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suugrbunz · 2 months

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Part Two — Main Focus will be Robert ‘Rosie’ Rosenthal, David Solomon, and inevitably the camp Rosie saw when tagging along with the Red Army.

Welcome to part two, you can find part one here. That part is entirely about the Band of Brothers series and Jewish identity. If you enjoy this essay, you'll enjoy the previous one! Find that one here: X

Let's talk about Rosenthal!! Let me start with; love him and this fandom better not overlook his Jewishness in their fics because this man is from… Brooklyn but more specifically Flatbush. Now, I know people who may not know exactly what Flatbush is and why I put any emphasis on that place. Many Yeshivas are in Flatbush and honestly it is very close to Crown Heights. Crown Heights is kind of like the orthodoxy capital of America. So, all that to say; I don't know the form of Judaism he observed but we can deduce he was Jewish and observing the religion. This is also backed by the fact he married a Jewish woman. So, when I say this man was raised Jewish, I mean it. So, don't dwindle him down to tokenism such as saying things about him loving Chanukah. It might be true but people outside of our religion use Chanukah like it's our holiest holiday. It's actually minor. It is important to represent someone who is of any minority correctly and Rosie (mwah) is no different.

Now in the documentary posted after the MoTa series ended we hear firsthand that the Jews of America KNEW what was happening in Europe. Rosie Rosenthal states this. Plain as plain can be. Which was his main motivation for joining the army air force. Rosenthal comes across a concentration camp which is based in truth. If you find this to be tokenism then sorry but you're wrong. In an age where I see people telling Jews that we are drinking children's blood, murderers, and denial of the holocaust. I think incorporating the reality of the sho’ah is essential. When I was doxxed for being Jewish. Fear showing my Star of David necklace— yeah, it is important!

Don't belittle representation of a minority especially if you are not part of the minority. It isn't your place to police if it was tokenism or not.

Let's address the concentration camp scene and its reality. Firstly, the pungently rotten smell of dead bodies permeates throughout the air whilst the Red Army is near it in the scene. We see Rosie is obviously disturbed by the smell and against his better judgement he goes to its source after asking to stretch his legs. In the following scene we see him discover the dead bodies in the camp uniform. Let's discuss this fact first and foremost. As the Red Army and Patton's Army were approaching the camps they did one of three things; Put them on marches to the interior of Germany (we see this happen in the show with POWs), kill everyone in the camp, or abandon the camp. Information on this particular camp leaves me to woefully say; Everyone in this camp was murdered or sent on death marches to a different camp so they couldn't be liberated. The town the concentration camp resided in was liberated by the 2nd Byelorussian front. More information on this camp can be found here: x

In one of the barrack rooms, which happens to be the one Rosie goes into, there were children. There is a drawing of a menorah, a magen David (which he touches), and Yiddish. Yiddish would've been taught more so than Hebrew in the 1800s-1940s European Jewry. Yiddish itself is a dialect of Judeo-Germanic. What does this mean? It means a Diaspora created a dialect using their native tongue and the regional language. Later on, it developed into its own language with its own dialects depending on where they were. Anyway, I shall digress and return to the true topic at hand. During this we see the words translated as; The judge of life will judge for life. It has religious tones to it but I am not here to explain what it may have meant. I'm not a rabbi.

Later on, when he is about to board a plane to go back to England— he encounters a survivor in the town. Their conversation displays something many survivors struggled with— did G-d remember them? How could tatty have forgotten us? Many Jews lost their religious beliefs after this, some stayed steadfast. I'm not sure how I would've reacted but there is no right or wrong way to react. What you see in this interaction is a genuine representation. Additionally, mass immigration and displaced persons camps were common from this point forward for Jewish people. They had to figure out where they were going to be safe.

On the other hand we have David Solomon... We see David Solomon questioned for being Jewish in the POW camp based on name. He is obviously Jewish. In the show, we see in a scene that after being questioned we hear the Major say; “We are all Americans.”. That didn't matter to the Nazis. I am sorry but the last name Solomon and first name David are nearly stereotypically Jewish. In the show and in this essay we need to address; He was treated differently because the Nazi officers knew he was Jewish. In an interview from 1980, also addresses the fact he too knew that there was a degree of persecution of Jews in mainland Europe. Solomon didn't wear his dog tags because it had H for Hebrew on it and the Jews in the military knew— they'd be treated differently. Even without the dog tags around his neck, he was still treated differently. Solomon was separated from the other members of the 100th and was told he was a spy. The reason for suspicion was due to him placing propaganda leaflets on his pyjamas shirts. I need to add he thought he was going home soon which is why he had the leaflets; He'd gotten them from some Royal Air Force plane that emergency landed the night before the downing of his plane and subsequent capture. Then, the day of the mission, he was in pyjamas because he assumed he was going home. Don't ask me. I don't know. All I know is this is genuinely what he said in the interview. Anyway, after this, he was roughly interrogated due to the suspicion of him being a spy (his words but I suspect this means possible torture.). Additionally, he lost around seventy pounds (est~ 190 lbs to 128) by the time he was liberated. David says Jewish American POWs were treated differently but he isn't sure whether or not Jewish POWs were killed. He also stated that amongst the higher ranking officers there was subtle antisemitism but there were some Jewish officers which balanced it out. Among the antisemitic officers, some had little to no care about what was happening to the Jews; Even if they knew. Many were just medal hungry— they wanted their medals, they wanted to look good. It was a lack of humanitarianism within the higher ranks. Finally, David Solomon says he doesn't consider himself a holocaust camp survivor to any degree (not sure who would).

After the war, those who told the stories were the refugees and newspapers. David Solomon met some of these refugees since some of his own (presumably) extended family members hosted refugees during the war. After learning all of the information, he went as far as to question (he admits this was wrong of him to question but) he goes on to say, “Why the atomic bomb wasn't dropped on Germany”.

You can listen to the interview here: x

You can find extra background information that I didn't include but read here: x

The Allies knew what was happening to the Jewish population of Europe. They. Knew. They could've stopped it but let me explain why they didn't. Through the American political lense— they put a quota on specifically Jewish immigration solely because they wanted to keep a majority Christian nation. They turned away Jewish refugees throughout the war. An example of this being Billy Joel’s (bye i keep using him as my example) parents who had to immigrate to Cuba during the duration of the war. After the war, they went to New York. However, a family that also tried going to America were the Franks. Yes, those Franks. Anne Frank, Margot, and Edith would have survived if America didn't refuse them.

#masters of the air #mota #rosie rosenthal #robert rosenthal #david solomon

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fabricdragondesigns · 1 year

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The original post is friends locked, so I am copying instead, from the inimitable and clever David Firestein:

I don't enjoy most religious holidays and celebrations, but tonight is the first night of Hankukah, which is a rare exception to that rule. It's a celebration of a small band of indigenous rebels overthrowing a foreign occupation, and it's celebrated with fried food, gifts, and fire.

And so, in celebration of the first night of Hanukkah, I present to you my argument that Die Hard is actually a Hanukkah movie.

First, let's establish the general Jewishness of the film:

1. It's about LA and NYC, which automatically makes it at least a little Jewish.

2. The screenwriter was Jewish.

3. The movie is bookended by two songs - "Christmas in Hollis" at the beginning and "Let It Snow" at the end. While the two seem pretty obviously to not be about Jewishness, "Let It Snow" is written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne (both Jewish), and "Christmas in Hollis" is produced by Rick Rubin (Jewish) and is inspired by Bill Adler (also Jewish). Much of the Hanukkah story is about being forced to hide your true beliefs, so many things that look like they're not about Judaism, will prove themselves otherwise.

4. The movie begins as the sun is setting and ends as the sun is rising, as do all Jewish holidays.

5. The first thing McClane does upon getting to LA is light a cigarette, obviously a metaphor for the lighting of candles.

Now, let's look at the story itself:

1. The Book of the Maccabees begins with the conquest of Alexander the Great and his conquering of all the known world. One of Hans Gruber's first lines in the film is "And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept because there were no more worlds to conquer."

2. In the Book of the Maccabees, an invasion force comes in on "the five and twentieth day of the month" and immediately slaughters men, women and children (the biblical description is more gruesome than the movie) so a building takeover on Christmas fits nicely.

3. Those who resist are killed immediately, but some try to ingratiate themselves to the new masters. "In those days went there out of Israel wicked men, who persuaded many saying, Let us go and make a covenant with the heathen that are round about us" (Maccabees 1:11). "And spake peaceable words unto them, but all was deceit: for when they had given him credence, he fell suddenly upon the city and smote it very sore and destroyed much people of Israel (Maccabees 1:30). Sounds like Harry Ellis trying to get in with the occupiers and getting himself killed.

4. In McClane's first fight with one of the occupiers, McClane gets the drop on him and points a gun at him. When McClane says he's police, the man responds that McClane won't hurt him because there are rules for the police. In one of the first battles in the Maccabeean Uprising, a town of Jews refuses to fight on Shabbas and are all slaughtered. Afterward, the Maccabees agree that the general rules of Judaism will not apply during the uprising, and they will do anything they can to win (much as John McClane does).

5. Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights, and lights play a major theme in the movie. The occupiers shoot out the lights, and it is the cutting of the lights by the FBI that leads Hans to say "You asked for miracles, Theo. I give you the FBI."

6. How do the tiny band of Jewish rebels defeat the occupiers of their country? They use guerrilla tactics to surprise and ambush their enemies then take their weapons and supplies. This is exactly how McClane takes out his enemies. Picking them off one by one and taking their guns and explosives.

BONUS ROUND:

1. Germans. Right? And all that broken glass? What do I have to spell it out for you?

2. John McClane = J. Mac. Judah Maccabee = J.Mac. Coincidence, I think not.

But what about all the Christmas references:

The story of Hannukah is all about Jews who were forced to give up their Judaism and adopt the ways of the occupier. The punishment for participating in Jewish rituals was death. So of course all the Judaism has to be hidden behind Christian iconography. But you can't fool me.

Yippee-Chai-Oy, Motherfuckers!

#die hard #chanukah #hanukkah #die hard is a christmas movie #die hard is a Hanukkah movie

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jacensolodjo · 2 years

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“It’s called a war of attrition, sweaty [sic] look it up :))”

War of attrition is literally defined as the wearing down of military personnel and materiel. We agreed decades ago that attacking civilians and medical personnel is a war crime. And who have been hit the most? Civilians/Medical personnel. Seriously, it’s more dangerous being a doctor/nurse/civvie than it is to be a soldier right now. And we agreed a long time ago that isn’t right.

There is a line separating attrition from war crime. I know the news has been calling the invasion a war of attrition but it really, really isn’t. You can keep trying to bend definitions as much as you like so it says what you want it to that doesn’t mean it’s true.

The key phrasing in the definition of war of attrition is ‘military’. MILITARY. Read it. Read it again. MIL-I-TAR-Y. It does not say nurse. It does not say doctor. It does not say civilian. It says MILITARY.

Wikipedia defines war of attrition (actually Attrition Warfare) as: a military strategy consisting of belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and materiel.

‘No but see, PERSONNEL’. No, dear. Personnel as in military personnel. You don’t call civilians ‘personnel’ during a war.

Also if we really wanna be a little shit about it, it’s actually in the other direction. Ukraine is wearing down Russia, stealing its materiel (not material but materiel), destroying planes, trains, and automobiles (almost rather literally).

Russia is heading towards a point where even if they do win, it’d be a pyhrric victory the likes of which has not been seen in centuries. (Note this is such a remote possibility as to be something I wouldn’t ever bet on because every time they say it’ll be over by ____ it doesn’t happen.) Or, of course, it may end as the Vietnam War (or iraq/afghanistan) did, with no real winner in any way that matters. This is the second to last preference.

The Soviet Union had a fun little combination pyhrric and war of attrition against Germany back in ww2. Because, as you’ll remember, the Soviets lost MILLIONS in the war. Which was in addition to losing millions in the years leading up to it. Though in the latter case when I say lose I mean murdered. In addition to Ukrainians/Cossacks/Jews/Chechens/etc., the Soviet Union murdered dozens (hundreds???) of top military leaders in a number of purges. They could’ve avoided the death toll so many times and chose not to. But, oddly, when I say war of attrition I mean against Germany. It’s what made them turn tail is that they were losing so much on the ‘Eastern Front’(to the point where it became a kind of trope in ww2 movies and such that for a German soldier to be sent to the Eastern Front was considered punishment far exceeding anything else they could do to the German in question). So even if the Soviets had a higher body count, they still managed to chip away so much of Germany they gave up.

Like. St*lin himself said that people can’t quite grasp the idea of millions dead. (A broken clock is right twice a day.) One is a tragedy, but a million is a statistic. And one you don’t really think much on later. But the Soviet Union hemorrhaged people like nobody’s business.

Millions that never had to die. And yes, for once I don’t just mean the Ukrainian/Cossack/Jewish/Chechen/etc., casualties pre-war.

But, history repeats. There have been numerous high ranking Russians that have mysteriously died. (One guy taking a tumble off a skyscraper in such a way that it really doesn’t look like he did it to himself.) And some not so mysteriously (commanding officer gets flattened by tank for giving bad orders). And they aren’t isolated incidents. More than a dozen high ranking officers have had shit happen to them in a timeline that does not give credit to mere bad luck or chance. Does it make sense? No. But Russians have never made much sense to begin with about who they get rid of. Some of these ‘assassinations’ (I only use scare quotes cause it’s not y’know confirmed and shit) may not come from on high. But at this point, they hardly need to. And no, they don’t get points for the tank-frag because of ‘bad orders’. They still wanted to fight the war. He was just doing it badly.

Anyways thanks for coming to my lecture on wars of attrition.

#текст #I have so many rants lmaoo #suicide mention kinda #war in ukraine

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semper-legens · 11 months

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82. Fritz and Kurt, by Jeremy Dronfield

Owned: No, library Page count: 363 My summary: The true story of Fritz and Kurt Kleinmann, two Jewish children living in Vienna on the eve of World War Two. While Kurt is sent to relatives in America, Fritz and his father are sent through a series of concentration camps and made to suffer the most extreme inhumanity of the Nazi regime. My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

I picked this book up while I was tidying in the junior non-fiction section at work. It intrigued me when I had a quick leaf through - the story was factual, but presented almost as a novel, and the writing style seemed interesting. Obviously, when you're writing about the Holocaust for younger readers, you are going to want to...not dumb it down, but make the language and concepts accessible and appropriate for that age group. Which I think this author did very well! He explains concepts that kids might not be familiar with, puts the whole thing in language that children can understand, and doesn't compromise on showing just how horrific the Holocaust was for those who had to live through it. I'd totally show this to a kid to teach them about the Holocaust, it explained its story very well.

This book is the children's version of his retelling of the same story for adults, The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz - he actually speaks for a moment in the afterword about some of the stylistic changes made. Specifically, in the adults version, he only includes dialogue where he has primary sources on what was said, such as Fritz and Kurt's recollections of events. For this one, he includes some speculative dialogue based on scenes that happened, but that there isn't evidence of what might have been said at the time. He's also invented pseudonyms for people when their names are not known, and shown incidents that it can be reasonably assumed actually occurred, even if there isn't a primary source for it. What's interesting is that he tells us this in the afterword, so he's also introducing kids to the idea of how exactly history is told, and the ways that real events can be adapted into prose.

The story, of course, is heartbreaking, as any tale of the Holocaust would be. Fritz and Kurt, two Jewish boys from Vienna, are torn apart from their families by the Nazi invasion. Fritz and his father are imprisoned in a set of concentration camps, Kurt is sent to America to save his life, their older sister goes to England to work, and their mother and younger sister remain in Vienna. Incredibly, Fritz and his father survive the war, though they're in an absolutely terrible state. Their mother and sister are sent away and murdered. Kurt forgot how to speak German and remained in America, but was reunited with his family. The things that Fritz and his father went through were absolutely horrible - they were beaten, abused, humiliated, degraded, lost friends and family, and had to survive no matter what. Fritz actually managed to escape the death march, only to be arrested and re-enter the system as an Aryan political prisoner. And all of this is told in a pretty stark, matter-of-fact manner that is both understandable to its target audience and does not erase the inhumanity of the Nazi regime. It's a really interesting book, and now I want to read the adult version, just to contrast the two.

Next, another tale of horrible things happening to children, albeit thankfully fictional.

#Fritz and Kurt #Jeremy Dronfield #bookblr #bookblogger #book blog #4 #nazism /#antisemitism /#holocaust /

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theinsanecrayonbox · 2 years

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yeah i’m thinking my MH OCs nationalities (some based on their species) are pretty much the same from this map

Robby Goodfellow: satyr (fae), Cockney (British) Chad Weedsley: lake monster, Vermont (American) Grave Robberson: revenant, California (American) Mona Bedlam: boogieman, Boston, Massachusetts (American) Bayou Betty-Sue: werecrocagator, Mississippi/Florida (American) Evie Plasm: poltergeist, Ontario (Canadian) Makei: hippocampus, Pacific Coast Mikey Mutant: chemical mutant, Canadian or Michigan (American) Austin Barker: weredingo (lycanthrope), Australian Matilda Grimswig: black shuck, Welsh Musette d’Fantome: phantom, French Lukas Helson: death demigod, German Elke Fae-King: faerie (fae), Irish Pawleena Fang-Wolf: winter wolf (lycanthrope), Canadian Seth Gorgon: gorgon, Greek Prizma Dentata: tooth fairy (fae), Finnish Oliver Time: sandman, the Moon Marie Toulon: living doll/puppet, Northern California (American) Echo Vondergeist: ghost, German Krissea Mari: sharktopus, South Pacific Kanika Miw-sher: mummy-werecat (lycanthrope), Egyptian/Jewish

and you know, good time to bring up an idea i had; certain monster species *need* humans to repopulate, are half-human by default. how do those species work in this anti-human monster world? do they not need humans to exist? are they immediately absorbed into the monster society once they’re turned? does the monster genealogy over ride the human side?

like, ghosts were once living beings. they completely transform, so they’re monsters. but if some are “born’ spirits, are others not? like Evie up there was human and died, and she’s a poltergeist. but Musette is a phantom and she was born as one, yet still is classified as a spirit?

but vampires infect humans to create more of their own kind. true, there can be naturally born vampire vs sired vampires, and they have their own inner hierarchy to work through that.

but at the same time, same thing for lycanthropes. some are infectious, some aren’t.

then there are also certain fae and aquatic species are only female, thus breed with humans to create more of their own kind. so...they count as their monster species.

and then we got Mikey up there; he was completely human until he got exposed to toxic chemicals.

so do we not have any transmogrification here? if you’re a monster you are born that way and were never anything else?

or...does that exist and in monster society you have to wait X-amount of years to be legally considered a monster depending upon the species? like vampires, again have their own internal hierarchy system to deal with that.

does this give grounds to my werejaguar Dr Moreau??

what i’m getting at is, it’s now G3 for MH and i’m still wanting to know about the legal system and geopolitical atmosphere of the monster world and how it mirrors the human’s advancement since the two systems should share a symbiosis in their evolution and cultural growths.

#my writing #thinking outloud #monster high ocs #i've always wondered this but now that deena being half human is a plot point it makes me wonder even more #because out of all the species to use you pick teh one that is SUPPOSED to be half human???

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adamwatchesmovies · 1 year

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The Great Dictator (1940)

Hindsight makes us realize that The Great Dictator was an even bolder film than it seems at the time. Hilarious, provocative and superbly directed, it’s the kind of satirical comedy that’s initially off-putting. You expect it to have been imitated many times. You go in thinking it will follow modern-day conventions but it never does. I doubt another picture like this will ever or could ever be made.

Set in 1938 in the fictional country of Tomainia, the country’s defeat during World War I has led to the rise of tyrannical dictator Adenoid Hynkel (Charlie Chaplin). In the Jewish ghetto, a barber (also played by Chaplin) wakes up from a coma, unaware of the antisemitic regime that rose while he was asleep.

The film was made in 1940, at a point when America was technically at peace with Germany and the true horrors of the concentration camps were not known worldwide. Chaplin went on to say that, had he been aware, he wouldn’t have made a film that made "light" of the situation. He had nothing to be ashamed of. This is a scathing criticism and parody of Adolf Hitler that shows the plight of the Jewish people as they were persecuted. It also happens to be a hilarious comedy that ends on an unforgettable note. Without giving too much away, we get to hear the Barber (or is it Chaplin?) break the fourth wall and speak to the audience. His message still resonates today and has an even bigger impact if you know the man's filmography.

At every opportunity, Chaplin (who also produced, wrote and directed the film - his first talkie) makes fun of the Nazi party. The Tomainian language is a mock German with recognizable words thrown in to sound extra ridiculous. Hynkel is a petty, power-hungry loony who is to be both feared and rightfully mocked, particularly when it’s revealed his regime has started running out of funds and must now resort to borrowing money from a Jewish Banker. His troops are as likely to be victims of his wrath as the citizens and his army of stormtroopers are often on the receiving end of jokes.

Capitalizing on his iconic mustache and his trademark slapstick, the picture contains many memorable scenes. I know what you’re thinking. He’s playing dual roles, so when are the barber and Hynkel comedically swap places? This is where the film doesn’t do what you expect. The Great Dictator is not a comedy of errors. It’s two stories set in the same country. The first is of a simple Jewish barber who falls in love with a neighboring woman (Paulette Goddard as the fiery Hannah). She helps the barber understand the severity of what is happening around him. The second is about a madman whose power will (hopefully) wane and whom anyone with any grain of sense would never follow. They just sort of happen to look identical.

Like many films from decades past you’ve heard of but haven’t yet seen, you will recognize moments from The Great Dictator here and there. Several iconic scenes have been spoofed in Looney Tunes, for example. That shot of Hynkel lovingly dancing with a globe is so good you must’ve seen it out of context somewhere. You’ll therefore expect to sort of know where the story is headed. You don't. Not really. This may be off-putting at first. Enough that you may not love the film on a first viewing but its brilliance is unmistakable. You won't be able to stop thinking about The Great Dictator. (On DVD, August 24, 2018)

#The Great Dictator #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Charlie Chaplin #Paulette Goddard #Jack Oakie #Henry DAniell #Reginald Gardiner #Billy Gilbert #Maurice Moscovich #1940 movies #1940 films

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nation-of-bros · 8 days

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youtube

Due to recent events, I think it is the right time to watch Alex Jones' documentary "Endgame", which almost 20 years ago predicted today's conditions very well: The pursuit of a world government is not just a conspiracy theory, it is a real danger already manifested in some ways; since this world government will not be a humanistic organization, but rather a tough dictatorship that will continue to keep people dumbed down as slaves. It will be an Orwellian system.

The idea of a world state is old

The pursuit of a world government is at least over 100 years old. I read the book "The Elders of Zion"; in my opinion it is a brilliant work because it describes exactly today's politics, and that more than a century ago! The content of this book is of course linguistically based on the state of technical development at the time and what was possible, but the political methods described are timeless. For instance, it clearly admits that the liberalism and democracy granted are only temporary phases that they deliberately introduced in order to "seize power in the individual nation states". Things like privatization of financial institutions or freemasonry will be banned in this world state, since after all they are those tools from their own toolbox that they used to subjugate the "non-Jewish states".

At this point I would like to clearly emphasize that I am not anti-Jewish and recognize that most of them are just ordinary people with whom we are in the same boat. However, there is no denying that an Ashkenazi group of very powerful families like the Rothschilds and Warburgs are going crazy because they managed to take over the monetary system. In fact, they have also recklessly forced BioNTech vaccinations on the Israeli population or the Jewish population of the USA, so there is no credible evidence that they are pursuing a policy for Jews. I can't say who they really are, but they're out of any human league, and they may just be using Judaism as a façade to give us a scapegoat so we don't question their true nature. Hence, Israel may only serve the purpose of a major international distraction here, as the evil schoolyard bully hated by everyone else, and is thus utilized to shift blame onto the Jews they perverted. I can't explain it any other way, and I'm open to new ideas…

In the same way one must interpret the many "German" families that are part of the Bilderberg elite. But apart from the German family names, there is nothing German about them; their entire endeavor is equally a shit on Germany, which they exploit, pervert and throw over to the NWO to devour just as completely unconcerned as they do it with every other country in the world. Therefore, you shouldn't be fooled by Yiddish or German-sounding names of the elite, or a "Klaus Schwab" who is the living manifestation of a pretty typical comic book supervillain character with a German accent. But Klaus Schwab is neither the mastermind nor does he care about Germany. These elite minions only serve themselves and their master, and I fear he is not human.

#essay #politic #Youtube

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marjaystuff · 2 years

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Guest Review: An Affair of Spies by Ronald Balson

An Affair of Spies by Ronald Balson explores the race between Germany and the US to develop a nuclear bomb. He will make readers think regarding moral questions: should the US have developed the bomb, are the scientists at fault, and what would someone do if they could rescue their family but it might compromise the mission?

The characters and the plot were my creation. But the historical background is very accurate. For example, US soldiers found the nuclear reactor in the Black Forest in Germany. The Ritchie Boys did exist, a top-secret Army training camp where 1100 boys from Austrian and German heritage were recruited to work with US intelligence to interpret scientific data. When I talked about the sabotage of the nuclear reactor that is true. I tried very hard to be accurate with the facts. As a matter of fact, recently in the New York Times obituary was a story about a Ritchie Boy who was sent into Germany as a spy.”

The hero is Nathan Silverman, a Jewish German immigrant who was sent to the US to escape the Nazis by his family. He is also the son of a theoretical physicist. Once in America he decides to enlist in the US Army to help fight the Nazi regime. Because of his background he is selected to be a Ritchie Boy, to be used as an interpreter and in counterintelligence. But the high command has other plans and recruits him for an important mission, to guard a US nuclear scientist, Dr. Allison Fisher. They will be sent into the heart of Germany to find out how far along are the Germans in developing an atomic bomb and to help a German theoretical physicist defect. Once there, Nathan, with Allison’s blessing, also tries to find out what happened to his family and can they help them escape as well.

“Nathan did attempt to try to find his family. He is a human being who will make mistakes. I like him for that reason. If I was Nathan in his situation, I would seek out information. Would I have given an old girlfriend the address of the safe house so she could deliver information? Yes.”

“I would describe Nathan as a Ritchie Boy who was Jewish. He is intelligent, defiant, courageous, and talented. While Allison is serious, workaholic, strong, quick thinker, courageous, logical, feisty, and determined. Yet, she was terrified because she had no military training.”

The plot has very intriguing characters and the story does not disappoint. Readers will be captivated by this riveting novel.

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nonstoplover · 3 years

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protagonist ~ joe liebgott (band of brothers)

my masterlist | my hbo war masterlist

pairing: joe liebgott x female reader

short summary: joe's assigned to search for the perfect house for easy's hq in the new town they'll soon arrive to on their way through germany and finds one with a girl in there who's like the protagonist of one of the comics he's read - courageous, fearless, heroic.

words: 2.5K

a/n: first of all, sorry for disappearing, exam season has started at my uni and i've been hella busy these past weeks (and gonna be for the following few as well, u g h ).

anyway this fic came around from a conversation i had with the lovely @now-im-a-belieber when i was telling her about an idea i had and she technically came up with the base of this. thank you, Pearl, i love you xx (i hope i did justice to your idea)

oh and let's just say i have no clue if this would have been possible, at least the exact way i wrote it.

taglist: @how-are-those-nuts-sarge @50svibes @pennyllanne @nowinnablewar

gif credit: @basilone

Four loud bangs sound against her front door right as she starts washing the dishes after they finished lunch. With her eyes widening in surprise she rushes back into the room, telling the family of three to hide as she's drying her hands in her apron before making her way to the door.

After taking a deep breath she grabs the handle and opens it. The next thing she knows is being pushed to the side as a figure storms in past her without a word. A gasp leaves her lungs as her back lightly collides with the wall, head turning to watch as the soldier barges in the house.

What is going on? Has someone found out about them?

With a hand reaching behind her back she pushes herself off the wall and hurries behind the man. Trying hard to sound completely calm and innocent she asks him what is going on, but he only barks back something almost inaudible - only a few German words reach her ears.

The soldier is moving with such speed that she hasn't got a single chance to get a better look at his uniform as he's entering every room one by one. Who is he? Worry swiftly floods her veins - more importantly, what is he looking for?

She can only pray the family has had enough time to properly hide.

As he reaches that door, she holds her breath back, repeating her little prayer like a mantra inside her head. The man comes to a sudden halt just as he steps through the doorframe and in an instant fear makes her blood turn freezing cold. She carefully moves closer to glance inside next to his body, not knowing what to expect.

And what she sees makes everything else in her mind disappear - just the thoughts of all hell breaking loose any time now move around inside.

Her best friend crouches on the other side of the room, clearly frozen mid-movement as her body is still half out of the hiding spot, eyes wide as she stares at the soldier, not a single muscle moving. It's like everyone's got frozen in time, none of the three people makes a move.

Liebgott's mind slow to catch up to what he sees - he didn't expect to see that as he rushed through the house. He's only been trying to decide whether it's a good place for Easy's HQ, as he has been ordered to do when Winters sent him ahead of the company.

His eyes then start moving around the room, trying hard to find a good reason as to why that girl is half inside the wall. A book is laying on the table next to the door, open at around the middle. With one glance at the pages he recognises the letters of the hebrew alphabet, and suddenly it all makes sense.

She's a Jew.

His breath hitches in his throat as he struggles to comprehend this new information, and just in that very moment the silence is broken by a voice. And it's not coming from either of the two girls in the room - more like it's coming from inside the wall.

One simple sentence, ending with a Yiddish term of endearment - one he can perfectly understand. It came from a woman, asking the girl crouching facing him from across the room why she's stopped moving.

There are more Jews in there.

His lungs fill with a sharp breath he's taken and he spins around, staring straight at the girl who opened the front door only minutes prior. The question must be clear in his eyes as she starts stammering in defense, her voice audibly shaking.

Joe shakes his head, stopping her mid-sentence. "No, they're Jews, I can see it," he says in perfect German, and the already pale girl suddenly seems even whiter.

He swiftly grabs her arm and pulls her in the direction he remembers finding the dining room in, trying to find a chair for her to sit down on, as she's visibly close to fainting - though the reason behind it he can't find.

(y/n) flinches with utter fear, weakly trying to resist being pulled away - he most probably is now taking her away to kill her, right? He's a German soldier, that's what his job is. But no matter how hard she tries to wiggle away, his grip is too tight around her arm and she can't do a thing.

Just when they arrive to the dining room and he kind of pushes her into one of the chairs is when Joe realises that she's scared of him - she immediately pushes the chair further away from him as soon as he lets go of her. So that's why she's shaking so bad.

"No, wait, don't be scared," he rushes to say. "I'm a Jew too."

This finally breaks the scaredness - instead her eyes fill with utter confusion. Her forehead wrinkles as she tries to make sense of what he's saying. How can a German soldier be Jewish? It makes absolutely no sense.

With a sudden wave of suspicion she moves her glance down to his uniform, examining every detail she can lay her eyes upon.

Is he not German?!

Suddenly she can see differences - details about his uniform that she's never seen on a German soldier before, and she's seen her fair share of those in the past years.

But if he's not German, who is he and what is going on?

She takes a still shaky breath and looks back up into his eyes - seeing the waiting expression on his face as he's standing there in patient silence for her to say something.

"Are you-" Her voice cracks mid-sentence. It's not good. She clears her throat and tries again. "Are you German?"

All of a sudden he bursts out laughing - so loud, and somehow so dark that her eyes widen once again. She just can't decide if it's from fear again, or only surprise.

A minute or so goes by with nothing but Joe laughing - this must be one of the most hilarious things he's heard in the past couple years. That he is a German.

Then his laughter finally quietens down to slight chuckling and he speaks up once more to confirm the truth. "No, of course not," he shakes his head in amusement. One look in her eyes tells him that somehow she still has no clue about his nationality, so he opens his lips again to give an answer to her question in advance. "I'm American. Don't worry, you're not in trouble for that," Joe points back in the direction of the room with the hiding spot above his shoulder.

A loud sigh escapes her lungs, her shoulder visibly falling a bit as she slumps more into the chair. It feels like years worth of stress and nervousness have just come to an end - it's truly like an enormous stone has rolled down from her chest and shoulders. She somehow feels free again for the first time in years.

Relief completely replaces the worry and fear in her veins as all other thoughts leave her mind. She's not gonna die. At least not today.

"They're Jewish," the soldier speaks again - and it's not a question. More like a statement.

(y/n) nods, unable to say a word as she's still overwhelmed with her new feelings.

"You're hiding them?"

She just raises an eyebrow, and Joe mentally slaps himself - what a stupid question. He could've might as well just asked her the colour of the wall.

"Since when you've been hiding them?" He corrects his question.

"Ever since the whole thing has started," she answers, her voice so quiet it almost disappears in the air between them.

"Wow," Liebgott breathes out before he can stop himself. He stares at the girl in disbelief. She looks so innocent and young - she's probably one or two years younger than him. How could she pull off something such a thing? Such a dangerous and pretty reckless thing?

"Esther is my best friend, she's been ever since we were little kids, they all are like a second family to me, I've spent most of my days with them," (y/n) explains, the relief causing her to ramble and Joe - for about the first time in his life has to struggle to keep up with the German words that come flying out past her lips. "I just had to help them, you know. I couldn't just leave them here."

"Where's your own family?"

"My parents left to France to be further away from the chaos, and my brother joined the Luftwaffe, and since then I haven't heard from none of them."

"Why didn't you leave with your parents as well?" The young soldier keeps asking, moving closer to the table and sitting down on a chair on the opposite side, facing her. Pushing his M1's strap down his shoulder he places the weapon on the table, pushing it only a little further in order to calm the girl more. He knows he probably shouldn't do this - and keep Winters waiting, but he's too curious to stop himself, he has to hear the rest of her story.

"I love this town, I was born and raised here," she shrugs as if it's obvious. "But more importantly, I didn't want to leave and let innocent people like my best friend's family suffer. I wanted to stay and fight back as good as I could."

Joe subconsciously mumbles under his breath before he can stop himself - words that praise her absolute bravery, words that give away his true feelings he suddenly feels towards her - then he has to move his gaze away from her, fearing that she sees the embarrassment in his eyes. He tries hard to think of another question while also trying hard to forget the look of the half-smiling expression that took over her face just a moment before - it does nothing good for his heart.

"Did you make that hidden room yourself?" He asks in the end, thinking back to what he saw in the room.

"Oh," she giggles - and it's the prettiest sound he's heard in a very long time. "No, my father made it when me and my brother were young and often played hide and seek. I just improved it a little so they can fit in more comfortably."

Liebgott hums, not knowing how to tell her - or if he should even tell her in the first place - how absolutely super impressed she left him with every single thing she's told him and what he's seen. It's one of the craziest things he has ever heard, and he had a fair share of unbelievable stories told to him in his life. He simply couldn't even imagine how on Earth this girl could manage to do this - and not get caught. Throughout the whole war.

In that very moment he swiftly decides that he'll go and find another house for the HQ, and that he'll somehow get back to this particular one, no matter what it takes. He wants to get to know her better. He has to get to know her better.

She's the most incredible woman he's ever heard of, read about or met. She's a woman who fits in the stories of the comics he's been reading his whole life - as the protagonist, the hero. He can't leave this town without hearing more about her, seeing her face more. That would be the biggest regret of his whole life, he can already tell.

But for now, he has to leave. It wouldn't be a good idea to keep his officers waiting even longer.

He stands up, fingers reaching out to grab his M1 before looking back into her eyes. Damn, he doesn't even know her name.

"I have to head back to my company, but I'll come back later, if that's okay with you."

Her eyes are already on his, seemingly staring straight into his soul with that intensity that lays in her (y/e/c) orbs. The girl then rises to her feet - still never breaking the eye contact.

Thoughts race inside her head, and it's like an angel and a demon are sitting on each of her shoulders, one telling her to say no whilst the other trying to convince her to say yes.

What if he only wants to use her? What if he only wants to sleep with her? Maybe force her to do so, threatening her with his knowledge of the Jewish family. He might not even be who and what he says he is. How could she know?

But on the other hand, there is this feeling she has about him. A feeling that tells her that nothing she previously thought will happen. She doesn't know what it is, but it's there, right in her chest, and she can't fight it. He seems genuinely curious and impressed, and honest. And she feels a pull towards him. She wants to see him again.

In the end, the devil on her shoulder wins, and she simply nods - right before she could change her mind.

"I'm Joe," the young soldier moves around the table, one hand held out towards her.

A glance cast down and right back up to his face she takes his hand and gives it a shake, holding onto it tightly, as if only to let him know how strong she actually is.

It probably works, 'cause he raises an eyebrow, slightly tilts his head and the corners of his lips curve up into the smallest smirk she's ever seen - but it's there.

"(y/n)," she eventually answers with her own introduction.

A few seconds pass and neither has let go of the other's hand, not yet. They just stand there, staring into each other's eyes, only the small noises of them breathin breaking the silence.

Then Liebgott blinks, clears his throat, pulls his hand out from her grip and instinctively places his fingers upon his weapon hanging from his shoulder whilst nodding towards her as a gesture of saying goodbye without words.

She watches as he turns around and walks out from the room, and after a tiny, happy sigh she follows the sound of his steps.

Just as he opens the front door and moves through it is when she arrives to the hall. Joe glances back over his shoulder for one last time, offering her a small smile, then looks back ahead of him and continues his walk as if nothing has happened. None of the past dozen of minutes.

(y/n) leans against the doorframe and watches him right until he disappears in the distance with a dreamy look in her eyes.

She can't wait until he comes back again.

.::the end::.

(might write a part two if i'll have time and you'd like to read it)

my masterlist | my hbo war masterlist

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the-cat-at-the-theatre-door · 2 years

Note

Do you have any more headcanons for the swing cats you came up with names for (Cattywampus, Ambrosia, Guildenstern, James, etc)? You come up with such cool Jellicle names, and it'd be cool to hear more about them.

Sure anon! I think I can pull something together. Here’s some ensemble/swing character HCs:

Cattywampus

-Belongs to a Jewish baker from Russia who retired years ago, but Catty still hangs around the shop (now run by his son) to “supervise” in his pet’s absence. He, himself, is a very accomplished “baker” as well (he makes biscuits and kneads extraordinarily, thank you).

-He always smells like fresh bread and eats when he’s anxious.

-I like to think he sounds a lot like Theodore Bikel, and he speaks Yiddish and Russian.

-Horrifically afraid of spiders and other insects - will not hunt them, or chase them off, just cower.

-Was quite the charmer in his youth - now he just sticks to the occasional gentlemanly kiss of the paw.

-He’s also quite the gardener! There’s a community garden nearby his pet’s house that he frequents. He could tell you all about how and when to plant which vegetables and grumble at how fickle and melodramatic flowers are, and will lead visitors proudly through the foliage and lament that certain plants “didn’t come so good this year” when the thing is literally *flourishing*. He’ll gather zucchini flowers and the smaller, softer peas during their season and take them to the Junkyard for the kittens to eat.

-Thought to try acting in his youth but it never went anywhere - it became less exciting the more of a job it was.

-Always has excellent advice - he’s the type of cat you go to when you’re trying to make a solid decision because not only will he almost always know exactly what the right thing to say is once he’s got the context, he can do it in a way that makes it seem like you came up with the final choice all on your own.

Marmalade

-He’s the “Mr. Fixit” of the Junkyard - in their case that means he makes all sorts of interesting gadgets and such from junk he finds around. He also can hotwire cars/bring other dead devices back to life with the right parts, and figure out lighting situations (his pet was an electrician).

-He’s a mathematics wizard - he can do long division in his head in seconds and estimate the exact measurements of something with an 90% accuracy rate.

-Used to run with a gang as a teenager but grew out of that after a mishap with a German Shepard nearly cost him his life. Most of his tail is gone as a reminder, and he always walks just a touch unbalanced as a result.

-That being said he’s a very practical cat; very much an “ends justifies the means” type. He is a true neutral - whatever needs to be done is done, no use crying about it.

-As his name suggests he is *very* fond of sweet things, particularly jams and peanut butter (and he loves heavy cream), though he also very well knows that none of it is good for him.

-There was a time he taught the kittens their hunting rules and prepped them for their first hunts but he’s since stepped down from that. He just hunts for the party on his own; he’s not a huge fan of company.

Guildenstern

-Owned by a Lit Professor who would sometimes take him to class just before exams and let him walk over the desks and explore the classroom and its students as a morale booster. Guildenstern just thinks it’s because he needs help teaching - he does tend to drone on.

-He’s quite adept at playing the piano, though he can’t lift the lid on his own so he’ll just sit on top of the bench and meow until someone opens it for him.

-Much like his namesake, he’s snarky and has the tendency to think (and talk) in circles.

-Has quite the crush on Olivia, but Olivia pays him very little mind (not through any malice - she’s just not very observant of her surroundings). Will often bring her birds as “courting” presents.

-Isn’t super fond of kittens; they’re okay but he’d rather not be around them (particularly the very young ones).

-Is allergic or sensitive to pretty much everything - pollen season is hellish and he’s on a very strict diet.

Ambrosia

-Her pets are oceanographers so she’s got a rather shining interest towards the same. She loves the water and “working in the field” (see - splashing in tide pools).

-That being said she gets *very* seasick *very* easy, so...boats and her don’t exactly get along.

-She’s extremely curious to the point where it’s gotten her into trouble, but she always comes out with a conclusion and that’s all that matters to her.

-AJ is her little half sister who’s far more rebellious than she is; she often worries after her well being.

-Loves to talk - like *loves* to talk. She’ll talk all day if given the opportunity; she *loves* a good conversation (and loathes a boring one).

Ripamonti

-Victoria's cousin (on her mother’s side - they think anyway) and the son of one of Bustopher Jones' estranged brothers, making him his uncle. His friends call him "Monti".

-Lives mostly abroad, so he very rarely comes to visit. He's one of the cats who most definitely only meets "once a year".

-English is his fifth language down the line. French is his first language. Then Italian, Spanish, and German. Then English. His accent’s a little all over the place.

-Bit snobby and stuck up, but nothing too bad. He gets on very well with Noilly Prat.

-He is very fond of handfans and old clocks - one time he was hypnotized by a grandfather clock because he was so enamoured by its swinging pendulum. He has no use for either of these things, as he doesn’t need fans to keep cool and he can’t tell time, but they’re so pretty he always wants to look at them. Especially the more intricate and gaudy they are.

-Hi favourite human is a candle maker back where he’s from.

-A bit of a trouble maker in the way that he’ll cause mischief through proxy; can’t be blamed if it wasn’t *technically* you’re fault, right?

James

-Jonathan and him are brothers - they mostly visit the Junkyard on their own because their mother is busy with her work.

-Adores Cassandra and, tbh, no one is quite sure why. He says he just likes her. She tolerates him.

-Has a kitten crush on Caramel but refuses to tell him because he’s awkward as all hell.

-He’s *extremely* impulsive; something Munkustrap is trying very hard to train out of him, for fear it’ll get him hurt.

-Though he acts tough, he absolutely loves curling up in laps and being pet; it’s his favourite thing.

-Only interested in cat toys if they make noise; quiet ones bore him to tears. He likes throwing tennis balls at the wall and chasing after them when they bounce back.

-He’s a master scrap beggar and has all the good spots memorized. He can get a whole meal in less than 15 minutes.

Pettipaws

-Daughter of Pushdragon and an unknown queen (see below) - thinks her dad is embarrassing but she loves him.

-Super tiny and was born rather frail and sickly, hence the name (”petti” coming from petticoat, which comes from the word “pety” meaning small, and paws combined in that she’s light on her feet - literally in a weight sense *and* figuratively in that she’s rather graceful). She doesn’t grow much more after her coming of age.

-Hathor is her favourite non-parental adult and Hamilton is her best friend; they catch frogs together.

-She has a great affinity for Alice in Wonderland and used to make up her own Wonderland stories that took place outside of when Alice was present.

-A spectacular dancer but also very, *very* shy. It takes a lot of coaxing to get her to do anything in front of an audience, even a small one. She has stage fright.

-Has her head near permanently in the clouds; it’s very hard to get her out again once she’s started daydreaming, so it’s best to tell her whatever it is now before it’s too late.

-When she’s not in the Junkyard, she likes to wander near the Tailor’s Shop in town. She loves the pretty gowns in the window. The owners are very fond of her and let her sleep in the fabric scraps.

Hamilton

-Will often just burst into song at any given opportunity; he’s the definition of an ear worm because sometimes he will sing the *same* song over and over and over again for days.

-Pettipaws is his best friend and they always partner together for dance class any time they’re told to break off in pairs. He also hangs around Carbucketty a lot.

-He likes to “ice skate” and by “ice skate” I mean launch himself bodily across the ponds when they freeze over and then scramble back to shore and do it all over again.

-Suffers from the permanent zoomies - especially late at night. He’ll be absolutely on fire around midnight and crash around 3/4.

-Was raised mostly by his grandmother (or at least the cat he called his grandma - he doesn’t think she’s actually his grandma but it doesn’t matter) until there were limitations on the number of animals that were allowed in their flat and his pet had to struggle to decide which one to give away. Hamilton set out on his own so his grandma could stay behind, thinking he had a better shot anyway (she told him about the Junkyard and that he would be safe there). He comes to visit her and his old pet on the fire escape all the time.

Rembrandt

-Much like his name would suggest, he’s a bit of a painter, you know...kinda. Okay, his *pet* has a studio where she paints, but he absolutely helps (make a mess) - when he gets older he manages to convince her into letting him paint on his own canvases and she publishes his work alongside her own gallery pieces.

-As a result, he’s literally always dirty. Always. No baths for him, though, he’s a master escape artist.

-Afraid of the dark. Incredibly so. Oddly enough, though, he loves using his pet’s telescope and that requires complete darkness. So...that’s a bit of a conflict.

-Very good friends with James and Jonathan - they get into all sorts of trouble together.

-He likes hanging out under blankets the best, though his tendency to shred them has made it so most of the blankets he likes to crawl under are barely blankets anymore.

Viola and Sebastian

-Sebastian is trans ftm and Viola is non-binary! They’re both calico cats.

-Their parents are unknown - they’re rescues from one of the kitten mill raids. Viola likes to think that someday they’ll find them and will occasionally daydream on what they might be like when they do; Sebastian is far more pessimistic. They were raised communally by the Junkyard, but both of them favour their auntie Jelly the most.

-They’ll playfight and wrestle one another literally all the time (for no reason), but will very rarely engage in any sort of playfighting with the other kittens.

-Viola collects rocks and glass shards; Sebastian collects feathers and coins humans drop in the street. Often, the two of them will spend hours with their heads bent over their “treasures”, bargaining and trading with one another until they are both satisfied with their final hauls (Though Viola is a *touch* craftier than their brother in that they’ll pull the wool over his eyes if he finds something particularly valuable, but will trick him into believing that he got a good bargain.

-Sebastian wants to be a nursecat when he gets older (or go to space, he hasn’t decided yet); Viola wants to study bugs like their aunt Olivia. Specifically butterflies, other bugs are gross looking.

-Absolutely *idolize* Jerrie and Teazer to the point where it’s a little concerning that they won’t start stealing things as well (they’ve already got the destructive streak part down).

-They’re both empaths, but the skill is not very developed. Often, they just get static feedback from cats who they don’t know well.

And just for the hell of it:

"Rumpus Cat" (aka Pushdragon - whose name was pitched by the always brilliant @theimpossiblescheme)

-Current protector who worked alongside Jenny and Skimble when they were still protectors, and under Old Deuteronomy when he was *very* small (and Deuteronomy got a *kick* out of him, let me tell you), so he's one of the elder ones. Doesn't plan on retiring anytime soon - where's the fun in that? He loves a challenge.

-Large ham, scenery chewer and a *bit* of a braggart; he loves the spotlight and being the centre of attention. But, lucky for the others, he has the skills to back it up. He has literally *dozens* of wild tales about his adventures and some of them sound absolutely ridiculous to any sensible cat, but the catch is that aside from an exaggeration to make the story better here and there, they are all *completely true*. Yes he *did* fight a bear. Yes a crocodile *did* bite the tip of his tail off. Yes he *did* get stranded on a naval ship for three months straight and befriended its captain. Maybe he *wasn't* raised by wolves, but he sure befriended one once. He certainly rubs a lot of cats the wrong way, but he's harmless and cares about his family immensely. He's just got...a lot of energy and a boisterous can-do attitude.

-He's a pescatarian like his best friend Sylvani (who introduced him to the diet) - he likes tuna best but it's so *hard* to find a good tasting tuna fish these days and he will tell you all about that should you chance to ask.

-Cloudcuckoolander extraordinaire - usually needs you to repeat whatever it was you just said because he was off in his own world (like father like daughter).

-Invented this weird pulley system that he piles rocks in and he pulls the ropes of over and over - “weight lifting” he calls it. Sometimes, the kittens will put more rocks in it for fun (because they think it’s funny) and he cheerfully encourages them until he can no longer get it off the ground or Sylvani hollers at him to knock it off before he tears something. Whichever comes first.

-He's also just a hairline scary when he actually decides it's time to get down to business. There's a reason he scared off dogs with a yawn and a bound.

-Credit again to Amie for this one, but every conversation with this cat goes something like this clip of Brian Blessed, in that not only is the voice that comes out of him surprisingly booming and deep, but in that he will not let anyone let any word in edgewise when he's in the middle of it. He also swears so casually you'll just read it as part of his vocabulary.

-Pettipaws is his daughter from a passing fling (he’s not a cat to be tied down) and his little princess - you wouldn't suspect it because she's just so quiet and saucer eyed and Pushdragon is…the way he is. He spoils the stuffing out of her. Everlasting help the future mate she brings home. He also took Gilbert under his wing and he considers him like a father as well.

#ensemble cats #my headcanons #jellicles ask because jellicles dare #anonymous

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 3 years

Text

remember

Whenever I hear white Americans say “my family had nothing to do with slavery so why should I apologize” I think of Willy Brandt.

Willy Brandt was Germany’s Chancellor from 1969 to 1974. In 1970, he made an historic visit to Poland. Brandt came to the site of the Warsaw Ghetto—an open-air walled prison where the Nazis forced Jews to live before “liquidating” it in 1943. Brandt came to acknowledge Germany’s culpability in the murder of 3 million Polish Jews—90% of the country’s Jewish population and nearly half of the 6 million Jews killed and burned to ash by the Nazis.

Brandt was there to lay a wreath. But as he approached the memorial, he fell to his knees in anguish. It was an act of deep humility and courage. At the time, there were older Germans who hated it. Who saw it as a sign of weakness. Brandt’s gesture could not bring back 6 million murdered Jews or the millions of European civilians also murdered. But it was the beginning of Germany’s true reckoning with the past.

It’s important to add that Willy Brandt fled Nazi Germany as a young man and survived the war in hiding as a dissident. He was a marked man by the Nazis often escaping capture and death. So if anyone had an excuse to say “I’m not responsible for what my country did”—it was him. But Brandt understood that he was part of a society that committed mass murder on an unimaginable scale. And he had to act.

Brandt knelt in Warsaw a few years before I was born. But as a descendant of victims, I remember learning about what he did—even as a child. It wasn’t going to erase the past...but it was a start toward reconciliation and building a more just society

As a boy in the early 1980s, I remember my parents had friends in their 40s (close to my age today) who had numbers tattooed on their arms. Holocaust survivors. They were young and vibrant. I remember that. And by that time, their trauma had been recognized by much of the world. It didn’t change their pain and the nightmares of their lived experiences but also they knew that their suffering had been acknowledged. That matters.

Germany is an imperfect country. I know. I lived there. But the average German knows and understands the details and legacy of the mass murder and persecution their forbears committed. German schoolchildren visit the remains of death camps. There are monuments to the murdered Jews of Europe across the country. There are national days of mourning. You’d be hard pressed to find a public monument to any Nazi. In fact you won’t because they are not allowed.

Now imagine in the US, we have monuments to men who fought a war to preserve the institutionalized terrorization and enslavement of African Americans. Every day, millions of African Americans in cities throughout the US pass those statues. It’s not just a reminder of their oppression. But a reminder of their country’s failure to reckon with the past.

In Germany, there are still racist and anti-Semitic people. That exists around the world. No society is immune. But expressing pro-Nazi views or denying the cruelty of their Nazi past is culturally unacceptable—and in some cases, illegal. It means that—as a general rule—German society has been able to develop into a healthier and more just society.

Does every German like it? No. There are plenty who bitterly resent the fact that their national institutions memorialize the murdered Jews of Europe. But they are a distinct minority of people whose voices are roundly condemned and quashed. Because Germany knows that hatred—at the end of the day—is self corroding. It is bad for Germany.

Most schoolchildren in the United States still do not learn that “plantations” were concentration camps where terror, rape, assault and brutal family separation took place. They do not learn about the generations of families ripped apart at the snap of a finger. Or the immense wealth that was created and passed on (to this day) by people who benefited from the free labor of enslaved humans. And that for more than 100 years after the civil war, African Americans continued to be terrorized by the state apparatus.

I believe if more white Americans understood these and so many other horrors of the black experience in America—and truly committed ourselves to a reckoning—with both real and symbolic reparations—our country would become stronger, more just, healthier and prouder.

[Guy Raz] :: [Remember]

#German #holocaust #story #history #remembrance #Willy Brandt #Guy Raz

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remuslupininskirts · 3 years

Text

Here are my sexuality’s / mental heath problems / other things for the marauders and friends-

Remus

-biromatic Demisexal

- trans (he/him)

-anxiety

-total badass but likes to read and wear cardigans

-Jewish, doesn’t particularly believe in the idea of god, but still follows traditions in the religion

Sirius

-Demi boy

-gay (or as he called it, remussexual)

-gets panic attacks/ ptsd

-people think he does all this stuff with girls but in reality next to none of its true

-Asian or white

James

-ace spectrum, poly and bisexual

-he/him or they/them

-adhd or has adhd tendencies

-Indian

-the reason he found out they were bi was because they kissed remus in a game of spin the bottle, then found themselves wanting to do it again, basically he has a crush on remus for a while in 4th year

-regulus//need i say more

Peter

-aro ace

-likes his space but will also love a bit of platonic cuddling

-white, his heritage is German, first one in his family to be born in the uk

Lily

-bi curious

-Scottish

-defiantly dated Marlene at one point

-she/they but a girl still

#wolfstar #hp marauders #harry potter #remus lupin #remus x sirius #sirius black #wolfbucks #jegulus #hogwarts #my marauders #jily

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eretzyisrael · 3 years

Text

(A drone is launched during a large-scale drone combat exercise of Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in Semnan, Iran January 4, 2021. Picture taken January 4, 2021

(photo credit: IRANIAN ARMY/WANA/REUTERS)

The drone Israel shot down near the border with Jordan on Tuesday was Iranian, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

“While we were busy fighting, a few days ago, Iran sent an armed drone into Israel from Iraq or Syria,” Netanyahu told German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who was in Jerusalem. “Iranian forces launched an armed drone, which our forces shot down at the border between Israel and Jordan.

“I think that says everything about the real patron of terror in the Middle East and the world – Iran,” Netanyahu added, showing Maas a piece of the drone.

The IDF shot down a drone that was approaching the Israeli-Jordanian border, traveling toward the Emek HaMa'ayanot Regional Council in northern Israel, on Tuesday.

IDF units collected the fragments of the destroyed aircraft for further examination.

At the time, residents of Beit She'an - which sits within the regional council - were instructed to lock themselves in their homes for nearly an hour, before the IDF announced that the area had been secured, and that it was again safe for people to leave their homes.

Netanyahu said he described to Maas how Israel is fighting on multiple fronts, and that Iran is behind all of them.

“Not only does Iran totally support Islamic Jihad in Gaza and give it all its funding, it also gives weapons to Hamas and Hezbollah,” he stated. “They provide the infrastructure on which terrorist organizations depend.” Iranian Quds Force Commander Sardar Ismail Qaani wrote a letter of support to Hamas's Qassam Brigades Commander Mohammed Dief this week, according to Iranian news site Khabar Online. Qaani wrote that Dief was "faithful to your promise to the enemy. The usurper tasted the fear, defeat and humiliation... This war has ushered in a new phase in the battle with the enemy...The equation is that the enemy cannot isolate Quds [Jerusalem] without receiving a tough response." World powers continued negotiations with Iran in Vienna throughout the time that Hamas and other Gazan terrorist groups rained rockets on Israel with Iranian material support. The goal of the negotiations is for Iran to return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the 2015 nuclear deal is known, and for the US to lift sanctions placed on Iran since 2018. Russian Ambassador to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted photos from ongoing talks with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi on Wednesday, and on Thursday said that, while negotiations for Iran to return to the JCPOA would not be completed by their May 21 target date, "the talks will continue until successful outcome." Enrique Mora, the EU official leading indirect talks between the US and Iran, said Wednesday that he was confident talks were “on the right track” and a deal will be reached as a fourth round of negotiations adjourned. However, diplomats from Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, were more reserved in their assessments of the talks’ progress, saying “there are still some very difficult issues ahead.”

Maas, Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek and Slovakian Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok paid a solidarity visit to the region, as Operation Guardian of the Walls continued on Thursday.

“Germany stands with Israel and its right to defend itself,” Maas said ahead of a meeting with Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi. “I came to Israel to show solidarity and support Israel after the rocket fire from Gaza. Israel has the right to defend itself.”

“Israel’s security and that of the Jewish residents here are not negotiable,” he stated.

Maas added that he has been following the humanitarian situation in Gaza with great concern, but that he is aware of Israeli efforts to bring humanitarian aid to the coastal enclave.

In recent days, Hamas twice shelled humanitarian aid convoys from Israel into Gaza, killing two civilians and injuring 10, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Maas also said that Germany supports efforts to bring about a ceasefire, and that he has been in contact with the US, Egypt and others towards that aim.

“We need to look to the future and make sure there is sustainable peace in the region that allows for a situation in which Israelis and Palestinians can live here with self-determination. The current situation is one of uncertainty that only serves to strengthen those who spread hate and terror,” Maas stated.

Maas met with Ashkenazi, who also accompanied him to Petah Tikva to see a home that was destroyed by a Hamas rocket and receive a security briefing from Home Front Command commander Maj.-Gen. Ori Gorodin.

Soon after, Kulhanek and Korčok visited the same house.

Kulhanek said he was “speechless” after seeing the destruction terrorism against Israel has wrought.

“In these days, Israel needs its friends in the world, and we are here to show strong friendship,” he stated. “The Czech Republic proudly waved an Israeli flag over its government institutions as a sign of identification with and support for Israel. Israel has the full right to defend itself.”

Korčok said that Israel and Slovakia are “true friends,” and that he is in Israel to show the power of that friendship.

“Hamas shooting must stop. Israel has the right to defend itself,” he said.

Ashkenazi thanked the foreign ministers for their countries’ support, and said that raising an Israeli flag over the Czech Foreign Ministry and Bratislava’s City Hall is “heartwarming and cannot be taken for granted.”

Asheknazi explained that the current round of fighting is different from the past: “Hamas’s missile attack on Israel broke out following a brutal attempt by Hamas to strengthen its political status and take over the Palestinian agenda and Palestinian Authority leadership.

“Hamas chose to do this through terrorist attacks and shooting missiles and rockets at Israeli civilians in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the south. [Hamas] is doing this from populated areas, in backyards and schools, while using residents of Gaza as human shields. Hamas is committing a double war crime,” he said.

Ashkenazi pointed out that Hamas rockets have destroyed electric lines into Gaza, and then Hamas shot at Israeli Electric Company staff that tried to fix them.

“This is another example of how Hamas harms the population of Gaza and cynically takes advantage of its distress,” Ashkenazi said.

Maas also met with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who updated him on developments in the fighting against Hamas and progress towards the goal of attaining long-term quiet and security for Israelis.

The German foreign minister also plans to meet with President Reuven Rivlin and will go to Ramallah to meet Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh. He plans to return to Germany on Thursday.

#Israel #IDF #Iran #Drone #Gaza

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breezeinmonochromenight · 3 years

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Did you ever hear about Heisenberg being a N*zi thing? Any thoughts?

I don’t know (or like... care tbh) enough about the character to look up how old he is/how long he’s been alive (if that’s even available info), but unless he’s got some weird Lady D immortality type shit going on, I’m highly doubtful of him being an actual Nazi. He looks to be in his 40’s to early 50’s, so assuming nothing weird going on that involves him not aging, that simply doesn’t add up — Village takes place in 2021. I’m also not a fan of throwing out shit like “x is a Nazi” without really good evidence or Word of God confirmation.

HOWEVER COMMA

It makes sense they might use that imagery seeing as he’s a fucking villain. He’s literally made to be a roadblock that inevitably must to be killed to progress, just like pretty much all Resident Evil villains not named Albert Wesker. People have also been making games/movies/media and taking the imagery of Nazis/the Third Reich for their villains for ages. What and who do you think Darth Vader/the Empire/the First Order are based off of? Like. It may not be a great trope, but it is a very common one in both Japanese and western media.

The ‘Evil scientist that experiments on dead bodies to create bio-weapon soldiers’ schtick could have easily just been yet another Dr. Fakenstein/Herr Doktor/etc. type character — fitting, since Village is already full of B-movie horror tropes — but the naming scheme for his creations specifically being in German and militaristic to boot does kinda make me side-eye all of this more than just a little. If nothing else, I think it’s in extremely poor taste. Even for RE.

All that said, I do find it fucking bizarre that they seemed to have been inspired by that imagery to some extent for Heisenberg, yet gave him straight up fucking Magneto powers, when Magneto’s backstory has depicted him as a German-born Jewish kid that survived the Holocaust since like the early 1980’s or so. So uh... if true...

yeah.

#regardless he got mowed down with a quickness in my game so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#anonymous #if that even is your real name #misc.

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yourreddancer · 3 years

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Whenever I hear white Americans say “my family had nothing to do with slavery so why should I apologize” I think of Willy Brandt.

But it was the beginning of Germany’s true reckoning with the past. It’s important to add that Willy Brandt fled Nazi Germany as a young man and survived the war in hiding as a dissident. He was a marked man by the Nazis often escaping capture and death. So if anyone had an excuse to say “I’m not responsible for what my country did”—it was him. But Brandt understood that he was part of a society that committed mass murder on an unimaginable scale. And he had to act.

In Germany, there are still racist and anti-Semitic people. That exists around the world. No society is immune.

But expressing pro-Nazi views or denying the cruelty of their Nazi past is culturally unacceptable—and in some cases, illegal.

It means that—as a general rule—German society has been able to develop into a healthier and more just society. Does every German like it? No. There are plenty who bitterly resent the fact that their national institutions memorialize the murdered Jews of Europe. But they are a distinct minority of people whose voices are roundly condemned and quashed. Because Germany knows that hatred—at the end of the day—is self corroding. It is bad for Germany.

And that for more than 100 years after the civil war, African Americans continued to be terrorized by the state apparatus. I believe if more white Americans understood these and so many other horrors of the black experience in America—and truly committed ourselves to a reckoning—with both real and symbolic reparations—our country would become stronger, more just, healthier and prouder.

Guy Raz

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