#right wing madness

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Project 2025 has a game plan for dismantling NOAA :: Clay Jones

* * * *

The federal government’s efficient organization of responses to natural disasters illustrates that as citizens of a republic, we are part of a larger community that responds to our needs in times of crisis.

But that system is currently under attack. Project 2025, a playbook for the next Republican administration, authored by allies of the right-wing Heritage Foundation and closely associated with Republican presidential candidate Trump and vice presidential candidate Ohio senator J.D. Vance, calls for slashing FEMA’s budget and returning disaster responses to states and localities. 

Project 2025 also calls for dismantling the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and either eliminating its functions, sending them to other agencies, privatizing them, or putting them under the control of states and territories. It complains that NOAA, whose duties include issuing hurricane warnings, is “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity.” 

[Heather Cox Richardson :: Letters From An American :: Sept 27, 2024]

[obscureoldguy]

There you go! TRUTH.

[astronomodome]

Ok so that last person? That’s the ‘right-wing extremist’ mod… are we going to keep talking about this or what

[beaft]

maybe i'm just not down with the kids but i will literally never understand why "ragebaiting" is a thing that people do. like oohoho i said something really nasty and inappropriate to someone and now they're upset! haha, fucking gottem!

[misty-memories09]

She was a fairy 🧚🧚‍♀️🧚‍♂️

I love how sabito felt the need to pirouette in the air while beating the hell out of Tanjiro. Like??? How did he even jump like that??? How is he even pirouetting??? Why can he jump so damn high??? And then launched himself off the tree while/by spinning???

[sanchoyoscribbles]

magical girl misa misa: emissary of love & death! 🖤

I said I was going to hit more characters with the magical girl beam this year and I didn't get drawing misa out of my system with the last drawing, SO. More of her :)

[thashining]

Were all regular people....except for tRump

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Steve Brodner

[utilitycaster]

at the risk of making a somewhat fraught political metaphor, so many of the people who complain about criticism of Campaign 3 remind me of anti-abortion states when abortion was federally legal: "Oh no, you can have the clinic, but per state regulation the hallway needs to be exactly 16 feet wide no more no less, and if not, you are violating state law and are going to be shut down (this is not a requirement for any other medical procedural clinics)".

It's obviously uh, far less of a fundamental human rights issue here and the people complaining are whiny, bratty, and deeply unpleasant but do not ultimately hold any power and can be blocked and such criticisms can go forward but it's the precise same mentality. Oh no, you can criticize Campaign 3 but you can't phrase it in a way that makes me feel like you're stating it as objective fact rather than your opinion. You can criticize Campaign 3 but if it's a post longer than 500 words it has to be under a readmore so I don't have to scroll (this is not something they ask of any other post). You can criticize Campaign 3 but I find your tone condescending and arrogant so you're going to have to stop, but how dare you tell me that it's my responsibility to curate my experience. You can criticize Campaign 3 but when you say that I'm being an entitled child for making these demands that hurt my feelings so you have to stop (I've been silent about any harassment or insults you've received). You can criticize Campaign 3 if you're a heartless monster I guess but it was for FUN it was THEIR GAME why are you MEAN (They haven't said this on any posts that insult other campaigns or even the cast directly). You can criticize Campaign 3 but you have to abide by all my demands but you can't ever set off any of my vast list of insecurities and you also can't remark on any of my behavior ever; I can say anything I want to you and you can't ever say anything back.

And it's just like...really, I think there was a world (one that required the fandom to respond differently starting back with Laudna's death at minimum, but one that could have existed) in which this was a somewhat amicable disagreement about the quality of the campaign. But I've so rarely seen a group of people so incapable of seeing fandom opinions outside of their own personal experience or existing beliefs and acting in a remotely adult manner (ignoring or blocking). They always have to go up onto your post or in your inbox and tell you to stop having your own opinions.

[firbolgfriend]

I’m not gonna work on this anymore

[chamerionwrites]

Listen. I’m not saying that people like this don’t exist. But I am saying that you’re the one who appears to believe in original sin, so maybe consider that the call is coming from inside the house:

[ghostieblotts]

Okay so it is late but as promised, a post with more about the saf mlp au I'm working on which as of today has already split into two aus. Why am I like this.

So, first things first - clarifying the two aus. The first, which this post is about, is more in line with saf canon - it follows pretty much the same events, the characters go through similar/equivalent experiences, and it stays about as tonally dark (if not potentially going darker) as the original - the difference is that they are also all magical horses/ponies as inspired by My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The second, which I only really started thinking about today so I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing with it, is basically taking concepts for the characters in the first au and putting them in the world and genre expectations of the original tv show - in other words, what if things didn't suck for these cartoon horses. (It's mostly a fun little self-indulgent thing to think about.)

This is probably going to be a long post about a few details relating mainly to the first au. I'm going to put in a cut. Most of what I have been thinking about so far deals with just trying to work out what's going on with Curt and Owen.

The first thing I decided about this au and kind of the one thing I am the most certain about is this: Owen is a unicorn and his horn breaks in the fall. This is the clearest thing to me in this au - I think it works well for many reasons but also, it just instinctively feels right to me.

The broken horn isn't the only physical impact of the fall - Owen also ends up with major scarring and probably a host of other issues but I think the loss of his horn is probably the most impactful thing for him. I think that a unicorn's horn would be a key part of identity and self-image for many (potentially culturally but also just because of how important it is functionally - that's how unicorns control their magic!) so I think that having a broken horn in this au works quite well with that aspect of the fall.

From a practical standpoint, it has a huge impact on Owen's magic. While I don't think Owen was exactly a magician - magic was probably more of a matter of dexterity for him before he got some offensive magic training for his job - like many unicorns, magic would be a key part of how he went about his everyday life. By the time we reach the events of most of SAF, he has spent three years training to try and recover. He has regained some magical function, but his magic is difficult to control. It is erratic - it manifests in sparks and bolts like electricity - and it is also far more prone to being affected by Owen's emotions than before. (Which could be interesting to play with for some scenes, though I haven't fully explored that yet.)

As for Owen's cutie mark - I did toy briefly with the idea of him being a blank flank, which I think could work quite well/interestingly if you lean more towards the view of "cutie mark = destiny/identity". However, I tend to lean more towards "cutie mark = special talent", so for me that means that Owen's mark is a tragedy mask. His special talent is performance, and all that means - acting, deception. It is perhaps most accurately described as pretending, though I don't think he would ever call it that himself - at least not outside of his own head. Getting his mark was not a happy memory and it is not one he is willing to talk about. (I'm tentatively contemplating having it so that Owen earned his mark in some situation related to having to hide something so that he could stay safe and/or avoid being outed, since that would be a pretty strong reason not to tell anyone.) He's explained it with various stories relating to theatre and movies, most likely. Even mi6 - who, strictly speaking, should have been given the full true story - were given a story closer to the truth, but ultimately just another use of Owen's talent. If he has ever told a full or true version of his mark's origin, Curt is the only one Owen has ever told the true story to.

I'm marking time by what we see in the show, and I don't think we would see Owen's mark until the end. I think coverups (makeup? Something like a sticker??) for cutie marks would be standard practice in espionage in this universe - Curt would probably have an assortment of different fake marks over the course of the show, and Owen would have at least two (a1p1 disguise and DMA). I think the staircase scene would probably be the first time we see Owen's mark, and possibly the first time we see Curt's if not around Doing This or maybe Torture Tango. However, as the DMA (or I guess the DSA? Deadliest Stallion Alive? The neutrality of Deadliest Pony Alive/DPA might work well too but I'm not sure if it fits), Owen actually only wears one. As part of the scarring he has, one of his marks was burnt beyond recognition in the fall.

I don't actually know what Curt's cutie mark would be yet. I'm thinking it could potentially be something to do with being the "sharpest of shooters", though (which would be a neat bit of close-ish foreshadowing if we first see it in the staircase scene). However, if there's an option that's more inherently tied to spying, I might take that instead. What I do know, though, is that he took ages to earn it. I'm imagining that Curt as a kid/teenager would have been desperately trying to find his talent, throwing himself at a bunch of different things, getting really frustrated with people dismissing him or talking down to him because he didn't have his mark. He'd develop a real desperation to prove himself, and when he finally did get his mark, he clung to it.

One last big thing: working out what kind of pony Curt is. This is the elephant in the room, for me. I have two options that I like, each with their own benefits and issues.

On the one hand, he could be a unicorn, which I think would work well to emphasise how closely matched he and Owen are before the fall (and then, with Owen's broken horn, this could add an interesting layer to One Step Ahead). This also means that guns might be able to be replaced by beams of magic and I don't have to invent a gun in mlp. (Though they might be more reliable for Owen than his own magic.) The other big benefit of Curt being a unicorn is that it would mean he is flightless - since either Curt or Owen being able to fly in a1p1 has the potential to cause major problems for the plot.

Having said that, you may be surprised that my other preferred option for Curt is that he's a pegasus. This requires some significant logistical wrangling to work within the plot, but also presents some opportunities I really like. The way I'm thinking it might be possible to make this work: having it be standard practice for pegasus spies to bind and conceal their wings. (If anyone has another idea though feel free to tell me!)

Why would they do that, though? I think a possible reason to do this is as simple as the following: wings are both easier to conceal and easier to break than a horn. While both are how pegasi and unicorns respectively control their magic (I am on team everyone has magic and it just manifests differently), I think wings might be more vulnerable in this way. In an occupation where you're expecting your agents to potentially get captured and tortured by your enemies, which body part do you think they're going to go for first? So I think it might be seen as the safest bet to try to delay an agent's wings being discovered for as long as possible. In this case, they would use specially designed bindings that also incorporate padding to make the shape look natural. And while having wings could be incredibly useful in an emergency situation, I can imagine that making sure that binder stays on might in practice be prioritised over potential emergency safety.

So while it requires logistical faffing (and might require some more to make it feel believable enough), I really like the idea of Curt being a pegasus because of the extra layers of guilt it adds to the fall. As @lycan-exe pointed out when I told them about it, it means that Curt did not save Owen even though technically he could have done. But his wings were bound and hidden under clothing, which Curt wouldn't have had enough time to remedy - which would also only make him feel more responsible - if only he was faster, if only he had set the timer for four minutes like they agreed...

So! TL;DR:

Owen is a unicorn with a broken horn

Owen's cutie mark is a tragedy mask and his special talent is pretending

Curt got his cutie mark particularly late, though I'm not certain what it is

Coverups for cutie marks are standard in espionage

Curt could be a unicorn or a pegasus (and despite the necessary faffing I'm leaning towards the latter.

Other things that I am not sure where else to include:

I'm imagining Owen having yellow/golden eyes

Curt is probably blue.

Mama Mega could be a pegasus but I keep imagining her as an earth pony.

And as a final note - something I also talked about in this post:

We've established that many pegasus spies go to notable lengths to conceal the fact that they have wings, because in the event that they are captured, this is dangerous information for your enemies to know. Unfortunately for Curt, he ends up in the unenviable position of being captured - and his torturer is very aware of the fact that he has wings. Whether or not he takes it, the opportunity is there for Owen to do some serious, possibly permanent damage.

[xx-sketchy-xx]

So dragon

Now, Adami would probably turn into his dragon form, and this fight would probably be very difficult, but for the time being I’ll just enjoy this

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 21, 2023 (Friday)

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUL 22, 2023

On June 8 the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of a lower court blocking the congressional districting map Alabama put into place after the 2020 census, agreeing that the map likely violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act and ordering Alabama to redraw the map to include two majority-Black congressional districts. 

Today the Alabama legislature passed a new congressional map that openly violates the Supreme Court’s order. By a vote of 75–28 in the House and 24–6 in the Senate, the legislature approved a map that includes only one Black-majority district. 

Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and many of the other members of Alabama’s congressional delegation had spoken to the Republicans in the state legislature about the map. Editor of the Alabama Reflector Brian Lyman reported that the map’s sponsor said he had spoken to House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) too: “It was quite simple,” the sponsor said. McCarthy “said ‘I’m interested in keeping my majority.’ That was basically his conversation.” 

Alabama governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed the bill into law. 

Today, assistant U.S. attorney general Todd Kim and U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas Jaime Esparza wrote to Texas governor Greg Abbott and Texas interim attorney general Angela Colmenero warning that the actions of Texas in constructing a barrier in the Rio Grande between the U.S. and Mexico “violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties.” 

The floating barrier violates the Rivers and Harbors Act, which prohibits the construction of any obstructions to navigation in U.S. waters and requires permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before constructing any structure in such waters. Abbott ignored that law to construct a barrier that includes inflatable buoys and razor wire.

Mexico has also noted that barrier buoys that block the flow of water violate treaties between the U.S. and Mexico dating from 1944 and 1970, and has asked for the barriers to be removed. So has the owner of a Texas canoe and kayaking company, who says the buoys prevent him from conducting his business. And so have more than 80 House Democrats, who have noted Abbott’s “complete disregard for federal authority over immigration enforcement.”

Unless Texas promises by 2:00 Tuesday afternoon to remove the barrier immediately, the U.S. will sue. 

Abbott has made fear of immigration central to his political messaging. He is now faced with the reality that Biden’s parole process for migrants at the southern border has dropped unlawful entries by almost 70% since it went into effect in early May, meaning that border agents have more time to patrol and are making it harder to enter the U.S. unlawfully. 

Abbott’s barrier seems designed to keep his messaging amped up, accompanied as it is by allegations that troops from the National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety have been ordered to push migrants, including children, back into the river and to withhold water from those suffering in the heat. There are also reports that migrants have been hurt by razor wire installed along the barrier.

Abbott responded to the DOJ’s letter: “I’ll see you in court, Mr. President.” 

Yesterday, on the same day that Shawn Boburg, Emma Brown, and Ann E. Marimow added to all the recent stories of Supreme Court corruption an exclusive story showing how then-leader of the Federalist Society Leonard Leo funded a “a coordinated and sophisticated public relations campaign to defend and celebrate” Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to advance a bill that would require the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt a binding code of ethics. 

“We wouldn’t tolerate this [behavior] from a city council member or an alderman," committee chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) said. “It falls short of ethical standards we expect of any public servant in America. And yet the Supreme Court won't even acknowledge it’s a problem.” “The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act,” Durbin said, “would bring the Supreme Court Justices’ ethics requirement in line with every other federal judge and restore confidence in the Court.”

Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) disagreed that Congress could force the Supreme Court to adopt an ethics code. “This is an unseemly effort by the Democratic left to destroy the legitimacy of the Roberts court,” he said, although he agreed that the justices need “to get their house in order.”

Today, Dahlia Lithwick and Anat Shenker-Osorio noted in Slate that voters of both parties strongly support cleaning up the Supreme Court.

As signs of an indictment for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election grow stronger, Trump has taken to threats. When asked about incarceration, Trump said earlier this week: “I think it’s a very dangerous thing to even talk about, because we do have a tremendously passionate group of voters, much more passion than they had in 2020 and much more passion than they had in 2016. I think it would be very dangerous.”

His loyalists are working to undermine the law enforcement agencies that are supporting the rule of law. On July 11, 2023, Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote to chair of the Committee on Appropriations Kay Granger (R-TX) asking her to defund Biden’s immigration policies as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which investigates crime.

It is notable that, for all their talk about law and order, the Republican-dominated legislature of Alabama and the state’s Republican governor have just openly defied the U.S. Supreme Court, which is hardly an ideological enemy after Trump stacked it to swing to the far right. 

The Republican governor of Texas is defying both federal law and international treaties. After rampant scandals, the Republican-dominated Supreme Court refuses to adopt an ethics system that might restore some confidence in their decisions. And, aided by his loyalists, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination is threatening mob violence if he is held legally accountable for his behavior. 

The genius of the American rebels in 1776 was their belief that a nation could be based not in the hereditary rights of a king but in a body of laws. “Where…is the King of America?” Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense. “I'll tell you Friend…that in America THE LAW IS KING. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other.” 

Democracy is based on the rule of law. Undermining the rule of law destroys the central feature of democracy and replaces that system of government with something else.

In Florida today, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon set May 20, 2024, as the date for Trump’s trial for hiding and refusing to give up classified national security documents.

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[eternal-sunflowers]

i couldn't get tickets for joe but i keep going and checking tickets for maya's last few shows and they're so fucking cheap and i. i just WANT. i want to see them both so badly.

and i could see maya, but my goddamn anxiety won't let me go alone and i have no one to go with!!!! but it's so cheap and she'll be RIGHT THERE singing her beautiful music. and there will be people who also love her music there. and it would be amazing.

ugh. i hate anxiety.

[raexbecrafting]

Hell yeah, now I can focus on CE! (Unless the not-a-static needs a DPS sub, anyway…)