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sayruq · 2 months

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Yemeni, Iranian, and Palestinian authorities have spoken out in support of US university students and faculty members who have been targeted by brutal police repression for the past two weeks during mobilizations calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza. The leader of Yemen's ruling Ansarallah movement, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said during a speech on 25 April that the US government “does not respect their laws, their constitution, or any headlines they raise and brag about,” stressing that there is a “concerted effort” from Washington to silence a movement that “has begun to wake up to the horror of what is happening in occupied Palestine.” “With the demonstrations and sit-ins at prominent US universities, the US support for the Israeli enemy became clear, as authorities dealt with the demonstrations and protests … in a bad manner that goes beyond all considerations,” the Yemeni resistance leader added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also condemned the crackdown witnessed across several universities. “The suppression and violent treatment of the American police and security forces against professors and students protesting the genocide and war crimes of the Israeli regime in various universities of the United States is deeply worrying,” Iran's top diplomat said via social media, adding that this repression is an extension of “Washington's full-fledged support for the Israeli regime and clearly shows the double standard policy and contradictory attitude of the American government towards freedom of expression.”

In Palestine, officials from Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), as well as student organizations in the Gaza Strip, issued statements supporting the grassroots movement that has taken over about two dozen university campuses in the US. “We, the students of Gaza, salute the students of Columbia University, Yale University, New York University, Rutgers University, the University of Michigan, and dozens of universities across the United States who are rising in solidarity with Gaza and to put an end to the Zionist–US genocide against our people in Gaza,” a statement from students organizations in Gaza reads. “From here in Gaza, we see you and salute you. Your actions and activism matter, especially in the heart of the empire, in the United States … It is clear that a new generation is rising that will no longer accept Zionism, racism, and genocide and that stands with Palestine and our liberation from the river to the sea,” the statement adds. For their part, the PFLP called on Palestinian and Arab students to “rise for Gaza following the example of American universities.” “Palestinian and Arab universities must take the initiative and break the barrier of silence, following the example of American universities which have ignited an intifada within the campus for the victory of the blood of our Palestinian people, and in rejection of the continuing American support for the zionist entity,” the PFLP statement reads. In a similar vein, Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq said that the government of US President Joe Biden “violates individual rights and the right to expression, and arrests university students and faculty members because they reject the genocide that our Palestinian people are subjected to in the Gaza Strip at the hands of the neo-Nazi Zionists, without the slightest feeling of shame about the legal value represented by the students and university professors.” “The Biden administration, which is a partner in the brutal war on our Palestinian people, does not want to acknowledge that [the US public has] discovered the truth about the Nazi entity and is siding with human values and standing on the right side of history. Today’s students are the leaders of the future, and their suppression today means an expensive electoral bill that the Biden administration will pay sooner or later.”

#yemen #jerusalem #tel aviv #current events #palestine #free palestine #gaza #free gaza #news on gaza #palestine news #news update #war news #war on gaza #students for justice in palestine #gaza solidarity encampment #columbia university #iran #pflp #palestinian resistance

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reasonsforhope · 5 months

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Paywall-free version

On the outskirts of Austin, Texas, what began as a fringe experiment has quickly become central to the city’s efforts to reduce homelessness. To Justin Tyler Jr., it is home.

Mr. Tyler, 41, lives in Community First! Village, which aims to be a model of permanent affordable housing for people who are chronically homeless. In the fall of 2022, he joined nearly 400 residents of the village, moving into one of its typical digs: a 200-square-foot, one-room tiny house furnished with a kitchenette, a bed and a recliner.

The village is a self-contained, 51-acre community in a sparsely populated area just outside Austin. Stepping onto its grounds feels like entering another realm.

Eclectic tiny homes are clustered around shared outdoor kitchens, and neat rows of recreational vehicles and manufactured homes line looping cul-de-sacs.

There are chicken coops, two vegetable gardens, a convenience store, art and jewelry studios, a medical clinic and a chapel.

Roads run throughout, but residents mainly get around on foot or on an eight-passenger golf cart that makes regular stops around the property.

Mr. Tyler chose a home with a cobalt-blue door and a small patio in the oldest part of the village, where residents’ cactus and rock gardens created a “funky, hippie vibe” that appealed to him. He arrived in rough shape, struggling with alcoholism, his feet inflamed by gout, with severe back pain from nearly 10 years of sleeping in public parks, in vehicles and on street benches.

At first, he kept to himself. He locked his door and slept. He visited the clinic and started taking medication. After a month or so, he ventured out to meet his neighbors.

“For a while there, I just didn’t want to be seen and known,” he said. “Now I prefer it.”

Between communal meals and movie screenings, Mr. Tyler also works at the village, preparing homes for the dozen or more people who move there each month.

In the next few years, Community First is poised to grow to nearly 2,000 homes across three locations, which would make it by far the nation’s largest project of this kind, big enough to permanently house about half of Austin’s chronically homeless population.

Tiny-home villages for people who have been homeless have existed on a small scale for several decades, but have recently become a popular approach to addressing surging homelessness. Since 2019, the number of these villages across the country has nearly quadrupled, to 124 from 34, with dozens more coming, according to a census by Yetimoni Kpeebi, a researcher at Missouri State University.

Mandy Chapman Semple, a consultant who has helped cities like Houston transform their homelessness systems, said the growth of these villages reflects a need to replace inexpensive housing that was once widely available in the form of mobile home parks and single room occupancy units, and is rapidly being lost. But she said they are a highly imperfect solution.

“I think where we’re challenged is that ‘tiny home’ has taken on a spectrum of definitions,” said Chapman Semple. Many of those definitions fall short of housing standards, often lacking basic amenities like heat and indoor plumbing, which she said limits their ability to meet the needs of the population they intend to serve.

But Community First is pushing the tiny home model to a much larger scale. While most of its homes lack bathrooms and kitchens, its leaders see that as a necessary trade-off to be able to creatively and affordably house the growing number of people living on Austin’s streets. And unlike most other villages, many of which provide temporary emergency shelter in structures that can resemble tool sheds, Community First has been thoughtfully designed with homey spaces where people with some of the highest needs can stay for good. No other tiny home village has attempted to permanently house as many people.

Austin’s homelessness rate has been rapidly worsening, and the city’s response has whipped back and forth... In October [2023], the official estimate put the number of people living without shelter at 5,530, a 125 percent increase from two years earlier. Some of that rise is the result of better outreach, but officials acknowledged that more people have become homeless. City leaders vowed to build more housing, but that effort has been slowed by construction delays and resistance from residents.

Meanwhile, outside the city limits, Community First has been building fast. [Note from below the read more: It's outside city limits because the lack of zoning laws keeps more well-off Austin residents from blocking the project, as they did earlier attempts to build inside the city.] In a mere eight years, this once-modest project has grown into a sprawling community that the city is turning to as a desperately needed source of affordable housing. The village has now drawn hundreds of millions of dollars from public and private sources and given rise to similar initiatives across the country.

This rapid growth has come despite significant challenges. And some question whether a community on the outskirts of town with relaxed housing standards is a suitable way to meet the needs of people coming out of chronic homelessness. The next few years will be a test of whether these issues will be addressed or amplified as the village expands to five times its current size.

-via New York Times, January 8, 2024. Article continues below (at length!)

The community versus Community First

For Alan Graham, the expansion of Community First is just the latest stage in a long-evolving project. In the late 1990s, Mr. Graham, then a real estate developer, attended a Catholic men’s retreat that deepened his faith and inspired him to get more involved with his church. Soon after, he began delivering meals as a church volunteer to people living on Austin’s streets.

In 1998, Mr. Graham, now 67, became a founder of Mobile Loaves and Fishes, a nonprofit that has since amassed a fleet of vehicles that make daily rounds to deliver food and clothing to Austin’s homeless...

Talking to people like Mr. Johnston [a homeless Austin resident who Graham had befriended], Mr. Graham came to feel that housing alone was not enough for people who had been chronically homeless, the official term for those who have been homeless for years or repeatedly and have physical or mental disabilities, including substance-use disorders. About a third of the homeless population fits this description, and they are often estranged from family and other networks.

In 2006, Mr. Graham pitched an idea to Austin’s mayor: Create an R.V. park for people coming out of chronic homelessness. It would have about 150 homes, supportive services and easy access to public transportation. Most importantly, it would help to replace the “profound, catastrophic loss of family” he believed was at the root of the problem with a close-knit and supportive community.

The City Council voted unanimously in 2008 to lease Mr. Graham a 17-acre plot of city-owned land to make his vision a reality. Getting the council members on board, he said, turned out to be the easy part.

When residents near the intended site learned of the plan, they were outraged. They feared the development would reduce their property values and invite crime. One meeting to discuss the plan with the neighborhood grew so heated that Mr. Graham was escorted to his car by the police. Not a single one of the 52 community members in attendance voted in favor of the project.

After plans for the city-owned lot fell apart and other proposed locations faced similar resistance, Mr. Graham gave up on trying to build the development within city limits.

In 2012, he instead acquired a plot of land in a part of Travis County just northeast of Austin. It was far from public transportation and other services, but it had one big advantage: The county’s lack of zoning laws limited the power of neighbors to stop it.

Mr. Graham raised $20 million and began to build. In late 2015, Mr. Johnston left the R.V. park he had been living in and became the second person to move into the new village. It grew rapidly. In just two years, Mr. Graham bought an adjacent property, nearly doubling the village’s size to 51 acres and making room for hundreds more residents.

And then in the fall of 2022, he broke ground on the largest expansion yet: Adding two more sites to the village, expanding it by 127 acres to include nearly 2,000 homes.

“No one ever really did what they first did, and no one’s ever done what they’re about to do,” said Mark Hilbelink, the director of Sunrise Navigation Center, Austin’s largest homeless-services provider. “So there’s a little bit of excitement but also probably a little bit of trepidation about, ‘How do we do this right?’”

What it takes to make a village

Since he moved into Community First eight years ago, Mr. Johnston has found the stability that eluded him for so long. Most mornings, he wakes up early in his R.V., feeds his scruffy adopted terrier, Amos, and walks a few minutes down a quiet road to the village garden, where neat rows of carrots, leeks, beets and arugula await his attention.

Mr. Johnston worked in fast-food restaurants for most of his life, but he learned how to garden at the village. He now works full time cultivating produce for a weekly market that is free to residents.

“Once I got here, I said, This is where I’m going to spend pretty much my entire life now,” Mr. Johnston said.

Everyone at the village pays rent, which averages about $385 a month. The tiny homes that make up two-thirds of the dwellings go for slightly lower, but have no indoor plumbing; their residents use communal bathhouses and kitchens. The rest of the units are R.V.s and manufactured homes with their own bathrooms and kitchens.

Like Mr. Johnston, many residents have jobs in the village, created to offer residents flexible opportunities to earn some income. Last year, they earned a combined $1.5 million working as gardeners, landscapers, custodians, artists, jewelry makers and more, paid out by Mobile Loaves and Fishes.

Ute Dittemer, 66, faced a daily struggle for survival during a decade on the streets before moving into Community First five years ago with her husband. Now she supports herself by painting and molding figures out of clay at the village art house, augmented by her husband’s $800 monthly retirement income. A few years ago, a clay chess set she made sold for $10,000 at an auction. She used the money to buy her first car.

“I’m glad that we are not in a low-income-housing apartment complex,” she said. “We’ve got all this green out here, air to breathe.”

A small number of residents have jobs off-site, and a city bus makes hourly stops at the village 13 times a day to help people commute into town.

But about four out of five residents live on government benefits like disability or Social Security. Their incomes average $900 a month, making even tiny homes impossible to afford without help, Mr. Graham said.

“Essentially 100 percent of the people that move into this village will have to be subsidized for the rest of their lives,” he said.

For about $25,000 a year, Mr. Graham’s organization subsidizes one person’s housing at the village. (Services like primary health care and addiction counseling are provided by other organizations.) So far, that has been paid for entirely by private donations and in small part from collecting rent.

This would not be possible, Mr. Graham said, without a highly successful fund-raising operation that taps big Austin philanthropists. To build the next two expansions, Mr. Graham set a $225 million fund-raising goal, about $150 million of which has already been obtained from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the founder of the Patrón Spirits Company, Hill Country Bible Church and others.

Support goes beyond monetary donations. A large land grant came from the philanthropic arm of Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and Alamo Drafthouse, an Austin-based cinema chain, donated an outdoor amphitheater for movie screenings. Top architectural firms competed for the chance to design energy-efficient tiny homes free of charge. And every week, hundreds of volunteers come to help with landscaping and gardening or to serve free meals.

Around 55 residents, including 15 children, live in the village as “missionals” — unpaid neighbors generally motivated by their Christian faith to be part of the community.

All missionals undergo a monthslong “discernment process” before they can move in. They pay to live in R.V.s and manufactured homes distinguished by an “M” in the front window. Their presence in the community is meant to guard against the pitfalls of concentrated poverty and trauma.

“Missionals are our guardian angels,” said Blair Racine, a 69-year-old resident with a white beard that hangs to his chest. “They’re people we can always call. They’re always there for us.”

After moving into the village in 2018, Mr. Racine spent two years isolated in his R.V. because of a painful eye condition. But after an effective treatment, he became so social that he was nicknamed the Mayor. Missional residents drive him to get his medication once a week, he said. To their children he is Uncle Blair.

Though the village is open to people of any religious background, it is run by Christians, and public spaces are adorned with paintings of Jesus on the cross and other biblical scenes. The application to live in the community outlines a set of “core values” that refer to God and the Bible. But Mr. Graham said there is no proselytizing and people do not have to be sober or seek treatment to live there.

Mr. Graham lives in a 399-square-foot manufactured home in the middle of the village with his wife, Tricia Graham, who works as the community’s “head of neighbor care.” He said they do not have any illusions about solving the underlying mental-health and substance-use problems many residents live with, and that is not their goal.

“This is absolutely not nirvana,” Mr. Graham said. “And we want people to understand the beauty and the complexity of what we do. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else on the face of the planet than right here in the middle of this, but you’re not fixing these things.” ...

From an experiment to a model

Community First has already inspired spinoffs, with some tweaks. In 2018, Nate Schlueter, who previously worked with the village’s jobs program, opened Eden Village in his hometown, Springfield, Mo. Unlike in Community First, every home in Eden Village is identical and has its own bathroom and kitchen. Mr. Schlueter’s model has spread to 12 different cities with every village limited to 50 homes or fewer.

“Not every city is Austin, Texas,” Mr. Schlueter said. “We don’t want to build a large-scale village. And if the root cause of homelessness is a loss of family, and community is something that can duplicate that safety net to some extent, to have smaller villages to me seemed like a stronger community safety net. Everybody would know each other.”

The rapid growth of Community First has challenged that ideal. In recent years, some of the original missional residents and staff members have left, finding it harder to support the number of people moving into the village. Steven Hebbard, who lived and worked at the village since its inception, left in 2019 when he said it shifted from a “tiny-town dynamic” where he knew everyone’s name to something that felt more like a city, straining the supportive culture that helped people succeed.

Mobile Loaves and Fishes said more staff members had recently been hired to help new residents adjust, but Mr. Graham noted that there was a limit to what any housing provider could do without violating people’s privacy and autonomy.

Despite these concerns, the organization, which had been run entirely on private money, has recently drawn public support. In January 2023, Travis County gave Mobile Loaves and Fishes $35 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to build 640 units as part of its expansion.

Then four months later came a significant surprise: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved the use of federal housing vouchers, which subsidize part or all of a low-income resident’s rent, for the village’s tiny homes. This will make running the village much more financially sustainable, Mr. Graham said, and may make it a more replicable blueprint for other places.

“That’s a big deal for us, and it’s a big deal on a national basis,” Mr. Graham said. “It’s a recognition that this model, managed the way that this model is, has a role in the system.”

Usually, the government considers homes without indoor plumbing to be substandard, but, in this case, it made an exception by applying the housing standards it uses for single-room-occupancy units. The village still did not meet the required ratio of bathrooms per person, but at the request of Travis County and the City of Austin’s housing officials, who cited Austin’s “severe lack of affordable housing” that made it impossible for some homeless people with vouchers to find anywhere else to live, HUD waived its usual requirements.

In the waiver, a HUD staffer wrote that Mr. Graham told HUD officials over the phone that the proportion of in-unit bathrooms “has not been an issue.” But in conversations with The Times, other homeless-service providers in Austin and some village residents said the lack of in-unit bathrooms is one of the biggest problems people have with living there. It also makes the villages less accessible to people with certain disabilities and health issues that are relatively common among the chronically homeless....

Mr. Graham said that with a doctor’s note, people could secure an R.V. or manufactured home at the village, although those are in short supply and have a long waiting list. He said the village’s use of tiny homes allowed them to build at a fraction of the usual cost when few other options existed, and helps ensure residents aren’t isolated in their units, reinforcing the village’s communal ethos.

“If somebody wants to live in a tiny home they ought to have the choice,” Mr. Graham said, “and if they are poor we ought to respect their civil right to live in that place and be subsidized to live there.” But he conceded that for some people, “this might not be the model.”

“Nobody can be everything for everyone,” he said.

By the spring of 2025, Mr. Graham hopes to begin moving people into the next phase of the village, across the street from the current property. The darker visions some once predicted of an impoverished community on the outskirts of town overtaken by drugs and violence have not come to pass. Instead, the village has permanently housed hundreds of people and earned the approval and financial backing of the city, the county and the federal government. But for the model to truly meet the scale of the challenge in Austin and beyond, Chapman Semple said, the compromises that led to Community First in its current incarnation will have to be reckoned with.

“We can build smaller villages that can be fully integrated into the community, that can have access to amenities within the community that we all need to live, including jobs and groceries,” Chapman Semple said. “If it’s a wonderful model then we should be embracing and fighting for its inclusion within our community.”

-via New York Times, January 8, 2024

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cinnbar-bun · 2 months

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Would you be willing to write what kind of fan would ace, sabo, shanks, and law for the reader!! I loved your last one!!!

You got it dude! Sorry for taking so long.

Ace, Sabo, Law, and Shanks- Reversed AU HCs

AU: In which YOU are the character of a very famous franchise, and they are regular people who are fans of your series.

Note: GN!Reader, crack, very unserious, SFW

Part 1 with Straw Hats here!

Ace

Broke ass guy who can’t afford anything for you minus like, a bootleg or something small. Has buttons of you.

Highkey think he would be a menace and just wear something so off with you on it (you are free to decide what that looks like).

If people ask why he’s got you on his phone or like a keychain of you, he just beams and responds that you’re the love of his life and refuses to elaborate.

Lies, he WILL be elaborating and making it everyone’s problem.

Marco wants him to shut up about it.

Thatch jokes around often and makes cakes of you for Ace on his birthday or something. Ace refuses to eat it for like two seconds before he’s quickly trying to fight off the others from taking a slice.

Whitebeard has not realized you’re fictional and still asks about meeting you soon… he just wants to meet the one his son keeps raving about.

Ace has to lie and it becomes a whole ‘my partner is in Canada, actually they can’t see you now.’

Whitebeard is so impressed with the fact you travel all over the world <3 wow, you must be so worldly!

Sabo

Rich boy who I don’t think would directly get merchandise of you, but he would totally buy things that have your signature color or remind him of you. Very subtle things. I could see him buying one expensive figure of you, but otherwise it’s just subtle things he will proudly wear in public.

Doesn’t have much time for gaming, so I don’t think he would be playing the mobile gacha games but he will admire the artwork and units of you.

This is actually a partial truth, he had them at one point but was sinking so much money into your units that Koala had to step in and get him to stop this addiction.

He’s been doing his best okay… but your alt unit is so tempting he wants to GET IT HE NEEDS TO GET IT LET HIM ROLL ONE MORE ONE MORE ONE MORE-

Sabo’s phone is now under parental controls and he needs Koala or Dragon’s permission to download or buy any in-app purchases.

But he’s like, so normal about this, okay? He doesn’t have a problem.

Likes to eat your favorite snacks or food on your birthday as a sort of ‘celebration’ of you. Again, pretty subtle things like buying a dessert you like from that one bakery, or ordering a meal that you ate one time on the show.

On second thought I could see him having special editions of the manga, but that remains in his office never to be borrowed by anyone.

Law

“Why the hell would I be into this?”

Acts like he’s above watching cringe animes when he’s got better taste in his consumption of media like House MD or Scrubs or something.

But you know, he’s always getting dragged into silly shit with his friends so everyone is forcing him to watch this popular anime with over 1000+ episodes.

Law feels like performing surgery on himself with no anesthesia at the sheer number of episodes.

It isn’t until like 400 episodes in when you’re introduced and everyone swears they can see the light in his eyes return and he’s entranced.

Suddenly this is his favorite show, although he refuses to entertain that.

He totally has a few figures of you, but when asked, he just yells that they’re Bepo’s and he’s keeping them safe.

The others know he’s not going to buy merch so they just buy him silly trinkets of you and he tries to keep lowkey and hidden so no one knows about his love for you.

He’s not the same man he was 400 episodes ago. He still can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad one.

But you’ve invaded and latched yourself into his mind and damn it, he’ll keep you there.

Shanks

Cringe but free.

Buggy got him into this show (Buggy made a slip up once and has tried to deny that he’s liked this series since) and Shanks casually watches a few episodes when he’s free.

Has a couple of figures that a kid Uta always wants to play with (hell no, put that shit back!!!)

Lies to Uta whenever she asks who this figure is of and he dramatically will hold the figure of you and tell her this is, in fact, who her other parent is.

Great job, Shanks, you weirdo. Of course, Uta knows when she’s older that he’s lying out of his ass, but when she was younger she was deadset on meeting you.

So Shanks was forced to include her in his watches so she can see her ‘other parent’. Shanks makes wild stories when Uta asks why you’re in the TV and says you’re so so cool they just had to make a tv show about you.

He’s the kind of guy who forgets Uta is a kid and whenever something super violent or adult happens, he goes ‘oops’ after a few seconds and shoddily covers her eyes, to the point she can pretty much still see everything.

So both of them kinda get in a feedback loop where when he gets something, she wants it, and when she wants to do something, he’ll do it when it comes to you.

You are a staple in that household. Shanks isn’t the best at maintaining your figures but he does remember to dust you off once in a while (mostly after Uta screams at him to keep it in good condition).

He’s tried to get into the card game (Uta insisted), but he finds the rules too hard and difficult, so him and Uta made an easier version (which he often lies about to be able to win).

His luck is crappy too when it comes to the blind packs, so when Uta got the rare card of you he was practically gonna wrestle it out of her.

He’s also weird and rich enough to get any crazy or out there merchandise of you if he felt like it.

#one piece #one piece x reader #x reader #reader insert #one piece hcs #trafalgar law x reader #trafalgar law #shanks x reader #red haired shanks #shanks #portgas ace x reader #portgas d ace #ace x reader #ace #sabo #sabo x reader

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ghelgheli · 8 months

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PFLP announcement via Resistance News Network:

🔴 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine:

—

The duty of the nation and supporters of Palestine is to escalate the struggle against the forces of aggression.

The primary duty of all forces supporting the right of the Palestinian people and opposing the genocidal war against them is to intensify their struggle against the countries involved in the aggression and war against our people. This comes in light of escalating genocidal crimes and the cutting off of all communications with Gaza in an attempt to hide the massive and egregious crimes committed by the enemy against unarmed women, children, and the elderly.

It is inconceivable, after the fall of about 8,000 martyrs, tens of thousands injured, and the displacement of one and a half million Palestinians in Gaza, along with daily genocidal crimes, that the international and Arab response would be at this level. The UN General Assembly's statements have been weak, the European Union's stance is hostile and supports the continuation of genocide, and the positions of the United States and Britain are fully involved in the criminal war against our people.

This aggressive alliance will not be dismantled by timid positions or half-hearted stances, but requires an escalation of serious revolutionary action against all these forces, primarily the United States and the other forces of the aggression alliance. Their embassies and bases remain active and present in Arab countries and around the world, untouched by even the minimum amount of protest.

The Front expresses its deep appreciation for every act of solidarity. Still, the scale of zionist crimes against our people requires much more. The magnitude of the massacre and genocidal war should shake the world and mobilize all Arab, friendly forces, and supporters of freedom worldwide.

The Front calls for escalating the struggle and focusing on the embassies of the countries of the aggression alliance and its supporters, considering America as the spearhead of this aggression. They should realize the consequences of their actions and their clear complicity in the killing our children and in the massacres and genocidal war against our people.

Providing justifications and excuses to lower the level of revolutionary and solidarity action to symbolic and formal levels is a stab in the back of Palestine and its people, and will comfort the aggression alliance to give it space to continue crimes against our people. The Front reaffirms its previous call for a mass flood towards the embassies, interests, and bases of the aggression forces and a greater role for solidarity parties and forces in escalating the struggle against the alliance of enemies worldwide.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Central Media Department

October 28, 2023

#palestine

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welcome-to-green-hills · 5 months

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What We Know, What To Expect, & Moving Forward!

Hey Y’All!

By the time this post is made, we’ll be–roughly–eleven months away from the release date of Sonic the Hedgehog 3(2024). As of now, we don’t have a whole lot of information concerning the Knuckles Series on Paramount + and when it will release. The same can be said for the third Sonic movie. Last time I made an updated post was back in January of 2023. Since then, we’ve gained some new information. I’ve combed through everything that’s been posted since 2021 to compile into a large master post! When leaks and other news resurface, I’ll update this post monthly to share via reblog.

Release dates:

It’s safe to say that the third Sonic movie is on track to release on December 20th, 2024 in the United States. Global release dates for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 have yet to be released.

The SAG-AFTRA strike in 2023 has not interfered with the movie’s production. Though not yet confirmed, we can infer that the strike has pushed the Knuckles Series back by a few months. The original release date for the series was meant to release “sometime in 2023” (Otterson, 2023). It is unclear when the Knuckles Series will stream on Paramount +. However, Screen Rant’s interview with Tika Sumpter implies that a release date for the series will be shared on Super Bowl Sunday (Screen Rant, 2024). Super Bowl Sunday is on February 11th, 2024.

Returning Actors/New Actors:

The following are actors that will be returning to SONIC MOVIE 3:

Ben Schwartz will reprise his role as “Sonic”

Colleen O'Shaughnessey will reprise her role as “Tails”

Idris Elba will reprise his role as “Knuckles”

James Marsden is expected to reprise his role as “Tom”

Tika Sumpter will reprise her role as “Maddie”

Lee Majdoub will reprise his role as “Agent Stone.”

As of now, a voice actor for “Shadow” has not been announced. A “Big Name Actor” has been chosen to voice “Shadow” since 2022 (Klamath Comicon, 2022). The popular rumor is that Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) will be Shadow’s VA (Physical Media President, 2024). This has not been confirmed as of yet. There is no indication that previous voice actors from other Sonic games will appear to voice Shadow the Hedgehog.

It’s unclear at this moment in time if Jim Carrey will reprise his role as “Dr. Robotnik.” The agreement is that if Jim Carrey is committed to his retirement, then the character will be retired completely. Dr. Robotnik will not be recast (Klamath Comicon, 2022). In late 2022, after announcing his retirement, Jim Carrey appeared in an interview with GMA saying that he would make an exception for Sonic 3 if he liked the script due to loving the Sonic series (GMA, 2022).

Other characters–Rachel, Randall, JoJo, Wade, “Crazy” Carl, and characters from the Knuckles Series–have yet to be announced.

The following are actors that will be starring/returning in KNUCKLES SERIES:

Idris Elba will reprise his role as “Knuckles”

Adam Pally will reprise his role as “Wade Whipple”

Tika Sumpter will reprise her role as “Maddie”

It is unclear who the newcomers to the Knuckles Series will be playing. The actor list can be found HERE.

**NOTE: At this moment in time, it is unclear whether or not we will gain new characters in the third Sonic film. Fans hope for Rouge, Amy Rose, Gerald Robotnik, and Maria Robotnik to appear in these continuations. Writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller are aware of there being more female Sonic characters and a need for Sonic characters in general (Movie-Robotnik-Positivity, 2022). Also note that characters are meant to take reference from GAME CANON only; characters from comic books, mobile games, and other spinoff titles will NOT appear in the SCU franchise.**

Flexibility & Mandates:

Yes, this is a separate subject. I have received questions about this in the past and continue to today. In 2021, Pat Casey shared that mandates are not a thing when writing the films; they are provided lenient suggestions and have asked for source game material from SEGA in the past (Movie-Robotnik-Positivity, 2022). These suggestions are NOT the same as the IDW comics. If the writers are not sure of something about Sonic lore, they contact SEGA. Canon for movies is meant to draw in from the game-verse instead of comic books and spin off titles due to familiarity.

“Everyone recognizes Sonic as a video game icon rather than a TV show or a comic strip.”

New lore can be created–I.E. chaos emeralds being entities within the Master Emerald rather than viewed as separate items–as long as it follows elements of games, and made easy for fans and newcomers to follow (Movie-Robotnik-Positivity, 2022).

The movies are NOT canon to the video games, but take heavy inspiration from them. They exist within their own canon universe.

Ian Flynn has NO involvement with the movies whatsoever.

Tyson Hesse is the producer for the Knuckles Series, the movies, and a creative consultant.

Pat Casey and Josh Miller have asked for game-material ONLY for Shadow's characterization, they do not plan to use the comic books or previous TV shows for writing Shadow (Legacy, 2022).

Story and Plot:

SONIC MOVIE 3–It is unclear at this moment in time what the plot is for the third Sonic film. What we can infer is that Sonic 3 will take “heavy inspiration” from both Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow’s solo game for plot (Klamath Comicon, 2022). This does NOT mean that it’s going to be an exact replica of these games. The third film is meant to tie-in with the Knuckles Series. Whatever is shared in the miniseries will be carried over to the movie’s plot (Lang, 2022). The plot synopsis shared in late 2022 with AmyRose, Big the Cat, and Metal Sonic was DEBUNKED by @tailschannel. The synopsis for Sonic 3 released in November of 2023 was DEBUNKED.

Drafting and planning for Sonic 3 began late 2021 (Movie-Robotnik-Positivity, 2022). Storyboard planning for Sonic 3 began late 2022 (Welcome-to-Green-Hills, 2022). A finalized script for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was finished weeks before the SAG-AFTRA strike (Pat Casey, 2023). Filming for Sonic 3 began in August 2023 and continues currently (Welcome-to-Green-Hills, 2023). The budget for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is massive (Legacy, 2022).

In 2022, Pat Casey states that Sonic will have trouble trying to reach out to our beloved anti-hero. In the same interview, Pat Casey also stated that the tone of the third film is meant to be a bit darker. Understand that a story’s tone doesn’t always have to reflect a film’s rating, meaning that the story can be dark and still fit within the requirements of a PG or a PG-13 film. Pat Casey also shared with Screen Rant to be prepared to cry with their wild story (Bythrow, 2022).

What we can expect from the movie is a scene at a ski lodge, a GUN car and motorcycle chase scene on a bridge in a Tokyo-like city, scenes at a research facility/storage unit, scenes at Green Hills, and a scene in space.

KNUCKLES SERIES–The Knuckles series is a limited series debuting only on Paramount +. The story follows Knuckles as he teaches deputy Wade Whipple the ways of the Echidna Warrior and goes on an adventure of self-discovery (Otterson, 2022). The limited series is six episodes in total that are roughly an hour long (Welcome-to-Green-Hills, 2024). So far, leaks online have shown that Knuckles, Maddie, Wade, Wade’s extended family, and a female villain will be the main characters for the series. We can expect scenes to take place in Reno, a bowling alley, a diner, and parts of Green Hills, Montana. Lore and stories that take place in the Knuckles Series will continue over to the third Sonic film.

Music Selection:

The demand for Sonic music in the third film and the spinoff series has been at an all-time high. At Klamath Community College’s Comicon event, Pat Casey and Josh Miller have shared their hopes for Crush 40 to appear in the film, specifically the song “Live and Learn (2001).” An interview with Pat Casey in mid-to-late 2022 stated that SEGA’s copyright laws for their music are tricky to include into the films (Movie-Robotnik-Positivity, 2022). He and Jeff Fowler (director) hope to find a loophole in the copyright.

Leaks Online:

Storyboards– On January 11th, 2024, Twitter user @/cartoonupdates released 462 storyboard pages of the Knuckles Series and 443 storyboard pages of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Welcome-to-Green-Hills, 2024). These were taken down less than 24 hours after publication. Storyboard leaks for the Knuckles Series depicted a scene between Knuckles and Wade fighting the Black Arms, as well as a person in a mechanical suit. This scene is in front of a bowling alley with witnesses watching and Wade saying, “the flames of disaster.” Storyboard leaks for the third Sonic Movie depicted Super Shadow and Dr. Robotnik in a space station traveling back in time. Super Shadow spins the space station back in time to where Dr. Robotnik is able to see a fight between Super Sonic and Shadow, Agent Stone nursing him to health, and Dr. Robotnik firing a hand laser.

Reddit– At this moment in time, there have been no plot-related leaks regarding the third Sonic movie in Reddit chatrooms. We can expect NDA special screenings around mid-to-late summer, or early fall.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, & Instagram–Leaked set photos of Sonic 3 have surfaced during the SAG-AFTRA strike. These scenes show stand-in models of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles residing in a campsite near a snowy lodge. One leaked scene featured a motorcycle chase scene with police cars and an explosion on a bridge in London, England. Jeff Fowler shared a stand-in model of Shadow’s shoes in a warehouse-like setting.

Rating:

At this moment in time, both Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024) and the Knuckles Series do not have a strong rating. However, speculation is that Sonic 3 will push for a HARD PG due to the Slovakian rating/certificate system released earlier this year (Welcome-to-Green-Hills, 2024). Official ratings/certificates for both of the series are expected to release closer to their aimed launch dates. These ratings/certificates are usually given four weeks before released to the public.

Continuation(s):

There are no existing plans or confirmation that there will be a fourth installment of SCU currently. Clarity on whether or not Paramount will approve a fourth Sonic movie can be expected closer to, or after, Sonic 3’s release date. Rule of thumb is that if fans are interested in the series, then Jeff Fowler and Pat Casey will continue to make Sonic-related content (Movie-Robotnik-Positivity, 2022).

On January 16th, 2024, Hollywood Handle announced a potential “Shadow the Hedgehog” title (Hollywood Handle, 2024). It is unclear at the moment if it’s a limited series on Paramount +, or if it’s a movie. It’s also unclear if this rumor is true.

Reliable Sources:

In a world full of technology and misinformation, it is very hard to tell whether or not someone is a trustworthy source. This is understandable. The following are blogs and resources that can be used as a guide (I might miss some, sorry if I do):

TUMBLR

TailsChannel

Movie-Robotnik-Positivity

SonicStation

Aawesomepenguin

SonicMovieUpdates

Kitsuoi

If you want to include myself to the list, then cheers!

TWITTER

TailsChannel

SonicMovieUpdates

DiscussingFilm

The Hollywood Handle (50/50)

DanielRPK (50/50)

o_Azul35

Cybrid01

Contrieorb4

Movie-Robotnik-Positivity

SonicMovie (The original Twitter account with a golden checkmark and a Paramount logo on it)

If you want to include myself to the list, then cheers!

Any staff members of SCU

INSTAGRAM

TailsChannel

Cybrid01

Paramount

Any staff members of SCU

MAGAZINES/NEWS ARTICLES

TailsChannel

Variety Magazine

ScreenRant (Please be careful reading subtitles. Sometimes they don’t like to clarify whether or not it’s an opinion article or not unless a subtitle is given).

The Gamer

DiscussingFilm.net

SonicStadium.org

For the love of god almighty, do NOT use Giant Freaking Robot as a source. They are notorious for spreading misinformation.

REDDIT (Disclaimer):

Reddit is notorious for leaking NDA special screenings, photos, as well as having members of the SCU crew make throw-away accounts to post teasers. “Leaks” of any kind can be found in either “#SonicMovie3” or “#SonicMovie” chat rooms with a spoiler warning.

Reddit posters that usually make these leaks get to see special screenings of films in mid-production. Understand that these advanced screenings are given to people on invite; they are asked to watch a film that’s in mid-production and critique it for improvement. If leaks are shared about their advanced screening, they can’t always go into full detail due to violation of their NDAs. On the rare occasion that they do share details of the screening, the posts are taken down by both Paramount and by Reddit Staff within 24 hours.

It is also common for there to be two screenings of the same movie with minor tweaks. I.E., in 2019, two versions of the first movie were available for test screening within a week’s time. One test screener’s filming experience featured a “campfire scene” and Longclaw going to earth with Sonic. Another test screener’s filming experience was the same, but featured a Dr. Robotnik and Agent Stone fight scene with General Walters. These were scrapped later on and found in the first movie’s “deleted scenes” feature.

The best advice that I can give for checking the authenticity of a post is to look for consistency, as well as HOW test screeners describe their experience. It’s easy to tell the difference between sharing a feeling and telling a fabricated story for likes.

Moving Forward:

Both Tika Sumpter and Pat Casey have shared that any members of SCU CANNOT share anything related to Sonic 3 or the Knuckles Series. They are under a strict NDA contract that could remove them from the projects entirely if discussed publicly. Questions online, private interviews, and so forth cannot be shared unless Paramount gives them permission to. If you ask them a question on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, or any other social media platform regarding the movies, they will ignore it. This isn’t them being rude, it’s them honoring a NDA contract.

Expect radio silence for extended periods of time. The third Sonic film is meant to be a major improvement from the last two films. Paramount has been cracking down on leaks and anonymous tippers online for the past two months. There will be times where we receive a flood of information about the films, other times there will be nothing. This is completely normal, I promise.

If Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and the Knuckles Series are the end of SCU, know that I’ve had an incredible time enjoying the hype and moments with y’all. What an amazing journey we’ve been on! Thank you! And know that as long as there’s a talking blue hedgehog around, I’ll be here. Until then, let’s enjoy this adventure together!

#sonic movie #sonic movie 3 #knuckles series #sonic cinematic universe #sonic movie 3 spoilers #sonicmovie3spoilers #knuckles series spoilers #sonic the hedgehog movie 3 #sonic the hedgehog movie 2024 #knucklesseriesspoilers

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bsof-maarav · 1 month

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"“It is time that Hamas and all of its agents, like AMP and NSJP, be held responsible for their horrific actions,” the victims said in a joint statement on Wednesday. “We want to go on record to expose these groups for the terrorists they are and make certain that they are stopped from operating in the United States and other countries they infiltrate.”" "A day after the October 7 pogrom, NSJP issued a Day of Resistance Toolkit for anti-Israel activists and began to organize protests. According to the suit, it served as a direct response to a Hamas call for mass mobilization of international supporters. There were several campus events in the wake of October 7 organized using the toolkit. The toolkit praised the attacks as a historic victory for Palestinians, used Hamas paraglider imagery, described Israeli civilians as legitimate targets, called for resistance in all forms, "armed struggle, general strikes, and popular demonstrations. All of it is legitimate,and all of it is necessary." The suit noted that NSJP's rhetoric and arguments were often adopted by Hamas itself." "The suit argues that the filing is not seeking to suppress speech, but for providing service to Hamas as a public relations firm that it would otherwise be unable to obtain in the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organization." ""It is deeply ironic that the same people carrying signs saying ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Jews’ claim they are protected by free speech. They are not. Free speech has never included the active support of terrorism, and it has never protected the destruction of private property or the brutalization of innocent men, women, and children of many faiths, not just Jews," said Scott Bornstein, senior vice of the law firm Greenberg Traurig which is representing the plaintiffs along with the National Jewish Advocacy Center, the Schoen Law Firm, and the Holtzman Vogel law firm. "We cannot—and through this lawsuit, we are saying we will not—allow the infiltration of Hamas-directed hatred, violence, and intimidation anywhere we can prevent it."

#jumblr #october 7 #israel #antisemitism #frumblr #terrorism #usa diaspora

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fuckyeahmarxismleninism · 4 months

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Statement issued by the Palestinian factions regarding the zionist aggression and the genocide war against our Palestinian people

O our steadfast Palestinian people, O masses of our Islamic and Arab nation, O free people of the world everywhere,

Amid the escalating genocide war and starvation waged by the Nazi enemy against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and its threats to expand the aggression and war on Rafah, which shelters about a million and a half citizens, posing a threat to Egypt's sovereignty and national security, the ongoing violations in the West Bank and occupied Al-Quds, and the extremist Nazi government's insistence on executing annexation, expansion, and forced displacement plans, and liquidating the refugee issue through the systematic targeting of "UNRWA," the Palestinian factions call on our people, the masses of our Arab and Islamic nation, and all the free people and supporters of justice and rights in the world to launch the widest popular campaign to reject aggression and demand an end to the war and thwart genocide and starvation plans.

We urge Arab and Islamic governments to take urgent action and apply the necessary political pressure at the international level to stop the aggression and confront the enemy's plans.

We also call on Arab, Islamic, and international parties and forces that support the Palestinian people to take their role and fulfill their duties to protect the Palestinian cause and not leave the Palestinian people alone to face all this zionist terrorism and racism filled with hatred and instruments of killing and destruction.

We make a call from the heart of Palestine, amidst the siege and destruction, to consider Friday, 16-2-2024, as a global national day to support the Palestinian right in all Arab and Islamic countries, and Saturday and Sunday, 17/18-2-2024, as global days to support the Palestinian people in all European, Western, Latin American, and East Asian countries.

The movement of masses, parties, and currents in various countries around the world is capable of creating pressure and impact, capable of changing the positions of governments and countries to contain this zionist Nazi terrorism.

Therefore, we appeal to all forces, parties, trade and parliamentary unions everywhere to take their role, fulfill their responsibility, and affirm their alignment with the Palestinian cause and stand by the Palestinian people who are subjected to the most horrific massacres, crimes, and destructive wars.

We call on our people to unite and stand together against the projects of displacement and the liquidation of the Palestinian cause, to hold onto our land, preserve it, and head to the areas we were expelled from on the path of return to Palestine.

We praise the legendary patience and steadfastness of our people, their support, and embrace of the resistance and its heroic performance. We also call on our people in the West Bank, Al-Quds, and the occupied Palestinian lands to mobilize and confront the occupation in all arenas.

We praise the valiant performance of the resistance on multiple fronts, especially in Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq, and call for its continuation until the aggression is repelled from our people.

Mercy for the martyrs, healing for the wounded, freedom for the prisoners, victory for our steadfast people and their valiant resistance.

The Palestinian Factions

Thursday: 05 Sha'ban 1445H

Corresponding to: 15 February 2024

Source: https://t.me/PalestineResist/29420

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hard--headed--woman · 8 days

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Hi ladies! For this 3rd post I am again going to talk about a woman I mentionned yesterday (in the post about Natalie Clifford Barney) ;

Romaine Brooks !

Her birth name is Beatrice Romaine Goddard, but we know her as Romaine Brooks. Successful italian american painter, she was born in 1874 in Roma and died in 1970 in Nice (in France) at 96 years old. Her works were successful in the early years of her career, before declining considerably during the 1930s and regaining popularity in the 1960s.

Both her parents were American and had two other children. Shortly after Romaine's birth, they decided to return to the United States, then broke up.

It was here that life took a difficult turn for young Beatrice: her mother took very little care of her, and abused her, accusing her of being possessed by the devil and of bringing bad luck. When she was seven, her mother abandoned her, leaving her to a poor family in New York. This same family informed the child's grandfather, who then decided to take charge of his granddaughter and her education. He placed her in various religious institutions, and for years she saw very little of her mother.

She began drawing and painting at the age of 16.

In 1893, she moved to Europe, became a cabaret singer in Paris and studied painting in Roma. She returned to live with her mother in 1901, after her brother's death, but her mother died in 1902, leaving Romaine to inherit her grandfather's fortune.

From then on, Romaine began to live a very unconventional life. In 1903, she, an open lesbian, and her homosexual friend John Ellington Brooks decided to marry. It's obviously not a love marriage, but an agreement, an arrangement between the two friends: this marriage will give the impression that they respect social norms and will therefore spare them the comments and pressure of society, and they will be free to love whoever they want, sheltered behind their appearance as a married couple.

Romaine and John never lived together, but to thank him for helping her, Romaine paid her friend a monthly allowance.

Romaine has had many lovers in her life : Dolly Wilde, (yeah this is Oscar Wilde's niece, and an interesting person!), the dancer Ida Rubistein, the marquise Luisa Casati, the pianist Renata Borgatti... but the love of her life was Natalie Clifford Barney. As you know it if you've read my post about Natalie, the two women stayed together for about 50 years, from 1914/1915 (unclear) until Romaine's death in 1970.

In 1904, she began using shades of gray in her work, and these would remain the dominant tones in her later paintings.

One of her best-known paintings is "La France Croisée" (Crossed France), which she painted in reaction to the first Battle of Ypres, at the beginning of the first world war.

The "patriotism" that transpires from this allegorical painting and inspired her mobilization for France and the Croix-Rouge française earned her the Légion d'Honneur in 1920.

She was a very successful painter. Her paintings were exhibited all over the world, from Paris to London to New York. Her career peaked in 1925, followed by a decline in the '30s. At this point, she gave up painting and concentrated on drawing, creating works inspired by her unhappy childhood. In the 60s, however, the art world started to take a renewed interest in her paintings.

She died at 96 in Nice, in December 1970, and since then, several prestigious exhibitions in her honor have been organized, rekindling public interest in Romaine Brooks and her work.

Here are some of her paintings :

(This is Natalie Clifford Barney!)

(This is Ida Rubistein)

(The Charwoman)

(This is Renata Borgatti)

(Chasseresse)

There is way much more to say about her and you should really check her life and her art! She was an interesting person with interesting works and I personally am glad I found her paintings.

See you tomorrow!

#lesbian #pride #lesbian pride #pride month #lgbt #lgb #female artists #female homosexual #female homosexuality #female history #women's history #lesbian history #lesbian artist #romaine brooks

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elbiotipo · 3 months

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I am not in a position to tell Usamericans who to vote for, not only because both options are terrible for me in the Third World, but because after years of hearing about US political stuff I've realized just how WEIRD their political system is.

Out of all representative democracies (as a system of government, not an ideal) I know of, the United States really is the strangest to me. Two parties that are practically state institutions, a supreme court that basically operates as an all-powerful council without any oversight, the sharp divisions between Republican and Democrat states (which I think is mostly artificial), the general apathy (with exceptions) towards protest and mobilization that I don't see in any other country, and more importantly, the absence of any powerful socialist movements...

It's a really strange system of goverment, which only seems normal because of their status as a superpower, but if you examine it closer as I've done from years of getting news and talking with people from there, it's not what you would see in any other country. By this I'm not saying other countries are better (I think burgeois liberal democracy is flawed and unfit for representing the working people or facing the challenges of this century), just that the United States is strange, and things I'm familiar with in my own representative republic, like powerful union movements and popular mobilization, are not found there.

I would call it some kind of "Two-Party Capitalist State", where the official ideology is capitalism liberal-conservatism and nothing outside that is admitted at all. There is no perspective of socialist change in the United States because it's not a position that is represented either on goverment or society, it simply doesn't exist, it's not allowed to exist.

If I lived in the United States, I wouldn't know who to vote for because not only none of the candidates or parties are good or represent me, but also because the whole system simply doesn't work like it supposedly does. I have to say it's a problem they need to fix themselves somehow, but I don't think "GO OUT THERE AND VOTE" is good enough.

#cosas mias

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swamyworld · 2 months

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Silicone Cover Set for Meta Quest 3 Silicone Controller Grip Cover+Silicone Face Cover+VR Shell Cover Protective for Quest 3 Accessories (Black)

Price: (as of – Details) https://amzn.to/3PRUe37 Product Description The silicone set Compatible with Meta Quest 3 protects your device from bumps, scratches, drops, and you can enjoy your gaming time fullest.The battery compartment opening design makes it easy to replace the batteries without removing the entire cover and and suction cup base design to fix the Quest 3 controller grip is not…

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cozzymandiart · 11 months

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The HA "Hannibal", an aftermarket refit of the Sherman frame.

"With the Sherman’s widespread popularity comes a profusion of aftermarket kits. One of the most common such kits is the “Hannibal” pattern group, a design characterized by the removal of the ZF4 SOLIDCORE unit and a massive increase in reactor output. With the additional power funneled into the frame’s mobility and weaponry, the “Hannibal” enjoys explosive speed and weapon discharge, making it very popular among reckless outer-rim jockeys."

You can grab the rules and .lcp file for this Sherman variant here: tinyurl.com/h8nut4h9

#lancer rpg #mecha art #character art #ttrpg art #digital art #commissions open

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thatsonemorbidcorvid · 1 year

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5 minute read

Women who are groped on trains in East Asia face the further threat of their assault being filmed and uploaded for sale online. In a year-long investigation, the BBC World Service's investigative unit, BBC Eye, has gone undercover to unmask the men cashing in on sexual violence.

It was the morning rush hour in Tokyo. The train was packed and rocky.

Takako (not her real name) was on her way to school. The 15-year-old tried to hold on to a grab bar.

Suddenly, she felt a hand pressing on her behind. She thought someone had accidentally bumped into her.

But the hand started to grope her.

"That's when I finally realised - it was molestation," Takako recalls.

The hand quickly disappeared in the crowd. "I couldn't do anything about it." She arrived at school in tears that day.

That was her first time being sexually assaulted on public transport, but Takako was molested almost daily for more than a year on her commute. On countless nights, she went to bed crying. "I felt like there was no hope in my life," she says.

Many women like Takako are targeted in public by sexual predators. In some cases, they face another violation - the attack is filmed and the videos are sold online.

Most videos follow the same pattern - a man secretly films a woman from behind and follows her on to a train. Seconds later, he sexually abuses her. The men act discreetly, and their victims can seem totally unaware. These graphic videos are then listed on the websites for sale.

In a year-long investigation, we traced the men behind three websites which sell and produce thousands of these sexual assault videos.

An epidemic in Japan

Encountering sexual abuse almost daily, Takako found herself unable to speak up during the act due to fear and shame. But every night, she covered her mouth with a towel and repeatedly practised in front of the mirror how to call out a harasser: "This person is a 'Chikan'!"

"Chikan" is a Japanese term describing sexual assault in public, especially groping on public transport. It also describes the offenders themselves.

Chikan perpetrators typically take advantage of crowds, and the victims' fear of causing a scene. In Japan, speaking too directly and openly may be seen as rude.

Thousands of arrests are made every year for Chikan offences, but many more go undetected and unpunished. Saito Akiyoshi, mental health professional and author of a book about Chikan, says that only about 10% of victims report the crime.

The Japanese police encourage victims and eyewitnesses to speak up, but the crime is far from being eradicated. The problem is so widespread that even the UK and Canadian governments warn travellers to Japan about it.

Chikan has been normalised by its prominence in Japan's adult entertainment industry. One of the most popular types of pornography in the country - the Chikan genre - has spread to other Asian countries.

Chikan websites

One Chinese-language website called DingBuZhu (which means "I can't hold it" in Chinese) immediately caught our attention.

It's a marketplace for Chikan videos, filmed secretly on mobile phones in crowded public places, such as trains and buses. They are shot across East Asia, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China.

Some videos cost less than a dollar. The site even once allowed users to order tailor-made abuse videos.

We also found links on DingBuZhu to two other websites - Chihan and Jieshe - with the same type of content.

There is a Telegram group with 4,000 members who share tips on how to sexually abuse women.

One name kept coming up on the Chikan websites - "Uncle Qi".

He was hailed as the guru in this community. Dozens of abuse videos were labelled as his work. On Twitter, he put up teasers of the websites' videos to his 80,000 followers. But who was he?

The Telegram group we had been monitoring revealed a clue. One day, an admin claimed in a series of messages that he had abused a woman with Uncle Qi.

The messages were accompanied by photos of a woman standing on what appeared to be a metro platform.

Within hours, we found a match for the location - Ikebukuro station in Tokyo.

And there were more leads pointing us to Japan.

The websites listed a Paypal account receiving Japanese yen which was linked to a Gmail address. When we put the address through Google Contacts, the profile picture that came up was a young man with an elaborate hairstyle and theatrical makeup.

A reverse image search put a name to the face - Noctis Zang, a 30-year-old Chinese-born singer living in Tokyo. He was the frontman of a metal band called The Versus.

Noctis had a glamorous public image, but we soon found something hidden behind it.

In early 2022, The Versus' photographer had alleged on Chinese social media platform Weibo that Noctis built "porn websites" alongside another band member, Lupus Fu.

He had posted pictures of a notebook, which showed some accounting and video categories similar to those on the websites. The photographer had also posted a video which appeared to show Noctis's browsing history, with links to Chihan, Jieshe and the admin pages of DingBuZhu.

Could this rock singer be Uncle Qi?

Unmasking the admins

Posing as a music talent scout called Ian, our undercover journalist met Noctis at a fancy rooftop bar in Tokyo.

They first talked about music, but the chat soon moved on to the subject of sex. When Ian said his company used to make porn films, Noctis's eyes lit up.

The two met several more times, and they even celebrated Noctis's birthday together.

Noctis introduced Ian to his fellow band member Lupus Fu, whose name had been mentioned by The Versus' photographer. Lupus, also from China, was studying sociology in Japan.

Ian said his company planned to invest in porn sites and asked if they knew anything about this business.

Noctis confessed he had "some exposure" through a friend, "Maomi", who had created his own porn sites with "metro" content.

Ian then casually brought up DingBuZhu.

Lupus and Noctis both laughed: "That's Maomi's website!"

They revealed that the person behind the Chikan websites was a Chinese man in Tokyo nicknamed Maomi. They said Maomi was reclusive and paranoid.

Noctis and Lupus also admitted that they played admin roles for the websites.

They spelled out their business model.

"In China, sex is the most suppressed," Noctis said, "Some men are very perverted, they just want to see women getting…" Lupus finished the sentence: "screwed over."

Lupus said he was in charge of promoting abuse videos on Twitter. Noctis revealed that he had uploaded more than 5,000 videos on the websites, received payments for the business and taken 30% of revenue. The rest he had transferred to Maomi.

Lupus also said he could help connect Ian to Maomi.

The Chikan club

On a quiet back street in the red-light district of Yokohama, a storefront decorated like a metro station catches your eyes. A sign spells out its concept: "legal Chikan trains".

In this sex club, called Rush Hour, customers can pay to enjoy the Chikan experience legally.

Its manager Hasuda Shuhei welcomes us on board. "We let people do things that can't be done outside. That's why people come here."

Inside, a sickly-sweet smell of cleaning products permeates the air. Private rooms are decorated like train carriages and equipped with a sound system that plays train announcements. Even the club's membership cards look exactly like Japan's transportation cards.

"I think it's important for men to be able to pay to vent in place like this, so they don't commit rape and other forms of sexual assault," says Hasuda.

Mental health professional Saito says that the matter is not as straightforward as Hasuda claims. He says that most Chikan perpetrators are aroused by the idea of domination over and humiliation of their victims.

"They do not treat their victims as equals, but as objects."

It's an opinion that rings true with Takako.

After months of assaults, she fought back one day. As she felt a hand reach for her skirt in a packed train carriage, Takako shouted at the top of her lungs and grabbed the assaulter by his wrist.

Takako took the man to court, where he only got a suspended sentence, even though he had previously been caught for Chikan offences.

Disappointed by the outcome of her case, Takako went on to start an anti-Chikan campaign, producing colourful badges reading "Chikan is a crime!" People can wear them to show they will not keep silent.

"It's a deterrent for criminals," says Takako, who is now 24. There is now an annual anti-Chikan badge design contest among Japanese high school students.

The hamster

Maomi means "kitty cat" in Chinese. However, Lupus said his personality was more like a hamster. "He's harmless, but cautious of everything and he sometimes overreacts."

Lupus was right. Maomi repeatedly refused to meet Ian.

But on Chinese New Year's Eve, Ian's luck changed. Maomi agreed to a meeting at a karaoke bar.

The air was thick with cigarette smoke, the sound of clinking glasses and Chinese pop songs.

The person who turned up was not who we expected. A skinny young man wearing half-rim glasses and a dark trench coat, Maomi looked like he could be a college student. He said he was 27.

Showing an interest in investing in his business, Ian asked how much he made.

"Our daily turnover is around 5,000-10,000 Chinese Yuan (US$700-$1,400; £565-£1,130)," Maomi said proudly, showing the transactions on his phone. "Very stable income, right?"

Ian acted impressed, and mentioned the name Uncle Qi.

Maomi admitted: "I am Uncle Qi."

But to our surprise, he revealed Uncle Qi was not just one person.

He managed a team of 15 people, including 10 in China who made videos under the same name. Maomi received 30 to 100 videos from them each month.

The videos were then sold on the three websites which Maomi confirmed he owned. They had more than 10,000 paying members, mostly Chinese men.

"The key is to be authentic. It has to be real," Maomi said. He later told us his websites even sold videos of drug-facilitated rape.

Maomi talked about his business as though it were any other budding start-up. He described his team as "passionate" and "brave". He even casually mentioned he had been training others to carry out and film sexual assaults.

But there was one thing he never mentioned - the women in his videos. It was as if they didn't matter to him at all.

Maomi exposed

We wanted to know Maomi's real identity. At another meeting with Ian, he opened up about how he got into this business.

Like many boys, Maomi liked Superman, anime and video games growing up. But when he was 14, he started watching sexual assault videos like the ones he sold now.

He knew his business was not risk-free.

"I am so cautious," Maomi said. "Safety first." To avoid scrutiny from the Chinese authorities, he planned to naturalise as a Japanese citizen.

However, as careful as Maomi was, he made a mistake.

When Ian asked where to send the investment funds, Maomi pulled out his bank card and handed it to Ian.

The card revealed his real name - Tang Zhuoran.

Later, we confronted Maomi with our allegations.

As we approached, he tried to cover his face and walked away. And all of a sudden, he snapped, hitting out at our camera and crew.

The next day, by coincidence, we spotted Maomi at the airport. He was leaving Japan.

Uncle Qi's Twitter account, where he openly promotes the abuse videos, is still active.

Twitter did not respond to our request for comment. Instead, they sent us a poo emoji, which has been an automatic reply to any inquiry directed to their press email since March.

We also put our allegations to Noctis and Lupus. They did not respond. We have since learned they no longer work with Maomi.

On a spring day, we meet up with Takako to tell her about our investigation. Appalled, she says: "We women are just content in their videos. They see us as objects. They don't think we have a heart."

Takako advocates for tougher laws against these crimes.

Japan is set to reform its sexual assault laws. However, campaigners say these changes don't go far enough.

But Takako will not give up. "We will not cry ourselves to sleep."

Additional reporting by Chie Kobayashi, Ryuzo Tsutsui, Hanae Arrour Takahashi and Joel Gunter

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shuttershocky · 1 year

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Shutters, in your opinion what are some of the best designed operators? (as in their kit and playstyle)

Gladiia - I've already said in another post that Gladiia is the perfect unit, and I stand by it. She's extremely effective with only minimal investment (E1L1 with skill level 7 will have her do most pulling jobs) but then somehow just gets stronger and stronger AND STRONGER the more you invest into her. Gladiia never learned what 'Diminishing Returns' meant, the economics student that tried to teach it to her got shoved into a locker when he tried. She's a viable M9 unit, wielding utility, damage, tank, and even heal support for some fucking reason. She even keeps getting stronger when you raise other units (Abyssal Hunters). She's fun, she's strong, all of her skills do something unique, she enables strategies absolutely no one else can do, and best of all: she's free.

Saria - Saria is the best case study of how to make a powerful—even overpowered—kit in a genre that mostly cares about DPS without any DPS. Like Gladiia, all of her skills are good and provide unique utility, but unlike Gladiia nothing about her module upgrades or talents or skill numbers is immediately going to tip you off that Saria's incredibly powerful; she just is. You just use her and you realize this is one of the best units in the game, hard carrying your lineups from her sheer versatility and healing power, with some SP utility or debuffs to boot.

Stainless - I would put him on this list for the sheer versatility, fun, strategic potential, and truly clever design his S3 has, but his S1 and S2 are also really fucking good too and stand on their own merits. Like Saria, Stainless is another operator who impresses me by standing out via sheer utility in a DPS-focused game, but unlike Saria, Stainless doesn't bring sustain or bulk, he simply has an array of gadgets that expand your possible map solutions AND operator picks to a wild degree. I finished most of Il Siracusano's EX stages by using Stainless clears—the way this guy enables bad operators with bad skills like Tachanka S1 cannot be matched by anyone. This is my single favorite operator gameplay wise to have come out in the last 2 years, insane how he and Dorothy are the least popular 6 stars when they're both so much more fun than their competition.

Gravel - You know what Gravel does. I think Gravel's kit was a marvel of its time, some truly inspired game design. You see, when Arknights first came out the primary faces of Tower Defense was Plants vs Zombies and Bloons. Gravel's low redeployment time and usage of throwing herself at the enemy team to constantly delay them simulated the feeling of having a mobile character in a genre about putting down towers that don't move, while Gravel also took advantage of enemy targeting priority being based on last deployed unit to act as bait for ranged enemies. She was the best unit to show off how Arknights differed from its competition, by taking advantage of all the design decisions that made Arknights a different beast of tower defense. Simple, effective, and unforgettable.

Hellagur - Hellagur's another example of an operator that does just one job just like Gravel, but approaches it in a way that emphasizes Arknights' unique approach to tower defense: Hellagur holds one spot, often right in front of the enemy gate and without support from his team. As the first Musha, he introduced a highly aggressive playstyle that was all about risk evaluation. You ask "Can Hellagur handle this?" and then see if he can. if he can't, you either buff him or try another approach. If he can, he often solves a big section of the map by himself by simply blocking a whole gate, freeing up the rest of your squad. High risk high reward is a common trope of game design because of how engaging that feeling of ramping tension can be; when Hellagur gets brought down to 1/3rd HP as he's dueling a particularly strong enemy, time slows down a little as you nervously watch him to see if he can handle it, and if he does and reaches back to full health before the next enemy comes, that release of tension and anticipation is its own special high.

I love this ask! Really fun question!

#Arknights

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