#v: main (janet)

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Donald Padgett at The Advocate:

Maine’s attorney general filed a lawsuit on Monday asking a federal judge to lift President Donald Trump’s pause on education funding to the state. The pause was announced last week by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins as part of Trump’s Title IX interpretation disallowing transgender student-athletes to play sports aligned with their gender identity. The state claims the pause is withholding funds used to feed school children and disabled adults, contrary to promises from the USDA and Rollins. Attorney General Aaron M. Frey said the state’s Child Nutrition Program of the Maine Department of Education was unable to access federal funds used to feed children and adults with disabilities and asked the court to grant a temporary restraining order releasing the federal funds. “Without federal funds, state employees who administer school food programs will be laid off, food providers will not be able to purchase food or pay staff to prepare and serve food, and schools will not be reimbursed for meals they provide,” Frey said in a statement released yesterday. “In short, children, as well as some vulnerable adults, will go hungry.” Frey was unsparing in the lawsuit, saying Rollins sounded “more like a hostage taker seeking a ransom payment than a cabinet-level federal official." Rollins was equally confrontational in her letter to Gov. Janet Mills on announcing the pause. “You cannot openly violate federal law against discrimination in education and expect federal funding to continue unabated,” Rollins wrote in her letter dated April 2. “Your defiance of federal law has cost your state, which is bound by Title IX in educational programming. Today, I am freezing Maine’s federal funds for certain administrative and technological functions in schools. This is only the beginning, though you are free to end it at any time by protecting women and girls in compliance with federal law.”

The lawsuit came after news was announced on Friday that the U.S. Department of Education had launched a Title IX Special Investigative Team to investigate the state’s transgender student-athlete policies.

Happy to see Maine sue over the Trump Regime’s punitive funding freeze aimed at Maine over its trans-inclusive student athlete policies.

See Also:

Erin In The Morning: Trump Defunds School Lunches In Maine Over Transgender People

[rivalsunraveled]

@ofspvrta from x

Janet tilts her head, leaning against the doorframe for a moment, watching Kassandra. She’s certainly struggling with the concept of teamwork, even though she’s been brought onto the Avengers. But she’s hardly the first person to have to learn how to count on a team. Even people who’ve been on teams for a long time sometimes have moments where they feel like they have to do everything alone.

“Who said anything about stopping?” Janet asks, shrinking down and flying near Kassandra shoulder. “But I’m coming with you.”

[firejugglinghobo]

" i’m probably about as stubborn as you are. " (janet or robin)

@nabaidhean-neonach

Dustfinger bit his tongue to keep back a sharp retort.

I don't need your money and I don't want your charity. Do you see me asking for a handout?

But the truth was that he did need the money, and it was only his pride that stopped him from seeking help. It had been raining for almost a week, which made business not only slow but next to impossible and put an ache in his back that reminded him that sooner or later age would rob him of his ability to sleep soundly on any cobbled sidewalk or wooden bench.

So he pasted a conceding grin across his thin lips and accepted the cash pressed into his palm.

"Then I suppose I'll save us both the time and effort and yield."

[mothhball]

Dark! Tom (from the party) has had a thing for Janet and Bill’s barely legal neighbor for so long. So at their party, while everyone else is drunk and too oblivious, Tom follows her outside and ((;

THE PARTY FAVOR

DARK!TOM X FEM!READER

summary Tasked with congratulating Janet in your parent's name, you head over to hand over a party favor. But a bottle of champagne isn't the only thing that's being thirsted over tonight.

warnings Tom is a little gross in this lmao. But it's Dark!Tom, so what do you expect 🥴💦 Big age difference!! (Reader is freshly 18, Tom is in his late thirties) P in V , unprotected, hints of drug use, foul language, alcohol consumption, cheating

notes Whoops, this got a little longer than I planned! my last little gift before I go on vacation lmao <3 tysm for requesting this, anon! I had fun writing this! Please turn a blind eye to any mistakes, I'm tired aaaaa

! MINORS DNI !

main masterlist • taglist • kofi word count: 2.9k

“God, I haven’t seen you in years.”

You tense up at the voice, turning around to stare at a familiar face. You were just in the middle of hyping yourself up to even knock on the door when said door opened, leaving you unprepared and caught off-guard like a deer in the headlights. But it’s not the person you expected. No, instead of the expected Janet, her friend April is staring back at you, throwing a wrench into your plans. See, you’re here on a mission. A mission with easy instructions.

Your parents left a bottle of champagne and a greeting card on the counter before they went to the theater, asking you to head over to your neighbors Bill and Janet to congratulate them on Janet’s ministerial appointment. But now, you’re already going off-course.

“April… lovely to see you,” you smile at her, nodding down towards the gift you brought. But before April can respond, Janet’s voice can be heard from inside.

“Who is it?”

“Your neighbor. The little one. Well, not so little anymore.” April gives you a once-over, not even pretending to be cordial with you. In a way, it’s admirable of her. She never bends over backwards to please people, and she definitely has no trouble speaking her mind. If only she wasn’t such a fucking hater.

Janet joins her in the doorway, looking at you with an expression that’s both relieved and distressed. If you’re the deer in the headlights, she’s the deer that has already made acquaintance with the hood of a bulky SUV.

“Oh, what a surprise. I didn’t expect you to come over, honestly. So lovely to see you. How are your parents?” Janet begins, raising her voice a little to drown out an argument that’s happening inside. You can see the forced smile, the exhaustion in every line on her face. And then, to both April’s and your surprise, Janet invites you inside with a wave of her hand. This wasn’t the plan. Not at all. You’re supposed to hand over the bottle and card and leave. Leave. Going inside the damn house definitely wasn’t part of your instructions.

“Uhm… Look, Janet, if this is a bad time –“ You try to decline, only to be cut off by the hostess of the party.

“No, no. Don’t be silly. Please, come in.” She notices your skeptical glance past her into the house, realizing that, despite her best efforts, you must’ve heard the last syllables of the argument that happened in the living room. Still, Janet puts on a brave face, desperate to play the part of the overjoyed, newly elected minister. The silence between you drags on for a few more seconds before she steps aside to make the invitation even more clear.

“Please,” she repeats, and this time it sounds like a plea you’re too polite to ignore.

The house feels off. You've been over a few times before, and the place has never once felt this… depressing. The living room reeks of misery, and you get the feeling that you stumbled into something you shouldn't be a part of. But now you're here, still clutching the bottle of champagne and the greeting card. There's a little stain on the red envelope, caused by your clammy hands digging into the paper, but you just assume that Janet won’t care.

You’re proven right when she takes the gift from you, only to immediately set the card aside in favor of opening the bottle of champagne. As she pours enough glasses for everyone, she tentatively tries to make conversation.

“I heard it was your birthday? You’re 18 now, aren’t you? God, what an age… So young. And so full of joy…” she trails off for a moment, and you witness in real time how her expression falls and twists into something pained and dejected. Then she catches herself and clears her throat, quickly replacing her sullen demeanor with something more cheerful. A typical politician.

“Well, happy belated birthday.”

Everyone else is stuck in their own thoughts, quietly muttering their congratulations, and you’re once again reminded why you never join the celebrations whenever your parents receive an invitation from Janet. You grace the group with a tight-lipped smile, downing your glass of champagne and accepting a refill.

The slam of the bathroom door almost causes you to drop your drink, and as you look up, you’re met by the sight of Tom stomping back into the room. You pause, unable to stop your eyes as they rake across his form, taking in the tension that has captivated every cell in his body. His forehead is covered by a thin layer of sweat, and his usually neat hair is tousled, plucked apart by skittish hands. You also don’t miss the way he hurriedly rubs the tip of his finger over his gums.

Tom clears his throat, straightening his ridiculously expensive suit jacket as he approaches you, and he meets your gaze with a look of recognition in his baby blues. Out of everyone in this dreadful group of characters, it’s him you get along with the most. At least you did, back when you last spoke and the air didn’t feel as thick as fucking tar. Something about Tom’s arrival only causes the tension to worsen, and you flinch as Janet’s hand lands on your shoulder.

“And your parents? Going on vacation, are they?”

You blink at her, taking a moment to digest the absolute whiplash this entire situation is giving you. This feels hellish, in a way. As if you’ve wandered into your own spinoff of Dante’s Inferno, desperate to crawl out of this ring of hell and back to your room to try and forget this ever happened.

“Yeah… They’re leaving for Italy in two days. Turin. For three weeks.”

Janet nods, looking absent as you answer the question she asked in the first place, and you awkwardly sip on your glass as she starts a new topic without acknowledging your response. You can feel Tom seething next to you as Janet speaks, radiating a nasty energy that’s seemingly directed at the host, sitting not too far away on a chair in the middle of the room. Tom’s jaw clenches, and you can practically hear how his teeth grind together.

Finally, he snaps.

“Are we going to pretend that nothing happened? Are we seriously going to pretend that Bill didn’t fuck my wife?”

The room immediately falls silent, and your eyes almost pop out of your head. So that was the topic of the earlier argument. You look at him, and he scoffs, turning away from the group.

“God, I –“ He cuts himself off, running his hands through his hair and down his face as if he’s trying to wipe the turmoil and exhaustion off his skin. Obviously, to no avail. “I need some air.”

Some minutes pass, and you feel incredibly out of place as another argument starts within the group, only getting worse with every glass of champagne—and now wine—that’s being chugged by everyone involved. You clear your throat, trying make yourself known.

“I should go as well. Uhm… it’s been nice. Congrats again, Janet.”

The woman in question doesn’t even notice that you’re slinking away from the party, too busy glaring daggers into her husband while Bill is talking about Marianne, Tom’s beautiful wife. Good lord, you’ve never felt more relieved to leave someone’s home.

Outside, you march through the small backyard, heading straight to the little gate that separates your property from your neighbor’s, and you’re almost back within your comfort zone when a voice stops you.

“Hey. Come… Come here for a moment.” You look over your shoulder, spotting Tom as he’s leaning against the wall next to the dustbins, head in his hands. Torn between your desire to leave and the empathy you feel for the man, you hesitate for a breath before you approach him.

“Are you alright? I can’t imagine…”

Without answering, Tom lifts the lid off one of the dustbins, revealing a gun sitting pretty among the trash. You can feel the blood draining from your face, and you recoil, breath hitching within your throat.

“Jesus Christ – “

“Shh, shh! I know. Just –“ Tom cuts himself off, raising his hands in an effort to calm you down. When you’re just looking at him instead of running, he lets out a sigh of utter devastation. “You know I can’t do this. And I won’t, but... I… I found out this morning that Bill…”

He shakes his head, unable to finish his sentence, and your heart twists a little as you see the tears welling up in his eyes. In an attempt to comfort him, you reach out to set a gentle hand on his shoulder, which causes him to crumble even more. Tom lets out a choked scoff, shaking his head as his anger grows alongside the grief and disappointment.

“And I’ve always been faithful! I never cheated on Marianne! Even though I’ve had plenty of opportunities! Even… God, even with you around, I’ve always… always kept a grip on myself.”

He sniffles, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, before he meets your eyes again, and you startle. There’s still anger in his eyes. But another emotion has joined in as well, filling his gaze with something dark and hungry that causes you to pull your hand back again.

Suddenly, you’re very aware of your situation.

“I’m sick of pretending. Sick of denying myself. I’m a man too, god damnit.”

He’s quick to snatch you, wrapping his arm around your waist to pull you in against his frame. You know you should struggle. You should tell him off. But you’d be a liar if you claimed that he had never once crossed your mind late at night. Tom is the kind of man who inspires your hands whenever you touch yourself. His face is the one you imagine hovering above yours when you’re knuckle-deep in your pretty little pussy.

“Wait, I –“ You try to speak, but he’s quick to maneuver you up against the wall, pressing you against brick and mortar and trapping you in place with his body.

“No. I’ve waited long enough.” He grits his teeth, catching both your wrists to pin them behind yourself over the small of your back and hold them in place with one of his larger hands. “Do you know how hard it was? To see you prancing around… I was always scared you’d have a boyfriend when you turned 18. Lucky me.”

You swallow hard, letting out a squeak as his free hand reaches around to pull up your shirt and bra, revealing your soft skin to the mild air and his eager fingers. Tom rolls one of your nipples between his pointer and thumb, tugging the hardening bud before he moves onto the next one, and you can hear how shaky his breath is getting as he continues to grope your tits. You squirm at a particularly harsh tug, causing him to press you up further against the wall, immobilizing you completely as he undoes his belt and zipper.

His deft hands take care of your jeans and panties next, opening them and pulling them down as much as he needs to gain access to your sweet cunt.

“Tom…” you whine, feeling the head of his cock brushing up against your dripping slit. He grunts in response, not bothering to hear you out as he sinks his length into your velvety folds, causing his breath to shudder against the shell of your ear. You wince, letting out a soft noise of discomfort as he pushes deeper, rolling his hips against yours to set a shallow rhythm.

“You can take it. Look at how fucking wet you are. You’ve thought about this before, haven’t you?”

You want to protest, but right as you open your mouth, he aims a rough thrust up against that delicious sweet spot within your cunt, luring a filthy noise from your lips that only spurs him on even more. Tom still has your arms restrained, picking up the pace of his thrusts as he stretches you open on his cock, getting your tight walls used to his girth.

His fingers push into your mouth, middle and ring pressing down on your tongue to make you gag and whimper simultaneously. Every time he shoves his fingers deeper, your body tenses and drool dribbles down your chin, right onto your exposed tits. It’s rough and fast, overwhelming you in more ways than one. Tom grunts into the crook of your neck, panting against your skin like a man possessed only by the desire to claim, to mark, to own.

The wedding ring still sitting around his finger clinks against your teeth, and you cringe, letting out a soft whine of discomfort that’s quickly shushed by the man behind you.

“Shh… Just be a good girl for me, yeah? Fuck, you squeeze my cock so well when you gag on my fingers…”

He pounds his hips against yours in quick, deep thrusts, fucking his cock into your cunt at an angle that makes your toes curl and your knees buckle. In that moment, you’re grateful that he chose to take you against the brick wall since you’re heavily relying on the structure and Tom’s grip on you to stay upright.

“And you’re so sweet… You don’t care about my job, right? No, you don’t. You’re not like Marianne. Always being so fucking sentimental on her high horse.”

He spits out the words, silencing any further comments from himself by sinking his teeth into your shoulder. The rhythm of his thrusts quickens as he chases his high, and his hand finally releases your wrists to instead reach between your thighs to rub insistent circles around your clit. The sudden jolt of pleasure draws a wail from your lips, and Tom pulls his fingers free from your mouth to instead stifle any noises more effectively with the palm of his hand. His mouth is next to your ear, allowing you to hear every rasp of his breath and the subtle whine of his voice.

“You’re going to cum for me, right? You’re going to finish nice and quietly like a good girl on my cock, hm? Yes, you are.”

He uses his grip over your jaw to make you nod, and he hums in approval as he meets your hazy eyes. Slowly, the pace of his fingers on your clit builds into a crescendo, and his gaze never once strays away from your face. Like a man dying of thirst, Tom drinks in every twitch in your expression, every breathy groan that’s muffled by his hand. He leans in to rest his forehead against yours right as you cream all over his length, twitching while he fucks you through your climax. Groaning, he removes his hand from your jaw to hold onto the flesh of your hips, pistoning into your fluttering cunt even faster, harder, more desperately.

Finally, his thrusts grow erratic, and he pulls out of you at the very last second, reaching for your panties to shoot his thick cum all over the soft fabric. Tilting his head back, he swallows hard as he milks himself dry with a few more pumps of his hand before he releases his grip on you. You slump against the wall, trying to catch your breath while Tom straightens out his appearance.

“This was… worth the wait,” he pants out, reaching into his pocket to pull out a marker. He kneels down, holding onto your knee, while he writes his phone number on the inside of your thigh, marking your skin with the black ink.

“Text me when your parents are in Venice. Or Turin. Or wherever the fuck they’re going.”

You nod back at him, whispering a small "alright,"  which makes him pause. He gets back up to his feet, pressing a quick kiss to your temple before he takes off his wedding ring and drops it into the dustbin right next to the gun. Your eyes meet again, and his expression softens for a split second before he leaves to get back into the house, throwing himself back into the dreadful party and leaving you behind to walk back home with shaky legs and sticky underwear.

Two days later, your parents finally leave for their trip. You follow them to the doorstep, watch with baited breath as luggage is crammed into the family car and the GPS is set up. Then, after the exchange of hugs and goodbyes; after your mom hands you 50 quid as an extra allowance and she waves to you out of the window as your dad starts the motor, they drive off and leave you alone. The house feels dreadfully empty as you close the door and lean against the frame. A minute goes by. Then another.

Eventually, you reach for your phone and open the contact you shouldn’t have saved.

“I’m home alone.”

Sent. Received. Read. For a moment, there’s nothing. You bite the nail of your thumb, grappling with the possibility that he regrets what happened and is now trying to avoid you. And maybe that would be for the best. Maybe you’d be able to move past it and make peace with the fact that you’ll never be able to feel those hands on your skin again. But then those little dots pop up. He’s typing. He’s responding.

“Good girl. I’m coming over.”

@ellebelleshelby @cilliansprincess @mcumorningstar @x0xomady @mandies24

@detroitbecomevenom @pretty-bluebird @ink5ouls @flwrs4aust @vampmary1411

@ashdrinksoatmilk @nnattu @ptolemaniac @kiss-me-cill-me @celebrities-imagines

@hanawrites404 @ilovetoxicfictionalmen @nocturnest @biblicallyaccuratebee @red-riding-wood

@luvlloyd @smxkyqvxrtz @bloodandglitter207 @rosiemarieyn @sagepixie

@paradiseprincesss @vegasisthinking @ilovedottore @cillianslvt @strangeobsessed

@ryecosse @ribbonystar @calicoartie

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

All the Black Femmes ♤ Generation V

(Season 1)

Jaz Sinclair: Marie Moreau

Miatta Lebile: Jackie Moreau

Maria Nash: Annabeth Moreau

Jaeda Leblanc: Young Marie Moreau

Saida Ali: Party Planner Janet

Mikalah Reid-Beckette: Stretchy Freshman

Because there’s no super important Black female characters on The Boys, y’all probably didn’t know that I watch it. But, this spin off has a main and I truly adore her and wish for her absolute best.  

[kramlabs]

A tale of Two Sovereigns, a Lackey and a Nanny

PEPE ESCOBAR WEDNESDAY 8 MAY 24

The NATOstan lackeys will remain dazed and confused. So what; lackeys lack strategic depth, they just wallow in the shallow waters of irrelevancy.

Startling mirror images swirl around two major developments this week directly inbuilt in the Grand Narrative that shapes my latest book, Eurasia v. NATOstan, recently published in the U.S.: Xi Jinping’s visit to Paris and the inauguration of Vladimir Putin’s new term in Moscow.

Inevitably, this is a contrasting tale of Sovereigns – the comprehensive Russia-China strategic partnership – and lackeys: the NATOstan/EU vassals.

Xi, the quintessential hermetic guest, is quite sharp at reading a table – and we’re not talking about Gallic gastronomic finesse. The minute he sat at the Paris table he got the Big Picture. This was not a tete-a-tete with Le Petit Roi, Emmanuel Macron. This was a threesome because Toxic Medusa Ursula von der Leyen, more appropriately defined as Pustula von der Lugen, had inserted herself in the plot.

Nothing was lost in translation for Xi: this was graphic illustration that Le Petit Roi, the leader of a third-rate former Western colonial power, enjoys zero “strategic autonomy”. The decisions that matter come from the Kafkaesque Eurocracy of the European Commission (EC), led by his Nanny, the Medusa, and directly relayed by the Hegemon.

Le Petit Roi spent the whole of Xi’s Gallic time babbling like an infant on Putin’s “destabilizations” and trying to “engage China, which objectively enjoys sufficient levers to change Moscow’s calculus in its war in Ukraine”.

Obviously no pubescent adviser at the Elysee Palace – and there’s quite a crowd – dared to break the news to Le Petit Roi about the strength, depth and reach of the Russia-China strategic partnership.

So it was up to his Nanny to volunteer out loud the fine print on the “Monsieur Xi comes to France” adventure.

Faithfully parroting Treasure Secretary Janet Yellen in her recent, disastrous Beijing incursion, the Nanny directly threatened the superpowered hermetic guest: you are exceeding in “over-capacity”, you are over-producing; and if you don’t stop it, we will sanction you to death.

So much for European “strategic autonomy”. Moreover, it’s idle to dwell on what can only be described as suicidal stupidity.

Steadfastly defending a debacle

Now let’s switch to what really matters: the chain of events leading to Putin’s lavish fifth inauguration at the Kremlin.

We start with the chief of GRU (main intelligence department) of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Admiral Igor Kostyukov.

Kostyukov, on the record, actually re-confirmed that right on the eve of the Special Military Operation (SMO), in February 2022, the West was ready to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia in Donbass, just as before the Great Patriotic War (Victory Day, incidentally, is celebrated this Thursday not only in Russia but also across the post-Soviet space).

Then the ambassadors of Britain and France were called at the Russian Foreign Ministry. They spent roughly half an hour each, separately, and left without addressing the media. There were no leaks about the reasons for both visits.

Yet that was more than obvious. The Foreign Ministry handed the Brits a serious note in response to David “of Arabia” Cameron’s babbling about using British long-range missiles to attack the territory of the Russian Federation. And to the French, another serious note on Le Petit Roi’s babbling about sending French troops to Ukraine.

Immediately after this compounded NATO babbling, the Russian Federation started drills on the use of tactical nuclear weapons.

So what started as a NATO verbal escalation was counterpunched not only with stern messages but also an extra, clear, stern warning: Moscow will regard any F-16 entering Ukraine as a potential carrier of nuclear weapons – regardless of its specific design. F-16s in Ukraine will be treated as a clear and present danger.

And there’s more: Moscow will respond with symmetric measures if Washington deploys any ground-based intermediate-range nuclear missiles (INF) in Ukraine – or elsewhere. There will be a counterpunch.

All that happened within the framework of astonishing Ukrainian losses in the battlefield over the past two months or so. The only parallels are with the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and the first Gulf War. Kiev, between dead, wounded and missing, may be losing as many as 10,000 soldiers a week: the equivalent of three divisions, 9 brigades or 30 battalions.

No compulsory mobilization, whatever its reach, can counter such debacle. And the much-advertised Russian offensive has not even started yet.

There’s no way the current U.S. administration led by a cadaver in the White House, in an electoral year, is going to send troops to a war that from the beginning was scripted to be fought to the last Ukrainian. And there’s no way NATO will officially send troops to this proxy war, because they will be minced into steak tartare in a matter of hours.

Any serious military analyst knows NATO has less than zero capability to transfer significant forces and assets to Ukraine – no matter the current, grandiloquent Steadfast Defender “exercises” coupled with Macron’s mini-Napoleon rhetoric.

So it’s Ouroboros all over again, the snake biting its own sorry tail: there was never a Plan B to the proxy war. And at the current configuration in the battlefield, plus possible outcomes, we’re back to what everyone from Putin to Nebenzya at the UN have been saying: it’s over only when we say it’s over. The only thing to negotiate is the modality of surrendering.

And of course there will be no sniffin’ sweaty sweatshirt cabal in place in Kiev: Zelensky is already a “Wanted” entity in Russia, and in a few days, from a legal standpoint, his government will be totally illegitimate.

Russia aligns with the world majority

Moscow has to be fully aware that serious threats remain: what NATOstan wants is to test the strategic capability of hitting Russian military, manufacturing or energy installations deep within the Russian Federation. This could be easily interpreted as a last shot of bourbon at the counter before the 404 saloon goes down in flames.

After all, Moscow’s response will have to be devastating, as already communicated by Medvedev Unplugged: “None of them will be able to hide either on Capitol Hill, or in the Elysee Palace, or on Downing Street 10. A world catastrophe will happen.”

Putin, at the inauguration, was cool, calm and collected, unfazed by all the hysterical incandescence across the NATOstan sphere.

These are his main takeaways:

Russia and only Russia will determine its own fate.

Russia will pass through this difficult, milestone period with dignity and become even stronger, it must be self-sufficient and competitive.

The key priority for Russia is safeguarding the people, preserving its age-old values and traditions.

Russia is ready to strengthen good relations with all countries, and with the world majority.

Russia will continue to work with its partners on the formation of a multipolar world order.

Russia does not reject dialog with the West, it is ready for dialog on security and strategic stability, but only on an equal footing.

All that is supremely rational. The problem is the other side is supremely irrational.

Still, a new Russian government will be in place in a matter of days. The new Prime Minister will be appointed by the President after the Duma approves the candidacy.

The new head of the Cabinet must propose to the President and the Duma candidates for deputy prime ministers and ministers – except for the heads of the security bloc and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The heads of the Ministry of Defense, FSB, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Emergency Situations and Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be appointed by the President after consultations with the Federation Council.

All ministerial candidacies will be submitted and considered before May 15.

And all that will happen before the key meeting: Putin and Xi face to face in Beijing on May 17. Everything will be in play – and on the table. Then a new era starts – outlining the path towards the BRICS+ summit next October in Kazan, and the subsequent multipolar moves.

The NATOstan lackeys will remain dazed, confused – and hysterical. So what; lackeys lack strategic depth, they just wallow in the shallow waters of irrelevancy.

[mariejordans]

Do you have any TV show recs with really good romances?

oh boy, do i! one thing about me? i’m gonna watch a show for the romance subplot. but also this is such a broad topic, i’ll try to narrow it down into two categories: show recs with romance as a main plot, or at least a good majority of the plot, and show recs with romantic subplots that aren’t the main focus! so without further ado…

starting with the former:

bridgerton. i know there’s a lot of mixed feelings about this show, a lot of them are definitely valid, and while the first season romance is kinda meh (and questionable), the second season makes up for it completely imo. i was obsessed with kanthony for a good few months after s2 came out, just because the chemistry between the actors was just so potent and explosive. it’s a true enemies to lovers trope if i’ve ever seen one and it’s just so well done imo

one tree hill. early 00s cheesy teen dramas are kind of my kryptonite and oth is probably the king teen drama of all imo. i wouldn’t say the romance is the main plot of most of the show (and not a lot of the romance is great 😭), but it is a major plot point of a lot of the seasons. i’m recommending this for one reason and one reason only: nathan and haley. it’s a classic popular guy x nerd girl and they get together after she starts tutoring him in secret and i just love what their relationship turned out to be. haley is a badass and i Love her and naley basically raised me, so that’s why it’s here :)

doom at your service. honestly, i could recommend quite a few kdramas, bc a lot of them do have what i consider “true” romantic main plots, but i thought i would narrow it down to one. it’s about this young woman who has an extremely shitty day and wishes on a shooting star for the world to end, not knowing that the spirit of Doom himself is actually listening. idk how else to describe this show honestly, the main couple between the young woman and Doom is just soooo so so so good, it’s so sweet and very romantic, i just really can’t recommend it enough.

as i was starting this list, i realized i didn’t have very many true romance shows so let’s move onto the next category, which are the romantic subplots 😭

marvel’s runaways. i think i would maybe recommend this show before everything else just because it has a lot of similarities to gen v and the romantic subplots are *chef’s kiss*. i LOVED karolina and nico, one of my favorite wlw ships, and i also really loved gert and chase as well. it did, unfortunately, get cancelled pretty early but still well worth the watch imo.

agents of shield. another marvel show, honestly one of their most underrated shows. i’ve never really been super interested in the mcu, but i loved some of the older, adjacent tv shows (aos, runaways, CLOAK & DAGGER.) my favorite romantic subplot in this show is fitzsimmons, one of my FAVORITE friends to lovers ships, i think the way they were developed was so perfect, had just the right amount of pining, angst, and slowburn. i also love mackelena and may and coulson!

the wilds. okay, so i have a complicated relationship with this tv show, but just know that s1 is AMAZING. shelby and toni are another one of my fave wlw ships and don’t even get me started on leah and fatin…they weren’t a crackship, it was real to ME. i don’t wanna talk about s2, but s1 is definitely worth the watch.

anne with an e. gilbert and anne. that’s all i have to say. if you liked the rivals to lovers aspect in limoreau, you’ll love shirbert. also, it’s just a very cozy and comforting watch.

the good place. this show had me fucked up but in a good way. the romance between eleanor and chidi isn’t the main focus, but i think it adds so much to the characters development and to the plot of the show. even the crackships are good, tahani and eleanor had great chemistry, and jason and janet were just hilarious.

alchemy of souls. another kdrama and i want to preface this by saying kdramas, especially costume dramas like this one, can be super hard to get into. they’re very long (episodes can go up to an hour and a half) and often veeeery slow, but it’s TOTALLY worth it in my opinion because this show has one of my favorite romances EVER. that first season ending? oh it’s so good. i binged this in like a week and i couldn’t watch anything for a while after because i couldn’t stop thinking about it.

mozart in the jungle. probably the most obscure show on this list, and FARRRR under appreciated. as a classical musician who is currently studying music in university, this show was right up my alley when it came out. the romance between hailey and rodrigo is slow and a bit subtle at first but they were such a fun and dysfunctional duo that somehow fit together perfectly. they just got each other perfectly, imo. the ending left me heartbroken a bit, but i’ve since come to realize it was the best possible ending they could’ve given us and i’ve made peace.

ALRIGHT THAT’S IT THAT’S THE LIST (pt. 3)

i had fun making this! anon, i hope you find that one of these shows works for you and also that you still think i have great taste after 😭

[pierre-hector]

Extase vs|et|ou Kundalini

Témoignage de Laurent qui a vécu deux extases qu’on qualifierait aujourd’hui comme étant un état modifié de conscience (1).

Reportage présentant une série de témoignages au sujet de l’éveil de la kundalini dont celui de Tiphaine Bonnet (2).

Tant Laurent que Tiphaine parlent “d’explosion” et de “montée”, d’amour. Laurent rencontre Jésus, Tiphaine ressent un jaillissement de lumière blanche-électrique dorée au dessus de la tête… et un peu plus tard, elle attribue son expérience à Dieu. Dans les deux cas, une guérison s’opère, tant physique que psychique. Quant à Yoann Cholet, il parle de percement du cœur qui évoque les extases de Thérèse d’Avila.

Thérèse d'Avila

En 1560, Thérèse d'Avila vit ce que l’on appellera la “transverbération de sainte Thérèse” : un ange lui apparaît et transperce son cœur d’un “dard d’or”.

“J’en ressentis une douleur si vive que j’en gémis, mais en même temps si délicieuse que je voulais ne la voir jamais finir.” (In « Vie écrite par elle-même »). » (3)

Wikipedia parle de « lame d’or » :

« Je vis un ange proche de moi du côté gauche… Il n’était pas grand mais plutôt petit, très beau, avec un visage si empourpré, qu’il ressemblait à ces anges aux couleurs si vives qu’ils semblent s’enflammer… Je voyais dans ses mains une lame d’or, et au bout, il semblait y avoir une flamme. Il me semblait l’enfoncer plusieurs fois dans mon cœur et atteindre mes entrailles : lorsqu’il le retirait, il me semblait les emporter avec lui, et me laissait toute embrasée d’un grand amour de Dieu.

La douleur était si grande qu’elle m’arrachait des soupirs, et la suavité que me donnait cette très grande douleur, était si excessive qu’on ne pouvait que désirer qu’elle se poursuive, et que l’âme ne se contente de moins que Dieu.

Ce n’est pas une douleur corporelle, mais spirituelle, même si le corps y participe un peu, et même très fort. C’est un échange d’amour si suave qui se passe entre l’âme et Dieu, que moi je supplie sa bonté de le révéler à ceux qui penseraient que je mens… Les jours où je vivais cela, j’allais comme abasourdie, je souhaitais ni voir ni parler avec personne, mais m’embraser dans ma peine, qui pour moi était une des plus grandes gloires, de celles qu’ont connues ses serviteurs. » (4)

« On n’a jamais si bien décrit l’orgasme… Ce qui lui vaudra, dans les années 1920, d’être qualifiée de grande hystérique à tendance épileptique par le psychiatre Pierre Janet. […] Des analyses graphologiques ont depuis décrit une personnalité vivant une contradiction tragique : d’une part, une aspiration à jouir de la vie, de la nature, de l’action ; d’autre part, la conviction que Dieu seul pouvait répondre à ces aspirations. Toute sa vie marquée par de nombreuses maladies psychosomatiques, Thérèse aura été déchirée entre ces deux pulsions. » (3) « Le neurologue Gilles Huberfeld, spécialiste en épileptologie, est d’avis que les extases de sainte Thérèse d’Avila s’apparentaient en réalité à des crises épileptiques impliquant le lobe temporal droit. Cependant, cette hypothèse n’explique pas la blessure observée au cœur lors de son autopsie (réalisée selon les procédures médicales en vigueur au XVIe siècle) à la suite de son décès, et à l’époque identifiée comme étant liée à sa transverbération. » (4)

— (1) Chaîne Youtube « Ignis », « TÉMOIGNAGE CHOC - MALTRAITÉ, JÉSUS L'EMMÈNE AU PARADIS », pub. 16 mars 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk8l87CeIVU (cons. 7 mai 2025). (2) Chaîne Youtube « Yoann TV Conscience », « AU COEUR DE LA KUNDALINI (Témoignages) », pub. 10 oct. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiOHja3q-Mg (cons. 7 mai 2025). (3) http://www.psychologies.com/Culture/Maitres-de-vie/Therese-d-Avila (cons. 28 mai 2017). (4) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th %C3  %A9r %C3  %A8se_d %27Avila (cons. 28 mai 2017).

[rubberduckrobin]

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞 😎

[Eventually this post will get a snazzy update but for now it's staying like this]

Pronouns: Any! (they/he preference)

My current obsessions: Alien Stage!! (Weige AHHHHH), Stardew Valley, Foxes.

Character I relate to: Leviathan from Obey Me!

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Character(s) I'm currently obsessed with: Till from ALNST, Burnice from ZZZ, Veresa from GI and Lucifer from OM!

Currently reading: TBHK recent volume (not chapter, I don't read online because I like to wait)

Currently watching: Weige (ALNST) over and over and over again.... and finally making my way through Demon Slayer.

Currently playing the most: Stardew Valley! My obsession is back after a long, long break.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Favourites:

Favourite animal(s): Cats & sharks.

Favourite plant: Angel Wing.

Favourite flower: White roses or Tulips.

Favourite music genre: Melodic metal and other music genres within V-Kei.

Favourite band: I.C.D.D <333

Favourite animes: Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun, Death Note & BSD

Favourite manga: TBHK and My Love Mix-Up!

Favourite character(s): Luke, Lucifer and Barbatos from Obey Me. Kaveh (+ many more) from Genshin Impact. Elliott from Stardew Valley. Janet from The Good Place. Legolas from LOTR. Red velvet cookie from CRK...IT'S SO HARD TO CHOOSE JUST ONE CAN'T I HAVE THEM ALL??!!@!!?!

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.���☾⋆⁺₊✧

Genshin Impact info: 

Note: I am not giving away my UID or accepting friend requests. Sorry :/

My main: Keqing, since 2021, when I first started playing.

Most recent 5 star: I actually can't remember, I think I got

My main account five stars: Jean, Qiqi C2, Keqing C1, Tartaglia, Albedo, Xiao, Hu Tao, Ayaka, Yoimiya, Shenhe, Neuvillette, Xianyun, Tighnari, Nahida, someone I can't remember and I can't be bothered to check 😭

Hoping to get: Ganyu, Dehya, Raiden, Kokomi (since 2021…), Cyno (since 2022), Ayato, Xilonen, Al Haitham, Mizuki, Veresa & Lyney.

Just wished for: Ganyu :( bae come home please it's been years

Currently saving for: Kaveh please come back please please please I need you on my main please please

Also new character, Veresa!

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Thank you for reading about me I guess lol :)

Final note: I'm still getting used to online interaction (or any interaction at that) so if I ever ignore you or anything, I'm so sorry!!

(Last updated: 28th February 2025)

🇹​​🇺​​🇲​​🇧​​🇱​​🇷​ ​🇲​​🇦​​🇸​​🇹​​🇪​​🇷​​🇱​​🇮​​🇸​​🇹​

​🇦​​🇧​​🇴​​🇺​​🇹​ ​🇲​​🇾​ ​🇧​​🇱​​🇴​​🇬

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mira Lazine at Erin In The Morning:

On April 11, a federal judge ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to unfreeze millions in funding to Maine’s Child Nutrition Program. Judge John A. Woodcock, a George W. Bush appointee on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, issued a temporary restraining order in Maine v. USDA requiring the department and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins to “immediately unfreeze and release to the state of Maine any federal funding that they have frozen or failed or refused to pay because of the state of Maine’s alleged failure to comply with the requirements of Title IX.” Woodcock issued the order while declining to weigh in on whether allowing transfeminine athletes to compete in girls’ sports would violate Title IX, the 1972 federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education. The state of Maine and Attorney General Aaron M. Frey had requested clarification on the issue in their initial complaint. Title IX is widely interpreted by civil rights attorneys as protecting transgender students from discrimination, particularly following the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that sex-based protections in employment extend to LGBTQ+ individuals. However, conservatives — including President Donald Trump in his February executive order restricting transgender participation in sports — argue that Title IX and similar sex-based anti-discrimination laws do not apply to transgender individuals. These claims often rely on opinions from far-right judges in lower courts. This position has become the foundation of their broader legal battle against transgender athletes. “All of the Trump administration’s actions have been built around this assertion that Title VII and Title IX provide no protections to LGBTQ people,” said Joshua Block, senior attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, in a 2020 statement to the New York Times. “It’s an Achilles�� heel that’s been built into every single thing they’ve done.”

This battle started in February, when Maine Governor Janet Mills (D) clashed with Trump at a National Governors Association meeting, famously shouting to Trump, “see you in court.” This spurred an immediate investigation from the United States Department of Education into the Maine Department of Education regarding a single trans girl in the state being allowed to play on girls’ teams. Maine, which is a sanctuary state for queer people, has strong protections for its trans residents in the form of non-discrimination statutes and safeguards for gender affirming care. Things escalated when, on April 2, Secretary Rollins sent a threatening letter to Mills declaring a freeze in funding for “certain administrative and technological functions in schools,” swearing this as “only the beginning” before also threatening issued grants from former President Joe Biden’s administration. Rollins concluded by attacking Bidens’ “bloated bureaucracy,” opposing a so-called “leftist social agenda.” The freeze in funding was sudden, coming the very same day, relying on no legal analysis of Title IX to justify the prompt action.

[...] Had this freeze continued across the entire state, an untold amount of Maine residents would go hungry. Food insecurity is something that disproportionately affects Black and Indigenous people of color, immigrants, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ individuals, among many more marginalized communities. Given the breadth of people the freeze would have affected, this shows that the USDA ruling was not truly about “fairness in women’s sports,” as many on the right-wing like to claim. Rather, it was about hurting the most marginalized among us by using the issue of transgender athletes to control Maine’s sovereignty.

[...] Trump, who represents the party that once built itself off of championing “states’ rights,” has shown through this freeze that his administration is more interested in furthering regressive, far-right policies – and staging a de facto coup – over the entire country. With many institutions capitulating to his demands, actions like Maine’s and Woodcock’s are increasingly important as they demonstrate attempts at resisting his hostile takeover in the realm of law. While it will take much more than legal battles to push back against the growing tide of authoritarianism, especially with institutions like Immigration and Customs Enforcement violently kidnapping political dissidents and threatening to deport citizens born in this country, this defense of rule of law shows that fascist takeovers will not happen overnight, nor will they happen without a fight. This is something that, together, the public can make sure of.

Judge John A. Woodcock ruled in Maine v. USDA that the Trump Regime cannot withhold school lunch program money from Maine students.

[krispydreamerking]

Coutis to you States of Maine Democrats. For VIOLATON of ONE of the Tenents of "The United States Constitution" the RIGHT of the presumptions of not Guilty unless convicted by a COURT of LAW of their PEERS. Mine is being run by Panty "Hose". Maine DEMORACY is DEAD and Died under Janet Mills in 2023!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=vsGsCvJWEo8&si=22jfMYUL26laqRHQ

[courtesanofdeath]

[Black Lagoon Anon. I might have to give myself a nickname, alias, or something until I'm comfortable enough to reveal myself to anyone.]

Anyway.

I'll have to tag you in some of these posts eventually, so you could see these posts. Especially if you might not have seen any rare art before.

If I'm honest... My language preference for anime is English so I know not everyone is tolerant towards English dub. But Black Lagoon really has to be one series I'm adamant about watching in English since the characters speak in accents and languages. That has a lot of diversity for an interesting franchise like this, along with those characters too.

Yes. The anime did change some details from the manga. So... Before the Roberta's Blood Trail arc, the previous arcs only had all very minor details changed. And some arcs were also in different order than how it was in the manga too. But, when the story actually got to Roberta's Blood Trail arc, certain details were changed. Mainly about Roberta in both versions. She doesn't die though. I'm not even sure how you feel about spoilers so I won't say more than that. Unless you want me to.

But! Besides details being changed.. If you do read the manga, than it means you can also catch up on the story too. Just in case they never continue the anime. Because who knows if there's more to the anime.

Yeah. You only have vague details about Chang's backstory right now; a corrupt police officer who's partner died, manipulates people in just doing his dirty work. Has a frienemy relationship with Balalaika - after he almost killed Balalaika, and Dutch saving Balalaika from dying too.

Oh! And the previous chapter had Dutch's backstory too, if you might be curious about his character too. I don't think there is any character I'd hate. No.. Wait. That's a lie. I'm not really a fan of Janet Bhai at all. I think her character always annoyed me. So I don't care for her much.

So for Gangsta., that series is basically the same story concept as the Black Lagoon universe - in a good way - but with some differences so you might like the series. Like I said! Because of their creator's health, the manga is extremely on ongoing at the slowest pace. And there's a season for the anime. Only one season. Because the studio who really did create the first season, they went bankrupt right after that season was released. So who knows if we will ever get more Gangsta. anime.

But Gangsta. is also another really underrated series, in the same way that Black Lagoon is. Oh! And the creaor of Gangsta. is a woman too.

I'll let you know what I make posts for the Black Lagoon casts, if they ever did create the live adaption in the way I'd envision it.. But I would also know that not everyone would agree to my own visions, in ways I can understand. But I try to stuck to the appearances if I actually can.

I'm not surprised to see explicit art of the Black Lagoon characters... I would still love to see art of the women that isn't too sexualized either in my opinion. So I can agree with you on that. And preferably art that isn't stolen or plagiarized by other people. So that is a whole problem.

I don't know? Because every fan I'd see obsessing over Black Lagoon, male and female fans, love that the characters - especially the female characters - are the strong characters. And, technically, both of these characters are the main characters. Rocky slightly more than Revy, in the sense that the story started with his character. But they really are the main characters. If that makes sense. But this series really should have way more recognition though. Hopefully that actually happens.

If you are curious about Gangsta., then I'll send you some videos just to see if you might be interested in the series. So here are videos that you could watch. Though I will let you know that it's in English dub.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZSmHpMnhgQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y85f_yFx5KY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnELmsLLEwY

hi hi yes feel free to drop a nickname you wanna use !! and yes i'd appreciate it if you could tag me in the posts so i can reblog them, whenever you want to!

i just added the black lagoon manga on my to-read list and i will be reading it asap for sure! and i'll be starting it right from the beginning so i can enjoy it in the right order + with full details of the characters and their backstories! i can't wait to see how the rest of the manga goes!

i feel the same about janet bhai actually lmaaoo i don't necessarily hate her, but she's a character that i didn't interest me all that much. her being benny's love interest is kinda random but funny though lol

and oooh i watched the videos and gangsta looks like a good and fun series! i already dig the main character's vibes just with those clips! it looks really interesting and i see the similarity with black lagoon! i think i'll check out the anime first and see how it is, and then i'll jump to the manga (regardless of whether i like the anime or not) !! thank you for recommending it to me! i'm looking forward to watching and reading it!

[zahri-melitor]

#lewis man idk#like i know the 16th birthday is like a big thing as far as fracturing tim & bruce#and it's not like i think teaching tim paranoia was out of character for bruce per se#but as a whole the decision for that storyline to me just is a final part of the overall strangeness of lewis's run#like you could tell he was v v interested in the idea of the tim & steph relationship as civilians#much moreso than tim's other relationships with dick and bruce and alfred#and at times it almost felt like he was fracturing the tim & bruce relationship because of steph being kicked out due to editorial decision (tags @scintillyyy)

I think you've echoed some of the reasons I just can't gel with Lewis' run (that and the fact he doesn't even bother to look up Janet Drake's first name, what the hell mate)

Lewis clearly wanted to lean more into the civilian side of Tim, in that he's probably the only writer that ever successfully writes Tim/Steph with both of them in their civilian/mundane personas, but apart from bringing Sebastian Ives back for two issues, the rest of his writing really fails with that attempted focus on civilian storytelling?

Time travel is ho hum every day superhero stuff for Tim, as you point out. Bart's from the 30th century! Tim's seen situations resolved via time travel! It's not quite as 'here we go again' as it will be for Tim in the future, but it's just background weirdness of his life, just like space travel. Someone appearing from the future with a message of warning is of course something Tim should worry about, because *checks notes* that is going to outright happen more than once to him! (Insert Titans of Tomorrow). It's happened to Bruce! This is not an unbelievable concept!

Especially as Lewis only seems interested in the civilian side of things as far as Tim's relationships with others go. His plots are full of magic, far more than is common for a Gotham set story. Natalia Mitternacht's magical voice! Whatever that Charaxes/Firefly clone plot was! The unacknowledged way that Stephen can clearly walk fairy paths/along leylines in The Wrong Town storyline to be able to travel the countryside as he does. (Every single thing about The Wrong Town storyline survivalists and Wrestling, in fact). The tiny Valkyries that Jack either sees or hallucinates.

It feels like Lewis wants to ground Tim more in the 'community' of Gotham by making the Drakes drop back to upper middle class professionals and put them back in the city townhouse apartment, but he also clearly doesn't know what to do with it? And yeah, as you say, seems determined to ignore/fracture Tim's relationships with Bruce, Alfred and Dick, especially when Alfred's spent the prior two years being Tim's main adult contact.

so aside from the atrocious way that bruce treated tim for tim's 16th birthday, having just finished re-reading lewis's run on robin there's something that really stuck out to me and that's that lewis had very strange ideas for tim and the 16th birthday party is not exempt from the overall strangeness of his writing choices. like there's this part that stuck out to me:

robin #117

like. tim has to convince himself that a message from the future is even a viable option at first? he thinks the idea is stupid? not only is one of his best friends from the 30th century, but about 16 issues prior lewis wrote the robin tie-in to the world without young justice storyline.

which was resolved through time travel (bart traveling to the past to stop bedlam from waking up from his coma)

young justice #45

[sarcasticcynic]

In May of 2019, Maine passed a law eliminating the existing religious and philosophical exemption to its immunization requirements for students and healthcare workers. Some Republicans lawmakers who voted against the bill complained that the government was imposing its will on the people of Maine, and sponsored a "veto referendum" on the ballot for the next election. If it had passed, the exemption would have been reinstated; instead, on March 3, 2020, 72.81% of the people of Maine voted in support of its elimination.

On August 12, 2021, Maine implemented a mandate requiring healthcare workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Following the overwhelming will of the people of Maine, the mandate contains no exemption for religious or philosophical beliefs. A group of anonymous healthcare workers sued in federal court, claiming that "they opposed COVID-19 vaccines because some vaccines were developed from cell lines of aborted fetuses."

(ASIDE: The vaccines contain no fetal cells, and the plaintiffs did not claim otherwise. Instead, they objected to the fact that some of the vaccine tests were conducted using cells, grown in a laboratory, that were based on a line of fetal cells originally taken from abortions back in 1973. These cell lines "do not contain any tissue from a fetus." Their use has been a standard practice for decades:

"Cells derived from elective abortions have been used since the 1960s to manufacture vaccines, including current vaccines against rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis A, and shingles. They have also been used to make approved drugs against diseases including hemophilia, rheumatoid arthritis, and cystic fibrosis."

Even the Vatican itself has repeatedly officially approved using these vaccines. Dozens of common medications also used fetal cell lines during research, development, and testing, including acetaminophen, albuterol, aspirin, ibuprofen, Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, Tums, Lipitor, Senokot, Motrin, Maalox, Ex-Lax, Benadryl, Sudafed, Preparation H, Claritin, Prilosec, and Zoloft. "Almost all the medical products we use have in some way been touched by research that's been done on fetal cell lines." Still, for purposes of these legal proceedings, Maine did not dispute the plaintiffs' objections.)

On October 13, 2021, the court rejected the challenge to the mandate, holding: "the COVID-19 vaccine mandate is consistent with state law and does not single out religion." The court also held that the plaintiffs had "failed to show Maine officials were motivated by an improper animus toward religion or that the state lacked a compelling reason to impose the vaccine requirement."

The plaintiffs filed an appeal, and demanded that the Court of Appeals immediately order the lower court to order Maine not to enforce the mandate. On October 19, the appellate court unanimously affirmed the lower court's denial, agreeing that the workers "are unlikely to succeed on the merits of any of their claims."

The very next day, on October 20, the plaintiffs asked the U.S. Supreme Court for "emergency" relief immediately preventing Maine from enforcing the mandate while they prepared a full petition to SCOTUS. On October 29, the Court rejected the request on a vote of 6-3, with three conservative Justices (Gorsuch, Alito, and Thomas) dissenting. Two conservative Justices (Barrett and Kavanaugh) filed a separate opinion noting that they were not ruling on the merits of the mandate, and specifically declared that their denial was only because the plaintiffs sought relief on an "emergency" basis, "without benefit of full briefing or oral argument."

In the absence of the emergency relief the plaintiffs had demanded, they filed a formal petition on November 11 asking SCOTUS to overturn the decisions of the lower court. Yesterday, February 22, the Court denied in its entirety. The opinion of the Court of Appeals, affirming the lower court's denial, is now final.

[shauriofabydos]

“  i have scars, inside me.  ”

                                  @becomingsea​ sent ✐ for a random starter