Tumgik
#house science committee
Text
Donald Trump has lashed out at several Republican congressmen after an amendment to defund criminal prosecutions of the former president failed by "only one vote."
In a post on Truth Social he attacked Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson after he "stupidly" voted "no" on the amendment that would have prohibited the use of federal and state funding for the prosecution of any presidential candidate prior to November's election.
The amendments to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Bill, introduced by Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde, failed to pass by a vote of 25-26.
Trump also blamed House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee who did not show up to vote on the amendment.
The presumptive 2024 GOP nominee is facing federal trials over allegations he illegally hoarded classified documents after he left office, and attempted to criminally overturn the 2020 election results. Trump and several other defendants are also facing trial in Georgia under a sprawling 2020 election interference case. Trump has already been convicted of 34 felony charges as part of his falsifying business record case in New York.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: "Just heard from Great Congressman Andrew Clyde of Georgia that the Amendment to Defund the Prosecution of a Presidential Candidate prior to November's Election did not pass, 26-25."
"It lost by only one vote, because one Republican, Mike Simpson of Idaho, stupidly voted NO, and two 'Republicans,' David Valadao of California and Dan Newhouse of Washington, the only two remaining Impeachers in the House of President Donald J. Trump, didn't show up to vote," Trump added.
"They must have had more important things to do. Also, Mike Garcia of California, David Joyce of Ohio, and Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, didn't show up to vote. Thanks very much, fellas, for your great support!"
Speaking to The Daily Caller, Simpson explained why he voted against the amendment to defund prosecutions of presidential candidates despite believing the cases against Trump are "politically motivated and utter nonsense."
"I am grateful the Supreme Court has acted as a balancing force against the Democrats' weaponization of the judicial system," Simpson said. "However, prohibiting the use of funds for investigations sets a dangerous precedent—potentially limiting Republicans' ability to investigate President Biden's wrongdoings. For that reason, I could not support this amendment."
Simpson's office has been contacted for further comment via email.
Clyde said he intends to reintroduce his amendment in the coming weeks.
"My measure fell short of receiving enough support because several of my Republican colleagues conveniently 'missed' the vote. I'm deeply disappointed—but I'm not giving up," he told The Daily Caller.
The House Appropriations Committee is expected to markup the CJS bill when members return to Washington, D.C., in September.
31 notes · View notes
govtshutdown · 2 months
Text
Three more down, should I keep sharing these press releases?
0 notes
tomorrowusa · 2 years
Link
Just when you think you’ve heard the absolute worst about George Santos, it gets even worse.
Stealing $3,000 which was meant to provide medical treatment for the service dog of a disabled veteran is pretty loathsome.
In May 2016, Richard Osthoff was living in a tent in an abandoned chicken coop on the side of Route 9 in Howell, New Jersey, with his beloved service dog Sapphire. A veteran's charity gave the pit mix to Osthoff, a disabled veteran who was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2002, he told Patch.
When Sapphire developed a life-threatening stomach tumor, Osthoff, now 47, learned the surgery would cost $3,000. A veterinary technician took Osthoff aside and told him, "'I know a guy who runs a pet charity who can help you,'" Osthoff recounted.
His name was Anthony Devolder, and his pet charity was called Friends of Pets United, the vet tech told him.
Anthony Devolder is one of the names that Long Island Rep. George Santos used for years before entering politics in 2020.
[ ... ]
Osthoff and another New Jersey veteran, retired police Sgt. Michael Boll, who tried to intervene to help Osthoff in 2016, told Patch that Santos closed the GoFundMe he set up for Sapphire after it raised $3,000 on social media and disappeared.
"He stopped answering my texts and calls," Osthoff said. 
Sapphire died Jan. 15, 2017. After being out of work with a broken leg for over a year, Osthoff couldn't afford the dog's euthanasia and cremation, he said.
"I had to panhandle. It was one of the most degrading things I ever had to do," he remembered.
Yes, Sapphire is dead and Santos’s political career should be as well. Instead, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has awarded Santos a seat on the House Committee on Small Business and one on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
It’s likely that Santos knows absolutely nothing about science. And considering what a liar and swindler he is, it’s insulting to small businesses in America that he should have an increased say regarding legislation that affects them.
Embattled Rep. Santos awarded seats on Science and Small Business committees
McCarthy is totally lacking in scruples. He supports con men like Donald Trump and George Santos because he is so desperate to have a title. And it’s an empty title at that because of all the power he had to give away to MAGA extremists to obtain it.
Worm excretion probably has a higher approval rating than George Santos at this point. GOP House members will be judged by their support for Santos remaining in Congress.
0 notes
heartsfromia · 7 days
Text
knight in shining armor — j. wonwoo
Tumblr media Tumblr media
pairing: non-idol! wonwoo x f!reader
word count: 7,350
genre: fluff, angst, mild crack, college setting
warnings: cheating (not wonwoo tho our boy is sweet, it's reader's shitty ex), curse words, implicit violence (black eyes, cuts on lips mentioned)
author's notes: y'all pray that one day i have the energy to proofread my works ;_____; BRO I STG I WORKED ON THIS FOR OVER THREE MONTHS AND IDK HOW IT GOT SOOO LONG T___________T
Tumblr media
“Hey, I’m planning on finishing my paper for International Law in Holly’s, come with me?”
With your hands intertwined with your boyfriend, Hanwoo, the two of you walked towards the parking lot by your university, just having finished a class together. You were hoping to spend some time together since Hanwoo had been preoccupied with the major association he’s a member in, as the collegial organization is holding its elections in the next week and he had been approached to help out as a committee member. Since the two of you have the same classes together, and the paper was due next Monday (it being a Thursday now), you thought you could get, at least the introduction down, while having some quality time in the 24 hour café with your boyfriend of six months.
“We’ll be there all night and you can distract me from my paper and I will do the same to you, and then we can down a ton of caffeine before passing out on the bean bags they have,” you tried to convince him, leaning into his side as you two approached his car. “And then we can go home and talk about how we should’ve finished our paper, plan another night in Holly’s and do it all over again!”
“Although that does sound tempting,” Hanwoo began, releasing your hand to reach for the car keys and unlocked the doors. He leaned down to be eye-level with you, as his hand reached for the door handle of the passenger seat, he uttered, “But, I have a meeting later tonight.” Pressing a quick kiss to your cheek, he pulled your door open and stepped aside enter the car. A pout found its way to your lips, pulling your favorite move to get what you want, but he wasn’t budging and only nodded his head for you to climb in.
“What meeting?” You asked once he climbed into the driver’s seat, pulling the car out of the parking lot and on your way to your house to drop you off.
“The election, since Monday evening will be the debate between president and vice president candidates, so we need to discuss the topics of the debate, all the technical stuff tonight,” he explained, “we’re planning on pushing a lot we need done between today and tomorrow, so we can have the weekends free and do finishing touches on Monday.”
“Ahh, being Event Organizer really isn’t easy… so you’ll be busy today, and tomorrow?” He only nodded, briefly sending a small smile her direction. “Alright, then, I’ll just see if Wonwoo is free tonight.”
Hanwoo threw his head back, asking, “Isn’t Wonwoo a Computer Science major?”
“Yeah, but he’s really good at research so I think he can help.” Hanwoo didn’t bother asking more, turning the music up to let it fill the silence as you arrived by the driveway of your house. “Good luck on your paper, yeah? Don’t drink too much coffee.”
“No promises,” you responded before kissing his cheek and climbing out his car. You waved him off, watching as the car disappeared in the distance before turning to head inside and up to your room just left of the entryway. Tossing your bag on your chair, you flopped on to your bed, too mentally exhausted from the three lectures today to even change your clothes, feeling sleep begin to fog your head. You were on the edge of dreamland when you heard a clink, then a few seconds later another one, and then another one, and it seemed to be never ending before you pulled yourself out of your drowsiness and headed to your window—which just so happened to be adjacent to your next door neighbor, Wonwoo’s window.
“You seriously need to reconsider throwing rocks at my window before you shatter it, Wonwoo.” Your neighbor only chuckled, so you took this as an opportunity. “Hey, can you come with to Holly’s? I’m planning to stay overnight there.”
“What for?”
“I’m holding an executive meeting for us to discuss a ten-step plan to overthrow our government,” you grinned, and he pondered, tapping his chin lightly before shaking his head.
“I can’t overthrow the government yet, I have a quiz tomorrow.”
You rolled your eyes, a soft laugh escaping your lips. You could always count Wonwoo to go along with your poor attempts at sarcasm. “I have a paper to work on and I don’t want to be alone.”
“Where’s your boyfriend? What’s his name? Yohan?”
“So close! It’s Hanwoo,” you retorted with a deadpan as you reminded him of your boyfriend’s name. Wonwoo hasn’t been discreet in his distaste towards your boyfriend—it’s been six months since he asked you out, and it’s been six months of Wonwoo never remembering his name. “He has a meeting today since the upcoming election debate for my major’s organization.”
“Is he running or…?” Wonwoo asked, despite his lack of interest with the topic.
“No, he’s the EO, and will be occupied for the next couple of days.”
“Aah, so I’m a back-up to you? Got it.” You knew he was being sarcastic, it was a running joke between the two of you since splitting when choosing college majors—you had done the same when he asked you to accompany him to watch a movie he really wanted to see, only to find out he came to you because friends from his major were busy.
“Do you want to come with me or not?” You asked again, “you don’t need to if you don’t want to.”
“What time?” Wonwoo asked, not hesitating. “Eomma is making dinner tonight, and asked me to ask you to join in case your parents are working late.”
You turn briefly, listening in to your parent’s room across from yours and can hear the muffle conversation behind the walls. “I think they’re home, but knowing my dad, he won’t be cooking so I think all three of us can head over to your place for dinner?”
“Sure, I’ll tell Eomma,” Wonwoo informed, “so after dinner then, we can go? Did you ask your parents for permission to spend the night working on the assignment.”
Dread immediately washed over you, colour draining from your face and to your feet as you remembered you haven’t asked permission from your parents, especially your dad who isn’t fond of you working long hours for an assignment you could’ve finished from when it was assigned. Force habit, dad, it’s not my fault you raised a chronic procrastinator, you couldn’t help but think. An innocent chuckle left your lips as you pulled your signature puppy-dog eyes to Wonwoo, who—without you having to utter a single word—understood what you were doing.
He heaved a heavy sigh, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, I’ll ask them.”
“You are the best! Did you know that you’re the best person I’ve ever met? You’re absolutely awesome, smart and so, so, so kind, Wonwoo!” You blew a kiss in his direction, like how you watched Sunjae in Lovely Runner do so. “Love you!”
He waved your exaggerated gestures off, ignoring the heat forming in his cheeks and spreading to his ears, as he turned away, yelling back at you, “Yeah, yeah, just hurry up, I want to get this over with.”
Tumblr media
“When do you think International Humanitarian Law is applicable?” You turned to Wonwoo after reading (re: skimming) a journal regarding the topic for your paper. Despite having only been studying the material for about twenty minutes, you could feel yourself losing it by the second. You didn’t hate International Law, but you always thought that the professor assigned too much reading, and is so strict about the entire paper itself—specifically using APA style, it has to only be footnotes (no in-line citations, despite that being the easiest in your opinion and you always preferred Chicago over any other reference style).
Oh, and the International Law professor is biased and lowkey a bitch.
So, being reluctant to work on an assignment given by your major’s most disliked professor wasn’t a priority even with the deadline closing in.
“During world conflicts?” You and Wonwoo stared at each other briefly, before you nodded, “That is true.” Wonwoo stifled a laugh. Seeing you look so drained and empty every single time you worked on an assignment, never failed to make him laugh. He enjoyed accompanying you, and despite the different majors and study programs you both have, he always tried to make sure he is more help than company. Even though you never really wanted to help you work on the assignment, knowing he has his own to deal with as a Computer Science major, but he’s well aware of your habits that even if the due date is Monday and you are working on it right now, you won’t completely finish it until Sunday, if not with Wonwoo’s aid.
“What’s the paper about?”
“The application of International Humanitarian Law in a specific study case,” you responded, tone flat. The more you talked about it, the more your soul was being sucked into the void. “I chose the Femicides in El Salvador.”
“Alright.” Was all Wonwoo said before he opened Google Scholar and began his own little research.
“Wonwoo, you don’t have to—”
“Y/N?” Cut off mid-sentence, you and Wonwoo turned to find Joy approaching your table, her hair tied and a lanyard around her neck, she must’ve just gotten back from campus.
“Joy? Hi, what are you doing here?” You smiled, internally sighing in relief because you had a reason to not look at the journal you were reading of femicide reports in the past decade.
“I just came back from an internal meeting with the EO’s for the upcoming debate,” Joy responded, noticing Wonwoo and waving at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m working on Michelle’s paper,” you answered, exaggerating the slouch in your shoulders and pout in your lips. You then realized, sitting up straight, head cocked to the side with your brows furrowed. “Wait, you’re an EO for the debate?”
Joy pulled a chair to sit across from you, resting her arms on the table and nodded.
“So you were with Hanwoo?”
It was her turn to furrow her brows. “Your boyfriend?” You nodded, and she shook her head. “No I wasn’t.”
“What? But he told me he was having a meeting with the EO’s for the debate, maybe you didn’t see them?”
The crease between your friend’s brow only deepened. “Y/N, the EO’s are only four people, not including the PIC—I’ve also met them all, and Hanwoo isn’t a part of us.”
“That’s weird,” you muttered. Did your boyfriend lie?
“Maybe he got his position switched? Maybe he’s not an EO? You could try asking tomorrow,” Joy tried to reason, and you only nodded. Hanwoo had been telling you that he was an EO for the past couple of weeks, ever since the announcement of election was released for the major association. He explained to you in great detail what the position would entail, and well, frankly speaking, you trusted him. It tugged at your chest at the possibility he might’ve lied to you.
And Wonwoo can see it. The deep glare in your eyes as you stared at the article you were reading, but you weren’t actually reading the reports from representatives of the El Salvadoran government, instead you were reading into the situation with your boyfriend. Gears were turning in your head, making connections, coming up with excuses as to why he had chosen to lie to you about something as trifling as his position in a collegial committee. He could tell that no matter how many paragraphs you read, how many relative research articles you pulled up from the internet, nothing will allow you to progress in your paper until the nagging feeling of your fibbing boyfriend is at ease.
“Y/N, do you want to head back home, call it a night?” Wonwoo asked, before quickly raising his phone, “My brother just sent me a text, that he needs the car early tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, yeah sure, let me just pay—”
“You pack up, I’ll pay for our food.”
You knew that he knew. Your lips pressed into a tight smile, “Thanks, Won.” He nodded, returning your smile before heading to the counter.
“Should we continue tomorrow night, then?” Joy asked. You nodded. “Sure,” then added, “depends though.”
On whether or not your boyfriend is lying.
Tumblr media
“Wonwoo, do you have notes from Beom’s class? Last weeks’?” Seungcheol sat across from Wonwoo in the cafeteria, picking up a fry from Wonwoo’s plate and tossing it into his mouth. Wonwoo merely stared at his friend, unamused by his lack of manners, causing Seungcheol to chuckle.
“You know I do, Cheol, but why should I give it to you?” Wonwoo asked, his baritone voice holding a twinge of sarcasm, still upset by Seungcheol’s unwarranted act of property theft.
“Who says I want them?” Seungcheol turns away, flustered that Wonwoo caught on too quickly to his motive.
Wonwoo shrugs, and continues eating his lunch. “Alright then.”
“Can you email them to me?” An innocent, close-lipped smile etched across Seungcheol’s face, his dimple deepening as he clasped his hands together, pulling the same trick as Y/N usually does to get what they want.
“Stop that, I already get enough of puppy-eyes from Y/N,” grunted Wonwoo, rolling his eyes. “I’ll send them tonight, just send me a reminder.”
“Great, thanks, man.” Wonwoo expected him to leave, allowing for Wonwoo to spend the rest of his lunch alone before he heads to his next class, but Seungcheol stayed put, eyes on his phone. Not feeling like making any conversation, Wonwoo shrugged it off and continued eating. That is, until Seungcheol spoke up again, asking, “Hey, doesn’t Y/N have a boyfriend?”
Wonwoo couldn’t help the heat that rose at the back of his neck. “Yeah, why?”
“Isn’t it that Hanwoo guy?” Wonwoo nodded, but Seungcheol only looked even more perplexed. “They’re still going out?”
“Yeah…” Wonwoo confirmed, but the question only made his curiosity grow. Why did Seungcheol look so surprised? “Why?”
“It’s just… I mean, if you say they’re still together then it might not be- I must’ve made a mistake,” Seungcheol tried to change the subject but Wonwoo wasn’t going to let him do so.
“Tell me what you’re talking about or you won’t get Beom’s notes,” Wonwoo threatened, earning a look of genuine offense from Seungcheol, whom briefly rose a brow, a bit unconvinced. “I’m serious, Cheol.”
“Ass,” he muttered, before shaking his head, “Nah, it’s just… last night I saw a guy pick up my neighbor from across the courtyard, and I thought he looked a lot like Hanwoo.” Wonwoo’s eyebrow rose in suspicion, Seungcheol spotting it. “But if you say they’re still going out, then it must’ve been someone else.”
“What do you mean?”
“Any guy would be stupid to cheat on Y/N, especially since she’s your best friend and all.”
That only made him more confused. “Why would you say that?”
“It’s not like you’d let anyone hurt her, Won,” Seungcheol retorted, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world (it was), “and Hanwoo would be a huge dumbass if he even thought of cheating on her.”
Even though Seungcheol was right, Wonwoo wasn’t convinced—Hanwoo had a meeting last night when they were at Holly’s but Joy confirmed that he wasn’t even a part of the EO committee.
“Are you sure it wasn’t him?” He tried to make sure.
“I mean, it was dark and I wasn’t wearing my glasses so it was a bit blurry—all-in-all I would say 50%, either he was or he wasn’t,” Seungcheol explained, being no help to Wonwoo’s growing suspicion of your boyfriend.
“I’ve gotta go,” Wonwoo uttered, standing and packing his things, tossing his backpack over his shoulder.
“Where are you go- class is that way!” Wonwoo paid no mind to his friend as he continued walking towards the parking lot. However, he could hear Seungcheol as he was almost out of earshot, “Y/N, your knight in shining armor is on his way.”
The corner of Wonwoo’s lips quirked up. “I’m not sending the notes then!”
“Oh, come on, man!”
He couldn’t wait any longer. Suspicions and of course, anger, only grew the more steps he took towards his car, knowing the destination was you. If what Seungcheol said is true and he did, in fact, see Hanwoo with another girl, then that means he’s openly seeing someone else behind your back.
His hand reached for his phone, sparing quick glances between the screen and where he was walking as his fingers swiped for your contact, immediately dialing. Pressing the phone to his ear, he let his other hand pull out his car keys and unlock the door just as the line started ringing.
You picked up after two rings.
“Wonwoo? What’s with the sudden phone call?”
“Where are you?” He waited in the front seat, keys dangling from the ignition. Your answer would decide whether he starts the car or not.
“In the cafeteria near the engineering majors, why?”
“Are you with Hanwoo?” You were taken aback by his question, not because of what he asked, but by the fact that he got your boyfriend’s name right.
“Yeah, I am… Why?”
His shoulders sunk with your confirmation. “Just… just checking, sorry to bother you guys.” You muttered something that he didn’t catch before he hung up, exhaling a heavy sigh. Maybe it was paranoia. He had known you since you both were in middle school, of course he was protective over you, like every friend out there, he never wants you to get hurt.
Little did he know that as you put down your phone, a grimace had taken over your features as you looked at Joy.
“What did Wonwoo ask?”
You wanted to tell her the truth, but even you couldn’t wrap your head around the obvious that was happening. Wonwoo thinks you’re with Hanwoo, but you’re not and Joy’s tip about your boyfriend never having been involved in the election committee—you knew, and if your best friend had asked and even remembered Hanwoo’s name, then that must mean he knows, too.
“If I was with you,” you answered before her suspicion grew. “He wanted to check if I was up for lunch with him, but I’m with you already.”
“Ah… I think it’s good that he isn’t here,” Joy prefaced, pulling her phone out. “Do you remember I use to be a student supervisor for our major’s freshman camp?”
“Yeah, why?”
“So, I follow most of the kids that were in my group, right? And I was scrolling through my Instagram stories when you were buying lunch, and then—“ Joy scrolled through the following list of her account, stopping her explanation as she found who she was looking for. “—I think it’s better if you see for yourself.”
She slid her phone face-up to you, an Instagram story of a junior you didn’t know of was opened. The picture wasn’t revealing much of anything that seemed of significance to you, just a photo of her holding hands with a guy and it was posted in her Close Friends—most likely an attempt at soft-launching her boyfriend.
For a moment you were confused, then you spotted it—the username. It was Hanwoo's Instagram account. Dread grew at the back of your head as your brain couldn't grasp on to this fact, even exiting out of the story and searching for his username, hoping it was one letter off and your suspicions would be wrong, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and both the username in the girl’s post and his username were the same.
“I’m sorry, Y/N…” Joy uttered, in hopes to break the silence and tension that was building, but it was to no avail. Your throat tightened, and tears burned in your eyes, but you knew they weren’t from sadness, or heartbreak even, you were furious.
The audacity this piece of shit has to think he can cheat on me? You locked Joy’s phone, sliding it back to her before picking up your things and standing from the table.
“Where are you going?” Her eyes were filled with genuine concern, worried that you were a ticking time bomb, just waiting to blow up at the worse time.
You sent her a reassuring smile, and shrugged. “Where else? To plan my revenge on him, of course.”
Tumblr media
Wonwoo thought he was hearing things. As he paused his game, he waited and listened for a moment before shrugging, chalking it off to probably a feature in the game he never noticed.
Clink!
That couldn’t have been a feature in the game, he was breaking wood—a clinking sound against glass doesn’t seem like something you’d hear while hitting a tree repeatedly in Minecraft.
He removed his earphones this time, waiting for the sound again, and when he did, he stood and walked to his window, finding you standing outside his window.
“Finally, oh my God!” you groaned, rolling your eyes. “Do you know how many pebbles I had to look for to throw at your window?”
Wonwoo’s eyebrows bunched together as he stared at you dumbfounded. “Why did you need to throw pebbles, we’re ground level. You could’ve just knocked.”
“That wouldn’t be so romantic, now would it?”
Wonwoo rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he heaved a heavy sigh. “You’ve got to stop sneaking around like this, though, people are going to think you’re a burglar.”
“Whatever, Won,” you waved him off. “I need your help.”
“With what?”
“I—“ You paused. The fact that Hanwoo is actively cheating on you, probably even at this very moment, felt almost surreal to you, but ever since Joy showed you the picture, you’ve (to some extent) came to terms with it—there were signs after all, signs you chose to ignore or were so subtle, they flew over your head. However, coming to the realization that you’ve been cheated on felt easier than to utter it out loud—it felt more like a confirmation, that once the words were spoken out into the universe, it confirmed you were too blind in love to see the fact that he played you like a violin.
And it felt worse to admit to Wonwoo that his suspicions of your boyfr— ex-boyfriend being a douchebag were right.
“I need your help to trash Hanwoo’s car tonight, he’s at a friend’s house and left his car by his apartment.” Might as well hold off telling the truth until after you’ve released your anger.
Wonwoo could see you were holding something back, and by your proposition, making a guess as to why you did so, was easy.
“I’m not going to ask, but I will need you to explain later.” You subconsciously thanked him for not asking for a reason to your borderline act of vandalism. “Come around to the garage, I think I have a baseball bat from when I played little league.”
Ignoring the last bit of Wonwoo’s childhood anecdote, you watched as he left his room before taking the route to circle towards the front of his house where the garage was. You heard a lock turn and a bar slide before door opened, revealing Wonwoo, nodding his head to follow him.
“Do you, like, a Swiss Army knife or something sharp?”
“I think my dad has one his tool box, let me check,” he says, then points to shelf behind the car. “You can check there for the baseball bat.”
“Alright.”
Once the equipments were prepared—consisting of Wonwoo’s baseball ball, his dad’s Swiss Army knife, and your dad’s spray paint from one of his furniture restoration projects—you were all set to get back at Hanwoo. You both tossed them into the back of his car, climbing in and Wonwoo started up for Hanwoo’s apartment.
“And how do you know he left his car?” Wonwoo asked after three minutes of complete silence (AUX cord was broken and nothing that could fit a drive to vandalize your ex’s car was on the radio).
“Because I texted him earlier, asking if he could drive me to the store because there was a book I needed to get, and he explained to me that he was at a friend’s house and left his car,” you explained, your tone flat throughout as you mindlessly played with the zipper of your hoodie.
“And you’re sure he’s with friends?” He asked, his tone cautious, as he watched you freeze briefly.
You weren’t sure. Instead of admitting that, you chuckled, “He wouldn’t be with his girlfriend without a car.”
Despite your efforts at breaking the ice, Wonwoo wasn’t able to laugh at your joke, and only you could muster a dry chuckle before leaning back, turning to face the window.
You seemed to float throughout—as if watching yourself in a third person point of view, almost numb to the fact that you were on your way to ruin your ex’s car. It wasn’t that you were in denial that he is cheating on you, you refused to believe it was happening to you. You always felt that you were doing so much, showing him so much love, prioritizing him when he needed, never doubting that you felt the same way for you.
What did I do wrong? What about me wasn’t enough?
You hated those thoughts that began flooding your head. You hated those doubts. You hated that because of what he did, you’re blaming yourself—making it seem that you were the one that wasn’t doing enough.
“Y/N?” Wonwoo’s baritone voice pulled you out of your self-loathing. “We’re here.”
“Oh, you remembered the way,” you finally took note of him never asking you directions throughout the drive.
“Unfortunately.” You couldn’t help but laugh at his snide comment. Looking out to his side of the window, you see Hanwoo’s white range rover. You knew he cherished it—making sure to get the oil changed routinely, weekly car washes and having it waxed monthly. In retrospect, he probably loved the car more than he did you.
Maybe destroying he loved could make you feel less shitty.
“Let’s go—“ Before you could climb out, Wonwoo grabbed your wrist, stopping you.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Y/N?”
Again, the truth choked you. As you stared at Wonwoo, the concern laced all over his features, it felt the question should’ve triggered a flood gate to open, but alas, you persist. I need to not use poor humor as a coping mechanism. You cocked your head to the side, the corner of your lips lifted. “Why? I honestly thought you’d be the most excited of us to trash his car, Won?”
Of course, being your best friend since middle school, he saw right through your façade.
His hand moved from your wrist to clasp your hands, wrapping his fingers around yours. “Just promise you’ll talk to me, yeah?”
The bile rose, once again, urging you to cough out the truth. Knowing well enough you wouldn’t be able to utter anything without your words breaking, you nodded and sent a stiff smile.
As you stood near Hanwoo’s car, looking through the window of his vehicle, memories of the two of you seated side-by-side there came flooding in. How when you would go to a drive-thru for late night snack runs, the way you reached over the console with a fry and feeding it to him as his eyes focused on the road. When you’d pull over into a parking lot, your legs stretched over to rest over his lap as the two of you talked about everything and nothing at all, or when he would purposely make wrong turns just so you would spend more time with each other when he was supposed to drop you home.
Moments that you held so close to your heart, now worth nothing in a blink of an eye.
You squeezed your eyes shut, urging the tears to fall back and return to their sockets, inhaling a deep breath and pushing it out almost immediately as you flipped the knife to one of its sharpest options and pressing the point to the driver’s door. There’s no backing out now. You let the knife drag itself across the paint, a ragged line following your hand as you made your lap around his car.
Now, there really wasn’t going back now.
Before you could hold yourself back, your arm extended back and punctured one of the tyres—then one became two, and then three. Air spewing out of three of the tyres filled the tension around you, and you found yourself breathless. Breathless because you were angry. Breathless because you were hurt. The tears had escaped, creating warm trails down your cheeks.
“Give me the bat,” you urged, glaring at him with bloodshot eyes and wet cheeks.
“Y/N—“
“Wonwoo,” you pressed, “it’s either you give me the bat, or you go home—I’m going to do this whether you agree with it or not.”
Wonwoo shouldn’t even be against what you’re doing right now. He’s obviously on your side when it comes to this, Hanwoo deserves getting his car destroyed for hurting, manipulating and thinking he could go behind your back this way. However, the more logical and law-abiding side of him is reluctant—especially since you’ve already slashed his tyres and ruined the paintwork, so breaking the windows seemed to cross the line.
“If we get arrested, just tell them I did it, alright?” Wonwoo uttered, handing you the bat and taking the knife with him. You smiled for the first time tonight, a genuine smile that reached your eyes as he said that. He then added, “I’ll get the spray paint—you do your thing.”
And after a bashed in windshield, a very poorly written “FUCKING CHEATER” was spray painted on all sides of the car and on the hood. You and Wonwoo drove away from the scene of the crime, driving to a nearest convenient store where Wonwoo hopped out, buying instant ramen, drinks and snacks, deciding to make a last-minute picnic in his car because in his words: “Vandalism works up an appetite.”
“They didn’t have the carbonara one, so I got you cheese.” Wonwoo returned in less than ten minutes, the noodles already boiled, only needing the seasonings. You smiled at him, mumbling a thanks as you took the cup noodles from him, tearing the seasoning and busying yourself with stirring, and continuously stirring, your eyes dazed off at the curly noodles as they spun in a faint orange mix.
“Y/N, I’m sure your noodles are well stirred,” Wonwoo commented, hoping to divert your attention. The leather beneath him squeaked as he adjusted his position, leaning his back against the door as he folded his knee under him, fully facing you at this point.
He called, “Hey.”
You lifted your head to meet his eyes, and immediately, Wonwoo straightened up, his jaws clenched and shoulders tensed. Tear stricken cheeks, bloodshot eyes and everso present frown evident in between your eyebrows and downturned lips.
“Y/N…” Wonwoo took the noodles from your hands, placing it on the dashboard and pulling you by the wrists, engulfing you into his arms, then there goes the floodgates—the emotions you locked away throughout the evening, released in that very second your face was against his shoulder.
While you were bawling, grieving the relationship that reigned to be good to be true, Wonwoo was hatching up his own revenge plan on the piece of shit.
Tumblr media
The incessant ringing of your phone pulled you out of your slumber, and you knew for a fact it wasn’t your alarm, because one; you snoozed that ten times already, and two; it wasn’t your usual Radar tone.
Sliding the screen with one eye open, you placed it by your ear without seeing who it was.
“Hello—“
“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY CAR, Y/N?!”
Well that was one way of waking you up. You sat up, slowly, taking your time with adjusting your position while Hanwoo was screaming on the other line. Once you were sitting up, you glanced at the screen—the name you had changed last night once you got back home displayed as ‘IGNORE’, in hopes that you would do so when he called you. But then again, you thought he’d call you when you were conscious.
“—Y/N FUCKING ANSWER ME!” Rolling your eyes, you heaved a sigh before placing the phone back by your ear.
“And to what do I owe—“
“You were you even fucking listening to me?“ Hanwoo snapped.
“No.” Your answer was simple, honest, and obviously uninterested with whatever he wanted to say. Was the modification that you made to his beloved vehicle not enough of an announcement that you knew what he was up to all this time?
“I was asking what the hell did you to my car?”
“Can’t you tell?” you teased, “I gave it a makeover.”
“You ruined my paint job and popped my tyres, what kind of makeover is this?”
“The kind that fits a cheater like you.” Silence. Complete silence came from the other side and if you listened closely, you could hear the static along with his ragged breathing knowing well enough he was caught. “Cat got your tongue, dude?”
“Y/N…”
“Save the sob story, we’re not dating, I don’t see why you’re fucking calling me other than to cry about your stupid car—“
“How about the fact that your fucker of a dog punched me?” He interjected.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know what I mean, Y/N,” he scoffed, “it wasn’t enough to ruin my car, you had to send your dog to ruin my face too.”
It took you a second to realize he was talking about Wonwoo, which means that Wonwoo had punched his face.
Wonwoo punching someone in the face? That wasn’t something you had heard before, nor expected. The image itself was enough to cause you to burst out laughing, your phone falling from your hands, leaving Hanwoo confused and annoyed.
The idea that Wonwoo would go as far as to punch someone was such an unrealistic accusation Hanwoo had made, but nonetheless, had successfully made you laugh after a long night of crying yourself to sleep.
“Are you done?” Hanwoo asked once you placed the phone back to your ear after your laughing fit.
“Wasn’t enough for you to lie about your relationship all this time, now you want to lie and accuse Wonwoo of something he’d never do,” you defended, scoffing at his poor attempt.
“I’m not lying about this, Y/N!”
“So, you admit that you were lying about our relationship?” This time you interjected, wanting to hear him confirm it. It was mostly due to that nagging voice at the back of your head that still doubted what Joy had shown you, that the picture was friendly and not romantic.
It was so pathetic how even after everything, there was a sliver in you that hoped he would deny it.
“Y/N- let me explain—“ In other words: ‘I was, but you haven’t heard my reason’.
“Fuck off, Hanwoo, don’t ever call me again,” you warned, “and if I hear you spread bullshit about Wonwoo like you did just now, it’ll be more than just your car that I ruin. Bye.”
He managed to slip something before you got the chance to hang up. “What about my fucking eye, Y/N?”
“Why don’t you ask Gia to help you with that?” Grateful to have the last word, you hung up immediately, tossing your phone to the side. The phone call wasn’t closure, but it was enough to put those indenial thoughts to rest.
Wonwoo punched him? The thought wouldn’t leave your head as you got ready for the day. Trying to imagine Wonwoo walking up to Hanwoo and giving him a black eye wasn’t something you could see him doing. Besides that, when did Wonwoo get the time to punch Hanwoo if he did? He ended up driving you home around three in the morning, and it was past six now, meaning he had a three hour window.
Unless…
No, that would mean after dropping you off, he had stormed straight to wherever Hanwoo was just to punch him.
You had to make sure, even if it was hard to believe, you had to make sure Wonwoo was okay. As long as you’ve been friends, you’ve never seen him get into any physical altercations with anyone, and if it did happen, it might be possible that Hanwoo wouldn’t have let him walk away unscathed.
Your legs carried you to his house, to his front door and after greeting his parents, to his bedroom door. You knocked, listening in to hear rummaging noises, as if he was panicking.
“Wait, Eomma, I just finished showering—“ He called out from the other side, which you found odd because you knew him, he wouldn’t even be awake at this hour.
“Wonwoo, it’s me.”
The noise on the other side of the door paused for a moment, before Wonwoo called out. “Y/N?”
“Yes, can you open the door?” You asked, waiting for it to swing open but it didn’t.
“No, I’m- uh, I’m watching something, you don’t need to see it,” Wonwoo tried to think of an excuse but cursed at himself because why the hell did that come out instead? You, on the other hand, found his obvious panic hilarious, his excuse eliciting a chuckle.
“I know you met with Hanwoo,” you informed him, making sure to keep your voice down so his parents wouldn’t hear. “So, can you please open the door and let me check the damage?”
You waited a few minutes, hearing him toss a few things away, the noise causing your brows to furrow. The lock turned and the door swung enough for you to squeeze yourself in, knowing well enough that Wonwoo wasn’t about to reveal himself in fear his parents would see (they wouldn’t have, they were on the other side of the house, he was just paranoid). Once you were in, he pushed the door closed, his back against it and you could see what damage Hanwoo had done to your next door neighbour.
It wasn’t bad, admittedly you thought it’d be worse considering his lack of experience.
It was a scratch and bruising surrounding his left cheek, that was most caused by a ring Hanwoo was wearing, but other than that, and a tear in his lip, that was all he took.
“I honestly thought you’d look worse,” you thought out loud, Wonwoo’s brows furrowing at the comment.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
You shook your head, lightly laughing. “Nothing, do you have anything I can use to clean that?”
“Uh… I do, actually.” He dips to look on his bedside table. “Stopped by a drugstore after because I saw the blood.”
“And when did you get the time to pull it all off?”
“Well, after I dropped you off, I asked Seungcheol since he knows—“ Wonwoo stopped, realizing that this information wasn’t ever supposed to reach you. “Uhm… How did you know I was hurt?”
“Because a psychopath told me,” you informed, and his eyes darkened for a moment, rolling in annoyance.
“I told him to never bother you again,” he groaned, before his gaze softened as he turned to you. “Did he hurt you? Are you okay?”
“He just called my phone, I’m alright,” you reassured him. Taking a step towards him, your fingers gently touched the wound on his cheek, inspecting it. You could see that he didn’t tend to it once it started bleeding, evidence of dried blood surrounding the wound and there wasn’t any antiseptic used either to ensure an infection didn’t happen.
While you were playing nurse, Wonwoo became very aware of the lack of space between your face and his, and he had to hold his breath. It only worsened when your eyes darted to his, the two of you holding eye contact for what he thought was an eternity.
“Let me clean it up for you, Won,” you uttered, breaking the silence and eventually the tension as you turned to walk into his ensuite bathroom. He followed after trying to calm his heartbeat, finding you on top of his sink, soaking a cotton pad with antiseptic and tearing a bandaid from its package.
“Come here,” you urged. Wonwoo stood between your thighs, not wanting to meet your eyes, but you didn’t mind—almost finding him being flustered cute.
“Ow,” he winced when the antiseptic touched the wound after you had wiped it clean of the dried blood.
“It’s a small sting, stop being a baby,” you teased, earning a glare from him. “How come you only came out with this?”
“Got me at the last minute,” he answered.
“And how was he?” Your question was responded with an eyebrow raise instead, causing you to roll your eyes. “I don’t care about him, Won, I just want to know if it was worth it—if you, at least, are satisfied with this decision.”
The corner of his lips turned up, a smug look etched across his face as he answered, “It was. I hurt him enough to send the message and keep it with him for the next couple of weeks.”
“I never knew you could fight,” you said honestly.
“There’s a lot you still don’t know about me, Y/N,” he mumbled, but because of your close proximity, you heard it loud and clear. Before you ask further, he spoke up, “Have you had breakfast yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“After this we can have breakfast, I think my mom made doenjang jjigae,” he informed. You smiled, nodding, “Sure.” You finished tending to his wound by plastering on the Kuromi bandaid, teasing him about it, to which he used the ‘there wasn’t anything else’ excuse.
He grabbed your elbow as you hopped off his sink, the action caused you to stumble out of balance instead of helping, made you bump closer to him, his free arm automatically holding your waist.
Cue the eye contact and pink-tinted cheeks, the move could’ve made you laugh as if it was straight out of a cheesy rom-com, but you were too occupied with trying to think that you couldn’t do so. I’m heartbroken, I’m vulnerable and haven’t been feeling loved for the past week, this is just a fluke, you tried to rationalize the thoughts and your racing heart, knowing well what could work to get out of this.
You tapped his chest, gently pushing him. “Go shower, Wonwoo, you reek.”
“Shut up, I do not,” he protested, laughing to cover his shaky voice. He then added, “Thanks, Y/N, although you didn’t have to do all this.”
“And let you get an affection?” You retorted.
Wonwoo rolled his eyes, and without thinking he uttered, “A kiss would’ve sufficed.” It was too late for him to take back his words, noting your wide eyes and mouth slightly agape, his cheeks flushed when he realized what he had said. “Y/N, I wasn’t thinking—“
You pressed a kiss against cheek, beneath his bandage, shutting him completely. “Take it as a thank you for all you’ve done for me.”
It took him a second to compose himself, grinning, “I am your knight in shining armor, after all.”
You threw your head back in laughter. “Are you riding a horse, my knight?”
“Yes, a pink horse,” he answered, smiling endearingly down at you.
You frowned at his choice of color, “But you hate pink?”
“And you love pink.”
“Gosh, Wonwoo,” you flushed red, taking a step away from him, finding his comment both cringey and touching at the same time—it was shocking you could feel those two simultaneously. “When did you get so cheesy?”
He merely shrugged, a faint smirk on his lips. “I told you there was a lot you don’t know about me.”
480 notes · View notes
unityrain24 · 4 months
Text
email i got today not sure if this is news??:
----
Tumblr media
Breaking news: a top Democrat in the House has highlighted the problem with the “duty of care” model in the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).1
During the markup last week, Rep. Frank Pallone said, “adopting the duty of care could cause social media companies to over-filter content out of an abundance of caution about legal risk, and as a result some young people could lose access to helpful and even life-saving content.”2
This is exactly what dozens of human rights, civil liberties, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ groups have been saying for years about why KOSA’s duty of care is so dangerous.3
Our grassroots campaign is working and it's getting the attention of top lawmakers. Can you help us continue the fight to ensure that KOSA is only passed if it gets fixed?
Donate
Pallone rightly went on to say that he doesn’t trust Big Tech companies to make determinations about what types of content recommendations cause mental health disorders, noting that our understanding of the science in this area is still evolving.
Here’s what this means:
It’s working. Your phone calls, emails, the videos you’ve made and shared, the small $5 and $10 donations that enable us to run online campaigns, display your comments on billboards in DC4, and keep the media and lawmakers staff as informed as possible about our concerns have made KOSA less likely to pass, at least not without major changes. The top Democrat on the House committee is speaking out against it,  and that wouldn’t have happened without all of our work together.
We still have a ton of work to do. Rep. Pallone’s alternative proposal is to try to address the harms of Big Tech by going after Section 2305, which would lead to many of the same harms he’s worried about with KOSA’s duty of care. So we still have to work to educate his staff and other members on and off the committee, and drive emails and phone calls urging Congress to adopt strong privacy and antitrust protections instead of stalling out again and again with bills like KOSA and EARN IT that raise serious human rights concerns. APRA, the privacy bill that also advanced at the hearing, has some positive features, but there’s a lot of work needed to make it strong enough to actually protect the most vulnerable people.
KOSA could still pass, and we need to keep up the pressure. Despite the surprise blowback KOSA faced at last week’s hearing, the subcommittee still voted to advance it to a full committee vote. That means it’s one step closer to passing, and there is still a very real possibility that it could be snuck into a “must-pass” funding bill like the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). There is a big push from backers of KOSA including full page ads, op-eds in major papers, and several large tech companies have already come out in support of it. We have to take it seriously as an ongoing threat.
There is also still a chance that KOSA could be amended to address our concerns. Senator Wyden has proposed some helpful amendments. One of the good parts of KOSA is its ban on targeted advertising to kids. That could be imported into a strengthened version of APRA, for example, while leaving the harmful duty of care model behind. There are lots of ways Congress can address the harms of Big Tech and protect kids without enabling censorship and surveillance.
So, we gained some ground, but the fight is far from over. If you’ve read this far, you must understand how important this is. If you’re in a position to donate, please click here.
Help stop KOSA
If not, seriously don’t worry about it. We’ve all been there. Thank you so much for being part of this movement demanding Internet policies that don’t throw marginalized people under the bus. We can fight for an Internet where kids aren’t just safe, but have basic human rights, and the ability to speak out and shape the world around them. 
Let’s do it,
Evan at ❤️ Fight for the Future
https://energycommerce.house.gov/events/innovation-data-and-commerce-subcommittee-markup-of-three-bills
https://www.techpolicy.press/house-energy-commerce-subcommittee-markup-of-the-american-privacy-rights-act-kids-online-safety-act/
https://www.stopkosa.com/
https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2024-05-22-listen-to-kids-billboard-outside-house-hearing-raises-up-voices-of-lgbtq-youth-who-oppose-kosa/
https://touchgrass.fightforthefuture.org/unserious-attempt-1-562-to-rollback-section-230/
Fight for the Future, PO Box 55071 #95005, Boston, MA 02205  Don't like these emails? Unsubscribe.
Sent via ActionNetwork.org. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Fight for the Future, please click here.
163 notes · View notes
pandorafairy · 2 years
Text
The Sully's in American Public School
Tumblr media
Lo’ak:
Wears Nike Jordan's and sweatshirts  
Snapchats Tsireya in class: “So wyd?” “Wanna meet at the gym in 5?”  “U look cute today”
Takes the hall pass to go to the bathroom and never goes back to class
Attempts to make thirst traps and TikTok’s in said bathroom 
Makes fun of Neteyam to his friends but if one of them agree, Lo’ak will punch them 
Always late to class and will try to talk the teacher out of giving him a tardy (it never works)
Is literally always in trouble for something
Runs track and plays basketball
"Ayo, my parents are out of town. Party at my place tonight!"
Neteyam:
Definitely the best dressed guy in school. Baggy jeans/cargos, oversized t shirts, bomber jackets/pullovers, and beanies.
Captain of the football and track team
A lot of people have crushes on him but he pretends not to notice
Involved in so many extracurriculars
Literally everyone knows who is but he's still always so nice. Like he is popular but goes out of his way to talk to everyone not just 'cool' kids
Really good at math
"Lo'ak said what???"
Kiri:
Always has her airpods in 
Pretends not to know Lo’ak 
Wears crystal necklaces 
Uses a bookbag not a backpack
Loves art and English class (actually enjoys Shakespeare)
Very quiet except for in debate. She completely dominates every single argument
Looks out the window and watches birds instead of paying attention during class (Rotxo likes to watch her because he can look at her without her noticing)
"Oh, I don't know a guy named Lo'ak." *rolls her eyes*
Tuk:
Tries to trade snacks at lunch but no one ever wants to because Neytiri makes her bring healthy food (Jake will secretly put candy in so she can trade) 
Definitely wears like Nike and Under Armor athletic wear but in cute colors
Races the boys at recess (she always wins) 
Goes crazy at Scholastic Book Fairs. She buys silly bands, bookmarks, those fuzzy mini wallets. Literally anything except actual books
She likes science. She loves learning about the chicks life cycle and watching them hatch
Her backpack is a mess
"Nete? Why are so many people in our house?"
Neytiri:
Gets in fights with PTA moms over dress codes (her kids can wear whatever they want)
On the environmental committee
Defends her kids always (even when it is clearly their fault)  “How do you know that Lo’ak did that?” 
Packs all their lunches and leaves good luck notes on days when they have a big test
Has to help the kids with their homework because they all cry when Jake tries to help them
"I am going to pluck out Lo'ak's eyes." *Lo'ak gets everyone out of the house and goes to hide* *Neytiri finds him easily*
Jake: 
Tries to help Tuk with her math homework but she always ends up crying and then Jake feels bad and gives her candy.
Big football dad (at all of Neteyam’s games) 
Drives his kids to all their school dances and gives their dates death stares
Makes friends with the other parents (Neytiri tries to be friendly)
Puts all their report cards on the fridge
"Neteyam! I said no parties. How could let your brother do this?" *Neteyam apologizes but secretly had a lot of fun and would do it again*
Thanks for reading! I've never written something like this but it was fun! Hope you enjoyed :)
1K notes · View notes
hotvintagepoll · 8 months
Note
Gregory Peck is not only a certified hunk of a man but a great actor and a genuinely good person.
He starred in the film version of the novel Gentleman’s Agreement which was “Hollywood’s first major attack on anti-semitism” which features Peck as a magazine writer who pretends to be Jewish so he can experience personally the hostility of bigots and then calls out and exposes antisemitism and this film was made in 1947 like only two years after the end of World War II so historically an important film(I love this film and think its underated like its great and like Greg looks amazing as he rails against bigots). I could make an argument, and I have honeslty thought about writing a paper on it, that a majority of his films tackle some important issue whether it be antisemitism (Gentleman’s Agreement), racism (To Kill a Monckingbird), nuclear war (On the Beach), post-war discontent and PTSD (The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit), the futility of war (Pork Chop Hill) etc.
His daughter Cecilia said “ My father was a champion of stories that needed to be told, like To Kill a Mockingbird, Gentleman’s Agreement, and On the Beach. He was not afraid of films that championed diversity, equality, and tolerance. He was deeply intelligent, and also very funny in real life.”
He was against the House Un-American Activities Committee and their investigation of “alleged communists” in the film industry and signed a letter deploring their actions in 1947. He was outspoken against the Vietnam War, while at the same time supportive of his son who was fighting there. He produced the film version of the play The Trial of the Catonsville Nine about the prosecution of a group of Vietnam protestors for civil disobedience. Peck said “I decided to make the film because the play confirmed my thinking that the Vietnam War [was] an abomination.” His outspoken-ness against the Vietnam war and general political activism put him on Nixon’s “enemies list” (honestly what an icon).
He was a vocal supporter of a worldwide ban on nuclear weapons and was a lifelong advocate for gun control.
He and his wife Veronique often hosted dinners at their home in support of the arts and humanitatian or social justice causes. His daughter
He was Catholic but took a pro-choice stance on abortion and supported gay rights.
He was the president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (1967-1970) and postponed the awards following the assasination of MLK.
He was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 for his lifetime humanitarian efforts and he also won the Jean Hersolt Humanitarian Award.
He didnt just play the handsome hero on the big screen he was one in real life.
Now some photos of him looking good:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Gregory Peck vs Paul Robeson
156 notes · View notes
basshole-astard · 1 year
Text
[AMERICAN POLITICS]
i know everyone is worried about KOSA being a censorship bill, and that's fair. but do you know what really, REALLY concerns me about this bill? the fact they want to install age verification systems at the device/operating system level
Tumblr media
(transcript with highlights below cut)
this will almost definitely track your data - note how it doesn't say how much, just that it's going to have to collect some, and that's worrying. to me. best case scenario we need to give our devices our government ID. worst case scenario it's tracking app usage and browser history and who knows what else. they don't say! how convenient.
but, based on Sec. 6(d)(5) "consider indicia or inferences of age of users, in addition to any self-declared information about the age of individuals." and Sec. 10(a)(1)(D) "using indicia or inferences of age of users for assessing use of the covered platform by minors", nevermind Sec. 9(b)(4)'s own admission that some data will be collected, that's.... that's data tracking.
and i know websites already do this, but i feel like a government mandated software for age verification that will track this data is a step too far.....
read the text of the bill here, if you want. genuinely the amount of legaleze is - as far as i can tell - only going to PROBABLY cause censorship, not GUARANTEE it.
but you know what KOSA does guarantee? stated plainly and clearly in their intents of what this bill will do? data tracking.
so if you're contacting your senators about opposing this bill, please consider not only voicing your concerns about censorship, but also about the privacy violations. thank you.
contact your senators here
highlighted text in image bolded
SEC. 9. Age verification study and report.
(a) Study.—The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and the Secretary of Commerce, shall conduct a study evaluating the most technologically feasible methods and options for developing systems to verify age at the device or operating system level.
(b) Contents.—Such study shall consider —
(1) the benefits of creating a device or operating system level age verification system;
(2) what information may need to be collected to create this type of age verification system;
(3) the accuracy of such systems and their impact or steps to improve accessibility, including for individuals with disabilities;
(4) how such a system or systems could verify age while mitigating risks to user privacy and data security and safeguarding minors' personal data, emphasizing minimizing the amount of data collected and processed by covered platforms and age verification providers for such a system; and
(5) the technical feasibility, including the need for potential hardware and software changes, including for devices currently in commerce and owned by consumers.
(c) Report.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the agencies described in subsection (a) shall submit a report containing the results of the study conducted under such subsection to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.
285 notes · View notes
Text
Death Row
Pairing: Oberyn Martell x gn!Lannister!reader
Words: 6.1k
Rating: T (more for violence and angst. Think like a PG13 movie)
Summary: The Red Viper is finally brought to justice, but to you there is more than meets the eye.
Warnings: Murder, implied past rape (not the reader), implied past child murder (both off screen) The Lannisters being the Lannisters, use of poisons, hanging, death. (I might have missed a few)
Author: Mod Mouse
Notes: I wrote this fic for the #almostfoxgloveangstchallenge put on by the wonderful @almostfoxglove. The song I was given with this prompt was Death Row by Chris Stapleton so if you want to listen along to get you in the mood go right ahead! I'm actually super proud of both 1) writing a pretty angsty fic since I'm a solid member of the fluff committee and 2) I usually don't write this long of fic. So I hope you all enjoy this work.
Tumblr media
They did it. The Red Viper was finally captured after avoiding different law enforcement across dozens of counties. He could hide in plain sight and only peek out of his burrow when he was ready to strike. There were many reported deaths tied directly to the outlaw, and they were always closely tied to the Sherriff which caused a stir in this section of the country. 
But now the region didn’t need to worry about this mysterious man any longer. He was brought into local custody when he was detained at the scene of the murder of Sheriff Tywin Lannister’s Gregor Clegane aka The Mountain. By the time the Sheriff got there The Mountain was already dead and the Red Viper who, surrounded by a group of the Lannister’s men, was just staring at the corpse of his victim. He didn’t put up any sort of fight when he was arrested, nor did he defend himself during his very short trial. 
You were there despite your dad’s attitude towards you. Considering you were his bastard child he didn’t want you anywhere near the judicial area of town, but that still didn't stop you. Your other siblings were regular attendants so you would be too. 
 You took in the man on trial. The Red Viper was someone to be feared and brought nothing but death in his wake. But when you looked at the golden man on the judgement stand you saw the expression on his face. He was calm and even a bit cocky as he leaned back in his chair with his feet on the table. 
Of course he was sentenced to death by hanging. The evidence against him was undeniable, and soon he would be left to rot in his cell until the day they called up to the gallows. You lingered in the courtroom that day, staring at the door the guards let him through long after he was gone. Something about his expression made you want to visit him. 
That day you came up with a plan. Luckily you had your father’s schedule down to a science. After he left in the morning you knew he wouldn’t be back until supper giving you plenty of time to sneak into the jails. The only problem was the guards. Unfortunately they were all too aware of who you were, so going in the front door wasn’t an option. Behind the prison would be your best bet. 
With your plan in motion, you set out to discover who this man was. You peaked out the backdoor of the house making sure the coast was clear. When you saw no one you quietly ran across the street. Taking the familiar alleys and backways you found yourself at the back of the holding cells. As you thought there were only two guards at the front which meant no one would be inside. The building was top of the line, but you knew the backways into the cells thanks to your years of sneaking behind your father’s back. 
You approached the barred window and gave each of the bars a tug. Just like you thought a couple of them were loose from the recent rain and you were able to pull them just enough to shimmy inside. You really ought to tell your father about this escape route, but you also weren’t too keen on your father. 
The holding cells were as musty as you remember. There were hardly any windows so the air felt heavy and old. Years of prisoners breathing the same air as they awaited a similar end created a sense of weight to the area. All of the cells were empty save for the one the Red Viper was held in which from the clinking of stones being thrown was the last one of the left. 
Slowly you approached being as quiet as you can be. Despite this though a rough accented voice flowed through the quiet hallway. “I told you I had no intention of giving you a statement.” 
“I apologize I’m not the press.” You reply and step out of the shadows. 
The Red Viper leaned against the far wall, hands in his lap picking absently at his nail, the pile of tossed stones at the edge of the bars. What little light trickled into the jail beamed against the prisoner’s bright yellow outfit. But the luster of the outfit was damped by the dust and grime that gathered on the material over the course of time. His face matched his clothes. What was once a well trimmed and care for beard was ragged and well past its shave date. 
When you came into view, he raised his eyebrows confused at your presence. “Well you are not what I was expecting to waltz through those doors.” His dark eyes raked over your body curious about the creature in front of him. 
“It seems I’m not the only one visiting the infamous Red Viper.” You comment. 
He rolled his eyes. “If you are here to spit and drag my name through the mud. I’m not interested.” 
“How can I drag your name through the mud if I don’t know your name,” You quip back. 
The Red Viper smirks. “Smart mouth on this one. I quite like that. Makes you different from the other rats of this town.” 
“Well unfortunately some of those rats are my family so I’m supposed to be offended for them,” You sigh and sit down in front of the bars. 
The prisoner leaned forward taking a better look at you since you were more in the dim light. “I recognize you from the trial. You sat with the other sheriff's children. Since when did Lannister children converse with criminals?” 
“Just now. I guess one of us has to break tradition.” You shrug your shoulders. 
“And I am the one you’re breaking tradition for? Truly an honor.” He gently tips his head to you. 
“Well you are infamous in this area. A lot of people hate you,” You tell him bluntly. 
“They hate me for all the wrong reasons.” 
You look back towards the doors. Still as silent as when you came in. “I don’t hate you.” 
He scanned your face looking for anything that would give you away. “Why?” 
You took a deep breath. “I saw the way you held yourself at the trial.” You turned your head back to him. “There’s more to you than meets the eye.” 
“Clever thing you are,” He muses dark predatory eyes raking up and down your body. “You are correct. I’m not just some senseless killer.” 
You leaned forward bracing your forearm across your knee. “Then tell me.”
He was quiet for a long time and you almost thought he fell asleep, but his voice spoke again. “Come back tomorrow and I will tell you my story. But there will be an equivalent exchange.” 
You mull over his words. “And what are you looking for in exchange?” 
The Red Viper leaned his head back against the dirty bricks and gazed at your form. “Bring me something that is dear to you. It will be enough to match the importance of my story.” 
You were quiet for a moment thinking over his offer. There was something that was near and dear to your heart that you knew that would satisfy the stranger, but was this story really worth the possibility of losing your precious item. A soft sigh escaped your lips and you smirked. “Your story better be damn important.” 
The stranger smirked and nodded his head. “That will be determined by you.” 
Carefully you stood up and brushed off the accumulated dust from your pants. “Fine, expect me around the same time tomorrow.” 
“I’ll be waiting with baited breath for your return.” He replied, that cocky smirk returning to his lips. 
You gave him a small nod before quietly retracing your steps out of the escape route. Just as carefully as you arrived you returned to your house. It was silent as a morgue, and you breathed a sigh of relief. Gods only know what would happen if you had to explain where you’ve been all day to any member of your family. 
You returned to your bedroom and sat down on the familiar furniture. The silence allowed you to ruminate on the day. A stranger walks into your life and you had no idea how this was about to change your life. Thoughts kept rolling over in your head, leaving your appetite less than ideal. Your family wouldn’t miss you for dinner. This was your safe haven. 
Carefully you lit the candle beside you bed and grabbed the book you had been reading opening it up to your saved spot. Though you only made it a few chapters. The weight of that story made your eyes drowsy making the idea of a nap sound like the best idea. You kicked off your shoes and let yourself curl up on your bed. The thoughts in your head drifted but you soon found yourself in a deep sleep. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun slowly filtered into your room adding a warm glow to everything. The light hit your closed eyes and pulled you from the land of dreams. You grumbled annoyed to be awakened in such a manner, but the events of yesterday trickled back into your mind. That was enough to motivate you to get out of bed.  
Slowly you went over to your water basin and cupped the water in your hands splashing it into your face. The feeling of the cool water woke you up more allowing you to take a breath. You took your wash cloth and gently rubbed the sleep from your face wanting or rather needing yourself to be fully awake today. After you finished your morning routine, you traveled downstairs. 
The remnants of breakfast were on the table and an array of meats and breads were left messily on the counter, but yet no one was around. You sighed. This was the usual. Your father and Jamie always left at the crack of dawn, and Cersei couldn’t be bothered to talk to you. Who knew where your other brother was which gave you too much time to yourself. 
You sighed and gathered what you could for a meal, and luckily they had left enough for you to eat your fill. Staring at the empty chairs in front of you really did solidify what you were about to do. It was obvious that your family didn’t give two shits about you. A “bastard” claimed as a Lannister so their name would be smeared through the horse’s shit they rode in on. Why would it hurt to hear the story from this man.The Mountain had only done harm and it was under your father’s command that he committed such actions. With those thoughts you were resolved. 
Leaving the table how you found it, you hurried back up to your room to find the item the stranger wanted. With some effort you pulled the chest from under your bed and with the sleeve of your shift gently wiped the dust from the lid to reveal the pattern underneath. With familiar ease you traced the name that was etched into the wood. 
You missed your mother. Another victim of this wretched town. You popped the lock open on the trunk and rummaged around until your fingers hit the familiar cool metal. Carefully you pulled the necklace out from underneath the pile of her clothes. The heart shaped locket rested easily against your palm. Tears pricked at your eyes and you gently pressed a kiss to it. 
Emotions stirred in your chest, blurry memories coming to the forefront of your mind. But you didn’t have time for that. The stranger’s story was waiting for you. You took a deep breath before gathering the chain and setting it on your dresser. You made sure the chest made it back under your bed before you got changed for the day. Carefully you slipped the necklace into your pocket giving it a gentle pat.
Without losing another moment you hurried out of the house. Following a similar path as you did yesterday, you sneaked your way back to the holding cells. Everything seemed the same as yesterday and plopped down from the bars, falling harder than you were expecting.
You froze for a few seconds making sure that the guards didn’t hear the sound. When there was no indication of the guards sensing your presence, you tipped-toed your way back to the holding cells. Just like you left him yesterday there the stranger was against the wall with his head against the bricks. 
His head tilted towards the sound and the corners of his mouth tipped upward  when he saw it was you. “Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” 
You rolled your eyes but there was a grin on your face. “You just met me.” You comment as you sit down on the dirty floor once again. 
“And yet you came back all for a little story.” He mused his eyes following your movement. 
“I did.” You answered and reached into your pocket. While holding the chain you held the locket in front of you. The Red Viper sat forward in interest and for the first time since meeting him he got up and sat in front of the bars. With well worn and bruised fingers he caressed the metal with a surprising gentleness for a so-called ruthless killer. 
“Who did this belong to?” He asked, not taking his eyes off of the metal. 
“My mother.” You whispered 
The stranger looked up at you. “I’m sorry.” He whispered understanding the situation and yet no words were exchanged. 
He opened the locket. “To my beautiful child. May the fawn protect you from the wrath of the lions.” You quoted the inscription from memory. Everynight when you were growing up you fell asleep with the memento under your pillow. You didn’t know your mother, but you knew she would always protect you. 
With curiosity etched in his expression, the stranger looked back at you. “I take it the Lannisters aren’t good to you either.” 
You scoffed. “You could say it. My father decided to bed a daughter of a man whom he wanted for his land. So he had me as blackmail and took what he thought was his. My mother was ruined and I’ve never seen her.” You were quiet for a moment. “It only seemed fair that a story about the Lannisters be met with a similar fate.” You let the chain slip from your hands letting it hit the floor with a clink. 
The Red Viper watched where the jewelry hit the ground for a moment. “Yes, unfortunately our stories are not that different.” He said as his fingers brushed the metal of the fallen memento. 
You leaned your weight against your arm. “Tell me what my father did against you.” 
 “I hope you didn’t have plans to go anywhere else. For this is a long story.” He answered, tilting his head. 
“I am here until you finish your tale.” You reply honestly. 
The Red Viper took a deep breath and released it slowly through his nose. “Okay then you shall hear my tale.” 
Flash Back 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fires of the town were still smoldering by the time he arrived. Heat blasted his face as he frantically searched the town. Many were screaming and running away from the danger, but he was racing into the flames. “Elia!” He yelled over the crack of the ignited wood. The sweat from the heat kept his hair in place as he whipped his head around to get even a glimpse of his sister. 
“Please where are you?” He whispered to himself as he desperately ran from building to building hoping that they were okay. His chest heaved with each pant and would’ve kept running forever, but a sound as loud as a thundercrack bellowed across the crumbling town. 
He whipped his head around and saw what he had been dreading. The familiar house where his sister and her children resided in past familiarity was all but rubble under the broiling flames. Ignoring any sense of safety, the stranger hurried up the broken sign hoping of the slim chance he could pull them out. 
Smoke filled his mouth and burned his eyes, but a simple pain like this wasn’t going to stop him. His family needed him. Without a care for his own wellbeing, he barges through the charred door. 
“Elia!” He screamed over the fire’s roars as he once again tried to find his sister desperately searching every charred nook and cranny. Until his eyes landed on something, and it wasn’t the smoke that caused his tears this time. With shaking legs, he kneeled in front of a fallen beam. Peeking underneath it was a charged hand. On that hand was the ring he recognized all too well. He was there when that ring slipped on his finger when she married Rhaegar. He was there when he held his first nephew and she was exhausted from giving birth. He was there when she told him of her husband’s divorce, and subsequent cheating. 
A crushing sob escaped out of his parched lips and he desperately clung to what was left of his beloved sister. Oh he wanted to stay with her as she burned away to ash, but the gods were cruel and just like the beam that took his sister, another one crashed beside him pulling him from his grief. 
Without a second thought he pulled the ring off of her charred hand and rushed back to the safety of the dark night. He stumbled along the charred pathway eventually tripping on a loose branch. There was nothing he would do but let himself fall. The stranger let himself weep as his world burned around him. His eyes blurred with the tears that continuously fell for his sister and her children. Embers rained around him leaving burn holes in his once vibrant clothing.
When there were no tears left to cry, he didn’t move. He didn’t have the energy to even think about escaping. Though something did catch his eye, something flashing with the dying flames. With all the energy he could muster, he reached out and grabbed the mysterious object. A five star badge with the infamous silver lion etched in the middle. An emblem only used by one family in the area which he knew all too well. 
Sorrow reversed to rage. A rage as hot as the fires that took his sister. The damned lions were responsible for this. He gripped the badge in his hands, the points pressed into his palm causing a slow stream of blood to flow down his arm. He would get his revenge. He would undo this wrong that was cursed upon his innocent family. He glared at the star. Lannisters aren’t the only ones who pay their debts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You didn’t realize but tears were streaming down your cheeks until you felt a rough hand caress the droplets from your skin. The touch pulled you out the trace and you looked back at the prisoner. 
“I’m sorry.” You sniffled as another round of tears sprang to life. 
“What are you sorry for? Did you kill me sister?” He joked tilting his head. 
“No but I carry that name therefore I carry a part of that sin.” 
The stranger shook his head. “My strange dove, you have no reason to be responsible for your bastard of a father.” 
You took a deep breath calming yourself. “Weirdly enough you're the first person to say that.” You chuckle sadly as you wipe away the spent tears. 
The Red Viper gazed at you with a glimmer in his dark brown eyes. “You really are fascinating.” 
“You’re the fascinating one. But please this isn’t about me. Continue your tale.” You shook your head hiding the heat in your cheeks. 
The way he stared into your eyes it was evident that he wanted to continue his compliments, but for your sake he continued his tale. The stranger leaned back on his hands and tipped his head back. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Through many sleepless nights he rode through all the cities, taking names of anyone who might have been involved. He slaughtered many who even had a chance of being involved in the death of his family. If a man had any chance of involvement with the Lannisters, they were questioned on Tywin and his monster of a sheriff, but when they offered no information they were slain on the spot. The only lead the Red Viper could glean from the loyal rats was a preacher in the next town over who was a pastor for a town the Lannisters owned. So as quickly as the stranger could, he mounted his horse and spurred the creature to gallop as fast as its legs could carry them. 
By the time he arrived at the small town, the church crowd had dispersed and were already gathering for the after-sermon meals. Most of the people didn’t notice the outlaw riding into town, but a few jumped back when he stopped his horse a few feet from the entrance. Quickly he tied a loose knot with the reins and stalked up the stairs. 
The church was nothing like the grand sanctuaries in the other bigger towns. It was large enough to house the town's inhabitants with minimal iconography with a simple altar at the head of the church. There stood the Father clearing up the remnants of the sermon. 
“I had a feeling you would find me sooner rather than later,” The man remarked not turning around to meet the stranger. The Red Viper pulled his gun out, pointing the barrel at the back of the preacher. “Shooting me will do you no good either. You can’t get information out of a corpse.” At this remark the preacher glanced over his shoulder at the outlaw. 
“Then talk, Varys. I know you who burned my sister’s town to the ground,” The Red Viper growled, cocking the gun. 
“My my my you are a volatile creature. It’s a wonder you haven’t been caught soon with the trail of bodies I hear you’ve left in your wake,” Varys turned and tucked his hands under his arms. “You seem tense. A cup of tea will calm the nerves.” He turned and ducked under the doorway leading down to the secluded areas of the chapel, unperturbed by the angry man standing in the aisle.
The Red Viper stared at the empty space where Father Varys was standing and cautiously followed him to the chambers. The priest was already preparing the tea with the two cups set on the table. “I figured you could use some chamomile to soothe that seething soul of yours.” 
The stranger didn’t respond but sat down at the empty spot across from the priest. “I swear to the heavens if you try to poison me.” 
Varys smirked as he sipped from his own mug. “You are the Red Viper. You are the king of poisons. The lowest level thug wouldn’t be dumb enough to test your prowess.”
Staring at his cup for a moment, then took the warm liquid up to his lips for a drink. A few sips weren’t enough for him until he finished the whole mug not caring about the burn down his throat. 
The priest sighed as he set the cup back down on the table. Oberyn stared at the priest.  “Now tell me when I can find the Mountain.” 
“He will be at the King’s Landing Tavern for the next few days. Tywin has a new mission for him.” 
“You know for someone who is loyal to the Lannisters, you spill their secrets like a drunken wench.” 
Varys chuckled. “Claiming I was ever loyal to the Lannisters was your first mistake.” 
“A man must have some loyalties.” 
“My loyalties lie with me and only me.” Father Varys gazed over his cup before taking another sip. 
The Red Viper narrowed his gaze. “What then do you get out of telling a wanted criminal the location of the Lannister’s right hand man?” 
Varys shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “Let’s say the Mountain has also done some less than savory things to ones I care for as well.” 
The outlaw was silent for a moment. “Thank you,” The stranger answered as he turned away from the doorway. 
“Be careful Viper. The lions will writhe when you succeed,” Varys warned. He dipped his head in acknowledgment as he headed out of the sanctuary. The time was now to prepare for their fateful meeting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The King’s Landing Tavern was alive and music poured from the swinging double doors as the Red Viper stood outside. He had been prepared for this moment since he found his family destroyed by this man. Taking a deep breath letting the anger fuel the energy he needed to move his limbs into the establishment. 
Pushing the wooden doors open, he stepped into the saloon and everything stopped. This bar was only for a select few of the Lannister elites and seeing a stranger meant you were in for some trouble. Scanning the seats his eyes landed on the giant of the man taking up two seats at the bar. He was easily bigger than any of the other patrons, and the Red Viper had his target. 
Ignoring the stares from the rest of the group he sidled up to the bar and plopped down in an empty stool beside his target. “A whiskey dry.” The Red Viper ordered the bartender who without a word took an empty glass and poured two fingers worth of whiskey in the glass. 
With the ease of years of bartending, he slid the glass down to him, but a big arm intercepted the glass. “You shouldn’t be here.” 
“And you shouldn’t have messed with my family,” He calmly replied, staring at the shelves of dark liquor. 
“I don’t remember the names of those I’ve slaughtered.” 
The stranger had to keep his anger under control as he felt his blood boil. “I will make you remember this one.” 
The large man scoffed. “Good luck with that.” He whipped out his shotgun as The Red Viper leaped off his chair. The bullet buried itself in the wall behind him. 
The outlaw jumped, rolling as he hit the floor and pulled his own six shooter out. The rest of the bar whipped out their own guns and the stranger waved it at the crowd. “This is between me and the Mountain. If anyone else decides they want to intervene, then I shall send them to an early grave.” He swiveled his feet and turned to point the barrel at his opponent. “My wrath lies with this man.” 
The Mountain cracked his neck and shook out his limbs. “And tell me what are my crimes.” 
“Elia Martell. You were ordered to kill her by Tywin Lannister,” He growled and fired a shot at his enemy. One missed Gregor who dodged out of the way, but the other one grazed his retreating limb. But a single scrape wasn’t enough to even make the Mountain grimace. 
“I kill many people with or without the Sheriff’s command. What makes you think she was any special?” The Mountain sneered and spit at the ground beside the stranger. 
“Tywin Lannister gave the order to murder and raped her and you will confess to every person here who is loyal to the pack of lions!” 
At his words the Mountain cocked his shotgun once more and The Red Viper dodged once more as he leapt onto a nearby table. Using his own momentum he turned and fired two more shots at the giant both embedding themselves into his right bicep. This time a groan emanated throughout the bar as a thick trail of blood streamed down the curves of his arm before dripping onto the floor. 
The Mountain snarled, flashing his teeth at his opponent and went to shoot him again when an empty click. The Red Viper took the opportunity to shoot again burying the remaining two bullets this time in his left leg. Gregor stumbled and landed on his knees. 
“What did you do?!” He screamed unfamiliar with the feeling of his life draining out of him. 
“Besides shooting you five times, I laced the bullets with poison,” He answered as he swaggered forward. Out from the creases of his pants he pulled his faithful dagger. “I wouldn’t try anything.” He tipped the knife under his chin forcing him to meet his gaze. 
“Now confess your crimes.” The stranger growled down at his enemy pressing the tip enough into his skin for a dribble of blood to bubble up. 
The Mountain sneered at his face. “Fine, yes I killed your sister and her children. And you know what? I enjoyed every second.” He spit a wad of spit up at the outlaw, landing on his fine clothing. 
With a yell as loud as a thundercrack, The Red Viper grabbed the Mountain’s damp hair tugging it violently to show the crowd. “Everyone will bear witness to the man who avenges his family against the Lannisters.” He screamed, his voice booming in the closed environment. With surgical precision he sliced the blade across his vein sending waves of crimson blood pouring down his shirt soaking the material with his life force. The multiple gunshot wounds had made his opponent unable to resist. The gurgles slowed as The Red Viper watched as his sister’s murderer’s soul left his body leaving his eyes and finally stilled. 
The bar was silent for several ticks before all hell broke loose. People tore the outlaw away from his body and immediately arrested him, keeping him pinned until the authorities arrived. But he didn’t resist. He had finished what the Lannister’s had started. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So that’s why you were so calm. You completed your quest,” You concluded in a whisper not taking your eyes off of his tear stained cheeks. Unsurely you reached up and cupped his damp cheek with your soft palm. The Red Viper sighed and nuzzled into your touch. The weight of his story now shared between two instead of his own conscience. 
“Elia and her children can rest easy now knowing they have been avenged,” He said as he gazed into your eyes. 
Your heart pulled out his look. Your souls have now mingled when you realized how badly the world had treated both of you, and the pull toward him was greater than any consequences that might come of this reunion. 
Together you kissed with reckless abandon and yet a gentleness that you had never experienced before. The feeling of wanting every inch of this man you had come to care for in a matter of days and yet wanted to take as much time as you could before they called him to hang. 
The unfortunate need to breathe in oxygen pulled you aparted but you stayed close. “What’s your name stranger?” You whispered against his chapped lips. 
“Oberyn.” He replied gently, nudging your cheek with his nose. 
You pulled him in by his dirtied shirt and desperately kissed him again. Lips grazed his stubble cheeks and you whispered your name into the shell of his ear. 
A shutter surged through Oberyn. “My little dove, such a stunning name.” 
Your soft hands gently cup his thick neck, your thumb gently caressing his Adam's apple which bobbed as he swallowed, taking in your touch. Carefully you brought your lips to his once again kissing him with both fierceness and tenderness. You etched every feeling into every inch of your brain, willing yourself to keep him in your thoughts forever. 
You ached to stay by his side wishing you could touch him, caressing him like his damaged soul needed. But noises from outside cause you to whip your head away from Oberyn. 
“Go get to safety,” Oberyn whispered, stealing one last kiss from your lips.
“I’ll come back tomorrow” You promised as you took your time letting him go. With one final glance you hurried out of the cells and escaped before you could get caught. 
That night you couldn’t sleep, the vivid story replayed on an endless cycle in your mind. With each replay your soul burned hotter with hatred for the name that was forced upon you. You were not a Lannister, you were your mother’s child, and this miraculous stranger revealed to you that you could change your own fate. 
With a renewed vigor you quietly gathered your most essential items into a small pouch. You would save Oberyn and take him away from this place, away to a place where the Lannister’s influence hadn’t spoiled. The night passed as you worked away devising a plan. Just as the light filtered in your bed just like it did yesterday before you knew Oberyn’s story and the months and years spent under the glaring eyes of your “family,” you were ready for your plan. 
You tiptoed down the stairs past an empty table and hurried down the familiar path. Though when you passed the town square you noticed a crowd was forming. Peaking around the corner of the alley, what you saw sent your heart plumpting. The familiar gleam of that fabric that you had become quite intimate in knowing was standing on the crudely made structure. There your Oberyn stood atop the gallows staring out at the jeering crowd. 
Without a second thought you rushed to stand in the crowd. You had to get to him. You pushed and shoved trying to get to the structure but just like the world was cruel to Oberyn, the Fates decided to turn that cruelty to you. No one would budge and break. You would have to witness from afar as his neck snapped on the rope of death. 
Bitter tears stung your eyes as the executioner read out his last rights. Oberyn was tense and silent as his eyes scanned the crowd in search of something. Your eyes met his, and his shoulders relaxed. Just like that day at the trial, resolve was etched on his tired face. 
The hanging rope was slung over Oberyn’s neck with a roughness only hatred could bring.  “Does the felon have any last words?” 
Oberyn took a deep breath and without taking his eyes off of yours. “All you may hate me for my actions,” a loud boo emanated from the crowd. He raised his voice to be heard over the yells. “But I will never forget one of you,” He started and raised his palms to the crowd, “I’ve engraved your name on the palms of my hands.” A sob escaped your lips as you read the scabbed markings on his worn hands. There in bloody letters read your name. He would take your name to the grave with you and your heart clenched. 
The crowd jeered louder at him, finding his stunt to be another cruel jab at the Lannister name, but for you it meant the sad reality that a man who you had known for only a few days would take you to his grave. Your memory of your kindness would keep his soul company as the angel ascended him to his afterlife. 
The executioner spit by Oberyn’s feet a wad of shame at the crimes this man had committed. “‘Nough out of you murderer,” He sneered as he tied the wounded hands violently behind Oberyn’s back. 
But Oberyn didn’t react, didn’t say anything in his defense. He kept his eyes on you, and as the executioner marched to the lever that would take your man from this world, Oberyn smiled softly and mouthed something that would stay with you for the rest of your life, “I love you,” as the lever was pulled. You closed your eyes as his body fell through the floor and a crack boomed across the crowd. 
Sobs racked your body as the people around you cheered. Everyone could rest easy as the Red Viper was finally slain. But safety wouldn’t come to you not when your family still ruled this town. So with the cover of the cheering crowds, you darted away from the people carrying your meager belongings. You ran. It didn’t matter what direction. It didn’t matter where you were going. You were going to run until the Lannister name was just a last name, and not a name that brought blood and sorrow to everyone around it. Until then your legs didn’t stop moving as the wide vance of the country spread out before you. 
Your legs collapse from beneath you and your breath heaves. It was now when your emotions caught up with you. There on your knees in the middle of the wilderness did you finally throw back your head and wail like a wild animal letting out the sorrows of its ancestors, and yet the birds still chirped and the world spun as if the life of Oberyn didn’t matter to anyone else but you.
```````
All Works Taglist
@for-a-longlongtime
Pedro Character Taglist
@littlemisspascal @burntheedges @carusolikey @thebeldroramscal @morallyinept
@lady-bess
@pedrostories
@rivnedell
40 notes · View notes
Text
Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), a former physicist, is relieved that another “scientific” mind — namely, serial liar Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) — has joined the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
“As the only recipient of the Wilson Prize for High-Energy Particle Accelerator Physics serving in Congress, it can get lonely. Not anymore!” Foster tweeted Thursday, before roasting his new committee colleague.
“I’m thrilled to be joined on the Science Committee by my Republican colleague Dr. George Santos, winner of not only the Nobel Prize, but also the Fields Medal ― the top prize in Mathematics ― for his groundbreaking work with imaginary numbers,” Foster wrote.
Tumblr media
Since being elected to Congress earlier this year, Santos has admitted to fabricating and misrepresenting many aspects of his background, including his work experience and education history. Still, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) gave him a seat on the Science Committee, despite Santos having no experience — real or imaginary — in the fields of science, space or technology.
Scott Kelly, a former NASA astronaut, also mockingly congratulated Santos on his appointment.
“Awesome to have former NASA astronaut and moon walker, Representative George Santos @Santos4Congress on the House Science Space and Technology Committee,” tweeted Kelly, whose brother Mark is a Democratic Senator for Arizona. “To infinity and beyond!”
Tumblr media
Numerous members of Congress, including a growing number of Republicans, have called on Santos to resign amid his mounting scandals. The embattled lawmaker has rejected those calls, saying he’ll step down only if “142 people” ask him to.
12 notes · View notes
labutansa · 25 days
Text
Help 2 Displaced Palestinian Students with Housing
Hello everyone, this is a campaign that my IRL friend has sent to me as she is involved as a member of the St. John’s University Coalition for Justice (instagram) and SJU Palestine Solidarity Committee (instagram).
From the Coalition’s instagram:
“Two Palestinian students have been accepted by St. John's University w/ full four-year tuition scholarships. They hope to study computer science but need your help to afford room & board in Queens, NY. ! We are raising money for their living expenses including for their rent, travel, food, and other essentials.”
The reason the Coalition is raising funds is because St. John’s refuses to offer the students room and board service, instead having their scholarships ONLY apply to being able to go to the school, thereby not treating like other students with scholarships
The campaign already has already raised $10,658 USD of $15,000 USD goal, so there’s less than $5,000 left to supply these students with the money they need to help with their education.
More information can be found from the Coalition’s instagram, which you can start with the post I’ve linked the quote from.
Please consider helping these students to be able to get their education that’s being unfairly barred from them 🙏🏽
Tags under the cut, as I’m not the most popular account and really need to get this post attention - I just put any names I could think of that spread this kind of post, so sorry if you are getting many notifications and I add to it, particularly if I have not talked with you before / you’ve never heard of me.
If anyone knows any names I should add that I didn’t, please feel free to tag people on this post
@acepumpkinpatrick @beardeddetectivepaper @ana-bananya @transmutationisms @schoolhater @saturngalore @kyra45 @marigoldcanaries @neechees @the-eldritch-it-gay @dualdeixis
37 notes · View notes
kp777 · 2 months
Text
Here’s Where Kamala Harris Stands on Climate
She pursued polluters as attorney general in California and later staked out bold positions as a senator, including sponsorship of the Green New Deal.
By Lisa Friedman
The New York Times
July 22, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris has for years made the environment a top concern, from prosecuting polluters as California’s attorney general to sponsoring the Green New Deal as a senator to casting the tiebreaking vote as vice president for the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in United States history.
As she runs for the White House, Ms. Harris is widely expected to try to protect the climate achievements of the Biden administration, a position that could resonate with voters during a summer of record heat. A clear majority of Americans, 65 percent, wants the country to focus on increasing solar, wind and other renewable energy and not fossil fuels, according to a May survey by the Pew Research Center.
Last year, Ms. Harris flew to the United Nations global climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she told world leaders that “the urgency of this moment is clear. The clock is no longer just ticking, it is banging. And we must make up for lost time.”
That was a subtle reference to former President Donald J. Trump, who made the United States the first and only country to withdraw from the global Paris Agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions. (The United States subsequently rejoined under President Biden.) The Republican nominee in the current race for the White House, Mr. Trump has indicated that he would again pull back from the global fight against climate change if he is elected in November.
“Around the world, there are those who seek to slow or stop our progress, leaders who deny climate science, delay climate action, and spread misinformation,” Ms. Harris said at the summit. “In the face of their resistance and in the context of this moment, we must do more.”
Republicans have targeted the Inflation Reduction Act, promising to overturn it if they win control of Congress and the White House. That law pumps more than $370 billion over 10 years into wind, solar, batteries and electric vehicles. It is designed to help the country move away from fossil fuels, the burning of which is driving up global temperatures. At their convention last week, Republicans promised to halt any transition away from oil, gas and coal, and to promote more fossil fuel development.
Asked if Ms. Harris would pursue the policies she supported as a senator, like the Green New Deal, her climate adviser, Ike Irby, said she would focus on implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, which she helped to pass.
“She will fight every day for all Americans to have access to clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment,” Gina McCarthy, who served as national climate adviser under Mr. Biden, said in a statement Sunday. “Vice President Harris would kick ass against Trump.”
The vice president incorporated climate change into foreign relations, holding a round table in Bangkok to connect environmental activists with clean energy experts and starting a partnership with Caribbean countries to address climate change.
As a senator from California, the state that is at the forefront of climate policy, Ms. Harris promoted electrifying school buses to reduce greenhouse gases and to cut children's exposure to diesel engine pollution. She also supported efforts to replace lead water pipes and promoted measures to help agriculture become more resilient to drought.
But she also took positions far to the left of Mr. Biden on climate change.
She was an original co-sponsor of the Green New Deal, a nonbinding resolution supported by liberal Democrats that called for the United States to transition to 100 percent clean energy within a decade while providing people with job guarantees and “high-quality health care.” The measure never got out of committee.
When Ms. Harris ran for president in 2020, her climate plan called for a $10 trillion increase in spending over a decade as well as a price on carbon, with a dividend that would have been returned directly to households. Economists have said that a carbon tax would be the most effective way to get industries to reduce their pollution.
She also favored a ban on hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, which Mr. Biden said he opposed. Fracking is a technique that injects water and chemicals underground at high pressure to extract oil or gas that is otherwise difficult to access. Environmentalists say it pollutes the air and groundwater. California regulators have taken steps to ban fracking.
As California’s attorney general, Ms. Harris challenged federal approvals of offshore fracking along the California coast. She investigated whether Exxon Mobil lied to the public and its shareholders about the risks to its business from climate change, and whether such actions could amount to securities fraud and violations of environmental laws, but the case did not result in a prosecution.
She would later claim during a Democratic forum on climate change in 2019 that she had sued Exxon Mobil, which fact checkers reported as untrue. She did obtain settlements from other oil and gas companies, including Chevron and BP, over allegations that they violated pollution laws.
In 2019, Ms. Harris joined Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, to introduce legislation that would require the government to consider the impact of environmental regulations or laws on low-income communities, which tend to be disproportionately vulnerable to climate disruption because they are often located in flood zones, near highways, power plants and polluted land.
As vice president, Ms. Harris does not use the phrase “Green New Deal,” which has been relentlessly mocked by conservatives, who use it as shorthand for all climate and clean energy policies.
Her Republican opponents are not likely to let her forget it, though.
“During her ill-fated and short-lived 2020 presidential campaign, Harris was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the Green New Deal and called for so-called ‘carbon neutrality’ by 2030, all of it with a $10 trillion price tag,” Daniel Turner, executive director of Power The Future, a group that advocates for fossil fuels, said in a statement.
He called Ms. Harris part of the “climate cult that calls the shots in today’s Democratic Party.”
Evergreen Action, an environmental group, endorsed Ms. Harris on Sunday. The youth-led Sunrise Movement, which last week called on Mr. Biden to end his bid for re-election, praised his decision to step away. The group did not directly endorse Ms. Harris but said any replacement must “put forth a bold vision to tackle the climate crisis and fight for our generation.”
Other organizations said they were holding back an endorsement until the Democratic nomination process is completed.
Article share from The New York Times.
40 notes · View notes
darkmaga-retard · 27 days
Text
Pfizer submitted FDA clinical data that was conducted by China's Academy of Military Medical Science. Eli Lilly is currently partnering with China's Airforce Medical University on a FDA trial.
Karen Kingston
Aug 21, 2024
August 21, 2024: On August 19, 2024, the U.S. House Select Committee on the CCP sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, questioning why the FDA allows US biopharma companies to conduct China-based FDA clinical trial sites in direct partnership with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and in violation of federal FDA laws and US national security laws.
The letter cites hundreds of examples of the disturbing, long-term partnerships between US biopharmaceutical companies and Chinese military organizations.
“For over a decade, it appears that US biopharmaceutical companies conducted clinical trails with China’s military organizations, and specifically with medical centers and hospitals affiliated with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), to determine the safety and effectiveness of of new drug candidates prior to approval.”
“…U.S. biopharmaceutical companies could be unintentionally profiting from the data derived from clinical trials during which the CCP forced victims to participate.” “According to publicly available data on clinical trials.gov website, over the last ten years major U.S. biopharmaceutical companies have conducted hundreds of clinical trials in China that included at least one entity with the People’s Liberation Army in the name as a research trial partner.”
Congress Questions the Credibility of FDA Clinical Trial Data Conducted by Chinese Military Institutions and Then Used by the FDA for FDA-Approval
The House Committee members express their concerns regarding the ‘trustworthiness of clinical trial data produced by Chinese military institutions.’
19 notes · View notes
sixty-silver-wishes · 5 months
Text
Okay I Could do work but instead I'm going to write about the time shostakovich had the worst time in america
(So, despite the clickbaity title, this will be more of a serious post. I wrote about the topic a few years ago on Reddit , and I'll be citing a lot of the same sources as I cited there, because there are some good ones, along with some new information I've gathered over the years. This was going to be a video essay on my youtube channel, but I sort of kept putting it off.)
The Scientific and Cultural Congress for World Peace, held in New York in 1949, is a particularly fascinating event to study when it comes to researching Shostakovich because of just how divisive it was. True, the event itself, which only lasted a few days, doesn’t get as much spotlight as the Lady Macbeth scandal or the posthumous “Shostakovich Wars,” but you’ll find that when reading about the Peace Conference, as I’ll be referring to it here for the sake of brevity, many of the primary accounts of it never quite tell the full story. The Peace Conference was held during a volatile time, both in Soviet and American politics, as Cold War tensions were on the rise and an ideological debate between capitalism and communism gradually extended to become the focus of seemingly every factor of life- not just politics and economics, but also the sciences, culture, and the arts.
While artists on both sides were frequently cast in different roles in order to create or destroy the image of Soviet or American cultural and ideological superiority, the image either government sought to cast was sometimes contradictory with the sentiments of the artists themselves. For instance, while the CIA-founded Congress of Cultural Freedom (CCF) sent African American jazz musician Louis Armstrong on various tours around the world to promote jazz as American culture and dispel perceptions of racism in America, Armstrong canceled a trip to the Soviet Union in order to protest the use of armed guards against the integration of Black students at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. Meanwhile, the Soviet government’s use of international diplomatic missions by artists as cultural warfare also reflected a desire to portray themselves as the dominant culture, despite the tensions and complications that existed for artists at home. When the Soviet Union sent Dmitri Shostakovich to New York in March 1949 for the Peace Conference, such cultural contradictions are why the conference occurred the way it did, and why Shostakovich’s image has received so much controversy, both in Russia and in the west.
If you’re familiar with Soviet history, you may be familiar with the term Zhdanovshchina, which refers to a period of time between 1946 and 1948 in which Andrei Zhdanov, the Central Committee Secretary of the Soviet Union, headed a number of denunciations against prominent figures in the arts and sciences. Among musicians, Shostakovich was one of the most heavily attacked, likely due to his cultural standing, with many of his pieces censored and referred to as “formalist,” along with his expulsion from his teaching positions at the Moscow and Leningrad conservatories. During this time, Shostakovich often resorted to writing film and ideological music in order to make an income.
Meanwhile, in the United States, as fears of nuclear war began accumulating, peace movements between the two superpowers were regarded more and more as pro-Communist, an opinion backed by the House Committee of Un-American Activities (HUAC). The Waldorf-Astoria Peace Conference, to be held from March 25-27th 1949, was organized by the National Council of Arts, Sciences, and Professions, a progressive American organization, and was to feature speeches held by representatives of both American and Soviet science and culture. Harlow Shapely, one of the conference’s organizers, stated that he intended for the conference to be “non-partisan” and focused on American and Soviet cooperation.
On the 16th of February, 1949, Shostakovich was chosen to be one of the six Soviet delegates to speak at the conference. This was largely due to his fame in the west, where both his Seventh and Eighth Symphonies met a mostly positive reception. Shostakovich initially did not want to go to the conference, stating in a letter to the Agitprop leader Leonid Ilichev that he was suffering from poor health at the time and wasn’t feeling up to international travel and performances. He also said that if he were to go, he wanted his wife Nina to be able to accompany him, but he ended up being sent to New York without any members of his family- perhaps to quell concerns of defection (recall the amount of artists who defected around the time of the 1917 revolution, including notable names such as Rachmaninov and Heifetz).
Stalin famously called Shostakovich on the phone that same day to address the conference, and again, Shostakovich told him he couldn’t go, as he was feeling unwell. Sofia Khentova’s biography even states that Shostakovich actually did undergo medical examinations and was found to be sick at the time, but Stalin's personal secretary refused to relay this information. Shostakovich's close friend Yuri Levitin recalls that when Stalin called Shostakovich on the phone to ask him to go to the conference (despite the fact he had been chosen to go in advance), Shostakovich offered two reasons as to why he couldn't go- in addition to his health, Levitin claims that Shostakovich also cited the fact that his works were currently banned in the Soviet Union due to the Zhdanov decree, and that he could not represent the USSR to the west if his works were banned. While accounts of the phone call vary, the ban on Shostakovich's works was indeed lifted by the time he went to New York for the conference.
When Shostakovich arrived in New York, general anti-Communist sentiment from both Americans and Soviet expatriates, as well as media excitement, resulted in a series of protests in front of the Waldorf Astoria hotel where the conference was to be held, with some of the protesters directly referencing Shostakovich himself, as he was the most well-known Soviet delegate on the trip. In 1942, Shostakovich's 7th ("Leningrad") Symphony was performed in the United States under Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra to high acclaim, helping to promote the idea of allyship with the Soviet Union in the US during the war, and Americans were aware of the Zhdanov denunciations in 1948, as well as the previous denunciations that Shostakovich had suffered in 1936 as a result of the scandal surrounding his opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District." So by 1949, many people in American artistic circles had a sympathetic, if not completely understanding, view of Shostakovich during the birth of the Cold War. They viewed him as a victim of Communism and the Soviet state, who was forced to appease it in order to stay in favor, and as a result, could potentially voice his dissent with the system once in the west. Pickets visible in footage from the protests outside the Waldorf Astoria carried slogans such as "Shostakovich, jump thru [sic] the window," a likely reference to Oksana Kosyankina, a Soviet schoolteacher who had reportedly jumped out of a window in protest (although the details of this story would be found to be highly dubious). Meanwhile, another sign read "Shostakovich, we understand!," a statement that would prove to be deeply ironic. At the conference itself, Shostakovich did not jump through the window, nor did he attempt any form of dissent. Instead, an interpreter read through a prepared speech as he sat on stage in front of a crowd of about 800. The speech praised Soviet music, denounced American "warmongering," and claimed that Shostakovich had accepted the criticism of 1948, saying it "brought his music forward." Many in the audience could see that Shostakovich was visibly nervous- he was "painfully ill at ease," and Nicholas Nabokov (brother of the writer Vladimir Nabokov) remarked that he looked like a "trapped man." Arthur Miller recalled he appeared "so scared." As they noticed how nervous he looked, some of those in attendance sought to make a demonstration of him in order to illustrate Soviet oppression in contrast to the freedoms supposedly enjoyed by American artists, asking him intentionally provocative questions that they knew he would not be able to answer truthfully. From Nicholas Nabokov:
After his speech I felt I had to ask him publicly a few questions. I had to do it, not in order to embarrass a wretched human being who had just given me the most flagrant example of what it is to be a composer in the Soviet Union, but because of the several thousand people that sat in the hall, because of those that perhaps still could not or did not wish to understand the sinister game that was being played before their eyes. I asked him simple factual questions concerning modern music, questions that should be of interest to all musicians. I asked him whether he, personally, the composer Shostakovich, not the delegate of Stalin’s Government, subscribed to the wholesale condemnation of Western music as it had been expounded daily by the Soviet Press and as it appeared in the official pronouncements of the Soviet Government. I asked him whether he, personally, agreed with the condemnation of the music of Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Hindemith. To these questions he acquiesced: ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I completely subscribe to the views as expressed by … etc….’ When he finished answering my questions the dupes in the audience gave him a new and prolonged ovation.
During the discussion panel on March 26th, music critic Olin Downes delivered yet another provocative statement towards Shostakovich:
I found both of your works [the 7th and 8th Symphonies] too long, and I strongly suspected in them the presence of a subversive influence—that of the music of Gustav Mahler.
For Shostakovich, and anyone knowledgeable of Soviet politics and music at the time, it's not hard to see why Downes had explicitly mentioned Mahler. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) was a highly influential composer when it came to 20th century western music, particularly with regards to the avant-garde movement pioneered by the Second Viennese School- Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Alban Berg. Shostakovich was also heavily influenced by Mahler, but such influences were frowned upon in the mid-30s to 50s Soviet Union. Mahler's style was decidedly more "western," and it's potentially for this reason that Shostakovich's 4th Symphony- perhaps his most "Mahlerian," was withdrawn from performance before its premiere in 1936, having followed the "Lady Macbeth" denunciations. To tie Shostakovich to Mahler would be to point out his direct western influences, while he was being made to issue statements that rejected them. During his speech, Shostakovich made statements criticizing Stravinsky and Prokofiev- two composers who had emigrated and adopted western-inspired neoclassical styles (although Prokofiev returned to the Soviet Union in 1936). Stravinsky had taken insult to Shostakovich's comments against him, and carried an animosity towards Shostakovich that appeared once again in their meeting in 1962, according to the composer Karen Khachaturian.
On the last day of the conference, March 27th, Shostakovich performed the second movement of his Fifth Symphony on piano at Madison Square Garden to an audience of about 18,000, and had received a massive ovation, as well as a declaration of friendship signed by American composers such as Bernstein, Copland, Koussevitzky, and Ormandy. He returned to the Soviet Union on April 3.
In addition to the 1948 denunciations, in which Shostakovich was pressured to make public statements against his own works, the likely humiliation he endured at the 1949 conference played a role in cementing his dual "public" and "private" personas. For the rest of his life, Shostakovich displayed mannerisms and characteristics at official events that were reportedly much different from those he displayed among friends and family. For the public, and for researchers after his death, it became difficult to determine which statements from him reflected his genuine sentiments, and which ones were made to appease a wider political or social system.
Both the Soviet Union and the west had treated Shostakovich as a means of legitimizing their respective ideologies against one another, a trend that continued long after his death in 1975 and the fall of the USSR in 1991. The publication of his purported memoirs, "Testimony," allegedly transcribed by Solomon Volkov, fueled this debate among academics and artists, becoming known as the "Shostakovich wars." The feud over the legitimacy of "Testimony," however, stood for something much larger than the credibility of an alleged historical document- as historians and musicologists debated whether or not it was comprised of Shostakovich's own words and sentiments towards the Soviet Union, its political systems, and its artistic spheres, they were largely seeking to prove the credibility of their stances for or against Soviet or western superiority. "Testimony" helped evolve the popular western view of Shostakovich as well, from a talented but helpless puppet at the hands of the regime, to a secret dissident bravely rebelling against the system from inside.
Modern Shostakovich scholars, however, will argue that neither of these views are quite true- as more correspondence and documents come to light, and more research is conducted, a more complete view of Shostakovich has been coming into focus over the past decade or so. Today, many academics tend to view Shostakovich and the debate over his ideology with far more nuance- not as a cowardly government mouthpiece or as an embittered undercover rebel, but as a multifaceted person who made difficult decisions, shaped by the varying time periods he lived in, whose actions were often determined by the shifting cultural atmospheres of those time periods, along with his own relationships with others and the evolution of his art. We can be certain Shostakovich did not approve of Stalin's restrictions on the arts- his posthumous work "Antiformalist Rayok," among other pieces of evidence from people he knew, makes that very clear- but many nuances of his beliefs are still very much debated. There has also been a shift away from judging Shostakovich's music based on its merit as evidence in the ideological dispute, and rather for its quality as artwork (something I'm sure he would appreciate!). As expansive as Shostakovich research has become, one thing has become abundantly clear- none of us can hope to truthfully make the statement, "Shostakovich, we understand."
Sources for further reading:
Articles:
Shostakovich and the Peace Conference (umich.edu)
Louis Armstrong Plays Historic Cold War Concerts in East Berlin & Budapest (1965) | Open Culture
Biographical and Primary Sources:
Laurel Fay, "Shostakovich, a Life"
Pauline Fairclough, "Critical Lives: Dmitry Shostakovich"
Elizabeth Wilson, "Shostakovich, a Life Remembered"
Mikhail Ardov, "Memories of Shostakovich"
HUAC Report on Peace Conference
Video Sources and Historic Footage:
Arthur Miller on the Conference
"New York Greets Mr. Bevin and Peace Conference Delegates"
"Shostakovich at the Waldorf"
"1949 Anti Communism Protest"
"Battle of the Pickets"
23 notes · View notes
readingsquotes · 4 months
Text
"Make no mistake: There is an ideological witch hunt happening on college campuses right now, the likes of which has not been seen since Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un- American Activities Committee tried to ruin people’s reputations in the middle of the last century. Students and professors are being targeted by university administrators, assaulted by police, and investigated for their politics by Congress.
And yet, it is only the second worst thing happening to college students and professors right now. ...
in their book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of Mass Media, Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman described the kinds of things which have been happening to professors like me as the fourth filter of their “propaganda model,” where flak or enforcers beat people up in the town square (verbally, politically, or even physically). The point of these spectacular floggings? When academics or journalists are seen being punished publicly, others are meant to get the message that they should keep quiet—or else.
One of the most violent forms of university flak has been the withholding of degrees, when students have worked towards diplomas for many years and have them stolen for engaging in moral disobedience about genocide. As postcolonial scholar Priyamvada Gopal observed, when university trustees have done this, it is “immoral blackmail, as is overruling faculty on this matter.”
Jairo Fúnez-Flores, an Assistant Professor of Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Texas Tech University, was suspended for 40 days for his outspoken Palestinian support before being reinstated. Sami Schalk, author of the book Black Disability Politics, was hospitalized after being brutally attacked by police at the University of Wisconsin-Madison while trying to protect her students. Cops even broke a hand and nine ribs of Southern University of Illinois Edwardsville professor Steve Tamari while he was peacefully protesting at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. And Mohamed Abdou, a visiting professor at Columbia University, was inhumanely alerted he was being fired when president Minouche Shafik threw him under the bus on live TV during a congressional hearing; he received no due process and is being forced to leave the United States.
And still, as horrible as this has been for all of us in America, what we are encountering is not the worst thing happening to professors right now.
Far from it. Our Palestinian colleagues have been experiencing far worse.
At least 95 university professors have been killed in Gaza since the genocide began, according to the United Nations.
The UN reports that “more than 80 percent of schools in Gaza” have been “damaged or destroyed,” while the ICJ bluntly says that “Israel has targeted everyone one of Gaza’s universities, “including the Islamic University of Gaza, the oldest higher education institution in the territory, which has trained generations of doctors and engineers, amongst others—destroying campuses for education of future generations of Palestinians in Gaza.”
The UN uses a single, powerful word to describe what is happening to educators and education institutions in Palestine: scholasticide, the willful destruction of a society’s ability to produce knowledge and educate its people. Preventing a population from being able to do research and to teach its citizens literacy, agriculture, medicine, science and culture is an aspect of genocide is to take away the very means of life.
13 notes · View notes
collapsedsquid · 2 years
Text
I’ll conclude by returning to a theme I brought up earlier: the shrunken time horizon of the US ruling class. The current motley crew looks nothing like the set who planned the post-World War II order. They emerged from—or recruits were assimilated to—an ethnically and socially homogenous WASP aristocracy who felt themselves above quotidian distractions and rank commercial temptations. Of course, it was all in the interest of long-term accumulation under US guidance, but it was all successfully planned and executed (at least until things started slipping some in the 1970s). Now with the US in a long process of imperial decline, our planning elite seems fragmented and lost. You have Republicans criticizing Biden for not having shot down the Chinese balloon quickly enough, and Democrats acting as if it was an act of heroism. Our rulers don’t act like they have any good idea about coping with the rise of China, except with bellicose and one hopes ineffectual gestures, because God knows, we don’t want bellicose gestures to lead to an actual war.
And we have a capitalist class that has apparently given up on the future—incapable of dealing with the climate crisis, a truly dire threat, but also consuming capital rather than investing it. Net investment—net, that is, of depreciation—by both business and government—has been falling relative to GDP for decades. The vast flow of free money and 0% interest rates from the Federal Reserve has been channeled into an impressive set of bubbles: the most extended valuations of stocks in US history, crypto, unicorns, housing. It used to be normal to have one particular asset lead the way in a speculative orgy, whether it was stocks in the late 1990s or housing in the following decade. Now we’ve got multiple and serial bubbles that have only been partly deflated by the Fed’s tightening moves of the last year. And Wall Street is dearly hoping the central bank will reverse those moves in a few months and resume the cheap money flow. The bond vigilantes of the 1980s and 1990s, always on the lookout for an inflation that needs to be crushed, have largely disappeared.
I’ll give the last word to Etienne Balibar, who has diagnosed the affliction precisely. “We realize now that our ruling class is no longer a bourgeoisie in the historical sense of the word. It does not have a project of intellectual hegemony nor an artistic point of honor. It needs (or so it thinks) only cost-benefit analyses, “cognitive” educational programs, and committees of experts. That is why, with the help of the pandemic and the internet revolution, the same ruling class is preparing the demise of the social sciences, humanities and even the theoretical sciences.” The bourgeoisie no longer has any civilizational project, national or otherwise. Live for today, and if the water rises, they can just move inland. Or to their underground bunkers.
post-nationalism
166 notes · View notes