#Learning from Nazi playbook

[prabodhjamwal]

Death Of Public Libraries: Whether Modi-Government Loves To Imitate The Nazi Rule Book One Step At A Time

“One, the key point is that an organisation like RSS or its affiliated organisation like BJP is concerned, stand exactly opposite the very idea for which a public library is established. The exclusivist viewpoint which they promote is an anathema to the very idea of a public library.” Subash Gatade* This adage by Herbert Samuel (British Statesman 1870-1963) sounds prophetic but as of now it is…

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#Amrit Mahautsav #Bhagat Singh #Bhagwati Charan Vohra #But one step at a time #Centre for historical studies JNU #Death of Public Libraries #Dwarakadas Library Lahore #EXIM library #Gate keeping knowledge #JNU #Lala Hardayal #Learning from Nazi playbook #Modi-govt loves to imitate Nazi Rule Book #Rajgutu #Rare collection of books #Revolutionaries from Libraries #RSS against libraries #Sukhdev #Unique collection of books #Yash Pal

[probablyasocialecologist]

In the fall of 2022, a German court heard an unusual case.

It was a civil lawsuit that grew out of a feud on Twitter about whether transgender people were victims of the Holocaust. Though there is no longer much debate about whether gay men and lesbians were persecuted, there’s been very little scholarship on trans people during this period.

The court took expert statements from historians, including myself, before finding that the historical evidence shows that trans people were, indeed, persecuted by the Nazi regime.

This is an important case. It was the first time a court recognized the persecution of trans people in Nazi Germany. It was followed a few months later by the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, formally releasing a statement recognizing trans and cisgender queer people as victims of fascism.

[...]

Though the American Academy of Pediatrics and every major medical association approves gender-affirming health care for trans kids, Republican politicians have banned it in 19 states, with even more moving to prohibit it.

Gender-affirming medicine is now over 100 years old – and it has roots in Weimar Germany. It had never before been legally restricted in the U.S. Yet Missouri has essentially banned it for adults, and other states are trying to restrict adult care. A host of other anti-trans bills are moving through state legislatures.

I find it fitting, then, that “A Transparent Musical” recently premiered in Los Angeles. In it, fabulously dressed trans Berliners sing and dance in defiance of Nazi thugs.

It’s a reminder that attacks on trans people are nothing new – and that many of them are straight out of the Nazi playbook.

#nazism #fascism #lgbt #transgender #transphobia

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hello! I read through the Wicked Ones rpg and really enjoyed it. Do you have any recommendations for games where you play as the bad guys? Preferably larger books.

THEME: Bad Guys

Hello friend! From monsters to villains to just plain ol’ bad dudes, let’s see what we got. I tried to stay away from one-page RPGs, but I can’t guarantee how long some of these books will be.

SLA Industries, 2nd Edition, by Nightfall Games.

In the World of Progress, the corporation SLA Industries rules all. Employing Operatives to enforce, extend and maintain their power base, SLA controls a multitude of worlds - industrial, franchise and resource - with planet Mort at its core. As Operatives execute the company’s will, new threats emerge through the cracks of the city walls, turning Downtown into a battleground.

You, the SLA Operative, are fighting for fame and fortune against a backdrop of a crumbling reality. Operatives feed the always-on televisions with a gaudy media of wall-to-wall death and dismemberment. Operative life is all about climbing the corporate ladder and earning sponsorship deals and notoriety along the way.

In SLA Industries, you’re not exactly villains, but you’re not good people either. You work for an evil corporation, in a world of evil corporations, and you’re extending their reach for a chance to climb the corporate ladder. SLA Industries is reminiscent of trad games in terms of its complexity; character creation consists of spending points to improve abilities, and you can improve some of your character abilities by introducing flaws in other areas. Because of the roots in its game design, I’d expect a longer book to read through here.

If you want to learn more about this game, you can check out the game review for it on Cannibal Halfling Games!

Seven Deadly Sirens, by Litza Bronwyn.

In this game, you play one of seven types of mermaids and roll with seven deadly sins to power your basic and special moves in order to summon ships, lure men to you, devour their hearts, and collect their treasures. Fun, flirty, indulgent, and a little chaotic, this game is perfect for a night of raucous debauchery or an afternoon of silly adventuring.

This game is definitely on the shorter side, but I really really like the idea of using seven deadly sins as your source of power. This game is Powered by the Apocalypse, so expect something interesting to happen even with every dice roll. Unlike common PbtA games, you pick from a communal list of moves to define your character, rather than picking a playbook. The core loop of this game will involve luring men off of boats, killing them and raiding the boats for treasure.

Here, there be Monsters! By Wendi Yu.

here, there, be monsters! is a rules-lite response to monster-hunting media from the monsters' point of view. It's both a love letter and a middle finger to stuff like Hellboy (and the BPRD), the SCP Foundation, the Men in Black, the World of Darkness games and the Urban Fantasy genre in general. It is an explicitly queer, antifascist and anti-capitalist game about the monstrous and the weird, in any flavor you want, not as something to be feared, but to be cherished and protected.

Play as a diverse crew of monstrous, anomalous or just generally odd beings, fighting against those who would use, abuse or even annihilate you. Create and populate your own supernatural underworld, abnormal gang and extra-dimensional haven. Hunt monster hunters! Punch nazi occultists! Eat the rich! Protect each other! Fight back! Here, there, be monsters!

This is 164 pages of monstrous fun, in which your characters are likely treated like bad guys by the society around them, even if they’re not really villainous themselves. It gives you a chance to revel in your monstrosity, with 100 pre-made character backgrounds for you to peruse. One content warning: there is quite a bit of art revolving about bodies, in various forms (this is a monster game, after all). This isn’t meant to detract from the work - in fact, it perfectly communicates the tone of the game - but it is something you should be aware of before you buy.

Blood and Sacrilege, by Tom Clark.

In a Dark Fantasy setting based on the Early Middle Ages of England (The Dark Ages), you play as a brood of vampires bent on toppling the humans’ reign over Brackenstow. Here you'll find a country ruled by mortals, with vampires lurking in the shadows of society. It wasn’t always this way though; vampires founded Brackenstow and after a hard fought war, lost it to the mortals they once enslaved. 

Nearly a century after the vampires were defeated, legal rights to the kingdom are still squabbled over by the country's self-proclaimed leaders while bishops and ministers fight for their own influential positions. The vampire threat looms on the horizon… But the power vacuum left by a leaderless kingdom has taken it's toll on the stability of the land, leading to civil unrest and the more immediate danger of war. 

Now, with humans on the brink of societal collapse, the vampires peer out from the dark, and the broods that have laid in wait for so many decades start to execute their long-laid plans.

This looks like a game still in the works, but it sure looks promising. As long-defeated creatures of the night, you see a chance to take back a kingdom you once owned. Forged in the Dark games are all about projects that the group has to work consistently at in order to succeed, so expect plenty to read, especially if it’s inside such an established setting.

Villainous Fucks, by Keganexe (@keganexe)

Villainous Fucks is a tabletop roleplaying game designed for 2-6 players, about doing petty crimes as The League of Villainous Fucks, and ruining the day of Superheroes and Cops alike (and truly what's the difference). Villainous Fucks runs on Spencer Campbells incredible LUMEN System, and is inspired by the best Villains across media. LUMEN is designed for quick, tactical combat, and Villainous Fucks dials it up to 11 for the best in zany comic book style action.

If you are interested in ruining the day of do-gooders in over-the-top comic book action, and if you like your combat to be satisfying and punchy, you want Villainous Fucks. Instead of skills, LUMEN uses approaches: how your character does something is more important than what exactly they do. Is your villain Brutal, Cunning or Quick? My favourite little tidbit from Villainous Fucks is the characters’ stance on Cops. Villains believe that All Cops are Bastards, and All Superheroes are Cops. If you like revelling in doing crimes, then this is absolutely worth checking out.

Games I’ve Recommended Before

Monsterhearts 2, by Avery Alder. (Teenagers with great monstrous potential)

Spire: The City Must Fall, by Rowan Rook & Decard. (You’re sympathetic terrorists, but you’re still terrorists.)

This former request that asked about playing mind flayers and similar monsters.

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #dnd #game recommendations #asks #villains

[jacquelynstuber]

When I was standing in the Golan Heights on the border of Israel and Syria in 2010, our guide told us that any war fought by Israel in the future wouldn't be about religion, it would be about water. I've been thinking about that lie a lot lately. By then I knew how much I'd been lied to, and expected that to continue on that trip, but I could have never imagined just how big a lie that particular one would end up being. Growing up with those lies is why I take all this so personally, and why I feel I need to keep learning and spreading truths now to make up for the time when I didn't know how.

I want to share some words by Jewish-American writer Amanda Gelender that articulate many of the thoughts and feelings I've been having better than I've been able to myself.

"I don't have words to describe what it's like to be a Jewish person witnessing a genocide perpetrated & cheered on by my own community. It's a dystopian nightmare I can't wake up from. I pray everyday for a liberated Palestine & know in my heart that will set all of us free.

Don't spend years teaching me Jewish values of justice & respect for human life, and then expect me to conveniently not apply those ethics to the case where Jewish people are occupiers running an apartheid state on stolen land. It doesn't work like that.

When I first learned what was happening in occupied Palestine, I was shocked & horrified at the extensive human rights abuses & the deep betrayal from my own Jewish community for hiding the truth. It compelled me to go as far as possible for Palestine & refuse injustice done in my name.

As a Jewish anti-zionist, I'm not bothered by comparisons of Israel & Nazi Germany. There's a lot of overlap between the states, and I don't think Jewish people have a monopoly on words used to describe mass persecution. If you don't want to be called a Nazi, don't act like a Nazi.

Painting the violent white settlers as innocent, rational victims & the indigenous people as savage terrorists is right out of the racist colonial playbook. This is intentional by Israel - using white supremacist tropes already seeded in media to manufacture consent for genocide.

I hate that the west makes Palenstinians have to talk about Judaism & antisemitism at all. Palestinians didn't pick the identity of their occupiers. I wish the media collectively shifted the narrative away from white Jewish fear toward the 75 year struggle for Palestinian liberation.

Palestinians have a moral and legal right to resist their own genocide. The fact that their occupiers are Jewish is deeply irrelevant - it is human nature to resist your own annihilation by whomever it is that murders your people, steals your land, and tortures your children.

I don't believe Jews will ever be free so long as Israel exists. Because we can't keep our spirit intact while playing the role of a tyrant."

#free palestine #not in my name #never again for anyone #palestine #self #120

[harpygon]

To see a genocide unfold in front of us and all the inaction is sickening. But the blatant anti Gaza and anti Palestinian actions are just as if not more sickening.

I am german and I'd like to talk about Germany's behaviour especially.

The support of the Israeli government from the very beginning was cruel and terrible. Supporting an openly far right government in their on going attacks of Palestine... now their abstinence on the UN-Vote

Telling our teachers that they should inform us about the conflict to make it CLEAR TO US THAT ISRAEL WAS IN THE RIGHT.

Our prominent news sides continue to talk as if this was a fight against the Hamas and the Hamas alone. They mention the dead civilians in a side sentence while spending paragraphs upon paragraphs talking about the hurt the Hamas have caused (which they did). No words of the dehumanizing language used against Palestinians, nothing about the Nazi playbook tactics that every single one of us learned about in school.

They reported that telecommunication cut out, they talk about troops entering Gaza but not a single word about the white phosphor, nothing about the constant bombings.

The government has shown that they are ready to be silent and complicit. Our news coverage has proven itself to be biased propaganda.

It is our job to inform us anyway, even if our news sources won't give us unbiased information. It is our job to do the minimal things we can, not to be silent, inform yourself and take part in the boycotts.

Stand with Palestine. Dont allow genocide ever.

#palestine

[gothicprep]

ian danskin, the creator of the alt-right playbook series on youtube, clearly has his heart in the right place, but i don't think he has the intellectual chops to properly execute his subject material.

his video entitled "the cost of doing business" is unfortunately one of the worst political videos i've ever seen. he makes some very strange logical leaps, glosses over a lot in his retelling of the milo yiannopoulos/UC berkely controversy, and treats the student body as though they were 90s era clintonites (this happened in the mid-2010s) while watering down how much of an immoral failure of a person milo is in service of a point that libs and conservatives have no meaningful difference between the two of them. you're betting on the wrong horse if you're comparing the people attending a university whose culture trends towards political engagement with someone who has no shame in disclosing that he's a nazi sympathizer, if not something much worse.

you also get the impression from videos like this that it's implied that only white people engage in politics. which frankly, comes off as an infantilizing sort of racism. never in the history of the united states have marginalized populations played an active role in their legal and social gains. i've learned something new about history today.

it's also 10 months old but feels so antiquated. it'd have felt antiquated in 2017.

also as an aside, there's one shot in this where he's giving book recommendations and they're all library copies. which begs the question of whether he checked them out in his research process, or checked them out to get that specific shot. which, if it's the latter, hoo boy.

[laresearchette]

Saturday, February 24, 2024 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (W Network) 8:00pm

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA THE HOLDOVERS

CRAVE TV GUS THE ITSY BITSY KNIGHT (Season 1)

NETFLIX CANADA THE 30TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS — Netflix Live Event

ROCK PAPER SCISSORS (YTV) 10:00am (SERIES PREMIERE): When Scissors runs out of money, he tries to become a janitor but discovers that the job involves way more skill than he initially thought; Rock and Paper try to motivate Scissors in an unusual way.

NHL HOCKEY (SN360) 12:00pm: Blues vs. Red Wings (TSN2) 2:00pm: Habs vs. Devils (SN360) 3:00pm: Rangers vs. Flyers (City TV/SNPacific) 7:00pm: Bruins vs. Canucks (CBC/SN) 7:00pm: Leafs vs. Avalanche (SN1) 7:00pm: Knights vs. Sens (CBC/SN) 10:00pm: Flames vs. Oilers

MLB SPRING TRAINING (SN) 1:00pm: Phillies vs. Jays

CURLING (TSN) 2:00pm: 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts: Page Playoff (TSN) 5:00pm: Curling Day in Canada (TSN/TSN3) 8:00pm: 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts: Page Playoff (TSN4/TSN5) 9:30pm: 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts: Page Playoff

PWHL HOCKEY (SN1) 2:30pm: Ottawa vs. Montreal

MLS SOCCER (TSN4/TSN5) 7:00pm: Orlando vs. CF Montreal

W5 (CTV) 7:00pm: Who's at Your Door?; Who Is Dillon Brooks?: "W5" investigates companies that allegedly trick homeowners into signing long-term contracts for items they don't need; why a Canadian is the most-hated man in the NBA.

UFC MMA (SN360) 8:00pm: Moreno vs. Royval 2 - Prelims (SN1/SN360) 10:00pm: Moreno vs. Royval 2

AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERIES: SOMETHING NEW (CTV) 8:00pm: Young Aurora Teagarden returns home to Lawrenceton to pursue her post-graduate degree but soon finds herself embroiled in a mystery involving her friend's fiance.

LOVE AT FIRST LIE (Lifetime Canada) 8:00pm: Kate is looking for the perfect match online when she swipes and meets Walker, a jet-setting art dealer. After Kate falls for the dashing dealer, she learns that he is a hustler who cons women out of their money.

SNOW SCHOOL (Nat Geo Wild) 8:00pm: When every day is a snow day, school is always in session; a baby walrus gets a swim lesson from Mom; young stoats' playtime teaches them how to hunt; otter pups take a slide and learn to avoid predators; owlets practice leaving the nest.

THE HAPPINESS PLAYBOOK (Super Channel Heart & Home) 8:00pm: Journalist Amy goes under cover at a happiness retreat run by the handsome Paul. Sparks fly between the two, but when Amy learns Paul is the secret son of a wealthy investor, she must choose between a career-making story and her growing feelings.

NBA BASKETBALL (TSN2) 8:30pm: Celtics vs. Knicks

THANKSGIVING (Crave) 9:00pm: An axe-wielding maniac terrorizes residents of Plymouth, Mass., after a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy. Picking off victims one by one, the seemingly random revenge killings soon become part of a larger, sinister plan.

DEAD MAN'S HAND (Starz Canada) 9:00pm: A gunslinger teams up with a marshal to save his kidnapped wife from a ruthless mayor and his private army.

WOLVES OF WAR (Super Channel Fuse) 9:00pm: During World War II, a decorated British officer leads Allied commandos across enemy lines to rescue an American scientist held hostage by the Nazis.

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (CTV) 12:35am: Offered a plea deal by the FBI, William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton.

#cdntv #cancon #canadian tv #canadian tv listings #W5 #nhl hockey #mlb baseball #curling #pwhl hockey #mls soccer #mma #nba basketball

[teaveetamer]

The Holocaust thing? Re; Vaush? Do you know what that is? He has a problem where a lot of stuff he says is taken wildly out of context by people that don't like him. He's generally a pretty smart and reasonable guy, just.... edgy. Stupidly edgy.

We all agree he was a moron for the JKR tweet, I think even he admits that now. Though mostly he says he wishes it hadn't been blown up so much it took over more important parts of the conversation.

Okay I dug up the clip I saw originally with the holocaust thing. It's from this video (starting at about 35:13. The clip is just a small portion but I recommend watching until about 41:05, or the end of that section of the video. I think Noah brings up some really good points about why this was such an issue).

Now here's how I interpreted this conversation:

Basically I guess Vaush and Noncompete (? I'm not familiar with him) were having a conversation about something relating to enslaved peoples and violence against their oppressors. Vaush, from my understanding, decided to "challenge" the logic of "enslaved people committing violence against their oppressors is justified" by basically saying "well the Nazis thought they were being oppressed by Jewish people so by your logic that makes the Holocaust okay."

He invoked the ol' "Jews controlled the banks" propaganda point as a justification for why Nazis thought they were being oppressed. When Noncompete explained that it wasn't the same thing because Nazis were not aligned with reality Vaush then doubled down and defended his stance that Nazis thought they were oppressed with "a disproportionate number of Jewish people controlled banks in Germany pre-Nazis".

And when Noncompete basically said "okay yeah we're not doing this" Vaush called him "too stupid to have a conversation with".

And here I'm going to recommend another video: https://youtu.be/wmVkJvieaOA?si=DIrWc7ahIbmJO8pq

IMO I think this conversation follows the pattern described in this Alt-Right playbook video to a T. Opponent gives point -> Vaush counters with something only tangentially related, shifting the conversation -> Opponent counters with point -> Vaush again counters with something only tangentially related, shifting the conversation further -> When opponent decides that the argument is not being had in good faith he disengages -> Vaush basically says "he must not want to argue with me because I'm right!" and considers the debate "won".

I'm not saying Vaush is an irredemable person or a Nazi or anything based on this. Like I said I've only watched him a little bit and most of my other info about him is from clips and the like. I'm just saying that even if I take him in the best possible faith this was an idiotic thing to do, and it puts me off his content. I think you're right anon that it comes off as him being unnecessarily edgy and that is going to lead to some pretty unfortunate consequences if he doesn't think before he speaks.

There's like an actually interesting conversation to be had there. Like they could have discussed the historic oppression of Jewish people and how Nazis weaponized the consequences of their oppression against them in the form of propaganda*. They could have related that to modern day problems. They could have talked about how propaganda works, and how the best propaganda usually has a kernel of truth buried in the bullshit. But he uh, didn't.

But still, I don't think it was unsalvageable until he doubled down on the point later. It was straight up negligent of him to not, you know, acknowledge that he was misinformed or actually correct the misinformation he just shared so his audience wouldn't go spreading it around. He has a big platform. He has a duty to ensure he uses that platform responsibly. I think he has some growing to do in that area.

It's good that acknowledged he messed up with the JKR tweet, but like, I hope he used it as a learning experience too. His tweet took over the more important parts of the conversation in part because he doubled down on it instead of just being like "hey guys I was trying to make a joke but I see it didn't land. My bad. Being misogynistic even for a joke was a dumb call. Taking it down now, sorry to everyone hurt by this." If he'd done that then it could have moved the conversation back to what was really important much quicker.

I mean no hate if you like him anon, that's just one of the reasons I haven't sought out more of his stuff. If you have videos or something from him to demonstrate that he's changed since that stuff I mentioned then I'd be happy to look at him again.

*Jewish people did not own a disproportionate amount of wealth in Germany, and if they were over-represented in the banking sector that's in part because previous discrimination pushed Jewish people into banking-adjacent sectors in the first place. The TL;DR of that is that Christians viewed tax collecting, money lending, anything that dealt with cash as sinful and undesirable jobs, so those were some of the few jobs Jewish people could get for a time (because no Christians wanted them). It has nothing to do with greed or a desire for economic control.

#cw antisemitism #apologies to everyone for all these trigger warnings lately #but I gotta follow up on this since I said a thing and now I need to clarify

[oleworm]

Tagged by @yvehattan, @discworldwitches and @fairybumpkin, thank you!

Tag 9 people you want to get to know better!

Favourite colour: Every time I’m asked this question the answer changes. I don’t think I can have a single favourite colour, rather a set of them, such as the Marian blue used in the Middle Ages as well as the strong yellows and reds that feature so strongly in works reminiscent of that era, if not necessarily created in it.

Currently reading: I’m reading “The Third Reich. A New History” by the historian Michael Burleigh. This was a book I impulsively asked to be bought more than a decade ago but never felt the need to read until now. I have a tendency to buy or ask to be given books that are very long and comprehensive and not deigning to touch them for a very long time, like with “The History of the Peloponnesian War,” which I actually finished recently, and “Anatomy of Melancholy,” the famous 17th century monograph on, well, melancholy.

I’m reading this book now right after “Peloponnesian War” because nazi Germany is a subject of which many of us know the generalities, bits and pieces here and there, but have not taken the time to actually study, and with these turbulent times we are living, I suppose that it is the way in which I cope! Some people read escapist romances to cope, others deep-dive into worst case scenarios. But it is also true that I want to understand. The political landscape is not identical to how it was after the First World War, and how could it be? But it is not insignificant that in certain regions you see some similarities. Economic crisis, middle classes falling into the lower class or fearing that they will be absorbed by it and share their standard of living; scapegoating of foreigners, Jews, the disabled, and other minorities for these economic problems, to a greater or lesser degree.

More disturbing is that extremist groups in certain countries are explicitly emulating the nazis not only in their spirit but in the strategies that they used to come to power. I remember reading an article a couple of years ago that it had been leaked some of them had admitted to it themselves. But it’s different to read an article than to read a whole book about it. The more I learn about this the more I understand how much the far-right is taking from the nazi proselytism playbook, from infiltrating neutral interest groups (remember cottagecore?) to turning everything into a rage-and-panic inducing matter of life or death. That is something that they were doing back then with very clear intention. A difference is that in the early 20th century they had to print these things out and distribute them or talk to people face to face, and with the internet it can be so easy for them as posting or programming bots to share their views.

The next thing I should read ought to be something that may more directly affect me. Something about US imperialism in Latin America, ha!

Last song: “Little Dark Age” by MGMT

Last series: A couple of weeks ago I watched The Sandman up to the third episode, it’s very pretty so far! I was sleep deprived when I watched the second and third, though, so I don’t think that I remember very much!

I’ll have to admit that I don’t watch much television. Before The Sandman the only shows that I remember watching in the past four years or so are The Terror (2018) that I rewatched ten times and never again and Оттепель (The Thaw), a Russian series about Soviet filmmakers in the time of Khrushchev, when attitudes to censorship became more relaxed. The main character was such a piece of shit! How shit he was impacted me until now. I’m still mad that such a man exists even in the mind of the writers, though it is worse that many like him exist in real life. I was intrigued by the drama of the other characters, but by God. The show was good and I enjoyed it, but it was instrumental in the choice I've actively made since then not to give my time to media that gives too much prominence to abusive straight men. My friend sometimes reads to me from Reddit relationship advice threads and it’s sad and cringe that men like this are still alive and that women can’t seem to let them go. Perhaps it’s inappropriate to see it this way when I know it’s because of patriarchy and abuse, but I don’t want to see something that in real life is so horrifying in what is supposed to be fun.

I realise it is the opposite of the reason I gave to the previous question about why I engage with certain material. Do I contradict myself? I suppose it is that I feel relatively safe from one thing, and with the other, I feel that I have to prepare myself in some way, though there are others that know a lot more than me and feel just as powerless.

Last movie: I don’t watch many movies. I don’t remember, sorry!

Sweet/savoury/spicy: All three! Together.

Currently working on: I’m writing a novel with my friend, which I won’t elaborate on because if I do my mind will take it as a sign that it is finished; I’m also working on a couple of other stories, though not they’re not as important to me as the first one. I’ve also been teaching myself Javascript and doing coding exercises daily; bracing myself to do this type of work in exchange for currency, ha. The social aspect is always more frightening to me than the actual work. There are a couple of important things that I need to research, also. This question reminds me that I need to fold my laundry, study and clean my room... I’m working on becoming stronger, so I guess I must do some weights as well!

Tagging @bacchanalium, @winking-owl ​, @plantpretender, @elbiotipo, @osmanthusoolong, @trying-something-old, @surumarssi, @panikpanikpanik, @lliona if you want to!

#cw nazism

[meret118]

requires all books to be prescreened and warns that the censors must "err on the side of caution" when deciding if a book fits the very right-wing definition of "harmful to minors." As Legum points out, one author that has been frequently targeted by Republican censors is Pulitzer Prize winner Toni Morrison, making it clear that it's not "pornography" that is in dispute here — which no one actually thinks teachers were providing — but internationally renowned literature. That explains why books about the Holocaust and Martin Luther King Jr. have also been frequently targeted by Republicans for bans.

. . .

Yep, they not only want to erase sex education but documented evidence that the U.S. once had a Black president. These are the folks who are worming their way into Florida schools, based on DeSantis' censorship orders, to decide what students should be allowed to read.

. . .

Despite the tendency of Republicans to invoke elementary school kids when talking about the need for book banning, the classrooms being targeted are in high schools and middle schools. Books flagged for banning include The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang, and Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany Jackson. Digging into the complaints, it becomes clear that, despite lots of hysteria about "depictions of sexual activity" in books meant for nearly adult readers, the real objections are centered around the acknowledgment that racism is real or that LGBTQ people exist. Unsurprisingly, few, if any, of the targeted authors are white men. The books that offend the "woke busters" are mostly written by women of color.

They aimed to de-intellectualise education: they did not want education to provoke people to ask questions or think for themselves. They believed this approach would instill obedience and belief in the Nazi worldview, creating the ideal future generation.

. . .

The Nazis also adapted where the students learned from. They introduced new textbooks which were often racist, and promoted ideas such the need for Lebensraum . Any textbooks used to educate students had to be approved by the party.The Nazis also placed great emphasis on who the teachers were. Under the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service Act of 7 April 1933, just three months after Hitler became chancellor, all Jewish teachers, and teachers with undesirable political beliefs (such as communists), were dismissed.

Trigger warning for offensive content at the link.

All the shit they're doing in education and more is straight out of the nazi playbook.

#GOP #Fascism #The Holocaust

[sufficientgrace]

Antisemitism

I remember learning in school as a child in Dallas about the Holocaust. We had survivors of the Holocaust come to our elementary school in the Richardson ISD to speak to us personally about what they had endured in Europe in the 1930's and 40's. The thoughts of how that could ever have happened, and how people could do those things to other human beings, came to mind.

At Baylor University, I learned about the history of Germany and Europe in the last several centuries. It was difficult to understand how pervasive antisemitism had become over time in Western and Eastern Europe. Jews had been persecuted across most of Europe at one time or another. The German people have produced some of the greatest thinkers in modern history, so the idea that the Nazi Party could gain power in Germany in 1933 was an enigma to me. Teachers and professors throughout my education often repeated that the Holocaust is taught so that those mistakes would never be repeated. As an educator in public schools, I have taught social studies for over 30 years. The Holocaust, antisemitism, and human rights have always occupied a prominent place in the curriculum.

Today, the nation whose soldiers liberated Nazi concentration camps and freed Europe from Hitler's threat is now turning on the Jews. So many Jews fled to America in past decades for freedom and safety, only now to be targeted by angry mobs in major cities and college campuses. You think that it will not get any worse than protests? There are members of Congress who support the angry mobs, and other politicians and much of the media are afraid to challenge the mobs. Now, go look at a history book. That is the playbook that Hitler and the Nazi's followed. Once people fear wrong, no matter how few support it, then the wrong can seize power.

Maybe the saddest part of this is that most of those college students were taught about the Holocaust, saw "Schindler's List," and yet have been prompted to be antisemitic without much effort. Just as Hitler scapegoated the Jews in the 1920's and 30's about Germany's situation, Israel and the Jews today are being scapegoated by radicalized people from the Middle East and from here at home.

Things are changing, and not for good. Read your history, and be aware that if this is not stopped now then the very thing that the world never wanted to happen again, will happen again. It might not look exactly the same, but it will be tragic nonetheless.

[conodeleezzaricecake]

versus happening about the ISRAEL PALESTINE conflict, there is a recurring theme that Israel is losing the PR war. And a big part of that is because a lot of young people, especially young Americans are so overwhelmingly pro Palestine. And a very interesting Zionist talking point is that many of us are pro Palestine are uneducated. But in fact, many young Americans are pro Palestine because we are very educated on Jewish history. So if you're educated in the US like that Jewish history has been a constant response to having classes dedicated to genocide, the Holocaust in high school, and it's because of education that many of us are able to recognize what's going on in Palestine. Genocide, has been ethnic cleansing and the mass displacement of the Palestinian people, especially in districts in Gaza. Because we learned about the mass displacement of Jewish people in Nazi Germany creation ghettos, we recognize the white supremacist propaganda language of the Israeli government. Because we were doing DBQ or Nazi propaganda posters that use similar language like the children of darkness. We are dissatisfied with our governments and corporations lack of acknowledgement and support and the hyper securitisation of the Palestinian people. Because we saw the higher securitisation of Jewish people lead other countries to leave and it was only an interim security issue within the country and that bystander effect was one of the reasons the Holocaust could happen. It was sustained so many years without their actual understanding conceptualized like Hamas came into existence having learned about the purging of Jewish paramilitary groups, direct response, military action, we've already read the playbook which is the big difference because I have an ordination. Jewish people were oppressed in this conflict a Jewish ethno state of Israel. It's a poignant example of a single feature that can one day become the oppressors themselves. They share the same supremacist nationalist attitude that their oppressors did. And that's really what we taught difference between the Jewish community especially the Orthodox Jewish community, in the science community, because Zionism is not a religious identity. It is a colonialist imperialist movement that is fueled by the similar nationalist ideals that led to urging

2:01

people to sign up they are inundated in conditions with oppressors, ideologies, people. And so when they're seeking freedom or liberation, from that oppressor and so often those same beliefs, like appearance of liberation and freedom is becoming your precedent instead of breaking the chain of oppression so that that becomes your presser and they start forming similar ideologies and beliefs as they are for presser just continues the cycle when the difference is recognition, because we have repeated on this form of oppression before we can see the cycle continuing in the ISRAEL PALESTINE conflict among all the discourses happening about the ISRAEL PALESTINE conflict. There is a current theme that is

[infinitemonkeytheory]

In the fall of 2022, a German court heard an unusual case.

It was a civil lawsuit that grew out of a feud on Twitter about whether transgender people were victims of the Holocaust. Though there is no longer much debate about whether gay men and lesbians were persecuted, there’s been very little scholarship on trans people during this period.

The court took expert statements from historians, including myself, before finding that the historical evidence shows that trans people were, indeed, persecuted by the Nazi regime.

This is an important case. It was the first time a court recognized the persecution of trans people in Nazi Germany. It was followed a few months later by the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, formally releasing a statement recognizing trans and cisgender queer people as victims of fascism.

[…]

In Nazi Germany, transgender people were not used as a political wedge issue in the way they are today. There was little public discussion of trans people.

What the Nazis did say about them, however, was chilling.

The author of a 1938 book on “the problem of transvestitism” wrote that before Hitler was in power, there was not much that could be done about transgender people, but that now, in Nazi Germany, they could be put in concentration camps or subjected to forced castration. That was good, he believed, because the “asocial mindset” of trans people and their supposedly frequent “criminal activity … justifies draconian measures by the state.”

[…]

Today, right-wing attacks against trans people in the U.S. are intensifying.

Though the American Academy of Pediatrics and every major medical association approves gender-affirming health care for trans kids, Republican politicians have banned it in 19 states, with even more moving to prohibit it.

Gender-affirming medicine is now over 100 years old – and it has roots in Weimar Germany. It had never before been legally restricted in the U.S. Yet Missouri has essentially banned it for adults, and other states are trying to restrict adult care. A host of other anti-trans bills are moving through state legislatures.

I find it fitting, then, that “A Transparent Musical” recently premiered in Los Angeles. In it, fabulously dressed trans Berliners sing and dance in defiance of Nazi thugs.

It’s a reminder that attacks on trans people are nothing new – and that many of them are straight out of the Nazi playbook.

#trans lives matter #fuck fascism

[nityarawal]

11/24/22

The Passport Song

Natives VS Aliens Abroad

Morning/Afternoon 

Thanksgiving Song

Reading My Passport

Trying To Understand

My Rights

Why Didn't The Officers

Look At It

Instead Of Taking Bribes

It Says I was Born

In Chicago

Illinois

Close To Abraham

Lincoln's Home

In Decatur

Should I Move Back

My Passport Says I

Have Rights

What Does It Take

To Get Lawyers To Obey

The Law

What Does It Take To 

Get Them To Read

Our Passports

Don't Need To Investigate

My DNA

Kids Or Vagina

My Children Won't 

Be Your Sexy Gigolettes

For Court

I've Seen Gals Groomed

For Abortions

From Your Trafficking

Mexican Mafia

Militia

I've Been Silenced

Told No More "Aloha"

No More "Princesses"

This Is America

Says Spanish Officers

That Don't 

Understand What It 

Means To Serve

The United States Of

America

As A Leutenant General's 

Granddaughter 

From The Army

Professor Huntley 

Of Northwestern

And Harvard

I Ask Chi Town

Chicago

To Protect Me

I Know Of A Neurosurgeon

Whose Jewish Persian

And Can Help Make Sure

My Brains Not Bleeding

Of Anyuresms

From Violent Gag

Orders By UK Nazis

#PrinceOfPegging 

Marine Beatings

No More Starter Wives

Murdered

No More Children

Raped

Your War Defense

Team Is Immoral

Ignorant Of Planet

Humanity

Shall We Call The

Lawyers Retarded

We Know Their Playbooks

Inside Out

Gag Orders

Continuances

Stall

Rape

Steal

Raid

Pedophilia

Marines Sterile

Haters

With Big Guns

Fancy Fettishes

Paid For By 911

My Tax Dollars

And Afghanistan 

Wars No One Understands

Except Witnessed Soldiers 

Raping Children

As Littles'

We Learned

What History Did

In War

Genocide

Mental Incompetency 

Label 

Don't Speak Your Language

Death 

Lost Tribes

Art Demolished

Never To Be Replaced

Lots Of Lies

You Liquidated Our Assets

So Nazis Could Rape

The Planet

Roseline Ferrel Was

Meant To Defend Me

From Marines

As An Atty 

#PrinceOfPegging Terrorism

And Avert The Danger

In 2017

But She Took A Bribe

Married A Judge

Lied

Sold Out Her Persian People

Me

Kids To Trafficking

Lied Lost Her Kids

And Has An Oath

Like Tulsi Now

To #Trumpleberry 

On Bribes

Which Federal Officer

Raped Your Kids

Who Transed Vivian

For SpaceX Kickbacks

"What In The Rewind Is This?"

I'd Like To Ask You

"What In The Space-X

Is This?"*

You said You'd Settle

My Estate

Haven't You Got A Clue

What We Expect

Your Promises

To Do

I'll Read You My Passport

I'll Read You Your Rights

Because No Attorney In

America Will Defend

You- Not The President

Lawyer Joe Biden

Not The VP DA

Kamala Harris

Read Your Passport

Know Your Rights

Tweet

Don't Get Raped

With No Alibi

Get A New Bank

Get New Cellular

Get Planet Safe

Before Leaders

Nuke It With- Forgive Me- Retarded

Lawyers

I'm Going To Tell You

A Story About 

The Constitution

On the First Page 

Of Our Passport

It Says:

"O Say Does That Star Spangled Banner Get Wave O'er The Land Of The Free & The Home Of The Brave" - USA

And On The Next Page 2

"...AND THAT GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE, SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THE EARTH" - Abraham Lincoln

Says:

Below The Patriotic Eagle 

"The Secretary of State Of The United States Of America Hereby Requests All Whom It May Concern To Permit The Citizen/National Of The United States Named Herein To Pass Without Delay Or Hindrance And In Case Of Need To Give All Lawful Aid And Protection."

It Says This 

In Several Languages

Why Doesn't Our

Government Understand

Why Have They Lost

The Constitution Of 

Our People 

In This Oathkeeper

Trend 

On Page 3 

Of Our American

Passports

It Says

"We The People

Of The United States, 

In Order To Form a More Perfect Union, Establish Justice, Insure Domestic Tranquility, Provide For The Common Defense, Promote The General Welfare, And Secure The Blessings of Liberty To Ourselves And Our Posterity, Do Ordain And Establish This Constitution For The United States of America."

On Page 4

Of My USA Passport

It Says My Name

Nitya Azam 

Born September 16

1973

The Lawyers Won't 

Remove Rawal 

From My ID's

And It's A Hindrance 

It Says I Am Female

And For My Surname

The Type

Is P

For Passport

It Used To Say Huntley

I Want It To Be Restored

But I can't Get An Attorney

To Represent Me

Not Even Our President

Is Doing 10% Pro-Bono 

And Our Vice President

And District Attorney

Has Forgotten Her Motto

And Promise 

To The Divorcees

Of California

At The Bottom 

Of Page 4

It Says See Page 27

And When You Go There

It's Still Blank

For "Endorsements 

Mentions

Specialities"

"The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class - it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity." - Anna Julia Cooper

Said 

Doesn't Say The Year

Or Who She Was

Or What's Intended

For Pages 26

And 27 

Of My Passport

But Glad To Know

She's There

BLM Ahead Of Her Time 

Looked Her Up

Only Black Lady In My Passport

A Teacher

A Mother

A Freed Slave

Widowed by 22 Years Old

Lived to A 

105

Lots Of Charities

In Her Namesake 

Free Of Her Master

Chattel

Once Owned by Politicians

Grandpa Owned Slaves

But Julia Anna Cooper

Is My Inspiration 

Now

A Writer Freed

Almost Forgotten

In Thesilencing.org

A Genocide

Of Black Lives Matter

Regressing 75 Years

Back To Her

Platform

Skeleton

Of Foremothers

I'd Like Passport To 

Read Nitya

Nella

Davigo

Azam

Moezzi

Huntley

And Only

A Hyphenated Rawal

Tethering Me To My 

Children

And Not 

The Rest Of 

Their Marine Spy

Suffering Parent Estrangement

Alienation

Diseased

Family

"This Passport

Is Not Valid

Unless It's Signed

On Page 3"

Thank God Mine 

Is Legal

P.5

"U.S. GOVERNMENT PROPERTY  

This Passport Is The Property

Of The United States

It Must Be Surrendered

Upon Demand

Made by an

Authorized Representative

Of The United States Government."

I Demand You Usurp Dr.

Sunil Christopher Rawal's Passport

And Export Him Back

To The #PrinceOfPegging 

Now

P.7 

"Parental Child Abduction"

Is Not Allowed 

In My Country

"Contact the Department

Of State's Office

Of Children's Issues at

202-736-7000, or consult

Our home page at

Http;//travel.state.gov"

"Loss Of US Citizenship:

Under Certain Circumstances,

You May Lose your U.S. Citizenship

By performing; Voluntarily and With

The Intention to Relinquish

U.S. Citizenship,

Any of the following acts:

Being Naturalized in a Foreign state;

Taking an Oath or Making a Declaration to a Foreign State;"

We're not #PrinceOfPegging 

Servants; The Common Wealth

And Don't Belong to England

Loss of US Citizenship For:

"Serving in the Armed forces of a Foreign State;"

(Like England!)

"Accepting employment with a foreign government;"

(As a Spy!)

"or

Formally Renouncing U.S. Citizenship Before a U.S. consular Officer Overseas."

(Force His hand!)

"Consult the nearest U.S. embassy or Consulate or Contact the Office of American Citizens Services And

Crisis Management, Department of

State, … Washington DC"

Does It Work

Or Is It A Data Collection

Hotline

Like The White House

Rude and Desparaging 

Sounds Like A Toilette Monitor 

"Or call 1-202-647-5225."

Will The President Get

Our Assets And Children

And Stop The Attorney's Lies

On Expired Restraining Orders

"Toll free hot-line 1-888-407-4747,

Or if calling from outside the U.S.,

1-317-472-2338."

On Page 7 of Your Passport 

It Says:

# 14.

"DUAL CITIZENS 

A Person Who Has The 

Citizenship Of More 

Than One Country"

Like Dr. Sunil Rawal 

"At The Same Time

Is Considered A Dual Citizen.

A Dual Citizen May Be 

Subject To Country's

Jurisdiction, Including Conscription

For Military Service.

Dual Nationality May Hamper

Effort To Provide

U.S. Consular Protection 

To Dual Citizens In The Foreign

Country Of Their Nationality.

Dual Citizens Who Encounter

Problems Abroad Should Contact

The Nearest U.S. Embassy

Or Consulate." 

And We Are Telling You Now

Sir

It's Time To Go Home

Dr.

Militia Offer To Murder

My X Husband Daily

But That's Not What

The Children Or I Want

We Haven't Become Murderers

Mostly Vegetarian 

In Your Ugly War

With Hornets And Wasps

We Remain Bumblebees

Our Alegiance

To An Imaginary Queen

We Want Her Back From Iran

England

And Every Indigenious 

Country

On Page 6 it says

#6

"Avoid Violating Foreign Laws

Remember, While In A Foreign Country,

You Are Subject To its Laws. 

Penalties for Violating Local Laws,

Even Unknowingly,

Can Be More Severe

Than In The U.S.

For Similar Offenses.

Deal Only With Authorized Agents

When Exchanging Money,

Or Purchasing Souvenirs. 

If In Trouble,

Contact the Nearest U.S. Embassy

Or Consulate.

If You Are Arrested,

Demand To See

The U.S. Council."

I Demand You Sir

Mr. President

I Demand You

Dr. Biden

From My Own 

"Health Insurance

Medicare/Medicaid

Does Not Cover

Healthcare Costs Outside

The U.S." Of A

Yet We Have Found 

Domestic Terrorism

With Our Health Care

Continental Remiss

"Does Your Insurance

Apply Overseas,

Including medical evacuation,

Payment To a hospital

Or Doctor Overseas,

Or reimbursement To

You Later?

See Our Brochure "Medical Information

For Americans Traveling Abroad,"

And

What About 

Americans Raped By Our Own Officers

In American Courthouses

With Domestic Terrorism

They Took My Blood

On An AI Bribe

They Broke The Law

You Gave Them Rope

To Hang Themselves

That's What They've done

Don't Bring A Woman Like

Me 

Ever Into Court Again

If You Don't Want

Full Disclosure

Journalism 

To Write Down 

Every Word Said

Remembered

"The Principal Of Free Governments

Adheres To The American Soil.

It Is Bedded in it,

Immovable as It's

Mountains."

Says Daniel Webster

On Pages 6 and 7

"American Soil.

It is Bedded in it

….

Principle of Free Government

Adheres To The American Soil

Immovable As Its mountains."

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Nazi watcher anon, below is a list of information and resources for anyone who wants to learn more about how nazis have spread their rhetoric and are using the internet. Please keep in mind that I can't put warnings on everything and since this is about nazis there can be very distressing things to read in this list. If you're not in a headspace to deal with it please don't look into the things I mention.

I have never found one coherent source that wraps all of this together neatly and this is not a complete list of sources. These are selections made by myself after about 15 years of learning about white supremacy on my own by reading their source materials and about 8 years of following their online movement. It's meant for people that are just starting to learn about the historical depth and intricacy of the neo-nazi movements that currently plague us.

First, all of modern neo-nazi movements started with George Lincoln Rockwell who was the founder of the American Nazi Party in 1959. Their tactics and approaches to infiltrating normal society, recruitment, and rhetoric come directly from GLR. I reccomend the three-part episode of Behind The Bastards (episode 51 published March 12, 13, 14, 2019). The host Robert Evans lays everything out in an easy to understand fashion and ties it to the modern nazi movements.

To understand fascism check out the 1995 essay "Ur-Fascism" by Umberto Eco, an Italian who grew up during the era of Italian fascism. You can find the pdf for free online as well as audio versions that have been recorded and released for free. He lays out the features of fascism and the commonalities between all fascist movements.

For the modern nazi movement I recommend the youtube channel Innuendo Studios and his series "The Alt-Right Playbook" as well as it's (in my mind) companion series "Why Are You So Angry?" which covers gamergate. While gamergate wasn't a fascist movement he details how using normies for cover is used in these sorts of astroturfed movements.

An important book in the alt-right is The Turner Diaries by William Luther Pierce. This is not an easy book to read because of the content, it's also terribly written but that's just my opinion. This book was the inspiration for multiple fascist terrorist attacks, including the Oklahoma city bombing. When you hear people talk about 'the day of the rope' (the reason the January 6 insurrectionists had gallows set up, Jeremy MacKenzie saying the convoy will end in 'guns or ropes', etc.) this is the book it comes from. It details a fictional future where white people are oppressed and they rise up, start a race war, and establish an all white society. You can find it for free online if you want to read it for yourself, though even the wiki can give you a brief overview.

Some podcasts that I've found helpful in learning about modern nazis are: I Don't Speak German (covers many alt-right influencers, each episode is clearly labeled so you can find the groups you're curious about), Knowledge Fight (mainly reports on episodes of Infowars and breaks down Alex Jones' talking points which are all related to nazi/qanon conspiracies), Decoding the Gurus (not directly related to nazis but does address many of the people shuttling primarily young men into fascist movements), and Sounds Like Hate by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Most of these podcasts are about USAmerican nazi figures, however it's still relevant to Canada since the nazi groups are deeply interconnected on both sides of the border.

For Canadian nazis I've been following their podcasts, vlogs, etc. This is hard and I don't reccomend anyone dive into it unless you're stable enough to listen to people who hate and want to wipe out anyone who isn't a straight white man. If you want to look into them anyway you can find Jeremy MacKenzie (Raging Dissident) on rumble where he releases a vlog/podcast called RageCast, he's also the founder of Diagalon which is a white separatist movement. He's associated with some other influencers that call themselves The Plaid Army that can be found in various places depending on where they've been deplatformed, a short list: The Ferryman's Toll, Slippin Lizzard, Derek Rants, Tyler L. Russell (leader of Canada First), EdgyDTv, Kerry Morgan (Alberta Defense League), and BlackGuyBigot (aka Canary In A Coal Mine). Google often hides the sites these people publish on so you might need to use DuckDuckGo to find their rat holes.

The last places you can find these people, as well as the groups organizing the convoy, is on a couple of alt-right platforms. Telegram, Gab, and Parler are the most popular ones in use and you can find these groups/people by searching for keywords that you've seen in this post. PLEASE NOTE: if you're going into these spaces DO NOT INTERACT with any of them! Use a fake name, fake number, etc and do not actively infiltrate. Some of these people are dangerous so you should be hiding your identity and observing ONLY. Use a generic white guy name and lurk.

I'll send another ask later about how to talk to people who are not actively nazis about what's going on. Unfortunately that one will shorter since deradicalization is a long process and not something that can be accomplished in one conversation.

Knowledge is power and these movements have been able to ferment for decades because mainstream society has been able to brush them off as a fringe minority. They have intentionally been muddying the waters around discussion of alt-right groups to make themselves more palatable to the normal white people around them and until we learn those tactics we're at risk of falling victim to them. Arm yourself with their talking points, approaches, and memes so you can recognize them when they pop up online or in person.

Stay safe everyone!

~~~~

[rametarin]

I just remembered, ‘The Wishbone.’

I’ve mentioned ad nauseum about how when I was a kid, those child soldier type cultural guerillas were running around, “twying to stawt convuhsayshuns,” prompted by their parents to do so. Because it was a way to use their kids to disguise important social issues and topics while making it seem like the kids themselves just did that. Then they’d be there as social support to reinforce what the kid says, when they inevitably go to adults to intervene and arbitrate arguments they didn’t know and couldn’t prove one way or another. Because, kids.

But as I sit here remembering the misc. times this happened over the course of my childhood (yeah, my memories go back that far,) I remembered a commonality that happened curiously often.

The Wishbone Maneuver. And I call it a maneuver because when something just coincidentally happens handfuls of times, it’s not coincidence. Always right on a schedule, always conveniently during a discussion.

So it works like this. Lets say it starts with a random field trip. And a conversation occurs between students/peers. Inevitably, someone will segue the conversation a little. Maybe with a jokey joke. You know, to set the tone for the new ‘convuhsayshun.’

They may make a crass joke about Washington killing Native Americans, or Columbus doing it. “Teehee! Yeah! [Fictional Hero] really squashed them! Deader than all those natives Washington killed!”

Any learned child of the 80s to early 90s at the time would get PTSD, because now you’re at... The Juncture. It could begin and end with that little “jokey joke” that tries to reinforce, “the founding fathers were bad (white) people, WEEREN’T THEEEEY?” in the culture.

You know. Kind of the way German/Nazi sympathizers would go around the US making casually antisemitic jokes? Because these are psychological methods used to strong arm people into going along with and playing off the bigotry of other people. Not even necessarily racial, sexual or ethnic bigotry; it’s also how they try to strongarm and steer people into Odd Man Outing individuals and communicating indirectly that they’re untouchable pariahs, and defending them is so indefensible that you’ll be brought down with them unless you chuckle and nod in agreement.

Only they directed it as ideological opponents. Constantly. And as a child of the 80s/90s, you knew the ball was in their court for what was said next. Because it was either just going to be a “simple joke” (pivoting away if there was too big a blowback/problem) or a segue into a conversation about what a shithead George Washington and by extension the founding fathers were.

But, what if you countered by also bringing up how Che Guevera was a shithead out of the blue. They don’t like that. Because now YOU’VE introduced a “jokey-joke” non-sequitor about a figure THEY might like. It does kind of expose that you know what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and that it wasn’t just a “jokey joke.” They take note of people that understand what they are and what they’re doing, because these methods are used to try and argue you in bad faith towards their ideological mindset with as little interpersonal argument as possible.

So if you just kick over the duckblind and let them know you see EXACTLY what ideological bias they’re coming to the table from, that you will not allow them to just be, “generally critical of bad historical figures,” but in fact force them out of an offensive, entrenched, sniping position and into one of running defense, then they get upset.

You’re not supposed to have this sort of experience or knowledge dealing with tankies or pinkos. If they pull off the benign interactions well enough, they try to get you thinking like they do with a minimum of struggle between you. Disguised as, “just general conversations about history and facts.” Which are shaved, doctored, manipulated and hair-did specifically and coincidentally to portray a certain view of only specific events and people in history robbed of enough context and smoothed out with benefit of the doubt in their direction to beg you to adopt it as fact.

Anyway. The Wishbone.

So for every negative fact they give about George Washington, you give them one about someone like Pol Pot, or Che Guevera, or Tito, or Mao. Because you’re just making JOKEYJOKES! Right, ole buddy ole pal? No unstated ideological bias here at all, no sir! Hahaha, I’m just like you! I sure hate those conformist sheep and study history! Hahahaha! You just so happen to shit all over the historical figures tied to ideologies they like and are supporting by tearing down their ideological enemies.

They can then do their pre-rehearsed spiel about what a shithead any given Founding Father did. Which, if you’re educated young enough, you already know, and match them point for point with, “how shitheaded historical figures are” by pointing out how figures like Marx let their kids starve to death. Just exchangin playful character assassination implied to invalidate everything they believed in, fought for, preached and stood for, you know! Just having fun! Making jokeyjokes! ^.^

Well the wishbone maneuver comes when a second person that you didn’t know was part of this conversation flanks you. They were always part of what this conversation would become, because they’re literally the airforce and wingman of the first shit stirrer. They swoop in and segue the conversation just enough so now you’re conversing with two people, not one.

And they both want to talk to you. But the purpose of this now is to try and polarize you, leaping off from your statements and attacking your defenses from another angle. The Third Party might bring up what a shithead Jefferson was, and try to make you defend slavery in order to defend Jefferson. They’re going to demand, through the rules of social convention, that you somehow address two conflicting points about two conflicting figures with the same point, and both reserve the right to interject and mock you if what you say doesn’t apply to their figure.

“Well this other founding father also killed natives and raped their slaves. YOUR argument is that raping slaves and killing people are bad things. Guess you think Jefferson sucked, too.”

Do you see what they’re doing? They dress up this wing-man approach. From the very start this third party was on the outskirts, waiting for a signal. Because the entire point of this engagement was to either spread propaganda or culturally negatively reinforce a view of historical figures through “candid conversation.” They showed up with an axe to grind and disguised it as genial conversation, and even had someone waiting during this pre-meditated farce of a conversation to either support them or bail them out of it if it went sour.

I saw this happen too many times, too similar in the ways it happened, always from the sort of people when caught on and called out in a group for their shit, resorting to the same excuse. “I was just twying to stawt a convuhsayshun. uwu.”

This is one of the many reasons I believe there’s a playbook for this kind of shit, and I only wish I knew what book of techniques and methods they were drawing from to teach their kids to do this. I distinctly remember this shit happening too many god damned times. It used to take me by surprise, but I was left dumbfunded, frustrated and blindsided so often I just started noticing the pattern.