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plethoraworldatlas · 2 months

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While calling this year’s presidential election against Donald Trump the most critical ever, the Democratic Party is using the same old playbook for this year’s campaigns.

The same old obsession with raising record amounts of money at the expense of presenting an authentic, vibrant agenda that will motivate millions of voters to vote for Democratic candidates.

The same old corporate-conflicted political and media consultants are controlling what the candidates say and do so as not to upset the monied interests and the lucrative consulting business for corporate clients.

We will see the same old exclusion of experienced grassroots and national citizen groups, with millions of members, who just might have some good ideas about policies, strategies, tactics, messaging, rebuttals, slogans, and ways to get out the vote, that the “politicians” have never thought of or, in their arrogance, ignored. (See winningamerica.net).

Expect the same old retention of Party apparatchiks wallowing profitably in their sinecures, never looking themselves in the mirror and asking themselves why they can’t landslide the worst GOP in history. Republican candidates are openly anti-worker, women, children, consumers, and the environment. If your name ends in INC the GOP might be on your side.

Get ready for the same old resistance to infusing the party with energetic young leaders to start replacing older, smug bureaucrats who lose to the GOP in eminently winnable races at local, state, and national levels, yet have victory parties when their losses are less than the pundits or polls had predicted. (They celebrated their 2022 loss of the House of Representatives to the vicious, cruel, ignorant GOP.)

The same old scapegoating of Third Party candidates, spending gobs of money and filing frivolous lawsuits to block them from the ballot so as not to give voters more voices and choices, and to stifle any voters who might choose Third Party candidates, is in full swing. Instead of focusing on getting more of the 120 million non-voters to vote for Democratic candidates this year, the Democratic Party is focused on denying the First Amendment rights—free speech, petition, and assembly—of Third Party candidates and their minuscule number of voters.

As Bishop William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, so cogently points out, just getting out 10-15% more low-wage and poor voters would easily help the Democrats win the national presidential election. Instead, the Democrats feed reporters material that leads newspapers to feature stories like TheNew York Times March 21, 2024 article titled “Democrats Prepare Aggressive Counter to Third-Party Threats.” What they mean is being heavy on obstructing their access to the ballot.

The same old plans to waste huge amounts of money that allow media consultants to reap 15% on campaign ad buys instead of really going for the ground game are underway. For example, one pro-Democratic Party PAC announced it would spend $140 million to put real-life voter testimonials on television praising President Joe Biden and his party. They think that’s a winner, right out of the practice of dramatized testimonials by Madison Avenue advertising firms.

Note the same old stories reporting periodic fundraising totals fed to eagerly waiting reporters comparing the Dems and the Reps money totals unattached to any programs, agendas, or commitments to the people. Thus, the March 20, 2024, New York Times dreary headline: “Outside Groups Pledge Over $1 Billion to Aid Biden’s Re-Election Effort.”

They include environmental groups, labor unions, and other “liberal PACs” that shell out the money without asking the Democratic Party to commit to any reforms or to address long-avoided necessities for the people. It’s enough that the Dems are against Trump and the GOP—assuring a race to the bottom in the presidential election.

The lengthy Times article goes on and on reporting announcements by assorted Democratic moneypots and their GOP counterparts. Similar dreary “cash-register politics” articles will appear in the coming weeks and months with ever more frequency.

Heaven forbid that reporters start writing about how all this money inhibits candidates from reforming the campaign finance system that is rotten to the core. Congress and the White House are for sale or rent! For example, the Democrats could—but do not—advance a much overdue agenda to curb the corporate crime wave; repeal anti-labor laws (like the notorious Taft-Hartley Act); junk the corrupt tax system written by big corporate tax escapees; debloat the vast, wasteful, redundant military budget; and push for the popular Medicare-for-All legislation languishing for years in Congress—for starters.

...

The same old inability to confront shrinking support or turnout from their base—African Americans and Hispanic Americans—is inexcusable. The Democrats can’t seem to convincingly say that the party is not taking them for granted and to build the relationships that could motivate these voters to return to the fold.

How about not being able to recover the loss of many unionized workers to Trump, of all demons, and show all workers why their livelihoods would improve with a Democratic victory? The Dems don’t even know how to use LABOR DAY to showcase their sincerity with events on the ground in every locality.

#us politics #biden administration #democrats #2024 elections

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xtruss · 3 months

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8 Flagrant Ways The U.S-Backed Corrupt Caretaker Government In Pakistan Is Subverting The Election! Pakistan’s Corrupt $$$ Military-Backed Caretaker Government Has Gone To Extreme Lengths To Undermine The Opposition Party’s (PTI) Shot At The Polls.

— Ryan Grim | February 7, 2024 | The Intercept

Pakistani residents walk under flags depicting candidates from different political parties ahead of the upcoming general election in Lahore, Pakistan, on Feb. 7, 2024. Photo: Rebecca Conway/Getty Images

As Pakistan Prepares to determine its next government in a general election on Thursday, concerns are intensifying about electoral irregularities. A growing body of evidence points to election manipulation and political interference by the Pakistani military.

Pakistan was supposed to go to polls last year. The country’s constitution has five-year terms for both the national and provincial assemblies as well as for the post of the prime minister. When the former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government was toppled in a parliamentary coup backed by the Pakistani military and the U.S. State Department in 2022, it was only in its fourth year.

Since then, the Pakistani military has ruled from the shadows, trying to delay the inevitable elections while at the same time trying to ensure that the massively popular Khan and his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, do not come back to power.

Inside Pakistan, the media is completely muzzled. Outside Pakistan, the upcoming elections are being called the “least credible in the country’s historyOpens in a new tab,” and “more like a coronationOpens in a new tab,” where the military is understood merely to be choosing a new civilian face for its rule. While the U.S. State Department has consistently said that it has not made a determinationOpens in a new tab about the fairness of Pakistani elections, the events leading up to the elections have not gone unnoticed in Congress.

“Threats to free and fair elections anywhere [are] concerning. In light of recent events in Pakistan and the upcoming election, let’s be clear: promoting stability, democracy, and human rights around the globe is paramount to maintaining our values worldwide,” posted Republican Rep. Nathaniel MoranOpens in a new tab on Twitter.

“There can’t be free and fair elections when one of the opposition parties has been criminalized,” posted Democratic Rep. Ilhan OmarOpens in a new tab, echoing Moran’s sentiments from across the political aisle.

The publicly visible instances of election rigging — visible, that is, to all but the Biden administration — are too numerous to articulate in a single article. What follows are the most egregious.

Banning the Leading Party’s Symbol

On a Pakistani ballot paper, each political party has an electoral symbol. Candidates in each of Pakistan’s hundreds of constituencies have their party symbols next to their names, a critical guide for the substantial portion of the electorate who can’t read. PTI candidates were stopped from using their unified electoral symbolOpens in a new tab — a cricket bat — by the court, based on a technicality no other party was subjected to. This means each PTI candidate is assigned a random symbol and has to run an individual campaign.

With the loss of its bat, PTI was converted from a formidable political party to a loose group of individuals with no legal affiliation overnight, effectively disenfranchising millions of citizens who placed their trust in PTI as a political entity. The move has been severely criticized as a “huge blow to fundamental rightsOpens in a new tab” by the Pakistani legal fraternity and civil society.

The implications of this go even further. If, by some miracle, PTI candidates overcome all the obstacles and win a majority in the Parliament, the technically unaffiliated candidates would be missing key legal protections and could be vulnerable to bribes and coercion by the military.

Shutting Down the Internet 🛜

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority is now chaired by a retired generalOpens in a new tab. The chair of the PTA has the ability to shut down the whole country’s internet or specific websites on a moment’s notice. He has shut down social media and the internet every timeOpens in a new tab Khan’s PTI held an election-related event Opens in a new tabonline in the past few months, affecting more than 100 million users.

The Pakistani media has already expressed concernsOpens in a new tab that the internet might be shut down on election day to discourage people from voting. Lending credibility to those concerns, a top minister on Tuesday hinted at the possibility of an internet shutdown on election day, alarming human rights organizations including Amnesty International and prompting them to write an open letter and put out a statementOpens in a new tab.

“Amnesty International, along with several other human rights organizations, call on Pakistani authorities to guarantee uninterrupted access to the internet and digital communication platforms for everyone across the country,” the statement read.

Banning and Jailing the Leading Candidate

The charges against ousted prime minister Khan range from incoherent to absurd. He was charged with “exposing state secrets” for publicly discussing the contents of the secret cable that The Intercept reported on last year. He was slapped with a seven-year sentence for what the Supreme Court said was an invalid marriage. And he got 14 years for supposedly keeping state gifts without filing the proper paperwork or compensating the state, though all evidence suggests that he did so.

Three major court decisions in quick succession just before the elections has been seen inside Pakistan as a message from the Pakistani military establishment. The message is intended not only for the voters, but also for the candidates, signaling the influence and control wielded by the military.

Hacking the Election Management System

Just two days ago, a local electoral official complained in a letter circulated to the Election Commission of Pakistan that key software used in managing elections was behaving oddly. In the letter, the official cites specific issues with the software and claims that data related to its staff was erased. “This weakness of [the] system has created many issues and also raises [a] question mark on the reliability and validity of the tool/software. This shows that either the [election management system] is [an] utter failure or there is a someone else [sic] that controls and manages the system behind the veil,” he wrote in the document leaked onlineOpens in a new tab.

The election management system was built by the National Database and Registration Authority, a government department that is usually headed by a civilian but since last year has been run by a generalOpens in a new tab in the military. NADRA is the primary custodian of all of Pakistan’s data — from population and demographic data to voter rolls — and is supposed to play a key role in conducting elections along with the Election Commission of Pakistan. As long as the Pakistani military has direct control of NADRA, it controls all the systems used to administer elections and transmit their results.

Secret Pakistan Document Undermines Espionage Case Against Imran Khan! The former prime minister is charged with compromising Pakistan’s secret communications, but a document leaked to The Intercept says that didn’t happen. Ryan Grim, Murtaza Hussain, December 18 2023. Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former prime minister, during an interview in Lahore, Pakistan, on June 2, 2023. Photo: Betsy Joles/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Terrorist Violence

Last week, 10 PTI activists were killedOpens in a new tab in a bomb blast at an election rally in the Balochistan province. The same week, a PTI candidateOpens in a new tab and a senior leaderOpens in a new tab were shot dead in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in separate incidents. In Karachi, a PTI candidate’s car was shot at. According to a statement from the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, there have been “no less than 24 reported instances” this year in which armed groups have attacked political parties in Pakistan ahead of the elections.

At least one of these deadly attacks was claimed by ISKPOpens in a new tab, the Afghan chapter of the Islamic State, which has never specifically targeted the PTI in the past.

Police Raids

When the elections were announced, there were several reports that unknown people and masked government officials were snatching the nomination papersOpens in a new tab of PTI candidates as soon as they would go to file them, thereby preventing them from filing to run before the deadline. Of the candidates who did manage to file, those who were not arrested faced frequent police raids on their homes.

During one raid at a political candidate’s home, an American police officerOpens in a new tab who happened to be vacationing in Pakistan was also arrested. He was subsequently released following intervention by the U.S. Embassy. In another police raid on a political activist’s house, the activist’s father suffered a heart attackOpens in a new tab and died.

Virtually every notable PTI member’s house has been raided and ransackedOpens in a new tab. In addition, PTI rallies and meetings have also been violently shut downOpens in a new tab by the police and scores of workers have been arrested. In one constituency in northern Pakistan, there were reports of police shootingOpens in a new tab at a PTI rally. On Tuesday, the last day of campaigning, almost everyOpens in a new tab PTI rally was attacked by police. In a video that went viral on social media, a PTI candidate, Zartaj Gul Wazir, is seen sitting on the road, cryingOpens in a new tab, after a police attack on her rally. In other areas that have not been so violent, comical social media videosOpens in a new tab of police chasing PTI activists through the streets have emerged.

In PTI strongholds, there are even reports of police ticketing people in unusually high numbers and confiscating their identification cards, which won’t be returned until after the election, meaning that they will be unable to vote.

Abducting Candidates and Their Families

There are reports of PTI candidates being abducted by unknown men and returning home only after announcing their withdrawal from the race. Most notably, a female PTI candidate, Iffat Tahira Soomro, was abducted and forced to step downOpens in a new tab under duress. She was the second candidate in the constituency to step down. PTI has now pitched a third candidateOpens in a new tab for the same seat.

In another incident, a PTI candidate’s elderly father was picked up from his house to pressure him into leaving the party. After four days, the father died in police custodyOpens in a new tab.

The U.N. Commission on Human Rights deplored these incidents in their statement on Tuesday. “We are disturbed by the pattern of harassment, arrests and prolonged detentions of leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) party and their supporters which has continued during the election period,” the statement read.

Voter Suppression

PTI has been counting on high voter turnout to counter the efforts to manipulate the elections. But by reducing the number of polling stations in key constituencies, the government is effectively suppressing votes in those areas.

There are polling stations that used to have a few thousand voters assigned to them but will now have tens of thousands of voters. One polling station in Lahore that used to have only 8,000 constituents has ballooned to 29,000Opens in a new tab, including thousands of young and first-time voters from all over Lahore. In some constituencies in Karachi, so many people have been assigned to each polling station that with a 50 percent turnout (roughly the total turnout for the last election), each voter will get only one minute and 13 secondsOpens in a new tab to vote.

Can PTI Still Win?

Despite the gloomy verdict, a sense of hope persists among many in Pakistan. Nothing illustrates this contradiction more than two women, Yasmin Rashid and Aliya Hamza Malik, who are contesting elections from jail. These two political prisoners, running their campaigns from incarceration and against all odds, have become symbolic figures representing resistance against military interference in Pakistani democracy.

“The Brazen Electoral Rigging, Persecution Of Political Leaders, And Sham Court Trials Have Substantially Increased The Stakes.”

“The election in Pakistan is going to be a referendum against the establishment – a local euphemism for Pakistan Army – and its associated partners,” says Hussain Nadim, an analyst and former policy specialist working with the Pakistani government. “This is why despite all efforts by the establishment otherwise, we can forecast a historic turnout in the elections. The brazen electoral rigging, persecution of political leaders, and sham court trials have substantially increased the stakes,” he added.

In the week leading up to the elections, Khan has been sentenced to a cumulativeOpens in a new tab 31 yearsOpens in a new tab in prison. His political party confronts the imminent risk of outright prohibition, with his motley crew of candidates on the run, evading authorities, attempting to canvass for votes clandestinelyOpens in a new tab (and even using Opens in a new tabartificial intelligence).

Yet, PTI has resisted calls to boycott the election. The goal, they say, is to win in such dramatic and runaway fashion that even all of the above can’t steal it.

#The Intercept #Ryan Grim #Pakistan’s Elections #Corrupt Pakistan’s $$$Army General #Corrupt to their Cores Politicians | Judges #Under Pressure from Pakistan’s $$$ Army Generals Illegal Caretaker Government #Imran Khan #PTI’s Independent Candidates

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layton-heritage-posts · 1 year

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Happy new year everyone!

Only a few hours left until we turn our back to whatever was going on in 2022 and start living in 2023, which is hopefully going to be as uneventful and boring as possible.

Since I was curious, I decided to let this Heritage blog run through the tumblr year in review, just to see how many Heritage posts there already are, how the Sexyman tournament played into all this e.t.c.

Unfortunately I didn't knew how I could change the Language on it, meaning that I had to go through the entire thing and translate everything from German to English manually. If you find any mistakes you know why.

That being said, here it is:

I posted 526 times in 2022!

316 Posts made (60%)

210 Posts reblogged (40%)

Blogs which I reblogged from the most:

@layton-heritage-posts

@taranza-stan

@marioheritageposts

@laytonsuggestion

@wolfofohu

I have tagged 421 of my posts in 2022!

Only 20% of my posts didn't have tags.

#not a heritage post – 177 Posts

#ask – 137 Posts

#professor layton – Posts

#professor layton and the true sexyman – 90 Posts

#layton heritage posts – 87 Posts

#image – 87 Posts

#luke triton – 49 Posts

#layton heritage post – 44 Posts

#text – 30 Posts

#lost future – 22 Posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#and normally i do that by searching for professor layton on everyone who followes me and see if there is anything heritage worthy on there

My top posts in 2022:

Slowly but surely we are reaching the conclusion of this Tournament, and our remaining participants are ready to give everything they have in round 3!

The semi-finals take place out in the wide fields of England, in a town that has quite a significant place in the heart of our Professor and especially his apprentice. Known for its thick fog, it’s folktales, and the huge archeological found that is the Golden Garden, Misthallery is a place full of mystery’s and puzzles. Unfortunately though, the rumors of the Golden Garden also attracted the attention of one person in particular, who used the tale of the specter’s call to scare the townsfolk so that they can dig for the Garden themselves. This very same person is still in the contest, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the residents of misthallery aren’t all that happy to see this masked man back in their town. But of course, that isn’t going to stop him.

Round 3, the semi-finals, will start on the 03.11!

145 Anmerkungen – Gepostet 1. Dezember 2022

Round 1 Starts now!

Vollständigen Eintrag ansehen

153 Anmerkungen – Gepostet 27. November 2022

Professor Layton and the Ikea Furniture Assembly

The new hit 25 hour long layton game that consists of only 5 999 Picarat puzzles. You will Cry.

158 Anmerkungen – Gepostet 18. Dezember 2022

THE FINAL ROUND IS UPON US!!!

The poll is open for 24 Hours, there can only be one winner here!!

236 Anmerkungen – Gepostet 6. Dezember 2022

My #1 of the year 2022

Ok everyone, get ready and hold on to your seat because I’m about to tell you the winner of Professor Layton and the True Sexyman:

With a difference of 164 votes, our new top Sexyman is…

Jean Descole!

316 Anmerkungen – Gepostet 7. Dezember 2022

Hol dir deinen Tumblr-Jahresrückblick 2022 →

#tumblr2022 #Jahresrückblick #Mein Tumblr-Jahresrückblick 2022 #Dein Tumblr-Jahresrückblick #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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popolitiko · 1 year

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Democracy's global decline hits "possible turning point," report finds

Dave Lawler, author of Axios World

Data: Freedom House; Note: 1 indicates not free; 36 to 70 partially free; 70 and above free.

Democracy declined around the world for the 17th consecutive year, but the pace of that decline has slowed and we could be approaching a "turning point," according to an annual report from Freedom House.

Why it matters: The rise of authoritarianism and the erosion of democracy have been among the most notable global trends of the past decade. The "Freedom in the World" report suggests those trends continued in 2022, but it also finds cause for optimism.

State of play: Countries like Colombia, Kenya and Malaysia saw peaceful transfers of power following contentious elections, while several countries that had cracked down on free speech and assembly during the pandemic loosened those restrictions.

Still, global press freedom continued its worrying decline in 2022. There were also multiple coups in West Africa, and leaders from Peru to Tunisia attempted power grabs with varying degrees of success.

Despite the many setbacks, there "were signs during the past year that the world’s long freedom recession may be bottoming out," the report's authors wrote.

The big picture: The report scores countries on the political and civil rights of their citizens and categorizes them as "free," "partly free" or "not free."

The scores of 35 countries declined, while those of 34 countries improved. That's the narrowest gap since the global democratic downturn began in 2005, Freedom House said.

Colombia and Lesotho moved from partly free to free, while Peru dropped to partly free and Burkina Faso to not free.

Finland, Norway and Sweden all received perfect scores, while the least free countries and regions were North Korea, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, South Sudan, Syria and Tibet. The report also ranks China and Saudi Arabia among the "worst of the worst."

Between the lines: President Biden has made promoting democracy over autocracy a key tenet of his foreign policy, and has often framed the U.S. rivalries with China and Russia in those terms.

The report finds the U.S. to be less free than 59 other countries, on par with Panama and Romania, and far behind fellow G7 democracies like Canada or Japan.

The authors highlight politicians making false claims about election rigging and new restrictions on abortion access as particular concerns.

Flashback: While democracy has been declining for nearly two decades, the outlook has actually improved overall during the report's 50-year history.

84 of 195 countries are currently considered free, up from 44 of 148 nations in the first edition in 1973.

What to watch: There will be further tests for democracy in the coming months as countries including Thailand and Turkey go to the polls.

#Democracy #Axios

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schraubd · 2 years

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"Dems" Who Endorse Third Party Candidates Are Monsters. Zero Exceptions.

"Dems" Who Endorse Third Party Candidates Are Monsters. Zero Exceptions. Back in 2018, when I was still living in Berkeley, I was really having a difficult time deciding who to vote for in a D-on-D assembly race between Buffy Wicks and Jovanka Beckles. Both seemed like solid people I'd be happy to have representing me in Sacramento, and I struggled to find much distinguishing the two. Until I learned that Beckles had voted for Jill Stein in 2016. Suddenly, a hard choice became very easy. Wicks gets my vote (and she went on to win the election). Fast forward a few years, to 2022. I now live in Oregon, a pretty reliably blue state. Except this year, our gubernatorial race includes not just the standard D-R matchup between Democrat Tina Kotek and Republican Christine Drazan. It also includes a well-financed "independent" candidate -- former Democratic State Senator Betsy Johnson,* well-known as among the most conservative Democrats in the caucus. Johnson, who has called Portland a "city of roaches", ran expressly because she couldn't tolerate a more liberal Democrat being the party's standard-bearer. Polling suggests an extremely tight race, and Johnson 's presence on the ballot could let the Republican slip into the governor's mansion with barely 30% of the vote. The very thought makes me livid. The idea that in Oregon, in 2022, we might have a Republican Governor because some egomaniacal blue dog Dem just couldn't back her party's nominee is outrageous. Among Johnson's endorsers is outgoing Democratic Rep. Kurt Schrader, in an obvious sore-loser move after he lost his primary to challenger Jamie McLeod-Skinner. I couldn't vote in that election -- I now live in Schrader's district, but I moved here a few weeks after the election -- and I certainly understood the pragmatic argument in favor of Schrader in a swing-y district. But Schrader himself? Absolutely dead to me. I shed zero tears for his demise. There is nothing I have more contempt for than a nominal Democrat supporting a third party in a contested general election. It is terrible if it is a "from the left" protest vote for a middle-of-three-evils like Jill Stein. It is terrible if it is a "from the center" chin-stroker vote because the Democrat is "just too radical". The current iteration of the Republican Party is a hairsbreadth away from being actual fascists. Stopping them from attaining political power is a moral obligation of the highest order. Very, very few things can trump that obligation. I can think of essentially no significant Democratic figure whose views or practices are so noxious as to trump that obligation. Yes, that includes every single member of the Squad. Yes, that includes Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema and Henry Cuellar. I don't care how annoying you find them. I don't care how valid your grievances are against them. None of them are worse than your typical 21st century Republican. If they are the general election nominee, and they're running against a Republican, you vote for them, and you do it with a smile. * In researching this post, I learned the ultimate terrible fact: Johnson is a Carleton College alum. She also got her J.D. at Lewis & Clark. I am devastated. via Blogger https://ift.tt/wk9Q5jO July 24, 2022 at 04:43PM

#Betsy Johnson #Christine Drazan #Democrats #Independents #Kurt Schrader #Oregon #Tina Kotek

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mariacallous · 2 years

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On September 11th, thousands of people brandishing religious symbols and Russian flags answered a call from the Orthodox Church and took to the streets of Belgrade to protest against EuroPride 2022 being held in the Serbian capital.

EuroPride 2022 was launched the next day: a week of conferences and cultural events, due to end with a pride march through the streets of Belgrade. Citing security reasons, the government's 11th-hour decision to ban the march was met with fury by the participants.

EuroPride is the annual European meeting of the LGBTIQA+ community, and this was its first time in the Balkans and South-East Europe. At the first EuroPride conference, the Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić, who is openly lesbian, tried to quell the anger.

"I’m doing my best, I increase the visibility. I have given myself no other right than all of you have. And that is not a lot of rights, I admit.”

This message did not go down well. EuroPride organizers, slammed the ban, as a breach to freedom of assembly.

«If anybody else can march, and the police is always providing sufficient protection,_and we are the only social group that cannot march, then it’s discrimination", stormed EuroPride 2022 coordinator Goran Miletić.

“_Who is threatening us? And why aren’t they banned? Why are we banned? It’s a peaceful protest! It’s a further degradation of rule of law, a further degradation of our human rights, a further degradation of our constitutional rights._It’s exactly why we need to be on the street on the 17th on Saturday. We must stop this!" said Marko Mihailović, director of the event.

All EuroPride venues were under heavy police protection. In defiance of the ban, volunteers mobilized for the event prepared banners for the Pride. Nothing would prevent them from marching. Many foreign LGBTI activists were there to show their support.

“Human rights in general are never granted. And we’ve seen this also in other fields, like reproduction rights or refugees and immigration rights. We have seen a lot of things going back and forth. It does seem like a constant struggle" sighs Annie Papazoglou, from Greece, before adding, in a smile:"But this is our lives, we must live them to the fullest. That's why we are here, and we are queer, and proud!".

A recent poll states that a majority of Serbs would agree to less restrictive legislation toward members of the LGBTIQA+ community, but also that the stigma is still very strong.

Maja Žilić is from the Youth Initiative For Human Rights Serbia.

“We have a very high rate of suicide among LGBT teenagers. Especially when they come from local communities outside of Belgrade. People are still very homophobic. They can't express themselves the way they want to. So they come to Belgrade to work, to study. That's why I came here too."

Maja and her team had organized a public awareness session in the city centre.

“_We are here to say that democracy means everyone has the right to protest.__For some people here there is a ban on their right to protest_”, explains Dejana Dexy Stošić to a woman passing by the group of activists.

“If these people are ill, I really cannot support them, and I just feel sorry for them!", exclaims the woman, before scurrying away.

“She said that gay people have mental diseases!" sighs Dejana, taken aback. "We do have pretty strong reactions, but we also have pretty good ones. A lot of people actually didn't know about certain things.They ask things like: "They really can’t visit their partner in hospital?” and we answer, “No! That's one of the requests of the Pride march. For homosexual couples have the right to visit their partner in hospital, or to have the right to actually inherit from their partner, things like that. J_ust basic human rights!_"

LGBTIQA+ activists are campaigning for the legal recognition of same-sex couples. A draft law, deemed unconstitutional by the Serbian President, has long been delayed. Aleksandra Gavrilović is from the Lesbian Human Rights Organization LABRIS. She is fighting for a reform of the Serbian family law. Aleksandra founded a family with her partner. Five years ago, she gave birth to triplets through artificial insemination.

“The first problems started when the children were born, since they were born prematurely, they were in an intensive care unit for premature babies. And my partner could not come to visit them because only parents are allowed to do so. And according to the law in Serbia, parents are a father and a mother. It is a constant fear that you are living with, because the law does not protect us, a constant fear of what will happen if something happens to me. Will my partner, since she has no legal status, be able to have custody of the children?" she explains, before concluding:"We need one comprehensive law, that will include everything -inheritance, health insurance, and all the elements that protect us and are related to our life."

European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli, several ministers, and many European MPs and ambassadors attended Belgrade’s EuroPride. They called for the Serbian government to reconsider the ban on the march, deemed by the European Council as a violation of the European convention on Human Rights.

Terry Reintke is a Member Of European Parliament (Greens/EFA), and LGBTIQA+ Intergroup Co-President.

“Europride is happening in a context where democracy, rule of law, liberal societies, freedom in our societies are under attack. Not only by authoritarian movements inside of Europe, but also, for example, when we look at the Russian aggression towards Ukraine.

And this makes it even more important that now we say : we have to defend these values, we have to defend these rights. And this is why EuroPride will be a symbol of that. “

Boško Obradović is leader of the Dveri Party and close to the Orthodox church and one of the main figures of the anti-Pride protests. While he tolerates legislative amendments on issues like inheritance or visitation rights in hospitals and prisons for homosexual couples, going any further, for him, is out of the question.

“For decades, we have been suffering constant pressure from the EU and NATO. For us to adjust and adapt our value system and our politics to their view of the world. EuroPride is only one part of that agenda that is imposed on us.

That package also includes the obligation to recognize independent Kosovo, impose sanctions on Russia, and also to hold EuroPride in Belgrade. We perceive Europride as part of the occupation agenda that comes to us from the West."

A few hours after meeting the parliamentarian, we hear a very different viewpoint from Aleksandar Savić, alias "Alexis Vandercunt Plastic", hosting Belgrade's monthly Drag party in a reconverted warehouse in the city outskirts.

A drag queen at night, Aleksandar is an activist during the day, with Da Se Zna, an association supporting victims of homophobic violence.

EuroPride, he says, acted as a trigger.

“We had a huge increase of violence in the past month. Four times more than in a year, since the same month of august in 2021." he tells us. "The good thing with EuroPride is that it basically provoked this hate to come out. Because in the past few years everyone was pretending that it doesn't exist, and that everything is going so well. And now it's all out so we can deal with it. And I think that reality check is going to be, I believe, very important for the queer community_to realise that if we don't fight for ourselves, no one is going to fight for us.”

Another 11th-hour decision from the government finally authorised a much shorter version of the march to take place, under the protection of more than 5,000 police. For its participants, the Belgrade event, even restricted, is a landmark moment in history for EuroPride, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

The battle is not over, concludes Goran Miletić, the Belgrade EuroPride2022 Coordinator.

“We marched, we showed that we are citizens, that we are here together, that there is solidarity. The fight will continue, this is just one episode. And I think no-one else will ban Pride ever in the future.”

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rudrjobdesk · 2 years

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Chanakya Todays Exit Poll: यूपी, उत्तराखंड में किसकी बनेगी सरकार? जानिए कितने बजे आएगा चाणक्य टुडे का 5 राज्यों का एग्जिट पोल

Chanakya Todays Exit Poll: उत्तर प्रदेश विधानसभा चुनाव 2022 के सातवें चरण के मतदान की समाप्ती के साथ शाम में एग्जिट पोल (Exit Poll 2022) आने शुरू हो जाएंगे। उत्तर प्रदेश, पंजाब, उत्तराखंड, गोवा और मणिपुर सहित पांच राज्यों में हुए मतदान के बाद सभी को 10 मार्च को आने वाले नतीजों का इंतजार है। असली नतीजों से पहले हम आपको सभी पांच राज्यों के चाणक्य टुडेज एग्जिट पोल (Chanakya Todays Exit Poll) के…

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beardedmrbean · 2 years

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Bulgaria goes to the polls on October 2 2022 in early parliamentary elections, the fourth time in two years that the country elects a legislature. The official campaign period begins on September 2.

This is The Sofia Globe’s factfile:

A total of 23 parties and six coalitions registered for the elections, but one party did not submit a list of candidates and will not appear on the ballot.

In all, there are more than 6700 candidates vying for one of the 240 seats in Bulgaria’s 48th National Assembly.

To win seats in the National Assembly, a party or coalition must get at least four per cent of valid votes cast.

Voters have the option to choose “I don’t support anyone”. Such votes are counted in when calculating turnout, but have no impact on the distribution of seats in the National Assembly.

Bulgarian citizens over the age of 18 are eligible to vote, but not if they are serving an effective term of imprisonment.

How many Bulgarians are eligible to vote? In the November 2021 presidential elections, the Central Election Commission based its calculation of turnout in the first round, held on November 14, on a figure of 6 635 505 eligible voters. For the second round, held on November 21, it used a figure of 6 672 935, on the basis of a number of people having turned 18 between the first and second rounds. For the November 14 2021 early parliamentary elections, the commission based its voter turnout calculation on a figure of 6 665 534. It is not known why the commission had two different figures for eligible voters, given that there is no legal difference in eligibility to vote in a presidential and a parliamentary election.

As amended in 2021, after the April elections, Bulgarian electoral law requires that voting is done using a machine at any precinct where more than 300 voters are registered.

There will be voting machines at 9363 polling stations in Bulgaria, with a second machine at 1104 of these polling stations.

There will be voting machines at 290 polling stations outside Bulgaria, with a second machine at 233 of these stations.

Bulgaria’s caretaker government has allocated close to 71 million leva for the holding of the October 2 elections.

With the sums allocated by previous administrations in 2021, this brings to more than 253 million leva the money set aside for elections this year and last year.

The official campaign period continues until midnight on September 30.

During the official campaign period, media publishing the results of opinion polls are required by law to include information, as provided by the polling agency, of items such as the methodology and sample size of the poll and how the poll was funded.

Coverage of the elections on public media is governed by law and by agreements between the heads of the public media and the parties and coalitions, as approved by the Central Election Commission.

Campaign materials, whether in print, on air or on billboards, are required by law to include the words “buying and selling of votes is a crime”.

Canvassing may be conducted solely in the Bulgarian language.

While electoral law governs media coverage, it is does not affect content on social networks such as Facebook, which are not defined in Bulgarian law as media providers.

During the campaign period, election materials may not include the coat or arms or the flag of Bulgaria or a foreign country, nor religious signs or images. Election advertising may not depict children.

Electoral law forbids the distribution of anonymous campaign materials and those that denigrate the “good morals, honour and dignity” of candidates.

Campaigning in state and municipal institutions and companies, as well as the use of state or municipal property by parties, coalitions, independent candidates and initiative committees, is prohibited.

It is expected that during the campaign period, the Dossier Commission, the body empowered by statute to disclose whether people in certain public walks of life were affiliated with Bulgaria’s communist-era secret services, will announce the results of its checks of parliamentary candidates. Bulgaria’s constitution does not allow lustration, so even if a candidate is announced to have worked for these services, this is no bar to being elected to office.

Following the close of the official campaign period, October 1 will be a “Day of Contemplation” during which canvassing is forbidden.

From the end of the campaign period until after 8pm on October 2, it is forbidden to make public the results of exit polls.

On election weekend, municipalities have the right to ban or restrict the sale of alcohol. There are 265 municipalities in Bulgaria, so such decrees – if issued – have to be checked individually. Any such ban also applies to foreigners ineligible to vote in presidential and National Assembly elections in Bulgaria.

On October 2, voting opens at 7am and continues until 8pm. If there are still queues at 8pm, election officials are empowered to extend voting, but no later than 9pm. These same hours and rules apply at polling stations abroad, on the basis of local times.

While exit polls will be made known publicly on election night, the Central Election Commission has until October 6 to publish the official results of the election and until October 9 to announce the names of those who have been elected as MPs.

An MP elected from more than one electoral district must declare from which one that MP will be deemed to have been elected.

According to the constitution (to be found in English at this link), the President has up to a month after the elections to convene the National Assembly. Should the President not do so, Parliament may be convened by at least a fifth of its members.

After consultations with parliamentary groups, the President appoints a Prime Minister-designate nominated by the party that has won the highest number of seats in the National Assembly.

Should the Prime Minister-designate fail to form a government within seven days, the mandate is passed to the person designated by the second-largest parliamentary group. Should the second attempt at forming a government fail, the mandate goes to a parliamentary group of the President’s choice.

Should consultations on forming a government prove successful, the President asks the National Assembly to vote to elect the Prime Minister-designate.

If no agreement on forming a government is reached, the President appoints a caretaker government, dissolves the National Assembly and schedules new elections on a date two months from the date on which Parliament is dissolved.

#nunyas news #good luck with round 3 is it #you're still doing better at forming a government than belgium and israel

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 2 years

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Why have you been posting stuff from Matt Walsh lately? Isn't he one of those conservative idiots mad at the world for having gays and Trans people in it or whatever, or am I misinformed? I assume you just agree with those few specific things he said, but what's your opinion on him overall?

To be honest, I never really knew who he was. I'd heard his name around, but wasn't sure who he was or what he does.

I have no affinity with nor allegiance to him, and I suspect we would disagree on very many topics. However, in the current climate of terror and vacuum of honesty on the topic, it seems it's up to the conservatives to make this sort of film. And I appreciate him for doing that and for making it such an easily accessible argument.

Having watched it, I saw very little of his politics in it. He came informed, but he asked sincere questions. When the person responded, he asked for them to clarify or elaborate, and that usually was enough to reveal the problem. Basically, the Socratic method. Which anyone can use. Most of the ideologues in it had clearly never been probed or really questioned about the meaning of what they were saying, and either got tangled up or offended that anyone would question them. Obviously it was edited down from longer form interviews into a 90-ish minute film, but that's going to be true for any such production.

I haven't dug into Matt's specific views on many topics. Partly because he's a shit-stirrer, which itself I kind of appreciate, but it makes it harder to glean from his Twitter feed what he thinks vs what he's saying to make a point.

For what it's worth, I've found that most conservatives, other than the really fundie Xian types, don't give a shit about whether you're gay or trans (I mean, actually trans, with GID, not the "girls who don't like pink are boys or something else" kind). For example:

https://www.advocate.com/law/2022/6/09/homosexuality-voted-be-struck-pennsylvanias-criminal-code

Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives unanimously voted Wednesday to strike the word “homosexuality” from the state’s criminal code, where it had been listed in the definition of prohibited sex acts. Supporters say said the word doesn’t belong since being gay isn’t a crime, according to the Associated Press. “This bill provides a long-overdue update to our crimes code to ensure nobody is prosecuted because of who they love,” said state Rep. Todd Stephens, a Republican who also introduced the bill. “Eliminating this archaic language will also help promote a culture of acceptance and inclusion for our LGBTQ community across Pennsylvania.” Stephens had first introduced the bill last year, according to Patch. Pennsylvania’s law against sex work defines sexual activity so that it references “homosexual and other deviate sexual relations.” The new definition that has been sent to the state’s Senate now reads “includes sexual intercourse and deviate sexual intercourse ... and any touching on the sexual or other intimate parts of an individual for the purpose of gratifying sexual desire of either person,” according to the AP. “Homosexuality” was also struck from the definition of sexual conduct, the news wire reports, in a section covering “obscene and other sexual materials and performances.” “In this General Assembly, sadly, it’s a huge lift to merely agree that being gay shouldn’t be illegal,” Democratic Rep. Dan Frankel said.

Frankel urged lawmakers to go further and pass antidiscrimination legislation protecting LGBTQ+ people.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lgbt-poll/most-republicans-support-same-sex-marriage-for-first-time-gallup-idUSKCN2DL294

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A majority of Republicans in the United States support same-sex marriage for the first time, a Gallup poll found on Wednesday, with a record 70% of all respondents backing gay weddings. The research shows a significant increase in approval of same-sex marriage since 2015, when it was legalised nationwide following a Supreme Court ruling and 60% of Americans told Gallup they were in favour of gay marriage.

The idea that conservatives are, by default, anti-LGBT people isn't any more true than that progressives are all pro-Choice.

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/06/18/three-in-ten-or-more-democrats-and-republicans-dont-agree-with-their-party-on-abortion/

Overall, roughly one-third of Americans who identify as Republican or as Republican-leaning independents do not agree with their party on abortion (35%), including 12% who say they agree with the Democratic Party on abortion and 23% who say they do not agree with either party. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, three-in-ten do not agree with their party on abortion, including 7% who say they agree with the GOP and 22% who say they don’t agree with either party.

We also need to note how some of the most vicious homophobia is currently coming from supposedly "progressive" people, in what's being dubbed "Homophobia 2.0" - an intolerance for homosexual people to be attracted to people of the same ("homo") sex. And erasure even by the LGBT groups that pretend to serve them. Which isn't to say that conservatives are better than progressives, but that it isn't that black and white.

I've said before that driving a car requires using both pedals. If you keep your foot on the brake, you never go anywhere. If you floor it, you're going to go careening off a cliff. In a functional liberal society, all ideas get a chance, but not all ideas survive. The US and other countries need sane, liberal progressive and conservative wings to provide those healthy, competing forces. Which right now they seem to be lacking.

I have no allegiance to either, so I can agree with Matt, or find value in what he's saying on a topic without pain or discomfort, and disagree with him on other things, particularly his Catholicism, or, say, if he opposes LGBT adoption, for example.

Similarly, many Xians and I can both agree that Islam is a threat; some of them have a secular view, others object to Islam because it threatens their desire to Xianize everything. But it means that David Wood of Acts17Apologetics can have a point about what the quran and hadith say that makes Islam false. And I can roll my eyes and have trouble taking him seriously that he doesn't spot the same problems in his own superstitions.

The rejection of a valid argument or point based on who it originates from is itself a fallacy.

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/genetic

genetic You judged something as either good or bad on the basis of where it comes from, or from whom it came. This fallacy avoids the argument by shifting focus onto something's or someone's origins. It's similar to an ad hominem fallacy in that it leverages existing negative perceptions to make someone's argument look bad, without actually presenting a case for why the argument itself lacks merit.

As I say, I don't know much about him, so don't have a strong opinion of him. I don't know that we would agree on much, and I don't know that we could even be "friends." But I don't hate the fact he exists - when progressives are being idiots, there should be people to mock and validly show them up, just as there should be the same for when conservatives are being idiots.

The most important thing is whether or not the point is justified.

#ask #Matt Walsh #What is a Woman #conservative #progressive #religion is a mental illness

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welcome2thebronx · 2 years

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Winners and Losers: Bronx 2022 Election Results

Check out the 2022 Election results for The #Bronx. No big surprises, overall, AOC easily trounced her Republican challenger, Tina Forte.

For the last several elections, The Bronx has had an abysmally low voter turnout at the polls and the 2022 General and Midterm Elections proved no different. Overall in The Bronx, election results revealed no major upsets with Democrats solidly holding comfortably onto power in their districts whether they be congressional, or New York State Assembly and senatorial districts. Rep. Alexandria…

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#Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez #AOC #Elections 2022 #John Zaccaro #Nathalia Fernandez #Politics #Tina Forte

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papirouge · 2 years

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If your fashion brand incorporates Bantu roots (iirc), will any of the pieces be traditional garments that I should look out for as an outsider? I try to stay away from cultural garments that would offend others if they saw me wearing them

That's a nice and considerate question🤍

I'm not one to get mad at people wearing other culture's textile or clothing. It's 2022 and our daily life is a melting pot of a bunch of different culture and this weird gatekeeping some people feel entitled to do reeks of insecurity. As a Black woman, I am genuinely embarrassed by Black women getting mad at non Black wearing Bantu knots or braids, when they themselves are literally wearing non Black women's hair on their scalp... At least, the non-White people doing these Black hairstyles are doing them with their own hair....🥴

I am currently obsessed with Kuba textile that originates from Congo. It's interesting that wax is hailed as a typical African textile when it's actually an import from European textile manufacturers lol (to give you an idea, the biggest wax manufacturer is Vlisco, which is a DUTCH textile company lol) So it's once again super funny to see some Black people getting butthurt defensive about non Blacks using or wearing it. So yes, wax eventually got reappropriated by Africans who made it a whole cultural symbol, exactly like the sailor suit, which is originally a British Empire uniform, got appropriated by Japan and eventually became THE symbol of the Japanese schoolgirl.

Here's a secret though : I always disliked wax because I'm not into colors like that lol I am MUCH MORE into Kuba textile that originates from my country of origin, Congo. I am fascinated with the shapes, the change of scale/"rhythm" of the composition. They are also much more toned down in term pf color (it's made of raffia so it's naturally brown and they use a natural dye(?) for the black or red color

Since I have a fondness for illustration I will create original surface pattern for the textile the clothes will be made of. I willl literally draw them from scratch. Just because I am making modesty clothing doesn't it should look boring or like a cosplay of the regency era lol I already stated how Eurocentric the tradfem aesthetic was (99% of tradfem -who aren't even White themselves- I know are fancy'ing the Jane Austeen book/Victorian era aesthetic). I want to create a collection for creative and dreamy Christian women living in the 21st century - not cosplaying living in the 1800s. Not all of us are spending all daydreaming about our rude lover while wandering in an English garden : we work, we travel, our existence isn't relying on a male attention. We are real human being - not book characters. It's when I realized how bad I was struggling to find dresses in winter that I decided to make a brand aiming to fix this issue. Thanks to this poll, I realized that many other Christian women struggled to find clothes they felt comfortable with.

Btw, IDK if that's you who asked me the question in the poll but someone asked be if my collection was only for Christians and not Catholics and I want to make clear that despite not being Catholic (nor Protestant - I'm non-denominational lol) : my brand focuses FIRST AND FOREMOST to Christian women -from ANY denomination- seeking to wear clothes they feel comfortable with. Tbh, I think Catholics women are much more consistent than the Christian ones when it comes to modesty. Like, more Catholics seem to agree that women should be veiled at the assembly, not wear make up, dress modestly, etc. than the average Evangelical women who for the most part is more "liberal"/"GoD dOeS'nt cAre aBout ApPeAreaNce" type (which is untrue since the Bible has very precise prescriptions about our physical appearance LOL). So yeah, I respect Catholic women a lot<3

ps/ for those interested, my mailing list for my upcoming collection is up :) I will soon start updating my insta page (I already have a whole month scheduled lol) so subscribe to get updates and news :)

#answered #my work

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