#border infrastructure

[firstoccupier]

Trump's Border Wall: A Fiasco of Promises

🧱 Cavalcade of Calamity and Confidence Scamming: Trump’s Border Wall Fiasco When Donald J. Trump launched his 2016 presidential campaign, few promises resonated more loudly than his vow that Mexico would pay for a “big, beautiful wall” along the southern border. This pledge, repeated at rally after rally, became a defining symbol of Trump’s brand of politics: bold, brash, and utterly…

[artisticdivasworld]

Navigating the Complexities of Border Security and Trade: The Texas Dilemma

In recent times, the Lone Star State has found itself at the epicenter of a complex dilemma that intertwines domestic security measures with international trade dynamics. Governor Greg Abbott’s stringent border security initiatives, including the deployment of the National Guard and the construction of barriers along the Texas-Mexico border, have sparked a multifaceted debate. These measures,…

[mexicanistnet]

Mexico faces nearshoring risks due to insufficient border infrastructure and organized crime. Geopolitical shifts demand a holistic approach, integrating economic policies for sustainable development.

[azuma-kun]

it makes sense that Border never mentioned away missions to the public because what do you mean you've been going to the neighborhood and you're not rescuing people's relatives

obviously it could be spun like 'gaining intel for proper rescues' and probably what they've been doing anyway but the public won't take it like that and for good reason too

there would be a lot of impatience and tempers running (justifiably!) and a Border mired in that kind of uncertainty and lack of goodwill will NOT have the funding it has neither will it have as many members

[deathofthetext]

world trigger chapter 249 confirmed that operators are going to be in combat in the upcoming combat phase of the away mission test, and i've been wondering about some of the practicalities involved in transitioning that role from remote coordination to something with field presence. operators are so crucial to a team's overall coordination and tactics that they're going to be really high priority targets.

a combination of guards from the teams' combatants and liberal use of the bagworm trigger seems like the obvious answer there, since most operators don't have experience using combat or defense triggers, but there are a lot of operators with very low trion. selection for the away test was already skewed away from snipers because they use stealth so much: its trion drain over the course of the 36 hour combat test was explicitly pointed out as a reason that many captains decided to prioritize drafting fighters who could better limit their trion consumption over the course of the test.

i think that when we get the rules for the combat test, we're going to see that command has provided in some way for the opportunity to use external radar jammers that can be powered/created by someone with higher trion and used to hide anyone else who needs it (like dummy beacon, which is placed by combatants but can be controlled by operators). ashihara made a point of having mikumo bring up a 'jamming relay' tactic in the suwa squad strategy meeting, but it was never relevant through the last day of battle sims. i think it's going to be important in the combat phase.

[blondebrainpowered]

A child drinks from a water tap in the town of San Lorenzo, constructed by USAID/Ecuador, in 2003.

Before the construction of this water system, families in the community of Calderon in the San Lorenzo municipality of Ecuador were forced to obtain their water supply from unprotected and contaminated sources, which caused illness and disease among the people. USAID’s Northern Border Development Program built this water system in 2002 and it benefits around 450 community members.

This photo won third place in a photo contest commemorating the 50th anniversary of USAID, in 2011. The water taps were installed by the USAID Northern Border Development Program in Ecuador, in conjunction with the UN's International Organization for Migration. The program also included infrastructure like roads, canals and bridges.

An audit by the USAID Inspector General concluded that the program had achieved about 90% of its planned results. The report was very recently removed from the USAID website, but can still be found on the Internet Archive.

[scotianostra]

On July 26th 1820 the Union Chain Bridge, across the River Tweed was opened.

The Union Chain Bridge spans the River Tweed between Horncliffe, Northumberland, England and Fishwick, Borders, Scotland. It was designed by Captain (later Sir) Samuel Brown RN, who held patents for the design of the chains, although Brown altered the tower and abutments on the suggestion of John Rennie. When it opened in 1820 it was the longest wrought iron suspension bridge in the world with a span of 137 metres (449 ft), and the first vehicular bridge of its type in the country.

It cost £7,700 to construct and pre-dates the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Menai Bridge, which are of similar design . Today it continues to carry traffic, and visitors can enjoy pleasant walks along the river bank. Just up the hill from the Union Chain Bridge on the English side is the Chain Bridge Honey Farm, where there is situated a permanent exhibition on chain suspension bridges.

Downstream on the Scottish side is Paxton House, where visitors can see Alexander Naismith's depiction of Union Chain Bridge, painted before its actual completion, as seen in the second picture.

Before the opening of the Union Bridge, crossing the river at this point involved an 11-mile via Berwick upon Tweed. Until 1885, tolls were charged for crossing the bridge; the toll cottage, being at the English end, was demolished in 1955.

The bridge reopened earlier this after a major £10.5 million restoration. Just two weeks ago it was recognised as an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, joining the likes of Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Eiffel Tower.

Much more on the bridge here http://www.unionbridgefriends.com/history/

[whoslaurapalmer]

best friend and I are thinking about visiting some museums so I've been looking at the one that's one state over (one of the closest) and look. I have never been to a museum. but it's so big!!!!!!!!!!! they have so many things!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so many galleries, so much art!!!!!!!!!!!! they have!!!! a restaurant!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so intrigued. I am so overwhelmed. we must go!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chadlesbianjasontodd]

having to calculate and pay quarterly city taxes has to bestow permission to treat the rich suburbs like they are the absolute ass end of nowhere backwardsville. in my opinion.

[azuma-kun]

Discussion Question: Will There Ever Be an End to Border?

The whole point of Border is the protection of Mikado City from those coming to steal trion. That’s a need that doesn’t and cannot have an end. Given the way the planet states are set up, the wars and occupations are more or less inevitable.

(unless something changes of course)

As such, Meeden needs to invent a way to keep those wars far from her shores. But, no character has shown an inclination towards that line of thinking. It hasn’t even been brought up narratively.

Border is only four years old and as things are it’s doomed to a never-ending war. Admin is even preparing for that through the away test and the distribution + invention of roles.

So that’s time and money and effort and skill and goodwill and trust being poured into a neverending. Shuttering Border would mean rendering all this investment and it’s very existence (and provision of income) obsolete.

(This is just a roundabout way of asking if Border should make the end of its existence a goal or keep risking the chance of large scale invasions and possible occupation forever. I don’t think this is the story Ashihara is telling though so I’m not asking for it to be told. I'm just thinking about implications of a Border that is trying to end the wars even if only for Meeden)

[deathofthetext]

aaaaarghhhh.

[cletusthurstonbeauregard]

🚴🏽‍♀️🚴🏽‍♂️

[endlessandrea]

"'Material conditions can be mobilised and weaponised against the ‘field’ [(of art)], ‘turning that border into a chalk drawing on the pavement around a defunct institution’ and, drawing on Fred Moten, ‘taking it as a space for our “plans”". – Zoe Sutherland on Marina Vishmidt

[schoolhater]

answering a couple questions i got on this post since i realized ppl genuinely wanna know:

tl;dr:

israel lets very, very little aid get into gaza. even the UN can't get in as much as they want to. funding individual families, gazan led initiatives, and mutual aid collectives operating out of gaza ensures gazans can provide for themselves and pay for the extremely expensive aid that is available.

with all the civil infrastructure destroyed by israel, the situation on the ground has devolved into unrestricted capitalism, driving up the price of aid (that should be free!). this makes it more urgent for people to have funding for daily survival.

the post linked above has examples of how donating to individual families can help a lot. if you want to help more than one family at a time, there are many gazan-led initiatives focusing on rebuilding their infrastructure and distributing aid fairly that are worth donating to instead of large charities that already get the majority of donations.

as i mentioned in the last post: @/careforgaza on twitter is a nonprofit started by gazans, it's been endorsed by multiple palestinian journalists.

the sameer project is a collective organized by diaspora palestinians offering emergency shelter to gazans.

ele elna elak is a project aiming to bring water, food, shelter, etc. to gazans and has been promoted by bisan owda.

and the municipality of gaza itself is fundraising to rebuild water infrastructure.

all of these organizations are active inside gaza right now and are being run by gazans. if anyone knows of other gazan-led mutual aid projects, nonprofits or charities feel free to link them in the notes! hope this helped!

long answers under the cut!

if you wanna donate to a charity that's absolutely fine, but the thing is most charities (and even the UN!) are unable to make it into gaza in the first place, leaving aid rotting at the egyptian side of the border or subject to israeli settler attacks

not to mention, charities and nonprofits also maintain a paternalistic colonial relationship with the indigenous people they are trying to help, determining what aid they need for them instead of returning power to them and letting them make their own choices

i'm not here to say that one option is better than the other, just that they achieve different things and are equally legitimate. there's an attitude among people who question the legitimacy of these gofundme campaigns that somehow the people promoting them are telling them not to donate to charities. nobody is stopping you from donating to charities. we are just asking that you do not dehumanize the very real gazans in your inbox just because their method of asking for aid is more direct and risky.

unfortunately that's exactly what has happened. because israel destroyed all of gaza's more formalized infrastructure, it seems that organized crime and rampant inflation has taken its place. aid is supposed to be free, but in order to save for evacuation or the cost of living, people have started selling them at an inflated price. and aid that is truly free attracts intense, large crowds that are dangerous to navigate.

this was posted on abc a few days ago

it's pure, unrestrained capitalism. i've had multiple palestinians describe this situation to me confidence. that's why everything's so expensive now. why people have to rent out tiny plots of land for their tents to sit on, why my friend @siraj2024 still has to buy tarps to cover the broken windows of the overpriced bombed out apartment he rented, and why a bag of flour can cost a thousand bucks in the north.

even before israel closed and then bombed the rafah crossing, the egyptian hala travel agency was only allowing people to cross the border if they paid a hefty $5000 USD per adult / $2500 USD per child bribe. it denies doing this, but the hundreds of stories from palestinians say otherwise.

with regard to the economy, here in america we saw something similar happen in the wake of hurricane helene and milton. the podcaster margaret killjoy describes how she saw dual economies rise after asheville was fully cut off from the rest of the country - some people offered each other supplies for free in a sort of mutual aid honor system, and some people required payment when they lent supplies because they themselves needed to buy stuff for their families. these dual economies exist in gaza too. and this means they all still need money to survive.

[journosatyam]

jammu-and-kashmir-residents-fear-returning-home-despite-ceasefire

सीजफायर पर भरोसा नहीं, हमले का खौफ, घर लौटने को राजी नहीं कश्मीरी

हम अपने घर नहीं लौट सकते हैं. पाकिस्तान पर भरोसा नहीं है, जब तक पूरी तरह से संघर्ष विराम समझौता लागू नहीं हो जाता है, हम अपने घरों को नहीं लौटेंगे. पाकिस्तान पर यकीन करना मुश्किल है.' 

भारत-पाकिस्तान पर बसे कश्मीरियों में यह डर बना हुआ है. ज्यादातर लोगों का कहना है कि पाकिस्तान पर भरोसा नहीं किय जा सकता है. पाकिस्तान कभी भी हमला कर सकता है. भारत और पाकिस्तान के बीच 10 मई से संघर्ष विराम समझौता लागू है लेकिन जम्मू और कश्मीर के सीमावर्ती गांवों में बसे लोग अपने घर लौटने को तैयार नहीं है. वे इस बात पर यकीन नहीं कर पा रहे हैं कि पाकिस्तान अपनी आदतों से बाज आएगा और आम नागरिकों पर गोलीबारी नहीं करेगा.

पूरा आर्टिकल पढ़ने के लिए नीचे लिंक पर क्लिक करें👇

सीजफायर पर भरोसा नहीं, हमले का खौफ, घर लौटने को राजी नहीं कश्मीरी

[firstoccupier]

India and China Maintain Tense Standoff Along Border

May 8, 2025 – New Delhi Between 3:00 PM on May 7 and 3:00 PM on May 8, 2025 (Philippine Standard Time), India and China continued to face heightened tensions along their shared border, particularly in the Himalayan region. Military Build-Up and Infrastructure Development Both nations have increased their military presence along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). India has been enhancing its…