#lawless pariah state

[news4dzhozhar]

Israel holds female Palestinian rights lawyer without trial or charge

Ramallah, occupied West Bank – Two days before her arrest by the Israeli army, 28-year-old Palestinian human rights lawyer Diala Ayesh had been visiting Palestinian detainees in Israel’s Ofer Prison.

Little did she know that the next day, she would become one of the people she has spent her life’s work defending – a prisoner.

On January 17, Israeli forces arrested Ayesh at a checkpoint near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank at about 2pm. One week later, Israeli authorities issued an “administrative detention” order against her, meaning she will be held without trial or charge for four months.

News of Ayesh’s arrest spread quickly across the occupied West Bank. She has worked for years – often pro bono – defending Palestinian political detainees in both Israeli or Palestinian Authority (PA) prisons.

Her family are still in shock over her arrest.

“We feel that it is getting harder every day. The feeling of loss and of missing someone only increases – it doesn’t get easier,” her 26-year-old sister, Aseel, told Al Jazeera.

“Whenever I cry at night in bed, or feel like I miss her, I try to remember how extremely strong she is,” continued Aseel, sobbing. “We feel that we are the ones who are weak, and she is the strong one. We derive our strength from her.”

Targeted by Israel and the PA

Even while behind bars, Ayesh’s top concern is the other prisoners.

After October 7, when Israel launched its ongoing assault on the besieged Gaza Strip, Ayesh formed a volunteer collective of female lawyers to follow up on the unprecedented numbers of Palestinians being arrested by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“She would train these female lawyers to conduct visits to the occupation’s Ofer prison, particularly amid this information blackout about prisoners,” Muhannad Karajeh, her former colleague and head of Lawyers for Justice, where she used to work, told Al Jazeera.

Ayesh and her team’s visits to these inmates in the only Israeli jail in the occupied West Bank were a small flash of hope as visits to prisoners in prisons in Israel were stopped after October 7.

“This group would act as the link between the prisoners and their families,” he continued.

A few weeks into her arrest, she told Aseel through her lawyer, to communicate with the families of the prisoners she had been following up with and to give them the latest updates on their sons, which she had written onto a notepad.

“She’s in prison, and we don’t know anything about her – whether she’s eating or not, sleeping or not, or what conditions she is being held in,” said Aseel. “Yet, all of her worries are to pass on a message from a male prisoner to his fiancee outside.

“That’s Diala for you.”

During her arrest, Ayesh was subjected to assault, threats, and insults by Israeli soldiers, according to the Addameer human rights organisation. She was transferred to Israel’s Hasharon Prison before being later taken to Damon Prison, where she is now being held.

Ayesh’s work as a human rights defender rose to the fore during her time at the Ramallah-based Lawyers for Justice, representing Palestinian political detainees in PA prisons. In July, she attended a session on behalf of the group at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

“She was like a power engine to her whole team and all the lawyers,” said Karajeh. “She has a big soul for volunteering, and people love her on the personal and professional level.”

Her efforts to monitor and document abuses against Palestinian detainees have made her a target for both the Israeli occupation and the PA.

During popular protests in the occupied West Bank against the killing of Palestinian activist Nizar Banat by PA forces in June 2021, Ayesh was “exposed to physical assault” by security officers, said Karajeh. She was among dozens of other women who were violated at the time.

Her family said, despite the difficulty of Ayesh’s arrest, they have been showered with love by people who came to support them.

“We were very shocked by how many people reached out to us after Diala was arrested,” said Aseel. “She is a social person, but it was so surprising to realise how many people were following her work.”

“This gave my parents a moral boost – it helped them to push forward and be patient,” she added.

Female prisoners

Tala Nasser, from the Addameer prisoners’ rights group, explained that Ayesh’s arrest comes amid a “violent mass arrest campaign” carried out by Israel since October 7.

The fact that the vast majority of the more than 6,900 Palestinians arrested in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7 have been transferred to administrative detention highlights the arbitrariness of Israel’s arrests, she said.

“This campaign includes activists, human rights defenders and political leaders,” Nassar told Al Jazeera, noting that it is “an attempt to silence them and prevent the exposure of the occupation’s crimes across the whole country”.

In December, Israeli forces also arrested political and civil society leader Khalida Jarrar, who was similarly transferred to administrative detention.

Despite releasing all but three Palestinian female detainees during the latest prisoner exchange with Hamas at the end of 2023, the Israeli army rearrested dozens. Some 80 female prisoners are being held today, all of whom are in the Damon Prison.

Among the 80 are dozens of women from the besieged Gaza Strip, but lawyers are forbidden from visiting them or knowing anything about them.

Several reports have emerged of female detainees from Gaza being physically beaten and abused, including an unknown number of them being held at Israeli military bases and not in prison.

Lawyers say conditions for all Palestinian detainees, including women, are unprecedentedly difficult. Eight Palestinian male prisoners have also died or were killed in Israeli custody since October 7, most of them in the days and weeks after their arrest.

Over the past few months, many videos have emerged of Israeli soldiers stripping, torturing and abusing male prisoners from both the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

“It is important to note that every female that is arrested is violated in one way or another,” said Nasser. “They are all facing threats, intensive strip searches, verbal assault and physical violence.”

[agentfascinateur]

Israeli forces are responsible for 5,698 UN violations, including the killing and maiming of children and attacks on schools and hospitals.

#press eject button

#killing of UN workers

#revoke UN membership

[immaculatasknight]

Blatant criminality

[evilminji]

(O.O ) The PONDERING is back!

You know Walker?

One of the Zone's literal ACAB? We are shown in one episode, that real world items? Against The Rules(tm).

Now, that COULD just be HIM being An Asshole? But let's be real! Unlikely. Rules/Laws get made for a REASON, generally. Usually because someone ruined it for everyone by being an asshole. Taking things too far.

You start OUT with the obvious Rules. Like "Don't Tear the Zone Apart." And "No Genocide of Literally Everything Forever You Fighty Little Assholes" but over time? You have too add stuff. Like "George is Forbidden to use the fax machine and he knows why" and "Ice Lairs and Fire Lairs have to be X distance apart AND YOU KNOW WHY"

And? IS there a central Governing body, regulating the Zone Rules? Nope! Pariah's in nappy time! BUT the manic, Iron fisted, Obsessions of THE LAW across time and space are sure willing to step up and help keep order. It... KINDA works!

And they MOSTLY have the same-ish Rules!

Like NO FUCKIN LIVING WORLD STUFF. Because? To GET such contraband? You'd have to break containment of the Zone, go THROUGH a random ass natural portal, that may or may NOT be safe, may or may NOT ever RECONNECT to the Zone, to literally terrorize the unsuspecting living souls (assuming you can FIND any), on the other side, JUST to drag that shitty candy bar back home.

Leaking ectoplasm the whole time. Poisoning the air, land, and sea. Making NEW ghosts where there might not have been any. Effectively making you their deadbeat parent. Which is premeditated child abandonment. And you DEFINITELY didn't PAY for those objects. Thief.

So, NO. No Living World Shit.

BUT!

Like city states! The Area of influence each Law Man(tm) has? While wide and sprawling? Does NOT perfectly mesh together like puzzle pieces! There ARE dead zones. Lawless, "unclaimed" areas.

Which? Are not so unclaimed.

For just as The Law has it's Obsession? So too, has the Underworld. Shaddy casinos and auctions. Black markets run like street fairs. What some Ghost Weed? They can hook you up, man. Vinnie over there was a Runner during Prohibition. He knows where ALL the classy joints are.

He can hook you up with some REAL nice Living World collectibles.

From All Over.

And? I bet it's that LAST bit? That REALLY sparks Danny's interest. He saved the guy from the GIW, who may or may not have busted him trying to... uuuuh... LIBERATE, some fine scotch for the bar back Zone side. Who's to say, really? Regardless, Vinnie? Pays his debts, you here.

Beside... the feral little gremlin kinda scares him. Good quality to have, no question, but maybe cool it with the biting? You don't know where they BEEN. You'll get a disease.

Now... all you gotta do, see, is... *mutters* *map scribbling* *bad idea enabling*

Which? Constantine! League Members of your choosing! Like a field trip from hell! Some how in the SINGLE shadiest den of Obvious Criminals you ever did see. The sky is green and they aren't in their dimension anymore. Circle up! NOW. Young Justice shoved to the INSIDE of the circle, adult heros on the outside.

Constantine? Knows where they are and wishs he didn't. He... he's not sure he CAN get them back. Going to try obviously. But no one panic. Don't show fear. DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING. Start walking.

Danny? Loading up the speeder~ Christmas gifts for daaaays~~☆ Everyone is Salty but respectful, cause anti-ghost tech meant they couldn't steal it. They did TRY. But... fair play, kid. Nice ride.

Only? Right before he gets in to leave? Some vibrating blur shoots over? Talking fast and followed by an older blur? Oh hey, humans. Like... ALIVE humans. Sup?

@the-witchhunter @hdgnj @nerdpoe @hypewinter @mutable-manifestation

[scotianostra]

On October 14th 1881 tragedy struck the fishing town of Eyemouth when 189 men lost their lives  in dozens of boats were lost in a storm.

For most people the Scottish fishing industry means that knuckle of coast around the north east promontory. Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Aberdeen and Buckie.

Few think of Berwickshire and the still substantial fleet that is based at Eyemouth, a town of 4,000 folk just a few miles north of the English border. Fishing was the town's main industry

Yet had it not been for a remarkable series of events and coincidences, culminating in the worst tragedy to strike the sea going communities of Scotland, the whole nature of the fishing economy might have been radically different.

For many decades in the nineteenth century Eyemouth was a boom town.

Fortunes were made from huge catches of haddock and herring and the population swelled with migrants who arrived on virtually every tide and from every part of Britain. But while tens of thousands of pounds was expended by the state creating safe new piers at a rash of other havens, Eyemouth got nothing.

It was, for all its success, a pariah port; the people as renowned for being rebels as expert seamen. In the 1840s a simmering row with the Church of Scotland, which claimed a right to a tenth of the local catch, erupted into violent confrontation.

This "teind" was an historic anomaly which had long since been abolished elsewhere and the men of Eyemouth, led by their leader William Spears, came together to rid themselves of the hated tax once and for all. It led to almost 40 years of trouble. Eyemouth became a by word for riots and lawlessness. Eventually the Lord Advocate intervened and brokered a compromise, with the Kirk agreeing to surrender its right on payment of substantial compensation from the fishermen.

Only in the late 1870's, with the row settled, could application be made to the government for money to improve Eyemouth's crumbling piers and unsafe harbour entrance.  By then the place that had once been pre-eminent in the fishing industry had fallen far behind Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Aberdeen.

In the interim the Eyemouth men became used to taking risks. They sailed in the fiercest weather, they put to sea when others would not, and they prospered in spite of the poor state of their piers. But they also knew that they were testing fate.

A plan to create a deep water port, accessible at all states of the tide, was finally published in August 1881. Six weeks later a massive hurricane swept down over Berwickshire. By dusk on 14 October, 1881, 19 local boats had been sunk and nearly 200 men killed - many were drowned in the approaches to the bay, in full view of their wives, mothers and children.

The storm, which might have been a tragedy with some lives lost, had become a disaster of unparalleled magnitude because of the inadequate state of Eyemouth harbour. Seventy widows and close on 300 children were left in extreme poverty. 

In spite of countless memorials and petitions, the works that would have prevented the carnage were never started. The powers that be decided that a town which had lost half its fleet and a third of its men was no longer viable. The harbour of refuge was instead to be built at Peterhead.

It was a decision that dismayed the Scotsman newspaper, which said: "A harbour there would be of no use to boats running for shelter south of the Tay. It is to be hoped that the government will see their way to construct a harbour accessible to the Berwickshire fishing fleet."

But it did not - at least not until the 1960s, and those works are a pale shadow of plans that were pasted outside the fishery office on the very eve of the storm.

It took a century for the population of Eyemouth to reach the level of 1881, but the legacy of the disaster has neither dimmed nor diminished.

The families who live in the town today are the descendants of the lost and of the sorrowful who watched the men drown when the heavens opened in a most hellish way on 14 October, a day still recalled by all as Black Friday.

Pics are of Eyemouth in 1880, a granite memorial in Eyemouth, depicting a broken sailing mast. Several memorials, Widows and Bairns have more recently been erected that are the work of  sculptor Jill Watson, you can almost feel the anguish in these memorials The sculptor says:

"I have made a monument that commemorates the women and children left behind after the fishing disaster," she said.

"It is the exact number of women and children so the figures are small on a very tall, narrow harbour wall.

"It is all made in bronze. The wall is almost as important a part of the sculpture as the figures on top - it creates the space for them."

Each individual character in the sculpture represents one of the people affected by Black Friday.

Other memorials can be seen at the wee villages affected by the disaster at  Burnmouth,  St Abbs and Cove, where the sculptor lives. Jill Watson also made the Memorial to Merchant Navy at Leith I have featured a few times

You can’t help but be moved by the memorials, you can view them all here http://www.jillwatsonstudio.co.uk/Fishing%20Disaster.html

[sylph-feather]

Summary: Danny had known the rules— that being beaten would lead to transfer of the crown, instructed to him by their ominous guardians— but he hadn’t exactly considered all the implications of that.

For: @ghost-strawberry

Prompt: (Danny is ghost king hc) Danny loses a fight with Sam and the title of ghost king is transferred to her, despite Sam not being a ghost.

Words: 3,344

“Haha!” Sam barked triumphantly, standing over her defeated enemy in a display of dominance while stomping a scary combat boot, “I won.” 

Danny let out nothing but a low keening sound, slumping on the Nasty Burger table and leaving his arm in its defeated position. 

“Darn,” Tucker chimed in, “I thought that with all the ghost fighting and workouts you’ve been doing, Sam finally would stop being the reigning arm wrestling champ.” He paused, melodramatically draping a hand over his forehead and intoning, “alas.” 

Danny only repeated the same mournful noise, all the sentiment of my arm is going to bruise and Sam will never let this go packed into a drawn out moan. 

Before Danny could construct his complaints into something that took the form of language, there was a great burst of green fire that ensconced their cheap, plastic table. In the time it took to flinch, the ghostly flames had already washed over the group— and… done… nothing? 

No, that wasn’t right— it hadn’t hurt them, to be more accurate. Their table, and the tile around it, looked like someone had carved a circle into the floor, taken everything within that circle (read: the trio, several overly greasy foodstuffs, and three shakes) and dropped it right into the Ghost Zone, if the swirling green abyss was anything to go by. 

(Back in the human realm, the patrons of the Nasty Burger were left with their own overly greasy foodstuffs visible in their mouths held ajar as they stared at the smoldering circle that once held three teens and cheap fast food chain restaurant seating— horribly cheap plastic booths on a table that maybe had the suggestion of meeting bare-minimum sanitary requirements. A lone green flame died out, and acrid smoke wafted away. Same shit every day, a tired cashier thought). 

Before them: the Coroners. Dark-colored ghosts with a litany of dark colors with glowing green antlers that twisted into the suggestion of the shape of a crown, and gnarled hands that all had the same mark of a skull on each knuckle. Between the name and the appearance, they were very ominous, to say the least. 

Danny recognized them from the last time he met them: his own coronation. 

Sam and Tucker, who were not there for that ritual because it occured after the fight with Pariah, were just as confused and scared as Danny was the first time. “It’s ok!” he yelped at his friends who were readying their on-hand Fenton weaponry. “I know them. They’re the Coroners.”

Sam shot him a look that said that is anything but encouraging, and Danny winced. 

“They… do… the coron-ing,” Danny said slowly, because he didn’t know how else to phrase it. “Like, the monarchy ruler stuff.” 

“Down with the monarchy,” Sam intoned almost instinctively, but still pocketed the lipstick laser once again, settling down and taking a more casual sip of her strawberry shake. 

Tucker, meanwhile, just kept his shaky hands locked around the box of fries, determinedly not looking at the wraith-like creatures that had deer skulls sticking out of dark garb. 

Sam paused in her slurping, considering the Coroner’s job in her mind more thoroughly. “I guess it makes sense, ‘cuz the Ghost Zone doesn’t have a pope to do it,” she admitted. 

Tucker relaxed, and snorted. “Ghost pope.” The idea (mixed with the special breed of hysterical comedy that comes with  stress) elicited great humor. 

Fear abandoned, now they just looked confused. Danny was too— because, “why are you here?” He frowned down at himself. “Are you, uh, rebelling? Or do you have an important message? Or…?”

That was one-third of the Coroner’s jobs: rebellion. Or, more accurately, inciting rebellion. To understand, one must understand two-thirds of their job: the second third was that someone had to pass down the Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire. After the defeat of Parkah, the ancient ghosts were very grateful that Danny had taken it from Pariah Dark after his reign of tyranny, given that he had destroyed them… because of the first third of their job. See, the Coroners were also supposed to act as some representative electoral body of ghost-kind in deciding who passed a somewhat okay-ish ruler, and if that didn’t work out, they usually incited rebellion against said tyrant, or inevitably did so when a once kind ruler became glutted with greed and violence. 

So Pariah trapped them, which (admittedly) was a rather sensible plan, and (also admittedly) a major design flaw in the ring and the crown. After all, given the requirement for the initial rights to ring and crown were to battle and defeat its previous user to gain access (it could be peacefully passed, but that option had never happened), and really, nothing of the Coroner’s judgement would make an impact outside of someone saying no— that is to say, the ring and crown wouldn’t just poof. Thus, it seemed reasonable to assume that the battler would continue, well, battling for that power. 

The last third of their job is significantly less exciting— as Danny put it: messaging. It simply was to act as ghostly servants; knights, mailmen, whatever the King and the ghosts that needed the King may require. Danny largely told them to use their own discretion in solving conflicts, because he was just one teen barely keeping his grades above Cs, and then left them to it. 

So yes, Danny was kind of worried that somehow, such a dramatic summons would be some kind of ominous warning on the way he was being a king— which, to be fair, he was barely being a king at all— due to the aforementioned second-third of their job.

The largest one with the most elaborately twisted antlers pointed a long, bony finger at Sam. Its voice, which sounded both grand and incredibly spooky, boomed thusly: “this human has bested you in battle. Thusly, according to the sacred laws of the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire, she shall be bequeathed the title of ghostly monarch. Ye, Danny Phantom, halfa, who have bested Pariah Dark, have lost to Sam Manson, human, and cede your title as ruler.” 

In a circle, the thirteen wraiths whispered, “and the cycle continues.” It was murmured slightly out of sync, but it gave less of an impression of untidiness or lack of professionalism, and more of an ominous feeling, like there were many more voices than just thirteen. 

Danny was slightly less freaked out than Sam and Tucker by it, given they had said a similar thing when he was coronated, but with far less spooky fanfare, and more normal, excited fanfare. Mostly, Danng was spooked more by the suddenness of the thing, and the prospect of it. 

In the hands of the largest one that was clearly the leader, the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire appeared in a dramatic swooshing of green flame. 

Danny’s eyes widened. “She.” He paused, because he couldn’t really argue with that. It was— technically, sort of— a battle. And in the Ghost Zone, might made right and all that. Still. 

Sam and Tucker stared, jaws agape. Between all the new info and now this revelation, their brains essentially bluescreened. 

Danny, even though he was previously initiated, wasn’t in a much better state— all he managed to get out aloud was an incredulous, “it was arm wrestling?”  

One of the smaller wraiths, its crown of horns barely nubs, drifted forwards to their Nasty Burger island that was adrift in the Ghost Zone, and asked in its voice of crackling dead leaves, “is this the manner in which you were beaten?” 

Sam, herself, recovered from the mental “404” page, and her first reaction was to release a huge guffaw of laughter. 

Danny slid forwards onto the table, thoroughly spent between embarrassment and confusion. All he articulated was a very, very long groan. 

“May we, uh,” Danny said slowly, turning towards the head wraith and looking at the glowing points set in the skull’s sockets, “have a moment to discuss?” 

Tucker made a vague noise between worry and agreement. 

“So long as the queen wishes,” it bowed to her, deeply reverent. 

“Wait,” Sam ordered, smile growing on her face. “If I were queen,” she said slowly, “would I be able to get rid of this monarchy?” 

“Tis not a monarchy, my lady,” one of the thirteen said, antler crown bobbing. 

The whole table of teens processed this for a moment. 

Tucker burst into incredulity first: “you literally called her a monarch just a few seconds ago!” 

“A title, nothing more,” a Coroner corrected. “Nay, you do not hold much sway over them, rather, it is they who hold sway over you, sending message to help resolve conflicts, be they fullscale fights or quarrels.” 

Danny groaned, suppressed memories bubbling up: the many times the Coroners had come to him with arguments regarding ghost territories, many attempting to use Danny as a weapon or a diplomat or bodyguard or— so on. 

Thus far, a handful of months into his kinghood, Danny had stopped one “fullscale fight” that bordered on a war. (...This was also related to territory, however). 

Either way, that was a long way to say: the statement that it was just a title held up. The ring and crown didn’t actually really get him any political leeway with the ghosts— it was more of an… intimidation tactic that some ghosts fled from, because the ring and the crown were no more than power boosters. 

Asides from that, all he got were updates on all the troubles in the Zone that supposedly needed him (most of which actually didn’t). The Ghost Zone was a lawless place, so a title of king was not worth much outside of sheer power display. 

For the most part, the things had just served to place a target on his back, specifically, because any lost battle would mean they were his no more, and that the power would be passed to the victor. 

Sam, seemingly on the same line of thought as he, hummed, “would ghosts know I was the… Ghost Queen?” At declaring herself monarch (even if it was apparently in name only), her face did a bit of an involuntary, complicated twisting motion. 

Danny picked himself up from his pathetic slump, and aimed an intrigued-but-confused look at Sam. 

Tucker caught on a bit faster— “so if the ghosts think Danny’s still the king, they fight him— but there’s no risk involved in him losing.” 

Sam nodded, smiling a little sappily. 

Danny just made a mushy “aw,” sound, seeming to consider it. 

It was hard to read the expressions of the ghosts that surrounded the trio’s private, floating chunk of the Nasty Burger establishment, because said ghosts wore skulls… but they seemed baffled, though reluctantly accepting. It was all in the tilt of their heads and the pause of their voice as they said, “great Queen, whatever thou shall ask of us.” 

Sam nodded again, then paused. Her face cracked into an eager grin— a dangerous grin. “Do I get cool powers from this?” 

After receiving the crown, Danny had gotten a boost in his own powers; nothing new, just everything that was there was doubled. Double the size, the intensity, the spookiness, the everything. Needless to say, being goth and being active in fights as she was, Sam was excited for ghost powers. She was momentarily lost in visions of a sweeping gothic outfit, one of pure black with smokey edges, decked out in spikes, etcetera— in other words, “edgy.” 

Tuck, meanwhile, had a far more practical askance: “hold on. She’s a human, right?” 

Of course, it wouldn’t be the first instance of humans vaguely receiving or being influenced by ghost powers in some way; Undergrowth had done it, there had been that time with ghost mosquitos, and the one with that Egyptian staff, and the whole incident with the dragon-rage amulet… not to mention the halfas themselves, obviously. Still, it was not all that hope-inspiring to consider that all of them save for the halfas were essentially some degree of possession (or, at the least, something infectious and negative). 

Aloud, Tucker continued to contemplate. “It’s not exactly reassuring to call them ghost powers, with uh, death. Involved.” It was a choppy sentence, but it got the point across; Danny was a special case, but even a half death wasn’t exactly desirable. 

The glowing eyes of the coroners seemed to wink in amusement, insomuch as points of light could display emotion. “Ghost powers , says the queen.” 

“Ghost powers,” the others echo— not ominous this time, because they are chortling, seeming to be one step away from elbowing one another. 

Sam flushes a bit. “What’s so funny about that?” she grunts, offended. 

The coroners all bow deeply. “We meant no offense,” speaks one from the crowd, and it is followed by a wave of nodding before any of the trio can tell which one was even talking. “We simply find hilarity on your naivete.” 

“Elaborate,” she ordered with extremely thin patience.

“We were hasty in calling you the monarch yet,” the largest explained in its ancient, crackling voice, slow and thoughtful— annoyingly so. 

Sam pinches her nose, understanding with perfect clarity why Danny had complained dealing with these pretentious, cryptic weirdos. “Elaborate,” she commanded once again. 

“You are not the monarch yet, because you have not died,” it informed with great solemnity. 

The Nasty Burger chunk floated in stunned silence as the trio absorbed that. 

“Die?!” Tucker yelled, banging the table, upsetting both the fries and the silence. 

“You have a fascinating and naive way of phrasing it, but perhaps ghost powers is not so far from the truth,” one of the antlered creatures mused, not really addressing the obvious tension or concern. “For indeed, the ring and the crown do power the spiritual energy—“ 

“They’re just ghost batteries!” Danny interrupted, baffled and surprised. 

Sam herself then interrupted the interruption with a scoff, creating a horrible stack of domino-ing interruptions. “All this pizazz over just a power source that I can’t even use?” 

“You are incapable of using it as you are now,” a coroner pointed out. Something in all their eyes glinted ominously, and their antlers seemed to shine with ethereal light. “You are disconnected while living,” one said. As a group, they began encircling the private bit of Nasty Burger, wraith-like cloaks brushing against disgusting tile that was glossy with grease of burgers long past. “But we will fix that,” the coroners intoned as one. 

Danny finally took some initiative, fluidly erupting from his seat and transforming into Phantom in a singular motion. It felt just a tad ridiculous to he hovering over a Nasty Burger table that was ridiculously out of place in the abyssal green of the Ghost Zone, but that only graced his mind for a moment. Instead, the primary thought was one he voiced aloud: “are you going to kill her?” Danny may have been a C student, but regarding threats he was not slow on the uptake— he’d been in enough fights to get a good instinct. For their part, Tuck and Sam took it too— partially cowering behind Danny while brandishing their own Fenton brand lasers. 

The dark spirits jolted to a stop, and tilting their many skull-heads quizzically— a nonverbal askance of why fight? All their minds were whirring, and the first theory from the group of coroners was this: “are you hungry for this power once again?” The group around chortled, a veritable cacophony like many dead leaves being kicked around by whistling wind. It was a taunt, clearly. “This is the natural order of things, halfa. You cannot deny it. You have lost. She has won, won spiritual power, power we take from you.” An enormous pressure of dread emanated from the threatening beings, seeming to push at Danny’s chest— it threw him off kilter in the emotional sense, but also the literal given that he was midair. “If you desire it returned to you, then beat her as she did you, as is the rites of the Ring and the Crown.” 

“I’m more upset she’s gonna die!” Danny barked, a little sarcastic and a lot tense, gesticulating wildly as though that could free his limbs from the lead of supernatural fear. As he did so, his hands became enveloped in his own charging ectoplasm— like a snowball dragged through snow to gather more icy slush to its mass, so too did Danny draw the pure ectoplasm from his surroundings. 

“I would like not to die,” Sam agreed quickly. 

“If it counts, I’m thirding that motion,” Tucker put in as well. 

The coroners pulled back, seemingly startled. “You… do not want this power. But you do not get to choose. ” Their antlers still held an ominous and powerful glow, which spoke to the fact that they had already made their choice in regards to the whole death thing. 

Sam drew in a breath, preparing her “hell no” tirade— when Danny exploded into motion, wrapping a gloved hand around Sam’s hand that didn’t have a lipstick laser in it, and propped them sloppily on the Nasty Burger table. He held his elbow on the table and their chained hands up. Before she could process what on earth he was doing, he painfully but desperately slammed their linked hands down against the table. 

Everyone was staring at Danny, ghosts and humans alike. Silence reigned— utterly baffled, confused silence. It was though a massive, unspoken huh? has slammed down onto the area. 

“There,” he said, reedy desperation coloring his voice. “I won the arm wrestle match.” 

Sam cottoned on pretty quickly— “oh no,” she groaned, “Danny, you beat me. You won .” 

Tucker shot her a look— the emphasis was a bit hammy— but said nothing, only watched hopefully as the coroners seemed to enter something of a loading state as they processed the turn of events. 

Then, startlingly, they quickly and fluidly bowed simultaneously. “Long live our shortest reigning queen,” they said with great solemnity, “and welcome back, our halfa King. Long may he reign.” 

Needless to say, the trio’s sigh of relief was about unparalleled. 

“If I am to reign,” Danny said slowly, recovering but still trying to sound poncy and official (rather than yell at them as he desired), “may we, in the future… discredit joking competitions?” It was delicately phrased, awkward pauses as he deliberately chose fancy phrasing, but it at least got the point across (even if Danny could swear that despite having skull faces and only pinpricks of light for eyes, the coroners were making faces at him). 

The coroners stares at each other, cloaks rustling but no sound passing between them. 

“Yes,” the largest said suddenly, “such a request is reasonable, for a half-human teenager.” With exasperation, it added: “you already were an exceptional case in your ruling.” 

“And in general,” a smaller one piped up snarkily from the back, to be shushed by what was likely a superior. 

“Right,” Danny clapped his hands together and huffed, relieved but still tense. 

“Now, how do we get out of here…?” Tucker questioned, trailing off and looking at the abyss. He traced his fingers on the table, then his face lit up— “uh, can I keep this? It’s authentic Nasty Burger merch, technically, and it’s nor like they’re really gonna need it when it’s been diverged from this reality, let alone their store—“

Before he could continue, there was a snap from one of the coroner’s gnarled hands, and a great bout of green flames engulfed said hunk of Nasty Burger— for the second time that day. 

When a very stunned Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, and smoldering, partially aflame  with emerald Nasty Burger chunk snapped back into place within the mortal realm, a certain cashier stared balefully at the fused tiles and remnant ghost flame, thought same shit every day once again, and promptly asked: “do you want more to order?” 

And thus, the status quo was restored, for better or for worse. 

[five-rivers]

the Chains of Kings

Okay, I'm going to admit, this one is a little weird. I was sort of experimenting with a distant third-person perspective.  (There’s just a smidge of body horror.)

Phic Phight, prompt by @fabnamessuggestedbytumbler.

.

.

If the Ghost Zone had a secret, it was this: Pariah Dark had been asleep when he was crowned.

He'd had a good reason to rage.

.

It was coronation day.

Phantom laid in his bed in the human world, asleep. Dead to the world, but not quite. It was Nocturne's duty, in this whole affair, to keep him that way until everything was over, and even Phantom's great power and stubbornness cannot reverse what has been done.

The old ghost leaned over the younger one, painting a sleep into his mind so deep that he slumbered even in his dreams.

The third ghost in the room, Clockwork, Master of Time, stepped forward. Gently, with a paternal air, he picked Phantom up, cradling his limp form against his chest.

Phantom deserved what little kindness they could give him.

Clockwork opened a swirling blue portal with a flick of his hand and stepped through, Nocturne following soon after. The room they entered was much larger and more crowded. The windows were high, the ceilings vaulted, the walls hung with tapestries embroidered with tales that had never been told by human tongues. Green light filled the room, cast by floating balls of fire.

The people in the room all had two things in common. They were ghosts and they were leaders. From Clockwork, who ruled time itself and lead the council of Ancients, to Fright Knight, the first and most loyal knight of the Ghost King and King of Fear in his own right, to Princess Dorathea and Prince Aragon of Mattingly, who each had their own supporters when it came to who should rule, to Frostbite, Chief of the Far Frozen, to Pandora, to Mab, to Surtr, to the Yellow King, to the Lady of Ys, to the very least of those ghosts who could claim a crown or throne, no matter how humble, they all were there.

In the center of the room there was a throne. It stood high on a dais and was surrounded by chains.

Clockwork carried Phantom to the throne and set him down, careful not to let him fall to one side or the other. Almost at once, a dozen petty dwarf kings leaped forward, and seized upon the chains. They crossed back and forth in front of Phantom, binding him firmly to the throne, shackling his ankles and wrists.

Undergrowth, Mab, and all the other ghosts who claimed any sort of mastery over plants stepped forward, sowing seeds on the steps of the dais. The seeds grew, roots curling over the stone, woody sprouts snaking upwards, towards Phantom. The vines wrapped around the chains and limbs, binding him again.

The dragon prince and princess came to the edge of the dais with all the others who could command fire. The princess's eyes sparkled faintly, but no one commented as they bound the sleeping child with fire.

And so it was with ice and water and lightning and even the air itself.

Pandora came forward with a box she had once buried deep beneath the maze surrounding her home. She eased back the lid, and the burdens of kingship she had stolen from Pariah dark so long ago scurried out of the box and settled heavily on Phantom's shoulders, though they could hardly be seen beneath all the other fetters looped around him. She stepped back.

Fright Knight stepped forward, sword bare. Even the hardest of ghosts cringed at what they knew was coming, bracing themselves. Fright Knight knelt, briefly, before the dais, then, standing, climbed it to stand before the throne. No one could see his expression as he raised his sword. No one wanted to.

He drove the sword forward, piercing Phantom's heart and core all at once.

Phantom flinched and shed his human skin. His hair went white and his skin darkened as a suggestion of electric scaring brushed over it. His aura flickered softly, enticingly. His clothing, a set of space patterned pajamas, did not change.

Were they human, the assembled leaders would have held their breath. They were not, so they didn't. Even so, the stillness that fell over the room was more than supernatural and did not fade until all present were satisfied that Phantom would stay asleep.

All eyes turned to Clockwork. He had not participated in Pariah Dark's coronation, symbolically giving him a way out. Time will not bind you, he had said. In time you shall be free.

But, now, the Master of Time drifted forward, tail streaming into mist behind him. He bent to cup the side of Phantom's face with one hand.

"I am sorry, Daniel," he whispered, giving voice to the only words that had been spoken since he entered. "This is the way things are meant to be." He pressed a kiss to Phantom's forehead and, at the same time, sketched a strange symbol in the air with his staff. Phantom and the symbol both glowed blue for half of one of Phantom's ever-slowing heartbeats.

Clockwork floated back, off the dais, and turned to face the doors. The crowd parted, and the doors opened.

The ghosts that entered were not leaders, they claimed no crown, but they fancied themselves judges. They fancied themselves righteous and fair and brave and a whole host of other things as well, most of which did not apply. But they were judges, and they did have the duty of crowning kings.

Each gazed at their future King with one baleful eye. The Observants were not pleased with the current state of affairs, but even they could not resist the old laws, and so they carried the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage.

Both artifacts burned with so much power that the nearest rulers subtly backed away.

The Observants flew forward and circled Phantom three times before one darted forward and roughly pushed the Ring of Rage onto his finger. The crown-bearer took that as his cue, and shoved the crown into the space above Phantom's head. Then all the Observants fled the room, the great doors slamming shut behind them.

The auras of the crown and ring began to flare brighter and brighter. Their light reflected beautifully off of the tears running down Phantom's face.

The ancient artifacts began to melt. To drip. Where the molten metal touched Phantom's skin it burned and scarred. In his sleep, the young ghost twisted against his bonds.

No one moved to help him, though a few, Frostbite of the Far Frozen included, clenched their hands until their claws drew ectoplasm and the thick liquid left puddles on the floor.

They waited.

At long last, the metal that had once been crown and ring began to cool and reform, crystallizing into new shapes for the new High King of All Ghosts. The ring became a simple silver band. The crown tangled itself in Phantom's hair, growing thorns and icy flowers, one silvery branch looping down to curl in the eye that had been burned away by a particularly large droplet of molten metal.

Only then did the assembled ghosts move. Each ruler took back their binding, whispering oaths of fealty and obedience that they hoped desperately would never be called on, and left.

Soon, the only ghosts in the room were Clockwork, Nocturne, Fright Knight, and High King Phantom. Fright Knight pulled free his sword, cleaned, and sheathed it before moving to stand behind the throne. Nocturne glanced at Clockwork, shook his horned head, and took back his sleep, leaving Phantom to a more natural unconsciousness, before sweeping away.

Clockwork waited.

Free of his bindings, Phantom curled in on himself protectively, drawing his legs up onto the throne and trembling.

Slowly, a change seemed to spread out from Phantom. The throne, all harsh edges, dark green stone, and severe lines, paled, rounded, curved, until its aspect was more like that of carved crystal or ice, and it almost seemed to cradle Phantom.

The change did not stop at the throne. It inched out, a little wave of alterations with each of Phantom's heartbeats, with each thrum of his icy core. It crept across the floor, and the walls, and the tapestries, cleaning them, repairing them where they had been damaged. The colors became brighter, more varied, the ever-present murk and dust of Pariah's reign swept away. The tall windows were filled with stained glass, and the light in the room took on a rainbow hue. The very air seemed to clear.

Above the palace, the sky become marbled with shades of blue. In all corners of the Ghost Zone, the lands shattered by Pariah Dark felt a faint but irresistible tug, a tug that would only grow stronger with time, a call to return to what they once were, to heal, and to become even more, even greater than they had been. Barren places stirred with the first beginnings of new unlife. Old ruins restored themselves. Ghosts everywhere looked up, aggression, rage, fading, for what was for some the first time in their existences, replaced with something softer but no less insistent.

In the chaotic and lawless wastes not far from the palace, a scar known as the Fenton Portal healed over. A similar wound, poorly hidden by a large football, also disappeared. The fabric of the Infinite Realms knit back together around its new and precious king and smoothed itself, all the thin spots repaired.

With the thing that had split him gone and the power of the Zone itself inside him, Phantom changed as well, though not as much. His two halves slowly, inexorably, began to mix together. Black streaks bloomed in his hair until it was as much black as white. His scars darkened, and his skin paled. When he finally stirred and his one remaining eye fluttered open, it was a shifting, shimmering swirl of Earthly blue and ghostly green, not unlike the new sky.

"Clockwork?" said the king, and even muddied with pain and confusion, his voice was clearer and more compelling than it had been when he had last spoken. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"We are in your palace," answered Clockwork.

"I don't have a palace," said Phantom. He reached up toward his missing eye, and flinched when he encountered the cold metal of the crown. "I- I don't understand." But he did understand. How could he not? He was bound to Infinite Realms, and they to him. He could feel them, under his skin. "Why- Why did you do this?" he asked. "Why me?"

"Because," said Clockwork, "you are a good person."

"There are other good people," said Phantom, pressing himself into the back of his throne. Behind him, Fright Knight stood at the ready, prepared to cut down any ghost who caused his king undue distress. "Good people who would be better kings. Or queens."

"You are a good person," repeated Clockwork, "and you might one day forgive us for this." He bowed deeply to the child king. "You might give us a second chance."

Phantom noticed the ring. He swallowed. "I can't go home, can I?"

"You will never be able to leave the Ghost Zone. Such is the curse of kings."

"I hate you," said Phantom. He pulled at the silver ring on his finger. It did not come off.

Clockwork straightened, and looked at Phantom with something like pity. "No, you don't."

"I hate you," repeated Phantom. He choked back a sob, but could no longer hold back his tears. "Don't leave me," he ordered.

"Never."

[popolitiko]

How Republicans Are Warping Reality Around the Capitol Attack

by Lightlynews.com · On January 17, 2021

Immediately after the assault on the U.S. Capitol, all corners of the political spectrum repudiated the mob of President Trump’s supporters. Yet inside days, outstanding Republicans, occasion officers, conservative media voices and rank-and-file voters started making a rhetorical shift to attempt to downplay the group’s violent actions.

In one of many final don’t-believe-your-eyes moments of the Trump period, these Republicans have retreated to the ranks of misinformation, claiming it was Black Lives Matter protesters and far-left teams like Antifa who stormed the Capitol — despite the pro-Trump flags and QAnon symbology within the crowd. Others have argued that the assault was no worse than the rioting and looting in cities throughout the Black Lives Matter motion, usually exaggerating the unrest final summer season whereas minimizing a mob’s try to overturn an election.

The shift is revealing about how conspiracy theories, deflection and political incentives play off each other in Mr. Trump’s G.O.P. For a short time, Republican officers appeared maybe open to grappling with what their occasion’s chief had wrought — violence within the identify of their Electoral College battle. But any window of reflection now appears to be closing as Republicans attempt to cross blame and to check final summer season’s lawlessness, which was condemned by Democrats, to an assault on Congress, which was impressed by Mr. Trump.

“The violence on the Capitol was shameful,” Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, tweeted at 6:55 a.m. the morning after the assault. “Our motion values respect for legislation and order and for the police.” But now, in a brand new video titled “What Really Happened on January sixth?” Mr. Giuliani is amongst those that are again to emphasizing conspiracy theories.

“The riot was preplanned,” stated Mr. Giuliani, the previous mayor of New York City. “This was an try to slander Trump.” He added, “The proof is popping out.”

For months, Republicans have used final summer season’s protests as a political catchall, highlighting remoted situations of property destruction and calls to defund the police to encourage their base in November. The tactic proved considerably efficient on Election Day: Democrats misplaced floor within the House of Representatives, with Republican challengers hammering a message of liberal lawlessness. About 9 of each 10 voters stated the protests had been an element of their voting, in accordance with estimates from A.P. VoteCast, a big voter survey performed for The Associated Press by NORC on the University of Chicago. Nearly half of these respondents backed Mr. Trump, with some saying they fearful that the unrest might disrupt their communities.

Republicans at the moment are utilizing the looting to attempt to clarify away the Capitol assault. The consequence, for some Republican voters, ranges from doubt to conspiratorial pondering.

Suzanne Doherty, 67, who traveled from Michigan to be in Washington on Jan. 6 to assist Mr. Trump, got here away feeling confused and depressed over the invasion of the Capitol and never trusting the pictures of the mob.

“I heard that on Antifa web sites, individuals had been invited to go to the rally and costume up like Trump supporters, however I’m undecided what to consider anymore,” she stated. “There had been individuals there solely to wreak havoc. All I do know is that there was an entire gamut of individuals there, however the rioters weren’t us. Maybe they had been Antifa. Maybe they had been B.L.M. Maybe they had been excessive proper militants.”

The conjecture that the mob was infiltrated by Black Lives Matter and Antifa has been metastasizing from the darkish corners of the pro-Trump web to the flooring of Congress and the Republican base, at the same time as legislation enforcement officers say there isn’t a proof to assist it. Law enforcement officers at the moment are flagging threats of violence and rioting main as much as President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s inauguration.

That has not stopped Republican lawmakers and a few of their constituents from pushing these narratives to defend Mr. Trump. .

Protesters and cops confronted one another in Kenosha, Wis., in August, the day after a police officer shot Jacob Blake. Many Republican and Democratic voters stated the summer season’s protests over police violence had been a think about how they voted in November, for various causes.Credit…Carlos Ortiz for The New York Times

KEEP READING...

https://lightlynews.com/2021/01/17/politics/how-republicans-are-warping-reality-around-the-capitol-attack/

Politics

Who Is MyPillow C.E.O. Mike Lindell, One of Trump’s Last Remaining Supporters From Corporate America?

How Republicans Are Warping Reality Around the Capitol Attack

Prospect of Pardons in Final Days Fuels Market to Buy Access to Trump

Biden Seeks Quick Start With Executive Actions and Aggressive Legislation

Loews Hotels says it gained’t host a fund-raiser with Senator Josh Hawley.

Facebook will briefly cease exhibiting adverts for gun equipment and army gear.

Sonia Sotomayor will swear in Kamala Harris on Inauguration Day.

Capitol Police arrested a person with an ‘unauthorized’ inauguration credential and a gun. He calls it an ‘trustworthy mistake.’

For one of many first instances in his life, Trump’s phrases are having penalties for him.

Biden guarantees a ‘daring’ federal vaccination marketing campaign.

Security tightens as regulation enforcement raises contemporary alarms about extremist plots.

Far-right activist ‘Baked Alaska’ is among the many newest Capitol rioters to be arrested.

Videos present how a rioter was trampled within the stampede on the Capitol.

Trump Will Leave Office With His Lowest Approval Rating Ever

Biden and Harris will introduce members of their White House science group this afternoon.

New Warnings of Violence as Security Tightens for Inauguration

The Pariah Post-Presidency

Banner Headlines for Tumultuous Times

‘Hell, Yes,’ Republicans Are Headed for a Bitter Internal Showdown

[wakingthefury]

Iran is ready to strike Israel even during the United States sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic

Listen to Today's Program JD: I get word out of Israel that they fear that Iran may take this time when the focus is on the coronavirus crisis to go about putting together their nuclear weapon of mass destruction. It's a possibility that could be happening would you not say? KT: The reason Iran itself is a lawless state. The government itself is an international pariah. They have not respected any of the suggestions of the World Health Organization. They've not put people under lock down. Some of their members of Parliament have died of the coronavirus. The Supreme leader Ali Khamenei bazaar terminology in his address to the nation suggesting that the coronavirus was the work of the United States. Would they use this as an occasion to step up their enrichment of nuclear weapons grade fuel is an open question. We know already that they have enough highly enriched uranium to make a single weapon. They could have a bunch more because the International Atomic Energy Agency the IAEA has suspended its inspections. So we don't really know the current state of Iran's nuclear weapons program. We know what they had available to them a month ago and that was enough weapons grade fuel for a single bomb. We know from the Supreme leaders speech that he is extraordinarily paranoid and is willing to accuse outside forces to help its own people. I think that's what we are really looking at here. We're looking at a regime that's on the ropes. They can't deal with the health situation. They can't deal with the needs of the people in Iran. People are increasingly panicked over the coronavirus in Iran and the regime is not facing up to that. So yes they could strike out against foreign target. We don't know what they are capable of doing. We only know what the International Atomic Energy Agency has told us about the nuclear capabilities but we don't know what they could do with them. JD: Ken Timmerman with details on the fact that Iran could strike Israel even during these times of US sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic. We report this information because it is setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled. A study of Ezekiel 38 is evidence that Persia, modern day Iran mentioned in verse 5, that Iran is ready to strike at any time the Jewish state of Israel. That prophetic scenario written some 2,500 years ago could be fulfilled very quickly. Even during the troublesome times in which we find ourselves. In fact, maybe more so today than later. Remember first the Rapture takes place and then this Iranian prophecy to be fulfilled. via Jimmy DeYoung's News Update https://ift.tt/2RnC4Z5

[harpreetsinghfan-blog]

“Donald Trump is destroying his own presidency” 

Trump has no one to blame for his endangered presidency but himself. Trump during campaign appears disciplined & strategic. Those hopes dashed by the lawless, reckless way he has responded to ongoing inquiries against him.Investigation of Trump campaign’s ties to Russia is serious, and becoming more so. 

Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody. He moves like he is always being observed. All human beings are, by their very nature, social actors, then Donald Trump seems to be more so superhuman, in this numero uno sense. 

Washington Republicans never liked or trusted Trump. A large number of generals, especially those in the centrist establishment, have criticized Trump as too friendly to Russia, unpredictable with nuclear weapons, and insufficiently attuned to the importance of America’s strategic allies, among other things. 

Colin Powell reportedly told the Long Island Association Tuesday afternoon that he is supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the presidential race.

Colin Powell (A liberal Republican, Powell is well known for his willingness to support liberal or centrist causes) said Donald Trump  “has no sense of shame,” and is “a national disgrace” and “international pariah.” He said that “the whole birther movement was racist” and complained that the media was providing Trump with oxygen to fuel his campaign. He cracked jokes about Trump’s poor standing with women voters.

Powell endorsed Clinton on October 25, 2016, stating it was “because I think she’s qualified, and the other gentleman is not qualified. 

Barbara Bush: NAY

Unlike her husband and elder son, the former first lady has publicly disavowed Trump. “I mean, unbelievable. I don’t know how women can vote for someone who said what he said about Megyn Kelly, it’s terrible,” she told CBS in February. “And we knew what he meant too.” (February 4, 2016)

Bobby Jindal: YEA The former Louisiana governor, who during his own presidential campaign called Trump a “narcissist” and an “egomaniacal madman,” wrote in a Wall Street Journal column that he’s voting for Trump, “warts and all.” “I think electing Donald Trump would be the second-worst thing we could do this November, better only than electing Hillary Clinton to serve as the third term for the Obama administration’s radical policies,” he said. (May 9, 2016)

Norm Coleman: NAY

The former Minnesota senator wrote in a March 3 column that he will not support the Republican nominee. “I won’t vote for Donald Trump because of who he isn’t. He isn’t a Republican. He isn’t a conservative. He isn’t a truth teller…. I also won’t vote for Donald Trump because of who he is. A bigot. A misogynist. A fraud. A bully.” (July 7, 2016)

Mel Martinez: NAY

The former RNC chair and Florida senator says he won’t vote for Trump. “I would not vote for Trump, clearly,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “If there is any, any, any other choice, a living, breathing person with a pulse, I would be there.” (February 29, 2016)

Ken Mehlman: NAY

The former RNC chair wrote on Facebook that he was #NeverTrump. (May 12, 2016)

Trump is almost untouchable with Congressional Republicans’ support. so long as he passes their agenda and controls his behavior enough not to endanger them or the country.

How Donald Trump endangered his own presidency ??Investigations — and scandal — have swirled around Trump since the start of his administration, but congressional Republicans found it reasonably easy to ignore them. But trump reckless & impulsive respond to the investigation begin by James comey. 

First, Trump asked Comey to stop investigating Flynn. “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” he Also said to comey to make public statement that Donald trump is not under any investigation. But comey refuses both request.

Then Trump fired Comey over the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia. 

In a meeting with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, Trump bragged, “I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.” Notes from that meeting were subsequently leaked to the New York Times, and press secretary Sean Spicer confirmed the account. 

Back in Washington, when Mr. Lavrov was asked if he was relieved that Mr. Comey had been fired, given that the F.B.I. director was pursuing accusations of Russian efforts to influence an American election, the foreign minister laughed.

“I never thought I’d have to answer such questions, all the more in the United States of America, with your greatly developed democratic and political system,” he said, a tinge of sarcasm in his voice.

As Russian officials under US surveillance, Trump reacted with fury, and accused the Obama administration of wiretapping Trump Towers. There was no evidence for Trump’s claims. 

Trump, has stayed in communication with Flynn, telling him to “stay strong” as recently as April. It almost goes without communicating with an adviser who is under investigation. 

Former Trump adviser Carter Page says the congressional committees investigating potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign are railroading his reputation, and are ignoring his complaints about the FISA warrant obtained to surveil him.

Obama v/s trump – promises fulfilled in first 100 days 

Obama made a vastly larger number of promises for his first 100 days. According to an April 2009 review of his first hundred days from PolitiFact, Obama made more than 500 promises, kept 27 of them, had another 63 “solidly in the works,” and explicitly broke six of them. Of course, if Obama made 500 promises and clearly kept or “solidly” worked on 90 of them, that’s a lot more than six unfulfilled promises at the 100-days mark. 

The Chicago Tribune went beyond Trump’s campaign “contract” to compile a list of 38 promises for the first 100 days, ruling that he has fulfilled only ten of them. Sure enough, this critique gives Trump no credit for the items he is still working on, even when it is clear his efforts are serious.

Approval ratings: There is no question Obama had much higher approval ratings at the 100-day mark. Trump polls at 39 to 44 percent approval as he approaches the 100-day mark, with a RealClearPolitics polling average of 42 percent approve, 52 percent disapprove. As the media are quick to point out, this is the lowest approval rating of any president ever polled at the 100-days threshold. By contrast, President Obama had approval ratings of around 65 percent at the 100 day-point.  Page also told the Washington Examiner that it makes no sense that he hasn’t testified yet before either the House or Senate Intelligence Committees.

“It is unfathomable that [former FBI Director James] Comey got his third chance in as many months to testify about the senseless witch hunt that he led on behalf of the Clinton campaign and Obama administration, but I have been completely blocked from testifying before either of the congressional intelligence committees and providing the accurate story about what actually happened last year,” Page told the Washington Examiner.

He has reminded Republicans what they feared a Trump presidency would be like — unconstitutional, unfocused, scandal-plagued, and damaging to both America’s standing in the world and the GOP’s brand at home.

Republicans may soon lose a generation of voters through a combination of the sheer incompetence of Trump and a party rank and file with no ability to control its leader,” warned conservative radio host Erick Erickson.

Sen. John McCain warned that President Trump’s mounting scandals were “reaching Watergate size and scale.” That same night, Carlos Curbelo, a Congress member from Florida, became the first congressional Republican to use the i-word. “Obstruction in the case of Nixon and in the case of Clinton in the late ’90s has been considered an impeachable offense,” he said. Rep. Justin Amash quickly backed him up. Asked whether James Comey’s memo would, if verified, be grounds for impeachment, Amash said it would.

via Blogger http://ift.tt/2rfo60b

[immaculatasknight]

Giving clarity