#collapse of afghanistan

[anamon-book]

アフガニスタンの仏像は破壊されたのではない恥辱のあまり崩れ落ちたのだ モフセン・マフマルバフ、武井みゆき＋渡部良子・訳 現代企画室 装丁＝本永惠子

#The Buddha Was Not Demolished in Afghanistan: It Collapsed Out of Shame #アフガニスタンの仏像は破壊されたのではない恥辱のあまり崩れ落ちたのだ #Mohsen Makhmalbaf #モフセン・マフマルバフ #武井みゆき #渡部良子 #Keiko Motonaga #本永惠子 #anamon #古本屋あなもん #あなもん #book cover

[txttletale]

i'm sorry but this is nonsense. nothing is being "exposed" that wasn't already exposed after korea, after vietnam, after iraq, after afghanistan. you could have said this after no gun ri or my lai or abu ghraib, after agent orange, after the collapse of libya or the pinochet coup or the bombing of cambodia and laos. you could have said this over a hundred years ago about wounded knee. and you'd have been wrong each and every time, because the people who still believe in the "rules based international order" and "the free world" simply do not give a shit because they do not see the victims of these atrocities as human.

#tattletxt #silly tweet

[z34l0t]

#afghanistan #taliban #afghanistan withdrawal #afghanistan collapse #the intercept

[neolithicsheep]

Hey it occurred to me that some of you here possibly do not follow me on Twitter and thus do not yet know about

http://aseelapp.com

So OK in 2021 the US abruptly withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban promptly seized the capital of Kabul. The US responded by freezing the assets of the national bank at which point the Afghan economy collapsed. There are no jobs to be had, people can't afford to buy food or heat their homes, over 10,000 children under 5 years old have died from starvation and malnutrition this year. Things are incredibly bad.

Foreign aid orgs withdrew when the US government did out of fear they couldn't keep their foreign national staff safe from the Taliban. The UN has classified what is happening in Afghanistan as the largest humanitarian disaster in the world right now.

Enter Nasrat Khalid and Aseel. Aseel is an Afghan company run by Afghan people who live in places from DC to Egypt to remote provinces in Afghanistan. When they provide food, it is food purchased in Afghanistan that people will want to eat, not what westerners think people should have. When Aseel provides clothing, it is Afghan clothing purchased from Afghan shops made by Afghan tailors, not worn out castoffs from westerners. Beneficiaries are not required to do any work for Aseel and are helped regardless of religion or ethnicity. Aseel also provides Afghan artisans access to international customers, helping them not need to become beneficiaries in the first place.

So you can help a couple ways - you can buy an emergency package/donate to a campaign, or you can literally go shopping for any number of beautiful things. It will take about a month for things to get to you from Afghanistan but it's absolutely worth it.

#Afghanistan #Aseel #Aseel app #save afghanistan

[maqsoodyamani]

افغانستان میں زلزلہ سے قیامت ِ صغریٰ برپاکاخوفناک منظر 900 سے زیادہ معصوم عوام جاں بحق ، ہزاروں مکانات زمین بوس

افغانستان میں زلزلہ سے قیامت ِ صغریٰ برپاکاخوفناک منظر 900 سے زیادہ معصوم عوام جاں بحق ، ہزاروں مکانات زمین بوس

افغانستان میں زلزلہ سے قیامت ِ صغریٰ برپاکاخوفناک منظر 900 سے زیادہ معصوم عوام جاں بحق ، ہزاروں مکانات زمین بوس   کابل ، 22جون ( آ ئی این ایس انڈیا )   افغانستان میں منگل اور بدھ کی شب زلزلے کے باعث ہونے والی تباہی کے نتیجے میں 900 سے زیادہ افرادجاںبحق اور لگ بھگ 600 زخمی ہو گئے ہیںاطلاعات کے مطابق صوبہ خوست اور پکتیا کے ایسی صورتحال ہے ، جیسے قیامت صغریٰ برپا ہوگئی ہو، ہر طرف افراتفری اور زمین…

View On WordPress

#Afghanistan #collapsed #Earthquake #houses #innocentpeople #killed #Morethan900 #Terriblescene #Thousands

[opencommunion]

via RNN:

The eternal martyr Basil Al-Araj wrote abundantly before his ascension in March of 2017. In his posthumously published book, "I Have Found My Answers," (a line from his will) he spoke of war during the 2014 zionist aggression on Gaza, just prior to the IOF ground invasion on July 17.

Basil guided us with eight rules and insights on the nature of war. He wrote:

—

Since there is talk of a ground operation, several points must be considered:

1. The Palestinian resistance consists of guerrilla formations whose strategies follow the logic of guerrilla warfare or hybrid warfare, which Arabs and Muslims have become masters of through our experiences in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Gaza. War is never based on the logic of conventional wars and the defense of fixed points and borders; on the contrary, you draw the enemy into an ambush. You do not stick to a fixed position to defend it; instead, you perform maneuvers, movement, withdrawal, and attack from the flanks and the rear. So, never measure it against conventional wars.

2. The enemy will spread photos and videos of their invasion into Gaza, occupation of residential buildings, or presence in public areas and well-known landmarks. This is part of the psychological warfare in guerrilla wars; you allow your enemy to move as they wish so that they fall into your trap and you strike them. You determine the location and timing of the battle. So, you may see photos from Al-Katiba Square, Al-Saraya, Al-Rimal, or Omar Al-Mukhtar Street, but do not let this weaken your resolve. The battle is judged by its overall results, and this is merely a show.

3. Never spread the occupation's propaganda, and do not contribute to instilling a sense of defeat. This must be focused on, for soon, we will start talking about a massive invasion in Beit Lahia and Al-Nusseirat, for example. Never spread panic; be supportive of the resistance and do not spread any news broadcast by the occupation (forget about the ethics and impartiality of journalism; just as the zionist journalist is a fighter, so are you).

4. The enemy may broadcast images of prisoners, most likely civilians, but the goal is to suggest the rapid collapse of the resistance. Do not believe them.

5. The enemy will carry out tactical, qualitative operations to assassinate some symbols [of resistance], and all of this is part of psychological warfare. Those who have died and those who will die will never affect the resistance's system and cohesion because the structure and formations of the resistance are not centralized but horizontal and widespread. Their goal is to influence the resistance's support base and the families of the resistance fighters, as they are the only ones who can affect the men of the resistance.

6. Our direct human and material losses will be much greater than the enemy's, which is natural in guerrilla wars that rely on willpower, the human element, and the extent of patience and endurance. We are far more capable of bearing the costs, so there is no need to compare or be alarmed by the magnitude of the numbers.

7. Today's wars are no longer just wars and clashes between armies but rather are struggles between societies. Let us be like a solid structure and play a game of biting fingers with the enemy, our society against their society.

Finally, every Palestinian (in the broad sense, meaning anyone who sees Palestine as a part of their struggle, regardless of their secondary identities), every Palestinian is on the front lines of the battle for Palestine, so be careful not to fail in your duty.

#palestine

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

We’re saving trillions by no longer fighting the forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. By sending a tiny fraction of our defense budget and some aging surplus weapons to aid Ukraine we have decimated the army of our principal geopolitical adversary. In fact by supporting democracy over fascism we are not only protecting our allies and improving our standing worldwide we may just see the collapse of Putin’s evil dictatorship.

Supporting Ukraine against fascism is the right thing to do. Supporting Russia like the Republicans want to do jeopardizes the safety, security, and economies of our allies and the entire world. Without cheap Ukrainian grain there would be massive famine in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East which would lead to depression and war.

#ukraine #republican assholes #Russia owns trump #russia owns gop #traitor trump #crooked donald #traitor #republican values #Republican traitors

[paganimagevault]

Ai Khanoum 3rd C. BCE - 2nd C. CE. More images on my blog, link at bottom.

"These wise sayings of men of old, The words of famous men, are consecrated At holy Delphi, where Klearchos copied them from carefully To set them up, shining from afar, in the sanctuary of Kineas.

As a child, be well behaved; As a young man, self-controlled; In middle age, be just; As an elder, be of good counsel; And when you come to the end, be without grief.

—trans. of Ai Khanoum stele by Shane Wallace and Rachel Mairs.

Ai-Khanoum (/aɪ ˈhɑːnjuːm/, meaning Lady Moon; Uzbek Latin: Oyxonim) is the archaeological site of a Hellenistic city in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. The city, whose original name is unknown, was likely founded by an early ruler of the Seleucid Empire and served as a military and economic centre for the rulers of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom until its destruction c. 145 BC. Rediscovered in 1961, the ruins of the city were excavated by a French team of archaeologists until the outbreak of conflict in Afghanistan in the late 1970s.

The city was probably founded between 300 and 285 BC by an official acting on the orders of Seleucus I Nicator or his son Antiochus I Soter, the first two rulers of the Seleucid dynasty. There is a possibility that the site was known to the earlier Achaemenid Empire, who established a small fort nearby. Ai-Khanoum was originally thought to have been a foundation of Alexander the Great, perhaps as Alexandria Oxiana, but this theory is now considered unlikely. Located at the confluence of the Amu Darya (a.k.a. Oxus) and Kokcha rivers, surrounded by well-irrigated farmland, the city itself was divided between a lower town and a 60-metre-high (200 ft) acropolis. Although not situated on a major trade route, Ai-Khanoum controlled access to both mining in the Hindu Kush and strategically important choke points. Extensive fortifications, which were continually maintained and improved, surrounded the city.

Many of the present ruins date from the time of Eucratides I, who substantially redeveloped the city and who may have renamed it Eucratideia, after himself. Soon after his death c. 145 BC, the Greco-Bactrian kingdom collapsed—Ai-Khanoum was captured by Saka invaders and was generally abandoned, although parts of the city were sporadically occupied until the 2nd century AD. Hellenistic culture in the region would persist longer only in the Indo-Greek kingdoms.

It is likely that Ai-Khanoum was already under attack by nomadic tribes when Eucratides was assassinated in around 144 BC. This invasion was probably carried out by Saka tribes driven south by the Yuezhi peoples, who in turn formed a second wave of invaders, in around 130 BC. The treasury complex shows signs of having been plundered in two assaults, fifteen years apart.

Although the first assault led to the end of Hellenistic rule in the city, Ai-Khanoum continued to be inhabited; it remains unknown whether this reoccupation was effected by Greco-Bactrian survivors or nomadic invaders. During this time, public buildings such as the palace and sanctuary were repurposed as residential dwellings and the city maintained some semblance of normality: some sort of authority, possibly cultish in origin, encouraged the inhabitants to reuse the raw building materials now freely available in the city for their own ends, whether for construction or trade. A silver ingot engraved with runic letters and buried in a treasury room provides support for the theory that the Saka occupied the city, with tombs containing typical nomadic grave goods also being dug into the acropolis and the gymnasium. The reoccupation of the city was soon terminated by a huge fire. It is unknown when the final occupants of Ai-Khanoum abandoned the city. The final signs of any habitation date from the 2nd century AD; by this time, more than 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) of earth had accumulated in the palace.

While on a hunting trip in 1961, the King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah, rediscovered the city. An archaeological delegation, led by Paul Bernard, unearthed the remains of a huge palace in the lower town, along with a large gymnasium, a theatre capable of holding 6,000 spectators, an arsenal, and two sanctuaries. Several inscriptions were found, along with coins, artefacts, and ceramics. The onset of the Soviet-Afghan War in the late 1970s halted scholarly progress and during the following conflicts in Afghanistan, the site was extensively looted."

-taken from Wikipedia

...

"The silver ingot engraved with runic characters found during the excavations of the Treasury could suggest they were Sakā/Sai. This inscription comprises 21 characters of a script and a language that are unknown and both attributed to nomadic people of Sakā origin, by comparison with a dozen similar inscriptions coming from an area extending from Ghazni in Afghanistan to Almaty in Kazakhstan, and dated between the 5th century BC and the 8th century AD."

-taken from Ai Khanoum after 145 BC: The Post-Palatial Occupation by Laurianne Martinez-Sève, University of Lille, 2018

#ancient history #antiquities #art #paganism #statue #museums #sculpture #history #greek art #greek gods #ancient greek #greek myth #scythian #pagan #ancient art #afghanistan

[socialjusticeinamerica]

*Spoilers in the linked article.*

I caught an early screening last night. It wasn’t well attended. The film is more like a Blumhouse horror movie on steroids than anything you may have conceived ahead of time. It is very dark, gritty, and oppressive. It reminds me of of seeing Platoon and leaving the theater tired as if I had been in the battle.

The film doesn’t really play off of current politics but rather fictional plot lines so as not to offend the current right and left wings in America. Despite this it is an intensely realistic war film and edge of your seat thriller. The main characters are war correspondents and their personal detachment from the frightening scenes of violence, near indifference in some scenes, becomes a subplot.

Civil War depicts the chaos, fear, violence, deprivation, depravity, and sheer terror one can only experience by having been in a war zone. Nick Offerman, as the President, is only in a few brief scenes and though the film stays away from real life connections his character is in his “third term” and has disbanded the FBI. Clearly this is Trumpian but subtle enough to fly over the heads of MAGAts. Rogue militia men, not much different than we see in Red States, armed with AR-15’s are present throughout the film and generate tension and sheer terror at some points. The acts of graphically realistic barbarity are hard to process.

The film is a cautionary tale of an America plunged into an utterly chaotic and brutal Civil War where no prisoners are taken, literally on the screen. There are no good guys or bad guys and very little context or background is given. The closing photo on screen during the end credits speaks volumes. This is not just what is highly likely to happen if the right-wing doesn’t get their way but what the cost will be to society. Chaos, disruption, breakdown in the supply chain, the resulting lack of food and fuel, breakdown of the power grid, collapse of law and order, domestic terrorism, anarchy, devaluation of currency, humanitarian crises, destruction of infrastructure, and a constant state of fear.

Ok, begin rant here:

Sadly about a third of the country wants this to happen and has not only been preparing for it but actually trying to provoke it. In the eighties and nineties we saw hopeless young marginalized people in rural join gangs and be willing to toss their lives away because their situation was near hopeless. They expected to die young and didn’t care if they did or what harm they caused along the way. They lacked educational opportunities or any meaningful employment. Now in the two thousands we see rural southern and western white youth with the same mindset. Red state Republican governance and corporate plundering has left them poorly educated with no chance at socio-economic advancement. The difference between the two groups being that the poor rural whites have been brainwashed into supporting their oppressors. Further they are armed with military assault rifles and own a plethora of combat tactical gear.

This stems in part from the unholy alliance of the NRA and the GOP (Republicans). However more to the point it stems from the desensitization that two decades of forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have caused. This was courtesy of grifter war criminals Bush/Cheney. Our streets are now flooded with hundreds of thousands of traumatized, disillusioned, and disgruntled veterans and their tales fascinate MAGAs to the point where they form militias. The Republicans, who vote against veterans aid consistently, have claimed the military and falsely profess admiration for it with empty lip service. Poor and poorly educated Republicans now worship the military like they are warriors on the Klingon home world. Nothing against active or retired military just the Republican pretenders. While Joe MAGA himself doesn’t serve, he feels the need to play pretend soldier and would in a heartbeat turn his life inside out and our nation inside out for a sense of belonging, ie the MAGA cult mentality. They want that post apocalyptic gun slinger world where they believe life is simple as long as you are carrying a gun. They have been conditioned not to think things through and see no other escape from a society that has become too complicated for them to navigate.

That’s the crux of my story, rural Republicans feel hopeless and have been radicalized by demagogues to the point they will wage war on the rest of the country. Republican politicians and their corporate/oligarch masters want to gorge themselves off of a civil war they believe they will win. See the movie Civil War and see what the ordinary MAGAt is hoping to do to the rest of us.

The movie, although brutal and not for the faint of heart, is a cautionary tale that we need to be aware of.

#Civil War movie #Alex garland director #dystopian near future political violence #political violence #civil war

[hussyknee]

Fellas, is it an act of war against a Western European country to hold their citizens prisoner in the open air prison they're carpet bombing?

Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis have been launching attacks on US military bases in Syria and Iraq and firing missiles at Israel in tandem with Hamas's attacks. All three are funded by Iran.

(I am HEAVING with laughter at Vox and every single one of these propagandist chucklefucks calling them "militias" and "terrorist organisations" and trying to frame this as justification for continuing to fund Israel like. MOTHERFUCKER WHOSE REGION ARE YOU IN EXACTLY?? WHO IS GENOCIDING PEOPLE ON THEIR OWN SOIL??)

"But they're fundie theocratic military states!!!"

*looks at Israel*

*looks at you*

*looks at current state of US*

Oh, ARE they?

US officials have met with the Lebanese caretaker government in an effort to try and prevent the conflict from spreading into Lebanon.

Um. Was this before or after Israel poured white phosphorus on Lebanon? Do y'all even have any control over your dog?

(Btw if you MCU brainrotted Western leftists don't stop trying to pick a Good Guy out of this mess instead of understanding basic geo-politics and the horrific ground realities of the countries the US and its allies have left in tatters, you're frankly just as much of an enemy to the people in those countries as your leaders are. Every one of these people are fascist cunts.)

For those of you who have been BLEATING about Ukraine non-stop, like it's NOT an expendable non-NATO country they're only interested in defending in case Putin gets any bright ideas about Poland, here's an opinion that makes sense to me:

Tell me it wouldn't be perfectly on brand if the US government announced, "Our great democracy bows to the will of the people. We hear you, we see you. We will divest...from Ukraine."

The West has never given one singular shit about protecting ANYONE from genocide. Vulnerability is liability. The only difference between them and Putin is that Putin is greedy megalomaniacal fascist surrounded by self-interested yes-men and the US is run by a committee of greedy egomaniacal fascists surrounded by self-interested yes-men whose end goal is keeping the death machine spinning money rather than even "winning" territories. All they have to do to turn this around is divest from Israel and focus on Ukraine. And no, Israel can't throw in with Putin because it'll be too busy trying to fight off three countries at once without the sugar from its Daddy.

Putin will not stop at Ukraine, for the same reason the US didn't stop at Afghanistan. Empires are built on their military power and militaries need to be fed and kept active and kept active to be fed. The minute you stop, it tries to eat itself. If Putin makes a move on Poland, NATO has to respond, and if the West is also embroiled in an all-out war with the Middle East, well. It looks kinda like a global conflict.

Oh and btw, if this does escalate into another regional war in the Middle East, we're going to be plunged into an oil crisis. Which might actually be the last straw for the UK economy, but it very DEFINITELY will be for the rest of the Global South.

(Also Biden's already auctioned off the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska for oil companies for such an intensive scale of fracking that it's projected to tip the world over the edge of climate collapse. In the event of a war in the ME, the US is going to need that oil soooooo. Good luck stopping it.)

#gaza genocide #free palestine #war in ukraine #death to america #death to israel #geopolitics #us politics #middle east #iran #hezbollah #lebanon #world news #current events #knee of huss

[stormlex]

9-1-1 Main Cast (mostly) Near Death Experiences

Honestly this is mostly for me, I had completely forgotten about a lot of Hens near deaths and I keep bringing the conversation up with my brother so I wanted to make a list, enjoy :)

(Most to least deaths; Earliest to latest)

Evan "Buck" Buckley: Choked on bread (1x06), Ladder Truck Explosion (2x18), Pulmonary Embolism (3x01), Tsunami (3x02-03), Factory Fire (4x05), Lightning 🌩 (6x10)

Robert Wade "Bobby" Nash: Plane crash (1x04), Gun Shot (4x14), Dispatch Building Collapse (5x16), Bridge Collapse (6x18), Cruise Ship (7x02-03)

Edmundo "Eddie" Diaz: Afghanistan (3x15), Well Collapse (3x15), Sniper Shot (4x13-14), Bridge Collapse (6x18)

Howard "Chimney" Han: Rebar through skull (1x03), Stabbed by Doug (2x13), Jonah Psycho[HeartStopper 2] (5x17), Bridge Collapse [stabbed/impaled Again] (6x18)

Henrietta "Hen" Wilson: Under Collapsing High-rise (2x03), Tunnel Suffocation (Lone-Star 2x03)

Madeline "Maddie" Buckley: Abducted by Doug (2x14), Attempted Suicide (5x12)

Athena Grant: Nearly beat to death (3x17), Cruise Ship (7x02-03)

May Grant: Attempted Suicide/Drug Overdose (1x03), Dispatch Building collapse (5x16)

Karen Wilson: Lab explosion (6x06)

Christopher Diaz: Tsunami (3x02-03)

Harry Grant: Kidnapped (5x02-03)

Ravi Panikkar: None I love him he needs a Near Death Experience

Honorable Mentions!

Moments where they were in Danger or dangerous situations but didn't almost die

Buck: Ambulance Bomb; everyones favorite! (2x01), Train Crash (3x18), Crane Climb (4x14), Hostage :) (5x06), Drunk Car vs Bicycle (6x04), Bridge Collapse (6x18)

Eddie: Ambulance Bomb (2x01), Spiderman Routine (2x14), Hostage (5x06)

Bobby: Helicopter (5x01), Fight with Tanya's Killer (6x03)

Chim: Bomb Gossip Session (4x04), Drunk Driver Hostage (6x04)

Hen: Jonah Psycho Hostage(5x17), Bridge Collapse (6x18)

Maddie: Dispatch Hostage (3x14)

Athena: Chased/Chasing escaped serial rapist (5x03)

May: Boyfriends crazy roommate (6x08)

Ravi: Prison Break (5x06)

And That Is It! Most of these are based on memory that I double checked and I probably missed some. (I have not watched 7x02 yet)

I'm both surprised and not surprised by the amount Chim has, I am surprised about Bobby I did not think he had that many.

Lemme know if I missed any or your opinions on if there should be any switches between Honorable Mentions moments and full on Near Death! :)

#911 show #911 abc #evan buckley #bobby nash #eddie diaz #chimney han #hen wilson #maddie buckley #athena grant #may grant #christopher diaz #buck needs to calm down

[sailor-rowling]

There is a scene in JK Rowling’s new detective novel in which members of a religious cult surround a new recruit, screaming abuse. They call her a selfish bitch, hurling misogynist slurs until she collapses in tears. It’s designed to break down defences, but what her tormentors don’t know is that their victim is an undercover private detective. Robin Ellacott has been hired to investigate the cult by the father of an autistic young man who hasn’t heard from his son for four years.

Ellacott is a partner in the detective agency founded by Cormoran Strike, a veteran who lost part of a leg in Afghanistan. The Strike novels, written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, are bestsellers and often seem to mirror preoccupations in Rowling’s own life. The abuse scene in the latest novel is a reminder of the torrents of invective aimed at Rowling since she took a stand in support of women’s rights.

Yet this series reveals something else about Rowling, namely her extraordinary resilience. Three years ago, when she published her magnum opus Troubled Blood, she was wrongly accused of making the murderer transgender — and the menacing hashtag “RIP JK Rowling” began to trend on social media. She has faced vicious abuse, including graphic threats of death and sexual violence, and her address has been published on social media.

Some authors would have found it hard to bear, to the point of withdrawing from the public world for a while. While it is true that Rowling has the protections offered by wealth and status, it is striking that the attacks have not had a limiting effect on her imagination. On the contrary, they seem to have stimulated her creative powers, encouraging her to ask questions about contemporary phenomena such as the misogynist world of online gaming.

Misogyny has always existed, but Rowling understands its modern guises better than most — and the belief systems that allow it to flourish.

The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith review — a strike against misogyny

#jk rowling #j.k. rowling #jkr #pro jkr #jkr is right #the running grave #archived

[goodwhump-temp]

John Sheppard Whump - SG: Atlantis

1x01 Rising - Almost shot out of the sky, angry, scared/confused 1x02 Hide and Seek - Tazed, choked 1x04 38 Minutes - (Wraith bug attached to him) knocked unconscious/jolted, intense pain from multiple attempts to remove it, heart stops 1x08 Underground - Kidnapped by Chief O'brien (🤓) 1x10 The Storm - Alone, worries for friends 1x12 Defiant One - Stuck with McKay + nerd, shot, runs into forcefield (knocked down forcefully) 1x13 Hot Zone - Sacrifices self, caught in explosion 1x14 Sanctuary - Held psychologically captive, angry 1x19 The Siege pt. 2 - Shocked unconscious, almost killed by wraith, passes out, sacrificing himself ---------------------------------------------

2x01 The Siege - Fails to save a friend, guilted 2x02 the intruder - Piloting ship taken over by wraith virus, guilt/depressed about Ford 2x03 Runner - Shot/captured by Ronon, shot in the hand, increased guilt about Ford 2x05 Condemned - Jumper shot down, captured, hurts his knee (by being dumb) 2x08 Conversion - Infected with wraith retro-virus, slowly turns into a bug, shot by Ronon 2x09 Aurora - "Captured," shocked by force field multiple times 2x10 The Lost Boys - Kidnapped/stunned unconscious, threatened by the Lost Boys, poisoned, knocked down by an aggressive-drugged Ronon, guilted, Kidnapped/stunned unconscious AGAIN, weak/sore, taken by the Wraith and painfully 'willed'/torture 2x11 The Hive - Stunned unconscious, painfully willed by the queen, guilted 2x12 Epiphany - Stuck in a place where time moves faster/ages quicker/alone (6 months), evolves into bearded John, seriously injured by monster (unconscious + seriously bleeding) multiple times 2x16 Long Goodbye - Possessed by a bitter old man, shot in the shoulder, shocked unconscious and captured, painful convulsions, weak 2x17 Coup D'etat - Genii trap, collapses, captured/tied up ---------------------------------------------

3x01 No Mans Land - Captured, tired 3x03 Irresistible - The only one who isn't in love with Lucius, shot unconscious (sleeping so peacefully wtf), imprisoned 3x04 Sateda - Tranquillized unconscious, captured (+ nice talk with Tayla :)) 3x05 Progeny - Fingers in the brain torture 3x06 Real World - Angst for Weir 3x07 Common Ground - Captured by Kolya, life sucked out of him, exhausted 3x09 Phantoms - Trapped on a planet, Afghanistan PTSD, guilt about the death of another friend, apologizes a million times for literally shooting everybody 3x12 Echoes - Ears bleeding, tortured/hospitalized with equally deaf McKay 3x13 Irresponsible - Western duel against Kolya (gigachad) 3x16 Ark - Almost sucked out into space, collapses from lack O2, sacrifices himself, crashes the ship, exhausted 3x17 Sunday - Beat up by Ronon during training 3x18 Submersion - Freaked out, painfully controlled/willed by wraith lady, exhausted/sore 3x19 Vengeance - Gets in a banter fight with Michael face to face, gets smacked around by a huge bug ---------------------------------------------

4x01 Adrift pt.2 - Emotional about Weir 4x04 Doppleganger - Infected and knocked down by crystal, exhausted, in everybody's nightmares (effects relationships), really beaten up/thrown by himself, dangerously high heart rate 4x05 Travelers - Captured, beaten, threatened, shocked unconscious 4x06 Tabula Rasa - Infected, loss of memory/clueless, shocked unconscious & tied up, exhausted 4x10 This Mortal Coil - Bleeding, Ronon caused injury, captured, acts dead 4x11 Be All My Sins Remember'd - Shocked unconscious, captured 4x12 Spoils of War - Shocked unconscious, painfully willed by Wraith queen (another nice talk with Teyla) 4x15 Outcast - Dad died, emotional, choked unconscious, weak 4x20 The Last Man - Trapped in the future, walking through a rough sandstorm, collapse, weak, trapped in a building collapse ---------------------------------------------

5x01 Search and Rescue - Trapped under rubble, chunk of concrete stabbed in the abdomen, denies surgery, in pain the whole episode 5x02 Seed - Injected with experimental drug with high risk, convulsing, in serious pain, flatlines, crashes into the city, stabbed in the stomach by tentacles 5x03 Broken Ties - Punched unconscious by Ronon, captured, 5x05 Ghost in the Machine - Thrown across the room and wall, weak 5x06 The Shrine - Emotional about McKay 5x08 The Queen - Captured 5x10 First Contact - Stargate explosion 5x11 The Lost Tribe - Caught in Stargate explosion, weak, glass shards in the back 5x13 Inquisition - Knocked out 5x14 The Prodigal - Hanging off a building, badly beaten up by Michael 5x15 Remnants - Abducted, knocked unconscious, beaten, arm chopped off 5x19 Vegas - Dies (Alternate reality)

#whumplist #whump list #whump #emotional whump #stargate atlantis #stargate #sg1 #john sheppard #joe flanigan #stargate atlantis whump #sga whump #sg1 whump #john sheppard whump #joe flanigan whump

[socially-awkward-skeleton]

tagged by: @direwombat @inafieldofdaisies @theresaruggedroad @thesingularityseries and @madparadoxum (this week) and @nightbloodbix @ivymarquis @g0dspeeed @kyber-infinitygems (last week, tagging you all back this week) thank you all so much!

I've been struggling to do much writing at all lately, but I have a bit from Kit's Herald/Role swap AU I've started messing around with. This fic leans really heavily into the supernatural side of the FC5 lore and of course twists the origin of Kit's arrival in Hope County:

A foggy haze of smoke filled the red, infernal sky as the sun beat down upon the desert and heat rose from the golden dunes in blurry striations. Kit was in a daze, her thousand yard stare focused on the mirage in the distance while her mind was addled by pain. The twisting of metal shrapnel sheared away at meat and bone, slicing through veins and tendons as flames devoured through fat and flesh in equal measure. Fever clouded her vision and her limbs became numb as the clothes on her body charred like a Fourth of July barbecue. The fire in her belly was fading, her very life slipping away from her like sand through her fingers. Her mouth became as hot and dry as the world around her, the tongue that hung from the corner of it now thick and heavy. The steady thumping in her skull started to slow along with the beating of her heart as the lights in her eyes collapsed into tiny pinpricks, tunneling the view she had of the wreckage around her. Screaming faded into the periphery, the terrified moans and groans of her unit members desperately clinging to life became a hellish, cacophonous choir and from out of the desert, something crawled towards her – a dark mass. 

It stole the breath from her lungs, nearly ripped the heart right out of her rib cage that begged to distend and snap apart. Whatever it was – and despite the adrenaline that coursed through her removing all clarity of thought and mind, preparing her for the great beyond – only one thought came to mind: it was ancient. Older than the mountains and the sands that caged her, something that came long before the stars and the sky they called home. Primordial. The Alpha and the Omega. 

The burning sun and the scorching heat of the fires that nipped and gnawed away at her stung at her eyes, tears spilled down her cheeks as the form and figure grew closer. Then silence fell. Impossible silence. That same crushing nothing that came while in the eye of a storm, and she was facing down a tempest. Giant paws stomped down, leaving prints in the sand that turned to glass. Golden eyes stared out at her, but there was nothing feline behind the glare affixed upon her (despite the gaping maw filled with sharpened teeth like knives) instead they were slits with a light behind them that was far more human than they should have been. This was no earthly creature. There were no lions in Afghanistan. And yet here it was, mane and all, bowing in her company, and licking up the blood that poured from her wounds with its rough pink tongue. 

The breath hitched in her throat as she tried to croak out a scream, but she was rendered speechless. A waking nightmare and she was unable to make a sound, all she could do was lay there and blink and pray. Pray that she’d be deemed inedible, pray that she’d be saved, pray that someone would come and spare her life. Pray that she was deemed worthy in the eyes of something holy. 

It’s massive head rose, eyes looking into her own as if it could read the very thoughts that rushed through her mind. Sinking into its gaze, she fell deeper into the black, empty pit at the back of her mind where the darkness sat dormant and entombed, waiting to be released onto the world. She just had to let go of what little control she’d been allowed in life and open that lid to Pandora’s box. 

And then a voice – not quite male, not quite female, something that was a convergence of the two – arose from out of the dark and infested her mind. “You know pain. You know suffering. Would you like to be free?”

It asked the question and yet her vocal chords were already burned to the point she could no longer speak, her lungs having filled with acrid smoke would not allow for even choked words to spill forward from her lips, but somehow she was able to answer. “Not if it means dying.”

A laugh, cold and mirthless, sent a shiver down her spine. The rattling of a tail screaming through the very weave of time itself. It coiled in the back of her skull, and whatever amount of human evolution and countless generations it had taken to get her here was stripped back until she was nothing more than an ape who’d discovered fire as a means to hold back the dark. She was a sniveling being in the presence of something it’s simple mind could not comprehend without being driven mad. 

“You wish to live?”

“Yes.”

“What would you give?”

“Anything.”

It was a simple trade, a barter that worked in her favor. What she might have had to give up was a small price to pay for what she’d receive in return – a second chance. For what, she wasn’t quite sure yet: redemption, revenge, reclaiming her birthright? She supposed she’d find out in due time. She’d sacrificed enough in her life, it was time for all that effort to be recouped and repaid in full. 

As the fire extinguished, and the bright glow of headlights fell upon her, she was more alive than ever. Skin had regrown, her hair no longer melted, blackened and burned, the milky cataracts of her eyes scraped back to the icy blue gleam they had once been.  She was reborn, made anew in God’s image. Chosen. Saved. A miracle that should never have been. The lone witness to the hand of God still willing to burn bushes for those most fervent in their belief of him.

tagging: @shallow-gravy @cassietrn @strangefable @stacispratt @eclecticwildflowers @ladyofedens-blog @florbelles @v0idbuggy @theelderhazelnut @marivenah @simplegenius042 @josephslittledeputy @peppertheferalraccoon @neverthesameneveranother @statichvm @strafethesesinners @adelaidedrubman @clicheantagonist @voidika @confidentandgood @roofgeese @afarcry5fromstraight @chazz-anova @wrathfulrook @aceghosts @jillvalentinesday

#can you tell my love for the vvitch is coming through with this wip lmao #i've also gotten back into reading my clive barker books so that should give a frame of reference for where i'm #going with this fic eventually #wip wednesday #fic: kakia #oc: kit cross

[k-marzolf]

safe

—fluff, kissing, angst if you squint, fem!reader—

@idaofinfinity @e-dubbc11 @rosaleenablack @firexfate

You’re bent over his calves, fingers massaging his feet, he’d been on them all day running drills with his men.

You plopped down on his lap, fingers touching his feet gently, making him groan audibly. You pressed your fingers into the balls of his feet, Billy’s fingers digging into your hips. Your touch was almost overwhelming.

“Billy works too hard,” you murmured, softly, kissing his feet through his black socks.

Billy huffed, laughing. “This is nothin’ compared to Afghanistan.” He said, pulling you back, and turning you to face him.

He kissed your mouth, pulling back with a raised eyebrow. “Did you drink my Tennessee Honey?” He asked, amused.

You laughed sheepishly. So, he’d noticed it on your tongue. “It’s my favorite.” You said, giving him soft kisses, in between deeper ones, making him hum.

“Are you tryna butter me up?” He husked, fingers kneading your thick thighs. He loved the feel of your heavy weight on his lap.

“Maybe. Is it working?” You asked cheeky, kissing him again.

Longer this time, until you swore your lungs were going to collapse, that you’d offered every breath at his altar.. When you pulled back, all either of you could hear was the sound of you both trying to catch your breath.

Billy nipped at your lip, “Okay, it’s workin’.” He said, breathlessly.

You pressed your cheek to his chest, the sound of his heartbeat comforting you. He was home. He was safe. That was all you wanted, that he was safe and happy.

You didn’t want to lose him, to get a call some day that he’d been killed. You wanted to grow old with him, to die in your sleep next to him, heart full having lived a full life.

That despite the scars, and all the hurt you’d both been through, that you’d survived to the very end. You wanted to show the people who said you and Billy were worthless, that they hadn’t stopped you.

Be safe were the words you uttered to each other often. Both having so little, that you were afraid to lose what you did have.

Billy’s fingers tangled in your hair, seemingly aware of your thoughts. He knew. He always knew.

You’d learned long ago that God didn’t exist, and if he did, he didn’t care about you.

But Billy cared.

He kissed the top of your head, and you both sat there content in each other’s arms.

#billy russo #billy russo x reader

[mariacallous]

While many government leaders continue to declare their commitment to respect the rule of law as the foundation for peace and human rights, in practice their performance is perforated with lackluster results or outright failure. As a result, people are losing faith in democratic politics and turning to authoritarian alternatives, or simply tuning out. Now more than ever, strong guardrails such as independent judiciaries, robust civil society, and trustworthy elections are needed to stop the slide and build fairer and more accountable systems.

The rule of law recession continues

Unfortunately, study after study confirms that countries are still very far from their own stated allegiance to democracy, rights, and the rule of law. The latest such report, the World Justice Project’s annual Rule of Law Index, shows a continued downturn in respect for the rule of law at the national level. The index, which this year relied on original data collected from 3,400 in-country experts and practitioners and more than 149,000 households, now covers 142 countries representing 95% of the world’s population.

Scores for the rule of law this year fell in 59% of countries surveyed, the sixth consecutive year in which the majority of countries declined. Since 2016, the rule of law has fallen in 78% of countries studied.

Trends and drivers

The main drivers of this worrisome pattern are a growing disrespect for human rights, weakening checks on government power, and malfunctioning justice systems. For example, authoritarian trends marked by centralization of executive power — at the expense of legislatures, judiciaries, civil society, and the media — worsened in 56% of countries this year, somewhat less than in the previous two years but still widespread.

Since 2016, civic participation has dropped in 83% of countries, more than any other indicator, followed by freedom of assembly and association (81%), freedom of opinion and expression (78%), and freedom of religion (76%); these are all core rights enshrined not only in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also in treaty law and most constitutions. The ability of civil and criminal justice systems to resolve disputes declined in more states this year (66%), due to greater justice delays and weaker enforcement of judgments.

Within these general trends lies a more troubling story: Countries with weaker rule of law have experienced larger declines in their scores than countries with stronger rule of law. Moreover, “improvers” of any type have improved only modestly, while “decliners” have declined more dramatically (see accompanying chart below).

Source: WJP Rule of Law Index 2023

And countries that have declined for five consecutive years (16 of 113, led by Nicaragua, Iran, Myanmar, and Belarus, among the index’s worst performers) far outnumber those that have improved every year for the same period (two: Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan). These trends suggest that rule of law malfunctions can become ingrained, exacerbating efforts to reverse course without long-term political will and resources.

Failure to deliver

As governments fail to deliver basic public services like access to justice, or worse, abuse their citizens’ rights, positive views of democratic institutions and politics drop further. Bad governance and corruption become entrenched, compounding crises and stoking further conflict and displacement within and across borders.

For example, countries high on the international security agenda for years — Afghanistan, Sudan, and Myanmar — are also some of the worst rule of law performers. In this hemisphere, Haiti (ranked 139 of 142) is collapsing before our eyes as governments struggle for months to devise an adequate response, while Venezuela (ranked last) continues to generate a record number of displaced people fleeing persecution and gross economic mismanagement.

Russia offers another telling example of the correlation between authoritarian governance and conflict. Ranking 113 out of 142 countries, and near the bottom in its regional and income group, Russia scored particularly low on such indicators as fundamental rights, criminal justice, and constraints on government power.

Meanwhile, democratizing Ukraine, whose rule of law score had been improving before Russia invaded it, performed significantly better than Russia on those same three indicators.

This year’s disappointing report card on progress toward achieving the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, which includes Goal 16’s promise to “provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions,” provides further evidence of how far national governments still have to go to deliver adequate public goods to their citizens.

Back to basics

It doesn’t have to be this way. Evidence shows that strong liberal democracies with robust rule-of-law regimes provide better domestic and international peace and security. They generally do not go to war against each other and manage internal dissent through nonviolent channels and respect for human rights. Hybrid authoritarian and weak states, on the other hand, are more likely to experience intra- and interstate conflict, generate refugees, hinder women’s equality, and harbor violent extremists.

President Joe Biden’s timely agenda to support democracy at home and abroad, and a renewed programmatic focus by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Agency for International Development on people-centered justice, are encouraging but faces daunting headwinds in the wake of domestic and geopolitical conflicts of a new magnitude. Multiple criminal indictments and ongoing election denialism by a former president and leading contender to return to the White House will continue to test the United States’ ability to reverse its declining rule of law performance and lead by example.

From such storms must come a renewed social and political contract for peace and human dignity. It should begin with a return to the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose first article declares that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” If states were to uphold this dictum in practice, they would give their citizens a fair voice in how they are governed. They would ensure equal protection of the law, regardless of status or power. And they would create governing systems based on the rule of law, the best guarantor of human rights.