#Declaration of Principles

[plitnick]

We didn’t need hindsight to see Oslo as a failure

30 years ago today, Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin shook hands in front of Bill Clinton on the White House lawn. Imaginations got fired up about a post-Cold War world that even saw peace in the Middle East. Obviously, that didn’t happen. But we didn’t need the benefit of hindsight to see that the Oslo Accords could never do what it was meant to do. We didn’t even need to be as smart and…

[still-searching-for-something]

I agree, @methaim! To that end:

Hi. Yeah. This is BS. How do you define 'Zionist', hmm? 'Zionist voter'--you're gonna look me in the eye and tell me that isn't a dogwhistle for Jewish voter? Considering Zionism just means supporting Israel not being violently destroyed? And considering 80% of American Jews have an emotional connection to Israel, per the Pew Research Center? Give me a break.

Now, considering you are ✨enlightened✨ and you're got the Correct OpinionsTM that let you tell others that it's time to unlearn biases and prejudice, I'm gonna test how serious you are about that--put your money where your mouth is.

This is antisemitic, from the mouth of an American Jew to your ears. You are being bigoted. You're using Zionist as a pejorative and in so doing, demonizing Jews using dogwhistles. I'm calling out your prejudice, telling you it's time to unlearn your biases.

[trudemaethien]

kix/slick + example

✨💖✨pillowtalk✨💖✨

(immediately pre-christophsis UwU)

“Do you ever think…” Slick’s murmur comes from inches away, on the same pillow as his bedmate’s ear.

“Hmm?” Kix hums drowsily, moving his hand to reassure Slick he’s listening. He thinks he’s touching his side, or his hip maybe. It’s too late at night for anatomy.

“D’y’think it’s wrong that we have to fight?” is the surprising query from Slick’s busy brain.

“Slick, you love fighting.” Kix’s voice is as dry as Geonosian wind, disembodied in the dark bunkroom.

“Well, I mean. Yeah, but even I don’t want to always have to strap on my shell and pick up a blaster and shoot-move-communicate, you know? Maybe I want to… fight with words sometime.”

“Slick, you—

—Do that all the time too, anyway,” Slick choruses over top of him, “yeah, I know. But, Kix. You hear what I’m saying? If you could do anything or go anywhere, and wouldn’t get in trouble for it, what would you do?”

Kix sighs, chest rising and falling under Slick’s arm as he seriously considers the question.

“I’m a lifesaver,” he says finally. “As long as one single brother needed me to be on call listening for Medic! that’s what I’d choose. I believe it’s my responsibility to use my knowledge and skill for the good of my people; and my brothers, the GAR, are my people, thus by extension, the Republic itself.”

“But do you think that because you were taught that, or do you think it because you think it?”

Kix snorts, rolling half on top of his vod and making his response come muffled between them. “S’a little demeaning, sayin’ I don’t know my own thoughts from some lousy brainwashing, buddy,” he says, more amused than annoyed.

Slick’s arms come up and circle him, hands smoothing down his back and back up under his sleep shirt. He sighs gustily.

This concept must really be bothering him.

“What would you do?” Kix asks, encouraging.

Slick is silent for a long moment, but Kix senses it’s not because he doesn’t have an answer. He waits him out.

“On Triple Zero,” Slick says finally, and Kix makes a tiny go-on noise, “I saw this…bunch of protesters.”

He doesn’t say anything more, and Kix mulls that over. “So you want to …protest?”

“I want to fight for the things I believe in,” Slick says, almost embarrassed. “Same as you, our brothers are my people, and I just don’t think it’s right that we should be sent to seed the stars, that karking drivel, or have to be calling for a medic, if you can get there on time before we die for objectives we don’t even care about.”

Kix kisses his neck, his stubble-rough jaw, his cheek before Slick turns into it and meets his mouth.

Kix lifts his head and touches their brows together. “I’ll get to you before you die,” he swears with utmost confidence, even though it’s a foolhardy thing to promise. “Just call me, and I’ll be there.”

Slick’s throat clicks as he swallows a couple times before he can speak, and when he does, his voice is rough with emotion.

“If I need you, I’ll call.”

Pillowtalk 🔒 https://archiveofourown.org/works/51594214

[konodimada]

More thoughts on Bruabba no one is surprised but I’m obsessed with the fanfics that portray Bucciarati as reluctant to enter into a relationship with Abbachio because he’s technically kind of Abbachio’s boss. Not because it would be an issue if they broke up, not because of anything reasonable, just the optics of dating someone who is technically his subordinate. Like is Passione’s Head Mafioso of Human Resources gonna call them into his office? Have a talk about office romances and power dynamics? Gonna make them take one of those two hour HR courses? It’s up there with “Bruno does paperwork” for me as a fanfic trope.

[arcxnumvitae]

Also I'm sorry but for the sake of my own gray hairs I'm going to have to keep Minglian away from Chercia I can't have her accidentally wander into two illicit and potentially deadly Vanystean royal situations she's nearly died so much already

[tchaikovskaya]

🫥

[minor-locrian]

the issue with hating bigots more than you care about minorities is that it becomes abhorrent to acknowledge that you could do a bigoted thing. so you spend all your time avoiding being called a bigot, lashing out at people who call you out and desperately convincing yourself that they're wrong, and none of your time not being a bigot

[taraross-1787]

This Week in History: Oliver Wolcott, Signer of the Declaration

At about this time in 1797, a signer of the Declaration of Independence passes away. You might be surprised to hear that this signer—Oliver Wolcott—didn’t vote for the Declaration.

He couldn’t! He wasn’t present for the official vote in Philadelphia. Why not? And how did he get his name on the document if he wasn’t even there?

Wolcott was born to a respected family in Connecticut. He graduated from Yale, but he went directly into military service after college. He served in King George’s War as a militia captain. He then studied medicine for a time, but eventually became sheriff of his county instead. He was a judge for a while, and he sat in the state’s legislature.

The story continues here: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-oliver-wolcott

[daydreamerdrew]

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #216

[aria-i-adagio]

Right... Not collecting payroll taxes on tips, which will further starve Social Security and Medicare in the present, and later down the line reduce the amount tipped workers will qualify for in retirement will definitely benefit the working class.

After all, we can't do anything radical like force the hospitality, restaurant, service sector to pay a living wage which actually compensates employees for their labor, or meaningfully tax the wealthiest to fund UBI, child taxes credits and childcare, public infrastructure to get people to jobs/education/etc efficiently and inexpensively. That would be crazy talk.

Yes, lots of sarcasm in the above.

They're a whole ass party of blatantly asinine grifters, bowing down to their golden cow.

[worldchildlabourday]

Discussing advances and challenges in relation to the elimination of child labour with the aim to improve the implementation of the ILO's Conventions.

High-level event during the 112th Session of the International Labour Conference

To mark the World Day, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is holding a high-level side event to the 112th Session of the International Labour Conference.  While celebrating the 25th anniversary of ILO Convention No. 182, tripartite constituents and partners will discuss advances and challenges in relation to the elimination of child labour with the aim to improve the implementation of the ILO's Conventions on child labour, as well as to promote universal ratification of ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age.  See full agenda here.

The event will take place on 12 June, 1:30 - 2:45 p.m. CEST at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, and broadcast live on the ILO website.

More information about the World Day and the campaign materials are available here: 

[michellesanches]

Latest AI Regulatory Developments:

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform industries, governments worldwide are responding with evolving regulatory frameworks. These regulatory advancements are shaping how businesses integrate and leverage AI technologies. Understanding these changes and preparing for them is crucial to remain compliant and competitive. Recent Developments in AI Regulation: United Kingdom: The…

[savanir]

I kind of wonder what the normal civilian outside perspective would be on a situation in which the Infinite Realms go to war against the GIW (and the Justice League) because of crimes (vivisection probably) against their King.

I have read a few fics in which the war happens, and those are always interesting. But imagine just trying to live your life. And either the denizens of the dead suddenly declare war (and it is important that they make clear why they go to war), or the American government makes the first move and it’s just… bad.

Even if alien invasions and apocalyptic events are a thing in the universe I cannot imagine most people being cool with such a development.

Like, why would anyone think it’s a good idea to declare war on beings that are already dead?

so the answer to that would be lengthy propaganda campaigns but that too isn’t going to work on everybody, it would just be absolute chaos.

Then there are the other nations of course, Europe takes ages to make a single decision on anything ever, China will shoot you if you try to go over their wall, Russia doesn’t agree with America on principle.

imagine making a sign and going out to protest against the war on the realms and then coming across an invading ecto entity, and they take one look at your little sign and feel your sincerity and go “oh okay, we shall not harm you” and that alone completely disproves the GIW’s claims that these beings are non sapient and non sentient.

[wilwheaton]

Thomas Paine: “I do not believe in…any church,” he declared. In a call to arms against what he called church-state tyranny in early America, he insisted that “every national church or religion accuses the others of unbelief; for my own part, I disbelieve them all.”

George Washington: "The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

Thomas Jefferson: " The Christian God is a being of terrific character -- cruel, vindictive, capricious, and unjust . We discover in the Bible a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstition, fanaticism and fabrication . On the dogmas of religion, as distinguished from moral principles, all mankind, from the beginning of the world to this day, have been quarreling, fighting, burning and torturing one another, for abstractions unintelligible to themselves and to all others, and absolutely beyond the comprehension of the human mind."

James Madison: “It was the universal opinion of the [18th] century, that civil government could not stand without the prop of a religious establishment and that the Christian religion itself would perish if not supported by a legal provision for its clergy.” But as President, Madison found that, “the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of church from the state.”

John Adams: “the United States is not, in any sense, a Christian nation.”

[autogyne-redacted]

Let's Talk About Security Culture: Why Keeping Secrets is Cool and Sexy

It's a natural impulse -- if you love crime -- to want to talk about how great it is. And if you hate America, it's only natural to want to share your dreams for its future with the rest of tumblr dot com. It can feel brave and transgressive. And there is a drive to share your soul with the world at the heart of social media. Surely I should be posting the most concrete implications of my politics, right? This is the poster's curse.

Security Culture refers to a set of "best practices" developed over the past several decades, largely (in a US context) coming out of radical environmental groups as they faced intense state repression, infiltration and entrapment. If you're not familiar, there's some fascinating crimethinc write ups to give you a window into that world:

Much of it boils down to: don't talk about crimes, past or forthcoming with people who don't need to know about them, and be mindful of the possibility of surveillance and infiltration. And, we can support each other as a community in minimizing risks, with an eye towards enabling bold action rather than getting bogged down in fears and anxieties. The guidelines that make sense for AG-based trouble-makers are different from the guidelines that make sense for posters, but plenty of common principles apply. To speak briefly to our position here as posters:

First, it bears saying that long term anonymity is extremely nearly impossible to maintain. Unless you've never accessed Tumblr without a vpn, and avoided connections with other ppl who can be associated with you/your location, and never shared pictures without scrubbing metadata, and a bunch of other 100% consistent steps, it's trivial for the state to know who you are.

Second, just because something isn't actively being prosecuted now doesn't mean it can't be prosecuted later. The priorities of the state change and a shift in power towards the right or a growth in radical action from the left can suddenly make it a priority to destroy anarchist networks or just find a few ppl to prosecute as examples (who probably weren't that plugged into larger networks before getting arrested. Advocating for specific anti-government crimes or declarations of intent to commit such crimes are likely prosecutable even if charges don't stick they're an easy vector for legal harassment.

Third, it's worth thinking about heat as separate from prosecutability. There are modes of engagement that may not be directly criminalized but signal that you are someone worth watching. Some people choose to be public in ways that make heat unavoidable. But it's worth noting that heat isn't strictly individualized, that it persists over time but also is going to shrink over time.

It's easy on here, ime, to see yourself as a proud member of the crime fandom but not much of a content creator. And it's easy to feel like you've generated an amount of heat where you're locked into that role. But heat you generated 10 years ago is probably pretty well gone. Heat you generated 5 years ago has faded substantially. It's worth thinking about how the world might shift in the coming years and what doors you want to keep open.

The non-individualized nature of heat also means that leaning into the spiciest of anti-state positions will make it a bad idea for people who are acting out those positions end up tied to you. Loudly talking about how "more people should be doing [X/Y/Z]" unfortunately sets you up to remain distant from people who might be doing or thinking about doing such things.

Which brings me back to: keeping secrets is sexy. Not spelling everything out builds intrigue. You can lay out a theoretical position and leave working out the practical implications of that as an exercise for the reader. There's value in opacity. The poster's curse and the drive to confess are extremely convenient for the state, but we can resist them. We can hold dreams in our hearts that we refuse to offer up to the posting spectacle.

[spacelazarwolf]

in honor of that anon who said jews have done nothing for the world, here’s a non exhaustive list of things we’ve done for the world:

arts, fashion, and lifestyle:

jeans - levi strauss

modern bras - ida rosenthal

sewing machines - isaac merritt singer

modern film industry - carl laemmle (universal pictures), adolph zukor (paramount pictures), william fox (fox film forporation), louis b. mayer (mgm - metro-goldwyn-mayer), harry, sam, albert, and jack warners (warner bros.), steven spielberg, mel brooks, marx brothers

operetta - jacques offenbach

comic books - stan lee

graphic novels - will eisner

teddy bears - morris and rose michtom

influential musicians - irving berlin, stephen sondheim, benny goodman, george gershwin, paul simon, itzhak perlman, leonard bernstein, bob dylan, leonard cohen

artists - mark rothko

actors - elizabeth taylor, jerry lewis, barbara streisand

comedians - lenny bruce, joan rivers, jerry seinfeld

authors - judy blume, tony kushner, allen ginsberg, walter mosley

culture:

esperanto - ludwik lazar zamenhof

feminism - betty friedan, gloria steinem, ruth bader ginsberg

queer and trans rights - larry kramer, harvey milk, leslie feinberg, abby stein, kate bornstein, frank kameny, judith butler

international women's day - clara zetkin

principles of journalizm, statue of liberty, and pulitzer prize - joseph pulitzer

"the new colossus" - emma lazarus

universal declaration of human rights - rene samuel cassin

holocaust remembrance and human rights activism - elie wiesel

workers rights - louis brandeis, rose schneiderman

public health care, women's rights, and children's rights - lillian wald

racial equity - rabbi abraham joshua heschel, julius rosenwald, andrew goodman, michael schwerner

political theory - hannah arendt

disability rights - judith heumann

black lives matter slogan and movement - alicia garza

#metoo movement - jodi kantor

institute of sexology - magnus hirschfeld

technology:

word processing computers - evelyn berezin

facebook - mark zuckerberg

console video game system - ralph henry baer

cell phones - amos edward joel jr., martin cooper

3d - leonard lipton

telephone - philipp reis

fax machines - arthur korn

microphone - emile berliner

gramophone - emile berliner

television - boris rosing

barcodes - norman joseph woodland and bernard silver

secret communication system, which is the foundation of the technology used for wifi - hedy lamarr

three laws of robotics - isaac asimov

cybernetics - norbert wiener

helicopters - emile berliner

BASIC (programming language) - john george kemeny

google - sergey mikhaylovich brin and larry page

VCR - jerome lemelson

fax machine - jerome lemelson

telegraph - samuel finley breese morse

morse code - samuel finley breese morse

bulletproof glass - edouard benedictus

electric motor and electroplating - boris semyonovich jacobi

nuclear powered submarine - hyman george rickover

the internet - paul baran

icq instant messenger - arik vardi, yair goldfinger,, sefi vigiser, amnon amir

color photography - leopold godowsky and leopold mannes

world's first computer - herman goldstine

modern computer architecture - john von neumann

bittorrent - bram cohen

voip internet telephony - alon cohen

data archiving - phil katz, eugene roshal, abraham lempel, jacob ziv

nemeth code - abraham nemeth

holography - dennis gabor

laser - theodor maiman

instant photo sharing online - philippe kahn

first automobile - siegfried samuel marcus

electrical maglev road - boris petrovich weinberg

drip irrigation - simcha blass

ballpoint pen and automatic gearbox - laszlo biro

photo booth - anatol marco josepho

medicine:

pacemakers and defibrillators - louise robinovitch

defibrillators - bernard lown

anti-plague and anti-cholera vaccines - vladimir aronovich khavkin

polio vaccine - jonas salk

test for diagnosis of syphilis - august paul von wasserman

test for typhoid fever - ferdinand widal

penicillin - ernst boris chain

pregnancy test - barnhard zondek

antiretroviral drug to treat aids and fight rejection in organ transplants - gertrude elion

discovery of hepatitis c virus - harvey alter

chemotherapy - paul ehrlich

discovery of prions - stanley prusiner

psychoanalysis - sigmund freud

rubber condoms - julius fromm

birth control pill - gregory goodwin pincus

asorbic acid (vitamin c) - tadeusz reichstein

blood groups and rh blood factor - karl landsteiner

acyclovir (treatment for infections caused by herpes virus) - gertrude elion

vitamins - caismir funk

technique for measuring blood insulin levils - rosalyn sussman yalow

antigen for hepatitus - baruch samuel blumberg

a bone fusion technique - gavriil abramovich ilizarov

homeopathy - christian friedrich samuel hahnemann

aspirin - arthur ernst eichengrun

science:

theory of relativity - albert einstein

theory of the electromagnetic field - james maxwell

quantum mechanics - max born, gustav ludwig hertz

quantum theory of gravity - matvei bronstein

microbiology - ferdinand julius cohn

neuropsychology - alexander romanovich luria

counters for x-rays and gamma rays - robert hofstadter

genetic engineering - paul berg

discovery of the antiproton - emilio gino segre

discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation - arno allan penzias

discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe - adam riess and saul merlmutter

discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity - roger penrose

discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of the milky way - andrea ghez

modern cosmology and the big bang theory - alexander alexandrovich friedmann

stainless steel - hans goldschmidt

gas powered vehicles

interferometer - albert abraham michelson

discovery of the source of energy production in stars - hans albrecht bethe

proved poincare conjecture - grigori yakovlevich perelman

biochemistry - otto fritz meyerhof

electron-positron collider - bruno touschek