#Union Jordan 2

[reefdestro]

IG ReefDestro

[ethnicbrat]

chapter 23.

[tysonfurybattlepass]

worked out hard and sparred like the old days and then demolished 2 slices of costco pizza and a bowl of spinach ravioli now i go to bed. tomorrow morning i have my first physical therapy appointment. life is so good bros it’s insane

[fairuzfan]

Have you heard about the global day of action on March 2?

Yes! I have! Here's more info about it (click). Here, from the "About" section:

There is a growing global movement for a Free Palestine. Across the world, millions of people are engaging in demonstrations and organizing major marches in solidarity with Palestine. Our demands for an immediate ceasefire, cutting all aid to Israel, and lifting the siege on Gaza have broader support than ever. On November 4th, over 500,000 gathered in Washington DC for the largest march in recent times to stand in solidarity with Palestine. Protests with half a million people erupted on the streets of London, constituents across Canada occupied over 17 MP offices from coast to coast, and Belgian dock workers' unions have refused to transport weapons by plane or sea that are destined for Israel.  We must keep building momentum and increase the pressure with more marches, walk-outs, sit-ins, and other forms of direct action directed at the political offices, businesses, and workplaces that fund, invest, and collaborate with Israeli genocide and occupation. NOW is the time for our mobilizations to grow in size, frequency, and focus; building a political climate that makes Israel’s business of genocide unsustainable.

Already protesters have shut down highways, train stations, and bridges in the United States; activists have targeted Israeli weapons manufacturers; Belgian dockworkers’ unions have refused to handle weapons transports to Israel; Bolivia has cut diplomatic ties with Israel while Jordan, Chile, and Colombia have recalled their Israeli ambassadors. Be part of the change, take action, and make your voice heard as the global struggle for Palestine enters a new phase.

Join the Shutdown for Palestine on Friday, December 8, 2023. We call on movements, organized labor, youth, students, media and healthcare workers, and all members of society to join us in demanding an immediate ceasefire, cutting all aid to Israel, and lifting the siege on Gaza. This call to action started on November 9, but we will continue to build up the momentum with ongoing days of action. No business as usual until Palestine is Free!

Walk out from work and/or school

Picket Israeli embassies and consulates

Picket against companies that profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestine (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Elbit Systems)

Host speak outs

Wear kuffiyehs

Wear black armbands

[funkopersonal]

Im quite literally so done with this shit. i keep on going back and forth between hiding all the i/p related tags, but then I realize that its seeped EVERYWHERE. It's in the motherhood tag, and jewish history tag, and everything else. I can't fucking escape it. I opened tiktok yesterday to see one of my favorite characters (iron man) weaponized to support the one group that wants to see me dead, the user saying that iron man would support palestine, and be an antizionist because he "spoke out against the public" and he wasn't like the sheep. It frustrates me to no end this horrible cycle of fucking misinformation that exists.

As a Gen Z, I simply do not understand how its reached this point? I can't even write all my feelings and information about how shitty this is in a single sitting because 1) it'd be too long and 2) my joints wont let me write that long. But how did it reach this point?

How did it reach the point where jewish/isreali stores are fucking marked to notify the public. Their windows are being broken and the stores are being robbed. How did it reach the point where jewish students on some campuses are told to stay home? how they're harassed out of specific areas, and campuses have been made unsafe? How did it reach the point that people literally have written "I ♡ Houthis & Hamas" and "no mercy for Jews."? How did it reach the point that there are nazi symbols, and hanging deadmans, and communist symbols being drawn on college campuses? How is it possible that students are calling for the end of jewish student unions and hillel international on campus? that'd be like calling for the end of the fucking muslim student organization, or disbanding an african-american affinity group. Which would never be acceptable, but apparently its fine when its jews.

I'm sick and tired of all the horrible conditions of palestenian cities being blamed on israel. Palestine is its own country. They had their own government until they elected Hamas to lead them. Hamas, who diverted all their funds to the military. Hamas, who uses hospitals and public spaces as their bases. Hamas, who built miitary tunnels under cities so that when they're invaded, the cities will collapse on itself. Hamas, who steals all humanitarian aid from its citizens. Hamas, who controls palestenian media and teaches hatred to its children. Hamas, who wants their citizens to become martyrs for their country, to die for their goal. Hamas, whose number one goal is to eradicate all jews. Hamas, who denies the existence of the holocaust. Hamas, who enlists children as soldiers and suicide bombers. Hamas, who has has never expressed an interest in a 2 state solution.

Is this the organization you consider freedom fighters? because i dont think they should ever, in any context, be called that. Hamas is nothing but terrorists.

Yes, the deaths and treatment of palestenian citizens is horrible. but no, this is not a genocide. Israel is trying to rid them of Hamas, because quite literally, no country should ever be forced to live in "harmony" with a terrorist group. Especially one who denies their existence and actively wants to kill them all. Israel has been letting palestenians get jobs in the country, has let palestine use their resources and water, all for years. They've let hamas continously bomb them, they've gotten used to a life of bomb shelters in every residence. Hamas has done nothing but crippled their country's own economy and society.

None of the surrounding coutnries want to let in palestenians, or live with palestenians. Egypt wants to annex Gaza, and Jordan wants the West Bank. In fact, they did own that land for a part of history! Yet Israel has let palestenians govern themselves for years, even when Hamas originally came into power, they didn't interfere. Not until they were provoked.

Yes, Israel has flaws. But welcome to the fucking real world, princess. Every country has flaws. Even America, you dipshits. This is not a little fandom for you to play sides on. its not some fictional world that has a black and white solution. Yes theres going to be deaths, just like in any other WAR. But you really can't call for the destruction of a country on the basis that they're trying to make sure they're allowed to stay a country? Because guess what honey bunchkins? "from the river to the sea" really doesn't mean what you think it does. It just means that you want to kill all jews, or at best, forcefully remove them and scatter them around the middle east. (to countries that have killed them in swaths in the past. To countries that have emprisoned jews for helping others escape. To countries that avidly hate jews and want them dead). I don't understand how that would mean peace in any way shape or form?

Not only that, but half of "protestors" and "activists" for palestine, haven't even done basic research. They dont know what river or sea theyre talking about. They dont know that "palestine" was not a palestenian state in 1948, but it was instead a BRITISH MANDATE, that was NOT fully occupied by palestenians. In fact, "palestenians" weren't a thing. Palestenians are just muslims and arabs from countries like syria, who lived alongside jews and christians in the same land (which was largely uninhabited for the most part). Yeah, you heard me right.

Honestly my thoughts on this issue are so scattered its so hard to make a solid points when I can just keep on going forever.

Fact is, Israel deserves to be a country. No one should be supporting Hamas. Everyone should be supporting the eradication of Hamas (and I mean Hamas not palestenian citizens). I don't get how these are debated, and seriously don't understand how citizens of america are so quick to support a terrorist group, to resort to antisemitism.

Im so done with this all. I cant believe we have to tell you gentiles that stoning a 13-year old kid for being jewish is horrible. That throwing a brick through an israeli-owned cafe in New York is horrible. That students not being able to be on campuses because of their religion or ethnicity is horrible.

This has to end.

Do your research, or don't speak (and terrorist-controlled propoganda channels don't count).

[megamindfandombookclub]

Official anouncment that Part 2 of Season 1 of Megamind rules will be returning to Peacock on June 20th!

21st June on Stan

Taken from our Evil Lair Discord group, here is the current list to stream Megamind Rules in different countries:

"Megamind Rules!" Show Availability:

USA: Streaming platform: Peacock https://www.peacocktv.com/ **Date: ** March 1st AUSTRALIA Streaming platform: Stan https://www.stan.com.au/ Date: March 2nd UNITED KINGDOM (Unknown) Other Countries: Currently unknown. You may need to consider getting a VPN to use Peacock from your location. (The UK and AU have trademarks set, so it's likely you'll be getting it as well.)

"Megamind vs The Doom Syndicate" Movie Availability

USA: Streaming platform: Peacock https://www.peacocktv.com/ **Date: ** March 1st AUSTRALIA (Note: Unconfirmed, but assumed. See <#983559635455856651>) Streaming platform: Stan https://www.stan.com.au/ Date: March 2nd (?) UNITED KINGDOM Streaming platform: Sky Cinema https://www.sky.com/tv/cinema Date: April 7th

(Below info is pulled from FlixPatrol https://flixpatrol.com/title/megamind-vs-the-doom-syndicate/streaming/)

BRAZIL Streaming platform: Amazon Prime https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0GQ8FGUVP06TWTZLX0J4XOJNKM/ ALGERIA, BAHRAIN, CHAD, EGYPT, IRAQ, JORDAN, KUWAIT, LEBANON, LIBYA, MAURITANIA, MOROCCO, OMAN, QATAR, SAUDI ARABIA, SOMALIA, SOUTH SUDAN, TUNISIA, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, YEMEN Streaming platform: OSN https://osnplus.com/ DENMARK (Megamind mod Dommedagssyndikatet) Streaming platform: Via Play https://viaplay.dk/film/megamind-mod-dommedagssyndikatet-2023 FINLAND (Megamind vs. Tuomiosyndikaatti) Streaming platform: Via Play https://viaplay.fi/leffat/megamind-vs.-tuomiosyndikaatti-2023 ICELAND Streaming platform: Via Play https://viaplay.is/movies/megamind-vs-the-doom-syndicate-2023 NORWAY (Megamind og Dommedagssyndikatet) Streaming platform: Via Play https://viaplay.no/filmer/megamind-og-dommedagssyndikatet-2023 SWEDEN (Megamind och Undergångssyndikatet) Streaming platform: Via Play https://viaplay.se/film/megamind-och-undergangssyndikatet-2023 Other Countries: Currently unknown. You may need to consider getting a VPN to use Peacock from your location. (The UK and AU have trademarks set, so it's likely you'll be getting it as well.)

Please support Dreamworks to show demand for more Megamind content! We've waited this long-- show them it matters!

Please do what you can to watch Megamind Rules from a legit source so that Dreamworks can get paid. With more views, there is higher chance of being for another season and/or ANOTHER movie.

DW constantly treats Megamind as an afterthought and gave the team a very small budget to work with on the show. They put their hearts into it and made something very fun and cute! Let's show our gratitude by giving back all the support we can.

The Animators Union may be protesting for better wages this summer (as is their right!) so by watching their work, we can give back to them!

Please don't allow Megamind Rules to become lost media. Please help us to keep something beautiful in this world.

If you're fan and want to join a cool and fun loving group, feel free to hop in and say Ollo!!

[probablyasocialecologist]

On November 20, news broke that the U.S. was exploring plans to exploit the gas fields off the coast of Gaza as part of an “economic revitalization plan.” While some took this to mean that these gas fields were an ulterior motive for the years of Zionist and U.S.-backed attacks on Gaza, the current assault should be understood as an escalation of an ongoing attempt to ethnically cleanse Gaza that is part and parcel of the Zionist settler-colonial and imperial project.

[...]

Besides its long-term goal of building a settler-colonial ethnostate, the Zionist project sustains itself as an imperialist proxy for the Western empire in the region. One important way it plays this role is through its involvement in exporting stolen gas to the European Union (EU) and by striking gas deals with local normalizing neighboring states, like Jordan, Egypt, and the UAE. Twenty-five years ago, British Gas Group (BGG) discovered natural gas off the coast of Gaza between the Zionist-occupied Leviathan gas field and the Egyptian Zohr gas field. These fields have become known at Gaza Marine 1 and Gaza Marine 2, and are a tremendous point of interest for the Zionist state and its American sponsor, who seek to profit off of Palestinian natural resources in the Mediterranean Sea. Most of Gaza’s energy and water is controlled by the Israeli occupation, and plans to introduce and maintain independent energy-producing infrastructure inside the Strip have continuously been thwarted by both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Zionist state. Instead, the Occupation, and to a lesser extent the PA, both benefit from stolen gas and desalinated water from Gaza’s shores while Palestinians in Gaza endure increasingly catastrophic energy crises. Only a few months before October 7, Netanyahu announced approval for the development of this gas field in collaboration with the PA and Egypt. Right now, after more than 20,000 Palestinians had been killed by airstrikes or execution-style, 8,000 reportedly stuck underneath the rubble, hundreds kidnapped and tortured, tens of thousands injured, and a deliberate energy crisis in Gaza designed by the Zionist state to deplete life-saving infrastructure, energy giant Chevron resumed gas extraction from the Tamar and Leviathan fields to supply Egypt and Israeli settlers.

[twisted-turtels]

Crossed Paths (Pt.1)

Farleigh Start x black!fem!oc

Author’s note: this is so random of me. Welcome to my new fixation, Farleigh Start from Saltburn. I wonder how long this story will last lol.

969 words is crazy i dont even write this much for my classes lol. it takes me days to get to 1000 words.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Crossed Paths

“Mama, there is no need to worry about me. You don’t trust me?” Jordan says. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. I don't trust the rest of the world. You're my baby, and you’re leaving me. Going all the way across the world!” Monica, Jordan’s mom, exclaims.

“Ma, you know this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I have never left this country, and I get the chance to study at one of the oldest and most prestigious universities for free! There’s nothing to worry about,” Jordan explains, “Listen, I’m about to pull up to my apartment, or shall I say ‘flat’ as the Englishmen describe it. I’ll talk to you later. Goodnighhhht.”

“Goodnight, baby, I love you. Don’t go crazy over there now!” Monica hangs up.

Jordan gets out of her taxi and takes in her surroundings. University of Oxford, I can’t believe I made it. Jordan clumsily gathers her luggage from the taxi (It’s a lot of stuff) and walks towards the entrance to her accommodation. As she struggles to make sure none of her luggage falls, she accidentally bumps into a tall figure. 

“Fuck.”

“Oh shit, I am so sorry!” Jordan looks up and exclaims. She sees a tall, pretty, light-skinned man staring down at his now-stained shirt. He’s black, she thinks. “Yes, and so is my shirt,” the man says sarcastically. “Oh, I did not realize I said that out loud. I’m sorry again. I’m kind of struggling, and I guess I wasn't paying-” she tries to explain, “You’re American?” the man interrupts. “Um, yeah, I just got in today, if you can’t tell. I’m here for an exchange program,” she continued. “Not many of us here. Listen, don’t worry about the shirt. I hope to see you around, but I gotta be somewhere soon,” the man quickly says and walks off. 

“For sure,” Jordan trails off, saying before she looks at her bags, I guess I will take this up myself. “Ugh!” she groans.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jordan sits in her flat and looks at the now unpacked space. I did a great job. I think I'm gonna put a Texas flag on my wall, too. She slumps down on the couch and looks at the flyer on her coffee table. ‘Undergraduate Social! 5 PM,’ it reads. “I guess I can attempt to socialize,” Jordan looks down at her watch, “One hour to get ready, but I don’t have to be there at exactly 5 pm though,” Jordan thinks aloud. I wonder if I’ll see the man from earlier? 

After freshening up, Jordan gathered her keys and wallet and went to the social. She entered the student union and noticed it bustling with students and professors. While looking around, she subconsciously looks for the man she met earlier.  Not many black students, she notes. She takes the time to go up to different organization tables and gather information. As she moves from table to table, she feels a delicate hand tap her shoulder. Jordan turns around and notices a blonde girl standing in front of her. 

“Hello!” the blonde girl exclaims.

“Hello?” Jordan questions.

“Sorry for the abruptness, but I just wanted to introduce myself. You seemed lost. My name is Venetia, and I wanted to ask, are you American?”

“Uh yeah, I am. I’m from Texas, actually.” Jordan explains.

“That’s really cool. There aren't many Americans here. I do know another one, though, who just happens to be my cousin. Would you like to meet him?”

I do need friends, so it wouldn't hurt.

“I don’t mind that at all. Lead the way. Also, my name is Jordan, by the way.”

“What a lovely name. Follow me!” Venetia instructs. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Boys, I would like you to meet Jordan! She’s American just like you, Farleigh!” Venetia exclaims

Jordan stares at the tall man. “Oh, we’ve met Vee. She’s the one who spilled tea on my shirt.” Farleigh explains with a stoic look on his face.

Jordan stares at her feet sheepishly, “Yeah, really sorry about that.”

Farleigh stared the girl down until he smirked, “I’m just playing; it wasn’t a big deal. It's nice to put a pretty name to a pretty face, though.”

He just called me pretty.

“Ignore Farleigh, he’s a little jokester. Aren’t you cousin?” Venetia teasingly asks as Farleigh rolls his eyes. “Anyway, this is my brother, Felix,” Venetia gestures to another tall, handsome man. Are all British men above 6 feet and handsome?

“Hello. Sorry for my sister practically dragging you over here,” Felix jokes.

“I did not drag her over here!” Venetia exclaims

“Haha, it’s okay. I need to put myself out there more honestly, don’t want to be alone during my time here.” Jordan reassures.

“How about I get your phone number?” Farleigh blurts out, he then corrects himself, “ How about we all get your number so we can continue hanging out more? Obviously, I don’t want to be the only American in the group.”

“I thought you would never ask,” Jordan pulls out her phone to notice it’s dead, “Oops, phone is dead. Let me just write it down.” There is no paper. “Can I see your hand?” Jordan asks Farleigh while taking out a pen. Jordan softly holds Farleigh’s hand and writes down her number, “You can pass this on to the rest of them,” Jordan smiles at Farleigh. 

“It was really nice meeting y'all, but I have to get ready for the first day, so I’ll see y'all later,” Jordan waves and walks off.

Oh my god, when did I get so bold?

The group looks at each other in astonishment as Jordan walks away. “Ooh, Farleigh, she gave you her number,” Venetia teases. “She gave it to all of us,” Farleigh defends himself. 

“She says y’all,” Felix points out. “That’s so Texas of her.” He jokes. 

[zvaigzdelasas]

The IB affair (Swedish: IB-affären) was the exposure of illegal surveillance operations by the IB secret Swedish intelligence agency within the Swedish Armed Forces. The two main purposes of the agency were to handle liaison with foreign intelligence agencies and to gather information about communists and other individuals who were perceived to be a threat to the nation.[...]

The story was immediately picked up by many leading Swedish dailies.[3] Their revelations were that: •There was a secret intelligence agency in Sweden called IB, without official status. Its director Birger Elmér was reporting directly to select key persons at cabinet level, most likely defence minister Sven Andersson and Prime Minister Olof Palme. •The Riksdag was unaware of its activities. People with far-left views had been monitored and registered. •IB agents had infiltrated Swedish left-wing organisations and sometimes tried to induce them into criminal acts. •There were Swedish spies operating abroad. IB spies had broken into the Egyptian and Algerian embassies in Stockholm. •The IB co-operated extensively with the Central Intelligence Agency and Shin Bet, in contrast to the official Swedish foreign policy of neutrality.[...]

In the following issues of Folket i Bild/Kulturfront the two uncovered further activities of IB and interviewed a man who had infiltrated the Swedish movement supporting the FNL, Vietnamese National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam - at this time the FNL support network was a backbone of the radical opinion - and among other things, visited Palestinian guerilla camps in Jordan. The man worked for IB and had composed reports that, it was surmised, IB later passed on to the Israeli security services which resulted in the camps being bombed. [...]Swedish authorities claimed they were unable to locate him to stand trial. In 2009, he released an autobiography of his years in IB[...] He also confirmed that he had been transferred from IB to the Mossad, an Israeli intelligence agency, immediately prior to his exposure.[...]

The magazine had information from a previous employee of IB, Håkan Isacson, who claimed that IB had broken into the offices of two political organizations: the FNL Groups, a pro-North Vietnamese organization, and the Communist Party of Sweden, a Maoist political party. This concerned a Jordanian citizen and a stateless citizen. A wiretap was installed in the latter case. After this uncovering, the defense minister did admit that IB engaged in espionage outside of Sweden and infiltrated organizations within Sweden, including wiretaps. Evidence was put forth in 1974 that IB had built up a large network of agents in Finland, which included the Finnish foreign minister Väinö Leskinen. This network's main mission was to gather information regarding the Soviet Union.[...]

In November 1973, Prime Minister Olof Palme denied any link between IB and the Social Democrats. However, according to the memoir of ex-security service chief P.G. Vinge, Birger Elmér had regular contact with Palme and made his reports regularly to the Social Democratic Party secretary, Sven Andersson.[...]

Jan Guillou, Peter Bratt, Håkan Isacson and the photographer Ove Holmqvist were arrested 22 October 1973[2] by the Swedish Security Service on suspicion of espionage. On 4 January 1974 each was sentenced to 1 year in prison. Bratt and Guillou were both convicted of espionage; Isacson was convicted of espionage and accessory to espionage. After an appeal, Guillou's sentence was commuted to 10 months. The Swedish Supreme Court would not consider the case.[4][...]

In 2002 an extensive public report, named Rikets säkerhet och den personliga integriteten (Security of the Realm and personal integrity), was published on the operations of IB. This report clarified the details of the case, but it did not have any legal impact. To date, no member of IB has ever been indicted, nor has any politician or government official, despite the revelation of widespread extra-constitutional and criminal activity.

[decolonize-the-everything]

So there's been a lot of stuff going on in my family lately, stuff I don't want to talk about publicly. But one of the knock on effects is that I've spent some time with my mother's brother, who has been a successful organizer of unions in DC for the last 30 years, and he's cultivated some really useful sources on capitol hill to share insights on politics, and he likes talking with his jaded, 28-year-old historian nephew.

So one of the thing he brought up was that among the many reasons DC ignores what young voters tend to want is that as far as DC is concerned, young people vote inconsistently, and therefore are not worth pandering to - they don't come out consistently enough to punish those who vote against their interests, and they don't come out in favor of those who vote for their interests, ergo, why bother?

We began talking about Israel/Palestine and his response was similarly grim. I brought up my ongoing theory that as the world regresses back into essentially 19th century world affairs, and Israel is essentially what the British Empire would have called an American Vassal State, his response was "Kind of, but they aren't acting entirely in our interests" - not a secret, right? Everyone paying attention knows that Biden wanted a multilateral middle eastern partnership with Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, right before all of this happened, and Israel's...disproportionate response has very much ruined that.

What he brought up that WAS interesting is that while many young people have fallen off supporting Biden because of his support of Israel, a lot of more "likely" voters are more supportive of him because of it, and the current math on capitol hill is that they're trying to court "likely" voters. The other, even grimmer math he told me about is that this conflict is going to escalate to a point that Israel is going to continue to bleed off support until the US government has no choice BUT to pull support from Israel - though Netenyahu is not doing himself any favors by openly disparaging the US state department and US interests, something that makes the US State department at least somewhat more interested in looking at alternative partners to the point that they probably would be willing to force Israel to replace Netenyahu and his party eventually, with or without public demand.

The problem is that those things take time, and that Netenyahu's successor would probably be a more "liberal' alternative to Netenyahu's more openly fascist current reality, and "securing an alternative middle eastern strategy" is more important to the US government than stopping what their current option is doing. According to my uncle who has spent the last 30 years working with DC power brokers, basically all of them assume they have between 2-4 months before the election to force netenyahu to actually stop doing anything (or replace him with someone who will stop when asked nicely) if they're really worried about the loss of support it's going to cause them.

It's a lot more interesting, but what he pointed out was that the only way ceasefire happens sooner is if, frankly, demonstrations get an order of magnitude bigger, and begin demonstrating it actually impacts people's chances. I am submitting this post here because I am primarily a writeblr and for whatever reason my "openly political" posts (despite all my stories being deeply political in deeply political genres) struggle to get as much traction, and this seems worth spreading.

This all sounds very similar to what I've been thinking as well, it's almost a direct parallel of things we've seen before.

[princesscatherinemiddleton]

Princess of Wales - 2023 Statistics (FULL YEAR)

In 2023, the new Princess of Wales completed (by my count) 137 engagements. While this is around 30 engagements fewer than 2022, 2023 is still Catherine's second busiest year and - by far - her year with the most appearances not in the Court Circular. As well as this, she was sighted (or appeared) 17 times and appeared in a whopping 43 official (or unofficial and leaked!) photographs.

She gained three new military positions throughout the year and finished with 29 patronages. Of her 137 engagements, 76 were related to one of her patronages, averaging at one patronage visit every 2 engagements. Her most visited patronage was, of course, the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales, with 48 visits. This was followed by the Rugby Football Union and the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (with 4 visits each). She performed no engagements on behalf of Action for Children, The Air Cadet Organisation (she visited the air cadets during her visit to RAF Fairford, but this was not recorded as an official engagement), EACH, Family Action, the Maternal Mental Health Alliance, the Natural History Museum, NHS Charities Together (although she met with NHS workers to celebrate the NHS's 75th birthday), Place2Be, RAF Coningsby, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal Photographic Society, or the 1851 Trust.

Of her engagements, 70 have been solo and 41 accompanied by her husband, the Prince of Wales. Three were also with her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, five with a range of foreign royals, as well as 16 with either the whole or most of the working British Royal Family, and two with both foreign royals and members of the BRF.

118 of her engagements physically took place in England, with all bar 3 physically occuring in the United Kingdom (with none in the Republic of Ireland). Of the 118 engagements which took place in England, 37 occured in London and 51 in Windsor. Catherine’s engagements also took her to 31 other areas of the UK. Catherine also performed engagements in Wales and Scotland. Catherine also undertook two engagements in France (for the Rugby World Cup) and one in Jordan (Crown Prince Hussein's wedding).

During the year, she performed engagements on a variety of themes. 42 of those engagements were predominantly related to her Early Years initiative, while 12 were linked to the military and 11 linked to culture, sport and diplomacy apiece. 10 engagements were specifically linked to the Coronation, while she also completed 9 engagements linked to mental health, 7 linked to children and young people, 3 linked to the outdoors, and 2 linked to the Commonwealth. Catherine also completed 19 engagements which could not otherwise be categorised.

Clotheswise, her most worn designer has been Alexander McQueen, with 28 outfits, followed by 14 outfits from Holland Cooper, while 11 items of clothing were unidentified. Her most carried bag designer was Mulberry (11), followed by Emmy London with 6, and 1 which was unidentifed. Mulberry has been her most carried bag designer in every year apart from 2020. Her most worn shoe designer continued being Gianvito Rossi (with 39 wears), followed by 8 pairs from Emmy London, and 6 from both Veja and Aquazzura. Once again, Catherine predominantly wore pieces inherited from either Diana (10) or the Queen (16). Aside from them, she also wore Daniela Draper jewellery 12 times. When it comes to accessories, her most worn item was her Anderson's belt (6 times), and she continued to return to hats made by Philip Treacy (6 times). She also wore 9 unidentified pieces. According to my (100% wrong) calculations - created from my own criteria (where items are counted each time she wears them), she wore £65,669.41 worth of new clothes this year and £267,495.29 worth of clothes in total.

[freifraufischer]

The New Zealand Problem

Sometimes you can see the issue that will light the gymternet on fire a mile away before anyone has even seen the smoke. And sometimes that fire had always existed.

In gymnastics one of the paths to qualification at the Olympics goes to the single highest all around placement at each continental championship from a country that did not qualify a team already. This is fairly straight forward in most places but gets dicey in one corner of the world. The Oceania Gymnastics Union is essentially a continental federation of 2 countries. Yes there are other members (Guam, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, and America Samoa), but there are no elite gymnasts from those countries. Australia qualified a women's team to the Olympics, so by default that means a Kiwi WAG gets an Olympic spot. At least according to FIG. But they aren't the only ones who get to decide who is an Olympian.

I've talked about "No Olympic Tourist" Policies before, and people may have run into them in regard to Sweden and ice skating, but many small to medium sized countries have policies to limit the size of their own Olympic teams for budget reasons. These national Olympic committees (NOC) set criteria that are higher than the general qualification rules for a given sport. Sweden's is often considered the most extreme (you have to show you are in the top eight in the world, meaning you can make an Olympic final and contend for a medal. The reason they're called No Olympic Tourist Policies is because you wont be sent to the Olympics just to be there.

New Zealand has had a No Olympic Tourist Policy for decades, and while their criteria is less extreme then Sweden's it works similarly. You have to convince the NZOC that you are within the top 16 in the world (the ability to make a semifinal in athletics or swimming where races are 8 lanes wide). In 2012 Jordan Rae was one of the last gymnasts to qualify at the London Test Event, but NZOC turned down her spot and it passed on to Đỗ Thị Ngân Thương of Vietnam who finished behind her and who went on to compete in London.

In this interview from 2016, Rhythmic gymnast Tanya Moss-Barry who represented New Zealand in Los Angeles describes how initially they believed that New Zealand would send no gymnasts to the Olympics that year. Only a top 8 finish at an event in Tokyo convinced the NZOC to send her, and she believes it was at the expense of equally deserving WAG and MAG gymnasts. They would send only one of them.

It appears that Courtney McGregor was sent to Rio on the basis of her vaulting competitiveness. Which itself suggests that the people making the decisions at the NZOC don't really know much about gymnastics. McGregor came in 4th on vault at the Rio test event and 17th at 2015 Worlds. But as anyone who knows gymnastics knows... vault fields are much smaller than other apparatus and a finish in the teens doesn't mean you are as competitive as one on the other apparatus. But more power to them if they were able to get the Olympic committee to send her on that basis.

So the problem for 2024.

The WAG Olympic Qualification road has handed an Olympic spot to New Zealand by default. There are no other elite gymnasts in the region it can go to and no mechanism for that spot to be reallocated to anyone outside of Oceania. And based on the results from Worlds it is highly doubtful that the NZOC will consider either Madeleine Marshall (93rd in the AA and 110th on beam) or Reece Cobb (102nd in the AA and 56th on beam) to be competitive. Courtney McGregor is making a comeback but without competing elite in years I'm not sure how she makes that case either.

Georgia-Rose Brown recently changed countries from Australia to New Zealand but she almost certainly is banking on making an argument for her competitiveness based on her bars results (she came in 4th and 5th on bars at two World Cups in 2023). Maybe the people making a choice at NZOC wont know that 2023 World Cups aren't evidence of competitiveness. Her best bars result of the entire quad would have put her in 22nd on bars at 2023 Worlds. If she qualifies here is to hoping she can make a case. But it does raise the question of if she knew about the NZOC policy before changing countries or if she saw the automatic NZ WAG qualification spot as an opportunity and didn't realize there was an extra step. I have to believe she went into it knowing though. The NZOC is pretty well known in Kiwi circles.

So what happens to this spot if it goes to a Kiwi and the NZOC turns it down? Well... that's not clear. It could go unfilled. Or FIG could ask the IOC permission to let them revert it to the Worlds AA results as Australia's team means that Oceania already had representation.

Or some smart cookie NCAA gymnast with ties to Guam or Fiji could make a country change REAL soon and find themselves at the Olympics with a relatively easy path.

[fedorahead]

ICJ Hearing Updates by @totallyseiso

(hopefully these are the most recent rbs of each, in the relevant order. if not, please feel free to offer corrections. it was a pain in the ass trying to read them in order/backwards because of the weird way reblogs and archives work. i'm struggling with the earliest days, when seiso wasn't using the reblog chains so if you have better links please send)

Intro

We'll start here, with the thread of who's slated to present

Then we can go to the tweets where the PM of Israel preemptively rejects the ICJ (reblogged from @papasmoke)

Not exactly the ICJ hearings, but the US calling for ceasefire ASAP after rejecting ceasefire resolutions.

Why Israel tends to kill more women and children than is normal for these situations. (reblogged from @tamarrud)

Updates

I feel like I'm missing something here, this is announcing the end of the first segment on the 20th

Just the fact that Saudi Arabia presented at all (lol)

Mention of looking forward to Ireland

Netherlands

Belize

End of the first 10 speakers

Day 3, Columbia, Cuba, Egypt

US (post 1) (post 2)

Russia and then Russia and France

Day 4, morning (China, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Japan, Jordan)

Day 4, afternoon (Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya)

Day 5, morning (Namibia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar)

Day 5, afternoon (UK, Slovenia, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia)

Day 6, morning (Turkey, Zambia, League of Arab States, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, African Union)

Day 6, afternoon (Spain, Fiji, Maldives)

[walshball]

Good morning Walshball Nation here are my personal predictions for the England squad call up this afternoon. Any deviation and clearly Sarina has gone senile and they need to put me in as gaffer /s

1. Kirby’s BACK IN IT LADS. God we’ve missed her. Please Sarina, please. Super Fran Kirby is the spark we need, we’ve often felt a bit sluggish/hesitant in attack and that girl is absolute lightning. Give our strikers a kick up the arse.

2. Lucy in the squad but kept on the bench. Listen, I’m being realistic. Sarina will be calling Lucy Bronze to the England squad when she’s 45 and tracking back in a mobility scooter. And to be fair I think she’s got a lot to offer in terms of experience, morale, and guiding the younger players. A Jill Scott type figure. Emotional support animal. Whatever the fuck her and Keira Walsh have going on. Let her go on holiday to Belgium but LET THAT KNEE REST. I just know her physio has grey hair.

3. Obviously my dear sweet Mary Earps is number 1, as the rest of England’s keepers are deeply unserious individuals unfortunately. And none of them are getting any fucking minutes. Roebuck, girly, blink twice if you need help. This does make second and third keepers a tricky pick- I’d actually love a Keating call up, she’s so young but I think throwing her in at the deep end would be really good for her. Maybe Sandy’ll get a look in? Or maybe Hampton’s reign of terror continues, idk. GK Union looking like Game of Thrones atm.

4. Some fresh blood. Look, if we’re going to let Aunty Lucy have some time in her deckchair we need something a bit zippy on that right wing. I’m talking Le Tissier minutes, I’m talking Charles minutes. But mostly Le Tissier. Let that girl commit GBH against some Belgians and somehow avoid bookings bc she’s just a big ole sweetie. Scary player. Come to Arsenal.

5. The Old Favourites- can’t lie gang, Mead’s just not ready. She saved our arses on Sunday for sure, but for her second match after injury to be an international fixture is too much. MAYBE a super sub? Idk I’m hesitant. Let her ease back in. I would fucking LOVE, and I mean LOVE, for Nobbs to be in this squad, and to start, and to score a goal and for everybody to say “wow Jordan Nobbs we forgot how good you are and we’re sorry you got left out in the cold”. She needs a win. Heartbreaking to see a good player just continually get forgotten about, SARINA. But then I’m not sure it’s too likely, seeing as she’s somehow not even getting good minutes for fucking Villa. Maybe if you put her on you wouldn’t have 0 fucking points?? Just a thought Carla! Just spitballing here! #JusticeforJordan #NobbsNation

Nothing else will really be in contention because Sarina only plays the same 11 anyway. Maybe Toone gets benched because she’s having a mare this season. Who can say. Either way I’ll be drinking.

[girlactionfigure]

🔅Sun morning - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

🔻ALERTS.. (none since our last report last night)

🟠 6 months of war for survival, to live and not die, to flourish and not worry about rape, torture, or slaughter of our babies.  May G-d give us success and life!

❗️(repeat) HEZBOLLAH’S NASRALLAH SAYS.. Great optimism that the end of the war is at hand due to the international PRESSURE and the PROTESTS within Israel.

▪️TERROR ATTACK - Ma’ale Shomron Intersection - Samaria.. Report of 2 wounded from a shooting at a bus and vehicles on Route 55 between Ezon and Nebi Elias, near the Eliyahu crossing.  One shooter - active event, no more info.  A 19-year-old woman is seriously hurt and a man in his 50s is in moderate condition.

▪️IDF DEEP ATTACK ON HEZBOLLAH.. in the Bekaa valley and/or Baalbek, the major weapons warehouse area for Hezbollah of weapons coming from Iran via Syria.  At least 3 attacks.

▪️4 HERO SOLDIERS HAVE FALLEN.. in Gaza:

Amitai Even Shoshan, 20, of Moshav Azriel. He is the 19th graduate of Eli High School who has fallen in the war.  May his family and his school be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and may G-d avenge his blood!

Ido Baruch, 21, of Tel Mond. May his family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and may G-d avenge his blood!

Reef Harush, 20, of Kibbutz Ramet. May his family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and may G-d avenge his blood!

Ilai Air, 20, of Kidar. May his family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and may G-d avenge his blood!

- - Reef sends us this message written before he fell: “For that elderly woman who says thank you and cries, I am ready to sacrifice my life, and for my family, that they may sit quietly and peacefully, and that they know that there is a huge army behind them that will watch over them as long as we are on our feet." 

The four were killed after gunmen who came out of a tunnel in a destroyed building opened fire at troops carrying out a patrol along the IDF’s logistics route in Khan Younis, according to an initial military probe. The operatives apparently managed to flee back into the tunnel.

 May their memories be a blessing.

▪️IRAQ SHIA MILITIA FIRES AT EILAT.. The Islamic resistance in Iraq claims that they attacked a target using drones in Eilat. The drone did not arrive, it is clear that they are looking for/checking Israel's and Jordan’s air defense systems.

▪️ISRAEL POLITICS - THE HISTADRUT (Israeli Labor Union).. “The chairman of the Histadrut is determined to lead a change to strengthen society in Israel, but will not serve as a strike contractor for any side of the political map.”

[guerillas-of-history]

Hi! Love your page and everything I've learned from it. It's really opened up my eyes to alot of things that I've never even imagined! Which is why I have to ask because I can't find a correct answer or logical thought process to it.

Why does the U.S support the appartied Isreal state? I truly can't come up with a logical reason to it and really sorry if you've brought it up before but I'm truly lost on why it's been like that.

Thank you for the work you put in to this page 🌻

Dear anon, thank you so much for your kind words, I am truly glad you think so. I apologize that its been a few weeks since you sent this, I've been trying to articulate a satisfactory and succinct response. With the monumental events currently underway, now is maybe the most appropiate time to try and answer.

U.S. support for israel started in 1948, with president Harry S. Truman being the first world leader to recognize the state of israel. This was because Truman's old buisness partner Edward Jacobson spent years laying the groundwork alongside zionist leader Dr. Chaim Weizmann (who would become israel's first president) this was in the aftermath of World War 2 and European powers were exhausted and former colonies were starting to rise up and throw off the imperial yoke. Simultaneously the Cold War began to take shape, the Middle East with its oil and strategic waterways such as the Suez Canal proved to be one of the sought after areas for American hegemony, concurrent to this the Soviet Union had been supporting secular Arab Nationalism as a counterpoint to the nascent zionist state. Perhaps the two most important events explaining the unequaled support for israel by the U.S. are the Six Day War in 1967 and The October War of 1973. In the 1950s the CIA recognized israel as a "logical corollary" against the radical nationalism growing in the Middle East. In June 1967 israel defeated the combined armies of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in just six days, israel then proved to be the United State's greatest ally in the region capable of both defending and projecting U.S. interests. In 1973 Egypt and Syria launched a massive suprise attack on Yom Kippur, the war was fought to a relative stalemate with heavy casualties on both sides. Henry Kissenger traveled between the nations and help negotiate a ceasefire utilizing what became known as "Shuttle Diplomacy" the U.S. used the aftermath of the war to subvert Soviet influence, particularly in Egypt. America laid groundwork for normalization of ties between the two foes, with it being finally cemented in 1979, even though israel is almost universally despised by the Egyptian people. Since then U.S. support for israel had only increased exponentially with israel becoming by far the largest recipient of American aid since WWII. In 2016 then president Barack Obama gave 38 billion dollars alone, through a defence agreement. U.S. support over the last half century have enabled israel to grow into the monster it is today, israeli apartheid and systematic oppression of the Palestinian people is one of the greatest crimes of the last one hundred years.

This is an incredibly complicated question, and I'm sure I've missed some key points and its hard to summerize this subject concisely. I haven't even gotten into domestic support for israel as well as other external factors. If there are any specifics you would like to know please feel free to send me an ask or message me directly, and if anyone has other valuable input I highly welcome it.