#and not a terrorist organization that only further the US's imperialism

[fairuzfan]

What's new(ish) in the settler-colonial state of the US is that a series of bills have been passed in the House (the Baby Senate as I like to say) and are on their way to the Senate that make it harder to voice support for Palestinians while also making sure your direct taxes aid the genocide in Gaza.

These bills affirm the US's stance on the settler-colonial Zionist Entity and the implicit ties that the government has with Israel and really — just goes to show you how Israel is just one big base for American Imperialism.

Anyways, there's still time to call your senate and tell them that you don't want these bills that only further spiral the US into fascism so even if you think it might not do much — it's important that we document our dissent in official sources. And while you're at it — call your congressperson and tell them that if they voted for this you're not voting for them next election. If they voted against the bills, still call your congresspeople and tell them you support their decision to vote against these bills.

Here are the bills:

📍Resolution: HR 6126

Resolution Name: Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act Description: Gives $14.3 Billion To Israel From The IRS (Taxes You Pay). Like straight up. Just takes it from an IRS project, which used our tax dollars to begin with, to give to Israel "defense." Link to check summary: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hr6126

📍Resolution: HR 798

Resolution Name: "Condemning the support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations at institutions of higher education, which may lead to the creation of a hostile environment for Jewish students, faculty, and staff." Description: Will Penalize Students On American College Campuses For Supporting Palestine. This includes "Free Palestine" Protests as according to Rep Owens who introduced the bill (Click). Link to check who voted: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/118-2023/h578

📍Resolution: HR 3266

Resolution Name: "Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act" Description: They will be examining Palestinian education materials to see if it promotes "hate" or "violence" (aka are they teaching their children to become murderers??). Will inevitably require Revision Of Text Books In Palestinian Schools To Portray The Occupation In A Positive Light. Link to summary: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hr3266

📍Resolution: HR 340

Resolution Name: "The Hamas International Financing Prevent Action" Description: Claims to stop financial support for "terrorist" organizations but considering that Gaza's government is run by Hamas, then this would mean Gaza will receive absolutely no aid and donating to people in Gaza could get you in legal trouble. Link to summary: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hr340

There's a button for most of these bills that allows you to contact your representative directly. Please do take the time to contact them — while many of this isn't especially new to Palestinians, the difference is now that we have a larger power in numbers than we did in the past. Please make sure to advocate for you Palestinian comrades in the US whenever possible! Help us Free Palestine one step at a time!

[mariacallous]

On this day in 1949, 12 European and North American ministers gathered in Washington, D.C., to commit their nations to one another’s defense. With the scars of the Second World War still raw and new threats looming, they pledged to safeguard the freedom of their peoples.

As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization turns 75, and as the foreign ministers of a founding nation and the newest member, we believe that NATO is as relevant to North Americans and Europeans as it was in 1949—and that it is stronger than ever.

This year, two-thirds of NATO allies are expected to spend at least 2 percent of their GDPs on defense. Our unity in backing Ukraine has surprised Russian President Vladimir Putin—and sent a clear message about our determination to stand up for our values to those watching elsewhere.

This week, NATO holds its first ministerial meeting since Sweden became the alliance’s 32nd member. The expansion is good news for the whole alliance. Sweden is a highly capable ally, with defense spending surpassing 2 percent of its GDP. It has years of experience of training and operating with NATO allies.

We should not underestimate how significant a decision this was for Sweden. For two centuries, Sweden opted for military nonalignment. Fundamentally, there were two reasons behind Sweden’s decision to join NATO now.

First, because the world has changed. Putin’s demands for a sphere of interest and his illegal invasion of Ukraine challenged the whole Euro-Atlantic’s security. The world has become more dangerous, with consequences for us all.

Second, because of how effective NATO has proved. It is the world’s most successful alliance, deterring the threat from the Soviet Union during the Cold War and remaining united during the decades that followed. NATO protects its citizens from Seattle to Stockholm, guaranteeing our collective security and thereby enabling our collective prosperity.

For 75 years, this strength and unity has deterred any state from risking the alliance’s collective might in war. When al Qaeda terrorists launched the horrific attacks of 9/11, NATO members immediately stood in solidarity with our U.S. allies. Our efforts against terrorism must continue.

As the world changed, it made sense for Sweden to turn to the alliance. Sweden will be safer in NATO, and NATO will be stronger with Sweden.

Still, the threat from Putin is not going away. We have to equip NATO for a long-term confrontation with Russia. We must make Sweden’s accession, hot on the heels of Finland’s, a spur for further action in order to remain strong and unified.

With this in mind, we see five pressing issues for NATO leaders ahead of the alliance’s summit of heads of state and government, which will be held in Washington in July.

First, all allies must invest more.

Britain hosted the 2014 summit where all allies committed to 2 percent defense spending. (Only three allies met the 2 percent figure that year before the commitment.) Both Britain and Sweden are proud to fulfill it. It is vital that the whole alliance plays its part in ensuring our collective security—we have to be able to deter and defend against aggression.

We should also recognize the transformational potential of such investment: pounds, krona, euros, and dollars spent on producing equipment and munitions in industrial heartlands across NATO nations. Over the past two years, for instance, allies have bought $120 billion worth of weapons from U.S. defense companies.

Second, all allies must adapt more.

The world is changing, and so is conflict. We can see this on the battlefield in Ukraine: Twenty-first century technology is vital to Ukraine resisting Putin’s nineteenth-century imperial ambitions. We must invest in cyber and artificial intelligence.

Third, we need to assist Ukraine.

Ukrainians are fighting not only for their own freedom and democracy, but also for the security of all countries in NATO. While NATO will not be drawn into a conflict with Russia, it is crucial to provide Ukrainians with the strong and predictable support that they need to win the war.

Fourth, NATO must engage more with the world.

We need to sustain our focus on our partnerships with the most vulnerable partners—notably Ukraine, but also Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, and Georgia. But while NATO is geographically bound in the Euro-Atlantic, the threats that it faces are not. We must respond to threats, wherever they come from in the world.

That means being active in both the High North and the Mediterranean, as well as the Baltic and Black Seas. We also need to engage more with partners in the Indo-Pacific.

Finally, all allies must commit. Commit to making these changes for our collective benefit. While we pay tribute to U.S. leadership of the NATO alliance over the past 75 years, it is the combination of North American and European strength that has proved to be the force multiplier. There must be a stronger Europe within NATO.

With Sweden joining the alliance, that force-multiplier effect has grown even further. By staying strong and united, NATO can grow further still.

[whatsonmedia]

Moscow Attack: A Reminder of Ongoing Terror Threats

In a shocking turn of events, a terrorist attack occurred at a concert hall in Moscow last week, leaving dozens injured and several dead. The attack, which has been claimed by the Islamic State, has once again brought the issue of terrorism to the forefront of global discussion.

Imperialism: A Root Cause of Terrorism

One of the key points to consider when analyzing terrorist attacks is the role of imperialism. The history of Western colonialism and intervention in the Middle East and Africa has had a direct impact on the rise of terrorist organizations like the Islamic State. The destabilization caused by imperialism has created power vacuums that have been exploited by extremist groups, leading to the spread of radical ideologies and acts of violence.

Terrorism: A Global Issue

The Moscow concert hall attack serves as a grim reminder that terrorism is not limited to any one region or ideology. Groups like the Islamic State have shown time and again that they will stop at nothing to spread fear and chaos, regardless of the consequences. It is imperative that the international community comes together to combat terrorism in all its forms and work towards a more peaceful and secure world

The Islamic State: A Threat to Global Security

The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has been responsible for countless acts of violence and terror across the globe. From targeted attacks on civilians to mass shootings and bombings, the group continues to pose a significant threat to global security. It is essential that governments and organizations work together to dismantle the terrorist networks that support groups like ISIS and prevent future attacks.

Moving Forward: Unity in the Face of Terror

As we mourn the victims of the Moscow concert hall attack, it is crucial that we stand together in solidarity against terrorism. By promoting understanding, tolerance, and cooperation, we can work towards a world where acts of violence and hatred have no place. It is up to all of us to reject the divisive rhetoric of extremist groups and instead embrace peace and unity.

“THE ATTACK IN MOSCOW SERVES AS A STARK REMINDER OF THE CONSTANT THREAT POSED BY EXTREMIST GROUPS. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE COME TOGETHER AS A GLOBAL COMMUNITY TO COMBAT TERRORISM AND SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER IN TIMES OF TRAGEDY.”– DR. ANANYA CHAKRABORTY, ACTIVIST AND PROFESSOR

The Global Response:

In response to the rise of terrorism, countries around the world have stepped up their security measures and military interventions. However, some critics argue that these actions only serve to perpetuate the cycle of violence, fueling further resentment and radicalization. Others call for a more holistic approach that addresses the root causes of terrorism, such as poverty, inequality, and political oppression.

“TERRORISM KNOWS NO BORDERS, AND IT IS CRUCIAL THAT WE WORK TOGETHER TO ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSES OF EXTREMISM AND PROMOTE PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING AMONG NATIONS.”-PROFESSOR JOHN DOE, AN EXPERT ON GLOBAL SECURITY

In conclusion, the recent terrorist attack in Moscow serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing threat posed by groups like the Islamic State. By addressing the root causes of terrorism, including imperialism and political instability, and promoting global unity and cooperation, we can work towards a safer and more peaceful world for all. It is only through our collective efforts that we can truly combat terrorism and ensure a brighter future for generations to come.

[xtruss]

North Atlantic Terrorist Organization (NATO) Has Never Met Turkiye’s Security Needs and Russia's Su-35 is Option for Ankara, Journo Says

A member of the "Russian Knights" (Russikiye Vityazi), Russian Air Force aerobatic display team flying Sukhoi SU-35S and Su-30SM fighters, at the opening ceremony of the International Military-Technical Forum ARMY-2022 in Kubinka. © Sputnik/Vladimir Astapkovich/Go to the mediabank

Given that the US Congress, the Pentagon and CENTCOM are up in arms about Turkiye’s objections to Washington's policies in the last 20 years, it is very unlikely that Ankara will get their F-16 jets, which makes Russia's Su-35 an option, Dr. Ali Demirdas, a political analyst and contributor to The National Interest, told Sputnik.

Even though US Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier insisted that selling F-16 jets to Turkiye is a “national and security interest” for the Biden administration, Washington has postponed the deal, prompting Ankara to announce that it may acquire more modern and less expensive fighter jets.

"There is a tremendous amount of anti-Turkish sentiment in US Congress, particularly among the Armenian and Greek lobbies that has caused the bilateral relations to sour," said Dr. Ali Demirdas. "Added to this front are the pro-PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party, outlawed in Turkiye – Sputnik] and Indian lobbies. It is almost 100% that Congress will not change this negative sentiment towards Turkiye. Not only that, the Pentagon, particularly CENTCOM, is fiercely averse to Turkiye’s objections to US policies in the last 20 years (from the rejection of March 1, 2003 motion to S-400s and Turkiye’s YPG [People's Protection Units] policies). All these combined, it’s very unlikely that Ankara gets the jets. I believe the Russian Su-35 is an option."

North Atlantic Terrorist Organization (NATO) Biggest Threat to Turkey's Independence and Sovereignty, Turkish Observers Say! We see a great interest in the campaign. The Turkish people oppose NATO because they understand that the alliance and the United States are the main threat to our country. There are irresolvable contradictions between Turkey and NATO. These contradictions will further intensify in the near future, as a result of which Turkey will leave NATO and create an alliance with truly friendly countries — Ozgur Bursali, General Secretary of the Vatan Party

"NATO is the biggest threat to Turkey's independence and sovereignty," the political scientist underscored. "When it comes to the activities of the terrorist organizations PKK, YPG and FETO, support for coups and other sensitive issues for Turkey, NATO always takes the side opposite to Ankara. Therefore, Turkey must definitely leave the alliance."

Turkey Coup Protestors in Taksim Square. © AP Photo/Emrah Gurel! "NATO is an occupation tool of US imperialism," Baris Doster, Turkish political scientist and international relations expert from the University of Marmara, columnist for the major socio-political newspaper Cumhuriyet, told Sputnik.

"This is an organization created in order to keep allied countries in the sphere of influence of the United States, to shape not only the foreign policy and national security of these countries but also their domestic policy in accordance with American interests." Doster argued that the interests of the US-NATO and Turkey did not coincide and will never coincide.

War Criminal and World’s Most Deadliest Warmonger Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton called on the NATO military alliance to expel Turkey from the bloc. Furthermore, Bolton urged the alliance to support Turkey's opposition parties ahead of the general elections scheduled for May 14, 2023.

"With Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the helm, Turkey is again 'the sick man of Europe'," Criminal Boak Bollocks and Senile Oaf Bolton Claimed in his January 16 op-ed. "Yet there’s a chance he can be stopped, if the West takes bold action to help ensure his domestic opposition gets a fair shake in upcoming presidential elections (…) No country is entitled to participate in the alliance, and Mr. Erdogan hasn’t been behaving like an ally."

Ankara Not Discussing Turkey’s Withdrawal From NATO: Ruling Party! "The words of those who talk about the withdrawal of Turkey from NATO are extremely surprising. There is no question of this. We are one of the countries that founded NATO. These people have no right to say such things," spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party Celik told Turkish media. © Sputnik/Anton Denisov/Go to the mediabank! January 23, 2023

Despite being one of the oldest NATO member states, Turkiye has been increasingly at odds with NATO over the past several years. Ankara has repeatedly opposed Washington's arming of the Kurdish-dominated People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, seeing the YPG as an affiliate of PKK.

The Turkish leadership is also suspicious about the US' growing closeness with Greece. Turkiye's decision to acquire the Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems in December 2017 led to Ankara's removal from the US-led F-35 fighter jet program in 2019 - even though the Middle Eastern nation invested $1.4 billion (TL 24.2 billion) in it. Washington also froze the sale of F-16 fighters to Turkiye. For its part, the Turkish Presidency of Defense Industries did not rule out in October 2021 that it would reverse the deal with the US and buy Russia's Su-35 and Su-57 fighters instead.

"US policies in Iraq and Syria have always undermined Turkiye’s national security. Under President Erdogan, Turkiye has been able to defy these policies, which in fact resulted in the 15 July [2016] coup attempt by Washington," Demirdas noted. "NATO has never met Turkiye’s security needs. Due to USA recklessness in the Middle East, Turkiye has suffered greatly and saw little to no help from NATO. This prompted Turkiye’s rapprochement with Russia. The only reason Turkiye is staying in NATO is to prevent other members from taking action against it. The moment Turkiye leaves NATO, southern Cyprus and Israel will become members, surrounding Turkiye. On the other hand, Turkiye is a serious military power NATO wouldn’t want to lose."

Turkey Could Consider Buying Russia's Su-35 If Deal on US F-16 Fails: Defense Agency! Turkey may consider purchasing Russian-made Su-35 fighter jets if the deal on the acquisition of US-made F-16 fails, Defense Industry Agency President Ismail Demir said on Saturday. "One of the variants could be the Su-35," Demir told CNN Turk, answering a question about Turkey's alternatives in the event of a failure of the F-16 deal. © Sputnik/Evgeny Odinokov/Go to the mediabank

The forthcoming general elections in Turkiye, scheduled for May, could significantly change the balance of power in the region in case Recep Tayyip Erdogan is defeated. Turkiye's opposition coalition is presented by six parties which are attempting to agree on a candidate to challenge the incumbent president.

"Everyone in Washington and Brussels is waiting for the May elections in Turkiye. If Erdogan wins, which I believe is very likely, the US-Turkiye rupture will likely get deeper. I have always said that the US is losing Turkiye the way it lost Iran, which was one of its greatest allies in the 60s and 70s," Demirdas concluded.

— Ekaterina Blinova | March 6th, 2023 | Sputnik International

[arabian-batboy]

In the year 2000, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, collaborated with the United Nations to enforce a ban on poppy farming in order to completely eradicate heroin production in Afghanistan and the result was one of the world's most successful anti-drug campaigns, the opium cultivation in Afghanistan was almost zero in 2001, that’s over 70% of the world's supply of heroin at the time completely gone in less than a year.

One year later, during the US-led invasion and occupation, the ban has been lifted and the amount of opium that was cultivated has skyrocketed to an all-time-high with a steady increase every year of the occupation to the point where currently 93% of all the world’s heroin is coming from Afghanistan.

The amount of money that come from this drug market is unclear, but it is estimated to be at least around $2-$4 billion a year. That’s a lot of money (especially considering the exchange rate in Afghanistan), yet most of that money is somehow untraceable, despite the CIA, who have a long history of being involved in illegal drug trade, being present in that country for more than two decades straight.

Ironically though, the country that’s responsible for the 20 years of severe terrorism and drug trafficking in Afghanistan, is the same country that declared “War on Terror” and “War on Drugs.” 

EDIT: just to clarify, this was by no mean supposed to be supporting/glorifying the Taliban’s tyrant rule, this is merely meant to point out one of the many examples of the US’s imperialism.

[determinate-negation]

If you don’t work out the dialectic of legality and illegality in terms of organization, you will be defenseless against the heavy repression that will follow your actions, and you will be legally arrested. The statement of some organizations, “Communists are not so stupid as to get themselves banned,” renders them a mouthpiece for class justice, that is to say, for no one.

The statement is correct insofar as it means that the legal possibilities for communist agitation, propaganda, and organizing for a political and economic struggle must be fully utilized and cannot be carelessly jeopardized—but that is not what they mean. They mean that there is no way of getting around the limits that the class state and its justice system establish for the socialist project, that one must stop at these limits, that one must retreat from the state’s illegal  encroachments as these encroachments are legalized—legality at any price. Illegal imprisonment, terroristic sentences, police harassment, blackmail and coercion...—eat shit or die— Communists are not that stupid....

This statement is opportunist. It shows a lack of solidarity. It abandons the comrades in prison. It excludes the organization and politicization in a socialist context of anyone who, as a result of their social background and situation, has no choice but to survive through crime: the underground, the subproletariat, innumerable proletarian youth, and guest workers. It facilitates the theoretical criminalization of all those who are not members of these organizations. It expresses complicity with class justice. It is stupid.

Legality is a question of power. The relationship between legality and illegality has to be determined by examining the contradiction between reformist and fascist domination... The reformist line attempts to avoid conflicts by using institutional options (co-management) and promises of improvements (in prison conditions, for example), by addressing obsolete sources  of conflict, by avoiding provocation, and by airing grievances. As part of this reformist line of avoiding conflict, they move a bit further inside and a bit less outside of legality. They do this to look legitimate. With the Constitution in hand, they intend to neutralize contradictions and leave left-wing criticism dead in the water and empty of content.

Legality is the ideology of parliamentarianism, of social partnership, and of a pluralistic society. Legality becomes a fetish when those who insist upon it ignore the fact that phones are legally tapped, mail is legally monitored, neighbors are legally interrogated, and informants are legally paid. The organization of political work, if it is not to be under constant observation by the political police, must be simultaneously conducted both legally and illegally. We don’t count on terror and fascism provoking a spontaneous antifascist mobilization, nor do we think that legality is always corrupt. Regarding other pretexts that result from the fact that we are communists, whether communists organize and struggle will depend on whether terror and repression produce only fear and resignation, or whether they produce resistance, class hatred, and solidarity, and whether or not everything goes smoothly for imperialism. It depends on whether communists are so stupid as to tolerate everything that  is done to them, or whether they will use legality, as well as other methods, to organize illegality, instead of fetishizing one over the other.

Red Army Faction, April 1971

[alterrune]

Pull up some info in TRU, we need some information about that group.

Roger that

Accessing Database

TRU, or better known as the

True Retribution Unit, is a former government private military battalion for hire that has eventually gone rogue. Led by Colonel William Arase,a highly decorated officer of the United States Special Forces, led his military battalion into breaking off from the government after being abandoned by their clients and has chosen to pursue their goal of having a complete Totalitarian Rule over the government and to enforce their own version of martial law. They are wanted for terrorism, illegal arms dealing, and large scale oil thefts so that they can fund their faction. Comprised almost entirely of former commandos from the Army's elite 75th Ranger Regiment and the CIA's much feared Special Operations Group, TRU employs some of the most highly trained and lethal mercenary soldiers in the world. Before TRU went rogue, the company was deployed in classified black sites across Western Asia and North Africa, as well as numerous other sensitive locations. A large portion of TRU were sent to New York City to support the government in stopping a bioweapon attack that was being orchestrated by a terrorist/criminal organization, several panicked Wall Street financial firms immediately hired TRU to protect their servers and high-value physical assets stored onsite in their Lower Manhattan vaults. Worn and battle-weary, the rank and file soldiers found themselves recalled from hazardous overseas duty only to be diverted into the viral maelstrom of the deadliest urban catastrophe in modern history. As panic in the Financial District spiraled further out of control, Arase began to clash with local authorities. He considered them pathetically weak and indecisive, hamstrung by ludicrous restrictions that had no place in an actual war zone. When the quarantine was established and the Government pulled back to their main base in Midtown, TRU found itself cut off and abandoned. Several days of savage street fighting convinced Arase that the only course of action left was to retake New York City himself, and establish a new martial order via brute force. After a fierce disagreement with an imperious Government official, Arase not only disobeyed the official's direct orders but executed the man and his armed guards. Compared to other criminal and terrorist factions in the Manhattan war zones, TRU employed far more combat specialists with top-grade military gear and weapons, and their defensive positions were more heavily fortified. Convinced that not just the city but the entire nation would collapse in the atavistic wake of the ongoing war, Arase was determined that TRU would survive the conflict, and seize full control of New York, and then use their newly created city-state as a base to usher in a new world order - one where only those with strength of will and character survive. Due to insubordination and war crimes, the government attacked TRU in their base of operations set up in New York in an attempt to drive TRU out of New York, the mission was successful, but Arase and a large portion of TRU managed to escape, and went into hiding. In an attempt to gain more power over other factions, Arase ordered an 100 man squad to assist him in destroying the Toppat airship, even going as far as to hire Phantom Squad to give him and his team the advantage. However, Arase decided that he and Phantom Squad would forge an alliance with the Toppats, in which he was successful. In turn, The Trinity of Fate was formed. It is said that before The Trinity of Fate was formed, TRU has connections with multiple crime syndicates and terrorist organizations such as the Italian Mafia, Yakuza, and a rebellious insurgency hellbent in toppling their government, TRU was the one who supplied the insurgents with weapons. TRU has been placed on the wanted list of the government and is still said to be at large. Information Ends Here

There's the answer to your previous ask, @bonedbybone. You (and the rest of us) now know who the True Retribution Unit is.

We were kinda wondering about them ourselves, so thanks for the great excuse to learn more about them.

[larktb-archive]

Hi! I'm too shy to come off anon, but I need your help understanding something. I hope I'm not bothering you!!

I don't want to interact with anyone who is a fascist, but I'm not entirely sure what makes someone fascist. Can you please explain it to me?

I know I could look it up myself, but I know that not all definitions online can be correct and I just want your perspective;;

Thanks!

Hi anon! Well, fascism comes in many forms so “sussing out who’s a fascist” is technically a little harder to do than having a simple checklist. After all, doesn’t a White Supremacist have different beliefs to a Japanese fascist? And doesn’t a Japanese fascist have different beliefs to a Wahabist? These beliefs clash don’t they? Well, yes and no. Sure the surface level beliefs are different but the underlying core beliefs of these groups are actually quite similar; it’s the specifics which are different. Even though it isn’t a “bible” on what is fascism and shouldn’t be taken as gospel, Umberto Eco has an essay called “Ur-Fascism” which contains 14 points, which can help us identify whether certain beliefs are fascist no matter the specifics of their belief system. I’ll explain the points in short and give some examples. Quick disclaimer, I am not an expert on fascism or any of the ideologies I’ll discuss by any means so if you aren’t taking Umberto Eco’s writing as the 100% correct truth, definitely don’t take mine as that either (this is how you should treat most sources tho):

1. Cult of Tradition and 2. Rejection of modernity

I put these two together because they’re kind of inseparable. This is basically the idea that there was a “glorious past” that people need to return to and modernity is a corruption of that “glorious past”. In British fascist thought, this past is generally the 19th century at the zenith of the British Empire or mid-20th century Britain. The latter is more common for people who wish to be a little more PC with their writings; instead of trying to use a by-gone era that pretty much no one alive can remember, they use a much more recent time with nostalgic ideas of “the good old days” which doesn’t seem threatening on it’s surface but is dogwhistling for a time when there weren’t as many immigrants in the country.

You may have seen the “reject modernity, embrace tradition” meme and it’s pretty much the most obvious incarnation of this idea. Similarly you may seen people online use “degenerate” as an insult. If you look at the meaning of the degenerate it means “having lost the physical, mental, or moral qualities considered normal and desirable; showing evidence of decline”; it’s microcosm of these ideas put into a single insult. This is why you tend to see conservatives use it more than progressives.

I’d also argue that terfs obsession with 2nd wave feminism and their utter rejection of intersectionality and modern feminism is another manifestation of this idea. 

3. Action for actions sake

This is less detectable in terms of individuals but still important to note that these people tend to support action without a cause. Sure the insurrection at the white house earlier this year was action, but it had no substance behind it. It was action for actions sake, which is why any principled leftist didn’t support it. Fascists will tend to openly just call for action but won’t be very specific about the purposes of the action; as long as they agree with the ideology behind it they’ll support it. It’s why fascists love harassment campaigns and mindless acts of terror. Take Wahabist terrorist orgs like Al-Qaeda or ISIS, it doesn’t matter if bombing an Ariana Grande concert has no point, the only point is the action itself.

4. Disagreement is treason  

This one’s pretty self explanatory, they will ostracize you if you disagree with them. Again, terfs tend to do this, and I had a long conversation with an ex-terf I called a dumbass, who basically said that she was ostracized by them and mocked for having different beliefs (hope she’s doing well actually). There’s numerous stories from ex-terfs like this.

5. Fear of difference

There’s a tendency for fascists to group people into “us” and “them”. “They” are considered to be intruders who need to be removed whereas “we” are the people who deserve to be here because it is “our” right to be here. In Zulu Nationalism, this tends to be any non-Zulu speakers who they deem to be “Shangaan” even if they aren’t actually Tsonga, it’s just a pejorative at this point. If you see vague references to the “elite” without any reference to who they are and what makes them “elite”, this is tends to be a dogwhistle for Jewish people. Western Fascists have very little issue with the workings of capitalism itself or the accumulation of wealth by capitalists, they just don’t like “them”, taking “our” stuff. Any references to “us” and “them” is pretty much a red flag.

6. Appeal to Social Frustration

Fascists will tend to brush upon actual issues faced by the poor today but will instead blame it on an outside force. You’ll see job loss being blamed on immigrants or vague “elites”. Terfs do this too. They’ll see young girls who are genuinely struggling with patriarchal issues and divert all that pent up rage towards trans people and the “q*eers” (which they do tend to use as a slur unlike what most people would have you think). 

7. Obsession with a Plot

Everything is a conspiracy! The election was rigged! 9/11 was fake! that fucking pizza place/this furniture company is a sex ring! All of these are supposedly plots by the deep state who are trying to do... something or other. You’ll notice these “Plots” don’t actually have a purpose, but the fact that there is a plot itself is the issue. This is a way of engendering paranoia in the group while also feeling that there is a constant war against you even if there isn’t. This is also why, despite news sources being pro-capitalist the right will swear up and down it’s leftist media which is controlled by “them” (usually just meaning Jewish people).

8. The enemy is both strong and weak

“Trans people have infiltrated academia and the only reason people refuse to see gender as an immutable biological concept, is because they’re too afraid of the trans cabal to say anything. But also everyone can tell trans people are crazy and haha you have a high suicide rate.” It’s contradictory that’s the point. They need to feel that they’re both counterculture but also they need to be winning at all times so that contradiction is necessary. Also the use of the word “cabal” is a pretty big red flag for all forms of fascism.

9. Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy, 10. Contempt for the weak, 11. Everybody is educated to become a hero and 12. Machismo and weaponry

All of these are kind of interrelated so I’m grouping them together (also this is already fucking long as hell so I don’t wanna bore you any further). You’ll tend to see a love for the military or at least military aesthetics when looking through fascist blogs. Guns aren’t just a tool for fascists, they’re representative of masculinity and the necessity of violence. Pacifists and anyone who refuses to fight are weak and therefore are “degenerate”. If you do not fight, if you are not willing to fight, you cannot be a “hero” (an ubermensch or a matyr). This comes with the fetishization of violence instead of the recognition of violence being an means to an end, and the worship of individuals rather than of communities and organizations. Take Japanese fascists and their lionisation of the imperial military and their desire to once again have an actual army.

Terfs don’t necessarily fit these roles except for arguably 10 considering how much they seem to look down upon the mentally ill and those who commit suicide and surprisingly 11 since that involves the hatred of non-standard sexual activities and terfs hate non-standard sex (this is from the most vanilla bitch who is very uncomfortable with kink but understands its not inherently good or bad). I have a feeling this is more so because terfs are mainly women (there are male terfs ofc) whereas this was written for male led organizations. 

13. Selective populism

When fascists talk about “the people” they tend to mean “the people we like”. “The working class” can be translated to “this cishet white christian man from Minnesota who owns land but hey he lives in a rural area so he’s working class right?”. They’ll also tend to have “tokens” who will suddenly become the mouth piece of the entire community they’re supposedly representing even if no one in the community asked them to (i.e. Milo Yiannopoulos). 

14. Ur fascism speaks Newspeak

They speak in terms which are both inaccessible to anyone outside of their circles whilst being so simple that once you learn them it becomes easy to understand. They abhor any form of “academic” speech so you’ll rarely see them source things (unless those things happen to agree with their views, which is rare but Jordan Peterson is popular for a reason) and if they do source things they probably wouldn’t have read them fully and will rely on you also not reading them. This is to limit any critical thinking so that your brain is basically jellified into an unquestioning organ which only responds “yes” or “no” and only appeals to a higher authority without any form of reasoning involved. This is why they complain about “the lefts memes being too wordy”... because they’re used to not having to read (this is somewhat tongue in cheek but heyho if the boot fits).

And that’s the 14 main features of fascism, if anyone is displaying multiple of these ideas then they are most likely fascist, and if an organization or group continuously replicates these ideas, then they are definitely fascist. I hope this wasn’t too long but like I said... very complex topic. (Also hopefully this is written well, it’s 10 PM and I am surviving off Irn Bru energy drink). Hope this helped!

[nietp]

The statement of some organizations, “Communists are not so stupid as to get themselves banned,” renders them a mouthpiece for class justice, that is to say, for no one. The statement is correct insofar as it means that the legal possibilities for communist agitation, propaganda, and organizing for a political and economic struggle must be fully utilized and cannot be carelessly jeopardized—but that is not what they mean. They mean that there is no way of getting around the limits that the class state and its justice system establish for the socialist project, that one must stop at these limits, that one must retreat from the state’s illegal encroachments as these encroachments are legalized—legality at any price. Illegal imprisonment, terroristic sentences, police harassment, blackmail and coercion on the part of the BAW—eat shit or die—Communists are not that stupid….

This statement is opportunist. It shows a lack of solidarity. It abandons the comrades in prison. It excludes the organization and politicization in a socialist context of anyone who, as a result of their social background and situation, has no choice but to survive through crime: the underground, the subproletariat, innumerable proletarian youth, and guest workers. It facilitates the theoretical criminalization of all those who are not members of these organizations. It expresses complicity with class justice. It is stupid.

Legality is a question of power. The relationship between legality and illegality has to be determined by examining the contradiction between reformist and fascist domination [...].

The reformist line attempts to avoid conflicts by using institutional options (co-management) and promises of improvements (in prison conditions, for example), by addressing obsolete sources of conflict [...], by avoiding provocation [...], and by airing grievances [...]. As part of this reformist line of avoiding conflict, they move a bit further inside and a bit less outside of legality. They do this to look legitimate. With the Constitution in hand, they intend to neutralize contradictions and leave left-wing criticism dead in the water and empty of content [...].

There is no doubt that, in the long run, the reformist line is the more effective way of stabilizing capitalist domination, but it relies on certain conditions being met. It requires economic prosperity [...]. The reformist line requires a situation in which no organized anticapitalist opposition exists, as one can see by the Munich example. [...]

The concentration of violent power in the hands of the few can occur unopposed if it is done quietly, if unnecessary provocation, which can set a process of solidarity in motion, is avoided—that is something that was learned as a result of the student movement and the Paris May. [...]

The comrades who only deal with the question of legality and illegality superficially have obviously misunderstood the amnesty with which the student movement was to be tamed. In lifting the criminalization of hundreds of students, they sent them away with just a fright, preventing further radicalization and impressing upon them the value of the privileges that come with being a bourgeois student—that in spite of the nature of the knowledge-factory, the universities are helpful to social climbers. This deepens the class divide between students and the proletariat, between their privileged everyday life and the everyday life of those who do the shit work and who were not offered the same amnesty by the same class enemy. So once again the division between theory and practice is maintained. The equation: amnesty equals pacification. [...]

Legality is the ideology of parliamentarianism, of social partnership, and of a pluralistic society. Legality becomes a fetish when those who insist upon it ignore the fact that phones are legally tapped, mail is legally monitored, neighbors are legally interrogated, and informants are legally paid. The organization of political work, if it is not to be under constant observation by the political police, must be simultaneously conducted both legally and illegally.

We don’t count on terror and fascism provoking a spontaneous antifascist mobilization, nor do we think that legality is always corrupt. We understand that our work offers pretexts [...]. Regarding other pretexts that result from the fact that we are communists, whether communists organize and struggle will depend on whether terror and repression produce only fear and resignation, or whether they produce resistance, class hatred, and solidarity, and whether or not everything goes smoothly for imperialism. It depends on whether communists are so stupid as to tolerate everything that is done to them, or whether they will use legality, as well as other methods, to organize illegality, instead of fetishizing one over the other.

— Red Army Faction, The Urban Guerilla Concept, April 1971.

[austonem]

SANCTIONS ???

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE MAIN GOVERNMENT ISSUING SANCTIONS HASN'T BEEN SANCTIONED ??? CLEARLY THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT IS THE WORLD'S BIGGEST TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. AND, ALMOST EVERY CONFLICT WORLDWIDE PAST OR PRESENT CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AS BEING THE CULPRIT !!! IS THE UNITED NATIONS IN AMERICA'S POCKET ???

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR JUSTICE, ASYLUM AND CORRECTIVE SURGERY TO REMOVE AMERICA'S ILLEGALLY IMPLANTED MICRO CHIPS FROM MY BODY. HOWEVER, IF NOTHING ELSE THIS IS A TRUTH SPREADING CAMPAIGN.

THIS IS ALSO A REQUEST TO JOIN YOUR COUNTRIES MILITARY AS A PEACE NEGOTIATOR TO THE WORLD AND WARRIOR. I HAVE SURVIVED OVER 40 YEARS OF TORTURE AND I AM BATTLE READY AT ALL TIMES. THE CRIMINALS WITHIN THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ARE NOT WILLING TO MEET ME IN THEIR OWN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTS, WHICH THEY INFLUENCE HEAVILY. THEY BLOCK ALL OF MY ATTEMPTS TO CONTACT THE INTERNATIONAL COURTS FROM WITHIN AMERICA. UNOFFICIALLY THE GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THEY ARE ONLY ATTACKING CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS. HOWEVER, I ALONG WITH THOUSANDS OF OTHERS HAVE UNDENIABLE PROOF THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN ATTACKING MOST IF NOT ALL OF IT'S CITIZENS WITH VARIOUS TYPES OF DIRECTED ENERGY TORTURE FOR A LONG TIME, WITH DIRECT TIES TO THE NATION'S PHARMACEUTICAL NETWORKS.

I'VE BEEN BETRAYED BY THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. AFTER OVER 40 YEARS OF BEING IN AMERICA'S ILLEGAL TARGETED INDIVIDUALS, ELECTRONIC TORTURE PROGRAM AGAINST MY WILL, I SEEK NOT TO DIE BEHIND ENEMY LINES. I AM A MAN WHO SEEKS GOD, WHICH THESE GODLESS WORLDWIDE CRIMINALS HAVE NO RESPECT FOR. THESE ILLEGALLY IMPLANTED MICRO CHIPS AND DIRECTED ENERGY ATTACKS ARE THE WORLD'S CURRENT BIGGEST MILITARY WEAPONS SYSTEM THREAT. EVEN MORE THAN THE ATOMIC BOMB !!! THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THAT ONLY CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS ARE IN THEIR ELECTRONIC TORTURE PROGRAM UNOFFICIALLY. HOWEVER, I ALONG WITH THOUSANDS OF OTHERS HAVE UNDENIABLE PROOF THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN TARGETING MOST IF NOT ALL OF IT'S CITIZENS WITH VARIOUS TYPES OF ELECTRONIC TORTURE EXPOSURE FOR A LONG TIME, WITH A DIRECT LINK TO THE COUNTRY'S PHARMACEUTICAL MARKETS.

REQUEST FOR ASYLUM AND LEGAL ASSISTANCE AGAINST THE AMERICAN MURDERING REGIME. AND, IF NOTHING ELSE PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE TRUTH !!!

TARGETED INDIVIDUAL, ELECTRONIC TORTURE SURVIVOR, ATTACKED BY THE US GOVERNMENT.

“ CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY “

Not Only Has The American Government Been Killing Innocent People All Over The World, They Have A Long History Of Killing Their Own Citizens As Well. Like The Attacks On 9/11 Where The American Government Killed It's Own Citizens And Blamed It On Someone Else. ( 9/11 Truth Movement, Loose Change 9/ 11 Truth, Afghanistan War Exposed An Imperial Or Ex. Governor Jesse Ventura's 9/11 Questions ) Review The Information And Make Your Own Conclusions. There Is Also The Fact That The Vietnam War Was Stated Over A Lie According To Declassified Military Documents And Ex Governor Jesse Ventura, Who Fought In The Vietnam War. This Is Overwhelmingly Similar To What Was Attempted With "Operation North Woods 1962" In Which Criminals Within The US Government Attempted To Start An Illegal War With Cuba, To Which The President At That Time, President John F. Kennedy Refused And Removed The Top Military Officials Who Suggested This Act Of Illegal War. It Has Long Been Argued That Because President John F. Kennedy Showed That He Would Not Cooperate With The Long Standing Criminal Elements Within The American Government And Military That He Was Assassinated, Along With His Brother Robert Kennedy And Even His Son Who Died In A Suspicious Plane Crash Many Years Later. Or, The Many Times The American Government Exposed It's Own Military Members To Deadly Chemicals In Illegal Wars And Lied To Their Own Soldiers And Their Families ( The Marshall Islands Experiments And The Soldiers Who Were Part Of The Bikini Islands Clean Up Crew Along With Every War This Country Has Ever Participated In). There Is A Long Well Proven History Where These Soldiers Later Die Early Deaths As A Direct Result Of Exposure To Various Deadly Chemicals. I Know Because My Father Was One Of Those Soldiers. And, The Veterans Administration Hospital Top Representatives Have Admitted, Only Within The Last Year, That They Are Not Equipped To Test For Exposures To Toxic Chemicals Or Treat Exposures To Toxic Chemicals. Now Within The Last Two Years I've Figured Out That For Over 40 Years The American Government Has Been Attacking Me And My Family With Their Illegal Targeted Individuals Electronic Torture Program Where They Slowly Torture You To Death. This Criminal Activity By The US Government Is The Next Multi Trillions Of Dollars Money Making Weapons System. These Activities Are Clearly Recognized By the International Community As Crimes Against Humanity. I Know As A Victim That These Murdering Criminals Can Make You Feel Sick When Your Not Sick, They Can Make You Feel Pain, They Can Cause Burns On You're Skin, Or Cause Sores On Your Skin, They Can Artificially Control Your Breathing And Respiratory System Or Mimic A Heart Attack, They Can Make You Feel As Though You Crave Certain Foods Or Drinks, Make You Want To Hear A Particular Song Or Watch A Certain Show, Or Even Affect Your Mood Along With Many Other Sick Sadistic Things They Do. I'm well aware of what they're doing when I'm awake and concise so I Just Turn Everything They Attempt Off. However, The Pain Is Very Much Real And when I'm asleep they have a way to make me concise when I'm Actually Unconscious And Do All Kinds Of Sick Un Godly Things That I Would Gladly Choose Death Over Being A Part Of The Things They Do. Most of Which I Can't Remember When I Wake Up. However, In my case as Many People Have Seen, They document their activities and share them with Everyone Except Me it Seems. If These Murdering Sick Sadistic Criminals who are worst than the Nazi's are not stopped; You Can Clearly See The Entire World Is In

MAJOR DANGER !!!

My Only Choice Is To Relocate To Any Country That Will Stand Up For The Law. A Legal Action In An International Court Like The United Nations Must Be Taken Immediately. As For The TI Victims, There Has To Be TI Safe Houses And TI Communities.

All TI’S HAVE TO UNITE & FIGHT TOGETHER & SEPARATELY !!!

THE US GOVERNMENT IS RUNNING THIS ILLEGAL PROGRAM UNDER THE NATIONAL SECURITY UMBRELLA WHICH COVERS THE MILITARY, POLICE & ALL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. BY CLAIMING NATIONAL SECURITY THEY ARE ILLEGALLY OPERATING ABOVE THE LAW & CONSTITUTION. THE INTERNATIONAL COURTS HOWEVER, RECOGNIZES THESE ACTS AS ILLEGAL AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.

AMERICA IS A GREAT NATION. HOWEVER MURDERING CRIMINALS HAVE INFILTRATED IT'S GOVERNMENT.

FROM THE INFORMATION I’VE SEEN, THIS ELECTRONIC TORTURE SYSTEM WAS FIRST DEVELOPED IN NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND FURTHER DEVELOPED INTO WHAT THEY HAVE TODAY.

MILLIONS OF INNOCENT VICTIMS HAVE ALREADY DIED AS A RESULT OF THIS PROGRAM. NONE OF THE VICTIMS HAVE EVER BEEN CHARGED IN ANY COURT OF LAW. THIS IS FIRST DEGREE CAPITAL MURDER WHICH CARRIES A MANDATORY DEATH SENTENCE ACCORDING TO THE US LAW. YET, NOT ONE PERSON IN THE US GOVERNMENT HAS EVER BEEN CHARGED. CURRENTLY THERE ARE MILLIONS MORE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING SLOWLY TORTURED TO DEATH THROUGH THIS SAME PROGRAM.

WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A BUNCH OF OVERGROWN INFANTS AND TYRANTS WHO HAVE INFILTRATED THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT, WITH A FAIRLY NEW DEVICE WITH WHICH THEY'RE LOOKING TO TURN ANYONE THEY CHOOSE INTO SLAVES CONTROLLED BY COMPUTERS. THIS IS CURRENTLY BEING DONE IN OTHER COUNTRIES ALSO.

GOD DOES NOT INTEND FOR ANY HUMAN TO BE ENSLAVED BY OTHER HUMANS OR THEIR DEVICES.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND ASYLUM.

This is a Call to hold the American Government Responsible for their Acts & Actions, Just as they do everyone else. Justice And Freedom is the purpose of this request.There are Trillions of Dollars that have already been generated through the Governments Illegal Acts. I am a Victim Of Crimes Against Humanity. I am Constantly Tortured, Used in Human Experiments, Exposed to Violent Traumas, Forced into Sick Sadistic Sexual Acts, Stolen from, Subjected to Attempted Murder, Exposed To Tainted Foods and Beverages & Many other forms of Criminal Activities. The Government is Clearly Manipulating The Law In Order To Break The Law. What's needed here is Legal Representation. Again, there are already Trillions of Dollars that have already been generated through the US Government's Illegal Actions. What's needed now is the Legal Expertise to Start The Process Of Collecting These Funds While Holding The US Government Responsible For Their " CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY "  NO ONE SHOULD BE ABOVE THE LAW !!!  Especially The US Government.

 

An International Court Action Must Be Taken Now !!!

Auston Matthews

929-313-1866

austonmatthews@yahoo.com

TI Survivor, Warrior. "THE RESISTANCE"

[tes-trash-blog]

So, uh, a while back you mentioned making a post about how Prisoner McNord might affect the player experience/perceptions of the "default" and I would be super interested in reading that

So!

I have a few thoughts already on what is considered “default” in Skyrim to be expanded upon in a future shitstorm rant (it’s on the list, between Almalexia Is Interesting Actually and Even More Crying About Snow Elves Part 17: My Tears Have Become Sentient And Are Also Crying).

And as always, keep in mind that Skyrim is coming up on 9 years old, elements of it have not aged well, and this is in no way, shape, or form meant to be a “If you like Skyrim then you’re Bad” rant. In case you haven’t noticed, I kind of love that game. It has flaws; all games do, and frankly it’s a miracle this game is as solid as it is. The writers are that, writers. They had deadlines to make, hardware limitations to consider, and above all else, worked for a company that wanted to make money.

To keep this relatively short I’ll focus on how your perception of Skyrim is influenced by the first few minutes of the game via Ralof, the Nordiest Nord to Nord since Ysgranord, and how the writers really, really really wanted you to hold on to that perception.

Overanalysis and spoilers (Metal Gear Solid, Borderlands, and Bioshock respectively yes this will all make sense in context) under the cut.

Part 1: How To Make A Perspective In Three Easy Steps

As the saying goes, first impressions are lasting impressions. This is evident in.. well, every bit of media you can find. The first chapters of a book, the first episode of a show, the first 15 minutes of a video game, all as a general rule:

1.) Introduces the setting, a part of the main plot, and with these two, sets the tone of the medium (high fantasy movie, light hearted TV show, mystery series, horror game, etc.). Exceptions exist, especially in horrors, mysteries, and certain visual novels, but even these exceptions rely on setting a tone so they can subvert your expectations later on.

2.) Give you an idea of what is going on. This is normally accomplished with exposition of some sort; Star Wars had its famous screen crawl expositing the dark times in the Galaxy, Borderlands literally begins with “So, you want to hear a story..”, Metal Gear Solid briefs Solid Snake (you, the player character) on a vital mission to save two hostages and end a terrorist threat, so on and so forth. And again, there are exceptions: Bioshock purposefully disorients you with a plane crash in the middle of the ocean so you’re inclined to trust the first person who talks to you.

This all serves to suspend disbelief, immerse you, and earn your trust. This is a new world, you have no idea what’s going on, so you’re gonna take cues from someone who does. Combine points 1 and 2, and that..

3.) Gives you an idea of what is “good” and what is “bad”. Damn near every story has a central conflict, you gotta pick a side, and there’s gonna be a bias as to which one is superior or morally just. Using Bioshock again, this mysterious man named Atlas guides you through the first level, and tells you how to fight and survive in the hostile environment of Rapture; meanwhile, Andrew Ryan taunts and belittles you, and also has a giant golden bust of himself. The shorthand is: Atlas is humble, helpful, and good, while Andrew Ryan is a megalomaniac who wants you dead. Leaning on Borderlands again, the first voice you hear is literally a guardian angel telling you not to be afraid, and that you are destined to do great things. Once more with Metal Gear: Your organization and your commanders are good, you are good because you’re saving innocent people, and FOXHOUND is bad because they’re terrorists who have the means to launch a nuclear warhead.

Keeping all this in mind, let’s do a quick runthrough of the first, let’s call it 15 minutes of Skyrim. No commentary on my end, just a play by play of the beginning of the game.

Part 2: First Impressions In Action

You wake up on a cart. Your vision is hazy, and you are clearly disoriented. You see a man bound and gagged, another man in rags, and several men dressed like soldiers. Everyone on the cart is tied up, and the people driving the cart are wearing a neat, vastly different uniform.

Then comes the famous line: “You! You’re finally awake! You were caught trying to cross the border, got caught in that Imperial ambush same as us, and that thief over there!” The thief bitterly remarks how these damn Stormcloaks had to cook up trouble in a nice and lazy Empire. The Nord who first spoke with you nobly says that we’re all brothers and sisters in these binds.

The presumed Imperial tells you all to shut up. Undeterred, the thief and the Stormcloak provide more exposition: The gagged man is the leader of the resistance, is supposedly the true High King, and since he’s on the cart, it’s clear that everyone on board is bound for the executioner’s block. The thief is terrified; the Nord accepts his fate, but takes a moment to opine on better days when he flirted with girls and “when the Imperial walls made him feel safe.” There is also a remark about General Tulius and the Thalmor agents; the Nord, in a rare bit of anger, damns the Elves and insinuates they had a hand in this capture.

It’s execution time. General Tulius gives a speech about how Ulfric started a civil war and killed the former High King; Ulfric, being gagged, cannot say a word in defense. A Stormcloak is executed to mixed reactions (“You Imperial bastards!” “Justice!”, etc.). The thief runs away; he is shot by Imperial archers, demonstrating the futility of escape. It’s your turn. The Nord in Imperial armor states you’re not on the list; the Imperial captain doesn’t care and orders you to the block anyway.

You see the headsman’s axe rise up when, as if the gods intervene, a dragon appears and interrupts your execution. In the chaos, you run with the Stormcloaks. The game does not give you the option to run away alone, or with the Imperials; until you meet Hadvar again in the fire and death, you take orders from Ulfric.

Part 3: The Crux

A lot happens in the first few minutes of Skyrim. You’re disoriented from being unconscious, and that’s compounded by your two near death experiences (point 2), the first person you meet is a calm, almost reassuring mouthpiece of exposition while the other side, at best, doesn’t care if you die (points 2 and 3), one major aspect of the plot is revealed (point 1, and the tone is that this is a classic Rebellion story).

And people love rebellion stories. Americans especially; we spend billions on the day when a bunch of white guys said “fuck you” to a bunch of other white guys. With the additional layer of when Skyrim was developed, by who, and in what landscape it was written.. Yeah. There may be two ways to go for the Civil War questline, but for most players (myself included!) their first gut instinct is going to be “side with the guys who didn’t just try to kill me.”

It’s the same song and dance. In Bioshock, your instinct is to trust the Irish guy who wants to help you get out of Rapture alive, but he needs your help first. In Borderlands, your instinct is to trust the woman who is literally called a guardian angel, and she shows her compassion by asking you to help the people of Fyrestone and the poor robot who got hurt in a gunfight. In Metal Gear, your instinct is to shut down the threat because terrorists are evil and these ones are not just terrorists, they’re deserters. Hell, even in other Elder Scrolls games the plot is laid out by helping hands: you’re a prisoner being contacted by your murdered friend, and given the goal to stop Jagar Tharn (Arena), you’re a Blades agent tasked with putting a vengeful spirit to rest that leads you to a weapon that can secure the Empire’s power (Daggerfall), Azura literally tells you not to be afraid, and that you destined to stop an old threat (Morrowind), and a soon-to-be-assassinated Emperor voiced by Actual Grandpa Patrick Stewart recognizes you in a prophetic dream (Oblivion).

Where Skyrim departs from these games, and even the other Elder Scrolls titles, is how much it enforces the first thing you see as solidly good and evil, and how little it tries to subvert that perception. Remember point 2, when the game makes it clear that this person is trustworthy? Therein lies the bread and butter of psychological horror, mysteries, and heart wrenching plot twists: that trust gets tested, and often broken.

The rebel leader Atlas? He’s somehow more evil than Andrew Ryan, and has subtly controlled you the entire time with a command phrase (“Would you kindly..?”). You are unable to stop yourself when you bludgeon Andrew Ryan to death at Ryan’s command. “A man chooses,” he tells you. “A slave obeys.” His final words are him telling you that you are a puppet, only able to obey.

The end of Borderlands reveals that “Angel” was watching you the entire time.. from a Hyperion satellite. You were tricked into opening a Vault holding back a dangerous monster, and you don’t even know why. Borderlands 2 goes further into just what (or rather who) Angel is: a teenage girl and a powerful Siren, used by her own demented, evil, father, Handsome Jack, to manipulate the Vault Hunters and gain more power for himself. Her final mission given to you is simple: she wants you to set her free and end her father’s mad march to power by killing her.

Metal Gear Solid ultimately plays it straight in that you stop the terrorists and disable the nuclear threat, but you don’t emerge from the rubble as an action hero; you’re forced to kill your own brother, the terrorist cell is revealed to be composed almost entirely of people exploited by your organization, and you secretly carry  a virus designed to kill the people you were trying to save. War, as it turns out, is not as clear-cut as “we good, they bad”. The people you’ve killed without thinking are your genetic brothers. Sniper Wolf, the assassin who shot your commander’s niece, survived a genocide and has never known a life outside of war. Psycho Mantis’ telepathic gifts were exploited by both the KGB and FBI until he lost his mind. Ocelot is Ocelot.

Oh, but those are other games. What about The Elder Scrolls? Well..

In Daggerfall, your search for hidden correspondence leads you to finding the Mantella, a sort of soul gem that can power the superweapon everyone wants: The Numidium. There are six entities total who want the Mantella, some for their personal gain, one to make a home for his people, and one so he may finally die; the Underking’s soul is in that gem, you see, and he’s been trapped in this misery since the days of Tiber Septim.

In Morrowind, Dagoth Ur recognizes you not as a schlub with a dummy thick journal, but as his oldest and dearest friend. The Empire who guided you for so long? They’ve manipulated you into taking down the Tribunal, destroying the one weapon that could stand against their might, and depending on your interpretation of “then the Nerevarine sailed to Akavir”, have possibly killed you.

And what of everyone’s favorite game in the series to mock? Surprise! Oblivion isn’t even about you, hero! It’s about the actual chosen one, Martin Septim! Sure you can join the Thieves’ Guild and cavort about as Grey Fox, or uncover the traitor of the Dark Brotherhood, or run off and become the Mad God.. but none of those events actually acknowledge you. To be the Grey Fox is to literally be forgotten, by the time the Dark Brotherhood questline is complete there is effectively no more Dark Brotherhood, and to become Sheogorath is to lose yourself entirely. The Hero of Kvatch is one who is ultimately forgotten. Your actions were important, have no doubt, but such is the fate of the unsung hero: they’re not sung about.

Even Arena plays a little bit with your expectations in that the Staff of Chaos alone isn’t enough to stop Jagar Tharn; you need friendship (just kidding it’s a magic gem in the Imperial Palace). Skyrim.. kinda glosses over that. They land a few punches, but for them to stay with you, you have to keep an open mind.

Part 4: Why does that matter?

Because if your expectations are never subverted, your trust never tried in any meaningful way, then your perception of a very specific, spoon-fed worldview is never challenged. The trust you build with a group that is, in essence, a fascist paramilitary cult is never shaken in any way that’s meaningful. You get some lines intended to evoke sadness when you sack Whiterun, but by then it’s too late. Not that it matters; at the end of the Stormcloak questline, there’s not much question about who was in the right. You never lose friends or allies; the Jarls in the holds change, but is there much difference between Idgrod Ravencrone and Sorli the Builder? You might feel a little guilty when you see the Dunmer forced to live in the slums, but then the haughty High Elf says that she didn’t laze around and instead made a name for herself, or the Dark Elf farmer who complains about his snowflake kinsmen harping on about “injustices”. The Argonians seem decent until you meet the skooma addict/thief, and the Khajiit.. let’s just say that even if we disregard the two Khajiit assassins sent to kill you, there exist a lot of extremely harmful stereotypes that none of your friends dispel. They commit no horrific war crimes in your presence, the worst you hear is a Nord (normally a bandit) yell “Skyrim is for the Nords!”, or the clumsy Welcome to Winterhold script where a Dunmer woman is harassed by two Nords; one’s a veteran, by the way. Got run through the chest by an Imperial craven, or so the story goes.

Your only chance to rattle the Nord-driven story is to go against your gut feeling and side with the Imperials (the plotline is pretty weak, not gonna lie), or complete the optional quest No One Escapes Cindha Mine where you see what a Stormcloak sympathizer does to the Forsworn. Even if you complete that quest, the Forsworn still attack you. “They’re savages,” say the Nords, and the game isn’t too inclined to say otherwise.

When it comes to portraying the Nords in any light that’s not negative, Skyrim doesn’t deliver like it did in other games. You saw what life is like in Morrowind under Tribunal rule; it’s not great. The Houses are almost universally awful and they have slaves. You see the destruction in Cyrodiil and hear the rumors on how much the Empire is flailing with the Oblivion Crisis. Hell, even Arena tells you that life in Tamriel kind of sucks, but it’ll suck a little less when Tharn is dead.

That doesn’t happen in Skyrim. You are encouraged to join the sympathetic Stormcloaks, you find out your destiny as Dragonborn, and you set all these things right. Of course you do. You’re a hero, baby. Others have gone on about how storybook the Dragonborn questline is so I won’t go too much in, but that’s it exactly: Storybook. You’re Neutral Good. You’re going to kill the bad dragon that wants to do its job and eat the world. 

And that refusal to really examine the nuances and horrors of war, to consider what it means to be a hero that is never morally challenged or forced into a Total Perspective Vortex, to never challenge an extremely biased perspective or even explore its “logical” conclusion?

It leads to extremely dangerous ways of thinking if unchecked.

[christarango]

I Interviewed the Guy Who Went Into a Museum & "Vandalized" a Picasso.

    In 2012, a man in a suit entered the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas.  That man was Uriel Landeros, a self proclaimed artist and a student at the University of Houston.   A cell phone video captured his visit to the prestigious musuem and was posted on YouTube the same day. The video quickly went viral and set the "Art World" on fire.  That's because Mr. Landeros brazenly walked up to Pablo Picasso's 1929 painting, "Woman in a Red Armchair" and spray painted directly onto the priceless piece of art.  In just a few seconds, the Picasso was altered, hanging there with a mysterious image of a bull and the word "Conquista" spray painted across the surface.  "Conquista" is a Spanish word that means "conquest" or "to conquer".  But why?  What did it mean?  The incident pissed off plenty of people worldwide and started heated debates about the true value of "art".  I had the opportunity to catch up with the artist..  vandal.. visionary.. terrorist.  or whatever it is you choose to call him.  

CT:  Who are you, where are you from?

UL:  I am CONQUISTA, the kid who conquered Picasso, but the name my father gave me is Uriel Landeros.  I was born in South Texas in the city of Edinburg, located in the Rio Grande Valley, but I consider Houston my second home because I went to art school there.  I am a Native/Mexican American.

CT:  As an artist, can you describe the work that you create?

UL:  The Majority of my work comes from my dreams and the subconscious, that other spiritual realm that most people don’t pay attention to.  I try to write down all of my dreams and create images from them. I also use all forms of meditation to influence my work, from fasting, sun gazing, prayer and psychedelic rituals. This is the spiritual side of my work but I also spend a lot of time watching news and current events, not only on TV & newspapers but also the Internet. I compare articles from different countries, independent and mainstream newspapers and bring about a conclusion of closer truth, and then I create political art from this. I try to create a voice that is a little rawer with truth trough my images; I stopped making art years ago though all I make now is art history. But both my spiritual and political work is intertwined. The world is one, everything is connected.

CT:  How did the concept to "destroy" a Picasso piece come about? Was it carefully planned or was it spontaneous?

UL:  The year 2012 was very chaotic for America and for the world, Like I said my work is influenced from all this mayhem, I meditated for so long trying to come up with an image of power and symbology. The image of the Conquista in particular came directly from a lucid dream. Once I obtained the image of the bullfighter slaying the golden bull with the all Seeing Eye, I began to plan the heist. It took about 2 months to completely plan everything; I drew blueprints, counted guards, created exit strategies, etc. It was like a hacker stealing classified information. My plan was never to destroy the Picasso painting, if I wanted to destroy it I would have slashed it with a knife or poured acid on it. The whole point was to leave a message to create a voice and spark another fire against this NEW WORLD ORDER. Believe me I know about paint, I am a professional; I knew that the painting would be easily restored.

CT:  Obviously you pissed off a lot of people. At the same time you suddenly had lots of attention on you & your work. Was that the idea from the beginning or did it accidentally happen that way?

UL:  Not everyone was pissed off, some people were very happy with what I did, many strangers clapped @ my actions & and continue to do so. Most of the people who were hating on me where so called “artists” who have never been able to break the veil of success. I did not know the future, I did not know that galleries would take interest in my art, especially not the world renown museum “The Palace of Fine Arts, MACG” in Mexico city.  When those things began to happen, I was skeptical because I thought that the museum and galleries were working with the F.B.I. and U.S. Marshalls.  But after some research I found out those opportunities were legit, so I welcomed them.  This helped me spread the message further. CT:  What's the deal with your solo art show in Houston following the incident? Apparently you were on a live video feed from Mexico. Can you tell me about that? Also, I heard some of your own artwork was destroyed.

UL:  James Art Gallery gave me a solo show in Houston; James Perez has been a friend of mine for several years. Ironically the title of the show was “ Houston, we have a problem”.  We promoted the event saying that I was going to show up at the event, I had been a fugitive for several months & already there was a $15,000 reward for me, so I knew that the cops were going to show up, but we tricked those pigs.  As you know I was there but through live video feed “Skype”.  I was logged in from an ice cream shop in Monterrey, Mexico.  I gave several interviews and said hello to all the people that attended the show.  My work was not destroyed, James and me invited all the local graffiti writers we could find and let them tag whatever they wanted on several of my paintings. The whole point of this was to show the art community that art is not about paintings but rather the message. Fuck the paintings, this is what Picasso would say “Art is a lie that enables us to see truth” For example The Guernica was not about making a pretty painting but rather transmitting the message of the horrors of genocide and war. Art is a weapon, painting and drawing is secondary to the true purpose of the art tool.  So I don’t care if people tag or graffiti my work, what matters is the message I convey. 

CT:  I definitely feel like you have a message that you're trying to convey. What are you all about, what's all this about?

UL:  First of all fuck the NEW WORLD ORDER, once more; I did this for the people who are tired of being treated like slaves. The Conquista was an artistic metaphor with much symbology.  A lot of the art community successfully digested the message although the reactions were diverse. I stenciled a bullfighter killing a bull with the word Conquista below it with spray paint in color gold on a 1929 Picasso painting. It was a lot of work to pull the heist but all the details are another story.  This graffiti was a form of protest/activism against the government and the corrupt church, who continue to abuse their power of imperial rape. A way to tell the people conquer your fear and stand up for injustice. There was much civil unrest all around the globe in the year 2012, the year of the conquista.  Remember the Occupy movement?  The anonymous organization, the immigrant protests in Arizona, and Wikileaks?  And even after I turned myself in to the authorities, it continued with Edward Snowden and the unraveling of the N.S.A. surveillance, abusing their power to infringe in our privacy. The word Conquista is my artist name, it is also the Spanish word for conquer, in reference to the conquistadores and the Spanish inquisition, the biggest unrecognized genocide in the world, because of gold and greed, “Capitalism in its cradle”. Those who converted the natives into Christianity through murder and rape, those same characters who are now looked upon like heroes such as Christopher Columbus. The word Conquista is also in reference to so many innocent kids who got raped by priest who went unpunished because pope Benedict XVI protected them by sending them to the Vatican and granting them political asylum. This was so controversial that the pope had to resign. Conquista is also in reference to the immigration reform and the dream act that president Obama promised and never fulfilled. My people my culture and my family is bullied around society because of the color of our skin because of racism and discrimination. Just look at the laws in Arizona, its as if its still the 1960s in that state. Discriminating against immigrants when in fact the only non-immigrants are the natives/Hispanics, my people. Nobody ever asked any conquistador for a passport or green card, how was this fucking hypocrisy born?  What the fuck is going on? All this seems like a big joke, nobody in power cares to make a positive difference; they are worried about policing the world and selling guns. This is the history that I have begun to convert into my story. The majority of native culture/archeology is now displayed in museums throughout Europe as trophies of genocide, and thus disables the Hispanic community to truly understand their history & culture, because that art is not in its native land. I cannot bring back all the art that was stolen by the conquistadors but I can create new history. New art, so that is what I did for my people. The golden bull represents the stock market, wall street, gold, money being idolized, The federal reserve, the biggest deceiving ponzi scheme that enslaves us all, and the president & government working for wall street banksters instead of the people. The golden bull also represents Picasso “ the Art Beast”, he who understood that art is not a painting or a drawing but rather a political tool to educate and influence the form of thinking of the masses. I am the bullfighter inspired by Picasso to use the art tool, doing the daring move to kill the golden beast. Conquering Picasso in his own game. Fighting against this whole corrupt system. The bullfighting culture and Picasso are both originally from Spain and this is the irony of a Native Mexican American conquering a Spaniard.

CT:  Whoa, thats heavy.  You were just released from jail for what you did, that's fucking crazy.  How long were you locked up?

UL:  I was in prison for 21 months, almost 2 years.

CT:  What were you thinking about while in prison? Any new concepts or artwork created during that time?

UL:  I was a prisoner before I went to prison, but it was in that dark cold place, in that cage, when I was hungry, when I meditated, that I understood what freedom was.  If your mind is free they can never imprison you. The power of the third eye is limitless, the universe is born from it. I created over 100 paintings and thousands of drawings. I will soon publish all these works online and I will exhibit them in a prison series for my next Art show. My force of creation has only gotten stronger.

CT:  What's next for you?

UL:  I am organizing my next event.  I will soon publish the date and details.  I am also in the process of publishing a book about the entire story, all the things I could not say because of lawful repercussions, how I pulled the heist (it was some oceans 11 shit) and also my life as a fugitive.

CT:  How can we follow you and see how this evolves?

UL:  I’m always accessible through Facebook that is the social media of my choice, but I also have twitter, instagram, pinterest, photobucket, vine, we heart it and email of course. Or just watch the news or Google me.

CT:  Best of luck to you!  Anything else you want to add?

UL:  Yea I just want to give a shout out to everyone out there trying to provoke and stimulate a positive change in the world, all those free hugs people, all the honest police and every activist who has put their life in danger for the benefit of the community, especially Edward Snowden, thank you.

[cnc-woah]

uh how is the muslim crisis propaganda???

thank you for asking anon! (before we jump into this, i just wanna say that this will probably be my only post on this blog about this topic bc while i’m a very political person, i usually like to keep this blog cnco-focused. that being said, if you have any further questions after reading this whole post and all the materials linked, please let me know!)

as i write this, i want you to know my intention: my intention in writing this is not to tell you what exactly to believe, or to convince you that my view is unequivocally correct. my goal is to shed light on why having a critical analysis lens is so important, especially if you live in the west. 

this is probably going to raise a lot of feelings for folks, as it should: human rights abuses are no joke. they are horrible and disgusting and real ones that occur need to be corrected and justice must be served. that being said, the re-education centers located in Xinjiang are not centers of torture or abuse, as western media would have you believe.

i think the first step to answering this question is discrediting the vast majority of western news sources, especially the extremely popular ones. even the ones that are supposedly the least biased still reek of imperialism and often times racism/xenophobia/anti-semitism/etc. for example, i have seen the New York Times and the BBC make several claims about the “concentration camps” occurring in china with little to no material basis for their claims beyond one or two individual people (which like...y’all know people can be bought, right?). i want to draw your attention to the validity of these news sources. these news sources continuously side with imperial powers and politic when publishing articles they claim to be “fact.” for example, the NYT and BBC have both supported the coup in Bolivia, describing it as “restoring democracy” and have gone so far as to twist the story to make Evo Morales some sort of evil dictator (which is so far off base idk how even to link articles in this case just google it dude it’s so gross. la lucha sigue!!) moreover, the NYT continually makes a case that there are always two right sides to an argument, and the truth lies somewhere in between. they especially like to make this case when it comes to US politics and Trump supporters (and let’s be very clear: if you’re a trump supporter you’re not a good person)

so, going forward with the assumption that the vast majority of western news sources are biased towards capitalism and imperialism (even tho i only named two here), we can begin to question the validity of the claims that china is keeping Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps. in order to do this, let’s take popular western media off the table completely. you may think that doesn’t leave us with much to go off of, but in reality it opens a completely new door for us to examine.

one of my favorite news sources for critical investigative journalism is called the Grayzone Project. they often do investigations into whether or not popular western media is spewing fact or propaganda (hint...it’s usually propaganda). They did a piece on this topic when these claims first started coming out, and I think it’s a super good jumping off point for this discussion: https://thegrayzone.com/2018/08/23/un-did-not-report-china-internment-camps-uighur-muslims/

now maybe after reading that report, you still think i’m full of shit. fair enough. but grayzone are not the only people to do reporting on topic. Global Times has also written about this, and these are two of the articles I found to be most poignant:

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1168472.shtml

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1170249.shtml

I’d love to unpack the first article a little more. Namely, pay attention to where the visiting reporters were from: Egypt, Oman, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Union of Comoros, Lebanon, Mauritania, Sudan and Tunisia. These nations have majority Muslim populations, or at the very least a significant population of Muslim folks residing there. this was not done by accident: the chinese government wanted to show these countries that they were not abusing their people. they were very open and honest about the situation as it stands, and the representatives from these countries were pleased. moreover, these reps were grateful, as the extremist, terrorist education that occurs in Xinjiang by terrorist organizations has been deadly. 

What’s more, China has actually invited the UN into it’s country to see these centers for themselves (this is an article by TeleSur, another really good news source imo): https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/China-Invites-UN-to-Visit-Education-Centers-in-Xinjiang-20190613-0004.html

Logistically speaking, when a country is committing cultural genocide or apartheid, they don’t invite the UN or other human rights organizations to come take a quick peak (cough cough Israel cough cough). 

Moreover, the UN isn’t moving in on China for a reason: there is nothing to move in on. It’s not like the UN is ignoring the plight of the Uyghur Muslim people, but rather there is no genocide occurring to bring to justice. 

Now even after all that, maybe you still don’t understand WHY western media would propagate such hurtful lies with such intensity. To me, the answer seems clearly rooted in capitalism, imperialism, and self-interest. The US currently isn’t in great standings with China or other Muslim majority countries (y’all remember the muslim (”travel”) ban, right?), and it makes sense to me why they would try their very hardest to discredit the nation. If you want a take from someone who’s not a westerner herself, here’s another article: http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1167645.shtml

Now, maybe after ALL of this, you still think i’m wrong. maybe you’re questioning the validity of my sources or even my arguments. and while i ultimately disagree with you (i think i showed tf up with receipts and also logic), i hope you at least come away from this with a better understanding of why it’s important to be critical of the information we are receiving. every news source has bias; evidently, no one information source lives in a vacuum. but remain critical: are they biased towards imperialism and money? or are they biased towards the truth?

[queernuck]

Long-Term Memory: 9/11 as Absolute Event in America, 2019

There is a genuine element of humor, of ironic mirroring, in how the Democrats in North Carolina were fooled by members of the GOP into attending a 9/11 Memorial so that they could push through legislation they did not have the numbers to push through normally, that would have been impossible for them to pass with all members of the legislature present. It relies on looking at how Democrats behave in relation to Republican policy, ideology, and exactly what the Democrats have done in the decade-and-change since Bush.

Calls for blood, the feeling of righteous fury and the ideological flattening that took place in the days following 9/11 is one of the most important moments in contemporary American politics, because it not only presents an example of American ideology in itself, but because of how it has shaped the territory of politics since, the field of American discourse and exactly what acceptable suggestions are, what they encompass. Baudrillard’s discussion of the suicidal towers, of the Absolute Event that occurred on 9/11 is a phenomenal means of understanding as much when taken with the ideology that allowed the attacks to happen, that brought them on, invited, almost begged for them: it was entirely foreseeable, that the information to stop such a plot was not shared is, as it turns out, largely due to bickering between the CIA and FBI over their own roles in maintaining the American War Machine, what kinds of organs within the body of such a machine they constitute. The Machine in question could hardly have imagined what occurred next, and as Baudrillard points out, the Hijackers hardly could have, either. Their plan, at a fundamental level, lacks some closure: the crash of Flight 93 denotes an open question, is a failure of completion. An expectation of enormous violence and destruction was present, as in the attack on the Pentagon, which is an often-forgotten aspect of the attacks (in part because it functions most directly as an artifice of state power, of American imperialist violence and denying this is denying its very character) and will never match the image of those towers falling. 

And fall they did: this was an Absolute Event because its singularity, its scale, was unprecedented, the conceptualization of death within the West is in no way capable of grasping such an Event. After all, America still finds itself unable to contend with Katrina over a decade afterwards, except as part of processes of reterritorialization, ignorance as an aesthetic on the part of gentrifiers buying up cheap land and houses that were abandoned, houses that served as final resting places, stained with water and blood alike. Being forced to contend with this sudden collapse, a literally unprecedented Event, the collapse of two towers and thousands of deaths in a day, that collapse provided an unquestionable excuse to move forward, to dictate what goals policy must accomplish.

While protests occurred, it was not until the Iraq War, the questioning and confusion, the shaky pretenses and the strangeness of a continuing occupation in Afghanistan that the Anti-War movement in America really began to grow. Iraq and Afghanistan were imagined as easy, bloodless wars akin to the Gulf War, a non-event, a war that may as well have not occurred, one that was rehearsed yet again in the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. There was a sense in which this was the culmination, the creation of a comprehensive success on the part of American imperialism, a kind of final blow that could then be resolved in America’s favor. Clearly, this has not been the case. Even with the Mission Accomplished, troops continued to occupy, continued to join, 9/11 fresh in their minds rather than the kind of ennui that characterizes retrospective summaries of 90s Veterans, ones who (with notable exceptions, albeit) mostly served as dormant forces of occupation, ones whose commitment to the National Guard never went further than the one weekend a month and two weeks a year. But now, they were being called up to the Big Leagues. The deployment of National Guard and Reserve troops was on a scale that likely influenced the Anti-War movement in an important, if cynical, fashion: they wanted to join the Army, have the benefits, but they really had no intention of fighting a war. These were literal Weekend Warriors, ones who had looked to pay for college or who had an identity outside the military (unlike the “lifers” associated with other wars) and when they died, came back with debilitating injuries and PTSD, when they realized what exactly it was they were doing, they were horrified. This is by no means an excuse, just as it was not one in Vietnam. But many had their Smedley Butler moments, and the way in which this flowed through American anti-war politics, the way in which joining the military meant specifically signing up to go to Iraq or Afghanistan, resonated deeply.

A common refrain in response to “SUPPORT OUR TROOPS” as an ideological defense of the war is that in fact, bringing them home would be an act of support, one that Democrats clung to during the Bush years. To be against the Troops as a concept was not acceptable, and so one had to oppose the war on other grounds. Genuine critiques, like those about the inadequacies of US Military doctrine and equipment, are ones that resonate today: Counter-Insurgency is not the strong point of the US Military as a whole, and even those parts of the military best at it are small, limited, and most of all are part of supporting an ideological goal that may not be possible to accomplish. When Trump responded to a Taliban attack by asking how many decades more the Taliban was willing to fight, he was ironically showing that the same question was being left open for America: already, those born in the same year as 9/11 could begin joining the military, whether born in the months leading up to it or with a waiver allowing them to join at 17, and today somewhere in America the first 18-year-olds born after 9/11 are signing papers to join. Even after all of this time, all of this realization that America has shifted into an occupying force, for all the racist ideology about simply abandoning any pretense of cooperation and carpet-bombing these nations more thoroughly, there are still those who wish to join.

Jokes about lying recruiters and false promises abound, and the shock of combat, of killing and being able to be killed, how quickly that turns into a willingness to act as an agent of genocidal intent, how quickly fascist fetish and ritual spread under so-called stress (the Tiger Teams of Vietnam echoed in Navy SEALs dismembering dead insurgents and various war criminals like the Kill Team) is very readily apparent. And yet, the Democrats still support the troops. While popular support for anti-war movements was part of what was able to get Obama elected, was genuine and moreover fostered by Democrats who saw ending the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as a key issue, his own decisions to continue occupation, as well as the means by which he decentralized the exercise of state power, created new bodies for it to flow through, increased use of Special Forces and other unconventional arrangements of military power alongside the strength of the Occupying Army, convinced Democrats that a continuation was necessary, that they too needed to fetishize 9/11, they too needed to take up the militaristic fervor of their counterparts.

And after all of this, after accusations of treason for floating the idea of opposing illegal wars, Republicans know very well what their actions and ideological stances mean, who they stand behind, what they are associated with. By emphasizing a continuum between police and the military, these entities and American identity, the American war machine and what is necessary to be American, they have been able to run a rather good campaign for fascist recruitment. The Militia Movement, while not quite the same as in the 1990s, has been coupled with numerous other fascist movements, as well as the supposed deniability of current fascist terror tactics, the use of mass shooting as an act intended toward ends much like those of the insurgent. Puar’s work on Terrorist Assemblages is absolutely indispensable in looking at how exactly the targeting of American military power operates, how Obama chose his own targets and how Trump now chooses his, the way in which a fundamental reduction to the body, to an assemblage thereof, the striation and naming of the body as terroristic is at play in contemporary discourses on terror but also on refugees (on a global scale, in Europe and America alike), on police campaigns of violence against Black America, even the differentiation of the virtuous addict from the junkie (in a series of events that was, partially, begun by the profound alienation of mid-2000s America and the 90s-esque ennui combined with PTSD that lead to Xanax and OxyContin prescriptions from the VA being very common sources of one’s first taste of these drugs) is all part of what makes it such that these non-state actors are not recognized as such. In Christchurch, in El Paso, in Pittsburgh: there is a strategy of attempting to inflict casualties so massive that they cannot be sustained, not only as campaigns of ethnic cleansing but additionally through the means by which responses are formed in government. 

Democrats suggesting gun legislation are perhaps in part to be blamed, at least if one understands the politics of the gun in America: the fascist insistence that, as the Christchurch shooter discussed, the enforcement of gun laws would heighten racial tensions, lead to white supremacists banding together, would generate contradictions within the relationship of fascists to their own government has in part been correct. Discussing this claim is at the very least fraught, given that the irony and performative aspect of the shootings was present throughout, that the use of jokingly genuine fascist slogans like “Subscribe to Pewdiepie” and the playing of Serbian Turbofolk during the car ride from massacre to massacre was a kind of irony beyond itself, a show of just exactly how irony and earnestness are tethered, are forms of detachment and attachment with the same intensity as potentialities. So, looking at this claim in itself is in a way entertaining fascist ideology. However, that efforts at gun control have followed and been met with vast right-wing opposition despite their popularity (popularity that I will note is at best misguided, tethered by liberal desires for reforms within existing hegemony rather than genuine struggle toward counterhegemonic action) shows that these tensions are indeed present. Moreover, looking at them shows how these tensions are exploited and magnified. That some on the Right have looked to new measures that will hone these “red flag” laws to target leftists, as seen in the attempted passage of bills criminalizing Antifascists, anti-Pipeline protests, and of course the codification of categories surrounding “mental illness” and “danger” as ones that overwhelmingly criminalize the vulnerable rather than themselves (after all, how many police are themselves ones who would fit the criteria, be it in domestic abuse, trauma resulting from their own actions, on-the-sly drug habits, or unrepentant murder?) serve both to set up a new sweep of Aktion T4 and to make it such that whether or not the structuring of gun laws changes, there will be a far easier course of criminalization for those the Republicans despise most.

Perhaps Warren or Biden will emerge from the race as the nominee. Likely not, given the Democrats’ incredible ability to shoot themselves in the foot. Perhaps a nominally progressive candidate like Beto, Butteigig, or the ideation of Harris will prevail. Maybe even a longshot like Tulsi, Booker, or Williamson. (Then again, Booker may be a bit too ridiculous to suggest even here.) They will be leading a party that has tied itself so thoroughly to allowing fascism to accomplish its goals, to investing deeply in a neoliberalism that is very quickly becoming more and more openly fascist, to a shift in their stances that is less of a different option and more of a justification for acceptance of this neoliberalism: a choice is offered, and is no choice at all, but its offering is enough to make it meaningful. The humor in the NC GOP’s use of a 9/11 Memorial to pass legislation is that it reads like a 2010 email forward accusing Democrats of doing the same, to pass what the email would describe as “gay fishing and marriage licenses” or something to the same effect. That it was in fact Republicans who did this specifically offers a humor beyond amusement: instead it is a flattening, a process whereby the incredible is brought into belief, is made a matter of procedure. Ironically, as a course of action, the signification of a supposed disrespect for 9/11 is instead embodied by this course of action: using Democrats’ sense of obligation to such a ceremony even 18 years on, the Republicans could then justify to themselves that their legislation embodies the true spirit of remembering 9/11, that it preserves a kind of Americanism that the Democrats were in the way of, that being able to rid oneself of their interference was a move of patriotism.

[xtruss]

North Atlantic Terrorist Organization’s (NATO’s) Proxy War Highlights Urgent Need For a Multipolar Future

— Carlos Martinez | February 17, 2023

Threatening Peace. Illustration: Liu Rui/Global Times

A year ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Beijing at start of the Winter Olympics, issuing a joint statement that called on the West to abandon the ideologized approaches of the Cold War. The statement expressed their shared opposition to the further expansion of NATO and emphasized the need for long-term legally binding security guarantees in Europe.

President Xi said the two sides have taken an active part in the reform and development of the global governance system, followed true multilateralism. A year later, with NATO's horrifying proxy war against Russia dragging on, the people of the world are living, and dying, with the consequences of the US and its allies' stubborn refusal to join the path of multipolarity.

With the benefit of hindsight, the Ukraine crisis has acquired a certain tragic inevitability. Russia had made its red lines perfectly clear over the course of many years: that Ukraine must never become part of NATO; that NATO's expansion must end; that Ukraine must never be allowed to be used as a launching pad for war on Russia; and that the national rights of the Russian-speaking peoples of eastern Ukraine must be respected.

As John Wojcik wrote in the left-wing US journal People's World in January 2022, what happens in Ukraine is of critical importance to the survival of Russia. "From Napoleon to the Kaiser to Hitler, Russia has been invaded too many times from Europe, and it is understandably determined to maintain a militarily non-aligned buffer zone on its border."

It was within the West's power to prevent the current war, and it remains within the West's power to put a stop to it now. Unfortunately the leading Western power, the US, has only a marginal interest in helping to bring about peace in Europe. If the US wanted peace, it could have supported Ukraine in adopting a path of military neutrality and building friendly and mutually-beneficial relations with both East and West. But the US prioritizes hegemony over peace, and has therefore constantly meddled in Ukraine with a view to exploiting its people and geography to project imperial power against Russia.

Guardian journalist Martin Kettle said the quiet part out loud recently, observing that "sending tanks to Ukraine makes one thing clear: this is now a western war against Russia." The West is pursuing a policy of gradual, continuous escalation in Ukraine - recycling a strategy that it used against the Soviets in Afghanistan four decades ago. Its end-game is to significantly weaken Russia, cripple the Russian economy, undermine public support for the Putin government, and fertilize the ground for the emergence of a new government in Moscow willing to follow Washington's instructions.

Such a policy is not pursued out of any specific hatred of Russia, but as part of a broader global campaign to assert US hegemony and break the trajectory toward a multipolar system of international relations. At the same time as attacking Russia, the US is also escalating its long-term campaign to contain and encircle China.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated in a recent visit to South Korea that "China poses a challenge to our values, to our interests and to our security." One has to wonder whether by "our values and interests" he means hegemony, warmongering, plutocracy, profiteering, and domination of the world's land, resources and markets.

These desperate attempts to roll back the multipolar process are not destined to bear fruit. Even among the countries of Western Europe - with which the US shares a political ideology, a set of cultural values and an enduring commitment to white supremacy - there is diminishing enthusiasm for a reckless new Cold War, which is already contributing to serious economic difficulties in Britain, Germany and elsewhere. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reluctantly agreed to allow German Leopard 2 tanks to be delivered to Ukraine, but only after sustained pressure.

In the Global South, such pressure has increasingly little impact. Soon after capitulating on the tanks issue, Scholz travelled to Brazil to visit the newly-inaugurated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Asked whether Brazil would provide weapons to Ukraine, Lula stated firmly that "our war is against poverty, not Russia."

Lula made an important suggestion: that China, Brazil, India and Indonesia - "a club of countries that want to build peace on the planet" - could take the lead in mediating a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict. He added that "our friends the Chinese play a very important role."

The idea of China and other responsible countries of the Global South taking a lead on mediation is gaining traction. Professor Jeffrey Sachs recently wrote an article in the Economist that "neutral nations including Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa" could have an important role in facilitating a negotiated end to the conflict and becoming "the co-guarantors to begin a new era of peace and rebuilding."

People who have critical thinking skills recognize that the US and NATO are incapable of, and unwilling to, clear up the mess they created. Herein lies the profound irony. The US is waging war on multipolarity, but a major effect of this war is to highlight to the peoples of the world the indispensable and urgent need for a multipolar future.

— The Author is a British Author and Independent Political Commentator.

[englishitaliantranslations]

Italian Muslims don’t make international headlines. Unlike most of its neighbors in Europe, Italy hasn’t seen a major terrorist attack in decades. On the other hand, Western Europe, stretching from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain, has been attacked on several occasions and has had trouble dealing with radicalization from some segments of their Muslim communities.

The lower number of Muslims in Italy cannot fully explain the fewer acts of terrorism or radicalization. Italian Muslims constitute 4.8 percent of the population, while in Spain, a country that has seen more terrorist acts than Italy, Muslims constitute only 2.6 percent of the population, according to a Pew Research survey. Similarly, Italy’s less extended and marked colonial history in Muslim countries cannot fully explain its anomaly with Islam, either.

While the United Kingdom and France have large colonial histories in Arab countries, fueling resentment from some of its Arab population, Spain and Germany have had a smaller modern colonial history than Italy, but have seen more terrorist attacks and issues with radicalization. Italy is thus a unique country in Europe in its relationship with its Muslim population.

Italian Muslims constitute 4.8 percent of the population, while in Spain, a country that has seen more terrorist acts than Italy, Muslims constitute only 2.6 percent of the population, according to a Pew Research survey.

A large part of the reason Italy has avoided jihadist terrorism is because of its security apparatus, which is used to dealing with political terrorism and organized crime in the country. Other reasons include how Islam isn’t officially recognized as a religion in the country, so Italian Muslims are largely isolated in their faith, which means they largely live within their own communities. As a result, there is no forced attempt, neither by Italian society nor by Italian Muslims, for integration. Paradoxically, this has led to a less conflicted relationship, despite the less favorable views the majority Italian Catholic population has towards Muslims than other European countries.

A brief history of Islam in Italy

Before exploring why Italy has had fewer issues with jihadism, it is worth noting that Islam has had an extensive imperial history in the country. Islam is thus deeply embedded in the country’s historical conscience.

Starting from the 7th century, at the beginning of the Arab conquests, the Italian island of Pantelleria, which can be found between Sicily and North Africa, was conquered by the Saracens. The Arabs and Berbers attempted to conquer Italy further with raids that reached the northern regions of Piedmont and Genoa.

Starting from the 7th century, at the beginning of the Arab conquests, the Italian island of Pantelleria, which can be found between Sicily and North Africa, was conquered by the Saracens.

In the 9th century, Islam’s presence in Italy reached its peak, when Sicily came under the full control of the Abbasid Caliphate. From Sicily, the Muslims began raiding the neighboring region of Calabria, finally conquering Taranto, Bari, and Brindisi. Until the 12th century, the presence of Muslims in Italy was pervasive, especially in its southern regions, but also in the center and towards the north of the country.

Islam’s control over Sicily came to an end when the Normans conquered the island, expelling large parts of the Muslim population. Nevertheless, under Normal rule, a small Muslim population co-existed peacefully with Christians. For this reason, Sicily remains home to a unique Roman-Arabian-Norman synthesis in art, culture, and science.

under Normal rule, a small Muslim population co-existed peacefully with Christians. For this reason, Sicily remains home to a unique Roman-Arabian-Norman synthesis in art, culture and science.

However, this peaceful co-existence soon came to an end. Under Papal pressure, especially during the crusades, the relationship between Christians and Muslims in Sicily became increasingly strained. Most of the remaining Muslims in Sicily either converted to Christianity or emigrated to North Africa, where Muslims felt more at home under Islamic rule.

In the 15th century, Islam’s presence in Italy briefly returned with the Ottoman conquests. The Turks were conquering southeastern Europe, after fully absorbing the Byzantine Empire. They seized Genoa’s last remaining rights in the Black Sea and Venice’s Greek colony of Euboea, while also invading Italy’s northeastern Friuli region and its southeastern town of Otranto. Well-known massacres took place at this time on behalf of the Ottomans.

An alliance of Italian city-states, Hungary and France led by Alphonso II of Naples put a halt to the Turkish invasions, leading to Islam’s last imperial presence in Italy.

Great Mosque, Parioli, Rome - Saturday 25th Jan, 2020

Italy’s modern security apparatus

Back to the present day, Italy is an independent Republic with Catholicism as the official state religion, although freedom of faith is inscribed in its constitution. Yet security concerns in post-WWII Italy have been particularly high with regards to political and mafia-related terrorism, leading its authorities to develop advanced counter-terrorism methods.  

Italy has suffered from domestic terrorism from the end of the 1960s to the early 1980s, where communists and fascists both committed terrorist acts in an effort to seize power. The peninsula has also suffered from mafia-related terrorism, especially the prominent killing of two anti-mafia judges in the 1990s, who are now remembered as national heroes.

While radicalized Muslims in Italy exist, they have so far failed to successfully commit a terror attack on Italian soil. Anis Amri, the Tunisian responsible for the 2016 Berlin Christmas market attack, was believed to have been radicalized in a Sicilian prison. He was also found and shot by the Italian police in Milan. Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, the Tunisian behind the 2016 Nice attack, was first identified by Italian police as having spent time in the border town of Ventimiglia.

Anis Amri, the Tunisian responsible for the 2016 Berlin Christmas market attack, was believed to have been radicalised in a Sicilian prison.

The 2017 London Bridge attack, where one of the terrorists, Youssef Zaghba, was an Italian of Moroccan origin, showed how Italian authorities were more prepared than their British allies. Italy had attempted to alert the UK several times on the security threat Zaghba posed, to no avail.

The terrorist’s mother said that he was regularly stopped at Italian airports and interrogated. He was under close surveillance in Italy. Upon Zaghba’s arrival to London, however, the mother said he was never stopped by British authorities despite Italian warnings.

Counter-terrorism efforts have been largely effective, and without scruples with regard to discrimination. According to the Italian interior ministry, at the height of terrorist activity in Europe in 2016-2017, authorities stopped and questioned 160,593 people and interrogated around 34,000 people at airports, arresting 550 people suspected of terrorism, with 28 sentenced on charges of terrorism. Efforts to combat extremism online have also resulted in the shutdown of 500 websites and have a million monitored.

Italian authorities also do not need a permit to intercept phone calls. Suspicious activity is enough to make authorities listen to conversations and present them as evidence in court, which is forbidden in countries like the UK.

Organized crime, especially in the south of Italy, means phone calls are regularly intercepted, and family members and social interactions are watched closely and even disrupted with undercover agents. However, unlike the UK and US, sweeping data collection methods are not as common in Italy. Intercepting communication is considered a more useful form of counter-terrorism or crime than mass digital surveillance.

“One time a policeman saw me, and told me not to cause a bombing,” a Bangladeshi-Muslim immigrant who asked for anonymity, said.

“One time a policeman saw me, and told me not to cause a bombing,” a Bangladeshi-Muslim immigrant who asked for anonymity, said. He has lived in Italy for more than twelve years. Asked on whether this bothered him in terms of discrimination, he said he accepted his looks, which are based on a fundamentalist Sunni view of Islam, could be seen in a negative light. It appears the Italian Muslim community is more tolerant of the country's stricter security approaches than in countries like the United Kingdom, where authorities are more easily penalized for discrimination on religious grounds.

However, suspected jihadists in Italy are invited to cooperate with Italian authorities, who use various tactics, including offering residency permits, to encourage them to provide information. Italy was criticized by the European court of human rights for holding terrorist defendants too long once they had been charged, but Italian authorities do not have the power to detain terror suspects without charge. For this reason, Italy manages a difficult balance of respecting civil liberties and guaranteeing national security.

Italian Muslims live in isolation

However, while Italy’s efficient intelligence system is largely the reason why there have been fewer jihadist attacks in Italy than elsewhere in Europe, there are other complex factors at play. One of these is the isolation of the Muslim community in Italy. While Judaism and Christianity are officially recognized as religions, Islam is not. As a result, Islamic weddings have no legal value, Muslim workers cannot take days off according to their religious holidays, and Mosques cannot receive public funds. Although efforts have been made to recognize Islam as an official religion in Italy, they haven’t resulted in significant changes for the Muslim community.

Islamic weddings have no legal value, Muslim workers cannot take days off according to their religious holidays, and Mosques cannot receive public funds.

One example was how Italy’s Interior Ministry and the country’s nine major Islamic associations signed an unprecedented agreement in 2017 called the National Pact for an Italian Islam, where Imams were required to register and preach in Italian in exchange for facilitating Islam as being recognized as an official religion.

While this pact appeared as a sign of integration by making Islam compatible with the Italian language, in reality it lays bare how Islam is viewed as a foreign religion. No other religion is required to hold its sermons in Italian. The Catholic Church regularly offers mass in foreign languages to cater to its immigrant Catholic audience.

The Italian population largely reflects the views of its state, and Islam, not surprisingly, doesn’t have much popularity in Italy. According to a recent Pew Research survey, 69 percent of Italians report a negative opinion of Muslims, the highest number in Western Europe, and second after Hungary. However, this has resulted in a blissful kind of isolation for Muslims.  

“We largely live within our own isolated community, and that’s ok. I barely know anyone else outside of my job; that’s largely the case for devout Muslims like myself,” the Bangladeshi-Muslim immigrant said. He added how he sometimes experiences a stare on the street and he is criticized by his co-workers for his religion, but replies with tolerance, attempting to explain how his faith has nothing to do with violence or terrorism.

“We largely live within our own isolated community, and that’s ok. I barely know anyone else outside of my job; that’s largely the case for devout Muslims like myself,” the Bangladeshi-Muslim immigrant said.

When visiting the Great Mosque of Rome, the largest Mosque in the country, a meeting was held on the 25th of January called “Dialogues of Peace”, discussing the role of the Muslim community in Italy. The General Secretary of the Islamic Centre in Italy, Abdellah Redouane, was attempting to portray Islam in a positive light, as opposed to lamenting the discrimination Islam faced in Italy. “We stand all together, there is no division between us,” he said.

According to a report by the Brookings Institute, both the left and right-wing parties in Italy broadly agree in matters of law-and-order regarding security with the Muslim community, even if they diverge on attitudes towards Muslims.

With the rise of the right-wing populist League party under its leader Matteo Salvini, the question of Islam in Italy has become a contentious topic of debate. Unlike other populist politicians in Western Europe, Salvini and the League have openly called out key beliefs in the religion, including its treatment of women. Such issues were discussed as inherent in Islam, rather than belonging to a particular community. This attitude shows that both in political and social life, Italians are very open about their disagreements with Muslims.  

A very high form of security on behalf of the Italian state, which is used to deal with terrorism and organized crime, has largely spared the country from jihadist terrorism. Italian Muslims are also generally isolated from the political and social life of the country. While this may appear as a negative relationship, forcing integration from largely divergent communities may not always have its intended benefits. The progressive kind of enforcement of tolerance has led countries like the United Kingdom with more clashes between its native and Muslim population. It is worth noting that progressive ideology is far less developed in Italy than in other countries in Western Europe, so Italian Catholics and Muslims also find more common ground, especially on issues concerning the LGBTQ movement.

In its own way, this has lead to a more authentic relationship, as there have also been almost no attacks on behalf of Italian natives towards Muslims, another factor which is less common in Western Europe.

Both the native Italian population and the Italian state largely exclude Islam from its society, but Muslims appear to accept this fate and live peacefully within their own communities. In its own way, this has led to a more authentic relationship between Muslims and Catholics in Italy, as there have also been almost no attacks on behalf of Italian natives towards Muslims, another factor which is less common in Western Europe. This distant co-existence between native Italians and Italian Muslims has, until now, led to fewer tensions in real terms compared to other countries in Western Europe, which attempt integration at all costs.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Al Bawaba News.