#Written Evidence to parliament

[sophsweet]

No Conspiracy Required For Truth

Lies don’t hang together naturally and often contradict each other, so corrupt officials have to speak to each other to get their stories straight and be on the same page to carry out their nefarious actions can in secret. This is what is called a “conspiracy theory”. It is a conspiracy, because nefarious actions require actors to collude. Truth stands on its own, so no conspiracy is…

[asynca]

There is a post circulating that looks like this:

and it is fucking FULL of hasbara bullshit. I don't know if the person themselves is a psyop or whether they've just been brainwashed but eh, the result is the same

I'm too fucking tired to do an essay about it, so here are some key points of bullshittery, paraphased:

The most important thing is that it omits the cruelty, brutality, theft, segregation, etc that Israelis exacted against Palestinians and continue to do now. DAILY settlers harass and steal from Palestinians in the west bank. PRE Oct 7 nearly 200 Palestinians had been killed there JSUT THIS YEAR. Gaza was under blockade by Israel, they controlled everything going in and out and killed commerce there, made them dependant on handouts. Israelis go into Palestinians' houses in East Jerusalem and just fucking steal them! Kick out the people there! The IDF and police support Israelis doing this. Any nation doing this needs to seriously ask themselves a question of "what the fuck are we doing"?

'only 15,000 people died in the nakba, the catastrophe of it is greatly exaggerated' - 750,000 Palestinians were displaced, either by force or because Israel made an example of a couple of towns by brutully, brutally torturing and killing and raping Palestinians there so people fled. They had their land, property and wealth STOLEN. A whole population of people had their wealth and land stolen. This is something that is CONTINUING TO THIS DAY.

'Arabs participate in life and parliament and this is evidence of exaggeration of the criticism' that's like saying we have a few women in government so sexism is cured

Presentation of the 1967 Palestine borders as agreed by the UN as if it's the perfect fair solution when the borders are basically around the least arable land with the least amount of water

Criticism of Israel dismissed as antisemitism which ex Mossad agents have confirmed is a deliberate tactic to silence dissent and criticism

Presenting Hamas as the enemy of Palestinians which is just not the case, Hamas is the government of Gaza and like any government, people's views and opinions sometimes align with them and sometimes don't. Some people think they are heroes, other people think they are a barrier to peace. What they definitely are are resistance fighters fighting against a violent oppressor. Israel is a violently oppressive and racist state. The enemy of Palestinians is not Hamas, it is fucking Israel.

'Palestine didn't have a government we recognize as a government before we came so that justifies us taking over'

'We have some ancestry in this place so all of us are indigenous to it and have a right to run the place' - self-explanatory. Lots of ancestral Irish folks around the world. Should we all just go take over Ireland?

God, this post. Go read it. See how mild and acceptable hasbara is? This is the shit they're peddling and it's one-sided and omits SO many important details.

The only thing I agree with is that it is cruel and unrealistic to remove the people who are living in places now (where their property wasn't directly stolen from a family with living descendants!!!) removing millions of people would be another mass cruelty that would traumatize children etc. But yeah, any solution needs to be JOINTLY AGREED WITH BY PALESTINIANS. NOT FOR THEM.

like OP talks about confirmation bias but like all these half-facts they're accepting without examination are exactly fucking that. I doubt they've listened with an open mind to a single Palestinian and they definitely aren't 'seeking out content that doesn't confirm their biases' because the Palestinian voice is COMPLETELY absent from their oh-so carefully written post.

Everything I've said here is googleable so go for your life.

[mariacallous]

In 2022 I wrote an op-ed for NBC News Think about leg hair, of all things. The piece detailed a monthlong experiment during which I stopped shaving. Aside from one paragraph about bodily autonomy and Roe v. Wade, I thought it was a mild article. Boring, even.

The internet disagreed. Within an hour of publication, I started getting angry, all-caps emails. Then it started on Twitter. I was called everything from stupid and self-absorbed to a Sasquatch. I was accused of hating men and pressuring women.

The deluge lasted nearly two weeks. By the end of it, I had dozens of nasty emails, nearly a thousand social media notifications, and zero idea how to handle what I’d experienced.

Unfortunately, these instances of online harassment are becoming more common. In 2021, the Pew Research Center reported that 41 percent of US adults had experienced online harassment; the Anti-Defamation League reported an increase to 52 percent in 2023. Public and semipublic figures are especially at risk, as noted by recent studies on American journalists, Zimbabwean journalists, and female members of parliament in Sweden.

But the truth is, on social media anyone with an account can experience harassment. Here’s what to do if it happens to you.

Document Everything

Knee-deep in hate mail, I reached out to a former thesis adviser who’d written op-eds. How had he handled the trolls?

His reply: Document everything. If you have to report the harassment to a social platform or to law enforcement, you will need a body of evidence that proves the harassment.

Save the nasty emails in a special folder, either manually or by using keywords to filter and route all of the relevant mail automatically.

On social media, screenshot what people say. Doing this gives you lasting digital proof, which is important if the trolling comments disappear later on, either because the trolls deleted them or because someone reported the comments, which led to them being removed. Save all of these screenshots in a folder that can easily be shared with anyone investigating your harassment.

Documenting harassment is common advice, featured in resources ranging from writing-specific organizations like PEN America to wider organizations like the University of Chicago and the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

Don’t Respond

Another common piece of advice is “don’t feed the trolls.” In theory, if you don’t react to harassment, the trolls get bored and leave. Some have argued that this advice has failed us, as it puts the onus on the victim to stop the cyberbullying; it suggests that it’s not the trolls who need to stop but rather the victim who needs to turn the other cheek.

This is a fair critique; social media platforms should build better moderation systems and restrict users who breach standards on harassment. Ideally, events like the 2024 child safety hearing before US Congress will lead to changes that make the internet safer for everyone. In a perfect world, the onus is on Big Tech.

But internet safety is a work in progress, and in the meantime it’s on us to decide how we want to respond. Many of the accounts spamming me were obvious trolls. They had incendiary usernames and profile pictures. Looking at their comments, which were antagonistic at best, I knew I wouldn’t change their minds by responding. Nothing I could write would make them consider my point of view.

So I followed the American Psychological Association’s advice and let the storm pass. I logged off social media and routed the nasty emails into a special folder, out of sight. I spent my energy on things I enjoyed instead, no trolls involved.

Or Maybe Do Respond

Walking away isn’t the best option for everyone. If you choose to respond, there are both indirect and direct ways to address harassment. The former could include muting threads or blocking accounts. You could also report comments or users for behaviors that breach community standards, such as hate speech, threats, and bullying (which most platforms claim to prohibit). These options may prevent the same trolls from harassing you, or another user, in the future.

If you feel safe and want to respond directly, consider counterspeech, a strategy that addresses and undermines hate by redirecting the conversation in a constructive way. Some choose to reclaim hashtags, such as the K-pop stans who in 2020 flooded the #WhiteLivesMatter hashtag with K-pop videos.

Others create larger discussions around hateful posts, typically focusing not on the troll but on the content of their argument (so, not “You’re sexist” but “Saying XYZ is problematic because …”). This is exactly what I did, some six months after my experience, when I wrote about hate mail for HuffPost, focusing on sexism and the importance of dismantling it. Reframing the conversation helped me feel less powerless.

Though organizations like the United Nations recommend counterspeech, some research has suggested that it may be ineffective: While a 2021 study on anti-Asian hate found that counterspeech discouraged hate, another study on racism and homophobia saw mixed results.

Do Something You Enjoy

Whether or not you respond, give yourself time to work through your feelings. Do something you enjoy, like going to the gym, meditating, or playing your favorite video game. Anything goes!

Social support, in particular, is important for processing your experiences. This is because one of the goals of online harassment is to make you feel isolated; intentionally enjoying time with loved ones can combat this. An older 2014 study noted that social support can come from anyone in your life, ranging from your peers to your family. More recently, a 2020 study listed the myriad benefits of social support for those experiencing bullying, including increased confidence and decreased anxiety.

So text your friends and coworkers. Make dinner plans with family. Rant to your partner—or ask for a distraction. Any and all of these can help you feel less alone. You can also seek professional advice via a therapist or a cyberbullying hotline.

If you decide to take an extended break from the internet, ask a friend you trust to keep an eye on your social accounts. They can continue to take screenshots of new harassment and notify you if the frequency of incidents increases.

If the Harassment Escalates

If rude comments turn into stalking, hacking, doxing, or death threats, it’s time to contact the authorities and get legal assistance. Continue to document everything; you’ll want a body of proof to ensure you’re taken seriously. If you’re in immediate danger, call emergency services.

Practicing good cyber hygiene can help you protect your information. To deter hackers, use strong passwords, which are longer than 16 characters and include numbers and special characters. Don’t reuse passwords, and set up multifactor authentication to ensure that you’re notified if someone tries to log in to your account.

To deter doxing, stalking, and further harassment, adjust your privacy settings on social media. If possible, set your accounts to private until the storm passes. Also, depending on the platform, you should be able to limit the ability to reply to your posts so that only people you follow can republish your posts or leave comments. You can also just disallow comments entirely. If you have both professional and personal accounts, keep them separate so that work-related harassment is less likely to follow you home.

You may want to limit who can see your location data on social media, since many platforms tag every post with geolocation data unless you opt out. This is usually something you can turn off in your profiles’ privacy settings. Additionally, browser extensions like Privacy Party can help you keep your privacy settings on social media up to date automatically, so you don't have to think about it.

If things get so bad that you feel it's safest to minimize or erase your digital footprint, paid services like Delete Me can remove identifying information like your address, phone number, and social media activity from hundreds of online databases and data brokers. This makes it much harder for people to uncover this information in web searches. Services like Tweet Delete can automatically delete years worth of social media posts, replies, and likes—either wholesale or within a specific range—from your accounts.

Online harassment can be isolating and terrifying, but with a plan, you’ll be prepared to respond—and to mitigate its impacts on your life.

[pinkglin]

Transphobia to increase its dominion over UK Parliament

I have written the following to my future MP regarding today's news from the Labour Party. This is one of the few potentially sympathetic candidates, so if you can, I urge you to chime in at me@heidialexander.org.uk

Dear Heidi,

You have a good history of queer solidarity. I am a 30 year old trans person living in your almost-certain-to-be constituency.

I've mentioned my worries about Labour before. Now, Wes Streeting has promised to implement the recommendations of the Cass review - despite its foundational bias - it threw out every study that disagreed with it, which was the vast majority of studies.

This was based on GRADE which was never intended for use on anything involved in medical intervention because the data-standard is simply never available with medicine-based data collection.

The Cass review is transphobic, it is misogynistic. It claims boys and girls are biologically disposed to different toys - trucks and dolls!

All this nonsense modern feminism has tried to throw off.

This will result in deaths. It means no-one under 25 can access appropriate gender-based care. Children and adults alike will kill themselves. It has happened every time a state has deprived us of the treatment we plead for.

The Tories murdered my father through their horrifying negligence during the COVID crisis. And yet, it is now Labour I am afraid of.

I mean this with all sincerity. I am terrified of the fact you will win, because your government-in-waiting has sworn to attack me.

I am telling every friend I have, all my family, everyone I can reach that this is the reality trans people face.

I urge you, personally, to stand against the atrocious transphobia now endemic to your party. You should treat this with the same seriousness as Labour's issues with antisemitism.

If you can't, you will have blood on your hands. And we remember. Edit: A friend and cis ally has surmised the Cass report as such:

Cherry picking of evidence

Ignoring prior studies that don't fit the narrative

Rise in referrals due to rise in awareness and understanding. See autism, see ADHD, see cancer. It's always been there, now we can just diagnose and treat it better.

"Caution" in treating patients under 18 should not mean aversion.

Fear is due to lack of training; fear of the unknown.

Failure to provide hormone treatments until age 25, plus up to a 10 year waiting list in some areas will undeniably cost lives. Can you imagine spending half your life in the wrong body?

[scotianostra]

The 6th March 1457 was the day the King banned football and golf.

King James II's Act of Parliament banned golf and football in a resolution of the 14th Parliament, convened in Edinburgh, it is the earliest known written evidence for the game in Scotland.

On March 6, 1457, the games of football and golf (“futbawe and ye golf”) were banned with a vengeance (“utterly cryt done”). This ban was repeated in 1471 when Parliament thought it “expedient [th]at…ye futbal and golf be abusit.” In a resolution passed in 1491, football, golf, and other useless games were outlawed altogether (“fut bawis gouff or uthir sic unproffitable sports”). In addition, these texts enjoined the Scottish people to practice archery, a sport which might be put to good use in defending the country.

Here is a transcript from the actual bill of parliament, seen in the picture and held by the National Library of Scotland.

.....o'Item it is ordanyt and decretyt that Wapinschawing be haldin be ye lordis and baronys spirituale and temporale four tymes in ye yeir. And [th]at ye futebawe and ye golf be uterly cryt done and not usyt And [th]at ye bowe markes be maid at all parochkirks a pair of butts And schuting be usyt ilk Sunday ... And touchand ye futebaw and ye golf We ordane it to be punyst be ye baronys unlaw. And if he tak it not to be tain be ye kings officars.'.....and the translation.

'Item, it is ordained and the decreed that the lords and barons both spiritual and temporal should organise archery displays four times in the year. And that football and golf should be utterly condemned and stopped. And that a pair of targets should be made up at all parish churches and shooting should be practised each Sunday ... And concerning football and golf, we ordain that [those found playing these games] be punished by the local barons and, failing them, by the King's officers.'

Read more about Golf and the bans on the National Libraries of Scotland site https://digital.nls.uk/golf-in-scot…/historical-sources.html

Of course there aer still places in Scotlnd that you can't play sports on Sundays....playing any sport is still frowned upon in some communities in the Western Isles as seen in the last two photos

[alphaman99]

Reposting this letter written by a Canadian Professor, Lena Bykhovsky who teaches biblical studies at Carleton University in Ottawa.

-----

“Dear Students,

I have spent the last 25 years showing you the beauty of all of the literary, cultural, philosophical, and artistic heights of the human spirit over the course of human history. Teaching you has been the most wonderful and satisfying of callings. I never wanted to do anything other than meet with you, discuss ideas with you, discover and rediscover human insights, truths, and wonders. I never regretted my career path, never hated my job, and never doubted my legacy. I felt privileged and honoured to show you how to analyse, to think critically, to weigh evidence, and to understand people and ideas, contexts and complexity, deeply and thoroughly. I thought my work was helping to make the world a better, more humane, more thoughtful place.

You have broken my heart. No: shattered it, irreparably. I don’t know how I will ever set foot in a classroom again. I don’t know how I will ever see you the same way. I know now that I was deluding myself that I ever had any impact, would ever leave any positive legacy, that my work ever made any difference.

I watch you all on social media, in the streets and the quads, marching in solidarity with a movement that seeks only to wipe me out. To exterminate me, my children, my parents, my entire family and community. I know, some of you think you’re trying to help the oppressed. You think that my kind is the white colonialist racist kind that you hate.

But I thought I taught you how to evaluate arguments. I thought I taught you the importance of understanding context, both historical and rhetorical. I thought that I taught you that the world did not operate according to dichotomies, like black and white, oppressor and oppressed, villain and victim. I thought I taught you about complexity, about judgment, and to examine your sources and not to take anyone’s statements at face value.

Zionism is the Jewish right to self-determination in our ancestral homeland. Israel is that ancestral homeland. Jews are the indigenous peoples of that land; not the only indigenous peoples of that land, to be sure. But Israel is the only land to which we are indigenous. After 2000 years of longing, the result of the Holocaust – a Nazi movement which sought to ethnically cleanse the world of Jews by systematically exterminating us – was that the international community granted us a sliver of that ancestral homeland.

It was to be shared, partitioned into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Arabs rejected the partition and attacked the Jews when they declared the state of Israel in 1948. The Jews won. Arabs who remained in Israel became citizens with full rights and freedoms. 20% of Israel’s population today is Arab. They fight in the army, they are doctors, lawyers, members of Parliament and supreme court judges. There is no apartheid. Israel’s Jewish population consists of Jews from Arab lands, whose parents or grandparents were kicked out when the state of Israel was formed, and of descendants of refugees from Eastern Europe, Holocaust survivors who had no homes to return to. Some are more recent refugees from Europe, Russia, and the Americas who either returned to Israel for religious reasons or because the Jew-hatred in their communities grew too excessive and they decided to emigrate, to head for the one place in the world Jews can go if their neighbours or governments turn against them.

The West Bank and Gaza strip – along with refugee camps that still exist in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan -- were the places that the Arab nations who attacked Israel at its founding told the Arabs living in Palestine (later to be known as Palestinians) to flee. It was supposed to be temporary, because the plan was to “push the Jews into the sea.” When the plan didn’t work out, all of these states refused to absorb the Palestinians. They wanted to keep them in camps because they still planned to annihilate Israel and the Jews that lived there and then the Palestinians could return. The West Bank was in Jordan and Gaza was in Egypt until 1967, when the Arab states tried again to push the Jews into the sea. Their failure this time ended with Israel capturing these territories.

When Israel tried to exchange land for peace and give Gaza back to Egypt, Egypt didn’t want it. And so the territories remained in Israel. In 2005 Israel pulled out of Gaza and left it to govern itself. Most of the West Bank is also self-governing, but not all because of the high number of suicide bombers and other threats to Israel’s existence fomenting there, so Israel hasn’t been able to fully remove itself. The current awful Israeli government has allowed religious fanatics, “settlers,” to build settlements there, which makes everything worse.

And you see what I did there? I criticized Israel’s government. I can do that, and still support the existence of a Jewish state in our ancestral homeland.

When you say “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” this is a call to ethnic cleansing of Jews from their homeland, from the only state in the entire Middle East that would look remotely familiar to you in terms of basic rights and freedoms and a democratic system if you were to visit the region. When Hamas supporters – like those who led you all in a rally on my home campus today – talk about Jews as “occupiers,” they don’t mean Gaza. They mean the whole state of Israel. They want Jews eradicated from the entire land. Hamas actually wants us gone from the whole world, as they have stated many times. Who are the Nazis now?

But here I am, teaching again. I can’t help myself. I wish that you cared what I had to say. I wish that some knowledge, some context, some understanding, could reach beyond the slogans and chants for my death that you are repeating mindlessly and endlessly as you march to the beat of hatred across the tattered remains of my broken soul.”

===

[twopoppies]

Gina I was doubting who I should send this to (you, Allie or Daisie since one of you keeps track of these things right? I just don't know who🥲), but have you SEEN Rebecca Fergussons tweets? In particular this one? She talks about contracts and oh boy, the contracts basically says the label owns EVERYTHING; their looks, their mannerisms and moral rights. Please take a look.

https://twitter.com/forlifeoutthere/status/1669434714401263627?s=20

Hi love. I've posted a lot of Rebecca's tweets (as, perhaps, Daisie and Allie have, as well). I don't have time to read through all of this now, but I do hope she's beginning to make some headway. It very much feels like a David and Goliath situation.

Full transcript of evidence

Written Evidence - UK Parliament

[enbycrip]

There’s some pretty fucking scary shit coming out from Netpol about how the various UK Police forces are using the particularly fascist police powers the Tories have given them.

So as usual I’m fucking bothering my MP because I’m too fucking ill and disabled to go out to protest most of the time but I can usually manage to write something faintly coherent.

Here’s my letter if you’d like a template to alter to write to yours:

Dear (my MP)

I am one of your constituents and, as I have written to you about previously, I am deeply and seriously concerned about the lack of transparency about the powers now possessed by UK police forces following the introduction of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.

Last year the Joint Committee on Human Rights heard evidence about how often police powers were already used to limit or restrict protests under existing legislation and how there is no routine collection of data about when and how these powers are used. The JCHR recommended the creation of a publicly accessible central database, containing details about how, when and in what circumstances the police impose restrictions on rights to freedom of assembly.

This sensible and proportionate recommendation to safeguard the most basic human rights of the uk population has subsequently been ignored. Research by campaigners from Netpol shows continuing difficulties in obtaining even the most basic data from the police under freedom of information legislation. The Metropolitan Police uses these powers more than any other force. The recent and incredibly damning review by Baroness Casey on the culture and standards of behaviour within the Met raises numerous concerns about whether officers in London can be trusted to use these incredibly wide-ranging powers fairly and proportionately.

Despite the absolute essential nature of freedom of assembly and freedom to protest to the functioning of democracy, there is little or no openness or transparency on the way police are using their powers. There is a very serious need for the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) to immediately set up a publicly accessible central database, and, if the police are unwilling to do so, for a Bill to be introduced to compel them to do so.

Please

- read Netpol's briefing explaining why this is important, which you can find at https://netpol.org/police-powers-transparency

- Write to the NPCC to require them to set up a publicly accessible database.

- Introduce questions in Parliament at PM's Question Time regarding the police's lack of cooperation with human rights bodies requesting such vital information.

- Attend, if you are available, the forthcoming online briefing for parliamentarians on this issue on Thursday 27 April at 3.30pm.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Many thanks,

(Me)

You can use https://www.writetothem.com to email your MP.

[houseofbrat]

Why is there this new divide between the Wales fandom against KC? You’re not allowed to suggest W&C work more because they have a family, but the same people will complain about Harry & Meghan’s no. of engagements when they had a newborn & now still have younger children? It’s like many W&C fans will not allow KC to reign without tearing him down, wanting him to die but at the same time saying they should hardly work because they have kids. What’s the deal?

Some people irrationally hate Charles. It's a leftover byproduct of the War of the Waleses, even if people won't directly admit it.

Anytime there is an article with a negative view of William, it's automatically Charles (& Camilla)'s fault. William couldn't possibly be to blame for anything, even though he doesn't work that much in public.

Some people complained that Kate wasn't made a counselor of state, and therefore, it's because Charles hates her. I mean, get real. Kate wouldn't want to be counselor of state at this point. She's too busy with her kids. She doesn't even do that many engagements. Kate can't match either Camilla or Sophie in terms of engagements, yet she's crying into her pillow at night because Charles didn't name someone not in the line of succession to be a counselor of state? In what universe is Kate even bothering to think about that. It might be hard for some die hard W&C fans to accept, but not every member of parliament is down with your fave just because you like them.

In addition, many people seem unable to grasp that the UK tabs, which include the Daily Mail, make money by generating outrage, even if they don't print corrections weeks or months later. Fleet Street has printed several columns on the will-they-or-won't-they storyline about Harry and his wife attending the coronation. I think it's pretty obvious that his wife won't be attending, yet the UK tabs aren't going to print that obvious fact and move on because there are columns to be written and money to be made between now and the first weekend in May.

So, yeah, people irrationally hate Charles and will judge him for things he hasn't done yet, such as who will have what role in the coronation. Or my new favorite joke, Charles bestowing peerage titles on Camilla's son and son-in-law. LOL! There hasn't been a non-royal, non-life peer, peerage title created since 1984, but the Charles haters will tell you that he's going to do it, even though they have no factual evidence for their claims. They want to cling to their hatred, even if means discussing non-existing evidence and things that will never happen.

[onigiriforears]

日本の歴史366 Day 17

1月17日 Summary:

Itagaki Taisuke found it strange that the domains of Satsuma (now Kagoshima) and Choshu (now Yamaguchi) dominated the political world. So, he, alongside others, wrote an opinion piece that the government should establish a parliament (or a popular elected assembly) and to move towards a democratic political sphere.

Vocab beneath the break:

民選 みんせん popular election

議院 ぎいん parliament; congress; diet; house (of parliament, etc.)

設立 せつりつ establishment; founding

建白書 けんぱくしょ petition; memorial

提出 ていしゅつ presentation (of documents); submission (of an application, report, etc.); production (e.g. of evidence); introduction (e.g. of a bill); filing; turning in

勝ち取る かちとる to win; to achieve; to gain; to obtain; to secure

明治維新 めいじいしん Meiji Restoration (1868)​

薩長 さっちょう Satsuma and Chōshū (clan alliance)

中心 ちゅうしん center; centre; middle; heart; core; focus; pivot; emphasis; balance

薩摩藩 さつまはん Satsuma domain

長州藩 ちょうしゅうはん Choshu domain

重要 じゅうよう important; momentous; essential; principal; major

地位 ちい (social) position; status; standing; position (in a company, organization, etc.); post; rank

独占 どくせん monopoly; monopolization; exclusivity; hogging; keeping to oneself

反発 はんぱつ opposition; rebellion; revolt; resistance; backlash; refusal

国民 こくみん people (of a country); nation; citizen; national

民主的 みんしゅてき democratic

目指す めざす to aim at (for, to do, to become); to try for; to have an eye on; to go toward; to head for

動き うごき movement; trend; development; change

生まれる うまれる to be born

板垣 退助 いたがき たいすけItagaki Taisuke (Japanese politician; leader of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement; founder of Japan's first political party--the Liberal party [x])

大久保 利通 おおくぼ としみち Ōkubo Toshimichi (Japanese politician; considered to be one of the Three Great Nobles; credited with being one of the founders of modern Japan; was also a samurai of the Satsuma Domain and joined the movement to overthrow the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate during the Bakumatsu period [x] )

一部 いちぶ one part; one portion; one section; some

人間 にんげん human; human being; mankind

力 ちから force; strength; might; vigor; effort; endeavor

持つ もつ to possess; to have; to own; to maintain; to keep

ずるい unfair; sneaky; stingy

徳川 とくがわ Tokugawa clan/shogunate

倒す たおす to defeat; to beat; to overthrow

これまで so far; up to now

政治 せいじ politics; government

土佐 とさ Tosa (former province located in present-day Kochi Prefecture)​

出身 しゅっしん one's origin (e.g. city, country, parentage, school)

政治家 せいじか politician; statesman

政府 せいふ government; administration; ministry

に対し にたいし towards; against; regarding; in contrast with​

国会 こっかい Imperial Diet; legislative assembly of Japan (1889-1947)​

求める もとめる to request; to demand; to require; to ask for; to want

議会 ぎかい congress; parliament; diet; legislative assembly

鹿児島県 かごしまけん Kagoshima prefecture

山口県 やまぐちけん Yamaguchi prefecture

その後 そのご after that; afterwards; thereafter​

政界 せいかい (world of) politics; political world; political circles

続ける つづける to continue; to keep up; to keep on

おかしい strange; wrong; improper; weird

後藤 象二郎 ごとう しょうじろうGotou Shoujirou (Japanese samurai and politician during the early Meiji era; a leader of Freedom and People's Rights Movement [x])

佐賀 さが Saga (city; prefecture)

副島 種臣 そえじま たねおみ Soejima Taneomi (Japanese diplomat during the early Meiji era

選ばれる えらばれる to be elected

代表者 だいひょうしゃ representative; delegate

意見書 いけんしょ opinion in writing; written opinion; argument

近代化 きんだいか modernization

世の中 よのなか society; the world; the times

変化 へんか change; transformation

[mariacallous]

ISTANBUL (JTA) — “Jews not allowed,” read the sign in English and Turkish above Rağman Şahaf, a used book store next to Istanbul University and not far from the city’s famed Grand Bazaar.

Even after the sign was taken down on Friday, the store’s owner said he stuck by the message.

“I do not want to buy anything from Jews right now, I do not want to sell anything to Jews right now, this is how I tell them,” Ozkan Mustafa Küçükkural told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

“Maybe it should have said Zionist or Israeli, but I was angry and emotional,” he added. “My brothers in Palestine are dying.”

Anti-Israel banners and graffiti, along with Palestinian flags, have become commonplace across Istanbul, as many of its citizens fume over Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 that left over 1,400 dead. Images have also circulated of taxis with signs saying that their drivers would not serve Israelis.

Antisemitic incidents have taken place beyond Istanbul, too. In Izmir — a city once home to tens of thousands of Jews now in the midst of a small-scale Jewish revival — a synagogue was defaced with graffiti that read “Murderer Israel” on Saturday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has had an up and down relationship with Israel over the course of his 20 years as Turkey’s head of state, has come out firmly defending Hamas’ actions on Oct. 7, calling the terrorist group a “a liberation group.” In response, Israel recalled its diplomats from Turkey on Saturday.

It has all amounted to a tense atmosphere for Turkish Jews, who now number around 15,000 and descend mainly from Sephardic families but also include Ashkenazi, Romaniote and Mizrahi communities. That number was close to 80,000 in the founding year of Turkey’s republic in 1923 — exactly 100 years ago on Sunday.

Antisemitic rhetoric has spread throughout Turkish politics, too. A day after a hospital in Gaza was hit by rocket fire on Oct. 17, a politician from Turkey’s ruling AKP party, Süleyman Sezen, representing a small municipality called Atakum in the Black Sea city of Samsun, said at a public hearing that he was praying for the soul of Hitler, adding that the world will find peace when it is cleansed of Jews and that the Holocaust was “unfinished.” Evidence showing that the explosion was likely from a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket has not nullified such outbursts.

“The Hitler rhetoric is not new in Turkey,” said Turkish-Jewish publisher and author Rifat N. Bali, who has written about political Islam’s portrayal of Jews. “I cannot say that it comes from ultranationalist political fractions… Why? Because they are fed day in, day out, pictures of ‘babies killed by IDF.’”

On Oct. 10, Huda-Par parliamentarian Şahzade Demir addressed the Turkish parliament, calling to revoke citizenship for Turkish Jews if they volunteer for the Israeli military. Days later, Yeni Akit, a far-right media outlet, called for Turkish Jews to be denaturalized, under the false claim that they all have dual Israeli citizenship. (The Hrant Dink Foundation, a Turkish NGO devoted to minority issues in the country and named after a murdered Armenian-Turkish Journalist, has called out Yeni Akit as among the most prolific publishers of hate speech in Turkish media.)

“This fear scenario is not new. It was also brought up during the Mavi Marmara controversy, and the issue of citizenship of Jews who are citizens of the Republic of Turkey and who served in the Israeli army was brought to the agenda,” said Serdar Korucu, who writes a column on antisemitism in Turkey for the Jewish site Avlaremoz. He was referencing a deadly clash between the Israeli army and a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists from Turkey in 2010. “There has never been such a practice in the history of the Republic of Turkey. The harshest sanction would be to prevent them from doing military service in the future.”

Several large pro-Palestinian protests have taken place in Istanbul since Oct. 7. In one demonstration, Turkish protesters briefly breached the fence of the Israeli consulate before being dispersed by Turkish police.

Erdogan, who had warmed to Israel in recent years, has regularly met with leaders of Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and most Western powers. His foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday that it rejects the idea that its rhetoric on Israel has been antisemitic.

“We reject the baseless accusations of anti-Semitism, and the slander and insults against our President and our country,” read the statement released on Sunday. “It is known to everyone that Türkiye’s track record on this issue is spotless — unlike many countries that support Israel unconditionally today.

“It is a truth acknowledged by all historians that Türkiye has been a safe haven for all those who were oppressed throughout history, including the Jews,” it added.

In 1492, the Ottoman Sultan, Bayezid II, sent ships to Spain to ferry exiled Spanish Jews to his empire, resulting in the country’s large Sephardic community of today. But Turkish Jews have also faced several periods of oppression, including an infamous tax in the 1940s and pogrom in the 1950s which have become the subject of a popular Turkish Netlfix series.

The local Jewish response to the situation has not been all shock and dismay. Jacob Behar, a Turkish Jew who owns a shop around the corner from the Istanbul shop that had the “Jews not allowed” sign, expressed disappointment at the sign but said it didn’t make him feel insecure.

“It doesn’t represent the general ideals of Turkish society,” he told JTA. “My family has been here over 500 years, we wouldn’t still be here if we didn’t feel safe. Of course, there are individual things, but there are also individual things in Israel.”

[raincitygirl76]

I have a question for actual Swedish speakers on Tumblr. And it’s probably a very stupid question, because I’m pretty sure of the answer already.

In real life Sweden, the monarch is King Carl XVI Gustaf. Carl with a C. But in Young Royals Sweden, the monarch is Queen Kristina II, with a K. Is this simply a spelling variation? Is Carl/Karl sometimes spelled with a C and sometimes with a K in Sweden, based on individual preference and family traditions? I assume that’s probably the case, because English (my first language) has a fuckton of inconsistent spelling. And the only Swedish-born Carl I’ve known in real life was actually a Karl. Am I on the right track?

Anyway, it was bugging me, and Wikipedia was no help. Wikipedia refers to the current Swedish Monarch as King Carl XVI Gustaf. But past Swedish monarchs are often referred to with the English version of their names, and others by the Latin version of their names. Many previous kings called Carl are called Charles by Wikipedia and its sources.

The 18th century Queen Christina gets a “ch” for her K, when I’m pretty sure SHE didn’t spell her name Christina with a Ch. One of the previous Charles/Carls is referred to as Karl with a K (just when I was getting used to Charles). And a king whose real name was presumably Gustaf Adolf is repeatedly referred to as Gustavus Adolphus. Which is Latin. Also, the names Gustaf and Adolf repeatedly reappear (evidently popular names with Swedish royalty throughout the centuries), but sometimes they’re spelt Gustav with a V and Adolph with a ph. And I don’t see a consistent pattern of when the letter V is used instead of F, for example.

I realize Wikipedia isn’t a reliable source, but when I go looking at the English language sources Wikipedia cites, how they spell Swedish names is all over the map.

Also, there’s a surprising lack of English language books about Swedish history, when I google or check Amazon/Goodreads/AbeBooks/etc. Obviously most books about Swedish history would have originally been written in Swedish. But I would’ve thought more of them would have been translated into English and republished.

Quite apart from people like me who do a deep research dive purely for fannish reasons, you’d think there would be more anglophones taking a general interest. Or members of the Swedish diaspora who don’t speak the language of their emigrant grandparents or great-grandparents, but are still interested in the history of the country where their roots are.

If anyone has any recommendations for English language books on Swedish history, please feel free to comment. I am particularly interested in the Age of Liberty (1718-1772), in which Sweden stopped being an absolute monarchy for about half a century and was led primarily by Parliament. Clearly that innovation didn’t survive the first time around, but I’m intrigued that it happened at all. But book recs don’t have to be about that specifically.

[beardedmrbean]

Supporters of a coup in Niger have attacked the headquarters of the ousted president's party, setting it on fire and stoning and burning cars outside.

The small group of arsonists had broken away from a larger show of support for the coup leaders outside parliament, where Russian flags were on show.

The army has now given its backing to the troops who took President Mohamed Bazoum captive on Wednesday.

Russia joined other countries and the UN in calling for Mr Bazoum's release.

The 64-year-old, who was elected as Niger's president two years ago, is a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa.

The US and France, the former colonial power, both have military bases in the uranium-rich country - and have condemned the coup.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called up Mr Bazoum promising Washington's "unwavering support".

Mr Bazoum took to Twitter on Thursday morning to issue a defiant statement: "The hard-won achievements will be safeguarded. All Nigeriens who love democracy and freedom will see to it."

His foreign minister has also been trying to rally support and urge dialogue, but the army chief of staff said he was backing the takeover to avoid fighting within the armed forces.

It remains unclear who is really in charge of Niger as the junta has not announced its leader.

Africa Live: Updates on this and other stories from the continent

Putin's show: Which African leaders will have star role?

Are military takeovers on the rise in Africa?

State TV has been repeating the late-night coup announcement interspersed with patriot music and Quranic verses - and its usual lunchtime news bulletin was not aired.

But in the capital, Niamey, shops and markets opened for business and after delays due to heavy rain early in the morning, coup supporters took to the streets.

The hundreds who gathered outside the National Assembly had some Russian flags, while others held up hand-written signs saying: "Down with France" and "Foreign bases out".

Police later fired tear gas to disperse those who had gone to the headquarters of the ruling party, where party activists ran away when they saw the protesters coming.

Some people were injured in the fracas and the burnt-out carcasses of vehicles now surround the PNDS Tarraya party building.

The coup supporters accuse the party of corruption and not doing enough to improve the security situation and end the long-running jihadist insurgency.

Two neighbouring countries, Mali and Burkina Faso, have experienced coups triggered by Islamist uprisings in recent years.

In both countries the new military leaders have moved closer to Russia after falling out with France.

"I hope they will install good security in the city and help us to achieve better conditions, because we have good resources. I don't care if they just want to follow Burkina Faso or Mali," Djibo, a supporter of the coup, told the BBC.

A number of well-known pro-Kremlin commentators on Telegram - one of the few major social media platforms not banned in Russia - have been posting comments in support of the coup, saying it is an opportunity for Russia and Wagner to get into Niger.

For the moment, there is no evidence of any Russian involvement in this takeover. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said constitutional order in Niger should be restored, Reuters says, quoting Russia's state-owned Tass news agency.

Some civil society groups in Niger have been calling for a move away from France and towards Russia in recent weeks.

The junta has reprimanded France for violating the closure of the country's borders after a military plane landed at an air-force base on Thursday morning.

[blackestnight]

21: causality dilemma

Prompt: Solution

Word count: 1216

Paradoxes only cause headaches. Set pre-Endwalker, during the Ishgardian Restoration.

Aymeric had assumed, with the most recent round of construction in the Firmament underway, that Hanami would be in the thick of it; it was only upon arriving in the Mendicant’s Court that he was informed by the apologetic guide that she had actually left earlier that afternoon, accompanied by Lords Francel and Stephanivien, with instructions to seek them out at the Manufactory should the need arise.

He did not have a pressing need to see her—but he always wanted to, and had planned to indulge himself with his unexpected free evening. At the very least, he thought, he could take the chance to ask whether she’d eaten, and say hello; he’d only seen her in passing the last few days, between his slew of Parliament sessions relating to the restoration and her long hours on the site itself.

The machinery that dominated the Manufactory meant the building was always hot, and in turn there was usually at least one door left open to let in cool air, so Aymeric managed to slip in unannounced, past the stairwells that led to blast-proof workrooms and grand shop floors and toward the offices at the front, where he found his quarry in slightly varying stages of utter disarray.

He was well used to seeing Lord Stephanivien rumpled and grease-stained; while the man was capable of grooming and comporting himself as befit the typical expectations of a High House heir, he did not have the inclination, and seeing him in old battered work shirts and heavy leather aprons was as common as otherwise. Francel was unusually disheveled, his starched collar wilted from the workshop’s humidity and a strained look about his eyes as he rubbed his temples.

Hanami had apparently abandoned her boots, leaving them under her chair, in which she was sitting cross-legged with her forehead pressed to the table before her.

“I take it the work proceeds apace?” Aymeric said, after determining that they were all three yet among the living, for all that Francel appeared to wish otherwise. The poor man snapped to attention and gave a frenzied attempt at a salute, only to interrupt himself with a bow.

“Lord Aymeric!” he said. “I was not expecting your visit—we were just, ah—”

Hanami stirred, rolling to the side enough to speak without muffling herself in her folded arms. “Losing our minds,” she said.

Stephanivien gave a cheerful shrug; Francel deflated slightly and muttered, “Yes, well, that too.”

In private company Aymeric might have been tempted to cheer Hanami by asking how much mind she had left to lose; as it was he crept closer to the table, where he found a heavily-annotated map of the Firmament’s streets and a scattered pile of notes and diagrams written in his beloved’s (atrocious) shorthand. “May I ask what vexes you so?”

“The arcane variable of mortal independence,” Stephanivien said.

“Civic engineering,” Francel said.

“Fucking chocobo riddles,” Hanami said.

Aymeric blinked. “I fear I require some elaboration,” he said.

Hanami sat up just enough to plant her elbows on the table, crumpling her papers, and buried her face in one hand while she waved the other in a help me gesture. “What is the thing you say, the—the thing about chocobos when people are talking about problems that cause themselves.”

If either of the Haillenartes thought this strange, they gave no indication, both occupied with glaring once more at the map, but Aymeric required a moment to parse her statement (which admittedly wasn’t one of her finer explanations, but she seemed tired). “Might you be referring to the paradox of the chocobo and the egg?”

“Yes,” Hanami lamented. “That. I need to build aetherytes but I have no chocobos or eggs, and no aether, and this is stupid.”

She slumped to rest her head against the tabletop once more. Aymeric mulled over her lament, but: no, he couldn't make sense of it no matter how he approached it, and evidently Lord Stephanivien chose to take pity on him.

"As I understand it," Stephanivien said, “aetheric beacons—aetherytes, aethernet shards and the like—form naturally over time, due in part to ambient aetheric currents and crossings, with a not-insignificant effect from surrounding aetherophysical—”

“Brother,” Francel said, “please.”

“Foot traffic,” Stephanivien said. “In short. Aetherytes are most often seen around populated settlements because of the easy access, but there’s a theory that the heavy travel in the area might also influence the aetheric currents to encourage them to form—anyway! Man-made aetherytes and aethernet shards are much, much easier to install in heavily-trafficked areas, but the issue is that the new construction in the Firmament doesn’t match the old street plan, so our prime aethernet areas don’t have natural confluences around them.”

Which…made a certain level of sense, although Aymeric swore he could see Francel’s blood pressure rising with every repetition of the word aether. “I believe I understand,” Aymeric said. “Though I am ashamed to say I had no idea you were so well-versed in aetheryte construction.”

“Oh, I certainly am not,” Stephanivien said, and jerked a thumb toward Hanami. “She is. I took the liberty of removing the gratuitous swearing from what was originally a quite detailed longer explanation of why we can’t just build Francel’s new aethernet system.”

Hanami lifted her head again and leaned back to look at Aymeric, though not before glaring once more at her stack of notes. “We need people to move there to build aetherytes,” she said. “But no one wants to walk that far, so they are not going to the places where we need aetherytes, because there are no aetherytes, which means we cannot build aetherytes.”

Aymeric wondered, briefly, what would qualify as either the chocobo or the egg in that metaphor, though he had the feeling that voicing that question might result in Francel having a nervous breakdown.

“While I certainly appreciate all of the effort being put forth here,” he said, “and recognizing that I certainly have no authority with which to speak on the matter of teleportation technology—may I suggest, as an outside observer, that the best course of action for the moment might be a good meal and a good night’s rest?”

Hanami glared at him, briefly, and muttered “From you,” but then closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ugh. Fine. My head hurts. And I need to make Y’shtola look at this, maybe.”

Francel slumped into a chair, and Stephanivien patted him on the back. “In the meantime, Joye’s got a whole slew of drafts for the Manufactory’s new location,” he said. “May as well go over those. Francel, my boy, I think you need some tea.”

“Brandy,” Francel said.

“Shall we?” Aymeric said, and Hanami stumbled to her feet and stomped into her boots.

It took a handful of minutes for her to gather her notes and maps and diagrams—the whole time Francel seemed to be slowly wilting into his seat, but perked up slightly when a machinist plunked a mug in front of him—and then Aymeric managed to get Hanami out of the building without any further incident, though she was still intermittently rubbing her temples and kicking pebbles in frustration.

“For supper,” he said, “perhaps you’d like an omelet?”

“Fuck you,” she said immediately, and Aymeric smiled and squeezed her hand in apology.

[scotianostra]

6th January 1540 saw the first performance of Sir David Lyndsay’s masterpiece, Ane Satyre o’ the Thrie Estaites at Linlithgow Palace.

David Lindsay’s play Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis is a work of searing social satire, which is arguably the best example of a morality play of the era. It is also the only surviving dramatic text from pre-Reformation Scotland.

The play was written in Older Scots, the language spoken in lowland Scotland between the mid 15th and the end of the 17th centuries.

David Lyndsay is perhaps Scotland’s best, but least well known, poet and playwright. Yet his work both reflects the vibrant culture of early modern Scotland and the deeply political ramifications drama could have during this period. One could imagine that the performance of a play written by Lyndsay was an eagerly anticipated event. The Great Hall of Linlithgow Palace was in January 1540 packed with the lairds and ladies of the Scottish court. With a fire crackling, the sights and smells of the Christmas season all around, a hush would surely have descended on the hall for the centre piece entertainment by Lyndsay.

The final great celebration of the Christmas and New Year period in early modern Scotland was Epiphany on 6th January. The feast commemorates the visit of the Three Kings to the baby Jesus and in 1540 the Scottish court was filled with Christmas merriment and spectacles. The royal poet of the court Sir David Lyndsay wrote and set a play for the entertainment of King James V and his wife, the French noblewoman Marie de Guise. James V was at the peak of his power. Marie de Guise’s arrival in Scotland secured the continuance of the Franco-Scottish alliance, and by Epiphany 1540 Marie was pregnant. James V was a monarch secure in his kingdom and with an heir on its way.

The play that was performed to entertain the Scottish King and Queen was a comedy; known at the time as the Interlude, its later full surviving version is titled Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estatis. David Lindsay’s play is a compelling satire that addresses the corruption of both courtiers and the Church. The first half of the play focuses on King Humanitie, a young ruler who is seduced from the path of virtue by three courtiers: Wantoness, Placebo and Solace. The courtiers introduce the King to Dame Sensualitie, who distracts the monarch, as three more dangerous vices infiltrate the court: Flatterie (flattery), Falset (falsehoods) and Dissait (deceit). These vices now rule the government and prevent virtues from advising the King. Their spell is broken by Divine Correction who wakens the King and orders him to summon a parliament of the Three Estates: the nobility, the clergy and the burgesses. The second half of the play centres around this parliament. The Estates are challenged by John the Commonweal, the personification of the common and good people of the kingdom. John advocates for reform to reverse the oppression of the poor and he exposes the corruption of the Spiritual Estate of the clergy. The vices are hanged, parliament passes reforming laws and the play ends with a joyous sermon by Folly.

The only written evidence we have of this 1540 play is from a report by Thomas Benneden passed to the English commander of Berwick, Sir Thomas Eure.Benneden’s report of this play was at the time seen by the English court as evidence of the Scots’ King’s willingness to abandon the Catholic faith and Pope in Rome. However, Henry VIII was clutching at straws. Poking fun at the court and the Kirk, the Scots name for the Church, in the presence of said court, bishops, and archbishops, can hardly been seen as evidence of an imminent Reformation. The tradition of satire and mockery of the institutions of the court and the Kirk was in fact a much older medieval tradition, which acted as an amusing cathartic exercise.

The surviving text is of the play in its later form, revised and extended, in the 1550s. The play was performed again in 1552 in Cupar in Fife and 1554 in Edinburgh. The first printed version of the text appeared in 1602. However, the Treasurer’s Accounts for the Scottish court have evidence of payments for ‘playcoats’ specifically for Epiphany 1540.[8] The costumes, or ‘playcoats’, were multi-coloured matching taffeta and with a specially made ‘cape’. These 1540 accounts give us a sense of the multi-sensory aspects of the 1540 Interlude performance.

In 2013 these multi-sensory elements came to life with the first ever modern full-length production. The play was performed at Linlithgow Castle. The project was spearheaded by Professor Greg Walker and Dr Eleanor Rycroft of the University of Edinburgh, and Professor Thomas Betteridge of Brunel University with Historic Scotland and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.It aimed to both entertain and educate its viewers and celebrate the richness of Scottish cultural history. David Lyndsay’s Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estatis is a testament to this sophisticated Scottish culture and the implications of drama on political life in early modern Scotland.

[fideidefenswhore]

did thomas cromwell write that jane varied from anne as much as day from night? tracy borman quotes this in her cromwell biography but i was not able to find the quote in any other book.

I searched for it and couldn't find it either, it seems like it's been made as a later edition. Only part of the quote popped up in the archives in Cromwell's letter:

As to his great desire for news, had written as fully as he could, unless he could have sent the very confessions "which were so abominable that a great part of them were never given in evidence, but clearly kept secret." Doubts not he knows that the King is married again. He has chosen, as all his nobles and council upon their knees moved him to do, the most virtuous lady and veriest gentlewoman that liveth. Lady Mary is a most obedient child. The late Princess, Lady Elizabeth, is by Parliament pronounced also illegitimate.

Borman cites Merriman Vol II, Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell. This was written in 1902 by American historian Roger Bigelow Merriman. Have not been able to find any earlier record of the day and night comparison in his letters.