#people should only be obe of these by law

[spiffingbeansoup]

brrrrrr drunk tectinf tumblr indtead of rhe giy thst spends tooo mich time jnt my head

[feralattentionwhore]

Anyway the world has like a month to fix all my problems before my brain decides to off itself

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

"Three days after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Melissa Janssen’s water broke.

"But Janssen, 35, was just 18 weeks pregnant, too early for the baby to have a good chance of survival.

“'I was in absolute shock and just kind of numb,' she said.

"Doctors told Janssen she had two options. First, she could wait and see, although the baby most likely would die and she’d be at increasing risk for sepsis, a dangerous infection.

"Her other option was to terminate the pregnancy. But Janssen lives in Wisconsin, which immediately banned nearly all abortions once Roe was overturned in late June. 'It was just mind-blowing,' she said. 'I just couldn’t believe this was happening and this was me."

"Janssen wanted to terminate; she was already showing symptoms of an infection, including a low-grade fever and tenderness in her belly, and the baby’s heart rate was becoming elevated. But the change in the law meant her OB-GYN, Dr. Jordan Crow, faced a dilemma. In Wisconsin, the only exception allowing for an abortion is when the mother’s life is in danger. Without symptoms of a full-blown infection, legally it was a tough call to make.

“'To be a doctor in that position, then to be in this situation where you’re uncertain, you think, will the hospital let me do this? Will the DA go after me and I end up fined or in jail?' Crow said. 'It’s this feeling of helplessness and utter confusion for everyone involved.'

"Janssen’s case is a living example of the struggle doctors across the country now face. "

I hope people read the whole article. It mentions another case that came up recently, Elizabeth Weller. The main difference in the case? Weller's doctor waited until Elizabeth was infected, presenting symptoms that would clearly indicate abortion was required, while Melissa's doctor decided to press on:

"In Janssen’s case, Crow knew that terminating the pregnancy was the best treatment both medically and ethically, and he wasn’t going to give up easily. 

"Crow consulted with two other physicians, who agreed that terminating the pregnancy was the best course. The hospital eventually approved, too. But it still took hours of waiting before Crow could act. 

“'I’ll be damned if some law is going to stop me,' he said he remembers telling Janssen. 'I don’t know what the consequences will be, but if it means someday this goes all the way to the Supreme Court in Wisconsin, then so be it.'"

Now, I believe Weller's doctor should have risked the consequences, too. But Crow shouldn't have needed to take the risk. Doctors should never need to worry if doing what they know is best medically will lead to prosecution.

Doctors warned lawmakers these situations would happened. They clearly explained why exceptions were vague. They were ignored. Now, Todd Rokita is still investigating Caitlin Bernard, sending a clear message to doctors to beware. Ken Paxton and the Idaho GOP have come out against life-of-pregnant-person exceptions, sending the message that even the vague exceptions may not be in place for long.

For forced birthers to say it's all someone else's fault is inexcusable and unforgiveable.

[heyyallitssatan]

Yeah… no

Watch this video, then come back cause I need to add some important context they forgot

The wrestler in question is a trans boy, as in female to male, who was forced by Texas law to compete in the girls division

He is a year and a half on testosterone, as such, he requested to wrestle in the boys division multiple times, but was refused, so in an effort to get to wrestle he went to the girls

He had and undefeated season, and in turn started getting a ton of hate for being a boy in the girls division with people arguing “he should be on a different mat”

People filed lawsuits against the school for putting him in the girls division because they believe it unfair

He never spoke about the issue despite the media coverage, with his only comment being that he wanted to congratulate his teammates for working hard every day

He’s just a kid who wants to wrestle and people are being shitty for no reason

Source:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/27/517491492/17-year-old-transgender-boy-wins-texas-girls-wrestling-championship

[msclaritea]

JK Rowling is right: a trans woman is not a woman, and it’s not wrong to say so

It is absolutely extraordinary that transgender activist India Willoughby reported J K Rowling to the police for a hate crime. The Harry Potter author this week referred to the newsreader and Loose Women host as a man in an argument on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Northumbria Police has now confirmed that it is dropping the investigation. Why did it take so long? It should never have been given the time of day.

Quick law refresher: “misgendering” is not a crime.

The researcher Maya Forstater successfully brought a case to the employment appeal tribunal in 2021 to establish that gender-critical views are a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010.

So while hostility to someone based on gender identity can be an aggravating factor if a separate crime is committed, misgendering is not in itself an offence. Moreover, Rowling and those who agree with her are completely within their rights to refuse to believe the fiction that you can change biological sex.

As Rowling herself put it: “No law compels anyone to pretend to believe that India is a woman.” Quite.

Now, I’ve got no objection to using people’s preferred pronouns so I’m happy to refer to Willoughby as “she”. But “a woman”? No. It is a simple fact that she is biologically male, regardless of any gender reassignment surgery. She’s a trans woman but she’s not a woman and never will be. 

Trans activists have tried their hardest to turn a feeling into fact when they insist: “A trans woman is a woman.” But the truth of the matter is that a trans woman is a man who identifies as a woman. 

Willoughby and her supporters might dislike her being described as a man. They might find it at best impolite and at worst deeply offensive. But it is not “hateful” to believe that men are men and women are women. You cannot change biological sex and under the Forstater ruling, it isn’t “illegal” to say so. 

This is what happens when a vocal minority creates such an environment of fear that the police think they can’t immediately call out an attention-seeking time-waster when they see one.

J K Rowling is not a “transphobe”, either – as inconvenient as that might be to those seeking to label any woman who thinks biological sex is immutable as a “trans-exclusionary radical feminist” (Terf). 

It’s far from “radical” to believe in just the two sexes. Nor is it “exclusionary”, since Rowling has never denied the existence of trans people nor their rightful place in society – alongside men and women.

She’s simply a gender-critical feminist, who is justifiably concerned for the corresponding rights of women, which she believes are being eroded. I and many other women (and men … and even some trans people) agree with her. 

This is what the gender fanatics continually refuse to acknowledge: that there are competing rights here. It’s not all about them, whatever the likes of Willoughby seem to think. 

Rowling has been a heroine in all this, because she’s not only refused to be cancelled, but has emboldened many others who feel the same way as her to bravely speak out.

But let’s look at what is really “hateful” about this debate. There is no doubt that Rowling and others like her continue to be the victims of terrible misogyny. Just look at the appalling comments made about her on social media by people who purport to be defined by kindness and progressive values. 

Indeed, it is really quite striking that, on International Women’s Day yesterday, when we should have been celebrating female advancement, there was little public celebration of gender-critical feminists like Rowling. The Left hypocritically talks up the importance of “diversity” and “inclusion” while at the same time actively seeking to shame those who have an opposing point of view. 

The definition of bigotry is being “obstinately or unreasonably attached to a belief, opinion, or faction, in particular prejudiced against or antagonistic towards a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group”. So radical trans activists are guilty of exactly what they accuse gender-critical feminists of. Yet still they arrogantly assume they can occupy the moral high ground, while carrying out these modern-day witch trials.

If stories of gender-critical women being hounded out of their jobs, their universities, and in the recent case of Newcastle United fan Linzi Smith, their football club, aren’t already disturbing enough, we now hear word of a Canadian proposal to impose house arrest on someone who is believed likely to commit a hate crime in the future – even if they have not done so already. 

The proposed clause in the country’s new Online Safety Bill would see suspected “hate criminals” forced to wear an electronic tag and banned from going outside. In Willoughby’s world, that would include anyone who thinks she’s a bloke. 

But this former Big Brother contestant has got her own form when it comes to sharp remarks on social media. 

I had to block her myself when she responded to one of my posts highlighting a pretty innocuous story I’d written about Prince Harry with the words: “Garbage. Harry has your metaphorical number – while the grubby British Media had his ACTUAL number, and hacked it.”

Referencing my role as royal editor of an ITV daytime show, she added: “Someone else you keep platforming @ThisMorning. Have a clear out.” Nice.

If this is supposed to be what the “sisterhood” is supposed to look like in Willoughby’s eyes, then I’d genuinely rather be a “Terf”. %n

[jbfly46]

Autistic people are literally raised by animals. and inanimate things. as children we imprint sort of onto both human and non human things. we imitate adults of the same gender, like most people do, but we also imitate people of different gender, we imitated dogs, cats, birds, cars, robots, chairs, computers, trees, bugs, cartoons. for lots of kids this is called ‘playing pretend’ but i think something different goes on with autistic kids – it’s more than ‘acting’, there is a sense that the thing you observe come into you and you become them, like kirby or whatever, or like you are just a mirror.

In our instincts we can be like pure mirrors, can develop parrot like abilities to recreate sounds around us, some like temple grandin can empathize with and understand the perspective of other animals in a way most people can’t.

Using animalkin senses has historically been very helpful in humans who hunted or had to manipulate and cajole or outsmart other animals in our environment. it is not uncommon in premodern prechristianized cultures to ritualistically act out being animals or having animal identities associated with people.

It is sad to see that people who do this in today’s world are often smeared with being associated to animal abusers. that is something different, like psychopathy.

Obviously a person who believes they are a non human is kind of insane. humans should know they are humans. males should know they are males and females should know they are females. adults should know they are adults and not children. it shouldn’t be considered antisocial to expect some level of it being okay to point out physical realities.

But that’s different from thinking it’s crazy for people to spiritually essentially associate themselves to those of a different category than they are, to feel kindredness. i do not think this is crazy. if something sparks joy in you and you like it and you want for yourself to be more like it, i would be very limited about what kind of things i would call disorders.

If you literally believe you have wings and can fly, then that is a problem. if you are male and you talk with a womanly kind of ‘accent’, if you are american and you spell things the british way, if you sometimes run around on all fours because you enjoy how that feels, i don’t think this is a disease. it merely means either unawareness of or lack of caring about the ways other humans engage in judgement about things by how they fit into categories.

For many people, they perceive patterns and relationships in nature and come up with categories. sometimes this goes to the point of black and white or moralizing thinking. i could say 'women tend to be nurturing and emotional' and it would be actually an accurate pattern. but if i said ‘women need to be nurturing and emotional to be good women’ that would be projecting my own pattern seeking and discomfort with things that violate the exaggerated version of pattern onto those who i pattern matched from.

People will see that humans walk on two legs and cats walk on four and conclude that the way one walks constitutes a core part of their identity. and then if a person ever walks using their hands like feet or a cat walks around on hind legs they call it unnatural and wrong. in fact they are the ones making the mistake. but because most humans make this mistake it is considered right to make this mistake.

It is sad that we limit the ranges of what we are capable of in our behavior for reasons that are only about the discomfort of those who have incorrectly developed rigidity about their perception of ‘laws of nature’ that are not really laws at all. it is fine for an adult to play video games, and smoking cigarettes won’t make you more adult if you are a child, it will just be worse for you to start smoking as a child than as an adult. it was stupid for people to say that humans should not attempt to develop the abilities to transport ourselves in boats or planes because we are not fish or birds. obviously we are not fish or birds and never will be, but we can still swim and fly if it suits us well enough to do so.

It’s an illogical bigotry that i reluctantly have learned long ago to try to adhere to. but ultimately, deep down, i still am a mirror to the whole universe. i am the bugs, snakes, trees, rocks, cats, dogs, computers, the moon; i am men, women, children, retirees, saints, criminals, refugees, soldiers, perverted, pure, insane. i am a human being and part of my great talent as a human is that i am so much less just genetics and hedonic reinforcement than most animals are, and i am mainly memes and empathy and imitation. i learn by repeating the behaviors i see done by others, and i remix memes and behaviors together to create entirely new things. i mix this with the capacity to construct theories and reasoning to behave in novel ways and solve problems and create things.

Of course it is best to imitate those who are most similar to you and who have found the most success in life. the most successful person will probably do that. but this is just an optimal strategy — it should not be an iron law imposed on us, a rule that it is some kind of crime to do the things done by those outside our narrowly defined categories.

[jamsofdeath0]

I posted 2,684 times in 2022

That's 2,684 more posts than 2021!

722 posts created (27%)

1,962 posts reblogged (73%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@strikerofdeath0

@daily-grian

@kugisakiss

@tired1mmortal

@tourettesdog

I tagged 1,227 of my posts in 2022

#danny phantom - 160 posts

#grian - 119 posts

#hermitcraft - 91 posts

#trafficblr - 67 posts

#detective conan - 66 posts

#my art - 65 posts

#deltarune - 62 posts

#mcyt - 61 posts

#3rd life - 51 posts

#traffic light smp - 44 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#the only reason conan hasn’t been found out is because the weirdest kids in school sensed that his weirdness was off the charts and decided

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

1,236 notes - Posted July 30, 2022

#4

Wheres the Dp x Dc Aus Where Danny HATES The Justice League.

He think they're a bunch a boot licking government dogs. Like he respected when Batman was a vigilante but the fact he just used his power and money to make what he was doing legal. Danny doesn't like that. He's had zero positive interaction with rich adults and government body's. He's leaning full on anarchist.

Green Lanterns a space cop? Space is cool and all but the cop part of the that equation. It's a no go.

Superman seems cool but he knows, knows in his bones, no ones perfect and anyone who makes their brand "I may be one of the most powerful beings on this planet but trust me because I'm nice" is hiding something.

He doesn't like Wonder Women's lasso or how ok she is with using it. He's took away peoples freewill through overshadowing and has decided he's against it. He understands that sometimes you need to use your full kit if worlds are in danger but over all not even the vilest should lose the right to control.

Aguaman is flat out a king and while he doesn't have anything strictly against the man he's against royalty on principle.

He doesn't have anything to big against Flash or Martian Manhunter other than they are a part of the Justice League but he still doesn't like them for that reason.

He figures they're all a bunch of power hungry people who named themselves the protectors of earth for fame, fortune, and government power. Or they're a bunch of a bunch of ppl who do want to help but decided they should pretend to bend to the laws. They despite being government now still operate like vigilantes and the fact they get away with so much law breakage just screams corruption. It doesn't help literally all of Amity Park sent distress notes and signals to the Justice League and they didn't even show up when the city got stolen into another dimension.

Even Sam isn't as against the league as Danny and Tuckers abit of a fan boy. Neither bring up the league to Danny bc they know if he gets started he could go on an hour or longer rant.

When Dani flew of into the sunset the first time Danny warned her against trusting any "superheros" that were legal. That the Titans seemed better than The Justice League but to still be weary.

This au could be phantom planet compliant or not but think about just how much worse his hatred would be if he had to wrangle his rouges, freind's and reveal himself to the the world all bc the "planets protectors" couldnt protect it. In the complaint au he fully blames them for any human experimentation that happens bc people know about half ghosts now. And when they show the Amity Park after the asteroid he's like "Anyone in the Justice League or associated his banned from Amity Park." And they're like "You can not do that" and he's like "Batman gets to! He gets to ban all meta's with no regard for the consequences! He gets to despite the spike in meta hate crimes it causes. Try and stop me!" (The meta hate crime is just fanon for this specific au) the league respect the ban bc they want to become ally's with this VERY powerful and VERY angry kid.

In the non complaint version the banning still happens but the league doesn't respect it. This causes lots of problems. In both of them discovering Amity's problem is what sparks the plot.

(he doesn't have a protection obessetion and he is trans in this au.)

1,240 notes - Posted July 30, 2022

#3

Ok so what about a dp x dc fic that takes place in 2004 like dp originally does where tim and Danny are forum freind's.

It's very important you know this is neither a "Bruce adopts Danny" or Danny/tim fic.

It takes place during Tim's Robin run but they've been friends since they were 8 and 9.

Tim is 13 and Danny is 14 they're original runs are happening simultaneously.

Now here's where it get interesting. Neither tell each other about the vigilanting. Danny's only escape from a young age from ghost stuff was internet forums and Tim isn't just going to spill Batmans secret. Tim does however talk about himself.

Danny knows Tim's parents are neglectful. He has half a mind to just kidnap him away to Amity. Ghosts can't be that much worse than Gothams rouges. Then Tim starts talking about Bruce and Danny is convinced Bruce is grooming Tim or something.

Tims like "My neighbor has kind of adopted me" (in more words and less explicitly.

And Danny's just thinking 'a rich adult with a son that won't talk to him, and another son that is dead has taken interest in a vulnerable child.' he says however "Tim I know you love Gotham but you can always stay with me. My parents wouldn't mind!" Like he's been saying for years.

Because he knows he can't convince Tim with his hero worship of Bruce other wise and not ever sam's parents are rich enough to to go against a Wayne.

Tim doesn't do the best job explaining he's the one forcing himself on Bruce.

1,624 notes - Posted July 31, 2022

#2

I don't know why ppl act like Amity Park should have figured out Danny's secret identity when it is by basic human understanding of the laws of the universe the the least obvious secret identity ever.

Reasons why someone wouldn't figure it out:

He's dead, how would he be that one alive kid?

They don't think Phantom has a secret identity at all.

Why would he be that one kinda pathetic nerd kid if he even did have a secret human ID.

His parents are ghost hunters, the leading Ghost hunters, surely surely they would know their own kid is dead.

2,297 notes - Posted July 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Marceline from Adventure Time is like the ultimate OC. She is a half vampire half human with Mommy and daddy issues but she has daddy issues twice cuz she had two dads.

Edit: y'all are really acting like I ate your first born or something in the notes so I guess I got to explain that this is a joke. A haha. I like Marceline.

33,144 notes - Posted July 19, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[booptunes]

15 Years Since Sophie Passed.

Since it's 15 years since the death of Sophie Lancaster, here's the feature I wrote for university on her killer being released from his life sentence. TW: Hate Crime/Murder.

Sophie Lancaster and Robert Maltby were walking back from a friend’s house in Bacup, Lancashire when Ryan Herbert and a group of his friends decided to call an attack on the two. Why? Because they were goths.    

Maltby suffered serious wounds after being kicked in the head. The attack then turned to Sophie Lancaster as she held her boyfriend while he bled. Her attack resulted in death.  

Earlier this year, the parole board made the decision to release 30-year-old Ryan Herbert from his life-sentence, just fifteen years after the sentence.  

Paramedics at the time described the injuries as being so bad, they ‘could not tell which sex either were’, and Sophie allegedly had a ‘clear footpath’ on her face. Both were beaten until they were no longer conscious.   

Maltby woke up a week after the attack. Sophie died from her wounds after two weeks.   

Lancaster and Maltby’s friends had described them as ‘law-abiding’ when describing their characters, proving that they would not have done anything to aggravate their attackers.   

A witness recalled hearing someone call “Let’s bang him” before the attack took place. Herbert was just 16 years at the time. One of his accomplices, Brendan Harris, was just 15 years old.  

The court hearing took place on 28th April 2008 at Preston Crown Court. Harris was given a minimum of 18 years for his part in the murder while Herbert was sentenced to life in prison.   

In 2009, Sophie’s mother, Sylvia Lancaster, launched The Sophie Lancaster Foundation. The charity sets out to educate and raise awareness in a bid for a change to be made to laws surrounding hate crimes. She would move around schools and events, telling Sophie’s story and educating generations young and old, in hopes to create tolerance and change.   

In 2013, police began to treat the attacks on subcultures such as goths as a hate crime and respond the way they would with crime against race or sexuality.   

In 2014, Sylvia was awarded an OBE for her work against hate crimes.   

Ryan Herbert had been described as having an ‘anti-social lifestyle’ at the time of the attack. His group of friends were negatively influencing him.   

Throughout his prison sentence, professionals say that he had shown full engagement with his resettlement activities and had a positive working relationship with the staff involved with his case. The professionals have no concerns about his release, which resulted in the decision to release him.   

Sylvia Lancaster was less pleased to hear the news of his release. She wasn’t the only one.   

I interviewed Kia Blackwood, a 22-year-old goth from Doncaster,  

“It was a vicious attack that didn't need to happen,” said Kia. “It makes me feel so angry that the killer is going to be released as he gets to walk free but she doesn't. I don't feel as if he's served enough time as he brutally attacked someone because of the way they look, he definitely should have got life. With the killer being released more and more people are gonna be afraid to walk the streets just because of how they look.”  

I asked Kia if she felt safe going out dressed as her gothic self.   

“Sometimes I feel unsafe sometimes going out fully dressed as there's always people giving you dirty looks or talking to their friends about you, who's to say they won't attack you like Sophie's killer did? I have never once been the victim of violence for dressing the way I do but other people have and it's disgusting behaviour.”   

The release of Ryan Herbert has ignited anger within the goth community. As Sylvia Lancaster says in a statement on the foundation’s website,  

“Once again, we have a justice system that fails to deliver justice... The judge at the murder trial described the attack on Sophie as ‘feral’, with the attackers’ behaviour ‘savage and merciless’... However, they have progressed, the minimum justice for the family is them serving the sentence they were given. Her attackers may not have been given a life sentence, but I have.”  

Sylvia Lancaster passed away shortly after, on 12th May 2022, after suffering from ill-health for the last couple of years. Her legacy continues with The Sophie Lancaster Foundation as they continue to spread Sophie's story.   

[infinitemonkeytheory]

Way back in 2022 when leaks revealed that the Supreme Court was going to overturn Roe v. Wade, I said that they may try “to send us back to 1972, but the fact of the matter is that they can’t, because to do that they’d have to get rid of the internet and 50 years of medical advances,” referring in part to the availability and safety of abortion medication. I regret to inform you that the anti-choice Religious Right saw that video, thought I made a good point, and decided they were going to have to go ahead and get rid of the internet and 50 years of medical advances.

[…]

As of this filming, the Supreme Court of the US is currently hearing a case that could effectively ban abortion nationwide. The good news is that experts seem to agree that that’s not going to happen, yet. The bad news is that there are signs the conservative lunatics on the bench are willing to entertain other ways that Christian conservatives can decide what medicine everyone else gets to have.

[…]

The case is so ridiculous that even the lunatic regressive judges have expressed skepticism during arguments. They would obviously LOVE to rule in favor of the Alliance of Doctors Who Hate Women, but this would be a bridge too far even for them, especially mere months before a very important presidential race that may well be decided by the majority of Americans who steadfastly refuse to agree that the government should tell women and other birthing people and doctors what to do. The anti-abortion push is wildly unpopular across the nation and every new dumbfuck ruling just makes it that much more likely that people will turn up for Biden in November.

So that’s good, but what’s not good has been seeing the conservative lunatic justices batting around some ideas for what’s next, and that involves the Comstock laws. Comstock is what’s known as a Zombie Law, in that it hasn’t been enforced since at least the 1970s but now that Roe v. Wade is gone, it is unfortunately once again relevant. It involves “obscenity,” which, when Comstock was first introduced in 1873, was defined as “whatever your local pastor says it is,” including but not limited to pornography, sex toys, saying the words “cheese and crackers” when we all know you mean “Jesus Christ,” and yes, birth control and abortifacients, and information on where to procure such things.

Comstock said that you can’t use the postal service to send any “obscene” materials, and then later added that you can’t use any private service like FedEx to do it, either.

[…]

[J]ust to be clear, the ban wasn’t just about sending things to individual people, but it also applied to stocking the actual OB-GYN clinics that would then provide contraceptives and whatnot to patients.

[…]

And so, with Roe v. Wade gone, the reanimated corpse of Comstock is threatening to come for our abortions. Even married people’s abortions. Even Blue State abortions. This would be a federal ban on abortions, and the only thing that is required to kickstart it is for someone to just start enforcing it again, which is already in the playbook for Project 2025, Donald Trump’s playbook, which also includes just lighting the planet on fire and getting it over, already.

Obviously, blue states would challenge such enforcement, but guess where that will end up? Yep, the Supreme Court, where as I speak Justices Thomas and Alito just can’t stop talking about Comstock and how weird it is that the FDA thinks they can just get away with flagrantly providing women healthcare while the moldering corpse of this very constitutional law is standing in the corner with sunglasses on, waiting to be fully reanimated.

So yeah, that’s what’s going on. Vote in November, obviously, but also consider telling your Congress critter to repeal Comstock.

[destinyimage]

Breaking Generational Curses: Redeem Your Bloodline from Demonic Curses

Are curses the source of my frustration and even inability to live a peaceful life?

Are curses stopping me from fulfilling the destiny ordained by God for me? What are the signs of a curse? What is a good definition of a curse? These are all questions that should be asked and answered.

First of all, a good definition for curse is “a negative spiritual force sabotaging God’s plan for my life by taking advantage of legal rights claimed by the demonic.” In other words, a curse is real and it is out to destroy every good thing God intended for us. However, it can only work from a legal place in the spirit world. Proverbs 26:2 declares that curses operating against a person or people must have a cause.

Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight.

The cause of a curse is that the demonic has discovered a legal claim to bring it into place. Notice that curses are likened to birds looking for a place to land. It is up to us not to allow a landing place for these curses. There can be a myriad of causes the devil might discover to land curses against us. However, I want to look at three distinct reasons that are the most common—iniquity, covenants, and words. I have discovered that these three are expressly used to destroy the intent of God in people and families. Any of these three can be something we are guilty of in our present time or something someone in our generations was guilty of.

Remember that the devil is not omniscient or all-knowing. However, he can commission an investigation to search our lives and/or history. This is very much like an attorney or law firm hiring investigators to find evidence against someone. They can search the history of someone to locate damning information. Satan does this as well to find anything legal that can be used against us. He authorizes the demonic powers at his fingertips to search and locate certain things that would grant him a legal right. This is especially true when some- one becomes a threat to him and his agenda. He has to find a legal claim against them that can be used to stop them.

This is what happened to me. I had led a very successful local work that we had birthed and raised up. It was a powerful expression of God’s kingdom power. After 15 years of leading this work, the Lord clearly instructed us to step away from it and for me to begin to travel. This was going to launch me into a kingdom level ministry to the world. God wanted to increase my sphere to touch the nations. I was excited about this but had no idea of the attack I was going to come under.

We had fought many battles in the 15 years of leading a local expression of the church. We had come to a place of great blessing, prosperity, and breakthrough. The house we had helped build was filled with the glory and presence of the Lord. In fact, the Lord showed me that the anointing in the house was like the house of Obed-Edom. This was where David put the ark when he tried to bring it up in a wrong manner. It stayed there for three months. The house of Obed-Edom was greatly blessed. Second Samuel 6:11-12 says everything in the house of Obed-Edom was blessed. His whole household was under the blessing of the Lord because of the awesome presence of God that was there.

The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household. Now it was told King David, saying, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness.

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When David heard how great the blessing was on that house, he went and moved the ark. He repositioned the ark on the Hill of Zion. In that place, the ark that had blessed a house began to bless a nation. The presence or anointing didn’t get bigger; it was just repositioned for a greater effect and influence.

This is what the Lord did with me. It wasn’t that the anointing on my life increased; it was that I was repositioned from a house to a hill. In a house, I had the privilege of touching a city and region. From a hill, I was given the honor of impacting nations. It wasn’t about new levels of anointing. It was about a new positioning to use the anointing I already carried to affect new dimensions for the Lord.

You may not need a new anointing. Maybe you need a new positioning. What the Lord has birthed in you can have the potential to touch nations. The devil knew this. As I was repositioned to take what I carried in God to now touch nations, he intended to stop this. His method against me was to search out my ancestry and find legal claims to land curses. The result of this was that our life began to fall apart. My reputation came under attack. My children began to make unwise and fleshly decisions. Our marriage began to falter. Finances dried up. About anything you can imagine other than sickness and death started to hit us.

The problem was that I couldn’t get it stopped. For 30-plus years, I had been a disciplined man of prayer. I had a place in God that could stop attacks and get break- throughs. In this time, however, nothing worked. No matter how much I prayed or what strategies I employed, everything kept getting worse. Before I could get one problem solved, five more had piled on top of that one. I later learned this was a true sign of a curse at work. The devil had discovered a legal right to resist any kingdom impact I was destined for. I was to discover that much of what was allowing these attacks were legal claims from my ancestry.

So what are the three primary areas the devil uses as a legal claim to land curses? What is the legal cause he discovers? The first right that he claims is iniquity in the bloodline. Iniquity is the sin of our ancestors. Iniquity is one of the primary legal reasons the devil can bring curses against us. The Bible is clear that the iniquity of our fathers can be used to affect us today. In fact, whatever we are today is a result of our ancestry. We are a byproduct of those who have gone before us, both good and bad. Those who lived righteous and noble lives allow us to claim their effect. For instance, Timothy had a faith “inherited” from his family line. Paul spoke of this in 2 Timothy 1:5.

When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

Timothy had claims to a dynamic faith because of the faith-filled way his grandmother and mother had lived. We need to know how to go into the Courts of Heaven and claim these kinds of things for ourselves. I believe much good from our family lines is unclaimed. We miss out on what could be ours. We can go before His Courts and ask for the blessing and empowerment that flow from this realm. However, just like there are good things that flow from our family history, there are also bad. The devil knows how to make cases against us based on our family sins and iniquities. This can be found in several scriptures. Exodus 20:4-5 gives us this insight concerning the right of the devil to visit the effects of sin against us from our ancestry.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.

These statements from the Lord grant the devil the legal right to land curses against us based on the iniquity in our bloodline. The devil can only use the Word of God to bring cases against us. He must find a violation of God’s law in us or our bloodline. This is why Jesus said the devil had searched Him out and found nothing in John 14:30.

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.

This statement of Jesus implies that there was no sin in Him or His bloodline that satan could use against Him. This was because Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life. Plus, Jesus’s lineage was from God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He had no natural father whose bloodline could be used against Him. Therefore, satan had no legal recourse against Jesus. Satan had searched Him out and found nothing. However, this is not true of us. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Plus, we have compromised bloodlines that allow accusations against us. We also see this in Leviticus 26:39.

And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.

Notice that the fathers’ iniquities will cause us to waste away. The devil claims a legal right against us to land curses that progressively destroy our lives and destinies. Ezekiel 18:30 makes a powerful statement about the effect of iniquity in our bloodline.

“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.”

Iniquity in our bloodline will allow the devil to bring ruin to our lives. This is the legal claim the devil uses against us to ruin our lives. This is why so many lives filled with hope and promise come to ruin. According to John 10:10, the devil as the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Just like the devil desires and intends to annihilate any good in our life, Jesus has come to stop that and bring us life! He will cause the intentions of the devil to be stopped. He will instead bring us life and that with much abundance.

I know someone whose life illustrates iniquity in the bloodline. This particular lady was a pastor and had watched several of her siblings die premature deaths. They had all come tragically to death before their time. Finally, the grandmother of the family came to this lady and told her a story she knew nothing about. It seemed that decades before, her grandfather had gotten into a bar fight and killed a man with a knife. The grandmother had then watched person after person be removed from their family through sickness, violence, and other means of death. The grandmother had an intuitive sense that it was related to the violent act of the grandfather who had killed that man. The pastor immediately knew what the Word of God says. The law of God is explicit in Genesis 9:6. If someone kills a person, then they must be killed or die prematurely.

Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man.

When these kinds of statements are made in the Word of God, the devil will take them and use them to build a case against us. He will claim this over a person and their coming generations. This lady pastor knew she must go into the Courts of Heaven and undo the legal claim the devil was making. She did this and immediately all premature death stopped. The curse of premature and untimely deaths caused by sickness and disease and violence came to an end in that family. People became free to live out their lives to the fullness of days.

Any place where there has been a violation of God’s Word and law the devil will use this against us. When the accusers in Jesus’s day brought the woman caught in adultery, they were using Moses law against her. In John 8:4- 5, they claimed a legal right to kill her.

They said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

They were seeking to find a way to accuse Jesus. In this scripture, we see how those who were of the spirit of satan used the Word of God against this woman. Their case against her was based on her violation of God’s word. This is exactly what the devil does to us. Any legal claim against us is based on our violation of God’s word or the violations in our ancestry. We must repent for any and all places where satan can make claims against us. When this is done, the legal right to land curses is removed.

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[drmaqazi]

HOW TO PERFORM SALAT-AL-TAWBAH

Prayer of Repentance

How To Repent In Islam: Conditions

According to the Sharia (the Islamic law), when a person performs tawbah with sincerity and devotion, Allah accepts it. The tawbah comprises six elements:

To remorse one’s evil deed;

To carry out saintly duties that were overlooked;

To return the rights and properties obtained from others unfairly;

To seek forgiveness from people you have wronged;

To take responsibility for avoiding the wrongdoing in the future; and

To retain himself/herself in Allah’s acquiescence.

Tawbah is a double-edged technique, according to which a person should be able to acknowledge his/her mistake and abandon it to seek Allah’s forgiveness. Prophet Muhammad (SallAllahu ‘alaihi wa Sallam) said,

“A believer sees his sins as if he were sitting under a mountain which, he is afraid, may fall on him; whereas the wicked person considers his sins as flies passing over his nose and he just drives them away like this (and he moved his hand over his nose).” — Sahih al-Bukhari, 8:75:320

How To Perform Salaat Al-Tawbah

Salaat al-tawbah is the special prayer for those who want to repent. It consists of four rakahs (according to Shia tradition) and must be performed in a prescribed method. Irrespective of the gravity of the sin committed, the repentance prayer remains the same. The prescribed way of offering Namaz-e-tawbah is as follows:

Niyyat For Salatul Tawbah

Before offering Salatul Tawbah, one must make Niyyah. Niyyat or Niyyah is the intention to declare that one is aware of their sins and sincerely wants to amend their wrongs by asking forgiveness from the almighty Allah.

Niyyah for Tawbah Dua: Usolli Sunnata Taubati Rak’ataini Lillahi Ta’ala.

Meaning: I pray the sunnah of tawbah for two rak’ahs because of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.

Salat al Tawbah Steps

Perform Ghusl, here it is important to submerge the whole body in water (called Irtimasi). If you are not in a place where you can get into the water completely, you may do it in parts.

Alternatively, you can also perform Tartibi, which is wiping the body with water. This is suggested in place water available for the ritual is scarce.

The next step is to perform Wudu, an Islamic cleansing ritual

Then perform a four rak’ah prayer and in every rak’ah, one must recite the Surah al-Fatiha once, Surah al-Ikhlas thrice, Surah al-Falaq once, and Surah an-Nas once.

Next, one must recite Astaghfirullah (rabbi wa atubu ‘ilayh)

After the prayer, say Astaghfirullah rabbi wa atubu ‘ilayh

Follow it up with the following prayers:

i) Laa hawla wa laa quwwata illaa billaahil ’Aliyyil ‘Azeem; and then

ii) Yaa A’zeezo yaa Ghaffooro ighfirli zunoobi wa zunooba jamee’il mo’mineena wal mo’minaate. Fa innahu laa yaghfiro illaa anta.

Salat Al Tawbah Du’a

While offering prayer for repentance, the only condition is one has to pray from their heart; understanding the severity of their sin. However, if one is stuck on the supplication to recite while offering Tawba dua, here is a special Tawbah du’a for seeking forgiveness from the all-merciful Allah.

Dua: Allahumma inni Zalamtu Nafsi Zul-man Kasiran Wa laa Yagh-firu Zunuuba illaa Anta, Fagh-firli Min ‘indika Magfiratan innaka Antal Ghu-fuu rur-Rahim.

Meaning: O. Allah, indeed, I have wronged myself with great injustice. And no one can forgive my sins except You. So forgive me with great forgiveness from Your side. You are indeed Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Mentioned in Hadith Bukhari, Prophet Muhammad (SallAllahu ‘alaihi wa Sallam) acknowledged Sayyidul Istighfar as the most superior supplications for repentance.

Du'a: Allaahumma Anta Rabbii Laa ilaaha illaa Annta Kholaq-tanii Wa Ana ‘Abduka Wa Ana ‘Alaa ‘Ahdika Wa wa’ dika Maas-tata’-tu ‘Auuzu-bika Min Sharri maa Shana-tu Abuu’-laka bini’matika’ ‘Alayya Wa Abuu’ bizanbi Fagh-fir-lii Fa-innahu laa Yagh-firuz-zunuuba Illaa Anta.

Meaning: O. Allah, You are my Lord, there is no God but You, You have created me, and I am Your servant. I will indeed obey Your provisions, Your promises according to my ability. I ask for Your protection from the evils of all my deeds, and I acknowledge all the favors You have given and acknowledge the existence of the sins I have committed. No one forgives sins except you.

Repentance is the way to seek forgiveness for your sins from Allah. Turning off or delaying tawbah is absolutely unjustifiable in Islam. If a person delays or reschedules repentance till the last breath, repentance will not be welcomed by Allah and will be considered as a great misdeed. It is therefore recommended that whenever a person realizes his folly, they must repent and seek forgiveness from the all merciful Allah.

[libulanns]

We Need to Reclaim Power Over Our Bodies

     If there is one thing I’ve learned about my political ideologies and stances over time, with more life experience and education, it’s that the general populace cannot handle nuance or gray areas. Because we live in a patriarchy. And when we look at the base playing field of politics and government, the people in power and with the most influence are male. And males cannot really handle things on a case by case basis. Because when we try to do that, inevitably, they will mold it to whatever their whim is at the time or try to push the limits and boundaries of the law in their favor, to maintain as much power over us as possible. 

     We can’t say abortion should be legal in certain instances of rape, incest, or if it’s a threat to the mother’s life, because then we’ll have arguments like “How do we really know it was rape? Did she do a rape kit afterward? Why did she take so long to tell anybody?” “It wasn’t really incest, it was consensual. It wasn’t pedophilia, she was 15, which is the age of consent in X state. They’re first cousins, which is not legally incest in X state.” and of course in the last instance, we have doctors forced to not intervene in a pregnancy they know is doomed, because it’s so hard to legally prove that a woman’s life is in danger, until she is literally dying or if she has already died. We have to say abortion on demand with no exceptions. That’s the only way we can ensure women have what they need in this instance, because men will almost always fight back against this. They have the power to force a woman to create children for them, and they will fight to maintain this power. And that’s just one example. 

     We can’t have male gynecologists. We can’t rely on a handful of “good ones” to make it safe for women to have the option of having male gynecologists. We can’t rely on the good intentions of a few faceless individuals. We have to bar males from gynecology entirely in order to make it as safe for women as possible, because there’s no way to legally determine who is a good one and who is a bad one with bad intentions until the damage is already done. If we don’t fight to keep males out of gynecology for our safety and well-being, then males will fight to make sure they can become gynecologists to maintain the power they have claimed for themselves over our bodies. 

     We can’t let “real trans women” into female exclusive spaces, because there’s no way to legally know who is genuinely struggling with gender dysphoria/mental illness, and who is just a fetishist with bad intentions to harm women and girls in those spaces. We couldn’t even just have a third gender neutral bathroom for men with gender dysphoria, that wasn’t good enough for them. They pushed and pushed and pushed against those last remaining safeguards for women until they no longer existed in many places. Even the change rooms at many stores are now unisex change rooms. We couldn’t let them have gender, so long as they were aware it isn’t equal to sex. That’s not what is most favorable to them and gives them the most leeway to do what they want. Now they are pushing back against the idea of sex and sex-based oppression entirely. People are no longer using the word “woman” to describe pregnancy, menstruation, and lactation- things that females exclusively do. Even OB/Gyns are told to affirm gender by caring for male patients who do not have the ability to give birth, lactate, or menstruate or to get cervical, ovarian, or vaginal cancer or infections. 

Legally and politically, we MUST maintain sex-separated spaces and language in order to protect women and girls.

We live in a patriarchy. We cannot have equality or neutrality in our laws. Neutrality is male. Men have power in this society, and we do not.

They know our bodies are different, no matter how much they say otherwise. And they want us to not know that, because that disarms us. We can’t protect our female bodies against exploitation by males if we refuse to acknowledge that our bodies are female and vulnerable to male exploitation. And that makes it easier for them to maintain control. 

Here's a few examples. 

You think doing things like ending sex separation in sports is going to empower women, because separating us from men is saying we’re not as physically strong as them, so if we can compete with men, then that proves we are strong as them. But the average woman is not even close to being as physically strong as the average man. What you’re doing is making women vulnerable to male physical abuse at worst and depriving women of community and a sense of pride in our physical abilities at best.

You think that telling women that being a lesbian is not mutually exclusive with having sex with males is being inclusive of people with gender identities and those who date them. What you’re doing is a form of conversion therapy against homosexual women, which can lead to mental illness, trauma, and physical and sexual abuse by men. 

You think removing sex-based language in science and medicine is going to empower women, because that language only exists to separate us and make us look different from and thus inferior to men, which you consider the pinnacle of human existence that women should aspire to, because you were raised in a patriarchy. But all it does is make it harder for us to get appropriate medical care. Women ARE physically different from men, we metabolize medications differently, we have different anatomy, we have different presentation of symptoms. We NEED different care. Taking away that distinction in medicine just makes us more vulnerable to malpractice, a low quality of life, and death. 

You think that saying that women shouldn’t have their sex exclusive organs taken into consideration in their care will empower women. You say this because you think that ignoring the fact that the female body is different from the male body will get her better care, because you know that the healthcare system is designed for men. You think taking a woman’s breasts, uterus, and ovaries away makes her more like a male, because you know that the male body is the default human body in our society. You think female sex organs make women “different” and “other” because men do not have them, and you think that things that we have that men don’t have make us “inferior,” so the solution is to take them away from us. You are thus encouraging women to self destruct by not acknowledging that we need different care and that we have different bodies that need different things in order to be healthy, which is causing us sterility, mental illness, neurodegenerative diseases, poor life quality, and early death. 

     Women being different from men and recognizing that fact is not oppressing them. Refusing to acknowledge that women are different from men DOES oppress them. Equality is not making women more like men. Equality is recognizing that males and females are different and those differences do not make one better or worse than the other. 

     Laws based on equality in a patriarchy simply mean the further oppression of women, because they always remove protections in place for women. Patriarchy is so deeply ingrained in our collective consciousness that you think the way to make women equal to men is to make them more like men and treat them like men. You are aware that men are the baseline, they are the default human, and neutrality is male. Doing this doesn’t empower women, it makes us more vulnerable against men. You can’t simply take things away from us for the sake of equality, because we do not have the power that men do in this world, and it is impossible to make us physically equal to men. Sex-based protections are what GIVES us power. Giving us sex-based protections in the law is the only way we can achieve equality- it’s the only way we can become empowered in this society, because we are oppressed because we are not male. The only way we can combat sex-based oppression is to legally recognize that sex is real and immutable, that the two sexes are different, that the male sex has claimed power over us and will take more wherever they can get it and use it to control us, and to make laws preventing that from happening. That is why early feminists are the ones who pushed for sex separation/protections in the first place. And we clearly can’t leave any room for interpretation in those laws, because males will fight them. Because to achieve equality, we need to take back the power from men over our bodies. We have to fight patriarchy by fighting sex-based oppression. And we can’t do that if we let them make us think that we are the same as them and the things that make us different from them must be destroyed or suppressed. Because we will never be the same as them, and the only way to protect our sex is to quite literally protect our sex. 

We have to fight back. Power concedes nothing without demand. 

[discoveringthebible]

Biblical Names We Pronounce Incorrectly

            On Facebook I am a part of several nerd related grounds. Many of them are not Christian. One group in particular, “Galactic Hitchhikers” is almost anti-Christian. This group formed out of a community love for a fantastic novel and its sequels: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Many memes on this page include anything related to sci-fi, space, movie adaptations, quotations, evolution and even Christian shaming. One thing I have noticed, besides the lack of Christian content, was one reason why several of the group’s members find Christianity “bogus”. When I read about it, I thought, “This is a relatively easy problem to solve, if we can get Christians on board.”  Some people are put-off by the Anglican/American pronunciations of Hebrew and Greek names in the Bible. They ask, “How can a dark haired middle-eastern man be named David? Or Joseph? Or fill-in-the blank.” They believe that if we are authentic (and we absolutely should be authentic), how could our English pronunciations infiltrate? To them, they think our pronunciations of Biblical names, were the actual names of everyone we read about, and they can’t stand it.

           As Christians, and especially the preachers of the Gospel, we do not want our actions to deter anyone from coming to the saving power of Jesus Christ. Every decision we make has a cause and effect. So, if people aren’t coming to Christ because of our “simple” pronunciations, then we should change, or at the very least, learn that our pronunciations are actually wrong.

           If we want to be as authentic as possible, we should learn the proper names of all of our favorite Biblical characters, especially when the salvation of others is at stake. To you, it might seen like a silly, insignificant thing, but to those who recognize it, it is significant. I am not suggesting that we learn the proper names and then use them only—we just need to be aware that we, as English/Anglican speakers, are not doing it justice.

           This multi-part series investigates the correct pronunciations of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek names in the Bible. The source I am going to be using is “The New Strong’s Complete Dictionary of Bible Words (1996) by James Strong. (This is not a complete list of all Biblical names.)

Part 1: Genesis

Adam                                      aw-dawm

Eve (Chavvah)                        khav-vaw

Cain                                        kah-yin

Abel                                        aw-bale

Enoch (Chanowk)                  khan-oke

Seth                                         sayth

Noah                                       No-akh

Shem                                       Shame

Ham                                        Hawm

Japeth                                     yeh-feth

Abram                                    ab-rawm

Abraham                                ab-raw-hawm

Sarai                                      saw-rah-ee

Sarah                                      saw-raw

Melchizedek                          mal-kee-tseh-dek

Ishmael                                   yish-maw-ale

Hagar                                    haw-gawr

Moab                                      mo-awb (We do pronounce this correctly!)

Ben-Ammi                              ben-am-mee (We Do pronounce this correctly!)

Abimelech                              ab-ee-mel-ek

Isaac                                       yits-khawk or yis-khawk

Beersheba                              be-ayr sheh-bah

Nahor                                     naw-khore

Rebekah                                 rib-kaw

Keturah                                  ket-oo-raw

Esau                                        ay-saw

Jacob                                      yah-ak-obe

Judith                                    yeh-ho-deeth

Basmath/Basemath               bos-math

Rachel                                    raw-khale

Leah                                       lay-aw (If we use Star Wars for reference, we pronounce this name correctly too!)

Bilhah                                    bil-haw (We pronounce this name Correctly!)

Reuban                                   reh-oo-bane

Simeon                                    shim-one

Levi                                         lay-vee

Judah                                    yeh-hoo-daw

Dan                                         dawn

Naphtali                                 naf-taw-lee (We pronounce this name correctly)

Zilpah                                    zil-paw (We pronounce this name correctly, for the most part)

Gad                                        gawd

Asher                                      aw-share

Zebulun                                  zeb-oo-loon

Dinah                                      dee-naw

Joseph                                    yo-safe

Laban                                    law-bawn

Israel                                      yis-raw-ale

Shechem                                 shek-em or shek-kem (We use the first pronunciation correctly)

Hamor                                    kham-ore

Deborah                                 deb-o-raw (Sometimes this is pronounced correctly)

Benjamin                                bin-yaw-mene

Potiphar                                 po-tee-far

Tamar                                    taw-mawr

Perez                                       peh-rets

Zerah                                      zeh-rakh

Zaphenath-paneah/

Zapnath-paaneth                   tsof-nath pah-nay-akh

Manasseh                               men-ash-sheh

Ephraim                                 ef-rah-yim

Rameses                                rah-mes-ace or rah-me-sace

Issachar                                  yis-saw-kawr

[fatehbaz]

At least 216 wolves were killed in less than 60 hours, exceeding the state quota of 119 and prompting Wisconsin to end what was meant to be a one-week hunt four days early, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. [...] Environmentalists, who fought unsuccessfully in state court to stop the hunt, said the killings had occurred during breeding season, when gray wolves are especially vulnerable. [...] “These animals were killed using packs of dogs, snares and leg-hold traps,” Kitty Block, chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, said Tuesday [2 March 2021].

The hunt, reported by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, follows the gray wolf’s January [2021] removal from the Endangered Species Act. In October [2020], the Tr*mp administration announced that the species, which had been all but exterminated in the lower 48 states by the mid-20th century, had rebounded enough that it no longer needed federal shielding. [...]

-------

Wisconsin is the only U.S. state that requires a yearly wolf-hunting season if the animal is not protected under the Endangered Species Act, according to Nicholas Arrivo, a lawyer for the Humane Society. The [...] decision meant the state would have to hold one hunting season a year, which under Wisconsin law starts in early November and ends Feb. 28.

Wisconsin wildlife officials had scheduled the start of the hunting season for this November, citing the need for time to develop a “science-based” harvest quota and work closely with the public and Native American tribes to create a plan. But Hunter Nation, a hunters group led by [LH] of Wisconsin, accused state officials of “intentionally delaying the wolf harvest to [...] block the delisting and stop a hunt altogether.” The group filed a lawsuit Feb. 2 in which it argued that under state law, the hunt should be scheduled immediately since the wolf was taken off the list Jan. 4.

-------

On Feb. 12, a Jefferson County circuit court judge ruled in favor of the hunters, ordering the state to start the season that month.

Before the hunt, state officials estimated there were about 1,200 gray wolves in the state. [...] Arrivo said it was possible that many of the wolves killed last week were pregnant or might have been mothers with new pups that were still dependent on them and might now die of starvation. “I think the actual death toll is considerably higher because of the rippling effects through the wolf family structure,” Arrivo said. [...]

-------

The last time wolves were hunted in Wisconsin was 2014, after President B*rack Ob*ma said the wolf could be removed from federal protection. A federal judge later rejected the Ob*ma administration’s efforts to keep the wolf off the list. [...]

Hunter Nation [...] said that in 2014, it took two months for hunters to kill about 100 wolves. “This season it took just three days!” the organization said in a statement, describing the hunt as a success. [...]

-------

The state had set a quota of 200 wolves, with 119 for hunters who applied for permits with the department and 81 set aside to the Ojibwe Tribes under their treaty rights. [...]

But the tribes consider wolves to be sacred and made a deliberate decision not to hunt them, said Dylan Jennings, a spokesman for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, which represents the tribes.

The tribes saw their allocation as a way to conserve a large number of the wolves — not to give hunters more animals to kill, he said.

The losses are “appalling,” Jennings said. “There are a lot of people upset about it.”

-------

Headline and text published by: Maria Cramer. “Wisconsin hunters kill over 200 wolves in less than 3 days after removal from Endangered Species Act.” The New York Times, as reprinted in Chicago Tribune. 3 March 2021.

[jasontoddiefor]

Summary: Wano is free. Penguin, First Mate of the Heart Pirates, realizes that not once has Law brought up separating from the Straw Hat Pirates.

It had come to Penguin’s attention that the Captain wasn’t going to say anything, which usually meant that in his infinite wisdom, he either hadn’t realized the matter yet or was flat out in denial.

Penguin was the first mate.

Technically speaking, it was his job to ensure that everything was running smoothly and whatever Law wasn’t thinking of was taken care of anyway.

Realistically, Penguin also really didn’t want to break the matter to Law right now, at least not without backup. Mind made up, he went to track down the rest of the crew. Negotiations with the rest of their alliance were long done. The Kid Pirates had already left, CP0 had been dealt with, peace with Wano and a very favorable trade agreement had been negotiated.

Well, negotiated might be too strong a word; they had mostly partied, but the Captain, Nico Robin, and the Straw Hat’s new log keeper, Yamato, had overseen it, and Penguin had added a file to his folder.

So here they were left, Straw Hats and Heart Pirates united, most still celebrating, with apparently no plan to separate.

Penguin made his way through the crowd, searching out his crewmates. Law was, predictably, caught up in some shenanigans with the Straw Hats, Bepo at his side, so the first none-Captain member Penguin caught was Ikkaku.

Their shipwright was busy eating, grease still staining her suit from the many hours of checking over their ship earlier.

Perfect.

“Hey,” Penguin said, kneeling down next to Ikkaku. “Discussion time.”

Ikkaku stared at Penguin for a moment, then glanced at Law before turning back to him. “So we’re gonna stick with the Straw Hats?”

“Oh, thank fuck, you’ve been wondering about it too.”

“Penguin, I’ve been fixing the Tang with Franky since the start of this journey and spent some nights sleeping in the Sunny’s engine room. You don’t let people into the heart of your ship that aren’t like, yours.”

That was true. Penguin was honestly surprised that Law hadn’t had a heart attack yet about letting strangers into their home. Their Captain, on a bad day, would go into a frenzy over a missing scalpel, and yet he’d not even wondered twice about giving the Straw Hats full access to their ship.

“But are they ours or are we theirs?” Penguin wondered out loud.

Ikkaku only shrugged. “I don’t know, but Law’s not gonna be Pirate King, is he?”

If Penguin was honest, he wasn’t sure if Law had ever planned on being anything that wasn’t not-Doflamingo’s, but that was a thought he didn’t like to entertain. It wasn’t particularly fun to think of yourself as the first mate to a hollow Captain.

He rather enjoyed being the first mate to a man who insisted on giving even their non-combatants check-ups after a fight and pretended to drink his coffee black only to room in five cubes of sugar.

“He wants to figure out the Will of D. and all that, that’s like, Pirate King adjacent.”

“Oh, are we discussing our future… Emperorhood? Imperialship?”

Penguin turned around to find Shachi with a thoughtful expression and Uni with their sewing materials in tow approaching.

“What’s the word for being an Emperor?”

“I think it’s just ‘being an Emperor’. And it’s not our title, but Law’s,” Uni answered drily and sat down next to Ikkaku. They eyed her suit, then said, “I’m not fixing your suit again if you rip it.”

Ikkaku draped herself over Uni’s lap. “But Uni, don’t you love me?”

“No.”

While the two busied themselves with their slap-stick comedy performance, Shachi had apparently finished his musings. “Anyway, so, discussing our newfound Emperorhood?”

“No,” Penguin replied, “I’m wondering whether Captain knows we’re stuck with the Straw Hats.”

“Oh.” Shachi paused. “Yeah, no. I don’t think he’s realized it yet.”

“But he should have, right?” It seemed so very obvious to Penguin and despite all of Law’s ticks and flaws and the knowledge that their Captain could be very oblivious at the worst times, this thought didn’t want to stick. “Like, he’s going to need Robin and we’re not going to steal fucking Nico Robin from the Straw Hats. Multiple wrecked buildings are proclaiming ‘don’t steal from Straw Hat’. Besides, she seems to be just fine sharing information with him anyway.”

Robin was difficult to read. She smiled pleasantly even while breaking the necks of their enemies.

“Which means we’re theirs, right?” Ikkaku inserted herself back into the conversation, apparently done debating Uni.

Well, that was the crux of the situation. Before Penguin had the chance to ponder more on the question, Clione skipped over to them. The other people gave the Heart Pirates assembly a quick glance before going back to their drinking. The samurai and ninja were curious, certainly, but Penguin doubted the Straw Hats even cared to wonder what they were up to. Their crew had been elevated to Emperorhood – okay, yeah, Shachi was right; the word was fun – and had the benefit of an insane Captain steamrolling through impossibility anyway.

“Who’s what?” Clione asked, dropping a plate of Wano’s fish dishes in front of the group.

“We belong to the Straw Hats,” Uni filled her in, snatching food from the plate.

Clione blinked. “Oh, if that’s everything.”

“We’re not sure Law is aware of it yet.”

Clione shoved fish into her mouth. “Yes, and?”

“Somebody has to tell him.”

Clione blinked, again, blank-faced, and swallowed another bite. “Yes, and? What do we have a first mate for?”

Penguin kind of felt like screaming, but he refused to give in to the indignity. “Literally nobody wanted the job and that’s why I took it, not because I want to tell Trafalgar Law that Straw Hats own our asses!”

“I honestly always thought it more like a marriage. ‘Til death does us part and the black depths reunite us’ and all that. Didn’t the Captain basically propose on Dressrosa when he said to leave him with Straw Hat? I only got the TLDR,” Clione said in-between bites. “Seas, this food is fantastic.”

Moans of agreement sounded out and even Shachi, his best friend the traitor, wasn’t focusing. Penguin had a horrible crew. Absolutely terrible. He wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. “Well, I also don’t want to tell Law that we’re married to the Straw Hats.”

Other crews would be fair game. Penguin wasn’t one for blackmail, but what was the point of having the backup of the fifth – fourth? They did just screw over Kaido – Emperor if not to keep small fries off their backs?

“Could be worse,” Ikkaku threw in.

Uni reached for Clione’s plate and did something very interesting with a fork that Penguin did not want to examine any closer.

“How?”

“Doflamingo.”

Penguin shuddered. “Please don’t ever say anything like that ever again, thank-you-very-much.”

“Just because you haven’t considered ending up in his dollhouse—”

“I have,” Penguin interrupted, voice perhaps a little sharper than it would be under normal circumstances. “I have done nothing but spending a decade terrified of Doflamingo because very few things tend to scare Captain but that man did. No Doflamingo jokes.”

Ikkaku grimaced, then raised her hands apologetically. “Sorry, didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yeah.” Penguin adjusted his hat. “I know. So, back on topic: Straw Hats.”

“I mean, they already call it Straw Heart Alliance in the papers,” Uni brought up. “And it’s not like we’re a part of their crew and they order us around. If anything, Captain tries to order Straw Hat around.”

“And fails miserably at it,” Shachi said and poured them another drink. Not sake, Zoro was hoarding that, but some good-old self-brewed beer.

“Well, obviously.” Uni rolled their eyes. “Nobody orders Straw Hat around, but he at least tries to listen to Law and it all works out in the end.”

Ikkaku snorted. “I’m pretty sure Straw Hat traded his soul for all that luck.”

Penguin raised his glass in agreement but didn’t dare say it out loud. If there was one person who’d have managed to make a deal with some deity, it would definitely be Straw Hat, but best not summon it into existence.

“So what should Penguin do?” Shachi – why exactly hadn’t they made him first mate again? – volunteered him.

“Penguin should talk to the rest of the crew first,” Penguin decided and got up.

His crewmates cheered him on as he tracked down one member of their crew, but nobody really brought up something new or took pity on him. The only mildly helpful person was Jean Bart. Penguin liked their new helmsman. Their crew were all mostly of the same age and experience, Jean Bart being the one exception as an experienced and older Captain. It made him a good advisor when Penguin wasn’t sure how to continue.

“I think you should just break it to the Captain,” Jean Bart said, not beating around the bush. “The crew’s worried where we’re heading—”

“None of us are worried about the Alliance-Marriage. We’re worried about Law,” Penguin interrupted.

“The crew’s worried where we’re heading,” Jean Bart repeated blankly. “And we want Law to clarify.”

“This is a personal slight against me,” Penguin informed him and to prove it, stole Jean Bart’s Straw Hat-made dessert. Nobody could best Shachi’s stews, but Sanji’s meals were mouthwateringly awe-inspiring.

“Go talk to the Captain, Penguin.”

“I’m already going!” Penguin snatched up another treat and headed to the Captain, hoping the food would fill him with bravery.

Bepo had, apparently, run off with Carrot, leaving Law approachable between keepers.

Perfect.

Before Straw Hat or anyone else could get Law’s attention, Penguin secured a spot right next to him, slightly removed from the chaos. Their crew didn’t much socialize with others before this Alliance, which was just fine since they were twenty people living together in tight space and Law wasn’t too keen on strangers either. His position on the outskirts of this celebration didn’t surprise Penguin too much. Sometimes, all you needed was a breather.

“We can leave if you want,” Penguin said. “Ikkaku’s stocked up the Tang and we’re done here.”

Law paused in a manner Penguin hadn’t seen before, and he took it as permission to keep talking. “We can go off on our own again, pick up some of those publications we missed out on, find our own path on these seas. But…” Penguin looked at their crew intermingling with the others, laughing, celebrating, alive against all odds. “We also won’t mind if we stay here a bit longer. Straw Hat makes impossibility seem like a joke, and I know we don’t have to get friendly with them, but it’s nice, isn’t it? Traveling with them is an adventure.”

Perhaps the details didn’t matter as much – and wasn’t that a foreign thought for a crew as keen on structure as them? – as long as they were having fun and Straw Hat would keep their Captain smiling.

“I suppose we have to stick with them for now,” Law said. “Who knows what trouble Luffy-ya will get into and drag us into simply by association?”

Penguin nodded, pretending not to notice Law’s relief. “Best stay where we can keep an eye on them.”

Straw Hat had apparently spotted them now and was waving excitedly. Law tensed, bracing for impact.

“Yes,” Law agreed, grinning as wide and feral as his name urged him, free in this odd position of dependency they’d found themselves in. “Best stay

[pianostarinwonderland]

Name one thing you dislike about each dorm leader, I’m curious 👀

Anon, I'm bemused that you would ask this because frankly, my opinions are a bit harsh when it comes to this. 🤡It's an interesting question nonetheless, so I'll answer this.

However, I will put this under a read more because of multiple reasons. Vil's part does toe on religion, particularly Catholicism, so don't say I didn't warn you. If you're also sensitive to hearing negative opinions on your favorite character(s), please scroll past this as well or at least scroll past the part about your favorite(s). Furthermore, Riddle's part will contain manga spoilers and Kalim's part will contain the current event spoilers, so I suggest to proceed with caution or scroll past if you don't wish to be spoiled.

Riddle Rosehearts

Initially, I never had much qualms about Riddle. Of course, his way of ruling isn't exactly the best, but he makes up for it by being an excellent student who's willing to help others who struggle with their studies.

However, when the manga came out, that's when I felt anger at Riddle.

What happens in the manga is that Ace and Deuce do go to the Dwarf Mines to find the magic gem to fix the chandelier that they broke, basically like how the prologue went. Meanwhile, Crowley summons Riddle into his office to inform him of the chandelier fiasco and that Ace and Deuce are doing their punishment, which sets off the dorm leader's anger.

While Ace and Deuce are trying to get the magic gem and fighting off the OB Monster that still got up despite their well-coordinated attack, Riddle comes in and deals with the monster. The reason for his (and Trey & Cater's) sudden arrival is because Ace and Deuce disobeyed a Heartslabyul rule.

This part here set me off because in the game, it was established that while Riddle was particular with the Laws of the Queen of Hearts, it was also established that he deeply respects the rules of the school and general conduct. You'd think that Riddle would leave Ace and Deuce alone to carry out their punishment for causing property damage, which should be not only be part of a rule of the school but also general conduct.

But in the manga, he did not care about the fact that Ace and Deuce were doing what the Headmaster told them to do. He punished them and brought them back to Heartslabyul, even though they're going to be expelled anyway if they don't return with the magic gem.

I understand that this is the main flaw that Riddle has in this arc, and it's meant to be shown that this is horrible behavior because this is a story about villains after all. But nevertheless, it angered me how Riddle had blatant disregard for the fact that Ace and Deuce had to disobey a Heartslabyul rule that they never even knew about because it's their first day in school because they had to do something that someone of higher authority told them to do. Furthermore, Riddle was informed already about this.

Obviously, Riddle's tyranny is something that's not the most appealing, but the fact that he disregards any context about the situation that caused the "guilty party" to break the rules is something I do not like about him. I'm just glad that (in the game at least), he does learn how to manage that.

Leona Kingscholar

I think I mentioned this a few times because I did mention that Leona is my least favorite character. Over time, my feelings in regards to him have softened because it's fun to watch him roast and get roasted back. Plus, as a theorist and a writer, I find that his character is so fun to explore.

The thing with Leona is that I dislike that he's an asshole but a lazy one at that. He'd insult or blame others, but he himself lives such a slothful life. It makes me feel like he's not qualified to say such rude comments. In fairness, he's one of the most intelligent characters in the game, so I suppose he's qualified to make some comments? But if he's going to comment on something like people not listening in class, that's where it gets annoying because this guy skips class and repeated a year twice. Even Lilia pointed this out in chapter 2.

Another thing I find frustrating is that he wastes his potential, but in all honesty, I can't blame him. In fact, a good part of this frustration is also anger at myself because I do see that kind of behavior in myself. I know that I can do more than what I can do, but I have no motivation to do it. It doesn't help that I've said my own fair share of arrogant comments that can come off as mean, so really, who am I to judge him? Nevertheless, however, that sort of thing turns me off from Leona.

Azul Ashengrotto

Okay, I'm not going to lie, a part of me feels like anon asked this question just to know if there's anything about Azul that I dislike. Some of my friends are also curious to know about this too, so here's my answer.

Not going to lie, I'd love to answer something like "he didn't come to me in gacha and made me spend so much for him" or "he's too perfect, that's what I don't like about him", but a) I want to be fair, and b) if I set aside my bias for him, there is something about Azul's character that I don't like.

Funnily enough, the things that I don't like about Leona are things that I really like about Azul, and I'm mentioning this because I normally stray away from rude characters. Azul does have a rude undertone in his language, but I'd say it's more haughty and condescending. The difference between him and Leona, however, is that I feel like Azul is more qualified to roast people? He works hard to get to where he is – and he's still working hard until now – and because of that hard work, he has high grades and a successful business. I wouldn't condone that rudeness, but if he does poke at people's incompetence or intelligence, it seems more justified.

No, what I dislike most about Azul is that he's not an honest person. I deeply value honesty, so when Azul does lie about things, it personally irks me because I just want to not have to do a lot of digging just to know if someone is honest with their words. What makes this even worse is that Azul is horribly good at lying. God knows how many times I got bamboozled because of his words. 🤡

This is especially both hilarious and frustrating when I make theories about him. Every time I try to think of some theory about him, there's always that inner voice in my head that goes, "But what if he's not being completely honest?" and I feel like I got myself into some 4D chess game.

Let's take chapter 4–30 for example. When Jamil wanted to use his It's A Deal to gather people's secrets again, Azul answered that he remembers all the secrets of those who signed his contracts, including Crowley's. And I'd love to think that what he's saying is legit, but what if he's also bluffing to make Jamil reveal more of his true intentions? Azul was conscious during the hypnosis, since he was trying to let it control him enough that his eyes will turn red but also not enough that he can still use Bind the Heart against it. He even remembers the comment Jamil said to him about him underestimating Jamil (and even says it back to him).

This dislike is most prominent when I try to think of theories about him or dissect his character, but it does go against my personal values as well. Aside from that, I still stan him because I am a clown.

Kalim Al-Asim

Not going to lie, this is kind of hard as well because Kalim is genuinely a nice person, and everyone believes he's such a ray of sunshine. But okay, I have to go out and say that there is something that does annoy me a bit.

Mostly, what irks me about Kalim is his disregard for Jamil's feelings. It amazes me how he believes Jamil could just prepare a banquet in less than 3 days so often. Really, I appreciate that he wants to help Jamil, but he could at least do that by not making Jamil do things that are nearly impossible to do. For example, the frequent banquets and parties aren't necessary. Even in the current event, Jamil is already expressing how he can't look out for 6 more people, but Kalim ignores that and invites MC, Grim, Cater, Trey, and Malleus to the fireworks festival. It's probably the rich person mentality, but nonetheless, I wish Kalim had more consideration for Jamil.

I may also be projecting because my family likes making me do things for them when they don't want to, so I kind of know how Jamil feels. 😂

Aside from that, though, I don't really have much problems with Kalim. He's still kind, maybe a bit callous with his word choice, and he's evidently maturing in the main story.

Vil Schoenheit

Alright... this one is going to be a bit controversial as this may go into my experiences as a Catholic growing up. Before I go into this, I want to put a disclaimer that not all Catholics are mean or whatever, but rather, these are my experiences growing up.

Vil is in my top 5, alright. He isn't a total asshole like other students in the school, and in fact, he's a pretty honest guy. His hard work is really admirable, and his principles are noble. Throughout the hype of chapter 5, I had defended his actions because it is understandable that the industry that he's in is pretty harsh, hence his behavior. Despite that, however, there is one part in chapter 5 that angered me the most in the story.

In chapter 5, Vil often scolds Epel for not understanding that cuteness and strength have their equal levels of power and that there's no such thing as gender in dance and performance. And okay, Vil is right. He does need to correct Epel's frankly toxic views on masculinity because being cute isn't any worse than being strong nor is dance supposed to be gender-assigned.

What makes me angry about this is that he imparts this knowledge in a way that is oppressive. He just tells Epel to do what he is told to do or think what he should think without really giving a reason why or a good way to understand those ideologies. I acknowledge that Epel was not only rude to him on the first day of school, he also picked a fight– Vil's actions of putting him in place are justified. And I also acknowledge that sometimes, you may need to push those kinds of ideas onto someone for their betterment.

But in this case, Vil never really tried to understand Epel's side of things? He tells him this and that or to do this and that without really letting Epel understand why, nor did he ever try to understand where Epel is coming from and why he has that sort of mindset on gender. Which, well, he thankfully does later on.

The part that makes me the maddest is that Vil goes as far as to say things like, "If you don't understand this, then how can you beat Neige?" It makes it blatantly obvious that he's thrusting all his stress and frustrations onto Epel just so he can have a chance of beating his long-standing rival. I understand that he is that frustrated about always being in Neige's shadow and that he may as well do anything just to get the spotlight he wants, but nevertheless, it rubs me the wrong way that he made Epel enter a competition that he never volunteered for and then use him as a way of beating Neige.

As to why this connects with Catholicism, it's the kind of behavior I've witnessed growing up, from my schooling to my own home. I remember being told to quit Pokemon, a game that I loved, just because it's called "Pocket Monsters" in Japan and it sounds like something from the Devil. I remember being told that abortion is bad just because it goes against God's teachings or that the LGBT+ is bad for the same reason. And I've seen how other Catholics would push these ideologies onto others in such a way that it makes people seem like the bad guy for opposing them. It's why this sort of thing with Vil angers me. I've seen this behavior many times, and it really sucks.

Idia Shroud

Okay, I also mentioned not liking Idia more than once on this blog, but my feelings have softened over time, especially knowing that he is a mood.

Still, I also don't like his rudeness because he says things that he has no courage to say in front of people's faces. This is seen in his robe story, where Riddle tells him to go out and help with the entrance ceremony. Idia criticizes him just because the door is closed, which means he doesn't have to see Riddle's face. I'm not saying I'm a saint because believe me, I have said my own things about others behind their backs (really, who hasn't, even if it's just a vent?), but if Idia's always going to be like that, I'm turned off by it.

Well, he did criticize people in Ghost Marriage because there was a part where he criticizes everyone for failing to set him free. It actually made me angry at him because man, they're trying, and Eliza is intentionally finding a way to reject all of them. And it doesn't help that he ends up begging for help again to the people he just got angry at. 💀

Malleus Draconia

Okay, I've mentioned that I dislike Malleus also, but his case is special. It's less that he did something that caused me to be angry at him, but more of the fandom ruined my perception of him.

To start things off, Malleus personally never really intrigued me from the start. His character is interesting to explore, I'll give you that, but I guess because of the lack of lore that we have on him right now, there's nothing much about him that I particularly like.

But as time went on, I began to grow really weary of Malleus because people always insisted that Malleus and Yuu are meant to be an endgame ship or that they're canon, when there's more indication that romance can't happen between the two of them. As a ship, I don't mind it, but when people go to the point of saying they were canon (and not jokingly, by the way), it really made me dislike not only the ship but Malleus as well.

This kind of hatred really soured myself, so much so that I have made people uncomfortable with my dislike towards Malleus and the ship. I'm still working on fixing this so that I don't hurt people anymore, and my opinion on Malleus has softened too, but even so, I can't really look at Malleus the same way anymore. Until chapter 7 comes, my opinion on Malleus may be more or less stagnant.

Final Thoughts

In the end, these are only part of my opinions on the characters. Even if I do have my least favorites, I can't say now that I hate anybody in Twst. Everyone is really interesting in their own way because there's so much depth to each and every character. They have flaws, but that's a part of being a person, and I like that these flaws are presented in such a way that they can also be turned to strengths.