#civilian war

[pretordh]

A Russian gymnast who came to the Doha World Cup awards ceremony with the letter “Z” on his uniform was disqualified and suspended from the competition

It is noted that this lover of Z-swastikas violated the charter, disciplinary code, code of ethics, code of conduct and technical regulations of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).

Now he is banned from participating in competitions under the auspices of the FIG until May 17, 2023.

Also, the Rashist must return the bronze medal, prize money in the amount of 500 Swiss francs and pay legal costs in the amount of 2 thousand francs.

[its-zaina]

138

Palestinian journalists in GAZA strip were killed by Israel..

Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in GAZA Strip and is still!

Israel kills voices of truth.. Israel kills journalists and media professionals.

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[mauls-fair-in-love-and-war]

Something I find really amusing about the reaction to the Ahsoka trailer is the amount of people saying “Omg my favorite war criminal is back!!!” And the war criminal in question is Chopper and not Thrawn

[taxinealkaloids]

two b-list sons of God and a second-rate resurrection

[spacedace]

So I've seen a lot of "Jazz works as a therapist at Arkam" in the dp x dc fandom, and while I like the concept, I also feel like Jazz would take one look at the place and immediately be like "what the absolute fuck" at just the everything of the place.

Like, she either nopes out after the tour during the interview or quits not too long afterward starting there, not because she can't take it but because she's so appalled by what's going on there and can smell the corruption rolling off the place and knows no one sent to there is ever actually going to get the help they need.

So Jazz decides to open a private practice instead while still being absolutely determined to work with the various rogues in the city, she is here to help and nothing is going to stop her.

So she just starts showing up at known hangouts of rogues and during their heists/schemes/sprees, and even fights between them and the batfam, just like

"Hi! It’s so nice to meet you! My name is Dr. Jasmine Fenton/Nightingale/whatever last name she’s using and I was hoping we could talk!"

Casually kicks a baterang away without looking because she's being polite and professional!

"I understand that your experience with therapy through Arkam has been nothing but atrocious and that you are rightfully -"

Kicks Batman away without breaking eye contact or a sweat.

"Suspicious of attempting therapy again, and Idon't want to force anything on you, therapy should be on your terms after the experiences you've had but -"

Grabs Robin out of the air as he leaps at the rogue she's talking to and tucks him under her arm, ignoring his feral hissing and all attempts to break her hold.

"-I really think that you'd find it beneficial, even if I'm not the right therapist for you."

The rogue in question is having the time of their life and takes Jazz's business card - and a few extra to pass around - not really intending to actually ever book a therapy appointment with her but way too entertained and excited to share this madness with everyone else.

But then one of the rogues actually looks up Jazz's website and sees all the various safe guards she’s put in place to ensure that any villians that come to her will be protected while seeing her - soundproof therapy room, regular sweeps for listening and tracking devices, the most insane firewalls and protections anyone has ever seen on her network, and ooh she provides snacks and drinks!

So someone finally books an appointment with her, half convinced she's either going to turn them in or is a villain herself intent to experiment on them, but then it’s actually really nice??? And they feel a lot better afterwards?? She doesn't even say anything to indicate that she wants them to stop being villains, she just wants them to be okay??

So more and more rogues start going to her, and Batman was already losing his mind about this woman before - Oracle can't hack her system?!? And her background check shows a totally normal Psychiatrist?? - but now half of Gotham's heavy hitters and a dozen or so other minor league villains are seeing her regularly and every time he tries to get info on any plans the rogues might be scheme via her office it fails utterly. Nightwing got knocked out with something called a creep stick and when he tried to break in himself to get answers she just appeared out of no where and gave him the most scathing lecture about doctor-patient confidentiality before bullying him off her property and threatening to sick her brother on him if he tried again?

And because she's become such a figure in the Gotham underworld, she gets the attention of Joker.

And everyone, rogues and Bats alike, are terrified that she’s going to try and take him on as a patient like she has so many other villains in the city and that's just a recipe for tragedy.

But then the Joker is on his way to the hospital with two broken legs and the fear of god beat into him babbling about eldritch nightmares and whenever anyone asks Jazz what happened she just shrugs and just says things like "I refused him as a patient, he's not my problem." Or "My brother doesn't like clowns." And just, does not elaborate.

Batman is losing his mind over it all. Jazz is just happy to be able to actually help the rogues. Arkam is less happy about how she absolutely destroys their reputation.

[lemedstudent2021]

as seen on reddit

3 years later and (un)surprisingly accurate.

[alwaysbewoke]

"In approaching six months of genocidal horror in Gaza, the Israeli army has slaughtered more than 32,000 Palestinians, with thousands more bodies decomposing under the Gaza rubble. More than 70,000 are wounded, many maimed for life. Among the dead are at least 90 Palestinian journalists and media workers, and nearly 200 aid workers. Some 13,000 children and 9,000 women have been killed by Israel. The same attrition rate in the UK would have seen at least one million Britons dead, including approximately 400,000 children. Until yesterday, politicians of the two main British political parties, Conservative and Labour, along with the mainstream media, have been relaxed about all this. They supported the slaughter and protected the killers. The British media have demonised or dehumanised Palestinians, while throwing their weight behind Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Too often the media have believed lies and fabrications told to them by the Israeli army, while suppressing or ignoring mounting evidence of Israeli atrocities. Overnight, this appears to have changed."

[destinysbounty]

As any self-respecting Zane stan, of course I've seen Decoded. And of course I loved the sweet but subtle character moment of him being bashful and awkward when Jay brought up the statue.

For the longest time, I've always interpreted this moment as Zane being his typical humble, bashful self. And while I'm sure that's true to an extent, recent events from Dragons Rising have led me to consider an alternative interpretation.

If I may bring your attention to this quote from DRpt2:

"Zane had impressive shoes to fill. No one could live up to him, maybe not even Zane himself."

I dunno. There's just something about the fact that Zane's own legacy has outgrown him, that he's overshadowed by the memory of his past self, that rather than a testament to the love his friends and community have for him he instead sees the statue as an insurmountable burden he can never hope to live up to...

Which brings me to yet another blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment from the Shadow of Ronin video game (I know it's canon-ness is debatable, but hear me out for a sec)

While everyone is gathered around Nya and speaking to Borg via hologram, Zane is...gone. He's off in the distance, standing at the base of his statue, just...staring at it.

God, and when you add this all up to Zane's Ice Emperor baggage...yeah.

[embraceyourdestiny]

People are waiting for things to be history while it’s happening so they can say “oh why couldn’t we do anything to stop it?”

You can do something to stop it.

Murder is happening right now. People are being killed right now. Starved out. Infected with disease from manufactured conditions. Their homes and community being torn apart because of sickening and disgusting wishes from the people in power above us assuring it happens.

Stand up. Do something.

Don’t wait and say we should’ve done something to help when we could’ve. You’re complacent if you aren’t helping now.

[mahvishs]

"If I must die let it bring hope, let it be a tale." - If I Must Die, a heartbreaking poem by Palestinian writer, poet and professor.

[hassanatforusmk]

Hani Azzam is one year and a half, the IDF raided his house in the Zaytoun neighbourhood, beaten everyone, stole their money, jewellery and valuables. They executed Hani shooting him in the head in front of his 26 years old mother. His family was forcibly displaced.

[pretordh]

Residents of occupied Kherson and Nova Kakhovka intend to go to a rally in support of Ukraine on Victory Day

This was announced by a local correspondent on the air of the UA telethon Razom.

[marzipanandminutiae]

if you're terrified for your country's elections next year because a lot of people seem to think the solution to the government handling an international conflict in an abysmal and deplorable way is to let a group of total monsters who would handle it MUCH worse AND also potentially doom huge swaths of oppressed people at home as well as our entire literal planet get into power, by ignoring the way our deeply flawed but also deeply entrenched system realistically works

clap your hands...?

(I cannot understand trying to stop heinous and unnecessary killing- which disgusts and saddens me, too! how could it not?! -by handing the election to people who want to do even more of that exact thing. the math isn't mathing, as they say)

[reasonsforhope]

Heads up/warning that I'm going to start posting articles related to the Israel-Palestine War

I've worked really, really hard to keep my blog about positive news only, and that's going to continue - these posts will be only about good news related to the war.

Of which there really, really isn't much, so I don't know that there will be a lot of posts, but I will be posting articles about humanitarian aid reaching those who need it and actions that will prevent more lives from being taken.

I know that, no matter my position on the war, this is something that would be very controversial and make a lot of people upset, so I wanted to be explicit about my position on this - and my posting policy, which is not the same thing. I also wanted to give people a heads up because I know the war in general is really, really triggering for a lot of people right now, for a lot of different reasons. I'll be tagging all relevant posts, so if screening those out is something that you need to do, you can.

I have worked very hard to make this blog a space with only good news because I know how much it can matter to have just one place, if nowhere else, that you can count on to not give you emotional whiplash with horrible news. To know you have one place you can go where you are guaranteed not to see bad news that will send you into a tailspin. That's why I've had a policy of not including signal boosts or PSAs about tragedies, no matter what they are, on this blog. (I do post about some of that stuff, including the Israel-Palestine War, on my main blog, though. I consider this blog to be me trying to run a public service, basically, and so have specific policies for myself around that, including my editorial and fact-checking standards.)

I'm going to be honest, I was really, really hoping the war would end after a couple of weeks, which has historically not been uncommon for wars with/involving Israel.

But that's clearly not happening, and I can't keep not acknowledging what's happening on here, so, this post.

With that, I imagine people probably want to know my actual stance on the war, since that's what I'll be posting in accordance with.

So, here's the official stance of this blog:

Every time a civilian is killed, it is a tragedy; Every time a child is killed, it is a tragedy, no matter their nationality. I condemn all antisemitism and all Islamophobia.

I support all calls for a ceasefire, as well as demands that Israel immediately stop its repeated bombing of hospitals, ambulances, shelters (including UN shelters), and refugee camps.

There is no situation in which the repeated and/or intentional bombing of hospitals is justified.

There is no situation in which the repeated and/or intentional bombing of shelters or refugee camps is justified.

There is no situation in which the repeated and/or intentional bombing of ambulances is justified.

There is no situation in which the killing of children is justified. Yet more children have now been killed in Gaza than in all global conflict zones combined in each year since 2019.

There is no situation in which cutting off an entire country and/or territory's supply of food and water is justified.

Yes, this applies to every group involved in the war, including countries supplying either side, and any countries or non-state organizations who may yet join the fighting.

The initial Hamas attack on Israel was a tragedy. The continued Israeli bombardment and invasion of Palestine is also a tragedy.

Most of the things I post will be about aid reaching Palestinians or news about tangible, confirmed progress toward a ceasefire. I probably will not be posting good news posts about aid reaching Israel, unless it's explicitly and only humanitarian and/or barring drastic unforeseen changes in circumstance. This is because as of yesterday, November 7, the Palestinian death toll is over 10,000 to Israel's roughly 1,400 (only about 200 of whom have been killed in the past month, starting on October 8, aka outside of the initial attack by Hamas). At least 3,195 children have died in Gaza, 33 in the West Bank, and 29 in Israel.

The Palestinian death toll is nearly 8 times the Israeli death toll. The number of children killed is 110 times higher in Palestine than Israel. (Source for death toll here, ratios via calculator.) Every single one of those deaths is a tragedy - and there have been far, far too many tragedies this past month.

(On a related note, Israel stands very, very little chance of actually eliminating Hamas with this war. The US has attempted this same strategy and failed many times: the US failed to eliminate the communist/North Korean regime in the Korean War, which is technically still ongoing 70 years later; failed to eliminate the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War; failed to eliminate numerous groups of Iraqi insurgents in the Iraq War, which triggered Iraq's civil war; and failed to eliminate the Taliban in the Afghanistan War, even though that war lasted for literally 20 years. Afghanistan is once again under total Taliban control.)

The last thing we need is another 20 year war. The last thing we need is more civilian deaths. Bombing civilian settlements, as well as hospitals, shelters, and refugee camps are war crimes under international law, meaning that both Israel and Hamas have committed war crimes.

It's time for the war crimes to stop.

Humanitarian aid reaching civilians is good news, and I will be posting accordingly.

Ceasefire now.

[lxdymaria]

[natalunasans]

@neil-gaiman @seananmcguire @dduane sorry but you’re the only famous people i know on here @shiraglassman

"The quickest path to a ceasefire is a unified international call for Hamas to surrender

Rallies by human rights and pro-Palestinian activists around the world have called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Many of those rallying have only good intentions at heart: they seek no more harm to innocents. They seek to protect the children of Gaza, who have no responsibility for the crimes of members of their parents’ generation. They seek to mitigate the chances of an outbreak of a regional war that could cause further damage to even more innocents across Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt. They seek peace.

Seeing Israel as the stronger party, these well-intentioned activists have come to a simple conclusion: if only Israel stopped its military operations, a ceasefire would emerge. Hostages would eventually be returned. Lives would be saved. The problem is, as the leadership of the US and EU have already concluded, that is not realistic. In past wars with Hamas, Israel has ceased fire and increased economic development for Gaza. Each time, Hamas used the time and money they siphoned off to build weapons of war and aim those at both Israelis and the Palestinians who disagree with their theocratic dictatorship. Which is why the only way for the Left, us progressives, to live up to our morals and keep the high ground is to call for the immediate unconditional surrender of Hamas.

Calling for the unconditional surrender of Hamas would prove that the Left cares about children of all countries, without ascribing to a hierarchy of human life. It avoids the moralistic laziness of publicly funded intellectuals such as Nicholas Kristof, among others, who essentially argue that a person planning to shoot you or your children has the same right to life as his victims. It avoids the abdication of responsibility by progressive leaders who forgive the war crimes of the party dedicated to carrying them out.

Calling for the unconditional surrender of Hamas — as opposed to a ceasefire — is not only the right thing to do, morally, it is also the right thing to do, politically. As Hamas official Khaled Mashal told Saudi journalist Rasha Nabil, Hamas is depending on international pressure to stop Israel from destroying its military infrastructure so that it may live to fight another day.

Those who care deeply about protecting the lives of innocents need to think not just about today, but tomorrow."

...

"Postscript for those engaged in public diplomacy: How can you help the Left do the right thing?

Affirm: Instead of arguing with those who call for a ceasefire, agree with them that we need to end all violence, and call on them to do the right thing by joining in the call for Hamas to unconditionally surrender.

Strengthen: Many on the Left are already calling out Hamas’s atrocities. Strengthen their case by adding to their argument in moralistic terms. Do not seek to shame them for previous statements they may have made. People change.

Amplify: When you see someone calling on Hamas to unconditionally surrender, share that call. Without caveats. We can work out the details for how to achieve peace in the Middle East the day after the war is over. For now, let’s focus on what matters: an immediate ceasefire after the unconditional surrender of Hamas."