#Church Committee hearings

[alwaysbewoke]

An FBI memo dated November 29, 1968 described a letter that the L.A FBI office intended to mail to the Black Panther Party office. The letter. was made to appear as if it had come from the Us Organization, describing fictitious plans by Us to ambush BPP. The FBI memo stated that "It is hoped this counterintelligence measure will result in an 'Us' and BPP vendetta." —At a Black Student Union meeting at UCLA's Campbell Hall on January 17, 1969, Bunchy and John, another BPP member, were heard making derogatory comments about Karenga, the founder of Organization Us. Other versions mention a heated argument between Organization Us members and Panther Elaine Brown. An altercation ensued during which Carter and Huggins were shot to death. BPP members originally insisted that the event was a planned assassination, claiming that there was a prior agreement that no guns would be brought to the meeting, that BPP members were not armed, and that Organization Us members were. Organization Us members maintained the meeting was a spontaneous event. Former BPP deputy minister of defense Geronimo Pratt, Carter’s head of security at the time, later stated that rather than a conspiracy, the UCLA incident was a spontaneous shootout. The person who allegedly shot Carter and Huggins, Claude Hubert, was never found. During the Church Committee hearings in 1975, evidence came to light that under the COINTELPRO actions, FBI agents had deliberately fanned flames of division and enmity between the BPP and Org US. Death threats and humiliating cartoons created by the FBI were sent to each group, made to look as if they originated with the other group, with the explicit intention of inciting deadly violence Following the UCLA incident, brothers George and Larry Stiner and Donald Hawkins turned themselves in to the police, who had issued warrants for their arrests. They were convicted for conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of second-degree murder, based on testimony given by BPP members. The Stiner brothers both received life sentences and Hawkins served time in California’s Youth Authority Detention.

#COINTELPRO #FBI manipulation #Black Panther Party #Organization Us #UCLA incident #political assassinations #racial tensions #government surveillance #counterintelligence operations #Church Committee hearings #law enforcement misconduct #conspiracy theories #historical injustice #racism #white supremacy

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Judy Garland (Meet Me In St. Louis, A Star is Born, Summer Stock)— Judy is the GOAT when it comes to classic movie musicals. The voice of an angel who deserved so much better than she got. She can sing she can dance she can act she's a triple threat. Though she had a turbulent personal life (her treatment as a child star by the studio system makes me mad as hell like Louis b Mayer fight me ((she was made to believe that she was physically unattractive by the constant criticism of film executives who made her feel ugly and who manipulated her onscreen appearance by capping her teeth and using discs in her nose to change its shape and Mayer called her "my little hunchback" like imagine hearing that as a child and not having damage)) she always goddamn delivered on screen and in any performance she gave. She began in vaudeville performing with her sisters and was signed to MGM at 13. Starting out in supporting parts especially paired with mickey Rooney in a bunch of films (she's the best part tbh) she eventually transferred to the lead role. She is best known for her starring role in movie musicals like the iconic Wizard of Oz (somewhere over the rainbow still hits hard and is ranked the top film song of all time), meet me in St. Louis (Judy singing have your self a merry little Christmas brings tears to the eyes she is that powerful), the Harvey girls (she looks like a technicolor dream and sings a catchy af song about trains), Easter parade ( dancing and singing with Fred Astaire), for me and my gal, the pirate, and summer stock ( with pal Gene Kelly who she helped when he was starting out and he helped her when she was struggling). But she also does non- singing just as well like the clock ( her first movie where she sings no songs and is an underrated ww2 era romance), her Oscar nominated a star is born ( like the man that got away she put her whole soul in that and I have beef with the fact she lost to grace kelly ((whom I love but like still not even her best work)), and judgement at Nuremberg (a courtroom drama about the nazi war criminal trials). Outside of film she made concert appearances to record-breaking audiences, released 8 studio albums, and had her own Emmy-nominated tv series. She was the youngest (39) and first female recipient of the Cecil B DeMille award for lifetime achievement in the film industry. Girl was a lifelong democrat and was a financial and moral supporter of many causes including the civil rights movement (she was at the March on Washington and held a press conference to protest the 16th street Baptist church bombings). She was a friend of the Kennedy family and would call jfk weekly often ending the calls by singing the first few lines of somewhere over the rainbow (she thought of them as Gemini twins).She was a member of the committee for the first amendment which was formed in response to the HUAC investigations. Though she died far too young and tragically she remains an icon for her work and her life. As a girl who didn't feel like i was as pretty as everyone else I have always felt a connection to Judy and I just really love her.

Natalie Wood (West Side Story, The Great Race)—She went through so much shit which I know can be said for all these women but Natalie really was a star and her death often overshadows her career and life. She could make you cry, but she also had the capacity to be incredibly funny which I think is lost on people.

This is round 4 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Natalie Wood:

Judy Garland:

Judy's voice alone qualifies her for at least top ten hottest HOT VINTAGE MOVIE WOMEN. She was a truly incredible swing singer, with a stunning voice on top of her technique. Her short dark hair looked incredible in just about any style. Have I mentioned her swagger? I can’t do it justice with words. She had swagger. She was funny as hell, and clever too. Incredibly charming and cool. I adore her.

Her eyes, her voice have bewitched me

I mean how can you beat the one and only Judy? She's beautiful, her smile is contagious, the way she sings with her whole body. You can't help but love her.

Beautiful woman, love her singing voice. And she can do everything between happy or silly and angry or heartbroken

#natalie wood #judy garland #hotvintagepoll #fuck that old woman #ladies 4 #Youtube

[cherrythepuppet]

Corpse puppet [Part 12]

@sketchquill "This is gonna be good" -The war skeleton, Updates are very late due to me currently being grounded Apologies Folks

~

"Oh, my dear" Mother muttered as both her and Father looked out the car windows for their Child "Oh, it's almost dawn! Where could they be?!" Mother yelled

"(Y/n (L/n) elopes with corpse! Heartbroken Groom to wed wealthy newcomer!" The town crier yelled "Wealthy newcomer? lt cannot be..." Mother mumbled 

"Did he say corpse?" Father asked "Oh, don't be ridiculous! What corpse would marry our (Y/n)?" Mother said as the driver started violently coughing 

"Oh, Leo! Silence that blasted coughing!" Mother yelled as the driver, Leo, was coughing and holding their throat then they turned blue and fell off the stage coach before dying

~

Otto let out a meow as he held wally's bouquet of blue roses in his mouth and contiued walking to the bar with (Y/n) following closely behind

Otto set the bouquet down and (Y/n) picked it up as Otto had ran off, (Y/n) sighed as They entered the bar and could hear wally playing with the piano

(Y/n) watched in awe for a moment before sitting next to him "l...i think you dropped this" They said as they held out his bouquet "l'm sorry...l'm sorry l lied to you about wanting to see my parents...lt's just this whole day hasn't gone quite, well according to plan" (Y/n) told him

Wally didn't answear but he glared at (Y/n) who sighed and put his bouquet on a nearby table before playing a few piano keys 

They looked back at wally to see if he'd smile but he never did so just as (Y/n) was about to leave wally grinned and began playing a few piano keys as well

(Y/n) smiled as they contiued to play along and the two played together for a moment until wally's plush hand came off and twirled around (Y/n)'s arm and shoulder

(Y/n) chuckled and so did Wally as he grabbed his hand "Pardon my enthusiasm" he said "its okay...l like your enthusiasm" (Y/n) said

The two stared at each for a moment as once again it was like they've known each other forever just then-

"New arrival! New arrival!" Sally yelled as she violently smacked a bell with a bat and everyone in town began coming to the bar

"Lights up!" "Hurry up, boys!" "Drinks for everyone"  "Another pint, sir?" "No, no. Just a half" "lt is impossible to get good help anymore!"

Sally pushed through the crowd while dragging poppy with her "Welcoming committee, coming through! Coming through!" Sally yelled as she and poppy went up to the new arrival

"Welcome to the afterlife! My name is Sally Starlet and this is Poppy Partridge!" Sally exclaimed as poppy waved

(Y/n) stared at the new Comer before realizing "Leo!" They yelled as they ran towards the new arrival "Leo! How nice to see-" they paused 

Then (Y/n) realized that Leo's skin was blue "l'm so sorry..." (Y/n) mumbled "Oh, yeah. Actually, though, l feel great!" Leo said with a raspy voice

"Hurry up, boys! Can you not see the new arrival is parched?" Darling yelled behind the counter "Leo, l have to get back! They all must be worried sick!" (Y/n) yelled

"H-how is everyone?" they asked "Well, they're still wondering where you slipped off to Oh, and Mr Howdy..." Leo trailed off as they choose their words carefully

"Yes? Yes, how is he?" (Y/n) asked "Well, he's getting married this evening..." leo mumbled making (Y/n)'s eyes widened "What? Married to who?!" They asked

"Some newcomer, Lady Somebody-or-Other" Leo said with a shrug "But that's impossible!" (Y/n) yelled "Yeah, with you gone and all...l guess they didn't wanna waste the cake" Leo joked hoping it would make them laugh

"But how could he?" (Y/n) mumbled then they began to walk out of the bar "(Y/n)? Where are you going?" Wally asked as he watched them leave...

~

"Mr Howdy, we must leave for the church now" The maid told him "Yesterday l thought my wedding would be happy Now l feel like l'm caught in the tide, pulled out to sea" Howdy mumbled 

"The sea leads to many places, dearie Maybe you'll land somewhere better!" The maid said hoping to cheer him up

.

.

.

.

"With this candle, l will light your way in darkness. With this ring l ask you to be mine" Julie said as she put the ring on Howdy 

"l now pronounce you man and wife!" Pastor Kermit announced.....

#welcome home #welcome home au #wally darling #wally darling x reader #corpse puppet au #fanfic #howdy pillar

[strawberrygiorno]

So Joyce and the Paledriver both seem to experience Shivers or, at least, something similar to it

[ID: A screenshot of Disco Elysium dialogue taken from FAYDE. It reads:

JOYCE MESSIER - "No. We asked East Motor Tract to raise the drawbridge. The road company is a partner of one of our subsidiaries. However..." She pauses, looking to the sea.

JOYCE MESSIER - "This is a limited-time opportunity. Once the complaint has been processed by the trade committee they'll have no choice but to lower the drawbridge -- and the operation will continue." She looks north.

JOYCE MESSIER - "Thousands of litres of raw ingredients will pour onto the streets of Revachol. Not the East, across the river, but the West. The vulnerable, the weary..."

SHIVERS - A cold breath rushes in from the bay, making its way down the alleyways and potholed streets -- from Martinaise to Jamrock. In the traffic you hear the clinking of glass vials, concealed beneath tarpaulin. Or is it just your teeth chattering in the cold?

YOU - (Shiver.) "Fucking misery."

End ID]

[ID: A screenshot of Disco Elysium dialogue taken from FAYDE. It reads:

JOYCE MESSIER - "No. I would say the apes were *neutral*." She looks at you, her gaze sharp.

YOU - "They're *good* apes, actually."

JOYCE MESSIER - "I don't know about that..." She turns north, to the bombed out buildings lining the waterfront, then shivers slightly.

End ID]

[ID: A screenshot of Disco Elysium dialogue taken from FAYDE. It reads:

PALEDRIVER - "Lomonossov's Land. Udachnaya Zemlya. The Western Plain..." She nods and closes her eyes again, letting her mind submerge...

SHIVERS - A terrible cold comes over her. Rattling her teeth, as she stares inward.

PALEDRIVER - "The Trans-Katla Magistral. U41-A. As Estradas do Mirador. All the good ones. The deep trenches. Where the bluebirds fly." She opens her eyes again and shudders.

End ID]

Joyce will compare her over-radiation to Harry's deal, and Harry can compare his deal to the Paledriver's over-radiation. Shivers seems to grow stronger the closer Harry is to the church (the check to find the coat, the check to find Ruby at the Feld building, Revachol speaking to Harry, etc). It seems pretty clear to me that Harry's weird psychic abilities and memory loss are symptoms of over-exposure to pale.

This makes it even more interesting that Harry has had similar blackouts before and had an interest in entroponetics. It sounds like he was probably exposed somehow even before he ended up in Martinaise, maybe even knew of another hole. It all raises so many questions!!

#disco elysium #joyce messier #paledriver #harry du bois #it speaks #just rotates all this in my head forever #it is harder to place tiago in all this bc he doesn't have any dialogue about the pale #and nothing really jumps out at me besides the fact that he also hears a woman's voice from the swallow #which is also interesting on its own #makes me wonder if it's really revachol or if it's something else and thats just how it presents itself to harry or how harry interprets it

[nerdygaymormon]

Stake Conference 2024

This blog is a place where I share about my experiences as a queer member of the LDS Church. I'm not going to give a full recap about stake conference, which was wonderful, but about where it intersected with me being queer.

————————————————————

Elder James N. Robinson of the Seventy came to stake conference.

On Saturday, the stake presidency, stake relief society presidency and their spouses joined Elder Robinson for lunch. To help him get to know us, we went around the table and had everyone introduce themselves by giving their name, where they grew up, something interesting about ourselves, and our nickname.

The Stake president started, and the interesting thing he shared is his journey when his son came out as gay, and that has made him more empathetic which has made him a better stake president than he would otherwise be.

His wife shared that her work is helping LDS families with queer children and helping our church be a more welcoming space.

I was watching Elder Robinson for his reactions to these two speak of having a gay child and how it's been transformative for them. He didn't show any reaction or make any remarks specifically about those things.

When it was my turn, I shared that one of my nicknames is Chuck, short for chuckles because I laugh often. An interesting thing is a video I created for a stake youth conference went viral and was viewed over 2 million times. The stake president then spoke up to share that Bonneville Communications contacted me because they were impressed by the video and the reaction it was getting, and were interested in partnering for an upcoming project...until they learned I put together the video on my iPhone. 😂

—————————

After lunch, the spouses left and the rest of us had a meeting with Elder Robinson. During this meeting he mentioned that he hopes "Come Thou Fount" makes it in the new hymnbook. I said, "I happen to know that it IS included." A counselor in the stake presidency asked me to share how I know that, and I replied that Elder Renlund is head of the committee creating the new hymnbook and he told me.

Then a counselor in the stake relief society presidency said that she wishes "Amazing Grace" could be in our hymnbook, and I shared that it also will be included in the new hymnal.

—————————

After the meeting with the stake presidency and stake relief society presidency, we all went to the leadership session of stake conference, during which Elder Robinson asked for everyone from a certain ward to come up front. He invited them to think of their favorite hymn, and when he said "Go" to start singing it as loud as they can. Needless to say, they sang many different songs and it was chaotic.

He stopped them and asked that this time they sing "I am a Child of God." They sounded pretty good. As they were singing, I was noting how diverse a group they were.

—————————

After the leadership session, Elder Robinson and his wife had dinner with the stake presidency and their spouses. Elder Robinson asked me about the viral video I mentioned at lunch, so I texted him a link. He and his wife are laughing as they watch it on his phone, but turn it off after about 30 seconds. He says it looks very enjoyable and they'll finish watching it that night.

During dinner, one of his counselors commented that the closest he gets to general authorities is hearing David's stories. Elder Robinson turned to me and asked how is it I know Elder Renlund? I shared about sitting next to him and his wife for dinner, getting invited to visit them in Utah, and we have a growing friendship as they have continued to invite me to visit when I'm in Salt Lake City. During this story I mentioned that I’m gay as it was relevant.

The counselor who brought up me meeting with general authorities kept prompting me to share about this or that specific story with the Renlunds, usually something on the more humorous side.

—————————

After dinner as I was sitting in the next session of stake conference, I had this feeling that speaking so casually about the Renlunds gives the wrong impression and that I should explain to the Seventy about how this came to be. That night I sent the following text:

—————————

On Sunday morning, Sister Robinson said that at the hotel they laughed and laughed at my video, sent it to others who would then text back what were their favorite parts.

At the conclusion of stake conference, the stake presidency and stake relief society presidency met again with Elder & Sister Robinson. We were asked to go around the room and share one takeaway we felt during the conference of something we need to do, us personally

He got to me, and I said I need to give a little background information. For the past month there's been a firestorm raging in a small corner of the internet by some members who think the church is too kind to LGBTQ people. Their posts and videos and the comments they generate are extremely mean. Some of these folks brought me up, saying that I'm dangerous to the church and by having a calling it is confusing the members. (at this point, Elder Robinson's smile drops and he looks sad)

I continued on, that in the Leadership Session, Elder Robinson called up everyone from a ward and had them sing I am a Child of God.

These were people of different genders, different ages, different racial & ethnic backgrounds, different socio-economic status, different national origins, different places in their lives, and the gospel was able to unite them.

My takeaway is I am to continue to show people they are accepted and wanted, that by combining their voices with mine we are more powerful

Elder Robinson responded, "I want you to know we (pointing to him and his wife) have your back. And you have a room full of people (stake presidency & stake RS presidency) who have your back

Before the meeting ended, he asked to speak to the stake president privately, and they met in the adjoining office for about 10 minutes. Then they rejoined us and Elder Robinson started wrapping things up.

We ended by Elder Robinson asking the 1st counselor in the stake presidency to give the stake president a blessing. It was such a good idea, the stake president gives many blessings but rarely gets one.

After the meeting, the stake relief society president (who is a military chaplain) came over and said, "My mama bear reared up and I was about to crawl out of my chair and say 'who do I need to go after?'"

The stake clerk's wife is retired from the Army and heard what I shared, she said to give her the website and she will make their lives miserable. Of course I didn't give her any details, but I appreciated the fierce show of love from both of them.

—————————

I next saw the stake presidency on Wednesday at our regular presidency meeting. We reviewed stake conference and my stake presidency decided when they meet with the bishops one-on-one to offer to give them a blessing. I think that’s a great idea as they also give many blessings but rarely receive one.

After our meeting as we’re headed to our cars, the stake president said, “Hey David, when Elder Robinson pulled me aside for those few minutes, he said several things, including that he appreciates that I have you in this calling because you bring a different point of view. That you’re a good man and I should keep you close.” 💖

Guess I'm not getting released any time soon from being the stake executive secretary 😅

#james n robinson #long post

[j0ystix]

BSD genderbend HCs for DOA and Hunting Dogs

Fyodor :

- I THINK (because we don’t know Fyodor’s Canon height) Fem fyodor is 174cm. Male Sigma is 177cm so can you imagine male Sigma leaning forward to hear what fem fyodor is saying

- With heels, Fyodor is 177cm and Dazai with heels is 180cm (bro fem dazai, male dazai are the same atp)

- I saw someone drew her with this thick white fur coat and I fell in love so yes, I am a firm believer that she has a unnecessarily large white fur coat

- she wears one long black beaded rosary necklace with

- Has unnecessarily long pointy black nails that Nikolai painted to her to stop her from biting her nails but sometimes Fyodor forgets and pokes her own eye

- has the same hair as male Fyodor

- you can’t tell if she’s wearing red lipstick or there’s blood on her lips because she’s a lip bitter

- the first introduction of Fem Fyodor we will see is her leaving a church in a white babydoll dress and black tights. She holds a rosary in her hand and there’s blood splattered on her black heels, face and hands but her dress is pristine white. She would whisper “Lord thank you for this beautiful day”. Nikolai emerged from the back in a nun outfit and blood all over her and a gun in one hand.

- Fyodor would have the sexiest Russian accent omfg

- there will be a scene where she would get catcalled by some men to smile because she looked gloomy. She proceeded to kill them with her ability

- both fyodors are extremely skinny and underweight

- finds men annoying as hell because they kept asking her to smile or commenting on her skinny stature

- wears some raggedy oversized T shirt to sleep every night and fluffy striped socks and a nightcap

- doesn’t let Nikolai put make up for her

- has never gotten her period once (Nikolai suspects she doesn’t have a womb) but it’s because she is too malnourished

Fem Nikolai :

- I think she’ll wear pants AND A BLACK CORSETT. She has two long braids and she’s pretty (and notably) cute

- 175cm

- has insanely gorgeous curly white hair that she usually lets down whenever she’s undercover

- wears both black and red lipstick. Her top lip is red and bottom lip is black

- sometimes wear too revealing clothes so Fyodor has to lent her her fury white coat

- she sleeps in her lingerie (imagine the contrast between her and fyodor)

- Nikolai likes stealing Fyodor’s ONLY T shirt that she wears to sleep

- BIG CHEST NIKOLAI NATION RISE UP

- has insane period cravings and pesters Fyodor about it

- Nikolai has two my little pony figurines who she thinks represents Fyodor and her

- Nikolai paints her nails regularly

- In the prison arc when Fyodor dies and Nikolai holds onto Fyodor’s torn arm, she would kiss Fyodor’s hand because she knew that Fyodor loved the gesture of hand kissing (I think male Fyodor is the type to kiss women’s hands)

Fem Sigma

- 170cm (URGH SO MANY TALL WOMEN I LUVVV)

- screams before committing an act of violence

- cannot watch horror movies

- I think she would have those cute reflective/sparkly/glittery nails

- the softest hair too

-I think fem sigma will have bodyguards because the casino is a pretty dangerous place and she’s the manager, if a conflict arises, she has to diffuse it so she needs bodyguards everywhere she goes

- she has a pocket knife with her everywhere she goes. The casino is dangerous and she has to protect herself against angry men. When she first met male Teruko, she became disdainful because Teruko is an angry male LOL

- owns a collection of hair ribbons. Nikolai plays with her hair

- had a collection of fancy earrings worth thousands

- fem sigma loves baking cookies and decorating them. She loves baking in general

- she smells like vanilla :)

- personality would be the same as male Sigma

Fem Jouno!

- has a rose on the side of her head

- 173cm

- smells like roses

- has red nails (nobody knows if it’s nail polish or blood)

-another member of the big bust committee

- always wear those dainty gold bracelets

- long eyelashes

- loves to torture men in particular because she likes men who whimper (I can imagine her bullying male Chuuya because he’s shorter than her)

- the only hunting dog that wears heels

- probably has a taser in her back pocket

- back in the criminal organisation, she was definitely a feared woman like Dazai and Chuuya

- has “ladylike” manners like she would lift her pinkie finger when drinking tea and dap napkins lightly on her lips after she eats and she can differentiate the different types of spoon

Fem Tetchou

- gotta be honest…I think make and fem tetchou looks the EXACT same

- maybe fem tetchou is slightly shorter at 169cm and maybe her hair is longer and you can see her curves a bit more but that’s it

- she dresses androgynously too like jeans and a long sleeve shirt

- has super rough hands. Jouno always screams at her calluses and calling her disgusting

- smells kinda bad LMAO jouno scolds her for this

- I don’t think she wears makeup. Like I think the other fem characters would wear noticeable lipstick but i doubt Tetchou does

- took down many men before and they all thought she was a man

- her voice is quite deep (not as deep as her male counterpart)

- really likes princess shows and novels. SHE LOVES BARBIE

- actually, she has one rose clip at the back of her head (she has a low ponytail) which matches with Jouno :) they’re both roses with thorns

- when Tetchou thought she was going to die in the hands of Kenji she would whisper “my greatest regret was that I complained about the amount of makeup you wore. I lied, I thought you looked beautiful and I would spend the rest of my life watching you powder your face.” Because I headcanon that Jouno loves to beautify herself and Tetchou is always waiting for her so Tetchou always complains that putting on makeup is unnecessary

#bungou stray dogs #bsd genderswap #bungou stray dogs genderswap #tetchou suehiro #bsd tetcho #bsd jouno #jouno x tecchou #fem fyolai #fem fyodor #fem nikolai

[campgender]

“Stone Butch, Drag Butch, Baby Butch” by Joan Nestle

published in A Restricted Country (1987)

1.

New words swirl around us

and still I see you in the street

loafers, chinos, shades.

You dare to look too long

and I are turn your gaze,

feel the pull of old worlds

and then like a femme

drop my eyes.

But behind my broken look

you live

and walk deeper into me

as the distance grows between us.

Shame is the first betrayer.

2.

The birth of Lesbian feminism. New York. The old firehouse on Wooster Street. Wooden chairs pulled across the cobbled floor. Pretty young women form a circle to form a group called the Lesbian Liberation Committee. Two old-time Lesbians arrive, grey-haired, short DAs. They stand on the outskirts. I go to the bathroom on the floor below. Two of the young women stand in front of me. “Why do they have to look like men? I hope they don’t come back.” When I returned upstairs, the grey-haired women were gone. They never returned. Jean and Ginny told the world who we were and what we wanted. Books were written saying the bad old days were over. The national organizations started, the presses and newspapers began, and the grey-haired women receded further and further, as if they had blended into the walls.

Shame is the first betrayer.

3.

Stone butch, drag butch, baby butch

the litany of the unwanted.

I see your eyes smoking

behind the self-congratulations

of the vegetarians

the Goddess worshippers

the healers.

Your magic worked in other places

in church alcoves

in diner toilets

in moving cars

pants with sharp creases

shirts cuffed

hair slicked back

riding Brooklyn subways

at five in the morning

shades worn just right

for mystery, for protection.

Rigid, you walked the gauntlet of their sneers

Hey lezzie, hey queer

and even when it was the end of the line

you kept moving.

A strange witch,

my baby butch.

4.

Stone butch, drag butch, baby butch

leaned me back against the bathroom door

tuned for the intrusion, you sucked my breast.

Alert and wanting, we made love in a public place

because territory was limited.

You pushed my wetness out

only when cunning had won for us a place.

In a subway station toilet

I held your head between my thighs

heard the roar and thought it was

our secret rushing out.

5.

Stone butch, drag butch, baby butch

Sandy tells me of the time

she walked in Prospect Park

with her lover on her arm.

Forgetting they were freaks,

they let the bending trees

caress their day.

The men, outraged by Sandy’s pants

and Carol’s skirt,

attacked with chains.

The women fled,

past playgrounds

past the benches made for lovers.

Sandy, smiling, says

through all the years

they never hurt me,

but we both know better.

6.

A hot dark night on Eighth Street.

Held tight with love,

the butch yells up to a shadow on the wall

all she can see of her lady

who calls out

“I’m here baby”

and we all hear her.

A shrine for separated lovers,

the Women’s House of D.*

They tore it down

replaced it with a garden

but those voices still are there

the lasting blossoms of our surviving time.

Stone butch, drag butch, baby butch

I keep you deep within me

warning voices in a changing time.

Shame is the first betrayer.

*The Women’s House of Detention stood for many years on the corner of Eighth Street and Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village.

#joan nestle #butch #stone butch #drag butch #baby butch #queer history #butch/femme #poetry #a restricted country #open access #image described #mac’s bookshelf #they are our stigmata #why not take me now as i am? #οἱ λίθοι κράξουσιν

[likkolo]

does anybody want to read some of the royalty au minbin i found in my drafting gdoc? if u do here is a little bit of the beginning (it's about super big changbin and mobility issues)

“I am not interested in marrying,” Prince Lee Minho says when he is eighteen years old.

He says the same thing at twenty and at twenty-two. 

He says it again at twenty-four.

Then, for the first time, he is told in no uncertain terms that he cannot continue to delay. The King and Queen have decided that he is to be wed by the end of the year. A committee of officials has been assembled to search the kingdom for eligible souls according to Minho’s desires, in the hopes of facilitating a happy match. Minho needs only to tell them what his criteria are.

“Fine,” Minho says. He crosses his arms, ever the picture of the petulant and cantankerous prince that his parents have made him out to be. Then he thinks. He uncrosses his arms and holds up a finger. “I have just one criterion.”

“Just one?” says an official. “My prince, we have never known you to be… unchoosy.”

“Okay, then. Two.” Minho adds another finger. There’s a murmur among the assembly of officials, almost certainly to warn each other off of questioning the prince lest he become even more difficult. Minho pays them no mind.

“First,” Minho says. “I want the man I am to wed to be a year younger than I am.” The murmuring from the officials turns approving and demure, to show that they find this requirement to be perfectly reasonable. “And second,” Minho continues, “I want him to be fat. Very fat. Bring me the fattest twenty-three year old man you can find in the entire kingdom. And if he isn’t very fat then make him fatter before presenting him to me. He should weigh…”—Minho takes a moment to think— “no less than six hundred pounds.”

The officials are silent. Shocked. Finally one of them dares to speak. “My prince, are you… sure? You’re sure that that’s what you really want?”

“Yes, I am absolutely sure,” Minho says. “Because then I will be able to test the loyalty of the man who is to be wed to me. On our wedding day, he will be faced with a rather long walk down the aisle of our grandest church. If he truly loves me and wants to be my husband, then he will be determined to reach me at the altar. He will not give up, even though his prodigious size will make the task extremely difficult.”

“And if he does give up?”

“Then I will not be wed, and I will seek another suitor in the new year.”

“Yes, your highness.”

Minho turns, satisfied, and drops into his ornate chair. He applies his attention to a book instead, and ignores the officials as they filter out of his royal study.

Then he hears one of the officials mumble that no man of such a size could walk so far, and another who responds by saying that that must be what the prince is counting on. No man can complete the task that Minho has set, so no man will marry Minho.

Minho could call them back, ask for the names of the officials who dare to question his prudence. Any punishment he proposed would be agreed to by his parents. But it isn’t worth it, Minho decides. Let them take as many men as they can into the kingdom to find him the deliciously fat man he’s always dreamed of.

#weight gain fic #chubby skz #skz feedism #chubby changbin

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A Senate committee is pledging to hold a hearing this fall to demand answers from organizations that have not released records tied to Canada's residential school system. In a news release Wednesday, P.E.I. Sen. Brian Francis called it "disheartening" that so many governments and organizations haven't released information that could bring "a measure of peace" to families and communities of children who died at the government-funded, church-run institutions. "Canada cannot reconcile with its past without facing this truth," Francis said in the release. Francis, who is Mi'kmaw from Lennox Island First Nation, chairs the Senate standing committee on Indigenous Peoples. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

#cdnpoli #Indigenous politics #Indigenous persecution #residential schools #genocide

[mixingpumpkins]

God forbid there are colors

Literally.

I’m begging y’all celebrating Pride to be as loud and proud as you can, not just because you deserve to celebrate, but because people in churches are full of the most paranoid, self-centered idiocy about it to the point where I got woken up unnecessarily early today for an “emergency” to cater to said idiocy. And if I have to hear paranoid screaming about Pride first thing in the morning, you’re damn right I want everyone to have the biggest, loudest, most joyful Pride month yet.

Context: Among my side gigs, I’m webmaster for a few churches’ websites, because a paycheck’s a paycheck, it’s not too demanding of my time, and my work is the reason they have all their sermons and events live-streamed/archived on their sites every week in case, y’know, they’re ever saying shit that might involve someone looking into their tax-exempt status.

I usually set up all the back-end video streaming stuff on Saturday and try to use a topical picture from our photo subscription as a background for both the video thumbnail and the post thumbnail. As requested, I also try to post the service bulletins along with the videos, but one pastor has a habit of not sending me the bulletin before my midnight-the-night-before deadline, so at that point it’s agreed that I’ll just use a seasonal nature picture as the thumbnail photo and upload the bulletin whenever I get around to it on Sunday. (Most of the photos for that church, consequently, end up being nature photos.)

This morning, Housemate #2 — who is on a million committees in that church with Housemate #1 — comes screaming into my room at ass o’clock, telling me I need to fix the website now, the pastor even contacted her about it, etc. etc. (I don’t believe her because she said she couldn’t show me a text or email because she “deletes them immediately” — and also the pastor emailed me the bulletin/notes to add to the post long after the post was already up yesterday and didn’t say a word about any fixes needed.)

Y’all. She was mad because the image on this week’s post was a “rainbow.” To be clear, it was this: 

So of course, I’m like, “...??? It’s a field of flowers.” Because it’s a field of flowers that’s colorful, but pretty damn clearly not a rainbow. 100% wasn’t even on my radar as rainbow — my search term in our image subscription was “summer.” (Housemate even went to a flower festival a few weeks ago and hinted that I should use a very similar photo that she took the next time I needed a nature pic for this church’s video thumbnail.)

But she’s insisting this picture is basically a rainbow and they can’t have anything that looks like Pride and how could I do this, I clearly did this on purpose, change it now to something that can’t be misconstrued, etc.

Fine. Wake me up, invade my space, scream, be bigoted, falsely accuse me of malicious intent ... Cue malicious compliance.

She’s hovering over me as I open up the church’s image subscription and all the places I need to go change settings and whatever to update the site. I conspicuously type in “summer” so she can see that this pops up among totally inappropriate ones like beach balls and kids playing in sprinklers. I point it out to her and start scrolling through the images to find a different nature pic. She tries to point out other ones.

“Use that one.”

“I’ve already used that one.” (Just a few weeks ago, in fact. They do not want repeat images.)

“What about that one?” She points to a different field of flowers that is actually the lesbian flag. Like, actually, obviously the lesbian flag. Housemate is not up on these things because she is too pure to know such sordid details; she only knows rainbows = gay = bad. As funny as this would be, I guarantee there would actually be screaming from people if I posted a literal lesbian pride flag made of flowers instead of a random colorful field of flowers, so I decide to save myself a little trouble and point out the issue.

“Lesbian pride flag.”

“This one?”

“Too small.” (I pull it up on the canvas and resize, to demonstrate that it turns into unintelligible pixel hell.)

“Here. These are flowers. They’re pink, yellow, and blue.”

“That is literally the pan pride flag.”

“What the hell is that?”

“Pansexual. Pride. Flag.” I pull up a picture of that so she can see.

“Well, it’s Trinity Sunday, search for that instead.”

I do. There’s a few too-small pictures of doves and a bunch of triskele and triquetra knots. She points to one of those. “There. The Trinity symbol. Use that.”

“That’s a pagan symbol. I wouldn’t want that to be misconstrued.” Incidentally, I point out, as I open the middle-of-the-night email with the bulletin boasting a similar picture, someone should probably remind the pastor about that since he’s so worried about people misinterpreting images as something non-Christian.

She’s grinding her teeth at this point. “That’s different. That has words [Father, Son, Holy Spirit] around it.”

“It’s still a very recognizable appropriated pagan symbol. Or would you be fine posting a swastika just because it has different words around it?”

We go back to nature photos.

“Try this one.”

“That’s really close to the bi pride flag, you know.”

“HERE. THIS ONE.”

Very thick pale pink and white flowers ... under a blue sky. Hmm. Looks very much like the trans pride flag, if I’m honest. She’s pissed, and housemates are going to be late for church soon.

“There. Those white daisies.”

“Yeah, we can do that, but you should know this picture does look like the agender pride flag if you’re just glancing at the colors.”

“I don’t care. I don’t know what that is. Nobody normal knows what that is, they’re not going to misconstrue it.”

“Hmm, I don’t know, since apparently that was the issue with the first picture, but I’ll use this one.” I upload it and fix all the things that need to be fixed on various platforms for everything to update. She stomps out and I go back to sleep.

Five minutes later she’s back, waving her phone in my face. “YOU DIDN’T CHANGE THE PICTURE! IT’S STILL THE RAINBOW PICTURE! CHANGE IT NOW!”

This is two times I’ve been given a mini-heart attack this morning by someone barging into my space while I’m trying to sleep, and she’s lucky she hasn’t gotten maced on instinct. “You watched me change the picture. Clear your browser cache.”

“I don’t know how to do that. Change the picture!”

I grab my laptop again, go to the website, and show her the picture is changed. I rattle off an explanation of why she needs to clear her phone’s browser cache, which I have given her several times before, and remind her she’s late. She blanks out at anything tech-talk and leaves. Totally looking forward to getting more screaming about this later. 🙃

You know, that “rainbow” picture was 100% an honest mistake, but I think part of this week’s pay from that church specifically is going to go to an actual rainbow shirt from an LGBT-owned shop. ✌️

#happy pride y'all #bigots are going to scream and read pride into everything even where it wasn't intended so you might as well enjoy as loudly as possible #(if you feel safe of course) #incidentally if anyone would love to gift me a house or a few thousand dollars so i can move out and never speak to these people again #that'd be great #homophobia tw #swastika mention #dea does things #long post

[yr-obedt-cicero]

Platonic communal sleeping in the American colonies

Platonic bed-sharing was actually quite common custom in the colonies, especially during time's of need, after all, space and privacy were a luxury of the wealthy. It didn't necessarily have to be intimate either, it was not uncommon for sometimes even complete strangers - often travelers or soldiers - of the same sex to share a bed together at an Inn if there was little space, and needed room. Samuel Pepys, an 18th century diarist, often slept with male friends and wrote about the conversations they would have at night. [x]

Rotundo also explains that; “It is not too much to suggest that in an era before central heating, the body warmth of an already beloved bedmate may have been so welcome as to be a source of emotional as well as physical pleasure.” And implies that while it was most of the time done out of necessity, it was also oftentimes simply a warming act of affection, romantic or platonic; “This was, after all, a culture that fervently contrasted the secure and cozy warmth of home with the coldness of a cruel and heartless world outside… A bed, when shared with a special person, could become a nest of intimacy, a place of casual touch and confidential talk.” [x]

Additionally, during the days before central heating was truly a common thing (Especially if you weren't royal or wealthy), bedmates were also seen as warmth. Oftentimes servants even slept alongside their mistresses. This was also how many sicknesses would spread, as bedbugs and lice were transported from person to person in the colonial period usually when sharing bunks or close quarters.

Even notable figures took part in this custom, like Robert Troup and Alexander Hamilton, as Chernow writes how the two shared beds while studying law together at King's College; “At King's, Troup wrote, ‘...they occupied the same room and slept in the same bed’” [x]

Which also leads to a humourous story about when John Adams slept with Benjamin Franklin in a New Jersey tavern during the fall of 1776. Just ten days prior, Washington and his men had barely escaped capture on Long Island after a suffering defeat to the British. The Continental Congress had debated for days about what was to be done. The British had captured General John Sullivan during the Battle, Earl Howe and his brother William Howe paroled Sullivan so he could take a message to Congress, as they wanted a talk peace. Eventually, Sullivan went to Philadelphia and spoke to Congress about the peace talks, to which the Congress decided that they would send a three-man committee to Staten Island. Which was composed of; Benjamin Franklin, Edward Rutledge, and Adams. The men represented the northern, middle and southern colonies. The three had set out on September 9th, Franklin and Rutledge each in a two-wheeled chaise, Adams on horseback. Later, the three men arrived in New Brunswick, and unfortunately had found the Inns all too crowded. Which led to Franklin and Adams having to share a tiny room, barely bigger than the bed, without a chimney, in the Indian Queen Tavern. Which then began an interesting debate, as they prepared to retire;

The window was open, and I, who was an invalid and afraid of the air in the night, shut it close. “Oh!” says Franklin, “don't shut the window, we shall be suffocated.” I answered, I was afraid of the evening air. Dr. Franklin replied, “The air within this chamber will soon be, and indeed is now, worse than that without doors. Come, open the window and come to bed, and I will convince you. I believe you are not acquainted with my theory of colds.” Opening the window, and leaping into bed, I said I had read his letters to Dr. Cooper, in which he had advanced, that nobody ever got cold by going into a cold church or any other cold air, but the theory was so little consistent with my experience, that I thought it a paradox. However, I had so much curiosity to hear his reasons that I would run the risk of a cold. The Doctor then began a harangue upon air and cold, and respiration and perspiration, with which I was so much amused that I soon fell asleep, and left him and his philosophy together, but I believe they were equally sound and insensible within a few minutes after me, for the last words I heard were pronounced as if he was more than half asleep. I remember little of the lecture...

Source — The Works of John Adams, Volume 3, by John Adams

Especially during time of war, when the revolution was rough, and means were low. Or as some day; “These are the times that try men's souls”. If the army was running low on space, or even beds, many - if not most - men resorted to sharing the same bed. Although this particular custom was not as accepted by many European visitors who came to the colonies, this cultural difference was often completely condemned by them. Pierre Du Ponceau - an aide of Baron von Steuben's - wrote of a particular dispute between a Virginian and a Frenchman about the subject in his autobiography;

One evening at an Inn in Virginia, a Frenchman and a Virginian were discussing about the manners of their respective countries. The American exclaimed violently against the horrid custom of the French of kissing one another at meeting and parting. The Frenchman made no answer, but as it was late, he took his candle and went up to bed. He was soon followed by the Virginian who after undressing came to take his place in the same bed with his companion “Stop, Sir,” said the Frenchman, “that won't do—I shall kiss you as much as you please, but by Jupiter, I'll not sleep with you.”

Source — Autobiographical Letters Of Peter S. Duponceau

It seems like this custom was almost exclusively English/Colonial, as David Montagu Erskine wrote to his father in 1799 of the living arrangements he and his companions encountered among the transient inhabitants of Washington, DC;

Each of us have a bed room to ourselves, if we chuse, but people in this country seem to think so lightly of such an indispensable comfort as I consider it, that I believe there are but three of us, who have rooms to ourselves.

Source — Menk, Patricia Holbert. “D. M. Erskine: Letters from America, 1798-1799.” The William and Mary Quarterly, Volume 6.

Edward Thornton, secretary to the new British minister to the United States, wrote to his former employer in 1792;

Mr. Hammond's rank may possibly secure him from some of the inconveniences, which others, rendered fastidious by the style of travelling in England, are loud in their complaints of, such as [...] fellow lodgers in the same room and not infrequently in the same bed.

Source — Jackman, S. W. “A Young Englishman Reports on the New Nation: Edward Thornton to James Bland Burges, 1791-1793.” The William and Mary Quarterly, Volume 18

This custom was even common after the revolution and the war of 1812—As Lieutenant John Le Couteur, a British army officer from the Isle of Jersey, traveled through New York in 1816 accompanied by Captain George Thew Burke. Le Couteur and Burke arrived at an Inn one day after dinner had been served and cleared, and they were hard-pressed to convince the hostess to bring out more food, “But this was not the last grievance.” Le Couteur recorded in his diary and concluded;

There was only one spare bed, a small one, which of course I insisted Burke should take. The Yankee Landlord wished me to take half of it as a matter of course but I said: “we Britishers were particular on that pint.’ “Then,” said mine host, “I guess if you don’t chuse to take half a bed with some one, you’ll jist sleep in a cheer [chair] or by the kitchen fire’

Source — Male-Male Intimacy in Early America: Beyond Romantic Friendships, by William E Benemann

#amrev #american history #american revolution #war of 1812 #alexander hamilton #historical alexander hamilton #robert troup #john adams #benjamin franklin #john le couteur #george thew burke #pierre etienne du ponceau #peter stephen du ponceau #david montagu erskine #edward thornton #history #cicero's history lessons #18th century

[alwaysbewoke]

At a Black Student Union meeting at UCLA's Campbell Hall on January 17, 1969, Bunchy Carter and John Huggins, another BPP member, were heard making derogatory comments about Karenga, the founder of Organization Us. Other versions mention a heated argument between Organization Us members and Panther Elaine Brown. An altercation ensued during which Carter and Huggins were shot to death. BPP members originally insisted that the event was a planned assassination, claiming that there was a prior agreement that no guns would be brought to the meeting, that BPP members were not armed, and that Organization Us members led by Ron Karenga were. Organization Us members maintained the meeting was a spontaneous event. Former BPP deputy minister of defense Geronimo Pratt, Carter’s head of security at the time, later stated that rather than a conspiracy, the UCLA incident was a spontaneous shootout. The person who allegedly shot Carter and Huggins, Claude Hubert, was never found. During the Church Committee hearings in 1975, evidence came to light that under the FBI's COINTELPRO actions, FBI agents had deliberately fanned flames of division and enmity between the BPP and Organization Us. Death threats and humiliating cartoons created by the FBI were sent to each group, made to look as if they originated with the other group, with the explicit intention of inciting deadly violence and division. Following the UCLA incident, brothers George and Larry Stiner and Donald Hawkins turned themselves in to the police, who had issued warrants for their arrests. They were convicted for conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of second-degree murder, based on testimony given by BPP members. The Stiner brothers both received life sentences and Hawkins served time in California’s Youth Authority Detention.

america has NEVER been great. never ever.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Machiko Kyō (Rashomon, Floating Weeds, Older Brother Younger Sister)— Considered an early sex symbol in Japanese cinema. Also just an ethereal beauty who can also go feral/unhinged in a glorious way.

Judy Garland (Meet Me In St. Louis, A Star is Born, Summer Stock)— Judy is the GOAT when it comes to classic movie musicals. The voice of an angel who deserved so much better than she got. She can sing she can dance she can act she's a triple threat. Though she had a turbulent personal life (her treatment as a child star by the studio system makes me mad as hell like Louis b Mayer fight me ((she was made to believe that she was physically unattractive by the constant criticism of film executives who made her feel ugly and who manipulated her onscreen appearance by capping her teeth and using discs in her nose to change its shape and Mayer called her "my little hunchback" like imagine hearing that as a child and not having damage)) she always goddamn delivered on screen and in any performance she gave. She began in vaudeville performing with her sisters and was signed to MGM at 13. Starting out in supporting parts especially paired with mickey Rooney in a bunch of films (she's the best part tbh) she eventually transferred to the lead role. She is best known for her starring role in movie musicals like the iconic Wizard of Oz (somewhere over the rainbow still hits hard and is ranked the top film song of all time), meet me in St. Louis (Judy singing have your self a merry little Christmas brings tears to the eyes she is that powerful), the Harvey girls (she looks like a technicolor dream and sings a catchy af song about trains), Easter parade ( dancing and singing with Fred Astaire), for me and my gal, the pirate, and summer stock ( with pal Gene Kelly who she helped when he was starting out and he helped her when she was struggling). But she also does non- singing just as well like the clock ( her first movie where she sings no songs and is an underrated ww2 era romance), her Oscar nominated a star is born ( like the man that got away she put her whole soul in that and I have beef with the fact she lost to grace kelly ((whom I love but like still not even her best work)), and judgement at Nuremberg (a courtroom drama about the nazi war criminal trials). Outside of film she made concert appearances to record-breaking audiences, released 8 studio albums, and had her own Emmy-nominated tv series. She was the youngest (39) and first female recipient of the Cecil B DeMille award for lifetime achievement in the film industry. Girl was a lifelong democrat and was a financial and moral supporter of many causes including the civil rights movement (she was at the March on Washington and held a press conference to protest the 16th street Baptist church bombings). She was a friend of the Kennedy family and would call jfk weekly often ending the calls by singing the first few lines of somewhere over the rainbow (she thought of them as Gemini twins).She was a member of the committee for the first amendment which was formed in response to the HUAC investigations. Though she died far too young and tragically she remains an icon for her work and her life. As a girl who didn't feel like i was as pretty as everyone else I have always felt a connection to Judy and I just really love her.

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Machiko Kyō:

Judy:

Judy's voice alone qualifies her for at least top ten hottest HOT VINTAGE MOVIE WOMEN. She was a truly incredible swing singer, with a stunning voice on top of her technique. Her short dark hair looked incredible in just about any style. Have I mentioned her swagger? I can’t do it justice with words. She had swagger. She was funny as hell, and clever too. Incredibly charming and cool. I adore her.

Her eyes, her voice have bewitched me

I mean how can you beat the one and only Judy? She's beautiful, her smile is contagious, the way she sings with her whole body. You can't help but love her.

Beautiful woman, love her singing voice. And she can do everything between happy or silly and angry or heartbroken

#judy garland #machiko kyō #hotvintagepoll #fuck that old woman #ladies 3

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

In kindergarten classrooms across Texas, 5-year-olds coming to school for the first time could soon be greeted by picture books, colorful blocks and the words, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.”

As those children grow up in the state’s public schools, they could get dedicated time in the day to read the Bible or pray. And if they are going through a hard time, they could turn to a chaplain — rather than a licensed school counselor — for help on campus.

Lawmakers are working to inject Christianity into the state’s public schools through a slate of bills under consideration in the Texas Legislature.

What critics see as an assault on the separation of church and state, supporters argue is a step forward for religious liberty after a major Supreme Court decision last year.

The religious bills are backed by powerful figures both inside and outside the Capitol building and are arriving as Republicans double-down on what is seen as a winning issue to energize their base: accusing public schools of indoctrinating students with a “woke” agenda.

But despite outcries of indoctrination, opponents of the bills warn that they place a premium on promoting a religious viewpoint to children.

“This is certainly moving towards a preferred faith in Texas, which is something that is deeply concerning,” said Joshua Houston, advocacy director for the interfaith group Texas Impact.

On Tuesday, the House gave final approval to a bill that would allow chaplains without state certification to work inside schools.

Rep. Cole Hefner, R-Mount Pleasant, said the plan is about giving school districts “every tool that we can in the toolbox” to combat mental health problems and other crises. He conceded that districts could eventually replace all counselors with chaplains, and rejected Democrats’ amendments to require parental consent and that schools provide a representative of any denomination if requested by a student, teacher or parent.

Rep. Gene Wu, a Houston Democrat, attempted to bar schools from using public funds to pay the chaplains.

“We should not use public monies to compensate religious services,” Wu said.

The amendment failed on a largely party-line vote, with Hefner saying it “just completely messes up the purpose of the bill.”

The tension on display Monday echoed earlier legislative hearings on the larger slate of religious bills.

Some believers argue that putting God into schools could make campuses safer from violence, as well as reflect foundational values. Opponents retort that kids who aren’t Christian could feel alienated in public classrooms.

Republican Rep. Brad Buckley, who chairs the public education committee, signed onto both a bill to require classrooms to hang posters of the Ten Commandments and one that would allow schools to hire chaplains.

When asked whether putting the Ten Commandments in classrooms would infringe on students who don’t practice Christianity, Buckley said the bill doesn’t call for instruction.

The legislation requires posters that are at least 20 inches high and 16 inches wide to be displayed in every classroom that declare “I AM the LORD thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me” and include the other commandments.

When asked how a teacher should respond if a student asks about their meaning, Buckley said it’s “a great time for a teacher to contact a child’s parent.”

“I don’t think this bill contemplates any instruction on that,” he said.

It also dovetails with Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s school-choice priority. The two Republicans are throwing their political weight behind a plan to funnel public dollars into families’ private school tuition — including at religious schools.

Abbott is using exclusively Christian campuses as rally spots. He’s visited at least a dozen schools across Texas, including Denton Calvary Academy in March.

WHY NOW?

Republican legislators behind the bills say they see an opening after the recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion that sided with a high school football coach who prayed on the field after games. Advocates say the opinion sets out a constitutional test that relies on history and tradition, and they are eager to test the proposed Texas laws before the court’s conservative majority.

“We think it is ripe, the opportunity is there,” former state Rep. Matt Krause told the Senate education committee last month. “We think there could be a restoration of faith in America.”

A few other states have made similar pushes, including a 2021 North Dakota law that allows the posting of Ten Commandments in classrooms alongside other historical texts.

Caroline Mala Corbin, a professor at the University of Miami School of Law, said the Texas bill requiring their display is the most problematic legally. The high court already found such a move unconstitutional, when in 1980 it held that a Kentucky law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in public school classrooms was “plainly religious in nature.”

Corbin also pointed out that there is not a single version of the Ten Commandments, and that by choosing to display one, lawmakers are endorsing a specific religious denomination over others. Similarly, Corbin said in a country as diverse as the U.S., it is likely impossible to provide chaplains that cater to children of every faith, and therefore schools would be endorsing particular religions.

“The core principle of the Establishment Clause is that the government should not be favoring some religions over others and it does this to protect religious minorities,” said Corbin, whose research focuses on the First Amendment’s speech and religion clauses.

Shifts in local and statewide education positions could also be playing a role.

At the local level, school board elections are infused with highly partisan issues and big-money groups have attempted to “take over” some districts to make them more conservative.

The bill to bring chaplains on campus, as well as the one to allow for Bible reading and prayer time during school, contain an unusual provision: School boards would have to vote on whether to approve such a plan within six months of the legislation passing.

This could place political pressure on trustees to decide on a high-profile, touchy subject. The vote would likely come before the next set of school board races.

The State Board of Education also became more conservative after the last election cycle. Republicans flipped a seat and candidates further to the right replaced more moderate ones.

CHAPLAIN SUPPORT

Among the new State Board of Education members is Julie Pickren, a former trustee from the Houston area who was in Washington during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Pickren also sits on the board of the National School Chaplain Association, according to its website. The group has been pushing lawmakers to pass what they've labeled the "Chaplain's Funding Bill." She did not return a request for comment.

"We are very close to putting God and prayer in public schools through chaplains," the group wrote to its supporters in an email blast earlier this month about the Texas bill, along with a request for donations.

The organization was central in the House debate Monday. Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, referenced the group as he attempted to make amendments to the bill to include additional guardrails, including an unsuccessful one to require parental consent before a child visited with the chaplain.

The association's website gives insight into the goals of the movement.

“The scale of transformation and spiritual renewal resulting from the school chaplain program might be best described as revival,” the website reads. “Millions of young people and adults in their lives are being won to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and discipled in the name of Jesus. Discipleship involves training to win and disciple others.”

The legislation would allow a public school to employ a chaplain to fulfill a broad range of roles on campus and would not require the person to earn state certification.

Texas faces a shortage of qualified mental health professionals to work in schools. The American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250 students to every one counselor. In Texas, it was 392-to-1, according to 2021 data.

Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, asked whether it’s possible under the legislation that campuses could replace all of their counselors and social workers with chaplains.

“I trust our schools to make the right decisions in those areas. I don’t think they would do that,” Hefner said.

Houston, from the Texas interfaith group, said: “The question that lawmakers ought to ask themselves is just the basic golden rule, If it was a Muslim chaplain and a Christian child, what would you want the standards for the program to be?”

#us politics #news #texas #the dallas morning news #2023 #republicans #conservatives #gop #gop policy #gop platform #radical christianity #conservative christianity #separation of church and state #religious indoctrination #Texas Legislature #chaplains #ten commandments #Joshua Houston #Texas Impact #Cole Hefner #Gene Wu #Brad Buckley #Gov. Greg Abbott #Dan Patrick #Establishment Clause #first amendment #1st amendment #Texas Board of Education #National School Chaplain Association #Chaplain's Funding Bill

[todaysdocument]

Frederick Douglass and other activists asked for a hearing before the Judiciary Committee regarding “. . . the lawless outrages committed in some of the Southern States upon persons accused of crimes, but who are denied the ordinary means of establishing their innocence by due process of law.” i.e., lynching. January 3, 1893. 

Record Group 46: Records of the U.S. Senate

Series: Committee Papers of the Committee on the Judiciary

File Unit: Petitions and Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures, and Related Documents of the Committee on the Judiciary from the 52nd Congress

Transcription: 

United States Senate,

WASHINGTON, D. C.,      , 189 .

[handwritten] The undersigned citizens of the

United States pray the Hon. Senate

of the United States to instruct

the Judiciary Committee of the

Senate to grant a hearing of

a statement in respect to the

lawless outrages committed

in some of the Southern States

upon persons accused of

crimes, but who are denied

the ordinary means of establish-

ing their innocence by due

process of law.

[signed] Frederick Douglass

[signed] Francis J. Grinke

[signed] Walter R. Brooks

[signed] Mary Church Terrell.

[page 2]

52d Congress

2d Sess.

Memoriae

Citizens of the United States praying a hearing before the Judiciary Committee in respect to the lawless outrages committed in some of the Southern States upon persons accused of crime.

Feb 3 1893

Referred to the Committee on Judiciary

[different handwritting] 52A-J42

142

Hoar

Judy

#archivesgov #February 3 #1893 #1800s #Reconstruction #Jim Crow #lynching #African American history #Black history #Congress #Judiciary Committee #Frederick Douglass #Francis J. Grinke #Walter R. Brooks #probably not the guy who wrote Mr. Ed? #Mary Church Terrell

[militantinremission]

Reaching beyond their grasp?

Israel has made clear their intention to kill as many Palestinians as possible, before appropriating Palestinian Land, Oil, & Gas Fields. The picture above, is an Ad from a Real Estate Developer promoting Israeli 'Beachfront Houses' in Gaza (Seriously)... Since Oct. 7th, over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, & over 50,000 have been injured. Gaza now resembles Dresden, but Zionists insist that "From the River, to the Sea" is Anti Semitic hate speech. Israel is losing face w/ each passing day, & they're taking America & The European Union w/ them. Experts on The Region point out the economic toll that Israel is paying for their blitzkrieg on Gaza.

Scott Ritter points out how 300,000 IDF Reserves & their Support Staff are no longer contributing to the Israeli Economy, but are draining it. The Houthis have effectively created a blockade in The Red Sea that is costing Israel Billions. Hezbollah is doing Real Damage in Northern Israel, while Turkey & Iran remain X- Factors. Benjamin Netanyahu & his Cabinet seem oblivious to Current Events; their actions imply that they have a Right to continue the ongoing carnage. The Biden Administration is caught in a conundrum- they want Israel to scale back the assault, but they're obliged to show solidarity w/ The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The result, has Biden Staffers expressing dissatisfaction w/ Israel's asymmetrical 'War Campaign' in Gaza; while they continue to supply Israel w/ 'Weapons of Mass Destruction'.

The Global Community is holding The U.S. responsible for 1,000lb & 2,000lb Bombs, along w/ White Phosphorus that have been used by the IDF to kill innocent Palestinian Men, Women, & Children. In effect, America is Israel's Partner In Crime. Mainstream Media focuses on the Israeli perspective of eliminating Hamas, but are they? We hear very little about IDF casualities. Last count, Israel claims 1,593 injured; but the Israeli Newspaper, Haaretz says that number is far off. Using Israeli Hospital Admissions, Haaretz discovered that the IDF averages 60 wounded per day. They also discovered that 10,584 injured were admitted to dozens of Hospitals across Israel; the 3 closest Hospitals to Gaza accounting for roughly 3,000 admissions alone- nearly double the Israeli claim.

According to Limor Luria- Deputy Director General & Head of the Ministry's Rehabilitation Department, 'nearly 60%' have severe injuries to their hands & feet; including those requiring amputations. The Associated Press says the total of IDF deaths since Oct. 7th is 153, but The Israeli Military reported 420 Soldiers killed. Luria warns of a looming Mental Health Crisis among IDF Soldiers; some IDF Units have refused to engage. Netanyahu says there are 36,000 Hamas Soldiers; I believe THAT is his threshold for a Cease Fire. He has already displaced nearly 3 times as many Palestinians as The Nakba; roughly 90% of Gaza has been displaced. Netanyahu's actions have set Records in the number of Hospitals/ Health Facilities, Mosques, Churches, & Schools destroyed in a Conflict. He's also responsible for Record Setting deaths to Medical Staff, Journalists, UN Staff & other Aid Workers. European Leaders have straddled the fence, but Leaders in the Global South have condemned Israel's 'War' as an Ethnic Cleansing; some have called it Palestinian Genocide.

Attempts to silence naysayers are not working; Israel is losing The War and The Narrative. People are learning about Zionism, & how it differs from Judaism. Groups like AIPAC have incredible influence, but The Global Masses aren't intimidated by their threats. Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) have played a major role in demystifying the distinction between Judaism & Zionism. Their 'Not in Our Name' Campaign reverberated globally. As The Masses rose up- demanding a Cease Fire in Gaza, We saw a global pushback from an assortment of Power Brokers in Business, Media, & Government. Their efforts were fruitless, but it revealed the global reach of Zionism. What was most revealing, is the prominence of Christian Zionists. They don't just outnumber Zionists, but ALL European Jews.

These Christian Zionists are mostly Evangelicals in The Bible Belt, but they are not limited to one denomination or region. Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, John Hagee, & Hal Lindsey (The Late Great Planet Earth) are well-known preachers of Christian Zionism. Joe Biden (a Catholic) & Donald Trump (a Presbyterian) are also proud Zionists; this may explain Biden's reluctance to slow the flow of weapons to Israel... I was surprised to learn that Theodor Herzl was a student of Christian Zionists, & not the other way around. Men like Baron Rothschild, [British Foreign Secretary] Lord Arthur James Balfour, & President Woodrow Wilson were all Zionists; that may explain why Herzl & Co. proposed the idea of a 'Jewish State' specifically to Balfour & Rothschild. While Christian Zionists go out of their way to support Israel, their reasons can be viewed as Anti- Semitic.

Christian Zionists identify w/ 'The Children of Abraham' through Spiritual Ancestry (as it relates to Acts: 34,35). They subscribe to the Theory of Dispensationalism- the brainchild of John Nelson Darby, in the late 19th Century. Darby is described as a former clergyman of the Anglican Church of Ireland, & a Bible Teacher... Dispensationalism deals w/ the Rapture, & the 2nd Coming of Christ. Followers (Dispensational Premillennials) believe 'The State' of Israel is a necessary step in this Prophecy. The (so called) Chosen People are defined as: Those who rejected Christ. According to the Prophecy, a number of these 'Ethnic Jews' (160,000?) accept Jesus/Yeshua as Christ & are Saved; The rest are sent to The Underworld w/ All of the other 'Sinners'. Both Sides use it to their advantage. Zionists ignore the Christian motivation to deal w/ Europe's 'Jewish Problem', while Christians ignore Zionist duplicity (as allowed in Bava Kamma 113a, 37b) & The Talmud's description of Jesus/ Yeshua as: 'The Son of a Whore/ Harlot' (Sanhedrin 106a,b & Shabbat 104b) & a blasphemer (Sanhedrin 107b[Sotah 47a], Gittin 57a, Shabbos 104b). Christian Scholars like Dr. Ken Matto condemn the notion of a 'Judeo Christian' narrative as oxymoronic, & they think Dispensationalist Ministers are grifters.

Orthodox Jews condemn Zionism as heresy. They don't see the need for a 'Jewish State' before the return of the Melekh Mashiak. Leaders like Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro, are the latest generation of Orthodox Jews that have been on the Front Line contesting the validity of Zionism over the last 120Yrs. Orthodox Jewish Scholars have pointed out that Theodor Herzl, David Ben Gurion, & Benjamin Netanyahu aren't practicing Jews; they're Atheists. It appears that 'Radical (Revisionist) Judaism' is a Zionist Agenda to influence World Opinion regarding Ashkenazi claims to Biblical Israel (Palestine). Their philosophy lines up w/ Nazism more than Orthodox Judaism, & their methodology is pure Colonialism. We know that European Jews in Palestine were supported by Jewish Mobsters, like Meyer Lansky's National Crime Syndicate. They supplied them w/ cash, smuggled in weapons, & possibly taught them Intelligence tactics.

Lansky, was a Master at blackmail, bribery, & extortion. In addition to compromising Police Officers, Judges, Politicians, Business & Union Leaders; he 'persuaded' J. Edgar Hoover to ignore American Organized Crime for decades. The U.S. Government sought Meyer Lansky's 'Intelligence gathering' services for O.S.S. operations during WW 2... We see similar tactics being used by Mossad. If you believe Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad Agent tasked w/ putting prominent men & women in 'compromising positions', you can understand the Pro Israel stance of World Leaders & Captains of Industry... It's almost comical to remember how crazy We all thought Skinheads were, when they declared America is a Z.O.G. (Zionist Occupied Government). In hindsight, we cannot deny the degree of Zionist influence in Entertainment, Finance, Government, & Mainstream Media. Scott Ritter points out that 400 of 418 Members Of Congress & 95- 98 Senators are 'bought & paid for' by AIPAC... Everyone else gets 'Primaried'. Rapper/ Journalist, Lowkey pointed out Rupert Murdoch's multiple connections to Israeli Intelligence Agencies (Mossad, Shin Bet, Unit 8200). His Media Outlets & Journalists regularly walk in lock step w/ Israeli Agendas... He's not alone.

It's no surprise that Mainstream Media has been less than critical of Israel's blatant War Crimes. Their Reporters & Contributors repeat Israeli talking points. Meanwhile, Sean 'Diddy' Combs & an ever expanding list of literal Bad Actors have taken precedence over the mess that Benjamin Netanyahu has made. The Zionists have a habit of using morally questionable Black Men to deflect any attention on them. Bill Cosby was a proxy for Harvey Weinstein & Les Moonves, R. Kelly was a proxy for Jeffrey Epstein & Prince Edward, Johnathan Majors was a proxy for Dana White, Ezra Miller, & Danny Masterson... Bibi's politically finished, but he's not going down alone. Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, Olaf Scholtz, & Emmanuel Macron are All 'Damaged Goods'. Volodymor Zelenskyy is probably the only Leader on thinner ice; most Experts on Ukraine agree that he's expected to turn up dead any day now.

American Zionists went to great lengths to support Israel, to the detriment of America's National Security. Joe Biden wants an $880B Defense Budget, but The U.S. Navy is being outmaneuvered by Houthi Rebels using 'swarms' of $2,000 drones. Scott Ritter has insinuated that Russia has copied British Underwater Drones, & passed blueprints to Iran. It's likely that Houthi Rebels will also have these designs; how many drones will it take to disable a $30B Aircraft Carrier? Sabre rattling w/ Xi Jinping & Vladimir Putin is Keyboard Gangsterism... These Days, The Military Industrial Complex is as broken as the American Economy. It looks like the Israelis are giving Dispensationalism the Taste Test- let's hope that they don't set off another World War in the process.

#VoluntaryMigration #GenocideConventionArticle3 #ZionismIsNotJudaism #Ze'evJabotinski #MoralBankruptcy #AntiZionismIsNotAntiSemitism #PaperTiger #PeePeeTapePolitics #Herem #HannibalDoctrine #AgeOfProphecy