maybe a little bit older than Luke.

You squint at him. “Excuse me?”

“Admiral Cain’s quarantining the building, volunteers aren’t included. You need to go to the infirmary for a health check and then they’ll place you in a room somewhere else.” His voice squeaks, nervous and borderline prepubescent as you stare him down.

“Let me explain, okay?”

It’s for five days. They don’t understand how Mrs. Hewitt turned, there could be a contamination risk in the building. Scratches and bites — that’s how it’s supposed to spread. Just a couple of other days, to see if anyone else gets sick.

“Are you insane?” You snap at him. “So, what if someone does turn? — You’ll just leave them all in there to kill each other?”

“No, no! There are going to be checks. Evening and night, we’re going to sweep the building, everyone gets locked in their rooms. Your mom and Luke will be safe.” Rooster insists, reaching out for you. You pull back sharply and glare at him. If he knew about this, so did Jake.

Jake who just spent the afternoon with his tongue in your mouth and didn’t think to mention this once.

Even after all of the explaining he can do, you still look just as angry as you did before. Rooster sighs softly, he’s under strict orders not to let anyone in or out of that building and he’s not going to make an exception for you.

“If they’re safe then why can’t I go back in?”

“Because we need you out here, they’re going to do a med eval on you and then—“

“And then what? — What if I’m sick?” You challenge, stepping closer to him and furrowing your brows. Rooster catches a hold of your arms, stopping you in place and forcing you to look him in the eye.

He glances around. This isn’t the place for this conversation. Not out here, not in front of all of these people. Civilians are meant to know as little about this as possible. Inciting panic causes problems. He tugs you closer to him.

“Let’s just get you checked out, okay? — We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” The way that he speaks makes it clear to you that he’s not really asking. Still, you aren’t in the mood to be bossed around by an asshole in a uniform after the day you’ve had with Jake.

It’s not exactly kicking and screaming that he drags you to the med centre, but you do put up a fight.

“Can you fucking stop?” Rooster grunts, struggling as he stumbles forwards, you thrash in his arms. He sighs and lifts hard, pulling you off of your feet and walking you into the infirmary. There are a few other volunteers sitting on metal chairs, waiting for their turn to be checked over.

There’s no way that Rooster’s going to be able to hold you still long enough to let them go ahead of you. Gritting his teeth, struggling to keep you held against him as he pulls his security lanyard from his pocket, he flashes the card towards the young girl standing guard and promptly marches you through the next set of doors.

“Keep going.” Rooster mumbles, his lips at your ear as he walks you forwards again. You drag your feet, pushing back against him, trying to shake your arms out of his grip.

You’ve never liked hospitals and this is no exception. He walks you into an exam room, there’s a volunteer nurse sitting with another volunteer. You push back against Rooster’s chest, trying to walk back out.

“It’s quick, just—“ He grunts as you drive your elbow back into his stomach and push against him, barely catching you before you can dip around him to get out. His fingers curl around your biceps, tugging you in front of him, brows furrowing sternly.

You move to kick at him again, lips parting as he yanks you forwards so that he’ll be able to speak without the nurses overhearing him. “I suggest you think long and hard about that shit you pulled with Coyote, and that little favour I did for you before you do that again.”

Not telling anyone. Your brows scrunch. The same man who has spent the past few weeks winning over your mother, and bringing you more uniform than you need, and playing ball games with your brother — is threatening to tell on you.

He pulls back and looks at you. His brows raise expectantly and he lets you go, leaving the choice up to you. He watches you swallow softly and nods as your muscles relax, accepting that you’ve made your decision. Rooster lifts his hand and curls his fingers around your forearm, turning you back around to face the nurses.

“Afternoon, girls,” Rooster flashes a quick smile towards them, his chest pressing into your back. They practically melt, grinning at him and standing up quickly. You stop yourself from rolling your eyes. “Mind checking my friend over real quick? — Need to get her back out on the front gate by this evening.”

Friend. Another shift. Both lies. Still, the girls are all gooey for him so they agree hurriedly and spring to action. Your first order is to remove everything other than your bra and your underwear — they’ll begin with a full body bite check.

Rooster nudges his hand softly into yours. “I’ll be outside. Be good, huh?”

Scowling the entire time, seethingly angry at the both of them, you strip out of your clothes and kick off your boots. The two nurses exchange a quick glance. It’s then, under this harsh white light, that you notice Jake’s fingerprints bruised into your hips.

The two of them make no effort to hide her issue with the marks that have been left on your body. Rooster, who smiles and remembers their names, and who they have each individually had their eyes on for a few weeks now — waits outside, leaning up against the wall. They assume that the hickey on the base of your neck is from him too.

Their shared looks are bad enough, it’s the scoff that the small blonde lets out when she finds the hickey, that really makes your blood boil. Your elbow practically tingles as you fight the urge to swing it into her nose.

Still, no bites, no scratches that aren’t clearly from a human. Rooster was right about the second part of the exam, it is quick. Some blood work, vitals checks, having one of them shine a torch at the back of your throat. Only, the two nurses — on their little power trip, decline to allow you to dress again until they’re completely finished.

Rooster flinches as the door to the room swings open to his left, he stands upright quickly and moves to catch you. You’re not running, but you’re just as furious as when he dropped you off, pulling your shirt back down over your torso.

Now that you’re sufficiently furious with Jake, there’s room in your head for you to soften with Rooster. Not completely, but enough for a half-hearted apology, “Sorry for elbowing you.”

His lips quirk slightly, he nods his head and then shrugs his shoulders. “S’alright. You all good?”

You nod your head sheepishly. “I’m not infected.”

Not infected, just judged by those snooty little bitches because of their stupid little crush on this idiot in front of you. You roll your shoulders back and breathe out. You hadn’t expected that in a world like this, stuff like sleeping around would matter much.

“Alright. Wanna see where you’ll be sleeping?”

You squint dubiously at him as he turns halfway and jerks his head for you to walk with him, “If you try walking me to your room, I’m going to punch you in the dick.”

“Noted.” Rooster agrees, offering you a quick smile and turning away from you. He leads you towards the officer’s building without a word and you grow readier to bring him to his knees with each step.

He rounds a corner and you catch a glimpse at the distaste on his face. Your view of the room comes a moment later, but your distaste is equal.

It’s a room that would have been a double before this, but now has become temporary housing for displaced volunteers. The only furniture in the room is four metal-framed bunks, topped with thin blue mats with rolled, thin white sheets on top of them.

Rooster presses his tongue into the inside of his cheek and glances down, trying to gauge your reaction.

“Can I get clothes from Block C, or…?” He has no idea how you feel about the room, given that your reaction is so calm. You lift your head and wait for him to answer you.

“Uh, no — they’ll provide you with some uniforms while you’re here. I’ll try to make sure they get your size right.” Rooster explains, leaning against the door frame and taking another look out across the room.

You purse your lips, containing an entire day’s worth of frustration into your balled fists as you squint at him once again. “And what do I do for underwear, Captain Dumbass?”

Rooster’s lips quirk amusedly at your new nickname for him. He shrugs his shoulders, folding his thick arms over his chest. You’re so ready to knock that smug look right off of his face. “If you asked me nicely, I might think about figuring something out for you.”

First the threat, now this. You square your shoulders — you’re not going to melt for him like those little bitches in the med centre. “Excuse me? — You have a stash of women’s underwear or something, you perv?”

“We have a clean clothing reserve, actually.” He replies, arms still folded, his large frame draped casually into the doorframe. “Used to get brand new donations from clothing brands all the time for civilians in the case of natural disasters and other emergencies.”

His eyes don’t falter from your face. You stare him down, silent. You’re not going to beg him.

“So, if you ask me nicely,” Rooster’s pink lips quirk at the edges, curls falling somehow tidily over his forehead, “I might be able to do you another favour. How’s that sound?”

You narrow your eyes at him and take a step closer. “You could do it, or I could tell your senior officer that you broke the no fraternizing rule twice.”

He smiles at you and finally unfolds his arms, pushing himself upright from the door frame. Rooster pats your arm as he moves to step past you, “Twice is a pretty conservative guess, sweetheart. I’ll have ‘em to you before morning.”

…

@momc95 @shawnsblue @thedroneranger @cherrycola27 @zbeez-outlet @harper1666 @abaker74 @xoxabs88xox @cowboybarbie @shanimallina87 @ohtobeleah @top-gun-rooster @blue-aconite @laracrofted @bioodforbiood

#bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw #miles teller #bradley bradshaw smut #jake seresin #rooster x you #rooster bradshaw imagine #top gun smut #jake hangman seresin #jake smut #jake seresin x you #jake seresin smut #jake seresin imagine #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin au #jake

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thelambliesdown1974 · 19 days

Note

‏Hello

‏I am Ahmed, 31 years old

‏I am from the northern Gaza Strip and I am the sole breadwinner for my family. We consist of 8 people. I hope you will help me spread my campaign to save my family and take them to the safety zone.

‏https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-ahmeds-to-rebuild-a-new-life

Hi Ahmed!

Everyone seeing this I urge to to share if you’re unable to donate. Even as the U.S. pier has begun operation, food and water are still a struggle to obtain for many families in Gaza and continuous mutual aid is imperative 🇵🇸

“I am Ahmed from northern Gaza Strip. Throughout my life, I've been working to build a life for me and for my family. I persevered to establish a good source of income. However, when the war starts in the Gaza on October 7, 2023, my family and I had to move from the north to the south of the Gaza amidst bombings and destruction. We were in extreme fear during the displacement, and we found ourselves in a small, inadequate tent. Despite the lack of safety, food, clean water, and the spread of diseases, we were forced to live this difficult life under Bombing, knowing that at any moment, I and my family could lose our lives.”

#Palestine #gaza #rafah #mutual aid #vetted by @/el-shab-hussein

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thesobsister · 5 months

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A January 3 letter from Biden campaign staffers

Dear President Biden, we need a ceasefire now.

Dear President Biden,

We write to you as the current staff of your re-election campaign. As we work to mobilize voters to cast their ballots for you in 2024, we must take a moment to acknowledge our tremendous grief, and the grief shared by countless other Americans, toward the violence occurring in Gaza.

We joined this campaign because the values that you — and we — share are ones worth fighting for. Justice, empathy, and our belief in the dignity of human life is the backbone of not only the Democratic Party, but of the country. However, your administration’s response to Israel’s indiscriminate bombing in Gaza has been fundamentally antithetical to those values — and we believe it could cost you the 2024 election. Therefore, we join your 2020 campaign alumni in imploring you to:

Publicly call for — and use financial and diplomatic leverage to bring about — an immediate, permanent ceasefire;

Advocate for de-escalation in the region, including demanding that Hamas release all hostages and that Israel release the over 2,000 Palestinians in administrative detention being held without charge;

End unconditional military aid to Israel;

Investigate whether Israel’s actions in Gaza violate the Leahy Law, prohibiting U.S. military aid from funding foreign military units implicated in the commission of gross violations of human rights;

Take concrete steps to end the conditions of apartheid, occupation, and ethnic cleansing that are the root causes of this conflict.

Like so many others, we continue to be devastated by Hamas’s attack against Israeli civilians on October 7th — it was a vile assault, one that touched the consciousness of the country. The subsequent killing of 20,000 Palestinian civilians, however, has struck the same societal nerve. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past by allowing the actions of Hamas to justify such further violence against civilians.

Israel’s attacks in Gaza have had one of the highest civilian death tolls of any conflict in decades. Children have been caught in the center of it, many of them killed by bombs made in St. Charles, MO. In the past 88 days, over 1% of the population of Gaza — including countless women, children, and premature babies — have been killed, while almost 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes. There is no safe place for innocent civilians to go, no shelter, and no humanitarian assistance. What we are witnessing in Gaza, as highlighted by countless experts from around the world, is a genocide.

You have said numerous times that silence in the face of human rights violations is complicity. We agree, which is why we are speaking out now. Every minute that passes without a ceasefire is another life that is lost — a life that could have been saved with political action from you. As your staff, we believe it is both a moral and electoral imperative for you to publicly call for a cessation of violence.

The majority of Democrats support an end to Israel’s military campaign. Americans, especially young Americans, feel extraordinarily passionate about this issue. In fact, 72% of voters under 30 — a key Democratic voting bloc — disapprove of your handling of the conflict in Gaza.

Biden for President staff have seen volunteers quit in droves, and people who have voted blue for decades feel uncertain about doing so for the first time ever, because of this conflict. It is not enough to merely be the alternative to Donald Trump. The campaign has to shift the feeling in the pits of voters’ stomachs, the same feeling that weighs on us every day as we fight for your reelection. The only way to do that is to call for a ceasefire.

This Administration’s profound sense of empathy is one of the reasons we felt inspired to join your reelection campaign. Now, we have faith that you will listen to the two-thirds of the country and three-quarters of our fellow Democrats who support a ceasefire. Complicity in the death of over 20,000 Palestinians, 8,200 of whom are children, simply cannot be justified. Only with an end to violence can we achieve a real and lasting peace that upholds the right to self-determination, safety, and freedom for Palestinians and Israelis alike.

Sincerely,

17 Biden for President Staffers

#biden campaign #gaza #palestine #israel #genocide #ceasefire #ethnic cleansing #civilian deaths

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stellarhangout · 3 months

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Biden announced crucial aid for Gazan civilians. Trump would not, he would instead further encourage Israel to continue to starve Gazans. It is imperative to support Biden in 2024; not voting will only help Trump, as will voting a 3rd party (which, due to our terrible system, has no chance of winning).

#biden #trump #israel #palestine #gaza #rafah #politics #us politics #cornel west #third party #2024

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 2 months

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Blinken: US urging Israel to investigate airstrike that killed World Central Kitchen workers | Reuters

Washington has urged Israel to conduct a swift, thorough and impartial investigation into an Israeli airstrike that killed seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen charity in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.

Blinken arrived in Paris for talks with senior officials including President Emmanuel Macron hours after the Washington-based NGO was struck by an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza, adding pressure on Washington to toughen its stance in the war between Israel and Hamas.

"We've spoken directly to the Israeli government about this particular incident. We've urged a swift, a thorough and impartial investigation," Blinken told reporters at a press conference in Paris, adding that humanitarian workers have to be protected.

"These people are heroes, they run into the fire, not away from it," he said of the NGO workers killed in the strike. "We shouldn't have a situation where people who are simply trying to help their fellow human beings are themselves at grave risk."

But Blinken stopped short of directly condemning the attack, unlike his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne. Speaking alongside Blinken, Sejourne voiced France's "firm condemnation" of the Israeli airstrike.

"Nothing can justify such a tragedy," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the airstrike was unintended and tragic, and the military pledged an independent inquiry.

Biden faces pressure from foreign partners, human rights groups and some of his fellow Democrats in Congress to impose conditions on arms transfers to rein in Israel’s offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza where health officials say more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, many of them civilians.

"The killing of these employees – and so many U.N. and other aid workers – is unacceptable. Enough is enough. There must be an immediate and independent investigation," Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen said.

Hours before the Israeli strike on WCK workers on Monday, Reuters reported that the Biden administration was considering proceeding with an $18 billion arms transfer package to Israel.

Asked if incidents like the killing of WCK workers made the United States think twice about its "flood of weapons" to Israel, Blinken did not address the specific question but said all U.S. arms transfers happened consistent to policy requirements.

"From Day One, we have worked to impress upon Israel, the imperative of protecting civilians, of adhering fully to international humanitarian law, to the law of armed conflict. That is something that we are looking at and review on a regular basis," he added.

CRITICAL MOMENT IN UKRAINE

Blinken was due to hold talks with Macron later in the day. "You can sense the Americans are a bit uncomfortable at the moment," said one French diplomat, pointing to the contrast between Washington's humanitarian efforts in Gaza and its supply of weapons to Israel.

Earlier in the day, Blinken said Ukraine was at a critical moment in its war with Russia and urgently needs more Western support, bemoaning the stalemate in Congress over a multibillion-dollar military package for Kyiv.

"It is absolutely essential to get Ukrainians what they continue to need to defend themselves, particularly when it comes to munitions and air defences," he told reporters.

"It's another reason why the supplementary budget request that President (Joe) Biden has made to (the U.S.) Congress must be fulfilled as quickly as possible."

Biden has urged the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives to endorse the military and financial aid package, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has held up the matter for months, citing domestic priorities.

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racefortheironthrone · 8 months

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Newsom's UI Veto Is a Sign of CA's Dysfunction on UI

Introduction:

While I'm not yet up to a full blogpost, I thought I'd chime in on social media to buttress a point that my colleague Erik Loomis made in regards to Gavin Newsom's veto of the Unemployment Insurance strike bill. While Erik is absolutely correct that Newsom's veto is a pretty nakedly anti-union move, (especially in the wake of a major entertainment industry strike in which management attempted to use the threat of eviction and foreclosure to break the union), I think the veto also reflects the dysfunction in the California Unemployment Insurance system.

California's UI System:

Back when I was a freelance policy analyst in grad school, I had the opportunity to write about a wide range of topics in social and economic policy - and it just so happened that one of those topics was unemployment insurance.

One of the problems with the U.S' social insurance system is that, because UI is a joint Federal-state program that's financed by state payroll taxes that are then forgiven against Federal taxation (or in the case of the pandemic or the Great Recession, Federal loans), there is a powerful incentive for states to under-tax and under-finance their UI systems and rely instead on the Federal backstop to keep the system ticking over.

For all of California's progressive reputation, it actually ranks towards the bottom of the national league tables when it comes to underfunding its UI system:

"Unemployment benefits in California are funded by a payroll tax on businesses, but the tax is so low and generates so little revenue that the state had to borrow $20 million from the federal government to provide benefits during the pandemic. In a veto message, Mr. Newsom said that $302 million in interest is due on the federal loan in September alone. “Now is not the time to increase costs or incur this sizable debt,” he said." (source)

To be fair, California is not absolutely terrible - it's not Texas or Mississippi or Alabama - and a lot of its current predicament has to do with how hard California was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, but even in good times, California taxes itself so lightly that it routinely owes the Federal government UI money. This creates another reason/excuse for the state government to not follow the California Labor Federation's lead and transform the UI system into something that can fight not just poverty but all forms of economic exploitation.

State Capacity:

Now, to my mind, this only makes it more imperative for the state to get its act together - and a big part of that is adopting labor's proposal for decoupling strikes and starvation through the UI system. As I see it, that goes hand in hand with raising minimum benefit levels, such that UI plus strike pay should allow people to live with dignity even during a long strike of 5-6 months duration, improved administration so that people don't have to wait three weeks to actually get their hands on their own money, and improved financing so that the system as a whole can actually work as an automatic stabilizer in economic crises.

To me, this is the essence of community unionism: we work to improve the lives of our members, and in so doing improve the lives of the entire community.

#u.s politics #california #california politics #gavin newsom #unemployment insurance #labor unions #trade unions #labor law #wga strike #sag aftra strike #social insurance

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