#even assuming the nationalists put it forward

[notasapleasure]

Well it's reassuring to know I've already seen the dumbest thing I'm going to see all day

Congratulations. You remembered NI exists. You also proved you know nothing about the place.

[lifeattomsdiner]

Maybe this is a good time to tell this story.

In the aftermath of the 2016 election, I was... miserable seems like too light a word. My faith in humanity had been shattered, and all around me on endless social media feeds, everybody was screaming about how this was it, everything was over, the jackboots were coming out any day now. I couldn't cope. I could only function enough to stumble through my workdays and then go home and watch something to numb the pain. I was lucky I had even that much in me, honestly.

Then one day, after I don't know how long of this, somebody posted a legal notification for the registration of the "California Nationalist Party". "IT'S STARTING" they cried. This was it, the fascists were organizing, they were going to seize total control and then--

They were wrong. Someone in the comments very gently pointed out that "California Nationalist Party" very literally referred to California Nationalists, as in, people who wanted California to secede from the USA and become its own nation. (Given that I never heard of them again after this, I'm assuming that never particularly went anywhere.)

I remember this moment very clearly because that was the moment that I looked at my social media feed and went, Oh. They don't know what's going to happen either. After that, things weren't exactly better, but I was able to let go of the heavy certainty that everything was over forever, and fall forward into an uncertain future. Doing this finally allowed me to exist again as a human being and not a husk.

I'm not telling this story to criticize the person who posted this, because I'm sure they were just as scared and confused and desperate to make sense of things as I was. I really hope that they figured things out too. I'm saying this because with the structure and culture of social media and media in general being what it is, it is so so easy to get swept up in people telling you exactly what the consequences of the latest Thing is and, frequently, exactly why those consequences mean that you should abandon all to rage and despair. It's all lies. Not deliberate lies, not always, but it is. Nobody knows what the future is going to hold. Some people might be able to make a guess, perhaps even a fairly good guess, but there is no certainty about the future until it happens.

And honestly, part of embracing that uncertainty is taking solace in the fact that, no matter what, even if the worst does happen and the sky does come crashing down, you still have the option to keep living, and I mean really living, up until the last possible second. It's not all that much. It is, as Alan Moore once put it, an inch.

But within that inch, we are free.

[awholelottayeehaw]

Mandalore Reunited? (spoilers)

After marinating in the ending of this season the last three days I think another issue I have is over how people are just... okay with the darksaber being destroyed that easily. I've seen people argue about the symbolism of it no longer being needed to reunite Mandalorians and lead, but I honestly think it'll do the opposite and I'll be surprised if I'm wrong with any upcoming season/show that reflects on the planet's future.

Bo-Katan led to the planet's current state after disagreeing with her pacifist sister on how they should rule the planet. For Satine, it was with peace. For Bo, it was through their warrior heritage. The problem with Bo now being Mand'alore after so long of trying is that... we still haven't seen her character growth. She hasn't atoned for what she's done nor has she been honest and open about her actions with the people who's about to rule. The show could/should have had Bo mention Satine and, in a single sentence, both honor her dead sister's wishes and show her growth by verbally confirming that she was going to lead by combining their ideas of democracy to form a perfect balance of both. Bo-Katan just last season was still racist with terroristic tendencies and that doesn't just... go away. There was a reason why her fleet abandoned her the moment she couldn't get back the darksaber for the Nth time.

So my problem overall with it is that we don't KNOW if Bo has reunited Mandalore yet. Lighting the forge, Axe battle crying his nationalistic pride, and the Mandalorian version of clapping doesn't equate to peace amongst Mandalorians. If anything, it reminded me of how we all united to help one another during and shortly after the horrors of 9/11. For a moment, we all were just people helping each other. Then came the surge of xenophobia and Islamophobia that presented itself in a way that we hadn't seen before and it only got worse since. Yes we had xenophobia, religious prejudice, and racism before; but everything after 9/11 just felt... different. More intense.

Will that happen with Mandalore? It may not. But I have a hard time believing, after so many years of division and prejudice, that the Mandalorians from Din's covert, Bo's fleet, and the Survivors would magically get along no problem. There's already Mandalorians, like the survivors, who were there before the Purge and their nostalgia may make accepting any different political outcome difficult. You have Bo's fleet who believe you have to be pureblood to rule or be considered a Mandalorian, and then you have Din's covert whose strict ideas of The Way are reminiscent of a spiritual community that anyone can be baptized into and not born into. If that were the case we wouldn't have wars or conflict, or even have future conflicts in Star Wars.

Are Mandos going to be okay with others not wearing their helmets all the time? Are Mandos going to be okay with sharing space with people who never take off their helmets? What is the weight of Ragnor's baptism for those not in the covert? And if there's no darksaber anymore to determine who the ruler is, then what are the plans moving forward for leadership? There's technically never been an established order of leadership, the planet had always been led by Warlords and Satine was (I believe) the first to inherit her father's titles after his death and that was extremely controversial. Paz and Axe couldn't even peacefully argue over a game of SW chess, it's naive to assume a moment of unification to take back a planet will erase that decades long prejudice. Not even Din has been able to get over his droid thing that he's had since he was a kid.

Honestly, putting it to words, I won't be surprised if this caused another civil war. The prior one was fought between the New Mandalorian peace movement and traditional nationalists (Satine vs Bo) and with three very different sects of Mandalorians uniting on the planet for the first time in years, I can't fathom the peace lasting long. I can't imagine people not arguing about what The Way is, or overcoming decades long prejudice and resentment after the purge all because they got a planet back.

It's sweet and idealistic to imagine this would be the case, Mandalore as a planet deserves it. Future Mandalorians deserve to not live under warlord leadership. But that would require Bo to not only overcome her own prejudices and the lack of patience she has for diplomacy (ex: the robot bar and the Ugnaughts), and it'll take time for us to see if she learned anything from Din and his people during her time with his covert. And although Bo not needing the darksaber to rule or unite the planet and its people is a sweet idea rich in symbolism, it's naive to accept it as a final truth when Mandalore and Bo-Katan's complex histories loom over the future of the planet regardless of turned leaves and open minds.

Again, I might be completely wrong. Maybe they took the easy way out and decided, for once, Star Wars can just leave out the Wars part regarding Mandalore? Maybe Bo did learn her lessons and with The Armorer she's able to find a middle ground for everyone? Maybe everyone is able to put things aside for the planet and won't need Din and Grogu to come and play diplomat between everyone again? I guess we'll see, and despite all of this, I am excited and curious to see the future of Mandalore moving forward in this show and others (and movies!) that take place in the future.

[henriettalamb]

A (long) explanation to why I restarted the series

I’ve had a fair share of comments asking why I made the decision to restart the comic series (and for those who don’t know, there was a previous run of the series in 2014 to 2017) and I realize people were very attached to this old version- but there is a simple reason to why I rebooted it: I had to.

In what can be a cautionary tale for young & aspiring creators: I was a teenager and a total novice when I first started the series (it was an ask blog before i switched to full pages!) and I had no real roadmap or plan for where the series would go, and this started to manifest in ways that caused problems for me: not knowing how characters would act, not knowing proper panel placement, and essentially coming up with stuff on the spot, it was not sustainable from a creator standpoint in the long term.

But the other, more real reason to why I restarted it all is because the world changed. And I changed too.

The unfettered and bubbly & silly optimism that I had in those years were no more- starting in 2016 the world was in an increasingly new, dangerous place ranging from unhinged, ultra-nationalist fascism rising in my country and around the world, that hate manifesting into acts of violence against numerous oppressed communities- including my own, and the environment of the world started to get more violent and its future bleak.

And while this sort of hatred rose in many areas of society, I was realizing I was transgender and needed help getting to a place where I wanted to be. With the increasing apparent bleakness of the world compounding any mental issues I already had, I lost the drive to continue moving forward with art and even parts of my life.

When my former outlook of hope ended abruptly, the type of style and humor i put into the old-run of the comic felt utterly alien to what I became, what I was feeling, and I had no clue to how to continue it in a way that was not awkward. Thankfully, I got new meds, I transitioned, I moved out and got a good change of pace- and I finally had a clear outline of what I wanted this series to be and how I wanted it to go, and conclude. And the only way I could do that was start it again, on my own terms, older & a little bit wiser, and (while not perfect) my writing and art skills leaped miles above what I was originally making years prior. It’s a work that I make because I want to keep the reasons for moving forward alive and well, and putting that into my work- clinging on numerous reasons to live is not just something *I* need, but *everyone* needs right now... and the past self of me as a teenager who paid no attention to the world, assumed things would magically get better on their own- all without any self-growth, could not provide that type of narrative in a world that is intrinsically challenging and now radically different.

Yet, the old comic is still precious to me, and an important stepping-stone to how I am today- it’s of its own time and I just simply don’t want to change that, it’s almost nostalgic and comforting how that old comic’s aura is just of me, feeling more safe than I ever do now. I wouldn’t rid of that work in a million years. And yet, even as the new comic has its tense turns as the world does- I still want to infuse the newfound and very real love that deserves to be felt and spread in these troubling times- showing that amidst everything, there’s still someone- no, *people* who will love and care for you, and will keep you moving forward and support you up even if the world crumbles around you- and ultimately, you can even help do the same for them.

That’s Henrietta’s story! An outcast, in a new world in front of her with new and familiar challenges, even constantly dealing with inner demons, she can have new people in her life that can give her a reason to live. It’s an increasingly important aspect for me that I don’t think I could ever grasp back then.

So, stay safe, be good to one another, and all the while I’m going to give my all for you, and hopefully the story, world, and characters resonate to you the same way they do for me. <3

[qqueenofhades]

I feel more and more like this portrayal of extreme violence against women and also the idea that people in the middle ages were dumb/didn't know what they were doing (of which imo horrific childbirth gore is an example--I know it happened but also it still does!) is very much in line with the idea that history is an always linear progression upwards (dumb to smart, no human rights to many of them you get the drill) so in a way these "realistic" depictions make sense to most people probably because they assume that whatever is happening to women now, it must have been Worse for them back then, and because they're aware women didn't have too many rights until recently (a d even that is debatable) that has only ever been worse in the past too unless they were Joan of Arc

And this is why primary and secondary school history education needs a complete overhaul

*same anon, I just wanted to add to the linear history thing real quick. It also writes off the men as idiots who don't know morals, and humanity in general as stupid, rather than a complex evolved system of thinking which simply is different from contemporary white western civilisation. It just... Feels a lot like the way colonialists looked at the people they called savages.

I mean, yeah. I've written (and ranted) extensively about all of this in the past (as I said, this whole conversation is like being dead-fish-slapped in the face with approximately-2014 Tumblr). I have too many posts on this subject to possibly link and/or remember them all, but my medieval history and women in history tags both come to mind as places where some of that stuff can be found.

Also, either the makers of HOTD or the people writing the Hollywood Reporter article actually used the overturn of Roe v. Wade as a "reason" for it being "important" for the show to depict the "fact!!!" that premodern women "often" died in childbirth (one of the showrunners even came out with some imaginary-but-weirdly-specific statistic about it being a "50-50 chance" for a woman to survive giving birth. Thanks for that, Noted Medieval History Expert, Guy Who Makes Television Shows For HBO!) And like... does any woman in America right now think that what they really need is some mediocre-white-man entertainment executive making a high-budget infomercial about why childbirth is dangerous? Like they suddenly discovered that fact three seconds ago and are like ZOMGZ MORE PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THIS? When the possibility of women dying in preventable ways due to pregnancy complications has once more become a grim reality, like... we also really need to see this in entertainment now? Because something something realism!!!?

Either way, the overturn of Roe alone should put paid to any serious attempt to argue that things have only gotten "better" for women throughout history, have never gotten worse, and that "human rights" only proceed forward on a chronologically based idea of liberal morality. If the "progress" of history is real, why do we have a literal fascist movement in America that is mouthing all the old and supposedly discredited tenets of fascist thought? Why is that happening again, if we learned back in the 1940s that racist nationalist fascism was bad, fought a pretty major war over it, and then supposedly moved past it for good? Etc etc. People create social attitudes and legal rules according to what they find useful at the time and in response to their needs and fears. As I have said, they also don't live long enough to have any real historical memory or sense of just repeating what has been done in the past, because a) they don't learn history, b) they don't believe it, and c) it hasn't happened to them, they treat history as only the parts of it that they like and which support their point of view, and therefore just go around and around in circles and never actually learn their lesson. Blah.

Anyway, conservatives and the alt-right like the idea that there was supposedly a time when women "knew their place" and weren't treated like people and had no rights and only existed to please their menfolk and Serve God, because that lends "weight" to their attempt to do the exact same thing right now. Liberals like the idea that the Past Was Always Bad For Women because it implies that modern liberalism happily solved that problem and provides them with endless ways to disparagingly call the fascists "medieval," which isn't helpful either and distracts from how modernity has developed and nurtured these toxic ideas for its own purposes. So. Yeah.

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression - Ep 45, radio version, August 2016 - Dobashi in Brazil, 'Crush the NHK' election broadcast, Shark movies.

Kaoru starts the show by commenting on how suntanned Joe looks. Joe says he attended Fuji Rock and got tanned. He spent three days watching live performances and had a great time. The weather was relatively mild, cool at night, no rain, so Joe says it was quite a 'comfortable' Fuji Rock. Joe asks Kaoru if he's getting a suntan yet. Kaoru says he hasn't got a tan at all. He has been spending all his time indoors song writing.

Kaoru then reminds listeners that its only three more days until the live special will be broadcast, and reads out the title of it again. Joe says its quite a rough sounding title. People will be intrigued by it. Kaoru then says he has recieved a message from Dobashi in Brazil, and proceeds to read it out..The message reads as follows: 'Hi to everyone at TFoE. Are you all well? Are you into 'Hiranabe Go'? (*Kaoru comments, 'We kinda are'*) At the time of this broadcast I am in the Southern hemisphere, in Rio de Janeio, Brazil. There may be people wondering why Tokyo Sports has come here. I've been requested to do Tokyo Sports style reporting here, but nothing dangerous enough to get us into trouble. Some of my articles are already published, so please, fans of Dir en grey, fans of Joe, fans of Kami, and fans of Hiranabe with thier butts out (*Did I get this right?? '平鍋の下半身出たファンの皆さん'...??😳*), please do go and pick up a copy of Tokyo Sports. There will also apparently be a live broadcast of this show on August 9th and I will join it from the other side of the world for just a little while. Security is so bad here, and I may be robbed during the broadcast, but I won't miss it! Everyone please listen'. Kaoru and Joe both say they are looking forward to it. Kaoru reckons it'll be about lunch time in Brazil when Dobashi joins them for the show. Just the kind of time he's likely to be busy with work.

Tasai joins them next, for the Tokyo Sports corner. Tasai goes back to the question of why Tokyo Sports is at the Olympics. He says that overseas, people see the word 'Tokyo' in Tokyo Sports, and often mistakenly assume that it must be the major sports newspaper in Japan (*It isn't actually considered a serious newpaper at all in Japan*). Once, when a Tokyo Sports journalist went overseas to report, a special reserved seat had been set up just for them. Kaoru says he can understand how such a misunderstanding could take place. If they, as Japanese people, heard of a newspaper with 'New York' in the title, they would assume it was pretty major. Tasai calls this, 'Tokyo Sports magic'. They laugh about how the people in Brazil might see Dobashi and think 'Wow, a Tokyo Sports reporter!', they probably assume he's rich.

Tasai's first news is about one of the contenders for the Tokyo Governor position, Tachibana Takashi, who represents the N Koku party (or The Party To Protect The People From The NHK). His election broadcast/pitch was pretty incredible, says Tasai. Joe watched it, so knows all about it, but Kaoru did not. Tachibana was originally an employee of NHK. He quit after leaking info about NHK's financial trouble to a gossip mag. When running for Tokyo Governor, he put out a 6 min televised election pitch, which was actually broadcast on NHK, in which he repeatedly called for the NHK to be destroyed. This has gained both supportive and critcal reactions from the public. NHK employees get a very high annual salary, which is paid for by the NHK fee imposed on the public. Even people with low incomes are hounded for this fee, which Tachibana thinks is questionable. In his pitch, Tachibana also raised the many crimes or wrongdoings which individuals related to NHK have been involved in, including the case of two NHK TV announcers who were having an affair, and were caught having sex in a car. Tachibana claims the NHK is trying to cover up this info. Kaoru wonders if Tachibana is holding some kind of grudge against the NHK.

Joe then mentions the documentary movie 'Candidates/立候補', which deals with the topic of bubble candidates in elections. This movie features Mac Akasaka who is also another bubble candidate in this Tokyo Governor election. Joe explains that a bubble candidate is a candidate who is not expected to recieve many votes (like Tachibana). He adds that in order to run in the election, any wannabe candidates have to first pay a fee of ¥3million. This is to try to avoid joke candidates from running, and to make sure the candidates who do run are doing so seriously. The movie in question deals with the idea of paying the fee whilst knowing you won't win, and the reasons for doing so. Joe says it may obviously just be for a bit of self promotion, but this is also actually a good way to put a message out to the public that would never normally get there through the mass media. At the same time, there is always the risk that you will come across as a joke, despite paying ¥3million. Its a risk you have to take if you run as a bubble candidate. Tasai adds that any candidate that recieves less than ten percent of the vote has to forfeit the money they paid. Joe says that most bubble candidates never clear this post, and they have the added burden of campaign costs. They may get a chance to speak out about what they want, but it costs. Tasai comments that criticizing the NHK publicly is actually a massive tabboo, so ¥3million is perhaps not so expensive if it means being able to say such things publicly. With the tv election pitch which all candidates get, you have 6 mins on national tv to speak the truth exactly as you see it. Tasai's favourite thing about Tachibana's pitch is that at the end of his speech, he proposed a kind of quiz asking viewers to guess how many times he had said, 'Crush the NHK!' during the last 6 mins.

Joe also mentions that the 6 min televised election pitch can also unfortunately be used as a means to deliver hate speech, which was seen in the pitch of candidate Sakurai Makoto, founder of the ultra-nationalist/far-right group Zaitokukai. Allowing candidates to speak thier mind directly comes with this risk. Joe then brings up the legendary election pitch by rock star Uchida Yūya, still available to watch on youtube today. (*Do check this out if you havn't already!*)

Tasai's next news is about the recent hit shark move, 'The Shallows' (Japanese title: Lost Vacation.), starring Blake Lively. The movie had quite a low budget, but has taken in huge amounts at the box office. Tasai asks Joe and Kaoru if they like shark movies. Joe says he knows someone at the Rolling Stone office who is a shark movie mega-fan. Shark movies have evolved a lot since 'Jaws', there are even movies about flying sharks etc out there now. Its proper b-movie territory. These days there is also a lot of shark merchandise, like shark backpacks etc.

Tasai goes on to say that shark movies are particularly popular with young women these days. The younger generations, particularly women, are not that interested in mainstream Japanese movies, but much more into horror etc. Kaoru didn't know that young women actually went out to watch movies much these days. Tasai says they apparently tend go as groups of three or so. Each of the three will then tweet to thier friends, and so popularity spreads. Kaoru comes to the realisation that women also actually like scary stuff. Tasai says (*I think*) that a scary movie is the place to go to find young women this summer, and Kaoru likens this to playing 'Hiranabe Go'.

To finish, Kaoru comes back to talk about the live special which will happen in 3 days. Joe admits a lot of his friends have asked him about it. After the last live boadcast, they all recieved a bit of a bashing. Kaoru doesn't know how it will turn out. Joe says they will look back over the last six months during it, and Kaoru adds that he will play some more of the new jingle entries for the last time. Finally, he plugs the Dum Spiro Spero tour and ends the episode.

Songs - Dir en grey/Lotus, ???/??? (*couldn't make this out*), Dir en grey/Utafumi

Back to radio top page

[davemiller45]

Canada designates the Proud Boys a terrorist group, right alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS

the proud boys is a men's membership whose individuals become aware of themselves as "western chauvinists." the group become fashioned in 2016 via canadian gavin mcinnes, who has due to the fact that cut ties with the institution (seemingly to assist a few members who were going through attack and rebellion fees in 2018). in step with the ap, mcinnes has claimed that the group isn't always a far-proper extremist group that espouses racist ideology, however, he has acknowledged that there may be overlap between the proud boys and white nationalist organizations.

the institution become reportedly part of the revolt at the u.s. capitol on january 6—a element cited via government officers. though the capitol assault turned into no longer the "using" factor for the designation, they stated that it did put a whole lot of facts into the general public domain, which went into the intelligence reports.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/tech-co-publishing

"their cause and their escalation towards violence have become pretty clear," canadian public protection minister bill blair stated in a briefing.

blair stated that they have got visible this escalation toward violence considering 2018, and that organization participants espouse misogynistic, islamophobic, anti-semitic, anti-immigrant, and white supremacist ideologies.

"the organization and its individuals have openly encouraged, deliberate, and performed violent sports towards those they understand to be opposed to their ideology and political opinions," the canadian government defined in briefing materials, adding that the institution "often attends black lives rely (blm) protests as counter-protesters, frequently engaging in violence targeting blm supporters. on january 6, 2021, the proud boys performed a pivotal role inside the revolt at the u.s. capitol."

canada is the primary country to designate the proud boys a terrorist organization. however, a few anti-hate and civil liberties organizations in canada had been unsure approximately the understanding of this sort of designation.

the canadian anti-hate community wrote on twitter, "we've got formerly expressed subject that the definition of a terrorist entity might need to alternate, or the bar be lowered, to listing the proud boys—on the premise that a loosened definition may be exploited to target bipoc or anti-racist organizations within the future." but, they introduced, minister blair had contacted them to cope with the concern, telling them that based at the facts the authorities has, the proud boys "extra than meet the standards to be certain a terrorist entity." while requested in modern press briefing whether or not the u.s. would don't forget a comparable declaration, white residence press secretary jen psaki spoke back, "we, of path, have a assessment underway—a domestic violence extremism overview...i assume we can look forward to that evaluation to conclude before making any determinations."

even as it's understandable that investigations have to take place as they did in canada, this designation is simply acknowledging what we've all visible with our own eyes. we have already had the fbi warn us that white supremacists are our biggest domestic terror hazard and congress has also acknowledged that "white supremacists and different some distance-right-wing extremists are the maximum sizable home terrorism risk facing the us." further, on january 30, prosecutors introduced conspiracy fees in opposition to the proud boys for his or her function within the capitol riot.

https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-ultimate-guide-to-health-and-fitness-tech

it's not a stretch to look that the proud boys, who have interaction in political violence and who intently fraternize with white supremacists even supposing they deny espousing the ones perspectives as a group, pose a clean and present risk to the safety and protection of our kingdom.

[silversabl-inova]

( same information beneath the read more if you’d rather click through. ) BIOGRAPHY | BASICS | WANTED ARCS

i can bear any   p a i n   as long as it has meaning.

IC PORTION; BASICS —

CHARACTER NAME/ALIAS: Silvija “Silver” Sablinova

FACECLAIM: Katherina McNamara

AFFILIATIONS: The Wild Pack, ISA 

AGE (physical age as well, if different): Twenty three (23)

SPECIES (human, metahuman, alien, etc): Human

IS YOUR CHARACTER’S IDENTITY SECRET OR PUBLIC?

... Is ‘both’ an okay answer? I’m sure she thinks her identity is secret, but her name is Silver Sablinova, it’s not like... a leap to guess she’s the Silver Sable.  I guess it’s probably secret to the rest of the world because I don’t think she’s “famous” yet, but in her home country and the criminal underworld of eastern Europe, she’s probably pretty well known for her more infamous capabilities.

IF SECRET, OR YOUR CHARACTER IS A CIVILIAN, DO THEY HAVE A CIVILIAN OCCUPATION?

She prefers the term “secular recovery operative” but she’d be most appropriately dubbed a nationalistic bounty hunter.

IF YOUR CHARACTER LIVES IN THE FORTRESS, WHAT ARE THEIR DUTIES?

N/A.

DESCRIBE SIX TRAITS (3 positive, 3 negative) YOUR CHARACTER HAS AND HOW THESE AFFECT THEM:

[ + ]: PROUD - The third generation of Symkarian nationalists, Silver’s childhood was quickly marred by an airstrike that stole her mother’s life and destabilized her entire country, causing a civil war. Ever since, all Silver’s life has felt like a battle: for freedom, for justice, for family, and for peace. She knows her family history like the back of her hand, and because of this, she knows that fateful day was the result of her own family lineage doing everything it can to protect Symkaria & its people - but in the end, they had done anything but. The last surviving member of the Sablinova line, it’s Silver’s duty to restore balance to Symkaria, and she holds this duty deep in her heart, fueling the fire inside her. Everything in her life can be boiled down to ending the war in Symkaria - nothing else matters to her, and Silver’s duty to her country & compassion for her people are, arguably, her best qualities. [ + ]: RESOURCEFUL - There’s nothing in a room that Silver can’t make into a weapon at a moment’s notice. She’s not above fighting dirty to achieve the upperhand, and if her arsenal of gadgets won’t do the trick, than whatever’s closest to her will have to do. Locked in an empty room? No matter - she’s trained her entire life for the inevitable day when that situation arises, and when it does, her foe will be shocked to learn that she is the deadliest weapon of all. [ + ]: UNWAVERING - Devotion is one thing, but Silver is unwavering in her support. Once past her icy exterior, Silver tends to show her devotion with actions rather than words. She’s the first to interject herself into a dangerous situation to protect those she cares about; that circle is too small to allow any harm in its way, and Sable would break any law or commit any crime to safeguard those closest to her. It’s why her heart has such exclusive access - that kind of loyalty is, quite literally, worth dying for.

[ - ]: COLD - There’s a certain sharpness Silver tends to adopt when dealing with... people. Whether it be her version of professionalism, or just a product of her childhood, Silver’s apathetic approach to most interactions may give the impression of aloofness or distance. Bridging that gap is difficult for her, and for what she can’t give people emotionally, she tries to supplement with non-verbal acts of compassion. Not everyone has the ability to see through her stony exterior, or bone dry humor, and she often comes across as unhospitable or unconcerned, even if she’s anything but. [ - ]: DETACHED - Sometimes, you have to be selfish to be selfless. Silver has to remind herself of this fact constantly to keep herself in check; it’s easy to be swept up in the warmth of compassion for all, but a good leader knows when to draw the hard line between what’s good for everyone, and what’s good for your people. Silver has to draw that hard line far more than she’d like to - her one track mind is on brand for the Wild Pack’s affairs, but on a larger scale, this self-centeredness can spell disaster when they’re not careful. She just continues to tell herself that if Symkaria will ever be restored to its former glory, she needs to become as comfortable as she can with restricting big picture empathy. [ - ]: INFALLIBLE - When Silver makes a choice, be it over a contract or a personal matter, she becomes quite obstinate that her decision was the best possible one. In most cases, thankfully, it ends up being true; however, when Silver does make a mistake, she will outright refuse to accept responsibility, instead often blaming all other factors surrounding the situation for impeding her. If the mistake is a deadly error that costs innocent lives, than her adamance  increases tenfold, but in her heart, she knows she’s not free from wrongdoing - she just refuses to relent her headstrong exterior for fear of losing the respect of the Wild Pack.

POWERS AND/OR ABILITIES:

Indomitable Will: unnaturally strong willpower, able to resist all forms of temptation, including subordination manipulation, telepathy, subliminal seduction, & mind control.

Weapons Specialist: skilled with a katana, throwing projectiles, stun guns, & dual-wield fighting.

Master Martial Artist: and gymnast!

Multilingual: Fluent in seven languages - English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Somali, & Symkarian

WEAKNESSES:

Human: Quite literally, she’s human. No level of aptitude with guns, throwing knives, Kevlar bodysuits, or martial arts will help her defeat super-powered foes, and even though she can keep up with the best of them, a well timed sniper would write the end to Silver’s story immediately.

The Wild Pack: One of the last vestiges of her family history, Silver’s pledge to lead the Wild Pack includes protecting them, at all costs. There’s few honors she holds higher than the privilege to be apart of their ranks, let alone their commander in chief. She wouldn’t jeopardize their well-being for any contract, no matter how ludicrous.

Symkaria: It goes without saying that on the global playing field, Symkaria is the beating heart of Silver’s allegiances. She loves her country, and she would do anything to return it to the glory of her childhood - even if that means aligning with the wrong people for the right amount of time. Silver’s compassion for her countrymen - and longing for what used to be - outranks her perception of the bigger picture.

WHAT DREW YOU TO THIS CHARACTER?:

Well. I love Silver Sable, off the bat - the Spiderverse is pretty much my favorite comic conglomerate in the world, so I feel pretty comfortable writing characters derived from it. I dig a good villain, or at least, antagonists, and I just feel like Silver is one of those characters you can really dig your teeth into & flesh out so many different layers. The death of her mother at a young age, the duty to a country she saw prosper & implode within her lifetime, the lineage to uphold within The Wild Pack, and moving forward, the mending of Symkaria & creation of Sable International -- they’re all different strokes of the same woman, and I love poking & prodding around them all to see what sticks!

IC PORTION; DETAILS —

WHAT BROUGHT YOUR CHARACTER TO SOKOVIA?

Money. She’s only there to fulfill a contract - she’s been hired by the ISA to retrieve any powered people she can find. She’s not a big fan of Sokovia as of late, especially given their recent catastrophes. The damage to Sokovia had a ripple effect, upsetting the socioeconomic standard of neighboring countries. This, of course, includes Symkaria; getting powered people out of Sokovia will hopefully halt the continued destabilization she’s watched through her country even further off balance, making it easier for the oppressive regime currently in place to make swooping laws

(I would like to offer your current players the ability to opt into this plot! I don’t want to assume anyone wants her as an antagonist - if no one’s interested, she can certainly creep along the sidelines within the city of Matchak in the name of reconaissance. I would die if she & the Wild Pack were part of the reason why people are going missing in the woods, or at the very least, they begin to provide intelligence as to who or what is causing it.)

DID THEY SIGN THE ACCORDS? WHY OR WHY NOT?

No, Silver & her team aren’t superpowered and thus, outside the scope of the Accords, the ISA, or anybody else, for that matter.

(Well, maybe not Interpol, but that’s not her chief concern... ever.)

PROVIDE 3-5 HEADCANONS RELATED TO YOUR CHARACTER:

Thou Shalt Not Kill: Silver doesn’t consider herself a mercenary, unlike the rest of her crew, and for good reason. She staunchly keeps to a “no kill” rule; her clients pay her for retrieval, not assassination (and even if they did, her price would be too high). Silver specifically accepts contracts that require her to bring the target back alive, preferably to face trial. It’s a moral and economical decision - she believes in the hard lines of justice, and typically, the Wild Pack will get hired to also run security for these high profile trials. It’s a win-win in her eyes, especially because this moral alignment begins & ends with her; she can’t force the Wild Pack, a band of true mercenaries, to abide by that rule unless it’s part of the fine print. Otherwise, they don’t get paid.

I’m Not Your Silver Lining: Silver does not “connect” well with others. Even the Wild Pack, despite being raised within their ranks, has become inexplicably difficult for her to bond with after she assumed a leadership rule over them. She doesn’t put herself on any kind of pedestal; it’s just lonely at the top, and heavy is the head that wears the.. crown? Tactical helmet? Whatever. Regardless, her icy exterior isn’t the result of her pride, but her inability to display outward affection. It makes her quite difficult to befriend, let alone romance.

Anything You Can Do...: She does not do well with being confronted with her own mortality, chiefly the indisputable fact that she is not super powered. She’s quick to start a fight with anyone who dares to say it. Silver has accomodated this woeful transgression of fate in every way she could, keeping a strict training routine that began in her childhood and never letting herself have a “real” life outside of the Wild Pack. Stories of her “powers,” passed in hushed whispers around Symkaria, never failed to bring the smallest of smiles to the Ice Queen’s lips, before quickly melting away. She feels uncomfortable around true superpowered individuals, knowing she’s at a tactical disadvantage at all times, so Silver prefers the company of augmented humans or just normal people.

WANTED CHARACTER CONNECTIONS:

Peter Parker: NEVERENDING PLOTS FOR SPIDEY!!!! I’m partial to Silver being an antagonist against Spiderman; I’m also partial to them being begruding partners, and pretty much everything in between! There’s a lot of back story I would want to establish with Peter’s player, since Silver does have some background in NYC at the Symkarian Embassy. Has she heard of him from her time in America, and can’t believe her eyes when she sees web residue in the forests of Sokovia? Maybe he intrigues her, in the sense of cat-and-mouse, the chase for a target that she can never quite catch. Anyway, I just like that they’re well matched and could endlessly go in circles around one another!

Dick Grayson: Silver will not take well to other mercenaries on her turf, and if she finds herself losing targets - and money - because of some dick in a spandex suit, she’s going to intervene the only way she knows how: a tactical net and a stun gun, to haul his ass off to ISA, or whoever offers the highest bid for his head. Either way, their connection would be openly antagonistic, and it’d be way more enjoyable if he continously slips through her fingers through the fault of only her own.

Tony Stark / Bruce Wayne: Waaaaaay in the future, but right off the bat - I know I’d love to lay the groundwork for Silver to have Tony and/or Bruce help her begin the first drafts of Sable International weaponry, specifically the special red energy blasters they use as well as their unique armor.

I like the idea of Tony trying to spear head any kind of science based project, but obviously, he has his own demons that he’s struggling with re: his inventions, so that would be the slowest of burns for Silver to actually convince him to help her of all people. Potentially, it would be easier to recruit Bruce because she has a hard moral alignment of Justice, which may appeal to him, but it also may not since she doesn’t have an issue breaking other countries’ laws to acquire her target. It really depends! I’m open to either or both options.

POTENTIAL CHARACTER ARCS: ( ohhhhh buddy... )

THE WILD PACK: Silver’s ascenscion to leader of the Wild Pack may not be a new development, but  I don’t think she has quite the handle over her role as her father had. At the moment, she’s still trying to prove herself that she was their best choice. It doesn’t help that she was merely picked for lineages’ sake, the group being “passed on” to her, despite there being members who were more qualified and possibly, even more respected than a Sablinova. It’s caused Silver to retreat within herself, for now, as she tries to feel out what’s the best version of herself to be that can actively command their respect. I want to see her grow within this role, specifically finding her stride and proving herself as not just her father’s daughter, but her own person. I’m mainly focused on her accepting the weight of her father’s death as a “positive” burden to shoulder, because it gave her the Wild Pack, but without anyone to banter off of, I want to remain a little removed from addressing her relationships with individual members until I get a better idea of her.

THE BAD GUY?: At the moment, she’s not very concerned with anyone’s opinion of her, outside of the Wild Pack’s. If that means that she’s comes across as a “villain” for simply doing her job, she doesn’t quite care - everyone has to make a living somehow, and she hasn’t seen these so-called “superheros” do very much to help anyone other than themselves. Sure, individual civilians are great to rescue, but they hold no concern for the bigger picture when it comes to their actions.

THE GLOBAL PEACE AGENCY: I don’t know what the hell is going to happen with this group, but boy am I excited! Regardless of whether their true to their name, I think Silver’s entire personality is tailored to be taken advantage of by them, especially if they promise stability for Symkaria. As long as she’s not exposed to intel that hints at bad intentions, she’d probably operate at their beck and call, until her trust in their motivations becomes fractured.

SABLE INTERNATIONAL: I want Sable International to come to fruition!!! I don’t know how, or why, but I just love that journey for her! Maybe as a retirement plan from “bounty hunting,” so she can lean more into private security consulting? Maybe as a tactical weaponry distributor that could rival Lex Luthor / Trask / Oscorps’ on the global market, but in the name of “good”? Maybe something happens to the Wild Pack and it’s the only way she can keep herself sane in the following months? WHO KNOWS!!! I’m always open to ideas!

CHARACTER BIO —

Silvija Sablinova and her mother, Sacha, were sleeping peacefully in their beds the morning that the Sablinova family was changed forever. It was too early to even be awake, dawn having not yet struck its colorful brilliance across the lavender-grey when the drone peppered the valley. It wasn’t the first time such an act of aggression was lobbed across their way, but this time, her father Ernest wasn’t there to save them, away on an assignment with his Wild Pack. It was the end of February, the winter of 2002. Silver was five, and from that moment on, she never left her father’s side again.

After that, the story sounds the same. Daddy's little girl raised to be his right hand; there's no softness, no grief, only purpose for them both to find vengenance for her mother's killer. Not a border nor an army could keep them from finding whoever ordered the strike, and with the Wild Pack by their side, their path toward retribution knew no limit. In the mean time, they trained, and Silver's entire life began and end at all the same lines as her father's. It would be nice, if the story could stop there, but it never does.

For generations, the Sablinova's served the monarchy that ruled over Symkaria, until World War II threw the entire planet off-kilter and brought their beloved country into turmoil. Her grandfather was a prolific Nazi hunter and a national hero, actively fighting against the civil war threatening to break out across the land. Her father followed in his footsteps, his career more focused on collecting HYDRA agents with terror charges, alongside his infamous band of mercenaries as they brought countless criminals to justice. In 2017, when it was exposed that HYDRA had infiltrated SHIELD, a frequent employer of the Wild Pack...It was no surprise they would be targeted, but once again, Symkaria became the battleground of their disposal; their loved ones targeted, their neighborhoods raided, and soon, they were left no choice but to go underground.

Silver was there the day that her father's tenure as their fearless leader came to a shuddering halt, face to face with the man who hadn't just taken her mother from them. He'd destroyed their homeland in the name of the enemy. He'd taken peace from innocents without a second thought. In his final act of treachery, he stole her father's life and body, slipping through the Wild Pack's clutches as they gave desperate chase, but to no avail. She was the natural choice as his successor; it was a lifetime achievement tainted with sorrow and defeat.

The hunt has never ended, despite what Silver says. She knows her father's dead, and she'll probably never find the man who destroyed her family, but still, she waits. Until then, it was business as usual; catch the bad guys, bring them to justice, rinse & repeat. No duty is monotonous when it serves a greater purpose, but eventually, even Silver couldn't stop herself from pushing the Wild Pack toward Sokovia. Their unrest had begun to bubble over and spill across its borders, eventually displacing refugees and criminal activity into Symkaria's own. Silver Sable may be investigating client contracts, but Silver Sablinova is bidding her time, waiting for something, anything to help her either accept the fate that's been handed to her, or to find the man that caused it.

Until then, all she can do is be stronger than she was the day before.

[crazyscotsmanthe1st]

The Crown

You know me, I’m not a monarchist or a Royal-watcher. I view the Royals with a healthy dose of cynical apathy. I’m not necessarily in favour of getting rid of them, but I’m not necessarily completely against it. I’d have to be persuaded of the alternative - who would be our head of state, how would it be decided, how would our constitution be arranged going forward? Only when these questions are satisfactorily answered would I consider voting in favour of a Republican agenda. But I wouldn’t rule it out.

So I’m perhaps not someone you’d expect to be glued to Netflix’s glossy high-profile drama series, The Crown. But there I was, enthusing about the trailers for season 4, keeping an eye on the release date, and binge-watching it over a couple of evenings. For all the world like one of the muppets you see in the crowd at any Royal appearance, minus the union flag and the shrieking sycophancy.

When I first became vaguely aware of the series shortly after the release of season 1, I wasn’t much interested. I assumed it would be an exercise in jingoistic hero-worship, porn for Pimm’s drinkers. I turned my cynical, lefty nationalist nose up at it. Not for me, yer maj.

But then I saw a clip on YouTube with Winston Churchill, played by John Lithgow, making a scene at the wedding of the then-Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, i.e. the future Queen and Prince Philip. It piqued my interest sufficiently to watch a few more clips, then eventually to commit to actually watching the series.

The fact that an actor of Lithgow’s status had been lured, and was featuring so prominently, was a good sign. The role of the Queen’s first Prime Minister was not going to be a bit-part or a cameo. A lot of focus was clearly going to be on constitutional politics, and the social context in which the Queen’s early reign took place.

This was indeed the case, as we saw a young monarch, played superbly by Claire Foy, navigating her first steps with the help of a wily and experienced, but elderly and often truculent Churchill in his second period in office. She is beginning her reign just as he is approaching the end of his, and we see the dynamic change between them as she goes from relying on the wisdom of a grandfatherly mentor, to putting up with a silly old duffer who can’t accept his time is up. The story of season 1, aside from all the personal stuff between Elizabeth and Philip, is that transfer of energy as Elizabeth grows and Churchill recedes.

There’s also a lot of effort put into establishing background. Clothes, vehicles, aircraft, music, news articles... It’s all very 50s. For people who remember the decade, it’s probably very nostalgic. For the rest of us, it’s educational on the fringes. It gives us a good feel for the times.

Seasons 2 and 3 are also very strong in these departments, taking us through the political turmoils and social changes of the 60s and into the 70s. The cast change between seasons 2 and 3, when Olivia Colman replaces Claire Foy as the Queen, and a host of other older actors step in, is done as smoothly as was probably possible. You soon get used to the new faces, and any bumps in continuity are barely noticeable.

Special mention should go to the episode handling the Aberfan disaster in season 3. It’s powerful, moving television and I’d encourage anyone to watch it, regardless of whether they’ve seen the rest of the series. It stands alone as a poignant comment on the tragedy. The actor Jason Watkins gives a brilliant performance as Harold Wilson throughout season 3, and in the Aberfan episode in particular. Wilson’s exit in the last episode of the season, when he resigns because of deteriorating mental health, is another touching human moment.

You’ll notice I’m focussing more on the social-political events rather than the lives of the Royals, and of course that reflects my own interest. The personal and family dramas of the Royals play out alongside the bigger events, and indeed sometimes take up full episodes. But the makers of The Crown are very clever at including something for everyone. Royal worshippers and history/political geeks alike will be satisfied, and willing to put up with the “filler” to get to the good stuff.

Season 4 was built up to be the biggest yet, and the publicity was turned up to the max. We were given tantalising glimpses of Gillian Anderson as the devil Thatcher, and a young Diana played by Emma Corrin. For people of my generation, the show is finally dealing with events that took place during my lifetime, albeit that I was too young to care at the time.

Having watched season 4, I can report that it did not disappoint. Gillian Anderson was... spooky. She nailed the devil Thatcher’s rigidness, toughness and inability to compromise. The callous insistance that her policies were for the greater good, even in the face of immense opposition and human suffering, her social awkwardness at Balmoral, her bitterness and disbelief when her cabinet finally ousted her - all beautifully portrayed.

But even Anderson was eclipsed by the true star of this season. Even though I was more interested in the political stuff and usually don’t care much for the personal drama, Emma Corrin’s vulnerable, endearing and captivating performance as Diana completely stole the show. Even cynical old me was utterly swept up in the Shakespearian drama of a naive young lady who thinks she’s marrying a handsome prince from a fairytale, only to find very quickly that she’s become a prisoner in a loveless marriage, and is doomed to forever play second fiddle to her husband’s mistress. The joy turning to ashes. The fragile hope of youth giving way to bitter frustration and disappointment. Emma Corrin plays an absolute blinder.

There’s been a lot of discussion about “accuracy” in the press, to which the actors and production team have rightly responded that the show is a work of fiction, albeit heavily inspired by real events. Since a lot of the “accuracy” they’re discussing is to do with details of the Royals’ personal lives, most of it is hearsay anyway. And I don’t care.

I see the show not so much as a drama about the Royals, but more a social commentary on the last half century - told through the eyes of one posh family.

So if you haven’t watched any of it yet, I recommend you get stuck in. One won’t regret it.

[schraubd]

Rate That Apology, Part 9: AIPAC!

A few days ago, it emerged that AIPAC had ran some rather ... aggressive ads targeting Democrats. "The radicals in the Democratic Party," the ad text read, "are pushing their anti-Semitic and anti-Israel policies down the throats of the American people." Whoof. The ads also linked to a petition which said that "It’s critical that we protect our Israeli allies especially as they face threats from Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah ISIS and — maybe more sinister — right here in the U.S. Congress." Double whoof. When I first saw these ads, they were so out-of-character for AIPAC (which -- reputation notwithstanding -- generally tries to avoid wading into partisan frays) that I assumed they were fake. But they were not, and AIPAC has apologized for running them. So let's rate that apology, shall we? The apology is four paragraphs long, and it is interesting while it starts off pretty good, each paragraph is worse than the one which comes before it. Let's take them one at a time:

We offer our unequivocal apology to the overwhelming majority of Democrats in Congress who are rightfully offended by the inaccurate assertion that the poorly worded, inflammatory advertisement implied.

That's not bad! What I like most about this is the phrase "rightfully offended". Not "those who were offended", not "if you were offended", not "read it as offensive". The apology owns up that the ad was, objectively, offensive. It also agrees that the ad was inaccurate and inflammatory. "Poorly worded" is a bit of a hedge, but in the context of the rest of the paragraph I don't think it detracts from the message.

We appreciate the broad and reliable support that Democrats in Congress have consistently demonstrated for Israel. The bipartisan consensus that Democrats and Republicans have established on this issue forms the foundation of the U.S.-Israel relationship.

This is also generally fine. It's less "apologetic" than the first paragraph, to be sure. But had these been the only two paragraphs, I think this would have been an overall pretty decent, unequivocal apology. Alas....

The ad, which is no longer running, alluded to a genuine concern of many pro-Israel Democrats about a small but growing group, in and out of Congress, that is deliberately working to erode the bipartisan consensus on this issue and undermine the U.S.-Israel relationship.

I understand the temptation to try to explain, in one's apology, why you said the thing you're apologizing for. I'm not going to say one should never do that, but it's a high-risk proposition and it rarely pays off. Mostly, that's because it comes off as an effort to dodge responsibility and to rehabilitate what actually matters, which is the underlying cause. But here we see pitfall of a different and more ironic sort. The purpose of the ad was to express concern about the erosion of a bipartisan consensus around Israel? Well gosh golly, what do they think this ad did if not contribute to that erosion? It'd be like writing an apology for cursing out prominent entertainer and then saying you did it only to draw attention about diminishing civility in public life.

We regret that the ad's imprecise wording distorted our message and offended many who are deeply committed to this cause. We look forward to continuing our work with friends in Congress to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship and oppose any efforts to undermine its deep, bipartisan support.

Oh how far we've fallen from the first paragraph. At the start, "poor wording" was contextualized in language that straightforwardly accepted responsibility. Here, it stands alone, suggesting that the only problem with the advertisement was in its choice in rhetoric and that it was expressing an important point poorly. Nooope. The advertisement called Democrats antisemites who were ramming anti-Israel politics down the throats of the American people in a fashion potentially more sinister than ISIS. We're a well ways past the point of poor wording here. AIPAC needs to actually reckon with what it did here, and why it was wrong. If the beginning of the apology seemed to gesture in that direction, it's gone by the end. I'll add one more note. For the most part in this series we've rated the apology of individuals, not organizations. And there are certain additional elements of an institutional apology that don't make a lot of sense for an individual. An individual can't "discipline" or "fire" the person responsible, nor can they really implement processes to "guard against this happening again". But an institution can, and maybe should be expected to. I don't think AIPAC has said anything on either of these fronts -- who was responsible, what actions (if any) were taken to discipline them, and what guardrails have been put up to ensure we don't see a repeat. That's worrisome, and knocks them down a grade. In general, my view of AIPAC differs substantially from the conventional wisdom. The latter sees AIPAC as this titan of Washington politics that brutally crushes even the slightest deviation from Likudnik policy. I see AIPAC as a paper tiger that generally seeks to cultivate relationships more than enforce dogma and has largely struggled to flex any concrete muscle in circumstances where there is significant political energy pushing against it. This truth is masked because for many years there rarely was any political energy pushing against -- but you see it in the case of, e.g., the Iran Deal, where AIPAC really did go all out to sink it and made pretty much zero headway. The problem AIPAC is running into is twofold. First, it wants to be bipartisan in an era of increased polarization. And second, it has a staff which I suspect actually is mostly left-of-center paired with a donor base that is increasingly right-wing. As much as folks like me see AIPAC as engaging in partisan attacks against Democrats (for all its talk about how it "supports a two-state solution", one never sees it drop $40 million to attack Republicans for abandoning it), it's also under a lot of pressure from its right flank which wants to see it really take the gloves off and explicitly come out as an anti-Democratic actor. They are tired of what they see as AIPAC coddling Democrats and want it to announce what they already know: Democrats are the anti-Israel party. These ads almost certainly came either from actors within AIPAC who agree with that sentiment, or as a result of pressure from external donors who are pushing that narrative. Hyperpolarization cuts both ways: Republicans, too, have little use for even a politically-friendly organization if it continues to gesture at straddling the middle. They don't want earnest efforts at cultivating bipartisanship; they want an attack dog. AIPAC isn't paying me for advice, but I'll offer some anyway: this would be a very short-sighted strategy. It's not just because explicitly aligning with the right would be perhaps a boon for the Republican Party but a disaster for pro-Israel politics. It's also that the right-wing actors AIPAC would embolden are ones whom AIPAC has surprisingly little influence over. Even as its reputation has drifted right-ward over the past few years, AIPAC has progressively lost influence among Republican elected officials who prefer to take their cues from more explicitly partisan outlets like ZOA or CUFI. AIPAC might rule the roost of "bipartisan" Israel talk, but it's hard to see what their niche is as just one explicitly right-wing group among many. For better or for worse, though, I doubt AIPAC is going to be able to right ship. It's just too big, and archaic, and creaky, and doesn't have the institutional adroitness to adjust to the new era its finding itself in. Unfortunately for people like me, these sorts of transitions are difficult, and there will be adjustment pains. Is it fun watching AIPAC get used as a punching bag, accused of forming an "unholy alliance" with Islamophobes and White Nationalists while prominent Democratic candidates nod along? Not for me -- but then again, perhaps AIPAC should have thought of that before handing out money to Frank Gaffney or putting Adam Milstein on its national board. More broadly, to the extent the pro-Israel movement aligns itself with Trump, that ipso facto represents allying with an Islamophobe and White Nationalist of the highest order. The sad truth is that AIPAC is mostly reaping what it has sown here. We can wince at intemperate rhetoric all we want, but the fact is the claim that AIPAC has aligned itself with -- has supported and is supported by -- at least some Islamophobes and White Nationalists is just as strong as the case that Bernie Sanders has aligned himself with antisemites, and the folks getting themselves up in high dudgeon over Elizabeth Warren not rushing to AIPAC's defense hardly would blink at similar accusations being leveled at Sanders (the idea that, if a rally-goer prefaced a question by saying Sanders is "forming an alliance with antisemites and Communists", Donald Trump would do anything but cheer him on is almost as fanciful as the idea that the national media would view it as an unspeakable slander if Trump did nothing more than ignore it). Anyway, I've digressed a bit from rating that apology. So: A good start is undermined, albeit not wholly erased, by a mediocre ending. 5.5/10 via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/2Sbr3us

[withastolenlantern]

The sun set slowly over the western horizon towards the Mexican coast as the helicopter carried them across the swells, a bright orange glow in the distance that caused the waves to glisten and sparkle in a hypnotic rhythm in time with the whirring of the rotors above. Chatham sat dejected, her feet dangling out the side port where a machine-gun position had once existed. They’d chased the hovercraft as far as they could, but the copter had been built for transport, not speed, even when it was new, and they'd of course removed all the weaponry. The old bird kept them close for nearly forty kilometers, the autopilot bobbing and weaving around sporadic small-arms fire, but the large turbofans powering the hovercraft eventually outpaced them as the helicopter’s low fuel alarm had chimed. 

Whoever they were, they disappeared into the Caribbean twilight like so many pirates before them. The sea that spanned before them had formed the early foundation of the old British Empire, its islands once abustle with privateers and naval frigates alike. Thousands of ships had sailed these waters trading in sugar and gold and slaves, bringing untold wealth to the nascent imperium; the  sloops and galleons had long-ago been replaced by drone barges and the slaves with autofabs. Things had come full circle, now, and it seemed fitting that the reincarnated royal union might begin its decline here as well. 

She instructed the autopilot to turn and head for the Jamaican coast, where they landed at a joint Union and US naval air station. The obsolete helo purred like an enormous kitten as the rotors spun down and she dismounted the deck of the aircraft onto still-hot tarmac in the fading light of the equatorial sun. Santomas followed, his head ducked low under the slowing whine of the helicopter, as if unsure of a safe distance from the blades. Davis’s mobile rang as they crossed the air field, and he walked a distance to take the call outside the din of the aircraft. 

Across the landing pad she watched what appeared to be American Marines in exosuits running in PT formation; the base supported both Commonwealth and US operations in the Caribbean, but since the formation of the Union, the "Special Relationship" had become strained, especially since the Canadians had rejected a US-led proposal for a greater North American Congress of Nations. The Canadian parliament cited their status as a former Crown Dominion as a major factor in rejecting the invitation, but the influence of the US and it's defacto Mexican puppet-state's continued adherence to a "might makes right" socio-economic policy was evident. She passed several of the Union infantry garrison standing to the west end of the airfield, stoically but obviously observing their American counterparts' exercises with derision. 

Among the gawkers was the young flight leader who’d lent Chatham the Merlin. She stopped beside him and handed over the authenticator fob.

“Yanks are up to something again,” he remarked. “They’ve been drilling like this for days, full recon gear.” 

“Drugs, you think?” she responded idly. With the Americans and Mexicans it was always either drugs or immigrants. It wasn’t entirely surprising, she’d always thought. Central and South America had always been somewhat under-developed, and the shifting climate and rising seas had only exacerbated the situation. The US land border with its southern neighbor was enormous, and largely desert, which made securing it incredibly difficult. Her native South Africa had a similar geographic disadvantage, but while they still embraced the Rainbow Nation ethos, the Americans had responded to their modern economic challenges by ignoring their largely immigrant history and doubling-down on nationalist sentiments and geographic isolationism.  

“Most likely,” the young man said with a shrug. “What’s your deal, then? Command just said to expect some civvies and to have the helo fueled when you arrived. Never got to ask.”

“HeRMES,” the detective said, flashing her credentials from her mobile.

“Didn’t think they gave coppers flying lessons.”

“No, but the SBS does,” she replied with a wry smile.

“Curiouser and curiouser. And what’s with the nerd?” he asked, pointing toward Santomas who she now saw was now sprinting toward them across the tarmac.

“Technical consultant,” Chatham said, doing a poor job of hiding a smirk. She could only imagine her own reaction, back then, to such a scene: an obvious civilian running across the airbase, caked in sweat, with such reckless abandon. 

Santomas skidded to a halt next to her, his face red and drenched in perspiration from the heat and his recent exertion. He tried to speak, then thought better of it and swallowed several heavy gulps of air. “That was the boss,” he panted. “He was pissed.” 

“I’d assume so,” she said with a snort.

“He’s in Singapore until next week but he wants a full report when he gets back. Wants me back in the lab figuring out how the hell somebody’s getting execution access to the fabs. ‘Right bloody now’ I believe were the exact words,” Davis explained.

“Never a dull moment I suppose,” she said, turning to the officer. She offered a crisp salute in thanks. “Squadron Leader.”

“Don’t I know it, mum,” he said, returning the gesture.

They left the cadre of servicemen and walked across the airfield to one of the distant hangars. One of the Consortium’s commercial aircraft was parked under a rusting corrugated aluminum roof; it had ferried them down to the Caribbean and would carry them back up to Wales. How the Earl had gotten permission to park a private jet on an active Commonwealth military installation was beyond the detective, but she presumed that it had something to do with wealth and its privileges.

They boarded the jet without fanfare, and Davis keyed in his credentials and submitted the flight plan. Chatham settled into one of the plush chairs midway through the cabin and opened a terminal to begin her situation report. Before she knew it the autopilot had spooled up the turbines and they were aloft into the rapidly darkening sky, chasing the sunset as it crawled its way east. She looked out through one of the windows and saw Jamaica, still green and verdant even in the twilight, quickly disappear, just another speck amidst the breakers, swallowed by the massive sea. 

They flew in silence most of the way, Chatham working on her report and Davis just sitting quietly across the cabin. He nursed a small glass of whiskey from the Earl’s bar in the rear, mainly swirling it against the sides of the frosted crystal, staring off into space.

“You’ve been atypically quiet, Mister Santomas,” she said looking up from the terminal.

“I’ve, uh… I’ve never been shot at before. Never killed anybody either. I think that’s catching up with me a little bit,” he said, continuing to stare at the floor.

“Best not to make a habit of either, I’ve found,” Chatham responded. 

“Puts things in perspective a little,” the engineer confessed. “What if it had been me, falling lifeless through that hatch?”

The detective put down the terminal and leaned forward toward him. She’d been through this existential crisis before, many years ago in a bivouac in some coastal Indian city she couldn’t remember. Earlier that day she’d fired her weapon for the first time in anger, shooting a suicide bomber out of mid-air as he leaped over rubble and sprinted toward her squad. Afterward, she stood over the body, silent, staring at the hole in the insurgent’s chest. It was bigger than she had expected, somehow, and when she’d closed her eyes that night it was all she could see; a gaping, oozing portal where a person used to be, and it threatened to pull her in and consume her whole.

“But it wasn’t you,” she said.

“Tell me one thing I’ve done that matters,” he challenged.

“I mean, I’m...” she started to argue.

“Its fine,” he said, waving the detective off. “It’s not you. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve heard it all. I’m reliable. I get things done. I’m ‘good at my function’.” He made finger quotes as he listed off descriptors. “But those are the qualities you look for in a washing machine, not a person.”

Chatham tried to interrupt, but he continued. “When I’m gone, it won’t matter. In the course of human history, I don’t even rate a footnote. Fuck, the shareholders won’t even notice, and I’ve done nothing but make them money. No… no they’ll probably be happy because they can replace me with someone cheaper,” he scoffed, turning his eyes to the floor. “I haven’t accomplished anything with my miserable existence that’s worth a damn.”

The detective sat quietly, unsure of what to say. She knew from her own experience that whatever arguments she might present to the contrary would fall on deaf ears. When one fell in to these depths, no rhetorical ropes could pull you out until you’d resolved to make the climb. Her companion continued to fume, obviously if quietly. “You’re probably not… wrong,” she hazarded. “In the grand scheme of things, I don’t know that any of us really matter. Not as individuals, anyway. I mean, I have a Military Cross and I keep it in a fucking sock drawer. When I’m dead, they’ll etch a fancy symbol on my tombstone, and that’ll be the last anyone thinks of me.”

He looked up at her, his gaze deep and penitent. “This is all a fucking show, you know,” he said, gesturing around the laboratory. “It’s a sham, like me. HenRI is more than capable of running everything in here, at least to the Board’s liking. They put a body down here because it ‘humanizes’ the Consortium, makes the investors feel like they’re doing business with a human enterprise, and not just a machine. When Diaz passed away, they thought about letting HenRI run all of Operations. It’s not like we really do any meaningful R&D anymore; there’s no point when they’re shutting down most of the fabs. But the Earl knew better, and he was nervous about giving a virtual intelligence that much control. He wanted someone… pliable. Someone he could trot out to glad-hand and speak the customers’ language, but wouldn’t make waves. I’m no more than HenRI’s secretarial functions in flesh and bone.”

“I don’t believe that, even if you do,” she replied.

“Diaz killed himself, you know.”

“What?” Chatam said, taken aback.

Santomas shook his head in the affirmative, pantomiming a finger gun. “Forty-five to the temple, a no-doubter. Two floors up from here, in his office. He printed the gun himself, in one of the dev lab fabs that were off the network. I found the code on the server a couple days later.”

“Christ,” the detective swore.

“Janitorial drone found him one night, 3 AM, slumped over his desk. Only threw up the flag because of all the blood. HenRI notified me, and I had to break the news to Jaime, his partner. The Consortium bought his silence, of course; he took the payout and their kid and moved to some island in the Caribbean, or whatever’s left of it. Haven’t heard from him since,” he explained.

“Did he leave a note?” she asked.

“Not as such. It’s… it’s probably my fault, if anything,” Santomas said, starting to choke up. “I know Jaime hated it here in Wales and they were drifting apart at the end; looking back, I think I was the closest thing Yangervis had left resembling a friend. His parents fled cartel violence in Colombia when he was five, and they landed in Texas. They had trouble making ends meet in the US. His dad was killed robbing a convenience store; his mother sued the state and the settlement was how he was able to afford his initial studies at A&M. He started the autofabs, in my opinion anyway, as a way to relieve some of that economic anxiety for other families so they didn’t have go through what he did. We were so successful at first, but then Black Tuesday happened, and I think he blamed himself for all the layoffs that followed.

Looking back, I keep wondering if there weren’t signs I should have recognized. He used to gripe all the time about expanding capabilities and finding ways to streamline distributions to do more for the growing poor. I just… I never realized how far down that particular rabbit hole he’d gone. We had a memorial here, and then a week later the Earl offered me his job. I should’ve said no, but I’m too much of a coward.” The engineer wiped a single tear from his cheek with his shirt-sleeve.

Chatham leaned forward and patted his leg gently.“You saved my life today,” the detective replied. “That’s what you did that matters. There was no cowardice in that.”

[antoine-roquentin]

Mises began working at Vienna’s Chamber of Commerce in 1909, and became its secretary in 1918. The Austrian School of economics, in which he and Hayek were trained, had supplied the monarchical state with royal tutors and finance ministers for three generations. Defeat in the First World War brought the empire crashing down, shorn of three-quarters of its territory and four-fifths of its population. The socialist government of the First Austrian Republic, which took office in February 1919, introduced unemployment insurance, the eight-hour working day and other social reforms. Such measures didn’t go much beyond the reforms brought in by the New Liberalism in Britain before the First World War, but for Mises they were ‘Bolshevism’, and would ‘lead Vienna to starvation and terror within a few days’. ‘Plundering hordes would take to the streets,’ he warned, ‘and a second bloodbath would destroy what was left of Viennese culture.’

Mises saw himself as the ‘economic conscience’ of a civilisation on the verge of collapse. He recommended corporate tax cuts, balanced budgets, the violent repression of unions and the cutting of wages, which had risen as a result of the war and had to be reduced ‘far below their prewar level’ to restore competitiveness to Austrian industry on the world market. As finance minister, Joseph Schumpeter, his brilliant and erratic classmate at the University of Vienna, wanted to tackle inflation with a capital levy, which shocked Mises. When the socialist foreign minister, Otto Bauer, another former classmate, put forward a plan for limited state takeovers, Mises tried to sink it by arguing that central planning could never be implemented. Without markets to set prices, he said, there could be no efficient allocation of resources, no tallying of gains and losses; socialist management, he wrote later, would be ‘like a man forced to spend his life blindfolded’.

In 1921, Mises hired Hayek to work on the war reparations demanded by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. After returning home from the Italian front, Hayek had studied law at the University of Vienna, also taking classes in art history, biology and psychology, as well as making nightly trips to the theatre. The members of Mises’s Privatseminar would relocate to Café Künstler in the evenings, drinking, arguing and singing about economics, philosophy and drama until 3 a.m. The picture is at odds with Mises and Hayek’s portrayals of themselves as lonely and powerless. The first neoliberals were deeply involved in the cultural world of Vienna, where the study of economics was defined by political threats from the street.

In July 1927, the acquittal of three right-wing militia members for the murder of a war veteran and a child in a working-class district set off a general strike and demonstrations. Protesters put the Palace of Justice to the torch, and the police fired into the crowd, leaving 89 dead. ‘Friday’s putsch has cleansed the atmosphere like a thunderstorm,’ Mises wrote. ‘The street fight ended in complete victory for the police.’ He believed Mussolini’s victory had for the moment ‘saved European civilisation. The merit that Fascism has thereby won for itself will live on eternally in history.’ Talk of workers’ ‘right to the street’ or of ‘universal, equal and direct voting rights’ was often, he believed, cover for ‘terror and intimidation’. By contrast, he insisted to a group of German industrialists in 1931 that ‘the capitalistic market economy is a democracy, in which every penny constitutes a vote.’ Elected by means of what he called a ‘consumer plebiscite’, the rich depended on the ‘will of the people as consumers’, even when their wealth was inherited, since it could ‘be preserved only by those who keep on earning it anew by satisfying the wishes of consumers’. In 1934 Mises joined the Patriotic Front, launched the year before to rally support for the Catholic conservative and nationalist regime of Engelbert Dollfuss, which banned the Nazi and Communist Parties and forged an alliance with Italy. In February, Dollfuss moved against the socialists, putting down a fitful uprising of workers in Linz, shelling Karl Marx Hof in Vienna, expelling the Social Democrats from parliament and passing a new corporatist constitution. He was assassinated in an attempted Nazi coup in July.

That same year Mises left for Geneva. The Austrians had strong links with organisations in the city. The International Chamber of Commerce, founded in 1919 to bring American and European businessmen together, worked with the Financial Section of the League of Nations to lower tariffs, stabilise currencies and settle outstanding war debts. Mises had become Austria’s representative to the ICC in 1925, and when in 1927 he and Hayek opened the Business Cycle Research Institute in Vienna, they did so in close co-ordination with the League. The aim, Hayek wrote at the time, was to paint a ‘complete picture of the economic situation of the larger region and investigate the mutual dependency of smaller economic areas’: they produced some of the first models of regional and global economies. The Rockefeller Foundation gave $20,000 to the Vienna institute in 1931, and funded others in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Poland. Four years later, the Graduate Institute of International Studies invited Mises to teach in Geneva. Its founder, William Rappard, the director of the Mandate Section of the League, described the institute as a diplomatic training ground for a transatlantic elite, and himself secured $100,000 from the Rockefellers. It became an academic hub for the most globally minded neoliberals, whose position was distinct enough, Slobodian argues, for the group to deserve its own name: the Geneva School.

By now, the Depression had struck, weakening the hand of the neoliberals. Demands for state intervention, and new theories to explain and counteract the crisis, now came not only from socialists but from liberals, many of whom had been allies of the neoliberals at the business summits of the 1920s. To ‘speak of a national, social or world economy’, Hayek later wrote, ‘is one of the chief sources of the most socialist endeavour to turn the spontaneous order of the market into a deliberately run organisation serving an agreed system of common ends’.

Events in Britain showed just how far liberalism had been blown off course. After the First World War, it had slowly and painfully led the world back to free trade, the gold standard and balanced budgets. But the illusion that London could achieve this on its own burst in 1931, when the Kreditanstalt collapse in Austria set off panic selling in the City, a run on the pound and an austerity budget that split the Labour government. To meet the crisis, Keynes (whom Hayek liked, but found curiously ignorant of economics) was willing to countenance all sorts of deviation from liberalism, while still pledging allegiance to it: fiscal stimulus, loose credit, tariffs, even an (ill-defined) ‘socialisation of investment’. Fears that liberalism itself could be co-opted and deformed in this way prompted Mises, Hayek and their allies to revisit and restate their doctrinal commitment to ‘true’ liberalism.

There was one bastion of genuine liberalism left in England: the economics department of the LSE, where Lionel Robbins invited Hayek to speak at the height of the national crisis in 1931, then offered him a post to lead the countercharge to Keynes. Hayek took to his new home, with its comforting social hierarchies and imperial responsibilities; it was ‘like stepping into a warm bath where the water is the same temperature as your body’. Public works and other ‘artificial stimulants’, such as low interest rates, could only make the Depression worse, he argued, since they had caused the crash in the first place. In a typical move, he insisted that what critics took to be a failure of the markets was in fact their true virtue. Equilibrium models erred in assuming a ‘perfect market in which everybody knows everything,’ Hayek told the London Economic Club in 1936. The magic of markets, on the contrary, was that few people knew much at all, but that their ‘spontaneous actions’ could still ‘bring about a distribution of resources which can be understood as if it were made according to a single plan, although nobody has planned it’. Hayek made ‘unknowability’ a central tenet of legal designs that sought to shield this providential planlessness – in which ignorance, error and disappointment all had roles to play – from the hubris of planners.

Two years later, he helped to organise the colloquium in Paris inspired by Walter Lippmann’s Inquiry into the Principles of the Good Society, which had used Austrian ideas to attack Roosevelt’s New Deal, while also urging liberals to move past ‘the fallacy of laissez-faire’ and build a positive legal-political agenda. The German economist Alexander Rüstow suggested ‘neoliberalism’ as a name for their collective project, as a way of indicating their dissatisfaction with 19th-century dogmas. Wide enough to encompass differing perspectives, the prefix also delimited their range: neither New Liberalism, with its record of expanded state assistance in Britain before 1914, nor bad old laissez-faire.

[arlingtonpark]

SNK 117 Review

Eren is a jackass. That is the very first insight into his thinking we get. I almost came.

Death is raining from the skies and Eren can only think to think “Bring it on?” Sorry bro, but how did you think picking a fight with the football team would end?

Seriously, Eren was a jackass here. He doesn’t just jump headlong into the deep end, he fucking pole vaults into it. While lighting a joint and having a cameraman snap a pic for Instagram.

It’s so hilarious how this chapter plays out. Eren walks in thinking he’s hot shit, and by the end he’s throwing a temper tantrum because he’s about to lose.

People may not like me using that term, temper tantrum, but it really is the best one for what happened. The fight is clearly not going his way. He about to lose to fucking Reiner of all people (no offense to any Reiner stans out there).

And he’s pissed.

He is fucking pissed off. As if the ear-splitting screams of anger weren’t a dead giveaway.

Eren…just isn’t a very mature person. I said earlier that Eren would go apeshit if things started going against him, and it turns out I was right.

Eren just hates to lose. The idea that he could be dominated by someone else is so offensive to him that it turns him into a mindless ape.

He embodies the macho tough guy archetype. He may like to pound his chest a lot, but he’s really insecure. He took a punch to the face from Armin like it was nothing, but all it took was a snide remark to get to him.

This insecurity likely stems from his general worldview. One thing that struck me about Eren early on was how much he talked about hierarchies. He talks of the Titans dominating humanity. Of there being strong people and weak people. The existence of strong and weak people implies a hierarchy.

Eren sees the world in terms of hierarchies. There are strong people who fight, win, and get to live. Then there are weak people who cower, lose, and die.

This is why I compare Eren to Donald Trump a lot. Eren’s worldview is basically Trump’s. There is no difference. You’re either a winner or a loser. If you don’t have power, you are powerless.

It’s more obvious with Trump, though, because Trump is just more unabashed that Eren is. Trump once called his Chief of Staff into the Oval Office and ordered him to swat a fly for him. He relishes the power he has over people and abuses it for kicks. Just like a certain ice cream shit swirl-haired brat and another certain leader of the Cult of Zeke.

Trump’s actions and rhetoric are infused with this worldview. Whenever Trump interacts with someone else, whenever he speaks of relations between people, it is obvious he sees the world in zero-sum terms. People like him believe we live in a world of slaves and masters.

This Trumpian attitude is pervasive among the EFC. Yelena, Floch, and even to a certain extent, Louise. And then there’s Eren. Zeke may have a monkey for a titan form, but the almost literal king of Ape Mountain here is Eren himself.

Eren has been obsessed with notions of dominance and strength since childhood. His whole beef with the titans, which predates the killing of his mother, was all about their dominance over him. The death of his mother was just part of the puzzle of what drove him early on.

This attitude has been apparent since the training arc. Remember what happened when it looked like he might flunk out and be sent to the fields? Mikasa had a good point about there being more than one way to fight, but Eren wouldn’t have it.

The fall of Shighanshina was cast as an act of domination by the titans, which, given Eren’s hierarchical worldview, was also necessarily a sign of his own weakness.

Failing to pass military training and fight the titans is thus also a sign of his weakness, which is why he was so obsessed with not flunking.  

Eren may, ultimately, just be using the EFC for his own ends, but it makes an awful lot of sense for him to be allied with them for it to be just that. Eren and Floch share a worldview. As most die-hard nationalists are, they are cruel.

At the heart of most nationalist movements is a grievance over the domination of your people by an outside force. In the United States, it’s the grievance of white people over the supposed dominance of colored people. In Europe, it’s the grievance of white people over the supposed ‘arabization” of the continent.

On Paradis, it’s the outrage over Eldian persecution. The Marleyans are dominating the Eldians and this is seen as illegitimate. And it is! But the series is walking a fine line. Nationalism is a very real and dangerous movement and the series needs to be careful if it’s going to show them as not entirely wrong.

It’s easy to think the series is just playing the well-intentioned extremist trope, but there’s a subtle nuance here.

This isn’t like in My Hero Academia, where the Hero Killer believed commercialism had cheapened the hero profession, so he set out to murder whom he believed were the worst offenders.

Vigilante justice is wrong. There is a system in place to deal with wrongful acts. Because that’s what’s fair to all involved parties. Judge, jury, and executioner in one person is tyrannical, and My Hero Academia rightfully denies the Hero Killer any moral authority.

Attack on Titan, in contrast, grants moral authority to the EFC. Hange said “[The EFC] must believe in Eren, who in turn believes in Zeke. Of course, all we ever did was doubt Zeke. We never tried to move forward. But ultimately, the Eldian people have no choice but to rely on the Yeager brothers’ ability to rumble the land…which means it was the Corps who had been squandering its precious time, putting the Eldian people’s lives at risk. It’s no surprise many soldiers felt that way.”

The point is conceded. The story legitimizes not just their basic worldview, but the actions they take as a result of that worldview. The story endorses insubordination.

It’s the same thing on modernizing the military too. Modernizing the military was part of Zeke’s cover plan, but presumably because they’re weary of Zeke, Paradis has apparently not done much to reform. They still do anti-titan training with swords!

Floch bad-mouths Shadis, but he’s just an instructor. The face of the problem, basically. Hange, Pixis, Nile, and Zackley are the leaders of the military, so the story’s support for Floch’s point about needing a modern military is also an indictment of them.

The story, basically, throws them under the bus to make a point about needing a top of the line military.

This is partly why I fear the story is sympathetic to the EFC. This is a story about fighting. And right now, the EFC are the only ones doing that right now. It’s the EFC that’s out there fighting and dying to protect Paradis.

And the people who’re actually worth cheering for?

They’re in jail right now shitting bricks over nothing!

So…Eren’s been up to some real shit lately, hasn’t he?

He’s shat all over Marley. He’s shat all over his friends. He’s shat all over his country. He’s been a real shit-throwing ape, hasn’t he?

All this inexplicable shit throwing has most people convinced there’s some plan here. Eren’s doing this because he has a good reason to do it and we’ll all be praising him for his brilliance when this is all over.

But a lot of people talk about Trump like his actions are part of some plan, too, and that has me thinking about something:

What if there is no plan?

Whenever Trump does something inexplicable people often assume it’s part of some plan. He’s beefing with the Teletubbies on Twitter because it distracts us from his family separation policy. It just has to be. It has to be. There’s no way someone, anyone, could be this stupid!

This is called the cleverness fallacy and it occurs when people just assume there’s an underlying plan in place for no real reason.

In reality, Trump beefs with Teletubbies because he’s actually is that stupid.

In this chapter, Eren struts out to face the invading Marleyans by himself. Now, looking at this purely from an outsider’s perspective, you would think he would do this because he has a plan in place. He’s walking out to face the invading hordes solo because he’s laid a trap or something.

But no. He had no plan. He had nothing.

What if that is what’s been going on this whole time?

What if the reason he’s been doing all this seemingly random shit is because he legit has no idea what he’s doing?

At the very least, I’m willing to bet he hasn’t fully thought things through. I’m sure he has an end goal in place, and he probably has a vague idea how to achieve it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s been improvising most of the time.

Like, suppose the end goal is to use the wall titans to protect Paradis while implementing some method that circumvents the Curse of Ymir? In that case, is it really hard to believe Eren is mostly fuzzy on whether the Curse can actually be circumvented at all, but is doing all this anyway because he’s convinced himself it’s the only way?

Eren supposedly has this strategy in place, even though thematically it makes no sense. Eren isn’t special. He’s not. The whole thing with his character is that he’s not humanity’s savior. He’s not going to win the war for everyone.

And yet. Now this guy is going to save the world singlehandedly? He’s concocted a master plan and has everyone eating out of the palm of his hand, and he’s doing it all by himself? Something about all that doesn’t add up.

(I will admit it is possible Historia may be in on the plan. It’s possible Eren told Historia to appear as though she’s going along with Zeke’s plan.)

If it turned out Eren’s been mostly blustering his way to success, I wouldn’t be shocked.

This chapter was a nice change of pace for Eren. He rarely looks so…vulnerable. Did you see the look on his face when Zeke showed up like he was fucking Gandalf at Helm’s Deep? That couldn’t have been more fairy tale-like if you put Zeke in shining armor and Eren in a dress.

Eren is definitely going to betray Zeke, but I’m glad Zeke at least gets to feel like he has something real going on here with Eren. He finally gets to be an onii-chan.

Zeke tells Eren to leave the rest to his big brother. Using “big brother” here is a bit saccharine, but it says a lot. I’m sure it feels very gratifying for Zeke to be able to say he’s got Eren’s back.

Isayama is going to work the 104th into the final battle somehow, right? This is apparently the final battle, we’ve gotta make it a spectacle somehow. A three way fight between the Marleyans, Zeren, and Eren’s compatriots would work.

IDK where Isayama is going with them thinking the Rumbling’s started. How hilarious would it be if Armin went colossal and killed almost everyone in the building (he could probably shield his friends like Eren did in Trost) because he thought the world was about to be destroyed and the only hope to save it is if Eren dies right now.

Except—oops, there was no rumbling at all. My bad!

I could see Isayama doing that. +1 to him if he does.

This chapter features a lot of war action, so I guess I can talk about something that’s always bothered me about the discourse surrounding this series.

-deep breathe-

No one understands what a war hawk is.

One common belief about this series is that SNK is anti-war because of how gruesome its depiction of combat is. This is a gross misunderstanding.

Combat is indeed depicted in the series as being unpleasant. People die in horrific ways. Torn limb from limb. Eaten alive. Crushed like a love bug. The clear stance of the series is that war is an ugly thing.  

But FFS, that’s not what anti-war means!

No one who’s serious denies that war is ugly. That’s not the point. It’s not about whether or not war is a glorious virtue or an inglorious vice. Those aren’t the terms of the debate.

One of the most prominent war hawks in the United States was Senator John McCain! McCain was intimately familiar with the horrors of war. He was shot down in Vietnam, imprisoned by the enemy, tortured, and he carried the scars of that nightmare until the day he died.

But he was a war hawk. When there was trouble somewhere around the world, he supported using military force to resolve the issue. Because while he didn’t deny the ugliness of war, he believed military force would ultimately result in a good end. He believed it was the best possible option and was therefore a necessity.

The debate between the hawks and the doves is about the necessity of war, not the aesthetics of it.

Believing in the necessity of war is different from glorifying it. Nazis glorified war. Isayama is not a Nazi.

If the series were truly anti-war, it would uphold non-violent alternatives to war. But SNK clearly does not do that.

Armin is kind of a whipping boy in this regard. There are several prominent examples of him trying to negotiate with the enemy, only to be thoroughly rebuffed. The point the series is trying to make is clear: the world is cruel; war is the only option, however unfortunate.

That’s not to say the series supports wanton violence. The series may lean towards hawkishness, but its stance is more complex than that. Characters who seek to minimize casualties are cast as heroes. See: Smith, Erwin.

Merciful acts, where appropriate, are also smiled upon. See: Blaus, Mr.

But this is still an overall hawkish stance, and moreover, it is seemingly informed by a very crude worldview.

One of the most famous sequences in the story is of Mikasa being kidnapped and Eren rescuing her. Even now, I’m struck by the sheer…brutalism of the moral.

Mikasa’s parents are murdered and she is taken to be enslaved. Eren kills two of them in retaliation, but is cornered by the last remaining one. Mikasa is the only one who can save him, and herself by extension. On the brink of losing his life, Eren calls for a cowering Mikasa to fight. In that moment, Mikasa had an epiphany.

She saw a connection between this scene and many others in her life. A grasshopper killing a butterfly. Her father killing a duck for food.

Predator and prey.

Strong and weak.

Winners and losers.

Dominators and the dominated.

Fighters and quitters.

The world that the girl saw was a cruel one. Living means being a winner. Being a winner means fighting.

Fighting means killing.

Empowered by this realization, Mikasa is able to kill the slaver and save Eren’s life.

At the end, the moral of the story is given to us: “This is a cruel world and only the winners survive.”

If you lose, you die. If you win, you live. And you can’t win if you don’t fight.

If you don’t kill.

Now, of course, it made sense for Mikasa to kill the slavers; it was defensive, but that’s not the point. This is a story. It is constructed to impart certain values to us, the readers. This anecdote doesn’t just exist to show us how Eren met Mikasa, it exists to distill for us the values of the story.

This is why I think the story will not end with the Eldians and Marleyans finding peace. This is not a story about negotiating. This is a story about fighting.

In that way, Attack on Titan is pro-war, not anti-war. It is not glorified, but it is upheld as a necessity.

It will be interesting where the series comes down on the rightfulness of Eren’s actions. The values of this series is something I’ve been trying to puzzle out for some time.

It’s one thing to support fighting in self-defense. It’s another thing entirely to support what Eren did. Attacking another country because you know they will attack you eventually, instead of imminently, is morally repugnant and illegal under current law.

War is supposed to be an awful thing, remember? Therefore, it is equally awful to just “skip to the end” when relations look bleak. You can’t do that. It’s not right.

It’s not fair to the people whose lives would be fucking annihilated. If it can be held off, it should be.

This is an island nation with an antagonistic enemy just across the sea. Patrol ships are sent into one another’s territorial waters. Their loud-mouthed supreme leader bellows about war crimes past.

But Japan hasn’t gone to war with North Korea yet. Hopefully, it never will.

Isayama can’t be this blind, right?

He realizes that if his story endorses Eren’s actions, then it’s hard not to read it as him calling for Japan to break the law, right?

War between countries is banned. You cannot attack another country just because you are on really bad terms with them, even if you know war is inevitable. Only if war is imminent can you justify an attack, even then it would be a controversial move.

This is why the story endorsing Eren’s attack is the thing that keeps me up at night. If this series is prepared to say it is not wrong on the merits to attack another country just because war is inevitable, then in the context of Japan, with its highly antagonistic relationship with North Korea, it’s basically warmongering.

It’s good then that we see Eren’s attack has backfired somewhat. The Marleyans are attacking earlier than expected, and they don’t seem as weakened as was thought they’d be. There’s still some hope.

One thread from the start of the Marley arc that hasn’t been brought up yet has been Zeke’s insistence on Marley attacking Paradis again, even though his plan the whole time was to escape to Paradis…after provoking Marley into attacking Paradis with Eren’s attack.

At this point, it seems clear Zeke suckered Marley into preparing for war so they’d have an invasion force cued up and ready to go when Eren attacked the festival.

Zeke wants Paradis to be attacked for some reason. Most likely it’s so they can use the Wall Titans as a show of force. Crush the invaders and no one will ever attack again. But things don’t seem to be panning out as Zeren had hoped.

Zeke apparently miscalculated (again) and thought the Marleyans would wait rather than go it alone.

Assuming Zeke’s been completely up front with Eren about his plans, it seems they both thought Marley would join forces with the rest of the world first. Eren is incredulous at this attack; he clearly didn’t see it coming. And in chapter 113, Zeke monologues that the world’s forces would be attacking soon. Not Marley specifically.

From a storytelling perspective, I really like this. It introduces some chaos into the battle and it forces everyone to improvise. That’s always good for tension.

[withinthescripts]

Season 3, Reel 3: November 26, 1953

[tape recorder turns on]

Amy, do you know anything about declawing cats? I know that a lot of people do it, but I don’t know if it’s, well, humane. Do you know if there have been studies of this kind of thing? Can you do some research and find out how this affects cats. I don’t know how people would even begin to understand whether and when cats are happy, apart from the purring and lap-cuddling, but can you see if they have… Can you see if they know whether declawing makes them unhappy? Obviously Vivi and I don’t wanna make a living creature that is in our care unhappy but, well, there’s been some damage to tapestry. To an antique tapestry that was rescued from Belgium during the Reckoning, when most works of art were lost. So… I don’t know that there is a good way to decide which is more important: a rare preserve of the world we lost or the happiness of a living creature that is in your care. Still, some studies would help. If you could look into studies on the well-being of declawed cats, Amy, that would be helpful.

[cut]

Goddammit, Amy, where have you put today’s papers? Papers first thing, god, and turn that fucking music off! [music stops]

[cut]

Letter from the office of Michael Witten on the 26th of November 1953 to Sarah Chisholm, Public Works Department, Philadelphia office.

Dear Sarah. I wanted to get in touch again about my plans regarding the currently abandoned government buildings in Washington. I have been consulting with contractors both local to me and to the buildings - as local as you can get, obviously, as regards the buildings – and pulled together some details and some quotes about what we can accomplish. It looks likely that some parts of the plan, and I’m sure you will be able to predict which, may have to be delayed for a while, but I think we can get going on the foundational things within the next few weeks. As we discussed when I first outlined it to you, I have not spoken to many people about this plan, nor have I obtained clearance from the s`Societal Council. The buildings we’re looking at altering, although they are abandoned and in some cases ruins, they’re still some of the most important buildings on this continent. While they no longer have any place in our society in the symbolic sense they once did, there’s still a great deal of emotional attachment to them, so we must be careful how we communicate our intentions for them. We’re not allowed to have national capitals anymore, so refashioning or restoring from our government buildings, particularly the White House and Capitol, touches some nerves. We will have to let people come to the correct conclusion, that is the conclusion we have both arrived at, that we mut override the nationalist importance of old buildings and remake them for new, practical uses today.

This is why the plans we developed focused entirely on public housing, doctors’ offices, artistic studeos, and store fronts. My wife Vivian suggested that we add theaters and dance bases as well. I can get rough sketches of those designs to you if you’re interested. I remain impressed with the work you’ve done in Philadelphia to maintain the Walnut Street theater. We must show the public as well as the Societal Council that there’s a way to both use such buildings for the good of our new society and remember them as the architectural triumphs they are from the past, while also erasing their patriotic significance.

It’s been suggested to me by my more artistically minded friends that the Capitol building is neo-classical regurgitation, that it has no architectural significance, but that’s not how history works, you can’t just erase it. You have to embrace it and learn from it, and know that what is unfashionable today will be fashionable again later. National patriotism is anathema to our rebuilding efforts, and we have to move beyond it, but we cannot deny the atrocities and the violence committed by our forbearers. Nor can we sterilize our past and keep it safely in a jar on a shelf. If we can reclaim that dome and those buttresses to mean something other than the quote “United States of America”, we can not only acknowledge our past, but reshape the future, it’s so poorly intended.

I don’t expect that this will be easy to sell, Sarah, which is why we should be careful about who we tell now. I’m all for acting now and untangling red tape later. But I believe we should think about how we can make announcements soon. Since the area around these buildings is unpopulated, we can begin work before we announce, I think. No one will be there to see it. But we don’t wanna leave it too long. We don’t want it to look like we’re keeping secrets.

I have to say, Sarah, after all this time talking and thinking, I’m excited to be getting close to the point of beginning. There are parts of this job that feel like mitigating or alleviating destruction but occasionally, something comes along that reminds you that it is really just creation. Creation borne out of destruction, yes, but creation nonetheless. I’m sorry for getting sentimental. It’s an emotional time.

I look forward to celebrating with you in person when you visit Chicago next month. Kind regards, Michael.

[cut]

Amy, never mind about the papers, I found them. They were under all this paperwork from doctor Woods’ office. Thanks for revising the pregnancy contracts, but always keep the newspapers on top.

[cut]

Shit! Shit, Amy!

[cut]

Amy, why didn’t you tell me about the papers as soon as I came in? I assume you saw them. I assume that, even though you covered them up with a bunch of hospital paperwork, as if that’s the most important thing. Fuck! Shit, Amy, I dunno what to do! How did they find out? Why did they write this up without asking me for comment? What is going.. Amy, don’t send that letter to Sarah obviously. I’ll have to write another one, or you will. Sorry, I recorded all things on the same reel, hope it didn’t take you too long. What the fuck am I going to say?

Also, did you know about these stories ahead of time? You didn’t, did you? Had you heard anything? You better not have heard anything and not brought it directly to my attention, Amy, I swear to God. From now on, read the papers first before you bring them to me. You’ll need to come in earlier for that.

[cut]

How did they find out? There’s only two people in our office and I sure as fuck didn’t say anything.

[tape recorder turns off] [ads] [tape recorder turns on]

Amy, deliver this memo immediately. From the office of Michael Witten on the 26th of November 1953, to Reina Bachelor, PR Department, Chicago office.

Dear Raina. There have been some stories printed in today’s papers - I’ve seem them in The Post and The Tribune, I’m not sure if they’re elsewhere as well - that concern this department. I’m hoping you can help me with them. The stories specifically mention this department and myself and discuss, with surprising detail, some undisclosed plans for renovations in Washington, or schemes as The Post put it. I was not contacted for comment by journalists, and many of the details have been misconstrued and in most cases reported incorrectly. It is crucial that we get on top of this story as soon as possible to correct the misinformation that is being spread. Please contact my secretary Amy Castillo to set up a management team meeting this week.

I know this will be difficult, lies run faster than the truth, and I would like you to devote as much effort and resource as you can spare in the attempt. Please prepare a statement for immediate release and advice me on your media strategy.

Kind regards, Michael.

If this gets in the way of things I just… [pause]

[cut]

OK, Amy. New letter from the office of Michael Witten on the 26th of November 1935 to Sarah Chisholm, Public Works Department, Philadelphia office.

Dear Sarah, I’m assuming you will have seen the stories in the papers recently. It seems someone found out about our plans and leaked them, or at least leaked some version of them to the press. They have almost everything wrong. The Chicago Tribune says we’re rebuilding a national capital in Washington, and the Washington Post claims that we will reinstate American agencies, and unlike The New York Times, they seem thrilled about it.

[long pause] But even if the headlines are completely misleading, the bulk of the facts are correct. There were a couple of government offices in these reconstruction plans, but they’re for administrative purposes. These buildings weren’t reviving the American capital, they’re for public good with just one or two small offices for minor paperwork and local management. You can’t have public housing and then place the agency in charge of it across town. It’s a few square feet in each building. It’s not a goddamn renaissance of American chauvinism. Don’t say goddamn. We are now being accused of both revitalizing nationalism and destroying cultural history, which would be laughable if these papers didn’t hold the power to derail all of our plans.

I’m consulting with our PR department, obviously, as I think it’s crucial that we change the narrative around this as soon as possible. It’s going to be so much harder now. Talk to your publicity team in Philadelphia. I think, no no, it is imperative we work together to snuff out this oversensitivity. The secrecy is obviously not an issue anymore.

My current plan is this. [sighs], Amy, what is my plan? I’m just reacting to all this, I don’t have a plan to deal with this. plan, my plan, uh…

We will have to explain why a public announcement was not made swiftly. I think we are best off saying that we decided to confirm all the details before we announced, rather than pester people with constant updates about something that to all intents and purposes wouldn’t affect them. Play it off as no big deal. I mean, we have the plans I sent you, there’s nothing to hide from. There will be more back and forth once the statement goes out, I’m sure, people appear to have a lot of thoughts and opinions about this. and while it is useless to try and assuage all doubts, I think we are honor bound to address at least some of the more common concerns as they arise.

In the long term, it is my opinion that we need to start planning a serious ongoing public awareness campaign, one that stretches even beyond our current plan to encompass an ideology around dealing with similar situations going forward. We can frame this as one in a long string of moments in which we, as a society, decide who we are and how we relate to the past. It will take some time and effort to convince people of the correctness of our plans for these buildings, and bringing them into the context of a wider idea for the world as a whole could help with that. We are gonna have to do a lot more work in the early stages than we had hoped. We’ll have to manage people’s expectations as well as manage the actual work.

I’m not sure who within our collective teams is completely behind this, but I will try to make inquiries, to rally support within the government. With our luck, the current outcry will only be a blip on the way to greater understanding of our goals.

Kind regards, Michael.

Fuck!

[cut]

Amy, I’m sure you’ve typed the memo up already, but forget it. Just get Raina on the phone for me. I want her ass in my office ASAP, I’ll just tell her this in person.

[cut]

I’m sorry I snapped a bit before. I wasn’t expecting this today, it threw me off balance a bit and I became slightly unreasonable. I want you to know that I appreciate your work and your discretion in this, as I do in all things. I’m sorry if I made you believe I doubted your loyalty even for a moment. I’m sure that made this day almost as stressful for you as it has been for me.

Amy, I need you to do a little investigating for me. If the public turns the Societal Counci in opposition to my plan for Washington, I’m hoping there will be people willing to stand beside me, uh besides Vishwati, and persuading them into agreement. Of course, we could go ahead with the plan without their blessing, but it would be unwise, I think. We are still living in unstable and unpredictable times, and peace must be maintained at all costs.

No, it would be dangerous to proceed if too many people do not approve. So it is very important I know how my colleagues feel about this and who I can rely on. If you can find out, probably just from the other secretaries, how I am regarded and whether the plan has support and from whom, I would appreciate that. It will be fine, of course. I shall speak to Vishwati, I’m sure she has seen the papers and is already eager to be of help. She’s the fixer. Even journalists are in awe of her. The hard part is telling her I’ve, we’ve, I’ve fucked up. But the newspapers solved that problem. I just need to tell her what I think needs to be done and she’ll do it. She’s always looking for solutions, not excuses. Solutions, yes.

Amy, contact Vishwati Ramadoss’ office and see when she will be free to take a call. It’ll have to be a rather long one, so make sure there’s no danger of her being called away to a meeting midway through.

[cut]

By the way, Amy, as well as declawing, are you able to look into the causes of hairballs in cats? Is there a way to discourage them happening at all? Something about how you feed the cat or maybe controlling how they clean themselves? I suspect it’s one of the things that you juts have to live with, isn’t it? Well, Vivi has fallen in love with the thing so there’s no hope for it, but one can only clean a rug so many times before it becomes quite a different rug.

[cut]

I need a drink. Amy, join me around 4. I’ve opened some bourbon. Knock first, though. [long silence]

[tape recorder turns off]

Within the Wires is a production of Night Vale Presents. It is written by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson with original music by Mary Epworth. Find more of Mary’s music at maryepworth.com. The voice of Michael Witten is Lee LeBreton. You can support our show and get exclusive episodes and other cool things at patreon.com/withinthewires.

OK, our time is done. It’s you time now. Time to head to happy hour after a long day of work at the [bird factory], to enjoy a pint of [bacon fat] with your friend [Benicio del Toro].

[deniscollins]

How McKinsey Has Helped Raise the Stature of Authoritarian Governments

If you were a McKinsey consulting firm executive, would you accept a contract to advise — which is wholly owned by the Russian state, intertwined with Russian intelligence and under United States sanctions — to develop its business strategy, which helps shore up President Vladimir V. Putin’s autocratic leadership: (1) Yes, (2) No? Why? What are the ethics underlying your decision?

This year’s McKinsey & Company retreat in China was one to remember.

Hundreds of the company’s consultants frolicked in the desert, riding camels over sand dunes and mingling in tents linked by red carpets. Meetings took place in a cavernous banquet hall that resembled a sultan’s ornate court, with a sign overhead to capture the mood.

“I can’t keep calm, I work at McKinsey & Company,” it said.

Especially remarkable was the location: Kashgar, the ancient Silk Road city in China’s far west that is experiencing a major humanitarian crisis.

About four miles from where the McKinsey consultants discussed their work, which includes advising some of China’s most important state-owned companies, a sprawling internment camp had sprung up to hold thousands of ethnic Uighurs — part of a vast archipelago of indoctrination camps where the Chinese government has locked up as many as one million people.

One week before the McKinsey event, a United Nations committee had denounced the mass detentions and urged China to stop.

But the political backdrop did not appear to bother the McKinsey consultants, who posted pictures on Instagram chronicling their Disney-like adventures. In fact, McKinsey’s involvement with the Chinese government goes much deeper than its odd choice to showcase its presence in the country.

For a quarter-century, the company has joined many American corporations in helping stoke China’s transition from an economic laggard to the world’s second-largest economy. But as China’s growth presents a muscular challenge to American dominance, Washington has become increasingly critical of some of Beijing’s signature policies, including the ones McKinsey has helped advance.

One of McKinsey’s state-owned clients has even helped build China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea, a major point of military tension with the United States.

It turns out that McKinsey’s role in China is just one example of its extensive — and sometimes contentious — work around the world, according to an investigation by The New York Times that included interviews with 40 current and former McKinsey employees, as well as dozens of their clients.

At a time when democracies and their basic values are increasingly under attack, the iconic American company has helped raise the stature of authoritarian and corrupt governments across the globe, sometimes in ways that counter American interests.

Its clients have included Saudi Arabia’s absolute monarchy, Turkey under the autocratic leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and corruption-plagued governments in countries like South Africa.

In Ukraine, McKinsey and Paul Manafort — President Trump’s campaign chairman, later convicted of financial fraud — were paid by the same oligarch to help burnish the image of a disgraced presidential candidate, Viktor F. Yanukovych, recasting him as a reformer.

Once in office, Mr. Yanukovych rebuffed the West, sided with Russia and fled the country, accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars. The events set off years of chaos in Ukraine and an international standoff with the Kremlin.

Inside Russia itself, McKinsey has worked with Kremlin-linked companies that have been placed under sanctions by Western governments — companies that the firm helped build up over the years and, in some cases, continues to advise.

It has consulted in many sectors of the Russian economy, including mining, manufacturing, oil and gas, banking, transportation and agriculture. A McKinsey official sat on the Russian government’s energy board. Former McKinsey consultants have gone to work in the Russian companies they once advised.

In August, VEB Bank — which is wholly owned by the Russian state, intertwined with Russian intelligence and under United States sanctions — hired McKinsey to develop its business strategy.

There is no indication that McKinsey has violated American sanctions, which prohibit only certain transactions with targeted companies and individuals. But the larger question is whether the company, in pursuing legitimate business opportunities abroad, is helping to shore up President Vladimir V. Putin’s autocratic leadership.

Other consulting companies serve similar clients, but none have the stature to confer credibility quite like McKinsey, a confidant for 92 years to many of the world’s most admired companies.

In China, it has advised at least 22 of the 100 biggest state-owned companies — the ones carrying out some of the government’s most strategic and divisive initiatives, according to a review of Chinese-language material by The Times.

While it is not unusual for American corporations to work with China’s state-owned companies, McKinsey’s role has sometimes put it in the middle of deeply troubled deals. In Malaysia, the company laid out the case for one of Asia’s most corrupt leaders to pursue billions of dollars from China at a time when he was suspected of funneling vast sums of public money into his own pocket, drawing tens of thousands into the streets to protest against him.

McKinsey defends its work around the world, saying that it will not accept jobs at odds with the company’s values. It also gives the same reason that other companies cite for working in corrupt or authoritarian nations — that change is best achieved from the inside.

“Since 1926, McKinsey has sought to make a positive difference to the businesses and communities in which our people live and work,” the company said in a statement.

“Tens of thousands of jobs have been created, lives improved and education provided thanks to the work we have done with our clients,” it added.

“Like many other major corporations including our competitors, we seek to navigate a changing geopolitical environment,” the company said, “but we do not support or engage in political activities.”

Still, some analysts, veteran diplomats and experts on global governance see McKinsey’s role in a different light.

While the United States pulls back from international cooperation and adopts a more nationalist stance, major companies like McKinsey are pursuing business in countries with little regard for human rights — sometimes advancing, rather than curbing, the contentious tactics of America’s biggest rivals.

“It is more likely they enable these regimes and likely become complicit,” said David J. Kramer, a former assistant secretary of state. “They don’t want to alienate regimes, or they would lose business.”

Oligarchs and Autocrats

His bona fides included two criminal convictions and a rigged election that, many assumed, had finally doomed his presidential ambitions.

So it was a bit surprising when McKinsey helped polish the battered image of Mr. Yanukovych and pitch him as something else: a forward-thinking leader with an economic vision of a better future for all Ukrainians.

McKinsey’s role in resurrecting Mr. Yanukovych’s political career has been lost in the clamor surrounding the conviction of Mr. Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, for secretly taking millions of dollars to help the Ukranian leader win the presidency in 2010.

But McKinsey was financed by the same oligarch who backed Mr. Manafort, and it wrote an economic plan that Mr. Yanukovych wielded to disarm his critics — before discarding much of it after becoming president.

VERY LONG ARTICLE CONTINUES

[sailorgreywolf-legacy]

I sent this earlier, maybe write about Ale using the "You wanna kiss the guy who beat Germany?" pickup line on someone, please?

And here’s part 2:

Mexico walked back to his own room in the hotel, not entirely sober, but drunk more on nationalist fervor than on alcohol. It was intoxicating to remind himself of what really made him strong. The love that his people had for him was inspiring. He hadn’t wiped the smile off of his face since the end of the game. 

He flung himself down on the couch in the living room of the suite.  Now that the adrenaline was wearing off a little, he could feel how tired his legs were from being on his feet and jumping. Letting himself rest a little would be good for now. He was still smiling though and he felt like he might never stop smiling. 

He had barely laid down when he heard little running footsteps. His chihuahua, the only one he had brought with him to Russia, came running into the room from the bedroom. Without slowing down, the dog launched himself at the couch, and landed, not entirely gracefully, on Mexico’s chest. 

Mexico smiled and picked up the little dog. He said, and felt the pain in his vocal chords as he spoke, “Your dad beat the world champion today.” In response, the dog licked his face and wagged his tail so aggressively that his whole body moved. 

Mexico brought the dog closer to his face and kissed him on top of his fluffy head before he said, “You’re so cute.” 

The door banged open, and Mexico glanced over to see who was barging into his room. He had not expected any company, but he would welcome anyone. Brazil came through the door, and immediately sat down in one of the chairs. Without offering an explanation, she started to unlace her shoes.

 Mexico said, slightly confused by her presence, “Isa, what are you doing here?” She looked up with a face that made it clear that she was repressing a laugh. She said, “What happened to your voice?” 

Mexico knew he sounded like he had throughly burned out his voice. He replied, his voice only sounding a little better, “I yelled too much.” Brazil raised one eyebrow. She said, still working on her shoes, “You yelled too much? You must have partied hard. You have always had a gift for being loud.”

The innuendo in her voice was clear enough. Mexico said, “You didn’t answer my question.” She sighed and said, “I am avoiding Juan. I made fun of him for tying with Iceland yesterday. I just tied.” 

Mexico let out a short laugh. He found it so amusing that Brazil and Argentina always engaged in such a cutthroat rivalry during the world cup. He had no doubt Brazil had given Argentina hell for that tie. He said, “So, you assumed he wouldn’t be in my room?” 

She smirked as she finished kicking off her cleats and said, “You just got back. He hasn’t had time to seduce you.” Mexico sat up and placed his dog gently on the floor. He said, playing coy, “But I would like to be seduced.” 

Brazil reached up and took her hair out of its ponytail. It fell in black curls around her shoulders, and Mexico had the urge to run his hands through it. She said, “I’m the better choice.” 

She stood up and walked over to sit next to him on the couch. The look on her face left little doubt in Mexico’s mind that she hadn’t come to his room for conversation. He said, “So, do you want to kiss the man who beat Germany?” She leaned in and said, “Of course I do.”

Mexico used one hand to push back one of her curls as he leaned in to join their lips. It was a light kiss, but it showed intention. When Mexico pulled back, Brazil said, putting her hand on his face, “I’m so proud of you, my prince. I only wish I had been there to see their faces.”

Mexico replied, “Are you still feeling vengeful?” She smiled like a cat would when contemplating an injured bird, “I will make them pay when I play them.” 

She paused only long enough to join their lips again, more aggressively again. Then she said, “But, I am so happy you won.” Mexico gently pulled her closer, and guided her into yet another kiss. 

He wanted to take this moment to celebrate both his victory and the fact that America was far away, so he could be with the people he loved. 

Brazil pulled herself onto his lap, confidently straddling him and using her height advantage to take control of the kiss. Mexico let her dictate the intensity. He let his hands slowly run up her legs and eventually to her hips. 

She pulled back, and with a devilish look, pulled off her shirt and threw it across the room. Mexico said, between soft kisses on her neck and collarbone, “I’m not as good as you. You’re a goddess.” She entwined one hand in his hair as she said, almost breathlessly, “You know it.” 

Mexico chuckled as he kissed even lower, across the top of her breasts. He loved her confidence, and always had. But, he had been hoping to get a compliment in return. She whispered in his ear, “Let’s take this to the bed. I’ve been looking forward to this.” Mexico replied in a whisper, “Yes. Me too.”

Brazil stood and Mexico followed, his hands never leaving her hips. Their lips met again. With each kiss, they were getting more intense, more lustful. They managed to get to the bed without releasing each other for more than a few moments. 

Mexico took off his shirt as she pulled him, firm but not forcefully, onto the bed. As they intertwined again, Mexico was convinced that a day of triumph was going to end in a night of bliss with one of the most beautiful, talented people he knew. He felt nothing but joy. He hoped he could hold onto this euphoria for the rest of the night at least.