#complete with the concentration camp level

[the-voice-of-night-vale]

whatever ur electoral decision is. can we PLEASE stop pretending america is a democracy. it is, and has always been, a farse of a democracy at best. the electoral college? the supreme court? anyone?? i remember finding those things distinctly undemocratic in middle school.

saying that 'we're choosing between fascism and democracy' is just patently untrue and frankly disrespectful to the vulnerable people who have been harmed by the authoritarian state even (and in some cases ESPECIALLY) under democrats.

(and before you say, "okay, fascism vs worse fascism" please take a moment and think about how fucking insane that is.)

[kanophane]

Please listen to the latest Chapo Trap House episode, the guest is a journalist from Gaza and it's harrowing.

The Israelis once calculated the total calories of food going into Gaza so that the populace would be just above starvation levels, but not enough to do anything more. It's fucking insane. It's beyond inhumane, it's completely depraved.

You cannot argue that Gaza is not a concentration camp. In every sense of the word.

Edit: Link to the episode

[k-s-morgan]

I in no way mean to be disrespectful, I hope you and your family are doing well and I’m so sorry for the recent attacks. I’m just ignorant and want to know what would happen if Ukraine surrendered to Russia?

I hope you are safe from bombing and air raids 🙏🙏

Hi! Thank you <3 And don't worry, that's a good question.

What I'm 100% sure would happen in case of Ukraine's surrender, even under the most optimistic scenario:

We'd have to give up the entire country, not just a part of it. Russia always comes back for more. It's been following the same pattern with different countries forever. With Ukraine, it got a pretty decent chunk back in 2014. That land continued to belong to Ukraine on paper only - in reality, it was fully under Russian control, and no one really fought for it any longer. Was Russia satisfied with it? No. It kept preparing and then attacked to overtake even more land. It will never have enough, so to give up now means to acknowledge that the entire Ukraine will cease to exist as a country, whether right away or after Russia starts another war against us.

Ukrainian language, culture, and heritage would be destroyed completely in the coming years. Our history - and the history of the world children are taught - will be re-written. There is a reason why the majority of countries that were a part of USSR speak primarily Russian. Russia keeps carefully erasing other languages and culture, it's been doing it for ages. It's doing it right now on the occupied territories.

Pro-Ukrainian activists and people of note would be persecuted, kidnapped, tortured, and killed. This is also a pattern, it happens everywhere Russia invades. I know many examples personally.

We'd be gradually cut off of the outside world. Like, Russia has banned major fanfiction sites; it's trying to block YouTube and other platforms. The transformation into a semblance of North Korea would be inevitable.

Ukrainians would be treated as third-rate non-humans on their own territory. Again, it's been happening everywhere Russia barges into.

Ukraine would be used as a military base to attack other countries, and Ukrainians would be forced to become Russian soldiers.

As for the rest, it could go in several ways. Maybe Russia would want to show how 'amazing' it is, so it'd turn Kyiv into a second Moscow, creating different well-paid positions and opportunities to suck up to Kyiv residents and to prove its hypocritical benevolence.

On the other hand, it could just as well turn the entire country into a concentration and extermination camp. Russia has been torturing, raping, degrading, and murdering our people everywhere. Stealing their homes, kidnapping children, etc. and etc. I have a huge number of friends, people I know, or their friends who shared their stories, and each of them has been absolutely horrific.

My Mom's colleague, for example, used to live near Bachmut. When Russians came in, they immediately began to hunt down anyone related to the police and the military and killing them or actually demanding ransom for them. They kidnapped this colleague's friends, a married couple, kept them in a dog's kennel, pissed on them, beat them up, and raped the wife repeatedly. At that point, the colleague managed to flee the area, and she has no idea as to what happened to them afterward.

This could very well be the fate of our country in case of our surrender since the world obviously doesn't care and wouldn't bat an eye at the millions suffering and dying, kind of like it's happening now.

So surrendering is dangerous because we might cease to exist, but perhaps we are just prolonging the inevitable. A tiny country with a pathetic level of support cannot win against a giant that has a ton of everything and whose allies keep sending it even more weapons of destruction. Oh, and let's not forget how Russia keeps producing more and more weapons because the US and EU keep selling it the parts it needs for missiles and other stuff, and how Ukraine, after seemingly getting help from these US and EU, is forbidden to use it to strike Russia back.

It's all a joke to everyone but us, so I honestly don't envision a positive outcome at all. In the end, as long as our heroes are determined to defend Ukraine, we'll keep trying to hold on. The future will show what it'll lead us to.

[five-one-two-station]

Everybody should have their own fun, and this isn't trying to harsh anybody's buzz, but I find the impulse to make your own cutesy/badass Replika oc doing funny or heroic or badass things a little odd. Like, that character you designed as a super badass soldier, or well-armed and armored steely eyed cop type... who would they have been built to fight or police exactly? Remember who all those guns and weapons were intended for use on?

I know we're all sick of discourse over who "gets" the game, and I'm by no means scolding anybody for something that harmless, but what's interesting to me is the sense that designing overtly "cool" Replika personas and OCs, complete with the propaganda poster style imagery, feels a little...

I mean, bluntly, it's like the in-world propaganda worked, unironically, on some level, for many people. Kolibris aren't scary, they're whimsical and fun! Storches aren't notably cruel enforcers and chain gang drivers, they're Protektors! Falke isn't a camp commandant, she's a beautiful angel!

The Replikas aren't cool and heroic figures in the reality of the game. They're the carefully crafted organs of a system of control so dreadful it could do what it did to Elster and Ariane. They're victims to that system themselves too, sure - and humanising them is a nuanced and valuable observation of how totalitarian regimes maintain themselves - but that doesn't negate the fact they're also the ones who operate, enforce and perpetuate it, a big part of what the game knows and communicates about such societies. It's notable that the game makes it clear few, if any, of the Replikas actually buy into the Nation as an ideal at all - they enforce it no less pitilessly anyway, incapable or unsafe to imagine anything else.

Their affectations, pasttimes, trinkets, and even affections for each other, all serve to draw a stark contrast to how callously they regard the gestalts they keep suppressed. Their disposability is something they're conscious and fearful of themselves, but fail to recognise as a commonality with the people they brutalise every day, their business as usual. The only grief, tragedy or suffering they acknowledge is their own - they have no regard for any such things in the humans they have... well, dehumanised.

But S-23 Sierpinski was such a hellhole for most of its denizens under "normal" conditions that the nightmare it becomes is arguably an improvement; if only because there are fewer people left now to suffer it. There's a dark poetry here - because the place's banal cruelty is "off camera" to us, it's very naturally less real to us than the grief of the crying Eule. It's only natural, too, to forget how grim the Replikas' purposes are when you don't have to see anyone endure the brunt of it.

And isn't that the very same effect a state like the Nation is seeking in the first place, by disappearing people away to such dark little corners to have it done? In our world, no less than that one.

That works like a kind of propaganda too, not being able to see it - a propaganda of hidden things, as powerful as any poster. A space that's been intentionally left blank.

Kolibris are literal thought police; they intrude on people's very minds, interrogating them to death as a matter of course, with hardly a care either way. The various Protektor classes are functionally concentration camp guards and slave drivers. Falke and Adler are overseeing what amounts to a gulag, one so unimaginably awful Ariane preferred to spend years of her life alone in space to the prospect of being sent there, and inevitably worked to death, far underground.

I think there's a reason we never see one of those posters for LSTRs in game. How could we be asked to forgive our own if we ever did?

[stealthnoodle]

How to Scrape Your Way Through Honour Mode and Look Reasonably Good Doing It

I won't say I beat Honour Mode on my first try, because my Dishonour Mode playthrough served as a critically useful dry run, but I will say that the first character I made with the intention of completing Honour Mode properly did in fact complete Honour Mode.

Below are the 13 most important lessons I learned along the way that made this possible.

1) Do not be Mothman.

You really want to minimize fights and maximize available vendors. Ask yourself "What would Mothman do?" and then do not do that thing.

2) Do be a half-orc.

Fights can go real wrong real fast, and in the early game, you are perpetually one bad round of combat away from oblivion. In my case, the harpies critted Shadowheart to death, and then every chucklefuck in my party failed their wisdom save at the same time. The other two members ate more multiattacks than they could handle, and then so did Pizzazz, but she held on with one single precious hit point after the last blow. She dug herself out of the hole with heal potions and her fists of righteous anger.

Pizzazz being a half-orc saved the entire run here. Having Death Ward once a day comes in fucking clutch when you're below level 5, and tbh the hardest part of Honour Mode is getting to level 5.

The harpy fight was also when I realized the need for a critical strategy:

3) Make one party member your panic button.

I only really needed this trick in the early game (I cannot emphasize enough how most of my close calls were before level 5), but it saved my ass several times. Panic early, panic often.

Pick the party member who has the least to contribute to a fight and park them where they can't get drawn into initiative. You can leave them all the way back at camp, or if you're me, just put them far back in hiding so it's easy to pull them in to help with late-fight cleanup if things are going well (or to finish a fight in the goofiest way possible, see above). Either way, their job is to run crying to Withers if everyone else dies.

Speaking of which…

4) Exploit Bone Daddy's indifference to being pickpocketed.

You can get back whatever "the price of balance" is by yoinking it right out of Withers's pockets. If you fail the sleight of hand check, no worries; you get pulled out of hiding, but he doesn't react at all, and you can just squat back down and get right back in there.

5) Tell Jesse you need to cook.

Potions of Speed are the goddamn Philosopher's Stones of this game. So I made Gale a Transmutation Wizard, made him proficient in Medicine, and put him in charge of alchemy. Just clearing the gnoll zone got me pretty well set for the first two acts.

Getting double heal pots sure doesn't hurt, either.

6) Start a local chapter of the Warding Bond Cleric Club.

This is something I discovered was possible while I was fretting over prepping for the end of Act 2, because last time was such a clusterfuck. You can hire three hirelings, give them fun names like Ouchie Magnet, Sexy Pincushion, and Yoohoo Loviatar, get them to cast Warding Bond on the party members you actually intend to use, and enjoy the full benefits of it out in the world while your hirelings stand around bleeding at camp.

Any buff that lasts until the next long rest and doesn't require concentration works like this, fyi. Death Ward and Longstrider are also especially handy (and once you get to level 11, Heroes' Feast). Setting this up is tedious enough that I only did it a few times during the game, when I was going into situations I couldn't easily extricate myself from in case of emergency. (So the Mindflayer Colony, the Iron Throne, the Steel Watch Foundry, and one last time for the Temple of Baal.)

7) Break big battles up into bite-sized skirmishes.

Why would I fight all the cultists at Moonrise Tower in a grand climactic battle when I could sneak around before finishing the Gauntlet of Shar and pick off my future foes in packs? Since they're not hostile yet, it's pretty simple to wipe them out one room at a time, using Minor Illusion to lure guards away from their posts. Then I got the joy of showing up with Jaheira and all her Harpers to curbstomp the two (2) guys I missed.

Also good for removing all the intellect devourers before you pick a fight with Mindflayers in the Mindflayer Colony and for surviving gnoll swarms. Sometimes you even get lucky and a hyena falls into a hole, somehow.

8) Fill your camp with literal tons of explosives.

See a smokepowder barrel? Pick it up and send it to camp. Do this consistently and you will have deeply nervous party members every time you light a campfire, probably, but you'll also have a way to cheese boss fights that you're worried about. I chugged elixirs that raised strength before the end of Act 2 so that I could bring a dozen smokepowder barrels with me to the Myrkul fight and absolutely trivialized it.

9) Become a partial illithid.

Mourn your aesthetic and commune with that frosty little worm. (Take Volo's amateur eye surgery, too, btw. Just fuck yourself up.) The powers are worth it. A truly hardcore player would also get their companions to dip a toe into ceremorphosis, but I started by asking Astarion, who fucking loves regular tadpoles, to try it, and his response made me feel so bad that I abandoned the cause entirely.

10) Start your day with a delicious and nutritious Heroes' Feast.

So I never really read the description closely because sometimes I'm just like that, but thanks to the Warding Bond Cleric Club, I started paying closer attention to buffs and holy shit??? Thoroughly Stuffed is a baller condition, and it also makes food. I didn't have to go grocery shopping even once! Having three bonus clerics with spell slots to burn also meant the 6th-level cost wasn't coming out of Shadowheart.

11) Accept that late-game enemy saving throws will mercilessly fuck you.

It feels real bad when you cast a 6th-level spell that operates on saving throws and your target shrugs it off with 0 damage. Spells with attack rolls are usually better bets, and Artistry of War is a wizard's once-per-short-rest MVP. Open Hand Monk Pizzazz was consistently my best damage dealer, especially once I looted the Bonespike Gloves from Strangler Luke.

12) Skip the high-risk low-reward quests in Act 3.

Consider your party composition and tactics and whether any optional quest line is worth completing for its rewards. Cazador, the Sharrans, and Ansur are non-trivially difficult fights that I didn't need to subject myself to, so I didn't. But there's real good shit under Sorcerous Sundries, so of course I cleared out that vault.

Hell isn't actually that bad on Honour Mode (no, really! The restoration faucets have unlimited uses!), but it's not a sure thing and I could live without the rewards. Had a tense moment passing the DC 30 Persuasion check with Kith'rak Voss later, but he chilled out and even let me borrow his dragon's breath.

The only unnecessary hard fight I did was the Steel Watcher Titan, which was a bad call on my part; I kinda wanted the crossbow and I really wanted to keep the runepowder bomb in case I needed it, but Mothman didn't do this fight, so I was not prepared for the Hellfire Steel Watcher Titan's bullshit. I won, but it was a closer shave than it should have been.

Then I ended up not using the crossbow at all.

13) Thank Gale for his sacrifice.

The Netherbrain is fucking nasty on Honour Mode. Fuck Karsite Grip. Fuck Aegis of the Absolute. Does it feel bad to make Gale sacrifice himself? Yes. Would it feel worse to lose the run right before the finish line? Also yes.

I brought every explosive I had with me (which required two rounds of strength-boosting elixirs, because the game hits you with a long rest before the Astral Plane) just in case Gale got cold feet and I burned all my inspiration fucking up the persuasion roll, then went through the sewers to avoid the larger fight. Someone (Gale, so I couldn't be too mad) failed a stealth check and aggroed them all anyway, but Pizzazz covered the ground to the brainstem in like three rounds and everyone warped up after her for the cutscene, so no harm no foul.

Then Gale volunteered—nay, insisted on blowing himself up and I felt bad! Real bad! Not bad enough to change course, but Pizzazz's face was also my face during epilogue:

P.S. At least for me, the achievement procced after the epilogue, credits, and post-credits scene, and I was tense af the entire time. But not so tense I couldn't be sad about Gale (oh no he wrote me a letter) and Astarion (oh no he's still in hiding because of Cazador). Luckily my big hot wife was there to support me.

Anyway, let's load an old autosave on another campaign and check out those golden dice, shall we?

Ahhh, my horrible son

[perishrad]

This post is for the crowd that calls Gaza a genocide, but completely dismisses Ukraine; supports Palestine, but completely dismisses Ukraine. I hear “well the whole strip is razed, while Ukrainians drink coffee”.

Let’s talk. Ukraine is experiencing a genocide. Our whole country not being up in flames doesn’t make it any less of a genocide.

Ukraine is 15,000 times the size of Gaza. Russia leveled Mariupol, Severodonetsk, Bakhmut, Soledar, Mariinka, Avdiivka, and most recently (a few days ago) Vovchansk — to name just a few. Each of these cities were destroyed completely.

Ukraine is the largest country in Europe. 20% of our territory is occupied. That’s about the size of Denmark. So, now put in perspective HOW MUCH russia has completely wiped off the face of the earth. Hint: At least a medium European country worth of cities and towns.

De-occupied territories are mined for 50 years into the future (to put it modestly). Museums, books, culture — destroyed. Kids and adults are kidnapped and put into what russia calls “filtration [of loyalty to russia] camps” aka concentration camps.

Stop being a hypocrite. If you call events in Gaza a genocide, stop looking for excuses as to why not give the same name to what russia is doing to Ukraine.

And if you dare scream “UkRaInE sUpPoRtS IsRaEL” — Hamas supports and directly cooperates with russia. Two can play that game.

In October our president said he believes Israel has a right to defend itself from the Hamas attack. He never said we condone the bombing of Gaza. You can condemn Hamas, and you can condemn the Israeli government using that to wipe Gaza off the map at the same time. They are not mutually exclusive. Both are wrong.

[thebrightestwitchofherage]

December 19th, 73 days since October 7th

TLDR- I am sick of seeing Hamas propaganda here. People here are posting literal blood libels and mistranslated quotes.

After taking a break from social media for the rest of Chanuka, your favorite Zionist is back. Don't worry though, once again, people who never had any interest in this tiny piece of land, continue to tell me, a Jewish Israeli, that I have got my history and facts wrong, while they know better than I do. To that, I have 2 answers: 1. I am just a student who wants to live in peace. I am not a "zionist demon" or a "genocidal killer".

When I call myself a Zionist, all it means is that I'm a Jewish woman who would like to live peacefully in her homeland. I don't inherently support war or death from any side because I am a Zionist. 2. I actually live here, born and raised, and so were my grandparents. How delusional and condescending can you be to suggest that you, a Western person who only found out about this conflict a while ago on Tiktok, know better than an Israeli??? More on double standards Sometimes I wonder why most of you didn’t have such a strong reaction to any other war & civil war going on right now: in Ukraine/ Yemen/Congo and Syria**, etc. Considering the amount of antisemitic hate anons I've received I have a feeling why...

**Which directly affected the lives of most Palestinians.

As I've said in previous posts- It’s easy to throw around big words you don’t understand. There is no apartheid as all Israeli citizens have the same rights. - Gaza is not occupied by Israel- it’s been returned multiple times in history ( just to name a few: 1956,1987,2006...).

*Even when it was under Israel’s control, all it meant was that there were approximately 10 Jewish settlements in Gaza*. The Israeli military presence was to protect those people& prevent terror attacks.

Blood Libels

In addition to the lies and the poor mistranslations from Hebrew, I have also received \ seen an alarming amount of Nazi Propaganda. -you say that you’re anti-Zionist and not anti-Semitic, yet you use antisemitic rhetoric…

Comparisons between Israelis and Nazis -Comparing Israelis to Nazis is wrong on so many levels.

In case you aren't aware, the holocaust was a premeditated and carefully planned genocide, that lasted 6 years. 6 MILLION Jews were killed and all of their possessions were stolen. It followed hundreds of years of persecution, violence, and discriminatory laws. They were also starved and enslaved in different sorts of manual labor, in addition to being experimented on. They were held in Ghettos and concentration camps. In the aftermath of the war, Jews were completely driven out of their land and face prosecution across the world to this day. The existence of Israel allows Jews to live free of that. The Israel-Hamas war following October 7th is a war against a terrorist organization that invaded Israel and massacred its civilians. Unfortunately, due to Hamas' tactics, there are a lot of Palestinian civilian casualties. While they are wrong- the treatment of Palestinians and the bombing of Gaza are nothing like what the Nazis did.

Debunking some misconceptions I've seen on Viral posts here: -No, we Jews do not control the media and global banks. At least invent something new, this is giving Medivel blood libels used by the church lol. -We do not go around killing innocent Palestinian babies for fun. We have laws and a moral compass (Shocking I know). We do not go and kidnap people or rape women for fun either. Do you know who does that? Hamas, the terrorist organization. -We're not all white, this conflict does not revolve around race: There are many Jewish Israelis from the same countries that Palestinians originated from (i.e: Egyptian & Jordanian Jews ). -Israelis perceive Palestinians as lesser human'- This claim is usually supported by mistranslation of Hewbew and out-of-context Interviews. The phrase חיות אדם (Chayot Adam, savages, acting like animals) was obviously often used to describe Hamas terrorists who took part in the October 7th masssacre. We do not call or treat Palestinians as "animals" or savages. All of the referenced instances were about those Hamas terrorists.

-There isn't a 'Gaza Ministry of Health', it's all Hamas. The number of Palestinian casualties and other claims they make are not to be trusted. Most of the casualties are terrorists.

So what is my point?

It is important to note that am not ignoring any of the Palestinian deaths. I’m not saying they should die either. Please stop assuming I do!!

All I’m saying is that Israeli victims matter as well. For some reason, some people cannot comprehend that Israeli civilians do not deserve to die just because of where they live.

You wouldn’t call for the death of all Americans/ Europeans/ South Africans etc… while they committed actual genocide & apartheid.

[imperiuswrecked]

I’m so sorry to ask you to do this, but you seem to have a relatively big platform on here. If you’re comfortable doing so, please urge your followers to research the Ben Gurion Canal Project. It is a canal that would connect the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and would be a 3rd longer than the Suez Canal, it’s one of the reasons why the US and the rest of the west is so adamant on eradicating Palestinians.

This is a map of Egypt, Sinai Peninsula, and Palestine. What is happening right now is the mass genocide of the Palestinian people in the Gaza strip and other mass murders in the West Bank. Israel wants to push all the men, women, and children they didn't murder from Gaza into the Sinai Peninsula which is a desert. They want complete control of Gaza, look at how small Gaza is, look at how small. There have been the equivalent of Hiroshima levels of bombs dropped into a place that is barely a few miles long. Palestine is NOT BIG, and Gaza isn't a country it's a part of Palestine, its a city.

I posting these to show the difference, I won't post all the gore and death pictures of the victims, people can look that up for themselves.

Gaza houses millions of Palestinians, many of whom are refuges from the 1948 Nakba, where their homes and lands in the north, south, and center of Palestine were destroyed or stolen by Israeli Settlers. Despite that they have a beautiful city, they built their lives there, through all the wars Israel waged on the Palestinian people they built beauty. This isn't the first time Gaza is being bombed. Gaza has been an open air concentration camp for 16 years, the people inside cannot leave, no one who isn't cleared by the Israeli Military can enter. They have cut off the people of Gaza from the rest of the world for years. No amount of peaceful protest by the people of Palestine asking Israel to take down the wall, to let them have rights, to let them return to their homes, to visit any other part of their country has worked. They murdered the peaceful protestors. This time though they don't want to just make war on Palestine, or drop the annual bombs, they want to eradicate the people of Palestine in Gaza. They are leveling this place to rubble. They have bombed grocery stories, schools, bakeries, universities, churches, mosques, hospitals, cancer centers, more hospitals, they have murdered over 10,000 people in one month, UN workers, Doctors, Journalists, civilians, babies, children, women, men, the elderly, the queers, the Christians, the Muslims, everyone, even the Israeli hostages they keep screaming about, 60 of them have been murdered by Israel themselves. Every form of life they can find they kill. They have cut off all aid. They have cut off all water. They have cut off or destroyed any sources of food. Even before this they have ships in the sea to stop fishermen from fishing too far out. They saw the starving people of Gaza fishing for food in this ongoing massacre, they bombed the boats. This is a genocide. They have been very open about how this is a genocide, there is no confusion here this is the deliberate genocide of the Palestinians. Israel has the support of America. Israel and America will not do a ceasefire. This is very deliberate. Why? The land is so small, they already have almost all of the other land, so why? Besides hating all Palestinians, besides that, why?

Gaza has oil/gas, the resource belongs to the Palestinian people. Israel has already made contracts for companies to come mine the resources. They don't have that right. It belongs to Gaza. Palestine has been slowly suffocating under the Israeli Occupation for 75 years, no human rights, no way for the economy to make money, no self determination, olive trees are burned, farmers land have been stolen, Israel pushes their own products for sale, everything is controlled by Israel. This resource would have brought in money to the Palestinian Economy, it could have lead to more jobs for people. They wouldn't have to rely on trying to get work visas to work in the occupied territories.

But the biggest reason? The Ben Gurion Canal Project.

We all know the Suez Canal, how could anyone on tumblr forget the Ever Given and the Suez Canal?

The Suez Canal brings in over 9 million dollars yearly to Egypt. Egypt controls the canal. Western Powers, America, UK, etc. don't like that. Israel wants to cut Palestine, they want to tear into its earth, they want to rip a scar down Palestine to make Ben Gurion Canal. If they did this, then they would control the canal, and all those millions of dollars would go right back to Israel and America and their allies. All that money made from the blood of innocent people. Built on the destruction of stolen land. Paid for with the lives of Palestinians. This is why Israel is will not stop murdering people. This is why America gave them the green light to murder as much people as they want. This is why they do not care about the history, bombed old historical buildings like the 3rd oldest church in the history of the world. This is why they do not care about a single Palestinian life.

It's not about religion, it's not about "arab terrorism", it's not about any of the lies that they tell. This is about leveling Gaza to dust so they can build their canal and bring more death and more control over neighboring countries and controlling resources in the middle east.

If you want to learn more about Palestine then follow @palipunk who has great resources, there are lots of books, and information out there just ready to teach people about who we are and why we fight so hard to survive. We deserve to live free on our land. Don't just listen to lies the Western and Israeli media tells everyone, do your own research and share if you all can.

Palestine is small. It's a country that wants to be free, from the British, from America, from Israel. Palestine has been fighting for so long to be free, all the people want is to live on their land, to grow their olive trees, to fish in the sea, to create, to love, to be able to visit each other without walls or soldiers controlling us, to pray, to share in humanity, to be respected and seen as humans. Palestine is old and small and beautiful. Palestine is made up of so many beautiful people and religions, we have such a rich culture and history, we love to sing, we love to dance, and write poetry, and tell stories, and cook, we love to learn, did you know we have the highest literacy rate per population? We love each other, we love the world. Palestine is our hearts, they are killing our hearts.

[jellybeanium124]

ngl I fucking hate this post:

yeah coz goyim wouldn't've done shit for the jews (we know this because they didn't) and non-japanese people wouldn't've done shit for japanese americans (we know this because they didn't), but what happened to japanese americans and what happened to the jews is not equivalent and op should fucking know this, but holocaust denial is fucking trendy these days. another person also added links in a reblog that looked like:

THEY WERE NOT FUCKING CONCENTRATION CAMPS!!!!!! WE GAVE THEM A DIFFERENT NAME BECAUSE THEY WERE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. wikipedia says we should call them "concentration camps" but wikipedia editors are notoriously antisemitic and I think giving them the same name is ludicrous and leads to completely incorrect ideas about these two different situations.

I'm not saying japanese people didn't suffer. I'm not saying they didn't face discrimination. I'm not saying they were treated well in the internment camps. you know how many people died in the internment camps? 1,862 (according to wikipedia). ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND SIXTY TWO. that is 0.003% of the number of jews that died in the holocaust. these were not places where people were sent to work until they died. or GASSED ON ARRIVAL. I look at the pictures of people in the internment camps and they are not dirty and skeletal like the people who were liberated from the concentration camps in europe. there were schools and sports teams (yes the schools were wildly understaffed and underfunded). 4,000 students were able to leave to go to university. 5,981 babies were born (all wikipedia again). no the living conditions were not humane. just because the people didn't look like skin stretched over skeletons like holocaust survivors did doesn't mean they had enough food. I'm not fucking saying these were good or human conditions to live in. I'm not saying that the us government did anything less than a fucking travesty. but it is not on the same god damn level as the genocide of the jewish people, and equating them is disgusting and wrong.

stop fucking comparing everything to the holocaust. shut the fuck up if you think it is at all comparable to the japanese internment camps. goyim on this website shut the fuck up about the holocaust in general unless you are prepared to give me a comprehensive timeline of how the shoah occurred, from 1933 to 1945, with a prologue explanation of the millennia long history of antisemitism in europe, the middle east, and north africa. if you don't feel confident you can do that for me keep your goddamn mouth shut and listen to jews.

[littlebitsmile]

in flames [C.L.] | Chapter IV

Only one week left before off-season is finally over - don't know how you're feeling, but I'm ready to see what this years grid is bringing along (especially when the drama pre-season hit pretty hard). Let me know what you think of this chapter and if you want to be tagged in future chapters so you never miss out!

Have fun with this one, see you next week xx

story: in flames driver: Charles Leclerc [C.L.] trope: #haterstolovers summary: Always working three times as hard as everyone else, Emma does not intend to blow her chance of driving among the best of the best in her very first season in Formula 1. Concentrating on first and foremost getting ahead of her brother, she does not even notice that there are some people even in her own team who think she does not deserve this spot and would rather see her fail. And one driver in particular seems to have a need of always reminding her of that.

────ʚ C H A P T E R III ɞ────

My eyes are fixed on the screen in front of me. My hands are steady on the steering wheel, which almost feels like I'm sitting in a real car. The replica cockpit seat is a little more uncomfortable, but only because the actual sports seats are adapted to the driver's back and this one is just a makeshift one. I don't know what time it is or how long I've been driving virtual tracks in this simulator, but I'm starting to get hungry.

I usually love the days I get to spend at headquarters, but the last two weeks have been beyond strange. I don't seem to be on the same wavelength as my new team yet. Fernando has been the only buffer between us so far and hasn't provided a minute of silence.

I feel lost. Since my first days of training camp at Aston Martin, I've felt like I'm constantly having to cut myself back. It's like I've been transported back to my school days. Once or twice I've dreamed of that time - reliving exams I've completed years ago and either missed or failed.

I don't sleep well, but I'm still here every day at seven o'clock sharp in the morning to fit in a few extra training sessions in both the simulator and the gym before everyone else. Maybe I'm just not admitting to myself that it's easier if I arrive before anyone else is sitting at their desk that I need to talk to. The team seems committed, but I notice that everyone is looking at me a little skeptically. The same questions that have been floating around in the newspapers for weeks and months are open and unhindered on their faces, but I'm not actually being asked any questions.

Sometimes I miss the people from Formula 2. In every phone call with Enzo, in which he enquires about my well-being or simply wants to talk about his latest flirt, I notice how my tense shoulders slump and a laugh escapes me here and there. Then another couple of hours pass before I sneak off to the toilet on the third floor, the one that nobody ever uses because it's on the executive level, and gulp down my lunch while closing my eyes and listening to a podcast over and over again.

I tried to get along with everyone, I really did. But after they only exchanged the bare minimum of words with me in the first week, even though I was only trying to make conversation, my enthusiasm waned a little with each passing day. At some point in week two, I brought home-baked cake, which two days later stood hardened and not a bit poorer in the kitchen in the same place where I had initially placed it.

The first few tests in the simulator always ended the same way: Either with in a virtual pile of tires or so slowly that no further comment on my driving style came except an "Again." As soon as I wanted to sit down at a table in the kitchen, everyone suddenly had to get up or was at the end of their lunch break - the only one who regularly stayed seated or called me over was Fernando. But as he's already in meetings for this week's car launch, I have to endure the emotionless stares on my own.

I don't know why I can't find a rhythm. Neither in the car nor with the people around me. I wouldn't normally describe myself as shy. Especially next to Max, I'm often come across as a ray of sunshine – currently I'm feeling more like a never-ending rain cloud.

I take the last bend and step on the gas on the last straight. Then I look at my time. Faster than in the last few weeks but nowhere near Fernando's recent driving. I exhale. "The virtual setup still feels a bit strange in the right-hand bends," I say and look through the glass front to my left, behind which two colleagues are hiding who have been assigned to observation duty - probably involuntarily. All I get from both is a thumbs-up and a fake smile.

My hands find their way to the harness fasteners and free me. My legs move to stand next to the car as if of their own accord. I look towards the ceiling and blink away a few tears before making my way to my next stop. Physiotherapist here I come.

-

"I miss Enzo," I say after I unbuckle the training tower cables after the last repetition.

"I know, but Sarah's great. I promise," Leonardo replies as he massages my calves. Then again, massage would imply something pleasant - this is true hell. I let out a quick "ow" as he tries to massage a knot.

"I haven't met her yet, maybe I should change that. Do you happen to know when she's due to arrive?"

"Supposedly next week, but you can probably imagine that after her honeymoon she won't be too keen to be physically separated from her husband again." He bends my foot in every possible direction and at the same time tries to work my calf muscles from all sides down to the deepest layer.

"I hope she's more like you. There are already enough people here who don't like me."

Leonardo becomes quiet. I sense that he wants to say something but is holding back. I don't blame him. He has been working for Aston Martin for two years and always talks about how happy he was when he got the job offer. I don't blame him for sticking to his colleagues rather than me. But at least I can talk to him about how I'm feeling at the moment - and sometimes he even sheds some light on things.

The vibration of my cell phone snaps me out of my thoughts. I briefly consider just leaving it and answering it later, but suddenly messages come in every second and I can no longer hold back my curiosity. I stretch to my right and reach for my cell phone. Messages from Enzo.

Have you seen what Mr. Oh-so-perfect just posted?

Below screenshots of Charles Leclerc's Instagram Stories. I'm starting to laugh.

I thought he drives for Formula 1? Like, as a professional? Or is he scared now that Lewis will probably be the new number 1 and steal his spotlight? I quickly type back.

I think it's going to be good music. Have you watched his videos of him playing the piano? I think I fall in love with those hands every time.

Is it possible you can't get that guy from last week out of your head? When did you start stalking Mr. Annoying? Since when is Enzo that interested in the Ferrari driver? Have I missed something?

I'm not stalking. I'm observing. For you.

Thanks, but as long as he's not driving right in front of me on the track and pointing the red back end of his car in my face, I'm not really that interested in him.

Oh, come on! He's cute.

I always thought you had to have talent to be a musician. But nowadays it seems anyone can release new songs. Well, if he goes the way he's producing next season, I don't have much to worry about. I am thinking about that option for a second. A grid without Leclerc? That would be my dream.

You're impossible - you haven't even heard his songs.

No need, thanks :P

A smile creeps onto my lips.

"Is there a friend we don't know about?" Leonardo teases me. I reflexively lock the phone screen and throw my phone back into my bag.

"No, a good friend." I don't want to tell anyone that I'm still in contact with my previous race engineer. I'm still not sure who I can and can't trust here. "Leclerc has apparently released music."

Leonardo laughs. "He's probably trying to build up a second mainstay in case Lewis does become primary driver in 2025."

"You've heard about that too, haven't you? Awesome." I wonder how openly I can speak here, but then discard the idea because I've never been someone who doesn't completely overshare with anyone anyway. "I'm curious to see how his move to Ferrari will play out this season. And especially what it could mean for Fernando."

"Has he spoken to you about it?"

"With me? We've only known each other for what feels like two minutes, I hardly think he's going to reveal his plans to me. But to be honest, I would totally get it. I don't think Mercedes is as bad as everyone thinks."

A moment of silence. Leonardo takes a deep breath, and I almost don't notice that he starts to speak.

I continue bluntly: "On the other hand, where is Carlos going? I think it's a shame for him. So much work, so much ambition, he was the only one who could at least halfway hold a candle to my brother. But maybe Mercedes is going in a completely new direction? So many questions all buzzing around in my head and somehow I can't talk to anyone about it, so I'm sorry if I'm making you feel too tired."

"Why do you feel that way? That you can't talk to anyone, I mean."

"Difficult subject. But it's been on my mind for a while. Both the Lewis to Ferrari issue and the fact that I'm always being ignored here."

"Emma, can I ask you an honest question?" Leonardo stops massaging my thighs and I sit up. He's looked so tense since our session started - maybe I should suggest he books a massage with his physiotherapist.

"Are you planning to go to Mercedes?"

Silence. I know for a fact that my expression is slipping, and a furrow is forming between my eyebrows. My eyebrows rise as if of their own accord and a neutral "What?" slips past my lips.

"If Toto Wolff called you tomorrow and asked if you would consider driving for Mercedes next year - would you...would you at least think about it?" Now Leonardo looks me in the eye with a serious expression. I shake my head and laugh.

"As if they would ask me."

"Would you?" he asks again with emphasis.

"I guess that's what it comes down to. If my team doesn't want me here, and, no offense, that's the impression I'm getting right now, why wouldn't I move to a structure where they obviously want me?" I haven't thought about the question that much myself - simply because the announcement of Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari only became public a week ago and caused quite a stir. I can well imagine that there are some drivers who are keen on the Mercedes seat.

Leonardo thinks about his next words, I can see it on his face. "My question is whether this is simply a stepping stone for you."

My heart stops with this question. I shake my head vigorously. "Oh my God, no, never. I was... I was so happy when it was decided that I could be part of your team. I can learn so much from Fernando and I think it will be good for me to move outside my comfort zone. My previous team was with me for some time, so a breath of fresh air is never a bad thing. At least I think so. If I had hoped for a better deal...", I raise both my hands and bend my index and middle fingers to make quotation marks, "...I would only have had to wait another year. Red Bull kept ringing my doorbell, but I didn't want to be associated with Max all the time. That's why I'm here."

Leonardo exhales, visibly relieved. "Try to be patient with the others. Everyone's been a bit tense since Lewis' transfer was announced, especially with Fernando. Now, everyone is trying to assess you. Whether you take after your father or Max or..."

"...or whether I have my own quirks? I promise, I have them." Suddenly it all makes sense. If the team can't be sure if I'll even be here when they're building the car for next year, then it's only logical not to invest 100% of their energy in something that's already got one foot out the door.

I turn to him and hold out my wrists. He reaches behind him and then presses two tennis balls into my hand - coordination training. I exhale in annoyance.

"If you just be yourself during pre-season testing, everyone will realize that you're an asset to us. I promise." I smile. Then I think of the heat in Bahrain, the left and right turns and the feeling of sitting in our new car for the first time. The sizzling feeling in the air. The smiles, the people, the anticipation. That really weird feeling in my fingers, my breath patterns and my heartbeat, when the first few laps start to feel less overwhelming. This thought puts a smile on my face for the rest of the week that not even the lunch breaks in the women's toilet can wipe away.

────ʚ [Masterlist] [Chapter III] [Chapter V (in progress)] ɞ────

Tags: @cmleitora

[babycharmander]

Oleander and the effects of psitanium

A popular headcanon is that a major factor in causing Oleander to snap was the high levels of psitanium at Whispering Rock. The evidence cited for this is is typically Ford’s explanation of how psitanium works: “It responds to psychic waves, focuses them, amplifies them. It can make psychics more psychic, but it can also make unstable people more unstable. Not everyone can handle that much activity in that part of their brain. It can drive them completely out of their gourd.”

One issue with this is that it doesn’t account for Ford’s situation. Ford himself is completely shattered, but the psitanium stabilizes him. When he’s close to the giant psitanium boulder (or when he’s around a big enough chunk of psitanium, like the one he straps to his back later in the game), he’s able to function. If it were true that psitanium makes unstable psychics more unstable, Ford would be worse off.

Now you could say that maybe Ford responds well to it because he’s able to handle it, but that just brings up another problem. If psitanium was good for only some psychics and caused other psychics to lose their minds, that would make Whispering Rock a terrible place to train psychic kids. The kids would either become more skilled psychics or else lose their entire mind. If that were the case, it would make more sense for the camp to be placed elsewhere.

Given those factors, I think it’s safe to say that psitanium is good for psychics, but bad for non-psychics. This also works when we consider the history of Shaky Claim, in which most of the residents of the town slowly lost their minds, resulting in the creation of Thorney Towers. (Granted, parts of that history stump should probably be taken with a grain of salt given its timeline is kindof a mess, but I digress.)

And now for some speculative rambling!

It didn’t strike me until recently, however, that the high concentration of psitanium at Whispering Rock (which Ford explains is the highest concentration of psitanium known to man) may have been a reason why Oleander was sent to work there, as opposed to a reason why he attempted a takeover.

Even disregarding the li-po doc, Oleander is shown in canon to be aggressive and is known to attempt wild schemes, and before the first game, had also been suffering for a long while due to unresolved childhood trauma. He may have been sent to Whispering Rock not only to get him out of the way of different missions, but also so that he could be at a place with a larger concentration of psitanium to help stabilize him.

Heck, Ford could have been the one to suggest it. Something of note is that Ford was aware, to some extent, of Oleander’s trauma. Shortly after Raz arrives in Meat Circus, Ford remarks, “That’s right. Morry’s old man was a butcher!” It wouldn’t be all that difficult to put two and two together to realize that a psychic with zoolepathy having a father who was a butcher would be a recipe for trauma, though Ford might not’ve known the full extent of it.

It would then make sense for Ford, seeing how much better he himself was doing at Whispering Rock, to suggest that Oleander be sent there as well. (Of course, IIRC we don’t know who ordered Oleander to be sent to work at Whispering Rock, but Ford could have passed the idea to Sasha or Milla, who would’ve then brought it up to Truman and/or Hollis.)

Rather than the psitanium making things worse for Oleander, it could have helped stabilize him... for a time.

Unfortunately it would also put him in a place where he had very, very easy access to Thorney Towers and its residents, which would become instrumental in his eventual takeover plans.

And as the psitanium did not make Ford’s unresolved trauma go away, it also didn’t magically heal Oleander’s unresolved trauma... so all it could do was prolong his eventual breakdown.

[gryficowa]

So in short: In Bangladesh they shoot at students (And the government buys spying tools from Israel… Tia… Israel is everywhere), but they also shoot civilians (Because you know how they learn best from someone from whom they buy spying tools... Okay, but the fact that they are shooting at students is fucked up, there was already an Internet reaction in free Palestine when they targeted striking students, and here they are literally shooting at them… In short, things are not going very well in Bangaldesh and on many levels…)

In Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen, etc… there is genocide and war, in Venezuela it is like in Bangladesh, only in the North Korean version (Sorry, I don't know how else to describe it), in short, censorship and imprisoning those who are not very favorable to the government (Yes, I'm still trying to get my head around it, 2024… I know, that the Valbanase animation leak and Willy Wonka Experience gave hints that this year will be quite… Specific, but there's too much of it, I'm trying to figure it all out)

Things just aren't going well in Venezuela either…

In addition, Israel created new concentration camps, and Israelis went on strike for the legal right to rape Palestinians… Yes, that is how far society and the Zionists themselves have sunk…

I need to get a better handle on Haiti and Hawaii (Cuba is there too)

It's just hard to do everything at the same time, especially when you try to understand everything that's going on in the world, wars, genocides, attacks on strikers… There's just too much of it, and many countries need support, and not all countries can cope with it, because people are mainly focused on Palestine, Congo and Sudan, because focusing on more than three at a time is difficult, because as I mentioned, it's too much (And it sucks, because many families have to bury their relatives, or many collections don't get completed…)

Unfortunately, many countries do not get the attention they deserve and unfortunately for this reason, it would be easier if everything did not happen at the same time, but well, unfortunately it is not our choice, nor the choice of the people who live there, life simply mocked us all, because I don't know how else to call it when everything is happening at the same time ;-;

I really try to focus on more than four at a time, but it's difficult :/

[lantur]

I got back from Peru this morning after an overnight flight from Lima. :) It's been wonderful to be with Derek and Westin again, and to nap and relax after a 10-day trip!

Unorganized thoughts,

The Inca Trail was the most intense, demanding physical experience of my life. The group my friend and I were with hiked 26 miles/41 kilometers over 4 days, in rough terrain including the highlands of the Andes, the Amazon, and the cloud forests of Peru. The hike was at altitude, at an elevation nearing 13,828 feet/4,215 meters - which I struggled with, coming from living at sea level. I learned that I'm fit on sea level, but NOT at altitude. I also caught a pretty bad cold from another group member overnight on Day 3, which made Day 3 and Day 4's hikes extra challenging.

We were up at 4:30 AM every morning (3:30 AM on our final day to reach Machu Picchu), and due to my slower pace/altitude struggles, I usually had ~10-12 hours of hiking steep inclines and inclines. It was really so hard and I had to be very careful on the steep, rocky steps. The hiking poles saved me! We had to ascend and descend four mountains over the course of our hike. Ascents were really challenging for me due to shortness of breath at altitude. Descents were easier on my cardiovascular system, but required a lot of concentration to make sure I didn't miss my footing and fall down steep, uneven stone steps. Each step was about 12 to 18 inches high, which is significant for my friend and I, who are under five feet tall.

We also camped every night for 3 nights, in tents, which I've never done before. Our group bonded over the struggles of surviving the hideous campsite bathrooms, not being able to shower for four days, finding safe and private places to use the bathroom in the wild, staying warm at night, staying dry in the constant rain on day 2, and our feet and legs killing us at the end of the day. We ate every breakfast, lunch, dinner, and teatime together, and I liked everyone in the group. :) We enjoyed our time together and talked a lot.

We got to explore several Inca ruins on the way to Machu Picchu, and Machu Picchu itself was incredible. The scenery and views along the hike - the mountains, the jungle, the cloud forest - made it worth it, despite how physically difficult it was. I've never seen anything like it before. The sound of the birds singing in the jungle, the llamas and alpacas in the mountains, the butterflies, the rainforest flora... That was amazing.

One of my favorite memories was Thursday morning, when we all woke up at 3:30 AM and hiked in the dark to be among the first at the checkpoint to enter. We all brushed our teeth in the forest around the trail and hung out until the sun rose at 5:30 AM and we could enter the park. :)

My friend and I spent Friday chilling out in Cusco and recovering from our hike. We were SO tired when we got back to our hotel on Thursday night, and so relieved to finally shower and sleep in a real bed. We traveled from Cusco to Lima to Atlanta/Miami to Minneapolis. I got home this morning around 10:45 and I've literally just been sitting on the sofa or napping. Doing post-trip laundry was the big accomplishment of the day, lmao.

This was such an adventure. I'm so glad I could do it, and return safe. It was wonderful to experience South America for the first time, and I hope to go back many times. It was wonderful to completely disconnect with no phone/internet while I was in the mountains. The whole experience was a test of my physical and mental endurance, and my ability to be out of my comfort zone - but as I told my friend when we got back, while I was on the trail, simply focusing on nature and getting through each ascent and descent safely, it let me forget about the things I've experienced this year. My dad dying, estrangement from my mom, the ongoing interpersonal stresses at work. It was a great way to close out my 30th year, which has also been my hardest year.

My 31st birthday is tomorrow. :)

[terrora-sanchous]

I continue to post my characters. This is my main universe, which I am developing at the moment.

So, the main character:

Kieselgur Leuchtenberg.

He is an inquisitor ruthlessly burning out entire settlements of people of non-Aryan race, as well as hunting specific political criminals and enemies of the Third Reich. He kills to live and lives for the sake of killing. His lungs were completely gassed during the Attack of the Osovets fortress during WW1, so he has a device inside that simulates lungs containing a filter that allows harmful and toxic elements to not pass through the body, therefore, using a flamethrower or a Cyclone B gas sprayer, he does not wear a gas mask.

Durshla. This is a young Jew with Gypsy roots, this is indicated by his mark on his chest(Winkel), a yellow triangle indicates that he is a Jew, and a brown one indicates that he is a Gypsy. Perhaps at first you will feel compassion for Durshla because he is a victim of the Holocaust, but over time your empathy for this character will dissipate, he is not who he seems. Durshla is an assistant to Dr. Knutz, he helps him and Herr Telzetir in their laboratory on the territory of the concentration camp, he also sometimes performs the role of kapo (kapo is a privileged prisoner who performs the tasks of camp wardens).

Dr. Knutz.

He is one of the leading German scientists of the Third Reich, his experiments and innovations promoting the ideas of the domination of the Aryan race brought medicine to a new level and gave many advantages at the front. This man inspires fear and disgust, his desk is always a mess, as well as in his head.

Herr Telzetir.

Telzetir is a leading engineer and a truly brilliant man who understands many sciences. None of his knowledge remained in the shadow of memory, everything was put into practice and brought to life. He works in the same concentration camp with Dr. Knutz, and together they created artificial lungs for Kieselguhr. During the """unsuccessful experiment"""" (as the scientist himself calls him), half of his face was burned due to acid and he was blind in one eye, but this did not interfere with his work in any way. Telzetir suffers insanely from severe misophobia (fear of dirt, infections, contact with people and animals), as well as he is allergic to cats and dust.

[tieflingkisser]

Hey AOC, is genocide a 'progressive value?'

Progressive Democratic leaders want us to be 'adults' and vote for their candidates in the US elections this November, but doing so requires us to lose our moral conscience

It's an election year in the United States. If you're one of those voters who has the temerity not to like genocide and white supremacy, you might be feeling weird about being told to vote for Democrats, even if you don't like Donald Trump. It's difficult to see how President Joe Biden and his party represent a material improvement from the previous administration. They continue to run concentration camps at our southern border, continue the policies of Trump's Muslim Ban, and enthusiastically partner with Israel to slaughter tens of thousands and displace more than a million innocent Palestinians in the past four months alone. Suppose you're worried about voting for the people supporting genocide. In that case, the most progressive Democratic officials want to assure you that there's nothing wrong with endorsing powerful leaders who commit crimes against humanity. In fact, it's the "adult" thing to do. You wouldn't want to be some weird, emotional Trump voter who has a strange, tribalistic attachment to their candidate and party, after all. "We've just got to be adults about the situation," Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a recent interview where she stumped for Biden. "I think sometimes people [think that] if you vote for someone, they have to be the embodiment of you. That's something that I think Donald Trump provided to a lot of people, where it's like if you voted for him and you were a Donald Trump person, like, it symbolised so much. But I think what we have here in this situation is a more honest thing. There are plenty of things that the president does that I completely disagree with," she continued. Ocasio-Cortez doubled down on her support for Biden, despite his carrying out what she says are unacceptable atrocities. Speaking with CNN's Jake Tapper on 13 February, the congresswoman said the choice to vote for Biden - even as he commits genocide - is an easy one. "And what I know is who I'm going to choose is going to be one of the most successful presidents in modern American history," she said. "I think we need to be very, very realistic about the grave impact of a Donald Trump election…It is not a game. We need to protect our democracy and, ideally, it's going to be on progressive values." With her effusive praise and meritless assertions, Democrats like Ocasio-Cortez are asking voters for a near pathological level of hastily resolving cognitive dissonance. If it is easy for her to support Biden, that's fine and well, but to then make the jump to call Biden a historically successful leader is downright propaganda. Ocasio-Cortez is speaking to progressive voters when she describes and derides Republican voters as having some inappropriate psychological need to feel represented by…their representatives. What she is demanding from voters instead is that we jump through an at least equally psychologically complicated set of hoops to vote for Biden and her colleagues.

[keep reading]

[batlleonafc]

Ana was left out of the Nations league squad.

The Nati squad for the Women's Nations League in September is complete. Compared to the World Cup, coach Inka Grings makes 6 changes. The most prominent concerns Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic: The record national player and goal scorer is missing. You get a "break to concentrate on your situation and future at club level". The Barcelona legionnaire is reportedly sidelined with the Catalans and was absent from the training camp in Mexico.