#australia during world war 2

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"A Port Moresby," Le Soleil. September 29, 1942. Page 9. ---- Les Australiens utilisent avec succes les chevaux dans leur lutte contre les Japonais à Port Moresby. Dans les montagnes où la bataille se poursuit, les chevaux rendent de fort precieux services.

[matan4il]

Today is Erev Yom Ha'Shoah (Eve of Holocaust Memorial Day) in Israel. It will be observed by Jews outside of Israel, too.

The Hebrew date was chosen to honor the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It's also a week before Erev Yom Ha'Zikaron Le'Chalalei Ma'archot Yisrael (Eve of Israel's Memorial Day for its Fallen Soldiers and Terror Victims), which is itself observed a day before Yom Ha'Atzmaut Le'Yisrael (Israel's Independence Day). A lot of people have remarked on the connection between the three dates. On Yom Ha'Atzmaut, we celebrate our independence, which allows us to determine our own fate, and defend ourselves without being dependent on anyone else, right after we remember the price in human life that we have paid and continue to pay for this independence, and a week before we mourn the price we've had to pay for not getting to have self defence during the Holocaust. NEVER FORGET that in one Nazi shooting pit alone (out of almost two thousand) during just 2 days (Erev Yom Kippur and Yom Kippur 1941), more Jewish men, women and kids were slaughtered than in the 77 years since Israel's Independence War was started by the Arabs. This unbreakable connection between the living and the dead, between our joy and our grief, is often addressed with the Hebrew phrase, במותם ציוו לנו את החיים, "With their death, they ordered us to live."

On this Erev Yom Ha'Shoah, I'd like to share with you some data, published on Thursday by Israel's Central Bureau for Statistics (source in Hebrew).

The number of Jews worldwide is 15.7 million, still lower than it was in 1939, before the Holocaust, 85 years ago (that is what a genocide looks like demographically).

7.1 million Jews live in Israel (45% of world Jewry) 6.3 million Jews live in the US (40% of world Jewry)

Here's the data for the top 9 Jewish communities in the world:

There are about 133,000 Holocaust survivors currently living in Israel. Most (80%) live in big cities in central Israel. Around 1,500 are still evacuated from their homes in northern and southern Israel due to the war (back in January, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, there was a report about 1,894 survivors who also became internal refugees due to the war. Source in Hebrew). One Holocaust survivor, 86 years old Shlomo Mansour, is still held hostage in Gaza. He survived the Farhud in Iraq.

I haven't seen any official number for how many survivors had been slaughtered as a part of Hamas' massacre, despite everyone here being aware that Holocaust survivors had been murdered on Oct 7, such as 91 years old Moshe Ridler. Maybe, as we're still discovering that some people thought to have been kidnapped during the massacre, were actually killed on that day, no one wants to give a "final" number while Shlomo has not yet been returned alive.

Out of all Israeli Holocaust survivors, 61.1% were born in Europe (35.8% in the countries of the former Soviet Union, 10.8% in Romania, 4.9% in Poland, 2.9% in Bulgaria, 1.5% in Germany and Austria, 1.3% in Hungary, 4.2% in the rest of Europe), 36.6% were born in Asia or Africa (16.5% in Morocco, 10.9% in Iraq, 4% in Tunisia, 2.6% in Libya, 2.1% in Algeria, 0.5% in other Asian and African countries) and 2.3% were born elsewhere.

Out of all Holocaust survivors in Israel, 6.2% managed to make it here before the establishment of the state, despite the British Mandate's immigration policy against it (up until May 13, 1948). 30.5% made it to Israel during its very first years (May 14, 1948 until 1951), another 29.8% arrived in the following decades (1952-1989), and 33.5% made Aliyah once the Soviet Union collapsed, and Jewish immigration to the west (which included Israel) was no longer prohibited by the Soviet regimes (1990 on).

The second biggest community of survivors in the world is in the US, the third biggest (but second biggest relative to the size of the population) is in Australia. I heard from many Holocaust survivors who chose to immigrate there that they wanted to get "as physically far away from Europe as possible."

For a few years now, there's been this project in Israel, called Maalim Zikaron, מעלים זיכרון (uploading memory. Here's the project's site in Hebrew. In English it's called Sharing Memories, and here's the English version of the site) where Israeli celebs are asked to meet up with a Holocaust survivor (it's done in Hebrew), and share the survivor's story and the meeting on their social media on Erev Yom Ha'Shoah (which is today). Each year, there's also one non-Israeli Jewish celeb asked to participate (in English. This time around it's Michael Rapaport, he's meeting Aliza, an 81 years old survivor from the Netherlands, who was hidden along with 9 other Jewish babies for two years. He uploaded a preview of his meeting with her here, where he asked her what it means to her to be a Jew, and from what I understand, he will upload more today to the same IG account). This year, there will be an emphasis on Holocaust survivors who also survived Oct 7 (with 6 of the 20 participating survivors having survived Hamas as well). Here's a small bit from an interview with one such survivor, 90 years old Daniel Luz from kibbutz Be'eri:

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[mysterycitrus]

i think every superhero / antihero is by definition attempting (whether it succeeds or not) to do good. societal change is broad asf but i think jason especially does want that…. he’s also extremely fucked up. when ppl say he is a complex character… its not just words. lol. he is complex. he wants the joker to be dead so gotham isn’t a helpless war ground and also he blew up a (empty) high school. he’s not mentally sound. lmfao

that’s a very fair point! because the idea of superheroes originated from an optimistic ideal in a profoundly cynical world (jewish artists during world war 2) the entire concept is inextricably tied to societal change — because there has to be! u have to believe the world can be changed for the better!

what makes jason interesting is that he wants to improve gotham, but has no interest in doing so externally to the idea of proving bruce wrong. why is this not positive societal change? because bruce wayne is crucial to the infrastructure of gotham. forgetting that batman exists — bruce wayne is gotham’s social services, its healthcare system, its support for unemployment and disability, its rehabilitation system, its only means of providing to its citizens. we can sit here and argue the legality of bruce beating people up but the core to bruce’s character is that he wants the world to change for the better, so no one else experiences the grief he has.

jason believes in the death penalty, no ifs when’s or buts. his core ideology is — the system is flawed, but if im in charge i can make it better. jason replacing black mask and preventing dealers from selling to kids won’t stop people from self medicating to deal with an unfair world in which they were born into. it won’t stop crime, because crime is the result of stagnant social reform and income inequality. there is no way for jason’s approach to crime — killing people expeditiously — to result in a fair system that can sustain itself and prioritise the safety of its citizens. that’s not something from rhato no. #69, that’s clear in the text in utrh.

when people compare him to a cop it’s because he is killing without oversight or fear of legal repercussions. many, many countries that have technically outlawed the death penalty (australia, canada, some states in the us etc) still have a death penalty because police can kill indiscriminately on both the streets and in custody. jason has been shown to act with care for others (in the lost days he systematically kills his tutors to prevent further harm) but that’s not what he’s doing in gotham. for every captain nazi there’s a dozen kids left orphaned cause he’s murdered their parents. id describe him as severely traumatised, and deeply in denial about how well he’s handling it. the entire gd point is that it’s him reacting to his death! he has been radicalised! he is advocating for regressive change!!!!! why are people so afraid of his complexity!!!!!!!!

[elasticitymudflap]

you think your boy Simon is gonna come back for season 2 or is he all arced out?

LISTEN *GRIPS U* SORRY IM ALL CAPS IM JUST BEING VERY NORMAL RN

SEASON 1 WAS BASICALLY ABOUT GETTING HIM TO THE POINT WHERE HE WAS SIMPLY NO LONGER LOOKING FOR AN EXCUSE TO THROW HIS LIFE AWAY, AND RECOGNIZING/NOT ROMANTICIZING THE CONCEPT OF SACRIFICE IN HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH BETTY BECAUSE OF HOW DISPROPORTIONALLY SHE SACRIFICED HERSELF FOR HIM IN WAYS HE WASN'T COGNIZANT OF.

IMHO:

SEASON 1 BARELY TOUCHED UPON ADDRESSING OR WORKING THROUGH HIS ICE KING TRAUMA. THIS IS MY FIRST MAIN THING I NEED THEM TO TOUCH UPON.

IT CONCERNS ME THAT SIMON DIDN'T EVEN COMPLETELY CONNECT THE DOTS IN THAT ALL THE CRAP WORLDS THEY WENT TO WERE HINGING ON WHO HE IS AND THE IMPACT HIS LOVE AND SACRIFICE (OR THE LACK THEREOF) HAD ON THE WORLD (DID SORT OF FOR A MOMENT IN THE STAR BUT NOT NEARLY ENOUGH IMO)

HE'S OBVIOUSLY STILL PROCESSING HIS YEARS TAKING CARE OF MARCY IN THE APOCALYPSE???? THERE WAS NO FOLLOW-UP WITH HER PHONECALL EVEN IN THE FINAL MONTAGE???? WHAT HAPPENED IN OOO WHEN HE DISAPPEARED??? THESE TWO NEED TO FUCKING TALK FOR REAL

WHAT DOES SIMON'S LIFE LOOK LIKE WHEN HE'S NO LONGER AN EXHIBIT?? HOW THE HELL DID HE BECOME/CONSENT TO BECOMING AN EXHIBIT IN THE FIRST PLACE I MEAN WHAT THE FUCK?? HOW DID HIS LIFE CHANGE SO DRASTICALLY (OR DID IT NOT) FROM OBSIDIAN??

THE MORAL OF "MAYBE WE SHOULD HAVE GONE ON THAT TRIP TO AUSTRALIA INSTEAD / WHO KNOWS WHAT LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE" IS SO BAD FOR HIM TO END CONCLUSIVELY ON AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE SEEN BECAUSE THE WORLD STILL FUCKING ENDED??? MAYBE HE FOUND THE CROWN, MAYBE HE DIDN'T, BUT EITHER WAY FROM WHAT WE SAW IN THE ALT WORLDS IT WAS ALL GOING TO END IN TRAGEDY AND MAYBE THIS IS THE ONLY WORLD WHERE WE GET A BITTERSWEET END INSTEAD OF A HELL WORLD THANKS TO THEIR DESICIONS??? IDK!!!!!! I'D LIKE TO EXPLORE THAT CONCEPT I THINK

THE UNIVERSE IS OUT OF HIS NOODLE, BUT DOES SIMON'S HEAD-PORTAL STILL WORK?? CAN HE CONNECT TO FIONNA WORLD IF HE'S IN HIGHLY CHARGED MAGICAL ENVIRONMENTS??? ACTUALLY, WHAT THE HELL ARE THE LONG TERM EFFECTS OF A HUMAN HAVING A UNIVERSE IN HIS DANG HEAD

HE'S CONNECTING WITH ASTRID NOW AND SEEMS TO BE ON MUCH BETTER TERMS, IS SHE GOING TO INSPIRE HIM TO START WRITING FIONNA AND CAKE STORIES AGAIN TO COPE IN A HEALTHY WAY WITH HIS PAST THIS TIME??

SIMON'S RELATIONSHIP WITH ICE THING???

SIMON'S HUMAN PAST IN GENERAL: WHY IS THIS DUDE THE WAY HE IS??? WHY DID HE BELIEVE THE THINGS HE DID, STUDY THEM, MAKE THEM THE THINGS HE HINGED HIS LIFE AND CAREER ON???

ON THAT NOTE: FLASHBACKS. MOTHER FUCKING FLASHBACKS. MORE OF HIS ADVENTURES WITH BETTY. WE ACTUALLY SEE SO LITTLE OF WHAT THEY WERE LIKE TOGETHER WHEN ACTUALLY HAPPY, HUMAN, AND IN A RELATIONSHIP TOGETHER, IN THEIR ELEMENT, AND NOT STRICKEN WITH LIFE-OR-DEATH DESICION MAKING EXCEPT FOR HIS DUMB ASS GETTING BRAINED BY A CHERRY JAR

HIS YEARNING TO FIND BETTY AND APOLOGIZE TO HER WAS "TECHNICALLY" HANDLED IN THE SHOW, BUT YOU CAN NOT TELL ME THIS DUDE DOESN'T HAVE LASTING ISSUES AND TRAUMA AROUND THAT. ABOUT THE FIRST TIME HE PUT ON THE CROWN AND BETTY DISAPPEARING FOREVER. ABOUT THE GUILT AND FEAR ABOUT HER BEING DEAD DURING THE WAR. ABOUT LIVING NINE FUCKING HUMAN LIFETIMES IN A HAZE WHERE ALL HE KNEW WAS HE HURT THE PERSON HE LOVED MOST AND HE JUST NEEDED TO FIND HER. IT BECAME AN INTEGRAL PART OF ICE KING'S CHARACTER, HIS MOST DEFINING TRAIT STRIPPED TO THE STUDS. HE HELD ONTO THAT LAST PIECE OF SIMON PETRIKOV SOME HOW UNTIL SO MUCH TIME HAD PASSED HIS ONLY HOPE TO EVER FIND HER AGAIN WAS TO USE TIME TRAVEL. I'D LIKE SOME MORE OF THAT, IF YOU PLEASE.

HOW IS HE ACTUALLY COPING POST-SEASON 1? WHAT ARE HIS THOUGHTS ON ALL THE WORLDS THEY VISITED, THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO HIM, THE IMPLICATIONS, HIS INTERPRETATIONS? HE MAY BE IN THERAPY BUT HE'S STILL DRINKING.

ANYWAY

[expectopatronum81]

Unpopular opinion

Ron and/or Hermione should have died in the deathly hallows. And I say this as someone who loves these characters (probably Hermione more than Ron), but here me out

Now let's be fucking real, I really like ron, but he really wasn't skilled or prepared enough to fight in a war against voldemort, be it magically or mentally. And that's ok! He's still 17, he's not meant to be fighting a war. And to some degree he probably knew that the chances of him actually making it were pretty slim too. But he still stuck with Harry anyways coz there's no way he was going to let his best friend go through with this alone. Because that's who ron is, he'd rather die fighting beside his best friend, for his family, his muggleborn gf and for the cause than play it safe and hide.

Now coming to Hermione, things get a tad trickier here. Yes, she is very skilled and powerful and quick on her feet. But is she powerful enough to take on an army of adult DEs who've trained for years and have experience from the first wizarding war? To win against the darkest wizard who ever lived, who's said to be worse than Grindelwald, who's the most powerful wizard in the whole world after Dumbledore? No, I'd say she isn't. Because she's also fucking 17, she's not even done with school yet. But I think she'd live longer than Ron, or that there's a better chance of her making it out alive. But if she did die it would be extra heartbreaking coz a) Harry (and the readers) just lost 2 of the people who had been there from the very beginning, b) Hermione's parents would live on in Australia, not remembering that they had a daughter, not knowing that their daughter gave her life in hopes of saving her friend and creating a better world.

I majorly have 2 specific reasons for being this sadistic. The first one is the fact that the plot dumbs down it's main villain and his followers just to make the kids win. Voldemort (during Harry's time) is probably the dumbest villain ever written, he doesn't live up to his hype. People have already discussed how stupid his gof plan was. In ootp, during the DoM fight Lucius says that voldemort can't come get the prophecy himself coz the ministry is filled with ppl and he would risk revealing himself. But it's possible for 6 mostly dumb teenagers and an army of DEs, (who hv just escaped azkaban and are sought after by the ministry) to enter in undetected? Doesn't 👏 make 👏 any 👏 sense. The supposedly feared DEs who were trained by voldemort himself can't win against a group of teenagers. It's surprising how long it takes them to take the kids down in the DoM battle. The thing is though, this is out of character for ALL of them. It seems like they were dumbed down just so the MCs could make it out alive. Voldemort during the first WW started out as absolutely no one to having the highest class of the wizarding society obeying his every command. The whole wizarding world was so afraid of him that they wouldn't even say his name. The DEs picked out member after member of the original ootp, mostly coz they were outnumbered but also coz they're fucking death eaters. And ur telling me these guys can't fight kids? Pathetic. Also it doesn't make sense that most of the adults from the first war are dead but all the kids live. Like did the war become safer or sm shit? Instead i would have loved it if the trio got away with things in the first few books, but then realised what a war against voldemort actually means later on. But they won't back down, and they'll still stick with their friend and fight for each other and the cause anyways, and that vil have real, legitimate consequences

Now, the second reason is that it would have been an amazing but heartbreaking callback to book 1. Ron sacrifices himself in a game of chess and Hermione says that there are more important things than books and cleverness, like friendship and bravery. Ron's line of "It's you who has to go on Harry, I know it! Not me, not Hermione, you!" would have also come full circle. Back then they were still 11, so they could still get their happy ending. Now they're in a real war and the stakes are higher, but they'll stick to what they started anyways. Ron sacrifices himself so the other 2 can move forwards, Hermione's intelligence gets her further but she still needs to part with Harry. Harry needs to leave them behind and face voldemort alone because that's how it was always meant to be

And finally, it would have given us a more bittersweet ending to the series instead of that vanilla 'all is well' epilogue. Harry has lost almost every one he loved. But there's still life, there's still hope, and he lives by cherishing their memories and making their sacrifice have meaning. Kinda like the ending of the hunger games. Ik this is a kids book, but Harry Potter as a series is incredibly deep and deals with a lot of fucked up shit, so I think it could handle it if it was written well.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk

[homesickfornowhere]

Books that I’ve read recently and would recommend. 🖤 Part 2

A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson. A reimagining of Dracula’s brides, written in letters to Dracula from his first wife, Constanta. I love anything vampire-related and can’t even describe how much I loved this book.

A God in the Shed by J. -F. Dubeau. A fantastic horror novel set in a messed up little town. A murder investigation, a serial killer, a god trapped in a shed (literally), the occult, ancient evils, blood and gore, and lots of twists and turns.

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang. A historical/grimdark fantasy novel heavily inspired by the Second Sino-Japanese war. Very violent and graphic, but an amazing read.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. A fun 80s demon possession story set during the satanic panic. A teen girl drops acid, gets lost in the woods, and accidentally gets possessed by a demon — and it’s up to her friend to save her. Gorey and campy.

Maggie’s Grave by David Sodergren. A pregnant woman, falsely accused of being a witch and brutally murdered, takes revenge on a Scottish town centuries later. Fun, fast-paced folk horror meets splatterpunk with an endless amount of gore.

The Island by Adrian McKinty. A tense, fast-paced thriller set in in an island off of the coast of Australia. This book genuinely stressed me out and made me want to bite my nails, but I couldn’t put it down. A bit of Wolf Creek vibes.

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury. A ghost story and psychological horror with dual timelines. Family drama, a haunted house, toxic parents, etc.

Never Lie by Freida McFadden. A psychological thriller with a great twist. When their realtor doesn’t show up, newlyweds take shelter from a blizzard in a manor that belongs to a missing psychiatrist.

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim. This book and the world within it makes my heart flutter. A dreamy, whimsical fairy tale blended with East Asian folklore.

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf. An atmospheric mystery/thriller. A writer travels to an isolated farmhouse where two unsolved murders and the disappearance of a girl took place decades earlier, and plans to finish her book while snowed in. Things go down hill after she finds a young child outside and decides to bring him in from the cold.

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati. A retelling of Greek mythology, and such a beautiful and heartbreaking book.

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon. A a high fantasy novel and standalone prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree. Amazing world building, amazing writing, amazing characters, and dragons.

Ring by Koji Suzuki. I’ve always loved the films, both Ringu and The Ring, but I’ve never read the book until now and I highly recommend it if you haven’t either.

[amberaddict]

I was heartbroken when I heard the news that there will not be a Slayers: A Buffyverse Story Season 2.

For fans of Buffy it gave us a chance to reconnect with much loved characters and the superb cast who played them. The production values were excellent along with the superb writing which gave us a way to experience characters that we thought had gone for good. It gave them new voices and in some cases new beginnings.

It did this all with supernatural thrills and spills mixed with raw emotion romance danger and laughter. Like the series it threw curveballs it had the audience laughing when they felt like they should be crying and vice versa.

Wonderfully brought to life by a magnificent cast who love the characters they played and the world of the Buffyverse as much as the fans.

Slayers was the number 1 most listened to product on the Audible platform in the USA, UK and Australia when it was released. I believe I'm correct in saying it was also the number one product on the Audible platform in all of 2023. So from a commercial standpoint it makes no sense to cancel something that was so popular.

There is some speculation that Disney want to clear the way ahead of a new version of Buffy for television or more likely streaming.

If this theory is correct the decision to cancel Slayers makes no sense either in my opinion. Even if they moved at a brisk pace at a rough estimate any TV series is at least two years away by the time they cast, film and market it ready for release. During that time a series like Slayers keeps the Buffy brand in the public eye in a very positive way and makes its parent company money. Whereas the decision to cancel Slayers alienates loyal fans and in my opinion makes them less likely to support a new show.

Other franchises such as Star Trek and Star Wars have had multiple TV or streaming shows running almost parallel. Along with a wide selection of books comics and even animated series. All exploring different parts of the universe and/or set in a particular part of the shows timeline. If franchises as big as the ones I just mention can do this with success then why must Buffy put all of its creative eggs in one basket? Slayers was and is accessible to fans old and new and it wouldn't prevent interest in a new series if anything it would enhance it. Another theory being put forward is multiple products could cause "confusion". In my view this is nonsense give your audience some credit fans of other franchises are doing this so why not Buffy fans?

Both financially and creatively Disney's decision and its apparent refusal to give any clear reason as to why there will not be a Season 2 makes no sense to me. Once again the only ones who lose out here are the fans an incredible cast and crew who who worked hard to bring us all back together. They gave us so much joy.

I urge Disney to reconsider their decision and give Slayers: A Buffyverse Story the Season 2 it deserves.

Joe

[trainsgenderfoxgirl2816]

whats the weirdest train you know?

Oh there are so e really fucking weird ones a lot of weird ones were very niche and were designed for something very specific but some were actually rather popular like the better garratt which were very popular in South Africa but weren't that common anywhere else although some were used in Australia and because South Africa only ceased Steam Traction in 1991 many of the Locomotives were sold off and sent overseas mainly to the UK, New Zealand, and Australia

But that's just the better garratt which weren't that weird and about 1200 were built from about 1908 to 1968 to about 100 different designs

The next few Locomotives were much less common starting with an Ancestor of the Garratt; The Double Fairlie

These were an type of strange Double ended Locomotive in the 1860s but really only the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway used them and they still have a few like the one above (they also purchased a few Garratts from South Africa seen above)

Next on to the Steam turbines which were largely experimental and never really panned out but several different designs were built mostly one-offs

Most of them didn't work very well

Next is a retrofit of an regular steam Locomotive to be able to use a different fuel source during a coal shortage that being the Bizarre Swiss Steam-Electric Locomotive

Switzerland has almost no Coal and thus during world war 2 had no coal but they did have cheap Hydroelectricity and their railways were mostly Electrified so they just made the abombonations

[thetacowrites]

💗 Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. spread the self-love! 💗

Thanks for the tag, @maple-unicorn 😘❤️

I've written fics across various pairings, but here's five of my favourites.

1. That Night In Belgium (72 k words)

Dramione

A drunk Draco Malfoy stumbling through a hotel, getting into his sleeping wife's bed when he is met with a surprise.

Quote from Chapter 4: "His mind was a troll dungeon and his imagination, a whore."

Dear Reader, this started as a one-shot written at 4 am, fueled by coffee and Lady Gaga's Bad Romance.

2. Where We Collide. (40 k words)

Dramione

Afraid of being judged by their peers for their actions during the terrible time and isolating themselves from the rest, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger are in their own separate worlds during their eighth year.

That is, till their worlds collide when Theodore Nott and Ginny Weasley decide to raise spirits by rallying their friends into the first ever boy auction in Hogwarts history.

The auction happens. Chaos ensues.

Lives are irrevocably changed.

Perhaps it wasn't the best idea after all.

Or was it?

3. Him & I (3.8 k words)

Harry Potter x Fem Draco Malfoy

Draco Malfoy is upset. Narcissa is planning to wed her off to Neville Longbottom, a hero of the Wizarding World, in an attempt to save the Malfoy name post war of Hogwarts.

If only she had a savior of her own.

4. Safe With You. (2.5 k)

Harmony

Hermione never saw it coming.

In the midst of the war, abandoned by Ron, she seeks comfort in the arms of Harry Potter. A comfort that only grows, filling her with a sense of peace she couldn't ever have dreamed of having.

Deciding they would rather live for themselves, the two run off to Australia.

They are in love, at peace and happy.

But for how long?

5. Railed (1.7 k)

Draco Malfoy x Door / Drarry

Draco Malfoy is locked up and alone for many years. He seeks comfort in his door.

This is a crack fic. A very cracked fic.

Ends with Drarry.

Tagging: @winterwells @inastarlesssky @anna-h-ofeliya @autumnweeen @willowingscribe @hues-of-words

[the-true-boomer]

(since I'm on an absolute tirade with my o5 council posts, I figured I'd make a single post with all of them and their backstories. this'll be updated gradually so you might wanna check back sometimes for updates)

Please enter credentials. Processing... Welcome, Administrator. What files would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "O5 Council Personnel Files" What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-1"

Full Name: James Aaron Siegel Designation: O5-1 Codename: The Founder Purpose: Guiding most base foundation operations. Age: 51 Gender: Male Pronouns: He/him Country of Origin: The United Kingdom Accent: British Medical Information: 89% of his body is composed of mechanical replacements because of the an attack by SCP-682 during the Anomalous War. Social Relationships: Romantic partner of The Nazarene (O5-2). Closest platonic relationship is The Administrator (O5-0). Other Information: In a romantic relationship with the previous Administrator before her untimely death. Founded the Society for the Preservation of Humans during the anomalous war to save as many people as they could. On one of the missions, he came into contact with SCP-[PENDING] (The Gate Guardian), which told him to "protect". Constantly carries SCP-0462 (Lucifer’s Sword) What file would you like to access? What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-2"

Full Name: Ezra Nahir Designation: O5-2 Codename: The Nazarene Purpose: Chief information on interdimensional travel. Age: 49 Gender: Female Pronouns: She/her Country of Origin: Iraq Accent: Arabic Medical Information: Nothing of Note Social Relationships: Romantic partner of The Founder (O5-1). Closest platonic relationship is The Psychiatrist (O5-3). Other Information: She was brought into our universe via unknown means from another one. She is the alternate version of one of the researchers at the foundation. Her counterpart native to our timeline has not been made aware of her existence. First encountered The Founder (O5-1) during the same period of time in which he met SCP-[PENDING] (The Gate Guardian). Enjoys gardening. Former head of the ethics committee. What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-3"

Full Name: Dr. Hoga Kenshin Designation: O5-3 Codename: The Psychiatrist Purpose: Chief of the Ethics Committee, in charge of quality of life. Age: 37 Gender: Male Pronouns: He/him Country of Origin: Japan Accent: Non-Discernable Medical Information: Nothing of Note Social Relationships: No known romantic partner. Closest platonic relationships are The Nazarene (O5-2) and his assistant (Deborah Syphus). Other Information: Assisted in founding the Ethics Committee. A more recent addition to the council as a new person was needed after The Nazarene (O5-2) stepped down. Got a Ph.D. in bioethics while on the council. Firmly believes that therapy on personnel and anomalies could solve many issues the foundation faces. Constantly butts head with O5-6 (The Cowboy) due to his method for keeping the world safe is to “shoot it until it dies.” Enjoys gambling as a hobby.

What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-4"

Full Name: Kai Taylor Designation: O5-4 Codename: The Ambassador Purpose: Serves as a liaison between The Foundation and other GOIs. Age: 36 Gender: Male Pronouns: He/him Country of Origin: Australia Accent: Australian Medical Information: Slight anxiety. Social Relationships: Unconfirmed romantic relationship with O5-7 (The Unlikely). Closest platonic relationships are O5-10 (The Archivist) and O5-0 (The Administrator) Other Information: Worked at the foundation before the anomalous war, after which he gained a seat on the council. The reason for the speculation on his romantic entanglement with O5-7 (The Unlikely) is that while he has denied it, O5-7 (The Unlikely) confirmed it. Assigned female at birth. A former actor, which could possibly explain his absurd charisma. Confirmed to have super-speed, capable of crossing the entire globe in seconds at a speed of 3496330 miles an hour, or 4556.85 times faster than sound. While he works with O5-5 (The Blackbird), they are not close friends. What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-5"

Full Name: Gabriel Lucien Designation: O5-5 Codename: The Blackbird Purpose: Chairman of the Department of Paranormal Organisation Review. Age: 42 Gender: Male Pronouns: He/him Country of Origin: Turkey Accent: Turkish Medical Information: Nothing of Note Social Relationships: No known romantic partner. Closest platonic relationships are O5-6 (The Cowboy) and O5-7 (The Unlikely). Other Information: Has a pension for birds for an unknown reason. Constantly doodles birds, goes on birdwatching tours, has a signature with 5 blackbirds, and incorporates birds into his outfits. Has a pet raven named Edward, or Eddy for short. A skilled artist. One of the more laid-back members of the council, known for his level-headed decision-making. Uncle of Calvin Lucien, Special Agent of the Chaos Insurgency. Extremely regretful of what he did to their family. What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-6"

Full Name: ​​Jasper Morgan Designation: O5-6 Codename: The Cowboy Purpose: Commander and Field Leader of Mobile Task Force Alpha-1 (The Red Right Hand) Age: 43 Gender: Male Pronouns: He/him Country of Origin: United States of America Accent: Southern America Medical Information: Smoker. Social Relationships: “Friend with benefits” too O5-11 (The Liar). Closest platonic relationships are O5-5 (The Blackbird) and O5-7 (The Unlikely). Other Information: While they are still friends, he and O5-7 (The Unlikely) are antagonistic towards each other due to his connection with the Chaos Insurgency, which was founded by former Mobile Task Force Alpha-1 (The Red Right Hand) operatives. Founding member of the new O5 Council. Only ever seen wearing a bright white suit and wearing a white cowboy hat. Holds an office in the Pentagon. Suspected of not knowing how to ride a horse as, anytime he’s tried, he’s quickly fallen off. Wears a black and red suit when on missions with Mobile Task Force Alpha-1 (Red Right Hand). What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-7"

Full Name: Victor Dreyfus Designation: O5-7 Codename: The Unlikely Purpose: Head Director of the Chaos Insurgency Age: 38 Gender: Male Pronouns: He/him Country of Origin: United States of America Accent: Neutral American Medical Information: Scar over left eye. Social Relationships: Unconfirmed romantic relationship with O5-4 (The Ambassador). Closest platonic relationships are O5-5 (The Blackbird) and O5-6 (The Cowboy). Other Information: Has survived a curious number of assassinations, which likely means anomalous interference. Catholic. Tallest member of the O5 Council. The Council is aware of his relationship to the Chaos Insurgency which has led to many arguments with O5-6 (The Cowboy). What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-8"

Full Name: Ethan Monroe Designation: O5-8 Codename: The Lesser Purpose: Chief Contingency Coordinator Age: 31 Gender: Male Pronouns: He/him Country of Origin: United States of America Accent: Neutral American Medical Information: Heavy Anxiety, PTSD Social Relationships: Romantic partner of The Outsider (O5-9). No close friends to speak of. Other Information: Extremely cautious due to a mistake in the past which led to the assassination of Dr. Ivans. Wears a large metal mask that resembles a skull. He’s denied telling the reason as to why, but the two prevailing theories are either shame or heavy scaring. If the scaring theory is correct, they likely came from the train crash that took the lives of his brother and 97 others. Extremely scared of O5-0 (The Administrator) due to a previous encounter after the assassination of Dr. Ivans. This event has also led him to severe caution in decision-making. What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-9"

Full Name: Lorelei Aroha Campbell Designation: O5-9 Codename: The Outsider Purpose: Serves as an interpretation of what Foundation actions look like to civilians. Age: 29 Gender: Female Pronouns: She/her Country of Origin: New Zealander Accent: Kiwi Medical Information: N/a Social Relationships: Romantic partner of O5-8 (The Lesser). Closest platonic relationship is O5-11 (The Liar). Other Information: Carries a cane for no reason as she does not have any medical problems that would require it. Her appointment barely passed, with a Council vote of 5 to 4. When not working for the foundation, she is a geology professor. Initially developed a relationship with O5-8 (The Lesser) out of pity, but she claims she grew to love him genuinely. May be cheating on him, however, he hasn’t been made aware. What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-10"

Full Name: Asha Sinclair Designation: O5-10 Codename: The Archivist Purpose: Keeps the records of the foundation and its operations. Age: 44 Gender: Female Pronouns: She/It Country of Origin: Botswana Accent: Neutral American Medical Information: Wings Social Relationships: No known romantic partner. No close friends. Other Information: There have been multiple archivists before the current O5-10 (The Archivist), even before the Anomalous War. Has wings, and has denied telling anyone where they came from, though that, coupled with the markings on her face, leads to several religious theories. Has access to a Way, leading to the Wanderer’s Library, the base of operations of the Serpent’s Hand. An unconfirmed contempt for humanity as she rarely ever talks to anyone outside of her duties. What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-11"

Full Name: Lorelei Vale Designation: O5-11 Codename: The Liar Purpose: Chief Disinformation Officer Age: 39 Gender: Female Pronouns: She/her Country of Origin: Unknown. Accent: Varies. Medical Information: Nothing of Note Social Relationships: “Friend with benefits” to O5-6 (The Cowboy). Closest platonic relationships are O5-9 (The Outsider) and O5-5 (The Blackbird). Other Information: Most definitely a shapeshifter, with all her forms being conventionally attractive and donning expensive clothing. A quite sizeable risk to the foundation prioritizes their self-interests over the good of the council and others. Sometimes rumors around the foundation for the fun of it. What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-12"

Full Name: Cyrus Neuros Designation: O5-12 Codename: The Cerebral Purpose: Anomaly Rotation Officer, Personnel Interviewer. Age: 33 Gender: Male Pronouns: He/him Country of Origin: America Accent: Uses a computer to communicate. Medical Information: A brain in a jar. Social Relationships: No known romantic partner. Closest platonic relationship is with his caretaker (Margret). Other Information: Possibly the inventor of the current amnestics the foundation uses. Was initially known as The Physician before his injury that forced him into the jar he now sits in. Was a victim of SCP-106 (The Old Man) which caused his body to fail, leading to a rushed council vote to save his life. Currently trying to have a robot body built, progress remains stunted. Right now, in his own words, “we’re just kinda going with the flow of things.” Has a malaysian striped coral snake named Shesha. Has a collection of model trains. What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-13"

Full Name: Yalmü-Garbha Designation: O5-13 Codename: The End Purpose: Prisoner of the council. Age: Existed since the beginning of time. Gender: Inapplicable. Pronouns: He/they/it Country of Origin: Inapplicable. Accent: Varies Medical Information: Nothing of Note. Social Relationships: No known romantic partner. Closest platonic relationship is O5-6 “The Cowboy.” Other Information: The earthly avatar of The Brothers Death. In the event of any form of end-of-the-world scenario where next to or all of humanity perishes, O5-13 (The End) has 48 hours to return them all to life. Extremely uncaring on foundation matters unless they involve death in some form. He and O5-6 (The Cowboy) occasionally go on bar dives in the middle of the night, when patrons are tired or drunk. What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-14"

Full Name: Dresden Oakland Designation: O5-14 Codename: The Overseer Purpose: Oversees the universe the foundation operates in. Age: 44 Gender: Male Pronouns: He/him Country of Origin: United States of America Accent: Neutral American Medical Information: Half skin is covered in molten rock. Social Relationships: No known romantic partner. Closest platonic relationship is O5-1 (The Founder). Other Information: May take his job the most seriously out of any of the other council members. Had a wife (Hakaru Nakamuri) and an unborn child who was killed by SCP-682 (The Hard-to-Destroy Reptile). Obviously, he hates SCP-682 (The Hard-to-Destroy Reptile) very much because of this fact. The reason for his skin condition is because the previous overseer of this universe (Tarsa) did it to him before being slain by O5-1 (The Founder). Worked for the foundation before the Anomalous War. What file would you like to access? Processing... Accessing "File O5-0"

Full Name: Eidolon Zephyr Designation: O5-0 Codename: The Administrator Purpose: Contingency in case any of the council step out of line, tiebreaker vote. Age: 46 Gender: Male Pronouns: He/him Country of Origin: France Accent: French Medical Information: Nothing of Note Social Relationships: No known romantic partner. Closest platonic relationships are O5-1 (The Founder) and SCP-343 (God). Other Information: Consistently wears SCP-262 (The Coat of Many Arms). Said numerous times by various members of the council to be the best-dressed member. A bit sorry about giving O5-8 (The Lesser) PTSD, but he tries to not dwell on it. Brother of the previous administrator, taking over after she passed. Quite kind as far as people working for the foundation go as he occasionally checks in with both D-Class, scientists, mobile task force operatives, and some anomalies.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“Learning Gunnery on Dryland Battleship,” Kingston Whig-Standard. February 28, 1942. Page 10. ---- In line with British tradition, naval training schools in Australia are given the name of a ship. These gunners-to-be are learning their business aboard the H.M.A.S. Cereberus which is the ship name of the Flinders naval base, Victoria. When Australian warship production catches up the boys will be ready for their posts afloat.

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

Another independent Palestinian terrorist attack happened today, it was another stabbing, much like yesterday's, and I feel nauseous that we're at the point where, when I'm looking for an online source in English, I'm struggling to find the latest one out of all the terrorist attacks reported recently. I heard an eyewitness say the terrorist entered a cafe, stood in line, then started stabbing those standing in front of him. The terrorist is a 22 years old Israeli Arab, originally a Gazan. From what I understand, his dad is a Gazan who married an Israeli Arab woman, both men got Israeli citizenship, and the terrorist has lived in Israel for the last 4 years, during which he married an Israeli woman, like his dad. On his mother's side of the family, he has two relatives who are Israeli heroes: one is a soldier, who died not that long ago fighting in Gaza, another is a cop, who saved several people from the Hamas massacre at the Nova music festival. I've heard now 2 Israeli Arab citizens from the community where he lived denouncing him. The terrorist was neutralized. At least 2 people are reported injured, one man in his 60's is lightly wounded, another is in his 50's. One man (in a white shirt with stripes in the vid below) at the cafe saw the terrorist and jumped him with bare hands. Stripes Man kept trying to detain the terrorist until he saw one of the wounded managed to pull out a gun, Stripes Man moved out of the way, the injured one shot more than once and stopped the terrorist, but outside he collapsed, and was hospitalized in a mortal state.

The global rise in antisemitic incidents under the guise of anti-Zionism continues, this time we get insane news from Australia. I'm just gonna quote the report directly: "Two pro-Palestinian activists in Australia were charged on Tuesday with kidnapping and assaulting a victim for the perceived crime of being employed by a Jew."

Meanwhile, the Holocaust memorial at the transit camp of Drancy, through which the Jews of France were deported to their extermination in the east, was vandalized. I'll say it again, the timing is not a coincidence, as we see more and more antisemitic incidents, it's clear each one will get less attention, and less resources allocated to correcting the wrong, since it's all being spread so thin.

I wrote yesterday about a pilot program, which is one of many attempts by Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza without about 60% of it being hijacked by Hamas. I'm sad to say that the pilot has failed, and the aid has been looted. Interestingly, it's not clear by whom. Which is many a good moment to add this: in addition to Hamas taking over the aid, so do existing Gazan mob families (presumably, the criminals are taking over the aid in order to sell it back to regular Gazans at exploitative prices).

A South African minister has announced that her country will be arresting all citizens of South Africa returning from fighting for Israel in Gaza. I do not recall any such announcement regarding South Africans returning from fighting for either side in any other area in the world, such as Ukraine or Syria. I think there's a chance we're watching South Africa ethnically cleansing itself of Jews.

These are Israeli-American mother Judith Raanan and her teenage daughter Natalie.

About a month after the start of the war, they were the first 2 Israeli hostages to be released by Hamas. Here is a short vid where Judith talks about their experiences, including how the nurses at the Gazan hospital Hamas took them to after they were kidnapped CHEERED at the sight of (in her words) "Israeli Jewish prey":

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[livesunique]

Queen Elizabeth II has died

Queen Elizabeth II, the United Kingdom’ s longest-serving monarch, has died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death on 8 September 2022. 

Her reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch and the second longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country.

Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, making Elizabeth the heir presumptive.

She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, and their marriage lasted 73 years until his death in April 2021. They had four children together: Charles III; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth—then 25 years old—became queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (known today as Sri Lanka), as well as Head of the Commonwealth. Elizabeth reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonization of Africa, and the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union.

The number of her realms varied over time as territories have gained independence and some realms have become republics. Her many historic visits and meetings include state visits to China in 1986, Russia in 1994, the Republic of Ireland in 2011, and visits to or from five popes.

Significant events include Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum Jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively. 

Elizabeth was the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch, the oldest and longest-serving incumbent head of state, and the second-longest verifiable reigning sovereign monarch in world history, only behind Louis XIV of France.

She faced occasional republican sentiment and media criticism of her family, particularly after the breakdowns of her children's marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the death of her former daughter-in-law Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997.

However, support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom remained consistently high, as did her personal popularity. Elizabeth died on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire.

“The Queen is dead, Long live King Charles III”

The Duchess of York with Princess Elizabeth, 30 June 1927 by Marcus Adams (The Royal Collection Trust),

Princess Elizabeth in uniform (1942) by Cecil Beaton (The Royal Collection Trust),

Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh on their wedding day, 20th November 1947 by Sterling Henry Nahum ‘Baron’ (The Royal Collection Trust),

Queen Elizabeth II poses on her Coronation Day on June 2, 1953, in London (Photography by Cecil Beaton),

Queen Elizabeth II with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and family - 16 Mar 1960 by Cecil Beaton (From the Collection of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother),

Queen Elizabeth II and her son, the Prince of Wales, out riding at Windsor Castle I May 18, 1961 (PA),

The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom used outside of Scotland,

Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee 2022 - Platinum Party At The Palace. The Queen Elizabeth II and Paddington Bear having cream tea at Buckingham Palace (BBC Platinum Party at the Palace),

Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II released by The Royal Windsor Horse Show on April 20, 2022 to mark the occasion of her 96th birthday.

[transboysokka]

Reasons Taipei 101 is the coolest building in the world

Yeah, locals say it's a tourist trap but I will go to my grave defending it. It was the VERY first thing I did when I first came to Taiwan. I've been to the top four times and it's not nearly enough

1. Just LOOK at it! So beautiful!!!

The entire design of the building is chock full of symbolism, but that would honestly take a whole other post.

2. It's really tall!!!

More than half a kilometer tall! It was the tallest building in the world from its completion in 2004 until the Burj Khalifa was finished. The only building outside of Asia that is taller than Taipei 101 is the One World Trade Center in NYC. It is STILL the tallest LEED-certified building in the world.

3. It also used to have the fastest elevators in the world!

You can get up to the observation deck in 37 seconds!

4. It's really tall AND was built in a VERY Earthquake-prone area, which is just badass

It was built only 200 meters away from a major fault line. It was built with a TON of innovations to withstand earthquakes up to a 9 on the Richter Scale. There are videos online of the observation deck at the top rocking during typhoons and major earthquakes, but the building is TOTALLY stable because...

5. It has a GIANT METAL BALL at the top to keep it from falling down in earthquakes and typhoons

It's called a mass damper and it's one of the reasons I'm so obsessed with this building. This thing has a diameter of 5.5 meters and weighs 660 metric tons (that's 728 American tons or whatever they're called)! Typhoons and earthquakes make this thing swing around (it moved a meter during a typhoon in 2015!) and that keeps the building itself from moving too much

6. The damper has mascots - Damper babies!

There's mascots for everything in East Asia... But these guys are a hit. There are four different babies in four different colors, all with their own personalities. There's so much merch for them too, and even comic books.

Look at these guys!

7. The entire building lights up on New Year's Eve!

Okay, this might actually be the coolest fact. In America, you go to Times Square and see the ball drop or something for NYE. In Australia you see the fireworks over the Sydney Opera House or whatever. But in Taiwan, Taipei 101 LAUNCHES FIREWORKS OUT OF ITS SIDES! AND the countdown clock is just the entire side of the building and there's a cool light show during the fireworks! Check it out!

8. The top of the building lights up in different colors depending on what day of the week it is!

It's a nice touch. It'll also do special light things for special events (like pride or the war in Ukraine), but generally:

9. It has a vertical marathon every year!

I almost forgot about it, but yeah. You can run up the stairs all the way to the top. Wild!

[mercurygray]

Currently Reading - November 2023

Gosh, it's been a little while since I did one of these!

The Year of Peril: America in 1942 - Tracey Campbell . Found this one at the library booksale just after I finished the 1942 podcast series. The book is excellent so far and really flipping some interesting issues over.

Just Finished Reading:

Millions Like Us: Women's Lives during the Second World War by Virgina Nicolson - This was excellent and I strongly recommend it. I got a lot of inspiration for the end of TDS in it and there's a lot of material that I think will come in handy for MOTA.

Sisters in Arms: British Army Nurses Tell Their Story, by Nicola Tyrer - Another super excellent book that filled in a serious knowledge gap I had about British nursing. Might come in handy for future SAS:RH productions.

An Unladylike Profession: American Women War Correspondents in World War I by Chris Dubbs - This was an impulse purchase on thriftbooks and was very interesting.

The Call of the Wrens, by Jenni Walsh. Fiction. Glad this was only a library book - it was just okay. I'm not a big fan of time jumps as a narrative device - it feels thin.

Cassiel's Servant, by Jacqueline Carey. Fiction. It was really fun to go back to Terre D'Ange for this one, and interesting to see Joscelin's side of things. Realized Joscelin may be why/how I write Dick the way I do.

Ashes under water : the SS Eastland and the shipwreck that shook America, by Michael McCarthy. This was a book club pick that I ended up not being able to join discussion on. A really interesting story, if you're into maritime disasters.

Prisoners of the castle : an epic story of survival and escape from Colditz, the Nazis' fortress prison, by Ben Macintyre. This was on the shelf at the library and I was reading mostly for mentions of David Stirling. Still - very interesting, especially when paired with...

Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat, by Giles Milton. This book was fascinating. A lot of backstory behind the stuff that made the war work.

The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. A book club pick that I'm really glad I read.

Just Finished Watching:

Our Miracle Years (Unsere wunderbaren Jahre, Das Erste/PBS) - follows the life of one family in the post-war period. Some good food for thought here.

A Place to Call Home, Season 1 (Foxtel/ Hoopla) - More post-war, this time in Australia, which I started just as something to watch and am now very embroiled in. (Fair warning, this show contains conversation therapy, a miscarriage, and antisemitism, and may probably be triggering for some.)

World On Fire, Season 2 (BBC/PBS) - I came, I brought my Passport subscription, I tried...and after all six episodes I still don't like this show. I don't feel like we spend enough time with any of the characters to really appreciate them. It feels like everyone's there to make a point.

Outlander Season 7 (STARZ) - This was just fun. I'm not a huge fan of the books, but the TV series is really enjoyable for me.

Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951) - This has been on my list for a while and it popped up recently on Hoopla. I like Peck's nervousness in the role.

Dalgliesh, Season 2 (Acorn/Hoopla) - Bertie Carvel continues to do great in this role. I kind of wish there was a crossover involving him and Morse.

To Walk Invisible (BBC/ PBS)- It was really fun to watch this back to back with Emily.

Emily (2022) - Getting two mostly recent takes on the Bronte sisters so close together was really interesting.

Farewell My Queen (2012) - watched this while on vacation in Williamsburg. A nice 18th century drama.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Rosemary Neill

Published: Dec 2, 2022

In his bestseller The God Delusion, published in 2006, author Richard Dawkins famously wrote that the god of the Old Testament is “a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser” and “a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal … capriciously malevolent bully’’.

Not for nothing has Dawkins been described as “a poster boy for militant atheism”.

The former Oxford University professor and evolutionary biologist is also regarded as a brilliant and passionate science communicator: His 1976 book, The Selfish Gene, reframed our understanding of evolution and has been named by the Royal Society as the most inspiring science book of all time, while his latest volume, Flights of Fancy – a surprisingly lyrical work aimed at the over 12s – looks at how animals and humans have “learned to overcome the pull of gravity and take to the skies’’.

In 2013, Dawkins was voted the world’s top thinker in a Prospect magazine poll. Yet in recent years, his controversial tweets and remarks about everything from aborting Down’s syndrome foetuses to Islamic fundamentalism have provoked sharp criticism and threats of cancellation.

Now aged 81, the career controversialist will conduct a national speaking tour in Australia in February, addressing topics including the wonders of science, the importance of reason and his scepticism about religion. Ahead of his tour, which starts in Melbourne, the British author gave a typically forthright, sometimes combative interview to Review.

During this encounter, conducted over Zoom from his Oxford home, Dawkins oscillates between donnish erudition and a kind of pugnacious rationalism, as he argues that parents should not have the right to “indoctrinate” their children with their chosen religion; that human foetuses are “no more a person” than animal foetuses; that anti-vaxxers are selfish; and that transgenderism has become “a mimetic epidemic” among schoolchildren. He also warns that human beings could one day be obliterated by the same kind of meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs.

You have been called a militant atheist, and you’ve argued that religion causes wars and entrenches bigotry. Yet you use the borrowed phrase “tooth fairy agnostic” to describe yourself. Tooth fairy agnostic – that’s right. We are all actually agnostic about anything you can’t actually disprove. You can’t disprove the tooth fairy; it’s trivial to bother about it, so that’s the way I am about gods.

Why do you oppose faith schools? I am not against education in religion. I think that’s important and that children should be taught about religion because it’s such an important part of history, politics, art and music. I’m against educating in a particular religion – I’m against a child being told, “You are a member of this church and therefore this is what you believe”. I like the child to be told, “There are people who call themselves Catholics and they believe this, and there are people who call themselves Muslims and they believe that” and so on. That’s important, but children should not be told what to believe.

Would banning faith schools amount to erosion of parental choice and authority? I think children have rights, and the right of a child not to be indoctrinated is important.

You get hate mail from evangelical Christians and you are also a trenchant critic of Islamic fundamentalism. As an outspoken public intellectual, what did you think of the recent attack on The Satanic Verses author Sir Salman Rushdie? It’s horrible. It’s irrational. It’s vicious. It was allegedly perpetrated by a very foolish person who doesn’t know what he’s doing. He has been indoctrinated by his Islamic upbringing and that’s one kind of reason why I find indoctrination so bad. (The suspect, Hadi Matar, has said that Ayatollah Khomeini, who issued a fatwa against Rushdie, is, “a great person”. Matar has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges brought against him in the US.)

Many Christian fundamentalists in the US oppose abortion. What is your view of the US Supreme Court ruling that overturned the historic Roe v Wade decision? I deplore that.

You maintain that pro-choice activists in America are using the wrong tactics. Why? I think the pro-abortion lobby is tactically unsound when they say something like, “A woman’s body is her own to do what she likes with”. I happen to think that’s right, but that’s not going to cut any ice with somebody who thinks that an embryo is a baby, and they think therefore that abortion is murder. They’ll say, “Ah, but she contains another body which is not her own.” I think we should tackle that assumption. We should say, “A foetus is no more a person than, and no more has personal feelings … than the foetus of a cow or a pig, let alone an adult cow or pig.”

You dedicate your latest book, Flights of Fancy, to the billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. Why does he impress you? He certainly is a high flyer and he certainly is a hero of our times. I do admire him and I think that he’s an appropriate dedicatee for a book about flight. He’s a man with immense imagination and he is a genius as an engineer, a genius as an entrepreneur.

In Flights of Fancy, you note how, just decades after the Wright brothers’ historic flight, we were in the era of supersonic and space flight. Does this constitute an extraordinary burst of progress within a short time? It is rather remarkable, isn’t it? I think it’s a very good century to have lived in for that reason. In a way it’s rather sad that things (to do with space flight) are only just taking off now after the 1960s, when men first stepped on the moon, and nothing much has happened since then, until quite recently. I’m glad things are getting going again.

In 2021, the American Humanist Society withdrew an award they had given you because of an old tweet. In that tweet, you called for a discussion about the vilification of those who deny transgender people “literally are what they identify as”. How did you feel about the award being cancelled? To be honest, I had actually forgotten that I ever had that award, but it is upsetting when your own side turn against you, of course. I’d never worried about religious fundamentalists disliking me, but when it’s your own team, it’s upsetting. It’s a remarkably foolish thing for them to do, because all I did was to raise a subject for discussion.

Has academe changed for the worse in terms of restrictions on freedom of speech since you first worked at the University of California, Berkeley, and Oxford University in the 1960s and ’70s? It’s not possible to imagine that we’re going to go on with this nonsense where you can’t even discuss something.

Why is the transgender debate so heated, and such a no-go area for many commentators? You’d have to ask a psychologist or a sociologist about that. It (the debate) seems to me to be utter nonsense. Of course, there are people who suffer from gender dysphoria, and one has to be sympathetic to them. But there clearly is a mimetic epidemic, especially among schoolchildren who get persuaded that somehow the cool thing to do is to be trans, and this is a very disturbing by-product of a very genuine phenomenon, which is gender dysphoria. That is quite a rare thing, but it’s being blown up into a kind of false, common thing.

With the recent closure of the Tavistock child gender clinic, it appears the UK is adopting a more cautious approach to hormonal and surgical treatments for trans-identifying children. How do you view this development? I think we’re seeing the beginnings of a very appropriate reversal of this trend.

You have 2.9 million followers on Twitter. Do your more contentious tweets scare your publishers? Possibly, but I’m not here to talk about Twitter.

Even so, why are you drawn to Twitter, given the nasty pile-ons that are a feature of the platform? I suppose, misguidedly, I thought it was rather a good way of raising discussion. That’s why I put “discuss” at the end of so many tweets, (as) a follow-on of the Oxford tutorials. I am afraid I rather over-estimated the intelligence of the Twitter audience.

You’ve said it would be fun to fly like a bird or go hang-gliding. Does your fear of heights hold you back? I certainly wouldn’t want to jump off a cliff.

No bungy-jumping for Richard Dawkins then? I might run down a hill, maybe.

Why do you believe there is merit in people establishing a colony on another planet? This, I think, is one of the motives of Elon Musk wanting to go to Mars. It’s interesting, by the way, that NASA has just succeeded in diverting or changing the orbit of a small asteroid. They need to do it for a much bigger asteroid in order to save us from the sort of catastrophe that hit the dinosaurs. But (the recent NASA diversion) is a very important first step. It’s a magnificent feat of engineering and science and mathematics.

During the Covid lockdowns, you wrote two nonfiction books and failed to complete a novel about bringing back Homo erectus, our ancient ancestor. Have you given up on writing fiction? I abandoned that, at least temporarily. It turned out to be much more difficult than I thought.

Why do you argue the Covid pandemic has been good for science? As soon as the genetic code sequence of the virus was decoded, which nowadays can be done very swiftly, several different teams of scientists got to work on making a vaccine, and they did it in double quick time; astonishingly quickly. I think that’s a great tribute to the genius of our species.

What about the rise of the anti-vaxxers? Has that surprised you? Tragically, really stupid opposition to vaccination has been whipped up, mostly in America, but it spread to other countries as well. A lot of people don’t understand that vaccination is not just about protecting yourself, it’s about protecting society as a whole, to get herd immunity so the epidemic doesn’t spread.

Is there a selfishness inherent in the anti-vaccination movement? Yes, they just think it’s a matter of individual liberty. They don’t realise that refraining from vaccination for no very good reason is rather like driving on the wrong side of the road …. We do owe a certain curtailment of individual liberty in the interests of society.

You invented the word “meme” (an idea or behaviour that spreads from person to person within a society.) We’ve seen Donald Trump turn memes into a political art form. Were you dismayed by that? He just lies and lies all the time, and unfortunately, I think it was Goebbels who said, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Huge numbers of Americans actually believe Trump’s lies and it’s a tragedy.

You live in Oxford and drive a Tesla. Are we all going to be driving electric cars in future? It looks like it, doesn’t it? I think that’s a very good thing.

Some detractors say your reputation as a fierce supporter of atheism is in danger of eclipsing your insights as a visionary evolutionary biologist. I hope not. I’ve only written two books about atheism and about 17 about science, so really science is by far the more important part of my life.

The God Delusion has sold millions of copies, but what do you regard as your most significant book? Probably The Extended Phenotype, which is one book that I wrote for my professional colleagues, although I like to think it’s readable by nonscientists as well. It’s the main book in which I propose something which I suppose is original; something that is all my own.

Scientists don’t know how the universe started. Isn’t that an argument in itself that a god or creator must have kicked things off? That’s a terrible idea! The idea that just because you don’t know what the answer to a question is, therefore god did it. I mean, that’s a ridiculous argument. By all means say we don’t know – that’s true, we don’t know – therefore it’s better to try to find out. We don’t just lie down and say, “Oh, god must have done it”.

Across the globe millions of people, including those without a financial safety net, find comfort in religion. Can you see how rubbishing their spiritual beliefs can be perceived as arrogance? Not arrogance. I mean, if they don’t want to read my books, they don’t have to. My books are about what I believe to be true and what evidence is. I’m not going to refrain from writing books for fear that it might upset people. I write books about what is supported by scientific evidence. That is what I try to do, and if the evidence changes, of course I change my mind. That’s about it, really. I’m a scientist who writes books about science.

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