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opencommunion · 3 months

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since zionists want to act obtuse about why we're criticizing a superbowl ad, here's an explanation from before the ad even aired. it was openly designed to act as pro-genocide propaganda. fighting antisemitism is a worthy goal but that's not what's happening here:

"The New England Patriots’ 81-year-old owner, Robert Kraft, writes seven-digit checks to the right-wing Israeli lobbying machine AIPAC, but his personal, political, and financial ties to Israel run deeper than the occasional donation. The multibillionaire married his late wife, Myra, in Israel in 1963 when Kraft, then 22, was older than the nation itself. Together they set up numerous business, athletic, and charitable ties to Israel, a record of which is proudly proclaimed on the Kraft company website. In particular, the Kraft Group boasts of its 'Touchdown in Israel' program, where NFL players are given free, highly organized vacations to see 'the holy land' and come back to spread the word about 'the only democracy in the Middle East.' (Not every NFL player has chosen to take part.) Kraft also attends fundraisers for the Israel Defense Forces, currently—and in open view of the world—committing war crimes in Gaza."

Now, as Israel wages war against the civilians of Gaza—more than 25,000 Palestinian have been killed with at least 10,000 of them children—Kraft is again flexing his financial and political muscles in order to defend the indefensible. His Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) will be spending an estimated $7 million to buy a Super Bowl ad titled 'Stop Jewish Hate' that will be seen by well over 100 million people. Under Kraft’s direction, the ad’s goal is to create a propaganda campaign to counter the reports and images from Gaza that young people are consuming on social media.

... The content of the Super Bowl ad is not yet known, but FCAS has afforded Kraft the opportunity to make the rounds on cable news saying things like, 'It’s horrible to me that a group like Hamas can be respected and people in the United States of America can be carrying flags or supporting them.'

This is Kraft enacting the mission of FCAS: fostering disinformation. He is far from subtle: A Palestinian flag becomes a 'Hamas flag,' and people like the hundreds of thousands who took to the streets of Washington, D.C., last month to call for a cease-fire and end the violence are expressions of the 'rise in antisemitism.' Without a sense of irony or the horrors happening on the ground in Gaza, Kraft says he is giving $100 million of his own money to FCAS, because 'hate leads to violence.'

Let’s be clear: What Kraft is doing politically and what he will be using the Super Bowl as a platform to do is dangerous. He appears to think any criticism of Israel is inherently antisemitic. For Kraft, it is Jews like myself, rabbis, and Holocaust survivors calling for a cease-fire and a Free Palestine that are part of the problem. Kraft seems to think that opposition to Israel, the IDF, and the AIPAC agenda is antisemitism.

... Right-wing Christian nationalists, with their belief in a Jewish state existing alongside their conviction that Jews are going to Hell, are welcome in Netanyahu’s Israel and Kraft’s coalition. Left-wing anti-Zionist Jews are not. The greatest foghorn of this evangelical right-wing 'love Israel, hate Jews' perspective is, of course, Donald Trump. Kraft, while speaking of being troubled by events like the Charlottesville Nazi march and the right-wing massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue, counts Donald Trump as a close friend and even donated $1 million to his presidential inauguration.

No one who provides cover for the most powerful, public antisemite in the history of US politics should ever be taken seriously on how to best fight antisemitism. No one who funds AIPAC and the IDF and opposes a cease-fire amid the carnage should be allowed a commercial platform at the Super Bowl. But given that the big game is always an orgy of militarism, blind patriotism, and big budget commercials that lie through their teeth, perhaps that ad could not be more appropriate. We can do better than Kraft’s perspective on how to fight antisemitism. Morally, we don’t have a choice."

#zionism

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knightsickness · 11 months

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acceptable jobs for modern au jaime lannister

secret service (closest to canon)

nepo baby pro athlete

politician/corporate exec with absolutely no ambition (tywin’s company)

controversial famous-for-being-famous reality tv star

accessory to cersei’s wildly unsuccessful presidential campaign

pro wrestling heel everyone assumes is just really committed to an insane rich guy persona

fox news anchor

guy catelyn (widowed) is fucking who robb is desperately trying to get rid of before he becomes his evil stepdad (hit bran with his porsche)

#game of thrones #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #jaime lannister

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remmixx · 11 months

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rotpl quotes i think about daily

I don't weep often. Maybe once, twice a day...

MY CORN

you HAve the rAnge

I didn't know it was cat food!

I felt a connection out there on the field too, but it was strictly horse to athlete

CatholiCISM

These actors can't go on stage NUDE, can they? ...can they? *grabs tits in fear*

That’s my second bedroom where we keep the rabbits

pResIDEntIAL sLuT

You can’t pour the coffee. You’re 8 years old and you have Typhoid.

*walks into the men's locker room, where she has 100% been before* I have never been in here.

She dresses like a lumberjack, Lawrence

BEEP BOOP

No somersaulting after balls in the hallway

Did you eat some (lipstick)? ...Not on purpose.

#rise of the pink ladies #grease: rise of the pink ladies #rotpl

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solar-wing · 2 months

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[yandere] popular jock alpha 🏈 x overachiever omega 🎓

hunter ramirez x remy griffin

heeeeyyyy :)

if anyone remembers, I posted a poll a while back about what yandere scenario I should post first and it was a tie between jock and streamer. so here's the jock one now!

these are original characters and not associated with any fandom content I've posted before. thus, it is not x reader, BUT when I get more posts out, I will accept requests for those who want to create their own little scenario ;).

MAJOR SHOUTOUT to @darling--core and her yandere jock character who was pretty much the entire inspiration for me wanting to create yandere content. literally messaged her and was like 'gurl can I use this as inspiration?' and she said yes so I'm very happy to share this with everyone now.

⚣ T.W. 🏈🎓 → yandere | MINORS DNI 18+ only | possessive & controlling behavior | a/b/o dynamics |

⚣ Words 🏈🎓 → 1.4k

REBLOGS & replies are greatly appreciated, please! 💛

⚣ ENJOY 🏈🎓

Senior year is always the start of some bullshit.

Remy Griffin, upcoming class valedictorian, student council president, and recipient of various titles and awards is skilled at many things. Elected president of the Math Leagues for the last three consecutive years, he’s led his school to the national mathematics competition every year, never leaving with anything below 1st place.

He single-handedly rallied his school together for multiple protests, whether against unfair school rules or in support of a global cause.

He won his seat on the student council during his junior year, initially as the vice president, coming in 2nd behind Hoeniffer—*ahem*— Jennifer Farrow who was gunning for the presidential seat against him. He suspected the ho—girl of cheating and after thorough investigation and use of his charming Omega nature, he discovered it to be the truth. As a result, Hoeniffer was kicked from the student council, and Remy was elected to his rightful seat as President, with his close friend Dustin Bellerose taking his place as V.P.

There was nothing Remy couldn’t solve or achieve.

So why the hell couldn’t he manage to rid himself of the school’s most popular, yet insufferable Alpha, Hunter Ramirez?

Hunter held similar achievements to Remy, only his were mainly athletic. Captain to the football, basketball, and baseball teams since sophomore year. He’s led the school to numerous championships and has had college scouts from all over the country coming to see him play.

Yet, none of those things seem more important to him than obsessing and chasing after the school’s resident overachiever.

Hunter and Remy have gone to the same school since 1st grade, and as far as the Omega could remember, Hunter never showed him attention like this. Minus some instances where he noted the Alpha’s questionable behaviors, he never gave Remy reason to think he was an obsessive and controlling freak.

But he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t noticed signs of Hunter’s growing obsession with him as far back as freshman year.

It was relatively small stuff.

When the school year started and everyone was given their class schedules, that first week, Hunter would be in maybe two or one of his classes. Their sophomore year, he wasn’t in any of his classes. But every year, Hunter somehow ends up in most of his classes.

He even somehow managed to get into his A.P. classes, which confused the hell out of Remy because Hunter barely passed his regular classes to his knowledge, but it goes to show you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

Either way, whatever classes Hunter ended up in with him, he’d act like it was a crime for anyone to try and talk to the Omega besides him. And there was never any possibility of Remy getting one of their other classmates as a partner for a project.

If the teacher left it to the class to choose their partners, Remy would try and get someone else to be his partner, but Hunter would come strolling overall calm and quiet and give the guy or girl one look, and they’d be scurrying out of their seats like mice.

But if the teacher took it upon themselves to assign partners and gave Remy someone other than Hunter, it wasn’t long before he’d use the split personality that was reserved for adults and teachers alike to charm his way into getting what he wanted. Therefore, by the end of the period, Remy would have the Alpha as his partner, even if he tried to beg the teacher himself to let him keep his old partner.

That was just the beginning of Hunter’s seemingly back-then possessive attitude toward the Omega. But, little did he know of the other things that would follow.

Like members from the different athletic teams who Remy knew for a fact were either friends or associates of Hunter to a degree watching him in the halls, during study period, or in one of the few classes that the Alpha wasn’t in with him. It was like he could never be alone.

If Remy raised his hand to go to the bathroom or just disappeared somewhere, one of those jocks would suddenly be texting on their phone, then, two minutes later, Hunter would appear at wherever Remy was going with a smile that the Omega over time came to realize was only reserved for him.

Everyone else got his stagnant and bored face, which could be extremely intimidating since Hunter was very fit, very large, and generally just gave off silent but dangerous vibes. The adults and teachers would get his charming, pearly white smile, and that was only if the Alpha wanted something from them, like, say for example, Remy’s school file with his personal information like his address and phone number since the Omega wouldn’t give it to him initially.

In their eyes, Hunter was a good and noble student who was just looking out for his friend. And, even though school rules and the literal fucking law technically prevented this, Hunter did say Remy sent him there on his behalf. How could they not trust that innocent and charming smile of his?

Remy was still trying to figure out how Hunter got his number during junior year since he never gave it to him despite the Alpha’s numerous and persistent (almost considered forceful) attempts at getting it out of him. Hunter might have been an Alpha, but Remy was a stubborn little devil who never knew when to throw the towel in and would rather chew glass than even consider the thought.

Maybe that was why Remy seemingly couldn’t keep a boyfriend throughout his late middle school and high school years. Yeah, you heard right. Overachiever Remy Griffin whose schedule most government officials and CEOs couldn’t compete with also made time for romance and love. He was young. He liked attention. And most of all, he was horny. Sue him.

But, up until senior year, the Omega couldn’t name one relationship he had that lasted more than a month and where he didn’t get ghosted out of nowhere. It was almost like they were scared of him too.

Whenever he would try to talk to them and figure out what went wrong, they’d take one look at him, glance around the room or hall and catch eyes with something and then hightail it off like someone lit a fire under their asses. And when Remy would glance in the direction they were looking before they took off, guess who’d he find giving him that smug little smile just a few feet away?

Hunter fucking Ramriez.

Remy almost bashed himself in the head for not recognizing the signs of the Alpha’s obsessive behavior toward him earlier, and most of all, not doing something about it.

Now, it was senior year, and Hunter seemingly upped his game tenfold. He was practically acting like the Omega’s boyfriend, husband, bodyguard, and controller all wrapped up in one deliciously tight, hot, and muscled package.

Ironic as well when you consider the fact that the Alpha and Omega won ‘Cutest Couple’ in their class yearbook every year since freshman year despite Remy never remembering once even signing his name down on that blasted category. He always went for ‘Most Likely to become President’ and ‘Most Likely to be your Future Boss,' and yet somehow, his and Hunter’s name ended up in that section of the yearbook every year since they got their first ones in the 9th grade.

But, thinking about it now, it wasn’t that surprising, knowing Hunter’s influence in the school and the fact that he probably convinced bribed/blackmailed someone on the yearbook committee to put their names in. Another blatant sign Remy so ignorantly ignored.

And despite the Omega’s still strong feelings of aversion and disdain toward the Alpha, he couldn’t figure out if the jock was slowly starting to grow on him or if he just liked the attention.

Either way, Remy Griffin knew one thing. He couldn’t fucking stand Hunter Ramirez, and hell would have ice water and top-notch air conditioning before he let that smug and controlling Alpha think he’d just fall over and do whatever he said.

Remy was no punk, and he’d soon find out neither was Hunter.

“Me & Hunter? Sorry, I have to go home and laugh at that idea.” “You could pretend to like him.” “I could, but there’s a reason I never joined drama club.”

☀️ | YANDERE | ☀️

☀️ | Masterlists | ☀️

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cartermagazine · 3 months

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Today In History

Muhammad Ali was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. His birth name was Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.

At an early age, young Clay showed that he wasn’t afraid of any bout—inside or outside of the ring.

At the age of 12, Clay discovered his talent for boxing through an odd twist of fate. After his bike was stolen, Clay told police officer Joe Martin that he wanted to beat up the thief. “Well, you better learn how to fight before you start challenging people,” said Martin.

Clay started working with Martin to learn how to spar and soon began his boxing career. In his first amateur bout in 1954, he won the fight by split decision. Clay went on to win the 1956 Golden Gloves tournament for novices in the light heavyweight class. Three years later, he won the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, as well as the Amateur Athletic Union’s national title for the light heavyweight division.

In 1960, Clay won a spot on the U.S. Olympic boxing team and traveled to Rome to compete. After winning his first three bouts, Clay defeated Zbigniew Pietrzkowski of Poland to win the light heavyweight Olympic gold medal.

After his Olympic victory, Clay was heralded as an American hero. He soon turned professional and continued overwhelming all opponents in the ring. In 1964 Clay’s victory over Liston earned him his first world heavyweight boxing championship.

The next morning, on February 26, Clay announced his affiliation with the Nation of Islam, and his name became Muhammad Ali.

Muhammad Ali started a different kind of fight with his outspoken views against the Vietnam War, and in his retirement, Ali devoted his time to philanthropy around the world. In 1998 he was the United Nations Messenger of Peace, and in 2005 Ali received the Presidential Medal of Honor.

Ali also received the President’s Award from the NAACP in 2009 for his public service efforts.

“Truly great people in history never wanted to be great for themselves.” - Muhammad Ali

CARTER Magazine

#carter magazine #carter #historyandhiphop365 #wherehistoryandhiphopmeet #history #cartermagazine #today in history #staywoke #blackhistory #blackhistorymonth #muhammad ali

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hammercarexplosion · 15 days

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"[Third party] won't win the presidential election!" "We're not gonna have a full-blown revolution in the next six months!" "If you don't have a comprehensive alternative ready right now you lose!" "Your ideas will never win!" "Your actions won't result in immediate radical changes so therefore you lose!"

Our actions have value outside of the false dichotomies of "winner takes all" concepts. Life and politics are not a sports competition. We are not a team of athletes but rough coalitions of dreamers. In many cases, simply to rebel is enough, to deny the legitimacy of the forces and structures that oppress us. It is a victory to deny power its full control over us. If you cannot see that, you are still mired in capitalist propaganda. We are not here to convince the liberal and the fascist that we are right, we are here to live our lives how we see fit.

We act not to win in the eyes of our oppressors but to spit in them. That is how change comes about. Conession to fascism in all its form only serves to strengthen what harms us. Deny it.

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timepool · 4 months

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THIS WEEK'S GOOD NEWS

Maine disqualified Trump from the 2024 ballot!

https://ground.news/article/maine-elections-official-disqualifies-trump-from-presidential-primary-ballot

I am allowed to indulge in gamer news sue me-- Bobby Kotick is OUT as CEO of Actibliz! This follows…well a lot of controversies including discrimination, harassment, mismanagement, and other flavors of employee abuse!

https://www.ign.com/articles/bobby-kotick-leaving-activision-blizzard-on-december-29

South Africa has filed a case in the ICJ against Israel, on the grounds that they're…y'know, committing war crimes and carrying out a genocide in Palestine.

https://ground.news/article/south-africa-files-icj-case-accusing-israel-of-genocidal-acts-in-gaza_38e1b4

For the US, 2023 saw record drops in homicide rates

https://ground.news/article/this-year-set-to-mark-record-drop-in-homicides-research-shows_dc58a8

Ohio's governor vetoed anti-trans legislation that sought to restrict healthcare and ban athletes from competing in affirming leagues. (Again, WEEK AFTER WEEK we are seeing stories like this! We ain't going anywhere!)

https://ground.news/article/ohios-republican-governor-vetoes-trans-care-restriction-and-sports-ban_3bb9bd

Major breakthroughs are being made in nuclear fusion research-- namely, scientists have managed to not only produce reactions that release more energy than was used to start them, but they've also managed to repeat said reaction! (This is actually from last week I just missed it-- but it's p big!)

https://ground.news/article/scientists-successfully-replicate-historic-nuclear-fusion-breakthrough-three-times_7e3657

--- Why not reblog and share other bits of good news you’ve seen this week? My own exposure is limited and I’d love to see stories I missed!

#good news #news #politics #positivity

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noosphe-re · 9 months

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In a time when the expansion of the United States–Mexico border wall looms over more nuanced discourses on national citizenship, it is urgent for architects and designers to envision what it means to be a citizen today.

Questions of belonging, of who should be included and how, are posed with every athlete taking a knee, every #metoo, every presidential tweet, and every protest sign or fist raised. Yet as transnational flows of capital, digital technologies, and geopolitical transformations expand, conventional notions of citizenship are undermined. We define the term as a tangle of rights, responsibilities, and attachments linked to the built environment. And so we ask: How might architecture respond to, shape, and express rhizomatic and paradoxical conditions of citizenship?

The US Pavilion explores seven spatial scales: Citizen, Civitas, Region, Nation, Globe, Network, and Cosmos. These scales, telescoping from body to city to heavens, broadly position citizenship as a critical global topic. Commissioned installations by architects, landscape architects, artists, and theorists investigate spaces of citizenship marked by histories of inequality and the violence imposed on people, non-human actors, and ecologies. These works aim to manifest the democratic ideals of inclusion against the grain of broader systems: new forms of sharing economy platforms, the legacies of the Underground Railroad, tenuous cross-national alliances at the border region, or the seemingly Sisyphean task of buttressing coastline topologies against rising tides.

The installations and the film and video works on view do not solve the complex relationships of governance, affinity, and circumstance that bind us, citizen to stranger, self to other. Instead, they use architecture’s disciplinary agency to render visible paradoxes and formulations of belonging. Only when spatial understandings of citizenship—legal, cultural, and ecological—are in sight might we struggle free from antiquated definitions, forms, or bureaucracies and activate potent spaces for design. —Dimensions of Citizenship, US Pavilion, Biennale Architettura 2018, May 26–November 25, 2018, Venice (http://dimensionsofcitizenship.org)

#architecture #citizenship #urbanism #urban design #social #cities #quote #Venice Architecture Biennale

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sunskate · 2 months

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You don’t need to respond to this if you don’t want but the Buick ad put me over the edge too. Tessa has always been good at selling herself as this advocate for women and girls when the reality is that she’s an influencer who uses feminism lite to promote brands.

Her accomplishments as an athlete will never lose their power, but a lot of what she has done after relies on her conventionally attractive looks and the notoriety she has as a celebrity instead.

I mean she might have complained about having to dress up for practices at competitions, but she did it. She might talk about how she observed things as unfair when she was skating, but she has done very little to change that both as an athlete and after as someone who has fame and very little to lose given how little she wants to be involved in skating now (though maybe she’s holding back to preserve her options and help Fear/Gibson). I mean she’s so trained to be uncontroversial that she couldn’t even say that it was a shame Greta Gerwig wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for Barbie when asked directly by Anastasia.

Tessa may have beliefs about equality but she hasn’t extended herself to advocate for it in any meaningful way outside of selling us stuff.

she's not obligated to be an activist or an advocate. better than fine to be an influencer if that's what she wants. it's the pretense that she's somehow advocating when in reality she's selling cars. or that Buick somehow stands for something positive for women when it's they who want something from us

this is not at all a perfect analogy, but the way she does these reminds me of being in first grade and being asked to say something about a presidential election when i had no idea what politics was - i was kind of wide eyed listening to the other kids, and when it was my turn i was like, we should vote for the one who's going to do the best job 🥺🙃- meaningless, but i was just trying not to say something too wrong so i could get my 🌟

getting an A+ from Buick for being a good spokesperson and performing well with her "audience" >>>>>>

but she's not 6. at this point i have to think she's believing some kind of corporate synergy bs that she's connecting her client to her audience through what she "stands for" so "everyone wins"

#her audience is the casual tessa virtue followers that buick cares about #not us lol #idk why she's so scared to use her voice

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joan-of-darc · 10 months

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I was writing a joanfk fic way before season 2 came out. I only finished one chapter and I wrote the beginning of the second, so I thought I’d share that full chapter here. I might write more of it one day and make it in a universe where the events of s2 didn’t happen

The title was “your stupid face”, based on the song by Kaden MacKay

John F Kennedy is many things. He’s very strong and possesses an almost brutish physical quality. He’s incredibly athletic, being on the basketball, football, soccer, and cross country teams all at once. He’s obsessed with his looks and regularly keeps a mirror and comb on hand. He’s popular almost to the point of celebrity with guys stopping to fist bump him and girls throwing themselves at his feet. He is the “it” guy of Clone High High School.

But most of all, he’s a massive, colossal, enormous, total asshole.

He always came into class late with no regard for his classmates, laughing loudly as he slowly took his seat. He almost never paid attention to the class materials and often relied on Cleopatra for notes and extra help. He was constantly making sexual innuendos, occasionally at a classmate’s expense, and never took anything seriously.

Joan of Arc hated him. Him and his stupid face.

He was always bothering her. Flirting with her, asking for quiz answers, and generally trying to converse with her.

Everything about him just set her off, bugged her for no reason. One glance at him was enough to agitate Joan and sour her already sullen mood. His skin, although in near perfect condition, disgusted Joan and his boisterous laugh sent a chill down her spine. She despised the Kennedy clone.

Of course, JFK knew this. He wasn’t that dumb, not where it counted. She was the one girl that didn’t fold at his flirtation attempts and was unfazed by the macho jock persona he put on. If he was being honest, that was what pulled him to her, the way she was unafraid and didn’t hesitate to tell him how she felt, even if the feelings were negative.

Jack remained undisturbed when she spat insults in his face, acting as if he was a disgrace to their existence as clones and looking at him as a mosquito under her platformed shoe. Even if she behaved as if she’d rather have a root canal than be nice to him, JFK could tell it went deeper than Joan was letting on, even if she didn’t know it. He knew her, better than she may think.

So he let her hate him.

One day, JFK was walking down the halls of Clone High, girls ogling him and guys greeting him. On any other day, he would have reveled in it, but something else had caught his eye: a flash of magenta hair advancing further and further away.

Joan.

He picked up the pace and jogged over to the school’s resident angsty girl.

“Joan, Joan, hey, Joan!” the presidential clone called out, almost running to catch up to the Catholic martyr.

“What?” Joan snapped, sharply turning her head to glare at the jock. God, he annoyed her. If the world was perfect, you would be gone without a trace, she thought as she scowled at his dumb, blank eyes. But the world would never be that great, so all she could do was hate, loathe, completely despise his stupid face.

“Just wanted to say hi,” he replied sheepishly, flashing an awkward, lopsided smile. Had it been any other girl, he would have his signature charm and swagger, but with Joan, he was like a baby deer stumbling around and trying to find its footing.

“Oh. Well, hi,” she greeted through gritted teeth before rolling her eyes and beginning to walk away.

“Joanie, wait!” JFK exclaimed as he attempted to grab her arm. But the redhead was to swift and turned around at the sound of the nickname.

“Don’t call me that. What do you want, Kennedy?”

“Er…uh.” JFK wasn’t ready for a response. In all honesty, he was expecting her to storm away, maybe sock him, and that would be it, another classic Joan and Jack interaction. But she stayed. And she was looking up at him, albeit with tiny flecks of death in her eyes, and he could feel his heart panging against his chest like a cartoon character. “I was wondering…” he glanced down at the textbook in her hand, “if you could help me study for Mr. Sheepman’s test?”

Joan raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t Cleo usually help you?”

“Yeah, but she, uh, has cheerleading practice all week and barely has time to study for herself.”

Fuck, Joan cursed in her head. She couldn’t, in good conscience, let him fail, even if she abhorred his very being.

So Joan hated herself for her response.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll help you study.”

“Great! Let’s go!” JFK celebrated, tugging on Joan’s arm.

“Wait, right now?” Joan yanked her arm back. “Don’t you have practice?”

“Yeah, but I’m sure, er uh, that they can go one day without me.”

Joan sighed. He must be really desperate, she thought.

“Alright, fine,” Joan spat as she moved towards the school library. JFK initially stepped in the opposite direction, having no idea where the library really was, causing Joan to have to grab his hand in order to lead him the correct way. JFK would be lying if he said the way she grasped his hand in hers didn’t have an effect on him. As a result, he kept nervously glancing down at their joint hands the whole way there.

Joan, on the other hand, was trying not to think about it. She told herself that her face was heating up out of anger, out of her hatred for him. She didn’t have to hold his hand, she knew that, but for reasons she wasn’t ready to explore, she took it.

When the pair arrived at the library, Joan threw JFK’s hand back at him and unloaded her backpack on an empty table. JFK, however, stood there, eyes fixed on his palm. The warmth of Joan’s hand lingered like a phantom, kissing his fingertips gently; it haunted him.

“JFK?” Joan asked, her tone, while not quite as angry as she usually was with him, sounded more irritated, her patience wearing thin. She was waiting on him.

“Yeah?” Shit, shit, shit, he silently cursed to himself. She had given him her time, begrudgingly, and all he could do was stand there and think about the touch of her hand in his and the way she made his heart skip a beat. He had to focus.

JFK nervously sat in the cold, hard seat and opened the history textbook he barely used. The text was a little hard to read, but he figured that was just because he really needed to study.

Joan sighed and turned his book around so that it wasn’t upside down anymore.

“Better?”

“Yeah, er uh, thank you,”

“Can we get started now?” Joan asked, not even trying to hide her contempt anymore. “Now, the test is on chapter seven, that’s World War I. Do you know anything about that war? Anything at all?”

“A little bit.”

“Alright, I’ll go over each section and tell me what you know so I can see where you need help.”

Joan turned to the first section of the chapter and quizzed her classmate.

“What started World War I?”

“The, er uh, assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie,” JFK said, forgetting to filter out his answer in the way he normally did. He had a reputation to uphold, after all.

“No, that’s- wait. That’s right.” Joan’s eyes widened. “How did you know that?”

“I, uh, pay attention sometimes. Besides, I’m not unfamiliar with assassinations.”

“Oh, right, because of your clone father,” Joan figured.

“And because it has “ass” in it twice!” He cackled at his own joke and began to wipe away a single tear. When he turned to Joan, her look of sympathy turned to one of stone.

“Of course,” Joan rolled her eyes.

As the study session went on, Joan found a new side to her presidential classmate, one she never knew existed. He was…smart? He could be, when he wanted to. His understanding of the war was strong, strong enough that she questioned whether or not he warranted tutoring. He wasn’t as jerky as he let on, at least, not outwardly like in class.

“Kennedy, can I ask you something?” Joan asked as she packed up her bag.

“Sure, Joanie- I mean, Joan.”

“You have a perfect understanding of the materials. Why did you need me to tutor you?”

“Oh…well, I’m not, uh, sure I want to say.”

“Consider it my payment. I stayed after school for you, so tell me.” Joan implored.

“I wanted to, er uh, spend time with you,” JFK mumbled, embarrassed, but clear enough for Joan to hear.

On any other day, this would’ve peeved Joan beyond human comprehension. She would’ve slapped, punched, kicked, or snarled at the Kennedy clone without hesitation. In fact, he was bracing himself for impact as he waited for her to react. But this was a different day, he was different.

Joan didn’t think she liked that very much.

So Joan quickly froze up and sped past her classmate and the spaced out inhabitants of the library and out the door. JFK tried to follow her, to ask if he did something wrong, but by the time he got to the door, the martyr was nowhere to be found.

Joan had turned around the corner before he opened the doors. Her heart was racing, but she told herself it was because she left in such a hurry, not daring to ask why she left so abruptly. That was another thought for another day.

Joan quickly made her way to the exit of the oddly-shaped school and took in a deep breath when she made it outside. She began to walk home and could only think of one thing on her trek to her and Cleo’s shared house.

I hate his stupid face.

#clone high #joanfk #fanfiction #my fic

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deadpresidents · 1 year

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5 teams of presidents get stuck on an island: Biden and Washington, Trump and TR, Obama and Carter, Ford and Hoover, and Lincoln and Taft. Which duo leaves the island first/last?

First of all: wonderful question.

Theodore Roosevelt would strangle Trump three minutes after they were introduced to each other, so that duo wouldn't get off the island as a duo at all.

As for the first duo to escape the island, I'd say with confidence that it would be the team of Hoover and Ford. That might sound like a surprising choice, but those two Presidents might be the ideal team of any two Presidents in history when it comes to the particular skills that might be needed to escape an island. Despite his reputation for being clumsy, Gerald Ford was almost certainly the most athletic person to ever serve as President of the United States. He was a star football player on two national championship teams for the University of Michigan, had his jersey retired by the university, and turned down contract offers from the NFL. His athleticism would be a real asset for the physical challenges of escaping the island.

As for Herbert Hoover, he was an engineer who built and operated mines around the world early in his life, eventually becoming a self-made multi-millionaire before his 40th birthday. Hoover also was a master of logistics -- he became a famous and respected humanitarian around the globe during and after the First World War for his international relief efforts, which fed tens of millions of people and saved countless lives. Hoover's engineering mind and Ford's athleticism and physical attributes would have been perfectly complementary and made them the ideal duo for escaping an island before any other teams of their fellow Presidents.

Great question. These are the debates that Presidential scholars should really be having.

#Presidents #History #High-level scholarly debates

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draftdiff-m · 5 months

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𝑀𝑜𝓃𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 members of the student body , a time for them to get together and exchange each club's plans for the week . . . as well as activity reports of the week prior . It was boring , mundane work for most . . . but Luxanna Crownguard, President of the Student Body, heavily enjoyed it .

She had been doing roll call , as customary, at 7:00 AM sharp . . . every one seemed to be present , except the one person who prided themselves on going against the grain while staying on the very edge of school regulations . . .

❝ Has anyone heard if Jinx will be joining us today ? ❞ the president asks out to the other 48 members in the room . . . all of which expressed various statements of either confusion or sheer annoyance , as if anyone needed further proof of how rebellious the President of the Engineering Club was . There had been several attempts over the course of this school year to relieve the wild one of her presidential duties . . . but with her expert navigation of breaking rules without actually breaking them , there was never anything the other members could get to stick .

Clearly annoyed by this , Lux would shake her head , ❝ She'll turn up when she feels like it . . . if she shows up at all . ❞ a sigh escaped the redhead's lips , knowing how much talent and potential @jynxd had . . . and the disappointment that she would not live up to its fullest .

Shuffling through some documents , she would clear her throat before beginning , ❝ Welcome everyone ! I hope you are having a good morning so far ! ❞ she puts a smile on for the body , ❝ Garen ! ❞ the President turns to her brother , who sits immediately to her right , ❝ As President of Student Athletics , please share last week's activities ! ❞ her voice was enthusiastic , showing she was truly passionate about all this .

Garen would begin talking about the results of various games / matches from the week prior . . . who won , who lost , what was next on the schedule . . . all fascinating stuff for . . . sports people , Lux wasn't one of those ; she had to listen though ! Part of the job !

So there she sat , at the head of the large conference table , one leg crossed over the other in true classy fashion ; giving the body members her full undivided attention . . .

. . . until a very loud, reckless shuffling could be heard towards the room's entrance .

#find yourself in the pages of a book (lux)#jynxd

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myhauntedsalem · 1 year

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The Ghost of Bugsy Siegel

One of the few original hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada that remains today is the Flamingo Hotel. This hotel has a very famous ghost residing in its Presidential Suite. At 10:30 P.M. on June 20, 1947 Benjamin Bugsy Siegel a well-known gangster was shot and killed at his girlfriend’s home in Beverly Hills, California.

Siegel rose from the poverty-ridden slums of Brooklyn, New York to become a famous racketeer. Ben as he liked to be called, was tall, charming, athletic and handsome. He had the gift of gab, was a sharp dresser and it was said his piercing blue eyes were fearless. From his early teens Siegel was a successful criminal.

Siegel was also the classic textbook sociopath. He took what he wanted without a thought for his victims. He was a master manipulator of people. He had a long history of robbery, rape and murder. His fellow criminals dubbed him Bugsy because he was known to take jobs others wouldn’t take. He became the mob’s most feared hit man. Bugsy is a fitting nickname because Siegel often would go bugs with anger if others crossed him.

Yet Siegel is not remembered for his crimes but for his flamboyant lifestyle, which included many mob connections and Hollywood friends. He is also remembered because he was one of the first to see the opportunity that Las Vegas, Nevada presented. Because of this his name is synonymous with gambling in Las Vegas. But it would be his association with this town that caused his death.

Siegel seeing Vegas’ potential convinced his mob and Hollywood friends to invest in a project that he assured them would result in quick profits. He started to build a hotel/casino called the Flamingo. The project turned into a money pit costing over 6 million dollars. This drained his mob friends treasury dry. To add insult to injury his mob friends back east, including Meyer Lansky, learned that Siegel was skimming money from the building budget and putting it in numbered Swiss bank accounts.

The mob decided to put a hit out on Siegel. Lansky, who was a close friend of Siegel because Bugsy had saved his neck on several occasions in the past convinced the Syndicate to hold off. He convinced them that the Flamingo was going to be a moneymaker therefore they could get their money back. At its first opening the Flamingo flopped but months later when Siegel reopened the hotel it was a success. But this did not save his life. To this day it is not known if the Syndicate fulfilled the hit contract they had out on Siegel or if other enemies had him killed. His murder was done mob style. The Syndicate did take over the Flamingo after Siegel’s death.

Las Vegas is no longer owned by the mob. The Hilton Corporation owns the Flamingo Hotel and Casino today. In 1997 the Flamingo celebrated its 50th anniversary. It is the fourth largest hotel in the world with more than 3,500 guest rooms. Siegel was not mentioned during the anniversary celebration. As one writer put it:

“…the lesson that the life of Benjamin Bugsy Siegel imparts on us: a killer with a good idea is, after all, just another bum.”

But the sightings of Siegel’s ghost indicate that he is pleased that his predictions for Las Vegas came true. Since his death, many witnesses have seen Siegel’s ghost at the Flamingo Hotel. For four years before his death in Beverly Hills, Bugsy lived in the Presidential Suite at the Flamingo. Guests that have stayed in this room have reported many strange encounters.

Moving cold spots are reported and objects vanish or are moved around the suite. Witnesses have seen his apparition in the bathroom and near the suite’s pool table. It is reported that he appears to be happy and content to still be present. Some witnesses state he looks to be pleased about something. Maybe he is happy that Las Vegas turned out how he envisioned it.

#The Ghost of Bugsy Siegel #Bugsy Siegel #paranormal #ghost and hauntings #ghost and spirits #ghosts #spirits #hauntings #haunted salem #myhauntedsalem

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 1 year

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Florida lawmakers will meet Monday to complete a state takeover of Walt Disney World’s self-governing district and expand a migrant relocation program, key conservative priorities of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of his expected White House run.

Republican leaders of the statehouse, in coordination with DeSantis, have ordered the Legislature to convene in a special session to restructure the Reedy Creek Improvement District, as the Disney government is known.

Lawmakers will also consider a proposal to create a state department focused on migrant relocations, a move that comes after the Governor flew a group of South American migrants from Texas to Massachusetts in protest of federal border policy.

The session continues a focus by DeSantis on social issues including sexual orientation, gender and immigration as the Republican Governor exploits national political fissures on his path to a potential 2024 presidential run.

The meeting is the latest development in a high-profile feud between DeSantis and Disney over the company’s criticism of a law dubbed by critics as “Don’t Say Gay,” which bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and lessons deemed not age appropriate.

The Governor, in going after Disney, displayed a willingness to penalize one of the state’s biggest employers and political donors, reinforcing the combative leadership style that has propelled him to national political stardom and appeals to conservative primary voters.

Lawmakers are expected to create a program to transport immigrants who are in the country illegally to another state if they’ve already been processed by the federal government and if the migrants volunteer.

DeSantis had already used part of a $12 million fund, paid for by taxpayers, to fly about 50 South American migrants from Texas to the Massachusetts resort island of Martha’s Vineyard, bringing widespread condemnation.

Another proposal to be taken up during the session would make it clear the statewide prosecutor has authority to prosecute election fraud in federal and state races.

DeSantis, with statehouse backing, created an election police unit last year to investigate fraud and other crimes to satisfy what has become an important issue to conservative voters following the 2020 election. Some charges resulting from investigations by the election police force have been dropped because of jurisdiction issues.

The squabble between DeSantis and Disney began last year, when the entertainment giant publicly opposed the “Don’t Say Gay” education legislation and said it would pause political donations in the state and support organizations working to oppose the law.

DeSantis and other Republicans moved quickly to criticize the company, calling it a purveyor of “woke” ideologies that are inappropriate for children.

At DeSantis’ request, the GOP-dominated statehouse in April approved legislation to eliminate Disney’s Reedy Creek government by June 2023, beginning a closely watched process that would determine the structure of government that controls the company’s sprawling property.

The creation of the Reedy Creek district was instrumental in Disney’s decision to build near Orlando in the 1960s. Having a separate government allows the company to provide zoning, fire protection, utilities and infrastructure services on its land.

The special session will also adjust language in current laws addressing endorsement deals for college athletes.

Florida was one of the first states to pass a law allowing college athletes to profit off their name, image or likeness, but it doesn’t allow people affiliated with universities to help secure endorsement deals. The proposal would lift that provision to make Florida more competitive with other states that don’t have the restriction.

Lawmakers will also consider a bill to provide more relief money for Hurricane Ian and Nicole recovery efforts.

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mariacallous · 5 months

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November 15, 2023, marks the two-year anniversary of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) becoming law. After decades spent waiting for Congress to pass such a historic infrastructure bill, this is certainly a celebratory moment. But considering we’re now 40% of the way through the law’s authorizing period, it’s also a moment to take stock of our progress.

It’s typically difficult to track large spending bills, and with 452 unique funding pots and over $850 billion in total funding available, the IIJA should be no different. Fortunately, the Biden administration continues to prioritize data transparency by publishing the law’s detailed award data. It’s not hyperbolic to say the American public has never had a better view into the actual funding progress for a federal infrastructure law.

So, at the two-year mark, where do we stand?

Based on our analysis of published White House data, IIJA implementation is just now hitting its stride. Formula and direct federal spending continue to move at a steady pace, already pumping $229 billion into state coffers and direct investment projects. And like an athlete who grows into a game, competitive grantmaking is steadily increasing, with 75% of all competitive funding still left to be awarded. Just as importantly, the Biden administration has shown no overt political bias in splitting awards among states—certainly welcome news to the bipartisan legislators who authored the bill.

Overall, state and local stakeholders should feel motivated to keep pursuing federally funded projects to rebuild and reimagine their communities. With over half of the IIJA’s 4,810 competitive awards coming in under $1 million—and another 30% of awards falling between $1 million and $10 million—eligible entities of all sizes can find programs that fit their needs and capacities. Yet with inflation and interest rates high, infrastructure builders need to be careful that they prioritize projects that can deliver the most value in the long run. There’s more money than usual, but it’s far from infinite.

Federal agency staff are implementing the IIJA as expected, with sector-specific progress uneven per the law’s design

The IIJA is unique in its comprehensiveness. Whereas Congress typically passes separate bills for each infrastructure sector—or, in the case of broadband, no bills at all—the IIJA merged multiple built environment and natural environment program areas within one piece of legislation. Combined with the aforementioned push for data transparency, the IIJA is a truly unique opportunity to track and compare how implementation works across multiple sectors and federal award categories.

The IIJA’s competitive grants are moving at a slower pace—not surprising, since these programs demand federal staff to annually review processes, publish Notices of Funding Opportunities, and conduct extensive application reviews. The demands on staff were only intensified due to the growth in total competitive funding and the need to stand up 93 new programs. Under these circumstances, federal staff should be applauded for getting nearly $32 billion out the door in just two years—$13 billion of which is within new programs such as Battery Materials Processing Grants and a western-focused Drought Resilience Program. Total awards will continue to rise significantly in each publishing batch—particularly the next one, which will include $16.4 billion for rail projects in the country’s Northeast Corridor.

The Biden administration has not politicized the competitive portions of the law

Any time Congress passes a major spending bill with significant amounts of competitive grantmaking, it creates the possibility for the current presidential administration to politicize who receives federal funding. Elections certainly have consequences, but voters shouldn’t expect to get less infrastructure investment if their community or state didn’t vote for the sitting president. Yet based on experiences during the Obama and Trump administrations, we know that political maps can influence award maps.

Fortunately, the Biden administration has not overly politicized their competitive grantmaking process, at least through these first two years.

To judge political leaning, we categorized each state by how residents voted in the 2020 presidential election and the political composition of a state’s governor and legislature. We then looked at each category’s share of winning awards and the funding within them, with additional analysis of awards under $10 million. Finally, we included national population shares to help frame the data.

Results show that the overall share of competitive awards slightly favors Republican-leaning states by both the presidential election measure and in-state political composition. In other words, Republican-leaning states have won more awards than their population share would suggest. Analyzing funding amounts is a bit different, but there’s still no large bias toward Democratic-leaning states. All this will shift next quarter once the Northeast Corridor rail funds hit, as those programs are designed to funnel investment to states that happen to lean Democratic.

There are extremes within the data, of course. Texas and Florida—the two most populous Republican-leaning states—both have won $30 and $47 per capita, respectively. By contrast, Alaska ($1,579), North Dakota ($481), and Montana ($369) all received the most funding per capita. Many of the states served by Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor currently have low per capita award levels, although the recent rail awards will change that.

Of course, these results don’t tell us much about the underlying process. The applicant fields are likely deeply uneven depending on the program. The public also can’t see who the losing applicants are, although there are some agencies that publish lists. There’s also a likelihood that some elected officials’ political antagonism toward the Biden administration could create a culture that depresses applications within their state or community. Putting aside whether that wins political points in a future election, bringing less competitive funding home only leaves more for other states to win.

The IIJA’s total economic impact will continue to evolve

As more states and localities put their federal dollars to work, we can expect to see an increased demand for skilled labor. October 2023 unemployment in the construction and utilities sectors was still extremely low by historical standards (4% and 2.5%, respectively), with growing project demands only serving to increase worker bargaining power. Meanwhile, as my colleague Joseph W. Kane has researched extensively, a high number of separations within infrastructure occupations will continue to challenge retention and recruitment.

Construction of IIJA-funded projects will last well beyond 2026, when the legislation expires, and Inflation Reduction Act tax credits will support energy-related projects for another nine years. America needs to get serious about growing and diversifying the infrastructure talent pipeline, because time is running out.

Workers’ increasing compensation is just one component of a costlier construction environment. Two infrastructure-specific commodity indexes within the Producer Price Index that count material inputs in the roadway, energy, and communications industries are both up at least 28% from January 2021 to September 2023. That’s effectively 50% higher than growth in the Consumer Price Index (17.1%) over the same period. Meanwhile, higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive than at the time of IIJA’s passage. Combined, these two factors likely won’t stop current projects; instead, they’ll reduce the number of total projects that can be constructed using IIJA funds.

Even in the face of these economic headwinds, localities, states, and the Biden administration won’t stop implementing the law. Recipients of formula funds will continue to convert federal awards into shovels in the ground. Federal agency staff will continue to accelerate their administration of competitively awarded programs. And there will be plenty of more awards to build passenger rail corridors, make streets safer, address sewer overflow, manage orphaned oil wells, and grow digital equity. The sheer volume of opportunities will test applicants’ capacities to win federal awards. And from the federal side, officials must continue to pursue transparency to build trust with the public and be ready to respond to calls for accountability.

President Joe Biden was right when he announced the beginning of an infrastructure decade—and we’re still in the opening stages. America’s march toward a grand rebuild continues.

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