Tumgik
#illegal arms sales
agentfascinateur · 26 days
Text
Canada intends to buy missile used in killing World Central Kitchen aid workers:
The Canadian military says it has no plans to review its decision to purchase $43 million worth of a type of Israeli-made missile despite the munition’s apparent use in killing seven aid workers
Canada can climb down from its moral high ground 🙄 Unsurprisingly, DND's Bill Blair as police chief was not only corrupt and sold to the Zionist cause by shielding securities fraud (boiler room network of Sy Jacobson) used to pay for illegal settlements, but he also had a blatant disregard for human rights as evidenced at the Toronto G20.
10 notes · View notes
news4dzhozhar · 24 days
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
5 notes · View notes
divorcedyaoi · 11 months
Text
we went to a flea market in west tx yesterday and I felt. v unsafe
4 notes · View notes
xtruss · 26 days
Text
Now “This MF Boak Bollocks London Mayor” Suddenly Woke-up After The Death of More Than 30,000 Innocent Palestinians!
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for the UK to immediately cease arms sales to Israel, marking him as the most senior Labour figure to voice this stance in the wake of the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza.
This sentiment is echoed by other prominent members of the Labour Party, including former Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and Labour peer Charlie Falconer, highlighting a growing demand within the party for government action. Over 50 Labour MPs, represented by the leftwing group Momentum, have also expressed the need to halt arms sales, diverging from the official party position articulated by Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who advocates for suspension only upon legal advice, indicating a potential for serious breaches of international law.
Khan's criticism centres on the government's opacity regarding legal advice on arms sales, especially following an Israeli attack on a World Central Kitchen aid convoy, which resulted in the deaths of three Britons. Beckett and Falconer emphasise the need for government transparency and legal justification for continuing arms sales amidst evidence of their potential misuse.
Tumblr media
0 notes
fromthedust · 1 year
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
. . . all the tentacles complete — but no, the front one is not right! Some surgery required. Out comes the hacksaw, but only to the wire armature so the arm can be shaped into the correct curves. Then like Dr. Frankenstein I fasten it back together with staples and recover with more resin putty.
Tumblr media
And now is time to sand . . .
Tumblr media
and sand and sand and sand until it is time for the little sucker cups . . . M2, M2.5, M3, M4, M5, M6, M8, M10, M12 white nylon washers
Tumblr media Tumblr media
I pulled out my collection of plastic seals and off we went for days of cupping  —15 days spent modeling the contours of each of the 663 suction cups 
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
The Blessed Virgin had to be sanded very delicately to give it back some of its immaculateness.
The happiness of some is the dust of others.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Take advantage of this white octopus, it seems that it is very rare to come across one. Shortly after I did my little experiments with paintings — 
Tumblr media
A few days to finish the color, but because it will have to go through a few coats of a special glossy glossy varnish, which makes the viscosity so good... mmm yum. Given the size of the room I could not apply it in one go. The drying takes between 24 and 48 hours, so it will probably take me a week to complete the application of this varnish-resin.
Tumblr media
If your head is spinning too much, don't look at this indecent image.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Soasig Chamaillard (French, b.1977)
Notre dame du poulpe (Our Lady of the Octopus) - recovery statue with illegible signature, aluminum wire frame, plaster strip, polystyrene, resin (epoxy putty), plumbing seals (plastic washers), acrylic paint, resin varnish - 47 cm high x 70 cm wide - 12 kg - work-in-progress March 20 to May 31, 2015
“I grew up in a Christian Western society. My perspective on life has been a result of my environment and background. The playful interaction of society’s many icons, physical transformations, and the resulting improbable combinations, have culminated in my vision of a woman’s role and place in our society. This inner questioning of a woman’s role, has led me to use one of the most sacred icons in my work, namely, the Virgin Mary. Initially, I begin with damaged statues, either donated or discovered in garage sales, which I then restore and transform. I surely do not mean to shock those who believe but rather to move those who see.”  —  Soasig Chamaillard
http://www.soasig-chamaillard.com/sculpture-sainte-vierge
https://www.instagram.com/soasigchamaillard/
http://chamailleries.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/chamaillard.soasig
21K notes · View notes
Text
Palestinian trade unions issue an urgent global call to action, calling on workers everywhere to halt the sale and funding of arms to Israel — and related military research. As Israel escalates its military campaign, Palestinian trade unions call on our counterparts internationally and all people of conscience to end all forms of complicity with Israel’s crimes - most urgently halting the arms trade with Israel, as well as all funding and military research. The time for action is now - Palestinian lives hang in the balance.  This urgent, genocidal situation can only be prevented by a mass increase of global solidarity with the people of Palestine and that can restrain the Israeli war machine. We need you to take immediate action - wherever you are in the world - to prevent the arming of the Israeli state and the companies involved in the infrastructure of the blockade. We take inspiration from previous mobilisations by trade unions in Italy, South Africa and the United States, and similar international mobilisations against the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930s, the fascist dictatorship in Chile in the 1970s and elsewhere where global solidarity limited the extent of colonial brutality.  We are calling on trade unions in relevant industries: 1. To refuse to build weapons destined for Israel. 2. To refuse to transport weapons to Israel. 3. To pass motions in their trade union to this effect. 4. To take action against complicit companies involved in implementing Israel’s brutal and illegal siege, especially if they have contracts with your institution.  5. Pressure governments to stop all military trade with Israel, and in the case of the US, funding to it. We make this call as we see attempts to ban and silence all forms of solidarity with the Palestinian people. We ask you to speak out and take action in the face of injustice as trade unions have done historically. We make this call in the belief that the struggle for Palestinian justice and liberation is not only a regionally and globally determined struggle. It is a lever for the liberation of all dispossessed and exploited people of the world.
2K notes · View notes
prokopetz · 1 year
Text
Gender crimes
Advocating overthrow of gender
Aggravated gender
Armed gender
Assault with a deadly gender
Assisting or instigating gender
Attempt to commit gender
Concealment of gender
Conspiracy to commit gender
Contempt of gender
Criminal infringement of gender
Cyber gender
Demands against gender
Destruction of gender
Disorderly gender
Drive-by gender
Driving under the influence of gender
Environmental gender
Escaping gender
Exportation of gender
Failure to gender
False gender
First degree gender
Fraudulent certification of gender
Gender burglary
Gender default
Gender espionage
Gender evasion
Gender fixing
Gender fraud
Gender identity theft
Gender smuggling
Gender tampering
Gender trafficking
Harbouring gender
Illegal possession of gender
Insider gender
Interstate gender
Misuse of gender
Obstruction of gender
Operating an unlicensed gender
Possession of a restricted gender
Receiving gender
Sale of stolen gender
Second degree gender
Solicitation to commit gender
Subornation of gender
Transportation of gender
Use of gender of mass destruction
Video gender
Violent gender
2K notes · View notes
chestharrington · 17 days
Text
Fixation
Tumblr media
Rating: E (18+)
Word Count: 6.1k
Warnings: SMUT (fingering, handjob, p in v). Dubious Consent (coercion, power imbalance, failure to pull out), unhealthy/probably illegal power imbalance, stripper!reader, gator is an asshole (like extremely), degradation, misogyny, sexual assault (by a non major character), brief violence, kind of stockholm syndrome if you think about it, unhappy ending
Summary: Gator Tillman’s fixation of the week just so happens to be you, for better or worse.
A/N: If you know me personally please do not read this thank u <3
Tumblr media
The foggy clouds of your breath were painted pink by the glow of the neon sign— The Venus Lounge— with a cute little clamshell opening and closing and everything. 
You had a velour sweatsuit pulled over the skimpy costume you’d wear for your next dance, hot pink and bedazzled across the ass. It was trendy maybe fifteen years prior, so it cost just about nothing when you bought it at a bin sale. 
Sweet, strawberry-scented vapor poured from your lips as you exhaled. You hated this stupid thing— you’d rather smoke a cigarette like a goddamn adult. But the owner insisted, “You ladies gotta stay smelling nice and sweet and respectable for our clientele.” Which was fucking stupid considering they came in smelling like sweat and mud and body odor. 
From the alley, you could get a sneak peek of whoever was coming your way for the night— the big spenders, the handsy ones, the cheap ones… and Gator Tillman’s stupid entourage, who you avoided like the plague.
You made the mistake of getting cozy with him. Once. A few well-paid lap dances, then a private dance in one of the dimly lit back rooms. He’d been handsy, and you relished in it, in him. A handsome, powerful guy who looked at you like you were the hottest woman he’d ever seen. You sucked him off in the private room and he gave you a hundred to shut the fuck up about it. Like you were some sort of whore.
Gator. What a stupid fucking name. His dad was a grade-A cocksucker, so it made sense that he’d name his son something so goddamn stupid. The other girls were scared of Roy, with good reason. Their boyfriend get too rough? He’d brush it off— no domestic abuse charges on his watch. The man is the master of the house, and the woman is his property. One girl swore he came onto her, and she got a broken arm when she brushed him off. A lot of people thought that stepping to the Tillman’s meant winding up dead. 
Fuck that. 
You hadn’t wanted to wind up in this town anyway. You were married, once upon a time. You had the tattoo of his name on your hipbone, a shitty rental house in West Texas, and a wedding band he bought from a pawn shop. He found a job up north, and you followed like an obedient puppy. 
It wasn’t your fault he’d racked up gambling debts— that he owed the wrong people money he didn’t have. And it wasn’t your fault that he was fucking a waitress at the local diner— thin, blonde, perky. The divorce was settled quickly— but you were left penniless, in bumfuck North Dakota, in Tillman territory. 
Well, it was a good thing you still had your looks. 
You saw the police cruiser pull into the lot, heard the slam of the car door and the mindless chatter between the valiant boys in blue. Those assholes did about as much for the city as a tick does for a dog. Your phone buzzed against your hip, warning you that your break was up. You took one more puff from your vape and slipped back in the door to the dressing room. 
You warned everyone that Gator and his boys were out there as you slipped out of your jogging suit and adjusted your dancewear beneath— a baby blue bikini set that you’d bedazzled by hand. You slipped a sheer skirt overtop and surveyed yourself in the mirror. There was still a flush on your cheeks from being out in the cold, but it would be fine. 
You slipped out onto the floor, passing by crowded tables. It was busy, even for a Saturday, which meant more money to take home. A hand grabbed your ass and squeezed it in a meaty paw. It was some drunk old guy who probably couldn’t even get it up anymore but had maintained his pervy inclinations. You bit your cheek to keep from saying anything and kept making your rounds.
“You want a dance?” You’d ask the safe guys— the ones who looked nervous to be there, whose eyes kept flitting around like they’d get caught any moment. Their button-ups were ironed, their slacks pressed. Usually, they had a nice fountain pen in their pocket. Clerks, CPAs, any of those nerdy desk jobs. 
Most of the time they declined, too nervous to go that far, but occasionally you’d get a yes, do a bit of grinding, and walk away with a nice tip. 
You’d done a few lap dances by the time you passed by Gator and his crew. Your money was tucked into the band at your hip, concealing your ex-husband’s name. 
He called you like a dog– whistling low. You froze, and turned to face him, all smug and pleased with himself. 
“You need somethin’, Deputy?” You asked, jaw clenched, raising a brow. “Because if you do, you can ask like a gentleman. I’m a lady, not a dog.”
He laughed, glancing back at his pack of asshole cops to make sure they saw the next part. “Really? ‘Cause it seems to me you’re actin’ like a bitch.” They all laughed, because of course they did. They thought he was so, so clever. Before you could respond, he held up a fifty-dollar bill between two fingers. “C’mere, girl. I want a dance.”
Your eyes flicked between him and the fifty between his fingers. You were broke, but was it worth it? He saw your hesitation and his smug grin grew. “Aw, you need it that bad, huh?” He patted his thigh twice. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
Anyone in their right mind would’ve said no, and walked away with their dignity intact, but he was right— you needed it bad. 
So you approached and tried to pluck the money from his hand, but he pulled it away, clicking his tongue disapprovingly. “Nuh-uh, Sweetheart. Gotta earn it first.”
You huffed in disbelief, taking a step back. But meeting his gaze told you how serious he was. You swallowed your pride and straddled his lap, grinding to the beat. 
It felt degrading, dancing on him while his friends all leered. Your tits pressed against Gator’s shirt, his hands firm on your hips, even though he knew he wasn’t allowed to touch. If you called him out on it, he’d probably just say it was nothing he hadn’t done before.
It could’ve been one song, or maybe more. Probably more. When he finally removed his hands, he nodded for you to get off. You swallowed uncomfortably and took a few awkward steps back. 
“The money,” you said weakly.
His face scrunched slightly, like he was considering it. “Eh… I don’t think you earned it, Sweetheart. I mean, I’m not even hard.” 
He got a real kick out of that, and out of the kicked puppy look in your eyes. You swallowed it down like a bitter pill and met his gaze. “It’s not my fault that all the blow you do is killing your dick. Keep your fuckin’ money, Gator. I don’t want it.”
Which was a lie. You wanted it more than anything… but you knew you’d pissed him off. You could see the vein popping at his temple, the way his hand clenched around his beer bottle. Better to pretend you were better off without it and walk off with some dignity left.
It took about three steps to realize that there was a little less pressure on your hip than there used to be. Your hand felt along the band of the bikini and came up blank. He’d taken your fucking money. 
You heard him giggling behind you once he knew you realized, but what was the point? Who would you call to get it back? The police?
By the end of the night, you counted your meager earnings and tucked it away in your bag. Without your dancewear and the makeup and the heels, you could pass for the average citizen of Stark County. 
You bundled up in a parka before you walked to your car, a shitty, beat-up car nearly older than you were. One of the side mirrors was ripped off, and the bumper was caved in, but she ran. 
Tucked into the windshield was a tiny note, in a messy, nearly illegible scrawl— Impress me next time. You crumpled it and tossed it onto the asphalt.
Tumblr media
  You saw him again on Monday. The club was closed on Sunday, due to an ordinance that Roy Tillman had put in place about businesses of ill repute operating on the holy day. You wondered what he thought about his son bankrolling the lives of half of the strippers who worked at the club.
He was alone, though, which scared and comforted you in equal measure. You watched him from afar, sitting at the bar, drinking a White Claw and puffing on that stupid fucking vape. 
There was a girl in his lap, one of the newer dancers who didn’t know better. Whatever. She’d figure him out soon enough. 
Mondays were slow. You did a few dances onstage, made the rounds, flirted with some of the regulars. Gator was blissfully elsewhere, which you loved. 
The night had been pretty tame until just before last call, when an overserved realtor got loud and handsy. 
“C’mon, why don't you take me back to one of those rooms without the cameras?” One asked as you gave him a half-hearted lap dance. His breath was like a punch bowl at a senior prom, and his fingers dug into the plush of your ass. 
You winced as he pulled you harder against him, and you felt the uncomfortable prod of his dick against you. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He was grinding up against you, sweaty at his temples and forehead. He was deceptively strong, holding you down against him so he could rut against you and get off. “Ya know, the private rooms for the big tippers. Better than all this over the clothes stuff.”
“You need to stop,” you said, as firmly as you could, shoving at his chest to really get your point across. He didn’t let up, and gave you a smarmy grin as he began roughly moving your hips of his own accord. “Hey, stop it, asshole.”
“Hey, you’re the one offerin’ me a dance,” he said. “I sold a nice big house today, got a real good commission. I could tip ya real good if you’re nice.”
“Let me go!” You shoved at his chest, slapping at him, but he just grinned. You were just wondering if biting his ear off would do the trick when you felt yourself pulled off him and tossed aside on the floor like a rag doll. 
Then there was the soft sound of blows landing against a stomach. Then the crunch of a broken nose. The wheezy rattle of the realtor’s breath once he started spitting up blood and teeth. Each punch made you flinch until finally, it relented. 
“Should’ve let her go, asshole.” Gator’s knuckles were bloodied, and you realized he was holding out a hand to help you up. You took it, nervously, and readjusted your costume where the realtor had tugged at them. “You hurt?”
You shook your head. “I’m fine but is— I mean, is he gonna be okay?”
Gator’s brows furrowed as he spared a glance toward the bloodied pile of meat on the floor. He spat in his direction and shrugged. “Who fuckin’ cares? Goddamn lowlife.”
You wondered if he could sense the irony. His face lit up in recognition, then he knelt beside the realtor, patting him down, searching for something. He stood and held up a fancy, monogrammed leather wallet. 
He sifted through, retrieving bill after bill. “Here. Y’earned it.” It was more cash than you brought home in a week. More cash than anyone should carry on themselves at once. 
“I’m not taking that,” you said weakly. “I can’t.”
He rolled his eyes, tucking the money in your bra. “Such a fuckin’ bitch, you know that? Can’t even say thank you or nothin’.”
He left you standing there over the broken body of the asshole realtor, who may or may not have been dying. Either way, you figured the Tillman’s would handle it. For better or worse.
Tumblr media
  “I didn’t fuckin’ do anything,” you argued, which was a lie. And it’s not like anyone would listen even if it wasn’t. Police are on their way, they said. They’ll deal with thieving filth like you.
Well… they didn’t have to get quite so personal. You sat outside the Manager’s office at the stupid fucking sex shop, picking at your cuticles until you heard the police cruiser roll up outside. You heard the door slam, and muffled chatter until you saw him walk in.
“Well… look who got herself into some trouble. And here of all places too.”
Fuck. Gator Fucking Tillman. 
You glanced up at him for a moment before returning to your nails. The shop owner was talking the deputy’s fucking ear off until you heard the question you dreaded. 
“What is it she was tryin’ to steal? I mean… there’s a lot to choose from, I’ll tell ya that.”
You watched with a thin sense of dread as the shop owner laid out your would-be haul of lingerie that had been stuffed into your purse. Gator grinned as he glanced over at you, then back at the lingerie. 
“Can I have the office? I need some privacy to interrogate the perp.” The manager complied, bending to the will of the law or whatever. Gator grabbed you by the arm and tugged you inside, closing the door firmly behind him. 
You watched as he strode towards the nice armchair behind the desk, then sat down, legs spread wide. He unzipped the stupid police vest and shrugged it off, so it landed in a pile on the floor. For a moment, it was quiet as you stared at him dumbly, then he snapped his fingers. 
“What? You want me to tell you why did it? Three fucking guesses.”
He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “No, I want you to try it on.” 
You swallowed, and when you spoke your tongue felt dumb and heavy. “What?”
“You heard me. Try it all on, and tell me if it was worth the trouble.” He looked at you expectantly, and when you didn’t move, he sighed. “It’s this, or I take you to the station, get you booked, and all that. I doubt anyone’s gonna pay your bail, so that’s a few days before arraignment. Then it’s a court case for larceny, and let’s be honest, you’re guilty.”
You stared at him, speechless. He stood up suddenly, grabbing his things before you interrupted— “Wait! Wait. Just… sit back down.”
He grinned. “There’s a good girl. Make it good for me, yeah? You know how.”
You huffed, heart pounding as you grabbed the first set and turned around to change. You had just pulled off your shirt when he cleared his throat behind you. Your hands shook as you turned around, barely covering your tits. 
“C’mon, I said to make it good, Sweetheart,” he said with a thinly veiled sense of amusement. “Nothin’ I haven’t seen before.”
The fucking asshole. But you took a breath and steadied yourself. “Okay,” you whispered, more to yourself than anything. 
His gaze was intense, tracing each curve and dip of your body as you moved. You slipped the bra on, clipping it shut with shaking hands.
“Alright, now you can turn around,” he said, nodding towards the panties in your hand. “And do it nice and slow for me.”
Your face burned with embarrassment as you turned around, working the buttons of your skirt so you could slip it down your legs. It fell into a pile around your ankles and fanned out like a flower. You hooked your thumbs into the panties you were wearing, pink with little flowers spotting the fabric. As slowly as you could manage while terrified and pissed, you slipped them down your legs. 
When you spared a glance at Gator, he was smirking right back at you. “Give those here,” he said, holding his hand out expectantly. 
“What?”
“Geez, you’re fuckin’ dumb. Lemme see ‘em.” He more or less snatched the panties from your grip, smiling like the cat who got the cream as he held them up. “Might have to keep ‘em. Evidence.”
You swallowed down your annoyance and pulled the lacy panties up your legs. When you were finished, you turned, arms crossed over your chest protectively. Shockingly, he was quiet as he looked at you, eyes raking over your tits, and every bare piece of skin he could see. It felt like you stood there under his gaze for hours before he finally spoke up. 
“It’s not doin’ much for ya, sweetheart. I mean, you don’t look very fuckable.”
It landed like a blow to your gut. He was an asshole, so it should’ve meant nothing… but he knew exactly where your soft spots were, and just how hard to dig his fingers in. “Fuck you, Gator.”
“Aw, c’mon, sweetheart,” he cooed, patronizing and smug. “So fuckin’ sensitive, huh? Can’t take a joke. C’mere, lemme see you.” He grabbed your wrist in the tightly packed office and tugged you forward, so you practically stumbled on top of him.
You flinched as his hand moved up the back of your thigh, warm and calloused. When he gave your ass a rough squeeze, you closed your eyes and shivered. 
“Ya know, I saw your husband the other day.” His finger traced along the name on your hip— Jack. Every loop and whorl of the cursive claimed by his touch. “Looked real happy with that girl of his. Sarah, right? The waitress he was fuckin’ behind your back?”
You swallowed hard and said nothing, but he was more than happy to keep running his mouth. “Well, she’s not special. I’ve fucked Sarah too, and she just laid there like a dead fish the whole time.”
“Maybe you just weren’t that good.” You smirked as you replied, unable to resist being a bit of an asshole right back. 
“You gettin’ smart right now?” He gave your ass a quick slap, making you squeak. “I was trying to give you a compliment, but you don’t fuckin’ deserve it. You’re so fuckin’ used up that you don’t even know what good is.”
You rolled your eyes. “I’m sure you think that. It’s easy to blame it on the girl when you can’t make ‘em cum, right?”
His jaw clenched, anger painting his features. “Wouldn’t you fuckin’ like to know, huh?” He caught sight of the smirk on your face and shoved you back. “Put on the next one.”
Fucking dickhead. You rolled your eyes and quickly stripped off the lingerie, throwing it in his general direction once it was off. You weren’t as graceful in dressing in the next set. Why give him a show and let him win? Once it was on, you crossed your arms and looked at him expectantly. 
“Well?”
He cocked his head to the side, a smirk playing on his lips. “Well, I like it better than the first, but I don’t think your heart’s quite in it. Gimme a twirl.”
You gave a slow turn, then met his gaze again, raising a brow. He ran a hand over his mouth, looking you up and down. You caught the slightest movement as he spread his legs a little wider. It only served to highlight the bulge in the front of his stupid fucking cargos.
“You’re really enjoyin’ yourself, huh?” You snapped, eyes narrowed. He laughed, following your gaze to his lap. 
“Well,” he began, lazily moving a hand to cup his growing hard-on. “I could always find a way to enjoy myself more. Bet you’d like that, huh?”
You ignored him and began trying on the last set you’d attempted to steal. A bright red set, skimpier than the others, which you were sure he fucking loved. Before he could ask, you gave a slow twirl. 
“Atta girl,” he cooed. He was blatantly stroking himself over the fabric, eyes half-lidded. You swallowed hard, watching the sight before you. It was like something out of a bad porno. Or a really good one. Jury was out. He patted his thigh, nodding you over. “C’mere, I won’t bite.”
A moment of hesitation passed through you, wondering if this was really what you wanted. It was like you could hear his voice in your head, asking if you could do any better. You sighed and slowly settled onto his lap. He looked at you with a funny sort of expression— not so much that he was smug, just… a bit pleased. 
“You gonna give me a dance?” His hand rested on your thigh, fingers tapping erratically. You shook your head and he rolled his eyes. “Is this ‘cause I didn’t pay the other night?” You scowled. “I mean, I think you owe me now. I paid ya back a hundred times over thanks to Mr. Realtor from the other day.”
   You stayed silent and still, looking anywhere but his face. He took your chin between his fingers and turned you to face him, so close you could taste the fruit flavor from that goddamn vape on his breath. 
“Remember how turned on you got just from havin’ my cock in that pretty mouth of yours?” He said, voice barely above a whisper. He ran a thumb along your bottom lip, tugging at it slightly. “I still remember the way you had to slip a hand between your legs to play with yourself.”
You made a weak sound in the back of your throat as you remembered it— that desperate, all-consuming need. Maybe it’s because he was an asshole, or maybe it was all of the authority. Maybe that’s why you shoplifted anyway. Because you knew he’d be the one to show up. 
“You ever been with someone as big as me before?”
You shivered. “No.”
A wide smile spread across his lips. “Since?” You just shook your head. “Betcha been dreamin’ about it too. Stuffin’ that greedy little pussy full of your fingers whenever you think about me.”
You rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t quite deny it. It wasn’t a frequent fantasy, but it was there. “You’re a real narcissist. You know that?”
He grinned. “That’s not a no, is it?” He leaned in closer, nuzzling against your throat, his breath hot. “Bet if I slipped my hand inside those panties, they’d be fuckin’ soaked.”
And despite your better judgment, you fucking whimpered. All but confirming it. 
“Yeah, I thought so,” he cooed. His hand found purchase on the small of your back, and when he applied the smallest bit of pressure, you found yourself giving in. Slowly, your hips ground against his, making a soft sigh escape your lips each time your cunt met his clothed dick. 
“Want me to find some music?” He asked with a boyish grin. “I bet I have Pony somewhere on my phone.”
You shook your head before he could even try to grab it. “I’ll kill you if you even try.” He laughed, just a bit. It was rare to hear him laugh and have it not be at your, or anyone else’s expense. 
You grabbed his hands, moving them to your waist, just at your ribcage. The tips of his fingers brushed against your tits, and he smiled.
“Takin’ charge now, are ya? You could’ve just put ‘em right here.” He moved his hands up, cupping your breasts in his large hands. You moaned softly as he gave a slight squeeze, arching into his touch. “ See? That’s much better, huh? Just take what you need, baby. I’ll give it right to ya.”
Take what you need? You could do that. You moved your hands along his chest, fighting the urge to just tear off his shirt and reveal the white tank top you knew he always wore beneath. Instead, you slipped your hands to his goddamn cargos and made quick work of the button and zipper. 
He sat back and watched as you spit into your palm, his eyes hazy with arousal. You slipped your hand inside his pants and slipped beneath the band of his plaid boxers. A low groan escaped his lips when you wrapped your hand around him and squeezed.
“Fuck, sweetheart. Just like that.” His head fell back, leaving the plane of his neck for the taking. Your lips pressed against the skin there, leaving a mixture of soft kisses and bites as you worked him in your hand. 
Gator’s stamina was absolute dogshit. You could tell when he was close from the way he’d pulse in your hand and whimper like a fuckin’ girl. You’d just have to squeeze him at his base to stave it off, give him a few seconds to cool off before you kept going. 
“You want me?” You asked, lips brushing against the shell of his ear. 
“So fuckin’ bad.” He was bucking up into your fist, chasing the sweet pleasure of your soft hand around him. 
A smile spread across your lips. “Then earn it.” You pulled back, meeting his gaze as you removed your hand from him. 
He sat there, panting and staring dumbly as you sat atop the desk and spread your legs invitingly. “C’mon, Gator. You’re a smart boy, you’ll figure it out.”
He huffed with annoyance as he stood, towering over you as he pulled off his shirt to reveal that fucking tank top. He leaned down just slightly, so his arms were caging you in. “I’ll fuckin’ earn it, alright. I’m gonna own this pussy by the time I’m through.”
He knelt between your legs, kissing his way up your thighs. You cried out as his teeth dug into the plush skin, leaving an indentation that would probably turn purple the next day. 
“You’re such a fuckin’ asshole.” He just grinned, clearly pleased with himself. He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of your panties and tugged them down. 
He was quick to drag his fingers through your slit, coating them in your arousal. The wet sounds of him playing with you, spreading you open for him, made your cheeks burn with embarrassment. 
“I’m an asshole, but you clearly fuckin’ like it, huh?” He said, holding up his fingers, glistening with your juices, as proof. His smirk made annoyance and arousal bubble up within you, tangling in an utterly infuriating way. “Relax for me, yeah? Gonna stretch you out, make you feel real good.”
You moaned softly as his fingers pressed against your entrance, teasing you with the idea of being full. A gentleman would start off slow, work you up to two fingers gradually. Gator Tillman wasn’t a fucking gentleman, but you didn’t care. 
“Shhh… open up for me,” He said, speaking not to you, but to your cunt. “That’s it, atta girl.” A low whimper escaped you as his fingers pressed inside, thick and stretching you just right. Your walls fluttered around the intrusion, needing him deeper, more, more.
“Jesus Christ, Gator,” His fingers flexed at just the right spot, making you cry out desperately. He grinned, then pressed a kiss to your thigh as he began fucking you with his fingers, acutely aware that the slightest twitch of his fingers could make you fucking sing for him. 
It’s a funny thing he does with his fingers— not quite jackhammering them in and out like most of the other guys you’d been with but not exactly too far away. And you were fucking whining for it, your hips canting against his fingers until he finally had to throw his arm across your pelvis to just, in his words, keep you fuckin’ still.
It felt good, but you were also very aware that he was purposefully, or, worse, unknowingly avoiding your clit. The more you considered it, the more convinced you were that it was the latter. He was homeschooled, apparently, by his religious nut father, which meant his sex ed was probably just porn, and not even the decent kind. 
You squirmed slightly. “Gator—”
“’M busy.”
You rolled your eyes and huffed. I mean, sure, he was good with his hands, but you would also appreciate that skill applied elsewhere. Whatever, you weren’t helpless. 
His eyes narrowed as you moved a hand between your legs, circling your clit in time with his fingers. Your head fell back as a string of moans escaped your lips. That’s what you needed. 
“God, you’re desperate,” he muttered, but he didn’t bother to redirect your hands. “I coulda done that.”
You would’ve laughed if you weren’t already so close, the pressure and attention to your clit exactly what you needed to fall over the edge. 
“I feel you squeezin’ my fingers,” he said, voice low and dripping with satisfaction. “Wanna cum that bad, huh? Can’t even take what I give ya? Are you that fuckin’ needy?” When you didn’t think to answer, he leaned over and bit your thigh again. Harder.
“Fuck!” You shouted, annoyed that you’d have a second set of bruises to cover. But your annoyance melted right back into the siren call of pleasure. 
Moans tumbled from your lips before you could bring yourself to answer. “Yes, I’m that needy,” You gasped as his fingers moved deeper, harder with every thrust in. Your fingers moved faster on your clit, making your legs twitch on either side of Gator’s shoulders.
He let you teeter there on the precipice for a little longer, until you were sure you were going to tumble straight into sweet ecstasy. So close you could taste it, sweet and heady on the back of your tongue. 
And like that, Gator pulled away, slipping his fingers from your cunt and leaving you wanting. You sat there, panting and frustrated as he wiped his fingers off on your thigh. “Too fuckin’ bad. Bend over.”
He slapped the side of your thigh as he stood and looked down at you expectantly. Your legs wobbled as you stood in what little room he provided you, tits brushing against his chest for just a moment as you turned and bent over the desk. 
“Isn’t this a pretty sight?” He grabbed your ass, kneading the plush skin roughly before landing a rough smack. You winced at the sting as you spared a glance over your shoulder. He landed another slap on the opposite cheek, then spread you apart with his thumbs. “You’re fuckin’ killin’ me, you know that?”
He was quick to free his cock from the confines of his cargos and boxers. Over your shoulder, you could see the heap of clothes he’d made on the floor. In the back of your mind, you noted the very careless way he treated the gun in his thigh holster, but said nothing. It was hard to focus on improper gun handling when he had his length in his hand, stroking it slowly as he took in the sight of you. 
“You’re gonna pull out, right?” You asked, chewing your lip as you looked at him.
He rolled his eyes, the tip of his cock notched right at your entrance, making you arch against him. “You’re such a fuckin’ bitch. I’m not stupid, I’ll pull out.”
The prettiest groan escaped him as he rocked against your cunt, coating himself in your dripping arousal before the head of his cock nudged at your entrance. 
“You want me?” He asked, his breath coming in pants. Your body felt like a fucking live wire, hyperaware of the feeling of him, just barely outside of where you craved him.
You nodded. “Uh-huh. I want you. So bad, Gator.”
He sank into you, nice and slow, so he could relish in the warm, soft feeling of your walls around him. A sappier man would’ve said it felt like heaven. Gator wasn’t sappy. 
“Goddamn, you’ve got the tightest fuckin’ pussy,” He managed once he’d bottomed out, every inch of him fully sheathed inside. “Forget what I said about you bein’ used up.”
What a gentleman. You whined softly, pushing back against him to silently beg for more. He put a hand on the small of your back and pushed down so your back arched even more. Then he fucked you in earnest. 
The noises you made should’ve been illegal— some form of indecency or something. Loud and whiny, desperate for more. Your nails scratched at the laminate of the desk, seeking something, anything to hold onto for purchase as he fucked you within an inch of your life. 
He was so big you could’ve sworn you felt him deep in your stomach, even though you knew physically that was impossible. Each thrust punched out a keening moan from your lips, a swear, a breathy whine, or just his stupid fucking name over and over again. 
He reached a hand beneath you, so his rough fingers could play with your clit. “This is what you wanted so bad, yeah?” He asked, voice breathy as he quickly rubbed your clit. “Say thank you.”
“Thank you, Gator.” You were practically babbling. Thank you thank you thank you. 
Over your shoulder, you watched him using your body, chasing his high. Every slap of your ass was for his own gratification, just to see it jiggle. He was only rubbing your clit so he could feel you squeeze him even tighter. 
You didn’t care. You fucking loved it. Even as he manhandled you, lifting your thigh and placing it on the desk so he could fuck you deeper, you just laid there and took it like a fucking champ. 
“Woulda fucked you sooner if I knew it’d be this good.” His voice wavered slightly with the effort it took to maintain the relentless pace he had set. He slapped your ass hard, making you yelp and clench around him. 
What you’d said earlier was right— you were needy. You rocked back against him, meeting him with each thrust. The sounds of his hips hitting your ass with each thrust were nearly as pornographic as both of your moans. 
Gator didn’t shut up most of the time, but when he was buried inside of you he could mostly only manage pretty moans. 
“F-fuck, sweetheart. You’re… you’re really workin’ for it, huh?” His words were interrupted by low moans and grunts. “C’mon. Give it to me.”
He let you do most of the work, rocking back against him, making you fuck yourself on his cock. And he looked fucking smug about it too. 
The switch snapped suddenly when he grabbed your hips and fucked you without abandon, skin slapping against skin as he roughly bullied himself inside of you again and again. 
“That’s it. Just lay there and take it, sweetheart.” His voice was breathy and strained. Sweat beaded on his forehead. “Fuck! That’s it. Just like that.”
He came suddenly, thrusting deep and hard as he spilled within you. It annoyed you that he looked pretty when he came— his mouth ajar, eyes fluttered shut, his body trembling just slightly. 
And then you were annoyed because he fucking lied. He pulled out after he had ridden the aftershocks with a few shallow thrusts and quickly redressed. 
“You didn’t pull out,” you said, your voice was strained with annoyance and anger as you looked back at him. He was getting dressed, making sure he looked alright. He didn’t even care to get you off. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
He shrugged, trying to appear unbothered by it all. But you saw the annoyed tick in his jaw, the anger beneath it. Like a rattlesnake all coiled up, ready to strike if you made the wrong move. You were never on equal terms. You were no better than prey. And you should have known better, right?
Annoying, hot tears welled on your lashline, and you prayed to any higher power that he wouldn’t notice as you wiped at your eyes. You stood, doing your best to redress in silence, doing your best to remain small. He slapped a fifty on the desk and you flinched. “Buy some Plan B if you’re that fuckin’ worried about it. Jesus Christ.” He paused as he reached the door. “I’ll tell the manager we got it all sorted out. Isn’t that good enough for ya?”
You stood there, unsatisfied and used, with his cum leaking out of you, and stayed silent. It wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t anything at all. 
You walked out with fifty dollars, streaked mascara, three sets of lingerie you’d throw in the trash, and a newfound desire to get the fuck out of Stark County. And, maybe, some misplaced hope that next time might be different.
182 notes · View notes
veganism · 3 months
Text
The genocide is also experimentation on living beings
Israel is currently testing new weapons in Gaza, some of which will soon be sold globally as "battle-tested," according to Antony Loewenstein, an author who has written a widely acclaimed book on the issue.
For years, the Israeli defense sector has used Palestine as a laboratory for new weapons and surveillance tech, he told Anadolu, adding that this is also the case in the current ongoing war on Gaza.
One of the main reasons why "many nations, democracies and dictatorships support Israeli occupation" of Palestine is because it allows them to buy these "battle-tested" weapons, asserted Loewenstein, author of The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World.
Another aspect of Israel's war on Gaza has been the use of artificial intelligence technology, he said.
According to Loewenstein, AI has been one of the key targeting tools used by the Israeli military in its deadly campaign of airstrikes, leading to mass killings of Palestinians-now over 28,500-and damage on an unprecedented scale.
The current war on Gaza is "inarguably one of the most consequential and bloody," he said.
He described Israel's use of AI against Palestinians as "automated murder," stressing that this model "will be studied and copied by other nation-states" and Tel Aviv will sell them these technologies as tried and tested weapons.
In the last 50 years, Israel has exported hi-tech surveillance tools to at least 130 countries around the world.
To maintain its illegal occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and blockade of the Gaza Strip, Israel has developed a range of tools and technologies that have made it the world's leading exporter of spyware and digital forensics tools.
But analysts say the intelligence failure during the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks casts doubts over Tel Avis's technological capabilities.
Israel's reliance on technology "is an illusion of safety, while imprisoning 2.3 million people under endless occupation," said Loewenstein, who is Jewish and holds Australian and German nationalities.
He described Israel's response in Gaza as "apocalyptic," stressing that the killings of Palestinian civilians, including children and women, is "on a scale of indiscriminate slaughter."
- 'BLOOD MONEY'
Loewenstein, who is also a journalist, said Israel has honed its weapons and technology expertise over decades as an occupying power, acting with increasing impunity in the Palestinian territories.
This led a small country like Israel to become one of the top 10 arms dealers in the world, he said, adding that Israeli arms sales in 2021 were "the highest on record, surging 55% over the previous two years to $11.3 billion."
In his book, Loewenstein explores thoroughly Israel's ties with autocracies and regimes engaged in mass displacement campaigns, and governments slinking their way into phones.
The Israeli NSO Group sold its well-known Pegasus software to numerous governments, a spyware tool for phones that gives access to the entire content, including conversations, text messages, emails and photos even when the device is switched off.
Israeli drones were first tested over Gaza, the besieged enclave that Loewenstein referred to as "the perfect laboratory for Israeli ingenuity in domination."
Surveillance technology developed in Israel has also been sold to the US in the form of watch towers now used on the border with Mexico.
The EU's border agency Frontex is known to have used Israeli drone technology to monitor refugees.
Loewenstein explains in his book that the EU has partnered with leading Israeli defense companies to use its drones, "and of course years of experience in Palestine is a key selling point."
"So again, one sees how there are so many examples of nations that are wanting to copy what Israel is doing in their own area in their own country on their own border," he said.
These technologies and "are sold by Israel as battle-tested," he said.
In other words, he contends that Palestinians essentially have become "guinea pigs," and despite some nations and the UN publicly criticizing the Israeli occupation, in reality "they're desperate for this technology for themselves for their own countries."
"And that's how in fact, the Palestine laboratory has been so successful for Israel for so long," he said.
In his exhaustive probe into Israel's dealings with arms sales around the world, he noted that the country has monetized the occupation of Palestine, by selling weapons, spyware tools and technologies to repressive regimes such as Rwanda during the genocide in 1994 and to Myanmar during its genocide against the Muslim Rohingya people in 2017.
"This to me is blood money. I mean, there's no other way to see that and again, as someone Jewish, who has spent many, many years reporting on this conflict, both within Israel and Palestine but also elsewhere, it's deeply shameful that Israel is making huge amounts of money from the misery of others," he said.
"This is not a legacy that I can be proud of."
- 'NO NATION ACTUALLY HOLDING ISRAEL TO ACCOUNT'
Profiting from misery is to some extent the nature of what capitalism has always been about, but Israel does this with a great deal of impunity, "because Israel does what it wants," said Loewenstein.
"There is no accountability, there is no transparency, there is no nation actually holding Israel to account," he added.
Israel's regime is shielded from any political backlash for years to come because nations are reliant on Israeli weapons and spyware, said the author.
Israel may not be the only player employing surveillance technology that leads to human rights violations, but it still plays a dominant role, which is why Loewenstein insists that it deserves singular attention.
Israel's foreign policy has always been "amoral and opportunistic," he said, calling on all nations to take a stand and hold Israel accountable, and acknowledge that the world is buying what Israel is selling.
129 notes · View notes
proqhetic · 2 months
Note
laura lee w total opposite style f!reader? like reader trying to help her live a little more, taking her to dates, showing her new artists, skipping classes to get together ^^ and also laura lee teaching r things such as baking and stuff
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
AHH this is so cute i love laura lee she deserves sm more love and attention from every1
laura lee’s obviously quite conservative and a stickler for the rules, that is until she met you
loud, independent, known for defying the norm — perfectly complementary!!!
the first time you took her out on a date (you took the initiative to ask her out), she was really nervous and spent hours getting ready like in those movie montages &lt;3
bringing her to a theme park and her being so anxious at first ,, but as the date continued she grew to let loose
at the end of it even did the raise your arms thing on the roller coaster with you!!
the literal definition of “most unlikely couple” and “opposites attract”, but you two manage to make it work 😚😚
she loves holding your hand. it’s a huge source of comfort for her
trying to convince her to skip class with you one day and rent was DUE
“no we shouldn’t—” “i meannn, it’s the start of the semester. we skip now, we can’t get away with doing this for the rest of the year…” [pleading with puppy dog eyes while taking her hand in yours] “it’s one day, the only really important lessons today are chemistry and literature. and we could just get all the notes from lottie or jackie-“ “lottie and jackie…” [in unison] “EXACTLY.”
you end up buying her a sweet treat as a thank you for joining, then taking her to your favourite spot at the back of the park, sharing the mixtape you made for her (spoiler alert: she loves it) while she braids your hair
becomes your guys’s spot & she loves going for picnics there with you 🧺🥪🧃!!!
in turn, you ask her about her faith and she loves sharing it with you, without any judgment from your end
also think she would start swearing slightly more after getting close you, just silently or under her breath
laura lee is definitely known as that one designated baker in your school. whenever she bakes something at home, she saves a portion for you and gifts it in a tupperware for you the next day 😋
on days when she bakes bigger batches she’ll go around and hand it out to friends too!! bake sale #1 contributor
you on the other hand have come close to burning down your house via oven several times
her lowk stressing out while you’re baking brownies because you somehow keep measuring everything slightly off and mixing the wrong ingredients together
“was it 200ml…? or was that 200g for something else??”
at the end of the day she finds it (you) extremely endearing, hovering around and watching you closely all afternoon.
giving u a kiss on the cheek after you two finally shut the oven door before u pull her in for a proper one :>
you end up turning ‘clean up time’ into ‘make an even bigger mess time’ by playing with the flour and tossing some at laura lee .. at first she >:( and then she got you back with an even bigger handful hehehe
decorates the brownies with you and on one of the squares writes “(r’s initial) + LL” in frosting, encasing it in a cute pink heart 💗
you try and recreate something similar but it just turns into squiggly illegible lines — she hits you with the “it’s the thought that counts!!” while giggling her ass off
71 notes · View notes
agentfascinateur · 22 days
Text
It is illegal, immoral and inconsistent for the UK to continue to sell arms to Israel, when it is clear that UK-made weapons and components are being used in serious violation of international humanitarian law – and after it imposed restrictions in previous escalations of violence when the scale of death and destruction had been lower.
- OXFAM
3 notes · View notes
Text
Big Telco’s fury over FCC plan to infuse telecoms policy with facts
Tumblr media
I'll be at the Studio City branch of the LA Public Library on Monday, November 13 at 1830hPT to launch my new novel, The Lost Cause. There'll be a reading, a talk, a surprise guest (!!) and a signing, with books on sale. Tell your friends! Come on down!
Tumblr media
Reality has a distinct anti-conservative bias, but conservatives have an answer: when the facts don't support your policies, just get different facts. Who needs evidence-based policy when you can have policy-based evidence?
Take gun violence. Conservatives tell us that "an armed society is a polite society," which means that the more guns you have, the less gun violence you'll experience. To prevent reality from unfairly staining this pristine ideological mind-palace with facts, conservatives passed the Dickey Amendment, which had the effect of banning the CDC from gathering stats on American gun-violence. No stats, no violence!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickey_Amendment
Policy-based evidence is at the core of so many cherished conservative beliefs, like the idea that queer people (and not youth pastors) are responsible for the sexual abuse of children, or the idea that minimum wages (and not monopolies) decrease jobs, or the idea that socialized medicine (and not private equity) leads to death panels:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/26/death-panels/#what-the-heck-is-going-on-with-CMS
The Biden administration features a sizable cohort of effective regulators, whose job is to gather evidence and then make policy from it:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/23/getting-stuff-done/#praxis
Fortunately for conservatives, not every Biden agency is led by competent, honest brokers – the finance wing of the Dems got to foist some of their most ghoulish members upon the American people, including a no-fooling cheerleader for mass foreclosure:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/06/personnel-are-policy/#janice-eberly
And these same DINOs reached across the aisle to work with Republicans to keep some of the most competent, principled agency leaders from being seated, like the remarkable Gigi Sohn, targeted by a homophobic smear campaign funded by the telco industry, who feared her presence on the FCC:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/19/culture-war-bullshit-stole-your-broadband/
The telcos are old hands at this stuff. Long before the gun control debates, Ma Bell had figured out that a monopoly over Americans' telecoms was a license to print money, and they set to corrupting agencies from the FCC to the DoJ:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/11/14/jam-to-day/
Reality has a vicious anti-telco bias. Think of Net Neutrality, the idea that if you pay an ISP for internet service, they should make a best effort to deliver the data you request, rather than deliberately slowing down your connection in the hopes that you'll seek out data from the company's preferred partners, who've paid a bribe for "premium delivery."
This shouldn't even be up for debate. The idea that your ISP should prioritize its preferred data over your preferred data is as absurd as the idea that a taxi-driver should slow down your rides to any pizzeria except Domino's, which has paid it for "premium service." If your cabbie circled the block twice every time you asked for a ride to Massimo's Pizza, you'd be rightly pissed – and the cab company would be fined.
Back when Ajit Pai was Trump's FCC chairman, he made killing Net Neutrality his top priority. But regulators aren't allowed to act without evidence, so Pai had to seek out as much policy-based evidence as he could. To that end, Pai allowed millions of obviously fake comments to be entered into the docket (comments from dead people, one million comments from @pornhub.com address, comments from sitting Senators who disavowed them, etc). Then Pai actively – and illegally – obstructed the NY Attorney General's investigation into the fraud:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/06/boogeration/#pais-lies
The pursuit of policy-based evidence is greatly aided by the absence of real evidence. If you're gonna fill the docket with made-up nonsense, it helps if there's no truthful stuff in there to get in the way. To that end, the FCC has systematically avoided collecting data on American broadband delivery, collecting as little objective data as possible:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/26/pandemic-profiteers/#flying-blind
This willful ignorance was a huge boon to the telcos, who demanded billions in fed subsidies for "underserved areas" and then just blew it on anything they felt like – like the $45 billion of public money they wasted on obsolete copper wiring for rural "broadband" expansion under Trump:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/27/all-broadband-politics-are-local/
Like other cherished conservative delusions, the unsupportable fantasy that private industry is better at rolling out broadband is hugely consequential. Before the pandemic, this meant that America – the birthplace of the internet – had the slowest, most expensive internet service of any G8 country. During the lockdown, broadband deserts meant that millions of poor and rural Americans were cut off from employment, education, health care and family:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/12/ajit-pai/#pai
Pai's response was to commit another $8 billion in public funds to broadband expansion, but without any idea of where the broadband deserts were – just handing more money over to monopoly telcos to spend as they see fit, with zero accountability:
https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/26/pandemic-profiteers/#flying-blind
All that changed after the 2020 election. Pai was removed from office (and immediately blocked me on Twitter) (oh, diddums), and his successor, Biden FCC chair Jessic Rosenworcel, started gathering evidence, soliciting your broadband complaints:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/23/parliament-of-landlords/#fcc
And even better, your broadband speed measurements:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/14/for-sale-green-indulgences/#fly-my-pretties
All that evidence spurred Congress to act. In 2021, Congress ordered the FCC to investigate and punish discrimination in internet service provision, "based on income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin":
https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ58/PLAW-117publ58.pdf
In other words, Congress ordered the FCC to crack down on "digital redlining." That's when historic patterns of underinvestment in majority Black neighborhoods and other underserved communities create broadband deserts, where internet service is slower and more expensive than service literally across the street:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/10/flicc/#digital-divide
FCC Chair Rosenworcel has published the agency's plan for fulfilling this obligation. It's pretty straightforward: they're going to collect data on pricing, speed and other key service factors, and punish companies that practice discrimination:
https://www.fcc.gov/document/preventing-digital-discrimination-broadband-internet-access
This has provoked howls of protests from the ISP cartel, their lobbying org, and their Republican pals on the FCC. Writing for Ars Technica, Jon Brodkin rounds up a selection of these objections:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/11/internet-providers-say-the-fcc-should-not-investigate-broadband-prices/
There's GOP FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, with a Steve Bannon-seque condemnation of "the administrative state [taking] effective control of all Internet services and infrastructure in the US. He's especially pissed that the FCC is going to regulate big landlords who force all their tenants to get slow, expensive from ISPs who offer kickbacks to landlords:
https://www.fcc.gov/document/carr-opposes-bidens-internet-plan
The response from telco lobbyists NCTA is particularly, nakedly absurd: they demand that the FCC exempt price from consideration of whether an ISP is practicing discrimination, calling prices a "non-technical aspect of broadband service":
https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/110897268295/1
I mean, sure – it's easy to prove that an ISP doesn't discriminate against customers if you don't ask how much they charge! "Sure, you live in a historically underserved neighborhood, but technically we'll give you a 100mb fiber connection, provided you give us $20m to install it."
This is a profoundly stupid demand, but that didn't stop the wireless lobbying org CTIA from chiming in with the same talking points, demanding that the FCC drop plans to collect data on "pricing, deposits, discounts, and data caps," evaluation of price is unnecessary in the competitive wireless marketplace":
https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/1107735021925/1
Individual cartel members weighed in as well, with AT&T and Verizon threatening to sue over the rules, joined by yet another lobbying group, USTelecom:
https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/1103655327582/1
The next step in this playbook is whipping up the low-information base by calling this "socialism" and mobilizing some of the worst-served, most-gouged people in America to shoot themselves in the face (again), to own the libs:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/15/useful-idiotsuseful-idiots/#unrequited-love
Tumblr media
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/10/digital-redlining/#stop-confusing-the-issue-with-relevant-facts
Tumblr media
Image: Japanexperterna.se (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/japanexperterna/15251188384/
CC BY-SA 2.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
--
Mike Mozart (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia/14325839070/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia/14325905568/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia/14489390566/
www.ccPixs.com https://www.flickr.com/photos/86530412@N02/8210762750/
CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
137 notes · View notes
flyingcatstiel · 4 months
Text
I’m currently reading superbat fics (sorry, destiel, stony and dinluke, I’ll get back to you some day) and I’m having great time with commenting and authors replying to me. It’s a whole new fandom experience when I can read fics just for personal enjoyment, without planning fic rec lists. So much easier to comment, wtf. Anyways, I’m following 4 superbat identity p*rn fics right now, and it’s glorious. What a feast. My favorite trope, so many interesting ways to explore it. Happy holidays to all superbat writers but especially those 4 WIP writers🎄
ETA - here be some recs
ETA, March 2024 - HERE BE SOME UPDATES!
@pinkb00bsocks asked about those 4 WIPs. Here they are! The usual disclaimer - there are plenty of excellent superbat WIPs going on right now, but I've limited spoons and these are the ones I currently enjoy.
The World and All Its Hedgehogs by Ginevra_Benci [M. 8,007 word count, WIP, 4/?] To investigate illegal arms sale taking place at a tropical resort hotel, Batman goes under cover as a vacuous billionaire Brucie Wayne and Superman takes a part time job as a porter. They didn't coordinate this, they don't know each others civilian identities. Every time they talk there are at least 3 different conversations going on and it is glorious. Also, so much lust. ;)
(Also, check out Interviewing & Counceling series by the same author. Clark is having a superhero identity crisis and Bruce is there to catch Clark gently as he spirals down. It has one of the softest identity reveals in superbat fics. ETA - the series is now complete, it has 5 parts and 18k word count. Awesome ending to the softest identity reveal story)
Watching Our Stars Align by ClarkeStetler [M, 28,840 word count, WIP, 7/14] There's a dating/chatting app only for superheroes and all identities are secret. What could go wrong? Bruce and Clark get matched under their new pseuds, and same happens to Tim Drake and Conner Kent. Now fathers and sons gotta navigate complicated relationships that come with secret identities and judging your coworkers hastily while talking heart to heart to anonymous superhero. The identity porn part happens through DM, which just happens to be another favorite trope of mine. [The story is going strong, it has 10/14 chapters now and a wonderful tangle of 3 secret identities!]
(Love) Triangles Have Multiple Centers by frozenpotions [T, 27,281 word count, WIP, 4/10] This fic wastes no time getting playboy billionaire Brucie Wayne and pining-after-his-coworker journalist Clark Kent together. After that, first time uneasy partners Batman and Superman gotta solve a case and their civilian selves gotta deal with the realities of their one night stand. Complicated doesn't even cover it! [The fic is being updated and Clark and Bruce are being put through new trials, 6/10 chapters]
A Favor for a Friend by RedFive [Explicit, 18,286 word count, WIP, 4/7] Omega verse fic with alpha playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne and omega journalist Clark Kent. I'm fascinated by dominant, flirtatious, sexually ravenous alpha Brucie Wayne who moonlights as a stoic, covered in scent blockers thus unclear second gender, Batman. Meanwhile omega Clark, due to being Kryptonian, is much less ruled by his second gender. That is, until he meets Mr. Wayne. This fic has so much lust and tension between the two. Does accidental heat triggering counts as a soulmate mark? I'm gonna count it like that. [The fic has entered the finish line, only a chapter or two are left to finish this wild, explosive, life changing story of two people who were meant for each other. 8/? chapters, 44k word count] The fic is now complete!!! 9 chapters, 56,153 word count. (Also, there's this new TV show about two gay dudes, and istg, they look like Bruce and Clark from this fic. I'm not naming it here because I don't want to highjack the show tag with superbat post, but go and check the tag on tumblr)
*****
And a special shout out to two identity shenanigan WIPs that are not actively updating but are absolute must reads.
ship-to-ship combat by pomeloquat [M, 62,737 word count, WIP, 12/13] OK, so, for me personally, this is the ultimate identity p*rn fic across all fandoms I've read so far. This fic has one of the highest amount of secret identity pairs in superbat fics. There's the usual pining silently Batman/Superman, then there's Clark dating Bruce, Superman saving Bruce Wayne from peril, Clark Kent chatting with Batman. And the cherry on top is Clark writing Bruceman fanfic which is basically a RPF of his two friends, Batman and Bruce Wayne. Which leads to an internet friendship with a fellow fan, who is, you guessed, Bruce. This fic has great reflections on fandom and shipping culture. But the very beating heart of this fic is about how easy it is to lose something you wished to have but were afraid to ask for. The fic, at 12/13, is technically a WIP, but the main reveal is already done, and it is glorious. ETA - THIS IS NOT A DRILL, the fic is finished and the last chapter is a super meta cherry on a top of delicious, layered superhero identity and fandom shenanigans parfait. 13 chapters, 76,7k word count.
10 Things Every Brucie Fan Needs in Their Life by pomeloquat [T, 8,956 word count, WIP, 5/10] The main premise of this fic is hilarious and yet so, so right. Bruce Wayne is promoting himself as a nation's boyfriend instead of a playboy, and is making bank out of his wholesome, PG rated merchandise. The chapters of this fic tell continuous story but they also can be read as separate vignettes, so there's really no cliffhanger. This fic is so soft and fluffy, it will heal your soul. Also, Superman has celebrity crush on Bruce Wayne. Batman is amused.
81 notes · View notes
xtruss · 1 month
Text
In a Letter Signed By Over 130 Parliamentarians, British MPs and Peers are Saying that Continuing Arms Business with “Terrorist, Fascist, War Criminal, Genocidal and Zionist 🐖 Isra-hell” is "Totally Unacceptable" as UK-made Arms are Being Used by the “Terrorist, Fascist, War Criminal and Genocidal Isra-helli Army” in Gaza.
The letter, coordinated by Labour MP Zarah Sultana, sites a case where a fighter jet made with UK parts was probably responsible for bombing British doctors in the Palestinian enclave.
The parliamentarians also refer to other countries, most recently Canada, who have halted exports sales to Israel over concerns over its actions in Gaza.
The letter comes after a UN Security Council resolution which called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the remainder of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Israel seemed undeterred by the resolution, as it continued its relentless bombing and military operations in the enclave with the civilian death toll continuously rising.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
1 note · View note
geekcavepodcast · 4 months
Text
DC Comics Announces Wonder Woman and Blue Beetle Young Adult Graphic Novels
Tumblr media
DC Comics has announced two new young adult graphic novels: Wonder Woman: The Adventures of Young Diana and This Land s Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story.
Wonder Woman: The Adventures of Young Diana hails from Jordie Bellaire and Paulina Ganucheau. The graphic novel is a collection of stories about young Diana originally published in Wonder Woman #770-#779 and #785-#796 and the Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular.
"The world may know her as Wonder Woman, but once upon a time she was Diana, the young princess of Themyscira. Back then, she struggled to find her place on an island deemed paradise by many, but which was, to her, a prison. Trapped in her role as a royal and shielded from the harsh realities of Man’s World, Diana yearns for adventure, or at least a purpose. So when ancient texts portraying her home’s history go missing, she gets both. How far will our hero go to find the texts and the truths they’re hiding?" (DC Comics)
Wonder Woman: The Adventures of Young Diana goes on sale on August 6, 2024.
Tumblr media
This Land s Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story hails from Julio Anta, Jacoby Salcedo, and Francesco Segala. The story follows a high school aged Jaime Reyes, who lives in El Paso, Texas. TJaime loves his family, culture, and home. "But lately he’s begun to realize that he and his border community are being used as pawns in an increasingly toxic immigration debate.
The last few months have seen armed troops deployed along the U.S. and Mexico border, manufactured crackdowns at official border crossings, and now, at the community level, a mounting resentment amongst a disaffected and reactionary group who believe they’re being “replaced” by El Paso’s growing immigrant population. And to make matters worse, one of Jaime’s oldest friends, Riley, has bought into the propaganda. What started off as innocent web searches have now led Riley down a path to joining an unabashed hate group with a chapter in El Paso looking to cause some real-world violence.
But Jaime’s problems get even more complicated when he finds an odd bug-like artifact while stargazing. He starts feeling a little different—like there’s another voice in his head pushing him toward his basest instincts. And to make matters worse, he’s been having surreal dreams that show him that the true threat El Paso faces isn’t “illegal aliens,” but actual aliens known as the Reach. In fact, according to his dreams, Jaime is meant to pave the way for the Reach’s impending invasion!" (DC Comics)
This Land s Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story goes on sale on October 1, 2024.
(Image via DC Comics - Cover of Wonder Woman: The Adventures of Young Diana and Cover of This Land s Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story)
58 notes · View notes
magz · 1 month
Text
Palestine summary for March 16 to March 28, 2024. (From "Lets Talk Palestine" broadcast channel). Quote.
March 16, 2024.
Day 162
• 1st aid shipment departing Cyprus arrived in Gaza yesterday carrying 200 tons of food, marking 1st Gaza sea shipment since 2005 + planned 2nd ship coordinated by US, UAE, Spain & Japan; but unclear on distribution of aid across Gaza
• Massacre in central Gaza as Israel destroys home, killing 36 Palestinians, incl. kids & pregnant women
🔻 Senior Hamas & Houthi officials hold rare meeting to discuss coordinated action against an Israeli Rafah ground invasion
• Israeli settlers attack homes in Nablus (West Bank), throwing stones & shooting the air + 20 Palestinians abducted in West Bank, incl. some released in Nov. hostage exchange deal
•⁠ ⁠Palestinian Authority (PA) president Abbas accuses Hamas of causing “return of Israeli occupation of Gaza”, essentially blaming Hamas for the ongoing genocide. Was prompted by Hamas criticism of ‘unilateral’ appointment of new PM of the PA (see our last broadcast)
• 63 Palestinians killed, 112 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours
March 17, 2024.
Day 163
🇺🇸⁠ NBC: Biden frustrated over drop in poll numbers in swing states Michigan & Georgia due to his handling of Gaza genocide. Shouting and swearing in a White House meeting, saying he’s doing what is right
•⁠ 19 aid trucks arrive in north Gaza — first convoys to reach the north without incident in 4 months. But aid remains scarce as Israel keeps blocking entry of aid as trucks pile outside Rafah crossing + rate of malnutrition among children under 2 in north doubles in past month
•⁠ 14th Palestinian dies since Oct 7 in Israeli prison following multiple allegations of extreme abusive conditions for Palestinian hostages
🇪🇺⁠ ⁠EU President condemns an Israeli Rafah invasion, joining countless nations to do so like the US & Arab countries
•⁠ Israeli forces abduct 25 Palestinians, incl. a woman with cancer from Gaza & a child in overnight raids in West Bank
•⁠ ⁠92 Palestinians killed, 130 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours
(No specific summary for March 18)
March 19, 2024.
Day 165
🇨🇦⁠ Canada to halt all further arms exports to Israel in support of ceasefire and 2-state “solution”, recognizing ICJ ruling. This came after a non-binding parliamentary resolution which called for ending arms sales. But resolution’s language was watered down during amendment, denoting Hamas as a “terror organization” + removing call to sanction Israeli officials
• 93 Palestinians killed, 142 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours
• Israel escalates attacks across Gaza with 1 attack on Rafah killing 14 Palestinians + ongoing raid of al-Shifa hospital killed & injured dozens
• Israel issued 100,000 new gun licenses to Israeli’s since Oct 7 out of the 299,354 applications
• Israel massacred aid distribution committee at Kuwaiti roundabout (north Gaza), killing at least 23 people
•⁠ ⁠Israeli settlers, w/ ongoing genocide as a distraction, accelerated building of 18 new illegal roads + 15 outposts (unauthorized settlement illegal under Israeli law) in West Bank since Oct
March 20, 2024.
Day 166
•⁠ 104 Palestinians killed, 162 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours
🇺🇸 Reuters:⁠ US Congress & White House reach deal on funding bill that includes blocking UNRWA donations until March 2025, based on Israel’s unverified allegations
🏥 IOF siege on al-Shifa hospital enters 3rd day, as forces surround the complex trapping hundreds inside & block rescue efforts
•⁠ 8 Israeli attacks kill 100+ aid workers in 1 week + IOF massacred 23 aid seekers in north Gaza
🚢 Israel Hayom: Israel plans to buy port in Cyprus amid fears of Haifa port closure from Hezbollah strikes, hindering military & commercial imports
⚓️ ⁠Israel’s Eilat port will fire half its employees due to Red Sea blockade
•⁠ Israeli High Court approves demolition of a Palestinian’s home for carrying out a non-lethal resistance operation in West Bank; marking first authorized home demolition by court for an operation without fatalities — an escalation in Israeli repression
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia pledges $40m to UNRWA
March 21, 2024.
Day 167
• As Arabs celebrate Mother's Day today, we remember that on average 37 mothers are exterminated everyday in Gaza, meanwhile mothers from Gaza make up 28 of the 67 female detainees in Israeli prisons
• 65 Palestinians killed, 92 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours
🏥 Israel continues 4th day siege on al-Shifa Hospital, killing 140+ Palestinians & abducted 600 people, incl. medical staff. 13 patients killed as Israel cut off electricity, depriving oxygen, medicine & food
• 18-year-old Ubai Abu Maria abducted by Israeli forces in West Bank for 7th time, impeding treatment for bullet wound requiring surgery
•⁠ Poll finds 71% of Palestinians in Gaza & West Bank support Hamas's Oct 7 resistance operation; compared to poll 3 months ago, support among West Bank residents dropped by 11% but amongst Gazans rose by 14%
• Israel ordered 25 patients receiving care in West Bank to return to Gaza. They're among the 400 patients from Gaza who were left stranded in West Bank after Oct 7
March 22, 2024.
🚨Russia & China veto US UN Security Council ceasefire resolution
The resolution showed a shift: US had vetoed every ceasefire proposal, most recently Algeria’s as the US opposed language of “immediate” ceasefire, preferring “humanitarian pause”. But now the US draft states “the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire”.
The problem? It’d last only 6 weeks, is conditional on release of Israeli hostages, and condemns both Hamas’ op & the Houthi naval blockade. The wording of “determines the imperative” is also weak, implying the importance of a ceasefire, not demanding one.
The result? It wouldn’t obligate Israel to end the genocide + let it continue on the pretext that there’s no “acceptable” hostage deal.
It was vetoed by 🇷🇺 & 🇨🇳 who said it’d let Israel continue attacks & invade Rafah. Algeria also voted against it.
10 states are planning alternative resolution calling for Ramadan ceasefire, including but not conditioned on release of Israeli hostages. US likely to veto.
Day 168 - IMPORTANT
•⁠ Gaza death toll surpasses 32,000 not including the thousands buried under rubble
‼️ Israel seized 1,977 acres of West Bank land for settlements, the largest land theft since 1993
🇺🇸 Congress passes bill that bans funding to UNRWA until 2025; expected for Senate to pass before midnight deadline
🏥 Israel’s siege on Shifa Hospital enters 5th day as they bomb & demolish buildings with bulldozers; abducting 240+ patients & 10 medical staff from radiology unit. IOF forces ordered trapped patients to surrender despite continuous heavy gunfire
•⁠ 50 Palestinians abducted incl. 4 kids during 60+ Israeli military raids across West Bank in 2 days. Marking March 20 “one of the deadliest nights recorded to date” in 2024 in West Bank w/ 7+ Palestinians killed. Israeli settlers also took over 20+ Palestinian residential structures
•⁠ UN aid mission to north Gaza for 7,500 people was denied by Israel
🇫🇮 Finland to resume UNRWA funding
March 24, 2024.
Day 170
🚨 Israeli forces lay siege to 3 hospitals, surrounding al-Amal Hospital forcing Palestinians to strip naked & leave; currently carpet bombing near Nasser Hospital & sniping anyone moving, while continuing aggressive 7-day seige on al-Shifa
• 84 Palestinians killed, 106 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours
• Israel denied thousands of Christians from West Bank entry to Jerusalem on Psalm Sunday, heightening military checkpoints. Israel’s apartheid system discriminates Palestinians’ freedom of movement, requiring permits for West Bank residents to enter, which is rarely granted. More info on Israeli apartheid: https://rb.gy/vjocrd + checkpoints: https://rb.gy/rabxt6;
• Israel to deny all UNRWA aid convoys to north Gaza, despite 70% of population subject to “catastrophic starvation”
• BDS launches boycott of tech company Intel due to its $25bn investment in new factory in Israel, the “largest investment ever”; on top of Intel’s $50bn+ investments in Israel in past 50 years
March 25, 2024.
UNSC CEASEFIRE MOTION PASSES
For the 1st time the Security Council managed to pass a ceasefire resolution. The US abstained while all 14 others voted yes
The US planned to veto if it didn’t mention the hostages so it “demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
But it doesn’t condition the ceasefire on a hostage swap the way done by the US draft that got vetoed by 🇷🇺 & 🇨🇳
It doesn’t condemn Hamas explicitly as the US wanted but it “deplores” all attacks against civilians & “all acts of terrorism” noting that it’s illegal to take hostages under int’l law. So it’s indirect condemnation
It expresses deep concern “about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” calling for more efforts for more aid & to protect civilians. This is weak language
Better than nothing but not enough as people are slaughtered & raped.
Day 171 — Attacks on 3 hospitals
🚨 Israel escalates attacks on “safe zone” Rafah killing 30+, including women and children amid threats of looming ground invasion
• 107 Palestinians killed, 176 injured in past 24 hours
🏥 22,000 displaced Palestinians face worsening conditions in the European Hospital, one of the last functioning in Gaza, overcrowded with patients awaiting critical care
🏥 Israeli forces lay siege to further hospitals in Khan Younis forcing critically ill patients to evacuate the premises surrounded by complete destruction
🏥 Israeli forces open fire on medical staff forced to evacuate al-Amal Hospital amid continuous attacks on the premise leaving patients in critical condition, deprived of medical supervision
• Netanyahu cancels Israeli delegation trip to US over its abstention in today’s UNSC vote, calling it a departure from their long-standing support of Israel. Biden called the move “disappointing”
• Israeli assaults targeting homes in central Gaza kill 18
(No march 26 summary)
March 27, 2024
Day 172
🚨 Gaza Gov’t Media Office demands end to aerial aid drops after one today killed 6 & caused 12 to drown in north Gaza
• 81 Palestinians killed, 93 injured in the last 24 hours
🇯🇴 100+ protesters arrested & teargassed outside Jordan’s Israeli embassy amid demands to end Jordan’s military & economic ties with Israel
🇧🇪 Brussels City Council passes motion to ban council purchases of products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank on the basis of international law violations
• Israel bombs residential building in Rafah, killing 15+ displaced Palestinians incl. 4 kids. Analysts say the Rafah bombings mark the start of a “silent” invasion
🏥 Ongoing Israeli attacks on Shifa Hospital kill 30+ people incl. a family living in a residential building near the besieged complex
• IOF abducts 30 Palestinians in overnight raids in West Bank cities
🇱🇧 Israeli airstrike in eastern Lebanon kills 2 people, an escalation as the bombing was far from south Lebanon, the usual battleground
March 28, 2024.
Day 173
🇮🇪 Ireland to follow Nicaragua and join South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel
•⁠ ⁠Israeli attacks on residential homes in Rafah kill 25 displaced Palestinians, incl. multiple children
•⁠ ⁠76 Palestinians killed, 102 injured in the last 24 hours
•⁠ ⁠IOF kills 4 in central Gaza, forcefully burying them by bulldozers
🇺🇸 ⁠US state department report claims Israel is complying with international law, as US reviewed Israeli usage of US weapons in order to validate future arms exports
🇱🇧 Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon residencies kill 12 in past 24 hours with many still trapped under the rubble
•⁠ ⁠Two aid seekers remain in critical condition as Israeli snipers target the Kuwait Roundabout aid distribution point
🇺🇸 Poll: 55% of Americans disapprove of Israel’s actions in Gaza — a 10% increase from November’s poll
•⁠ ⁠Israeli drone attack kills 8 in West Bank; IOF abducts 20 Palestinians in overnight raids
44 notes · View notes