#corbyn and seth

[caustic-curses]

HC: When Tired...

【Corbyn】: Exhaustion will generally see to Corbyn’s languid gaze and lack of verbal responses. He makes no attempt to stay awake as he opts for 10-30 minute catnaps. He’ll seek some undisclosed space, dark and quiet, and simply rest. If for any reason, he cannot rest, he is irritable.

【Seth】: He, however,  is more likely to talk even more. He'll ramble because he's trying to keep himself awake. He'll also start fidgeting with anything he can get his hands on because he thinks activity equals being awake .......he also denies being tired.

[calciopics]

Every Premier League club’s most famous fan

Who does the Queen support? Here's your team's A-list supporter…

Georgi Kinkladzi is still friends with the Gallagher brothers to this day. The ex-Manchester City playmaker got chatting to the Oasis lads back in the 90s and he told FFT this issue that he was impressed by the pair's fanatical devotion to the club.

“Oasis always had my respect, as they were die-hard City supporters and wouldn’t miss a match unless they were on tour,” Kinkladze said. And these Rock N Roll Stars aren't alone - incredibly famous people follow the Premier League, just like the rest of us.

So who’s your club’s biggest fan? And we mean fan – someone who actually attends games and screams at the telly, not just an A-list actor who was presented with a shirt once.

Arsenal

Take your pick. Arsenal are followed by politicians (Keir Starmer, John Bercow, Jeremy Corbyn), comedians (Dara O’Briain, Matt Lucas, Alan Davies) and actors (Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Daisy Ridley) alike. They’ve even got infamous supporters who disgrace the rest of the bunch – see Osama Bin Laden and Piers Morgan.

While Jay-Z and Chris Martin have visited the Emirates in recent years, there isn’t much proof that the pair are diehards. Likewise, Prince Harry reportedly supports Arsenal but hasn’t spoken as much about football as his brother, William. Rihanna was friends with Mesut Ozil, but we’d wager that she hasn’t been through the hardships of the Nicklas Bendtner days to truly call herself a Gooner.

In terms of proper Arsenal fans who are genuinely excited about Gabriel Martinelli, the most famous is probably Idris Elba. Luther himself helped run the 'No More Red' campaign of this season and appeared in a kit launch video for the club's 2019/20 kit, claiming “I could’ve played for Arsenal you know,” before telling his mates that he was top scorer at Under-9 level for Canning Town. Perhaps Mikel Arteta’s found a long-term replacement for Alex Lacazette…

Aston Villa

As the biggest club in a major UK city, it’s understandable that Aston Villa have plenty of notable followers. Three-quarters of Black Sabbath, actor David Bradley and even former PM David Cameron all follow the claret and blue – though Cameron did once forget which team he supported and claim to be a Hammer instead.

But in terms of who takes the title of the most famous, it’s hard to argue with Prince William. He seems to genuinely loves the club, looked mightily upset when handing runners-up medals to his team in the 2015 FA Cup final and has gone on record about how much he loves Aston Villa. He’s president of the FA too, which is more of a credential than most of us have to prove we love the beautiful game.

Is he the most famous fan though? Tom Hanks is apparently a big Villa fan – since 2001, no less. And only one of them played Forrest Gump...

Bournemouth

Bournemouth isn't exactly a big town – and its club aren't particularly big, either. Many residents actually support Southampton, so picking a most famous fan is a tough ask. Seth Rogan is apparently a Cherry, but is he actually?

Probably not. Former Celebrity Masterchef champion  is reportedly a fan, too – it's doubtful just how big, though, considering she's not from the area. Alex James from Blur said he was a fan on Soccer AM once, so we'll give it him – partly because the only other big shout is for Matt Tong, the drummer from Bloc Party, who used to be on the AFCB fan forum. It's slim pickings, unfortunately.

Brentford

Cameron Diaz is apparently a Brentford fan. That's pretty impressive - though it's reported that the Hollywood A-lister is a Bee thanks to restauranteur Dan Tana, so it's unlikely she'd be able to pick Thomas Frank out of a line-up.

Greg Dyke is a fan of Brentford (though it's claimed he also follows Man United), Dean Gaffney from Eastenders supports the club too, while Phil Collins used to watch the Bees before getting a season ticket at QPR. Ex-Sky Sports presenter Natalie Sawyer and Yes keyboard Rick Wakeman are both fans, too: we like to imagine them sat together.

Though they're not the most famous people individually, however, we're going to give the title to Hard Fi's Richard Archer and The Bluetones' Adam Devlin as a joint bid, since their devotion is perhaps stronger than anyone else's. Their bands are quite famous, too – more when combined – and together they recorded a song dedicated to ex-winger Jota.

Brighton & Hove Albion

One name comes to mind when you think of Brighton fans. Well, two, depending on whether you call him Norman Cook or Fatboy Slim. He’s the town’s most famous export and has played gigs at the Amex.

Cook is in good company though. Des Lynam, Jon Snow (from the news, not Game of Thrones) and Simon Cowell are all Seagulls, though Cowell has admitted his is more of a passing interest than a full-blown fanatical devotion. Jamie Theakston and Michael Fish complete a who’s who of yesteryear faces who also follow the Albion.

Chelsea

Situated in one of the poshest areas of London, it’s perhaps no surprise that Chelsea can count Natalie Dormer, Jeremy Clarkson, Mark Ronson, Ellie Goulding, Gordon Ramsey and Cara Delevigne as Blues fanatics. Damon Albarn from Gorillaz has had a season ticket most of his adult life too, and even led a chant at a gig in Belgium, in tribute to Eden Hazard.

In terms of the most famous fan, Will Ferrell is up there: he’s appeared at Soccer Aid and now owns Los Angeles FC, so it’s genuine support, rather than wanting to look cool and fit in with other celebrities. But even Ron Burgundy probably can’t argue with Alfie.

Michael Caine has followed the west Londoners through the thin as well as the thick, famously telling a reporter once that he was off to watch the Blues on his “big high def” telly. Not a lot of people know that.

Crystal Palace

Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan was apparently once shocked when star of Schindler’s List, Star Wars and Taken, Liam Neeson, phoned him asking for tickets to Selhurst Park. There are conflicting reports regarding Neeson’s penchant for Liverpool too, but there are other stars who are confirmed Eagles fans.

Comedian Eddie Izzard once claimed, “All I really want is for Crystal Palace to win every game from now until the end of time - that's all”; two of The Inbetweeners follow Palace too (Simon Bird and James Buckley) and Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid sang Wilfried Zaha’s “He's just too good for you” chant on air after he had been called up to the England squad. Apparently, even Nigel Farage is a Palace fan.

Bill Nighy has to be the most famous, though. The Love Actually star is patron of the CPFRIS (Crystal Palace FC Fast Results & Information Service) Disabled Children’s Club and one Christmas, he addressed the Palace faithful, speaking of his pride to be an Eagle.

Everton

Beatle Paul McCartney grew up an Everton fan but later admitted he supports local rivals Liverpool as well, given his connection to the city and some of the Reds’ biggest stars. Macca says that he has “special dispensation from the Pope”, but it does weaken his shout for the most famous Toffees fan around, even if he was in the most famous band of all time.

Rocky star Sylvester Stallone is reportedly a big enough fan of Everton to regret not buying them in 2007. His boxer pal Tony Bellew is a diehard toffee himself, but perhaps not the most well-known of celebrities to follow them. Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud, Amanda Holden, Shane MacGowan and John McEnroe could all be considered pretty famous Blues.

But perhaps the best bid belongs to Judi Dench. Not only is M herself a big fan along with her husband and son, she’s a patron of Everton's official charity, Everton in the Community.

Fulham

Fulham have a surprisingly famous fanbase. Rather like Chelsea, they're situated in west London – but still, boasting the likes of Hugh Grant, Barry from Eastenders, Richard Osman, Keith Chegwin and Eminem (apparently) is impressive.

The most famous, though? It's not even close: Margot Robbie has said she's a Fulham fan and been pictured with a Whites' scarf. Given that she's actually been spotted at the Cottage a few times too, it seems fair to give her the title.

Leeds United

Leeds is a one-club city, making Leeds United massively supported. The Kaiser Chiefs are named after Leeds legend Lucas Radebe's former club, while Nasser Hussain, Nick Faldo and Ken Hom all follow the Whites.

There are certainly big shouts for the most famous. Chris Moyles was the biggest radio DJ in Britain at one point, Ed Miliband almost became PM – and actually didn't share his liking of football much as he feared it would count against him at the polls – while Gareth Gates, Jeremy Paxman and Jon Bon Jovi have all been counted in the Elland Road faithful in the past.

But the winner? Russell Crowe. The Kiwi-born actor narrated Leeds documentary Take Us Home but he's actually a massive supporter, having followed them for years. "I used to come home from sport in the afternoon, me and my brother, and watch Match of the Day," Maximus Decimus Meridius himself once claimed. He will see them win the Premier League one day – in this life or the next.

Leicester City

Mention the words “Leicester City” and one man comes to mind. Gary Lineker doesn’t just take the crown of Leicester’s most famous fan and player, but their most famous son while he’s at it. His dad owned a market stall in the town centre and on uni open days at Leicester University, students are shown where Linekers’ parents live en route to the accommodation. The man basically runs the city.

Lineker isn’t the only talented footballer with allegiances to Leicester. Kasabian guitarist Sergio Pizzorno is not just a decent player – as proven on Soccer Aid and Soccer AM – he’s so crazy about his club that he wore their socks when having trials with another club. Serge’s close friend and Mighty Boosh star Noel Fielding is supposedly a Colchester fan, though.

Leicester can also count Manish Bhasin from BBC Sport in their fanbase, crooner Engelbert Humperdink and Lib Dem politician Lembit Opik. The 2003 rugby hero Martin Johnson is also Leicester born and bred, meaning Lineker isn’t the only famous England World Cup star from the area.

Liverpool

When you’ve been the kings of Europe six times, you’re bound to pick up some big admirers: still, boasting Nelson Mandela, Angelina Jolie, Samuel L Jackson, and LeBron James is taking the biscuit.

That’s not all. Dr Dre has been a fan since 1988 – perhaps he’s heard John Barnes rap – but given that he said he “read about” their 2001 UEFA Cup win, he’s perhaps not the biggest Red. Gary Barlow counts himself a Liverpool fan but given Take That pal Robbie Williams’s links to Soccer Aid, if he was as big a fan as Robbie, we’d probably all know about it.

US songstress Lana Del Rey has claimed that she loved watching Luis Suarez play and got into Liverpool a few years ago. While that’s pretty cool, we’re going to give the most famous Red to Daniel Craig. When meeting the likes of Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah, he looked genuinely starstruck, which is impressive considering he has a license to kill.

Manchester City

There's only one team in Manchester, so the old joke goes. Pick almost any famous face from the city and you'll fine they might be blue rather than red: Ian Curtis, Johnny Marr, Rick Wakeman, Alan Carr, Timothy Dalton and Alan Rickman are or were all reported followers. Pre-money, too. As much as it would annoy them to pick David Hasselhoff over them as Manchester City’s biggest fan, though – yes, apparently that’s true – there’s no denying that Noel and Liam Gallagher are the two biggest Citizens going. Noel has been on Super Sunday, interviewed Mario Balotelli and even celebrated titles with the squad.

He’s not just a City fan though, but a good luck charm for Italy. After Alessandro Del Piero spotted him at a match in 2006, he asked the Oasis star to come to the World Cup final, in the same clothes, as he believed him to be a good luck charm. “It goes without saying,” Gallagher recalled. “Who won the World Cup? Noelly G.”

Manchester United

Manchester United have the most supporters in the world. It’s unsurprising then that the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Megan Fox, Justin Timberlake, Steve Coogan and Thom Yorke are all Red Devils. But who’s the biggest?

Eamon Holmes got into United because of George Best and even read a eulogy at his funeral. Drake has claimed to support United but famously flip-flops between clubs, cursing them as he goes. Karl Pilkington, Rory McIlroy, Danny Boyle, John Simm and even Kim Jong Un are all apparently fans too. A special mention must go to rapper Dave, who openly references the club in his music and was even been pictured trying to tap up Jadon Sancho for a move while the winger was at Dortmund.

The fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt, is a huge Red and has been pictured at United games and their training ground a few times now - but we’re going to pick Stormzy as the most famous, given that he’s on the up and Bolt’s star has peaked (sorry, Usain). Big Mike even helped unveil Paul Pogba.

Newcastle United

Newcastle is a massive city with massive fans. See Sting, Cheryl Cole, Brian Blessed, Gabby Logan, James Bay, Sam Fender and even Tony Blair, whose prized possession is a No.9 shirt signed by Alan Shearer.

Really though, there’s only ever going to be one winner. Well, two. Ant and Dec are the Toon’s most famous export/s, appear on the odds list to manage the club every time the manager's job is vacant. Howay, the lads.

Nottingham Forest

Forest were massive in the 70s so it's no surprise that they've had their fair share of famous fans over the years. James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers, cricketer Stuart Broad and politician Ken Clarke are all apparently supporters.

But we're going for Carl Froch. He's certainly famous enough and displayed his fanatical devotion to the Tricky Trees by wearing their colours in interviews and appearing on Soccer AM. Plus, we don't dare argue with him that he's not the most famous.

Southampton

It’s not a great start when you mention a member of Coldplay that isn’t Chris Martin. Drummer Will Champion, however, has a season ticket at Southampton.

Lucy Pinder, Chris Packham and David Frost all make the cut of famous Saints fans (some more famous than others), but probably the most famous must go to Craig David. The RnB singer has been a fan of the club all his life, but he often misses midweek games, given that he’s usually making love on Wednesday.

Tottenham Hotspur

Louis van Gaal is a legend at Barcelona, Ajax and Bayern Munich. But he grew up a Tottenham Hotspur fan, citing Jimmy Greaves and the “fantastic white shirts” for his fandom.

He’s not the only surprising Spurs fan. Avelino, Annie Mac, JK Rowling, AJ Tracey and Dave Bautista all claim to follow the Lilywhites, while legendary broadcasters Trevor McDonald and Barry Davies are also apparently huge Tottenham fans. A special mention should also go to Lord Sugar, who was chairman of the club at one point, but remains a loyal fan to this day (even if he did admire Arsene Wenger).

The most famous Spurs fan though has to go to Adele. She's headlined Glastonbury, won Grammy and Brit awards… but hasn't received quite the same accolades for her rendition of "Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur", unfortunately.

West Ham United

A debate rages over the biggest celebrity West Ham United follower. You see, if Queen Elizabeth II really does follow the Irons, she’s undoubtedly the top corgi. But did she call Dimitri Payet a judas when he left? Would she declare “one thinks Mark Noble is the East End Xavi”? According to rumours, she took a shine to Cesc Fabregas when Arsenal visited the palace years ago: if she is a Hammer, she’d have been livid with him joining Chelsea.

Since no one’s likely to confirm Her Majesty’s support for West Ham any time soon, we have to fall back on the famous faces we know support them. Ray Winstone, Kriss Akabusi, Keira Knightly, John Cleese, Len Goodman and Triple H is quite a line-up. Russell Brand even interrupted Sam Allardyce’s post-match interview to kiss him.

Love him or loathe him, it’s probably James Corden for the most famous. The TV host and Tony Award-winner has made no secret of his love for West Ham, and his character Smithy Gavin and Stacey from is naturally also a Hammer. So it’s Corden. Unless it’s the Queen.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Luke Skywalker supports Wolverhampton Wanderers. OK, Mark Hammill was asked to support them by a fan group and later admitted, “I only became an accidental ‘fan’ when someone asked if I liked the wolves and I said yes because I thought they meant the animal.”

Of Wolves’ fans who actually know they’re fans, Beverly Knight, Eric Idle, Edward Elgar and apparently Mike Tyson have all been reported to follow the club. Andy Murray has worn their shirt to training, though that was more because his manager supported them. Potentially the most famous must go to Robert Plant though, lead singer of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin and vice-president of the club. Plant has been a fan of the club since he was 5.

“It's been a bloody murderous journey. This is paradise,” he said of his time following the club and their promotion under Nuno.

Mark White by FourFourTwo 

[caustic-curses]

Left to Right: Corbyn Reyes, Caleb Drystan, Kaizer Bartouk, Caesar Vougen

Guys, I made a Picrew 😳

Okay so basically it’s more geared towards HP/HPHM a bit cause all the clothes I provided are the Hogwarts/BeauxBatons/Durmstrang/Ilvermorny uniforms but I hope you like it haha cause it was a huge pain to make!!! also theres vampire options

PLEASE tag me in your creations if you decide to post them. And credit me in your bio if you make it your profile photo. Thanks! ♥️

some examples

[angelzrose]

Mobile Masterlist

Welcome to my mobile masterlist! Here you’ll find the list of celebs and fandoms I write for. If you’d like a specific imagine, preference, or drabble, feel free to send in your request.

*Note: I don’t write any NSFW or smut stuff, so please don’t ask.

Dana XOX

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✧༺ Preferences ༻✧

✧༺ Drabbles ༻✧

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[yourlocalfandomhoe]

FANDOMS LIST 🦋

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HARRY POTTER

HERMIONE GRANGER HARRY POTTER DRACO MALFOY CEDRIC DIGGORY FRED WEASLEY GEORGE WEASLEY RON WEASLEY GINNY WEASLEY

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EVAN BUCKLEY  MADDIE BUCKLEY EDDIE DIAZ

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EDWARD CULLEN ALICE CULLEN ROSALIE HALE EMMETT CULLEN JACOB BLACK SAM ULEY EMBRY CALL PAUL LAHOTE LEAH CLEARWATER SETH CLEARWATER 

OUTER BANKS 

𝙅𝙅 𝙈𝘼𝙔𝘽𝘼𝙉𝙆 𝙅𝙊𝙃𝙉 𝘽 𝙍𝙊𝙐𝙏𝙇𝙀𝘿𝙂𝙀   𝙎𝘼𝙍𝘼𝙃 𝘾𝘼𝙈𝙀𝙍𝙊𝙉                                                     𝙏𝙊𝙋𝙋𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙍𝙉𝙏𝙊𝙉                                                         𝙍𝘼𝙁𝙀 𝘾𝘼𝙈𝙀𝙍𝙊𝙉                                                       𝙆𝙄𝘼𝙍𝘼 𝘾𝘼𝙍𝙍𝙀𝙍𝘼 POPE HEYWARD

TEEN WOLF                                                              

𝙇𝙔𝘿𝙄𝘼 𝙈𝘼𝙍𝙏𝙄𝙉 𝙈𝘼𝙇𝙄𝘼 𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙀 𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙎𝙊𝙉 𝘼𝙍𝙂𝙀𝙉𝙏 𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙇𝙀𝙎 𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙆𝙎𝙆𝙄 𝙎𝘾𝙊𝙏𝙏 𝙈𝘾𝘾𝘼𝙇𝙇

OBX CAST

MADELYN CLINE MADISON BAILEY DREW STARKEY RUDY PANKOW CHASE STOKES JONATHAN DAVIS

i’ll fix this later my sisters being annoying😐😐 

 𝑅𝐸𝑄𝑈𝐸𝑆𝑇𝑆 𝐴𝑅𝐸 𝑂𝑃𝐸𝑁 𝐵𝐵'𝑆 🧚 

[xtruss]

Once Again, Israel Lobby Tries to Smear Ilhan Omar For Criticism of Donors

Rep. Ilhan Omar supports the BDS movement for Palestinian rights. So pro-Israel donors want to defeat her. But when she tries to talk about it, they smear her.

— BY PHILIP WEISS | JULY 24, 2020 | MONDOWEISS.NET | Dr. Norman Gary Finkelstein

ILHAN OMAR (PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA)

Here we go again… Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is one of the most pro-Palestinian people ever to serve in Congress, so she has been challenged in the Democratic primary August 11 by a pro-Israel candidate, and the Israel lobby is pouring money into his campaign. Antone Melton-Meaux has raised $3.2 million to Omar’s under-$500,000 in the last quarter, and even the JTA says he “is drawing support from pro-Israel donors.” Or as JVP Action says today, Melton Meaux is “supported by anti-Palestinian groups.”

No doubt Omar ought to be able to make an issue of money coming in from outside the district that has an agenda. She did so with a mailer, first reported by Vice News, saying that Melton-Meaux is “in the pocket of Wall Street” and “in the pocket of the medical industry.” Again, classic riffs in a political campaign.

But the fact that the mailer mentioned three donors by name, John Gray, Seth Klarman, and Stanley Weinstein– and also added “Michael, a donor from Scarsdale, New York” — is today being held up as supposed evidence of Omar’s antisemitism. The three men identified by last name are all Jewish, Vice says in its headline; so Omar is feeding an antisemitic trope, the “claim that wealthy Jews use their money to control public policy.” Though how anyone would know that Jonathan Gray (his actual name) is Jewish without googling him beats me.

Though Vice also points out that Melton-Meaux himself raised the issue of money and foreign policy. He sent out an email responding to questions people have been asking him.

“Why do you have so much support from Jewish people/pro-Israel? … Will the money you’ve received from the Jewish community influence your policy decisions?”

No, I disagree with Netanyahu, Melton-Meaux answers that question.

Then Vice concedes that — yeah, that’s where Melton-Meaux is getting his money.

As Melton-Meaux acknowledges, it’s simply a fact that much if not most of his support is coming from national pro-Israel groups and Jewish donors.

NORPAC and Pro-Israel America, a pair of hawkish pro-Israel groups that back both Democrats and Republicans, have combined to bundle nearly a half-million dollars for Melton-Meaux.

So the Israel lobby is the driving force behind Melton-Meaux’s contributions. And god knows, he has sold Israel: early on in the campaign, his global affairs issues page contained just one issue, fulsome support for the Israel partnership as “vital” to US national security, and he repeatedly bashed BDS. (Now he’s expanded that page with the Americas and human rights). Yesterday he assured the Jewish community that he would never condition aid to Israel– unlike Omar.

But if Omar tries to bring it up, she gets smeared. Lesson, don’t try to make Israel a wedge issue in U.S. politics. That’s what the Israel lobby wants, no critical discussion of Israel.

The first response to all this is that the lobby is on its back foot. It poured money into the Eliot Engel-Jamaal Bowman race in New York June 23, because Engel, the chair of House Foreign Affairs and an AIPAC favorite, is a dean of Israel support in the Congress. Democratic Majority for Israel raised on the order of $2 million for Engel in the closing weeks; and Engel still lost, by a lopsided margin.

These young progressive candidates are reaching voters in spite of the money spent against them. The polling says that Omar is ahead of Melton-Meaux by double digits, so all the spending might backfire.

The next response is that pro-Palestinian politicians, be they only a handful, represent a giant threat to the Israel lobby, by legitimizing a critical discussion about Israel in the Democratic Party. It is one thing to say that the rank-and-file of the party supports the use of sanctions against Israeli expansionism, and is supportive of the BDS campaign for Palestinian human rights that Melton-Meaux is deadset against. The party leadership doesn’t want those ideas to filter up to the politicians. Ilhan Omar supports BDS, and has pushed legislation to counter anti-BDS measures. The party wants to marginalize her. As we reported, the Biden campaign was willing to put a lot of progressive issues on the table with the Sandersites — from green new deal to immigration to economic justice — but it refused to compromise on Israel.

This surely has a lot to do with donors. As I say ad nauseam, the traditional conventional wisdom is that 50 to 60 percent of Democratic campaign contributions come from Jews, and that in order to get that money candidates have to craft pro-Israel messages. Congressional campaigns all over the country go to AIPAC to get a policy statement before they even hire a campaign manager, Stephanie Schriock of Emily’s List told J Street.

In fact, Trump’s attacks on the Democratic Party as anti-Israel are part of what Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan told a Jewish audience a year ago is an effort to “grab… our donors.”

The Democratic Party is also fighting for pro-Israel donors. A man mentioned in Omar’s mailer, Seth Klarman, used to give to Republicans but in the Trump era he gives to Democrats. Klarman is a “billionare” who “love[s] Israel”, according to the Times of Israel. Klarman is chairman of that newspaper, which reports:

Klarman’s interest in Israel appears to be fairly recent — but very strong. Sparked by his concerns about terrorism following the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, DC, he visited the country and became convinced Israel was getting short shrift in the press. That led him to donate money to pro-Israel media monitoring groups like CAMERA and MEMRI, and culminated in 2012 with his founding of The Times of Israel online daily with former Jerusalem Post editor David Horovitz.

“As a longtime student of the history of anti-Semitism, I know that this blind hatred is never the fault of Jews,” he said at the time. “Moreover it is clear to me that anti-Zionism is simply the newest form of anti-Semitism. When the Jewish state is singled out above all others for criticism, such as it is at the United Nations, this is anti-Semitism.”

These days Klarman is giving millions of dollars to Democratic Party-aligned PACs (Pacronym, Unite the Country, Priorities USA). And just in April he gave over $800,000 to various Democratic Party arms.

No doubt Klarman’s money is one reason that the Democratic Party is laying down a hard line on Israel in its party platform. Biden wants to keep those millions flowing.

But again, if you want to talk about this, you’re engaging in an antisemitic trope.

Omar famously got caught up in this relentless circle of accusation in February 2019, soon after arriving on the Hill. Discussing the unanimity of pro-Israel voices in Congress on twitter, she said “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby” (quoting Puff Daddy in reference to $100 bills); and when pressed, said she was referring to AIPAC, the rightwing Israel lobby. Omar was slagged as antisemitic by Batya Ungar-Sargon of the Forward for suggesting that foreign policy was being influenced by Jewish money. When Ungar-Sargon has herself said that 95 percent of American Jews support Israel; all but equating Jewishness and Zionism. So you’re damned if you do or if you don’t.

We know where this debate goes from what happened to Jeremy Corbyn in the UK– a purge of pro-Palestinian voices, to the point that a Labourite shadow cabinet minister gets sacked for even suggesting that Israeli policing methods have been adopted by the Minneapolis police officers who killed George Floyd.

The Democratic Party is trying to do the same thing, purge pro-Palestinian voices in the party. This battle is sure to rage through November.

Thanks to James North, Dave Reed, and Adam Horowitz.

[fennec-that-loves-jesters]

My Ocs that have designs! (Warning long post)

Sucky

Tim Tebow

King Flip

King Fliq

Hyperboost

Turf

Slurmp Buttlet

Fennec

Barktail

Hollywiskers

Mossythistle

Silvertongue

Spiritclaw

Twilightberry

Foxkit

Jerma

Nicholas

Nimh (Fursona)

Hyde (fursona)

Dnd oc

Snow Leopard jackrabbit (fursona)

Noir (fursona)

Hollow Bastin

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Shyquantelle

“Glitch”

Knott

Jester (main Fursona)

Freckles

Frank

Trimple Buttersnotch

Luxendo Krucklesnuffle

Corbyn Montogomery

The Darkness

Emim Jackson

Bayor (vent sona)

Little B (bendy oc)

Pawn Wooldrige

Supario

JK Valentio

Usay

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Prince Judgment

Luscious

Bodacious

Atnas Sulac

Prince Flig

The Hare

Varian Nestle

Archer

Snow

Jevil Blevins the 3rd (dnd oc)

Shawm the mage (dnd oc)

Sans Ketchup (dnd oc)

Seth

I.M. Mo

Reba

Sheriff Hayneedle

Applebees

Butternut

Leekspin

Barnstar

Haretuft

Foxpounce

Wandertune

Bippy & Loco (fnaf oc)

Sniggle (fnaf oc)

Smoochies (fnaf oc)

Popeye & Peeky (fnaf oc)

Fable (fnaf oc)

8-Volt (fnaf oc)

Batpaw

Magime Cuevas

Caster Phelps

King Rasputin

Ross Tafalla

Hazel

Venus Ambassador

Rorrim Noitcelfer

Shenanigans O’Neil

Huck

Shloop

Clover

Ohp

Sheriff Bun/bandit

Emo dog-fish

Convictor

Mr. Jackson

Mr. Silverberg

Pogo

Silhouette

Cashmere Matthias Damon-Cowles the 3rd

Jasper Burns

King Michael

Damian Whitbeck

Steam Wilikins

Folklore

Demor

Baepsae

Carmine

Oscar (mlp oc)

Norman (mlp oc)

Zerrissen (mlp oc)

Film

Vanillabean

Sneet

Oaktae

Prince Unison

King Parade

Bojangles

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

Why would it ever be unsafe to wear a kippah anywhere? We must ask that. If a woman wants to wear an Islamic headscarf she is permitted to. It is those who harass her who are the problem. If a Muslim man wants to wear a Muslim headcovering or an Arabic-style khaffiya, he may do that. There’s no debating that. Sikhs are not told that they might be attacked on the streets just for wearing their turbans. Almost every person in the world is permitted to dress how they want in places like the US and Germany when it comes to their cultural and religious clothing. Only one group is told to tip-toe and worry: Jews. Only Jews are systemically harassed for their religious clothing, whether it is frequent attacks in New York City or elsewhere.

Only the Star of David is accused of being “too similar” to the Israeli flag. We debate that as if this is a normal discussion. It doesn’t matter if the Star of David is similar to the Israeli flag. There is no other symbol in the world that appear on a flag that is ever said to be problematic because of that. Only the Jews. Only the Star of David.Recommended videosPowered by

There are places in the world where one can feel safe and at ease with the Star of David or a kippah. Those countries are generally in east Asia. But any country linked to the West or the Middle East often has an obsessive and rising anti-semitism. It is so pervasive that we’ve got to the point where we even debate whether it is safe to wear a kippah, or whether or not having a flag with the Star of David might offend people. It is so pervasive that hardly a day goes by without a story of an attack on Jews, Jewish cemeteries, Jewish places of worship or symbols in some country in Europe or North America. This is how the anti-Semites have successfully rebranded everything Jewish today to once again be the one thing that their societies reject.

Western countries spend a great deal of time debating whether it is the “left” or “right” that is responsible. This is a convenient way to hijack the discussion in order to politisize antisemitism and to always try to link it to something else. So we have to listen to arguments where UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn is said to be anti-semitic, or where New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says antisemitism comes from the “right wing.”

[carldgreene]

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[caustic-curses]

Corbyn is close friends with him and considered dating him but it didn’t work out. So they decided to remain friends.

MC x Rowan shippers.

Where are y'all???

[berniesrevolution]

JACOBIN MAGAZINE

American leftists are stuck in a conundrum. On the one hand, our two major parties are dominated by corporate interests — including the Democrats, who are currently tasked with (and failing to) meet the challenge of opposing the openly reactionary and wealth-worshipping Republicans.

On the other, our country’s laws governing third parties are the most restrictive of any established democracy, making ballot-line challenges to the two major, corporate-dominated parties arduous, if not impossible. We seem doomed to either quixotic, ineffectual third-party challenges, or getting sucked into the conservatizing force field of the Democratic Party.

In a 2016 article, Jacobin executive editor Seth Ackerman proposed another way. He argued for creating an independent organization that functions in key ways like parties in other countries around the world, with an official membership, a binding platform, and clear mechanisms to ensure fealty to that platform from candidates and officeholders running under the organization’s banner — all things the Democratic Party currently lacks.

The issue of whether to run on the Democratic ballot line or something else, he argued, should be secondary: left candidates should run as independents when it makes sense to and Democrats when it doesn’t. But our principal concern should be creating that party-like organization — not what’s listed on a ballot line.

In the wake of successful challenges to the Democratic Party leadership by insurgent candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the explosion in membership of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Daniel Denvir of Jacobin’s The Dig podcast spoke with Ackerman about the ideas in that article and the path forward. You can subscribe to Jacobin Radio here.

Daniel Denvir:

Your article “Blueprint for a New Party” argues that the institutional nature of American electoral politics is such that we have to think beyond this debate that we’ve had forever on the Left about whether we need a third party or should work to transform the Democratic Party.

The way we do that, you argue, is by building a militantly democratic and independent party-type organization, while opportunistically hijacking the Democratic Party ballot line when we need to. Explain what the problem is with the American electoral system and what your solution is.

Seth Ackerman:

The American electoral system is off the charts in its uniqueness, structure, and institutional setup — to the point that almost all of the basic concepts and terms used in democratic politics throughout the world tend to have a different meaning in the American context.

The most fundamental element here is the question of what it means to have a political party. What is a political party? People on the Left talk all the time about the Democratic Party: Is it good? Is it bad? Can you change it? Who’s in control? Often people talk about the Democratic Party as if it were a party in the normal sense that’s used in other countries. But it really isn’t.

In most places in the world, a political party is a private, voluntary organization that has a membership, and, in theory at least, the members are the sovereign body of the party who can decide what the party’s program is, what its ideology is, what its platform is, and who its leaders and candidates are. They can do all of that on the grounds of basic freedom of association, in the same way that the members of the NAACP or the American Legion have the right to do what they want with their organization.

In the United States, that’s not the case at all with the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. We’ve had an unusual development of our political system where, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the bosses of the two major parties undertook a wave of reforms to the electoral system that essentially turned the political parties into arms of the government, in a way that would be quite shocking — you could even say “norm-eroding” — in other countries.

If you took a comparative politics class in college during the Cold War, it would have discussed the nature of the Communist system, which was distinguished from a democratic system by the merger of the Party and the state, becoming a party-state. Well, the United States is also a party-state, except instead of being a single-party state, it’s a two-party state. That is just as much of a departure from the norm in the world as a one-party state.

In the United States, the law basically requires the Democrats and the Republicans to set up their internal structures the way that the government instructs them to. The government lays out the requirements of how they select their leaders and runs their internal nominee elections, and a host of other considerations. All this stuff is organized by state governments according to their own rules. And of course when we say state governments, who we’re talking about the Democrats and the Republicans.

So it’s a kind of a cartel arrangement in which the two parties have set up a situation that is intended to prevent the emergence of the kind of institution that in the rest of the world is considered a political party: a membership-run organization that has a presence outside of the political system, outside of the government, and can force its way into the government on the basis of some program that those citizens and members assemble around.

Daniel Denvir:

Even though your analysis parts ways with the orthodox third-party approach, that approach is entirely right about the fact that this is a two-party cartel system designed to exclude them.

Seth Ackerman:

That’s absolutely true. And you can see that in the way that the two parties have set up the rules regarding how other parties get on the ballot. The United States is the only democratic country in the world where two governing parties automatically get on the ballot, and every other party has to petition to get on the ballot with an enormous series of obstacles, such as signature requirements. And then the two parties send their lawyer goons to strike those petitions off and keep the other parties off the ballot.

We’re used to this kind of stuff in the United States; it’s considered the cost of doing business if you’re operating on the margins of the mainstream political system. But in other countries, again, that sort of thing doesn’t exist.

So the attitude of supporters of the purist third-party approach is absolutely correct. But then it’s a question of what do you do about it, and that’s where I part ways with a classic third-party approach.

Daniel Denvir:

You call for the “electoral equivalent of guerrilla insurgency.”

Seth Ackerman:

I want to see the Left organize to the point that it can strategically and consciously exploit the gaps in the coherence of the system in order to create the equivalent of a political party in in the key respects: a membership-run organization with its own name, its own logo, its own identity and therefore its own platform, and its own ideology.

The membership and leaders and candidates of that party would go out and present their message to the electorate. Just as the Democrats distinguish themselves from the Republicans, this organization would distinguish its political vision from the existing visions of the mainstream parties.

The question is how you fit that within the institutional setup that we have now regarding how the government regulates parties. We’re seeing initial steps being taken by people who, I think, have this ultimate vision in mind. Until we get to the point where we actually have the strength at the national level to frontally challenge the mainstream Democrats and Republicans with that kind of cohesive organization, how do we get to that point? It’s a chicken-and-egg problem.

If you don’t have candidates who are visibly contesting for power under a different political stripe, then it’s hard to convince rank-and-file voters and ordinary people that you you have a distinct vision and they should care about it. So, that’s where the Catch-22 comes in.

I think what we’re seeing now with Ocasio-Cortez and so many other candidates at the state and local level, are attempts, especially by members of Democratic Socialists of America, to take the first steps of having candidates operating under an alternative banner — somewhat tangentially, but still pretty palpably.

Every article about Ocasio-Cortez mentioned that she’s a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, that she’s a democratic socialist. That is a major step towards the goal of having an alternative political vision beamed into the consciousness of a larger electorate in a way that is very difficult to do when you don’t have candidates with a chance of winning running under that kind of banner.

What we haven’t seen yet is a membership organization with an organic relationship with these candidates, and a consistent ideological and programmatic coherence.

Daniel Denvir: 

Something that would look more like an actual political party, like the Labour Party in the UK?

Seth Ackerman:

Exactly. The Labour Party is an actual membership organization. You can go to your local Constituency Labour Party and become a member, you have your party card, you have the right to vote on agenda items. Because of the nature of that party, the left wing of the party was able to project their candidate, Jeremy Corbyn, to the head of the party in 2015. And then he was able to impose and cultivate a new ideological and programmatic identity for the party. That’s because there are levers of power within that party that allow Corbyn and those who have won those fights within Labour to actually impose discipline.

We don’t have that yet. The Democratic Party itself doesn’t have that yet because it’s an institution that prevents any kind of a democratic membership from imposing discipline. And of course they’ve set up the whole institution to make it so that nobody else can either.

That’s the problem we need to overcome. So far, with DSA, we don’t have the wherewithal quite yet. But we are taking the initial steps of creating a distinct political identity and having candidates who can project that political identity to a larger audience.

(Continue Reading)

[labourpress]

Jeremy Corbyn speech at the United Nations’ Geneva headquarters

***CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY***

Speaking at the United Nation’s Geneva headquarters today, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

Thank you Paul for that introduction.

And let me give a special thanks to the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.

Your work gives an important platform to marginalised voices for social justice to challenge policy makers and campaign for change.

I welcome pressure both on my party the British Labour Party and on my leadership to put social justice front and centre stage in everything we do.

So thank you for inviting me to speak here in this historic setting at the Palais des Nations in Geneva a city that has been a place of refuge and philosophy since the time of Rousseau.

The headquarters before the Second World War of the ill-fated League of Nations, which now houses the United Nations.

It’s a particular privilege to be speaking here because the constitution of our party includes a commitment to support the United Nations. A promise “to secure peace, freedom, democracy, economic security and environmental protection for all”.

I’d also like to thank my fellow panellists, Arancha Gonzalez and Nikhil Seth, and Labour’s Shadow Attorney General, Shami Chakrabarti, who has accompanied me here.

She has been a remarkable campaigner and a great asset to the international movement for human rights.

And lastly let me thank you all for being here today.

I would like to use this opportunity in the run- up to International Human Rights Day to focus on the greatest threats to our common humanity.

And why states need to throw their weight behind genuine international cooperation and human rights both individual and collective, social and economic, as well as legal and constitutional at home and abroad if we are to meet and overcome those threats.

My own country is at a crossroads. The decision by the British people to leave the European Union in last year’s referendum means we have to rethink our role in the world.

Some want to use Brexit to turn Britain in on itself, rejecting the outside world, viewing everyone as a feared competitor.

Others want to use Brexit to put rocket boosters under our current economic system’s insecurities and inequalities, turning Britain into a deregulated corporate tax haven, with low wages, limited rights, and cut-price public services in a destructive race to the bottom.

My party stands for a completely different future when we leave the EU, drawing on the best internationalist traditions of the labour movement and our country.

We want to see close and cooperative relationships with our European neighbours, outside the EU, based on solidarity as well as mutual benefit and fair trade, along with a wider proactive internationalism across the globe.

We are proud that Britain was an original signatory to the European Convention of Human Rights and our 1998 Human Rights Act enshrined it in our law.

So Labour will continue to work with other European states and progressive parties and movements, through the Council of Europe to ensure our country and others uphold our international obligations.

Just as the work of the UN Human Rights Council helps to ensure countries like ours live up to our commitments, such as on disability rights, where this year’s report found us to be failing.

International cooperation, solidarity, collective action are the values we are determined to project in our foreign policy.

Those values will inform everything the next Labour government does on the world stage, using diplomacy to expand a progressive, rules-based international system, which provides justice and security for all.

They must be genuinely universal and apply to the strong as much as the weak if they are to command global support and confidence.

They cannot be used to discipline the weak, while the strong do as they please, or they will be discredited as a tool of power, not justice.

That’s why we must ensure that the powerful uphold and respect international rules and international law.

If we don’t, the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 will remain an aspiration, rather than a reality and international rules will be seen as a pick and mix menu for the global powers that call the international shots.

Most urgently we must work with other countries to advance the cause of human rights, to confront the four greatest and interconnected threats facing our common humanity.

First, the growing concentration of unaccountable wealth and power in the hands of a tiny corporate elite, a system many call neoliberalism, which has sharply increased inequality, marginalisation, insecurity and anger across the world.

Second, climate change, which is creating instability, fuelling conflict across the world and threatening all our futures.

Third, the unprecedented numbers of people fleeing conflict, persecution, human rights abuses, social breakdown and climate disasters.

And finally, the use of unilateral military action and intervention, rather than diplomacy and negotiation, to resolve disputes and change governments.

The dominant global economic system is broken.

It is producing a world where a wealthy few control 90 percent of global resources.

Of growing insecurity and grotesque levels of inequality within and between nations, where more than 100 billion dollars a year are estimated to be lost to developing countries from corporate tax avoidance.

Where $1 trillion dollars a year are sucked out of the Global South through illicit financial flows.

This is a global scandal.

The most powerful international corporations must not be allowed to continue to dictate how and for whom our world is run.

Thirty years after structural adjustment programmes first ravaged so much of the world, and a decade after the financial crash of 2008, the neoliberal orthodoxy that delivered them is breaking down.

This moment, a crisis of confidence in a bankrupt economic system and social order, presents us with a once in a generation opportunity to build a new economic and social consensus which puts the interests of the majority first.

But the crumbling of the global elite’s system and their prerogative to call the shots unchallenged has led some politicians to stoke fear and division. And deride international cooperation as national capitulation.

President Trump’s disgraceful Muslim ban and his anti-Mexican rhetoric have fuelled racist incitement and misogyny and shift the focus away from what his Wall Street-dominated administration is actually doing.

In Britain, where wages have actually fallen for most people over the last decade as the corporations and the richest have been handed billions in tax cuts, our Prime Minister has followed a less extreme approach but one that also aims to divert attention from her Government’s failures and real agenda.

She threatens to scrap the Human Rights Act, which guarantees all of our people’s civil and political rights and has actually benefited everyone in our country. And she has insisted “if you believe you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere”.

There is an alternative to this damaging and bankrupt order. The world’s largest corporations and banks cannot be left to write the rules and rig the system for themselves.

The world’s economy can and must deliver for the common good and the majority of its people. But that is going to demand real and fundamental structural change on an international level.

The UN has a pivotal role to play, in advancing a new consensus and common ground based on solidarity, respect for human rights and international regulation and cooperation.

That includes as a platform for democratic leaders to speak truth about unaccountable power.

One such moment took place on 4 December 1972, when President Salvador Allende of Chile, elected despite huge opposition and US interference, took the rostrum of the UN General Assembly in New York.

He called for global action against the threat from transnational corporations, that do not answer to any state, any parliament or any organisation representing the common interest.

Nine months later, Allende was killed in General Augusto Pinochet’s coup, which ushered in a brutal 17-year dictatorship and turned Chile into a laboratory of free market fundamentalism.

But 44 years on, all over the world people are standing up and saying enough to the unchained power of multinational companies to dodge taxes, grab land and resources on the cheap and rip the heart out of workforces and communities.

That’s why I make the commitment to you today that the next Labour government in Britain will actively support the efforts of the UN Human Rights Council to create a legally binding treaty to regulate transnational corporations under international human rights law.

Genuine corporate accountability must apply to all of the activities of their subsidiaries and suppliers.

Impunity for corporations that violate human rights or wreck our environment, as in the mineral-driven conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, must be brought to an end.

For too long, development has been driven by the unfounded dogma that unfettered markets and unaccountable multinational companies are the key to solving global problems.

So under the next Labour Government the Department for International Development will have the twin mission of not only eradicating poverty but also reducing inequality across the world.

To achieve this goal we must act against the global scandal of tax dodging and trade mis-invoicing - robbing developing countries and draining resources from our own public services.

In Africa alone an estimated 35 billion dollars is lost each year to tax dodging, and 50 billion to illicit financial flows, vastly exceeding the 30 billion dollars that enters the continent as aid.

As the Paradise and Panama Papers have shown the super-rich and the powerful can’t be trusted to regulate themselves.

Multinational companies must be required to undertake country-by-country reporting, while countries in the Global South need support now to keep hold of the billions being stolen from their people.

So the next Labour government will seek to work with tax authorities in developing countries, as Zambia has with NORAD - the Norwegian aid agency - to help them stop the looting.

Tomorrow is International Anti-Corruption Day. Corruption isn’t something that happens ‘over there’. Our government has played a central role in enabling the corruption that undermines democracy and violates human rights. It is a global issue that requires a global response.

When people are kept in poverty, while politicians funnel public funds into tax havens, that is corruption, and a Labour government will act decisively on tax havens: introducing strict standards of transparency for crown dependencies and overseas territories including a public register of owners, directors, major shareholders and beneficial owners … for all companies and trusts.

Climate change is the second great threat to our common humanity. Our planet is in jeopardy. Global warming is undeniable; the number of natural disasters has quadrupled since 1970.

Hurricanes like the ones that recently hit the Caribbean are bigger because they are absorbing moisture from warmer seas.

It is climate change that is warming the seas, mainly caused by emissions from the world’s richer countries.

And yet the least polluting countries, more often than not the developing nations, are at the sharp end of the havoc climate change unleashes - with environmental damage fuelling food insecurity and social dislocation.

We must stand with them in solidarity. Two months ago, I promised the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, that I would use this platform to make this message clear.

The international community must mobilise resources and the world’s biggest polluters shoulder the biggest burden.

So I ask governments in the most polluting countries, including in the UK:

First, to expand their capacity to respond to disasters around the world. Our armed forces, some of the best trained and most highly skilled in the world, should be allowed to use their experience to respond to humanitarian emergencies. Italy is among those leading the way with its navy becoming a more versatile and multi-role force.

Second, to factor the costs of environmental degradation into financial forecasting as Labour has pledged to do with Britain’s Office of Budget Responsibility.

Third, to stand very firmly behind the historic Paris Climate Accords.

And finally, take serious and urgent steps on debt relief and cancellation. We need to act as an international community against the injustice of countries trying to recover from climate crises they did not create while struggling to repay international debts.  

It’s worth remembering the words of Thomas Sankara, President of Burkina Faso, delivered to the Organisation of African Unity in 1987 a few months before he too was assassinated in a coup.

“The debt cannot be repaid“ he said, “first because if we don’t repay lenders will not die. But if we repay... we are going to die.”

The growing climate crisis exacerbates the already unparalleled numbers of people escaping conflict and desperation.

There are now more refugees and displaced people around the world than at any time since the Second World War.

Refugees are people like us.

But unlike us they have been forced by violence, persecution and climate chaos to flee their homes.

One of the biggest moral tests of our time is how we live up to the spirit and letter of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

Its core principle was simple: to protect refugees.

Yet ten countries, which account for just 2.5 percent of the global economy, are hosting more than half the world's refugees.

It is time for the world’s richer countries to step up and show our common humanity.

Failure means millions of Syrians internally displaced within their destroyed homeland or refugees outside it. Rohingya refugees returned to Myanmar without guarantees of citizenship or protection from state violence and refugees held in indefinite detention in camps unfit for human habitation as in Papua New Guinea or Nauru. And African refugees sold into slavery in war-ravaged Libya.

This reality should offend our sense of humanity and human solidarity.

European countries can, and must, do more as the death rate of migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean continues to rise.

And we need to take more effective action against human traffickers.

But let us be clear: the long-term answer is genuine international cooperation based on human rights, which confronts the root causes of conflict, persecution and inequality.

I’ve spent most of my life, with many others, making the case for diplomacy and dialogue… over war and conflict, often in the face of hostility.

But I remain convinced that is the only way to deliver genuine and lasting security for all.

And even after the disastrous invasions and occupations of recent years there is again renewed pressure to opt for military force, America First or Empire 2.0 as the path to global security.

I know the people of Britain are neither insensitive to the sufferings of others nor blind to the impact and blowback from our country’s reckless foreign wars.

Regime change wars, invasions, interventions and occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and Somalia have failed on their own terms, devastated the countries and regions and made Britain and the world a more dangerous place. And while the UK government champions some human rights issues on others it is silent, if not complicit, in their violation.

Too many have turned a wilfully blind eye to the flagrant and large-scale human rights abuses now taking place in Yemen, fuelled by arms sales to Saudi Arabia worth billions of pounds.

The see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil approach undermines our credibility and ability to act over other human rights abuses.

Total British government aid to Yemen last year was under £150 million - less than the profits made by British arms companies selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. What does that say about our country’s priorities, or our government’s role in the humanitarian disaster now gripping Yemen?

Our credibility to speak out against the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims is severely undermined when the British Government has been providing support to Myanmar’s military.

And our Governments pay lip service to a comprehensive settlement and two state solution to the Israel- Palestine conflict but do nothing to use the leverage they have to end the oppression and dispossession of the Palestinian people.

70 years after the UN General Assembly voted to create a Palestinian state alongside what would become Israel, and half a century since Israel occupied the whole of historic Palestine, they should take a lead from Israeli peace campaigners such as Gush Shalom and Peace Now and demand an end to the multiple human rights abuses Palestinians face on a daily basis. The continued occupation and illegal settlements are violations of international law and are a barrier to peace.

The US president’s announcement that his administration will recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, including occupied Palestinian territory, is a threat to peace that has rightly been met with overwhelming international condemnation.

The decision is not only reckless and provocative - it risks setting back any prospect of a political settlement of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

President Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly in September signalled a wider threat to peace. His attack on multilateralism, human rights and international law should deeply trouble us all.

And this is no time to reject the Iran Nuclear Deal, a significant achievement agreed between Iran and a group of world power to reduce tensions.

That threatens not just the Middle East but also the Korean Peninsula. What incentives are there for Pyongyang to believe disarmament will bring benefits when the US dumps its nuclear agreement with Tehran?

Trump and Kim Jong-un threaten a terrifying nuclear confrontation with their absurd and bellicose insults.

In common with almost the whole of humanity, I say to the two leaders: this is not a game, step back from the brink now.

It is a commonplace that war and violence do not solve the world’s problems. Violence breeds violence. In 2016 nearly three quarters of all deaths from terrorism were in five states; Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria and Somalia.

So let us stand up for the victims of war and terrorism and make international justice a reality.

And demand that the biggest arms exporters ensure all arms exports are consistent, not legally, but with their moral obligations too.

That means no more arms export licences when there is a clear risk that they will be used to commit human rights abuses or crimes against humanity.

The UK is one of the world’s largest arms exporters so we must live up to our international obligations while we explore ways to convert arms production into other socially useful, high-skill, high-tech industry.

Which is why I welcome the recent bipartisan U.S. House of Representatives resolution which does two unprecedented things.

First, it acknowledges the U.S. role in the destruction of Yemen, including the mid-air refuelling of the Saudi-led coalition planes essential to their bombing campaign and helping in selecting targets.

Second, it makes plain that Congress has not authorised this military involvement.

Yemen is a desperate humanitarian catastrophe with the worst cholera outbreak in history.

The weight of international community opinion needs to be brought to bear on those supporting Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, including Theresa May’s Government, to meet our legal and moral obligations on arms sales and to negotiate an urgent ceasefire and settlement of this devastating conflict.

If we’re serious about supporting peace we must strengthen international cooperation and peacekeeping.  Britain has an important role to play after failing to contribute significant troop numbers in recent years.

We are determined to seize the opportunity to be a force for good in peacekeeping, diplomacy and support for human rights.

Labour is committed to invest in our diplomatic capabilities and consular services and we will reintroduce human rights advisers in our embassies around the world.

Human rights and justice will be at the heart of our foreign policy along with a commitment to support the United Nations. 

The UN provides a unique platform for international cooperation and action. And to be effective, we need member states to get behind the reform agenda set out by Secretary General Guterres. 

The world demands the UN Security Council responds, becomes more representative and plays the role it was set up to on peace and security. 

We can live in a more peaceful world. The desire to help create a better life for all burns within us.

Governments, civil society, social movements and international organisations can all help realise that goal.

We need to redouble our efforts to create a global rules based system that applies to all and works for the many, not the few.

No more bomb first and think and talk later.

No more double standards in foreign policy.

No more scapegoating of global institutions for the sake of scoring political points at home.

Instead: solidarity, calm leadership and cooperation. Together we can:

Build a new social and economic system with human rights and justice at its core. 

Deliver climate justice and a better way to live together on this planet.

Recognise the humanity of refugees and offer them a place of safety.

Work for peace, security and understanding.

The survival of our common humanity requires nothing less.

We need to recognise and pay tribute to human rights defenders the world over, putting their lives on the line for others - our voice must be their voice.

Thank you.

[lollipoplollipopoh]

Misinformation, lies and media spin: Inside the UK election | The Listening Post (Full) by Al Jazeera English On this week's The Listening Post: From political manipulation to complaints of bias, all eyes are on the media ahead of the UK's election. Plus, profiting from purpose in the advertising world. Inside the UK election The United Kingdom is about to vote in what has come to be known as its Brexit election - the one Prime Minister Boris Johnson called after failing to get parliament to agree to his deal to leave the EU. It's the UK's third election in five years and that doesn't include the Brexit referendum in 2016. Boris Johnson's Conservatives are doing what frontrunners tend to do; keeping exposure to a minimum, and shunning interviewers and channels that might give them a rough ride. They're also leading the way in spreading misinformation, even blatantly misrepresenting themselves online. Both Boris Johnson and his main rival, Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour party, know that most of the country's newspapers are conservative. That is a given in any British election, but it goes further than that; the perception of bias is no longer limited to the papers, and has bled into the broadcast sector, including the publicly-owned national broadcaster, the BBC. Contributors: Ronan Burtenshaw - Editor, Tribune Magazine Isabel Oakeshott - Former political editor, The Sunday Times Peter Oborne - Author, The Rise of Political Lying & former columnist, The Daily Mail On our radar Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Tariq Nafi about the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened the country's largest media network; and about Bloomberg News, who declared it will not investigate its owner, billionaire presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, or his rivals. Purpose advertising: 'The best an ad can be?' Earlier this year a Gillette ad landed the company in some hot water. Jumping on the #MeToo hashtag, and the subsequent movement to protect women from sexual harassment in the workplace, Gillette tweaked its sales slogan, "the best a man can get", into 'the best men can be'. Cue an online backlash accusing Gillette of appropriating a social movement for the sake of profit. The ad formed part of a trend known in the industry as 'purpose marketing'. With product-focused campaigns no longer attracting the clicks, the likes and shares that advertisers crave, more and more of them are latching onto causes. Gillette's not the only brand to have such an ad backfire. The Listening Post's Johanna Hoes looks at the challenge of striking a balance between purpose and profit. Contributors: Seth Godin - Author of This is Marketing Lauren Coulman - CEO, Noisy Cricket Ltd and Contributing Writer, Forbes Daniel Brindis - Forest Campaign Director, Greenpeace Kit Yarrow - Consumer Psychologist, Golden Gate University and author of Decoding the Consumer Mind - Subscribe to our channel: https://ift.tt/291RaQr - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://ift.tt/1iHo6G4 - Check our website: https://ift.tt/2lOp4tL

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[halfwayevil]

witchysethharper·:

Seth gave Corbyn a little bit of a look at that. It’d been a long time since he’d ever called someone “sir,” but he supposed he’d forgotten any semblance of manners while being claimed. “Oh sorry, sir,” he mumbled, not catching onto the teasing. It was probably for the best not to piss off a friend of Heinrich’s. 

“When he falls?” the witch repeated, brows furrowing together. “I hope you mean that in a “retirement” sense.” Vampires were immortal, and the idea of any of them dying was still a strange concept for Seth to think about. Even though he knew Heinrich had already died once, as Lilith so giddily reminded him in the back of his mind. “Mathias? I like him. He’s good company. Kind of like the little brother I never had.” 

The sir came out with less attitude than he’d been expecting and it caused him to smile. This one, he liked. The other slave, whatever his name was, was not one he cared to remember. 

He paused at the question, and he smiled “He knows what I mean, don’t worry.” he said with a smile “I’m not about to betray a friend but he knows my goal is to take his friend.” He’d been there for Heinrich many times, and he would continue to be there, he wouldn’t let anyone stab him in the back, just as he wouldn’t, but if he ever felt it the right time for the vampire to retire, he would make it known. They had that odd sense of trust between them, even if Corbyn was a devious man, he was loyal.

“The annoying little brother you never had?” he asked and snorted “Mathias, I should remember the name, but i can’t say he’s all that memorable.” Corbyn had no qualms in expressing himself “You however, seem like you will be. He clearly made a good choice with you. Handsome, clever, manners, all good qualities.”

Kick ‘em while they’re Down

[ebenedara]

Brexit: May's appeal to nation backfires as MPs accuse her of stoking hate

Brexit: May’s appeal to nation backfires as MPs accuse her of stoking hate

PLEASE NOTE: Add your own commentary here above the horizontal line, but do not make any changes below the line. (Of course, you should also delete this text before you publish this post.)

This article titled “Brexit: May’s appeal to nation backfires as MPs accuse her of stoking hate – Politics live” was written by Andrew Sparrow, for theguardian.com on Thursday 21st March 2019 11.18 UTC

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