#prompt 45 2022

[reasonsforhope]

"Helio da Silva, a retired business executive from Brazil, single-handedly planted over 41,000 trees in his hometown of Sao Paulo over the last two decades.

Flying over the Brazilian metropolis of Sao Paulo, it’s tough to miss the 3.2-kilometers-long and 100-meter-wide green strip of trees wedged between two of the city’s busiest roads. It is known as Tiquatira Linear Park, and it is the work of a single man who worked tirelessly for over 20 years in order to transform a previously dilapidated area into an actual jungle within the urban jungle that is Sao Paulo. Originally from the town of Promissao, about 500km from Sao Paulo, Helio da Silva was a successful business executive for many years, but after retiring, he took it upon himself to transform the degraded banks of the Tiquatira River into a green oasis for his community. He started planting trees there in 2003 and hasn’t stopped since.

73-year-old da Silva recently told AFP that he wanted to leave a legacy to the city that adopted him decades ago. Within the first four years of his epic project, he single-handedly planted 5,000 trees in an area that had long been abandoned and known to be frequented by drug dealers and users. His impressive feat prompted the municipality of Sao Paulo to recognize his efforts and acknowledge the area as the first linear park in Sao Paulo. This only emboldened da Silva, who continued planting native trees.

By 2020, Helio had planted more than 25,047 trees over a 3.2-km-long area, achieving a survival rate of 88 percent. For every 12 trees, he planted a fruit-bearing species in the hopes of attracting birds and animals to his green oasis. His bet paid off, as according to the municipality, 45 types of birds have been identified in the park. Today, the Tiquatira Linear Park numbers over 41,000 individual trees, and Helio da Silva doesn’t plan on stopping planting until he reaches at least 50,000 of them.

“My motivation comes from the trees themselves because trees give us flowers and fruits, absorb rainwater, attract birds and provide us with wonderful shade and fresh air,” da Silva told Common Earth.

The retired executive estimates that he spent about $7,000 per year on his tree-planting efforts since 2022, but the way he sees it, it was a worthwhile investment for himself, his family and the whole of Sao Paulo. Plus, he saved a lot of money by planting the trees himself.

Once labeled as crazy for spending most of his time planting trees in an area most people avoided, Helio da Silva is now hailed as a local hero. He sometimes receives help from like-minded nature lovers, but he is still the driving force behind this amazing project. Every Sunday, he comes to Tiquatira Park to plant more trees.

Over the years, the city gym and playground equipment, tables, benches, toilets, and Tiquatira Linear Park eventually became one of Sao Paulo’s most popular areas."

-Article via OddityCentral, October 4, 2024. Video via France24, September 26, 2024.

--

Note: ONE SINGLE PERSON CAN MAKE A SUCH A DIFFERENCE

[liatkolink]

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

[contemplatingoutlander]

States caught unprepared for Trump’s threats to FEMA

FEMA is canceling plans to award states grants to help prepare against future disasters. Federal funds given to states after disasters strike could also be in jeopardy.

Torrential rain fell on Eastern Kentucky in July 2022, turning creeks into rivers that roared through the valleys and hollows, wrecking hundreds of homes and killing 45 people. Since then, the state has been trapped in a cycle of seemingly never-ending disasters, exhausting storm-weary residents in impoverished small towns. “Our families are hurting and suffering, and our businesses are being hit and hit again,” said Kristin Walker Collins, chief executive of the nonprofit Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky.

The Trump administration is doing away with FEMA bit by bit. Right now they are ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program that has provided billions of dollars in grants to states

to repair levees, elevate flood-prone homes and shore up drinking water systems. The program was built on research showing it is many times less expensive to protect against future damage from natural disasters than to pay for repairs and rebuilding afterward.

A FEMA spokesperson gave this reason for why BRIC is ending:

“BRIC was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program,” she said in a statement. “It was more concerned with climate change than helping Americans effected by natural disasters.”

This is another example of how Trump's unconscionable war on anything to do with "climate change" is going to cost American lives and far more money repairing property damage than if Trump had just continued the BRIC proactive program of shoring up infrastructure to prevent unnecessary damage during extreme weather events.

That Trump wants to live in denial about climate change won't make it go away.

But regarding FEMA, Trump doesn't want to stop there:

The president has said he wants to eliminate FEMA and shift responsibility for disaster response to the states — which experts said are unprepared to respond to catastrophic disasters without federal assistance. [...] Some emergency management experts say the president’s proposal to shift the financial responsibility of responding to those disasters to states could prompt chaos in state capitals and city governments, forcing messy political fights about how to pay for disaster relief and fund preparedness offices.

It shouldn't be surprising, that two of the three top states for FEMA aid since 2003 are red states:

Among states, Louisiana ($22 billion), New York ($17.6 billion) and Florida ($13.6 billion) received the most in public assistance funds over the past two decades, mostly for damage caused by hurricanes, according to the analysis. [color emphasis added]

Red states could be in major trouble without FEMA, since GOP legislatures typically don't believe in raising taxes for needed services. Some of those states, like Wyoming, have such small populations that they might not be able to meet state disaster relief needs on their own, even if they raise taxes.

In the light of Trump and the GOP's determination to cut taxes for the obscenely wealthy, Trump's plans to cut back on FEMA are particularly cruel.

This is a gift 🎁 link, so you can read the article without a paywall.

[mariacallous]

Baltic coastal states are stepping up their legal enforcement measures to further pressure Russia’s continued use of a so-called shadow fleet of tankers to circumvent Western sanctions and fund its war on Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Sweden and Germany joined Denmark as coastal nations that will request insurance paperwork from tankers transiting their waters or headed for the vital Danish Straits, the key chokepoint for Russia’s exports of crude oil and oil products.

While it seems like a niggling bureaucratic and paperwork measure, the lack of proper insurance (principally to pay for the cost of any oil spills) is both the biggest fear Baltic nations have of Russia’s aged and under-regulated fleet and a good indicator of nefarious activity. The idea is that ships without proper insurance—the European Union just banned a big Russian insurer that it said had been providing dubious cover for Moscow’s shadow fleet—will be added to the already large and growing roster of blacklisted vessels by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the EU. That is meant to further constrain Russia’s ability to sidestep Western sanctions on its energy sector and keep financing the war.

“If we are looking for which ones are the real problems, they would be the ones who don’t want to show their papers,” said Kristina Siig, a professor of maritime law at the University of Southern Denmark.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Western countries have slowly and often grudgingly taken steps to target Russia’s sprawling energy sector, which accounts for the bulk of the country’s government revenues. A key part of that was a price cap on Russian oil exports that would limit the Kremlin’s income while preserving global oil markets. To evade sanctions, Russia increasingly began shipping oil on illicit, unregistered, often very old vessels with dodgy flag status and questionable insurance and which frequently eschew the use of specialized navigators provided by Denmark to safely transit narrow and dangerous coastal passages. By late last year, that shadow fleet had become the primary conduit for Russia’s crude oil exports to countries such as China and India.

In fits and starts, but especially over the course of this year, the United States, the U.K., and the EU have taken aim at the specific ships that Russia relies on for its shadow fleet. With the latest EU sanctions package—its 17th since 2022 —Brussels alone has now sanctioned more than 340 vessels; a proposed 18th package would put the number above 400. With the United States and the U.K. adding another 300-plus, more than 10 percent of the global tanker fleet is now on the global watchlist.

The result has been encouraging: Russia’s revenues from fossil fuels fell in May (the latest month with full figures available) to the lowest levels since the war began. More to the point, more than half of Russian oil exports in May were carried in tankers compliant with Western requirements and thus theoretically to the $60 cap on Russian oil sales; only about 46 percent were carried on shadow fleet tankers, a big drop from the beginning of the year. (Efforts to tighten that cap to $45 a barrel floundered last month at the G-7 summit in Canada on U.S. objections.) 

Part of that shift back to regular tankers is happening because Russian oil is so cheap anyway that complying with the still-relatively high price cap means no financial pain, since Russian Urals crude sells for less than $60 a barrel. But part of it is a reflection of continued efforts to blacklist Russia’s alternative hulls.

The problem, from the point of view of Baltic states such as Denmark and Sweden, is that the tankers that continue to engage in an increasingly risky trade are on the whole older and less reliable and prompt even more fears of a catastrophic oil spill that would massively impact multiple countries in the region.

“It’s a self-created monster,” Siig said. “This trade now will appeal less and less to the risk-averse shipowners, so it will appeal to those that are not risk-averse. In a highly polluting trade, that is not what you want—you want the ‘I am wearing a belt and suspenders’ kind of people.”

That is why countries such as Sweden and Germany are, like Denmark, taking baby steps toward a more aggressive interpretation of their maritime rights, steps that seemed just a year ago to be legally risky, by interfering, however slightly, with the unfettered and innocent passage of ships through international waters. 

Russia predictably calls the new insurance requirements “piracy,” though it patently is not. But Moscow does have a point that coastal states that start to question innocent passage while they are at peace risk a slippery slope that could undermine the global rules of the waterways.

“It’s not ‘piracy,’ but that doesn’t mean there aren’t limits, and we have to be sure we don’t overstep them,” Siig said.

The whole issue is muddied by Russia’s suspected use of shadow fleet tankers to carry out sabotage activities in the Baltic, including the severing of undersea cables. (The latest alleged Russian activity, after years of jamming GPS navigational signals, seems to be efforts to jam and spoof radars used for maritime navigation, though that appears to be a shore-based effort rather than actions carried out by the shadow fleet.) While the sabotage gives European states another reason to worry about Russia’s use of shadow fleet vessels, it complicates the tidy legal arguments (such as in Article 220 of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea) about preventing oil pollution that they rely on to take actions against those vessels.

Still, more than three years into Russia’s war in Ukraine, the latest paperwork battles are a sign that European states are increasingly stepping up, even in small ways, to fill the gap left by the Trump administration’s refusal to increase sanctions pressure on Russia or to provide promised military aid to Ukraine. 

The trick is to do so without blowing up the entire legal architecture that Europe, and especially the smaller states around the Baltic, rely on for peaceful commerce and dispute resolution.

[beardedmrbean]

Authorities in Colorado on Monday were investigating what the FBI described as a "targeted terror attack" in Boulder after a man with a makeshift flamethrower shouted "Free Palestine" and set eight people aflame.

The attack Sunday afternoon prompted chaos at a pedestrian mall where protesters were calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. One of the burn victims is a Holocaust survivor, a local rabbi said.

The suspect, identified by authorities as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was taken into custody at the scene and was scheduled to appear in court Monday.

The victims, ages 52 to 88, were transported to local hospitals with injuries ranging from serious to minor, Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said Sunday. Police, in a brief statement Monday on X, said no victims had died overnight.

The Boulder attack occurred at a "regularly scheduled, weekly, peaceful event," FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek said. The attack fell on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot and came less than two weeks after two Israeli Embassy aides were fatally shot outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C.

“We stand in full solidarity with those targeted,” Michalek said of the Boulder attack. “We will continue to ensure that justice is pursued swiftly, support is provided to victims and their communities, and preventative action is taken to protect everyone’s safety.”

8 injured in Boulder: Group had gathered to support Israeli hostages

Netanyahu cites 'blood libels against the Jewish state'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday expressed solidarity with the victims who were attacked "simply because they were Jews. " He said he was confident U.S. authorities would prosecute "the cold blood perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law."

"The antisemitic attacks around the world are a direct result of blood libels against the Jewish state and people, and this must be stopped," Netanyahu said in a statement.

Soliman entered US on a tourist visa in 2022

Soliman, of El Paso County, Colorado, was taken into custody after witnesses pointed him out, authorities said. He was booked on multiple preliminary charges including first-degree murder and using explosives or an incendiary device while committing a felony.

Police said Soliman was injured in the incident and taken to a hospital to be medically evaluated before he was booked in the Boulder County jail. Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff, said Soliman overstayed a tourist visa issued in 2022.

"In response, the Biden administration gave him a work permit," Miller said in a social media post. "Immigration security is national security. No more hostile migration. Keep them out and send them back."

Multiple outlets said Soliman is an Egyptian national, including CBS and Fox News, citing unnamed sources.

FBI agents searched Soliman's home in El Paso County hours after the attack, the agency's field office in Denver said on X. Read more here.

What is a B-2 visa?

Soliman was in the United States on a B-2 tourism visa, according to Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. A B-2 visa is generally used for tourism and is issued by the State Department. In general, the visas are valid for six months and can be used for vacations, visiting relatives, medical treatment or participation in music, sports or events.

The State Department issues millions of B-1 and B-2 visas each year. B-1 visas are similar to B-2 and allow for nonimmigrants to visit for six months for conferences and business reasons.

Soliman entered the United States in August 2022 and his visa expired in February 2023. In addition, McLaughlin wrote on X that Soliman applied for asylum in 2022. That claim was likely still pending. As of March, the immigration court backlog was around 3.6 million cases, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.

Holocaust survivor among the wounded

Rabbi Israel Wilhelm, the Chabad director at the University of Colorado Boulder, told CBS Colorado the 88-year-old victim is a Holocaust refugee who fled Europe. Wilhelm described the woman as a "very loving person."

Chany Scheiner, a friend of the victim, told KUSA-TV the woman is an “amazing."

"She has spoken at our synagogues as well as other synagogues and schools just about her background and the Holocaust and from her own perspective,” Scheiner said. “Her life wasn’t easy, but she is just a bright light. And anybody who is her friend is a friend for life.”

Antisemitic hate crimes on the rise in US

The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the U.S. and around the world over Israel's military campaign in Gaza. The war has dragged on for 20 months, since the Hamas attack on Israeli border communites that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw more than 250 others dragged across the border into Gaza as hostages.

The conflict has fueled antisemitic hate crime in the U.S. Reports of incidents of antisemitism rose for a second year in a row in 2024, according to an annual report released by the Anti-Defamation League in April.

The controvery also has prompted supporters of Israel, including President Donald Trump, to brand peaceful, pro-Palestinian protests as antisemitic.

Who is Mohamed Soliman? FBI raids home of suspect in Colorado terror attack

Responding officers found victims with burn wounds

Earlier Sunday, Boulder dispatch received several calls to the county courthouse at around 1:26 p.m. local time, Redfearn said. Initial reports indicated that there was a man with a weapon, and people were being set on fire at the scene. 

Responding officers encountered multiple victims who were injured with wounds consistent with burns and other injuries, Redfearn said.

[turkweek]

FFVII Turk Week 2023

Turks. The Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department. The Department of Administrative Research. Whatever you call them, they know who you are, and what you’re doing there. You don’t want to be on their bad side, and unless they’re working for you, you don’t want them following you, not that you’d notice them unless they wanted you to. They’re an interesting bunch, full of secrets, their own and others. Below we have the list of prompts. Feel free to be as creative with those as you want to, and take your time working on your entries, but please don’t forget to post them on the right date if you can. (But remember, late is better than never!) Don’t like the prompts, or need MOAR PROMPTS? Make up your own! Or pull from a previous year! The 2022 post here also has links to the previous years as well.

This year our prompts are special thanks to case-of-traxits. Thanks so much for submitting, and for sharing the Turk love. <3

Nov 10 - Day 1. Unauthorized Disclosure / Compromise / "It's strange what desire will make foolish people do."

Nov 11 - Day 2. Intelligence / Secrets / "Why do you smile like you've been told a secret?"

Nov 12 - Day 3. Dead drop / Exchange / "Refuse is our inspiration; terrorism is our trade."

Nov 13 - Day 4. Evasion & Escape / Runaway / "Run me down and race away from me."

Nov 14 - Day 5. Human Source / Confidential Informant / "You've got such a fetching smile, but my what sharp teeth."

Nov 15 - Day 6. Multi-Level Security / Safeguarding / "Dirty my hands, steady my feet; send out the message."

Nov 16 - Day 7. Surveillance / Security / "Staring down the barrel of a .45"

Bonus prompts for switching out or mixing in:  Cipher / Puzzle / Classified / Deception / Handbook / Electronic Warfare / Downtime / Bar / Sparring / Alcohol and/or Cigarettes / Self-Medication.

Please remember to include the week’s tag (ffviiturkweek) within the first 5 tags or else we might be unable to find your work! We will NOT accept/reblog anything containing Character/Ship Hate, so avoid including those in your entries. Also don’t repost anyone else’s work as your own! You are welcome to reblog other’s posts, but credit where credit is due. You can submit your works on AO3 to the event collection at https://archiveofourown.org/collections/TurkWeek And if you have any questions, don’t be afraid of sending an ask, or messaging the mod (link in the blog menu sidebar). We hope it turns out to be a fun event for everyone!

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Published: Jun 16, 2025

Iran's regime is often described as decaying, corrupt, bankrupt and despised by its citizens. Is it about to collapse? Israel’s shock-and-awe campaign continues relentlessly: on June 16th it said it had “full air supremacy over Tehran”. Cars have streamed out of the city in recent days (pictured below). Its shops are shuttered. On social media some Iranians have celebrated the assasination of their generals with emojis of barbequed meat. The humiliation illuminates the failure of the regime’s military strategy and, some hope, may trigger an uprising or a coup d’état, in turn creating chaos or national renewal. Yet Iran’s default is to defy its aggressors, not to capitulate. And an extended war with large civilian casualties could act to rally public opinion in an intensely nationalistic country, allowing the regime to survive and redouble its efforts to race for a bomb.

Iran’s internal weakness has encouraged attacks before. Some 45 years ago, amid its post-revolutionary disarray, Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s president, started the Iran-Iraq war. It lasted eight years and killed hundreds of thousands. Far from weakening the Iranian regime it strengthened its leadership and the grip of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the regime’s political militia. Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, wants Iranians to rise up. “The time has come for the Iranian people to unite around its flag,” he has proclaimed. His operation, “Rising Lion”, has evoked the pre-revolutionary flag of the Shah and the Persian symbol of kingship in its centre. Iran International, a satellite channel in London, beamed his appeal into people’s homes.

The chasm between Iran’s rulers and ruled is as great now as it was when Iranians toppled the Shah in 1979. Israel’s dazzling assault has left Iran’s leaders reeling and exposed their incompetence. Despite warnings, they were not prepared—“a paper cat”, mocks a stockbroker. In Israel missile attacks are met with sirens and instructions for people to seek shelter. Iranians get no such warnings. Israel’s success in assassinating the regime’s commanders in their bedrooms could only have happened with the help of insiders at the highest level, revealing the extent of disloyalty. Cronyism and paranoia course through the regime’s core. Some liken the stench of decay to that of the effete Qajars, who were unseated when Reza Pahlavi, then an army officer, staged a coup, founded a new dynasty and set Iran on a course of modernisation exactly a century ago.

The authorities are trying to calm nerves with a business-as-usual approach. Street parades to mark the feast of Eid al-Ghadeer, which began on June 14th, have taken place as usual. Yet there are plenty of signs of dissent. After the initial strikes a few people draped themselves in the Israeli flag, passing around celebratory cakes. Young Iranians have derided the dead generals as “enemies of the people” for killing some 500 protesters who in 2022 called for freedom from their rulers’ religious constraints. Israel’s killing on June 13th of Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the air-force chief, prompted cheers online; he never apologised for his role in shooting down a passenger jet full of Iranian students in 2020. Reflecting its desperation, the government has restricted access to social media countrywide.

Mr Netanyahu seems to be following the template used to cripple Hizbullah, an Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon, in 2024. After eliminating Iran’s military command, he may now turn to its political leadership. The resulting power vacuum, some Israelis hope, could lead to an internal struggle among competing factions of regime insiders, spiralling regional fragmentation or even a popular revolt in Iran’s big cities, the scene of periodic large-scale protests, most recently in 2023.

The trouble with this prognosis is that after the initial shock of what one observer called Iran’s “Pearl Harbour moment”, the regime has recovered some of its poise. Within 18 hours of the first strikes, a new tier of commanders had fired hundreds of missiles at Israel’s cities, though the numbers have been decreasing each day. To ordinary people the appeal of an uprising has limits. Several times in the past two decades Iranians have tried, only to be beaten back: the regime might be weak, but its people are weaker. The protest movement lacks a leader or a common agenda. Older generations cling to the mantras of death to enemies and the Shia ideology of martyrdom in the face of external aggression. If Israel’s strikes inflict a greater humanitarian toll by, say, cutting off Tehran’s water or power in the stifling summer, the mood among younger rebels could turn. A rising civilian death toll may trigger patriotism. “Iran’s independence should not be sacrificed because of hatred of the Islamic Republic,” Ali Afshari, a student who led protests against the regime, said after a second day of attacks.

If the protesters lack coherence, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader (pictured above), has recently tried to shore up his own ranks. Rivalries between hardliners and reformists had threatened to split his regime, but a year ago he orchestrated the election of Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist physician, as president. Decisions to relax the veil, embrace negotiations with America and seek investment from it brought some reformists back on board. This month one of the most ardent, Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, the daughter of an ex-president and political prisoner, endorsed Mr Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, as his successor. She likened him to Saudi Arabia’s autocratic moderniser Muhammad bin Salman.

Mr Khamanei’s recent sermons have been chilling. “We will show them no mercy,” he said of Israel on June 13th, referring to the “evil, despicable, terrorist Zionist identity”. But he also has hinted that whoever or whatever might replace him could make things worse. His successors might abandon his fatwa against nuclear weapons that has prevented Iran from breakout, warn his advisers. A different leader, a military commander or a monarch, might rush to a bomb and wave the nationalist card. After all, it was the Shah who pushed forward Iran’s nuclear programme in the 1970s. Mr Khamanei suggests that his exit could spark violent struggles between the regime’s competing clusters of clerics, democratic reformists and the armed forces. Separatists might resurface in Kurdish and Azeri provinces, as after the fall of the Shah. A civil war is possible, as in Syria and Iraq, a prospect that terrifies many Iranians.

All this means that the mockery of the regime that followed Israel’s opening salvo is turning to fear for the country. Iranians share anonymous maps online of Tehran’s neighbourhoods slated for evacuation ahead of an Israeli attack. “It feels like we’re the only ones left,” says a carer after Israel struck the state broadcasting station close to her home. The authorities have begun rationing petrol. With no clear alternative leadership and ever more fearful, Iranians increasingly wonder if they are better off sticking with what they have. Yet an entrenched regime with nothing to lose could pose an even greater threat to its foes, neighbours and citizens.

[ Via: https://archive.today/QzTLi ]

==

On social media some Iranians have celebrated the assasination of their generals with emojis of barbequed meat.

🍖🥩

Gotta love the Iranians.

Reminder: the Islamic Regime is not Iran. Iranians are Iran.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

CNN 3/29/2025

Elon Musk says he sold X to his AI company

By Lisa Eadicicco, CNN

Updated: 6:36 PM EDT, Fri March 28, 2025

Source: CNN

Elon Musk on Friday evening announced he has sold his social media company, X, to xAI, his artificial intelligence company. xAI will pay $45 billion for X, slightly more than Musk paid for it in 2022, but the new deal includes $12 billion of debt.

Musk wrote on his X account that the deal gives X a valuation of $33 billion.

“xAI and X’s futures are intertwined,” Musk said in a post on X. “Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach.”

Musk didn’t announce any immediate changes to X, although xAI’s Grok chatbot is already integrated into the social media platform. Musk said that the combined platform will “deliver smarter, more meaningful experiences.” He said the value of the combined company was $80 billion.

Musk has made a slew of changes to the platform once known as Twitter since he purchased it in 2022, prompting some major advertisers to flee. He laid off 80% of the company’s staff, upended the platform’s verification system and reinstated suspended accounts of White supremacists within months of the acquisition.

While X’s valuation is lower than what Musk paid for the social outlet, it’s still a reversal of fortunes for the company. Investment firm Fidelity estimated in October that X was worth nearly 80% less than when Musk bought it. By December, X had recovered somewhat but was still worth only around 30% of what Musk paid, according to Fidelity, whose Blue Chip fund holds a stake in X.

The news also comes as Musk has been in the spotlight for his role at the Department of Government Efficiency in the Trump administration, which has raised questions about how much attention he’s paying to his companies, particularly Tesla. Combining X and xAI could allow Musk to streamline his efforts.

Musk has also been working to establish himself as a leader in the AI space, a big focus for both the Trump administration and the tech industry. Earlier this year, he led a group of investors attempting to purchase ChatGPT maker OpenAI for nearly $100 billion, another escalation in the longtime rivalry between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

It’s unclear precisely how the acquisition will benefit Musk’s AI ambitions. But the tighter integration with X could allow xAI to push its latest AI models and features to a broad audience more quickly.

A significant reversal of X’s fortunes

Big advertisers, who had largely abandoned X after hate speech surged on the platform and ads were seen running alongside pro-Nazi content, have begun to return. (X made several pro-Nazi accounts ineligible for ads following advertiser departures.) Amazon and Apple are both reportedly reinvesting in X campaigns again, a remarkable endorsement from two brands with mass appeal.

The brand’s stabilization helped a group of bondholders, who had been deep underwater in their investments, sell billions of dollars in their X debt holdings at 97 cents on the dollar earlier this month — albeit with exceedingly high interest rates — according to several recent reports.

Bloomberg in February reported that X was in talks to raise money that would value the company at $44 billion. It’s not clear what came of those talks and why xAI is valuing X at less than it could reportedly fetch from investors. X needs to pay down its massive debt load, which Musk on Friday said totals $12 billion.

A big part of why X’s valuation has rebounded in recent months is xAI, which X reportedly held a stake in. Last month, xAI was seeking a $75 billion valuation in a funding round, according to Bloomberg.

But the biggest factor in X’s stunning bounce-back is almost certainly Musk himself: Musk’s elevation to a special government employee under President Donald Trump has empowered the world’s richest person with large sway over the operations of the federal government, which he has rapidly sought to reshape.

Investors betting on X are probably making a gamble on its leader, not its business. Last year, Musk turned X into a pro-Trump machine, using the platform to boost the president’s campaign. In posts to his 200 million followers, he pushed racist conspiracy theories about the Biden administration’s immigration policies and obsessed over the “woke mind virus,” a term used by some conservatives to describe progressive causes.

And now, with Trump back in office and Musk working in the executive branch, X has once again become the most important social media platform for following and interacting with the Trump administration. Musk has also used X to broadcast some of his changes with his Department of Government Efficiency.

This story has been updated with additional context and developments.

See Full Web Article

Go to the full CNN experience

© 2025 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

[mandsleanan]

“The past few decades have shown that societal norms don’t look the same as they used to, and millennial women played a major role in that shift,” said Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Intuit Credit Karma. 

“As a result, women today aren’t tethered to the timelines set by those before them, as many choose to prioritize their careers above being young mothers. In some cases, that means prolonging family planning until they become more established in their careers, while others don’t see children in their future at all. Regardless, both camps are highly influenced by money and the high costs associated with conceiving and raising children.”

(Text under cut.)

America’s vision of success is changing. Once upon a time, U.S. adults may have aspired to have a nuclear family, their name on a property, and maybe even a white picket fence.

Not anymore—at least, not for a growing number of millennial and Gen Z women who are prioritizing their careers and finances over having children.

New research from personal-finance experts Intuit Credit Karma found 45% of millennial women are not following the “traditional” societal timelines of getting married, buying a home, and having kids.

A further 41% of Gen Z women—those born from 1997 onwards—say they won’t follow this path, with 32% noting their goal is to have no children at all.

Instead, they want to be “DINKs”—having dual income with a partner but no children.

It’s part of a growing trend in the U.S. In 2022 there were 38.1 million married, childless households—an increase of 140% compared with 1960.

DINK couples Fortune spoke to previously said their choice was prompted by a range of reasons: pursuing passions, financial freedom, or a focus on their careers.

These factors were all the more pronounced in Credit Karma’s report. It found a quarter of American women are delaying having children in order to focus on their careers, a figure that correlates to the number of women who earn more than their partners.

While jobs and careers form one major reason why women aren’t having children right now, another is financial situation and savings.

For the 35% of millennial women who told Credit Karma they didn’t want children, money was often a significant factor: 40% of that group said they couldn’t afford children, compared with 35% of Gen Zers planning to be DINKs.

On top of that, getting a plan in place to potentially have children in the future comes with a hefty price tag. Nearly one-third of the millennial women surveyed said that the eye-watering sums which come with fertility treatment, egg freezing, adoption, and surrogacy are what has kept them from family planning.

“The past few decades have shown that societal norms don’t look the same as they used to, and millennial women played a major role in that shift,” said Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Intuit Credit Karma. 

“As a result, women today aren’t tethered to the timelines set by those before them, as many choose to prioritize their careers above being young mothers. In some cases, that means prolonging family planning until they become more established in their careers, while others don’t see children in their future at all. Regardless, both camps are highly influenced by money and the high costs associated with conceiving and raising children.”

Economic power players

The importance of millennial women in the economy is only going to get more pronounced in the coming years, according to Ned Davis Research (NDR).

Last month, a study titled The Rising Influence of Millennial Women found prime-age female job participation rate hit record highs in a handful of developed economies in 2023.

Among the nations where women are now having an outsize impact on the economy are the U.S., Australia, Japan, Italy, South Korea, and Germany.

This increased participation comes with higher levels of education, NDR chief economist Alejandra Grindal and senior analyst Patrick Ayers found, with women therefore more likely to be employed in productive roles.

Grindal explained the correlation between education, employment, and productivity, writing: “The unemployment rate tends to be lower among people with higher education, which helps explain the greater take-up of women in the workforce. People with greater education are also more likely to have full-time jobs and to be employed productively.”

[ititledit]

Solace Women’s Aid cites a document released in 2013, stating reports of domestic abuse rise by 38 per cent when England men’s team loses at a major tournament. While researchers at Warwick Business School discovered in 2022 abuse and violence by partners increased by 47 per cent on the day England won a World Cup or European Championship match.*

How to make a silent 999 call**

If you're in danger, call 999 and try to speak to the operator if you can, even by whispering. You may also be asked to cough or tap the keys on your phone to answer questions.

Call 999 from a mobile

If you don't speak or answer questions, press 55 or tap when prompted and your call will be transferred to the police.

Call 999 from a landline

The police will usually be able to find your location.

If you don't press 55 or respond, your call could be ended.

If you don't speak or answer questions and the operator can only hear background noise, they'll transfer your call to the police.

If you replace the handset, the landline may remain connected for 45 seconds in case you pick it up again.

Calling 999 from a landline automatically gives the police information about your location.

*https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/england-football-domestic-abuse-survivor-b2578241.html

**https://www.met.police.uk/contact/how-to-make-a-silent-999-call/

[hpsnooze]

Prompts are here! 🛌 💤

Check out the 50 sleep-tastic prompts for HP Snooze Fest 2023! Prompts are separated into categories. You can either scroll through all of them in the collection on AO3 or click on the direct link to each prompt below.

Prompts can be claimed once, more than once, or none at all. You may also fulfill multiple prompts with one work. To do this, simply hit 'Claim' on whichever prompts you want. When creating a new work, you will have the option to check multiple 'Open Claims' in the 'Fulfill a Claim' field.

The collection is open for submissions, but all works will remain hidden until the posting period starts on Oct 1. For more info, please see the Rules post on Tumblr.

-

😴 Page 1: Magic, Dream, Night, Action

1. Sleeping Draught 2. Draught of Living Death 3. Potion for Dreamless Sleep 4. Stupefy! Reenervate! 5. Sleeping Beauty Curse 6. Sweet dream 7. Nightmare 8. Lucid dreaming 9. Dream sharing 10. Daydreaming 11. Sleep-walking 12. Sleep paralysis 13. Night demon 14. Night shift 15. Insomnia 16. Yawn 17. Faint 18. Whisper 19. Snore 20. Cuddle

😴 Page 2: NSFW, Type, Item, Location

21. Morning sex 22. CONsensual somnophilia 23. NON-CONsensual somnophilia 24. Dream sex 25. One night stand 26. Cat nap 27. 8 hours 28. Light doze 29. Deep slumber 30. Coma/hibernation 31. Pillow/blanket 32. Pyjamas 33. Plushie 34. Socks 35. Sleep mask 36. Hammock 37. Windowsill/ledge 38. Sofa 39. Beach 40. Cabin in the woods

😴 Page 3: Media, Miscellaneous

41. While You Were Sleeping (1995) 42. Monsters, Inc. (2001) 43. Inception (2010) 44. Awake (2021) 45. The Sandman (2022) 46. Alarm 47. Music/ASMR 48. Narcolepsy/hypersomnia 49. There was only one bed! 50. SELF PROMPT

-

Quick Links

Have a question? Ask us!

AO3 Collection: HP Snooze Fest 2023 (hpsnooze2023)

Rules & Schedule: Rules on Tumblr

[nainad123]

Emergency Drones Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Forecasts 2033

According to Fact.MR, a market research and competitive intelligence provider, the global emergency drone market is valued at USD 4,885 million in 2023 and is projected to grow at a robust CAGR of 13.1% from 2023 to 2033.

Drones have become indispensable in critical situations, with their connectivity capabilities significantly enhancing their versatility. This allows them to access remote areas, making them invaluable for emergency response and rescue operations. As the demand for drones in emergency services continues to rise, their role in saving lives and solving complex problems is driving substantial growth in the emergency drone market.

Download Sample Copy of This Report: https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=8162

Key Takeaways from Market Study

The global emergency drone market is expected to grow at an impressive CAGR of 13.1%, reaching a market value of USD 16,729.8 million by 2033.

Between 2018 and 2022, the market recorded a growth rate of 11.6% CAGR.

In terms of drone type, rotary-wing emergency drones led the market, with a projected value of USD 2,623.2 million in 2023.

In 2022, North America and Europe held dominant positions in the market, with 30.1% and 31.4% market shares, respectively.

By end user, the disaster management application is expected to account for 23.1% of the market share in 2023. Additionally, hybrid-wing type emergency drones are expected to gain a significant share, accounting for 25.4% of the market in 2023.

“The Sales of Emergency Drones Will Increase in South Asia & Oceania Region in the Forecast Period” says a Fact.MR analyst.

Market Development

The growing demand for emergency drones, coupled with increased government investment in disaster response management programs, has prompted numerous industries, research institutions, and start-ups to focus on developing these technologies.

The Asia region, home to several key manufacturers in the emergency drone market, presents significant growth opportunities. However, the market faces challenges due to increasing regulatory stringency imposed by governments. To maximize returns, emerging market players may need to shift their focus to developing countries such as India, Canada, Germany, and others, where there is ample potential for growth and less regulatory pressure.

Competitive Landscape

Around the globe, companies and government agencies are increasingly adopting UAS technology to enhance medical and emergency response efforts. Manufacturers are focusing on various marketing strategies, such as collaborating with first responders, utilizing connected infrastructure, and launching endorsement programs, to facilitate the widespread adoption of drones in emergency services.

In May 2023, RattanIndia Enterprises Ltd., the flagship company of RattanIndia Group, acquired a 60% stake in Throttle Aerospace Systems, a Bengaluru-based drone manufacturing startup, as part of its new-age growth initiatives.

In April 2021, AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc., a U.S.-based drone technology firm, acquired Measure Global Inc., an award-winning aerial intelligence solutions company, in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately USD 45 million.

Fact.MR has recently published a report offering detailed insights into the price points of leading emergency drone manufacturers across regions, along with information on sales growth, production capacity, and potential technological developments.

Read More: https://www.factmr.com/report/emergency-drones-market

Manufacturers

3D Robotics

AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc

Asteria Aerospace

ATMOS UAV

Autel Robotics

Ayaan Autonomous Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Delair SAS

DJI

Draganfly Innovations

General Aeronautics

General Aeronautics Pvt. Ltd.

Guangdong Syma Model Aircraft Industrial Co. Ltd

Hubblefly Technologies Pvt Ltd

IIO Technologies

Segmentation of Emergency Drones Industry Research

By Type :

Fixed Wing

Rotary Wing

Hybrid Wing

By End Users :

Police & Homeland Security

Fire Departments

Healthcare / EMS

Defense

Disaster Management

Others

By Drone Type :

Consumer/Civil

Commercial

Military

By Region :

North America

Latin America

Europe

East Asia

South Asia & Oceania

MEA

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭:

US Sales Office 11140 Rockville Pike Suite 400 Rockville, MD 20852 United States Tel: +1 (628) 251-1583, +353-1-4434-232 Email: sales@factmr.com

[cogitoergofun]

Shareholders of embattled airplane maker Boeing approved a pay package of nearly $33 million for outgoing CEO Dave Calhoun at the company’s annual general meeting on Friday.

That’s the highest package ever paid to the company’s CEO and a 45% increase from the $22.6 million he received for 2022. The vast majority of the bump comes from a giant stock bonus granted on top of his more-than-a-million-dollar salary.

Calhoun, who has led Boeing since 2020, announced in March that he will leave the company by the end of the year.

The shareholder vote on Friday was made to approve Calhoun’s 2023 pay package. Calhoun has said he declined to accept an additional annual incentive bonus of $2,800,000 for the year – a request the board said he made after the Alaska Airlines incident.

Upon his retirement, Calhoun is set to take home another going-away present: a $45 million mix of stock awards and options that vest over time.

The approval comes as the plane maker is facing additional scrutiny for a series of safety incidents, including a mid-air blowout of part of a fuselage in January, which prompted a number of investigations into the company’s practices, an executive shakeup and promises that the company will turn itself around.

Boeing has been struggling financially for five years, since fatal crashes of its 737 Max in late 2018 and early 2019 resulted in a 20-month grounding of its best-selling plane. It was also hit by the pandemic, which caused a near-halt in air travel for months and deep losses at most airlines that buy its planes.

“Our compensation program is designed to align leadership pay with the long term performance of our business,” said Steve Mollenkopf, Boeing’s new chairman, when asked how the company can justify such a high compensation package given recent safety grievances. “It’s really driven by meeting our commitments to the highest safety and quality standards.”

Since the start of the grounding in 2019 the company has reported adjusted losses totaling more than $31 billion, and losses are projected to continue going forward.

[anadorablack]

Fic stats meme

Thank you so much @film-in-my-soul for the tag! I'm not used to being tagged for such things, and it made me curious to see my stats. ;)

most hits: [21,259 hits] Summer's not that bad after all (Top Gun: Maverick - Hangster; Rooster/Hangman - 31 chapters) A collection of prompts I did over August 2022 that ended up being a coherent-ish story about our favourite idiotic pilots. I'm always in awe that it's the most read thing I've ever written. XD

second most kudos: [1,176 kudos] The mandatory 5+1 fic (Top Gun: Maverick - Hangster; Rooster/Hangman - one-shot) When this fandom was still not a common tag on AO3, we made do with what we had, and I had a lot of fun writing this. ;)

third most comments: [119 comments] A girl she once told me I'd be happy again... (Top Gun: Maverick - Hangster; Rooster/Hangman - 8 chapters) One of the first stories I wrote for these two. Fake-dating always works, and I'm quite proud of the level of pining I managed to make them suffer through. :P

fourth most bookmarks: [295 bookmarks] The mandatory 5+1 fic (Top Gun: Maverick - Hangster; Rooster/Hangman - one-shot) From someone who expresses her love for someone's fics by bookmarking them, THANK YOU. <3

fifth most words: [69,423 words] Sunsets and Dawns (Once upon a time - Outlaw Queen; Regina Milles/Robin Hood - 45 chapters) One of the stories I'm most proud of. This was a work of love all round. There was a time when I wrote booklength fics. XD

fic with the least words: [671 words] We made it! (Top Gun: Maverick - Hangster; Rooster/Hangman - one-shot) A celebration of the day we became a common tag. <3

tagging my faithful @barnes-brain, @fuddlewuddle and @redfurrycat. <3

[teecupangel]

The finale of August MegaPosting Celebration something-something (I don't remember what I called it anymore) is up! We have...

The latest chapter of Eagle of Alamut

The second chapter of A Welcoming Darkness (aka: the 10k+ Desmond POV sequel to the 'serial killer' AU)

The first chapter of a new fic called Möbius (probably the most self-indulgent fic I've written to this day XD)

And the series Teecup Tumblr Fic Ideas/Requests/Prompts has been updated with all the posts from November 2022. The last poll had "just put them all in separate works so you don't have to think about it XD" won by 45% sooooo... they're all posted in separate works now. I did change the publication date to the date they were posted or updated in tumblr :)

[turkweek]

FFVII Turk Week 2024

Since last year was a bit of a bust, we're reusing the excellent prompts from case-of-traxits for our new date as we "redo" the event. You are of course welcome to use your own new prompts as well.

Turks. The Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department. The Department of Administrative Research. Whatever you call them, they know who you are, and what you’re doing there. You don’t want to be on their bad side, and unless they’re working for you, you don’t want them following you, not that you’d notice them unless they wanted you to. They’re an interesting bunch, full of secrets, their own and others. Below we have the list of prompts. Feel free to be as creative with those as you want to, and take your time working on your entries, but please don’t forget to post them on the right date if you can. (But remember, late is better than never!) Don’t like the prompts, or need MOAR PROMPTS? Make up your own! Or pull from a previous year! The 2022 post here also has links to the previous years as well.

Mar 24 - Day 1. Unauthorized Disclosure / Compromise / "It's strange what desire will make foolish people do."

Mar 25 - Day 2. Intelligence / Secrets / "Why do you smile like you've been told a secret?"

Mar 26 - Day 3. Dead drop / Exchange / "Refuse is our inspiration; terrorism is our trade."

Mar 27- Day 4. Evasion & Escape / Runaway / "Run me down and race away from me."

Mar 28 - Day 5. Human Source / Confidential Informant / "You've got such a fetching smile, but my what sharp teeth."

Mar 29 - Day 6. Multi-Level Security / Safeguarding / "Dirty my hands, steady my feet; send out the message."

Mar 30 - Day 7. Surveillance / Security / "Staring down the barrel of a .45"

Bonus prompts for switching out or mixing in:  Cipher / Puzzle / Classified / Deception / Handbook / Electronic Warfare / Downtime / Bar / Sparring / Alcohol and/or Cigarettes / Self-Medication.

Please remember to include the week’s tag (ffviiturkweek) within the first 5 tags or else we might be unable to find your work! We will NOT accept/reblog anything containing Character/Ship Hate, so avoid including those in your entries. Also don’t repost anyone else’s work as your own! You are welcome to reblog other’s posts, but credit where credit is due. You can submit your works on AO3 to the event collection at https://archiveofourown.org/collections/TurkWeek And if you have any questions, don’t be afraid of sending an ask, or messaging the mod (link in the menu sidebar). We hope it turns out to be a fun event for everyone!