#yes society penalizes people for not being normal

[cer-rata]

Can we talk about Catwoman, Bruce Wayne and maybe a little about the concept of crime?

Just gonna get it out of the way: Yes Gotham war is bad for many clear, obvious reasons. It reads like like crack fic, though I personally believe that's more on editorial than Zdarsky, as this is perhaps one of the most clearly top-down, artificial, corporate plots since Civil War II.

But I'm not going to focus on the genuinely hilarious ideas here, and instead talk about the original sin: Selina's big idea.

It immediately falls apart under any basic scrutiny: How is she convincing all of these wildly different people to become cat burglars? That's not an easy skill set to teach, especially at this scale. If the whole issue is as simple as a lack of work skills, why didn't she teach them anything else? Literally anything? If she has this level of reach and status to be able to convince 75%(!!!) of the underworld to throw in with her why would she use it this way?

On a level Catwoman has always had her nose closer to the ground that Batman could ever. She lives in the gray areas of Gotham. She gets, on a personal level, the ways that society fails the little people and she's been pretty consistent about going to the paint to help people in bad situations. So her wanting to really support people and get them a better shake is very in line with her character.

But she's never been dumb or blindly idealistic and certainly not naive. In fact if anyone should be able instantly suss out the logical problems with this concept, it would be the woman who probably understands Gotham's underbelly better than anyone else. She understands how the business works and would know that you can't support an entire criminal economy on stealing from the homes of the wealthy. Selina has been so successful because she's the BEST at what she does, and because her style is uncommon enough that most people aren't expecting to get hit by her. Suddenly there are what, thousands of cat burglars just running around every night? Then the rich just increase their security, and then what? The idea that it worked at all is such an assault on the suspension of disbelief. And it implies a fundamental misunderstanding of crime and what Bruce/Batman is even trying to do.

See there's an implicit suggestion here that Selina is trying to take care of people while Bruce only cares about penalizing offenders, and that's just...a really bad fanon take honestly. It stems partially from the problem of using "criminal" to describe a class of people. The idea that some people are just criminals to be stopped because all they can understand is crime. That's not a helpful or realistic way to look at crime. I think we understand that people turn to crime for many diverse reasons. We flatten their narratives because there's no time to go into the complex motivations of each Two-Face grunt, but in better written works it's implied to be there regardless.

On numerous occasions, it has been made very clear that Bruceman understands this. How could he not? He's one of the most intelligent creatures on the planet, and his autistic special interest is criminology. Like, he knows, he obviously knows, especially at this point in his career. A lot of damage has been done by the idea that Bruce Wayne and Batman are fundamentally separate people. there's plenty of drama in the discussion of being torn between a normal life and the obsession, but the obsession is always there, mask or not. Batman isn't supposed to be some bizarre divergent personality, and no I am not going to talk about Zur and you can't make me! He has historically used his money and influence to support less fortunate Gothamites since always. He's not some out of touch uber-wealthy person who thinks that beating poor people is the only answer. He's been written like that before by people who wish he was Rorschach instead, but that is not the overarching norm of his character. It's a sin comparable with forgetting that Clark Kent is an actual investigative reporter. Bruce Wayne works to counter the structural inequality that leads to common crime, and Batman steps in to protect people from violence, and uncommon, existentially different criminals. Penguin, Black Mask, Falcone--sure Batman will stop a mugging, but he really exists to punish the people who are benefiting off of the suffering of others. Even then, he'd still prefer if they redeemed themselves and moved on.

This is from the 2004 The Batman cartoon tie-in, but I think it illustrates the point really well.

Like I've said before in other posts, violence is a tool in his belt, but he knows it's not the solution. Batman dissuades, Bruce Wayne offers support and options. Unfortunately, popular discussion on Bruceman has lost a lot of this plot, and focuses on the eye catching brutality that the movies and popular dark adaptations have championed. So what we get is this weird meta commentary that is supposed to make Batman look like a violent totalitarian punching down on people and missing the point when in reality, he gets the point! He super gets the point! The reason he doesn't kill is that he believes everyone deserves to try to be better, that concept makes no sense with a Batman who doesn't see criminals as people! Selina doesn't even have a point! She's supposed to represent a more socially conscious, compassionate, realistic perspective, but she's just not correct! It's an insane nothing-burger even before he completely loses his mind because of the plot. There are legitimate ideological issues to be pulled out between he and Selina. If she had become a crime boss like Jason tried to (and once did herself if I remember correctly) and used that to suppress the worse actors in a way he couldn't, you could really have them reckon with what they're willing to do to keep people safe and where the line actually is. Because they're all criminals in the end, what matters is where they draw the line. Batman works with plenty of dangerous and formally dangerous criminals actually, Harley and Ghost-Maker and Jason and Damian and--he's not some stupid inflexible hardliner cop. Stories where Batman is zealous about crime as like an amorphous concept are insane because they suggest that he doesn't recognize that his extrajudicial nature already complicates matters. That's another reason he doesn't kill by the way! He doesn't think he's the law! He's just a guy! Why should he get to decide the value of someone's life? But even then, the idea that the whole family would fall into civil war over Bruce and Selina having an ideological tiff is such an affront to all of them as individual characters. None of them are stupid enough to deal with things this way. It's not an exploration of character flaws if you're just making them stupid.

There's a problem about writers coming onto Batbooks and revealing that they have done no research into why people commit crimes and it creates narratives where Batman also doesn't understand the point, when he has and should!

Tldr,

Writers, stop pretending that Batman doesn't understand the social/systemic aspect of crime, and also maybe look into how it actually works yeah?

#dc comics #dc editorial answer for your crimes #batman #bruce wayne #selina kyle #bad writing #meta analysis

[lassieposting]

Whales, the bad kind

Hey Lassie, you know how you keep posting about the disgustingly wealthy? How much you loathe them and the terrible violence that wracks your peaceful soul at the thought of them spending more money on one pair of shoes than you do in a year of your life and so forth? Yes?

Well I actually know one particular expression of abhorrent decadence that inspires the same nuclear rage in me! That is: videogame whales.

When a game is pay-to-win/allows you to exchange real money for in-game benefits, the designers will often employ a whale-minnow model where they rely on a certain type of obscenely rich player to generate the vast majority of their profits. These are the extreme minority of players but apparently enough people have a combination of sheer wastefulness and incomprehensible wealth for this to be not only viable, but extraordinarily profitable.

For example, Blizzard, well-known creators of other life-consuming games such as World of Warcraft and Starcraft II, recently released a game called Diablo Immortal. In order to advance to high levels of upgrades in the game, you have to gamble. You may or may not even get what you're paying for. However, the effects when you do are substantial: a quick YT search reveals that one whale fought 30 other players simultaneously and got 202 kills, and I imagine this is a common outcome where whales intrude on the gameplay of the poors.

The calculations have been done, the numbers are in, and you have to pay HALF A MILLION US DOLLARS to achieve maximum gear upgrades. That's $500k. Five hundred K. Absurdly, insanely, incomprehensibly, there really are people who WILL pay that much, to whom it is in fact nothing. I see at least one person confirmed to have dropped $100k. China banned the game instantly, but it turns out this was petty retaliation because someone related to it mentioned the Xi Jinping Winnie the Pooh meme, not anything to do with the evil of the thing.

So what's a minnow, you ask?

A minnow is a normal or close to normal person with a normal amount of wealth but no impulse control whose gambling problem these games encourage in a predatory way and then exploit relentlessly for profits, often ruining the minnow's life in the process.

Games like Diablo Immortal are based on whaling. They're designed to suck in people with infinite money and persuade them to part with a fraction of infinity. Games like FIFA are based instead on catching minnows, they just want millions of twelve year old boys to commit card fraud against their parents in the vain hope of getting Messi.

To describe my feelings towards these gaming companies and the society in which they're allowed to carry on without being executed or relegated to breaking rocks in a penal colony bare minimum as "fury" is simply not accurate. Words haven't been coined that can do my antipathy for the way of the thing justice.

Half a million on a bad game. I hate them all lmao

---

PREACH MR ANONBOROUGH

#dystopia #i used to get so upset i couldn't spend shitloads of money on the simpsons tapped out #and then i got around it by downloading a hacked apk

[harfanfare]

I saw this post and I was wondering if you write Malleus' too, is okay for you to make that?

How to win a heart of Malleus Draconia?

a/n: I started posting my writings here because I want to improve my English — so I technically wouldn't make this request. But! Someone on Wattpad (where I take requests) asked for the same thing, so I rolled up my sleeves and wrote this guide today in both languages. Enjoy~

1. Don't be afraid of him.

It is said that the first impression is the most important.

So when you first saw this guy walking through the corridor of Diasomnia, it was hard for you to get rid of that view from your head.

Illuminated both by the green magic flames set in the lobby, as well as by the moon, which eventually managed to break through the dark clouds and with a bright glow appear in the windows of the dormitory, he seemed... lonely and beautiful.

You shuddered as you took a step down the hallway and the dark-haired man turned to you. He measured you with his emerald eyes. And then you recognized him; all the conversations about the mysterious and fearsome Malleus Draconia flew through your head.

Everything told you to rush towards the hallway and run as far as possible, but a piece of you found it inappropriate. Or rather, no one would want to chase everyone away from themself... right?

When you realized you were looking at him for a while, you took a deep breath and nod slightly.

"Good evening, Draconia-san," you said quickly. After a while you added, "The moon is beautiful today, don't you think?”

 2. Smile a lot.

Today was a really wonderful day: the test was postponed, your favorite dish was given in the canteen, and for some reason, the last two lessons were canceled – your class had to make just a quick note about a topic and it took less than fifteen minutes.

"Something happened?" Malleus asked, seeing how almost in the jumps you walk past him. When you looked at him, he added, "You smile a lot.”

"I can stop smiling if you want," you made a sad face, but after a while, the corners of your mouth began to tremble uncontrollably and twisted up again. "Oops, I can’t. Today... it was such a good day... that I think I'm slowly using my life's happiness.”

"I didn't say that smiling is bad," he said. "You look so much better when you smile.”

"Oh," you sighed with apparent surprise. "Is it a compliment?"

"It’s rather a fact..?"

 3. From time to time visit him during club activities.

"Is this a class of the ‘Gargoyle research society club’?” with a deaf knock you opened the door. Malleus turned to you, making a break from browsing through the materials gathered in the library about the history of each of the gargoyles on the school grounds. And there were a lot of them.

"Yes," he replied briefly, getting up. "Do you need something, [Name]?"

"Not at all, my club don’t have a meeting today," you said, closing the door behind you.

You looked around: the room was as clean as ever, except for one desk, where were laid several huge volumes about statues in NRC.

“Are you here alone?” You said before you thought. You lowered your eyes to see Malleus nodding unconcerned slightly. You blinked several times trying to think of what else you could say. "This room... could be a secret base," that was the first thing that came to your mind. Malleus turned his head to one side, uncertain of your response.

“A secret base..? Why?”

"I have no idea," you admitted quickly. "But the very existence of a mysterious point is interesting, isn't it? Doing normal things, such as watching movies or just talking, seems more interesting in places like this,” After a moment of silence, you sighed. "You know what, this idea with the base is stupid”

"We can try," he replied with serious tone. You raised your eyes to see how he looked around the room. "But you'll just have to explain this idea to me in more detail. We can also tell Lilia, Silver and Sebek about it...” he smiled as if seeing your five together in his thoughts was a pleasure. "It will be surely... fun.”

 4. Get yourself a Tamagotchi.

"Look!" you spin a new key chain on your finger. You finally stopped and showed it to Malleus. "Now they are matching!”

A small electronic toy, in a dark green screen that, when it flashed, showed a virtual, pixelated animal. You were impressed with how good quality it was made, especially since you only gave the Shroud brothers a sketch of a toy that Malleus owned.

Your keychain was exactly the same, just a different color and with another pet.

Malleus pulled out his own device and put it on the table. He pressed one of the buttons and a small pet appeared on the keychain – a dragon.

"They can now be friends," you brought your toy closer to so-called Gao-Gao Dragon-kun.

"Do you think so?" He asked in a very surprised tone, but it sounded as if in a moment he were about to burst out with an inexplicably joyful and surprised laugh.

"Of course. Everyone needs a decent friend, no?”

 5. Gain the trust of Lilia, Silver and Sebek.

Lilia, one of Malleus' closest people. It is much more likely that you will meet him before Malleus. He will be very proud when he learns that Malleus has found a friend. If you become a taster of Lilia, in terms of his pastries, he will 100% like you, and at 20% you will leave the kitchen alive and well.

Silver, who has mastered the art of sleeping in any conditions. It's easy to get him into your plans, although with the craziest ones he will hesitate. Rather well-disposed towards everyone, he can cover for you when you are not in class— but he usually inadvertently falls asleep and both of you often have penal assignments after school.

Sebek, faithful to Malleus, if he doesn't like you, you won't have too many opportunities to stay by Malleus's side without a thunderous glances at you. He will recognize you if you will listen carefully to his monologues about his master and as a sign of your friendship, he will teach you by heart of all the titles and achievements of Malleus so far.

With this trio by your side, you can get a lot further than you might have imagined...

 6. Be a master in hide and seek.

You’d give your right arm that your breath was too loud.

You pressed your hands to your mouth as you crouched in the corner of the room.

From whose voices you already heard, you knew that Lilia had already found Sebek. This meant that you or Silver would still be helping cook dinner since Malleus didn’t come at the start of the game.

This may seem silly, but the ability to play classic games was one of the elements of the art of survival in Diasomnia.

It was thanks to games like ‘stone-paper-scissors’, hide and seek or tag that household chores fell on the shoulders of the losers. Lilia loved the idea, and there was always a proud smile on his lips when he saw his beloved children play together.

You heard the steps behind you and shivered.

Very slowly you turned around and looked up to see Malleus standing over you and wondering what you were doing, crouching in the darkest corner of the room.

Puns were also included in the survival pack.

Fearing that Lilia would hear your whisper, you put your finger on your mouth, asking him not to say a word. You put a begging eye into it – all but not cooking with Lilia. Not again.

Malleus nodded, recognizing the gravity of the situation, although he smiled.

Really, no one would want Malleus to be an enemy.

Or at least in such a situation.

 7. Do not hesitate to ask him for help with learning.

"In theory, you should focus on the space around you," Malleus pulled a wand in front of him. It flashed, and almost at the same time, a thin but incredibly strong protective barrier was created around him. “Weaker spells can be reflected. In turn, the stronger ones are better to block”

You nodded understandingly.

Defensive magic was not something easy to understand. Most depended on the person against whom the counter spell was being prepared. And there are countless people who walk on this Earth and want to start fights.

"Unique spells block or avoid physically," he continued. You nodded at every subsequent sentence, slowly feeling like all the lessons are eventually gaining transparency. “Using unique magic against unique magic, the stronger will win, both will lead to explosions or completely reduce.

He looked at you when you wrote down the last sentence in your notebook.

"I sincerely hope that you will only need this information in class," he said with a sigh. "If you need help, call me. I will come. I promise.”

 8. Sometimes be persuaded to wear extravagant clothes.

"Do you really think it suits me?" you turned around, looking at yourself from every possible angle in the mirror.

You were going to the theater in a few classes to see some era-related play that you've been discussing now in history lessons. Everyone, respecting the reputation, actions and achievements of theatre, dressed in their best clothes.

Malleus stood next to you.

He was already wearing a black and white outfit with green accessories. They all worked so well together and fitted him like a glove that you were sure that the whole outfit was made especially for him.

"Yes," he replied. "Everything you put on today suited you very well.”

Once again, with critical eyesight, you looked at the outfit, face and hair, before you quickly turned off the lights in the room and closed the door behind you.

Then you smiled at Malleus.

"We can go now," you said. You made your way through the portal to the main NRC building. "And... thank you for your help.

"My pleasure," he said. Under no circumstances was it just a polite formula. He really loved looking at you.

 9. Invite him to your birthday/party.

"Another break from school soon, huh?" — you muttered, leaning against the railing.

You took a deep breath and let the fresh, pleasant air refresh you.

"Are you going to home, [Name]?" Malleus asked. Green lights were still flying around him, so you guessed he’d just appeared here.

"I haven't decided yet," you sighed. "It would be nice to go home, but the break won't be very long... Ah, that's right!” you straightened up and turned to him. "How about spending another break together? As soon as I can, I will contact my family... although I cannot promise anything.”

Though he did not show it, Malleus' heart beat a little faster.

Spend free time? With someone? With someone he likes?

"Of course," he sounded less calm than he thought. He wasn’t often invited anywhere, even for the things he should have been on, so there was a lot of excitement growing in his body. "I don't see anything against it.”

 10. From "The Great Malleus Draconia-sama" to "Love".

"Ah, The Great Malleus-sama!" you sighed theatrically, taking from him a box of chocolates with a joyful smile. You could promise that because of this dark-haired boy here, you slowly become pampered. "Thank you for your generosity!”

Malleus frowned.

"The Great Malleus-sama"..?” he pondered, putting his fingers to his chin. "Did Sebek told you again to call me with this title?"

"No," you laughed softly at his reaction. "I did it out of curiosity. Maybe I could call you some cute nickname, hmm?" you smiled mischievously.

"For example?"

"By adding ‘-chan’ to your name?” you turned on your phone and typed something related to the nicknames. You started reading suggestions and struggled to hold back from laughing. ” ’Sunshine’, ‘star’, ‘flower’, ‘sweetheart’, ‘love’...

"I like the last one," he said, and the invisible force stung you to the ground.

"Would you like me to call you like that? Out of curiosity or out of love?" You laughed, but your cheeks were all red with blushes.

He smiled sincerely at your reaction.

"Hmm, I wonder..?"

#i wonder too #malleus draconia #twst malleus draconia #twst malleus #twst x reader #twst imagines #twst malleus x reader #malleus x reader #malleus draconia x reader #diasomnia x reader #twst malleus draconia x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland imagines #anonymous

[therealvinelle]

I love your metas, but I have to say I disagree with your take that becoming a Twilight vampire would be even semi-utopian for marginalized groups. This is just my personal view, but it sounds kind of awful, considering the vitality of community and pride in identity as a source of support and joy for many marginalized people. Even setting aside how much Twilight vampirism ""smooths out"" what it considers imperfections (and yeah, I admit, I do interpret that as pretty Eurocentric, which would seem to equate to stripping people of identity markers they're proud of. I don't think everyone would be thrilled to wake up as Alien Diamond Supermodel, but I know you've addressed the fact that Bella has Issues many times over). Plus, then you have to leave everyone behind, and forsake possibly ever finding community in the future, considering how many vampires are nomads and a coven of 7-9 is considered very large.

I do understand that you're talking about immediate individual consequences of oppression but you becoming a vampire hasn't changed anything besides you. It just means you, personally, get exempted, which would not make a lot of people particularly happy, considering everyone they would have to leave behind per vampire law, who will still be struggling with everything you were before you became a vampire. Unless you accept the argument that no longer being human = no longer caring because you can't remember/relate to being human anymore, which also isn't an unalloyed good, it's just biologically directed apathy.

I do think Meyer was aiming for something personally utopic, but I think it's a significant sign of the writer in worldbuilding (not even her normal unhinged processes). Meyer's a white American Mormon, and that type of individualism-- "as long as me and mine are okay, everything is great, the status quo can chug right along" -- is very typical of a lot of dominant American culture, but isn't a universal cultural ideal or guarantee of freedom or happiness. In a way, it'd seem to me that it works like being super-wealthy does for real humans--fewer consequences, but just for select individuals who win that particular lottery (in this case, being bitten and not eaten and surviving long enough to be transformed).

(Anon is referring to this post.)

Oh I know, you bring up very fair points. My post was more of a thought experiment, as I find the implications of being removed from society fascinating. Obviously, as proven by Kebi, Siobhan, and the Cullens, sexism doesn't go away when you become a Twilight vampire, Bella "I find the Amazon women frightening for some reason" Swan is proof you can still be racist, and there are many problematic elements to it such as the whitening of their skin.

My thought was that there are some axes of oppression that can't affect Twilight vampires, such as women being financially dependent on their husbands/mates, gay love being penalized, or POC vampires being denied jobs. Other axes still exist and the loss of community and identity you bring up is a very good point as it's a new problem they wouldn't otherwise have to deal with, but there's this one, institutional, aspect that can no longer be enforced.

But yes, all very good points, you're absolutely right and I'll go back to my regularly scheduled wacky posts on what happens if Bella puts on googly eye glasses.

#twilight #twilight renaissance #twilight meta #correction #racism #misogyny

[itsclydebitches]

ngl voyager gets a whole lot of very disproportional hate from the fandom and i'd hazard a guess that a lot of that is just garden-variety misogyny (and probably racism mixed in, considering how many of the most prominent characters are women, poc, or both). like, is voyager perfect? absolutely not. and no spoilers but there was a lot of executive meddling that wound up leading to the finale/conclusion being lacking and there's a lot of reasonable dissatisfaction with that--but again that was largely thanks to the execs fucking the show over and i recommend looking into that if you can once you've finished the show. but overall? voyager is trek right to its very core--it has heart, it's about family, and it never loses sight of that imo, even if some episodes are weaker or just duds (but, like, would it be a trek series without some episodes that just kinda suck but are still fun to watch???)

anyway, i absolutely love that you're getting into voyager, it is my all-time favorite trek series to this day for a lot of reasons, and i hope that ppl like that anon dont put you off bc i'd love to continue to see your thoughts as you watch the series!

Oh, it would take a whole lot more than some anons being salty that others enjoy things to turn me off :D 

Thus far (I lost internet last night so I’m still only on Episode 7 of Season 2), Voyager is the Trekiest Trek I’ve watched. Which is a weird sentence, but I mean it in the way you said it’s “trek right to its very core.” What is Star Trek, if we strip the intent of the story down to its basics? It’s about exploration, discovery, that “wagon train to the stars,” wrapped up in the argument that life is fundamentally good. We have problems, but we can work past them. We have differences, but they strengthen us. Diversity is the lifeblood of the universe and the future will continue to improve so long as we embrace that. 

Voyager is (again, from what I’ve seen so far!) basically a love song to that premise. I didn’t do too deep a dive because I’m trying to avoid spoilers, but I did look at a couple threads discussing why Voyager is so hated. Again and again I saw the same reason pop up: wasted potential. Now, a lot of fans left it at that (as if the answer to what potential Voyager apparently missed out on is self-evident. It’s not), but those who did expand on the idea consistently claimed that the show needed to be darker than it was, even if they rarely said it like that. Why aren’t the Federation and the Marquis at each other’s throats? Why isn’t the crew going crazy under these circumstances? Why aren’t characters getting killed off left and right in hostile space? “Anything could have happened out there and they played it safe!” but the “anything” here is always... awful. There’s this very pervasive idea that the world is inherently cruel, people are inherently divisive, that when pushed to the brink everything will fall apart... and that (while making for one kind of great story) is very much not Star Trek. 

See, Voyager created an unimaginable scenario--lost in space, 75 years from home, forced to live indefinitely with strangers--and their answer to the question of “What happens?” is “People make it work.” They learn to respect one another, they uphold their ideals, they maintain a love of life and discovery, and they create a family. And that’s fucking fantastic. That’s Star Trek! I’m not going to pretend there aren’t problems with the show, with plenty more to come, I’m sure, but I don’t think this is one of them. Why do so many viewers think that hatred, horror, death, and growing jaded is the only potential here? Why would they expect that in a Star Trek show whose premise is the very antithesis of those things? 

“But they don’t do enough with those things, even if they have happy outcomes.” They do plenty, they just do it in an episodic rather than serialized nature. I can point to multiple episodes where the replicator rations or Maquis differences are driving the characters’ actions. “But without that horror there’s no conflict.” There’s plenty of conflict. Hostile aliens aside, I just watched an episode where Tuvok and Chakotay are pissed as hell at one another because they fundamentally disagree over how to handle problems, but--because they’re adults with a well-tested respect for one another--they apologize and work through it. “But the characters don’t develop at all.” You mean they don’t grow harder. That’s not the same thing as no development. Tuvok is figuring out how to be more flexible, Chakotay is becoming more willing to accept cultures he doesn’t agree with, Harry is growing more confident now that he’s far from home, the Doctor is learning to see himself as a person, Paris is grabbing his second chance with both hands by making strong ties, and Janeway is learning to command and care for her crew simultaneously. I honestly believe that a lot of people think of “character development” as the character becoming a fundamentally different person, unrecognizable from where they started out. But  characters can also grow into the people they wanted to be in the first place. “We’re far from home, in hostile territory, tempted to do horrific things to survive... but no. Right now at least, we’re holding onto who we are. We’re scientists, so we’re going to explore and learn. We’re peaceful, so we’re going to make friends with as many species as we can. We’re members of a society that teaches acceptance, so we’re going to form a family on this spaceship.” That’s incredible!! Did fans miss why Seska was an antagonist in the episode she was unmasked? Because she was trying to convince them to give up everything they believe in in the name of survival, an ends justify the means argument. And the crew said no, we will not give up what we believe in just to make it through. I legit saw a ton of fans saying some version of, “I can’t believe they were that far from home and actually followed Starfleet’s rulebook.” It’s because those rules don’t exist for the hell of it. Overlooking their practical function, they’re a philosophy that the characters believe in, and they’re figuring out how important that part of their identity is to them under these circumstances. Am I willing to steal a specie’s technology if it gets us home? Am I willing to die to help another uphold their own philosophy? (Chakotay in “Imitations”). What regulations should we bend or change to accommodate our new situation? The first two things Janeway does are a) giving the guy who just came out of a penal colony a rank and b) deciding that she needs to be more familiar with her crew than is normally encouraged for a captain because she’s essentially their mom now. Developing doesn’t have to mean characters do a 180 on their initial personality, or characters getting killed off when stuff gets “boring” so that others can do edgy things in response. 

Voyager upholds Trek’s premise and runs it to its logical conclusion: 

Voyager has the most literal trek--a trek back home. 

Voyager has the most diverse crew--a woman Captain, Native American First officer, black Vulcan, Asian-American communications officer, and a White Dude pilot that realizes he wants to be soft and kind towards those who took a chance on him because Toxic Masculinity who? 

Voyager has the most literal family--not just a 5+ year mission, but a crew who expects to raise the next generation. They have no choice but to work together, so they indeed come together rather than pulling apart

Except they do, of course, have a choice. In “The 37′s” the crew is allowed to stay on the Earth-like planet with a city of other humans and Janeway is convinced that a sizable number will choose that. After all, they may never get home and this is a safer, kinder future for them. In fact, the real question is whether so many will stay that they can no longer run the ship... but Janeway would never dictate her crew’s choices in that manner. So she swallows her worry down, opens the door... 

... and finds that not a single person decided to stay behind. And the show has ensured we understand that this is not just because they all have some unshakable belief that they’ll get home (many don’t), but because this is their family now. This is home. 

And fans want to toss that out for a generic, gritty, sci-fi adventure where hope is scarce, the universe is cruel, and people need to be pushed to the limit just to admit that they maybe, sort of, like each other?? Obviously like what you like, but that’s a hard pass for me. I’ll take the bridge crew comforting each other in “Twisted,” thanks. Besides, we already have shows like that. And we already have DS9 which grapples with many of those dark, pessimistic themes. Voyager feels like a breath of fresh air, even within the breath of fresh air that is Star Trek as a franchise. It’s a show that says, “Yes, when everything goes wrong people will come together. They will love each other. They will make it through.” 

What’s more Star Trek than that? 

#star trek #ST #mymetas #Anonymous

[skeptomai-krino]

what does justice look like?

(TW for terrorism, gun violence against children, death, brief discussion of christianity, discussion of prisons and prison statistics, including a brief mention of an opiate use rate. this is a heavy one y’all, highly encourage you to read + reblog if you can.)

bolds have been added for readability

__________________________

On July 22, a young man in a police uniform took a boat to Utøya, a small island about 38 kilometers away from Oslo’s city centre. He claimed he was there to give a speech about security to the Youth Camp that was taking place there at the time.

He was allowed onto the island with minimal questioning. After all, everything seemed to be in order. His ID looked fine at a first glance, and perhaps most importantly, he moved with the confidence of someone who had done this a million times before. Someone who knew exactly what they were doing. Someone who felt no guilt, or fear, or even excitement.

Why would he? This was just routine.

Wasn’t it?

What happened that day has gone down in Norwegian history. Everyone knows about it. Everyone feels the ripples. The man in the police uniform has become a household name, and almost everyone in Oslo knows someone who was there that fateful day. It’s almost impossible to talk about Norwegian crime and justice without at least mentioning him.

Anders Behring Breivik shot 69 children on Utøya that day, most between the ages of 14 to 20.

It was his second terror attack of the day.

The first was a car bomb, set off in Oslo’s governmental sector, that killed eight people and injured over 109. 

All in all, 77 people were murdered on 22 July.

What sentence would you say such a man deserves? A man who could do such terrible things, and show no remorse? A self-declared anti-immigration fascist, who calls himself a murderer like it’s a badge of pride?

What he got was 21 years, the longest preventative detention sentence in Norway, though it can be extended in five year segments if it is determined that someone is still a threat to society, as Breivik does seem to be, in a prison system that is known among foreigners, especially US Americans, for being, well, cushy.

Prisoners in newer prisons are given ample living space, a flat-screen television, and access to things that are generally found in a normal apartment. Yes, this includes metal cutlery.

According to a statement by the office of the attorney general, Breivik in particular had three rooms in his cells, one for living, one for studying, and one for working out. He also had a television, a gaming console, a computer (without internet access), and was able to make his own food and prepare his own laundry. 

Norwegian prisons are designed to stimulate external life as best as is possible, in order to help facilitate recovery and reintegration, since most prisoners are returned to life outside at some point. And even when they aren’t, there’s no need for inhumane torture.

Let’s take Halden Prison as an example.

Halden is a maximum security prison that was established in 2010, and has a capacity of 252. It has been often called the world’s most humane prison and is Norway’s second largest prison. 

Even its very design is pioneering; greenery surrounds the prison, with ample trees and shrubbery strategically placed to conceal the fence surrounding the prison. It is built campus style, to encourage prisoners to walk around and interact with each other and their environment. Areas look unique, and the prison is built from materials like wood, glass, and cork, in order to reduce echo and allow light. 

Additionally, guard rooms are intentionally designed too small, which encourages guards to step outside and mingle with the prisoners. That may not seem impressive, but a US study from the late 90s found that prisons with direct contact and direct observation between staff and prisoners reduces the rates of violent outbreaks by 246 percent- 36 to 13. 

The entire design of the prison stimulates normalcy and reduces stress, which as you can imagine is relatively important.

While Halden prison itself is relatively new, and most prisons even in Norway do not reach its standards, the ideology and concern for human life that went into it is present in all aspects of the Norwegian justice system, and Norwegian culture as a whole.

The Norwegian Correctional Service, or kriminalomsorgen (which literally translates to something like ‘crime care’ or ‘prison care’) in Norwegian, is based around the concept of turning criminals into good neighbors. It’s an impressive system, and officers say the most important thing in rehabilitative justice is that taking away freedom and autonomy is enough.

Bad people are still people, and just as good people become bad, bad people can change and become good. To use an over-simplified moral standard.

Initially though, the ‘justice’ system was not at all like what we see today. It was very religious and solitary, even to the extent of priests acting as social workers and prisoners being tested on their bible knowledge before release and after initially being confined. Where religion didn’t work, which was pretty much everywhere, prisoners were overmedicated in an attempt to change and control their behaviour.

As one can imagine, this did not go wonderfully. 

To take one statistic, you may have heard of recidivism rates before. They’re the frequency that a criminal will return to prison after being released, though some areas count by reconviction and others by reinprisonment, which can make things a little complicated.

Recidivism in Norway while the penal model was in effect went up to 91%. 91% of prisoners were reimprisoned within two years of their release. This is astronomical.

To put that in perspective, the United States, which is often internationally mocked for its terrible justice system and high recidivism, has a rate of up to 55%. Norway now has it at 20%.

So what changed?

What changed was civil outcry, mostly. The Norwegian Association for Criminal Reform, or KROM, was formed in 1968 to deal with these issues, as well as to abolish  forced labour camps and juvenile delinquency centres- which they were successful at.

Due to concentrated efforts from almost every Norwegian, the effect on the population has been massive.

Not only has the recidivism rate fallen to 20%, the lowest in the world, other statistics have followed suit. The opiate usage rate is at 0.4% (take that Reagan), a murder rate of 0.6, and a prison population of 0.642 out of every 1,000 people.

Comparing this to the US, with school shootings essentially a normal part of life and a murder rate of 5, it seems pretty obvious that rehabilitative justice works. At worst it works better than punitive justice.

While foreigners may joke about traveling to Norway to steal a banana in order to get themselves a nice place to stay, that’s more a problem with the countries they come from, and Norwegians overwhelmingly would rather not end up jailed anywhere. Partly because they also have welfare programs that prevent people needing basic things like food, shelter, and healthcare, and because the people who built the system were right.

Loss of freedom, loss of autonomy, it’s enough. That’s enough of a punishment.

Remember Breivik? He filled a suit claiming that he was being mistreated in prison, and that it was abusive and was making his condition worse. And the court agreed with him. 

They agreed that imprisonment can make problems worse if it’s not given care. Isolation and solitary confinement are especially dangerous. No matter who a person is or what they’ve done, punishment doesn’t help. It doesn’t bring change, and it will never bring back what they took from the world.

No amount of torture and punishment, as deserved as it would be, will ever bring those 77 people home to their families. 

But maybe some kindness can prevent more from being lost.

Norway undeniably has advantages. It’s incredibly small and rather homogenous. But there is more than enough evidence to indicate that a rehabilitative system works, and works a lot better than a punitive one. It’s cheaper too, since while they have to spend more per prisoner, the reduction in prisoners more than makes up for it. Why hasn’t the US followed suit? And why don’t we do that now?

#speech and debate #norway #utøya #terrorism #prison #death penality #penal reform #justice #justice system #oo #original oratory #norwegian #crime #crime and justive #Skeptic writes #anders behring breivik #anders breivik #shootings #statistics #us #america #design #architecture #prisons #jail #rehab #rehabilitation #rehabilitative justice #punitive justice #fairness

[dented-nado]

So so- James gets sick (you decided how sick he is loll) and Walter/Stolas/both take care of him

Im sorry sickfics are just so wholesome

Takes place before William, Grelle and Ronald were reapers (or even alive at) – For the reaper realm is sort of more in a colonial era vibe, but in the human world it’s currently 1568.

James is a character that’s had one appearance in my Black Butler Fan-Comic Will to Live – Stolas is an upcoming character – and Walter is a fan character that’s formed on our discord server lol.

Hope you like this!!! I kind of hinted at Walter’s existence and helping, but I ended up writing more about Stolas trying to get James just to go heckinnn rest lol. Hope that’s okay!

=====

Anyone who worked anywhere within the reaper realm in England would tell you their general manager was being particularly nasty. There was a rumor going around that his eyes were turning red with rage, Red.

Stolas, being the current head manager of the London Reaper district of course ended up hearing about the rumor. One of those little things that would come up during coffee breaks. Sometimes rumors spread quickly, many of them ended up not being true or over exaggerated… all of them had been there are REALLY long time after all, and sometimes rumors were the only thing that made their grueling jobs a little bit interesting.

This one… however, made Stolas sigh, he knew James too well, if those under him are especially scared of him at the moment, something was up.

Many of his coworkers thought Stolas was insane for remaining cheery with James, or they feared him too by proxy. Stolas wasn’t stupid, he knew why everyone was scared of James – James did it on purpose for Christ’s sake. However, since he had come on some 200 years ago and had many an interaction with the guy, finding himself unphased by his scare tactics... (he had seen men much more monstrous than James after all), he couldn’t help but feel some sort of…. Sympathy? No, that might not be the word? Maybe sometimes he just got a glimmer of the kind of man James could be and wanted to reach out and pull that glittering little gem out. He just hoped he wasn’t seeing something that wasn’t there.

He gazed at the large grandfather clock ticking away in the corner of his office, such a device was new to him, but he had picked it up a little quicker than James had who had kept time by candle for much longer than most of them.

He had 10 more minutes before his break would be over…

Stolas closed his large book he had snuck in to read on his breaks, it was one on the Tudors he had gotten quite lost in. Normally more ancient societies piqued his interest, but it was harder to get good accounts… he half wished he could just explore those ancient cities and discover their secrets himself. But… alas… here he was, not that he could have gone far in his human life either.

He downed the last bit of his tea before sitting up, making sure his ink well was covered and his quill was secure for when he inevitably came back to work.

He walked out of the London office and down the hall, tapping on James’s office door cheerfully, barely waiting for a grunt before coming in.

“What do you want?” James accused, looking up from his paperwork.

Now he did look quite the sight, more tired and grouchy than usual – and judging from the redness of his nose, it was irritated.

“Well now, I had heard you were especially difficult to deal with, and now I know why!” Stolas said, pushing his glasses up his nose and grinning.

James sighed, leaning back and rubbing his left eye slightly, they looked a bit bloodshot.

“Maybe if everyone did their job correctly…”

“Yes, then you wouldn’t be so cross all the time, blah blah blah, I’ve heard the script.” He took a few steps forward, leaning on James’s desk, something only he seemed to get away with. “You’re sick.”

“You’re pissing me off.” James snipped back, baring his teeth.

Stolas shook his head. This man was like trying to be friendly to a wolf on a good day, a rabid one on a bad day.

“Why don’t you just take the day off James? If your sick its not as if you can help it.” Stolas offered.

“I can get up, I can walk, I haven’t sprouted any pustules, not that reapers could get such a horrible thing thank god…” He paused, rubbing his hands together as if having the urge to wash them. “Unless I keel over, I’m still coming into work. Any reaper disease can’t be serious, it won’t kill me.”

“You’re a stubborn man James.” Stolas said, deciding to state the obvious. “What does Walter think?” He asked, furrowing his brows.

Walter was supposedly a ghost from James’s old life that followed him around. Stolas wasn’t entirely convinced he existed, or if he was a ghost in the sense of something James had been through that haunted him, or perhaps was his way of coping with the state of things. He cared for James enough that he didn’t want to try and tell James what he was or wasn’t experiencing… he couldn’t see through his eyes after all. If Walter was real… well… maybe it was good that James still had someone around to keep him grounded. If he wasn’t… what could he really do about that?

“Walter can mind his own business too.” He growled stubbornly, seemingly reading the same sentence on his paperwork a third time over, getting more frustrated.

Stolas narrowed his eyes, he slammed his hands down on the desk briefly, startling James a bit as he suddenly crossed over to his side of the desk, leaning down from his decent height and pointing his finger only inches away from James’s face.

“Either you let me take you home willingly, or I pick you up and carry you kicking and screaming.” He said very seriously.

James’s eyes widened before turning into a glare, leaning up and meeting his gaze with his own threatening one. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Wouldn’t I?” Stolas grinned.

James didn’t have time to run. He growled as Stolas tackled him and lifted him up out of his seat, having no problem lifting the bearded man up onto his shoulder.

“STOLAS SANTORI YOU PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!” He barked.

Stolas chuckled, he could tell all of James’s teeth were razor sharp just from the tone of his voice.

“You stay out of this!” James then barked, seemingly pointing at thin air in irritation, and Stolas was almost sure the air got colder.

Stolas walked towards the door, ignoring James struggling. “Last chance, I can put you down and you can go with me and retain some dignity…”

James stiffened and stopped flailing before sighing and going limp. “Fine, FINE! Just put me down or I swear I’ll have you- GAH!!”

Stolas followed his order and let James fall off his shoulder, only barely catching his balance.

James breathed heavily before coughing a bit, trying to straighten his hair and jacket. “If… If I’m penalized for being gone today…”

“I’ll take full responsibility. You can say you were kidnapped.” Stolas responded, walking out into the hallway with James in tow.

“…If I were to say you kidnapped me and disrupted my work… you could be put on trial.”

Stolas simply slipped his glasses off, cleaning them as they walked. He knew the halls well enough by now he probably could have found his way around without being able to see at all.

“If it happens… it happens.”

“How can you be so calm about such a thing?” James snapped before sneezing, grumbling, and pulling a handkerchief out of his coat pocket to blow his nose into.

“If that’s my fate, who am I to argue with it. I prefer to do what I think is right James, not what is easy or safe. And right now… seeing you rested is what I believe is right.” He said, looking down at James sincerely as they walked out of the building.

James hung his head for a moment, grinding his teeth slightly before walking again to head to his assigned home, Stolas not far behind.

“You’re a fool.” He said simply, and quietly.

Stolas just laughed. “Maybe. Most people seem to think so for getting within 2 feet of you.” He said softly, nudging James with his arm.

James felt miserable, he was annoyed, and on some level, he was scared.

But despite all that… he smiled.

#Look who is trying to write on this blog lol! #I know a lot of ya'll followed me for DC content? I still might do some stuff for it but... #my interests have changed D: I understand if anyone wants to unfollow! otherwise stick around <3! #will to live fc #W2L #james knapp #i hope tumblr doesn't accidently tag that helluv fandom bc of the character sharing the same name being mentioned here #if it is #hi #sorry lol #request fill

[rametarin]

TERFs are wrong. But, so are social constructionist Gender Theorists

You know it is not a question of one extreme or the other. As much as both like to think they are morally right and have “the science” on their side, they don’t. Both are god damned annoying, totalitarian, and are interpreting reality and what that means in order to browbeat and push others, both socially and legally, towards doing things based on what those mean.

Both are trying to control the parameters of all things based on the fundamentals by their interpretation of reality, not by the objective facts. Both are wrong.

TERFs are not wrong in that someone that is born with XY chromosomes and a standard male sex conforming body is male, and you need dysphoria in order to be trans. They are not wrong that your gender is not just a wily nily purely social construct.

They are, however, wrong about absolutely everything else regarding what those genders MEAN, where they’re derived from and why they were derived that way.

And the social constructionists aren’t wrong in that we should make exceptions to the biological rule for people with transgenderist disorders of the mind and brain. But, they are wrong in that so many are totalitarian. They do not want these exceptions to be exceptions, they want the very basis and fundamental understanding, how we define gender and sex, to change to be based not on biological empiricism, facts or truth, but by legal and social oughts and things they argue “should be held true else it demoralizes and oppresses a minority.”

There are not, “millions of genders.” There’s your basic standard assed functioning, and then there’s a disorder we otherwise can’t do anything with or about right now where it’d simply more healthy for everybody around if we let them live with the identity that is in their minds and body.

Furthermore, the nonbinarist movement needs to stop being such a cowardly little bitch and argue for itself outside the umbrella of trans rights, because it sits there demanding changes and exceptions and validations be made for it on the basis of bowing to trans rights, when it itself hasn’t stepped out of its parasitic sphere to fight for any on its own. Strategically using trans rights as a platform for both offensive and defensive purposes.

TERFs, up to now, have been virtually unchallengable because, “you must be a horrible right wing fundamentalist religious monster to oppose EQUALITY for WOMEN!” And they’ve just skirted on that since the 60s. Which was absolute hell trying to convince anybody that radical feminism was nonsense and harbored deep, authoritarian bends on takes with social ramifications. Yall were in their corner when they were talking about how, “society” needed to give women, exclusively, help to go to college because of past oppressions. But when someone tried to tell you they had weird obsessions with vaginas and using them as rubber stamps for whom gets special treatment and privileges and exceptions to defaults that make men do dirty work and women get clean pay? Deafening silence.

But the minute TERFs don’t want transwomen in their magical witch girl’s clubs, fucking with the cosmology? Ohho they’re visible now. You can see their bullshit now. They’re weirdos drawing female symbols and self-portraits with menstrual blood and making hacky poems about their uterus, now. They’re bad people now. You can actually see they weren’t, “being hyperbolic” or “just venting about the evil MEN around them” now. Hahahahaa. Hilarious.

TERFs are wrong. Point blank. But so are the social constructionist extremists and postmodernists behind the appropriated bandwagon of what calls itself the trans rights and nonbinarist rights movement in the west. The basis for which they’ve defined their norms is not one of reality, but “oughts” and “should be’s” and “must bes” and “or else”s. To the point where they invented a slur specifically to denounce those that do not share their view. “Bioessentialist.”

That makes as much sense as calling someone a dirty, “bioessentialist” because they say you need to be an elephant, to be an elephant. Yes, you do need the physical, biological characteristics to really BE that which you aspire to be. No, you don’t get to redefine what an elephant is to force the elephant to “identify” as an elephant so something that is not an elephant can also be an elephant.

If misgendering someone is triggering for a minority, it’s just as triggering when you deny someone’s sexuality or gender when they’re hetero and cis. And many are repulsed by the idea that the reason they’re compatible with their sex and gender conformation is because they, “made a choice.” For that matter, if you’re actually transgendered and not some bandwagoneering asshole, being trans isn’t a choice either. It’s a psychological and neurological impossibility to be anything else, not a lifestyle, not a hobby, not a “preferred state of mind.” Arguing anything else is arguing not for trans rights, but for psycho-social dominance in law.

And if you think misgendering someone that’s transgendered is bad, people that make up at MOST, 0.7% of the human species, and some say as few as 0.3% of the human species (people with cleft lips, born missing limbs and more are born more often) then what the FUCK do you think it is, redefining the identities and realities of 99.3% to 99.7% of the human animal, not to mention how every other animal works? (not counting some exceptions like clownfish.)

Gender is not, wholly, a social construct. It’s a derivative and pluto’s shadow from SEX. SEX is not psychological. Sex is not negotiable. Sex is biological and disease can make it express incorrectly or correctly to function as intended by natural selection. Gender is only a social construct in that some cultures have assigned thoughts and characteristics and responsibilities for people on the basis of said sexual role. That’s it.

But people that try to live purely in the psychological sphere or argue that sphere belongs in the dominant position for mankind try to argue it’s the only one that really matters, and while we’re at it, lets let the minority dictate what is normal and rational and good. So their believe gender as feelings supersedes sex as reality.

And why would they argue this? Because they’re, “just such big fans of trans rights?” No. Because they hate disparity and immutable, biological difference. And so want to use the arbitration of human law and culture to marginalize it and pretend it doesn’t exist- to where using technology to circumvent it and the penal system to enforce that view seems like a reasonable, moral thing to strive for. Trans rights for these people have always just been a nice coat of paint to put their real activism under.

And the biggest bitch of it all is, Radical Feminists and Trans Inclusive Radical Feminists and Social Constructionists all receive their marching orders from the same ideology. The same stupid take that says bugger reality, live in a communal fantasy and enforce everybody else to live in it, too. Else they’re a bad person. Else they’re a fascist. They merely differ in the rules and the fundamental parameters.

Know the difference between, “this person is bad and they should be shamed for their beliefs because they are bad,” and, “This person is bad because they’re sitting on a throne that I want to sit on as is rightfully mine.” TIRFs don’t hate TERFs because they’re wrong, they hate them because they’re in the middle of a power grab.

But we have the opportunity to end this “Critical Lens” shitshow forever. Both sides are exposed and showing their true colors as terrible ideologies and people. Both sides are showing their totalitarianism in the form of competitive propaganda and using the legal system to get their way based on past manipulations and exploitations they got from lying to a public that didn’t want to be misogynistic or prejudiced against the transgender.

All it takes is connecting the dots and understanding just how and why it’s not a matter of “bitter evil borderline-conservative Karens Vs. noble oppressed transgenders.”

TERFs are fucking NOT conservatives. They’re typically the same far-left assholes as the TIRFs. They differ ONLY in that they believe critical theory fucking STOPS at the immutable reality of biological sex, because they stand to lose dominance if it’s not immutable- so they demand it be CONSIDERED immutable. Their status as oppressed inherently, hinges on it.

So that’s it then. You’re left with no real heroes in this fight. But if you take anything away from what I’m telling you today, it’s that you can argue legally for trans rights. Just, on the basis as exception to the biological basis, as has been proven. Asterisks. Hyphens. Acknowledging the reality that the existence of the transgendered does not negate the reality of biological sex, nor those whose genders are a direct result of their biological sex as the norm.

It’s not bigotry to sexually discriminate to some degrees. When dealing with subjectives, it’s a matter of argument. When dealing with biological realities and imperatives, opinion is irrelevant to the self-evident realities, and interpretation matters less than the reality.

But to those that believe any discrimination based on physical differences or state is inherently wrong, just the idea of male and female being two different, named things, (”classes”, if you will) with different, “unequal” functions and capacity, fills them with rage.

Your moralism stops where nature begins. Period.

[coollyinterferes]

unprompted asks 【always accepting】

//Hi, anon! Ahhh, that’s perfectly alright!! No worries (in all honesty, all kinds of asks are always welcome here anytime everytime, so please keep them coming!!).

As for your question, yes!! They could and some of them did get ‘unofficially’ married!! It was usually done in a symbolic way and done in a small ceremony where there would only be a few people, usually close friends and, sometimes, the close families of the grooms, if the families even knew about their son’s ‘lifestyle’ and were okay with it. Think of these ceremonies as the type of intimate weddings people sometimes celebrate nowadays, just a lot more private and “secret”. Some of these ceremonies were officiated by non other than a religious priest! Most priests at the time, as you probably guessed, were against homosexuality, using the same old ‘arguments’ you hear nowadays, that it was unnatural, that is was a sin, and etc (which kinda doubles up when you take into account how religious Victorian England was overall and how “strict” they were in regards to traditional values and etc) but, even then, there was still a number of priests who were willing to officiate these ceremonies for homosexual couples, you only had to know where to look for them as all this could carry some serious legal issues as well as all the social consequences this could unleash, mainly for the couple, partly due to all the stigma there was around being a gay male at the time (and which was a big deal and could ruin lives and reputations in most cases), but majorly because male homosexuality was illegal and punishable by the law if you got caught ‘in the act’.

In Robert’s case, which is why I mentioned this topic last time, he doesn’t really mind the social consequences any of this can bring upon himself since he’s a criminal already, and he’s also considered a “disgraceful person” by the standards of his time. He’s out and proud in the slums and all that underworld, too, so it wouldn’t make much of a difference in those regards to have the rest of society know that he’s an homosexual man (the legal aspect would be a big issue for him, though, cause this ’crime’ was normally penalized with jail time around this time of the Victorian Era). However, the biggest setback in all this is that he doesn’t want to bring any of these issues upon a future boyfriend of his and, thus, wouldn’t want to drag him into all this and cause him some ‘unnecessary’ trouble as well as to spare him all the legal consequences. These are some of the biggest reasons why he struggles with the idea of confessing his feelings whenever he’s fallen for someone (esp in cases like Jonathan, since he doesn’t want to ‘tarnish’ his reputation ;v;).

This got a bit long but I hope this answered your question, anon!

#;stone masks #;speedwagon withdraws coolly #;answered #[also trying out a new divider~] #[it's super simple and kinda lame but i wanted something more specific for the blog] #[annnd i'm still working and doing everything from my broken laptop] #[so i can only use super light online pic editors :'D] #[might be changing it sometime if i can make something more decent but for now i hope this one works fine!] #;all the stuff and more (( misc ))

[kelseyapperson]

I shouldn’t have to feel bad for being white...

I used to feel this way. I even found some problematic writing from myself, around 7-8 years ago, and I want to talk about it. I think it's important that we normalize changing our minds and growth. It's never too late to admit you were wrong, and I think it's important that I show that and hold myself accountable as I do others.

So, even though it's uncomfortable and not a good look, I'm going to share what I wrote then, and then explain why I now know that line of thinking is wrong and hurtful to Black people. 

Here's the writing: "i am tired, deep in my bones. it isn't the kind of tired that sleep can alleviate. it is the exhaustion of generations, carried on my shoulders, passed from my ancestors. it intertwines with a verdict of guilt, responsibility for sins i myself did not commit. it is the burden of my skin color, the plight of my race, and i am expected to feel bad for being white. i'm tired of the shame, i'm tired of the inequalities, i'm tired of our focus on something that doesn't exist. my bones are weary and white, and my children will inherit the color, the burden. they will be born owing others for a past they had no control over. how is this anymore just than those born into slavery so long ago?" Big oof. I have so many thoughts reading this and sharing it with you. I am ashamed at my ignorance. These words were written through the lens of white privilege and as an expression of my white fragility. I do remember feeling these things, I remember feeling defensive for things I didn't even do, I remember feeling like it was unfair that I was being blamed for something in the past. I know many of my white friends may feel this way. But I was wrong. Let's talk about why. ***Disclaimer: I am not here to speak for Black people, but I will echo feelings that I've heard to break down my own racist rhetoric.***

"i am tired, / deep in my bones / it isn't the kind of tired / that sleep can alleviate" What do I have to be tired about when it comes to race? Being given a warning for speeding, as opposed to a ticket, an arrest, or a bullet wound? Black people are tired. They are tired of being treated worse by the color of their skin. They are tired of doing emotional labor to make us not feel guilty about slavery so that we see them as humans. They are tired of living in a white-first world.

"it is the exhaustion of / generations, carried on my / shoulders, passed from my / ancestors."

I'm most ashamed by this idea of generational trauma as a white person, because this is SO REAL FOR BLACK PEOPLE. There is research to back this up. The way Black people have to interact with our society has been passed down from one generation to the next, the trauma and pain and lessons shared. Many Black people speak of their experience with "the talk." The one where their parents tell them, usually at a young age, that they need to handle white people carefully or they may overreact and bring them harm. Imagine being told that a police officer, whose job is to keep people safe, may unjustly arrest you, brutalize you, or murder you - not for doing anything illegal, but for not showing perfect obedience in the power dynamic. AND EVEN IF YOU DO EVERYTHING RIGHT IT MAY STILL GO BAD.

"it intertwines with a verdict / of guilt, responsibility for sins / i myself did not commit. / it is the burden of my skin color, / the plight of my race, / and i am expected to feel bad / for being white."

Me to past me: "BITCH PLEASE." Okay, okay, let's unpack it. I am not guilty of enslaving people nor am I expected to feel guilt for my skin color. Most Black people don't even feel that way or want us to feel this way. However. I have benefited from a social system that has racism built into it. I have been empowered by a system where Black people are disproportionately ensl--arrested, jailed, etc. I benefit from Black people who have numerous disadvantages because of the obstacles put in place by racism, such as poor education from the start, having to work minimum wage jobs, all contributing to them being in poverty while I am able to live my life and benefit from their labor as fast-food workers, retail workers, maids, taxi drivers...so on and so forth. I'm not rich, I didn't grow up rich, I've struggled myself - and STILL I HAVE BENEFITED without even realizing it was happening. Privilege does not mean you have a good life, it means that your skin color (gender, orientation, etc) does not make it worse.

"i'm tired of the shame, / i'm tired of the inequalities, / i'm tired of our focus on / something that doesn't exist. / my bones are weary and white, / and my children will inherit / the color, the burden." Again, this touches on generational trauma, which I discussed above. More importantly, tough, it touches on my privilege as a white person to not see the racial inequities built into the framework of our society. If I'm truly tired of my white guilt, of inequalities, then I need to join the fight for racial equality. Point blank, period, the same goes for you. 

"they will be born owing others / for a past they had no control / over. / how is this anymore / just than those born into / slavery so long ago?" Mmm, girl. You did not just compare feeling uncomfortable to slavery. Ugh. So again, we have generational trauma. And, let's be clear. It's not fair that we have to undo the work of our ancestors. It's not. But, it's less fair that those who aren't white are still being penalized because of their skin color. So we're either with them, or we're against them. No, it's not going to be easy. And as people with privilege, we liked to take a step back when things are hard because it doesn't affect us. It's pretty normal and human. But if we really care about Black people and other people of color, we need to step up. We need to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work. I know so many of my friends are damn hard workers. I know that you care about people and you want them to be treated equal. That's why we have to make it happen. Our voices are important, because right now in society they matter more. And that's why it's our responsibility to use them to amplify those who can't be heard as loud. Right now, that's Black people. So, yes, I was super problematic. Some of you probably were too. Maybe you still are. And no, it's not really your fault. We (white people) were all duped into believing that this was an equal society, when it never has been. We need to help affect change so that the generational trauma does not continue. WE NEED TO BE THE CHANGE. So, now, how would I write this poem today? "i hear their weary cries deep in my bones. it isn't the kind of tired that sleep can alleviate. it is the exhaustion of generations, carried on their shoulders, passed from their ancestors. it intertwines with a verdict of guilt, one predetermined before they are even born. it is the burden of their skin color, the plight of their race, and i am empowered to help them because i am white. i'll take some of it, the burden - release the weight from their shoulders. i'm tired of the inequalities and i will fight until they no longer exist. my power is in my skin color, and my children will inherit that too. i will teach them to yield it, giving to others to undo a past that none of us deserve. we cannot undo what was done, but we can do better. it is our duty to do better."

If you read this all, thanks. I hope it helped.

#white #white privilege #white fragility #white people #white allyship #blacklivesmatter #black lives have value #equality #fight for equality #growth #i was wrong #be better #learn #understand #challenge your privilege #check your privilege #do better #bethechange #be the change #black lives matter

[fortheheavenssake]

💟💟 PG MM Anon(II) 💟💟 Interpretation Collection - 9

58. July 9

MM ANON …… HMTQ The long wait ………… BLM Trumps ………… no taxes………… boarding Charlotte 🥳🥳🥳……Boarding George 😱😱😱😱………… open the Jim…………… Brazil el Presidente……… Amber Amber,red……………IOC allow protest? ………… school 😷 masks. ……………cricket lovely cricket ………don’t cruise ………………glee, not today …………… tic-toc down. ……… red crane down.

Thank you😊❤️❤️❤️❤️

Entertainment purposes

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️😊😊😊😊😊THANK YOU MM ANON😊😊😊😊😊😊✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️🌈🌈🌈🌈

July 9/2020

RIDDLE#58

HMTQ The long wait …………

The road going up to Windsor Castle is called The Long Walk. Because of Covid, her Majesty the Queen , will no longer at this point be going to Buckingham Palace. Hence the reason for yesterday’s riddle clue that 250 BP staff are being made redundant. So she has spent all this time at Windsor Castle and is looking forward to going to Balmoral. As far as I’ve heard, that has not been cancelled. I’ve checked again today and I can’t see anywhere where it’s been cancelled. It will be a long wait for her to see what happens , what is the outcome of this Covid as to whether she can ever go back to Buckingham palace and ever resume any sort of duties that she’s been doing for her whole life! I ache for her, it must hurt her to the core because that’s what she’s committed to and it’s so it’s so upsetting.

I also think this is Prince Harry and having him return to the fold after these years of manipulations and machinations and lies and every other adjective that I don’t want to continue to keep saying about that woman Madam. Soon Harry will be reunited with his family if he has already not been. Again l repeat for the 10th time, 🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂, I’m sticking with what I have said, I do believe something happened at Canada House and the next day at Harbottle and Lewis. And the quote from Allegedly ANON last night about how things would happen and then the public would be told later. I think that fits exactly with what what what I believe happened. I think the divorce or I’m hoping annulment has happened. I really am hoping annulment but we’ll wait until the time is right to tell us.

BLM Trumps …………

I heard that they were going to do this last week and they’ve done it now. On the street in front of of President Trump’s huge building that he owns or I think he owns it in New York City in huge letters painted in like neon yellow paint, I think it would flash in the dark it’s so bright, Black Lives Matter has been painted along the whole block. I don’t know how the defacement of public property is allowed. I understand that Americans have free-speech under the first amendment, I believe it is, but you can’t yell fire in a crowded theatre and I don’t know how are you can deface public property. Maybe somebody can explain that to me in the comments because I don’t understand it, but I’m not American so I don’t understand that part but please explain it to me.

no taxes…………

I find this very confusing because what I’m reading is that the UK public will have to have a tax increase next year at £35,000,000,000 pounds and it will take years or decades to pay off the £2 trillion debt that this whole COVID19has cost.

The cats are flying to change and it will not be no taxes as a value added tax or the VAT.

Taken from The Sun website

”VAT is being slashed for businesses in the tourism and hospitality industries but what’s happening and what does it mean for households?

What is VAT and what’s it changing to?

VAT (value added tax) will be cut from 20 per cent to 5 per cent for businesses in the hospitality and tourism industries, chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed in his mini-Budget this week.

VAT is a tax paid by businesses to HMRC on the items or services they sell.

It’s typically passed on to consumers in the price they pay for these goods and services.

When will the VAT cut take force?

The tax cut will take force next Wednesday (July 15) and will remain in place until January 12, 2021.

What will the VAT cut apply to?

Booze is excluded from the VAT cut, but it will apply to food and non-alcoholic drinks from restaurants, pubs, bars, cafés and other similar premises across the UK.

It will also apply to accommodation and on admission to attractions.”

boarding Charlotte 🥳🥳🥳……Boarding George 😱😱😱😱…………

OK so we have boarding Charlotte three happy faces with the hats and those blowy things that unfurl Prince George’s birthday is in July 22 he is going to be seven years old can you believe that wow! And then we have B boarding G George with for horrified faces. Well we know it’s not because George is afraid of flying because he absolutely loves it I’ll do all the children. I think this is the first one is it a reference to Charlotte and celebrating George’s birthday the second one I think is a reference to George going to boarding school which has been talked about for a while now and I brought that up in the riddle again yesterday. And I think the four horrified faces of George going off to boarding school would be William and Catherine and Charlotte and Louis that’s what I think this is .

We have been given clues that the Cambridge family is taking a vacation and it would be nice to take it and celebrate George’s birthday don’t you think? Ok so in capital letters we have CBG. In between everything we have three dots with a space three dots with the space and we know it was with MM ANON everything means something.With the talking software you guys can follow along with how my mind works I’m trying to solve these riddles.

I wonder if it’s going to be some sort of adventure vacation because they are all very adventurous Ha I was I don’t know if I should take from this other than vacation CBG.?Costa Rica?I don’t know but I have an idea you could to go to Costa Rica and see the sloth sanctuary I would highly recommend that highly highly highly recommend that!

Thing I know for sure is there’s no way they would go on vacation if things are not settled with Harry that I do know for sure!

open the Jim……………

MM ANON Very much enjoys using the Star Trek reference of Jim that line from Star Trek is Spock but not as we knew him. So in the UK outdoor pools can open July 11 and on July 25 indoor pools and gyms and the like can open then. So yes they will be gyms and they will be open but not as we knew them before. They will be of course social distancing hand sanitizing smaller classes all of the usual bells and whistle’s that go along with the our new normal. I think people will just be glad to get back to their workouts and get out of the house and connecting with people even though they’re 6 feet away or 2 m or one meat or whatever the social distance will be at that time it’ll just be good for everybody physically and emotionally.

Brazil el Presidente………

President Bolsonaro, as I said yesterday was at a press conference and he was wearing mask and he proceeded to tell the reporter that he had tested positive for COVID-19 which when he took off his mask continue to talk but then walked backwards. It was very bizarre. This is about the fifth clue about Brazil and now the president of Brazil also the song Brazil has been used a couple of times in the last week or so. I made a note this morning and I don’t know if anybody else had a chance to read it but I was thinking last night and then have you guys ever read the book the boys from Brazil or seen the 🎥 The Boys From Brazil? The book is written by I are 11 and that’s it it’s a story of how the Nazis some of them the higher-ups and the scientist escape to Brazil and they proceeded to breed a master race of young male clones I think it’s just male been a while since I’ve seen that movie. We do know it’s a no well proven fact but after the second world war ended many high-ranking Nazis snuck out of Germany and took refuge in Brazil. In fact there’s a large population of German people still living in Brazil. The Simon Wiesenthal society has for decades made it their mandate to bring to justice or not you were criminals and many of them have been found in that area rather that country. Now I don’t know if this is related to what the clues are about but I look at what’s happening in the world in the rise of fascism and who the backers are and the circles that Madam floated in literally luscious yachting it’s all about your really dangerous people with a lot of power. So I am just raising this is a question. Is there anything there that might be related to the war criminals or the anything like that and I’m just throwing it out there.

Amber Amber,red……………

Oh this court trial her whatever case between amber Heard and Johnny Depp is just absolutely horrific it’s just all-around horrific. yesterday we heard about what his lunches were she took a picture of his lunch which was a huge cup of whiskey and cigarettes and four lines of cocaine and I forget what else was there and today in court we have them in a rage fight or Johnny Depp hurled a bottle of red wine at her.. Oh sometimes I wish the celebrity stuff that would just be kept out of the papers because this just is nothing but a sideshow of the sadness and with pathetic lives with people who have more money than you and I in than all of everybody on Tumblr put together will ever have and how it’s just wasted. But more than that though, how young beautiful people who are so talented just absolutely waste their lives and how abusive people are. I just find it so sad.

IOC allow protest? …………

The international Olympic committee has been battling with this issue. They have been trying to decide whether or not they will allow or penalize athletes for any demonstration of taking a knee or raising a fist or anything like that. The whole point of the Olympics is to unite the world in the form of athletics it’s kind of a diplomatic effort if you will like. Do you want to kind of be like “Switzerland” but they were a neutral in these kind of political issues. They are there for the sport and for the sake of the sport in and healthy competition not for political opinions and protests. So last I heard and have read they haven’t made a permanent decision about that yet. I know it’s been on the docket for quite some time and they’ll have to make a decision one way or the other. And I think either either way they go in making decisions I will be very upset people on both sides.

school 😷 masks. ……………

Various places are making various plans for back to school in September. The general consensus is the children need to get back to school even out of school for five months and many are falling behind. There are also many children who who miss nutrition if they’re not at school and as we have read and heard about there’s been an increase in addiction increase in domestic violence and that sort of thing and just the change of routine and structure am just been very detrimental to everybody but especially our most vulnerable children. And so part of the expectation will be and I think we need to all look at this going forward is that we will be wearing masks for a very long time. Some articles say this will be the new normal. Some scientists say Covid19 and the like, will never leave us. Going forward this will be our new normal in terms of social distancing in the plastic screens by the tills and between tables and restaurants and mask and all that sort of thing.

cricket lovely cricket ………

Finally sweet finally team sports are resuming. This weekend the cricket resumes and they are trialling a rather interesting thing of course there won’t be an audience but they are trialling putting loud cheers in and the audio as if there was a crowd present, to see if that makes a difference in how the players play. I think that’s a really interesting thing to do. We do know in sports how much the the athletes feed off the energy of the crowd and vice versa it’s all a very what’s the word pause visceral experience he kind of cheering and screaming and yelling when you get out all your frustrations while you’re cheering for your favourite team and it’s a it’s a healthy experience all the way around!

don’t cruise ………………

Well if you’re looking for a holiday they are suggesting anything but cruising! It is always a high-risk activity anyway because there’s so much food on display all the time and there’s all you always hear about food poisoning and bouts of people getting ill on cruise ships from that reason. Now adding Covid19 to the equation, just don’t 🚢cruise! That’s the recommendation and actually I’m quite surprised they’re even doing cruises but I guess they need money so badly that they’ll take whatever bookings they can get.

glee, not today ……………

Glee was a television show on the Fox channel in America about a high school musical club I think. I never watched it but it was immensely popular. There have been a number of young actors suffer from that show that have perished. A young woman by the name of Naya Rivera, her baby child was found in a boat today and the assumption is that she jumped and she drowned herself in the water. Just absolutely tragic and it’s just horrible. Condolences to her family, friends and fans.

tic-toc down. ………

Millions possibly billions around the planet today are freaking out because Tic Tok is down! The app is down is frozen and everybody who had saved Tic Tok messages have lost all their saved messages, their favourites are gone! They have lost everything and they’re not even sure if they’ll be able to recover the app and get it back up and going! So needless to say everybody who has been coming in so enamoured with Tic Tok is really really upset right now!

red crane down.

There has been been a tragic accident in East London today. A crane a large crane, red in colour, you know if those are the things that they use to build things wow I am an architect eh? Sad to say an 85-year-old lady was killed and she’s still with her body is still trapped in the house. They have sent another crane in to help with the recovery.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

——————

59. July 10

MM ANON …… fly high Vera…………… Johnny poo…………… Murray mint Kate…………… now Pneumonia …………… Break cover……………… without merit ……… cover up Boris………… stop and search 😱😱😱…………… open theatre …………………… “ we want gan gan !! “ …………… “ we can visit Catherine “ …………… “ yes’ before Scotland “…………… “ clandestine William “ ……… “your grandfather will be ecstatic 🤣🤣🤣”

Entertainment purposes

July 10/2020

💜💜💜💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈THANK YOU MM ANON🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜💜💜💜

RIDDLE#59

fly high Vera……………

Dame Vera Lynn who song just celebrated have the anniversary at the end of the first world war just a few short months ago. She died just after celebrating that anniversary, she was 103 years old. She is honoured today with a flypast from two Spitfires as crowds lined the streets of her Sussex village for her funeral - on the 80th anniversary of start of Battle of Britain. I Wonder if the Duchess of Sussex was there to pay her respects? She personified the the morale of many soldiers during World War II. The power of music we all know how powerful music it is. Certain songs especially and Till We Meet Again, Dame Vera, Rest In Peace Till We Meet Again……..🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻😢😢😢😢😢😢🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Johnny poo……………

This whole court case between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard it’s just sinking more in a very filthy territory. The female in the relationship allegedly was so mad that the male, was two hours late to her birthday party that she did a BM in his bed. Now there’s some mixup saying it was her dog’s BM was not her own BM. Either way it’s all just terrible.I wonder if this is a precursor somehow, to somewhat numb us to what’s going to come out of the MOS trial , facts that will be made public about madam, facts and the videos related to Madam. We will have heard such horrific things like this and then will hear regarding her it’ll be maybe a little easier to take I’m not sure.What we heard was that he didn’t cooperate with something and she had a BM in the bed kind of like a dog goes BM in your bed or in your shoes if he is mad at you. Just disgusting that adults behave like this I just can’t believe it.

Murray mint Kate……………

This weekend would’ve been the finals at Wimbledon. Today Catherine made a call and she look absolutely gorgeous in green I went to post that to my blog this morning. I made a snarky comment I said soon as that was posted we can expect the next video of Madam should be the same hairstyle as she’s madly looking for a green dress with athletes is on it and a bow that Catherine space was wearing on her left chest.

Catherine was kind of cheeky in how she presented her special guest. It was just her first and then she so cutely told them in the children as who’s are somebody special here with me and it turned out to be so Andy Murray so I needless to say everybody was very excited. They spent time talking about tennis and different strategies that sort of thing. The children also got to ask Catherine questions and then came around to their families and the lockdown. And there were questions about things like what did they do during lockdown. It was just a really nice back-and-forth video call Catherine is so good at that.

Of notes and he worry so anywhere he does have a history of having his name and his face on some mints so I picture here I hope it shows up when I when it’s posted.I also put the link underneath the picture doesn’t show up because I charge for pictures in before and they haven’t worked. I’m not sure if that’s what’s the clue was answered but you do you got lots of information anyway.🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2402105/Andy-Murray-face-super-imposed-Murray-Mints-US-Open.html

now Pneumonia ……..

Chinese health officials are now saying that an unknown pneumonia more deadly than the coronavirus“ that is “sweeping“ Kazakhstan and it’s actually likely to be Covid19! They are having 32,000 cases and 451 deaths between June 29 and July 5, 2020 in China. In Kazakhstan there have been 52,301 cases and 296 deaths.

Break cover………………

I think I can say, in my humble opinion, that this is our Harry. You all know that I’ve been banging on for years now that he is covertly overtly on her Majesty’s Secret Service. Now that everything has been arranged completed and finalized, they are completely disentangled from each other.Harry can break cover from wherever he’s been staying and just I’m sure just dying to announce the world that is he is free from that horrible horrible SEAHAG!! Every day when I open my iPad I look at Skippy screen is a green is a green the day it turned green I think we will all squeal and I think that will be a squeal and joy heard across the entire world perhaps even universe😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

without merit ………

When I read this headline a few minutes ago or over an hour to go I was absolutely gob smacked disgusted! GM, her attorney has said in court today in New York that the charges against GM are entirely without merit🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 and they want bail granted to immediately that she is not a flight risk!

cover up Boris…………

During one of the BLM riots a woman was seen wearing an anti-Boris tshirt. If you read what it said it was extremely vulgar. Police asked he to cover it up. Well she didn’t take kindly to that and filed a complaint. Today the results, the police officer(s) are forced to apologize. What is wrong with the world? Complete and utter disrespect!! How wonderful next thing is they’re going to make them not just get down on one knee to get down on both an end to pray at their feet?? This is absolutely gusting it really Riles me up because it’s so stupid.

stop and search 😱😱😱……………

In the United States and I think in particular New York State or New York City , they had a program called stop and frisbk. And law enforcement found that to be very effective in stopping some crimes. But that of course was done away with because human rights and all that stuff. So it stop and search was also used in the UK under the lockdown. 22,000 people have been stopped and searched. Now with Black Lives Matter and all the other issues are a cry a racial discrimination has been heard. Therefore an Inquiry will be conducted to review it in fact there were any cases of racial profiling or abuses.

open theatre…….

The government always acknowledged that “some venues which are, by design, crowded and where it may prove difficult to enact distancing may still not be able to reopen safely at this point”.

Outdoor theatres, opera, dance and music can start opening Saturday July 11/2020!! as they take place with a limited audience. Singing and the playing of brass and wind instruments will be permitted in a managed and controlled professional working environment to minimise risk.

How absolutely marvellous this is! I did a fairly long comment in one of my previous riddles interpretations where Piers Morgan was interviewing John Barrowman who is a well-known stage actor. They were talking about the Panto season and how much revenue that brings in for the theatre. Will all theatres being closed for so long without any future date to work towards, if something doesn’t happen with short order they may never reopen. I’m not sure what riddle that was so sorry I should’ve probably looked at which rental it was but anyways Google it.

“ we want gan gan !! “ …………… “ we can visit Catherine “ …………… “ yes’ before Scotland “…………… “ clandestine William “ ……… “your grandfather will be ecstatic 🤣🤣🤣”

Well here we have the Cambridge family desperately wanting to visit her Majesty the Queen. And it sounds like yes it’s a go for the annual trip to Balmoral and in fact that will be the Cambridge just placed a holiday as well at Balmoral in Scotland oh does it get any better oh sigh🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰☺️☺️☺️☺️ . Sounds like before they head up to Balmoral, the Cambridge greatgrandchildren will be going over to Windsor Castle to see Gangan and Himself! How wonderful is that!

As I said yesterday the Cambridges would not be going on vacation if things weren’t resolved with Harry! Yesterday Allegedly Anon and the previous day too, had left us some messages that, especially one that Catherine and William were working clandestinely with the legal team to arrange things for Harry. Sounds like things have been successful and William has completed the arrangements and Harry is a free man!!! This bring me to tears just thinking about that! I want to Harken to something LEGAL ANON made yesterday. Doing the divorce is easy it’s just a slip of paper but all the other arrangements financial another that’s what takes negotiations That is what takes the time , and Madam would , not go gently into that good night, to quote Dylan Thomas. She would be fighting for every ££££ and the Duchess of Sussex title. HMTQ is very happy with this news and she is extremely excited to tell her husband about this news because he absolutely loves and adores Harry.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

—————-

60. July 11

MM ANON ………… relaxed on zoom…………… Leeds bleeds ………… office no office ………… compulsory …………… Brooklyn!! Yawn. ………… Smith, Will deny …………… “Well” , solve the mystery???…………… STONE cold guilty………… Bollywood in hospital ……………Beach sleep………… Tapes😱😱😱😱………… In secunda Eboracum venit ………… Boo-Hoo !!

Entertainment purposes

Saturday July 11/20

💜💜💜💜🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈😊😊😊😊😊THANK YOU DEAR MM ANON😊😊😊😊😊🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈💜💜💜💜

July 11/2020

RIDDLE#60!!!

Kids I think in total now I am well over 200 riddle interpretations I am so excited!

relaxed on zoom……………

Oh dear Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge how we love her!!! Initially in, doing her zoom meetings and time with in lieu of personal appearances or walkabouts, she was a little shy, but now she’s again, as with everything else, she’s come into to her own and she’s fully relax and is completely herself. I have to laugh Scooby Doo had to put in his comments to in the paper and he stole in my line!!! I’ve been saying this for years about Catherine , that she has fully come into her own!! Scooby I know you read here stop stealing my lines that is plagiarism!!!

Leeds bleeds …………

Everyone in the UK has a favourite football team! Sad to say the team in Leeds has lost a very very very valuable member of its family. Tributes are flooding in to the legendary World Cup winner for England in 1966 Jack Charlton who died at the age of 85 this week. There will be a lot of grieving and memories I am sure and my heart goes out to his family and all his friends and people who worked with him over the years.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

office no office …………

In a big change from his stay home, stay home, stay home work from home mantra. Boris Johnson now says everybody come on over , come on work it’s OK , come on in, to go back to your office, nothing to see here folks, just come on back it’s all right! And they’re having problems with the the tertiary businesses downtown because people are not working in the office or working from home. The thing is that people are getting to like working from home because they could have their own schedule and oh boy we we can’t have that can we can’t have people enjoying enjoying their life.

compulsory ……………

Was released from No. 10 a few hours ago, that the plan going forward will very likely be mandatory use of facemasks in all of the shops. That does not just mean that the staff that means also the people going to shop. So going forward I will suggest you stock up on reusable masks that are of a good quality that you can launder and sanitize and as well I also picked up a box of disposable ones so I have them on hand for when people come and I also bought a giant size of hand sanitizers so just start planning because it is the new normal.

Brooklyn!! Yawn. …………

Yawn is right big boring YAWN ! The Beckhams are never out of the news I’m so sick of this! now we have the 2.0 version Brooklyn Beckham is now engaged to some actress Nicola Peltz so I think her name is. well I’m sure millions and millions will be spent on this I wonder how long it will last yawn yawn yawn yawn is RIGHT on it MM Anon!!

Smith, Will deny …………… “

Oh more American trash news! Will Smith and his wife whatever her name is we are allegedly being interviewed on some podcast I think and she admitted having an affair with some woman. Now I always thought that they had an open marriage every that’s been the rumour for years and years and years and years I don’t know why this is such a big shock especially in Hollywood good gravy.

“Well” , solve the mystery???…………… STONE cold guilty………

Sad sad sad Madeline McCann they’re still looking for her. So they feel they have positive evidence and I’m not sure if the McCanns have even been told what that evidence is but they are searching wells near within I think at 8 mile distance from the hotel that they were staying at in Portugal and when little Madeline went missing. Yeah in the Stone called Yoshi I believe is the fact that the walls are made of stone so they must be pretty certain this is just terrible but there’s no way to sugarcoat any of this is just disgusting evil evil at its worst!

STONE cold guilty…

Another option might Oliver Stone, the famous Hollywood director/mogul. In his memoirs the director of many Hollywood huge films talked about the time he spent in Vietnam during the war. “I actually saw the man I killed which was rare in Vietnam… I felt no guilt he’s dead I’m alive that’s the way it works”.

Bollywood in hospital ……………

COVID-19 is in a rage in India and their Bollywood stars are I think it’s bigger than Hollywood because the population is bigger . They are all actually considered the royalty in in India and around the world actually because Bollywood has billions of fans. So sad to say the king of Bollywood cinema, Amitabh Bachchan who is 77, and his son Abhishek 44 have both revealed that they have COVID-19. Abhishek is married to Aishwarya Rai. She is beautiful, wowza, she is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my life. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻for them to recover!

Beach sleep…………

Yes yes yes the ability to go to the beach has been returned and they are taking full advantage of it by not going back home I just saw her sleeping on the beach. Now I think that’s probably not legal I know that it’s not legal in some places however I don’t think that’s gonna stop anybody from it. I read that in the paper yesterday they were already concerned about the lack of social distancing on it on beaches in the UK and I think this will only add to that concern.

Tapes😱😱😱😱…………

GM, or is it OMG!!!!!!!!?????!!!!! The lawyer for VRG It’s saying publicly that the Epstein tapes that GM has, have HRH Prince Andrew is on those tapes. We have no idea the contents of those tapes they could be audio they could be video they could be parties who knows. But it’s just throwing more gas on the fire and again I have to say why is HRH Prince Andrew being singled out??? We have former presidents , we have many billionaires , we have many famous people men and women that have had contact with him and in fact flew that airplane to that horrible island why on earth are they focussing on Andrew!!??!!!

In secunda Eboracum venit …………

Direct translation from the Latin this is second income from the York. Now what does that mean?I mean we know what it means now but in terms of what’s going on what does this mean? Has Prince Andrew and you found another source of revenue? H as someone else been profiting off using York as a second income? This is puzzling to me I find the Latin stuff always kind of stumped me a little bit.

We know that there is no way that UK government would extradite him to the United States for charges should they be entered or even for a simple interview with the F.B.I. Or SDNY again l say, he’s not been charged with anything! There is a pending extradition order from the UK regarding that woman whose name I don’t remember who killed that young boy on his motorbike and then scrambled it out of the UK and flew back to America. America has been clear that they will not be extradite her back to England to face charges, THAT HAVE BEEN FILED!! So there is a rather sticky point there if they were just extra like a regular woman, not the son of HMTQ!

Boo-Hoo !!

This is completely shocking because England is not a Third World country one expects these things to happen in those countries but not not in a first world country. Although as we are seeing the changes that are happening in 2020 the things that we excepted were normal as normal are no longer there. I I keep harkening back to London scoop, who that poor girl, she said up and down and down is up. She got so scared and and she said things that will never be the same once you was you know what’s really going on.

“­­ ­‘Anyone saying all their staff are on minimum wage in the garment industry is a fraud:’ ‘Sweatshop’ owner of Boohoo factory confesses he pays workers a shocking £4 AN HOUR” is the headline of the article in the daily mail. That’s that’s literally the term sweatshop we are sweating for minimal money, I am sure and no benefits of any sort no health benefits no pension plan no sick time and certainly no vacation time. This is disgusting! I feel bad because I use that word disgusting quite a bit since I started this audio thing talking and then thing types for me to save my hands, I found myself talking out loud instead of talking in my head as I’m typing and I’ve noticed how I say certain things with regularity and disgusting as one of them.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

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61. July 12

MM ANON ……… keep my sex life private…………… farm infectious …………… we don’t have to wear them…………… elephants virus ……………… sad swim ……………… down and out in LA…………… Burton blocks…………ROYAL BUTLER. ………… Fourteen Times!!!! ……………… Ritchies holiday camp …………ATMs lockdown ……………… electric scooters😱😱😱😱😱………… Kate tops poll

Entertainment purposes

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈😊😊😊😊😊😊🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸THANK YOU MM ANON🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸😊😊😊😊😊😊🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

July 12/2020

RIDDLE#61

keep my sex life private……………

Kate Beckinsale is one British actress I have actually seen and other than price of classic classic ones like Helen Mirren etc. and that level. She’s 46 believe it or not and is in a relationship with a young man who is 23. She has been getting trolled online and hassled and every other word you can think of in every social media regarding the age difference in this relationship and any anything else you can imagine they are having to go at her about. She simply wants to live her life and she said she’s not goning to let something like a menopause stop her from enjoying being a woman and having a relationship. And age and quite frankly any of her personal life is nobody’s business. Where do all these trolls come from? Do you not have anything better to do? That would be the day I would go online and tell somebody who they should or shouldn’t date or anything about their sex life that that’s just my mind just it’s just crazy.

farm infectious ……………

At a vegetable farm in Herefordshire, a large outbreak of COVID-19 has occurred amongst the seasonal workers. 73 people have been confirmed positive of having COVID-19.. The produce from this farm are sent to Tesco, Aldi ,Sainsbury’s, ASDA, etc all the usual food stores. so might start to see some empty bench shelves or a massive increase in price I’m not certain of that. this is no workers are all house in trailers. And currently the police are actually guarding the exits so that no one can leave that’s how serious this is.

we don’t have to wear them……………

Masks, we have been been told not to wear them, they’re not helpful, then oh yes you must wear them. Them if you’re outside amongst fresh air you don’t need them and then oh, no you still need them as protecting you and protecting other people. They have been made mandatory in the shops in Scotland both for the staff and the shoppers. Boris Johnson, there’s a funny picture of him in the paper pulling a pint wearing a mask. I think we should all go back to , remember the bubble boy? from Seinfeld? like we should all get big bubbles and then we could just roll around in our bubbles and have like a hole for the bathroom, a hole for food. I guess it’s just crazy already. No now I’ve read and heard they’re making masks compulsory in for children. Try get a child to keep on a mask for more than 1/10th of a second or to wear it properly and avoid touching their face. Oh this is so unrealistic as we prepare to send our children back to school. I’m not being negative, I’m being realistic because you all know little children I mean we know how it is as an adult uncomfortable those masks are, children will have a tough time with that. I saw on the blog the other day somebody had a picture with a mask on their dog or was that it was a cat with a cat like wow I wonder how long the cat kept that mask on for.

elephants virus ………………

In news that is likely to severely distress Prince Harry, because he loves Botswana so much, there is a virus loose amongst some elephants. 400 elephants have died. They don’t know exactly what the virus is but there is some concern that it is possibly transmittable to humans. currently there is a massive investigation underway they’re assessing the water the vegetation in the air the soil anything that could point a clue to what this is.

sad swim ………………

The Glee actress ,Naja Rivera, her body is still missing and she is presumed dead. They’ve been dragging the lake and searching and searching but as yet have not found her body. It’s agony to look at the pictures of her mom and her ex-husband at the lake. There was even a video of her father just kind of losing it and running out into the lake is so sad. She must’ve been in a very bad way to leave a four-year-old child alone on the boat in the middle of the lake and have him witness her it must’ve been so traumatic and he’s old enough to know that those memories are going to be in there somewhere for that child.

down and out in LA……………

Yes fake Madam and fake Harry were seen at a gas station in L.A., filling gas into a Cadillac Escalade. They are both looking pretty rough! Those actors need some grooming basic grooming and oh they desperately need an iron for her!? She needs something for her knees , Lord that woman, you need kneepads her hobbies/activities have so badly affected her kneecaps. Sometimes drunk people or people with bulimia spend hours hurling at a loo, on their knees. I think fake Harry need some new clothes. Maybe we should start a go fund me page for both of these two pathetic people.Always one to merch, wear Givenchy and everything designer, here she was carrying a clear plastic purse, like a little girl who’s two or three carrying their first purse! It was some alleged fertility medication or was an acne medication or was it a fake box everything is fake fake fake fake your fake!

Burton blocks…………

Yet in another case of a celebrity doing what they want to, Tim Burton has erected of a wooden wall on his property. Property is allegedly worth around £3,000,000! not too much eh? The thing of it is, the wall blocks a popular foot path that many people take to get down to the river. We know we like to walk, we like to walk our dogs and we get used to certain things and now that is no longer there. Needless to say the locals are not too happy. I wonder how much time these celebrities actually spend spend in their multi million pound country homes. Thechoices they make that affects so many other people who live there permanently surely there must have been another way around this.

ROYAL BUTLER. …………

A man named Grant Harrold, used to be Prince Charles’ butler and he’s also worked for other members rather for other members of the royal family. He’s become somewhat of a TV commentator as well as he’s wanting to start his own royal school for butler training and another for etiquette. . They were fine to have him style himself as a royal Butler. However when he wanted to name his school and his training course that he was offering royal Butler training and etiquette as Royal, that’s when the Lord Chamberlain’s office at Buckingham palace stepped in and filed an injunction.He should have known better and just left well enough alone. Whem it comes to actually use the word royal in the UK , no no no no cannot dothat!

Fourteen Times!!!! ………………

I need a sappy violin playing in the background, now today report on the legal case between Johnny Depp and Amber heard! she is saying that over a three-year period 14 times is the number of times that he allegedly, physically attacked her. Hold up your hand if you believe that. OK take a minute I’ll wait, I’ll wait and let you think about it. I don’t see any hands up yet. OK, one more time, hold up your hands if you believe her. I still don’t see any hands being held up interesting!

Ritchies holiday camp …………

Guy Ritchie, film director formally Madonna’s husband has a massive $9 million estate in the UK. He’s going to build a holiday camp on his estate so he can host hunting parties. Now is that the life of Riley or what?

ATMs lockdown ………………

During the COVID-19 lock down many ATMs Burton lactone as well. There’s no a mandate or a law that’s coming into our rule I don’t know what to call it that’s coming into affect that there will be an open and accessible ATM within each region per number of people per capita. This is that people can all have access to cash. A few years back all the rage was Glamping, that a hybrid between camping and glamour and the tents were filled with queen size beds and every luxury fancy thing you could imagine. So his cabins that he’s going to build are going to be luxury cabins probably nicer than most of our houses.So if you have an extra £15,000 that you wanna blow in one day do you know spend the day there for £15,000?

electric scooters😱😱😱😱😱…………

Gone are the days of scooters where you’d actually have to use some exercise and use your foot to propel yourself. Well now leave the little things are electric and they can go go go. They are now being legalized to use on rolls which is madness. The tuned term scooter in Canada is not the same as in the UK. A scooter here is what older folks or people with health problems drive around and it’s a four wheeled vehicle some of them have roofs it’s kind of like a mini golf carts know that we are talking about here or scooters like from the 1950s like a skateboard with a handle. More and more people are using this as a way to commute to work to and from work and putting more risk to it because it’s a busier time of day to be on the road in such a such an open device with no protection. A TV presenter by the name of Emily Hartridge was 35 and she was killed last year at a roundabout in Battersea. I think the fair is and rightly so of these things being in the traffic versus on the sidewalk big big concern.

Kate tops poll

In the latest survey run by the Daily Mirror, Catherine came out on top as most popular.just ahead of her Majesty the Queen. And madam’s sugars are all in a to-do about this because they believe Madam is the top royal.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

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62. July 13

MM ANON ……… heartbroken …………… musky Amber…… sleepy ice cream………… sad Lake……………… more organ warnings …………… huge slave factory’s ……………… tin foil………” never call your babies…???………………… second safest road ……………Forest Rambo…………………” you go old thing , it’s for the best” …………… “ I may stay!! “ …………… Ken. Palace bubble.

Entertainment purposes

🌈🌈🌈🌈💜💜💜💜😊😊😊😊THANK YOU MM ANON😊😊😊😊💜💜💜💜🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

July 14/2020 riddle was posted July 13/2030

Sorry l am late!

RIDDLE #62

Thank you to the Daily Mail for loads of help on this riddle!

heartbroken ……………

Wow what wouldn’t fit under heartbroken clue?? The death of that young celebrity while her young son was in the boat. All the deaths from Covid, all the tragedy around the world, the loss, this is a an open ended clue. I have no idea where to go because there is so much heartbreaking stuff going on out there.. We have John Travolta‘s wife dying of cancer, a toddler killed in the UK hit it in the driveway, a mother and daughter dying within a short span of time.

musky Amber……

Here again we have heard daily update in the saga of the duo whose lives are so sad. Into the mix comes Elon Musk yeah yeah yeah yeah.Elon Musk and NOT Johnny Depp could have given Amber Heard cuts and bruises during their affair, as her marriage to the actor fell apart, according to the Penthouse concierge! Musk was a regular visitor to Amber Heard’s LA penthouse, arriving at 11pm and still there at 1am, allegedly. How lovely! NOT🤢😱! These late-night rendezvous took place as Heard’s marriage to Johnny Depp fell apart amid a series of serious sometimes violent arguments.Johnny Depp is suing News Group Newspapers, publishers of The Sun over an article referring to him as a wife beater. Court heard of an argument that occurred on May 2016, when Heard says Depp threw a mobile phone at her ‘like a baseball pitcher’. But security staff at the building where she lived said there were no cuts or bruises on her face for a week after the alleged attack. Instead , Trinity Esparza, who ran security at the building, said it wasn’t until May 27 Heard ‘had a red cut underneath her right eye and red marks by her eye’. Ms Esparza also alleges that on June 4 - two weeks after Johnny Depp left the penthouse - she saw Amber Heard with further injuries; a bruise on her left check and two on either side of her neck in the shape of fingers.When asked who Amber Heard had been 'interacting over this time Ms Esparza replied, 'Elon Musk’ - then if there was anybody else, she replied, 'No’

sleepy ice cream…………

Catherine was interviewed this morning which would’ve been Monday morning on the BBC is that honey happy people right on her Tiny Happy People initiative. She spoke about all three of her children are like bottomless pit filling machines we used to say that kids head hollow legs when they can eat and eat like that as they were growing. Interesting she said little Louis does not understand social distancing well yeah he’s young and this is one of the problems with returning to school children will not understand the concept of a certain age anyway. I wonder I didn’t see the actual interview but I wonder if she mentioned that if they have a little snack at bedtime that’ll get them to sleep easier I’m not sure. I can’t find anything and I can’t think of anything other than that were sleepy ice cream that’s current, unless somebody put drugs in their ice cream and who knows with celebrities these days anything is possible!

sad Lake………………

Naya Rivera’s Glee castmates including Jane Lynch lead celebs paying tribute after body was found at Lake Piru six days after disappearance: ‘What a force you were’. Police confirmed that a body pulled from Lake Piru on Monday is the actress just six days after she vanished. The actress’s family rushed to the lake on Monday morning and some of her Glee castmates, including Heather Morris, were also there. Jane Lynch was the first to pay her respects as she took to Twitter on Monday to write: ‘Rest sweet, Naya. What a force you were. Love and peace to your family’. They both starred on the Fox series from 2009 to 2015; Naya as cheerleader Santana Lopez and 59-year-old Lynch as coach Sue Sylvester. A day prior, Rivera’s co-stars Amber Patrice Riley and Kevin McHale took to Twitter to urge followers to show some respect for Naya’s family and friends. She vanished on Wednesday on Lake Piru after taking a pontoon boat out on the water with her four-year-old son Josey. On Sunday, Naya’s distraught family were seen at the lake trying to assist investigators in their search for her. Her Glee co-stars Jenna Ushkowitz, Kevin McHale, Max Adler, Josh Sussman, Amber Riley, Lea Michele, Jane Lynch, Chris Coelfer, Darren Criss, Alex Newell and Kristin Chenoweth posted tributes to Naya by Monday night.

more organ warnings ……………

It has been found that Covid-19 damages the heart? One in eight tests on infected patients in hospital reveal 'severe dysfunction’ and more than half develop abnormalities, a study has found.The study, done by the British Heart Foundation, was on patients that doctors already suspected had Covid-19 heart issues. One in eight of them showed signs of 'severe dysfunction’ in pumping motion.The majority of patients had had healthy hearts before catching the coronavirus. Yet another reason to be terrified of this virus to reduce social distancing and wear a mask and follow all the guidelines we are given.

huge slave factory’s ………………

We were just waiting for this weren’t we after last weeks news about boo-hoo. Boohoo’s links to Leicester ‘slave’ factory further revealed. The business partner of clothing brand’s co-founder owns warehouse accused of paying employees £3.50 per hour. The Leicester 'slave factory’ is run by Morefray Ltd, a Manchester-owned firm. Morefray has ties to the I Saw It First fashion firm set up by Jalal Kamani, 60. Kamani is the co-founder of Bohoo and retains a stake in the under-fire retailer. Bohoo is embroiled in the allegations of 'modern slavery and human trafficking’. Does it get any more pathetic I’m right downtown in a big city human trafficking going on? And we know this is happening across cities all across the world wherever we live it is so disturbing!

tin foil………”

Well now we have some more information from authorities on what went down when GM was arrested. Ghislaine Maxwell tried to flee when the FBI raided her $1M New Hampshire hideaway and had a phone wrapped in tin foil ‘in misguided effort to avoid detection’. Ghislaine Maxwell refused to open the front door to the FBI and tried to flee to another room when they raided her $1million home, prosecutors claimed today.The FBI smashed down the door and discovered a mobile phone wrapped in tin foil which prosecutors called a 'seemingly misguided effort to evade detection’. Prosecutors said that her conduct during the 8:30am raid on July 2 at the property called 'Tuckedaway’ in New Hampshire was 'troubling’. New York prosecutors said this was evidence that Maxwell was 'skilled at living in hiding’ and should be denied bail.Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend 'vigorously denies’ charges against her.Maxwell’s lawyers argued she is not a flight risk and is 'not Jeffrey Epstein’. They also said she had not been in contact with pedophile Epstein for more than a decade before he died in a New York prison last year. She will appear in court Tuesday where a judge will decide if she can be freed. I didn’t think there was a person on the planet that actually believed about the tinfoil thing but I guess now we know there is one.

“never call your babies…???…………………

The unpopular names British parents say they’d NEVER call their babies - including Boris, Karen and Meghan😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣.In a Survey of 5,842 parents reveals names they wish they’d steered away from. One Third admitted they didn’t give child’s name enough thought before choosing. 73% said they had thought of better names for their children after naming them.The top names parents would never give their children includes Boris and Donald!!

second safest road ……………

Car infotainment systems and mobile phones are keeping death rate on Britain’s roads unchanged despite improvements in vehicle safety, Department for Transport officials warn.Department for Transport (DfT) raises concern over number of deaths on roads.The figure remains largely unchanged since 2010, despite safety improvements.Last year in the UK five people died on roads each day, with 68 seriously injured.However new figures revealed road death rate is second lowest across Europe.Most accidents resulting in fatalities are due to driver distraction, says report. So wherever you drive you know that in the UK you are driving on the second safest rose that’s a good thing to know!

Forest Rambo…………………”

The hunt is on the for German ‘Forest Rambo’.Special forces and helicopters are in a huge manhunt for a camouflage-wearing, bow and arrow-wielding maniac who overpowered four police officers and went on the run in forest. Special forces, helicopters and sniffer dogs are searching forest near Oppenau. Suspect is Yves Etienne Rausch who was ID checked near Oppenau in Sunday. Rausch 'suddenly and completely unexpectedly’ pulled a gun on police officers.He made the officers hand over their weapons before running away, police say.

“you go old thing , it’s for the best” …………… “ I may stay!! “ ……………

Here we are at Windsor Castle and Her Majesty and Prince Philip are debating should they or shouldn’t they go to Balmoral. He says you go, it’s all it’s OK it’s for the best.I don’t think she’s having that she’s not going without him and her retort is a swift I may day stay!! Now that can be taken two ways, I may stay, thank you very much here right here at Windsor Castle or I may stay at Balmoral !! Are you taking the two ways? You decide which way you think it’s it is meant.

Ken. Palace bubble.

With all the chalk and bubbles school bubbles travel bubbles etc. I wonder if this is not Kensington Palace being a bubble? Given the fact that there are four heirs to the throne in that home , I wonder if when the Cambridges return from Anmer Hall or any vacations they may be taking, if Kensington Palace will become a bubble. Given the uncertainty of Covid and everything and he has some schools will start in the fall and some won’t we really don’t know until that time and what’s really going to happen. So I think they may be planning ahead and having Kensington Palace be a bubble I think that’s a really excellent idea.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

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63. July 14

💜💜💜💜💜💜I must say I’ve never done with the riddle if I had to type it all out because there were so many clues I am so thankful for this audio speak software off! Also won a game thank the daily mail for the great assistance in finding information for this riddle really appreciate it OK here it is!💜💜💜💜💜

MM Anon

MM ANON …… NO BAIL……… happy little people ………… gymnast aghast ………… George is not happy ………… a woke joke…………………… masked rats………………… carry on up the Amazon …………… “ so are White People” ……………… a new rash ……… HMTQ Royal zoom…………Black-burnt ……………… cut my card up………… veggies break out………… blame the dog-poo………………up up and Huawei………”

Entertainment purposes

🌈🌈🌈🌈🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜💜💜 thank you MM Anon💜💜💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🌈🌈🌈🌈

July 14/2020. RIDDLE #63

NO BAIL………

Oh of course not who are earth would have ever thought that she could possibly get bail!!! cry all you want to lady it’s too late for tears way way way way way too late for tears! She is the highest value target of that law-enforcement has been looking for to put this multi facetted multi country case to bed, pardon the pun. She holds in her head and possibly on tape or in books or journals or whatever the details about the most powerful men and women on the planet and the most wealthy and all their their evil filthy deeds that are secret still but need to come to light for justice for the victims. At some point the truth will come out the light will shine on the bill. We have yet to hear at least to my knowledge what if anything they found on that island or in the temple sort of thing not to degrade the word temple I don’t mean any disrespect at all. She will never be a free woman again and have you noticed that I have never said her name is yet I have no intention to say her name or her initials she’s not worthy of it and I don’t want it on my iPad.!!! But you all know exactly the woman who I’m talking about who is now in federal custody in the United States and is being watched because she is a high-value targets not an asset not yet not as yet we don’t know that she is not an asset because we don’t know if she’s told them anything. At some point she may become a high value asset but right now I’m looking at her as a high-value target so somebody’s willing to take her out like they did the man JE I shouldn’t say his name either oh yeah right now she’s a very very high value target and they have her under heavy heavy heavy supervision!!

happy little people …………

I spoke about this yesterday when I was talking about Catharine being interviewed by the BBC on television pardon me.She is working on a new initiative called Tiny Happy People. Catherine has been part of a video, an educational digital tool for parents. This video is part of Tiny Happy People, a BBC Education initiative providing digital resources to support parents. The Duchess of Cambridge,Quote “She said: ‘So much focus, particularly during pregnancy and when you have a newborn baby, is the physical development. But what I found was missing was the support on how to further their emotional and mental development… And it’s that bit that I think you really need the support.‘”By the way I have to say does not her hair look fantastic with a new highlights? I was reminded by Skippy of a few riddles ago something above blonde bits so I wonder if she was telling us of what was to come with Catherine’s hair? I know she did highlights last year and the photos of them walking the children into school she looks so gorgeous how could she not look gorgeous. Yes the feminist would say yes we shouldn’t talk about her looks and everything like that little Pooh Pooh Pooh I am going to because she looks fantastic especially just imagine all the pressure that that woman is under never mind me and a mother of three and on the front page all the time and that’s the subject of PR garbage from Madam. Catherine you rock and I love you to bits!

gymnast aghast …………

Just something that has been quietly going on behind the scenes for years for decades we saw I have seen it in minor hockey in Canada and junior hockey players in the NHL have come out or written books about their sexual abuse when they were young men. Many of the Olympic gymnasts on the American team that did so well in Brazil, have come out and and accused their doctor l believe, of long-term sexual abuse and it’s rampant. It was someone on their coaching staff him but I’m pretty sure it was the doctor.We know it’s been a rampant since sex was invented it’s been twisted and used for abuse.Olympic medallist Amy Tinkler has yet to hear from British Gymnastics EIGHT MONTHS after submitting a complaint and says her ‘experiences’ there are why she quit the sport in January. UK Sport has launched a probe into claims that gymnasts were abused by coaches. Amy Tinkler released a statement on Tuesday morning about British gymnastics.Tinkler said her negative experiences there is why she quit the sport in January.She says she submitted a complaint in December and is still awaiting feedback. How disgusting is that eight months eight months and not a word yeah. how ridiculous is this I thought with the #MeToo, movement that things are changing and you know it things will get faster looked at and dealt with but it doesn’t appear so does it! Athletes are still stepping up and talking about the horrors of abuse they experienced! They claim they were beaten and locked away at the hands of British Gymnastic coaches. An international athlete from Britain says abuse of gymnasts is ongoing and there is also a fear of repercussions that is preventing some from speaking out!! UK Sport is investigating claims British gymnasts were abused by their coaches after a series of allegations from gymnasts, including Catherine Lyons, were made.

George is not happy …………

‘Grumpy’ Prince George! Catherine Middleton has said her son, six, is upset because baby brother Prince Louis, two, is beating him in a ‘sunflower growing competition’ at home. Ahhhh but dear a George you will be 7 on the 22nd of July! You are years ahead of your dear little brother💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜!Catherine revealed her children are having a sunflower growing contest.

a woke joke……………………

I am so sick of this woman and her bloody word salad it’s not even funny I can’t even look at her and watch that video her hair now looks like it’s about 6 feet long oh gosh help me Lord help me!! Madam quoted the Dalai Lama as she urged young women to fight gender and race inequality with 'compassion’ - while vowing that she, Prince Harry and baby Archie 'will be cheering you on' she spoke to the Girl Up Leadership Summit via Zoom on Tuesday, when she urged young women to tackle inequality in the world. Oh how should they do that madam, should they go yachting or make a video and then sell it to a really naughty website??She quoted the Dalai Lama, saying: ‘Compassion is the radicalism of our time’. I don’t know if she gave credit to the Dalai Lama or if it’s the researchers at the paper that good she’s not normally known to get credit for people that she steals from. she spoke on a number of social issues, including gender inequality and racial injustice, as well as gun violence and mental health awareness. Other speakers have included Hillary Clinton, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and Meghan’s close friend Priyanka Chopra Jonas. I love this part , where they say Her close friend Priyanka Chopra. So she did manage to weasel her way in there interesting so interesting I just it’s just so pathetic but look at the other women I mean who’s on the list I won’t even say their name just look at them and you’ll know back her back her back her!

masked rats…………………

BANKSY strikes again! Banksy urges Tube passengers to wear masks by disguising himself as a TfL deep cleaner to graffiti sneezing rats on carriage in his latest guerrilla attack. The world famous, artist from Bristol was filmed spraypainting a carriage with equipment used by Tube staff to disinfect London trains. This Piece is called 'If you don’t mask - you don’t get’ has rat sneezing and coughing across windows and walls. Banksy was filmed creating art on a busy train and was forced to usher people away so he could complete it. The last time he did the tribute to George Floyd I tried to include the picture in my interpretation it didn’t work so I won’t bother now but it’s easy to find if you Google it OK.

carry on up the Amazon ……………

An announcement of unbelievable Technology has been taken made by the billionaire Jeff Bezos company Amazon. Amazon unveils shopping ‘Dash Carts’ that know what supermarket customers are putting in their trolleys/ shopping carts and let them skip the checkout queue/line up. They will first show up at a new Amazon supermarket in Woodland Hills, LA. Cameras, sensors and scales automatically detect and list any items . Customers can leave directly without seeing a cashier and the card linked to their Amazon account will automatically be charged. This is unbelievable can you imagine how much time and effort this is going to save after a long days work when you wanna whip into a store and just grab your groceries and go you’re not gonna be held up you’re not going to be having to put up with a chatty cashier that likes to talk about everything and listen to beep beep beep as she slowly slides things across the thing you know the price detector that puts the price on oh golly I don’t know how it was described anyways wow is all I have to say!!!

“ so are White People” ………………

President Trump is being interviewed today and he was asked about the current police situation and he was saying “white people are being killed those two, upper case more white people! This was PresidentTrump’s response when he was asked why black Americans are still being killed by police officers.. I don’t think I’ll add anything more because everybody has their own opinion and I’m not gonna get into a political debate here I’m just going to state that’s what this is it this clue is OK.

a new rash ………

And yet more news regarding the COVID-19 virus we have some new information that skin rashes are also a symptom of COVID-19. One in 11 Covid-19 patients break out in itchy blotches as scientists urge NHS to extend its official list of tell-tale signs (which still only includes three). Researchers from King’s College London drew on data from over 20,000 Britons . Respondents either tested positive for Covid-19 or heavily suspected of having it. They found 9 per cent of those who were infected also suffered from skin rashes. While 8 per cent of people with other tell-tale symptoms of Covid had rashes. So I guess that’s another symptom to look out for even in children to I would think.

HMTQ Royal zoom…………

This is yet another thing that I absolutely love about her Majesty no matter what the situation she’s up for it and I just I just admire her so much! “One IS amused” Cheerful Queen laughs after hearing about RAF gunner’s lockdown training regime of pushing a CAR up and down the streets as she joins UK armed forces around the globe for video chat.” Daily Mail. Her Majesty, the Queen was seen enjoying a chuckle during her second official virtual royal duty.She spoke with Jamaica-born Lance Corporal Stephens who joined RAF 2011. The Lance Corporal is a member of the Jamaican Olympic bobsleigh team. Remember that movie with a John Candy about their team?? Cool Runnings!! Great film! Her Majesty laughed when he told her he pushed a car along for exercise!

Black-burnt ………………

Madam has once again, risen up and shown us her amazing compassion skills her humanity!🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 Meghan Markle has phoned a black woman, 18, who says she was set on fire by four white men in an alleged hate crime . She said it really 'lifted her spirits’ by talking about the 'importance of self care’ during the 40-minute call.Madam, allegedly so l say, spoke with Althea Bernstein, an 18-year-old black woman who was the victim of an alleged hate crime in Wisconsin last week. The paper uses Duchess, but l am saying Madam, got in touch through president of the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County. He told how Madam and Prince Harry pledged to speak with youth of Wisconsin. Are you kidding me neither one of those two has ever heard of Wisconsin!! I’m sure neither of them have ever been there!! Harry is not with her he has never been with her!! This is just such PR lies it’s not even funny! There is no way that woman had a 40 minute conversation focussed on another person it’s impossible!! She is so narcissistic she could not go 40 minutes without talking about her self and making it all about herself! My sympathies are with this young woman if in fact this truly happen and to be pulled in and use as a PR pawn by Madam is foul very foul!

cut my card up…………

You know I often hearken to London scoop when she said when she found the information she found that up was down and down was up and everything was twisted around to all she’s ever known. And here is another example. Conservative Party members have been cutting up their membership cards in protest at PM BJ’s plan to make face masks mandatory in shops as an MP Michael Gove shunned them while buying breakfast today.

The hashtag #NoMasks and the word ‘muzzles’ were both trending on twitter while several Tory supporters posted pictures of chopped-up cards, cancelled registrations or deleting their direct debits.

Many said the order - which will come into effect from July 24 and carries a maximum fine of £100 for non-compliance - is incompatible with the party’s libertarian values. Others claimed there is insufficient evidence to suggest that the measure has meaningful health benefits.

veggies break out…………

I told you last week of the what’s the word quarantine at the vegetable farm in Herefordshire. I think I also mentioned that they were being guarded by police so know that none of them believe and I believe at the time 73 of the hundred workers have tested positive. Well yesterday I read they were being offered free cigarettes and alcohol to comply with staying in quarantine. But here I see that’s four of them have managed to escape the luxury life of life in a trailer with free booze and free ciggies!! So the police are actually actively looking for them at this time. Because it is last week they were seasonal workers in today in the paper it seems most of them are from Eastern Europe. So I’m not sure that you’re thinking they’re going to try and make a run for going home or I wonder who has their passports with their employer hold their passports and I’m not sure.

blame the dog-poo………………

Oh here we are in the saga of JD and AH. I am tired of the name so I will just use the abbreviations. Yes yes we all know what she allegedly left in his bed when he was two hours late for her birthday party. I wonder if they’re going to have to do DNA testing on the stuff or even have the sample because the story keeps changing first it was her that it was a friend and now the dogs are being blamed. Maybe all three did it maybe they just got in there and got doing their business and you know somehow that’s how it goes let your freak flag fly right!😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣😂

up up and Huawei………”

I think this is an excellent excellent decision in compliance with United States and Canada’s stand on Broadway. They have been known to hack and interfere with software and all sorts of bad actor activities. As I’ve told you before we currently in our country on behalf of the United States have the head of Huawei’s daughter in custody for charges in the United States part. She is fighting those charges and I’m not sure point this point how long is gonna take to extradite her to the United States.However hair and I was actually with the riddle is about that is my rambling.

“China’s trade threat: Ambassador hints at retaliation over 'disappointing and wrong’ decision to strip Huawei out of 5G network, saying it is now 'questionable’ if UK can be an 'open and fair business environment’

Government today announced Chinese tech giant Huawei will be banned from the UK’s new 5G network

It will be illegal for telecoms firms in Britain to buy Huawei 5G equipment from December 31 of this year

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said all Huawei 5G technology will then be stripped out of network by 2027

Government had given Huawei the green light in January to help build the network amid security concerns

US sanctions recently imposed on the firm prompted a reassessment of the company’s role and today’s U turn

Decision to exclude Huawei from 5G network will mean completion of roll out delayed by two to three years

Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to the UK, tweeted it was a 'disappointing and wrong decision by the UK'” Thank you Daily Mail.

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇳🇿🇦🇺

——————

[ruslanalekseev]

Was Hiruzen a Good Hokage?

No. As many people have already pointed out, Hiruzen was very indecisive, and he always did what his advisors told him to. Which wouldnt be that bad, if not the fact that almost every single one of their decisions were suggested to them by Danzo.

Hiruzen might have had good intentions, but good intentions wont do you much good, if:You orchestrate the massacre of one of the founding clans in your village. You dont react to bullying towards the villages probably most valuable shinobi.You cant even bring yourself to killing one of the greatest criminals from your village

· Suggested Reading

What if a gay person was elected as the POTUS?

We have already had a gay President. James Buchanan Jr. was the 15th President (18571861) He was a member of the Democratic Party.

The only president to remain a bachelor, Buchanan's personal life has attracted great historical interest. Buchanan had a close and intimate relationship with William Rufus King, an Alabama politician. Buchanan and King lived together in a Washington boardinghouse for many years, from 1834 until King's departure for France in 1844.

King referred to the relationship as a "communion", and the two attended social functions together. Contemporaries also noted the closeness. Andrew Jackson called King "Miss Nancy" and prominent Democrat Aaron V.

Brown referred to King as Buchanan's "better half", "wife" and "Aunt Fancy"

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How did Canada manage to control COVID 19 so well despite its shared border with the US?

When doctors and scientists here in Canada told us that the COVID-19 virus would not only kill some people, but others who contracted the disease might suffer permanent damage to organs and body systems, we listened and became afraid. Then, when it was shown some young children also suffered devastating organ failures, we knew we must all do what we can to protect ourselves and others.

We didnt each need to personally know someone who has been so affected, we just imagined how our own actions could cause this result. For some reason, Americans do not seem to feel that same empathy for their fellow citizens. Tragic and sad

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What is the significance of WhatsApp for Facebook?

Why did Facebook acquire WhatsApp at such a hefty price of $19 billion?

Let us think about it. Say you are talking to your girlfriemd and you decide to go for a movie coming weekend.

It is not a big information for you. But for facebook it is a priceless piece of information. Since it they know now that you ar going to the movie they will project all the ads that is pertaining to movie going.

. Hence facebook achieves a greater accuracy of targeted ads. And hence 19Billion dollars.

Also facebook knows everything about you except your messages to your intimate people. Now that they bought whatsapp they literally know everything about you to sell you out when the time comes.

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Will Joe Biden be worse than Trump?

Worse at what? I guess it depends on what you value and what you place importance on. If youre a Republican partisan it doesnt matter what Biden does itll be worse than Trump.

If youre a Democrat partisan it doesnt matter what Biden does because itll be better than Trump. If youre an independent youll recognize that all Presidents have pluses and minuses. Theyll do things at annoy you and things youll applaud.

I didnt vote for Trump in 16 and hes done things I despise and things I applaud. I didnt vote for Obama either time and he did thinks I liked and things I hated

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Do many Chinese people hate Fujianese people?

I don't know where did you get this view.

In college, I had a roommate coming from Fujian who is an authentic, courteous, helpful person with lots of computer's knowledge. Every time our computers occur in problems, our first thought is to seek for his help not to go maintenance store straightly because of its expensive charge. There are a few Fujianese.

as far as I'm concerned, They all good person through conversation and cooperation. But, I can't say Fujianese all good people since I had met all good Fujianese. In working with people, The significant thing We need to do is giving our sincere heart to them.

Similarly, you will be rewarded for your sowing.

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How old should a kid be before seeing Deadpool?

FWIW, the airline cut is devoid of *all* sexual content (to the point of blurring out the slight glimpse of butt-crack visible in the opening credits, as well as losing the Stan Lee cameo), but I dont believe they removed *any* of the violence or swearing.

What a country!As for child-appropriateness, it depends on the child. I was OK with my kid seeing the airline cut because he never swears and he doesnt like gory violence (it wasnt too gruesome on my 5 phone screen).

Other kids his age may not be able to handle this material. Heck, I know adults who wouldnt do so well with this material

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How can we stop people from throwing garbage in the empty plots?

Please know that if people throw biodegradable garbage only in an empty plot after removing all plastics and dry wastes, you are actually replenishing the ground.

This will improve vegetation of the plot.The second approach is to promote home composting and community composting. This can happen only if there is source segregation.

Third approach is to penalize through a law.Instal leaves composter in the entrance of the plot and encourage people to deposit the dried leaves into it. Many aesthetically good looking composters are available.

The process is very simple and no stink involved.Be creative and you will have many more options. Cheers.

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Could we derive energy from gravity in space?

You mean free flowing gravity? Yes.

Look at a grandfather clock and see the weights it has to keep it going. Except for dams most of the ways are small but all together make up huge amounts. You could use the same clock system method with a much larger counter weight and just by hand moving it back up daily to the top would generate constant power.

In other words you could produce huge amounts of potential power by a little daily hand labor.Now you got me wondering if there is a natural limit it this because it is not being done or that people are just lazy in not doing this

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How will the GOP change if Trump loses to Biden?

I dont think they will change at all, at least in the short term.

Trumps presidency has done one useful thing - exposed the corrupt innards of the Democratic party, and the Republicans, with or without Trump, are going to want to follow through on things, especially when the Durham report comes out. Trump has also shown how to do things economically, such that even Biden wants to plagiarize him. Theres been absolutely nothing wrong with his policies.

They were working great prior to the pandemic and theres no reason to think they wont work again when things finally get back to normal

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Who is the best teacher for sociology for the UPSC optional preparation in Delhi?

Hello there .I am a Civil engineer , who did not have any prior knowledge about sociology .

I was an expressive person and with the suggestions of friends , I chose sociology as my optional .I went to Pranay Aggarwal Sir and that was the best decision I made . Reasons :-He took classes in small batches with led me to focus more on the subject .

He is very interactive which makes sociology come out very naturally from oneself .He is very helpful and extremely accepting of different ideas which gave me confidence and started loving the subject . His notes are all encompassing and I can vouch for it

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Why was Paul Manafort sent to prison?

This just reported by NY Times:Banker Accused of Arranging $16 Million in Loans to Manafort to Gain High-Level Trump PostA banker in Chicago has been changed with trying to buy an appointment as Treasury Secretary. He arranged $16 million in loans to Paul Mafort. I dont know if the prosecutors knew about that alleged crime when Manafort was sent to prison.

This news certainly speaks to what kind of person Manafort is. It continues to astound me how corrupt Trump is that he picks people like Manafort. How can Trump voters have been so clueless to have voted for this narcissistic(oops, I better restrain myself).

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Why was the Roman Empire so successful?

the roman empire was successful in its government form.it probably had the most advanced government in ancient times, a republic which represent each of the classes in society.

Outsiders or barbarians could also aspire to gain citizenship if they work hard enough, slaves could gain or buy their freedom. This makes roman empire have a equal opportunity system similar to the american dream.But things slowly deteriorated once ceasar become dictator for life, or sulla and marius trying to monopolize power through using the military triumphs.

It lead to rise of emperors and rulers not acccountable to the public, and right to rule slowly degenerate into hereditary succession or military coup.

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Did the music of led Zeppelin change your life?

Yes!

As does every song does, some more than others. The Rain Song played while I was enjoying the company of a young lady I met on Manhattan Beach as I was coming out the ocean, exhausted from surfing for 5 hours. I collapsed on my board and was laying there taking in the scene when this beautiful blonde girl with curly hair, piercing blue eyes, and a body of a Black girl, blocked the sun, looked down and said are you ok?

. That was the beginning of summer of 91 and we had fun. Especially the night we spent in a motel on the beach, listening to led Zeppelin

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Who is the most under appreciated American president?

Adams greatest war president in our nations history.When almost everyone in the young country wanted war with France egged on by that snake Jefferson. Adams held back, he understood war was not necessary would be destructive and would cripple the country for decades, he also well understood his stand would likely cost him his reelection but he stood firm.

The country did not go to war but he did loose his office. Such a shame the country remembers the man who did his most noble service as a citizen under an English king and not the man who formed the nation after the Revolutionary War

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Why did you leave Hinduism for Islam?

People group or regroup into religion for rudimentary security reasons, not due to any love for a religion.

Any person who understands the first alphabet of any religion will know the purpose of religion is to help and serve the society he or she lives selflessly, particularly those who donu2019t follow his/her beliefs and faith has to be served, loved and cared.If someone thinks that his/her religious group is better than the other, it discredit the fundamental first alphabet of the religion. Islam, Hinduism or any religion in the world, if it is practiced by grouping and subgrouping its practioners, it is deplorably divisive for the society and in general human welfare

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In WW2 during the Battle of France, why did it take so long for France to surrender?

Why didn't France surrender earlier?

France waited so that the English could be evacuated from Dunkirk. They held the German back while the small boats could get in and get the boys home.

Then they had a resistance to organise not easy when you have a whole lot of tanks running over your toes. Finally, the Italians decided to pop in for a late entry in the game of conquest so they had them to send packing. Then they surrendered.

That is to say the French Government surrendered, the French people on the other hand fought on.If you have ever seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, you see just how ferocious the French can be in their taunting of opponents.

[azeeshanfan]

In a Pakistani town, Hindu-Muslim relations are tested after a Hindu temple is vandalised

Pakistan has one of the strictest anti-blasphemy laws

Pakistan has one of the strictest anti-blasphemy laws in the world which is often misued. Image via Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0

On 15 September 2019, protests broke out in the town of Ghotki in southeast Pakistan. Protesters were responding to an alleged incident of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad by a member of the Hindu community. The protestors vandalized a Hindu temple and damaged the Sindh Public School where the alleged blasphemy was believed to have taken place. The local Hindu community remained indoors out of fear as a number of videos surfaced on social media of stick-wielding protesters chanting slogans.

In response to the violent reactions of the protesters, members of both the Muslim and Hindu communities spoke out against the vandals with some netizens pointing out how religious extremists are bolstered by the blasphemy law.

The alleged act of blasphemy

Notan Lal, a member of the Hindu community and the owner of the Sindh Public School, was accused of saying blasphemous remarks to his student Muhammad Ihtisham. Ihtisam's father, Abdul Aziz Rajput, lodged a First Information Report (FIR) under Article 295(c) of the Pakistan Penal Code which deals with “derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet”.

According to reports, the student Ihtisham admitted to exaggerating the blasphemy accusation because he was angry with the principal Notan Lal for scolding him. Ihtisam went on to ask Notan Lan for forgiveness.

Journalist Bilal Farooqi shared:

A Hindu principal in Ghotki, Sindh has purportedly been accused of committing blasphemy by extremists, who have vandalised his school. Hindu community in the area is in danger. They must be provided with protection immediately! Video & report via Shankar Meghwar pic.twitter.com/Xctf04brli

— Bilal Farooqi (@bilalfqi) September 15, 2019

When videos of the vandalism started circulating on social media there was an uproar over the damage to the temple, with people condemning the incident and demanding the police to arrest the culprits immediately.

Hamza Ali Abbasi wrote:

#Ghotki As a Muslim, a Pakistani, i m ashamed today & i want to apologise to our Pakistani Hindu community. We all must seek forgiveness from Allah for this atrocity. The time has come to launch an organised ideological effort against this mindset which results in such incidents. pic.twitter.com/XpBivehBxl

— Hamza Ali Abbasi (@iamhamzaabbasi) September 16, 2019

It is reported that Hindu teacher has been accused of blasphemy in Ghotki.

We know about how people accuse non-Muslims of committing blasphemy. State has responsibility to protect its citizens and take action against those who misuse blasphemy law 1/2 pic.twitter.com/0VT9ou04IH

— Veengas (@VeengasJ) September 15, 2019

Mob ruined school and then destroyed Hindu Temple over the allegation of blasphemy in Ghotki.

Government ought to arrest those ruined Temple and school, no one has right to harm other religious places. And, state must enact a law to stop misuse of blasphemy. 2/2

— Veengas (@VeengasJ) September 15, 2019

In addition, Inspector General of Police Sukkur Region assured the people:

Yes we are trying to deal with a serious situation in a cool, calculated, impartial and professional manner. Moderate and educated sections of society must fully support our earnest efforts to do justice and maintain peace in Ghotki, please https://t.co/6beA0dgtCx

— Addl IGP Dr Jamil Ahmed (@jahmed95) September 15, 2019

The inspector general kept updating his social media feed with the situation:

Alleged accused in a sensitive case of Ghotki is now in the custody of Police. Situation in Ghotki is back to normal within 12 hours. Fair investigation is being done after confirming facts & justice ensured. Cases against hooligans are being registered & miscreants being nabbed.

— Addl IGP Dr Jamil Ahmed (@jahmed95) September 15, 2019

According to the latest updates, the police registered three cases against rioters for vandalism, threats and road blockages.

There were speculations that some of the protestors were followers of a local religious leader Pir Abdul Haq alias Mian Mithu, who is widely accused of involvement in forced conversion of Hindu women in Sindh. However according to the police, Mian Mithu was not in the town that day and his son was part of the peace committee that met with the Hindu community later in the day, still, a hashtag was trending on social media to arrest Mian Mithu:

Pakistan Human Rights Activist Kapil Dev tweeted:

Only one demand: #ArrestMianMithoo

Does he need any introduction? He forcibly converts our daughters, misuses religion and incites violence against #Hindus. Such monsters bring a bad name to #Pakistan.

ENOUGH.

Let's #retweet this to make our voice heard & get him arrested. pic.twitter.com/VjTyMzrhh4

— Kapil Dev (@KDSindhi) September 16, 2019

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has condemned the incident and asked the authorities to intervene immediately to bring law and order in the area.

#Ghotki The authorities must take prompt action to quell the violence and ensure the safety of the school principal being targeted. The video circulated earlier is chilling: mob violence against a member of a religious minority is barbaric, unacceptable. https://t.co/0OrxUsO2fV

— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) September 15, 2019

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Member of the National Assembly Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, who heads the Pakistan Hindu Council, helped to keep the accused Notan Lal safe. Lal was shifted to an undisclosed location to keep him away from the mobs and to be handed over to the police as needed.

Important Message on #Ghotki incident pic.twitter.com/FbYbye0lZl

— Dr. Ramesh Vankwani (@RVankwani) September 15, 2019

Despite the chaos in the area, a large number of people from Ghotki came forward to support the Hindu community. Some Muslim elders not only stayed up the whole night in the temples to support them, but they also joined peace rallies, helped the police maintain peace, and sent out messages to their followers to respect the sanctity of places of worship.

Yesterday we visited the Sacho Satram Das temple&met the Hindu community, we also met the local Islamic clerics&scholars.We assure that a fair investigation would be conducted after confirmation of the facts.Justice will prevail. Now the situation in #Ghotki is back to normal. pic.twitter.com/U2y2SzmKTs

— Syed Nasir Hussain Shah (@SyedNasirHShah) September 16, 2019

After the murder of the Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer in 2011 for his views on the country's blasphemy law, discussions around Pakistan’s blasphemy law have grown. Pakistan inhertited the blasphemy laws enacted by British colonial authorities and made them severe by including elements from Muslim Sharia law during the 1980s making it one of the strictest anti-blasphemy laws. In the past three decades, thousands have been arrested and dozens of people have been reportedly murdered following blasphemy allegations.

Earlier, people did not talk about it out of fear of backlash but now people openly discuss how Aasia Bibi, Mashal Khan, Junaid Hafeez, Shama Shehzad and others have suffered at the hands of religious extremists and the blasphemy law.

Written by R Umaima Ahmed · comments (0) Donate · Share this: twitter facebook reddit googleplus

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[everlarkrealornot]

The PANEM Initiative, Chapter 15

I was on a roll so I figured I would just keep writing! So here is an update way sooner than normal!

The Initiative had all these rules for matches during their year of ‘courting’ and each rule had five million exceptions and each exception had another million exceptions. For example, Couples will talk for 20 minutes each day, either face to face or by telephone – texting does not count. For those who are not within a short distance of travel to each other, these exceptions may apply: power outages, no internet connection or cell phone service, time zone issues,…ect. For those who are capable of seeing each other every day, these exceptions may apply: death in the family, serious illness, family emergencies,……and so on and so on and so on for each rule and each exception.

Every rule and regulation that was bent or broken by matches resulted in deductions from their stipends they were given the next year. Many couples used these stipends to buy or rent their first homes, so compliance during the courting year was relatively high. As couples were expected to become established, working members of society, the stipends decreased in amount each year, meaning that one mishap could greatly affect their next stipend. During the first ten years of marriage couples could earn add-ons that were dependent on life events and developments. Having a child earned a couple the highest add-on amount (twins doubled it, triplets tripled it, ect) while things such as going to college, getting a degree, or starting your own business had varying add-on amounts. Most matches after their 10th anniversary stopped receiving stipends with the exception of the couples that continued to have children or individuals who made scientific or technological advancements.

Every exception to every rule had to be approved by the couple’s match coordinator. If the request was denied by the coordinator, the couple would be penalized for ignoring the denial. After the first ten years of marriage, when stipends and add-ons were no longer in play, a match’s family became the next easiest target to direct the repercussions toward. In the early days of the Initiative, people found out quickly that the rules and regulations were not things to be messed with or ignored.  

While Peeta was enrolled at WVU he was allowed to stay on campus for up to three weeks at a time, with the exception that allowed him to stay on campus for up to six weeks when he first moved to campus (of which he only stayed for four). Their minimum face to face time had been lowered during the months that he was at school and was raised during the times that he had breaks (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Break). They were still required to talk every day for 20 minutes, but were allowed to skip up to one day every two weeks for certain exceptions (midterms and finals were included in the list).

Knowing that Peeta took the Initiative’s rules very seriously, Katniss stared at her phone waiting for a call. Peeta had texted her when he got to campus just to let her know he had gotten back safe but had been ignoring her calls. It was almost nine o’clock when Katniss finally tossed her phone aside and grabbed her laptop. She signed into her PANEM account and opened their shared time logs. As she had concluded by his lack of contact, Peeta had filled in that communication slot with midterm and she could see that Effie had already approved it. She cursed at herself as she snapped her laptop closed. She spent the rest of the night with one eye on her phone hoping he might send another text. No such luck.

When they talked the next day Peeta told her he thought it might be a good idea for him to stay on campus for the next three weeks. Katniss knew he was mad but was still shocked by his suggestion, assuming he would have wanted to come home and talk about it face to face. She didn’t push the matter further only telling him she understood. He thanked her and hung up. When she dropped her phone on the bed she could see the call’s details blinking on the face of the phone indicating the connection had been terminated – the length of the call had been twenty minutes exactly. Peeta must have been timing the conversation.

For the next week their conversation was awkward and forced, making twenty minutes seem like an eternity, both relieved when they could hang up the phone.  Katniss dreaded their evening talks with Peeta asking her politely how her day had been and her asking for the fifth time how things were going with the professor who was a jackass. She would have preferred him screaming at her or telling her off (he certainly has the right to she thought) to the mindless small talk that they were currently so fond of.

Gale had also been ignoring her but she couldn’t deny her relief when she called and it went straight to his voicemail. She knew they needed to talk but she wasn’t sure she was actually ready to be that open about her feelings or the consequences that would follow her confession. In baking terms, she not only wanted the cake, but she wanted to eat it too.

 It had been over two weeks since she had seen Peeta and because Gale was ignoring all forms of communication from her, Katniss had a lot of time on her hands. She hadn’t forgotten Gale’s words in the park, “you should probably be working as an actual Chef not a baker” and had been desperately searching the internet looking at jobs. Every chef posting was looking for someone with experience in a restaurant or culinary training – of which she had neither. She had found one promising ad looking for a personal chef who could “follow simple recipes” and who had their own set of “personal, family recipes”. But it really didn’t matter even if she got an interview because she couldn’t just abandon the bakery.

Her phone vibrating on the desk snapped her out of her own little world and back into the present. She stretched over from her place on the bed and knocked it off the edge of the desk, catching it clumsily before it smashed into the floor. Peeta’s smiling face appeared in the middle of the phone screen. She quickly checked the time, it was just after seven, the last two weeks he had been calling at almost ten so he could use the excuse that she needed to get up early for work as the reason they needed to end their conversation.

“Hey.” She saved the job ad to her favorites and closed her lap top.

“Hey…” He said, clipping his greeting off weirdly.

“What’s up?” She rolled on her back and pulled a blanket over her feet.

“My dad called and he finally has a petition review date.” This news should have been a relief to the Mellarks, it meant the divorce petition hadn’t just been denied and that Henry’s case was at least going to be considered.

“That’s good news, isn’t it?” Katniss asked.

“Yes, but it’s this Thursday.”

“Oh, wow,” was all Katniss could manage. Usually petition review dates were scheduled months out in advance, not two days in advance.

“Yeah, my dad says he’s prepared but Rye called and said he seems really nervous.”

“Are you coming back for the review?”

“Yeah. I called Effie and asked her if she could get me out of classes for Thursday. She said it was no problem…and suggested that you come along.”

“Oh, what about the bakery?” If Henry, Ryen, and Peeta were all going to the review, wouldn’t she need to be at the store?

“Dad said he was closing for the day.” Peeta waited for her response. She hadn’t been planning on having any part of the Mellark’s divorce already knowing how much Mrs. Mellark despised her. “I would be really grateful if you were there.”

“Of course I’ll be there.”

--

After closing the bakery the next day so Ryen and Henry could go pick up Peeta, Katniss nervously walked to Gale’s house. She had been planning on talking with him sooner but he was still snubbing her calls and she was tired of being ignored. That and she didn’t think she could look Peeta in the eye if she didn’t have this conversation with Gale now.

She found herself on the back porch of the Hawthorne’s before she realized where she was. Normally she would just let herself in but for the first time in her life she felt like it would be rude in light of the current state of her relationship with Gale. She sighed heavily and walked around to the front door and knocked.

“What are you doing knocking on my front door?” Gale’s mom, Hazelle, smiled brightly and pulled her into a big bear hug. “Did you forget how to open a door?”

“No, I just…” Katniss didn’t know what to say. Hazelle had always been like a second mother to her, taking care of her mother after her father passed, making sure that she and Prim were fed properly, and that they didn’t have to worry about paying their bills while their mother was finally recovering, but that didn’t mean they talked about personal problems.

“Ahh," Hazelle nodded in understanding, “Yes. Gale has been in a rather foul mood the last couple of weeks.” She turned around and headed back towards the kitchen, nodding to the stairs as she went. “Go on up.”

“Thank you.” Katniss managed weakly. She slowly climbed the stairs, hoping not to make too much noise or trip on all of the items that belonged to Gale’s younger siblings. She stopped outside his bedroom and knocked. He must have assumed she was his mother or one of his siblings because he said come in. “Hi.”

He didn’t move from his spot in front of his computer where he was playing some short of combat game. He didn’t even look at her. She wasn’t sure he had even heard her at first.

“Ignoring your texts and calls wasn’t a big enough hint that I don’t want to talk to you?”

“Oh, no. I got the message loud and clear.” She stepped around a pile of clothing that she couldn’t determine if it was clean or dirty. “But I needed to talk to you.” He continued to look at the computer screen, but Katniss could tell his concentration was off of the game as he had already died twice. She took a deep breath and focused on the words that she had prepared. “Gale, you’re my best friend and I can’t imagine my life without you, but I haven’t been honest with you.” He died again. “I didn’t want things to change between us – I know how you feel about the Initiative. I know how you feel about Peeta, but I am hoping that you can move past that because I still want you in my life.”

He still hadn’t looked at her.

She swallowed hard and took another deep breath.

“I do have feelings for Peeta. I like him. A lot. And if you want to be in my life you are going to have to accept that Peeta is going to be there too, not only because he has to be but because I want him to be.”

He finally turned to her and for a moment Katniss thought he was going to say something. But then he died on the computer and he refocused on the screen. Katniss scowled and slammed the door behind her as she left.

--

She checked the time as she slipped out of the Hawthorne’s without another word. The guys should be back with Peeta by now and she needed to see him. She took off at a slow jog but was full out running by the time she burst through the Mellark’s front door. She staggered into the kitchen, gulping for air as Ryen and Henry gave her looks of concern. She waved them off and forced a smile, which probably looked more like a grimace.

“His room?” She asked after bringing her breathing back to normal. They both nodded and she gave them a thumbs up. She forced herself to walk up the stairs slowly even though all she wanted at the moment was to see him. “Hey,” she said after closing his door.

“Hey…I was just going to call you.” He waved his phone a little before putting it on the table.

Neither of them moved for a moment.

Then they were crashing into each other, their lips desperate for the other’s, as their hands pulled on at their shirts and pants.

#everlark #au #arranged marriage #thg #tpi #kate writes

[loyallogic]

Detailed Analysis of Arrest of Person and Arrest without Warrant

This article is written by Ashish Sharma of Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala. The author has discussed the intricacies pursuant to the arrest of a person. 

Detailed analysis of arrest without warrant from Subodh Asthana

Introduction

For decades across the globe, there has been a debate regarding the validity of preventive arrest by law enforcement. The preventive arrest is simply done to stop a person from committing a cognizable offence in future. Historically, the preventive arrest was infamously be used in India during British rule under the Bengal State Prisoners Regulation, 1818 which empowered the government to detain or arrest anybody on mere suspicion.

The main object of criminal law is to protect society from criminals and lawbreakers. The criminal law consists of both procedural law and substantive law. In India, substantive law is the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and procedural law is the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

The procedural aspects of arrest are laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure; under this, the complete process is mentioned related to the arrest of a person who has committed any offence. Chapter V of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 deals with the arrest of a person under section 41 to section 60.

Click Here

Persons Authorised to Arrest

Code of Criminal Procedure empowers three people to issue the process of arrest. They are as follows:

A police officer with or without a warrant.

A magistrate.

A private person.

Meaning of Term Arrest

We use the term ‘arrest’ quite often in our day to day business. Normally we see a person who does or has done something against the law to be arrested. The term arrest can be defined as, “a seizure or forcible restraint, an exercise of power to deprive a person of his or her liberty”. In the criminal arrest of a person is an important tool for bringing an accused before the court and prevent him from escaping.

Thus after an arrest, a person’s liberty is under full control of arrester. But every deprivation of liberty or physical restraint should not be interpreted as the arrest. Only the deprivation of liberty by a legal authority in a professionally competent and skilful manner amounts to arrest.

The major purpose of arrest is to bring the person before a court and secure administration of law. An arrest also serves the purpose of notifying the society that a particular individual has committed an act which is against the society and act as a remark to deter crime in the future.

However, even if a person against whom no accusation has been made can also be arrested for certain purposes like removal in safe custody from one place to another. For example, removing a minor girl from a brothel. Arrest should not be confused with custody because both have different meanings. Judicial custody of a person is followed after the arrest of a person by a magistrate on appearance. In every arrest, there is custody but not vice versa.

Arrest without a Warrant

Yes, a person can be arrested by police officers or any private person without warrant ordered by the court. Particularly the police officers may arrest a person without a warrant under certain conditions. The conditions to arrest a person without warrant mentioned under Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are as follows.

A person who is concerned with any cognizable offences such as murder, rape, theft etc. can be arrested without a warrant. Cognizable offences are the offence, for which a police officer in accordance with the first schedule of CrPC or guided by any other law for the time being in force, can arrest without warrant.

Cognizable offences are those offences which are very serious in nature. Example unnatural offences, rape, kidnapping etc. If any cognizable offence has been committed, a police officer can investigate without the magistrate’s permission.

Section 154 of CrPC provides that, “under a cognizable offenses, if the police officer receives any information relating to the commission of a cognizable offence, if given orally shall be reduced to writing and be read over to informant, whether given in writing shall be reduced to writing and shall be signed by the informant and substance shall be entered in a book to be kept by officer in form prescribed by state government”.

Section 154 provides further that, “if any person aggrieved by a refusal on the part of the officer in charge of police station, may send the substance of such information by post to Superintendent of Police, who is satisfied that such information discloses any commission of cognizable offences, shall either investigate himself or direct an investigation to be made any police officer subordinate to him”.

Who has been in possession of any housebreaking weapon without any lawful excuse?

Who has been proclaimed as an offender either under CrPC or any other order by State government or any law in force?

Who obstructs any police officer while performing his duty or who have escaped or make attempts to escape from lawful custody.

Who has been concerned in any law or against whom a reasonable complaint has been made or credible information has been received, of his having been involved in an act committed at any place outside India, if committed in India would be punishable of an offence and for which he is under law relating to extradition or otherwise, liable to be apprehended or detained in custody of India.

Who is reasonably suspected of being a deserter from any of the Armed forces of Union?

Who, being released as a convict, commits a breach of any rule mentioned under sub-section 5 of section 356 i.e. the state government may be notification make rules to carry out the provisions of this section relating to the notification of residence or change of or absence from, residence by released convicts.

For whose arrest any requisition has been received from another police officer, provided that the requisition must specify the person to be arrested and the reason for which the arrest is to be made and therefrom it appears that the person must be lawfully be arrested without a warrant.

The police also have the power to arrest a person if he denies giving his correct name and residential address or the police have a reason to believe that the furnished information is wrong. Police are empowered under section 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to arrest a person to identify the actual place of residence. Provisions in section 42 are:  

“(1) When any person who, in the presence of police officer has committed or has been accused of committing a non-recognizable offence refuses on demand of such officer, to give his name and residence or gives a name or residence which such officer has reason to believe to be false, he may be arrested by such officer in order that his name or residence may be ascertained”.

The police officers are empowered by virtue of section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to arrest a person to prevent the commission of cognizable offences. Provisions under section 151 are:

“(1) A police officer knowing of design of any cognizable offence may arrest the person so designing it, without any orders from a magistrate and without a warrant, if it appears to such officer that the commission of offence cannot be prevented otherwise.

(2) No person arrested shall be detained in custody for a period exceeding twenty-four hours from the time of his arrest unless his further detention is required by any other provisions of Code or any law for the time being in force”.

Process of Arrest

The police officers have to follow a set of rules while arresting any person. The mode of arrest is mentioned under section 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure whether it is done with the warrant or without the warrant. In arresting a person, the person so arrested should not be handcuffed unless the police have obtained orders from a magistrate in this regard. Provisions of section 46 are:

(1) In making an arrest the police officer or any other person making the same shall actually touch or confine the body of a person to be arrested unless there is a submission to the word by custody.

Provided that where a woman is to be arrested unless the circumstances indicate to the contrary, her submission to custody on an oral intimation shall be presumed and, unless the circumstances otherwise require or unless the police officer is female, the police officer shall not touch the women for making her arrest.

(2) If such person forcibly resists the endeavour to arrest him, or attempts to escape the arrest, such police officer or other people may use all reasonable necessary means to effect the arrest.

(3) Nothing in this section gives a right to cause the death of a person who is not accused of an offence punishable with death or with life imprisonment.

Important Case Law

D.K. Basu v State of West Bengal(1)

Despite various to attempts to issue proper guidelines to eradicate the possibility of committing torture by police officials, there were frequent instances of custodial deaths and police atrocities. The apex court, in this case, issued some guidelines which are to be followed under all cases of arrest or detentions. Important guidelines are as follows:

The person to be arrested must be informed of the grounds of arrest as per Section 50 of CrPC and Article 22 of the Indian Constitution. It is a fundamental right of an individual to be informed of the grounds of arrest. It is the duty of the officer in charge to inform the person whether the offence is Bailable or Non- Bailable. Bailable offences are the offence in which it is the right of a person to be granted bail whereas in the non-bailable offence it is at the discretion of the court.

Under section 41 police have the power to arrest a person without a warrant where an immediate arrest is needed and there is no time to approach the magistrate and obtain a warrant. For example where a serious crime has been perpetrated by a dangerous person and there are chances of him being escaped unless immediately arrested. Later due to misuse of powers conferred by police officers accorded to them, this section got amended and put restrictions upon the power of officers such as police officer must act reasonably while deciding whether the arrest is necessary or not. The notice should be made if credible information is received (section 41 a).

The arrested person has a right to meet an advocate of his choice during interrogation under section 41 D and section 303 of CrPC.

The person so arrested has a right to inform his family member, relative or friend of his arrest under section 50 of CrPC.

The arrested person has a right not to be detained for more than 24 hours, without being presented before a magistrate to prevent unlawful and illegal arrests. This right is also the fundamental right of an individual under Article 22 of the Constitution.

The arrested person has a right to remain silent during police enquiry provided by Article 20(3) of the Indian Constitution so that police cannot extract any self- incriminating information against him.

Conclusion

Up to now, we have discussed the power of arrest and the rights of an arrested person. But by going through the data’s of Law Commission on Law of arrest we will realise that due to the unawareness of people about their rights how this power to secure the peace in the society is being misused. The arrest of a person has a demoralising and diminishing effect on his personality. The person so arrested becomes outrageous, alienated and hostile. So there should be a balance between the security of a state and individual freedom.

Reference

(1997) 1 SCC 416

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[thefilipinafeminist]

Rape Culture in the Philippines

I was speaking with a friend a while back about feminist issues and then he suddenly asked me to define and explain rape culture. As I tried to give an apt explanation of rape culture, I noticed how distant my examples were to the Filipino experience. I thought to myself, how is rape culture to be framed in the Philippine setting? This post is my answer to this question. I believe that by making the concept of rape culture more applicable to the Filipino context,  the understanding of rape culture can be understood not just by those who have access to its western notions but also to  people who have no prior understanding of the Western definitions of rape culture. With this post, I aim to show how rape culture is evident in Philippine society and to furthermore give suggestions on how to eliminate it. 

Defining Rape and Rape Culture

What is rape?

From numerous definitions, the general meaning of rape has come to be forced or non-consensual sexual intercourse. According to the Anti-Rape Law of 1997, rape occurs when a man inserts his penis or an object into a woman’s anus, vagina, or mouth forcibly or without consent. It also occurs when the victim is under 12 years of age or is demented. This defintion however, is incomplete because it neglects the fact that men can be raped and that homosexual rape can also occur.

What is Rape Culture?

In Transforming a Rape Culture, Emily Buchwald and Pamela Fletcher (2005) describe rape culture as

…a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent.… [it is a culture that] condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm… [and a culture where] men and women assume that sexual violence is… inevitable

Although I am using a Western definition, I will attempt to show how this applies to the Philippine setting by elaborating on the three main points given by this definition. I aim to show how Philippine society propagates the notion that violence is sexy and that sexuality is violent; I aim to prove that we are part of a culture that normalizes physical and emotional terrorism again women; and I aim to show how certain aspects of Filipino culture lead to the assumption that sexual violence is inevitable.  Please note that the examples I will use in this post are only a few manifestations of these three main points. 

Violence is Sexy and Sexuality is Violent

Media is one of the main propagators of knowledge and information in almost any culture. This is why journalists and other scholars and professionals in the discipline of media must be wary of the kind of information they let out to the public. In her book, “Rape Love and Sexuality”, Syliva Estrada-Claudio (2002) tackles the way rape is portrayed in Filipino tabloids. Tabloids, being some of the most widely consumed literature of the masses, plays an important role in the spreading of ideas and knowledge to the people. Estrada-Claudio’s findings from analyzing over 70 news clippings are as follows:

Rape is more often than not depicted as a man on woman crime, portraying the woman as the helpless and innocent victim; and the man as pathological and mentally unstable perpetrator

This is problematic because first, this gives the idea that only women can be raped and that rape is purely heterosexual. It ignores the possibilities of women raping men; and of same-sex rape. Second, it makes invisible the victims of rape who do not express the pitiful demeanor that society expects from rape victims. Not all victims of rape exude traumatic tendencies but are expected to do so. Third, the painting of the perpetrator as mentally unstable ignores the fact that rapists are more often than not those who have close relations to the victim - most of whom are not mentally unstable. 

The writings on rape, although portrayed to be violent, are characterized with subtle praises for the man and discrimination towards the woman.

The way women are painted to be perfect victims in these stories becomes a tactic for victim-blaming despite the violence that is caused to these women. The woman’s past sexual encounters are highlighted in these stories to emphasize how she somehow asked for what happened to her and to show that she is devastated beyond repair afterwards. In most of these stories, she is called ‘victim’. This gives us the confirmation on who was raped. On the other hand, the fact the men who raped are often described as ‘suspect’ “denies us certainty as to who the rapist is.” This gives readers space to doubt perpetrators but to be reassured about the woman who was raped. 

The Normalization of Physical and Emotional Terrorism Against Women

It is a fact that certain victims of rape are are made invisible due to their gender, ethnicity, or socio-economic status but most importantly, the ignorance that surrounds their experiences. Erin Gilson (2014) writes about how willful ignorance plays a role in the perpetuation of ideas that surround the normalization of rape. Willful ignorance refers to “a subconscious refusal to know as well as an active and repeated cultivation of ignorance... [it] protects one from knowing something that one implicitly does not want to know.” Willful ignorance results from the privilege of some within unjust structures. Someone remains willfully ignorant of the inequalities and disadvantages of the oppression of others; and of their own privilege because subconsciously, they refuse to comprehend these forms of oppression.

Willful ignorance in accordance to rape culture is seen in the Philippine setting simply by looking at the different articles and posts published about instances of sexual harassment. In one article published on Rappler, Sandra dela Cruz recounts her experience with a man she caught staring at her, masturbating in a jeepney. She posted about this experience on Facebook and said that she received a number of responses - some of which defended the man or told her that she was overreacting because of how she was not really hurt during the incident (Pobre, 2017). The fact that there were people who discredited the way she felt violated shows that despite the number of legislations and information that tackle rape culture,  there exist people who enjoy certain privileges that prohibit them from acknowledging the injustices that victims of sexual harassment go through. This is willful ignorance at play in the sense that it shows how there are people who have grown to be so accustomed to their advantages that they end up becoming ignorant to the disadvantages of others. 

The Assumption That Sexual Violence is Inevitable

The way our justice system frames sexual violence is inextricably linked to the biases present in the legal education of our current and future lawyers. According to a law student from the Ateneo Law School, the legal education provided in the Philippines is based on an outdated code. This implies the engraining of the code as law despite how certain aspects of our legal system may not fit into today’s context. This entails grave consequences for Filipino women such as the consequences present in Article 266 of the Revised Penal Code which makes adultery (when a wife cheats on her husband) a crime that is more severe than concubinage (when a husband cheats on his wife).  Laws such as these imply that violence against women is inevitable. Thus, with the engraining of the code as law, the implications these laws contain are carried on to the understanding of our present and future lawyers.

Moreover, the subjectivity that goes into legal education comes into play when looking at the monetary aspect of the law. Only those who have money are thought able enough to receive a legal education; only those with great economic bearing can be provided justice. It is this mindset that allows for the discrimination of poor women in the justice system. It is this class based approach to legal aid that intimidates poor women to seek for help and likewise allows for legal professionals to form biases against poor women. Our legal system thus acts as a socio-economic class control rather than as a form of crime control. Poor women who experience sexual violence, intimidated by the elitist nature of our legal system, shy away from seeking legal help. This fosters the idea that they are alone in facing the troubles of sexual violence. 

What Can We Do To Change This?

Western third-wave feminism has affected the way many young Fiiipinas’ perception of women’s issues in the Philippines - including rape culture. One of the facets of this influence is the concept of no means no. It is the idea that when someone says no or displays aversion towards any sexual advancement, it must be accepted fully by the person taking action. However, while no means no is an important concept in tackling rape culture, I believe that it is incomplete.

The fact that Philippine society views sex as malicious is at the core of rape culture in the Philippines. Although the concept of no means no propagates the idea that the lack of informed consent in sexual intercourse promotes rape, it also reinforces the negative connotation attached to sex.  We cannot simply counter rape by deconstructing the negative aspects of the societal view on sex. Together with this deconstruction, we must be able to construct positive views on sex - we must talk about sex and understand that sex can be good; that pleasure is not to be feared. 

Rape culture is propagated because of the reinforcement of its negative connotation. For us to dismantle rape culture we must not only be able to understand what it means to say no - that the absence of consent as the main reason for rape; but we must also understand what it means to say yes - to give consent to what we prefer, to what we want to do. This can only happen if we start accepting that yes weighs as much as no in the context of sexual relations.

References

Buchwald, E., & Fletcher, P. (2005). Transforming a Rape Culture. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions.

Estrada-Claudio, S. (2002). Rape, Love, and Sexuality: The Construction of Women in Discourse. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.

Gilson, E. (2014). The Ethics of Vulnerability: A Feminist Analysis of Social Life and Practice. New York, NY: Routledge.

Pobre, A. (2017, January 29). VIRAL: Terrified woman shares sexual harassment trauma in jeepney ride. Rappler. Retrieved May 17, 2017, from http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/159531-viral-woman-sexual-harassment-man-masturbated-public

#rape culture #feminism #philippines