#Deep South Reformation

[deepsouthreformation]

10 Quotes from One Assembly

Jonathan Leeman is the editorial director for 9Marks and cohost of the Pastors’ Talk podcast. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books and teaches at several seminaries. Jonathan lives with his wife and four daughters in a suburb of Washington, DC, and is an elder at Cheverly Baptist Church. To purchase a copy of One Assembly, click here. Quotes 1. A people who don’t regularly assemble…

[lyjen]

Clipboards and utility knives

Summary: When Hen and Eddie are running late for shift, Evan has to jump in to help his girlfriend on a call. But that doesn’t go quite as planned.

Warning: Mentions of blood, guns & bullets and cutting into skin

9-1-1 masterlist :)

With a clipboard in her hand, (Y/n) wrote down the inventory numbers. Hen and Eddie were nowhere to be found and Chimney had a day off. Meanwhile Bobby, Evan and (Y/n) were already at the station, ready for their shift to begin.

Evan walked through the door of the locker room into the open space of the station. When his eyes fell on his girlfriend, who was standing with her back towards the locker room Evan had just left. Her hair was in a high ponytail, and she held the pen of the clipboard against her jaw as she was focussing on inventory. He walked towards her and let his arms fall around her neck as he gave her a hug from behind. She flinched, he could tell. He felt how her heartbeat fastened when his arms fell against her skin.

“How is my favorite paramedic doing?” He asked as he kissed her cheek. She smiled, as she turns her head to the side, so she could look at him while he still had his arms around her neck.

“I thought Eddie was your favorite paramedic” she answered and she let her eyes fall back on the clipboard in her hands. “Yeah, don’t tell him. But you’re actually my favorite. I don’t want to hurt his feelings.” He laughs, and planted another kiss on her cheek. “Hmmm” she reacted, her answer sounded like a “Yeah sure.” And she wrote another set of numbers down on her inventory list.

She tried to ignore Evan, she wanted to finish inventory as soon as possible. But it was hard when he was hanging around her shoulders, trying to get her attention in every possible way.

“(Y/n)” A familiar voiced called from above. Evan quickly let go of his grip he had on her, and both their bodies turned around. Bobby was standing at the railing from the loft. “Hen called, she is running late. So you’re the PIC until she gets here, okay?” Bobby asked for her agreement. She nodded, “yes cap.” And Bobby left the loft railing, heading towards his office she assumed.

“Ah so you’re the paramedic in charge now huh?” Evan teased her when he turned towards his girlfriend. She smiled as he poked her in both of her sides. “Shut up Buckley, don’t you have anything else to do?” She says as she tries to slap him away with her clipboard, while he poked her one more time. “Well..-“

“Ambulance one-eighteen, injury from a fall. Six, seven, one South Wooster street.” The bell sounded through the firehouse while red alarm light shined through the space of the firehouse. “Guess I’m going with you” he reformed his answer.

“That’s right around the corner.” (Y/n) said as she listened at the street name they just mentioned through the speakers. (Y/n) threw her clipboard on a bench in front of the gym, as Evan closed both back doors on the ambulance. (Y/n) took place at the drivers seat, and drove out of the station in the ambulance with Evan in the passenger seat next to her.

Normally (Y/n) would be driving with Hen, but she was running late, and Eddie was nowhere to be found. Evan couldn’t let her go alone on a call, as paramedics they were always with a minimum of two. Yes, Evan wasn’t really a paramedic, but he had some basic skills he could use to assist (Y/n) with.

When they arrived on location, they needed to enter an alleyway with the ambulance to reach the victim. The man wasn’t hard to find, he was lying on the ground in the abandoned alley, screaming out from the pain he received. Evan and (Y/n) jumped out of the ambulance and hurried towards the injured man.

“Sir where did you fall from?” Evan asked the homeless man, who was still screaming out his lungs. The call at the station said the man fell. “Did you fall sir?” (y/n) tried to connect with the man. “My legs! My legs!” He panics, as he tries to grab his legs.

“Okay, deep breaths. What’s your name sir?” She asked the man, trying to gather more information about the man who was down on the ground. Evan crouched down to meet the man’s height. And pulled the blanket off the homeless man his legs, to try and take a look at his injuries.

His legs were crushed. Snapped in multiple pieces. Evan’s eyes shot at (Y/n) when he saw the wounds. Bones were sticking out of the man’s lower leg.

“Buck get the medic bag and give me a needle with a flask with morphine, would you.” She ordered him. He nodded, and stood up straight when Evan’s eyes fell on a truck which’s engine was still running at the end of the street. The truck was standing completely still. “He didn’t fell, he was run over.” He concluded. And he ran towards the ambulance to get the medic bag and give the man the help he needed.

Evan took out an IV tube from the medic bag and passed a needle with a flacon of morphine to (Y/n). Evan searched for a vein in the man’s hand, while (Y/n) filled the needle with the right amount of fluids. “Get the splint out of the ambulance.” She ordered Evan.

When (Y/n) was pushing fluids through the man’s IV, Evan took out a piece of cardboard they carried with them to make a splint out to put the man’s leg in it to keep it straight. Carefully Buck tried to put the man’s legs in the splint and secured them so they could transport him to the hospital. (Y/n) got the gurney out of the ambulance and put the backboard next to the man so they could get the man easier on the gurney.

When the man was laid back on the gurney they secured the straps of the gurney around the man’s body. “He has passed out from blood loss. Let’s get him to Mercy Hospital” (Y/n) said to Evan. He nodded. (Y/n) secured the last strap around the man. When she noticed a car engine come closer, she looked up and saw a car enter the alleyway. “Who’s that?” She asked Evan. Evan looked at her confused. He was standing with his back towards the entrance of the alleyway. He turned his body ninety degrees to take a look to see what she was talking about.

It was a black vehicle that drove into the alley and stopped. Two men stepped out of the car and started walking towards Evan and (Y/n), who were still taking care of the wounded man on the gurney.

“Hey! We have got an medical emergency here, we need you to move the vehicle.” Evan told the two men. “Buck..” (Y/n) silently spoke as she noticed the two men were pointing a gun towards them. “Hands in the air, and keep your mouth shut.” One of their voices spoke. (Y/n) looked to her right, facing Evan’s blue eyes. As they both raised their hands. “It’s gonna be okay.” He said without a sound.

One of the men roughly grabbed (Y/n)’s shoulder and turned her around. “Hey! hey! don’t touch her!” Evan yelled, as he tried to reach out for (Y/n)’s arm. But Evan got pushed against a concrete wall next to him. Her hands were being bonded together with a cable tie, and so were Evan’s. “Wh- this guy needs to get to a hospital!” She said, unsure what was happening. She groaned as the cable tie started to cut into her wrist because of the tightness. “Just do what we say and nobody gets hurt” is the only thing the guy said. And they pushed Evan and (Y/n) towards the car they used to block the alley with.

“Just let her go man!” Evan said to both of the men, but they just ignored him and continued to push him. “(Y/L/N) Don’t get in that car!” Evan tried to warn her, as she tries to struggle against the man’s strength. She was too weak for the man, and she got pushed into the car.

The man who had a hold on Evan didn’t appreciate the message he told (Y/n). The guy slammed his gun against his eyebrow before he got forced into the car.

………………………….……………………………………

“Anyone heard from Buck and (Y/n)?” Eddie asked when he walked up the stairs after he got dressed into his uniform. Hen shook her head. “Nope, all I know is that they went out with the ambulance about two hours ago. And that was before I got here.” Hen answered to Eddie’s question while she took a sip out of her coffee cup. Hen leaned back against the kitchen counter as Eddie walked into the kitchen now.

Eddie was already hopping around the firehouse for an hour. This morning had been hectic. He was late to bring Chris to school, and ended up stuck in traffic when he tried to make his way to the firehouse. Eddie’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t like the sound of that. Normally they would’ve been back here already. The average call for paramedics is about an hour. And their call was already taking two. Eddie lets his hands rest on his hips. “That’s weird.”

“What’s weird?” Bobby’s voice joined the conversation they were having as he was walking into the kitchen.

“Eddie thinks it’s weird that the ambulance hasn’t returned yet from their call.” Hen answered Bobby’s question. Bobby was thinking. “They’ve been out for two hours now, could they be rerouted to another scene?” Eddie asked. “It could be… let me make a call and see if Buck picks up.” Bobby said as he reached for his phone.

Bobby unlocked his phone and tapped on Buck’s contact in his list. He held his phone to his ear. “That’s weird..” Bobby begins as he removes the phone from his ear, after a few seconds. “It goes straight to voicemail.” He continues his conclusion. Hen and Eddie both gave Bobby a confused look.

“Let me try to reach (Y/n).” Hen said as she picked her phone out of her pocket, while still leaning on the kitchen counter. Phone in the right hand, and her coffee cup in her left hand. She tries to reach (Y/n)’s phone. “Hi this is (Y/n), leave a message after the tone!” Hen clicks on the red button to hang up the phone. “Straight to voice mail.”

“This can’t be right…” Eddie says. “Let’s not freak out yet, I’m gonna call dispatch to see if they have any updates on our ambulance.” Bobby tries to remain calm. But he has a gut feeling that this wasn’t good. Buck always answered Bobby’s phone calls. Buck looked up at Bobby, he saw Bobby as his role model.

“This is Captain Nash, station 118. Do you have a location on our ambulance 118?” He asked dispatch. He waited a few seconds. “We haven’t received a status update from firefighter Buckley and (Y/L/N). However the location of the tracker says that they’re on 671 South Wooster street.” The dispatcher answered Bobby’s question. Every rig had a transmitter on them, so dispatch could see where every team was at every moment. Bobby thanked the person on the phone and hung up. Bobby’s hands clasped together.

“Put on your gear let’s go, we’re gonna take a ride.”

……………………………………………………………….

While they were driving, their radio’s along with their cellphones were thrown out of the car window.

They came to a stop, the men roughly pulled Evan and (Y/n) out of the car. Evan was grabbed by the collar of his button up shirt and (Y/n) at her arms. But as soon as (Y/n) struggled against the touch of the man, he grabbed a hand full of her hair. When Evan heard his girlfriend let out a squeal, his eyes locked on her. “Hey! Don’t you touch her!” He yelled.

“Do you want me to blow out your brain?!” The guy who was holding Evan at his shirt threatened him. He had his gun pointed on his sleep. Evan squeezed his eyes closed, realising that was not his best move. He froze. “Nah, didn’t think so” he said.

(Y/n) knew she had to leave some evidence outside, for her team to know where to look. She always wore her plain ring, it was the ring she got from Evan. A plain ring was one of the few things she could wear during the job. She didn’t have anything else to use as a sign for their team to find them. So she tried to shuffle the ring off her finger and let it drop silently.

Evan felt the metal of the gun leaning against the back of his head, when he got pushed forward inside of an abandoned building. (Y/n) followed after him, the man still had his hand full of her hair. Tears were forming in the corner of her eyes as the man pulled her hair and pushed her forward into Evan’s chest. He couldn’t catch her with his hands, which were still tied together. “Are you okay?” Evan whispered silently, barely audible. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She whispered back.

“Come on man, what do you want?” Evan asked, trying to find out these guys their motive. “You two, are gonna save him.” One of the men pointed his gun at both of them, switching the gun every second between Evan and (Y/n). He pointed behind the two of them. They both turned around, and (Y/n)’s eyes fell on a man lying unconscious on the ground, with a puddle of blood underneath him. The other guy cut their cable ties loose, so they could do their jobs. Save lives.

Evan took a glance at his girlfriend next to him. “You don’t have to do this.” He tried to talk (Y/n) out of it. She was just, staring at the man. But it wasn’t like she had a choice. They were held at gunpoint. “I’ll need equipment if you want me to safe his life.”

One of them grabbed a utility knife, alcohol and some glue. And put that on the table. That was what they were working with. This was gonna be a challenge. “Buck, help me get this man on this table” (Y/n) ordered as she got the unconscious man’s legs, while Evan put out his forearms and hooked them both underneath the man’s armpits.

(Y/n) grabbed the utility knife and poured alcohol on it to disinfect the blade she was about to cut into the man’s neck. She stood at the side of the unconscious man. The man had a bullet stuck in his neck, and they wanted the paramedics help to get it out. Of course they wouldn’t want to go to a hospital with a gunshot wound in your neck.

Trying to get the courage to actually perform surgery in the field. What was she thinking? She wasn’t a trauma surgeon. She wasn’t a doctor. She was only a paramedic. Evan stood next to (Y/n), waiting for her to shout orders. Her breathing became faster, (Y/n) could hear her own heartbeat ringing in her ears. The feeling of panic and anxiety rushed through her veins. She couldn’t do it. Both men were nervously walking behind (Y/n) and Evan.

Buck could sense that (Y/n) was starting to reach her breaking point. He’d do anything he could to prevent that from happening. She would go into a full blown panic attack right now and that’s not what they wanted.

“Let me do it.” Evan offered as he put his hand on her trembling hand which was curled around the knife. And he slightly pushed her away. An impatient voice took over the silence of the room. “Come on! What’s the damn’ hold up!” He said as he violently pointed the gun towards Evan and the other guy pointed the gun towards his girlfriend.

They both held up their hands. “It’s okay, we’re going to help your friend.” Evan managed to say. “Just put the guns away.” He continued. They both lowered their guns, as one of them put his one on an other table.

The men were facing the back of both Evan and (Y/n). Evan took a moment to breathe, as he made a cut into the unconscious man’s neck, trying to reveal the bullet. He couldn’t make the incision too big, but he had to put his fingers through the incision so he could get out the bullet. That’s what they wanted, right? Evan looked into (Y/n)’s eyes and gave her unnoticed the blade of the utility knife, which she shove into her sleeve so it was resting on her wrist.

Evan held out his hand towards (Y/n) who was holding the alcohol in her hand. And she poured the fluid over his hand. She knew what he was going to do. Without hesitation he pushed two fingers inside the wound, and yanked out the bullet. He panted, he actually did it. “Alright. The bullet is out.” Evan announced. “Good.”

One of the guys walked towards (Y/n) as he yanked her arms together. “Hey! We did what you asked, now let us go.” Evan told them. And (Y/n) got tied up again. “Will you shut up!” The other guy sounded when he grabbed Evan at his arm. (Y/n) shuffled the blade of the knife she got in her sleeve, up and down the cable tie when the man left her side.

And it snapped loose.

She was within hand reach of the gun they had placed on a table nearby (Y/n). She didn’t think for a moment and pointed the gun towards the two men. “Drop the gun.” She told the one who was holding Evan’s arms together and holding his gun. Both of the guys stood there with a confused look projected over her face. “I said drop it!” The man took a moment to take in what was happening, and tries to straighten his arm so the gun would be pointed towards (Y/n). But before the man could do that, he received an arm who was yanking him backwards from her boyfriend. The guy tried to pull the trigger as he hit the floor with a bullet.

(Y/n) flinched by the sound of a shot being fired. The other man tried to come closer towards (Y/n). “Don’t come closer” she warned him, as she keeps the gun pointed at the man. “We both know you wouldn’t pull that trigger.” He said calmly, as he took another step forward. “Want to make a bet?” She said challenging the man, as she fired the gun at the concrete wall on her left. But when the man took another step forward. That’s when she pulled the trigger and shot the man in his leg. He was screaming out in pain, and fell to the floor.

While the other guy was still fighting Evan, he tried again to shoot in the direction of (Y/n). But she dodged the bullet. Evan punched the guy in his stomach and onto his sleep so he went unconscious.

(Y/n) felt her knees buckling, like the energy was getting pulled out of her body. She didn’t have the energy to stand anymore. Evan rushed towards his girlfriend as he catches her just in time and pulls her in a hug. Her arms were hanging around his neck, and one of his arms was resting on her waist trying to hold her weight. And the other one was holding her back, trying to comfort her but also to give her support.

Evan lowered them together to their knees, so they were on an even height. Her face was buried into his neck, crying out loud. His shirt was already cresting wet spots because of her tears. “Ssssh, you did great baby. You were so brave.” He tried to comfort his girlfriend. He could see the whole time that she was struggling. Every time he took a glance at her face, he wanted to squeeze her hand. Tell her she was going to be okay. Tell her, she didn’t need to worry because he would protect her. His arm travels from her shoulder blades down to her lower back, again and again as he tries to reassure her she was okay. He pulled back from the hug, and let his hands fell on both her cheeks. She squeezed her eyes shut, and a tear rolled over her cheek again. Evan’s thumb brushed the tear away, pushed a kiss to her temple and pulled her into his arms again.

“LAPD, put your hands behind your head and interlace your fingers!” A familiar voice rang through the abandoned building they were still in. “Get that guy!” She ordered the other cop behind her as Athena cuffed one other guy.

“Buck! (Y/n)!” Bobby’s voice sounded through the space as they noticed them both on the ground. Blood on their hands and on their faces. Eddie, Hen and Bobby crouched down aside of the hugging couple. Bobby put his hands both on Evan’s and (Y/n)’s shoulder and basically created a group hug when Eddie and Hen also joined in. For this story they were gonna need a lot of therapy sessions.

[fatehbaz]

When you tag things “#abolition”, what are you referring to? Abolishing what?

Prisons, generally. Though not just physical walls of formal prisons, but also captivity, carcerality, and carceral thinking. Including migrant detention; national border fences; indentured servitude; inability to move due to, and labor coerced through, debt; de facto imprisonment or isolation of the disabled or medically pathologized; privatization and enclosure of land; categories of “criminality"; etc.

In favor of other, better lives and futures.

Specifically, I am grateful to have learned from the work of these people:

Ruth Wilson Gilmore on “abolition geography”.

Katherine McKittrick on "imaginative geographies"; emotional engagement with place/landscape; legacy of imperialism/slavery in conceptions of physical space and in devaluation of other-than-human lifeforms; escaping enclosure; plantation “afterlives” and how plantation logics continue to thrive in contemporary structures/institutions like cities, prisons, etc.; a “range of rebellions” through collaborative acts, refusal of the dominant order, and subversion through joy and autonomy.

Macarena Gomez-Barris on landscapes as “sacrifice zones”; people condemned to live in resource extraction colonies deemed as acceptable losses; place-making and ecological consciousness; and how “the enclosure, the plantation, the ship, and the prison” are analogous spaces of captivity.

Liat Ben-Moshe on disability; informal institutionalization and incarceration of disabled people through physical limitation, social ostracization, denial of aid, and institutional disavowal; and "letting go of hegemonic knowledge of crime”.

Achille Mbembe on co-existence and care; respect for other-than-human lifeforms; "necropolitics" and bare life/death; African cosmologies; historical evolution of chattel slavery into contemporary institutions through control over food, space, and definitions of life/land; the “explicit kinship between plantation slavery, colonial predation, and contemporary resource extraction” and modern institutions.

Robin Maynard on "generative refusal"; solidarity; shared experiences among homeless, incarcerated, disabled, Indigenous, Black communities; to "build community with" those who you are told to disregard in order "to re-imagine" worlds; envisioning, imagining, and then manifesting those alternative futures which are "already" here and alive.

Leniqueca Welcome on Caribbean world-making; "the apocalyptic temporality" of environmental disasters and the colonial denial of possible "revolutionary futures"; limits of reformism; "infrastructures of liberation at the end of the world."; "abolition is a practice oriented toward the full realization of decolonization, postnationalism, decarceration, and environmental sustainability."

Stefano Harney and Fred Moten on “the undercommons”; fugitivity; dis-order in academia and institutions; and sharing of knowledge.

AM Kanngieser on "deep listening"; “refusal as pedagogy”; and “attunement and attentiveness” in the face of “incomprehensible” and immense “loss of people and ecologies to capitalist brutalities”.

Lisa Lowe on "the intimacies of four continents" and how British politicians and planters feared that official legal abolition of chattel slavery would endanger Caribbean plantation profits, so they devised ways to import South Asian and East Asian laborers.

Ariella Aisha Azoulay on “rehearsals with others’.

Phil Neel on p0lice departments purposely targeting the poor as a way to raise municipal funds; the "suburbanization of poverty" especially in the Great Lakes region; the rise of lucrative "logistics empires" (warehousing, online order delivery, tech industries) at the edges of major urban agglomerations in "progressive" cities like Seattle dependent on "archipelagos" of poverty; and the relationship between job loss, homelessness, gentrification, and these logistics cities.

Alison Mountz on migrant detention; "carceral archipelagoes"; and the “death of asylum”.

Pedro Neves Marques on “one planet with many worlds inside it”; “parallel futures” of Indigenous, Black, disenfranchised communities/cosmologies; and how imperial/nationalist institutions try to foreclose or prevent other possible futures by purposely obscuring or destroying histories, cosmologies, etc.

Peter Redfield on the early twentieth-century French penal colony in tropical Guiana/Guyana; the prison's invocation of racist civilization/savagery mythologies; and its effects on locals.

Iain Chambers on racism of borders; obscured and/or forgotten lives of migrants; and disrupting modernity.

Paulo Tavares on colonial architecture; nationalist myth-making; and erasure of histories of Indigenous dispossession.

Elizabeth Povinelli on "geontopower"; imperial control over "life and death"; how imperial/nationalist formalization of private landownership and commodities relies on rigid definitions of dynamic ecosystems.

Kodwo Eshun on African cosmologies and futures; “the colonial present”; and imperialist/nationalist use of “preemptive” and “predictive” power to control the official storytelling/narrative of history and to destroy alternatives.

Tim Edensor on urban "ghosts" and “industrial ruins”; searching for the “gaps” and “silences” in the official narratives of nations/institutions, to pay attention to the histories, voices, lives obscured in formal accounts.

Megan Ybarra on place-making; "site fights"; solidarity and defiance of migrant detention; and geography of abolition/incarceration.

Sophie Sapp Moore on resistance, marronage, and "forms of counterplantation life"; "plantation worlds" which continue to live in contemporary industrial resource extraction and dispossession.

Deborah Cowen on “infrastructures of empire and resistance”; imperial/nationalist control of place/space; spaces of criminality and "making a life at the edge" of the law; “fugitive infrastructures”.

Elizabeth DeLoughrey on indentured labor; the role of plants, food, and botany in enslaved and fugitive communities; the nineteenth-century British Empire's labor in the South Pacific and Caribbean; the twentieth-century United States mistreatment of the South Pacific; and the role of tropical islands as "laboratories" and isolated open-air prisons for Britain and the US.

Dixa Ramirez D’Oleo on “remaining open to the gifts of the nonhuman” ecosystems; hinterlands and peripheries of empires; attentiveness to hidden landscapes/histories; defying surveillance; and building a world of mutually-flourishing companions.

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson on reciprocity; Indigenous pedagogy; abolitionism in Canada; camaraderie; solidarity; and “life-affirming” environmental relationships.

Anand Yang on "forgotten histories of Indian convicts in colonial Southeast Asia" and how the British Empire deported South Asian political prisoners to the region to simultaneously separate activists from their communities while forcing them into labor.

Sylvia Wynter on the “plot”; resisting the plantation; "plantation archipelagos"; and the “revolutionary demand for happiness”.

Pelin Tan on “exiled foods”; food sovereignty; building affirmative care networks in the face of detention, forced migration, and exile; connections between military rule, surveillance, industrial monocrop agriculture, and resource extraction; the “entanglement of solidarity” and ethics of feeding each other.

Avery Gordon on haunting; spectrality; the “death sentence” of being deemed “social waste” and being considered someone “without future”; "refusing" to participate; "escaping hell" and “living apart” by striking, squatting, resisting; cultivating "the many-headed hydra of the revolutionary Black Atlantic"; alternative, utopian, subjugated worldviews; despite attempts to destroy these futures, manifesting these better worlds, imagining them as "already here, alive, present."

Jasbir Puar on disability; debilitation; how the control of fences, borders, movement, and time management constitute conditions of de facto imprisonment; institutional control of illness/health as a weapon to "debilitate" people; how debt and chronic illness doom us to a “slow death”.

Kanwal Hameed and Katie Natanel on "liberation pedagogy"; sharing of knowledge, education, subversion of colonial legacy in universities; "anticolonial feminisms"; and “spaces of solidarity, revolt, retreat, and release”.

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - June 20, 2023

🐕 - Meet Sheep Farm's Newest Employee: Collie Hired After Ejection from Car!

1. Border Collie ejected from car during Sunday crash found on sheep farm, herding sheep

Tilly, the 2-year-old Border Collie who was ejected from a car Sunday during a crash, has been found. He was found on a sheep farm, where he had apparently taken up the role of sheep herder. 

According to Tilly's owner, he has lost some weight since Sunday's crash and is now drinking lots of water but is otherwise healthy.

2. After 17-Year Absence, White Rhinos Return to the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) recently welcomed the reintroduction of 16 southern white rhinoceroses to Garamba National Park, according to officials. The last wild northern white rhino was poached there in 2006.

The white rhinos were transported to Garamba, which lies in the northeastern part of the country, from a South African private reserve. In the late 19th century, the southern white rhino subspecies was believed to be extinct due to poaching until a population of fewer than 100 was discovered in South Africa in 1895, according to WWF.

3. UK to wipe women’s historic convictions for homosexuality

Women with convictions for some same-sex activity in the United Kingdom can apply for a pardon for the first time, the Home Office has announced.

The Home Office is widening its scheme to wipe historic convictions for homosexual activity more than a decade after the government allowed applications for same-sex activity offences to be disregarded.

It means anyone can apply for a pardon if they have been convicted or cautioned for any same-sex activity offences that have been repealed or abolished.

4. Study shows human tendency to help others is universal

A new study on the human capacity for cooperation suggests that, deep down, people of diverse cultures are more similar than you might expect. The study, published in Scientific Reports, shows that from the towns of England, Italy, Poland, and Russia to the villages of rural Ecuador, Ghana, Laos, and Aboriginal Australia, at the micro scale of our daily interaction, people everywhere tend to help others when needed.

5. In a First, Wind and Solar Generated More Power Than Coal in U.S.

Wind and solar generated more electricity than coal through May, an E&E News review of federal data shows, marking the first time renewables have outpaced the former king of American power over a five-month period.

The milestone illustrates the ongoing transformation of the U.S. power sector as the nation races to install cleaner forms of energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.

6. Iceland becomes latest country to ban conversion therapy

Lawmakers in Iceland on June 9 approved a bill that will ban so-called conversion therapy in the country.

Media reports note 53 members of the Icelandic Parliament voted for the measure, while three MPs abstained. Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, an MP who is a member of the Liberal Reform Party, introduced the bill.

7. The temple feeding 100,000 people a day

Amritsar, the north Indian city known for its Golden Temple and delicious cuisine, is also renowned for its spirit of generosity and selfless service. The city, founded by a Sikh guru, embodies the Sikh tradition of seva, performing voluntary acts of service without expecting anything in return.

This spirit of giving extends beyond the temple walls, as the Sikh community has shown immense compassion during crises, such as delivering oxygen cylinders during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the heart of Amritsar's generosity is the Golden Temple's langar, the world's largest free communal kitchen, serving 100,000 people daily without discrimination. Despite a history marred by tragic events, Amritsar continues to radiate kindness, love, and generosity.

----

That's it for this week :)

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[leo-muscle]

I’ve heard a little bit about this King Leon guy. Who does he think he is to call himself a king? Seems far to pretentious if you ask me. I wouldn’t be caught dead bowing to someone like that. Not in a million years.

Sure I’m the most basic looking white dude on the planet. My face gets lost in the crowd and my body is light enough to be blown by a breeze. But a king can’t change that, and I would like to see him or any of his subjects try to.

"Are you sure about that?" The bartender told you. You had just arrived on your vacation in Haiti, and the resort's bartender had decided to strike up a conversation with you over drinks. He was enormous, seven feet of pure surfer boy muscle, with a thick gut that was the very picture of strength. He would have been the most beautiful man you had ever seen, if you weren't in the middle of a massive rant.

"Oh, absolutely." You continued. "Whoever these 'kings' are, I don't want anything to do with 'em. Who are they to declare rule over the entire world, and who are we to listen to them?"

It was true, of course. Much of Africa, the British Isles, Central America, and even the islands you were now in had been united under the rule of these Kings. While many praised them for their novel social reforms and exponential increase to quality of life in their domains, many others, yourself included, remained attached to the old ways. Even this vacation was a scouting trip, to see if whatever propaganda these Kings were putting out was true.

"On the contrary, my friend, I am perfectly happy to listen to the rule of my King. You should have seen this island before King Kai came here. Homelessness, poverty... it's all been amended since he arrived."

"Really?" You asked, taking a big swig of your drink, savoring its tingle on your lips. "And NO one's uncomfortable being ruled by just one person?"

"People love King Kai. He is kind and just, like any good king should be. You'll see that soon enough." The bartender said.

"What do you mean by that?" You asked, your heart racing.

"Oh, nothing much. Just give it a few seconds."

"What are you-- UGH!" You doubled over, your skin on fire with a sensation entirely alien to you.

The bartender walked out from behind the bar, and soon, his magical hands went to work. With his kingly essence in your system, you could be molded into a respectable citizen of the world.

He started with your pecs, cupping them from behind as they burst through your tropical shirt with new strength. They were enormous, voluptuous pillows, jiggling with muscle and a thin layer of fat.

He then moved his hands along your shoulders, pumping them into cannonballs of strength. The moment his hands reached your arms, they pulled and pushed, leaving your twiggy biceps and forearms as but a fleeting memory, replacing them with pulsing, powerful cannons of strength. In awe, you flexed your right arm, forming a mound easily as big as a baseball if not more.

You moaned softly as King Kai's beautiful hands lightly traced a six-pack onto your stomach, each ab popping into existence, forming an impenetrable wall of strength.

Soon, his hands navigated south, one massive hand palming your flat ass, while the other grabbed your tiny three-inch cock. You moaned, long, low, and hard as both of his hands began to move out from your body, pulling your cock and ass with them. Your cheeks rounded out into a big, bouncy bubble butt, bigger than most women's. It shook with strength and sexuality with every slight movement you made, much like your cock, which had grown so big with the King's touch that no pair of pants could conceal your enormous bulge. His touch was electric on your shaft, causing you to pre almost endlessly.

Your mind was in heaven as he continued to your legs. Your cock was at full mast at its enormous eleven inches as he took his hands to your legs, and blew them up into corded steel pillars as big as any christmas ham. You moaned, your cock firing blanks as he looked you deep into your eyes, placing one hand to completely cover your currently-unchanged face.

"As much as I love my people, we cannot be a global community if all my citizens are homogenous." King Kai said. "Hmm, where should I send you..."

Your skin flickered through thousands of shades in a single moment, before settling on a tone a few shades darker than your original. Your hair darkened to black, and you instantly sprouted a thick dark mustache, and a chinstrap beard to match. Your eyes became narrower and monolid, your stare intensifying into a sexy smolder. As King Kai leaned in and kissed you, your bulk increased, and your muscle became padded with a thin sexy layer of fat.

"Cum." King Kai commanded you, his voice sexy enough to send you over the edge.

You had been reborn, a Vietnamese stud in the Carribean. Your brain was aflame with new neurons, making connections faster and better than ever before. You knew you had been improved, in every conceivable way. You were stronger, smarter, wiser, and you had no one but your new king to thank.

[wrishwrosh]

hey, i find your posts about historical fiction pretty interesting, do you have any recs?

anon this is the most beautiful and validating ask i have ever received. absolutely of COURSE I have recs. not gonna be a lot of deep cuts on this list but i love all of these books and occasionally books do receive awards and acclaim because they are good. in no particular order:

the cromwell trilogy by hilary mantel. of course i gotta start with the og. it’s 40 million pages on the tudor court and the english reformation and it will fundamentally change you as a person and a reader

(sub rec: the giant, o’brien by hilary mantel. in many ways a much shorter thematic companion to the cromwell trilogy imo. about stories and death and embodiment and the historical record and 18th century ireland. if you loved the trilogy, read this to experience hils playing with her own theories about historical fiction. if you are intimidated by the trilogy, read this first to get a taste of her prose style and her approach to the genre. either way please read all four novels ok thanks)

lincoln in the bardo by george saunders. the book that got me back into historical fiction as an adult. american history as narrated by a bunch of weird ghosts and abraham lincoln. chaotic and lovely and morbid.

the everlasting by katy simpson smith. rome through the ages as seen by a medici princess, a gay death-obsessed monk, and an early christian martyr. really historically grounded writing about religion and power, and also narrated with interjections from god’s ex boyfriend satan. smith is a trained historian and her prose slaps

(sub rec: free men by katy simpson smith. only a sub rec bc i read it a long time ago and my memory of it is imperfect but i loved it in 2017ish. about three men in the woods in the post revolutionary american south and by virtue of being about masculinity is actually about women. smith did her phd in antebellum southern femininity and motherhood iirc so this book is LOCKED IN to those perspectives)

a mercy by toni morrison. explores the dissolution of a household in 17th century new york. very different place and time than a lot of morrison’s bigger novels but just as mean and beautiful

(sub rec: beloved by toni morrison. a sub rec bc im pretty sure everyone has already read beloved but perhaps consider reading it again? histfic ghost story abt how the past is always here and will never go away and loves you and hates you and is trying to kill you)

an artist of the floating world by kazuo ishiguro. my bestie sir kazuo likes to explore the past through characters who, for one reason or another (amnesia, dementia, being a little baby robot who was just born yesterday, etc), are unable to fully comprehend their surroundings. this one is about post-wwii japan as understood by an elderly supporter of the imperial regime

(sub rec: remains of the day by kazuo ishiguro. same conceit as above except this time the elderly collaborator is incapable of reckoning with the slow collapse of the system that sheltered him due to britishness.)

the pull of the stars by emma donoghue. donoghue is a strong researcher and all of her novels are super grounded in their place and time without getting so caught up in it they turn into textbooks. i picked this one bc it is a wwi lesbian love story about childbirth that made me cry so hard i almost threw up on a plane but i recommend all her histfic published after 2010. before that she was still finding her stride.

days without end by sebastian barry. this one is hard to read and to rec bc it is about the us army’s policy of genocide against native americans in the 19th century west as told by an irish cavalry soldier. it is grim and violent and miserable and also so beautiful it makes me cry about every three pages. first time i read it i was genuinely inconsolable for two days afterwards.

this post is long as hell so HONORABLE MENTIONS: the amazing adventures of kavalier & clay by michael chabon, the western wind by samantha harvey, golden hill by frances spufford, barkskins by annie proulx, postcards by annie proulx, most things annie proulx has written but i feel like i talk about her too much, the view from castle rock by alice munro, the name of the rose by umberto eco, tracks by louise erdrich

[catmarlowastrology]

Ethel Cain's Astrological Birth Chart Analysis

Let's dive into an insightful exploration of Ethel Cain's birth chart, revealing her personality traits, tendencies, and potential life path.

🔥 Sun in Aries - The Fiery Leader Ethel is a proactive, energetic leader. With her Sun in Aries, she's naturally assertive, taking initiative and displaying courage. Governed by Mars, she's both ambitious and occasionally hasty. This trait lends her the confidence to spearhead projects, but she may need to navigate interpersonal challenges with tact.

🌀 Moon in Aquarius - The Rational Feeler Ethel’s emotional landscape resembles that of a detached observer, with her Moon in Aquarius. Valuing her autonomy, she often views feelings analytically. While this makes her a strategic problem-solver, she might appear reserved. Yet, her dedication to communal causes demonstrates a profound connection to humanity.

💭 Mercury in Aries - The Quick Thinker Mercury's position in Aries sharpens Ethel’s mental agility. Quick-witted and candid, she thrives in intellectual exchanges. However, she must be wary of potential oversights and unintended blunt remarks.

❤️ Venus in Aquarius - The Unique Romantic Ethel's Venus in Aquarius depicts a distinct perspective on love. She desires intellectual and emotional synergy, valuing autonomy within relationships. Traditional romantic gestures might not captivate her; instead, she's drawn to novel expressions of affection.

⚡ Mars in Aries - The Active Pursuer Ethel’s Mars in Aries amplifies her dynamic nature. While her boldness is commendable, it's essential for her to reflect before acting, ensuring she avoids avoidable pitfalls.

✨ Jupiter in Pisces - The Spiritual Balancer With Jupiter in Pisces, Ethel possesses an innate understanding of emotions, complementing her dominant Aries and Aquarius energies. This placement accentuates her intuition, urging her to maintain equilibrium between ambition and contemplation.

🛡 Saturn in Aries - The Diligent Warrior Saturn's placement in Aries presents Ethel with challenges to her inherent leadership traits. However, with age, she'll master the art of balancing determination with responsibility.

🌊 Chiron in Scorpio - The Healer of Depths Chiron in Scorpio delves deep into Ethel's emotional vulnerabilities, particularly trust. Yet, this placement also bestows her with the capacity to aid others confronting similar challenges.

🌱 North Node in Virgo / South Node in Pisces - The Practical Dreamer Ethel's spiritual journey emphasizes a shift from ethereal tendencies to pragmatic endeavors. She's guided to harness her leadership and innovation, applying them constructively in her relationships and pursuits.

⭐ Uranus and Neptune in Aquarius - The Visionary Reformer Belonging to a generation with both Uranus and Neptune in Aquarius, Ethel champions progressive ideas. Her Aquarian placements emphasize a yearning for intellectual companionship and societal betterment.

🌍 Pluto in Sagittarius - The Philosophical Trailblazer As part of the Pluto in Sagittarius generation, Ethel is inquisitive about life's profound questions. This placement reinforces her as a fearless innovator, ready to redefine societal norms.

If you found this article enlightening and wish to delve deeper into the unique aspects of your own astrological makeup, you can purchase a Natal Report. With enlightening sections that address every aspect of your personality, this report is ideal if you want to learn more about yourself and discover the hidden potential of your chart.

[radiofreederry]

The galaxy by the end of 9 ABY in me and @gabajoofs' timeline. After the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire splintered into several factions led by various charismatic warlords, which fought amongst themselves as the central Imperial government continued to war against the newly-proclaimed New Republic. This "Warlord Period" ended in 7 ABY with both the defeat of Warlord Zsinj and the Liberation of Coruscant. The majority of Imperials remaining have defected to Ardus Kaine's Pentastar Alignment, and the Empire is effectively dead as a polity, with only some dead-enders in the Deep Core keeping the name alive. As the Republic continues to hunt for Imperial war criminals, the galactic status quo has settled into a cold war between them and the Pentastar Alignment, with neither side willing to fire the first shot despite hostile relations. While the Republic governs much of the galaxy, other players also hold territory and influence as well, including the Mandalorians, the Central Committee of Grand Moffs, the New Confederacy of Independent Systems, organized crime groups, and a dark power rising in the shadowy corners of the galaxy...

The New Republic: After the Battle of Yavin, the Rebellion restructured itself into the New Republic, initially based on Chandrila. Over the next several years, the Republic waged a campaign against the fracturing Empire, securing the Galactic South and the Core before finally liberating Coruscant in 7 ABY. A series of escalating scandals brought down the leadership of Mon Mothma the following year, and she was succeeded in her role by Leia Organa, who pushed through governmental reforms and currently serves as the Republic's Chief of State, with Cal Omas as her Prime Minister. The Republic now sits at a crossroads, with several political factions vying to influence its destiny - including a right-wing political coalition led by Mon Mothma's daughter Leida.

The Neimoidian Socialist Confederation: After the election of socialist Thog Rutak as Trade Monarch, Neimoidian society was thrown into a civil war in which the socialists emerged victorious, and set about reforming Neimoidian society and nationalizing the Trade Federation. The confederation has grown to include much of the former Corporate Sector after its own socialist revolution, and is aligned with the Republic as an independent affiliated observer state.

The Pentastar Alignment: The largest and most successful of the post-Endor Imperial splinter states, the Pentastar Alignment, known in Republic space increasingly as simply the Imperial Remnant, controls most of the galaxy from Ord Mantell northwards. It has been so successful largely by avoiding conflict with the Republic and the Mandalorians, instead targeting smaller Imperial warlords including Warlord Zsinj. Pentastar has absorbed much of the remaining Imperial fleet and many of its greatest remaining military minds, including Grand Admirals Martio Batch and Gilad Pellaeon, the latter of whom acts as supreme commander of the Pentastar fleet. Governed from Bastion, the Pentastar Alignment is led by Ardus Kaine, former Grand Moff of Oversector Outer. Though he has taken the title of Legate in reference to military leaders of Bastion's ancient history, in all but name he is Emperor, and inspires great loyalty in his men.

The Bright Jewel Free Trade Zone: For a year beginning in 8 ABY, The Republic and the Pentastar Alignment fought an undeclared war over control of the important trade hub Ord Mantell. To prevent the conflict's escalation into a wider war, the belligerents covertly agreed to withdraw their forces and establish a free trade zone in the Bright Jewel Sector. Nominally independent, the zone is home to the Great Game, a covert competition between the Pentastar Intelligence Agency and the New Republic Intelligence Service to establish influence over Ord Mantell.

The Hapes Consortium: The small, independent enclave of the matriarchal Hapans has gone unmolested since Endor. Chief of State Organa is planning a diplomatic mission in the hopes of bringing them into the Republic.

The Chiss Ascendancy: In the Unknown Regions, the Chiss control their territory and watch for threats known only to them. They have not established relations with the Republic.

The New Confederacy of Independent Systems: After Endor, rather than joining the New Republic, a group of former Separatist worlds, led by Magisterial Porro Linn of Balan-Quod and mainly from the Tion Cluster, formed a revival of the CIS. They have received little support, and have not normalized relations with the Republic.

Black Sun, the Iron Triad, the Exchange, et al.: In the wake of Endor and the decimation of the Hutts, organized crime has grown in power. Several worlds in the Galactic south and former Hutt Space are now openly run by crime organizations, in particular the Iron Triad, founded by former Imperial officer Ubrik Adelhard, which is based on Klatooine. After the death of Prince Xizor, the leadership of Black Sun remains unclear.

The Central Committee of Grand Moffs: A small group of Grand Moffs working in concert with Supreme Slavelord Trioculus of Kessel - who claims to be the Emperor's son - has monopolized the spice trade with a small fleet of Imperial ships, conquering the Pyke Syndicate and incorporating it into their own operations. They are considered of least concern to the Republic.

The Imperial Royalist Confederation: After Ysanne Isard launched a coup in late 4 ABY, Sate Pestage and Mas Amedda fled Coruscant for the fortified Deep Core, where they set up their own government on the Emperor's throneworld of Byss. There Amedda rules as Imperial Regent, surrounded by sycophants, and the Republic is content to let him stew.

Mando’ade Aliite be Te Anila Grat’ua Mand’alor (United Clans of Mandalore): After Endor, Death Watch veteran Vasili of clan Bev’miir, who had spent several years uniting the disparate Mandalorian clans, launched an assault on the Empire's holdings in Mandalorian space. After securing Mandalore, Bev'miir, now known as Mandalore the Uniter, waged war to expand Mandalorian space to historical heights, helping to crush the Warlord Zsinj and destroy the power base of the Hutts. Since securing the borders of Mandalorian space, Bev'miir has been content to rule his worlds in relative peace, reforming Mandalorian society and restoring the supremacy of the clans. He recently signed a treaty alongside Chief of State Organa in which the Republic recognized him as the legitimate representative of the Mandalorian people and his government's sovereignty over the worlds it controls.

The True Mandalorians: Supporters of Bo-Katan Kryze's claim to lead the Mandalorians, including her own Nite Owls and several smaller clans, united as the True Mandalorians and attempted to gain their own foothold to unite the Mandalorians. While the Republic recognized Kryze as the true leader of the Mandalorians and offered support, ultimately Kryze's forces were only able to secure Onderon's moon Dxun, losing the planet Jabiim to Bev'miir's faction. Now, languishing on the jungle moon, they have lost even Republic recognition, and their future is uncertain.

The Hutt Empire: Campaigns by the Mandalorians and Iron Triad, and a revolt of the Evocii on what was once Nal Hutta, have destroyed most of the Hutts' power in the galaxy. Individual crimelords such as Dertykop of Taris or Teemo of Tatooine still exert power, but the Ruling Council retreated to Varl and the Bootana Hutta, there to rule what remained of Hutt Space. The Council was overthrown in 8 ABY by the warlord Muuka, who has proclaimed himself the new Emperor of the Hutts, declaring that the Hutts must return to their ancient ways of warfare and conquest to survive and reconquer their rightful territory.

The Proto-Sith: A number of dark side factions, including the Knights of Ren, the Prophets of the Dark Side, the Lost Tribe, elements of the Reborn and the Inquisition, and the Sorcerers of Tund have gathered in what was once Sith Space and the Centrality. The Rule of Two died with Palpatine and Vader at Endor, and it is time once again for the Sith to cheat death…

There are also several factions which hold little to no territory, but which have a great deal of galactic influence regardless:

Moff Royen's Imperial Remnant: A small fleet of ships which remains independent of the other major Imperial remnants, mainly patrolling the Red Hand Cluster.

The New Jedi Order: After a quest of several years to uncover secrets of the Force and find Force-sensitive recruits, Luke Skywalker, now a Jedi Master, has reformed the Jedi Order, heading the new Jedi Council. He has established a temple on Tython to headquarter his Order, which numbers around 100 Jedi, both survivors of the old Order and new recruits. The Order is independent of the Republic, but a treaty of friendship between them saw the Republic establish a fleet to defend Tython and the Order from threats.

The Children of Ghorman: The Republic Commision for the Prosecution of War Crimes and Crimes against Civilization was established in 6 ABY for the prosecution of Imperial war criminals. Valarr Ulgo, an Alderaanian former ISB officer and member of Republic Intelligence, formed the Children of Ghorman in order to secure these criminals, a group of Rebel veterans who were all impacted personally by Imperial atrocities with the sole objective of capturing those Imperials who were beyond the Republic's reach and bringing them to justice.

The Mining Guild: The fall of the Empire was a boon for the Mining Guild, which regained its independence. Under the leadership of Athor Skarhill, the Guild has moved in a left-wing direction, and affiliated itself with Garm Bel Iblis' People's Union Party.

[itstokkii]

issues with calling or headcanoning sk as america’s child

 or, a deep dive and evaluation of sk-us relations over the years as a south korean

Recently, I saw a post where someone gave their hcs of america pursuing a relationship with nk, which resulted in sk’s “birth.” then nk was afraid this new child would usurp their title and basically cause them to die, and so wanted to kill this new child before that happened. then america intervenes and “saves” sk. I believe this is the quick version of that headcanon. 

I’m not trying to make this a callout post, I’m just giving my own thoughts based on experience living around US bases(Yongsan specifically)

As many have pointed out, this reeks of stereotypical “evil asian mom and chill/cooler white dad,” as well as us imperialism apologia. It also reminds me a lot of madame butterfly in a way? Additionally, it basically ignores the fact that South Korea has its own culture and existence long before US imperialism. 

If the US is like sk’s “dad” in a sense, then wouldn’t that ring true for other cold war states, like south vietnam, or west germany? 

I’ll leave my thoughts under the cut. This is the longest thing I’ve ever written.

CW, TW: war, colonialism, imperialism, SA, rape, murder

Primary issues with the headcanon

Throughout Korea’s history, there were times where Korea was unified, and times where Korea was not. There have also been splits of different states, north and south. I point to the Kingdoms of Goguryeo and Silla during the Three Kingdoms Period, and even before then with Gojoseon and Jin. So this split is not exactly new, and this is why I personally disagree with the headcanon that North and South Korea were babies around the time of the split, and rather that they represented Goguryeo and Silla. 

The Korean War had stemmed from a desire to reunite the two states. Kim Il-Sung had pursued this and that started the war, and even Syngman Rhee pursued this ideal as well after the UN forces recaptured Seoul, resulting in that further push to invade North Korea. But this desire would have never existed if they weren’t split to begin with and remained whole as they did since 700 years ago with the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty. The Korean War was not willingly fought by both South and North Koreans. 

It was a result of imperialist states splitting us up and then pitting us against each other(even the split was quite hasty, with families being split across the border), so it’s also wrong to draw parallels of SK fighting for its existence in the Korean War and the US during the Revolutionary War. One was fought to stay alive as a nation, and of which can be traced to outside forces laying their influence on the Peninsula, and one was fought willingly and of their own accord. 

So it’s important to remember that the War was not because of an attempt to kill a “child” made by North Korea and America, it was the result of a nation that has been unified as one for 700 years being split suddenly, and the desire on both sides to reunify, albeit under their own management. Additionally, the idea of South Korea being “a child” of the US ignores the centuries-worth culture and history that was not influenced by the US and propagates the idea that we belong in the US’s shadow, and that without them, we have no identity. 

South Koreans affectionately refer to the US as our “brother state,” but never think of the relationship as a parent and child. Remember that.

Next, we’ll talk about the role of the US in this. 

While doing some research into the split, I found that after Korea was liberated in 1945, a socialist government(People’s Republic of Korea) was organized and supported by the majority of the population. This made the most sense. There was a vast gap of inequality between the Korean peasants, and the Korean nobles(who were given/maintained that power by betraying their Korean identity and working with the Japanese), so they advocated for social reform, such as land reform. However, the US wanted to set up their own military government(which for some time had actually supported the Japanese colonial government). So the US censored and then outlawed the popular government, putting themselves in charge and keeping advisors such as former Japanese colonial officers, wealthy landowners, and businesspeople. You know, the exact people the popular government was against?

This government then set up elections. The majority of Koreans didn’t want that, because they knew that these elections would divide the country and leave no hope of unifying. So they protested, but they were put down by police and the US military. It might also be worth it to read about the Jeju Massacre, in which Jeju people protesting the UN-backed elections were brutally suppressed by Syngman Rhee and the US Military. This killed about 10% of Jeju’s population. Though the South Korean government has issued an apology, we have yet to hear from the US. 

So the US set up a government that supported a military dictator(it started with Syngman Rhee) and continued to support a long chain of these military dictators(who sent pro-democratic people to concentration camps) even during the Gwangju Massacre, when many pro-democratic students protested against the dictatorship and the then-president Chun Doo Hwan responded by commanding the military and police to fire on citizens. Though official government figures place the deaths at 200 people, citizens of Gwangju say it’s closer to 2000 people. 

I only found out about the concentration camps this year, and it’s because the South Korean Government, who wants to stay on the US’s good side, actively represses the role of the US in the military dictatorship. I’m pretty sure the US’s role is also barely taught in Korean history textbooks, since the government has tried to rewrite and issue textbooks themselves. 

Recently, the grandson of Chun Doo Hwan(the president that ordered the military to shoot on the protesters, and also was supported by US Presidents Carter and Reagan), apologized on behalf of his grandfather and family, who had constantly told him it was just a riot when he was a kid. He also took the time to expose his family, friends, and even his own money laundering crimes. He personally visited Gwangju and gave a full floor-level bow in apology. This was a first step in the correct direction. However, the government, especially with Yoon Seok Yeol’s pro-US and anti-NK sentiment, is trying not to shed light on these issues, and it’s why I believe a lot of people tend to continue to favor the US, because they don’t really know or are aware of the US’s full part in our military dictatorship. 

Another interesting read would be the Namyeong-Dong Anti Communist Investigation Office, a former prison facility and torture room for pro-democracy protestors.

Now for the existing US impact on South Korea: The USFK

The USFK(short for United States Forces Korea) is the Korean branch of the US Military. They have an active presence in South Korea since 1957, which is about 65 years ago. 

Not many Koreans have an Anti-American sentiment, but the USFK has consistently caused it to resurge throughout the nation. 

In 2000, it was found out that the US military had dumped about 20 gallons(75L) of formaldehyde into the Han River, which at the time was a main drinking source for about 12 million people in Seoul. 

They carelessly ran over two 14-year old girls(Shin Hyosun and Shim Miseon) with one of the US military’s armored vehicles in 2002. What made things worse was that the US Military Court found them not guilty. In response to the incident and other grievances with the US military, PSY actually rapped a song called “Dear American” written by a South Korean band criticizing them, mostly regarding the US military and their involvement in the Iraqi War, which he later had to apologize to the US military for rapping after he got famous singing Gangnam Style.

The US military was also involved in forced prostitution and human trafficking. In 1992, Yoon Geum-i, a military sex worker, was raped and killed brutally by Private Kenneth Markle. He was tried and initially received life in prison, but then later his sentence was reduced to 15 years in prison after Yoon Geum-i’s family received $72,000 as compensation from the US government. In 2006, he was released on parole and then deported to the US. @tianshiisdead further goes into detail on this on her post about these headcanons.

In 2020, it was found that the major camp of the USFK, Camp Humphreys, was hosting a no mask COVID party while the Korean government was urging locals to limit in person gatherings as the cases were surging. The party was on a Friday, and on Monday it was found that 408 USFK-affiliated individuals tested positive for COVID.

The South Korean government pays them to stay here... and do what? Cause trouble? 

The USFK and US funding the ROK military has led to the ROK military being one of the strongest. However, we are not allowed our own weapons, and the US constantly attempts to provoke North Korea through any presidential remarks, or actions. This keeps South Korea reliant on the US, and allows for a continued presence in South Korea.

Conclusion

All of this is why it’s so important to keep checking back on how you see Korea and America’s relationship in Hetalia. As positive as current relations may be, it’s important to remember the many failures on the US’s part to keep their military acting like decent human beings at times, and that they literally caused the split along with the USSR, and made it permanent through the suggestion and implementation of elections, which Koreans on both sides largely did not support. 

South Korea has one of the highest positive perception rates towards the US. This may be due to their hand in helping us develop as a nation and also providing aid during the Korean War, but it may also be due to the suppression of the full extent of activities the US has partook in South Korea, and due to the Anti-North Korea sentiment that was also propagated by the US. 

Also, the fact that Americans also call the Korean War “The Forgotten War” is so frustrating to me. Did we just... not matter in the long run? We’re just a pawn, or a strategic location, right? The separated families, the civilian casualties(which was a higher rate than WW2′s and the Vietnam War), the devastation of so many cities... just didn’t matter? Maybe you forgot, but it’s impacted us and our decisions for years. Just goes to show how selfish the US can be...

As much as I do wish one of my favorite ships were one of complete happiness where nothing is wrong, this is not the case, and I am trying my best to express that in art or headcanons. It is important to acknowledge that the 70-year long relationship, though sharing some positive, unproblematic moments through cultural exchange and joint collaboration in the modern era, is characterized by a lack of trust on South Korea’s end, largely due to how the US has wronged us over the years. 

[whirligig-girl]

This away mission to the airless moon of Beta Gamma AdIV had turned south rapidly. The colonists had taken deep offense to nearly everything that the landing party did. The final straw was when Lt. J.G. D'vana Tendi and Lt. J.G. Eaurp Guz were found holding hands while taking readings of the colony's aging life support system. That was "completely inappropriate and unacceptable." Guz had pulled her hand back, ashamed, and Tendi tried apologizing, but she got what she was apologizing for wrong, and that enraged the colonist even more.

Well, things on the colony were clearly a lot less stable than the first contact team had indicated, and a riot broke out in the tight compact space over whether the orion woman and the mellanoid slimegirl had been acting inappropriately or not.

Lt. J.G. Sam Rutherford pushed between brawling colonists, expertly dodging punches and kicks and lunges to try and reach Tendi and Guz. Lt. J.G. Beckett Mariner was taking a more direct approach, double-hand-punching and all, and Lt. J.G. Brad Boimler was trying his best to calm the situation--"now now, let's all settle down and talk about this like civilized--" before he got punched out. Mariner was then torn between trying to help out Guz and Tendi and saving Boimler from being trampled.

"I got them!" Rutherford shouted, and Mariner nodded, and scooped up Boimler to try and drag him to safety.

Mariner tried her combadge, and eventually made contact. But between being a half mile underground and the tight crowds, the Cerritos' transporter could not get a lock.

Guz and Tendi were grappled by two or three of the crowd and being brought who knows where. Guz stretched out her hands and tried to grab handholds on the wall, but she just ended up stretched too thin, and had to pull her arms back before they snapped off altogether.

They ended up shoved into a room-perhaps a prison cell? Tendi was shoved in first, and landed on her back, and then followed by Guz, who was still trying to hold onto the walls to keep from being forced in. When she finally gave up, she splattered on the floor and over Tendi's uniform, too exhausted to form a skeleton.

Finally, a brief break from the commotion.

Guz tapped her combadge. No signal.

"I'm sorry Guz, I didn't think something that small would be a problem!" Tendi said. She gently petted the top of the green slime puddle that was pooling around her.

"No, no, it's my fault," Guz said, slowly reforming her face. "I was getting overstimulated, and that's why you held my hand. If I had hid that better, then you wouldn't have held my hand, and we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Maybe I wanted to hold your h--"

"WE'RE IN AN AIRLOCK!" Guz said as she formed her eyes, and she immediately tensed up into a humanoid form and stood up.

Tendi stood up too, and looked behind her to find a hatch identical to the one she'd just been shoved through, with a small rectangular window on it. She peered out at the dark gray surface with the red ringed planet in a pitch-black sky, and she froze for a moment, and then sprung into action.

The low gravity made the backflip easier but no less impressive to Guz, and Tendi landed at the inner airlock hatch--through that window she could see they were down at the end of a long hall. Mariner and Rutherford were running towards them, but the two colonists who had grappled her and Guz were there, trying to override the airlock's safety system. She used her tricorder to scan for something--anything--a weak point in the hatch, and lever. She grabbed at the lever, but it didn't budge. The other colonist was holding it shut, and even though Tendi was a heavyworlder, that colonist was bigger and heavier than her. A test of raw strength wasn't going to do much--even though she was probably stronger. She jumped up and stepped on the lever, using all of her weight--but here she only weighed maybe 20 kilograms. She tried the lever again with her arms and just ended up lifting her feet off the ground. She looked around. There was an access panel... but Guz was already working on it.

"Guz, can you get more leverage?" Tendi said, gesturing at the inner hatch.

A red alarm started flashing.

Guz hit the mechanism she was trying to hack into in frustration. There must have been a redundant backup, because what she'd just done should have rendered the airlock nonfunctional.

Guz turned around to the other side of the airlock. There was a locker with space suits inside. Guz tore the locker hatch open and threw a space suit at Tendi.

"There's not enough time!" Tendi said.

"It's our only hope!" Guz said. She poured herself into a puddle and then into the space suit, put on the gloves, and then took the helmet.

Tendi started donning the bulky space suit. She couldn't just pour herself in, she had to quickly put on the liquid cooled garment, then Guz tried to help her with the bulkier pressure suit leggings, and then the airlock hatch started to open and--

it all happened so fast. Tendi took a deep breath--immediately regretting it, since it would mean her lungs were about to collapse. At the same moment, Guz lunged out of her own space suit and covered Tendi's face.

The rapid decompression caused Guz to bubble up. Tendi and Guz were ejected from the airlock and onto the dark gray surface. Guz was now completely covering Tendi like a puffed up balloon suit. She went tense and rubbery when she hit the ground, something Tendi had discovered some time ago was a severe pain response.

Tendi couldn't see well through the green helmet protecting her, and she was already starting to run out of breath. But she was out of the colony--maybe the Cerritos could reach them!

She stood up, and stumbled forward with uneven weight, and bunny-hopped as far away from the overhang of the lava tube, and out into the valley where an older lava tube had collapsed long ago. She reached her slime-covered hand through the slime covering her torso and tried to tap her combadge, but Guz was too rubbery and too puffed up. This was going to be it. At least they had each other.

Guz reached a shaky, rubbery tendril out of the slime that covered Tendi's chest, holding the combadge out.

Tendi took the combadge, and tapped it, and then fell to the scalding gray ground. She broke her fall with her hands, but Guz tensed up again in pain and tried to dragged her arms away from the regolith. Guz strained to pull Tendi upright onto her knees, but by now Tendi had finally lost consciousness. She had, what, 15 seconds left? 30? Guz wasn't sure how well she'd be able to fare herself, aside from vaguely a little longer.

Guz reformed her eyes, protected behind that blurry shield of dry, more rubbery gelatin that had formed at her skin. She could now see the other pieces of the space suit, which had also been ejected from the airlock.

Guz poured her body into the legs of Tendi's space suit and tried to stand, but she was losing her own strength rapidly. She stood, jumped forward in the lower gravity to the torso unit and helmet, and then fell down to the surface. Her rubbery skin started to soften back to goo, then bubble up again, and then... and then... everything got dark.

And she woke up in sickbay, in a bio-tank, surrounded by sterilized medical jelly. She formed her eyes, and then looked at herself. Her whole body was sore. Sounds were muffled. Guz formed large gills in the amorphous blob that was supposed to be her torso and took in the oxygenated substance that surrounded her. A privacy curtain surrounded her tank, thank gooness, because she didn't have her uniform. She reached a tendril out of her amorphous body to touch the LCARS touchscreen inside the tank, and call for help. The doctor stepped into the curtain.

"Welcome back, Lieutenant," Dr. T'ana said. "You're going to be just fine. You suffered decompression trauma but since you don't have any actual organs, you're already healing. You'll probably be sore for a few days, and I want to keep you under observation until you can form a skeleton again."

Guz slowly formed a mouth. Shapeshifting, even to her default form, still hurt. "Tendi?" Guz said, raggedly and muffled by the fluid surrounding her.

"You did great, Lieutenant. If you hadn't played pretend being a suit of armor, Tendi would have lost her lungs, and probably a lot more too."

"She's okay?" Guz said.

"Eh she'll be fine. She's on bedrest in her quarters. Oh, right, she wanted to see you when you were awake. Do you want to see her or what?"

Guz emitted a sound somewhere between a bark and a chirp that the universal translator was pretty sure was "YES!"

T'ana nodded and tapped her combadge. "Dr. T'ana to Lieutenant Tendi. Guz is conscious and she wants to--"

Tendi appeared in the privacy curtain before T'ana even finished her sentence, out of breath.

"Holy [bleep]ing [bleep] Tendi you scared the hell out of me. Were you just waiting outs--i told you to get some god[bleep] sleep!"

Guz's tissue oxygenation rate increased when she saw Tendi come in. Tendi looked up pityingly at the amorphous blob, and held her hand up to the tank. Guz tried to reach out, but the slime that had used to be her hand was covered in hot regolith burns, and was still crispy and gray.

"I hate seeing you like this again," Tendi said.

"Nevermind me. Are you okay?" Guz said.

"Oh me? I'm fine. I have a head-splitting headache that comes and goes and i'll need this hearing aid implant until Dr. T'ana can finish regrowing my new ears. Ooh, do you think I should ask for vulcan ears? That could be fun!" Tendi said, smiling. "Or... logical, haha," she said, narrowing her eyes and holding up finger guns.

Guz stared at Tendi, unblinking, and Tendi wasn't sure if that was just because she didn't have eyelids or because she didn't get it.

"Just, uhh, kidding," Tendi said. She coughed. "My outer ears are fine, I only need new inner ears."

"What about your lungs?"

"Dr. says they're fine, even though I held my breath. I'm supposed to go through some more training to make sure I don't do that next time I get thrown out of an airlock. I'm so lucky I had you! You saved me."

"Why not hold your breath?"

"Humanoid lungs collapse when you hold your breath in a vacuum!" Tendi said.

"That makes sense; so do mine," Guz said. She temporarily turned her amorphous gills into foamy lungs, even though it hurt to do so. "But I can make new ones," she said, and then lungs relaxed back into gills.

There was a quiet moment, and Tendi's smile dropped. "But, really though, Guz, are you okay?"

"Everything hurts. But. Small price," Guz said. "You're alive."

Tendi smiled softly, bittersweetly. "I think you make a better girlfriend than a space suit."

The goo-filled tank emitted a warbling sound which the universal translator picked up and couldn't decide between a "giggle" and "random key-smashing."

"I dunno. Forget knights in... shining armor. I can be your knight... of... shining armor... princess Tendi," Guz said.

"Then who would take care of you, my dear?" Tendi said, feigning a sense of gravitas and pomp.

"Maybe some kind of... solid metal alien?"

"Maybe we should just both wear space suits next time we go on EVA," Tendi said, giggling.

"Yeah." Guz said. "Better idea."

[deepsouthreformation]

10 Quotes from Spurgeon and the Poor

Q&A with Alex DiPrima To purchase a copy of Spurgeon and the Poor from Reformation Heritage, click here. Quotes from Spurgeon and the Poor 1. Spurgeon’s commitment to gospel preaching gave social ministry its proper place. (Pg. xxi) 2. During Spurgeon’s lifetime, the Pastors’ College trained nearly nine hundred men, and its graduates planted nearly two hundred churches in Britain alone. (Pg.…

[catierambles]

Alternate Instincts Ch.5

Pairing: The Rogue’s Gallery (Geralt, Syverson, Mike, August Walker, Walter Marshall) x Stephanie Daniels (OFC)

WC 787 (sorry for shortness)

Warnings: Uhhhhh *vague I dunno sounds*

The house was quiet and dark, everyone having gone to bed. Stephanie was laying on the couch, politely declining the offers the others made for her to take their bed while they slept on the floor. Jordan wasn’t going to kick the door down of a cabin filled with Alpha wolves (and one Beta, as Mike had let her know), so she was good where she was. She looked up from her phone briefly as a figure moved past the couch into the kitchen. She heard the fridge open then close and they came back through, stopping behind the couch.

“What?” She asked, looking up briefly again at August standing there, a bottle of water in his hand. “Being kinda creepy right now, my guy.”

“You need to leave.”

“Tried that.” She said, resuming her doomscrolling. “Sy is kind of adamant that I not leave, as I’m his, Geralt’s, and apparently Mike’s Mate. They would rather I not die a horrible death, and I’m not too keen on the idea either, actually.”

“All three of them?”

“That’s what they told me.” She said and there was a pause.

“Sure got them pussy whipped, don’t you.” He said and she looked up at him slowly.

“Fuckin’ pardon?” She asked, “I actually haven’t had sex with any of them. So, you know--” She flipped him off with her free hand. “Fuck you.”

“Classy.”

“I’m just matching your energy, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Asshole.” She said and while he didn’t say anything, he didn’t leave either, and the weight of his eyes was starting to make the skin between her shoulders itch. Hauling herself off the couch, she put her phone in the pocket of the flannel sleep pants Mike loaned her. Sy and Walter had gotten her things from the campsite, Jordan’s were already gone, but it was colder than had been forecasted so the shorts she had packed weren’t going to cut it.

“Where are you going?”

“You care now?” She asked, and went to the front door, flipping back the locks and heading outside. The night air was cool, filling her lungs as she breathed in deep. She needed to call her boss, let her know what was going on. Heather was a wolf, too, and it made sense now why Jordan always avoided meeting her. She probably would have known right away that he was a Feral and contacted the Pack Council.

A deep growling filtered through the night air and she looked over, seeing the massive black wolf walk slowly out of the shadows from the back of the house. Glacial blue eyes glowed at her through the darkness, lips curling back away from sharp canines.

Don’t move. Don’t run. Run and you’re prey. Keep looking at them, maintain eye contact.

It kept advancing on her and she wanted to look around for a stick, or something, but that would require her looking away. It stopped in front of her, ears pinned back, still growling. A self-superior look passed through those eyes. Wait.

“No.” She said, holding his nose and the growling stopped, ears perking up in surprise. “Really? This is how you try to throw your dick around? Fuck off.” She pushed his muzzle away and he pressed in closer to her, sniffing around her, making her lean back a little. “August…” He shifted back, the sight of his limbs contorting and body reforming making her stomach turn a little. “And you’re naked.” The plain, somewhat boring, shirts he wore hid how absolutely massive he was in musculature, his shoulders broad, his chest and stomach that was covered in a layer of dark hair defined but not overly so, making him look strong, not dehydrated. Only Geralt was bigger, and not by much. She didn’t let her eyes go any further south than his belly button before she turned them back up at him, the look in his eyes making her swallow heavily.

“Motherfucker.” He hauled her against him and almost off her feet with an arm around her waist, weaving his fingers in her hair, his lips crashing down on hers hard. The cut on her lip from earlier reopened making her wince, but he didn’t seem to notice. His mustache rasped over her upper lip, the force of his kiss making her toes curl and she found herself responding to him as the image of his wolf flashed over her mind, the phantom feeling of fur sliding over her skin making her shiver. “Goddamnit.” He growled as he broke the kiss. “You’re not leaving.”

“But you--”

“You’re not going anywhere until that Feral is in the ground.”

“August,” Stephanie said, her hands curling around his biceps. “Am I--”

“You’re my fucking Mate.”

[probablyasocialecologist]

There is a point — and an obvious one at that — to the ongoing demonization of trans identity, one that requires a full view of the organized Right’s goals, tactics, and coalition-building to see. From a political economic vantage, we might assess how and why trans people have become such a useful scapegoat — an object of blame and scorn — in what are ultimately efforts to insulate business interests from public accountability and to dismantle democracy’s ability to redistribute wealth to the many from the few. Unlike past essays for the Law and Political Economy Project and Boston Review in which I delineated the various economic incentives that drive capitalists into a mix of pro and anti-trans political projects (my next book tackles this subject further), this essay focuses mainly on those forces which consistently find trans scapegoating useful — even lucrative. The right-wing power bloc here has deep roots in fossil fuels, “dirty” manufacturing, large-scale family firms, and the usual array of financial and real estate interests and draws significant electoral support from small business owners and disaffected conservative Christian voters. Although my perspective is somewhat parochial, many of the coalitional dynamics and authoritarian aims are far from unique to the US. To the contrary, these appear to be an international phenomenon. Similar reactionary movements against gender-nonconforming people from Europe to South America to Africa (where US-based groups have been active for decades) dot the global landscape. The fight in Germany over gender recognition legal reforms has also brought together a similar coalition of far-right politicians, trans exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs), and religious parties and institutions. Accordingly, it is absolutely crucial to begin with asking questions about who benefits from the present assault on trans lives.

[fatehbaz]

How is it that a small wedge of the South American continent, long claimed by a major European power and still administered by it, could present a profile of wilderness at the end of the twentieth century? How might this same location on the globe have proved useful for such an unlikely combination of purposes as the resettlement of convicted criminals and the launching of rockets?

French Guiana remains a remarkably insignificant artifact of the political landscape - rarely noticed by most of France, let alone anyone else - as well as one of the least settled regions of the world. It has also hosted two exceptional experiments of the French state: the historical penal colony known in English as “Devil's Island,” which operated between 1852 and 1946, and the contemporary space center that launches the European consortium rocket Ariane, responsible for transporting a good half of the commercial satellites orbiting our globe. [...] Its base, the Guiana Space Center (CSG), indeed lived up to its slogan, becoming “Europe's Spaceport,” a center of high technology near the equator. [...]

---

[T]he penal colony begins operation in the middle of the nineteenth century, partly as a substitute for a system of plantation slavery. It conceives of French Guiana as open land for agricultural settlement, fertile ground for a tropical - and French - Australia, where the action of moral reform can translate into a scheme of colonization. [...] [T]hese early hopes are belied by the high mortality of the convicts [...]. Despite periodic calls for reform and increasing international discomfort, the bagne lasts through World War II. It leaves a deep mark on French Guiana, in both symbolic and material terms. As the movement of seventy thousand exiles progresses, the surrounding landscape shifts from a luxuriant field of dreams into a tableau of terror. At the same time, the colony as a whole grows accustomed to the presence of this artificial prison world within it [...].

---

The space center begins operation in the second half of the twentieth century, in the midst of the Space Race and in the aftermath of the Algerian War. It conceives of French Guiana as open land for technical experiments and a gateway into equatorial orbit, an even more tropical - and French - Cape Canaveral. [...] [A] regular stream of technicians and engineers arrives to assemble and guide it into space. The initial mandate to provide France with a launch site expands into a focus on commercial satellites, and although local opposition to the project continues, the effects of the enterprise on French Guiana in both symbolic and material terms only deepen. As the Ariane rocket gains importance, the surrounding landscape transforms from an orphan of history into a handmaiden of the future. At the same time, the department grows accustomed to an increased infusion of consumer goods, technical personnel, and [...] a new island with an artificial environment and a powerfully altered social profile.

---

At slightly closer range a number of striking structural similarities emerge. Not only do both projects found towns (St. Laurent on the one hand and the new Kourou on the other), but both operate as rival poles of influence and authority relative to the civil administration of French Guiana. Each involves [...] its own hierarchies, its own links to bureaucratic networks in Paris, and its own claims to significant national French interests. Each [...] exerts considerable influence over the surrounding economy. Most crucially, each controls and orders a separate territory within the larger political entity; each has a spatial presence, a direct impact on the landscape. And tied to this spatial strategy, each comes to serve as a symbolic nexus in collective Metropolitan imagination. [...] One employs leftover forces of law and order, whereas the other employs highly trained technical personnel; thus [...] both [...] have ties to the military [...]. The penal colony imports the unwanted of France, whereas the space center imports the selected few. [...]

And the bagne reflects visions of an ancient underworld, whereas Ariane reflects visions of a new overworld. [...]

Many of the specific additional attributes of a desirable site for penal colonization (distance from the Metropole, possibility of confinement and surveillance, and prevention of local disturbance) find echoes in the specific additional attributes of a desirable site for launching rockets (distance from the Metropole, adequate security, adequate possibility of transport, and political stability).[...]

---

The penal colony takes shape at a crucial moment in European colonial understandings of place and labor. Slavery had just been abolished in the French Empire, and an accompanying understanding of work in terms of race had far from expended its interpretive force. [...] Work represented the route to a better future, to the growth of new, valuable lands. [...] If slavery were at an end, then the crucial question facing the colony was that of finding an alternative source of labor. During the period of the early penal colony we see this search for new slaves, not only in French Guiana, but also throughout colonies built on the plantation model. Thousands of Asian Indians and Chinese found their way to new homes in different corners of the British Empire, serving as contract laborers on plantations. [...]

Kourou [the space center] is a neutralized, controlled corner of the tropics, with much of its cultural fabric simply imported. Amid the restricted space of artificially cooled buildings and automobiles, in zones free of carrier mosquitoes and amply supplied with wine and cheese airlifted from France, the distance between Paris and Cayenne shortens; the effects of translation between them grow less clear. If the island mimics the mainland successfully, if Crusoe builds a little England - or France - is his task done? [...] To answer this question, let us return to a crucial turning point of Guyane's history: the aftermath of World War II and the period of formal empire. It was during this era that the natural, political, and moral space of French Guiana was neutralized through a combination of DDT spraying, departmentalization, and the final closing of the penal colony. In 1949, a former teacher [...] in Martinique published an overview of the new overseas departments and territories. His description of French Guiana includes a call to arms for its development, a development still conceived in terms of a need for [...] agriculture, and industry [...]. Gold mines aside, it seems that the method of painstaking labor is the only one really applicable at present. Incontestably, there is magnificent work to accomplish there, such as should tempt young men fond of broad horizons and adventure. The appeal is for an army of Crusoes, advancing ashore to improve their collective island. The questions of race and level of expertise filter through patterns of history and perceived practicality. But the call remains, the call of a wilderness inviting domestication.

---

All text above by: Peter Redfield. Space in the Tropics: From Convicts to Rockets in French Guiana. 2000. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism purposes.]

[loving-n0t-heyting]

I am aware i am revealing my historical ignorance here but was there any deep reason south africa achieved democracy in the 90s specifically or did it just so happen by coincidence that the massively economically unequal apartheid state in dire need of land reform drew the incredibly terrible luck to squander its transition to democracy and the most charismatic iron willed leader of the century and a constitutional guarantee of appropriation w/o compensation on the decade of shock therapy?

[tanadrin]

Really the aftermath of the civil war should have seen a whole new constitution rather than just the Reconstruction Amendments. The original constitution was a set of compromises between sectional interests to allow the union to be preserved despite disagreements over slavery, and once slavery was ended, there was an opportunity to crush the political power of the landholding southern whites who benefitted most from slavery once and for all.

But Lincoln got shot, and Johnson was a spineless racist who was too sympathetic to the South; and later the Compromise of 1877 put the final nail in the coffin for Reconstruction. The North lacked the political will to really safeguard the rights of black citizens, or to do deep constitutional reforms, and the result was a series of half measures that got gutted by the Supreme Court and partly undone by Jim Crow.

Not to mention more refined models for democratic institutions emerged in the later 19th and in the 20th centuries. The US had to design its institutions without many contemporary examples, but now it has many examples to draw from that it can’t use, bc the constitution is stupidly difficult to amend.