#national unity platform

[kampalaedgetimes]

Erias Luyimbazi Nalukoola Named NUP Flag Bearer for Kawempe North

The National Unity Platform (NUP) has officially announced lawyer Erias Luyimbazi Nalukoola as its flag bearer for the upcoming Kawempe North parliamentary by-election. This seat became vacant following the recent passing of MP Muhammad Ssegirinya, a fellow NUP member. In a competitive selection process, Mr. Nalukoola emerged victorious among ten aspirants, securing 71% of the votes. The other…

[jantanow]

उड़ान यूथ क्लब ने दिग्विजय महोत्सव का किया शुभारंभ, क्विज एवं लेखन प्रतियोगिता में ऑनलाइन कीजिए प्रतिभाग

बागपत। नेहरू युवा केन्द्र बागपत (Nehru Yuva Kendra Baghpat) से संबद्ध उड़ान यूथ क्लब (Udaan Youth Club) द्वारा दिग्विजय दिवस (Digvijay Diwas) को महोत्सव के रूप में मनाए जाने की पहल की गई है जिसके अंतर्गत विभिन्न शैक्षिक गतिविधियों (educational activities) का आयोजन कर ऑनलाइन माध्यम (online platform) से हजारों लोगों को दिग्विजय दिवस के इतिहास (history of Digvijay Diwas) से परिचित कराते हुए नागरिक…

[blackstarlineage]

Brother Khalid Abdul Muhammad (1948–2001) was a prominent African-American activist and orator known for his unapologetic views on race and social justice. He was a fiery speaker and a great figure in the fight against systemic racism and oppression.

Khalid Muhammad was born Harold Moore Jr. in Houston, Texas. He attended Dillard University in New Orleans, where he studied theology. Later, he furthered his studies at Pepperdine University in California. It was during his college years that he became involved with the Nation of Islam (NOI).

Khalid Muhammad rose to prominence within the Nation of Islam as a minister and a top aide to Louis Farrakhan. He became the National Spokesman for the NOI and was known for his powerful speeches advocating black empowerment, self-reliance, and resistance against white supremacy. However, his incendiary remarks, particularly in a 1993 speech at Kean College, led to his suspension from the Nation of Islam.

After leaving the NOI, Khalid Muhammad became active in the New Black Panther Party (NBPP), an organization that claims ideological lineage to the original Black Panther Party but with distinct differences such as being more pan african centred. He became the group's chairman in 1998, using his leadership to expand its platform of black empowerment and militant resistance to racial injustice.

The NBPP, under Khalid Muhammad's leadership, was known for its radical and militant stance. It advocated for black self-defense, reparations for slavery, and independence from systemic oppression. Critics, including members of the original Black Panther Party, accused the NBPP of distorting the original Panthers' legacy and focusing more on confrontational rhetoric.

Khalid Muhammad's speeches often emphasized black pride, self-determination, and unity. Khalid Muhammad supporters viewed him as a fearless advocate for the black community. His death in 2001 from a brain "aneurysm" marked the end of a contentious but impactful career in activism.

[arinzeture]

Black Revolutionary Collective (BRC)

The purpose of our organization is to unify all Black people of African descent with the intent to build Global Black Unity. We will focus on building Black institutions that will give us both political power and economic power.

BRC 10-Point Platform

1. We want an immediate end to systemic

racism in America and abroad.

2. We want the immediate end to police

brutality.

3. Black people must own the majority of

the businesses and land in our

communities.

4. All majority Black schools must be fully

funded and controlled by the Black

Community.

5. We demand equal pay and reparations

to finally end the wage gap for all Black

people.

6. We will unite the Black vote and

cultivate leaders that will represent our

National Black Legislative Agenda.

7. We demand the end to all unjust

practices carried out by the Justice

system in America and abroad.

8. We demand the full withdrawal of all

colonizers from the continent of our

Motherland Africa.

9. We demand the immediate end of all

Black gangs across the globe for the

betterment of our communities. We

must stop the flood of guns and drugs

into our communities.

10. We will defend ourselves and our

communities against any person or

group that wished to harm us.

[weirdrtvscomments]

in case anyone is struggling with deciding who they want to vote for in the RTVStan/RTVS Nation/RTVSia/RTVS Topia/RTVS Topia-Ville presidential election, i have compiled a list:

Log

Representing the Ethernet Party: “A people with 5 ping to the main server is a people that prospers.”

Will change the name to RTVS Nation

Comic books are a part of the platform

Everybody gets a free moat

Eyes that are twice as big for everyone that wants them

Offload cost to Wifi users

Working on a battery charged snack

Hypnotist is a protected class

Robloxia war veteran

Defenses are proven

Will take your ants and import more

Endorsed by: Soulja Boy, Ken Masters, Stitch 

Signature move when President: Snake Trick (no weaknesses)

Punishment for other candidates: Follow him out & about like an RPG party

Mike

Representing the Sweets & Treats Party: “I was just outside eating a sandwich.”

Orange creamsicles will be available in every store

Free Steam Deck for every American citizen

Will lower tariffs and imports on all types of sweets and treats from Canada, while raising tariffs on everything else

Most important snack is Wasabi Peas

Not very good against zoners

Why are ants so bad?

Endorsed by: 2 (anonymous), Trap Snax

Signature gimmick when President: Whenever he eats a yummy piece of candy he gets an install, which gets its own theme

Special move when President: A cool punch like Marissa from Street Fighter 6

Punishment for other candidates: Have to reach into a bin of Bean Boozled that's 90% gross ones and eat it in public in front of cameras and the press. After, push into the alligator moat. Also, Mira’s idea

Mira

Representing the Drinks & Eats party: “I was rooting around in a dumpster out back.”

Will change the name to RTVSia

One of every food and drink, free of charge

Will develop a chemical compound called “Ketracel White,” will genetically engineer ants to be dependent on it 

Endorsed by: IceFrog, Yoshi, Yoshi (from Mario), baby Yoshi (might be one and the same), Chun Lee

Signature move(s) when President: Level up system (up to 3), if she gets knocked down she loses a charge of it, gets it when she does some power up move (or something), negative edge inputs (landmine, fireball, that one thing Bison does in Street Fighter 5), install where she gets a command grab, 8-way air dash, guard impact, levels reset between rounds, invincible super (can do it on wakeup)

Punishment for other candidates: Detractors rounded up and taken into woods where they are given a knife, camera, and laptop to make a Youtube channel of them living in the woods (Ethernet in the trees)

Trog

Representing the People’s Choice Freedom Integrity Liberty Justice Prosperity Sovereign Citizen’s Ethical Governance Democratic Renewal Global Sustainability Citizens for Unity (may be part of the Lego Star Wars Party): “We’re all part of God’s nation in my eyes.”

All breakfast restaurants have to be open for lunch & dinner in addition to breakfast

THEY HAVE TO GIVE YOU A LARGE WATER WHEN YOU ASK FOR IT

Desegregate PornHub and GayTube

Everybody gets a free castle

Immediately cease all snack exports 

Will start war with Canada

Will mail a bomb if you want him to

Will double your ants and give them to the next guy OR will turn them all into 1 big ant

New category on PornHub for ants

Will build death robots and a spaceship

Will be inventing gorgons, griffins, vampires, Frankenstiens, zombies, mummies, insects, gorgon ants (small)

Endorsed by: The Sims, Captain Video, Half Life 2: Lost Coast (demo), Tobuscus

Super move when President: 1 Sphinx on every tile surrounding, +1 food, +1 culture (if next to a river, +2 food, +2 culture instead)

Theme song: Steppin’ Out by Joe Jackson

Punishment for other candidates: All other candidates have to do an embarrassing pose and gaze into Medusa’s eyes, which will turn them into stone. The statues will be put in front of the White House, where during a nation-wide celebration they will be knocked down with a wrecking ball/individually destroyed with dirty bombs

Wayneradiotv/Wayne John 

Representing the California Milk Processors Board: “Enjoy DOGh.”

Every gallon of milk will have $2,000 in it

Free PornHub premium

Any dairy product you want whenever you want it

Will attract more ants

Will rename it to Milk Nation

Pig milk Iron Fist

Endorsed by: Britney Spears, Beyonce, Rhianna, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Shaquille O’Neal, Harrison Ford (all branded with Permanent Milk Mustache & committed their eternal lives), Batman, Mario, Spongebob

Signature move when President: Cow army that walks on their hind legs and shoot milk as projectiles

Punishment for other candidates: Mulched into feed for his cows

Things you need to rememer for the ONLY ELECTION THAT MATTERS!!!!

[todaysdocument]

Acceptance Speech of Senator John F. Kennedy Democratic National Convention The New Frontier July 15, 1960

Collection JFK-2.3: Papers of John F. Kennedy: Pre-Presidential Papers: Senate FilesSeries: Files Related to Speeches and the PressFile Unit: John F. Kennedy Pre-presidential Papers; Senate Files; Speeches and the Press; Acceptance Speech of Senator Kennedy, Democratic National Convention

THE NEW FRONTIER

With a deep sense of duty and high resolve, I accept your nomination.

I accept it with a full and grateful heart -- without reservation -- and with only one obligation -- the obligation to devote every effort of body, mind and spirit to lead our Party back to victory and our nation back to greatness.

I am grateful, too, that you have provided me with such an eloquent statement of our Party's platform. Pledges which are made so eloquently are made to be kept. "The Rights of Man" -- the civil and economic rights essential to the human dignity of all men -- are indeed our goal and our first principles. This is a platform on which I can run with enthusiasm and conviction.

And I am grateful, finally, that I can rely in the coming months on so many others -- on a distinguished running-mate who brings unity to our ticket and strength to our platform. Lyndon Johnson -- on one of the most articulate statesman of our time, Adlai Stevenson -- on a great spokesman for our needs as a nation and a people, Stuart Smyington -- and on that fighting campaigner whose support I welcome, President Harry S. Truman.

I feel a lot safer now that they are on my side again. And I am proud of the contrast with our Republican competitors. For their ranks are apparently so thin that not one challenger has come forth with both the competence and the courage to make theirs an open convention. I am fully aware of the fact that the Democratic Party, by nominating someone of my faith, has taken on what many regard as a new and hazardous risk -- new, at least, since 1928. But I look at it this way: The democratic party has once again placed it's confidence in the American people, and in (more) [complete document and transcription at link]

[stillnaomi]

World War III and the Fall of Imperialism

A speech by Booker Ngesa Omole, The National Vice Chairperson of the Communist Party of Kenya

As we gather here at the 7th International Conference of the World Anti-Imperialist Platform, we stand at a critical juncture in our shared struggle against the scourge of imperialism. Today, I want to discuss a stark reality that looms over our world: the inevitability of World War III, driven by the unrelenting aggression of imperialist powers. This war is not a distant possibility but a present danger, rooted in the insatiable greed of monopoly capital.

Imperialism, in its various manifestations, poses an existential threat to the sovereignty of African nations. Initiatives such as AFRICOM serve as instruments of this imperialist agenda, undermining our autonomy and reducing our countries to mere pawns in the geopolitical chess game orchestrated by Western powers. These military strategies are designed not to protect our people but to secure the interests of the imperialist elite.

In Kenya alone, we host three foreign military bases, a glaring testament to the erosion of our sovereignty. These bases are not just symbols of military presence; they represent a direct violation of our independence and dignity. They subjugate our military and intelligence agencies to the whims of U.S. imperialism, turning our institutions into extensions of foreign powers. This scenario is replicated across the continent, where foreign military presence is a common thread in the tapestry of imperialist domination.

The spectre of World War III is already haunting us, as conflicts rage on multiple fronts. In West Asia, the struggle against Zionist aggression is an anti-imperialist, antifascist war. In Eastern Europe, we witness the brutal realities of NATO-backed conflict in Ukraine. And in East Asia, tensions simmer around Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula, echoing the same imperialist ambitions.

Lenin, in his classic work “Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism,” eloquently articulated the dynamics of imperialism and its inevitable contradictions. He described how imperialism seeks to escape internal crises through external wars. Today, we observe this in the provocations and military exercises conducted by the United States and its allies, which serve not just as a show of force but as desperate attempts to maintain their declining hegemony.

Yet, amidst this chaos, the anti-imperialist camp is rising, united in its struggle against oppression. Comrades in Russia, China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, and various resistance movements across the Global South are not seeking war; they are prepared for a just struggle against imperialist aggression. The unity and operational strength of the anti-imperialist front underscore a powerful truth: we are not alone in this fight.

The reliance of imperialism on proxy wars and economic sanctions reveals its strategic limitations. The imperialist powers fear direct confrontation, knowing the consequences of nuclear escalation. This hesitation will be their downfall. While they aim to exhaust nations like Russia, China, and Iran, we can turn their war of attrition into decisive victories across multiple theatres of conflict. These victories will not only weaken imperialism militarily but will also trigger a political and economic collapse. The fragmentation of NATO, the decline of the U.S. dollar’s hegemony, and the emergence of BRICS and other alternative institutions signal the end of the US imperialist order.

The eventual defeat of US imperialism will pave the way for a new global order defined by national liberation revolutions and the defeat of all neo-colonial projects across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This new order will also see the inevitable resurgence of socialist revolutions and the establishment of people’s democracies. Additionally, there will be a true commitment to peace, independence, and self-determination as guiding principles for global governance.

As we face the challenges of our time, let us reaffirm our commitment to the struggle against imperialism. The victory belongs to the people. The end of imperialism will not only reshape global politics but empower nations to pursue socialism, democracy, and peaceful coexistence.

In conclusion, as we confront the spectre of World War III, let us remember that this is a final confrontation between the forces of imperialism and those of anti-imperialist resistance. Together, we shall emerge victorious, heralding a new era of hope, freedom, and progress for all.

Death to Imperialism!

Long live International Socialism!

[catherinetheprincessofwales]

Queen Elizabeth II National Memorial Masterplan Design Competition: The Top 5 Finalists

1. Foster + Partners with Yinka Shonibare and Michel Designe Paysagiste

Foster + Partners' proposal honours Queen Elizabeth ll's ability to unite people, communities, and nations. The journey through a tranquil family of Royal gardens is inspired by John Nash's original romantic landscape, unified by a natural stone tessellated path from the United Kingdom and Commonwealth that meanders to cater to both commuters and visitors. New figurative sculptures of Queen Elizabeth Il and Her Majesty alongside Prince Philip at Birdcage Walk, mark the relocated Marlborough Gate and Prince Philip Gate. Between the gates, the Commonwealth Garden and Yinka Shonibare's Wind Sculpture define a space for reflection and shared experience; the Community Garden's artistic installations celebrate the diversity of the United Kingdom; and the Unity Bridge is a jewel crowning the path and Memorial journey. Throughout, the Queen's voice is ever present through audio installations and inscriptions, alongside an ever-evolving digital conservatory, accessible from the site, or anywhere in the world.

2. Heatherwick Studio with Halima Cassell, MRG Studio, Webb Yates and Arup

Bridge of Togetherness

Our design is rooted in the idea of togetherness. A physical expression of what the Queen stood for above all else, which is unity. At its heart will be a new gathering place in the centre of St. James's Park, experienced as part of a memorial walk, honouring her 70-year reign, with the path expressed as 70 lily pads, each like stepping stones, bearing reflections from voices across the Commonwealth and Realms. At the very centre of the bridge will be figurative sculpture of Queen Elizabeth Il, protected by a canopy of eight sculptural lilies framing her presence in this historic landscape. Crafted from limestone, the design celebrates materials that age with dignity. Like her legacy, it is quietly monumental. A memorial grown from the landscape, open to people throughout the world from every walk of life.

3. J&L Gibbons with Michael Levine RDI, William Matthews Associates, Structure Workshop and Arup

The Queen was the nation's bedrock. It is with bedrock that we have created a bridge over soil, tree roots and water. A meandering flow of geology carrying people through an ephemeral choreography of blossoming and colour beneath the high tree canopy. The memorial is an immersive landscape, enriching the heritage of the park, embracing resilience and holding narrative threads of an extraordinary life. It will be crafted, timeless and versatile, using stone sourced from the four nations. An unfolding scene from which will spring the elegance of a truly innovative stone bridge, both graceful and strong with falling water that gently brushes the surface of the lake. A perambulation through glades that invites forest bathing in the heart of the city, while redefining the park's capacity to welcome even higher footfall and for adaptation to a future climate, all stitched with care into the fabric of the park.

4. Tom Stuart-Smith with Jamie Fobert Architects, Adam Lowe (Factum Arte) and Structure Workshop

The memorial for Queen Elizabeth I| will honour her life and legacy through a landscape of storytelling around objects from the world she lived in. The central composition is formed by an exact cast of an awe-inspiring oak from Windsor Great Park, representing her strength, endurance and the historic place of the monarchy in our constitution. It stands on a plinth in the lake. A gracefully curved stone bridge connects the memorial to the surrounding landscape, serving as both a viewing platform and civic space. The memorial path, made from stones from across Britain, begins with a newly configured entrance on The Mall and incorporates many bronze casts of significant objects from her life, accompanied by a sonic soundscape of memories from those she impacted. The gentle, serpentine design engages visitors of all ages and abilities, creating a lasting symbol of her legacy while integrating seamlessly into the historic landscape.

5. WilkinsonEyre with Lisa Vandy and Fiona Clark, Andy Sturgeon Design, Atelier One and Hilson Moran

Our proposal for the National Memorial to Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth Il draws inspiration from the many threads of her remarkable life and enduring legacy. We envision a thread of pathways and landscapes gently woven through the natural fabric of St James's Park — its trees, lake, and terrain - creating a contemplative journey that honours her seven decades of service.

The threads represent defining themes of Her Majesty's life: Reign, Faith, Commonwealth, Values, Nature, Family, and Prince Philip. Along the way, symbolic spaces for reflection invite visitors to form their own personal connection to the Queen's life and values.

At the heart of the memorial, a pair of elegant bridges span the lake, framing views of the park, royal palaces, and London skyline. With the lightest footprint on this Grade I listed park, our design enhances public movement and offers a timeless tribute to a beloved monarch.

see website for more

[mariacallous]

Democrats are charging out of their national convention with enthusiasm and determination ― and in far better shape than seemed possible just a few weeks ago, when then-presumptive nominee President Joe Biden was headed for likely defeat.

Vice President Kamala Harris has wiped out Biden’s deficit in the polls, and now holds small but discernible leads over Donald Trump in both national and swing state surveys. She’s also expanded the electoral map, putting in play states such as North Carolina that seemed lost to Democrats when Biden was leading the ticket. As of this writing, Nate Silver’s predictive model suggests Harris is a 52.8% favorite to win.

It will take a few days for pollsters to figure out whether Harris got the traditional convention bounce, pushing her support even higher, or whether she got a version of it beforehand via the burst of activity and favorable press coverage around her campaign launch.

Either way, it’s hard to look back on the week in Chicago and deem it anything but a smashing political success, from the (still reverberating) call to arms by former first lady Michelle Obama to the (still circulating) sight of Gus Walz, son of vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim, tearfully telling the crowd “that’s my dad!”

Harris, for her part, gave what my colleague Jen Bendery’s story called the “speech of her life.” Plenty of other analysts rendered similar judgments.

With a passionate, near-flawless delivery, Harris introduced herself as the daughter of immigrants who valued virtue and hard work, promising to fight for the middle class and vowing to protect democracy. She wrapped herself metaphorically in the flag and what she thinks it represents to the nation’s non-MAGA majority. The laser focus on trying to win over swing voters was impossible to miss, in part because it was such an overriding theme all week ― whether through cultural symbolism (like having the aging veterans of Walz’s championship high school football team appear on stage) or more overt outreach (like having former House Republican Adam Kinzinger give a prime-time address).

But the appeal to the political middle had some telling substantive elements too.

Insofar as Harris and Democrats talked about policy, they focused on causes such as bringing down prescription drug prices, providing paid leave or helping families to pay for child care ― ambitions considerably more modest than the loftier, more progressive “Medicare for All” calls that dominated the last Democratic presidential campaign and to which Harris herself once pledged fealty. Harris also went out of her way to back a bipartisan immigration bill that would tighten security without creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already here, which is a provision progressives have frequently called essential.

The platform evolved, with party leaders scrubbing a call to end the death penalty ― quietly, until my colleague Jessica Schulberg found out about it. They also refused requests to feature a Palestinian speaker on the conflict in Gaza. That part wasn’t so quiet, or unanticipated. In fact, the prospect of protests and disruptions over Biden’s support for Israel had fueled speculation that Chicago 2024 was going to end up as tumultuous as Chicago 1968. But as HuffPost’s Daniel Marans and Jonathan Nicholson observed, the fissures never blew up into 1968-style conflicts ― not over Gaza, or any other issues for that matter. On the contrary, the Democrats seemed improbably and almost impossibly unified, with would-be progressive dissidents like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) sounding downright giddy about the Harris-Walz ticket.

What explains this unified enthusiasm? Three likely reasons come to mind. One in particular has a lot to do with how the party has changed in recent years ― and what it might be able to do if Harris manages to win.

Democrats In Array

One of these likely reasons is the threat Trump poses to individual liberties, the rule of law and democracy — threats progressives feel every bit as keenly as the more moderates in the party. These threats almost certainly seem even more menacing now after so many months watching Biden struggle.

Staring into the political abyss this way has been known to focus the mind.

Another possible factor is Harris’ identity. Electing the first woman president, not to mention the first Black woman and the first Asian woman, would have obvious symbolic value. But it would also have more practical effects — namely, bringing a new perspective to the presidency and making it easier for other women, and other nonwhite politicians, to make their own way to the Oval Office.

Progressives almost by definition care about these things, enough that it can help counterbalance appeal for politicians who see the ticket as less progressive than they might like. Barack Obama in 2008 benefited from just such a dynamic, as The New York Times’ David Leonhardt pointed out on Friday: “He was more moderate than some other Democratic candidates that year, yet he still excited many progressives.”

Harris notably hasn’t talked about herself as groundbreaker, and the campaign hasn’t made that possibility a focus in the way that, say, Hillary Clinton’s did in 2016. But that’s of a piece with Harris’ broader strategy since appeals tied to race or class can alienate some of the swing voters she’s trying to win. The voters who feel otherwise, meanwhile, don’t need reminders.

This brings us to the third, and potentially most important, theory for progressive enthusiasm: Democrats have gotten an awful lot done since Biden took office. An awful lot of it consisted of initiatives or reforms progressives have long championed. And most importantly, it all happened with progressives having a big seat at the table.

The most significant and visible of these accomplishments was the clean green energy investments of the Inflation Reduction Act, which add up (arguably) to the most important climate change legislation in history, plus the law’s health care provisions, which for the first time gave the federal government leverage over the prices of some high-priced drugs in Medicare.

But the list goes beyond that, to the appointment of aggressively pro-consumer and pro-labor officials at key federal agencies, and the burst of spending during the pandemic that (whatever its real or theorized effects on inflation) drove both unemployment and child poverty down to near-record levels.

All of these feel well short of the kinds of transformations progressives would prefer with, say, enactment of “Medicare for All.” But they had, are having or will have tangible, measurable effects on people’s lives — and are examples of the kind of achievements that might be possible if Harris wins and Democrats have control of both congressional houses again.

It so happens that these are also the kinds of achievements that animate up-and-coming party leaders, even if they are not members of the progressive wing — figures like Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, or Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia. Not coincidentally, all gave Harris rousing endorsements in prime- time speeches.

But that too is part of the story about unity: The party’s “moderate” wing today feels pretty strongly about using the federal government to make people’s lives better, just as it does about protecting the freedoms Trump threatens. They may emphasize it differently — focusing more exclusively on the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy manufacturing jobs, for example, and a bit less on its environmental impact. They still land in the same place on policy.

Whether these good feelings would carry through enough to enact a legislative agenda is obviously a separate question and one that is very secondary to the question of whether Democrats even get that opportunity.

The presidential race is still a toss-up, or maybe even a bit worse than that for Harris if the polling now is missing Trump votes the way it did in 2016 and again in 2020. Republicans remain by most accounts a slight favorite to hold at least one house of Congress.

But Harris is coming out of Chicago on a roll, with a party behind her as she reaches out to the swing voters she needs to win. That’s a pretty good place to be.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Noah Berlatsky at Public Notice:

Two weeks ago, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was largely unknown nationally. Today, he’s a widely beloved Democratic figure and a leading candidate to become Kamala Harris’s running mate. It’s a startling and disorienting political ascent. How did it happen?

Part of his sudden success is due to Walz himself, whose avuncular charisma plays well on television, and whose strong record in Minnesota gives him a lot of bragging rights. Walz has also benefited, though, from the fact that progressives and the left have settled upon him as a pragmatic compromise. Left presidential preferences over the last decade have been dominated by Bernie Sanders, a unique and to some degree anti-establishment figure who promised to seize the party from its current leadership and turn it into a vehicle for radical change. Walz is a very different politician, and his embrace by progressives suggests a new willingness to work within the Democratic Party. That willingness might translate into more influence within the coalition. It also might signal greater Democratic strength and unity.

Walz’s wins

A lot of Walz’s recent national success is directly the result of the talents of one Tim Walz. Before running for office, Walz spent 24 years in the National Guard and worked as a high school history teacher in Mankato, where he helped form Mankato West’s first Gay-Straight Alliance at a time when LGBT people were marginalized. Walz has a long and impressive record of electoral, personal, and policy successes in Democratic politics. He was elected to Congress from a rural southern Minnesota district in 2006, a year Democrats picked up 30 seats, and was elected freshman class president by his colleagues. His local focus and popularity allowed him to hold the seat through the red waves of 2010 and 2014. Trump won the district by 15 points in 2016. But even then Walz wasn’t dislodged, winning the district by a point. Walz is in fact the only Democrat to win the seat since 1992. Before his 2007-2017 tenure and afterwards, it’s been in GOP hands.

Following his 2016 victory, Walz ran successfully for governor in 2018 and won reelection in 2022. Ahead of his second second term, Democrats won a two-vote Democratic majority in the state House and a one-vote majority in the Senate. That gave them a trifecta and full control of state government for the first time in a decade.

[...]

Progressives for Walz

Walz has also benefited, though, from a swift and unusually coordinated progressive effort to elevate him. To be clear, Walz is popular within the party. However, many progressive pundits and activists with large platforms have been especially enthusiastic about his candidacy. Gun control proponent David Hogg has been promoting Walz relentlessly; so has left journalist Mehdi Hasan; so has YouTube influencer Kyle Kuczynski.

Noah Berlatsky wrote in Public Notice about how Tim Walz makes a lot of sense as Kamala Harris’s running mate.

[kampalaedgetimes]

3 Months Later, Shamim Malende Still in Hospital

What exactly happened to Shamim Malende? On November 6, 2024, Uganda’s Parliament descended into chaos as opposition legislators sought to block the passage of a controversial bill concerning the rationalization of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA). The session, anticipated as a critical showdown, spiraled into violence, arrests, and long-term repercussions for some legislators,…

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Brigitte Gabriel: I want to start with the accusation of the "occupation." Israel was minding its own business ever since it existed. It reached out to the Arabic world, it wanted to have peace with the Arabic world.

In 1964 when the PLO, the Palestinian Liberation Organization was founded, the West Bank was in the hands of Jordan. It was Jordan and Gaza was in the hands of Egypt. It was Egypt. So the PLO was founded in 1964 not because of any occupation. They wanted to drive the Jews into the sea and get rid of every single Jew in the Middle East. Israel tried repeating-- the only reason the Palestinian lost that-- in ' 67 and they lost Gaza and the West Bank is because they preempted an attack against Israel. And over and over again Israel reached out to them to make peace with them.

In 2000 Ehud Barak offered them 97% of the territories back and they refused it again and again and again.

In 2005 when Israel withdrew out of Gaza, they said, "okay we're going to give you your own state, we're going to give you your own territory." Israel forcibly removed its own people fighting the IDF by force. Removed them out of Gaza. Not only removed the people, they dug out dead Jews bones from the cemeteries because they knew exactly what the Palestinians are going to do to the cemeteries. So in 2005 when Israel withdrew out of Gaza, there wasn't one Jew alive or dead in Gaza. They turned over the key to them and said, "Okay, great. Now build your own place. You are independent."

I know people that-- Israel even left them the green houses. Israel was exporting 50 million flowers to Europe in 2004 out of Gaza. The green houses, the fruits, the vegetables, the flowers. They left them to the Palestinians so the Palestinians can start a-- they can have an industry where they can support themselves. I know a businessman from New York who even raised $14 million to make sure the Palestinians will be able to get paid salaries as they move over and they continue building the green houses.

And what did the Palestinians do within 24 hours after Israel withdrew? Not only they destroyed every single Jewish synagogue in the area, they destroyed the green houses, ripped out the pipe, and even stole the copper out of the pipe.

And then they had an election. So in their first election, the first woman elected to the cabinet of Hamas was a woman by the name Umm Nidal... the "Mother of the Resistance." And she ran on the platform, "I killed three of my sons..." because she had videos of her sons, dressing them in suicide bomb, uh, bombers to go kill Israelis. She said, "I already gave up three for the cause. I have another seven to give." That's why she was elected. So that's a democratic election for Hamas.

Israel did not put the Palestinians in a prison in Gaza. Hamas put the Palestinians in a prison in Gaza. Gaza could have been turned into into Singapore. They had the money. They had more money pouring into the Palestinian territories and still do from all over the world. And what did they do with it? Build a tunnel infrastructure underneath bigger than the subway system in New York instead of helping their people.

So those who scream about the occupation occupation, the Palestinians have brought this on themselves again and again and again.

==

Reminder that "Palestinians" aren't a real people. The people claiming to be "Palestinians" are Jordanians who adopted a fictitious identity for political purposes, to take over the land. It's the "Palestinians" who are the invaders and colonialists.

"The Palestinian people do not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only for a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today, there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism. For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand, Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan." – Zahir Muhsein, PLO executive committee member (Dutch newspaper Trouw, 1977)

[ 1945 | 1948 ]

There was a Palestine.

Palestine was “Land of Israel”.

Palestine was Jewish, therefore the Arab hostility.

Even "Free Palestine" is as co-opted as the land.

[urialnathanonwright]

The Nationalist Grievance Machine: Trump's Dangerous Playbook for Division and Dysfunction

Let’s talk about the latest installment of the Trump circus—a mix of revisionist history, authoritarian flexes, and the kind of shameless self-aggrandizement that only he can pull off. Whether it’s pardoning domestic terrorists, undermining international cooperation, or declaring the Gulf of Mexico as his personal property, Trump’s vision for America is nothing more than a dystopian fever dream masquerading as leadership.

First up we've got Davos. Trump’s appearance at the World Economic Forum—virtually, of course, because nothing screams "global leadership" like dialing it in—comes with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. Will he talk about unity? Innovation? Climate action? Don’t bet on it. This is the guy who pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization, all while doubling down on nationalism. Instead of addressing global challenges, Trump’s use his speech to settle personal scores and push his isolationist agenda. The only “unity” he seems interested in is the unified chant of his die-hard base.

And those pardons—1,600 people, including leaders of extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who orchestrated one of the darkest days in modern American history. These weren’t peaceful protestors, as Trump likes to claim. These were violent insurrectionists who beat law enforcement officers and sought to overturn a democratic election. Yet Trump portrays them as patriots - they are not. The hypocrisy is staggering for a man - oppps that should be the convicted felon and rapist, in case you forgot - who claims to support “law and order” while undermining the very institutions that uphold it.

Then the nationalistic chest-thumping. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”? Come on. The audacity to claim a body of water shared with multiple nations is peak Trump—a man who confuses petty rebranding with actual policy. And threatening to take back the Panama Canal? It’s as if he’s binge-watched old imperialist propaganda and thought, “Yeah, let’s bring that back.”

Oh, and his TikTok comments? Defending a platform with clear ties to foreign surveillance while shrugging off concerns about Chinese espionage is a masterclass in contradiction. He’s like a used car salesman trying to sell you a lemon while telling you it’s a luxury sedan.

And finally, his supposed political “comeback.” Trump wants us to believe he’s a phoenix rising from the ashes, a savior returning to restore glory to America. But in reality, his presidency is the same as it ever was a self-serving, grievance-filled spectacle. His survival of an assassination attempt may have deepened his faith, but it hasn’t deepened his character.

At the end of the day, Trump’s agenda is clear: dismantle democracy, divide the nation, and consolidate power under the guise of “fixing” the very problems he’s exacerbated. He’s not the solution; he’s the problem on steroids. And the rest of us—whether we’re Democrats, independents, or Republicans who still believe in decency—have to call this what it is: a dangerous farce that threatens the very fabric of our country.

It’s time to stop treating Trump like a political anomaly or a bad reality TV show and start holding him accountable. America deserves better than this. And the world deserves better than an American president who thinks leadership is just another episode of “The Apprentice.”

[mesetacadre]

Aviation in the USSR

A collection of excerpts from Anna Lousie Strong's The Soviets Expected It, compiled for @czerwonykasztelanic

[...] Or the guerrilla detachment which captured six German planes, destroyed five of them, and sent the sixth to the Red Army, piloted by an amateur air enthusiast, who was a tractor driver in ordinary life. Lt. Talalikhin’s initiative is already a Soviet aviator’s tradition. Exhausting his ammunition in a fight with three enemy planes, he rammed the tail of one enemy with his propeller, smashed the tail of another enemy plane with his wing tip, and then bailed out of his own plane safely. Moscow parks displayed the wreckage of the German planes, and other Soviet pilots quickly copied the tactics. An aviation technician, Konikov, won renown by attaching the fuselage of a plane he was repairing to the front platform of a military train whose locomotive had been bombed by the enemy; he thus pulled the most necessary parts of the train to safety.

pg. 14

The Soviet people glimpsed and felt victory. For the first time they began to feel that they were no longer “backward Russians.” They were beginning to challenge the world. With this went a proud sense of their unity as a nation. Cotton growers in Turkestan exulted, “We have conquered the Arctic,” though they themselves would never see the snow. Bearded peasants, who had never sat in an airplane, began to talk about “our conquest of the air.” Young Nina Kameneva expressed the mood of the country’s young people when she broke a world’s altitude record in parachute jumping and remarked on landing: “The sky of our country is the highest sky in the world.”

pg. 46

Moscow can make all the implements of war, including planes and motor trucks, inside the city. [...] Moscow’s sky is covered by an air defense that was the marvel of the London experts who visited it after the war began to make suggestions and found it far superior to London’s. Anti-aircraft shells make a thick blanket at four distinct levels to London’s one, and observation planes patrol the heavens night and day. Moscow’s four million people also offer a night-and-day defense.

pg. 51

Alma Ata, the capital of this area, has grown from a town of 60,000 to a proud young city of 260,000 in the ten years since the railroad reached it. Its life has leaped at once from the nomad epoch to the airplane. The railroad is too slow to tame the wastes of Kazakstan. From Alma Ata Airport the planes shoot forth, east, west, south, north, on new discoveries. [...] Kazakstan is only one of the energetic regions behind the Urals. South of it lie the lands of the Uzbeks and Tadjiks, where some of the largest textile mills of the U.S.S.R. work up the locally grown cotton and where automobile and airplane parts are produced by mass production in the historic city of Samarkand.

pg. 58

I have traveled many times on the Trans-Siberian. In the spring of 1935, I went from Vladivostok to Moscow with a stop-over in the Jewish autonomous territory whose capital is Birobidjan. The train was crowded with pioneering people in warm woolen clothes and padded leather jackets, engineers, Army men, developers of the Far East. [...] An army engineer who shared my table at dinner was celebrating his return by airplane from the northern wilderness by consuming a whole bottle of port and bragging about the Far Eastern pioneers.

pg. 59

According to Pierre Cot, the French Air Minister, who visited Moscow in 1933, the Soviet air arm was at least equal to the best in Europe in numbers, technical equipment, and, above all, in the productive capacity of the aviation industry.‡ Thus, by the end of 1932, which ended the first Five Year Plan, the Soviet Union had reached the level of Western Europe in armaments – a fairly modest level judged by standards of later years.

pg. 65

Other official indications of the extent of the Red Army’s mechanization come from Voroshilov’s report in 1934 [...]. Five years later [...]. He claimed that the “bomb salvo” of the Soviet air force (the number of bombs that can be dropped by all planes at once) had tripled in five years and had reached more than 6,000 tons.

pg. 66

Soviet airplane pilots also hold many world records, both in altitude and long-distance flights. Their conquest of the Arctic and its difficult weather has accustomed them to the severest conditions. Americans well remember the Soviet pilots who twice made world records by flying from Moscow to America. These were individual exploits, but the development of Arctic aviation on which they were based was the work of large numbers of pilots and implies a whole air tradition

pg. 67

Parachute jumping has become a national sport in the Soviet Union. Soviet people are probably the most air-minded people in the world. Training for air-mindedness begins in the kindergarten. Small tots play the “butterfly game” and jump around with large butterflies pinned on their hair, gaining the idea that flying is fun and a natural activity. Children in their teens make jumps from “parachute towers” which are far rougher and more realistic than the parachute tower in the New York World’s Fair, which was copied from them. The sport is popular not only in the cities but on the farms. Several years ago a Ukrainian farmer told me of his trip to the nearby city with a group of farm children, all of whom immediately formed in line in the recreation park to go up in a tall tower and jump off under a parachute. “I thought it very terrifying,” he said, “and wondered why the park authorities allowed it. Then I saw that my own thirteen-year-old daughter was at the head of the line. These children of today aren’t afraid of anything.” At an older age, Soviet young people jump from airplanes, learn to operate gliders, or even become amateur pilots in their spare time. Every large factory, government department, and many of the larger collective farms have “aviation clubs,” which are given free instruction by the government. Probably a million people in the Soviet Union have made actual jumps from parachutes. It is not surprising that the Red Army was the first to use parachute troops in active service several years before the Germans adopted them. In 1931 a small detachment of parachutists surrounded and cleaned up a bandit gang in Central Asia. The making of airplane models by young people is taken seriously in the U.S.S.R. In 1937 over a million school children were spending after-school hours in aviation model stations. At a later stage, young people of talent create real airplanes and demonstrate them at Tushino aviation exhibitions. Owing to the wide interest in aviation and the public ownership of factories, a bright Soviet youth who invents a new type of airplane may get it constructed by his factory sports club and show it off. At one of the aviation festivals I attended, I saw a score of different amateur planes, including every possible shape of flying object – short, stubby ones, long thin ones, others shaped like different kinds of insects. They added greatly to the gaiety of the occasion. Whether or not they produced any really valuable new invention, they at least encouraged the inventiveness of their makers.

pg. 72

In the past two years, especially, all this training has been given a very realistic turn. [...] Only a month before the Germans attacked the Soviet borders, 7,000 Moscow citizens practiced a special drill in repulsing parachute troops over the week end. The large numbers of such trained citizenry, both among recruits entering the Red Army and among the older citizens assisting it, greatly add to the Soviet Union’s total defense.

pg. 73

[eugenedebs1920]

I just love this add. I know I’ve posted it before but I wanted to say something to our pro-democracy community. A community built upon no party affiliation, no loyalty to one person, no allegiance to anything but the Constitution and our Union.

In the coming days you will see poll after poll after poll, showing a close race, or even the tyrant Trump up a point or two. This is the tactic of MAGA. Since they have no platform to run on, no policies that better the masses, they will try and break our spirit. Much like totalitarian regimes of old they will try and exhaust us with lie after lie, deceive us, pin us against one another, slander us, threaten us, intimidate us.

What they do not realize is our strength lies in our togetherness. That our power is derived from our unity. And our unity is in our diversity. Something they could never understand. That so many, who are so different, come together to protect this democracy from those who strive for a white Christian nationalist nation.

Our love will overcome their hate. Our acceptance will overcome their discrimination. Our hope will overcome their fear. Out of many one, e plaribus unum. We will not sit silently and let this country be overtaken by who seek its demise. We will rise above the hatred and fear and division. We will vote to keep tyrants where they belong. In shackles.

THIS IS OUR COUNTRY! THIS IS OUR FLAG! WE WILL NOT SURRENDER!

U.S.A. U.S.A. U.S.A. 🇺🇸

Let freedom ring folks!! May it ring another 250 years!!!

[racefortheironthrone]

Warhammer Gaslamp: Introduction

The year is 2725 IC...some two hundred years since the Age of Crisis. The time of Karl Franz I, the "Fourth Deliverer of the Empire," has long past, as has the age of knights and dragons – throughout the Old World, magic itself is a dying art.

The Empire of Man is stronger than ever before, but it is an Empire that runs on coal and iron, held together with roads of steel track, and powered by boiling, thumping hearts that pump steam and gas through the veins of the mightiest industrial power in the world. The forests remain, but they have dwindled in size, cut down to feed the endless hunger of the great metropolises, the mighty smokestacks of Nuln, Talabheim, New Averheim, and greatest of all, the bright gaslights of mighty Altdorf ("The Big Turnip"), and a hundred smaller cities that light the night skies.

The Neüscience of the Imperial Technomancers has increased national prosperity a hundredfold, improved the health and well-being of the common citizens, and helped the Imperial Army, Navy, and Airkorps put the endless hordes of Khaos on the backfoot for generations. In spite of (or because of?) this, Imperial society has become increasingly divided between the elite who profit from the new economy of high finance and heavy industry, and those millions of unskilled and semi-skilled laborers whose endless toil keeps them only ever one step ahead of the breadline and the bailiff. Meanwhile, the mounting toll of industrial pollution, epidemic disease, industrial accidents, and Neüscientific “experiments” running amok raises new questions about the high cost of success.

Politics has become ever more fractious. The Imperial Parliament is divided between the House of the People, where the Farmer-Artisan Party (representing a coalition of the Craft Guilds and their fellow urban workers, and a significant minority of rural laborers and small farmers) holds the plurality, and the House of the Nobles, where the Liberal-Conservative Party (representing both the traditional landed aristocracy and the new monied elite) holds power, and the two clash fiercely over labor rights, taxation, industrial regulation, and social welfare. Holding the uneasy balance of power is Emperor Karl-Franz XIV, his "Iron" Chancellor Ludwig von Ostermark, and their smaller Patriotic Party (largely supported by veterans and members of the civil service), who try to maintain Imperial unity and industrial production in the face of the "Threat from the Black North."

In the streets and on the shop-floors, the captains of industry known as the Great Monopolhauses (allied and often intermarried with the nobility) deploy their legions of spies and private soldiers against the rising strength of the Laborer’s Guild, who are mobilizing in the factories by the hundreds of thousands, and the industrial spies and gunthugs are kept in check only by the still-potent might of the Craft Guilds who fear and resent their industrial upstart rivals but trust the bosses even less.

The religion that once united an Empire today divides it, as Orthodox Volkmarites and Radical Hussites split over matters of class and faith. Although the two factions are still nominally part of the same Sigmarite religion, and the Church of Sigmar is held together by the firm hand of the Emperor, the two factions compete fiercely over theology and dogma, and positions within the Church unto the Grand Theogonacy itself. To the north, the philosophy professor-turned-street preacher Nietzsche von Zarathustein has single-handedly revived the fortunes of the Cult of Ulric with his fiery doctrine of Neo-Ulricism and his best-seller Man unt Wulf-Man. From the great industrial heartland of the south, the radical scholar Mark Karhl preaches the overthrow of the status quo as an inherently exploitative regime, and his pamphlet The Scarlet Platform and his massive three-volume treatise on political economy, Der Gelden (which almost no one has completed), inspire many young radical students and workers to join the revolutionary Scarlet Party and the ranks of the Laborer’s Guild. Are rumors of his secret allegiance to a Tzeenchite secret society true, or mere bourgeois propaganda?

Exacerbating these divisions is the constant threat from Khaos. Up in the "Black North" and their allied territories on the great steppes on the other side of the pole, the forces of evil pervert the laws of science to their mad push for world domination. Khornate breeder-lords select from an unceasing flow of gladiators to produce the perfect warriors; Nurglite bio-priests carefully engineer the next insidious plague to slip past the Imperial Plasmic Survey; Slaaneshi sin-merchants mobilize a world-wide network of Cathayan black tar and warpdust powder (bartered from the Skaven) to corrupt the Empire from within; and Tzeenchite techno-mancers design ever more fiendish mutated F.R.E.A.K.S and the twisted Biomechs.

Inside the Empire, things are scarcely better. Even with the darkness of the forests pushed back to the periphery and the Greenskin hordes banished to the far side of the World's Edge Mountains, the threat of Were-beastmanism and other, more insidious, forces winds its way into every neighborhood in the Empire despite the best efforts of the Imperial Plasmic Survey and the Schwarzmänner. Mutants who cannot conceal their true nature – known as the "Untervolk" - have decamped into the subway tunnels and sewers that form the Undercities of the Empire, waging an unceasing war for survival against “norms” and “ratfolk” alike. From the back alleyways and the salons of the nobility alike, the endless secret societies of Khaos vie to do their masters' bidding, undermining the Empire from within in preparation for the coming war.

It is a time that desperately needs heroes, men and women willing to brave the darkness on the mean streets and the shell-torn battlefields of the Old World alike. Mystery and intrigue, adventure and mad science await!