mysterious-cuchulainn-x

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

The latest on Labour's welfare 'reforms' (i.e. cuts) and WHAT YOU CAN DO

Tumblr friends will know that yesterday evening, I posted a Guardian story on here about a 'Reasoned Amendment' being tabled by Labour MPs which would basically halt and kill the Government's Universal Credit & Personal Independence Bill. This is the Bill which Keir Starmer's Labour Government is bringing forward that would see over one million disabled and sick people lose some or all of their welfare entitlement, with all the massive knock-on implications you'd expect for their families, carers, charities, and NHS and social care services.

As of lunchtime today, 108 Labour MPs - including 12 Select Committee Chairs - had signed the amendment. This has clearly spooked Starmer and his Cabinet, because lo and behold, they now want to pass this legislation as a 'Money Bill'. If the Speaker of the House of Commons approves this, it means that the whole process for passing the Bill becomes a lot quicker - it would skip reading and voting in the House of Lords, and would become law within 30 days. As such, if the Bill scraped through the Commons, there would be no opportunity for further challenge to it.

The thing is, though, that a 'Money Bill' is generally interpreted very strictly to be a Bill dealing with only taxation or Government spending. But the Universal Credit & Personal Independence Payment Bill has a wider scope. It alters the eligibility criteria for receipt of disability benefits, and also alters the definition of severe disability for assessment purposes. Moreover, the Government itself has linked the Bill to wider matters, like supporting disabled people to obtain and remain in employment. Really, it's a tell that they're trying to pass it as a Money Bill - shows it was all about money all along, as we damn well knew - but let's hoist them on the petard of their own bullshit.

So, what can you do about this? And how can you support the Reasoned Amendment that would kill the Bill altogether?

Do you have Instagram? If so, visit this post and comment underneath, tagging in @commons_speaker, that such an important piece of legislation shouldn't be rushed through Parliament as a 'Money Bill', given it has such wide implications and links, as the Government itself has said, to non-monetary issues such as disabled people's employment. Anyone can do this, regardless of whether you're in the UK or not. The main thing is to blast his account with tag notifications.

If you don't have Instagram, or if you do but you want to take the next step (yay!), use this online form to contact the Speaker of the House of Commons directly. In the 'What is your query?' box, ask the Speaker not to grant the Universal Credit & Personal Independence Payment Bill the status of a 'Money Bill'. Say that you think such an important piece of legislation shouldn't be rushed through Parliament, and shouldn't qualify as a 'Money Bill' anyway given that it has such wide implications and links, as the Government itself has said, to non-monetary issues such as disabled people's employment. Again, anyone can message the Speaker, regardless of whether they're in the UK or not. It may be effective if you're not in the UK to say so and say that you're concerned because you have disabled friends in the UK who are really worried about the wide-ranging effects this Bill could have if passed.

Lastly, visit the online form to contact the Speaker again. This time, in the 'What is your query?' box, ask the Speaker to grant that the following 'Reasoned Amendment' be tabled, considered and voted upon when the Universal Credit & Personal Independence Payment Bill comes back to the Commons for its second reading on 1st July 2025: That this House, whilst noting the need for the reform of the social security system, and agreeing with the Government’s principles for providing support to people into work and protecting people who cannot work, declines to give a Second Reading to the Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill because its provisions have not been subject to a formal consultation with disabled people, or co-produced with them, or their carers; because the Office for Budget Responsibility is not due to publish its analysis of the employment impact of these reforms until the autumn of 2025; because the majority of the additional employment support funding will not be in place until the end of the decade; because the Government’s own impact assessment estimates that 250,000 people will be pushed into poverty as a result of these provisions, including 50,000 children; because the Government has not published an assessment of the impact of these reforms on health or care needs; because the Government is still awaiting the findings of the Minister for Social Security and Disability’s review into the assessment for Personal Independence Payment and Sir Charlie Mayfield’s independent review into the role of employers and government in boosting the employment of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions. (Cut and paste the amendment text into the box - it will fit, I promise!). You can mention to the Speaker that the fact over 100 Labour MPs and 12 Select Committee Chairs have signed the amendment shows the grave concerns this Bill has raised inside Parliament, reflecting the concerns of disabled people's organisations and other interest groups. Again, if you're not in the UK, say so and say that you're concerned because you have disabled friends in the UK who are really worried about the wide-ranging effects this Bill could have if passed.

All of this will take you about 20 mins. And it will help. It really will. Keir Starmer and his Cabinet will be pressuring the Speaker right now to allow them to pass this Bill as a 'Money Bill' and, if he won't do that, to stop the rebel Labour MPs tabling their amendment. The only counterbalance we have to that pressure is sheer numbers - so let's organise, get tagging, get messaging, and let's show the Speaker he's being watched far beyond Westminster!

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

I don't wanna hear one more bitch saying that contacting your senators&reps doesn't work

Btw, this is FAR from getting rid of the land selloff from the BBB. Keep at it. Mike Lee specifically is notable because he's from Utah, the state that's pushed for that sell off very heavily for mining income.

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

First illustration of pride month. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

Ah these children who always create problems for poor mothers....

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

I am disgusted how many democratic MA representatives are on the list of those who shot down Trump's well-deserved impeachment. If any of these reps are yours, speak your mind on them allowing Trump and his sycophants to continue to trample over the law. I have contacted mine.

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

"Elrond knew all about runes of every kind. That day he looked at the swords they had brought from the trolls' lair, and he said: 'These are not troll-make. They are old swords, very old swords of the High Elves of the West, my kin. They were made in Gondolin for the Goblin-wars. They must have come from a dragon's hoard or goblin plunder, for dragons and goblins destroyed that city many ages ago'.."

Chapter 3, A Short Rest. "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Elrond's outfit is based off of a melange of ancient dress, most notably Assyrian, with some medieval dagging in there to evoke the shape of leaves. Gandalf is based largely on the Quechua people who inhabit the Andean region of South America with some Viking touches here and there.

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

not the twitter migrants putting "reblog heavy" in their bios on here... like yeah. that's what we do here

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

Pirate wives!!

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

SWHFTT‼️‼️SUNDAY‼️‼️

58. ah shit tough question

⚠️This comic features a Real Guardian! See their achievement:

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

"I miss you, my commander.. my friend.. my love.."

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

Janet Elizabeth Aulisio

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

20 examples of periodic solutions to the three-body problem

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

“Hwær cwom mearg? Hwær cwom mago? Hwær cwom maþþumgyfa? Hwær cwom symbla gesetu? Hwær sindon seledreamas? Eala beorht bune! Eala byrnwiga! Eala þeodnes þrym! Hu seo þrag gewat, genap under nihthelm, swa heo no wære.”

— “Where is the horse? Where the rider? Where the giver of treasure? Where the seats of the feast? Where are the joys of the hall? Alas for the bright cup! Alas for the heroic warrior! Alas for the splendor of the king! How they have passed away, Dark under night-cover, As if they never were.” - The Wanderer, An Anglo-Saxon poem of lamentation, which was the inspiration for Tolkien’s Lament of the Rohirrim. (via currentboat)

[mysterious-cuchulainn-x]

So if anybody's wondering what I've been writing lately. this is what ate my brain. we're not talking about how many hours steam says I've sunk into the video game this snippet is about or how many words I've written about the various ocs I created because of it. we are NOT. Spoilers of the mildest variety for the Sith Inquisitor storyline of SWTOR, and there is a thing in here that just says "cool name" in brackets because it's not at all important and right now i just need to share something of what i've been doing without worrying about making up ancient sith names or whatever. anyway enjoy the archaeological besties vibes

She must have come from a Dark Council meeting; Darth Imperius swept in in a flurry of deep purple robes, her overlarge epaulets threatening to clip a shelf of fragile artifacts before she saw Talos wincing and veered away.

“What is the point of having me in charge of research and history and ancient Sith artifacts if they are going to drag me away every five minutes because some idiot Republic soldier thinks they’ve found a new superweapon? Honestly. Marr can handle this on his own. Or even get that new Sith, Arkous, on it considering it’s his job and the bastard hasn’t even been to one Council meeting. I have work to do.”

She paused, looking at Talos with an expression a little more like a lost child than he’d ever admit.

“I do have work to do, don’t I?”

“I have been studying several possible sites for the lost tomb of [cool name], and have narrowed it down to these three locations – my Lord, are you all right?”

“Fine! Why wouldn’t I be?”

Talos weighed his options. Should he tell her she was swaying slightly? She looked exhausted, but to say that in front of their subordinates would potentially undermine her.

“Perhaps this would be best to discuss in the conference room,” he said. “We can make the projections much bigger in there.”

“Of course,” Darth Imperius said. She narrowed her eyes at him, as though she knew it was a ploy to get her to sit, but they both knew this way she saved face. Talos took another risk.

“May I offer you anything as we go over the project? A drink, perhaps?”

“You’re bordering on obsequious,” she warned him with a petulant roll of her eyes. “But do. You know what I like.”

Talos wasted no time in preparing a mug of what was more sugar than caf, an indulgence his dark lord never admitted to out loud but which was clear enough to all those who’d spent time in close quarters with her. She took the cup from him and cradled it to her chest for a moment, her stiff outer layer of clothing lying discarded on the floor behind her as she slumped in her chair.

“The Dark Council gets progressively more tedious every time I attend,” she grumbled. “Effecting change, my ass.”

Talos coughed to hide a laugh. “My Lord.”

She smiled as she sipped her caf.

“Show me what you’re working on,” she requested, leaning forward to get a better view.

They discussed the prospective dig for a while, weighing the pros and cons of sending teams to all locations versus simply scouting them out. In war, even archaeological digs could be shows of power, and sending Reclamation teams to each site would be one – but did they have the manpower to protect such efforts? And would digs at the two non-tomb sites provide enough to justify it? They were all historically important locations, likely to have much to offer, but that was an academic’s view. Sith Lords had to seek out Sith power, specifically.

“What do you think?” Darth Imperius asked finally.

“The wisest use of our resources –“

“No, Talos,” she cut him off. “What would be best, or most fun, from a historian’s perspective?”

“My Lord,” Talos said. He glanced at the projections again. Three ancient structures, where hundreds of people at some point had likely lived and worked. Yes, a Sith Lord had once taken over one of them and built their tomb underneath it – but all three sites could reveal so much of the past.

“All three?” she said when he looked back at her. She was smirking, but gently.

“It would be an opportunity on a massive scale,” Talos admitted. “Especially given the chance to compare findings across three such similar sites.”

“Well, there you are, then,” Darth Imperius said. She stretched her arms above her head. A few assistant archaeologists passing by the conference room window paused, staring obviously at her frame. Talos sighed as Darth Imperius winked at them, rolling her shoulders back to push her breasts forward.

“My Lord,” he said reproachfully.

“What? They can look,” she said. “Anyone stupid enough to try and get involved with me, it’s better to find out now while they’re still junior.”

“It takes a great deal of time to train them,” Talos said. “Especially to your standards.”

“I’ll play nicely,” she said fondly, relaxing once more and taking another drink of her caf. “I always do. Has Ashara been in today?”

“She and Xalek are working with the new holocron,” Talos said.

“Together? Alone?”

“After the Incident, I took the liberty of installing surveillance and alarms in the holocron room,” he said. That had been unpleasant. Ghostly possession wasn’t anything new, of course, and it was hardly her fault, but Ashara had still felt terribly guilty about the damage to the building. “Should something go wrong, we will be alerted immediately.”

“Lovely,” Darth Imperius said. “I’d say that maybe they’ll come out as friends, but that’s too much to hope for.”

Talos again coughed to hide his laugh. He had one more thing to tell her, but he didn’t want to bring it up. He never did.

“There is one other matter, my Lord,” he said. “The newest shipment of slaves.”

Darth Imperius sat up, her face cold.

“I told them not to send us any more,” she said.

“Unfortunately, it seems there is a legal provision for it,” he said. “It requires a change in the charter. As it stands, I took the liberty of freeing them already, claiming it was on your orders.”

It was an egregious overstep of his power. Anyone would be well within their rights to shock or even kill Talos for it. He knew what Darth Imperius’s reaction would be, yet he tensed anyway.

“I am… most grateful,” she said softly. “Have you arranged anything for them?”

“Those who wished to leave are being given a credit stipend from the stores you set aside for such purposes,” Talos said. He wondered now if Darth Imperius had given him the power to withdraw money from there for just such an occasion. He’d been flummoxed at the time, but then of course it would all be part of her long-term plan. “Many have asked to stay on with your division.”

“Talos –“

“I made no such suggestions,” he said hastily. “But you command loyalty, as always, my Lord. Why should they not choose to follow you of their own free will?”

She laughed softly, shaking her head.

“They will be undereducated in our affairs,” she said. “See to it that they’re given a proper grounding in history and archaeological techniques.”

“I have already drawn up a lesson plan which awaits your approval,” he said.

“Thank you, Talos,” she said softly.

“You are quite welcome, Exchei,” he told her.