#nov 1 2015 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mostlysignssomeportents · 2 days ago

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Surveillance is inequality’s stabilizer

I'm in the home stretch of my 24-city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in LONDON NEXT TUESDAY (July 1) with TRASHFUTURE'S RILEY QUINN and then a big finish in MANCHESTER on July 2.

The "dictator's dilemma" pits a dictator's desire to create social stability by censoring public communications in order to prevent the spread of anti-regime messages with the dictator's need to know whether powerful elites are becoming restless and plotting a coup:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/26/dictators-dilemma/#garbage-in-garbage-out-garbage-back-in

Closely related to the dictator's dilemma is "authoritarian blindness," where an autocrat's censorship regime keeps them from finding out about important, socially destabilizing facts on the ground, like whether a corrupt local official is comporting themself so badly that the people are ready to take to the streets:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/02/24/pluralist-your-daily-link-dose-24-feb-2020/#thatswhatxisaid

The modern Chinese state has done more to skillfully navigate the twin hazards of the dictator's dilemma and authoritarian blindness than any other regime in history. Take Xi Jinping's 2012-2015 anticorruption purge, which helped him secure another ten year term as Party Secretary. Xi targeted legitimately corrupt officials in this this sweeping purge, but – crucially – he only targeted corrupt officials in the power-base of his rivals for Party leader, while leaving corrupt officials in his own power base unscathed:

https://web.archive.org/web/20181222163946/https://peterlorentzen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Lorentzen-Lu-Crackdown-Nov-2018-Posted-Version.pdf

How did Xi accomplish this feat? Through intense, fine-grained surveillance, another area in which modern China excels. Chinese online surveillance is often paired with censorship, both petty (banning Winnie the Pooh, whom Xi is often mocked for resembling) and substantial (getting Apple to modify Airdrop for every user in the world in order to prevent the spread of anti-regime messages before a key Party leadership contest).

But there are a lot of instances where China spies on its people but doesn't censor them, even if they are expressing dissatisfaction with the government. Chinese censors allow a surprising amount of complaint about official incompetence, overreach and corruption, but they completely suppress any calls for mobilization to address these complaints. You can be as angry as you want with the government online, but you can't call for protests to do something about it:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1251722

This makes perfect sense in the context of "authoritarian blindness": by allowing online complaint, an autocrat can locate the hot-spots where things are reaching a boiling-over point, and by blocking public manifestations, the autocrat can prevent the public from turning their failings into a flashpoint that endangers the autocracy.

In other words, autocrats can reserve to themselves the power to decide how to defuse public anger: they can suppress it, using surveillance data about the people who led the online debate about official failures to figure out who to intimidate, arrest, or disappear. Or they can address it through measures like firing corrupt local officials or funding local social programs (toxic waste cleanups, smokestack regulation, building schools and hospitals, etc) that make people feel better about their government.

Autocracy is an inherently unstable social situation. No society can deliver everything that everyone in it desires: if you tear down existing low-density housing and build apartment blocks to decrease a housing shortage, you'll delight people who are un- or under-housed, and you'll infuriate people who are happily housed under the status quo. In every society, there's always someone getting their way at the expense of someone else.

Obviously, widespread unhappiness is inherently socially destabilizing. After all, no society can police every action of every person. From littering to parking in disabled parking spots, from paying your taxes to washing your hands before serving food, a society relies primarily on people following the rules without even though their face little to no risk of being punished for breaking them. The easiest way to get people to follow the rules is to foster a sense of the rules' legitimacy: people may not agree with or understand the rationale for a rule, but if they view the process by which the rule was decided on as a legitimate one, then they may follow it anyway.

This legitimacy is a source of social stability. Sure, your candidate might lose the election, or the government might enact a policy you hate, but if you think the election was fair and you believe that you can change the policy through democratic means, then you will be on the side of preserving the system, rather than overturning it.

A democracy's claim to legitimacy lies in its popular mandate: "Sure, I don't like this decision, but it was fairly made." By contrast, a dictator's legitimacy comes their claims to wisdom: "Sure, I don't like this decision, but the Supreme Generalissimo is the smartest man in history, and he says it was the right call."

You can see how this is a brittle arrangement, even if the dictator is a skilled autocrat who makes generally great decisions: even a great decision is going to have winners and losers, and it might be hard to convince the losers that they keep losing because they deserve to lose. And that's the best outcome, where an autocrat is right. But what about when the autocrat is wrong? What about when the autocrat makes a bunch of decisions that make nearly everyone consistently worse off, either because the autocrat is a fool, or because they are greedy and are stealing everything that isn't nailed down?

Every society needs stabilizers, but autocracies need more stabilizers than democracies, because the story about why you, personally, are getting screwed is a lot less convincing in an autocracy ("The autocrat is right and you are wrong, suck it up") than it is in a democracy ("This was the fairest compromise possible, and if it wasn't, we need to elect someone new so it changes").

The Snowden revelations taught us that there is no distinction between commercial surveillance and government surveillance. Governments spy, sure, but the most effective way for governments to spy on us is by raiding the data troves assembled by technology companies (for one thing, these troves are assembled at our own expense – we foot the bill for this spying whenever we send money to a phone or tech company). The tech companies were willing participants in this process: the original Snowden leak, about the "PRISM" program, showed how tech companies made millions of dollars by siphoning off user data to the NSA on demand:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM

It was only later that we learned about another NSA program, "Upstream," through which the NSA was wiretapping the tech companies' data-centers, acquiring all of their user data, and then requesting the data that interested them through PRISM, as a form of "parallel construction," which is when an agency learns a fact through a secret system, and then uses a less-secret system to acquire the same fact, in order to maintain the secrecy of the first system:

https://www.eff.org/pages/upstream-prism

Upstream really pissed off the tech companies. After all, they'd been dutifully rolling over and handing out their users' data in violation of US law, risking their businesses to help the NSA do mass spying, and the NSA paid them back by secretly spying on the tech companies themselves! That's a hell of a way to say thank you to your co-conspirators. After Upstream, the tech companies finally started encrypting the links between their data-centers, which made Upstream-style collection infinitely harder:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/11/yahoo-will-encrypt-between-data-centers-use-ssl-for-all-sites/

But that hardly ended the mass surveillance private-public partnership. Congress continued to do nothing about privacy (the last federal consumer privacy law Congress gave Americans is 1988's Video Privacy Protection Act, which bans video store clerks from telling newspapers about the VHS cassettes you take home) (we used to be a country). That meant that tech companies could collect our data will-ye or nil-ye, and that data brokers could buy and sell that data without any oversight or limitation:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/20/privacy-first-second-third/#malvertising

There's many reasons that Congress failed to act on privacy. Obviously, they face immense pressure from lobbyists for the commercial surveillance industry – but they also face covert and powerful pressure from public safety agencies, cops, and spies, who rely on private sector data as a source of off-the-books, warrantless, ubiquitous surveillance.

Why does America need so much spying? Well, because America has always been imperfectly democratic, from its inception as a enslaving nation where millions of people were denied both the ballot and personhood; and as a patriarchal nation where half of the remaining people were also denied the franchise; and as a colonialist nation where an entire culture of people had been subject to genocide, land theft, and systematic oppression. This is an obviously unstable arrangement. Whether in chains, on a reservation, or under the thumb of a husband or father, there were plenty of Americans who had no reason to buy into the system, accept its legitimacy, or follow its rules. To keep the system intact, it wasn't enough to terrorize these populations – America's rulers had to know where to inflict terror, which is to say, where order was closest to collapsing.

Some of America's first spies were private sector union-busters, the Pinkerton agency, who served as a private spy army for bosses who wanted to find the leverage points in the worker uprisings that swept the country. The Pinkertons' pitch was that it was cheaper to pay them to figure out who the most important union leaders were and target them for violence, kidnapping, and killing than it was to give all your workers a raise.

This is an important aspect of the surveillance project. Spying is part of a broader class of activities called "guard labor" – anything you might pay someone to do that results in fewer guillotines being built on your lawn. Guard labor can be paying someone to build a wall around your estate or neighborhood. It can be paying security guards to patrol the wall. It can be paying for CCTV operators, or drone operators. It can be paying for surveillance, too.

Guard labor isn't free. The pitch for guard labor is that it is a cheaper way to get social stability than the alternative: building schools and hospitals, paying a living wage, lowering prices, etc. It follows that when you make guard labor cheaper, you can build fewer schools and hospitals, pay lower wages, and raise prices more, and buy more guard labor to counter the destabilizing effect of these policies, and still come out ahead.

American politics have been growing ever more unstable since the 1970s, when oil crisis gave way to the Reagan revolution and its raft of pro-oligarch, anti-human policies. Since then, we've seen an unbroken trend to wage stagnation and widening inequality. As a new American oligarch class emerged, they gained near-total control over the levers of power. In a now-famous 2014 paper, political scientists reviewed 1,779 policy fights and found that the only time these cashed out in a way that reflected popular will is when elites favored them, too. When elites objected to something, it literally didn't matter how popular it was with everyone else, it just didn't happen:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B

It's pretty hard to make the case that the system is legitimate when it only does things that rich people want, and never does things the vast majority of people want when these conflict with rich peoples' desires. Some of these outcomes are merely disgusting and immoral, like abetting genocide in Gaza, but more frequently, the policies elites favor are ones that make the rich richer: climate inaction, blocking Medicare for All, smashing unions, dismantling anti-corruption and campaign finance laws.

I don't think it's a coincidence that America's democracy has become significantly less democratic at the same time that mass surveillance has grown. Mass surveillance makes guard labor much cheaper, which means that the rich can make their lives better at all of our expense and still afford the amount of guard labor it takes to keep the guillotines at bay.

Cheap guard labor also allows the rich to strike devil's bargains that would otherwise be instantaneously destabilizing. For example, the second Trump election required an alliance between the tiny minority of ultra-rich with the much larger minority of virulent racists who were promised the realization of their psychotic fantasy of masked, armed goons snatching brown people off the streets and sending them to offshore slave labor camps. That alliance might be a good way to elect a president who'll dismantle anticorruption law and slash taxes, but it won't do you much good if the resulting ethnic cleansing terror provokes a popular uprising. But what if ICE can rely on Predator drones and cell-site simulators to track the identities of everyone who comes out to a protest:

https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-predator-drone-flights-la-protests/

What if ICE can buy off-the-shelf facial recognition tools and use them to identify people who are brave enough to step between snatch-squads and their neighbors?

https://www.404media.co/ice-is-using-a-new-facial-recognition-app-to-identify-people-leaked-emails-show/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter

Each advance in surveillance tech makes worse forms of oppression, misgovernance and corruption possible, by making it cheaper to counter the destabilizing effect of destroying the lives of the populace, through identifying the bravest, angriest, and most effective opposition figures so they can be targeted for harassment, violence, arrest, or kidnapping.

America's private sector surveillance industry has always served as a means of identifying and punishing people who fought for a better country. The first credit reporting bureau was the Retail Credit Company, which used a network of spies and paid informants to identify "race mixers," queers, union organizers and leftists so that banks could deny them credit, landlords could deny them housing, and employers could deny them jobs:

https://jacobin.com/2017/09/equifax-retail-credit-company-discrimination-loans/

Retail Credit continued to do this until 1975, when, finally, popular opinion turned against the company, so it changed its name…

…to Equifax.

Today, Equifax is joined by a whole industry of elite enforcers who use spying, legal harassments, mercenaries and troll armies to offset the socially destabilizing effects of the wealthy's misrule:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/23/launderers-enforcers-bagmen/#procurers

But despite centuries of American mass surveillance, America's oligarchs keep finding themselves in the midst of great existential crises. That's because guard labor – even surveillance-supercharged guard labor – is no substitute for policies that make the country better off. Oligarchs may want to tend the nation like a shepherd tends its flock, leaving enough lambs around to grow next year's wool. But they're all competing with one another, and they understand that the sheep they spare will like as not end up on a rival's dinner table. Under those circumstances, every oligarch ends up in a race to see who can turn us into lambchops first.

This is the dictator's dilemma, American style. The rich always overestimate how much social stability their guard labor has bought them, and they're easy mark for any creepy, malodorous troll with a barn full of machine-gun equipped drones:

https://twitter.com/postoctobrist/status/1909853731559973094

They accumulate mounting democratic debts, as destabilizing rage builds in the public, erupting in the Civil War, in the summer of 68, in the Battle of Seattle, in the Rodney King uprising, in the George Floyd protests, in Los Angeles rebellion. They think they can spy their way into a country where they have everything and we have nothing, and we like it (or at least, never dare complain about it).

They're wrong.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/06/26/autostabilizer/#slicey-bois

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

#pluralistic

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liatkolink · 8 months ago

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For people still in denial whether Israel has committed war crimes, here is a comprehensive list of war crimes Israel has committed both before and after Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, the list being taken from the Wikipedia article of war crimes with some notable missing examples being the usage of chemical weapons, famine, disease and apartheid. The 7th of October attack did not occur in a vacuum, but is the product of decades of Israel not being held accountable for its war crimes.

Killing civilians:

Israel/Palestine: Unlawful Israeli Airstrikes Kill Civilians by Human Rights Watch on 15/Jul/2014

‘Not a normal war’: doctors say children have been targeted by Israeli snipers in Gaza – The Guardian on 2/Apr/2024

Israeli attack on Rafah tent camp kills 45, prompts international outcry by Reuters on 27/May/2024

Intentionally killing PoWs:

Israel’s Hush-Up Machine in Action: Denying Story Israel Executed Egyptian Prisoners by Washington Report on Middle East Affairs on 8/Apr/2010

Torture:

Israeli government report admits systematic torture of Palestinians by The Guardian on 10/Feb/2000

Israel/OPT: Horrifying cases of torture and degrading treatment of Palestinian detainees amid spike in arbitrary arrests by Amnesty International on 8/Nov/2023

Israel: Palestinian Healthcare Workers Tortured by Human Rights Watch on 26/Aug/2024

Taking hostages:

Infographic: How many Palestinians are imprisoned by Israel? by AlJazeera on 17/Apr/2022

The thousands of Palestinians Israel arrests, tortures, holds even in death by AlJazeera on 17/Apr/2024

UN report: Palestinian detainees held arbitrarily and secretly, subjected to torture and mistreatment by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner on 31/Jul/2024

Unnecessarily destroying civilian property:

Israel destroys Gaza tower housing AP and Al Jazeera offices by Reuters on 15/May/2021

Israel targets infrastructure in Gaza to ramp up civilian pressure on Hamas, report claims by PBS News on 11/Dec/2023

Widespread destruction by Israeli Defence Forces of civilian infrastructure in Gaza by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner on 8/Feb/2024

Deception by perfidy:

Israeli soldier gives 74-year-old Palestinian woman water then shoots her in the head by Middle East Monitor on 20/Jan/2015

Israeli special forces disguised as doctors kill three militants at West Bank hospital by The Guardian on 30/Jan/2024

NBC News investigation reveals Israel strikes on Gaza areas it said were safe by NBC News on 26/Apr/2024

Wartime sexual violence:

Stripped, beaten and blindfolded: new research reveals ongoing violence and abuse of Palestinian children detained by Israeli military by Save the Children on 10/Jul/2023

Israel/oPt: UN experts appalled by reported human rights violations against Palestinian women and girls by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner on 19/Feb/2024

‘Everything is legitimate’: Israeli leaders defend soldiers accused of rape by AlJazeera on 9/Aug/2024

Pillaging:

The Biblical Pseudo-Archeologists Pillaging the West Bank by The Atlantic on 28/Feb/2013

Jewish Soldiers and Civilians Looted Arab Neighbors' Property en Masse in '48. The Authorities Turned a Blind Eye by Haaretz on 3/Oct/2020

Israeli soldiers boast about looting from Gaza by AlJazeera on 14/Feb/2024

Any individual that is part of the command structure who orders any attempt to committing mass killings:

Netanyahu incites violence by casting protesters as clear and present danger by Middle East Eye on 30/Jul/2020

Israeli minister's call to 'erase' Palestinian village an incitement to violence, US says by Reuters on 1/Mar/2023

Netanyahu cites 'Amalek' Theory to justify Gaza Killings by Times of India on 29/Oct/2023

Database exposes 500 instances of Israeli incitement to genocide in Gaza by TRT World 4/Jan/2024

Genocide:

The Genocide of the Palestinian People: An International Law and Human Rights Perspective by Center for Constitutional Rights on 25/Aug/2016

Genocide Warning: Israel & Palestine by Genocide Watch on 21/May/2021

A top U.N. court says Gaza genocide is 'plausible' but does not order cease-fire by npr on 26/Jan/2024

‘Reasonable grounds’ to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, UN rights expert says by CNN on 27/Mar/2024

Is Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza? New Report from BU School of Law’s International Human Rights Clinic Lays Out Case from Boston University Today on 5/Jun/2024

Ethnic cleansing:

UN Human Rights Council: ‘Israel engaging in ethnic cleansing’ by the European Union Parliament on 23/Mar/2011

Israel's ethnic cleansing in Palestine is not history - it's still happening by Middle East Eye on 22/May/2019

UN expert warns of new instance of mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, calls for immediate ceasefire by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner on 14/Oct/2023

‘Plan for ethnic cleansing’: Israel’s north Gaza siege sets off alarms by AlJazeera on 22/Oct/2024

Granting of no quarter despite surrender:

White Flag Deaths Killings of Palestinian Civilians during Operation Cast Lead by Human Rights Watch on 13/Aug/2009

Investigators: Israel fired on Gaza civilians carrying white flags by The Electronic Intifada on 28/Jan/2015

3 hostages killed by Israeli soldier in Gaza were waving a white flag, Israel says by npr on 16/Dec/2023

A group of Palestinian men waving a white flag is shot at, killing 1 by NBC News on 24/Jan/2024

She was fleeing with her grandson, who was holding a white flag. Then she was shot by CNN on 26/Jan/2024

Two brothers shot by Israeli forces in Khan Younis, white flag ignored by AlJazeera on 29/Jan/2024

Conscription of children in the military: First one where I couldn't find anything. Way to go, Israel!

Flouting the legal distinctions of proportionality and military necessity:

Israel violates the principles of necessity, proportionality in its attacks on Gaza by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor on 13/May/2023

Enough: Self-Defense and Proportionality in the Israel-Hamas Conflict by Just Security on 6/Nov/2023

War Crimes and Accountability: The Case Against Israel’s Military Operations in Gaza by JURIST News on 5/Jul/2024

#Israel #Palestine

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louisupdates · 5 months ago

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If you’ve been on social media today, you may have seen a certain word trending: Zouis. But what does it mean? Well, Zouis is portmanteau of Zayn and Louis. Specifically, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson from One Direction.

The pair were spotted together in Los Angeles, with Tomlinson attending Malik’s gig—sending the internet into a frenzy

With Zouis spreading like wildfire on social media, this story operates as an interesting example of how fandoms can deal with grief, and, for once, how the internet can be a positive communal force.

What’s Happening With Zouis? Why Were Zayn Malik And Louis Tomlinson Together?

Zayn Malik is currently on his Stairway To The Sky tour, and is playing several nights at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles, California.

Louis Tomlinson—who was in boyband One Direction with Malik—attended the show on Jan. 29. This is the first time the pair, known as Zouis, have been together publicly since One Direction bandmate Liam Payne’s funeral on Nov. 20, 2024.

After Malik left the group in 2015, One Direction broke up the year after, and the members have rarely been together since, with each pursuing solo careers.

This makes the appearance of Zouis a special moment for fans, as well as seemingly for Malik and Tomlinson themselves, with the former referencing his bandmate’s attendance at his concert in glowing terms:

How Did Social Media React The Appearance Of Zouis?

The online world went wild for the return of Zouis. There are tens of thousands of tweets about the event. Many of which show pure enthusiasm:

While others contain simple declarations of love towards Zouis:

There’s a sombre tone to some posts which reference the death of Liam Payne:

While difference accounts are self-referential about their own reaction to the partial One Direction reunion:

There’s one overwhelming trend though: pure excitement and adulation.

Why Is Social Media Reacting To Zouis In This Way?

There are a few things at play. Firstly, One Direction fans are renowned for their obsession with the group. Combined with the size of the boyband—3.4 million people saw them during their Where We Are tour alone—this means there’s a huge community of interested people whenever news about them drops. Like Zouis.

But there’s also a more sombre side to this overwhelming online reaction, and that can be linked to a sense of loss.

It’s common for fans to form parasocial relationships with people they follow. Effectively, this is when individuals believe they have a close tie with public figures, even though this is a one-way friendship. Often, this is driven by the perceived intimacy of social media.

This can induce serious emotions. So, when a member of a group like One Direction passes away, as is the case with Liam Payne, it can feel as though someone they’re close with had died.

When Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson came together for the first time since the funeral, it can feel like a cathartic moment for fans, as though things are righting themselves. One way of dealing with this outpouring of emotion, then, is to post on social media.

And that’s a key way of viewing this explosion of activity about Zouis: a celebration.

People are not only expressing joy at seeing members of One Direction together, but this enthusiasm also acts a tribute to Liam Payne. This creates a sense of community, of an entire fandom coming together and praising a new chapter in something they love.

Ultimately, the spread of posts about Zouis displays a positive side to social media, one where people share a connection and come together in unity. In these divided times, that’s a beautiful thing to see.

#louis tomlinson #zouis reunion #louis update #louis press #zayn malik #zouis #29.1.2025

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liliesmultiverse · 12 days ago

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⋆ˊˎ-•̩̩͙- *̩̩̥͙ dating history in my adult fame reality!!

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° jasmine elaine collins [born feb. 21, 1990] is mrs. good luck, babe!. we started dating on november 13, 2004. she was scared of coming out so we kept our relationship a secret until she broke up with me on april 21, 2005 because her friends started getting suspicious and literally a day later she started dating a guy.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° sabrina lauren hall [born nov. 7, 1989] is mrs. casual. we started ‘dating’ on september 8, 2005. unbeknownst to me, our relationship was entirely casual to her & she was flirting with another girl the entire time. i ended it on june 20, 2006 when the other girl realized that i didn’t know what sabrina was doing.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° thomas grant gustin [born jan. 14, 1990] is mr. fearless. we met completely randomly in august 2006 and started dating on october 5 that same year. we ended up breaking on january 20, 2008 though because it wasn’t working anymore. there wasn’t any bad blood between us though.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° jensen ross ackles [born mar. 1, 1978] is mr. you’re not sorry. we met in 2008 on the set of supernatural because i had a small guest appearance and started dating on july 5. we broke up after only a few months on october 19 because he kept talking down on me because of my age.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° bill istvan gunther skarsgård [born aug. 9, 1990] is mr. better than revenge. we met at a chirstmas party in 2008 and started dating a few days later on new years. he broke up with me on july 14 through a voicemail and a few days later it was announced that he was dating someone else already.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° nikolina kamenova dobreva [born jan. 9, 1989] is mrs. long live. we first met on the set of the vampire diaries and started dating on november 4, 2009. our relationship was absolutely amazing but the internet absolutely ruined it because they hated us together so we mutually broke up on october 13, 2010.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° andrew russell garfield [born aug. 20, 1983] is mr. wildest dreams. we met while i was auditioning for gwen stacy in the amazing spider-man of which i did get the part. we started dating on march 13, 2011 and dated up until august 19, 2014 due to me falling out of love. many of our fans were upset at the announcement as they’d hoped that we’d get married eventually.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° aaron perry johnson [born jun. 13, 1990] is mr. getaway car. we first met when we filmed godzilla and became friends. he filed to divorce sam in april 2014 and it’s officially finalized in october that year and unbeknownst to me, the reason for the divorce was because he’d started getting feelings for me. we started dating on january 13, 2015 which led to a lot of hate towards me with haters calling me a multitude of names, mostly ‘slut’ or ‘homewrecker’. the hate started getting to me mentally and i broke it off on april 27, 2016 which he understood. we lost contact after the break up.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° jonathan edward bernthal [born sept. 20, 1976] is mr. paper rings. we first met while filming season 2 of daredevil but didn’t start getting closer until filming for the punisher season 1 where we started dating on november 19, 2016. our entire relationship was kept completely private from the media & public which was something we decided together. we have two daughters together - willow laura bernthal (b. august 4, 2018) & maya iris bernthal (b. december 11, 2020). we actually got engaged on may 13, 2019 and had plans to get married in late 2023 but life got in the way and we split on good terms on march 23, 2023. i was actually very heartbroken and swore off relationships for awhile.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° katherine victoria litwack [born jun. 13, 1986] is mrs. bed chem. we met through a mutual friend and hit it off pretty easily. we started a casual relationship on april 4, 2024 that didn’t last very long as she wanted more but i was still heartbroken over the split with jon so we broke it off on june 27, 2024.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° aaron perry johnson [born jun. 13, 1990] is mr. so high school. we met again in august 2024 and reconnected easily. we haven’t started anything and have remained friends although rumors did immediately spark when he appeared in the background of some photos at my 35th birthday party. we’ll start dating again though on april 14, 2025.

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emergingghost · 2 months ago

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julien baker in the punk and hardcore scene, a masterpost

clips of Julien Baker at DIY punk and hardcore shows over the years. predominantly with The Star Killers, Forrister and her involvement in Wicker, Smith7 in general + other miscellaneous house shows including some performances of sprained ankle and totl songs pre-release!

if you watch any of these smith7 shows (even ones without julien) you can see how powerful this community is in giving people a voice and the confidence to play music and be heard. and it's cool to see how much this philosophy seems to have stayed with julien in how she approaches music and performs. you'll find a good amount of weird julien lore and notice people she still works with today throughout so! enjoy!

organised by year, videos linked and timestamped as '[x]' some of these links you might think 'why have i been sent here? where's julien?' just wait and trust me and my timestamps!

i would've liked to have timestamped each song in the longer sets so you could find a particular song but that is just TOO much. sorry! there are shorter clips here and there of individual songs too though!

2011:

The Star Killers - Typical Tuesday at St. Blues Guitars in Memphis. June 7th [x]

2012:

Wicker acoustic show at the Death Star. June 23rd. (jb's not on camera but you can hear her in the background joining in on some songs etc. Creech is on guitar throughout and Matt plays drums at the end) [x]

The Star Killers - Vertical Cities at The Abbey. Jan 23rd [x]

The Star Killers - Vampiretown. Feb 9th [x]

The Star Killers - Boot $coot at The Abbey. June 19th [x]

2013:

The Star Killers - Pants Tour at Memphis Music Shop. July 25th. Parts 1-7 below:

-> 1. The Love Song Blues [x]

-> 2. Typical Tuesday [x]

-> 3. Thank You, Mr Durden [x]

-> 4. Vertical Cities [x]

-> 5. Lynchpin [x]

-> 6. The Boot $coot $hakedown [x]

-> 7. The Pardoner's Tale [x] different POV > [x]

The Star Killers - Pardoner's Tale at 1372 Overton Park. Jan 8th [x]

The Star Killers - ENT performed in Memphis. Jan 9th [x]

The Star Killers - Pants Tour Night 1 at The Refuge. June 22nd [x]

The Star Killers - Acoustic at The Abbey. May 30th [x]

-> Dallas. (same show as above, diff. POV) [x]

-> Folsom Prison / Love Song Blues (diff. POV) [x]

The Star Killers - Black Poppy Wine at Crosstown Arts Space TN. July 23rd [x]

The Star Killers - Last show with John at The Death Star. Pants Tour. June 24th [x]

-> ENT (same show, diff. POV) [x]

2014:

The Star Killers - Black Poppy Wine at Crosstown (maybe). different show to above, tiny clip [x]

The Star Killers - performing (i can't figure out this song!) at Crosstown. July 5th [x]

The Star Killers - at Smith 7 House in Memphis. [x]

Wicker - Acoustic Pants (ft. JB on piano) at Avenue Coffee. July 17th [x]

Smith7 Records World Pants Tour days 1-4 (pants tour ~vlog + lil the star killers clip at the start) [x]

Smith7 Records World Pants Tour days 9-13 (two the star killers clips time stamped! second is Epilogue) [x] [x]

2015:

The Star Killers: the end of pants 2014 [x]

Julien Baker solo - Decorated Lawns at Gutterhouse in Memphis. Jan 9th [x]

Forrister - Choked Up - the Hi-Tone. late spring. [x]

Wicker at the Gutterhouse, Pants Tour. June 5th [x] (jb doing the cord around the neck thing ha!)

Forrister - Pants Tour at the Gutterhouse. June 5th [x]

-> Make Everything Right (same show, diff POV) [x]

Forrister - Pants Tour at The Warehaus. June 6th [x]

-> Pontchartrain (diff. POV) [x]

Julien Baker solo (Sprained Ankle tunes pre-release) at Nostromo Nashville. Aug 7th [x]

Forrister & Wicker - The Tour of Northern Aggression at Exponent Manor in Nashville. July 5th [x]

-> Nick Carpenter/Medium Build mention and sighting! [x]

Wicker at Castle Endor. Nov 25th (lil clip of JB talking) [x]

Swordfish (another JB band? lore unknown!) at Castle Endor. Nov 25th (it's so dark but trust me, watch the whole thing!) [x]

Forrister at Castle Endor. Dec 21st [x]

The Acorns at Castle Endor. Dec 21st (JB just hanging out in the corner occasionally speaking. also notably an og performance of Bedbugs!) [x]

2016:

Smith7 Pants Tour Video 2015:

-> snippet of Forrister, followed by JB performing with Small Fires(Fries?) (also this is obviously a different ry*n ad*ms!) and Wicker [x]

-> snippet of Forrister [x]

-> JB performing Rejoice [x]

Forrister at Yung Spotty. April 3rd [x]

Multiple performances for: Trevor's Birthday at Castle Endor. Feb 13th.

-> 'Marlins Will Soar' (JB performing) [x]

-> Forrister [x]

-> Wicker [x]

Forrister Pants Tour at Circle Music. July 12th [x] diff POV > [x]

Wicker Pants Tour at Castle Endor. July 16th (JB does some singing and then is lurking in the corner for the rest) [x]

Forrister Pants Tour at Castle Endor. Aug 6th [x]

Wicker Pants Tour at Circle Music. Aug 20th (JB crops up a few times throughout but have stamped a larger portion) [x]

Smith7 Pants Tour 2016: (vlog ft. a few JB clips and two brief Forrister clips) [x] [x] [x] [x]

2017:

Julien performing her unreleased song The Linguist in the web series 'Feral' [x] (video) [x] (audio only)

Pillow Talk Pants Tour at Finn Pablo's July 3rd. (Pillow Talk is Calvin Lauber's old band and JB sings in the studio version of their song Monogomy which is performed first. she's not in this clip i just think it's some good lore and good music) [x]

Wicker Smith7 Pants Tour w/ Church & Destroy & The Acorns at Castle Endor. June 23rd.

-> JB playing guitar on the left throughout the Wicker set until about 28mins [x]

-> JB is jessica jones? [x]

-> JB covering songs by Ryan Hailey including Bedbugs) [x] (if youre going to watch one vid watch this!)

-> same performance as above just cut into a shorter clip [x]

-> mountain dew concoction review [x]

Julien performing solo - Epilogue by The Star Killers 1884 Lounge in Memphis. Dec 1st

-> audio only: [x]

-> short video of same performance: [x]

INVOLVEMENT IN OTHER PUNK & HARDCORE SHOWS:

Julien performing solo - Boo Pristine by Wicker and transitioning into Something in Memphis. Dec 1st (audio only) [x]

2015:

Julien stage diving/screaming into the mic at a Touché Amoré show at Chain Reaction, Anaheim. Nov 1st 2015. (she opened for them at this show!) (30min mark if the stamp doesnt work) [x]

Julien's own solo performance from the above show. (THE "honesty transcends genre" show! ft. Jeremy Bolm watching in awe from side stage) [x]

2018:

Touché Amoré ft. Julien Baker - Skyscraper in Detroit. April 10th 2018 [x / x]

Touché Amoré ft. Julien Baker - Skyscraper in Nashville. May 1st 2018 [x / x]

2020:

Julien performing with Slider (Mariah Schneider's band) covering Iron Maiden. Jan 10th [x] (ive decided this is random but cool enough to include!)

2023:

Touché Amoré ft. Julien Baker - Reminders in LA at The Novo - Dec 8th 2023. (multiple POVs) [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Turnstile ft. Julien Baker - UNDERWATER BOI in Paris at Rock en Seine Aug 26th 2023 [x] [x] [x]

Struggle - Yet

PUNK & HARDCORE SONGS JB IS FEATURED ON:

(if some of these aren't technically punk or hxc...whatever!) - all available on spotify, apple and youtube. some also on bandcamp.

Horses... Ride Them Or (Great Story Garrett) - Wicker [x] (on spotify but linked yt)

Monogamy - Pillow Talk (TN) (Pillow Talk is Calvin Lauber's old band!)

Reminders - Touché Amoré [x] (lil clip of JB & Beans in the mv)

Skyscraper - Touché Amoré

UNDERWATER BOI - Turnstile

Sport of Form - The Armed

In Heaven - The Armed

Track XXIII - Fucked Up

Track IVII - Fucked Up

Track IVIII - Fucked Up

Goodbye for Now - Touché Amoré [x] (clips of JB in the mv)

HARDCORE/PUNK ADJACENT ARTISTS COVERING JB SONGS:

The Devil Wears Prada covering Sour Breath [x]

Dashboard Confessional covering Sprained Ankle [x] (also on spotify)

PODCASTS ABOUT THE PUNK & HARDCORE SCENE JB IS FEATURED ON:

Dustin Kensrue (of Thrice) covering Blacktop [x]

Turned out a Punk (on spotify too but ive just linked yt)

-> part 1 "Julien Baker from boygenius is here!" [x]

-> part 2 "Julien Baker is back" [x]

The First Ever Podcast (vocalist of Touché Amoré, Jeremy Bolm's podcast)

-> Julien Baker: Memorial-Day-Sale-at-Guitar-Centre-Riff.

[spotify] [apple] [patreon] (i think theres actually a video on patreon?? unsure, but its behind a pay wall)

#tried my best with the formatting. organised in the way i thought best so hopefully you dont find it too chaotic!#if you know of anything ive missed please lmk or just reblog and add it or put it in the replies etc :)))#or lmk if any of these links break or something #i hope people are interested and enjoy woo!!!!!!!!#julien baker #jb archives

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jikooklove9795 · 8 months ago

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JIKOOK & NOV 8th 2015

In South Korea couples have a unique and delightful way of celebrating anniversaries marking special milestones. They commemorate these milestones by exchanging personalized gifts, going on romantic dates, by wearing matching clothes or by sharing photos documenting their relationship. This is done in recognition of their continuous love and appreciation.

Now let's dive into see how Jikook celebrates a special a date in their relationship.

On Nov 8th 2015 Jikook posts their first video together on twitter

Exactly 100 days after Nov 8th 2015 Jungkook made a tweet about the importance of lyrics in a song and uploaded his cover of Nothing Like Us by Justin Bieber

One year later on Nov 8th 2016 Jimin posts a video of Jungkook and him sitting together on a plane

On Nov 8th 2017 Jungkook releases his first ever GCF. It was video documenting Jimin and Jungkook's private trip to Japan in 2017. A trip Jungkook planned and arranged as a birthday gift to Jimin

youtube

On Jan 26th 2018, which is 811 days from Nov 8th 2015 Jimin posted this pic. Do you see the black & white reference at the foot of the champagne glass? Interesting right??!!

On August 2018 BTS were in Malta filming BV Season 3.

1000 days after Nov 8th 2015 Jungkook posted a selca while in Malta at 10:13 local time which is Jimin time

And on the 1500the day from Nov 8th 2015 Jimin posts a selca at 1:50

Now before we move on let's take a moment to remember that Jimin won the Search King Challenge question where BTS had to find the 2000th day from the first episode of Run BTS. He used the NAVER Anniversary Calculator. Jungkook was not far behind. He was about to answer but lost by a few seconds to Jimin. Hoseok had no idea about the calendar while Namjoon went for Google. So, this shows Jimin often uses the calculator for finding important dates and anniversaries

Okay, now back to our main topic.

BTS PTD Seoul Concert in March 2022. And during the concert...

He said "This is Jimin from grade 2 class 3 number 15". Cause March 10th 2022 was exactly 2315 days from Nov 8th 2015.

Remember the rectangular Maison Margeila pendant which Jimin wears? He wears the one where the number 11 is encircled.

Let's take out 11 and add all the other numbers on this pendant.

10+12+13+14+15+16

And we get 80

So, what do we have

11/8

On Feb 21 2022 Jungkook posted a video on his IG highlighting 23:08 which is basically 11:08 however the story was originally posted at 1 am

On October 26th 2022 (which is 13 days after Jimin's birthday and 13 days to Nov 8th) while in Qatar Jungkook posted a pic on his IG at 11:08 pm KST

There are a myriad of references to 11/8 from song covers, song recommendations ending at the 1:18 mark to pics posted by both Jimin and Jungkook.

Both Jungkook and Jimin has shown how they are serious about these numbers relating to their relationship or those about each other. Reminds me of how Jimin started a live on Sept 1st 2023 wearing a 1997 model watch adjusted to Jungkook's birth time

Nov 8th 2024 marks their 9 years of togetherness.

So, let me conclude this post by wishing the couple a

"Happy Anniversary"

💛💜

Credits to the owner of the video

#jikook #kookmin #jungkook #jimin

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aminafatthakhova · 7 days ago

Text

Brenton Tarrant travel history

Country Arrived Departed

Indonesia 15 Apr 2014 2 May 2014 Singapore 2 May 2014 6 May 2014 Malaysia 6 May 2014 22 May 2014 Thailand 22 May 2014 28 Jun 2014 Laos 28 Jun 2014 10 Jul 2014 Cambodia 10 Jul 2014 22 Jul 2014 Vietnam 22 Jul 2014 22 Aug 2014 Hong Kong 22 Aug 2014 29 Aug 2014 Macau 29 Aug 2014 30 Aug 2014 Hong Kong 30 Aug 2014 3 Sep 2014 China 3 Sep 2014 8 Sep 2014 North Korea 8 Sep 2014 18 Sep 2014 China 18 Sep 2014 17 Oct 2014 South Korea 17 Oct 2014 13 Nov 2014 Taiwan 13 Nov 2014 1 Dec 2014 Malaysia (transit) 1 Dec 2014 1 Dec 2014 Myanmar 1 Dec 2014 29 Dec 2014 China 29 Dec 2014 28 Jan 2015

Philippines 28 Jan 2015 2 Mar 2015

China 2 Mar 2015 31 Mar 2015

Japan 31 Mar 2015 20 May 2015 China 20 May 2015 18 Jun 2015 Kyrgyzstan 18 Jun 2015 30 Jun 2015 Armenia 30 Jun 2015 12 Jul 2015 Georgia 12 Jul 2015 19 Aug 2015 Ukraine 19 Aug 2015 8 Sep 2015 Russia 8 Sep 2015 8 Oct 2015 Singapore (transit) 8 Oct 2015 8 Oct 2015 China 8 Oct 2015 29 Oct 2015 Nepal 29 Oct 2015 21 Nov 2015 India 21 Nov 2015 18 Feb 2016 Iran Unknown 17 Mar 2016 Turkey 17 Mar 2016 20 Mar 2016 Greece 20 Mar 2016 18 Apr 2016 Turkey (transit) 18 Apr 2016 18 Apr 2016 Slovenia 18 Apr 2016 4 May 2016 Hungary 4 May 2016 24 May 2016 Slovakia 25 May 2016 6 Jun 2016 Czech Republic 9 Jun 2016 17 Jun 2016 UAE (transit) 18 Jun 2016 18 Jun 2016 Australia 19 Jun 2016 16 Jul 2016 Indonesia 16 Jul 2016 12 Sep 2016 Malaysia (transit) 12 Sep 2016 12 Sep 2016 Turkey 13 Sep 2016 25 Oct 2016 Israel 25 Oct 2016 4 Nov 2016 Jordan 4 Nov 2016 10 Nov 2016 UAE 10 Nov 2016 15 Nov 2016 Oman 15 Nov 2016 24 Nov 2016 UAE (transit) 24 Nov 2016 24 Nov 2016 Ethiopia 24 Nov 2016 28 Nov 2016 Egypt (transit) 29 Nov 2016 29 Nov 2016 Greece (transit) 29 Nov 2016 29 Nov 2016 Romania 29 Nov 2016 10 Dec 2016 Greece (transit) 10 Dec 2016 10 Dec 2016 Egypt 10 Dec 2016 21 Dec 2016 Morocco 21 Dec 2016 24 Dec 2016 Turkey (transit) 24 Dec 2016 24 Dec 2016 Croatia 25 Dec 2016 28 Dec 2016 Serbia 28 Dec 2016 30 Dec 2016 Montenegro 30 Dec 2016 2 Jan 2017 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 Jan 2017 3 Jan 2017 Croatia 3 Jan 2017 31 Jan 2017 Spain 31 Jan 2017 24 Feb 2017 Portugal 24 Feb 2017 14 Mar 2017 Spain 14 Mar 2017 30 Mar 2017 France 1 Apr 2017 1 May 2017 Ireland 1 May 2017 8 May 2017 Scotland 8 May 2017 10 May 2017 Iceland 10 May 2017 20 May 2017 Scotland (transit) 20 May 2017 20 May 2017 England (transit) 20 May 2017 20 May 2017 Canada (transit) 20 May 2017 21 May 2017 Peru (transit) 22 May 2017 22 May 2017 Bolivia 22 May 2017 2 Jun 2017 Peru 2 Jun 2017 17 Jun 2017 Canada (transit) 17 Jun 2017 17 Jun 2017 England (transit) 18 Jun 2017 18 Jun 2017 Scotland (transit) 18 Jun 2017 18 Jun 2017 Kenya 19 Jun 2017 24 Jun 2017 Tanzania 25 Jun 2017 3 Jul 2017 Malawi (transit) 6 Jul 2017 6 Jul 2017 Zambia 9 Jul 2017 11 Jul 2017 Botswana 13 Jul 2017 14 Jul 2017 Zimbabwe 14 Jul 2017 17 Jul 2017 Botswana 17 Jul 2017 22 Jul 2017 Namibia 23 Jul 2017 2 Aug 2017 South Africa 2 Aug 2017 8 Aug 2017 UAE (transit) 9 Aug 2017 9 Aug 2017 Australia 10 Aug 2017 17 Aug 2017

#brenton tarrant #tcc tumblr #teeceecee #tcctwt

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hoovesandfloorpaws · 4 months ago

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manip designed by the wonderful Shay @hl-obsessed 💕

If you Reblog, please know: post is continuously under construction ⚙️ 📌 here is my TAGLIST Since everything under a Read More cut gets deleted in case a blog deletes/gets deleted, for Archive Purposes Only, I add the most important bits of the/rest of the full post and also check/update/add the source links to the best of my abilities. Sorted Old to New (I only started doing this in Nov '24, so there's quite a lot more to come!)

new and/or still being updated:

• Complete Larry Tattoo Timeline • bulletprooflarry (April 9, 2012) until 2017 - from then on by me w/ pictures & meta (last update: April '25)

• Masterpost: 700+ Louis (and Larry) gifs from 2012 + 2013 Part 1 / Part 2 • probloumatics, May 13, 2014

• A Post on being closeted • sadaveniren, Jan 8, 2023

• Masterpost: Harry wearing Louis-related things • bluewinnerangel, June 18, 2021

• It’s a Sign Language of the times • bluewinnerangel, Feb 15, 2021

• What even is this band? (funny 1D gifs) • bluewinnerangel, Feb 28, 2021

• Timeline: Harry & Louis July 17 - July 21, 2015 • skepticalarrie, Sep 6, 2020

• Timeline: 1D's extreme grind • quietasides, Aug 28, 2015

• Timeline: "Fucked in Frisco, 2012" • ohthefond, Jan 27, 2014

• Masterpost: “Even as young as you are?” Or: Harry & Louis are engaged to be married • the-love-laws, Jan 16, 2014

• Body Language and Double Talk, or: Louis is a Lying Liar Who Lied • (archived by @twopoppies!) • epicmischief, April 7, 2013

• Masterpost: Harry’s “Type” • tracedust-blog, Jan 30, 2013

• GIF Timeline: L&H in 2012 "The year their friendship ended" spoiler alert: it didn't! • quietasides, Nov 3, 2015

• Timeline: Louis' PING (iTunes) profile Jan '11 - Sep '12 • hotsauceharry, Sep 20, 2012 incl. Spotify playlist of all 630 songs he posted / bought on iTunes and here is the rebloggable post, bc the archived post itself is VERY long

• 1D Studies – Harry’s sexuality • hazzalovesboo, April 9, 2012

• Timeline: Larry at Leeds 2011 incl. loads of pictures & tweets • alarrytale, Nov 6, 2013

• August 2011: the early days of H&L's closet :( • quietasides, April 13, 2015

• Home is wherever I'm with you. (2011) • yorkshireteabagging, March 24, 2013

• Timeline: September 2010: Let’s talk about it. • bulletprooflarry, Oct 24, 2013

⛰

more continuously to come!

#under construction #do not reblog #please #elongated for archive purposes masterpost #masterpost #elongated for archive purposes #mine #do not lose

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eretzyisrael · 3 months ago

Text

David Skrbina was a senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Michigan, Dearborn from 2003 to 2018 and more recently at the University of Helsinki. While he was in Dearborn he was an active supporter of BDS, writing op-eds and being interviewed as a leading BDS campaigner on campus.

His personal webpage has a statement written soon after the October 7 attacks, saying,

STATEMENT ON PALESTINE (1 Nov 2023) I call on all people of conscience to stand with Palestine, and against the criminal Jewish state. I call on everyone to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel -- permanently. Through their criminal actions, they have forfeited their right to exist. Recall the words of Martin Heidegger: "planetary master criminals" (in Trawny, Heidegger and the Myth of a Jewish World Conspiracy; 2015: 33)

That Heidegger quote is curious. Most people believe that his writings about "planetary master criminals" refers to Jews. He elsewhere wrote about “the basis for the peculiar predetermination of Jewry [Judenschaft] for planetary criminality," which aligns with Skrbina's emphasis on the "criminal Jewish state."

This suggests that Skrbina's hate for Israel is not political but antisemitic. Now we now that is true.

The Southern Poverty Law Center reveals that Skrbina had another persona, "Thomas Dalton PhD.," who is an infamous and prolific neo-Nazi antisemitic author and Holocaust denier. The ADL describes him:

Thomas Dalton, likely a pseudonym, is an author with numerous Holocaust denial works. ...He has emerged as an unbridled antisemite and Holocaust denier, including by suggesting that “Jews caused World War Two.” He refutes that there was a master plan to murder Jews and claims only 500,000 died at the hands of the Nazis. His books include The Jewish Hand in the World Wars and Debating the Holocaust, and he has edited and/or provided introductions and commentary for numerous editions of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and other antisemitic works. He is a frequent contributor to antisemitic and Holocaust denial publications such as The Barnes Review and the Occidental Observer.

#david skrbina #thomas dalton #university of michigan #u of m dearborn #bds #university of michigan dearborn

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mcnotok · 5 months ago

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Remaking the poll because it was MESSED UP

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #fnaf 1 #fnaf 2 #fnaf 3 #fnaf 4 #fnaf world #fnaf sister location #sister location #fnaf ucn #fnaf ultimate custom night #fnaf pizzeria simulator #fnaf pizza sim #fnaf help wanted 2 #fnaf help wanted #fnaf security breach #security breach #fnaf ruin #security breach ruin

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grapejuicebluesx · 2 years ago

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS! i know this isn't super holiday focused but i was into this concept for a min. i really enjoyed spreading across years and i think this turned out super sweet!! Xx

(p.) harry styles x bff!reader

(fc.) gracie abrams

INSTAGRAM

DEC 2012

liked by harrystyles, onedirectionfan1, and others

yourinstagram merry merry from us to you

view all 69 comments

onedirectionfan2 omg harryyyyyy

yourfriend adorbs

harrystyles why is this the picture you chose? X

yourfriend2 bestiesssss

MAY 2013

liked by annetwist, niallhoran, and others

yourinstagram harry wants to say hi

view all 301 comments

gemmastyles what a dork

harryfan1 he so sweet

onedirectionfan2 I want to be his best friend

harrystyles HI x

liampayne 😎

JAN 2015

HARRY VIA STORIES

NOV 2015

liked by harrylambert, yourfriend, and others

harrystyles 90096.

view all 44,761 comments

yourinstagram very grounded of you

onedirectionfan3 YN

niallhoran love ya bud

MAY 2016

liked by onedirectionfan4, onedirectionfan2, and others

harryupdates HARRY AND YN ON VACATION RECENTLY!

view all 140 comments

onedirectionfan4 just two best friends for sure

onedirectionfan5 THIS IS BEFORE HE CUT HIS HAIR

harryfan2 LHH WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS

onedirectionfan6 i also share pda with my bff 👯

APR 2017

liked by louist91, annetwist, and others

yourinstagram here's me holding back tears over my bff making the best album 🥲❤️ HARRY STYLES ! THE ALBUM MAY 2017

view all 1,022 comments

harrystyles X

onedirectionfan7 THE BOYS ALL LIKED 😭

harryfan4 i aint ever seen two pretty best friends

harryfan3 the love they have

gemmastyles ❤️

harryfan2 YN HAS WRITING CREDIT

APR 2018

liked by harryfan1, harryfan5, and others

harryupdates YN HAS ARRIVED AT LONDON NIGHT 1 OF LIVE ON TOUR!

view all 89 comments

harryfan1 THIS IS ME I LOVE HER SHES THE SWEETEST

harryfan6 glowing 💘

harryfan7 sus 👀

DEC 2019

liked by mitchrowland, hshq, and others

harrystyles FINE LINE. THE ALBUM. OUT NOW.

view all 39,194 comments

alessandromichele 🍾

yourinstagram i love you

harryfan8 SIR ARE U TOGETHER

harryfan4 yn has writing credit on both albums now 🥹💕

annetwist my favorites 🤩

harryfan6 when he just posts her...

liked by harrystyles, niallhoran, and others

yourinstagram merry merry from my baby to you

view all 11,262 comments

harrystyles mon chéri Xx

onedirectionfan8 IS SHE THE VOICE

harryfan9 i need you to drop an album.. now.

annetwist 💘

harryfan10 they're about to own the music industry

likes, reblogs, and feedback always welcome! thank you for the love on my account recently you're the best. come say hi or leave a request (please)! lmk if you want to be tagged in the next one Xx

HAPPY HOLIDAYSSSSS

#harry styles #harry styles fake instagram #harry styles imagine #harry styles blurb #harry styles fluff #harry styles instagram #harry styles writing #harry styles fake ig #harry styles x reader #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles social media #harry styles fake social media #grapejuicebluesx #ameliestyles

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furinana · 1 month ago

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The drag icon from Japanese television that was the base for Maitreya

Turns out that the similarity to Matsuko Deluxe is a good example for illustrating how a recurring design philosophy works in Megaten.

1) Who is Matsuko Deluxe?

1.1) Overview

Matsuko Deluxe (born in 1972) is a Japanese columnist, essayist, and TV personality. Matsuko is a female persona and stage name assumed by a cross-dressing gay man. Described as plus-sized and gravely-voiced with a sharp tongue, Matsuko is a regular panelist and sometimes host in many Japanese talk shows, alongside appearing in many commercials for major companies.

youtube

Example of the type of comedy Matsuko does.

He is one of the best-known MCs in Japan, to the extent of even reaching a point of coming out almost 10 times a week hence being a broadcaster that could be seen on Japanese TV almost every night. In 2016, he ranked 3rd in Oricon's favorite MC rankings, and in 2017, he ranked 1st.

Due to the fact that he is an okama, he belongs to both male and female celebrity rankings.

1.2) Controversies and views

He believes that "people who should be on television should not be flat and mediocre, but unusual, special people." Furthermore, he has a tendency of affirming Japanese traditions and throwing remarks that disparage other countries that partake in Western culture.

He's known for his "feud" with many of Japan's female television announcers over their perceived image. Matsuko was also critical of Tokyo Prefectural Governor Shintaro Ishihara's legislation to limit the sales of manga and anime to those under 18 as well as the governor's noted disdain of homosexuality and transvestism.

2) Fan reaction within the SMT fandom

The insanity of seeing an okama TV personality as a Buddhist enemy you fight against made Maitreya one of the most well-known memes among SMTIVA fans, with many jokes and mixed reactions.

@siryu_sinkan Dec 22, 2015 "This guy named Maitreya looks so much like Matsuko Deluxe, it's killing me"

@yskimoge Nov 19, 2015 "I can't help but laugh at SMTIVA Maitreya looking completely like Matsuko Deluxe. Was Matsuko the incarnation of the bodhisattva who appeared in this world 5.67 billion years earlier…?"

@TomaadoHK Nov 18, 2015 "Maitreya's whole body is so like Matsuko Deluxe, it's so funny"

@kali1402 Nov 27, 2015 "The bust-up looked like him enough, but the whole body really just screams Matsuko Deluxe lol"

@purinpurin2012 Nov 27, 2015 "No matter how you look at it, SMT4 Maitreya is Matsuko Deluxe"

@naoya2086 Dec 2, 2015 "Demi-Fiend: 'Turns out that the Miroku* from your scripture apparently is someone like this.' Hikawa: 'ISN'T THAT MATSUKO DELUXE!!'"

*[note: Maitreya's JPN name is Miroku-Bosatsu]

@shidou1998 Jan 19, 2016 "Flynn: 'Oh, no! Maitreya is in this relic! It might be an important book!' *opening the page of Weekly Matsuko Deluxe*"

@mikloden Feb 29, 2016 "It's impressive how SMTIVA made Maitreya resemble Matsuko Deluxe and speak like an effeminate man, on top of being an enemy character that you can defeat."

@U_fort Aug 2, 2022 "I wonder if it's okay to make Maitreya's design "Matsuko Deluxe in Wicker Man style". Even Kaneko wasn't that bold."

@yosimoto1 Dec 10, 2015 "I'm not sure what to think of Maitreya looking like Matsuko Deluxe. This attitude of trying to be popular by pandering to others is not suitable for Megaten."

@asai_mot Feb 8, 2016 "Maitreya is definitely Matsuko Deluxe regardless of how you try to spin it, but Megaten always did parodies of famous people anyway."

As the last user commented, while characters like Stephen Hawking and political history figures are the most well-known examples, plenty of pop culture icons appeared in the franchise before Maitreya Deluxe was a thing (that understandably pass unnoticed by many players that don't live in Japan):

Otsuki (from SMT:If) is Waseda University professor Yoshihiko Otsuki. He was a leading authority on plasma physics, and at the time of the release of the game, he frequently appeared on TV, promoting his theory that the true identity of ghosts and UFOs is plasma. Dr. Thrill (from Devil Summoner) is Mr. BATER, one of the skits broadcast on Fuji TV's variety show "Downtown no Gotsu Ee Kanji", and is the name of the main character in the skit. Rokugoru (the Pet Shop owner in Soul Hackers) is a parody of Japanese Zoologist Mutsugorō). He starred in the program "Mutsugorō and his Happy Friends", which ran for over 20 years. "He was calm even when his finger was bitten off by a lion, when he put his face in a crocodile's mouth while smiling, or when he was choked by an anaconda and was in a desperate situation. It was natural for him when it came to licking a dog's face, eating a live slug, or drinking cow urine." A broadcast writer who knew him recalled him saying, "Even if I'm dying, I want the camera to keep rolling instead of helping me. It would be a wasted death." He also stated that he was happy even when being bitten by animals because he could understand their habits better this way.

@choco_caplico Feb 17, 2016 "Maitreya is Matsuko so his lines are also interesting as some of them contain recent parodies. I'm fond of this because even though it incorporates current trends, Megaten is Megaten no matter what the era."

By the way, in case you're not fully convinced that Maitreya was intentionally designed in resemblance to Matsuko since it wasn't directly stated in official sources...

Matsuko Deluxe was referenced in P5R.

"I was watching TV and that sharp-tongued Tatsuko Maniacs* came on…"

*[Tatsuko Maniacs (tatsuko maniakusu) = Matsuko Deluxe (matsuko derakkusu)

As any fan should know, Atlus depicts gender nonconformity very often specially through flamboyant speech and crossdressing, which exposes the heavy influence of okama comedy where Matsuko takes part in.

The frenzy fan reaction was fully intended by the developers. They wanted to cause a storm. And a storm of memes it did.

@seraph2012 Jul 3, 2017 "Maitreya taking the heroine hostage and threatening her with the powerful body of Matsuko Deluxe!"

@z2oldtimer- Jan 17, 2023 "Matsuko Deluxe calls himself "the human closest to a monster", I can't help but laugh my ass off as someone who knows that in SMTIVA there's a demon called Maitreya who looked so similar to Matsuko lol"

I bet you must be thinking now...

Why this choice to represent Maitreya?!

3) The origin behind the shape

Budai (?-917) was a legendary Buddhist monk who is said to have lived in China in the Five Dynasties period.

He was a favorite subject for ink paintings, being traditionally depicted as always smiling (hence his Chinese nickname "Laughing Buddha") and being overweight (possibly a symbol of abundance or forgiveness thus being also referred to as the "Fat Buddha").

In Japan, you can see a golden Maitreya Buddha statue in the shape of Budai enshrined in the Tennoden Hall along with the Four Heavenly Kings (known as Four Devas in SMTIV), the warriors that Nanashi fights against in order to deactivate the Tokugawa Mandala (and afterwards face Maitreya).

Although Budai looked strange, it's said he had a pure heart and the mysterious power to make people feel satisfied. There are also anecdotes about him being able to predict people's good and bad fortunes.

Budai apparently wrote the following famous piece on his deathbed:

Maitreya, the true Maitreya has a thousand hundred billion incarnations. From time to time manifested to men— Yet the men of the age do not recognize you.

This is said to have led to the spread of the legend that Budai is in fact an incarnation of Maitreya. He also left behind verses and songs, in which he preaches the importance of truth in the heart and the pursuit of a tranquil state of mind.

Budai has since been used as a figurehead by those who believe that Maitreya was born.

4) Possible associations behind the choice of Matsuko to represent Maitreya

4.1) The history of homosexuality in Japan

Kukai (774-835), posthumously called Kobo Daishi ("The Grand Master who Propagated the Dharma"), was a Buddhist monk of great influence that founded the Shingon school of Buddhism. The history surrounding his teachings is of significant relevance to SMTIVA which I'll explore in-depth in a different post

According to legends, Kukai introduced the concept of chigo (monastic homosexuality) through his teachings to Japan, which served to affirm same-sex relations between men being initially spread mainly among monks.

Male Buddhist clergy at the time took vows to avoid sexual contact with women which they considered impure. Thus practicing chigo wasn't a way of skirting their vows; rather, it often wasn't perceived as a violation at all.

["Akkanbe Ikkyu" from Sakaguchi Hisashi, a biography of the famous Buddhist monk Ikkyu.]

During the Kamakura and Sengoku periods, it became prominent among the samurai class. Francis Xavier, a missionary who brought Christianity to Japan, is said to have seen this state of affairs and said, "The Japanese openly commit sinful acts that go against the laws of nature on a daily basis." However, to the Japanese of the time, this was completely normal and even encouraged.

Even when the age of war came to an end and the Tokugawa Shogunate took over in the Edo period, the "male homosexual culture" continued. It's recorded that seven of the 15 Tokugawa Shoguns had male homosexual relations. This wasn't limited to the samurai class, but was also prominent among townspeople.

By the way, there were two main styles of male homosexuality at the time. One was when two men with a large age difference had a relationship in the form of brothers. The other was based on the idea of male superiority and contempt for women, with one man playing the role of a woman.

Journalist Umikata Masashi's article reviewed Gary P. Leupp's "Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan" book while reminiscing of his own experiences studying on the differences between the Japanese and the Western mentality:

"Why did Japan transform into a society that hates homosexuality like it is today? The author points out that 'it was due to modernization after the Meiji era.' After the period of isolation ended and many Westerners visited Japan to introduce Western civilization to Japan, Japanese male homosexual culture was criticized. The leaders of the time were concerned and changed male homosexuality into something immoral in order to conform to Western values. [...] Incidentally, when I was studying abroad, I learned in a psychology lecture why homosexuality has been banned in Christianity, which is considered the moral norm in Western civilization. In Christianity, all sex has been considered 'shady and sinful.' However, if humans didn't engage in sexual intercourse at all, reproduction would be impossible and they would die out. That is why only heterosexuality has been accepted as a 'sacred act that can produce children.' Sexual acts that do not produce children are considered sinful, not only homosexuality, but also masturbation, and even heterosexual sex using contraception such as condoms is considered sinful. But why is 'sex' considered sinful? I learned this in a lecture on global environmental issues that I took as one of my majors in international relations. It's because Western civilization is truly built on a 'challenge to nature.' Sexual desire is a natural part of human nature, and overcoming it was in line with the philosophy of 'conquering nature', which was necessary to build a civilization that was moving from hunting and gathering to agriculture." Source

4.2) The reality of LGBT in modern Japan and why Matsuko is so well-liked

From the Washingtonpost article:

"In a brightly decorated studio in central Tokyo on a recent day, Matsuko Deluxe, a co-host of the television magazine show 'Crazy About 5 p.m.', was surprised to learn of a smartphone app that alerts users before they're likely to need to go to the bathroom. A colleague ripped into Deluxe for being so technologically clueless. 'Are you making fun of me?' squawked Deluxe, who was wearing a voluminous peach-colored dress. 'You pig!' One thing made this show stand out: Matsuko Deluxe is a plus-size, gravelly-voiced, gay, cross-dressing commentator who has become a huge celebrity in Japan, a country not exactly known for being an easy place to be gay. But these days, it’s hard to turn on the television in Japan without seeing Matsuko Deluxe. He appears on shows on various channels almost every night and is in ads for Toyota and NTT, a major telecom company. And he's not alone. Mitz Mangrove is another gay, cross-dressing television celebrity, a star who trades on flamboyance. He's not without qualms; perpetuating stereotypes, he concedes, may not be the best way to bring homosexuality into the mainstream. Japan’s is a traditional society. The 'Japanese dream' revolves around education, lifetime employment and marriage. In surveys, about 5 percent of Japanese people say they are gay or lesbian, although it’s not clear how many of them are openly so. Many people do not come out because of the discrimination that ensues. 'You get a job offer only to be rejected once your company learns you are a sexual minority,' said Maki Muraki, the openly lesbian leader of Nijiiro (Rainbow) Diversity, an Osaka-based nonprofit that promotes LGBT equality in the workplace. 'At work, you get bullied by your seniors and fired, maybe for indirect reasons like not following office regulations by having hair that’s too long', Muraki said, estimating that only 10 percent of LGBT Japanese have come out to their families and even fewer are openly gay at work. But celebrities like Matsuko Deluxe [...] might be helping to break down some of barriers for LGBT Japanese. 'I like Matsuko because he’s critical and has a sharp tongue and bluntly says things that we can’t say', she said as she watched the show going on. A mother watched with her toddler, while a couple of salarymen also hung about. 'He has a venomous tongue, but it never comes across as too mean', added Kiyomi Nagashima, a 49-year-old homemaker who’d also come to peer through the window. 'I don’t know anyone who dislikes him.' The fact that he is gay and dressed as a woman was neither here nor there, she said. 'His existence is beyond a realm of gender', she said. 'I want him to become someone like a governor and represent us.' There is a boom in 'onee' stars, Mitz Mangrove said, using the Japanese word that refers to men who speak like women and are often gay or transgender, and they are treated like weirdos or eccentrics. 'We fit in a category of being obviously atypical or unusual', he said as he was having his make-up fixed. 'We are not treated as human beings. We are okay as long as we say things that are not mainstream or that are sharp or vulgar', Mangrove said. For that reason, it wasn’t necessarily a good thing for 'ordinary gay people' to be associated with cross-dressing celebrities like them. 'They might be treated as abnormal as that’s the common idea about us in the TV world', Mitz Mangrove said. 'There are many gay people who are boring, not social or don’t drink alcohol in this world but our society doesn’t accept that fact and I find that very uncomfortable'. Japanese society is 'confused' with what to make of these television personalities, said Aya Kamikawa, a representative on the Setagaya council and Japan’s first transgender assembly member. 'I don’t oppose the idea that they are selling their sexuality as their appeal,' she said of the TV hosts. 'But in reality, sexual minorities are everywhere, they can be your colleagues, friends and relatives. Right now, they’re seen as people to be laughed at or be consumed. It’s grossly lopsided.'”

5) Analyzing with in-game context

5.1) Recurrent themes in the overall series

In SMT4, there's emphasis on the concept that demons don't necessarily present themselves as their 'earliest selves' from the original scriptures. When you reflect on it further, even the concept of 'original self' of a myth is debatable, specially when things can widely vary depending on how far geographically a religion/folktale/etc. expands and when cultural erasure caused by colonialism also happens.

The ending result is what the power of influence explored in SMTIVA: myths are 'shapeshifted' by humans, both from believers that may act in accordance or not from the scriptures and from outsiders that misunderstand or demonize faiths they don't believe in, among other reasons.

Deities of prestige in ancient religions later distorting under name conflations was a theme similarly used in Strange Journey.

Important to note that distortion isn't only done under morally evil perspectives; religions are also commonly reshaped by believers in order to appeal to the masses and survive persecution.

For Megaten, you also have to include the fact that the monster designs are under the lenses of stories mostly set in Japan, so in many cases it's necessary to include Japanese biases.

Kaneko designs that explored perspectives unusual to the source material, including with pop culture references.

5.2) Understanding the Divine Powers within SMTIVA

So, with all of that in mind...

The logic that "myths reshape themselves to appeal to the masses" was applied for the Divine Powers.

Odin embodies the "alienness" of Norse mythology through the beloved extraterrestrial Tokusatsu-hero Ultraman, Maitreya is the popular TV personality Matsuko Deluxe as we cemented in this post and Krishna is a reference to the British colonization of India so he's under a "white supremacist-friendly disguise" (which I personally believe they maybe took cues from Krishnamurti considering they used Theosophist elements in SMTIV such as the White, the DLC-demon Sanat and Flynn being told he's part of 'the Fifth race').

Similar to the modus-operandi of religions in real life, they're intentionally mirroring real-life popular icons each in order to captivate and expand their influence in Tokyo.

Shesha disguising himself as the recently-turned-savior Flynn is the most explicitly conveyed example in the game.

Everything is theatrical. As Dagda himself says, it's all a farce.

YHVH demonizes all religions where he's not worshipped. In the universe of SMT4, Lucifer sticks with his role of scapegoat and never actually challenges YHVH's system of influence and demonization throughout the cycles despite his big talk of destroying the status quo.

Dagda and the Divine Powers constantly throw lines about how self-aware they are of it, to the point it becomes clear they decided to "act" seemingly under the system but then proceeding to fork themselves from Lucifer.

Final thoughts

The design philosophy of mythology works differently depending on the context that the story in question wants to depict. Because of the themes surrounding influence and how religions shape society (and vice-versa), there's an inherent necessity in visualizing demon designs of the duology not in a static bubble but as ever-changing products of an overall narrative. I commented about what I think their intent was behind Dagda's design in a previous post

In the worldbuilding presented to us, we're pushed towards reflecting on why myths exist and whether they're valid to continue to be part of the humanity. Just as much as humans crave for heroic figures to save them, for a way to push their problems onto a target, for their pain to be eased with a paradise after death and for divine punishment towards those they despise, this magical reality also gives origin to the vulnerable being taken advantage of and subjected to the same suffering they want to escape from.

Unorthodox designs ultimately aren't necessarily a reflection of the creators's preferences or full extent of their knowledge of a myth, but can also serve for indirect ways for bringing up certain aspects of the world they're inserted into.

"To me, demons were originally beings that gave humans bad knowledge. They taught them a lot of unnecessary things… For example, the truth written in the Scriptures, or demons teaching humans the way of conducting wars is what led to conflicts between countries. We included this type of ‘demon whispers’ in the so-called ‘whisper event’. [...] That is why they will not always teach you stronger skills. (laughs) I love giving games an emotional setup as well. I personally believed that the bond you have with your demon, recognising them, meant they would teach us skills in exchange. [...] it’s also great to think that in the end demons are just demons, and they would try to deceive even the protagonist, given the chance." Dengeki Online Yamai Interview about Shin Megami Tensei IV (05.2013)

#translation #smtiva #shin megami tensei iv apocalypse #shin iv apocalypse #smt iva

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