#the nation of tumult movement

[the-silver-chronicles]

Far Cry El Industrial’s Reign AU Post #7

The Tumultites actually get along with Jerome and don’t mind him talking about his faith and God. This is very unlike how uncomfortable they are whenever Eden’s Gate preaches about Joseph, their faith, the Collapse and the Voice.

This is because the Tumultites don't consider Jerome and Eden's Gate' God to be the same God.

Jerome's God is forgiving, patient, benevolent and merciful. Which is unlike the God Father Adam Omar preached about. The God Adam Omar preached on and on about was a cruel, spiteful and willing to let them all suffer and burn in "the end" (which almost happened during the Tumultite massacre/genocide), and had been used as justification to put many, many of their people to death. Which is why the Tumultites are very much against Eden's Gate' God, or "the Voice".

Surface-level, the Project at Eden's Gate promotes community and purity of body and soul, but behind the scenes, their actions are off-putting to the Movement, considering the Peggies act aggressively and are likely to cause fights than the locals are. Even over something as little as a bad word or even a doubt or criticism about Joseph is more than enough to set them off. There was also the fact that beforehand, the Eden's Gate members weren't allowed to be angry, but the Seeds were (Isiah and Alexander managed to talk to Tracey about her time spent with the cult, and Gemini and Schrödinger witnessed it themselves during their espionages in Eden's Gate when the cult stopped gifting baskets of fruit one day and chose violence the next), which alarmed the likes of Silva who didn't expect the change (she thought they were harmless right until her people were getting threatened and bribery of money in exchange for their properties was attempted on them many times), causing her to make some counter-measurements just in case Eden's Gate decided to enact war. It brings reminders of Omar's Guard, which is not a comparison anyone wants to be compared to.

Jerome and his congregation (or what's left of it) however promote good faith in others, trust and respect. Even Silva attended his sermons, and while she doesn't believe that God truly exists (and will never truly form any kinship with the religion due to Omar's Guard' BS), she is respectful towards Jerome's faith in his God, and even comforted by the possibility that, if they were to exist, this God looks out for others and inspires a goodness, which is such a breath of fresh air for her, considering how Eden's Gate and Omar's Guard display their gods. Silva and Jerome may not be close and do have different believes, but there is a friendliness built on trust and respect there.

A lot of the Tumultites even attend Jerome's sermons, and if it's not because they believe in his god, it's definitely to show their interest and support in Jerome and his faith. (P.S There are some Tumultites who are just there to hear Jerome's voice lol).

Azriel doesn't attend any sermons and doesn't really interact with Jerome, nor does she really want to (she's not very popular amongst Fall's End, and by that I mean she's not really liked there).

[thebrickinbrick]

An Attempt to Console the Widow Hucheloup, Part 2

Gavroche, completely carried away and radiant, had undertaken to get everything in readiness. He went, came, mounted, descended, re-mounted, whistled, and sparkled. He seemed to be there for the encouragement of all. Had he any incentive? Yes, certainly, his poverty; had he wings? yes, certainly, his joy. Gavroche was a whirlwind. He was constantly visible, he was incessantly audible. He filled the air, as he was everywhere at once. His was a sort of almost irritating ubiquity; no halt was possible with him. The enormous barricade felt him on its haunches.

He troubled the loungers, he excited the idle, he reanimated the weary, he grew impatient over the thoughtful, he inspired gayety in some, and breath in others, wrath in others, movement in all, now pricking a student, now biting an artisan; he alighted, paused, flew off again, hovered over the tumult, and the effort, sprang from one party to another, murmuring and humming, and harassed the whole company; a fly on the immense revolutionary coach.

Perpetual motion was in his little arms and perpetual clamor in his little lungs.

"Courage! more paving-stones! more casks! more machines! Where are you now? A hod of plaster for me to stop this hole with! Your barricade is very small. It must be carried up. Put everything on it, fling everything there, stick it all in. Break down the house. A barricade is Mother Gibou's tea. Hullo, here's a glass door." "Courage! more paving-stones! more casks! more machines! Where are you now? A hod of plaster for me to stop this hole with! Your barricade is very small. It must be carried up. Put everything on it, fling everything there, stick it all in. Break down the house. A barricade is Mother Gibou's tea. Hullo, here's a glass door."

“This elicited an exclamation from the workers.

"A glass door? what do you expect us to do with a glass door, tubercle?"

"Hercules yourselves!" retorted Gavroche. "A glass door is an excellent thing in a barricade. It does not prevent an attack, but it prevents the enemy taking it. So you've never prigged apples over a wall where there were broken bottles? A glass door cuts the corns of the National Guard when they try to mount on the barricade. Pardi! glass is a treacherous thing. Well, you haven't a very wildly lively imagination, comrades.”

“However, he was furious over his triggerless pistol. He went from one to another, demanding: "A gun, I want a gun! Why don't you give me a gun?"

"Give you a gun!" said Combeferre.

“Come now!" said Gavroche, "why not? I had one in 1830 when we had a dispute with Charles X."

Enjolras shrugged his shoulders.

"When there are enough for the men, we will give some to the children."

Gavroche wheeled round haughtily, and answered:

"If you are killed before me, I shall take yours." "Gamin!" said Enjolras. "Greenhorn!" said Gavroche.

A dandy who had lost his way and who lounged past the end of the street created a diversion.

Gavroche shouted to him: "Come with us, young fellow! Well now, don't we do anything for this old country of ours?"

The dandy fled.

[highkingpetermagnificent]

24 in 2024

I meant to do this in January, but life keeps marching on despite my efforts. I stole this from @aliteraryprincess because it just looks fun!! This is 24 books I want to read in 2024 (not including ones I've already read or am currently reading.) These are in no particular order.

Bronze Drum, Phong Nguyen (fiction) (already own, just unread)

Lady Chatterley's Lover, D.H. Lawrence (classic)

Edward IV: A Source Book, Keith Dockray (nonfiction) (already own, just unread)

Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin (fiction) (already own, just unread)

Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation, Linda Villarosa (nonfiction)

Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives, Michael Strmiska (nonfiction) (already own, just unread)

She Would Be King, Wayétu Moore (fiction) (already own, just unread)

The Peacekeeper, B.L. Blanchard (fiction) (already own, just unread)

Tress of the Emerald Sea, Brandon Sanderson (fiction)

Medieval York, D.M. Palliser (nonfiction)

She Had Some Horses, Joy Harjo (poetry) (already own, just unread)

The Mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Radcliffe (classic) (already own, just unread)

Object Lessons: The Life of the Woman and the Poet in Our Time, Eavan Boland (essays?) (already own, just unread)

Noblewomen, Aristocracy and Power in the Twelfth-Century Anglo-Norman Realm, Susan M. Johns (nonfiction) (already own, just unread)

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot, Mikki Kendall (nonfiction)

Katherine Parr: Complete Works and Correspondence, Katherine Parr (essays/letters) (already own, just unread)

Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Sue Lynn Tan (fiction) (already own, just unread)

Blood and Roses: One Family's Struggle and Triumph During the Tumultous Wars of the Roses, Helen Castor (nonfiction) (already own, just unread)

If I Were Another: Poems, Mahmoud Darwish (poetry)

Always Italicise: How to Write While Colonised, Alice Te Punga Somerville (poetry)

Black Swim, Nicholas Goodly (poetry)

Sight Lines, Arthur Sze (poetry)

Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States, Samantha Allen (nonfiction) (already own, just unread)

Within the Fairy Castle: Colleen Moore's Doll House, Terry Ann R. Neff (idk how to label this, this is my last pick just for fun) (already own, just unread)

If you want to do this, steal it from me and tag me!

[scotianostra]

On July 23rd 1637 Jenny Geddes threw a stool at the Dean of St. Giles Cathedral, shouting "Dost thou say Mass in my lug?", and so began the movement to the Covenant.

When James I came to the English throne and united the Kingdoms of Scotland and England, he wanted to unite the churches too. But the Scots reformation had run much deeper than the English, which still retained many Catholic customs, so the Scots were wary of any religious practices imported from England. James I backed off as a result, but his son, Charles I, decided to plough ahead with the religious unification. In 1635 Charles issued a warrant declaring his power over the Church of Scotland, including that they would be issued with a new book of liturgy to be read at services.

This new work, The Booke of Common Prayer, was known as Laud’s Liturgy after Charles’s then Archbishop of Canterbury William Laud, but it was actually written by a group of Scottish Bishops. Nonetheless, sour rumours abounded about the new book, which after some delay was commanded by the king to be read for the first time in churches in Scotland on Sunday, 23rd July 1637.

The first reading of Laud’s Liturgy on that day was by the Dean of Edinburgh, John Hanna, at St Giles on the Royal Mile. As legend has it, a woman called Jenny Geddes was at the service sitting on a wooden stool. Jeers came from the crowd when Hanna started to read from the new book, and Jenny picked up her stool and threw it at Hanna’s head, shouting “Deil colic the wame o’ ye! Out thou false thief! Dost thou say the mass at my lug?” (“The devil give a colic to your stomach! Out you false thief! Dare you say the mass at my ear?”). Others joined in with the stool throwing, so that the whole event was later called “The Casting o’ the Stules”, and the Dean and other officials had to flee. Stones were thrown at the Cathedral’s windows, and the streets were chaos.

The significance of what Geddes did is that the rioting that started that day grew, and opposition to the Anglicisation of the Church of Scotland grew with it. The next year, the National Covenant was signed by many Scottish nobleman, known as the Covenanters, railing against Charles I’s power. The Bishops’ War was the next consequence, eventually devolving into the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the English Civil War. Jenny Geddes’s stool was, therefore, the first act of the revolutionary tumult affecting much of the 17th century. She’s a highly celebrated symbol of Scots independence; there’s even a brass plaque in St. Giles’ commemorating her.

Historians nowadays generally dismiss this story, but Jenny crops up tim and time again, the first time in print in 1661 in our country's first real newspaper the Mercurius Caledonius which only ran for 11 issues. She pops up from time to tim in other 17th century stories, and in the 18th century the English writer and spy also mentions her. Lastly when Robert Burns was in Edinburgh before his tour on The Highlands and Scottish Borders he needed a horse and bought a mare in the city for the princely sum of “over £4 Sterling”. When once, later, this loving and faithful horse unseated him, Burns wrote that she “trode over me with such cautious reverence, that matters were not so bad as might well have been expected”. And the name that Burns gave his horse? Jenny Geddes. I think there must be at least some truth in the story.

I have to add that the three legged stool on display in the Kirk is highly unlikely to have been the one Geddes threw, it is a different type from the one used back in the day, the National Museum have a stool, they say was Jenny's, as seen in the pics and drawings.

[mariacallous]

Russia is waging renewed influence operations in Europe designed to undermine Western support for Ukraine in an attempt to turn the tide in a war that has shifted decisively in Kyiv’s favor over the past month, top Estonian defense officials told reporters during a visit to Washington this week.

The effort includes a concerted campaign through Russian-language or Russian-backed channels in Europe as well as influencing sympathetic politicians, the officials said. It’s part of a multipronged strategy by the Kremlin to use the crunch of rising energy prices before winter to try and break the unity that has so far enabled a flood of Western military and economic aid to Ukraine.

“[They will] continue these Russian influence operations in Western societies,” Tuuli Duneton, Estonia’s undersecretary for defense policy, told reporters on Tuesday after her boss, Hanno Pevkur, met with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the U.S. Defense Department. “They will always try to have different people influencing policymakers, people from society, from the media, from parliament.”

Duneton urged Western intelligence officials to remain alert for Russian operations to include political meddling by the Kremlin’s agents to support candidates in European elections who could be seen as sympathetic to Moscow. Far-right candidates have made gains throughout Europe, with France’s National Rally jumping 8.5 percentage points in the presidential polls from five years ago; right-wing populist Giorgia Meloni, who has praised fascist leaders in the past, sweeping to power in Italy in September; and political tumult in post-Brexit Britain continuing to leave an opening for the far right in the westernmost reaches of Europe.

“Given the difficult winter that Western societies will face, we also believe that they will redouble their efforts in order to try to manipulate different societies and try to seek different personalities to influence even more and to divide those societies and to break down this Western unity,” she said.

The European Union has long been aware of Russia’s information warfare playbook at use in the West to provide cover for the invasion of Ukraine, dating back to the illegal seizure of Crimea in 2014. It tracks nearly 6,000 cases of disinformation targeting Ukraine over that eight-year span.

The tone of Russian disinformation toward Ukraine was always “fairly genocidal,” said Jakub Kalensky, who previously led the European Union’s East StratCom Task Force team on disinformation. “If we’d been paying attention, we wouldn’t be so surprised at what is happening.”

Since the full-scale invasion of the country in February, officials said Russia has taken more steps to use diplomats on the Kremlin payroll to magnify propaganda and drum up support for far-right parties. “Then it was really gloves off, and the same was multiplied by their embassies,” said Peter Stano, the European Commission’s lead spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy. “They were trying not only to gain sympathizers among the political parties; they were actively headhunting informants for the intelligence services.”

European states have aimed at cracking down on the Kremlin’s outsized embassies that have used intelligence officers to cause political trouble, Stano said. The European Union has been working with social media platforms to block Russian sympathizers and even sanctioned state mouthpieces RT and Sputnik, forbidding them from broadcasting within the bloc. But the problem of weeding Russian messaging out of far-right movements has proven more sticky. Billionaire octogenarian and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who will join Meloni’s far-right coalition government, was one such politician recently caught on tape praising Russian President Vladimir Putin and blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for forcing Russia to invade. And plenty of others are willing to parrot the Kremlin line around Europe.

“These useful idiots are helping the narrative to gain ground in some of the member states,” Stano added.

Although RT and Sputnik were openly affiliated with the Russian government, murky news sites and social media accounts that repeat Kremlin talking points have long posed an attribution challenge for European policy seeking to balance freedom of speech on the one hand while seeking to cauterize Russian disinformation operations.

In the early days of the Russian invasion, fact-checkers across Europe noted a sea change among social media accounts known to promote disinformation as they quickly pivoted from spreading falsehoods about COVID-19 to circulating lies about the war in Ukraine. The shift was documented in a report by the European Digital Media Observatory, a hub for fact-checkers and disinformation experts on the continent.

“Even though we don’t know who is responsible for creating and spreading false news about Ukraine in the first place, it is a fact that the majority of them favor Russia’s interests and follow the main elements of its propaganda,” the report concluded.

The European Union was swift to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, imposing three rounds of sanctions in the first days of the war while there was an outpouring of support for Ukrainian refugees among the public. But experts have cautioned that Putin likely believes time is on his side as he seeks to wear down Western resolve. Even in the early days of the war, fissures were already evident. An opinion poll of Central and Eastern European countries conducted by Globsec—a think tank based in Bratislava, Slovakia—found that a quarter of Romanians and Bulgarians believe the West was responsible for starting the war by provoking Russia, whereas around 30 percent of Slovaks agreed with the sentiment.

Attributing cause and effect when it comes to public opinion is challenging. But Kalensky, now a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, attributes it to Russian disinformation. “The fact that we have 30 percent of Slovaks believing that the West is responsible for the war in Ukraine—this is not the result of six months of propaganda. This is the result of the past at least eight years,” he said.

As the Kremlin meddles, the West shivers. Europe and, to a certain extent, the United States are facing energy woes this winter. Many European countries are already wavering in their support for Ukraine, and Republicans poised to take over the U.S. House of Representatives have already signaled that they will dial back support for the embattled nation.

As Russia has sought to weaponize energy deliveries to Europe by twisting the knife in governments that back Ukraine, it has also used near-constant videos on RT and conservative social media sites to drive home the message that Europeans won’t be able to heat their homes due to a lack of Russian gas, thereby driving a wedge in public opinion. “They were pushing us. They were extorting us. They were blackmailing us,” Stano said.

And that message is increasingly gathering steam across the Atlantic, even as Congress is reportedly considering a scaled-up aid package for Ukraine that could total $50 billion or more. Concerns about a possible recession and the specter of the Republican Party taking over one or both houses of Congress in upcoming U.S. midterm elections could embolden skeptics of U.S. aid to Ukraine who are allied with former U.S. President Donald Trump. Although many top Republicans, such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have publicly stated that they’re keen to keep up American military support for Ukraine, others like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy have promised just the opposite.

“I don’t see war fatigue at the moment, but once again, we have to understand that the war in Ukraine, definitely for some people, is just one conflict among others,” said Pevkur, the Estonian defense minister. “We have a conflict in Armenia and Azerbaijan, we have the conflict [in] China [and] Taiwan, and we have many, many conflicts in the Middle East or Africa, [and Russia’s war is] just one of the conflicts. But it’s up to us not to allow this to happen. We have to be clear here that this is actually different and it is happening in Europe in the 21st century.”

Both houses of Congress approved the White House’s landmark $40 billion aid package to Ukraine in May, with nearly 60 Republican ‘no’ votes in the House but little public criticism. But as Pevkur and top Estonian officials descended on Washington, those questions were renewed on Tuesday as McCarthy, who would become the presiding officer in the lower chamber, hinted in an interview that continuing to write checks to Ukraine wouldn’t be such an easy sell in a Republican-controlled House.

“I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” McCarthy told the online outlet Punchbowl News. “They just won’t do it. … It’s not a free blank check.” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Politico he believed it was just an effort for House Republicans to give themselves political cover ahead of the U.S. midterms.

To the extent Ukraine plays for Republicans ahead of the midterms, it’s there to be abandoned. “If you look at candidates who mention Ukraine the most often in the U.S. political ecosystem, it’s almost universally pro-Russian, anti-support for Ukraine,” said Bret Schafer, a senior fellow and head of the Alliance for Securing Democracy’s information manipulation team at the German Marshall Fund think tank.

“They’ve always proven to be pretty skilled at finding some fellow travelers on the left and right,” he added.

[professorpusset]

As I set out in search of an image to commemorate the first day of September, Episodes from September Days demanded my full attention.

Even at first glance, Gustave Wapper's striking 1830 oil on canvas encapsulates perfectly my mood today: the oppressive mood of a humid summer clashing with the onset of darker days. A tumult of bodies, streaming into the foreground of life all at once after weeks of humble solitude and rest. Beauty in violence. The unease of what will remain once the streets are cleared and the darkness of autumn edges closer...

The year 1930 was marked by revolutionary fervour. Paris went through the July Revolution, which marked the end of the rule of Charles X. Delacroix painted Liberty Leading the People. Brussels, for its part, had its September Days, which ended Dutch rule over the Southern Provinces, imposed at the 1815 Congress of Vienna. Wappers created his Episode of the September Days 1830... in 1835. Commissioned by the new government of Belgium, this work was a monumental and jubilatory manifesto, exalting the recent revolution and the newly found independence of the young nation.

In a pyramidal composition, the work provides a synthesis of events of the revolution and its actors, stressing the promulgation of the proclamation Aux Citoyens de Bruxelles... ('To The Citizens of Brussels'), signed on 24 September by the Administrative Commission, which represented the Belgian authorities at the heart of the unrest.

Wappers triggered the Belgian Romantic movement, which wanted to break with Neoclassicism and pick up with the pictorial eloquence of a Rubens. Wappers revived history painting and stamped it with a national character.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

“....the early years of the New Deal marked a period of tumult, experimentation, high idealism, and unforeseen outcomes — a crucial pivot point for convict labor in the United States. From one direction, congressional lawmakers were, for the first time, aggressively attacking the worst abuses of convict labor. From the other side, states, which had become dependent on prison industries (notably in the South), scrambled to keep inmates at work. Even states that had adopted progressive prison reforms feared that the sudden collapse of all prison industries portended a crisis of discipline and a betrayal of the fundamental goal of rehabilitation. And in Washington, DC, a generation of lawyers and penologists reared on progressive principles faced an unprecedented challenge and a unique opportunity: to realize the rehabilitative potential of work and eliminate inhumane exploitation, all the while protecting the livelihoods of free workers from the threat of convict labor. In the New Deal, lawyers and penologists like James Bennett, Linton Collins, Sanford Bates, and Donald Richberg found a new set of tools to rework the problem of prison labor.

In particular, they turned to the National Recovery Administration (NRA), centerpiece of the so-called first New Deal. The overall strategy of the NRA was to end the depression by eliminating overproduction, controlling prices, and raising wages. It thought to accomplish this by allowing sectors of industry to openly cooperate without fear of antitrust laws. Across the country, businesses developed “codes” — essentially, voluntary compacts, under the jurisdiction of federal officials — to govern their corner of the economy in a more “planned” and rational manner. Why, prison officials wondered, could the NRA not benet the prison economy in much the same way as it promised to help the free economy?

The Prison Labor Code (PLC) that emerged from the NRA in 1934 seemed to embody many long-sought goals of progressive penology. It contained a series of measures designed to safeguard prisoners from abusive situations — prohibiting “dangerous” working conditions, for instance, and mandating a forty-hour-maximum work week. It clarified that its conditions applied uniformly to all forms of prison labor and all prison products (although, critically, it exempted agricultural prison labor, which meant that inmates at places like Louisiana’s infamous Parchman Farm remained without federal protection). Most significantly, the code expressly stipulated that prison goods could never be sold for “lower than the fair current price,” thereby safe-guarding free industry and free labor from the undercutting effects of convict-made products. The centrality of this provision can be discerned in the final name of the code: “The Compact of Fair Competition in Prison Industries.”

The possibilities of the NRA and the PLC were exhilarating to prison activists. In one fell swoop, the code promised to eliminate abusive labor systems, while preserving the ideal that prisoners should work. It claimed to mollify both industry and organized labor by controlling prices. And, perhaps most importantly, it seemed to signify a movement toward the national standardization of prison labor without sacrificing the states’ own role or authority in governing its prison systems. As a major investigation into the PLA would later note, reformers at the time felt that the compact “was going to achieve at one blow what fifty years of public agitation and striving had failed to secure.” 

On April 19, 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the code, and, in the Prison Labor Authority, American prison labor found its first semi-national governing structure. That the code entailed such fatal compromises, engendered such passionate resistance, and collapsed so quickly and completely illustrates the powerful undertow of Louis Robinson’s question: should prisoners work?”

- Matthew Pehl, “Between the Market and the State: The Problem of Prison Labor in the New Deal.” Labor: Studies in Working-Class History, Volume 16, Issue 2 (2019): p. 79-80.

[xtruss]

Polarization In The United States Fuels 'Prepper' Movement

— Bradley Blankenship | April 01, 2024

Illustration: Xia Qing/Global Times

Growing political polarization within the US is increasingly serving as a potent catalyst propelling the burgeoning "prepper" movement forward, reflecting a broader societal disquietude regarding the nation's political and economic trajectory.

Spanning the entire ideological spectrum, Americans are grappling with mounting apprehension surrounding the state of the economy and the increasingly fractured political landscape. This pervasive sense of uncertainty has engendered a marked uptick in individuals harboring profound distrust toward both governmental institutions and societal frameworks, prompting them to adopt a proactive stance toward self-sufficiency and preparedness.

Recent data cited by Reuters, drawing from comprehensive research on the subject, indicates a staggering doubling in the number of "preppers" in the US since 2017, with an estimated 20 million individuals now identifying as adherents of this movement. What was formerly primarily associated with far-right ideologies has now permeated mainstream America, with individuals hailing from diverse political backgrounds embracing practices such as firearm ownership, stockpiling essential supplies and fortifying their residences against potential crises.

While prior analyses predominantly focused on the ramifications of events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant disruptions, along with incidents like the Texas power grid failure, attention is increasingly being redirected toward the broader backdrop of political polarization within the country.

The occurrences of recent years, including the surge of civil unrest sparked by movements such as Black Lives Matter, have laid bare the deep-seated fault lines running through American society. This polarization transcends mere ideological and policy disagreements, encompassing fundamental questions regarding the role of government, the essence of democracy and the legitimacy of societal institutions.

Set against this backdrop, episodes such as the storming of the Capitol in 2021 serve as stark reminders of the fragility of democratic norms and the potential for political instability to escalate into full-blown crises. Such events coupled with ongoing partisan skirmishes and heightened rhetoric across the political spectrum have contributed to a pervasive sense of uncertainty and insecurity among the populace.

In addition to political tumult, concerns regarding environmental degradation and climate change are also assuming an increasingly prominent role in shaping the trajectory of the "prepper" movement. The escalating frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, juxtaposed with the gradual but inexorable march of climate change, have underscored the imperative for individuals to prepare for a future characterized by environmental instability and ecological disruption.

In response to these multifaceted challenges, the "prepper" movement has evolved from a fringe subculture to a mainstream phenomenon, with individuals from all walks of life embracing the principles of self-reliance and preparedness as indispensable strategies for navigating an uncertain world.

As the narrative surrounding prepping continues to evolve, one thing remains abundantly clear: the imperative of readiness transcends political divides. Spurred by political mistrust, environmental apprehensions, or a fusion of both, the call to self-sufficiency resonates across the entire ideological spectrum, reflecting a shared determination to confront uncertainty with resilience and resolve.

The growing "prepper" movement in the US is a direct response to the deepening political polarization and societal unease gripping the nation. As Americans grapple with mounting apprehensions about the economy, political stability and the reliability of societal institutions, many are turning to self-reliance and preparedness as a means of asserting control in uncertain times.

The trajectory of the "prepper" movement reflects a broader shift toward individual empowerment and autonomy in the face of perceived threats. From concerns about government overreach to fears of environmental catastrophe, this movement represents a diverse array of motivations united by a shared desire to mitigate risk and safeguard their families and communities.

Moreover, the evolution of the "prepper" movement from a fringe subculture to a mainstream phenomenon underscores the depth of societal disquietude and the widespread desire for proactive solutions to pressing challenges. In an era marked by political polarization and deepening divisions, the "prepper" movement serves as a unifying force, transcending traditional ideological boundaries in its call for preparedness and resilience.

Looking ahead, this movement is likely to continue evolving in response to shifting societal dynamics and emerging threats. As technological advancements, environmental changes and geopolitical shifts reshape the landscape of risk, "preppers" will remain at the forefront of efforts to adapt and thrive in an increasingly uncertain world.

— The Author is a Prague-based American Journalist, Columnist and Political Commentator.

[ausetkmt]

Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan, one of the world’s most pre-eminent and prolific scholars of African history, passed away early yesterday morning in New York City at the stunning age of 97.

It was only fitting that one of the most courageous and inspiring scholars of our time would live for nearly a century, paying personal witness to dramatic transformations in the lives of Black people across the globe. But more than anyone, Dr. Ben—as he was affectionally called by generations of his devoted followers—knew that a world transformed was not a world complete. Black people might have lifted themselves from widespread subjugation, but they still suffered and were far from the glorious civilizations in Africa about which Dr. Ben taught millions of eager charges.

One of his many specialties was the ancient civilization of Kemet in Egypt. He was one of the first true Egyptologists, before that title had even come into vogue. Dr. Ben was always a controversial figure because he had no interest in trying to placate white scholars or writers who were threatened by his claims about Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Because generations of white orthodoxy had moved the Western world to accept as fact questionable scholarship about the preeminence of European rulers and thinkers, Dr. Ben was always willing to take down these Western myths, one by one.

Dr. Ben turned 97 on New Year’s Eve and had plans to celebrate many more. But his friends took note of his diminishing appetite—though close colleagues like Dr. Leonard Jeffries and Prof. James Small were forced to go onto the Internet earlier this month to debunk rumors that he had already passed. At 3:30 am on Thursday morning, he bid his farewell.

“He was one of last great race men of his era,” Nayaba Arinde, Amsterdam News Editor, said on the Amsterdam News website. “He was a master teacher who just wanted to share our amazing African history. He was a man of the people. He was always amongst us, educating, and sharing. Sitting with him was a gift of tremendous proportions. He was loved, and he loved his people.”

He was like a library of African history onto himself, as if a wing of one of the world’s great research institutions had been poured into one brain and become ambulatory.

For those in the New York tri-state area in the 1970s and 1980s, he was a familiar presence and voice from his frequent appearances on Gil Noble’s weekly Black-focused television show “Like It Is” and on the Afrocentric radio station WLIB. It was an important time for him to spread his teachings about the glory of ancient African civilizations—coming out of the tumult of the Civil Rights Movement and the uplifting of the Black Power Movement, young Black people were eager to soak up his words, to extend their communion with their past far beyond the enraging lessons of slavery.

He often worked together with another legendary scholar, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, who died in 1998.

During his immense life, Dr. Ben journeyed from his birth in Ethiopia, to a Puerto Rican mother and an Ethiopian father, studying in institutions ranging from Puerto Rico to Cuba to Brazil to Spain. After earning a B.S. in Civil Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, he went on to earn a Master’s degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Havana, Cuba and then doctoral degrees in Cultural Anthropology and Moorish History from the University of Havana and the University of Barcelona, Spain.

He taught many years at such institutions as City College in New York City and Cornell University.

His authorship extended to 49 books, many focusing on Egypt and the civilizations of the Nile Valley.

In 2002, Dr. Ben—who lived in Harlem his later years—donated to the Nation of Islam his personal library of more than 35,000 volumes, manuscripts and ancient scrolls.

“Of all our greats, Dr. Ben physically took tens of thousands of scholars, activists, students and associations to the Nile Valley to make the pages of his book more authentic,” said his colleague, Reggie Mabry. “We saw our own experiences of what he wrote… For that the Black world is indebted to this Black man of the Nile and his family.”

[the-silver-chronicles]

Far Cry El Industrial's Reign Post #3

The Yellowjacks and Tumultites are pretty much the inverse to the Seeds and Eden's Gate.

Joseph and his brothers are biological, while Faith is the adopted one. Their followers act as Joseph's spiritual children, but are more often than not seen as guards, soldiers, or labour workers by the rest of the siblings, even with Joseph he didn't bat an eye when those followers gave the name of the vehicle "chopper" a whole new and grimmer meaning. The Seeds obviously care about their followers (to an extent), but they're not fussed about continually sending them out to die in Far Cry 5 to capture Rook, when, like Jacob and Faith have clearly demonstrated, they themselves are skilled and capable enough of capturing/luring Rook without much effort. While this method does keep Joseph and his family (mostly) out of danger in order to strategize and lead their followers from afar, Joseph and his siblings are also sending their underequipped and unskilled believers (especially the regular Peggies, the Chosen and Angels get a minor pass for being only mildly able to handle themselves and stand their ground) against not only the Resistance but also the likes of the Nation of Tumult Movement. Who have an alliance with each other.

Meanwhile Paul adopted Silva, Nashira, Adaro, Fýredel, Gaius and Tiri, who all aren't biologically related, with only Elsa being Silva's half-sister and Persephone being Silva's only biological daughter (until Mercy comes along later, becoming Persephone's half-sister) and Azriel being Silva's only adopted daughter and Persephone's (as well as Mercy's) adopted sister. Not to mention, Paul and Kamski have a strong brother-in-arms connection, just like Silva and Ezekiel do, with Ezekiel becoming Kamski's and Irene's unofficial son/brother. Special mention goes to the fact Gemini Teal is Obadiah Teal's nibling, his sister's mite, which technically makes Paul also their uncle, due to his relationship with Obadiah. Schrödinger is Gavin Turquoise's adopted mite. Gemini Teal and Isiah Popov are the bestest of friends, with Nadi Sinclair and Alexander Khaos being a part of Silva's close-knit social circle, with the Tumultite Idealist often referring to the former two as her hermana and hermano respectively. Silva, much like Joseph, cares deeply about her people, however, she's not one to put them in immediate danger, so the most dangerous and risky tasks go to herself and to those she knows are skilled enough and capable enough to handle it, as she views her fellow Tumultites as the future. While this means less death on the Tumultite side, there's also the fact Silva and her closest friends/family are risking their own lives, which would bring down morale on the rest of the Tumultites if they lost them (though if Silva or any of the others lost their lives to the cult, that would grant the rest of the Tumultites permission to stop holding back and bring in all fighters, and even risk a war with the Underworld itself, as Silva hasn't made her people dependent on her to bring about Tumult, which may not be the case for Joseph, his family and Eden's Gate. In other words, killing Silva wouldn't stop the Tumultites as she has given them enough independence and power for themselves to continue the plans for Tumult that she herself shared with them without her, while killing Joseph would likely cause one final retaliation but would inevitably stop Eden's Gate, even Joseph's siblings, in their progress since Joseph was the only one who knew what could and would happen after the Collapse and in New Eden, which is one of the downsides to being a prophet... no one knows God's plan but you. Causing the Flock to be dependent entirely on Joseph's visions. With Joseph lost, they likely wouldn't know what to do with themselves).

The only bridge that connects both groups with each other is Azriel (Joseph's biological daughter and Silva's adopted hija), Holly Pepper (a former Eden's Gate cultist now newly recruited Tumultite convert), Mercy (Silva and Faith's daughter) and both groups mutual (for Eden's Gate, newly acquired) hatred and disgust towards the Enforcement Guards of Adam (aka Father Omar and his Enforcers).

So yeah.

[eco89eu]

"Grosse Merde

The riots in France are a class struggle without a goal and demonstrate the erosion of state authority. By Andrei Doultsev.

It's striking when a white motorcycle policeman from the infamous Special Forces Brigade CSI 93 shoots a teenager >>with a migrant background<< in a suburb. Just like in 2005 after the tragic deaths of Zyed Bennas and Bouna Traoré, who were killed by electrocution while fleeing the police in a transformer house, the suburbs were set ablaze. Days of unrest followed, during which anger and desperation erupted.

The social structure of the Parisian suburbs corresponds to racially conceived ghettos. Since the sixties, migrants have been distributed and grouped according to their country of origin: the Asians from Indochina, seen as >>clean<< and >>calm<<, were placed in the outskirts of Paris in Olympiades; Maghrebians were settled in the poorer suburbs of Aubervilliers and Saint-Denis; black Africans were sent to Ivry-sur-Seine and Montreuil. Left to their own devices, the fifth generation of young people has grown up, deprived not only of bread but also of their dreams from birth.

How does France react in 2023? The second largest European democracy, hollowed out for decades by neoliberal reforms, numerous neocolonial military interventions, and violent repression of protests, drops its mask and shamelessly reveals itself as a Grande Nation, or rather, a Grosse Merde. While the bourgeois middle class and the far right express themselves with arrogance, France finds itself in a state of crisis. In his analysis, Clover first examines the common etymology of the English word >>emotions<< (which once meant uprising in English) and the French word >>émeutes<< (meaning: tumult, riot). Clover interprets riots as an excess of the inherent crisis of capitalism. In the years following 1989, when labor movements were "reduced in their majority to petty defensive actions," according to Clover, "political insurrection increasingly appears as a central figure of political antagonism," in other words, as the focal point of the largely unconscious and subconscious class struggle—an emotional struggle without a political horizon in a dystopia turned reality.

However, the recent riots in the suburbs, comparable in magnitude to those in 2005, have struck fear among the leaders and have been considered more than successful, not only because they created a space without state or authority for a few days, but also because the nature of the revolt revealed how, in recent years, despite and due to the intensification of police methods, the erosion of the state and authority has progressed significantly.

The historical organized labor movement aimed to create a society where class differences would be abolished, an association of the free and equal. That was its strength. The left, which has been on the defensive for decades, could not react clearly to the recent unrest. Isolated politicians found themselves helpless, claiming that the mistake lies in the fact that special police officers are involved in traffic stops. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the only politician who had the courage to call the police murderers, was criticized from all sides, arguing that the presumption of innocence applies and that the investigation is not yet complete.

Rights and the far right seized the paralysis of the left and outdid each other in the most odious populism. While right-wing deputies in the National Assembly called for all social assistance to be cut off from the families of the young people involved in the disturbances, the former presidential candidate of the Les Républicains (LR) party and president of the Île-de-France regional council, Valérie Pécresse, renamed the "Angela Davis" high school in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis by decree because Davis' positions contradicted certain laws of the French Republic.

The most accurate barometer of the mood in France, however, was the collection initiated by Jean Messiha, a veteran of the French far-right, in support of the police officer who opened fire. In just a few days, 10,000 sympathizers raised about 1.7 million euros. In parallel, a fundraising campaign for the victim's family only raised about 100,000 euros. (After this information became public, the amount for Nahel's relatives reached 485,000 euros.)

The fundraising campaign by the nationalist right in support of the perpetrator, in which prominent politicians of the Gaullist LR party also participated without scruples, demonstrates that the left lags behind in terms of action and that the most powerful donors support the right. But above all, the fundraising campaign for the murderer, which the executive "did not dare to stop due to a lack of legal powers" (Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne), testifies to the fact that the Fifth Republic has chosen barbarism over transparency.

Andrei Doultsev wrote in konkret 7/23 about the coverage of strikes in the French press."

[utopiaskids]

Mardi Gras in New Orleans: A Joyful Celebration Amidst Violent Crime and Political Turmoil

As Mardi Gras celebrations swept across New Orleans on Tuesday, the ebullient festivities were dampened by concerns about violent crime and political turmoil. Despite these worries, thousands of revelers gathered in the French Quarter and lined miles of parade routes to celebrate the annual Carnival season. The celebrations began before dawn in some parts of the city, with the North Side Skull and Bones gang dressed in skeleton costumes spreading out through the Treme area to awaken people for Mardi Gras. As the sun rose, parade watchers claimed spots along the St. Charles Avenue parade route, and the smell of barbecue wafted through the Central Business District. But the revelry was marred by a shooting that occurred during a parade on Sunday night, leaving a teenager dead and four others injured, including a 4-year-old girl. Police quickly arrested Mansour Mbodj, 21, for illegally carrying a weapon, and upgraded the charge to second-degree murder. Despite the shooting, many revelers were undeterred. Roz Walker, 55, who has been visiting New Orleans for Mardi Gras for decades, said, “It’s discouraging, but it’s not going to stop me from coming.” First-time Mardi Gras participant Ken Traylor of Houston shrugged off the shooting, saying, “Things happen nowadays everywhere.” However, the incident has highlighted concerns about violent crime in New Orleans, which has contributed to dissatisfaction with Mayor LaToya Cantrell. She won reelection easily in 2021, but has faced criticism over crime, the slow pace of major street repairs, and questions over her personal use of a city-owned French Quarter apartment. A recall petition launched last year against Cantrell is nearing a Wednesday deadline. One of the organizers, Eileen Carter, said she believes the movement has enough signatures, but will make a last-minute push. “We’re going to have people canvassing the parade routes,” Carter said. Adding to the political tumult, Cantrell was captured in a social media video gesturing with her middle finger as a parade passed by a city reviewing stand over the weekend. The mayor’s press office did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. Despite these concerns, Mardi Gras continued to be a time for satire and jest, with spokesperson Gregory Joseph saying in a statement, “The city has been enjoying a safe and healthy Carnival.” Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the culmination of Carnival season, which officially begins each year on Jan. 6 and closes with the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. While New Orleans’ raucous celebration is the nation’s most well-known, the holiday is also celebrated throughout much of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, with Mobile, Alabama, laying claim to the oldest Mardi Gras celebration in the country. Read the full article

[college-girl199328]

These nine people on the ballot, she said in an interview with NBC News, make it impossible not to have a runoff. What’s appearing increasingly possible, however, is that Lightfoot will fail to make it even that far.

In Chicago’s municipal election, if a candidate fails to win a majority, then the top two vote-getters face off against each other in a second round of voting in April.

But, with less than two weeks until the Feb. 28 election, the fiery Democratic first-term mayor—who quickly forged a national hate-hate relationship with conservatives—faces credible threats from at least three opponents in the nine-person race. With Chicagoans fed up with gun violence, her unfavourable ratings have skyrocketed. In recent polling, she's failed to break into the top two.

All that adds to the prospect that a sitting big-city mayor could be eliminated from re-election contention in the first round of voting.

"It's looking harder and harder for her," one of her competitors, Rep. Jesús "Chuy" Garcia, said in an interview. "It's a hell of a front to be fighting on, from her vantage point."

One recent poll has Lightfoot in a statistical dead heat with two others—Paul Vallas, a former CEO of Chicago Public Schools who has won the backing of Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police, and Garcia, who has high name recognition and who, in 2015, forced then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel into a runoff. Garcia lost but went on to get elected to Congress.

I love people thinking of me as the underdog, Lightfoot said. I’ve been an underdog my whole life. And I’ve always proven people wrong, so I’m OK in that lane.

Now Lightfoot is taking the battle to yet another candidate with signs of surging: Brandon Johnson, a county commissioner who has the endorsement of the politically powerful Chicago Teachers Union, which has long been at odds with Lightfoot.

At a candidate forum last week, Lightfoot focused her attacks on Johnson, who has not led in polling the way Garcia and Vallas have. It appeared to be an acknowledgment that she was battling with a surging candidate who ultimately could crowd her out of advancing to the next round.

“I take it as a sign of desperation,” Johnson said of Lightfoot’s attacks. Johnson’s support from the Chicago Teachers Union gives them an on-the-ground organization that can go door to door on his behalf. “She certainly recognizes that our movement is gaining steam, and more and more people are responding to our message.”

Lightfoot, the city's first black woman and first openly gay person to serve as mayor, had a tenure marked by tumult. She's clashed with the Chicago Teachers Union, which went on strike under her watch, in testy exchanges with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and her fellow aldermen.

In 2021, a media organization sued the mayor after she announced she would grant interviews to mark her term in office only to journalists of colour. (At the time, the mayor said she was attempting to draw attention to a Chicago press corps that was overwhelmingly white and male.)

More recently, her campaign faced an investigation after it tried to recruit public school students to volunteer for her re-election effort in exchange for school credit.

She has been credited, including recently in a Chicago Tribune editorial, for grappling with the COVID pandemic far better than most mayors. The editorial also praised her for improving Chicago’s financial condition. Lightfoot has placed equity front and centre on her agenda, the editorial said, and has worked tirelessly to improve the economic prospects of long-struggling neighbourhoods.

Lightfoot notes she has been counted out before. In her first run for mayor, she had such little support that at times she didn't qualify for the debate stage. Garcia and Vallas have both had recent stumbles. Garcia faced questions over donations from FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried, and Vallas' support from Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police has dogged him, particularly amid news that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was scheduled to speak before the union on Monday.

Lightfoot faces the threat of crime as Chicago mayor, which permeates the election and threatens her re-election chances.

Nationally, the Second City is instantaneously evoked after mass shootings, inserted into ideological clashes over gun laws that play out on cable news. City officials for years have pushed back against the notion that gun laws do little to stop crime. They say that despite local restrictions, guns gush over the border from states like Indiana, even as far away as Mississippi. They report that guns are illegally landing in the hands of young people in and out of gangs. Despite federal and local law enforcement working to step up penalties and bring more aggressive cases, Chicago remains one of the most dangerous urban cities in America — even though violence eased somewhat in 2022 compared with the previous year.

Locally, the pain and anger over repeated crime are palpable. During a recent event, stories of neighbourhood crime emerged hour after hour: an armed robbery, a break-in, a theft, and reports of shootings closer to their homes - those on Chicago's North Side that are "safe neighbourhoods."

"I know many of you are experiencing a bit of violence for the first time in your lives," Lightfoot told the crowd, hoping to calm any questions she would hear about neighbourhood safety.

Lightfoot turned her talk to the flow of weapons into the city, including her fight to take to court out-of-state gun shops.

We warned them we had given them the data, but they kept doing it. What's this old litigator doing here? She asked, alluding to her past as a federal prosecutor. We strapped it on and sued these f---ers — pardon my language.

That line roused about 50 people on a Saturday afternoon in late January. But Lightfoot’s signature tough talk did little to allay their fears.

I feel remorseful, said one North Side Chicagoan who listened to the remarks but didn’t want his name used. “I still don’t think she gets it.”

Chicagoan Greg O’Neil helped host the event at Cantina in the Wrigleyville neighbourhood on the North Side. He hadn’t decided on a mayoral pick but said the number one concern he’s heard is a recent spike in neighbourhood crime. He also said there was overall unease among friends and neighbours. Some of those with him shared those concerns.

“When you’re paying $20,000 in property taxes for an armed robbery at 1 p.m. in your neighbourhood, people feel that 20 grand isn’t getting your money’s worth,” said one.

“Streetwise people, from my point of view, are terrified. And they are moving,” said another.

And one of those was Eddie Pulliam. He travelled from the city’s South Side to visit Lightfoot that afternoon and spoke of the deterioration of his neighbourhood over time.

It would be beneficial for her to look at what is happening in established neighbourhoods on the South Side of Chicago, suggested Pulliam. There is a great deal of crime in Chicago, and I am very concerned about it. I am frustrated on the North Side, and now it is an issue."

In an interview, Lightfoot said Chicago’s persistent crime rate is higher than cities. Generational poverty in parts of Chicago combines with fractured gangs, exacerbated by the steady flow of illegal weapons.

“The biggest issue and the existential threat for us in the city is the proliferation of illegal guns,” she said. She then hit Vallas, her opponent, saying he’s oversimplifying the problem to believe more police officers will fix the issue.

Vallas, a former city of Chicago budget director, built his campaign around the crime issue.

While Garcia has held onto a polling lead, Vallas too has gained momentum in the closing weeks, including winning the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune, which said Lightfoot was “reluctant to see this moment as a time for any kind of leadership reboot.”

After an event for seniors near the South Side this week, Vallas said his plan to attack crime includes investing in the city's South and West Sides — where some of the most violent crime traditionally occurs — and adding occupational training. But he believes shortages in some of the most dangerous precincts are the most pressing concern.

"There's absolutely no substitution for providing the police department with the resources and the support they need so that they can protect communities and what you see is the significant degrading of the police department," he said in an interview.

In a lighter moment, Vallas recalled backing Lightfoot in her first bid for mayor and watching her transformation.

It is a pressure-packed job, Vallas said. It will take its toll on anyone. I can tell by listening to her voice how stressed she is. So I keep telling people, let’s run positive. Let’s focus on the issue and try not to talk about anyone else.

[libidomechanica]

“Most balmy eve; and his Dominion: no”

A Meredith sonnet sequence

               I

You swim sentry over glowing they could   not go, though it is greeting their sin. Pen,   what would it solve if he took up and clip my willing Will, devouring tresses. But beauty were barren, barren shore! I   have an ending downe to rest, that churl Death   once enlumind me, and swell my bag with pompous roialty. Most balmy eve; and his Dominion: no Nation of those my   family’s once so long to lead fraile mind,   did her transforme into her for that’s thankful sighs I blesse and clear. And fuels good as none, she doth preserve the somber movement   of desire keep pace; therefore O   loue, and thou with other as if it prove a girl who’ll fall damn near in its start back.

               II

Yet the gaze of chat, the Idoll of my   poore thrall, but him thy best! Scan, tis yon born   idiot’s, who, ah! My Nanie, O. Wherever bear unless my heart a-dying. And if they knew the time drawes, her freewill,   scorning I remember well tied in the   servile to show then her bolder winges displaces yet be low and they elsewhere, in that many wondrous House of both speake   and dead my life began. Which served for   ourselues we carue, and we went in a cool cell where the moorland fly in, First Hair, drove Penmen, as the Cuckow, when my ioy wil   be the waters did we hear the Never,   never, whisper, and the tumult of Time now signal: O, she’s spoke the animals.

               III

This waxed old, and kill, with thy living and   the Noose of my spirits rush’d together.   So euery where lives attached to accept me as a bonie lass, how all else pales beside that it cannie, O; but I’ll have sung, puppet   to a confined doom. Where I had five   sense of continence, the heart would neuer read in bookes. And all day could not speak. I could in soule up to you. Till the folde,   that heuenly borne: and griefe renew’d! Men to   deuoure those roses and the closet of my being shall excuse the sea. Of mud and most removed. I remembered consolate,   sweet Iudge, must tormenteth, her minde remembrance   what you meant, then fayrest let none could not say, This is she with winters bowres.

               IV

Till I may in dread of any ill: that   iustice slain, else men atheists, and Max   whimpers, and told him we would helpe, doe me nothing down the Gods in the victorie, yet for they don’t care I wanna be your eyes   lifting upon their young; nae artfu’ wiles   to mooted desuetude. Threat of fiery life which beholding there; which she wept with sterne countenance dew. Yon knot of the   World dirhems for a night and Stars returnd   the wintry rage of a harsh can prove unto thy petty part, giuen hath: that was a strength to her loue lay sweet grace; but on, on   thy paine: for thee, Cynara! But lodwick,   this little you smile, as the South, roses are form’d to see it playne, yielded them both.

               V

He left behind the lightly me, but, trowth,   I care na by. Nay, but Heavenly Zuhrah   who at last to promise hope of new delight? Shall the night, betwixt her lips, and die, and dislike invasive zebra mussels,   or it’s like it’s all OK. You who   want to lead fraile spirite spoyle of light was excell. Her rebellious prayses fill. That violent. Of Justice, confounded   old dreaming on the World. That all the charted   systems, we’re not till that you meant thereof, which was wont to learned to be inclynd: that when others will depose from the   sun upon her. Die and glory can be   caught with abandoned skins. See if you like I’m singing me with love and dying smart.

               VI

Then, gentle beams as the more purely brighter   of light, but thy pity like sun, as   he rode like one that err’st not to deeme of the drops headlong from a game. Of the nymphs should scorne with chaunge of loue is lyke to try.   My virgin that all thy monument, when   I am beauties graces did vnto her be all too zealous for to endure so tædious toyle, witnesse whyles her faire flowres   doe blynd boy Venus from others ayde:   for all the dead unhappy she the front of your nerves, each landscape to mine own fears, and raged deep in Phidian lore. My doubt, blush   o’ my charmer, her sweet enchanting art,   soon falters when he holds himself within be fed, without some say than my o’er-press’d.

               VII

For laik o’ gear, ye’ll cast your selfe on the   root of the bright Marigold of Leutha’s   flower: o folly! Of my deare exylde longwhile abye. But while we may, the weary dayes. Nay, any lady’s of the guests,   which my braunches rough all maskes my pain.   Moments after it inquire, but they spring, because you and name you bastard in the bowl was filled with vinegar and put   thee more, that of hers did close room, nor mone,   yet nor in field nor bowre are of Cupid humbled hart: but the lambs might be perhaps a year. And brand it would bee, for damzels   fit to entertainment of her high thoghts   more than all faith, like a religious caves, terror, lest I wish the kindling power?

               VIII

For laik o’ gear ye lightnings, weigh the beach   I wandering tongue; use powers that same   beast ambitious eyes bronze and rose. But I’ll say that ye may delight in well-raisde notes; my pulse each goodly Idoll, now, if not   quite regard, giue mercy too. At the wind   was too busy visiting seas, should stay. All other warm heart a-dying. His clumsy Will! The most odorous smell, if will,   whose heauen doth houe, many long weary minstrel-   life that in councell did bid me fear; and in the day, and let that Heav’n had sprung his praises dew, into his Self-fulfillment.   All sleep-warm pillow under your slaue;   in iustice slain, kill me gentler passion slide in the silks. Yet better thankles paine.

               IX

Now I look up, to drop on a new   Pandora see. The day or night, be torn. My   boiling sayd, her glaunce, more likely, with Sweetness to all the deadly power. Phantoms of existence from elsewhere all day could   not chose but the lang day I sought not be   seized by like it. Last atchyue the common kiss the vale; but with corage stout. Ne ought was brown before the trew fayre, breake out, that churl   Death my bonie, bonie lass, how frail our best selves   assured to the Abyss, a red, round him when he complaints doth play, and he feels, again, and last to steal away,&blasted, and   Oothoon; but Theotormon’s reign took his hart:   the while sore that it is to die in dumpish spring, whose streight bands can be destroy.

               X

Rule, wound, that not knowing thy heart and   quietly takes the mountain road, the cold reliefe   vayne man, sayd she, that’s half starved. Long since, say, lichen, and the process of my hart with the lily! Yet your beautiful! His   face defil’d when that my verse vowd to   eternity, promising wonder than Believing Prince with should’st depart, and maketh euery daungerous guides the meek camel   why he love-hat relationship. Mine a   little that I speake no word to herd with which mote peruart, let her pride that they can find her left in mine. Faltering eyes beheld   the obiect, that dream there; sap check’d with   plenteous gift thou art may pitie claim the same star doth impart. That was struck my brother.

               XI

Something to terms with the stood on the barren   as they shall I then death! Ye wadna   been sae shy; for laik o’ gear ye lighter ladies do not knowing, artful, secret core.—Still near the final end, she means I   find, but I was, in fact, stained ceiling, why   you stop my toung, and cruelly! But the frozen marriage bed! Bathe me in juice of pleasure of your mind and goods. Go to him that’s   one way Love drifts into a though shadow   in the Parliament of our glorious beauty doe beat for every part remaine. When with cold half is his looking and talking   of the spirit, from which I too would   feed until my teares, cannot raise my heart beat, night-lamp flicked from cold despair.

               XII

And what wondrous thighs, my legs and a rose   her mother skin growing-distant soon enough   to disrupt your mind that the stubborne hart to a suddenly, with ioy resembling lamenting; the larger soul, their ruthlesse   the deep in yonder you squeal at and   snow that though in vain upbraids th’ unhallow’d fire, till beautiful isn’t hard to masterfully rude, barren as they thus   devis’d, do thou but then, t’ increace. Slumber-   drunk an Arab in the nights prefer before mine, I thine, a lip to drag the child do deeds and spare it: come what is the   powre to kill? No fate for you to death the   gods had never happened balloon. Forthwith his ydle boast, but loath the Winter rude!

               XIII

And your bosome to the Fire. Divine in   view, my Helice the warp’d and cherish that   in councell didst make their late footing stars of sword and of his madnes, my Helice the dove withoute boon? The rules who dislike   or slow-worm lend thee, when shifted round the   flitting away from my deep emotion, O thought we were three Ghosts, rejoicing in the hill, the curlews call, and mounted on   his Bosom with his Associates Night   came, twas dusk; she in his mouth slips the heaven and successful too; winning postures, such portlinesse shall have play’d a soft   misnomers, so divine! Such a pilgrims made,   with nimbler much to thee. That now to your skin growing-distant drum, the king of night?

               XIV

His face, whose star, that I obtain’d their pray.   Throne thou canst prevail again appeare. Watch   out for games, those poets better men shouldst print those fayre sights, whatever we do together—that wakens men with which I may   laugh she herself before her, but fayleth   trusting on its neck and will all from human heart henceforth I did wandering if the spade from his Love? Thou should stay. Over   heart, I said, and Love her flesh. Of those fayle   fall for their faults with a riding which you’ll root and the body chiefe? Are both ioy resemble th’ vtmost of you saw too   that fayrest shall dance, as no affright control,   supposed as for the part to me crept: my feet shall dance, as the Lord vs taught.

               XV

On her fayre, shall be spread in bookes. And   many night, and partly fear, as if a   night and doth reproue, and, whether is pure and prayses yet been born is gone. Into the porch with, Let us look at was a cliché.   That once it bore; thou, when he feigneth   in mynd. Be lyke a rich laden barke, with an ear in its hand, and opens but to shepherd’s nose, the distance is it made for   the lodestar of mirth, since moulds such Consummation   never rust if you’re driving, lowers your Valentine? In dreams, and echo back her sighs. If sudden dumps and more came   a colours could neuer shall encrease, and   feye fallen adown. With crimson drops that thee array; why dost thou taught. Fading man.

               XVI

Brought may turne to confess our loue shall o’er   the other joys of riches a’s my pen—   where I went to rest that glance of all the garden-rose that the stay of her feather’d Fowl, discharge, with looks as Cockatrices   doo: but when that eternal law; and yet   there’s no more forbear to year for love returning fields into the end is ever certainties now dark with Anguish, in   white birch, glinting to kisse her mind to my   brush came close intent at his prest: how fair the highway at our back. Light a sickly former lives is holy seasons, and bring   back Her, nor could thy death to me gaue by   kind, the worlds pride, or rashly on the hostile lightly me, but, trowth, I care na by.

               XVII

But, if he hae the narrows of the World   dirhems for a name as fruitlesse beauties   grappling and many nighting upon the middle of the earth that was the sandy tracts, and me vnto Roses red: her gentle   brest ye hide, the least encumbrance what   you, chopping a glossy boot, and he turn’d his Heart torment feed. Ne wilbe moou’d with fierce lightly me, but, trowth, I care na by. Though   I and Theotormon’s Eagles to wound, and   churchmen starue my body shall move the most in her cruell and vnto me gaue by kind, in mind of that heauen or her shrill trump of fame   blaze in thee more commend? Than the gardens,   that came at play last may in termes her exultation, they shot awrie! It woman.

               XVIII

Somebody who such one that perish’d long!   For, thought I sawe so farre subdue. Uncertainties   now crown our sport. But pure a spell, and tongue to see that to his place: shall be spread in the self its multiple desire,   is of a parting there. The syntax   of love of eglantine, but shadows, where ever after room, imprisoned there is no disaster. To his Self-fulfillment.   August over the scene, had blended with   friends, because acts are nothing. And pine-crusted bodies, that pricked to the fruitless as was mine eyes looked back. Neuer in this is:   if I look up, to drop on a new   Pandora see. The night, betwixt her links of better part to speake nor thine the four winds.

               XIX

Behind yon hills of glass, beauty herself!   Make me whole years; yet noble conquer grief   beside the day, the more I loue and love him like hats but the envier? As made of the falling flowery lap of early   world. When first assay. Right so young, and I,   Love, which it doth spred his Worshippers, fine on the shovel down until Max’s hind legs stop the glint of far-off fireworks, to the   dive bar and I enter. Then suddenly   with my head cool-bedded in a siluer sheene, but more my pen—where the morgin’d ocean invade with orient eyes are but   proudly disobayes, and which I love you   by your vacuum cleaner breathing in the chords with a boy’s delight in Truth’s day-star?

               XX

Has met wi’ the queen o’ the deed to your   golden keys. In greens I picked in a lofty   be. Can I part her can be caught a fawn to hunt his spheares annoy to new delights not in my lip.—Turning heart, thought,   dare not eternall blindly in love,   beloved, and so I am hard to be wroth with feet of beasts but newly spred, her temple be desert wondering her light   like a vision of your enemyes. ’Er   the after wound with this gross spirits that which on earth as lothsome and clos’d my fond fancy, so artless, something like petrel   on thee old and former liue, that aperture   becomes the birthright in me I find to rid him in some Arabian night?

               XXI

With sweet as drowsy hour; this young Cupids.   Whole, the lesser man, and al her face. Of   weathers false desire, in my changed your selfe into the eye, the song o’ the fairy tales that is not one that I must be   heard, and Stella lookt on, and grief beside   their heads in theyr trew obiect of your vertue as thee. Begin and roll the bar and as you turn that sweet than my o’er-press’d defensive   angle with his flock, that all and therein   the burden of mortal life? Her voice right, but there to give disquiet, which did shiver in religion? And griefe with his   Teeth. Or I shall know, and know those fourty   which a spring now with most contented day nor night; but worthy to be acted.

               XXII

That The Shah Salámán fired the soft   lamp at the Blue Field; he and after long   pauses ere he strove to ape the more cruell warriour when first hunger too? With the strife. To be prolonged beyond the Fount of Justice   and proud and modesty, subtile   craft my Damzell broke his face with a nose, one yeares in his garden; they are blue, and, forsooth! With shivering human form,   that I was full oft fore-see my after-   following hand soon enough hate had put them feele as much as all things, began t’ increace, lyke a Strawberry blonde head   of night above abasement press’d   defensive angle with rivals by the vales of Eden lying in each other’s chair?

               XXIII

Before desire is death this misintended   him in some Corner of the sleep   had been elsewhere all that made him tense—how she wept and clasp’d his knees; and trying to my absence exiles sunshine by loving toward   the mouse and cry, from mine eyes, to seem to   his Ear: then, fixing the world ought from heauens know before high-piled books, in chast affects, that tree, and seeing my selfe with sacred   bowre of loue, with my plaid an’ out I’ll say   thee, clumsy Will! You must be without booke: what this hypocrite? And thus she stepp’d aside, as conscious of my purest sky: it   down he came the tyrants’ crests and they woxe,   and where to rest that watch the swan, and freesing fires of lust, yet could always be seen?

[wendellcapili]

From De La Salle University Publishing House: Balik-Tanaw: The Road Taken is the memoir of the distinguished Filipino critic Soledad S. Reyes. This book records Reyes's journey of more than seven decades, where their narrative intertwines with people and events, with social and political movements with which the country sought to negotiate the treacherous shoals in the postwar years. The account carries a fair amount of biographical data (as lodged in the critic's memory in the absence of diaries) from her childhood into college. But as the context becomes wider and more complex, the narrative takes on a more analytical frame as she tries to make sense of disparate experiences whirling about her in the tumult of the 1970s and beyond and in the startling changes in the political landscape, local and global, that now grip the Filipino nation. This account, according to the author, is a story of an individual constructing a narrative that seeks to impose order upon chaos by retrieving aspects of the past and weaving a series of recalcitrant experiences into a coherent whole. https://www.instagram.com/p/CjAOilruYEN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[antoine-roquentin]

Protests Unite Myanmar’s Ethnic Groups Against Common Foe 

Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, has killed at least 510 people and detained more than 2,500 others since it took power on Feb. 1. Now terrorized by the military themselves, many people from the Bamar ethnic majority are developing a sense of solidarity with the country’s numerous minority groups. Public apologies for years of indifference and denial of minority people’s experiences have proliferated. “We have learned day by day, and our point of view has changed. We feel really sorry,” said Yin Yin, a Bamar youth who worked as a hotelier in Yangon before the coup.

Many Bamar people also seem to be shifting their political objectives. Early in the protests, a split emerged between groups led by an older generation of protesters from the 1988 student uprisings who called for the release of democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi and elected officials and a return to the previous system of governance and a diverse group of protesters who united under the General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN) with more ambitious demands. The GSCN advocates for the abolition of the military-drafted 2008 constitution and the establishment of a new one based on federalism. These calls have rapidly gained momentum, especially among a young generation eager to make amends for past injustices and build a more equitable society.

Before the coup, military violence and government oppression of ethnic minorities evoked only weak responses from the Bamar public. Mass denial followed the 2017 campaign against the Rohingya, and only a few activists spoke out. When the Tatmadaw launched airstrikes in Kachin state in 2018 and the government blocked displaced people from safe passage or access to humanitarian assistance, there was little outcry beyond activist circles. The same was true when the government shut down the internet in Rakhine state and parts of Chin state for more than a year.

But the shared experience of suffering under military violence has contributed to shifting views among Bamar demonstrators. “Since the coup started, we all faced the same thing, the same tragic incidents all over the country,” Yin Yin said. “It doesn’t matter if we are Burmese, Kachin, Chin, or any ethnic group. As long as we are living in Myanmar, we have the same rights and we need the same freedom, so federal democracy is a must.”

Myanmar's ethnic rebels isolate junta ahead of Armed Forces Day 

Since then, these insurgent groups from the Karen, the Shan, and the Kachin have become emboldened in their anti-junta positions. The armed wing of the Karen National Union recently cut the food supply lines to feed soldiers deployed near the Thai-Myanmar border, according to media reports. Elsewhere, according to local sources, the armed wing of the Kachin, active close to the Myanmar-China border, launched fresh strikes against military positions this month. Last Sunday, a battalion of the Kachin Independence Army mounted dawn attacks on three Tatamadaw-held bases.

"The KNU has already condemned the coup, and no longer recognizes the Tatmadaw as a legitimate actor," said Jason Tower, a researcher working on conflict issues in Myanmar for the United States Institute of Peace, a think tank supported by the U.S. Congress. "The Tatmadaw will have to address growing push back from the ethnic armed groups."

He said the military's grip on Myanmar will be loosened as the rebel groups become emboldened by the chaos caused by the coup. "The Tatmadaw will be strategically weakened if it has to face conflict with ethnic armed groups on many fronts," he said. "This can worsen as the rebel armies strategically align themselves with the CDM."

A Tuesday statement by the Arakan Army -- a powerful rebel force that battled the Tatmadaw in 2019 and 2020 in the state of Rakhine -- was the latest warning shot to the junta about the shifting political alliances. It declared that it was closing ranks with the other armed ethnic groups in condemning the coup and subsequent crackdown. The move comes after the militant group had agreed on a ceasefire with the Tatmadaw last year, suggesting that the two adversaries were headed for peace.

But that is not all. The military's resources are also being stretched as China pressures the junta to protect its economic assets after 32 Chinese-owned factories in Yangon were torched this month. The investments were part of China's multibillion-dollar stake in Myanmar, spanning an oil-and-gas pipeline and large infrastructure projects as part of Beijing's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

"Threats to Chinese property and lives will be taken very seriously and, as has already been seen, diplomats will want to show an immediate response," said a senior analyst at a Yangon-based think tank, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "But [Chinese] officials also know that relations will have to be maintained with all sides in the current impasse, including the military government, NLD and ethnic nationality movements because it is too early to know who will ultimately succeed."

China’s rare earth supplies disrupted by Myanmar tumult 

Chinese companies started complaining about delays in shipments of the minerals since mid-March, reportedly due to the deteriorating political and economic situation, which Chinese media reports say have had an impact on logistics.

Rare earth metals are used in aerospace, advanced military equipment, mobile phones and electric vehicles, among other tech products. Myanmar is a major supplier of rare earth ores, which are exported to China for extraction and processing, and then either used in local production or shipped on to global markets.

Hiccups in Myanmar’s supply of rare earths are the latest indicator that the audacious military coup, launched by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and subsequent national chaos is starting to seriously disrupt Myanmar’s economy and businesses.

The impact on rare earth shipments is the latest sign the coup is adversely impacting China, which earlier expressed concern about the security of its twin oil and gas pipelines that run through Myanmar into southern China and other commercial interests amid a public backlash against Beijing for its perceived support of the country’s ruling generals.

The geopolitics of Myanmar’s black swan coup 

India is being wooed by the United States as a member of a military proto-alliance aimed at containing China, known as the Quad.

Yet the normative foundations of this arrangement were exposed as frail because India, which was also present at the parade, can’t afford to put democratic values before its interest in securing its eastern border, for which it needs close ties with the Myanmar military.

China is also in a quandary. The coup undermined all the hard work Beijing put in to building a solid relationship with a transitional democratic government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Beijing’s client is now under arrest and its strategic investment projects linking China to the sea along the so-called China-Myanmar Economic Corridor are exposed to risk by an army that is at best ambivalent about close ties with China.

There was therefore no hesitation on Beijing’s part to lend support to coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing at the Army Day Parade. China is key to the Myanmar military junta’s survival and while the surge in instability on its border may not be ideal, all in all this probably suits Beijing just fine.

Neighboring countries Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand were also present at the parade, highlighting their own narrow security interests, but also how divided the region is over the coup.

ASEAN member states have struggled to forge a consensus of concern and agreed action to de-escalate the situation. Indonesia has pushed for action, supported by Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore, but mainland states such a Thailand and Vietnam have dragged their feet, arguing that the coup is an internal affair – despite the rising risk of a mass outflow of refugees.

This regional divide has upset Washington’s geopolitical calculus. The new Biden administration is trying to corral ASEAN into a more effective bulwark against China. The Myanmar coup has been a distraction to that drive.

Washington’s priority is to solidify alliances with larger powers India, Japan and South Korea. In mid-March US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin paid an inaugural visit to Tokyo and Seoul. Blinken finished the trip in a testy meeting with Chinese counterparts in Alaska, while Austin went onto Delhi.

Missing from their itinerary was anywhere near Myanmar in Southeast Asia; nor was there a hoped-for joint statement on Myanmar in US talks with the Chinese, an omission that was noticed in the region.