#misplaced activism

[a-very-tired-jew]

Another Colleague Conversation

I recently had a conversation with a friend and colleague about stuff they shared regarding the rescue operation of the four hostages. They had posted the tweet from the Deeja account that said in all capital letters that Israel used an aid truck. I reached out because 1) I know this person to be reasonable and evidence based, and 2) I knew they were coming from a place of genuine concern that was being manipulated. For context, this friend is a brilliant geneticist that I have know for nearly 2 decades as we did our undergrad together and have stayed in touch ever since. They're a kindhearted person and their work has led to some breakthroughs that highlight this trait as they've worked on certain types of genes that can have detrimental mutations when expressed. As I've said before, a lot of people are empathetic and sympathetic individuals to the plight of others, and those behaviors are being manipulated for nefarious reasons.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Me: Hey G, that thing you shared about the aid truck? Yeah, that's not the complete story or accurate.

G: What?! What do you mean?

Me: It wasn't an aid truck that they used. In fact, only that tweet and Al Jazeera were reporting that initially. All the other sites, including pro-Israel and anti-Israel, were reporting a civilian truck of some sort. Most said a moving/furniture truck.

G: Wait. Hold on. So it was a moving truck then?

Me: Well...we now know it was a soap truck.

G: Why the fuck are people saying it was an aid truck then?

Me: You know the reason.

G: Yeah...okay, admittedly I am not well informed on all this. Thank you for reaching out and correcting me. Do you have any suggestions on how to stay informed? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (Now this is where it gets interesting because at this point they say something that I knew was a thing on some level, but hadn't really put the pieces together.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Me: Well, I wouldn't share anything from Al Jazeera. All they do is spout Hamas propaganda. I'd also avoid accounts that share from them as well, unless you're really interested in what the propaganda is itself. I'd avoid JVP since they're the Autism Speaks of Jewish groups. And also avoid SJP groups, many of them openly support terrorist groups and have been recently endorsing domestic terrorism. G: Wait, wait, wait. AJ is bad? I've been following them since we were in undergrad.

Me: Since undergrad?

G: Yeah, they were the only ones covering news in a Lefty manner. Like, remember when Occupy Wallstreet broke out during grad school? They were the one of the few news sites that covered it in a left leaning manner.

Me: Ah fuck...that makes sense. Okay. So. AJ is the state media of Qatar, think of it like RT or Sputnik. Qatar has literally hosted the leaders of Hamas for years and they live there in multi-million dollar homes. AJ pretty much acts as the propaganda mouthpiece for Hamas through Qatar.

G: But what does that have to do with how they covered stuff when we were younger?

Me: Well, there was a meeting in 1993 in Philly of Hamas members that was wiretapped. Those wiretaps were submitted as evidence during some trials in the 00s and they revealed that Hamas had planned at that meeting to use the language of progressive Westerners to garner support for their cause and manipulate them.

G: oh

G: Oh, fuck!

G: So you're saying they purposefully set themselves up to be more sympathetic to Leftists and manipulate them through using their jargon and it's on tape?!

Me: Yep. Here's the link (https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs5746/files/2023-10/the-hamas-network-in-america.pdf)

Me: Now there's a lot more to that doc. It goes over how they planned to set up research groups to influence academia, political groups for politics, and charity groups to raise money. The latter of which is what the 00s trials were about.

G: Fuck...that's well planned out. I can't believe it's on tape.

Me: Mhm, it's right there. I'm surprised it's been allowed to go on this long though. I think after all the dust settles we might see some Bush Era Patriot Act shenanigans go on.

G: I wouldn't be surprised.

G: Thank you for reaching out and letting me know. I can't believe I fell for that.

Me: It's totally okay, and understandable. If you have questions about anything please feel free to reach out.

G: Again, thank you so much. I will.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What G said about Al Jazeera though and how they'd been following it for years stood out to me. I remember when Occupy Wallstreet happened and AJ was reporting on it. I remember so many American news sites denigrating the movement and AJ was one of the few that was actually covering those protests in an objective manner. We didn't have a lot of the Left news sites that currently exist today. It was a wasteland of center and right wing sources as far as the eye could see. But that makes sense for the time period and why AJ is still so prevalent in Left spaces.

As I told G, the 93 meeting documents Hamas members talking about using the language of Westerners against them and infiltrating their spaces to garner support. With AJ being the mouth piece of Hamas and having been one of the few "Left" leaning news source since Occupy...well, they've been grandfathered in to Leftist spaces as "trusted". That's why so many of these Western activists will accept an AJ article with no question or critical analysis, it's one of the go to sources and has been for a long time.

I'm a little mad at myself that I didn't remember the coverage of Occupy and other events in the USA by AJ and how they were framed until G brought it up. I'm second guessing all the times I read articles back then and my reactions. G admitted they're now doing the same. To think that many of us older Lefties have been manipulated for years because we had some friendly coverage of our opinions is disheartening. But then again, how many of us actually knew what AJ was, who was running it, and what the agenda is/was? I mean, hell, I'm a forensic consultant and consider myself well versed on big cases, but I didn't know about the HLF stuff until Vidino's report came out (the doc mentioned and linked above).

The internet has come such a long way since then. I'm hoping that when this is over that many of these news sites, Leftist and otherwise, will reconsider how they interact with AJ and other such groups. It's quite clear that we've been in a long con, and something has to change.

[a-very-tired-jew]

People will argue that Hamas changed their charter in 2017 to differentiate Jews from Zionists, and then argue that they can discern and understand what a dogwhistle is. Especially considering the "we're not antisemitic, we're anti-Zionist" has been a dogwhistle since before WW2.

For example; In 2019 Fathi Hammad said it outright, 2 years after the supposed change.

“But our brothers [in the diaspora] are still preparing. They are trying to prepare. They are warming up. A long time has passed with them warming up. All of you 7 million Palestinians abroad, enough of the warming up. You have Jews everywhere and we must attack every Jew on the globe by way of slaughter and killing, if God permits. Enough of the warming up,” Now, this particular speech was in response to restrictions Israel had placed on the West Bank in 2019. So why go after Jews globally? Unless it has never been about Israel/Palestine and actually about violent antisemitism.

That's baked into the organization. That is part of its foundation, and simply changing one word does not remove the entirety of the hateful rhetoric that underscores everything.

We all understand that if the KKK changed whatever documents and rhetoric and replaced all slurs and racist words with something like "illegals" or a political ideology unique to one ethnic/racial group that they would still be the POS racist organization they've always been. They're just using a dogwhistle to disguise it.

That's the same shit here, and so many people have fallen for it and embraced it in the name of "activism".

The reason Israelis fear that a Palestinian one state solution will lead to an ethnic cleansing or genocide isn't because of "Jewish supremacy", it's because more than half of our population was ethnically cleansed from Arab countries within the last century

[thisfairytalegonebad]

If i had a nickel for every time i paid for something and didn't receive it..........

Requested a new driver's license because i lost mine, got a bill for it but never got the license, finally emailed them and they say they'd mailed it out a month ago and if it doesn't turn up I'll have to request a new one which I'll have to pay for AGAIN

Ordered and paid for balcony furniture almost two months ago, asked about the status a month ago and was told that they'll have to transfer it from a different store but they expect it to be ready for pickup "within the next few days". Contacted customer support again today, currently awaiting a response, it's summer now and i want to use my FUCKING balcony

[manufactoredxbyxdesign]

[A ship with Wesker that contains Hades and Persephone themes and undertones would be bomb ngl.]

[aevarswall]

I understand where Christians arguing against environmental worship are coming from (we shouldn't idolize nature as a god), but do you truly have no concern for God's creatures? I get that the snail darter isn't important to the advancement of the Church, but shouldn't we strive to keep it alive?

[existentialcrisis-24-7]

Pro tip: do not reorganise someone’s setup ever unless you’ve asked first. You’re not doing them a favour

[a-very-tired-jew]

My parents just texted me to ask if I was safe at work. Thats the level of violent antisemitism that is occurring at universities here in the USA. My leftist Jewish parents who rationalized away antisemitism for years and are very, very vocal in their criticism of Israel (remember, they went to school with Bibi and dislike him immensely) are checking to see if I am safe.

Another friend just messaged me about a student worker in his department wearing a shirt mocking the hostages and how they can’t do anything about it. Said friend works at an Ivy League and has been accosted multiple times by the protestors there. Their dream job quickly lost its luster and they’re looking at different universities for employment because their administration won’t do anything to protect their faculty, staff, or students who hold different positions.

I’m so very tired.

[bloo-the-dragon]

Are cryptids commonplace in your AU, or is Bloodmoon the only one?

There are yes! This is a world setting where cryptids and other faery folk are more well known to exist (including mers and my own personal race of flower people i'm calling Florans which are semi fae folk- more on that later as i have a little original thing i'm working on ;D)

In some parts, especially urban places people would still assume they are a myth as most cryptids arn't all that open about their existence (and for good reason hunters are a very real thing still) but there can be whole communities of them living in towns or villages where they can either blend in with humans or live in relative peace away from them

[badolmen]

So funny how trauma will just kick you in the fucking teeth with the most random triggers.

[izzy-b-hands]

Trying to make my brain do anything today has just been case after case of 'well, half-assed is better than nothing I guess.'

[hypermascbishounen]

so burned out from stress and the person who did it is texting me and I do not have the spoons left to respond to them auuughaughuaagh

[inkskinned]

everyone says you can always restart. that your future isn't forgotten, just sort of misplaced. they name actors and singers and authors who started at 46, 59. they cite chappell roan's 10 years. they tell you to push and push, that some day you'll open a door and the truth will be behind it.

but what if you aren't a celebrity in sheep's clothing. what if you're just a normal person. most people aren't exceptionally talented or else talent wouldn't be exceptional - right? what if you're just another median person; not ever startlingly bad nor terrifyingly good.

you put the shopping carts back and you walk your dog and you write poems on the internet. you have grown a plant or two; killed a few others. you did okay, overall, and you've been okay most of your life. not valedictorian, but you were a smart kid. you had some hard knocks, but you got up again. your life is just - average. you probably will never sing onstage at coachella. most of the time you are at peace with that - someone needs to drive the speed limit. life isn't about extraordinary circumstances, it's just about building a life you love and figuring out how to live in it.

but you would like to feel as if you'd found "the answer." everyone else seems to have some kind of talent they are born nesting in - and meanwhile you just exist. is that why you cycle through crafts and hobbies and activities like a roulette wheel? are you waiting for the moment where it turns out - all this time, you've been a visionary. a genius. all this time, you were special. even you: someone who has-never-been.

crawling up your throat: something bitter and savage. not quite a feeling of wasted potential. after all, you need to first have potential in order to waste it.

[a-very-tired-jew]

Anti-intellectual/anti-Academia from activists

This post came across my dash and I want everyone to read it.

This rant about Israeli academia is very telling. What I see here is a person who has little to no understanding of research and development. Yes, many of the things that are produced by academics can be used for military purposes. But that mapping software? It's also used to map rivers, lakes, and wetlands. It's used to map out ranges of endangered species and plant populations. It's used for so much more than killing, and the lack of nuance with which this person writes is indicative of the overall anger and hate we see in Western Activists. Many of the research and technologies that will be delayed or halted due to the academic boycott of Israel that this person is cheering will have a global impact. All they can see is the violent application of science and academia, and while it has always been true that science has been exploited by politicians and the military, there is typically a non-violent and civilian application for it as well. I remember back during the pandemic that the Israeli research teams on the cutting edge and giving us rapid results and data to work with. I know of several people in Israel working on alternative animal agriculture feeds to reduce GHG emissions and biowaste. It's also important to note all the tankie buzzwords in this rant. "intellectual architecture for the bureaucratic class" might as well be a neon sign (the blog owner states they should read more Marx and is a communist btw). So we know that anything they say regarding Israel is just going to be full of malice and sprinkled with antisemitic conspiracies, but I'm also getting big anti-intellectualism vibes as well. Ever since the Khmer Rouge there's been a strong undertone of anti-intellectual, anti-academia, and anti-science to the tankie ideology, and I can't help but notice it here. So yes, go ahead and boycott Israeli academics, but it'll have a larger impact than you think, and not in the way you want. The vitriol and hatred people have is absolutely overwhelming and disheartening.

[sunshineandrosesnoraincamemyway]

pray that I can find my wallet soon, I can't remember where I last had it and it's been a week

[hazbinsinners]

;; by the way i'm planning to get to the Bulk of my replies tomorrow. was going based off of inspo and sinday stuff today. thank you for your patience <3

[neigepomme]

˙ ✩°˖ 🍎 general headcanons / LADS (individual) x reader

synopsis; some headcanons of all the boys for your enjoyment!! mostly silly & domestic day-to-day life stuff!!

˙ ✩°˖ 💫 with xavier

⋆ xavier sleeps a lot, and you quickly find out that he has a tendency to latch onto things with a death grip when you sleep over for the first time. you knew he was strong, but not that strong — and you needed to go to the bathroom. operation "get out of xavier's grip" ends up with you giving up and hugging him back to sleep.

⋆ on a similar note, he tends to run hot. you notice that he doesn't really dress for the weather, and when you reach out to touch his cheeks, worried that he might be freezing, he just looks at you confused. you mirror his expression because how is he so warm in negative degrees weather? oh well, he makes for a great personal heater.

⋆ xavier's favorite artist is k.k. slider. you were playing ACNH together, and when he unlocks him, it's like a brand new world opened up to him. soothing and cheerful, he often hums bubblegum k.k. under his breath, and it always puts a smile on your face.

⋆ although you two are neighbors and can easily go over to one another's place, he loves hanging out with you via discord call. he streams himself playing RE7 to you, and you two just talk while he fights off jack baker, and he's thoroughly entertained by your shrieks when marguerite baker comes on screen.

⋆ lady luck has never been too kind to xavier. at least, that's what he tells you early on in the relationship when he talks about misplacing some items and having a hard time finding them. he calls you his lucky star when you find the things he lost, and you don't have it in you to tell him it's just because of his aloof nature.

˙ ✩°˖ ☃️ with zayne

⋆ zayne is stupidly good at video games. it drives you insane because you've never even seen him actively play games, but he somehow beats you every single time you two play a competitive game (except FPS games. he doesn't have the energy to be toxic while playing valorant).

⋆ his music taste is surprisingly varied. he has a preference for calmer songs and enjoys podcasts, but if you go through his saved songs, you might find some unexpected gems ("you listen to lucifer by shinee??" "it's a good song.").

⋆ he instinctively reaches out for your hand when you two are walking together. his hand feels too cold at times, and that's when he realizes something's off. zayne isn't one for grand public displays of affection, but he will always subconsciously make sure your hand is where it should be — laced with his.

⋆ zayne doesn't cry very easily, but if you look at him closely as he reads some books, you'll sometimes see his eyes turn a bit misty (tuesdays with morrie was one of those). same goes for certain movies — dead poets society and good will hunting will always make him sniffle a bit.

⋆ he adores animals, and you know that. however, you didn't know that he regularly visits the zoo and aquarium to sketch out the animals, often with a little smile on his face as he does it. the seals are his favorite to sketch. if you ever offer to organize his desk and office space, it is very likely that you'll find small drawings of penguins on post-it notes.

˙ ✩°˖ 🐟 with rafayel

⋆ rafayel LOVES kpop, especially red velvet. he's got the face and body of an idol, so it doesn't really surprise you when you find out — what does surprise you though, is finding his stan account. when you walk behind him as he types furiously on his phone, you catch a glimpse of his twitter activities; "maybe you don't like irene's comeback because you're not growing like a flower or unlocking superpowers idk girl" from user fishirene. his favorite song on the album is ka-ching by the way.

⋆ his spice tolerance is pitiful. of course, it's not so bad that he'll think pepper is spicy, but when you brought carbonara buldak as a snack for the two of you, he'll only use a fourth of the sauce packet. if you bring it up, he'll scoff and squeeze in the rest of the packet — you don't miss how his face is turning redder by the minute though.

⋆ he's incredibly educated when it comes to history. politics of the times play a major part in how the culture (thus the art) is manifested after all. he's not a big fan of reading, but he loves putting on an audiobook or a recording of a famous work of literature while he paints. oration on the dignity of man by pico has been fascinating him recently.

⋆ despite being an incredible artist, rafayel isn't immune to most artistic struggles. though he doesn't do portraits a lot, he still likes to practice (especially with your image in mind), and he could swear that the right eye is a bit droopier than the left one. god damn it — he needs to redraw it again.

⋆ he is so shameless sometimes, it ends up making you cringe. the type to loudly exclaim, "she said no pickles!!" when you two eat out at a restaurant together, and even though it's very sweet of him, the glare he gives the server makes you want to melt into your chair. when rafayel sees you turning the same shade as reddie, he just acts all smug and pokes at you teasingly.

˙ ✩°˖ 🐦‍⬛ with sylus

⋆ sylus cannot roll his Rs. try as he might, it seems to be the only thing keeping him from sounding like a local in a few languages. instead, his attempts sound more like Ws; his señora sounds more like a señowa. it's insanely adorable and makes you swoon when you find out — a cute gap moe of his.

⋆ he might be tone-deaf, but he is incredibly far from having beat deafness. you discover that when he invites you to dance with him. you also discover he's proficient at several partner dances, whether it be waltz, salsa, tango, you name it. his humming is a bit grating on the ears, but you're the one having a hard time keeping up when you're dancing with him to one of his new vinyl records.

⋆ when it comes to cats and dogs, sylus doesn't actually have much of a preference. he calls you kitten, but he's not impartial to dogs — if he had to pick an animal to keep by his side (other than mephisto), he'd go for a doberman or a great dane. something that matches his vibe. if you pay attention, you can catch him sneaking glances at your neighbor's doberman when you two pass them on a stroll.

⋆ sylus sneezes insanely loud. he doesn't get sick often, but when he does and he sneezes, you can't help jumping at how loud the sound is — and somehow he doesn't notice how loud it is. additionally, his genuine laugh (not his typical suave chuckle) is more akin to wheezing than anything else.

⋆ he loves when you ask him to feature in your tiktoks. of course, he'll always pretend to hesitate and will make you pay (likely with a kiss), but he adores it. his favorite video he's done with you, is the one where he lifts you up over his shoulder, along the lyrics to sabrina carpenter's slim pickins; "a boy who's jacked and kind". you blurred his face at his request, but he has the original video with his smitten smile and your giggles saved — he watches it daily.

˙ ✩°˖ ✈️ with caleb

⋆ caleb is a toxic FPS gamer. you knew that already, but he will still act innocent with you, as if you can't hear him cursing out people in his room. he loves when you ask to play with him, and he will let you play on his account — even if it means his rank dropping from diamond to silver on valorant.

⋆ he's infuriatingly good at just dance. you've played it with him over at grandma's house for as long as you can remember, and while you do win sometimes, he is undeniably better. you're both sweaty from all the dancing and when he scores 10 points higher than you, he immediately tackles you while laughing; all while you groan since you swore you'd do the dishes if he won.

⋆ his music taste is horrendous. it's as if you took a frat boy, a popular high school girl and a nightcore kid and made them the same person. pitbull, bruno mars, imagine dragons, far east movement, twenty one pilots, weezer, and somehow, he only listens to their popular songs — like a G6 is his favorite track ever.

⋆ horror movies and caleb are never a good match. he's capable of separating them from reality, so once the movie is over, he stops being scared — if you come up behind him while he's watching one though, you might be able to make him jump. he will return the favor by using his evol to make things float and scare you later on though.

⋆ his camera roll is full of 0.5 forehead pics of you. his height is an advantage he's always so thankful for, and he will make sure to forever make use of it to its fullest. you will be sat down reading a book or scrolling on your phone, and here comes caleb, snapping a picture of you and getting away with a smile on his face while you whine out his name.

🍎 pomme's final notes - you got to the end!! as a treat here are the LIs as my favorite kpop groups & games :3c

💫 xavier - stardew valley / newjeans

☃️ zayne - cats organized neatly / nct dream

🐟 rafayel - escape simulator / red velvet

🐦‍⬛ sylus - buckshot roulette / exo

✈️ caleb - keep talking and nobody explodes / shinee

also, i linked all of the medias referenced for better understanding! that way everyone can enjoy the headcanons to their fullest hehe