Greetings Dramatards!

I've been talking about a lot about the decay of the Republic of South Africa for the past 9 months here on rdama.net, and I've on and often mentioned the desgraceful decline of the National Post Office. Yet, I've never went into deeper insight into just how fundamentally FUBAR it's become, because it's so ubiquitous to SA life and malfunction.

The SAPO (South African Post Office) is especially a gruesome example of modern ANC corruption and substandard leadership, not just in how far the organization has fallen, but in that the very heights of their descent ads to the very very painful memory and real-time life experience I've had with their decline in my 30 years lifespan.

A lot of dramatards, and a lot of people who had from all corners of the internet, be it the youtube comments, obscure forums, or readdit threads, before they were by jannies, had all spoken and described the drastic decay and decline of the RSA, and how their corrupt leadership had hobbleed the nation, and changed the story from a successful bloodless democratic coup, where colonized black peeps threw off the shackles of their oppressors, and managed to peacefully transition into a democratic ranbow nation - and instead now speak about how modern SA is a failed state who cant even keep the lights on

Many of these internet denizens, some motivated by racism and desiring the collapse of all black nations, others motivated more curious at the shocking and staggering decline, mention all sorts of factors which irrifutably proves that modern RSA had declined in many categories of life quality in extraordinary levels: the rotten infrastructure, the extreme crime levels and r*pe statistics - SA has been tied with india as the r*pe capital of the world - and wokescolds cant deny this reality.

Other discussions revolve around the impressive past milltary achievements, like the Union of South Africa having constructed formidable war engines on their own, despite grueling sanctions during High Apartheid. They reverse engineered the French Mirage into the Cheetah Jet fighters, built the Elephant tank, or the Ratel troop carriers. Most sighted are the fact that the Union developed atomic weaponry, which had still not been replicated by the modern ANC gov.

Yet all of these mean absolutely nothing in my opinion, as it's my belief that of all of the actual institution kept in great function by the NP regime during the Union of SA days, was the National Post Office. No, I'm completely serious. All the military hardware are merely toys in comparison. The russian Migs could dominate the Mirage, our land vehicles only made us a local superpower in southern africa, and even our nuklear warheads were but WW2 era dropped bombs from bombers, not like the ICBM the yanks by the end of the fricking 1960s. We were really only the big fish in the small pond.

No where we really shone, was our civil and bureaucratic institutions - among them noting more so exemplified this than our National Post Office. It was truly genuinely impressive just how unbelievably efficient it was, from the 1920s all the way up to the 1990s. It was incredible how fricking fast mail would reliably arrive within very short timespans.

It's so incredibly difficult to research the exact timeframes, and to avoid hearsay, and nostalgia by afrikaans boomers , but I've pieced together some standards from periods up to 60 years ago.

Mail would regularly be delivered between Cape Town and Pretoria, in just 3 days. A week if it was to any town in Limpopo. Mail within any city would be posted through the post box at 6am, and be delivered to the recipient by 12 noon. Mil could and would be delivered anywhere, no matter how remote, and in South Africa that was extremely fricking remote, much more so than any european nation. Mailmen who traverse between rural isolated farmlands and local towns often did so on fricking horseback, as cars/vehicles were middleclass and expensive. And even then, mail would not be expected to be later than 2 weeks. It was absolutely incredible.

I know these are unimpressive stats compared to places like Bongland - the king of efficient Post and Mail institutions of their time, but SA operated under a fraction of a fraction of the cost. Where England and Europe was small and compact, and developed. Where railroads had to coved tiny lengths between towns, and there was a well developed town scarred all the way between capitals, SA was much larger and rural and underdeveloped.

Like the excellent Mailing system we inherited as a Commonwealth Dominions area under Bongland, so too did the Union of SA inherit a spectacular railway and locomotive system. The railways were few and covered only between capitals and large cities in SA, like bloemfontein to Pretoria to Cape Town to Joburg, but they ran with intense efficiency. They were the reason mail would take only 3 days upon posting, to cross the distance between Pretoria and Cape Town.

Mailing letters and valuables were also secure. You could mail and post virtually anything, including jewelry and coins, and have them not be stolen! Parcels would never be opened, and all hands involved in the transfer were extremely well documented. There was such high confidence that people would mail fricking gold to loved ones.

I know zoomers don't have a reference to how integral letters and mail had been to lives and function of people prior to 1990, but it was immense. Top millitary secrets were delivered by man between generals and politicians under the NP regime. Bussinesses were reliant on mailing documents and bills between clients and partners for commerce to function.

While South Africa had telegrams, radios and booth phones with landlines in this era, they were very expensive, and could only be used for short usually urgent messages. For the everyman mail and letters were the primary means of longform unrestricted communication between people. In South Africa even up till the late 1980s, many school children boarding far away from home would primarily communicate with their parents for example, via weekly mail, and would MAYBE receive a monthly phonecall from their parents because it was so fricking expensive - and became even MORE expensive the further away physically you tried to communicate in terms of physical distance the landlines were laid. You even had to talk to operators on that land line 1st and specify the address you were calling if you were calling on landline phones between towns!!!

For many south africans, black or white or coloured, the only cost involved was the buying of stamps for each posted letter The Post Office was the lifeline for the average South African during the Union era.

And it was also a critical communication infrastructure. The physical post offices, the mail train carriages, the few special Post Lorries, even rural stables of postment who scattered into the winds to deliver mail to the most rural corners of SA. It was so critical to communication that the Aprtheid government ruled that it was one of the priviledged positions, like policemen, and could only be done by Blankes - only by whites.

When the ANC carried out bombing campaigns between 1960-1980s (to try and coerce the Apartheid gov to end its racial segregation policies), they would actually also target Post offices, because they knew how vital they were as infrastructure to the NP regime in terms of hobbling the nation's mass communication capacity. When trains were targeted for bombs by the ANC, the mail and post carriages were targeted just as often.

Like all institutions in the nation, the afrikaners and other whites had to run the Post Office with extraordinary efficiency and competence, anything less would let the draconian nation crumble, and let the white minorty of 4 millions whites be overrun by their 40 million black 2ndary citizens, in a manner similar to Haiti as the NP regime perpetually feared.

Thus I hope with this long I've expressed to you dramatards the extraordinary levels of efficiency and competence the South African Post Office run on during the Union era.

DEGRADATION AND DECAY OF SAPO DURING MY LIFESPAN:

What's funny about the SAPO is that it's my earliest memory as a toddler of witnessing rot and decay of an organization due to corruption, back when I was too young to comprehend concepts like corruption or political malpractice. Baby me could still realize that something was very wrong as he witnessed the disintegration and rot of the Post Office 1st hand.

Now I don't know how it worked or still works in other countries, but in RSA, young children from up to 2nd graders and up would have a yearly school project where they had to write a letter to their grandparents or other relatives, to teach them this valuable life skill of writing in Postal format, and had to learn this the moment they gained the capacity to start writing sentences. This yearly post to family project would upgrade by grade 6/7 to mailing format to a business or professional environment, with the added points given or subtracted if your letter had its stamp on correctly, if the address and addressee were correct and so on.

I distinctly recall in a vivid memory when I was by 6/7 years old, where I had to mail my grandparents a mail, and how much my parents and all the adults complained that it was a disgrace that it took two weeks for mail to return, and how back in their days, it would have been a matter of days instead.

As I grew up and went through the grades, the annual mail writing project would extend their completion date by a month by the teachers, because the timeframe of mail being successfully mailed mailed had now become a month instead ,and it wasn't fair to punish kids or detract marks from their score if the Post Office itself took longer than the kids!! Eventually that completion timeframe got increased to TWO effing months!!!

I also remembered from the period to when I was 6 to when I became 16, that my uncles and grandparents would have the habit of sending kids money through the mail with their Birthday cards, which was a tradition for many. One of my favorite uncles was very generous with all of his nephews and nieces and their children. He would send as much as R100 for each kid when they became 10 years old, every year on their birthday until they became 18, when he would give each R1000, which was truly generous.

And for some one in 2000, R100 was lot of pocket change for the tuckshop. Eventually people began to notice that letters not only came later, but were being more and more missing or undelivered. Confidence in the security of the SAPO was to such an extent during the Union era, that businesses accepted clients paying them via mail - sometimes a bristling letter, clearly bristling with cash, like some fricking drug dealer stack of cash almost bursting the letter open, would still be safely delivered unopened to its destination!!

Post-1994 this would change, by 2000 people were noticing money going missing from their letters. At 1st the Post Office workers were sneaky. And a letter containing coins or paper money would have only one or two pieces stolen, and the letter carefully resealed As more years went by, the entire money stack would be stolen out of the parcel or letter. At 1t people tried to mitigate this rampant theft by only mailing money in dark brown letter casings, so you could not hold the letter up to the light and see coins or paper money trough. Eventually however the Post Office worker thieves realized any brown paper letter casing was probably housing money.

Eventually by mid 2005, it was ecppected that sending money via the SAPO was asking for it to be stolen, and the frequent and blatant disregard to parcels and letters grew and grew, as even further eventually evry single letter could be expected to be opened, and people didn't even trust their private lives and personal secrets to the Post Office anymore.

By the time I entered 8th grade and Highschool, the SAPO was considered an absolute shell of what it once was, and a singular monument to corruption rot and nepotism.

The worst part is that people were dependent on SAPO. Private countrywide post office businesses like PostNet would not reach viability until 2010, so for almost a full decade between 2000 - 2010, it was considered an absolute nightmare to interact with SAPO, whether it be forced to use their parcel delivering service to post a legal document for the court, or whether a shcool kid would attempt to mail their application to universities or whatever.

The annual mail project for middle-schoolers was instead changed to having to write an E-mail towards your grandparents or other famaily members., until teaching teenagers how to write letters and how to post stamps firmly became a thing of the past

Like most of the decay of SA institutions, the cause was the rapid replacement of previously trained white office workers and top leaders, with their untrained black peers, all within the span of a very very short period. Often nepotism was taking place large scale, and even the fabled Mandela Administration was giving away posts, based ANC loyalty, or members who had contributed the most on their freedom fighting struggle.

It turns out being charismatic freedom fighters do not translate skillwise well to being office bureaucrats. The worst part was that their was in fact a great many intelligent and qualified black men and women, but they never came near the positions of needed influence and power, and the same applied to the SAPO, there were too many tribal loyalties within Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho.

My previous Surveyor employer in Limpopo told me he met a Cuban who had worked with the ANC (when they were rebelling during Apartheid), and had come back to RSA to help train black peeps into becomming doctors, and he had instant disdain for the modern ANC, and many black peeps who followed the ANC like sheep.

He said that they had the worst combination of arrogance and stupidy, and the mentality of people who wanted to show they were in charge.

It reminded me of that one scene in the Chernobyl HBO series - where the woman Nuclear Physicist amalgamation character Ulana. She confronts the one fatass who used to be a very low level factory worker, but now was in charge of a large district. The man enjoys lording his previous past and how far he has risen in stature and ignores Ulana's warning about the nuclear disaster, as he's a party man. "Now I'M in charge"

Comments on the scene:

A lot of these black peeps genuinely genuinely genuinely didn't fricking realize just how incompetent they were, and how every system they touched would turn to ashes. Worst still was when many of the previous retiring aged white office bureaucrats offered to help train their black replacements, they were always rebuked by their new black replacements. There was an arrogance and frustration the black peeps had - many had been subservient to white men their whole lives, and now that they had power and stature, it was understandable that these men who had been so cruelly discriminated against, now wanted nothing to do with their white predecessors.

Yet it was always to their own detriment and the detriment of their constituents. Like the Cuban guys said - the perfect storm of arrogance and stupidity

It would only be years later, as I grew older and began to understand complex subjectmatter like corruption, that I could piece together the events of my toddlerhood, where I could sense something was very very wrong as the writing of letters to my grandparents became more and more difficult, and I received less mail in turn, and my uncles would eventually stop sending me birthday money, that I could research and realize in retrospect how the corruption of the Post Office let to the effects which I and my close ones experienced personally.

MODERN SOUTH AFRICAN POST OFFICE CORRUPTION PRE-2016:

By 2016 the modern SAPO was an unholy shitshow. It was one of the most defunct, one of the most dysfunctional public organizations under the control of the government. By this point PostNet and other postal private businesses had stolen a market beneath SAPO, and the ANC's political opponents were drilling them in parliament over the dysfunction, and the fact that SAPO was bleeding money yearly with billions in fricking debt.

The post office was completely black controlled by 2016 and was corrupt to the core. Citizens going to the PO had to wait in long lines, and often were met with bad attitude and bad service, as the postal workers knew they would never be fired, and were indispensable.

Every semester a new scandal about a Postal master being arrested for fraud or corruption was on the front page of whatever local newspaper was sold in that local district. SAPO was a massiveley corrupt nepostism ingrained shitshow.

https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/23433

"The presentation stressed that financial year 2016 was a very challenging one for the Post Office, with the organisation experiencing considerable losses. Much of the net losses were a direct result of interest on loans that Post Office had taken out during the previous years."

"Mr Mackenzie stated that an additional concern was the Johannesburg International Mail Centre (JIMC), in which all of the parcels were processed by hand, as the machinery was not running."

"Referring to page 12 of the 2016 Annual Report, he questioned if the fact that 98% of Post Offices were reporting a waiting time of 7 minutes or less was accurate. In his personal experience visiting post offices in Limpopo, in every major post office the wait was much longer than 7 mins.

Referring to page 70 of the 2016 Annual Report, Mr Mackenzie's was concerned that 42% of SAPO targets were “not measurable”, and 45% of indicators were “not well defined“. Many of the SAPO 2016 Annual Report targets were either not measurable, or verifiable. What was the Post Office doing this year to make sure that it met SMART?"

Basically this long looooong report is an unholy shitshow dressed up in colourful euphenisms

"Ms M Shinn (DA), noted that there were systems failures, staff failures, etc. She asked for clarification on what was being done to rectify these issues, noting that SAPO lost a lot of qualified staff (ALL THE WHITOIDS FRICKED OFF ). In addition, she asked for clarification on the internal crime statistics, noting that there was an increase in the amount of money lost through armed robberies. Of the 498 cases referred to the SAPS for investigation, and asked how many went to court?"

It goes on and on and on

MAYO CEO ARRIVES TO SAVE THE DAY:

https://www.702.co.za/articles/10793/meet-mark-barnes-the-outspoken-maverick-tasked-with-saving-the-post-office

Mark Barnes was born in Mpumalanga in 1956 and was educated at the University of Cape Town and Harvard. Mark Barnes is a large shareholder and Executive Chairperson in investing and trading solutions company Purple Group. Mark Barnes was an investment banker at Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank and former head of private equity firm Brait. He was a very good businessman and apparantly famous in the SA business world.

https://www.702.co.za/articles/9749/sa-post-office-appoints-purple-capital-s-mark-barnes-as-new-ceo

Lmoa, what a quote!

https://www.biznews.com/leadership/2016/06/24/sapo-ceo-toughest-job-sa-mark-barnes-adapt-die

"Mark Barnes is now in what some believe to be the hardest job in South Africa. He's been in the CEO role at the South African Post Office for over four months now, so how does he plan to overturn the odds that are so heavily against him? It's an uphill task Barnes faces, and maybe the real test will be if overseas Christmas mail reaches its South African recipients before the 25th of December. – Stuart Lowman"

"Mark Barnes, CEO of SAPO, was introduced to a full house at a GIBS Forum as the one appointed to the toughest job in SA, although since relegated a place by Nenegate. He is well known as blunt, never one to mince his words. He said that once the plea for finance requested to pay for years of corruption and incompetence at the top level of management were approved, hopefully in the near future, signs of improved customer service should appear within even six weeks of that."

"Perhaps most of us have just assumed that militant strikers, plus thieving employees videoed on Carte Blanche, blocked deliveries to a level of suffocation for customers. The detailed case study is a bit more complex. The strategy for procurement, or supply chain management as some term it, involved outsourcing the selection of suppliers to third parties."

"At head office, employees had to bring their own potty paper. The entire supply chain was broken by stockouts of items like ink and paper, and other suppliers such as the logistics sector, anyone from Avis to SAA, who were not being paid."

Comments on article: "Who still uses SAPO?"

The point is this, SAPO was in such dire condition, that the normally affirmative action prone ANC, was willing to let a white CEO take the job, as may of the previous SAPO heads also quit in frustration at the untamable behemoth that was the SAPO shitshow.

This was just as an extraordinary event as when a white man was allowed to become the CEO of ESKOM back in 2019

https://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/355471/eskoms-white-ceo-appointment-angers-unions

MARK BARN QUITS IN 2019:

The worst part of this travesty was that CEO Barns showed that in his short stint as head of SAPO, for just 3 years, he significantly fricking improved the profitability and running of the Post Office!

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/investing/512278-post-office-collapse.html

"He resigned as CEO on 1 August 2019, citing differences in the strategy concerning the structure of the South African Post Office group, especially the Postbank. The Post Office thanked Barnes for his “enormous service”, saying he has led the stabilisation of the organisation."

"Despite these significant asset disposals from 2019, the Post Office has not been able to lower its liabilities in any way. In fact, its total liabilities have increased in the past five years, reaching a six-year high of R12.4 billion this year."

It was incredible, in just 3 years Barns turned the Post Office around, from bleeding money, to actually being competetive again!

WHY MARK BARNS QUIT:

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/government/315263-the-real-reason-behind-mark-barnes-sudden-resignation-as-sa-post-office-ceo.html

But of course There was always the corruption mafia

Just like Andre de Ruyter from ESKOM, whom had tried to change the energy supplier around, and weed out the corruption, so too was Mark Barns accosted at every turn from belligerent corrupt officials used to their lazy stations, whom he could not dislodge or fire. The corruption was too deeply entrenched, and the main ANC would continiously ignore his requests for more power, or to remove usesless fatcat bureaucrats obfuscating his efforts to overhaul the Post Office.

"Many people speculated that there is more to the story, and Business Day has now revealed the true reason for his resignation. According to the publication Barnes had a “sharp difference of opinion with the government and the board” over how the Post Office and Postbank will work together."

https://mybroadband.co.za/news/investing/512278-post-office-collapse.html

The Post Office's growing debt burden, declining revenue, and the need for constant government bailouts show it is unsustainable. Many argue that it is completely insolvent and should be liquidated and closed to prevent it sucking up more taxpayer money.

If the Post Office is not saved, all its current services and revenue will go into the private sector.

Yet even Mark Barned himself still believes that SAPO still serves a purpose, compared to the private sector Post office companies like PostNet, who exists to attain a profit.

Even though SAPO is morbidly dysfunctional, many of its services a free, barring stamps, and serve the very poorest communities of SA, like blacks in townships, who cant even afford the relatively cheap fees of private enterprizes like PostNet.

BARNS OFFERS TO BUY THE SOUTH AFRICAN OST OFFICE IN 2022:

“The private sector has a very simple motivation — make a profit. I don't believe that if the private sector took over all the functions, it would serve more than 5% of the population.” - Barns

Basically he wanted to buy SAPO, so that he had full control, and could fire all the parasites and corrupt officials whom had been festering in their key posts like Nurgle for decades leeching all resources in their reach.

https://dailyinvestor.com/business/14463/mark-barnes-plan-to-save-bankrupt-sa-post-office

AND GUESSS WHAT, HE WAS DENIEEEEEEEED BECAUSE OF FOKKEN COURSE HE WAS

"Barnes told The Money Show's Bruce Whitfield that this offer is now worth R2.4 billion less than when he made it because the government bailout would not have been needed if his proposal was accepted. He also told Whitfield that, despite SAPO's current state of insolvency, his original offer to take over the enterprise still stands."

The above is our ANC wingcuck c$nt who blocked his proposal

And right now his offer still sits in limbo, and we'll find out this year if something will ever happen.

Anyways that's all I got, have a good day!

BoxOffice Theory is a boxoffice discussion forum that's famous in the business, with actual boxoffice trackers and Hollywood insiders commenting there occasionally. It's also a site that manages to be even more painfully unfunny than reddit. People can get banned by jannies for the mildest disagreements, even hinting that woke movies are bad can get you in trouble, and people there defend Disney like they personally own shares in the company. There's lots of drama and pettiness going on in there but the site culture and the forum layout makes if difficult and boring to find it.

I wrote a small introduction for context but if you don't care you can skip to the next section

The Marvels forum thread has been extra smug ever since the movie was announced. Captain Marvel was the proof that annoying internet chuds were just some pathetic obstacles that will soon be crushed by the ever benevolent Hollywood which will result in a film utopia where every possible minority group will find proper representation in unproblematic movies forever. Despite nazi racist incels screaming at Carol Danvers, her movie still made a billion dollars at the boxoffice and Captain Marvel was set to become one of the most important characters in the franchise, and even a potential leader of the new Avengers. And her newest movie will prove that the future is female and that chuds have no power outside of their youtube echochambers. Every disagreement was vehemently attacked, as was every hint that the movie isn't doing well with all the delays and reshoots it was going through (without mentioning the quality of the recent Marvel movies). People there were salivating at the thought of The Marvels making another billion dollars.

But as November approaches and the movie is set to open in theatres soon the proper tracking of this movie began... and it's not going well at all. The excitement for this movie is at an all time low for the franchise and the ticket pre-sales are cry worthy.

It is shocking how terrible TheMarvels presales are at this point. Roughly 25% of AntMan and below TheFlash and IndianaJones. It needs great reviews and promotion from the actors or we are looking at a potential sub-$60m opening.

Worse than the Flash and Indiana Jones As a slight context, the first Captain Marvel movie opened at $153m. Nearly a month ago The Marvels tracked for a $90-100m opening and that was considered disappointing. A few days ago it was tracking for a $70-80m opening and that was basically considered disastrous. Now it might not even make that much.

elemental's OW was absolutely terrible. bold to expect 100M out of a film that is currently at less than two thirds of eternals' tickets sold and going down

Elemental was assumed to be a massive bomb when if first opened and was lucky to have long legs. Marvel movies have notoriously short legs, relaying on the opening week for most of their earnings, there's absolutely no way The Marvels will have the same luck Elementals had, and it's already doing worse

(OW - opening weekend or opening week, depending on the context. Not sure which one is this guy referring to, but it doesn't really matter)

Now, the jannies have mostly gave up trying to mop the thread so it has gotten quite lively. People are mocking Marvel, start arguments all over the place and argue about random off-topic things. And more importantly, Marvel fans are getting attacked by everyone. (I won't quote full posts every time because the forum residents love their and really technical explanations).

And of its a man declaring this! Maybe perhaps Barbie both focused on a brand women recognised and also on a message they connected with.

MEANWHILE CAPTAIN MARVEL PUNCH HARD.

One of the sexist things in media is the Buffy finale where disgusting man Whedon decides his feminist message is if you punch hard you won't be the victim of domestic abuse. Who could know he was a sexist person?!

This is the type of comments you can expect from the site, and why The Marvels thread descending into chaos is so funny

Barbie isn't an indie, neither is The Marvels. Both are films made and backed by multi billion corporations. The fact that both films were officially tracking around the same long box office range forecast 22 days before it's release is of note. Phenomenons like Barbie and Captain Marvel before can't be predicted that far along. What we can see here is that there is a lot of biases going around. It's hard to explain how one could be ‘excited' for Barbie to open around $70-80m 22 days before it's release and being doom and gloom about The Marvels tracking around the exact same forecasts.

"Why do two films with drastically different budgets in drastically different situations get judged differently? It's just not fair!"

The budgets of these two multi billion backed corporation films aren't that far from each other. Both of them are about very much só corporation toys and made to promote Marvel and Mattel. Never mind the lack of understanding of how box office prediction works, I can't really argue against that it does look incredibly odd to have the positive narrative framing for Barbie opening to the exact same long range box office forecast of $70-80m and the doom and gloom to The Marvels around the same numbers. It's not even about judging films differently, it's just odd.

we could go into it but realistically you will never agree which means I would waste my time so I will instead sit on the sideline and watch the meltdown

I do think that me and Shawn made similar points about how people might be surprised by The Marvels female audience weeks ago, and I do think that unlike the Captain Marvel, there is an world and potential for The Marvels to skew more towards a female audience than that first film. The female Marvel Studios audience is bigger than most people here seem to give credit for.

i think you might want to check out shawn's forecast

I'm well aware. But if The Marvels surpasses expectations, that would be hardly the first time that a forecast of his or the trades themselves prove them differently. Heck, we just need to look at the trades box office forecasts of Barbie at the exact same time frame for that.

I urge you to go look at Barbie's daily pace and then come back and look at this film's

This guy is one of the two Marvel fans who stubbornly defend the franchise in every single discussion.

Female audiences are leading the charge in divesting from superhero films.

: We will see about that soon enough. They certainly aren't leading "the charge" to watch KOTFM though. I do think it's kinda hilarious how people go out of their way to underplay how big of a female audience Marvel Studios does have.

Marvel fans still seethe at Scorsese

When the trailer played before KOTFM, the audience seemed so disinterested. I think the MCU has worn out its welcome.

According postrak the under 25 crowd was only 20% of the audience. So yeah. There isn't going to be much of a overlap between audiences for Marvel and Scorsese.

Speaking of Scorsese, they played the trailer to The Marvel's before Scorsese's latest movie

(KOTFM - Killers of the Flower Moon, Scorsese's latest movie)

: some long post about Quantumania

Ahh, now we get the revisionist history that Quantumania was always going to do that poorly. Always an excuse for Marvel movies. It can never be that audiences just didn't like the movie.

Just the other day I was thinking where is Zatt Murdock () this thread is so quiet LOL. And the universe delivers. Now the page count is really going to explode.

This guy has a reputation...

long post criticising the way Marvel handled Captain Marvel's character

That's more than 250 words to say how much you dislike Captain Marvel. Impressive.

Nice to see you back on these boards, Zatt. Now I am sure this thread can get 300 page count :)

You know it's truly over when even other neurodivergents are dunking on you on sight

: If this bombs, superhero fatigue is real. If this doesn't bombs, superhero fatigue is still real and the reason why KOTFM bombed. Marvel Studios can't win either way.

Poor Disney, they can never win!

I think it's becoming clear that people just didn't love Captain Marvel that much. It got the Avengers bump and now it's coming back down to where it would have fallen if not for the Infinity War/End Game craze.

This would have been controversial less than a month ago.

I think people in general like Captain Marvel far more than Ant-Man or Wasp.

You know, I've been thinking that you sound delusional but didn't want to say anything. This confirms it. Have you ever spoken to anyone who says they like captain marvel more than Scott? I find that really really hard to believe, and it sounds like wishful thinking to me. This girl is exactly the type that marvel is trying to court, and she ranks captain marvel below ant man 1 and 2, and among the worst movies in the franchise (at the time).

And there's no hiding behind the incel woman hater card because she's very much a "queer ally, representation, etc" type person. The character just isn't very popular, and CERTAINLY not more liked than ant man, as pre-sales seem to confirm.

It doesn't even need to be said, the hard data backs me up. Captain Marvel is way more popular than Ant-Man. All the metrics possible when it comes to these characters point to that. Sometimes you just gotta read absurd shit and let it go.

Ok when this movie comes out and makes roughly the same as an ant man movie, we will see how absurd it is. My point isn't that ant man is beloved. It's that Captain Marvel isn't.

They seem to want Captain Marvel to be a stoic Clint Eastwood type character and it doesn't work. At all

Even if she was written to be wisecracking there would be hordes of men who would dislike that as well. Every time a woman does stand up comedy, men complain that they're not funny. I genuinely believe that most men dislike funny women.

: It's quite weird how much it seems like a lot of the most vocal criticism towards women online comes from men that seem to just hate women in general. (...) I mean one of the most understandable criticisms I've seen for prominent women in film is that Gadot was part of the IDF, even some of her online positions or lack of. I can understand why that would warrant criticism, but meanwhile Tom Cruise is the god of cinema and is running Scientology on the side. But it's always something, and don't tell me it's just Brie Larson's Carol Danvers. I've seen a lot of that thrown at Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn too.

True, Cruise is never criticised for his Scientology connections, never!

She wasn't an Eastwood stoic in Endgame or Shang-Chi and clearly isn't in The Marvels either. The closest her character has been to that vibe was in her origin movie, while she was BRAINWASHED. Such a bizarre criticism. Woman being serious = Clint Eastwood, apparently.

Another simp joined the discussion

: I also find extremely weird and funny how the online chatter is now that the ‘MCU is rebooting', ironically like DC is doing and heavily announced, but Marvel never did such thing. It's interesting because one of the online talking points about DC films was that if they were rebooting, what is happening now ‘doesn't really matter'. I could get real money that Marvel Studios will once again blow up the box office coming Secret Wars but it's not rebooting. The MCU true strength is the sense of serialized storytelling, and that won't be going away anytime soon. It just is what it is. If anything, it would be a good day if we could just not carry by ourselves the burden of killing cinema. Maybe Scorsese will find out what Five Night At Freddy's is next week. Hopefully his granddaughter will explain that it isn't really a Marvel property, but a videogame one? Idk.

"Seriously guys, stop bullying Marvel! Bully DC for a change!!"

This is also the third time this guy bitched about Scorsese completely unprompted

In her new book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios Joanna Robinson says that Marvel Studios was completely caught off guard by the negative critical reception to Quantumania. They thought they had a hit on their hands.

LMAO

I wanna say something to you YOU #CaptainMarvel fans. I'm PROUD of you. You're EARTH'S MIGHTIEST FANS. We're together as one. Toxicity will NEVER win. For every negative reply on your positive, hyped post- Block that person and WRITE another beautiful one. We wont stop. Twitter, Instagram. We will post LOVE and show the world how proud we are. NO ONE will ruin our long waited moment. NO ONE. Enjoy every second of it. Let's do this TOGETHER. Deal? IN EVERY POST. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE CAROL CORPS.

: I'm far from being Captain Marvel's biggest fan, I mean, I like her but I'm far more of a Ms. Marvel fan myself. Even named my cat after her. With that said, I gotta say that I find the whole Carol Corps thingy that started with the comics and followed to the films endearing. It's a small club, but I gotta say that this is some of the most hardcore MCU fans out there, the only character I've seen getting a similar vocal fandom like this in the MCU it's Wanda, and I'd argue they might be the bigger crowd. It's just a bunch of young women and lgbtq folk that love the shit out of Captain Marvel. I think that's cute, and a good reason for superhero films to exist.

I wanted to avoid posting twitter links here to avoid confusion but I really need to emphasize just how deranged this guy is

New trailer! In Spanish.

this looks like a Disney Channel movie. No wonder it's tracking badly

Well it has two Disney+ leads

post comparing the new trailer with a Guardian of the Galaxy 3 one

Darn these movies with totally different tones have different trailers?

This is the second Marvel defender I was talking about.

now same guy is comparing it with an Iron Man 2 trailer

Feige stop hiring millennial writers and indie Oscar Bait Directors who can't direct action movies Challenge. Impossible.

There's no way Monica Rambeau actually says "I can see light" in the movie right?

Didn't watch the trailer but it's apparently really bad

Didn't Samuel L. Jackson give this exact same line reading in the trailer for the first Avengers movie? His line reading was different in the film I think but its interesting that they have him saying a cliche line from a 11 year old movie.

They are truly running out of ideas at this point...

Here's the thing. Is this my one of my least anticipated MCU's movies. For sure. But I will most likely be seeing it with my friends and their 7 year old daughter, who loved MS. Marvel and can not wait for this movie. Maybe we can stop being jaded butt adults for like 5 minutes about a silly comic book movie as some coin these things. The amount of people who post multiple times in this thread about how awful this looks and how bad it will flop never ceases to amaze me. I have no interest in most of the horror movies that have released or are coming out and think most of them look like shit to be honest but I do not go in those threads and say it over and over again.

Well, you know what they say-- misery loves company. And seeing as i generally don't take my issues out on other people, seeing highly anticipated big budget movies fail is where I get my kicks. The key is to be deeply unhappy with your life and socially withdrawn.

: This is utterly sad lmao.

Just let people enjoy things!

I don't think there is any possibility for this one to be good. I mean, how? Cameo from No Way Home? Or HK action team of Shang-Chi? Another "good-bye guys" like third Guardians? The last thing Marvel Studios are willing to do at this point is telling a good story or using CGI in right way. The whole multiverse saga is just a mess. No more gimmick this time. And people won't buy it.

: Do you think those are the only reasons those movies got good reviews???

: It's clearly because Marvel pays films critics, what are you talking about

They met each other!

Marvel is not able to touch people's hearts like old days.

: To be clear, you are defining "the old days" as Guardians 3, a movie that released this year.

You can toss out a million excuses and defenses and claim that there is nothing wrong with the modern MCU but the fact is The Marvels is tracking poorly with pre-sales and Marvel movies thrive on pre-sales. There is a problem no matter what the defense squad claims.

: I don't see why you keep acting like The Marvels is the rule and not an exception. Apparently one sub-100 opening out of the last 7 movies is the death of the franchise?

I have never said anything about a death sentence. Never. Not once. I said that the franchise is in trouble. It is in a slump due to inconsistent quality and overexposure. It is not a healthy franchise right now. Please do not ascribe hyperbole to me that I never engaged in.

The soys are like they immediately shit up anything they touch

Disney will allow social media reaction to pre-screens to appear only in the same day the movie hits theatres. This shows that the Mouse knows the movie is shit and wants to keep this hidden for as long as possible. Multiple posters point this out

: God it'll be hysterical of the reviews are not as disastrous as you all are predicting

I have no idea about how much it's going to do on RT score. I am intrigued with Davis saying that there are surprises though. He doesn't usually hype this kind of thing out of nowhere. It's a pointless exercise to try and predict RT film scores, it fluctuates too much unlike videogames MC scores.

Davis works for fandango right? I dunno if hes ever seen a movie that he hasn't liked to put it mildly.

These are the only people still defending The Marvels

some user has behind the scenes knowledge that Disney doesn't have much faith in the movie's quality

our brave capeshit hero decided to call him out by linking to another comment he made in a completely unrelated thread

This is peak BOT. I'm curious, where do you heard about this? Reddit? Twitter? Or are Marvel Studios filming in Goiás, Brazil? It's not lost on me that you kept insinuating that I was ‘attacking' Scorsese on the weekend thread when I was talking about a serious topic. All I'm saying is: what you say about me, take a good look at your own actions. The pettiness is what levels down the discourse here, it's the personal attacks, the insinuations. You don't know how much faith Disney has or has not in this film. You don't have ‘sources', and acting like you do doesn't help anyone. We actually have (had) people that work in the industry, some actually at Marvel Studios around here. Just don't act like you have some sort of privileged info.

I can't believe i'm about to enter in this but let's go.

What the frick whatever i said here have anything to do with the Killers Of The Flower Moon discussion?

I didn't insinuate anything to you, i said what i said very clearly to the person i actually though it was being ironic. I quoted the person and said to him directly that i though he was weaponizing indigenous words to his own benefit, and I'll post the receipts here before you twist this.

If i didn't quote you and said it, it's not about you. But now that you posted a ridiculous rant about something totally unrelated to this thread, I'm starting to question this guilty try of a “gotcha” post that sure shows a lot more about you than about me.

I never personally attacked you, i didn't insinuate anything to you, shockingly not everything that happens on this forum is about you. Frick, even my post that you posted here wasn't quoting you, so why the heck you're acting like it?

And what exactly you're implying here saying where i live? This is supposed to be a threat or a way to shame me? Maybe you didn't noticed but we live in a globalized world, there's something called internet, i don't need to live on US to talk to people that could know about stuff. I said what I've heard, without attacking anyone and not even the movie, i'm not obligating anyone here to believe.

It's kinda funny to read your sermon about pettiness when you're the one that took a relevant discussion from another thread about another movie with things that i said to other person, posted here and get mad about it without anyone ever saying anything to you. Look at yourself, read this pathetic post that you posted here starting a fight and then think about pettiness again.

Eric Mouse ( ) i'm sorry about this post, but i felt personally attacked without doing anything and gave myself the right to answer and defend myself from it. If you have to ban me for this it's ok, but i'm feeling very weird about someone taking some post i did in other unrelated thread addressed to another person and posting here trying to humiliate me publically when i didn't do anything.

Jannies! He's harassing meeee!!

(Also notice how this guy is apologizing for this post, the mop wielders tend to be really trigger happy here)

ZattMurdock has been threadbanned for 24 hours for personal attacks towards other users and making accusations against them. As a message to everybody, while I understand it can be frustrating to see people be negative on a movie you are excited about, please be respectful and courteous. You are allowed to disagree and argue with others, but you don't need to go into any insults or attacks or accusations. We are adults, so I expect people here to behave like adults. Thank you.

The jannies are finally here! And for once they ban the woke Disney shills

And that was the saga of Disney's mightiest defender, RIP (until tomorrow at least)

(threadbanned - not allowed to post in that specific thread, but can post freely everywhere else)

I'm personally praying for Brie Larson because she is going to get killed by the griftubers with their 10 hour video demonizing her.

Nooo, you can't waste days making angry videos about random brave qween actresses, noooo!

what the heck is this movie? Is it for ten year olds? They might as well just put up a sign saying "adults, don't bother"

There's a mini-trailer linked in the comment, go watch it! It's hysterically bad

All Marvel movies are for 10 year olds, mate

The jannie has decided to join the Marvel mockery

Another proof that shaked the forum was Luiz. Luiz Fernando is a hobbyist boxoffice tracker who is famous for how he tries to spin every possible number in a positive way. He's been accused of being a shill for every single studio out there but the guy is just really optimistic and excitable. And this is what he just posted about the Marvels. TL;DR: it will probably bomb hard.

Even Good Old Luiz has soured on Marvels.

It is so over.

Oh no. Luiz is actually doomposting? I gotta get in on that under John Carter club.

John Carter is the biggest boxoffice failure ever. Recently lots of movies were compared to it, from Elementals (which recovered to a mild underperformance status), Indiana Jones, The Flash and now tentatively The Marvels.

wtf. previews 2 days before. reviews the day before. that john carter club is looking appealing rn.

More users bringing up John Carter

Thanks for the shoutout! If you all want to join the club, now is a great time! Those interested should do so before the movie opens!

This guy predicted the movie will be a disaster for a while and got bullied for it

This is it! I hope you guys liked a sneak peak into a completely new neurodivergent biome There's a lot more happening in the thread in anyone is curious.

Childlessness is increasing in developed countries, and contrary to popular belief, not all of these childless individuals wish to be that way. Involuntary childlessness has always existed, but never at the magnitudes we currently experience. A study in Germany surveyed a representative of around 2000 men and women who were of reproductive age. It was found that about 21.5% had no children. The shocking statistic? 80% of those were involuntary.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1741491

With this in mind, it would be safe to say that the miracle of birth is something that should be exalted, and the relationship between a parent and their child should be stronger than steel. Many mothers are this way, and they would lay down their lives for their children. But what happens when a mother believes a child has been harmed and has to make some tough decisions? That's what we'll be exploring next, and it will be up to you to decide whether she made the right choices.

MITCHELLE BLAIR THE MOTHER BEAR

Mitchelle Angela Blair, known as Angel to her friends, had a rough upbringing. As Mitchelle has revealed, she was sexually abused repeatedly by her mother's male friend. When she told her mother, she did not do anything about it. This left her permanently traumatized, and the perpetrator was free to enter and leave the home. She grew up in Detroit and she didn't have much money and very little education. She was struggling, but she always had friends around to help her. People who knew her described her as friendly and generous.

She would go on to have four children. Alexander J. Dorsey was the father of Stoni Blair (2000) and Gabi Blair (1994). Steven Berry was the father of Stephen Berry (2003) and Matthew (2007). Like many African American mothers, she was deserted by the fathers and found herself with four mouths to feed. She struggled to hold down a job and eventually was permanently unemployed, relying solely on welfare. She had her hands full, but she loved her children and did what she had to for them to survive. As a victim of sexual assault, she taught her kids that r*pe is a vile, serious crime and that they should come to her if anyone ever tries to touch them.

Above is a young Mitchelle Blair. In 2012, 33-year-old Mitchelle was dealing with the stress of precarious living when she came upon a shocking discovery that changed her world forever. She found her youngest child, Matthew, playing with his dolls in an odd way, as though they were humping. Mitchelle asked him about it, and Matthew confessed that his older brother, Stephen, did that to him.

Furious, disgusted, and confused, she confronted Stephen. He denied it at first, but eventually, he confessed. Not only was Mitchelle's childhood replaying with her own children, but it was happening between the siblings! Unable to control her rage, Mitchelle beat Stephen up with her fists as Matthew described all the perverted things Stephen did. This includes:

• peeing on Matthew

• Sodomizing Matthew

• Putting his peepee in Matthew's nose and ears

• Ejaculating in Matthew's eyes

• Suffocating Matthew

• Made Matthew drink Windex

Suddenly, so many past events made sense. The times Stephen was sick or had diarrhea, he was being abused! This broke Mitchelle who then decided to punish Stephen. Stephen was locked in a room alone for a week of discipline and punishment as Foucault might say. She choked him out with a plastic bag until he passed out and burned scalding water over his genital area multiple times until his skin came off. During this time, she would find out more about what Stephen did, which only enraged her more. Sometimes, Matthew would egg her on. He wanted justice for what had been done to him.

On August 30, Mitchelle entered the room and found Stephen breathing weakly. The boy complained that he needed to use the bathroom but couldn't do it. The boy went limp and his breathing faded. Mitchelle called Gabi and, while crying, told her to kiss her brother goodbye. The last words Stephen said was “I love you” to his mother.

Mitchelle was broken, for she had never intended for her son to die. Now she had a corpse to deal with and not many options. Her first thought was to turn herself in, but she still had three children to take of. Matthew begged her not to go, so she decided to stay, then she did the unthinkable - put Stephen's corpse in the freezer where he would remain for the next three years.

Nine months passed. The three remaining children knew Stephen was dead in the fridge but they told nobody. Occasionally, people in Mitchelle's life would ask about Stephen but she always had an excuse for why he wasn't around. Mitchelle thought the worst was over, but she was sorely wrong.

Matthew would go on to confess that Stoni was raping him as well and had been continuing to r*pe him during the last nine months. Mitchelle could not handle her rage as Matthew described the abuse:

• Stoni r*ped Stephen first

• They would then have s*x in front of Matthew before raping him

• She would squeeze her period pad into his mouth

• She would face-sit him

• She would starve Matthew

This time around, Mitchelle wasn't aiming for punishment, she was out for blood. After all that had happened, how could Stoni do this?! Mitchelle locked Stoni up in the bedroom where she beat her with a stick for a week. She would choke her out with a plastic bag and pour scalding water on him while she was starved. She placed a hot clothing iron on her back and hit her in the mouth with a hot curling rod. During the two weeks, Stoni would confess that she hated her siblings.

At the end of the week, she was beaten until blood splurted. Gabi witnessed this. Mitchelle then strangled Stoni with a t-shirt until she was limp. The mother then demanded Gabi help her put Stoni in the freezer on top of Stephen. It was then that they discovered that Stoni was still alive. Horrified, Mitchelle then put a plastic bag over Stoni's head to put her out of her misery. When the freezer door closed, Stoni was still breathing weakly. Mitchelle felt no remorse. Stoni was the cause of all of this. She started the r*pe, she continued raping after Stephen died, and she hated her siblings. Stoni may just have been a demon spawn .

Mitchelle, once again, was not willing to hand herself in. She unenrolled her children from school, and whenever people would ask about Stephen or Stoni, she would have an excuse.

She managed to keep this up for three whole years but she soon ran out of money, resulting in her being served with an eviction notice. Mitchelle ignored the eviction notice and decided to stay at a friend's house for a while with Gabi and Matthew. During this time, an eviction crew came to her apartment to clear her belongings. It was then that they opened the freezer and made the horrifying discovery. Police were called and they quickly found Mitchelle who was arrested on a $1 million bond. After assessing her finances, she discovered should could not pay this amount.

The trial that ensued was nothing short of a cacophony of drama. She immediately confessed to the crimes, proudly, and had no problem detailing how she punished Stoni and Stephen. She makes no apologies and claims that she would have done it again to save Matthew. It was an act of love. She is particularly unremorseful about Stoni, and she claims that she “had to go.” She also calls both kids demons.

In court, her attorney stated that she was a caring mother in a difficult situation. She even had their names tattooed on her. Mitchelle, forevermore dedicated to her surviving children, fought for custody but failed on account of her penal incarceration. She had several outbursts during the trial, especially when anyone questioned whether the r*pes occurred. She insisted on a speedy trial and just wanted to be sent to prison. She also insulted the fathers of the children every chance she got. Predictably, she received a lifetime imprisonment.

Do you think she did the right thing? Killed her two male feminist children to save a third?

MITCHELLE BLAIR THE GRIZZLY BEAR

There are always two sides to every story. Mitchelle is entitled to her truth, but it is worth noting that evidence from CPS, coroners, and the surviving children paints a somewhat different story. In this version of events, Mitchelle was a rage-filled, alcoholic mother who neglected her children. She struggled to build a stable life for herself and was far more concerned with partying. The children grew up poor and deprived and on some days they had canned potatoes for all meals.

Mitchelle would fly off in fits of rage for any perceived slight or misdeed. The children had no idea what would set her off, so they always watched their words around her. Anyone who has lived with an angry person or dated one will know this feeling. You're permanently walking on eggshells, and when the inevitable explosion finally happens, you just dissociate until it's over. Then the cycle continues.

Mitchelle was very good at covering up the abuse she was putting her children through. She made them wear clothing that covered their marks and bruises. She hardly let them out of the house and when she did, the children were too terrified to say anything to anyone. At one point, she pulled them all out of school. I can't imagine how forgotten those children must have felt. Nobody came to save them. They were forgotten, and nobody cared what their mother was doing to them.

According to Gabi, Matthew was playing with his dolls and made them hump each other. The mother demanded to know where he learned that, and she demanded to know if Stephen had r*ped him. Matthew repeatedly denied it, but Mitchelle put on the pressure and threatened him until he said yes. Upon receiving the yes, she grabbed an extension cord, wrapped it around Stephen's neck, and lifted him off the ground like that. She took him to the room where the two weeks of torture began.

Above is the bathtub where Stephen would be burned with scalding water. During Stephen's torture, Gabi was helpless to do anything. She was scared stiff of telling anyone out of fear of what her seemingly demonic mother would do to her. She wanted to run away but she couldn't leave her siblings behind. So she held onto the hope that it would end eventually. Gabi claims Stephen was beaten so badly that his head was misshapen. The day before Stephen died, Mitchelle looked upon Stephen and saw that he was in a bad state, so she decided to stop beating him. Unfortunately, he still succumbed to his injuries the next day.

Gabi witnessed her brother's last moments alive, and she saw her mother put him in the freezer. For the next nine months, the children lived with a corpse in the house, and they lived with this harrowing secret. Mitchelle made up a story about Stephen's whereabouts and she drilled into the kids until they could say it perfectly if ever they needed to go outside. The kids seldom left the house, however, because that wouldn't be good for Mitchelle, especially if someone saw their marks and bruises. She continued to receive child welfare checks for him.

Nine months later, when Gabi thought the worst was over, the cycle repeated itself with Stoni. Once again, Mitchelle interrogated Matthew and demanded to know whether he had been r*ped by Stoni. Matthew denied it at first, but after sufficient intimidation from his mother, he eventually gave her the answer she was looking for. With this, Mitchelle took Stoni to a room and locked her in it for her week of torture. Gabi notes how it was worse and more intense with Stoni who was burned, beaten, and starved.

At one point, the apartment was due for an inspection. Gabi was forced to clean the bedroom Stoni was in. It was bloody and filled with vomit and other unspeakables. Gabi cleaned everything and when the inspectors came around, they hid the beaten Stoni under the bed.

On the day of Stoni's death, Gabi watched as Mitchelle beat Stoni on the head with a 2x4 until blood spurted. Mitchelle was gleeful at the sight before she went on to murder Stoni. Gabi feels extreme guilt from this death because Stoni was alive as they put her in the freezer. With Stephen, at least his last moments were of Gabi kissing him. With Stoni, her last moments are of her own mother and sister putting her in a freezer on top of her dead brother. Mitchelle told Gabi to not cry about that b-word.

As we already know, the freezer was eventually discovered, but not before Matthew and Gabi lived three years in a house with their siblings in the freezer. During this time they continued to be abused. Upon the discovery of the freezer, the children were rescued. A coroner's autopsy revealed that Stoni's ears appeared to have been chewed off. Medics who treated the surviving children noted that they had signs of abuse - including quite recent wounds - but there was no evidence of sexual abuse.

During the trial, Mitchelle was condemned, but the courts did not forget about the fathers.

>The record shows Alexander Dorsey, the father of Stoni and Blair's 17-year-old daughter, owes $39,000 and Steven Berry, the father of Stephen and Blair's 8-year-old son, owes more than $12,000.

>According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, Berry spent time in prison on weapons offenses, was paroled in April 2013, and was discharged from parole last year.

You can watch one of the fathers crying here.

The children were adopted by Gordon, a child abuse investigator.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/03/26/freezer-mom-frozen-bodies-mitchelle-blair/70499754

The case remains divisive, with some arguing that Mitchelle's story has been retold multiple times yet the vivid details remain the same. Others argue that she is a liar besmirching her children even after their deaths. Where do you lie?

CONCLUSION

This is without a doubt one of the most disturbing cases of murderous mothers and it deserves more attention than it has received. It sickened me to my core and yet I couldn't look away. I can't believe what Gabi and Matthew had to go through for three years with their two siblings in the freezer in the apartment, wondering when they would be next. It is equally shocking that Mitchelle was able to hide it for so long. It was purely her inability to pay rent that foiled her plan, which is why this case is a win for landlords.

Wikipedia's stifling bureaucracy, large-scale edit wars, deeply-rooted cliques, and appeal to the socially inept have produced scores of current and former editors with an all-consuming grudge against Wikipedia and its powerusers. Many of these Wikipedians have harnessed their boiling hatred and spoken out against the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Their activism has, of course, been extremely ineffective.

But it's great drama. The internet is littered with dead blogs and surprisingly active anti-wikipedia communities that detail abuses of power, personal scandals among wikipedians, paid and biased editing, various 'cabal' leaks, and a host of other primo content. Here's a list of some of them for your entertainment.

Common terms

• Wikimedia Foundation (WMF): The org that hosts Wikipedia. Known for being poorly-managed, opaque, and occasionally hiring abusive admins.

• Jimmy/Jimbo Wales: Wikipedia co-founder and former porn hawker, the guy whose face you see every time Wikipedia begs for money. Known to be a bit of a gaffing idiot who stumbled onto a successful idea during the 90's dotcom boom. In Wikipedia's early days, he was embroiled in numerous scandals, so the Wikimedia Foundation stripped him of any real power.

• Larry Sanger: Wikipedia's other co-founder and public critic. Tried and failed to create several Wikipedia competitors.

• Admin/Administrator/Sysop:

• Bureaucrat: (unpaid) giga

• Steward: (unpaid) ultra-giga

• Arbitration Committee/Arbcom: The system Wikipedia uses to settle disputes and discipline users via a panel of respected editors (i.e. powerusers). Exceptionally dramatic.

• Articles for Deletion (AfD): The system where editors vote on whether to keep an article and include their rationale. Unsurprisingly gamed during edit wars and through the involvement of cabal members, causing seethe and drama.

• Request for Adminship (RfA): The system for nominating and voting in admins. Success is achieved through popularity and politicking.

• Cabal: A clique of editors and/or admins who spend way too much time on Wikipedia. It's such an entrenched and undeniable part of the culture that Wikipedia pokes fun at it.

• Vandalism: The act of making high-quality, accurate contributions to Wikipedia.

• Wikipedo/Wikipedocracy: A pejorative that developed due to the perception that Wikipedia was too friendly towards p-dophiles. You can find gentle reference to these scandals here.

• Israel-Palestine: The cause of initial disillusionment for a huge proportion of anti-Wikipedians. The most controversial topic on the wiki.

Blogs/Sites

Spoiler alert: Like all blogs, they're dead. Still a good read though.

• Wikipedia Sucks! (And So Do Its Critics.) (still active wtf)

• Wikipediocracy blog

• GenderDesk (criticism from a leftist/feminist perspective)

• Wikipedia Watch (dead, formerly run by the guy who effectively killed Encyclopedia Dramatica.)

• Wikipedia, We Have a Problem (dead but lots of content still archived)

• Wikitruth (dead)

• Wiki Cabal (dead, short-lived)

• The Wikipedian

• Boycott Wikipedia (inactive since 2015)

• Collaborative Learning (inactive since 2011)

• The Journal That Speaks Truth to Wikiality (inactive since 2011)

• Parker Peters Livejournal (inactive since 2007)

• Wikiwatch (critical blog from 2006)

• Wikisucks (another one from 2006)

• Wikipedia: A Techno-Cult of Ignorance (inactive since 2005(?))

• Swastikapedia (technically a blog post but old criticism from 2004)

The corpse of ED also has numerous pages on Wikipedia power brokers, all a decade stale but they summarize the dramatic happenings surrounding particular people like SlimVirgin (RIP).

Forums

• WIkipedia Review the OG. It's now a zombie forum, though you can still access the old blog and access the threads through the forum's 'lofi version'.

• Wikipediocracy

• https://wikipediasucks.co/forum/index.php

• Wikipedia Critic (failure to launch)

• Wikirev (dead breakaway forum, not well-archived)

Subreddits

These are all very small but much more populated with content than the average tiny sub. If you look at most users' post histories (e.g. /u/bbb23sucks -- bbb23 is a Wikipedian), it's ALL about wikipedia.

• /r/RealWikiInAction

• /r/WikipediaAdminReport

• /r/WikipediaAdmins

• /r/wikipediacriticism

• /r/MeanwhileOnWikipedia

• /r/Wikipedians (not intended to be anti-wiki, but for all intents and purposes it is)

• /r/wikipediaafdwatch (a bot that posts every time an article's nominated for deletion)

Envy to murder pipeline

How has your weekend been? Mine has been off to a crummy start. I had a relatively good work week, and very much felt at peace. When I put my head to rest on Friday night, I was content. This sense of tranquility was unexpectedly destroyed in the early hours of the morning.

It began soft and muffled, but it was enough to wake me up. Roused from my slumber, I rubbed my eyes as I tried to determine whether I was imagining this strange sound. But it soon got louder and louder and louder and it became obvious I was listening to the orgasmic screams of a woman in the apartment next door to mine. When some minutes passed, I was briefly spared before it resumed louder than before but a half hour later.

There I was, a 28yo incel, and I had been awoken by a harrowing realization that I thought I had successfully buried. Everyone around me is having s*x and it's the most normal thing ever and it sounds fun but I will never experience it ever. I can't fully put into words the feelings that have been swirling in my stomach all day. It's a cruel amalgamation of disgust, shame, self-loathing, rage, and arousal. I haven't really eaten much today, my hands feel permanently sweaty and clammy, and I feel like crying.

This morning I was awoken by my inadequacies

• no woman will ever find me physically attractive

• being an incel is an outlier condition

• no manlet will ever make a woman scream in ecstasy

As if it wasn't torturous enough, I heard her orgasmic screams yet again later in the day. It's unimaginable to me but normies actually have s*x as casually as one might grab a soda in the middle of the day. Far from being an unachievable goal, it's just a source of amusement, like lighting up a joint or playing your favorite video game.

The worst part is that she sounded so happy and satisfied. S*x is often framed as a filthy act of perversion, but this is false. It's actually the greatest expression of love to impart such pleasure onto someone. S*x is morally good, as it makes the world a happier place, allowing people to enjoy life.

As painful as it is for me to admit, I also felt strong, intense jealousy. A man had the qualities that I didn't - the ability to attract a woman - and it had allowed him to experience pleasures barred from me. As consuming as the feeling is, I can at least take solace in the fact that I never let my jealousy take me to the dark pits that the next few people went.

Ryan Lawrence

On April 24, 2014, baby Maddox Lawrence was born. Her mother was Morgan Lawrence, a skinny woman with a slim nose and permanently downturned eyes. Maddox's dad was Ryan Lawrence, and by most accounts, he was an affable fellow.

Maddox's entry into this world was one marked by suffering. Before her first birthday, she was diagnosed with a rare eye cancer called retinoblastoma. This was a devastating blow to the parents, but Morgan was intent on giving her daughter the best life possible. She went online sharing her story to raise money for the child's medical expenses. This proved successful, and Maddox soon grew famous as netizens rallied behind the cancer-fighting infant.

By all accounts, 21-month-old Maddox was winning the fight. Unfortunately, there was another fight she was losing, one she had no idea was occurring. You see, though her father loved her, he was also a very, very envious man. He hated how much attention baby Maddox was getting, and how Morgan was spending so much time with her.

Ryan couldn't control his emotions, so he decided to do something about it. On February 20, 2016, Morgan finished her shift at work and stepped outside, expecting to find Ryan ready to pick her up as was the usual routine. He wasn't there, but the car was along with the keys. Morgan found this strange, but she hopped in and went home all the same. When she arrived home she found a video recorded letter from Ryan. He stated that he wanted to kill himself, and he was thinking of hurting Maddox.

Upon discovering this, Morgan immediately contacted the authorities, and an Amber Alert was sent out. Police treated this as a serious kidnapping and plenty of resources were spent to save the cancer-fighting baby. Morgan, usually cripplingly timid, went on television begging for the return of her daughter.

What she didn't know is that already there was no way for her daughter to ever return. Ryan had done very wicked deeds. With a baseball bat, he beat 21-month old Maddox until her skill caved in. I cannot imagine the pain, confusion, betrayal, and torment that child must have felt as she witnessed her father beat the life out of her. He then traveled to a secluded location where he burned the body in a pit. To his horror, he discovered that this was not sufficient to completely destroy the body. He switched from fire to water, and dumped the body in Onondaga Creek.

It didn't take long to find Ryan. Within 36 hours he was caught despite his attempt to wear a disguise. He was put on trial where the true vile details of the case were revealed. This was no act of impulsion. The fire pit had been prepared prior, and prosecutors found evidence that he had made a dry run days prior to actually going through with the plan. The court case is a heartbreaking one that culminates with some of the most powerful victim impact statements ever.

Ryan's brother disowns him and spends minutes breaking down his character and why he is so vile. Ryan cries during this, one of the few tears he sheds. Morgan's family chastizes him, and you can see his fists clench. He is pissed at every insult that comes his way. When Morgan's mother claims that Ryan didn't love Maddox, he visibly scowls as he glares at her. The star is Morgan's father who delivers a speech so touching, even the bailiffs in the court struggle to hold back tears.

Ryan receives life in prison, where he will never receive the attention he killed for.

Shanda Sharer

Don't think that men are the only ones capable of this intense jealousy. Women too have been driven to the devil by the green-eyed monster. Our last case today involves a woman named, quite fittingly, Melinda Loveless. By all accounts, she had a rough upbringing. Her stepfather attempted to peep on her, she suffered abuse, and her mother attempted suicide.

To make matters worse, Loveless was lesbian in a rural, conservative town. Loveless, at age 14, started dating a girl named Amanda Heavrin. The relationship didn't last, and Amanda moved on. Unfortunately, Loveless didn't.

That's Loveless. When she was 16, she crossed paths with 12yo Shanda Sharer. She observed the young girl from afar, and intense jealousy grew when Shanda started dating Amanda. Shanda was new in town, she was still trying to find herself, and she was desperate to fit in and have friends. Loveless didn't like Amanda dating Shanda, and she couldn't contain her hatred. She began sending threatening letters to Shanda anonymously, but this did not satisfy her. So she took things to the next level.

That's Shanda. In January 1996, Loveless gathered three other friends, and told them that they were going to kill Shanda. They looked up to Loveless, so they followed her lead. They also didn't entirely believe her - Loveless was an edgelord, and she loved saying shocking things.

They drove to Shanda's house and told her that Amanda wanted to talk to her at a second location. Being 12, Shanda was nervous about these older girls. She wanted to fit in, she wanted to know what Amanda's message was, so she made the terrible mistake of sneaking out of the house. Loveless was hidden in the car - Shanda knew Loveless hated her, so she would have never gotten into the car if she knew Loveless was in it.

They took her to a creepy, abandoned building known as the Witch's Castle. In the community, it was associated with several urban myths. Shanda was creeped out enough, but her fear would soon turn to consuming horror when Loveless emerged holding a knife. She put the knife to the 12yos neck and made her reveal her entire sexual history with Amanda. Sobbing, Shanda confessed, but this only enraged Loveless. Now it wasn't just about murder - she wanted to hurt Shanda.

They tied the 12yo up and put her in the trunk before driving around and looking for a secluded place for the villainy to ensue. They got lost along the way, stopping at two gas stations and taunting Shanda all the way. They eventually stopped in some woods, though they did not travel too deep. Laurie Takkett, one of Loveless's friends, stepped out the car with Loveless and retrieved Shanda from the trunk. They undressed her and Loveless began her torture by beating Shanda raw.

She then grabbed the knife, ready to do what she had been anticipating for so long, but when she tried to slit Shanda's throat, she discovered the knife wasn't sharp enough to go all the way through. With Shanda still alive, they called another girl from the car to help by holding Shanda down. Loveless and Takkett then took turns stabbing Shanda in the chest, but still she did not die as she screamed for her mother. Growing tired, Loveless tied a rope around Shanda's neck and strangled until she went still and silent.

They put the limp body in the trunk, then decided to head to Takkett's house to clean up. At one point, Takkett went outside and heard Shanda screaming in the trunk. She was still alive! Takkett solved this problem by grabbing scissors and stabbing her in the chest multiple times.

Loveless and Takkett, who were quite close, decided they wanted to go out driving again. The other two girls stayed. As they drove around the countryside, they heard gurgling coming from the trunk. Shanda was still alive! This wasn't something they could tolerate, so they pulled over and beat Shanda with a tire iron until her head caved in. They then used the tire iron to r*pe the 12yo.

They continued their joy-riding, stopping every so often to beat Shanda with the tire iron. At this point Shanda was silent but when they returned to Takkett's home, they discovered that Shanda was still alive! Fed up with this neverending mission, they decided to burn her. They drove to a secluded location in the woods where they wrapped the 12yo, who was still alive in a blanket and lit it. Shanda was charred to death. Following this, the girls went to McDonalds and had breakfast. I'm loving it!

The kids were vile and murderous, but they were still kids. At 16, Loveless was the oldest. Perhaps the biggest flaw was their belief that such a secret would remain between four teen girls. Two of the girls, overcome by guilt, told their parents, who then took them to the police station where they confessed to everything. At this point, Shanda's body had been found already, and the police were on the hunt for the killers.

As you'd expect, the case gripped the press. Both Tackett and Loveless received 60 year sentences, though they have since been released from prison. You'd be surprised to learn that it seems Loveless has turned her life around and now dedicates her life to training dogs.

You can hear from one of the girls, probably the least culpable, and see her get chastised by Shanda's family.

You can also hear from the obviously lesbian Amanda who seems quite traumatized by the event.

The ridiculous thing about this case is that it proves that Mean Girls doesn't even begin to encompass just how hurtful and bitter girl social groups can become. Holy shit the people who have said the meanest and most traumatizing things in my life have always been women. Absolute masters of verbal attacks, guilt-tripping, and ostracization.

CONCLUSION

How do you cure envy? Well, I believe the antidote is to reframe the emotions. Instead of feeling resentment toward those who have what you lack, use it as motivation to achieve what you want. There is a limit to this, however, as there are some things that some of us will ever achieve, such as escaping inceldom.

We all make mistakes in life. Some of them are minor, you know, like spilling milk, taking the wrong turn on the road, or forgetting to close the fridge door. Other mistakes are catastrophic and it can take years to repair the damage, if it can be fixed at all.

Surprisingly, you'll find that many philosophers do not scorn mistakes but instead embrace them. Daniel Dennett is a good example of this, and he has written at length about humanness of erring, and how we should respond to errors to lead a good life. He points out the following:

Mistakes are not just opportunities for learning; they are, in an important sense, the only opportunity for learning or making something truly new. Before there can be learning, there must be learners. There are only two non-miraculous ways for learners to come into existence: they must either evolve or be designed and built by learners that evolved. Biological evolution proceeds by a grand, inexorable process of trial and error — and without the errors the trials wouldn't accomplish anything.

The solution to mistakes? Don't hide them.

The chief trick to making good mistakes is not to hide them — especially not from yourself. Instead of turning away in denial when you make a mistake, you should become a connoisseur of your own mistakes, turning them over in your mind as if they were works of art, which in a way they are. The fundamental reaction to any mistake ought to be this: “Well, I won't do that again!”

To Nietzche, mistakes were a part of life, but they were also to be warred against and defeated. Only the weak - those infected by slave morality - valorize mistakes. The ubermensch conquers mistakes.

We have reached mastery when we neither mistake nor hesitate in the achievement.

Who do you agree with more?

Today, we're going to look at two cases of individuals who made mistakes that caused great suffering to others. Consider the following as you read:

• Was the mistake a product of stupidity (failure of reason) or confusion (failure of data)?

• Was it an easily preventable mistake?

• Where does the moral culpability lie?

AEROFLOT FLIGHT 593

People consider many things when picking a profession. The pay, the ease of entry, and family expectations are all things that one might think about as one plans one's career. For many, they are primarily drawn to prestige and status. There are very few jobs that offer status, and they are very hard to get into, which is partially why people are so impressed by those in the profession. Examples include surgeons, engineers, judges, and athletes.

Being a pilot is very prestigious, but one man let it consume him a little too much. On 23 March 1994, Aeroflot Flight 593 took off from Sheremetyevo Alexander S. Pushkin International Airport in Moscow, Russia. It wasn't a particularly large plane, holding only 63 passengers and 12 crew members. In the cockpit we have Andrey Viktorovich Danilov the captain with close to 10,000 hours of flight time. He was assisted by first officer Vasilyevich Piskaryov and relief captain Yaroslav Vladimirovich Kudrinsky.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_593

Kudrinsky is who we'll focus on. He had close to 9,000 hours of flight time, and on this particular flight, he also had his two children on board. The eldest one was Eldar, who was 15 and looked up to his pilot father. The youngest was Yana, and she was 13. To impress his kids, he let them into the cockpit. While this may sound absurd now, this was pre-9/11 and while it wasn't something that was explicitly allowed, it wasn't punished either.

For Kudrinsky, merely letting his children into the cockpit wasn't enough. He had to let them touch the controls too. He had put the plane on autopilot before he let Yana in the seat. He told her to turn left and to her astonishment, the plane turned left! With eyes as wide as a saucer, Eldar wanted to try too. Of course, he got a turn. He was instructed to turn right, and when he did so, the plane slowly turned in that direction. Being a little older, Eldar wasn't as easily fooled and he soon realized his father was adjusting the autopilot. The kids had never had control!

It was a relatively harmless practice in theory. When the autopilot is on, the plane does not accept input from the control column. Unfortunately, Kudrinsky made a mistake. He did not know that the autopilot could be disengaged if you yanked the column hard for 30 seconds. The thinking behind this design is that in such a situation the human is clearly attempting to avoid a danger that the plane cannot detect, and it should defer control to the human.

In normal situations, nobody would yank at the control column for 30 seconds while the plane was on autopilot. But this wasn't a normal situation - a kid was in the pilot's seat. Eldar yanked hard while his father was distracted. The boy was still having fun imagining himself as a pilot. Eventually, he noticed that the plane was banking right and alerted his father. Kudrinsky and his coworkers were confused at first. They thought the plane was on autopilot, but the flight path indicator was telling them that they were making a 180-degree turn. By the time they figured out the problem, precious seconds had passed and it was too late, the plane had turned at such a sharp angle that the G forces kept everyone glued to their seats or the wall - everyone in the plane.

Kudrinsky attempted to instruct his son on what to do, but there's only so much a 13-year-old can manage in such circumstances. The plane could not handle the extreme forces it was being subjected to, and it stalled, causing it to nosedive like a gannet with its eyes on a trout. When a window of opportunity arose and the G forces dipped, Kudrinsky took Eldar's place. He and Piskaryov tried the best they could to regain control of the plane and level it out, but there was just not enough time left. The plane crashed into Kuznetsk Alatau mountain range, killing everyone on board.

You can hear the entire cockpit recording here (with subtitles). Warning for sensitive listeners. It's not graphic, but it is grim. It is also interesting to note that Kudrinsky takes out his anger on his son.

Kudrinsky's first error was bad, but it was somewhat excusable. Which father doesn't want to impress their kids? Nevertheless, he shouldn't have been playing games with people's lives. Unfortunately, there's a second error. All the struggle was for nothing. In fact, it made the situation worse. You see, though all the pilots had plenty of flight experience, they were relatively novices when it came to the A310-304. This is why it took them so long to figure out there was a problem in the first place. It's the reason why they didn't know about the control column's ability to disengage the autopilot. Their ignorance blinded them to another feature the plane had - if they had just let go of the controls, the plane would have corrected itself.

For a full breakdown of the tragedy, read the investigation report which outlines all the mistakes made.

https://reports.aviation-safety.net/1994/19940323-0_A310_F-OGQS.pdf

HI-FI MURDERS

Have you ever been deeply influenced by a movie? During the heyday of Fast and the Furious, police would note an increase in traffic crimes when the films hit theatres. Scream inspired two teens to kill their friend. For our last case today, we'll look at two people who were looking for a way to quickly and efficiently kill victims in a robbery. They turned to the movie Magnum Force for answers. In the film, a pimp murders a prostitute by forcing her to drink Drano which kills her almost instantly.

Our criminals are Dale Pierre and William Andrews who were both US airmen. They had their target picked out - the Hi-fi Shop in Ogden, Utah. It was 1974, and electronics were expensive and popular, so they stood a chance of making lots of money. They managed to convince four other men to join them in what they claimed was a robbery. When the shop was about to close Peirre, Andrews and one other man walked into the store. The rest stayed by two vans outside which they were going to load up with the stolen goods.

Upon entering, they immediately made their intentions known. There were only two people in the store:

• Stanley Walker (20)

• Michelle Ansley (18)

They were held hostage while the goons loaded up sound equipment and other expensive electronics. Things did not go according to plan. A teen named Cortney Naisbitt entered the store, so they decided to tie him (yes him) up as well. Later, 43yo Orren Walker came around looking for Stanley and he was taken hostage, then Courtney's mom, Carol Naisbitt came around looking for Cortney so she was taken hostage as well, leaving them with five hostages total. They are put in the basement.

With all the goods taken, all the crooks flee. Well, all of them except for Pierre and Andrews. They wanted to get rid of the witnesses. For that, they have Drano. To trick the hostages into drinking it, they pour it into a glass and tell them that it is vodka laced with sleeping pills. The hostages refuse, so they have to be forced. Carol is forced first. The effects are immediate. The corrosive liquid burns their lips, causing the skin to slip off. As it goes down their oesophagus, it causes severe burns all the way into the stomach lining. Orren is the only one who does not drink the Drano because he fakes it.

At this point, the two criminals begin to realize their big mistake - movies aren't real life. They did not get the quick and quiet murder of Magnum Force. It was loud and slow as they screamed and writhed in agony. They tried to duct tape their mouths shut, but their skinless lips provided no surface for the adhesive tape to stick to. At this point, Andrews realized he was in over his head and split. Note, Wikipedia gets this part of the murders wrong, as most sources claim Andrews left while Wiki claims he stayed.

Pierre had a backup plan - his handgun. He pulled it out and shot Carol and Cortney in the head, killing Carol. Cortney survived but was grievously injured. More mistakes were made as he missed Orren twice before killing Stanley Walker. This should have been quick, but it was getting louder and messier.

The murdering stopped when Pierre had a coomer emergency. He took Ansley and r*ped her for half an hour before fatally shooting her in the head. If you're keeping track, that's three dead, leaving two alive.

He falsely assumed Cortney was dead so he set their sights on Orren. Enraged, Pierre tied a wire around his neck and tried to strangle him. He failed at that and Orren lived. Frustrated, Pierre did the unthinkable. He took a ballpoint pen and inserted it on Orren, who was lying on the ground. He then stomped on it until exited his throat. Satisfied with his work, he left.

Orren was not dead. This was good, as he became a star witness that helped ensure the two cretins received the death sentence.

https://www.oxygen.com/violent-minds-killers-on-tape/crime-news/hi-fi-murders-what-to-know-about-the-killers-victims

https://www.abc4.com/news/justice-files/the-justice-files-the-ogden-hi-fi-murders

CONCLUSION

We all make mistakes, and this is unavoidable. Your only hope is to find a cope and cross your fingers that you never make a mistake as disastrous as these fools.

Yo dramatards get a load of this guy.

If you don't know wtf Zaire is, and have never heard of it, don't worry, it doesn't exist anymore. Today it's known as the Democratic Republic of Congo. Existing from 1965 to 1997, The country was a one-party totalitarian military dictatorship, run by Mobutu Sese Seko.

This dude in the funny hat:

And his name was pretty self serving - his full name was like something out of Game of Thrones: Mobutu Sese Seko Koko Ngbendu wa za Banga (meaning; All-powerful warrior, who because of endurance and an inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake)

Zaire formed as a military dictatorship under Mobutu, after a bloody coup, which was preceded by Belgium having given the nation its independence. The history is way too complicated and long and boring, so all we need to focus on is that Mobutu was basically the Mugabe of the Congo, he was power hungry, batshit insane and, had no scruples and had no idea how to financially run a nation.

Mobutu led one of the most enduring dictatorships in Africa and amassed a personal fortune estimated to be over US$5 billion by selling his nation's rich natural resources while the people lived in poverty.

https://web.archive.org/web/20120520151428/http://articles.cnn.com/1997-09-07/world/9709_07_mobutu.wrap_1_joseph-desire-mobutu-zaires-mobutu-sese-seko-after

Mobutu's rule earned a reputation as one of the world's foremost examples of kleptocracy and nepotism. Close relatives and fellow members of the Ngbandi tribe were awarded high positions in the military and government.

https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5793&context=etd

Mobutu was the subject of one of the most pervasive personality cults of the twentieth century. The evening newscast opened with an image of him descending through clouds like a god. His portraits were hung in many public places, and government officials wore lapel pins bearing his portrait. He held such titles as "Father of the Nation", "Messiah", "Guide of the Revolution", "Helmsman", "Founder", "Savior of the People", and "Supreme Combatant".

Coins were printed with his face on them.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1997/09/14/mobutu-and-me/4a01f2c8-996a-4d0e-93d1-66be2694e144

He had batshit policies. He attempted to purge the country of all Belgian cultural influences, and maintained an anti-communist stance to gain positive international support.

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/051797zaire-mobutu.html

====(from the NYT article)

"Mobutu has been called one of the world's wealthiest heads of state, a brutal dictator, an inveterate meddler in the affairs of neighbors and a colossal ego. His style, at once bold and vainglorious, was for an entire generation the very model of an African autocrat.

Resplendent in his signature leopard-skin cap and carved wooden scepter topped with an eagle, Mobutu -- through his canny courtship of Western support, destabilization of his neighbors, systematic corruption and grandiose economic schemes -- left Zaire teetering on the brink of economic collapse. His cult of personality rose to such heights that for weeks at a time, Zaire's official press was forbidden to mention the name of any other Zairian than the president himself."

"Mobutu almost singlehandedly invented Zaire, even giving the country its name in replacement of the colonial name, Congo. But his personal appetite for luxury and wealth spawned a system of official corruption so rapacious that he leaves behind a country in ruin, where revenue from lucrative mines has been squandered or squirreled away in foreign bank accounts.

Life in a vast country deprived of roads, health care, electricity, telephones and often education has reverted to a brutishness not known since the 1940's."

====(end)

Also we have our CIA buddies to thank for putting this lunatic in power, as he was one of the only anti-communists with a power base during the rough political instability of 1960-1965, when the Belgians gave the Congo its independence.

"Although he has always denied it, many scholars believe that Mobutu helped organize the 1961 execution of Lumumba at the urging of the CIA. During the early independence years, the CIA called most of the shots in Zaire. Nonetheless, in those early years, Mobutu often frustrated his CIA handlers." Nooooooooooooooo cries the CIA fricktards, you're supposed to do what WE say and be a bulwark against the Red Menace!!!

And Mobutu is like haha human-rights go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Thank you CIA and Burgerland very cooooool, you fricktards

Mobutu was known for his opulent lifestyle. He cruised on the Congo on his yacht Kamanyola. In Gbadolite, a remote outpost in Zaire, he erected a palace, the "Versailles of the jungle"

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/feb/10/where-concorde-once-flew-the-story-of-president-mobutus-african-versailles

Lol this article has more specifics of the stupid isolated runway.

https://www.motorpunk.co.uk/out-and-about/mobutu-and-the-concorde

"3200m long runway in a mud hut village that had no roads. He also built a palace, a hydro-electric dam and a Coca-Cola bottling plant. His choice of car (remembering that MotorPunk is mostly a motoring magazine) was, predictably, the Mercedes-Benz 600."

"In the 1980s Mobutu flew by Concorde to Paris for some shopping and schmoozing of François Mitterrand, and on another occasion, even flew the Zaire schoolboys choir to a gig in France in it. To those African schoolboys, in fact, any schoolboy, a trip on Concorde must have seemed other-worldly. Mobutu courted Reagan who over-indulged him in a bid to keep Communism at bay in turbulent times in central Africa. "

"So thirsty was Concorde that it used two tons of fuel just to taxi. Getting it in and out of central Africa safely was no easy task. There are no records of who built Mobutu's now knackered airport but Concorde needs a runway of just over 3000m and Gbadolite had 3200m. Very little room for error."

But The fricking Gbadolite runway was even more r-slurred than just that - it was so isolated from civilization, that every trip to his Congo palace risked stranding the fricking airplane there!

"An Air France Concorde, chartered by Mobutu to take him and his entourage shopping in Paris in the 1980s, had to land here. There wasn't much of a Plan B, either. There were very few runways long enough to accommodate Concorde at that time, the distance from Paris to Zaire being even longer than Concorde's regular route to the USA. It would have had, on arrival at Gbadolite, only 1000km of fuel left in the tanks. A diversion to the paved runway at Brazzaville, for example, would have been 1143km. Landing somewhere nearer would have been possible but getting it airborne again; a nigh-on impossibility. There was a real risk that this Concorde could have ended up as the most spectacular ornament in the grounds of Mobutu's folly. As out of place in the jungle as a Swedish Monarch with a fistful of taxpayers Krona in a knocking shop."

Lmoa

Triple Murder Parents

Nobody can truly tell us what the meaning of life is, but we see people around us pursue it daily. For some, it is found in the hunt for religion and spirituality - something that means more than the suffering we face. Others proclaim that pleasures are the purpose of existence, and they follow a life of hedonism.

If you want to look at things biologically, our purpose is to reproduce. That is what life has done for millions of years, and reproduction is evidence of your ability to adapt to the current environment.

This seems to be the answer that resonates with most people. This is perhaps the reason why we are so disgusted by the idea of a parent taking the life of a child. Not only it is heinous, but it is also seemingly deeply self-destructive.

Killing your own child is about the most evil crime one can conceive of. Killing two is unthinkable. What about killing 3? Is there even a word for this level of depravity?

As disturbing as it is, it happens. Today, I'd like to discuss two cases of parents who killed three of their children. This will be an extremely graphic post, so be warned.

CHAD DOERMAN

In modern internet culture, the name Chad has come to be associated with a successful, attractive male. The fellow we will discuss next is a disgrace to all Chads.

Chad Doerman lived in Ohio with his wife and their three kids, as well as Chad's daughter from a previous marriage. The children's names are Chase Doerman (3), Hunter Doerman (4), and Clayton Hunter (7).

The family had been going through a rough patch. All relationships do, but this time, it seemed like they were approaching the end of the road. Though Chad is charismatic, he has a few problems in his life. You see, he was a drinker and he also had a mean streak. He also had a temper problem prominent enough for his neighbors to comment on it. They had the following to say:

He was angry every day. There wasn't a day he didn't yell at his wife and kids out there.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/chad-doerman-neighbours-reveal-behaviour-before-dad-killed-sons/2TYC7DK7XFDRFAPP3GXYBOZPHU

Laura, fed up with the situation, wanted to break up with Chad. Little did she know that this would lead to pure heck being unleashed.

Abuse and manipulation

You see, Chad didn't like the fact that Laura wanted to leave. It appears he is a possessive individual. This is an abusive mindset, and studies have shown that it is typically men who enact it on women to feel powerful.

>Abusive power and control are forms of violence characterized by their continuity, insidiousness, and common prerequisites of intimate partner relationships. They are a pattern of domination through which the abuser uses coercive and controlling tactics, which may or may not involve physical, psychological, or sexual violence, to entrap their victim

>The tactics deployed by the abuser can comprise emotional blackmail, threats, gaslamping, physical force, surveillance, stalking, insults, and other means

>Coercive control may also be extremely subtle and insidious, and depleted of incidents of physical or sexual violence. It can exclusively consist of psychological tactics, such as gaslamping or guilt-tripping, with the common effect that the victim is constantly "walking on eggshells”

>Understanding coercive control prevents interveners from wrongfully focusing on "isolated" events of physical violence, and enables the understanding of abuse as a general, persistent dynamic in a relationship.

The nature of such abuse can be extremely insidious, moreso than violence, as it becomes harder to pinpoint the crime, leaving the victim to feel as though they are responsible for the situation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abusive_power_and_control

Women, if you are going to leave a relationship, DO NOT LET HIM KNOW UNTIL YOU'RE GONE.

The Murders

One day, Chad came home from work as a sheet metal worker and instructed his wife and three sons to take a nap with him in the bedroom. During this time, the stepdaughter was watching television in the living room. They did so, and when they were asleep, Chad got up and fetched his Marlin Model 70HC .22 rifle from his gun safe.

Pictured above is an example of such a weapon. He returned to the room, put his humanity aside, and shot Hunter at close range. The sinister BANG woke the whole house up, the bang ringing through the hallways. The daughter raced into the room to witness Hunter being shot again, killing him.

She ordered Clayton, the oldest son, to run. As fate would have it, the son, in a panic, ran the wrong way. Had he left through the front door, he might have run into the hands of a helpful stranger. Instead, he ran out the backdoor and into a field where his father chased after him and his stepdaughter. I cannot imagine the horror, confusion, and betrayal Clayton must have felt as he ran away from his own father. No horror movies can capture just how evil this day was. Chad eventually caught up to little Clayton and shot him in the back, causing him to fall. With the stepdaughter as a witness, he then walked up to Clayton and fired a shot in his head at point-blank range. He wasn't done with Clayton just yet. He dragged the body back to the house - Laura had to see what he had done.

The only child alive at this point is Chase, the youngest. Surprisingly, the stepdaughter still had enough wits about her to grab Chase and run away. Chad wasn't done with his demonic deeds, which meant there was still bloodshed ahead. At this point, not even holy water could cleanse his soul. With darkness in his heart, Chad catches up to the stepdaughter, points the gun at her, and firmly demands she place the kid down. She is trembling but she refuses. Not one to be thwarted so easily, he puts the barrel to her head. I'm sure you understand why this was a compelling enough argument for her to do as ordered. She places the baby down, Chris aims the gun at the 3yo's head and pulls the trigger... but he is out of bullets.

Chase took this opportunity to run back to the yard where Laura was trying to administer CPR to Clayton on the front lawn. This is probably the saddest part. The child was so young that all they knew was that home equals safety. They were unable to uncouple that association, even when his siblings were getting shot in that location. That would be the last choice Chase makes.

Chad returned to the house as the stepdaughter ran away. After reloading his gun, he took Hunter's body from in the house and lay it outside next to Clayton who Laura was still futilely trying to resuscitate. At this point, Chad and his wife got into an altercation so intense that Chad had to bite her. She put her thumb over the barrel and he pulled the trigger, injuring her.

With Laura injured, there was nobody watching over Chase. Chad walked up to the defenseless 3yo and shot him twice in the head. It was like blasting a mosquito with a bazooka. Following this he sat by his front door, his rifle beside him, as he watched Laura try to save her children.

Meanwhile, the stepdaughter runs down the road and tells a few neighbors she passes that her father is killing everyone. They call 911 and the stepdaughter eventually stops at a fire department where she sends help to her house.

When the police arrive, they apprehend Chad, who does not resist and has a bloodstained shirt. Laura is heard screaming for her children as some police futilely try to do something for the children and their mangled bodies. The cops are visibly disgusted by him, and when Chad tries to talk to one of them, he is told to shut up. You can watch the bodycam footage here.

He appears in court, looks a little shell-shocked, and cries at one point. Nevertheless, he is entirely lucid.

What is the point of discussing a motive? There can be no excuse for such evil. You can read the police documents on the case here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20230714200303/https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23875104/doerman-bill-of-particulars.pdf

JESSICA MCCARTY

When women kill, they tend to go for babies. It is estimated that women kill their own children at the same rate as men do. To understand how significant this stat is, remember that men are responsible for 98% of all murders. In short, women almost exclusively kill babies - their own - and any other types of murders from women are extreme exceptions.

>However, one of the most recent comprehensive national filicide studies in Australia documented 238 cases between 2000 and 2012. This study mirrored trends elsewhere, with male and female perpetrators represented in roughly equal numbers.

>In cases where children are killed intentionally, women are more likely to kill babies and newborns, particularly in circumstances of unwanted pregnancies. Such offenders are more likely to be young and have low levels of social support, although it is increasingly reported among older women.

https://theconversation.com/men-and-women-kill-their-children-in-roughly-equal-numbers-and-we-need-to-understand-why-153527

Jessica McCarty had once been married to Philip McCarty, and they had two children - Phillip and Lacey McCarty. The marriage did not last long, and she eventually divorced and entered a relationship with Christopher Swist. They had one child named Christopher Swist. This might be a hard case to follow because, as you'll notice, we have two Phillips and two Chrises.

Jessica's life wasn't going well. Jessica had a drug problem, and she was poor despite Philip giving her money to help her. Worst of all, Christopher had found a new girl named Brandy! Jessica was filled with burning jealousy and dissatisfaction with her own life. She wanted an out, and she was willing to take her children with her.

One day, while Christopher was at work, he received a phone call from Jessica. She tells him that something bad has happened and he needs to come home. If that wasn't alarming enough, he then sends him a picture of a bloody kitchen floor. Christopher calls his mother who races him home as he calls 911. Nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to witness.

We don't know what order things happened in, but we do know the following:

Young Philip was in the living room with a cord wrapped around his neck. Baby Christopher was found in bed with a cord around his neck. Lacey was found dead in her bed, but she was soaking wet and had cuts on her knees and the back of her head. For some reason, the bath had water in it and the shower glass had shattered, indicating a struggle.

Jessica had cuts all over her, and she was bleeding profusely as she clutched a knife. Upon witnessing this horror, Christopher attempted to rescue his infant son. He could do nothing. Lacey and Philip died that day. Christopher died two days later.

Jessica was intending to die as well. She left a suicide note which spoke about her dislike of Christopher's infatuation with Brandy. She also wrote the following:

>Please remember all of the horrible and disrespectful things you said when you go for the jugular. Those words never leave me, I'm so sorry to put my family through this but I'm not worth living. I suck at life

Fate would not let her escape the consequences of her actions so easily. Though she had attempted to bleed herself dry, doctors were able to save her. She stood trial and claimed mental illness. When asked about the crimes, she claims she does not remember them. This results in a pretty intense screaming match between her and a lawyer attempting to question her.

She was found guilty and received life in prison at age 33 in 2015.

CONCLUSION

There is nothing more unnatural than a parent killing a child, yet here we are. It is a sad reality that there are so many that will attempt to conceive and fail, or remain incels their whole life. Yet those blessed enough to be given the gift of reproduction chose to make such sordid choices.

I like to end these posts with a lesson that can be learned, but there is nothing to take from this chaos. The world is cruel, and an inordinate amount of love and support is needed for anyone to make it through the evil that we will all surely face. Best of luck and enjoy the rest of your week!

"BMI isn't very accurate especially for Sub-saharan Africans. For instance, some sub-saharan african women have a BMI of 30+ but when you see them in person, you wouldn't categorize them as “obese”"

AAAAHAHAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHHHAAA

Peeps agree they are totally not faaaaaaaaaaaaat

CONTEXT!!!!

Okay let me explain,

despite all the circlejerk liberals and shitlibs make, there are distinct differences between races on earth, no matter how taboo it is to discuss amongst woke people, medical careerists do have to take racial differences into account when treating their patients.

Examples:

The earwax of caucozoids is sticky/wet and very comparatively thick, whilst the earwax of SAE asian peeps tend to be papery and dry, and the treatment towards earcleaning can be downright dangerous between the races. You will often see these ASMR asian ear cleaning spas and shit in china where a lot of chinese go to for relaxation in their mystical ancient chinese 1000 year old Kung Fu bullshit about how smearing mud on your face will help lengthen the youth of your skin for the next 50 years.

https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/gory-details/what-your-earwax-says-about-your-ancestry

https://www.livescience.com/593-earwax-wet-dry.html

Basically anything on this youtube channel

https://youtube.com/@ShiliASMR

Basically the general rule is that asians can afford to clean their ears more often than westoids like caucasians, if your earwax is wet, then basically you NEED that shit in your ear, as it's a secretion to protect your sensitive eardrums from dust and bacteria and foreign crap. Usually only when they start blocking up your ear canal is a good idea to remove it by flushing it out after a few days of waxxol or whatever .

In terms of skin, Dermatologists nead to be very careful in subscribing cream to africans which could be downright toxic, even if they are nothing but beneficial to asians or whites.

African frizzy or curly hair react differently to shampoos meant for whitoids and can downright cause bad hygiene, it's so fricking prevalent in Burgerland whitoid foster parents who adopt african kids, and use shampoo and skincare products from whitoids, that the kids inevitably grow calcified dreadlocks which are horrifically unhygienic, and whitoid parents WTF is happening to my baby's hair, it keeps going all wonky now matter now much I wash it reeeeeee

To such extent that there are websites dedicated to the skin and hair care for mayo foster parents of chocolate kids

https://cacaregivers.org/texturedhair

https://www.quora.com/We-are-white-parents-to-an-adopted-5-year-old-African-American-girl-wholl-grow-up-in-Aspen-Colorado-very-relevant-Would-you-advise-styling-her-hair-with-well-kept-dreadlocks-What-would-the-practical-and-social

https://www.parents.com/parenting/dynamics/as-black-parents-raising-a-white-child-we-face-racism-everyday

https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/afro-black-hair-identity

https://www.bcadoption.com/resources/articles/hair-and-skin-care-kids-guide-parents-black-and-bi-racial-children

https://www.fosteradopt.org/blog/resources/black-hair-care-tips-for-foster-parents

"my whitoid parents tried to give me a life away from the orphanage, but they fricked up my black hair now im not cool anymore wahwahwah"

Didn't even begin for mayo foster parents

Anyways you guys get the idea, there are diistinct and extreme physiological differences between races to the extent that doctors may not be advised to give patients of different races the same medication as it would be toxic to their biologies.

So there is genuine sincere precedent in which the application of medical norms to people of different races can have adverse effects - example in burgerland, the majority race is Mayos, and thus research tend to be overwhelmingly towards mayo subjects for research and experiments, this can have unintended consequences for people of different races if those same methodologies or medicine is used for other races like blacks or asians.

Many basketball americans had complained that they had suffered mistreatment at the hands of white doctors who prescribed to them treatments not suitable for black patients, and while the usual woke crowd will over inflate this, there has been historical president of black women receiving less or no painkillers during treatment of surgery by white doctors, for whatever reason, like the false belief that black women have less sensitivity than their white peers.

https://www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(09)00775-5/fulltext

https://capitalbnews.org/black-women-pain

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/aug/10/black-patients-bias-prescriptions-pain-management-medicine-opioids

Once again it's near impossible to get a non-wingcucked research into this subject as wokoids will overinflate a very real occurence, but the point remains there had been a very long history since over a hundred years ago in burgerland, of blacks, and especially black women, receiving less care and painkillers, whether in birthing a baby or surgery or basially any form of injury by a noticeable amount.

The takeaway is that there is sincere historic cause for american blacks to have some amount of hesitancy towards health norms applied by a nation with a mostly white dominant population, HOWEVER

Which brings us to BMI and /r/Afirca

1st - there is genuine physiological differences between the manner in which fat and weight is distributed between men, women, and people of different races - specifically whites and blacks

2nd - Just like the biological differences in earwax of eastoids VS westoids, and hair hygiene between caucozoids and BIPOCS, so too is the margins of how BMI is calculated to determine the weight health of a person of african or european descent - specifically black women due genuinely by actual hard research have larger margins of healthy weight supposedly on average so that black kweens should have larger ranges before being considered obese as the BMI had been mostly calculated via white test subjects

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2886596

However

HOWEVER

H.O.W.E.V.E.R.

The ACTUAL amount of margin differences between mayo and black women for default boy health is fricking inconsequential lmoa, by all the research i had skimmed, it had been in the order of a pathetic 10% difference

In laymen's terms, to have the BMI calculated for our Kweens you are supposed to adjust the BMI by a order of 10% increase or whatever

SO IN OTHER WORDS: if a mayo b-word is obese at 30 BMI, then a black kween would only be obese at 33 BMI, and so on.

But the r-sluration of these FAT activists is that they misunderstand the application of the BMI, and it's usually only the fricking morbidly obese fatoids who try to cope using the challenge that BMI was invented by the evil Burgerlands white supremacy to keep kweens down and make them feel fatter than they already are

Thus there is perpetual fricking cope I see online from black burgers and africans about the supposed invalidity of the White Supremacist BMI!

When in reality what often happens is that a fat black b-word of BMI 35 will b-word and moan that actually! she is not obese because she is over 30 BMI, nonono, instead we must adjust the BMI - but in reality if we adjust the BMI with that fabled pathetic inconsiquential 10%, the margin for obesity is STILL FRICKING 33 BMI!!!!!

AND SHE'S STILL FRICKING OBESE LMOA

Right sorry fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinally back to /r/Africa cope

The map is inaccurate , WRONG THESHOLDS!!!

The usual cope

That's a lie

https://old.reddit.com/r/Africa/comments/174099p/african_nations_by_obesity_prevalence_in_women/k49qjet?context=8

Fattoid posts his

"BMI takes your height into account..."

The introduction will be brief. As we all know, Israel and Palestine are currently at war. This will have devastating effects on the world, especially the Middle East and Europe. I will begin by giving a brief outline of the conditions leading to conflict between the two states. I will then take a look back at the refugee crisis of the 00s, and predict how things may be worsened by current conditions.

At the end, I will pose two possible outcomes

a) horror

b) harmony

It is up to you to decide which route is most likely for Europe and women.

Why Conflict? Israel and Palestine

Jews do not want to die. Muslims do not want to suffer. So why is there war? Put simply, what we are witnessing is a cycle of violence. As Sarah Schulman points out:

>The Israeli government has kept the Palestinian Gaza Strip under siege since 2005. This has made daily life unbearable for its inhabitants. In the late spring of 2014, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu escalated pressure on the already suffering Palestinians, and some factions within Gaza responded with rockets that were of such poor quality they had only symbolic impact. The Israeli government re-reacted in turn to this response with over fifty days of aerial bombing and ground invasion, causing mass death and massive destruction of literal, cultural, and psychological infrastructure. The Gazans were reacting to a state of injustice that the Israelis had created. The Gazans were resisting. They were refusing to go along with unbearable and unjustifiable treatment. The Israelis experienced this resistance to ongoing unfair treatment as attack.

Cycles of violence do not stop on their own. Instead, they expand, encompassing more as they grow. The key to breaking the cycle is to recognize that revenge is not justice. Unfortunately, it is already evident that Israel is adamant that harsh retribution is the key to ending violence. All they are doing is creating another generation of fighters who will once again strive for their freedom and their own sense of justice.

justice to me = attack to you

Mass immigration - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

In a book I highly recommend titled Prey by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the effects of mass immigration are discussed. For those who need an introduction, Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia where she was subjected to female circumcision. She was meant to marry her cousin but she fled. Following 9/11, she began to rethink the Quran and Islam, and came to the conclusion that Islam is not a religion of peace. This made her very popular in the 00s when it was quite intellectually fashionable to say such things. However, nowadays, she is branded a right winger and a Islamaphobe.

She has strongly stood against mass immigration into Europe, because she believes it will destroy the continent. Specifically, she is worried that Islam is a poison. Furthermore, Europe is unequipped to deal with this poison, and so it shows a soft hand.

>Eighteen-year-old Franziska W. left a Freiburg nightclub in October 2018 with a Syrian asylum seeker she had met inside. What she did not know was that her new acquaintance was wanted by police for drug offenses and as a suspect in a gang r*pe. Majid H. was 21 at the time. It appears that he drugged the girl, dragged her behind a row of hedges, and r*ped her. He then phoned his friends, inviting them to join him. According to the court prosecutor, Majid told them there was a woman outside “who can be fricked.” Over several hours, eleven men—eight Syrians, one Iraqi, one Algerian, and one German—between 19 and years of age either r*ped or provided cover for the male feminists.

The consequences?

>Of the eleven, eight were sentenced to prison terms of between three and four years, two received suspended sentences of four and six months, and one was acquitted.

There's countless cases like this Hirsi Ali brings up.

>One involved a 17-year-old Somali named Mohomed who followed a 13-year-old girl into a shopping center bathroom in Borlänge. Despite her screams, he pushed her down onto a changing table and r*ped her. Days later he called her a “fat, disgusting whore” and threatened to “cut her neck” and “jump on her head” if she reported him to police. He had made similar threats to another girl he had previously assaulted, spitting on her and threatening to kill her. In June 2018, Mohomed was convicted for numerous offenses, including theft, abusive behavior, sexual harassment, and child r*pe. However, the Swedish court found “no special reason” to imprison him as he was a minor, sentencing him to perform just 150 hours of community service and to pay modest compensation to his victims.

>In March 2017, a 27-year-old Nigerian living in an asylum reception center in Bagnoli near Naples sexually assaulted a 41-year-old woman. In 2018, a 20-year-old Somali, who had just received a subsidiary protection permit from the Italian authorities, sexually assaulted a 68-year-old woman sunbathing at a beach.

>The case of Arif Moradi, though less violent, also illustrates the leniency with which migrant men convicted of s*x crimes are treated in Sweden. An Afghani, Moradi entered Sweden in 2014, one of 7,044 other unaccompanied minors hoping to receive asylum that year. His application was refused in 2016, and the Swedish government ordered him to leave the country. While waiting to appeal this decision, Moradi attended a Christian camp in Söderköping, where he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl.

>In August 2018, a 19-year-old Somali broke into a retirement home in Halle, Central Germany. He sexually assaulted one of the residents, a 74-year-old woman, simply “because he wanted s*x.”

Horror

I believe we will head this route. The road of horror predicts that mass immigration following the millions of refugees that will be created by the Israel/Palestine war will destroy European society. Author Francesco M. Bongiovanni gives us an idea of what to expect in his text titled The Decline and Fall of Europe.

What you can expect is not Islamification. No, you can anarchy as society loses its cohesiveness.

Harmony

There is a second option - the deepest values of liberalism prevail.

The USA is the most powerful country in the world, and it is shockingly multicultural. In its current form it attempts to embody the central liberal themes of strength through diversity and the possibility of a harmonious society composed of many cultures. The USa has thrived by drawing talent from around the world, and using the unique special traits of all different people to ensure constant progress. Some of the richest people in the world live in America yet were not born there. Some of the greatest scientists and tech geniuses live in the USA but were not born there. Actors, artists and successful people from all walks of life have traveled to that multicultural mecca, the USA, and have achieved the fabled American dream.

Not being funny, I'll let Ariel tell it. Our differences are our strengths.

What makes some one special?

I suppose it all depends,

it's what's unique in each of us

that we all share as friends.

The difference is our differences,

maybe small or great,

variety adds spice to life,

so we should celebrate!

In Harmony, harmony!

You're you I'm me,

together we should sing in Harmony!

If there was only one note,

How boring life would be.

I'm glad there are so many notes,

In many different keys.

I hear each voice singing,

with a special quality,

and when we sing together,

we bring music to the sea!

In Harmony, harmony!

You're you I'm me,

together we can live in Harmony!

In Harmony, harmony!

You're you I'm me,

together we can live in Harmony!

Oooooo, in harmony! Harmony!

You're you! Im me!

Together we can live in harmony

You're you. I'm me.

Together we can live in harmony!

This is what I desperately want to believe in. That when people from around the world come together, good things happen. That we can find harmony by celebrating our differences. It mean so much to me, and this is the essence of my personal ideologies. However, I'd be foolish to pretend that world works this way. Differences cause conflict.

Conclusion

The mass immigration into Europe will happen. It's not a matter of if but when. Please tell me, will we see:

a) harmony - liberal values prevail and a diverse Europe thrives like never before

b) horror - social cohesion is lost and we witness the decline of a great civilization.

Before I begin, I'd like to apologize for my poor-quality video game reviews in the past. I vow to take these reviews far more seriously and to provide genuinely helpful information to the most important members of our society - g*mers. They deserve to know how to spend their hard-earned money wisely.

Secondly, apologies for the lack of new pictures. There are some tight embargo restrictions and you're only allowed to post from a pool of pre-approved images. Hence, you will notice that all the images from the commercial reviewers have Spider-Man 2 logo watermarks on them. Consequently, I see no need to add the pictures, as you'll just get the same thing everyone else is posting.

So without further ado, here is the Spider-Man 2 review.

SPIDER-MAN 2

Why do we play video games? According to Johan Huizinga, we are Homo ludens. That is to say, we are a species defined by play. It is through play that we learn, grow, and socialize. Play is also how we form bonds with others and process trauma.

Video games clearly serve these purposes. Video games have made great friendships, and who can say a video game hasn't helped them through a tough time? Though video games can have noble purposes, they aren't always used for that reason. Sometimes, video games are there to stimulate sexual arousal, or just entertain you with bright colors.

Today, we're going to discuss Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and we'll hopefully get to the center of what games are for precisely.

BACKGROUND

Spider-Man was created by Stan Lee in 1962. When creating this character he was interested in the idea of an “ordinary teen” who would grow as the comic series progressed. The result was a wise-cracking New Yorker with a lot of heart, making him exceptionally relatable.

Peter Parker, who is the famous Spider-Man, was later joined by Miles Morales in 2011. Miles was created by Brian Michael Bendis, and he is very similar to Peter, though he has electric powers, as well as the ability to camouflage himself. In the late 90s, Marvel was going through a rough patch, and it sold a lot of its IPs. Consequently, Spider-Man became Sony's property. This explains why the PS3 had the Spider-Man font. The IP was purchased for $7 million, and in hindsight, it was a steal.

In 2019, Sony acquired Insomniac, beginning a long relationship with the already successful studio. Spider-Man (2018) was one of the bestselling titles on the PS4, and it has since sold over 33 million copies. Understandably, anticipation is high for the next game.

So, did Insomniac manage to top their previous offering? In short, yes. It doesn't do this by offering a heartwarming story or complex gameplay. Instead, wows you with jaw-dropping visuals, and an awesome factor that'll keep you coming back.

GAMEPLAY

Overview

Truth be told, I didn't play 2018's Spider-Man, although I did play Miles Morales. I hate superheroes. Why? Okay, I'll reveal exactly why. In my younger years in university, I would hang out with a guy who was large, charismatic, and could easily take control. I was basically his lackey and I would follow him around everywhere and sometimes do things I was uncomfortable with because I was afraid to say no.

In the dormitory I lived in, there was an “awards ceremony” at the end of every year - basically a drinking event. One year, I got the Batman and Robin award, with myself labeled Robin because the most notable aspect of my pathetic existence was being second banana to someone superior to me in every way. Since then I have sorely loathed superheroes and anything to do with Batman specifically.

With that out of the way, let's discuss Spider-Man 2's gameplay, which will probably be the most contentious aspect of the game. You'll either love it dearly or hate it intensely.

First, let's just discuss what you're getting. As was the case with its predecessor, Spider-Man 2 places heavy emphasis on traversal. To get around New York, you can web-swing between buildings and do tricks. This is very fun, addictive even, and I never tired of swinging from one mission to the next.

You also have a webwings on your suit. Activate them, and you can glide longer distances which is useful when you need to overcome waterways. You can remain airborne by taking advantage of air currents that give you height and speed. These are really fun, and you gain more speed by going through the little rings that appear.

In addition to looking cool, all these traversal methods will score you some XP which you can then use to level up and unlock skills. Fast travel is ridiculously fast. I'm talking instant. As soon as you click on an area on the map, you're there. However, you shouldn't use fast travel too much because you'll miss out on all the crimes you can stop, collectibles to find, and Photo Ops to locate.

Once you're at your mission, your typical combat begins. If you've played the prior games, you'll find this very familiar. You're surrounded by a group of baddies, some of them have guns, others have shields, and some are too fat to hurt with a punch. This time around there are also robot drones that survey from above, and robot predators that hunt you down. You defeat them by mostly pressing square to make Spider-Man perform sick stunts.

The combat can be pretty mindless if you want, but as I got into the game and cranked up the difficulty to the highest setting, I realized that the combat wasn't as shallow as I initially thought. It's no Bloodborne, but there are combos to learn and you can certainly become better at the game by familiarizing yourself with the intricacies of combat. For those who want to get serious, there are plenty of combos to learn, but really even if you do learn them, you're not going to be much better off than someone just button-mashing. You're both going to defeat baddies and see cool moves.

If you want to improve how you perform during combat, you need to upgrade your Abilities, Gadgets, and Suit Tech. Let's briefly discuss your Abilities and Gadgets. Some gadgets give you extra appendages, others enhance what you can do with your web-slinger, and others give you new weapons to use during combat or increase your speed.

Abilities are moves you can pull off in combat. Peter has his own set of abilities, while Miles' abilities take advantage of electric powers. Lastly, you have Suit Tech. With Suit Tech, you can improve aspects of Miles and Peter such as their health and the damage they deal. Through this system, your upgrades aren't dependent on the suit you put on. You're free to wear whatever suit you want without worrying about stat changes.

When it comes to combat, I much prefer Miles Morales. He has the ability to camouflage, so you can go the stealth route with most missions. This makes the game piss-easy at all levels, but it's also a little less repetitive and mind-numbing than the button-mashing that is regular combat.

Stealth gameplay has been improved since the Miles Morales game. You're able to create lines of web above the playing field, allowing you to position yourself above enemies when opportunities wouldn't have been previously available. This makes stealth even easier, but it is a fun move to use.

DualSense masters

The DualSense is an amazing controller, but there have been very few games to utilize it well. Perhaps the greatest example, to this day, is Astro's Playroom. Spider-Man 2 comes pretty close. The controller is used to simulate the nuances of the environment and it feels very good. It's so accurate that you can feel the chain of your bicycle as you cycle around New York.

It also makes use of the touchpad in a good way, and you can swipe in different directions to bring up your FNSM or open up your camera app. You can also assign shortcuts to the d-pad, which is very useful. I used mine for the photo mode and to slow down gameplay for cool moments.

The busywork

There are a ton of collectibles and mini-games scattered throughout New York. For example, you have EMF experiments that have you splicing atoms together and flying drones around Central Park. You also need to look for Spider-Bugs hidden throughout the city, and Prowler Stashes hidden in weird places.

Even during missions, you'll be hit with one-off mini-games such as during your visit to the Park of Coney Island where you can play some of the games and rides. Sometimes, it feels like busywork, especially because I'm not interested in Peter and MJ's relationship which is often expounded upon during these moments. Nevertheless, I was never bored because everything looked so good and felt so smooth. Yes, I admit that I was impressed by how superficially shiny the mindless mini-games were.

There are also sections that throw in those Ratchet and Clank-style wormholes that transport you from one place to another. The portals are formed by Black Cat who has a magic wand. These sections are extremely fun and very fast-paced. I'd say, they are some of my favorite moments in the game.

In short, Spider-Man surprised me with its gameplay. I went in expecting to hate it. I thought it would be nothing but a repetitive slough. I was wrong, at least in some ways. The gameplay is shallow, sure. But it's the most polished shallow gameplay of this generation. It's fast, flashy, and fun. You won't ever be excessively challenged, even on the hardest difficulty, but it will put a smile on your face, even if you're a doubter like myself.

Closing thoughts on gameplay

So, as I said, you'll either like it or hate it. The game is very much a collectathon which has you swinging around the city to complete busywork. The combat is as shallow as a teaspoon. Nevertheless, you shouldn't take this as an indication that the game is bad.

Sometimes you just want to win, and you don't want to struggle to do it. Sometimes you're tired after work and you want to make progress instead of being stuck at one level. Spider-Man 2 is the game for you if you are in this position. It never makes you struggle.

Most importantly, it's pretty as frick. You're constantly bombarded by beautiful visuals that make it impossible to take your eyes off the screen. New York has never looked this gorgeous. It genuinely feels like playing a movie at times, and other times, you can take your hands off the controller and just enjoy the flashy cutscenes.

This is the best game for midwits, and that's why I love it.

SETTING

New York is massive, impressively so. Walk the streets and you'll see people going about their day, and you can interact with some of them. You'll also occasionally see crimes go down. Sometimes, they're committed by regular thugs, and other times you're dealing with arsonists that mean business.

As you interact with the city and the people, you'll sometimes encounter some truly touching moments. This occurs, for example, when Miles helps a woman find her grandfather, and we hear a story from him of how he met his now-deceased wife.

Without spoiling too much, you'll be exploring plenty of interiors that'll make you forget you're in New York at all. There are a TON of environments explored. Furthermore, you aren't trapped within the city and there are sections where you will briefly travel to other countries around the world.

I had so much fun web-swinging through New York. The game is the perfect wallpaper maker, and my PC is going to look fetch for the next few months.

CHARACTERS

One of the selling points of the new game is that you'll be able to switch between Miles and Peter. Let me explain how it works. When you're not on a mission, you're able to switch between either Spider-Man at will. The change is instant, and you'll sometimes be treated to a little scene showing Spider-Man interacting with the public or just hanging around (sometimes literally lol).

Each Spider-Man has their own skill trees, suits, and missions. You have to switch to a specific character to start certain missions. The Spider-Men will help each other in battles sometimes if their paths cross.

I like this mechanic, as it gives you two different ways to explore the city. Peter is the classic Spider-Man experience, while Miles allows you to take the stealth route if you wish. It also means you have two skill trees to complete, and two sets of suits to unlock. To get new suits, you'll have to collect hero tokens, city tokens, tech parts, and rare tech parts.

The downside is that the game is still trying to tell a relatively linear story, so the two spideys are always intertwined in their stories. You can't play a separate Miles and Peter campaign like Resident Evil 2. It's one story.

Miles has a love interest, and if you played Miles Morales you already know who she is. She plays a bigger role this time around, and there are some cute moments between her and Miles. I don't like MJ and Peter's relationship. MJ is annoying and her inability to actually commit to Peter and demonstrate her dedication is infuriating.

I like Peter's friendship with Harry Osborn, and how it develops and morphs. There are some pretty impactful moments that lead to what will surely be Spider-Man 3.

AUDIO, VISUALS, AND PERFORMANCE

You can probably predict what I'm going to say. This is an Insomniac game, and they have the benefit of working on a single console. Spider-Man 2 is one of the best-looking games on the PS5. It's quite possibly one of the best-looking games of all time. Spider-Man looks so realistic, and he moves so believably.

The lighting gives New York fantastic reflective surfaces, making the glass skyscrapers glisten in the sun. If you want to fault this game, it's not going to concern its visuals. They're impeccable. Human characters are also borderline photorealistic, and Spider-Man's suit is ridiculously detailed down to the stitches.

The actual background music is pretty forgettable. You'll get a few rap tracks sprinkled here and there because the game is totally cool, and there's epic superhero music to score your web-swinging, but nothing in particular popped out at me.

This doesn't mean that the audio design sucks. Quite the contrary. When kicking butt in New York, you'll enjoy immersive 3D audio that makes you feel like you're truly in the Big Apple. During combat, audio cues can help you determine which direction your foes are coming from, which is extremely helpful because they usually attack in large hordes.

The performance is darn near flawless. I played it in performance mode which offers you 60FPS gameplay, but you won't be sacrificing ray-tracing. There is a 30FPS graphics mode available, but it is not worth it in a game like this when fast and fluid motion is so important. Nevertheless, if you do want to go this route, you'll be treated to some eye-popping visuals.

I said “darn near flawless”, which should alert you that there are at least some issues. I experienced a singular major glitch that occured when I randomly clipped through the ground during combat, fell through liminal space, then died. However, there are plenty of what I'd call micro-glitches, and they're frustrating. You know, you're in the middle of combat and spidey won't fricking zip to the next point despite you directing there and he instead sticks to the wall like an idiot as he's blasted with bullets. Sometimes, he'll zip past the pole I was aiming for or he'll just stop responding to my inputs. It's frustrating, and yes it might be a skill issue, but you'll be familiar with this problem if you've ever played an Assassin's Creed game and your parkour is rekt by your character deciding to leap off the roof instead of jumping to the next pole or just gets stuck on one pole despite you attempting to move forward.

To conclude this section, Spider-Man is a gorgeous game both visually and sonically. Insomniac always pushes the boundaries with its games when it comes to visual fidelity, and things are no different this time around. The performance is also great, but there are some frustrating moments during combat and traversal.

STORY

I don't care about the story I hate superheroes so much. Here's the major fricking spoiler: the Spider-Men win! Peter has MJ and Miles has Hailey because they're good people and that's what happens to good people. Good people are never depicted as lonely unloved men.

I hate superheroes so much. Here's a real story - I am a 5 foot 1 male (156cm). Try making a game out of that, Insomniac! I can't grow facial hair and I get called ma'am on the phone. I have never experienced any of the benefits of masculinity, for socially, I am a submale, subhuman, manlet.

There is no happy ending to this story, the stats speak for themselves:

1. Short men are poorer

The correlation between height and male earning power is stronger than the correlation between gender and earning power. You can predict your lifelong earning power by your height at age 16.

• men's wages as adults could be linked to their height at age 16

• The researchers found that on an average an increase in height by one inch at age 16 increased male adult wages by 2.6 percent. This is equal to increase of approximately $850 in 1996 annual earnings.

In short (pun intended), the taller you are at 16, the more you will earn in your life. Short men are also barred from some of the highest-earning jobs and jobs requiring leadership.

• studies have shown that short people are paid less than taller people, with disparities similar in magnitude to the race and gender gap

• surveys have uncovered that less than 3% of CEOs were below 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) in height. 90% of CEOs are of above-average height

2. Short men are lonelier

There is nothing that guarantees your social rejection more than being short

• in a 2019 survey performed by Ipsos in Hungary with over 500 respondents, the perfect height for men for 53% of participants was between 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) to 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)

• Research indicates that the human brain uses height as one factor to measure social status and fitness

• Studies have observed that infants as young as 10 months old unconsciously associate height with leadership potential, power, strength, and intelligence

3. Short men are sad

• A study produced by the Universities of Groningen and Valencia, found that the taller a man was, the less anxious he felt about attractive, physically dominant, and socially powerful rivals

• it was found that a 5-cm (2-inch) increase in height was associated with a 9% decrease in suicide risk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Height_discrimination

It is truly OVER. Numbers don't lie and they paint a grim picture. My entire life is just writing these worthless posts that are read by 20 people who then proceed to insult me and give me ban awards.

CONCLUSION

Everything to say has been said. I went into it expecting to hate it, but I love it. So back to my original question - why do we play video games? It is true we play for noble reasons. But it is also true that we play for superficial reasons - to pass time, to be excited, and to feel powerful. Spider-Man 2 is an incredibly shallow game, but it excels at providing fun.

To my own astonishment, I give Spider-Man 2 a solid 90/100 Hollys.

Now, you probably assumed that /r/India was either extremely radlib from the start or like most subs got radlibbified after the 2016 election but that's not the case. The process started a few years earlier in early 2014. One of the things that you often learn from using forums like reddit is that you don't need biased moderation to turn any discussion site into an echo chamber. A handful of dedicated autitsts constantly arguing, abusing, and harassing users while being online 24/7 can turn any forum into a toxic shithole that no sane individual wants to visit on a regular basis which is what Hindu nationalists tried to do in /r/India in the run-up to the 2014 election. Now, before this /r/India mods weren't particularly heavy-handed with their moderation and they were also mods of /r/Bakchodi (which would later turn into the Hindu nationalist shitposting sub). Of course, the Hindutvadis weren't content with that , so they tried to do what they do best and organise brigades and vote manipulation to tilt the subs' political leaning rightwards .

This is a detailed recap of the events someone did the year after. Saved me the trouble of actually putting in effort for this post .

Ladies and gentlemen bear with me for the post may be long. I bring to you from that exciting corner of reddit, /r/india, which is small but abounds in dramas, the best they have yet to offer us. This is the first anniversary of the great drama.

Around early December 2013, with National elections just five months away, supporters of different parties get the idea that reddit is the place where elections are going to be decided. Heated discussions are everywhere but it is all unorganized and no party seems to be getting an upper hand. Amidst all this, there emerges a hero, /u/modi4pm. He creates a subreddit /u/namoarmy and collects all the supporters of Narendra Modi and makes the mods of the sub. He gains a reputation for being a die-hard Modi supporter with posts like Sad love story of modi4pm, Thanking members for creating a pro-Modi subreddit, Promotion of NamoArmy, Luring the Modi supporters by using the photos of his girlfriend, A well planned marketing strategy to promote NamoArmy, Predicts the future, Indulges in occasional poetry, Predicts the future of AAP, Takes a tough stand against communists, Gives advice to girls on masturbation techniques, and finally takes Narendra Modi campaign into gonewild.

A vote brigading ring of 10-15 people is formed and easily carries most of the days with pro-Modi news at top. Nobody has any idea what is happening. NamoArmy is happy...until

2 Jan 2014: /r/india best of 2013 awards. /u/modi4pm is awarded best commentator in spite of being new and an obvious troll. This thread in itself makes an interesting read for the kind of hero worship /u/modi4pm enjoys.

4 Jan 2014: Bombshell is dropped. r/NamoArmy and /u/modi4pm have been banned from reddit. Allegations and counter allegations. Some redditors think /r/india mods have brought down the ban hammer. Others want supporters of rival party to be banned to bring a balance to the sub.Off course the reddit gold award as best commenter for /u/modi4pm is mentioned. One gentleman thinks mods are right into vote brigading.

5 Jan 2014: Mods make a post and bring in far-reaching reforms.

5 Jan 2014: One user /u/chief_platooffers mod logs of /r/NamoArmy. He was the harbinger of bad news when /u/modi4pm was banned.

7 Jan 2014: /u/chief_plato delivers the logs. Logs don't exist anymore.*

9 Jan 2014: /u/yekyen makes a post. He is /u/chief_plato. He is /u/Namo4pm. Yes, you guessed it right, he is also /u/modi4pm. All heck breaks loose.

Someone's primary account is banned and he wants /u/yekyen's address so that he can break his eggs.

Another user feels betrayed and wounded because the great chief modi4pm has misused his trust.

Some can't help admiring his great work.

Jan 10 2014: Three more users are banned.

One user is philosophical, matrix style.

Some are happy.

Some don't give a frick.

Sad and unfair

Some are conflicted and can't decide for sure.

Jan 11 2014: New revelations on latest drama on /r/india. Coming soon. Django is unchained and he wants to take on the commies who betrayed his masters. This time everyone is disappointed as mod warning means the real-life identity and main reddit account of /u/modi4pm aka chief plato aka yekyen is not revealed and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Django, although unchained is banished from the realms of reddit.

Jan 12 2014: Someone with video editing skills immortalize the scandal. In Memoriam - The Kulcha Warriors Who Fell.

May 16 2014: Narendra Modi led NDA is handed the most comprehensive victory in Indian General elections in almost 30 years, winning 340 out of 543 seats. Narendra Modi is sworn as Prime Minister ten days later. All those who sacrificed themselves, it wasn't wasted.

*The recap says the leaked logs are no longer available but thankfully, it has been archived in the Wayback machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20150804012615/https://pastebin.com/wgDM18CB

Some funny comments from the mod logs :

I love Ann Coulter though. She's the only woman who's impressed me in my life, she's too thin though. :( Although the heavyset housewives are another breed who're quite individualistic,(like Meenakshi Lekhi.) They' one I like. But agree, today's Indian women are mostly sham. Very few young women I've seen whom I'm comfortable with talking on the same level.

--

and girls in general are getting more power everywhere. But bahut ganda trend hai, what can you do. I don't mind the matriarch type woman, I hate the narcissistic liberal woman who thinks it's nobody's right to comment or watch her if she's wearing shorts. Or the submissive woman jo merko naive lagti hai. Gujarat ki bandiyan nahi pasand yaar. Bahut chhoti soch hai.

problem is thanks to universal suffrage, now women and poor outnumber the rich and in electoral politics where it is all consensus and legitimacy, you cannot win with the right wing ideology and logic. After Regan it is all democrats in US (Both time Bush won, it was fraud). Electoral politics is all about legitimacy and right wing always lacks that as convincing the masses (women and poor which form majority is daunting task).

--

More Ann Coulter and Jenny Mcarthy(who?) Love:

I too like Ann Coulter and Jenny McCarthy. :)

Ann Coulter and Jenny McCarthy I can tell you teh right wing women are fun to be with. Lefties are bitches and entitled whores. They feel that they are here and doing something grateful for humanity. It is weird. If u marry them ur life is heck.

The guy who fricks Jenny McCarthy can lay a claim to having the best s*x in the world. She's a walking sexbomb. And Ann Coulter. I think we'd be inseparable buddies. s*x? I don't know. modi4pm, palin is almost exactly the submissive Gujarati girl. Bas Alaska thi chhe.

I said na, agar independent nhi hai unlike in US, they'll reflect society. I know Gujarati girls yaar, they are very naive, very submissive girls hain. In places like Delhi, metros in general, girls are independent.

Anyway, much of the mod logs are them obsessing over this Reddit favourite political party and foids:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aam_Aadmi_Party

If you ever feel that mods are being harsh towards wingcucks in rDrama, remember incidents like this . Wingcucks aren't interested in discussion, they just want to overrun any platform they can get their hands on for their "cause". They're always "on message". The purged rightoids went on to take over /r/Indianews and then /r/Indiaspeaks was started as a place meant to be "politically neutral" and guess what happened? Yep, It became rightoid central .

!bharatiya !fellas Discuss.

Good day. This will be a relatively short post exploring the drama that resulted following r*pe allegations at Rhodes University, South Africa. I'm going to look at a single accusation, and it will be up to you to decide whether the accused is guilty or not. As we proceed, I'd like for you to keep the following questions in mind:

is Stuart a sincere social justice warrior?

did the protestors act correctly?

did the university react correctly?

is Stuart guilty?

was justice served

Enjoy!

Background

Rhodes University is located in Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is known for its journ*lism department, as well as for its involvement in the annual National Arts Festival. Grahamstown, which is the name the university is found, has a history connecting it back to early colonialism, and it is the home of the Old Provost military prison.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Provost

South Africa has been dealing with a r*pe epidemic for decades. Though you may be aware of this, you may not be aware of just how severe the problem is. By the time you finish reading this post, 2 to 3 South African women would have been r*ped.

• In 1998, one in three of the 4,000 women questioned in Johannesburg had been r*ped, according to Community Information, Empowerment and Transparency (CIET) Africa

• the South African police estimates that a woman is r*ped every 36 seconds

• According to the World Population Review, South Africa had the highest rate of r*pe in the world at 132.4 incidents per 100,000 people in 2010, but had decreased to 72.1 in 2019–2020

• More than 25% of a sample of 1,738 South African men from the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Provinces admitted to raping someone when anonymously questioned in 2009

• a 2007 survey by CIET found 60% of both boys and girls, aged 10 to 19 years old, thought it was not violent to force s*x upon someone they knew, while around 11% of boys and 4% of girls admitted to forcing someone else to have s*x with them

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_violence_in_South_Africa

There are many causes behind this. It is believed that patriarchal customs are to blame, as well as a general cutlure of violence that pervades the country. There are also superstitious beliefs surrounding r*pe and its ability to cure HIV/AIDS. Additionally, some believe in "corrective r*pe" to cure lesbianism.

Predictably, universities are not safe from this epidemic, and campuses become hotspots for r*pe. One day, the women at Rhodes University decided they had had enough.

#RUREFERENCELIST

In 2016, a group of women decided to name and shame men. They posted a "reference list" online of men they were accusing of r*pe. The name, of course, an allusion to a university list of citations.

Following this they swarmd the men's dormitories, grabbed the men, and took them to a second location where they were intimidated. This was followed by days of protests. Women took to the streets naked and faced police intimidation.

https://rosiemoteneblog.wordpress.com/2021/04/21/an-ode-to-the-rureferencelist-movement

Do you agree with these actions?

#RUREFERENCELIST fallout

Due to pressure, the university made immediate changes.

>When #RUReferenceList happened, the university's management was forced to acknowledge there was a problem. Within 24 hours, responding to student demands, the university had committed to increasing the capacity of the harassment office and to relying more on “external prosecutors” in sexual violence cases. It said it would improve staff sensitivity training and set up a task team to strengthen its response to sexual violence. The task team would later make more than 90 recommendations.

https://mg.co.za/article/2018-07-06-00-rureferencelist-the-fear-of-repercussions-still-lingers

Nevertheless, the protest very much struggled to gain support from wider society. Many of the main complaints surrounded the unfairness of public r*pe accusations, and the violence associated with the protest.

>Much of the conflict around the protests, especially between university management and protesting students, revolves around one thorny matter: the credibility of the list. Mabizela described the reference list as “damaging” and “unconstitutional”. Despite this, students continued protesting, calling for the named men to be suspended. The university refused, saying it could not suspend them until they had been found guilty of misconduct.

>Months later, Rhodes said that none of the men who had been removed from their residences after being named on the reference list had been found guilty of sexual misconduct, “even after thorough investigations by the university and the National Prosecuting Authority”.

The named men faced very little repurcusions from the university, though the allegations were investigated. The women involved were immediately subjected to disciplinary action. An interdict forbidding further protests was also put into place.

>Management has argued that the interdict was a last resort: invoked to prevent the threat of violence on campus, if students take the law into their own hands. But none of the men on the list rounded up on the night of Sunday 17 April was physically harmed in any way, some escaped quite easily from the angry crowd, ran away, or simply walked off. They were not beaten up, nor injured. And, unlike the protesting survivors, they enjoy the continued right to walk through campus without question, police investigation, or arrest.

https://www.ru.ac.za/perspective/2016archives/deborahseddon.html

But what about the people involved? The men who were named, what became of them? I'd like to look at one man's story.

Stuart Lewis

Here is a picture of Stuart and his partner.

Stuart Lewis had everything going for him. His list of awards and achievements is significant. He has notable credits as a filmmaker and journ*list, eventualy becoming Editor in Chief of a Rhodes University newspaper.

https://thembilewis.wordpress.com/curriculum-vitae

Additionally, he's also a staunch feminist and social justice advocate. His middle name is Thembsile. He spells woman with an x. To find out more about him, visit his blog.

https://thembilewis.wordpress.com

He literally wrote anti-r*pe articles

No matter how quick you are to champion women's rights or how hard you come down on the perpetrators you are aware of, there will always be someone, somewhere who holds power over another person and who is not afraid to abuse that power.

>The other thing we need to be honest about is the fact that we can do little in the immediate future to stop sexual violence. This is one of the hardest lessons I learned over the few years I helped organise the Silent Protest in Grahamstown.

>What we can do, however, is change how we as individuals handle, talk about and intervene in the systems that excuse or explain away gender violence.

https://www.thedailyvox.co.za/you-cant-stop-gender-violence-over-these-16-days-but-you-can-stop-excusing-it

Lastly, he is married to poet Mishka Hoosen. I know that at one point he converted to Islam and practiced polygamy, but I do not know if that is still the case. I am also aware that his spouse transitioned and now identifies as a transmale. This is what he has said about the relationship:

I cannot find any verification tha the two are still together.

Stuart and the reference list

Stuart was accused of r*pe. In response, he wrote a long piece online. I highly encourage you to read the whole thing but I'll post some key quotes. In short, he claims he is innocent, yet he does not want support from men's rights activists. Here are the most important points:

It would be easy to simply state that I have never been found guilty of such a crime, but the reality, as any r*pe survivor knows, is that r*pe is under-reported and difficult to prosecute, and therefore relying on just that fact would make me complicit in the r*pe culture pervading our criminal justice system. It would also be an insult to r*pe survivors who have been unable to secure convictions, because it would amount to a denial of their lived experiences.

By denying culpability and insisting that my right to a presumption of innocence be respected, I will be invoking language which may trigger r*pe survivors and reinforce the system that alienates them. I know that there are so-called Men's Rights Activists who would be eager to turn me into some kind of poster child for their belief that men are regularly “falsely” accused. I reject any such attempt. If you're sending me support because you fall into that category, please don't. I want nothing to do with your kind.

To this end, the only response I can offer in all conscience is to deny that I have done anything which warrants my inclusion on such a list. I do so knowing that this accusation will remain in the ether for the rest of my life, and knowing that I can do very little about that, without forcing an accuser to go public and to court and, in doing so, put herself on trial. I also do so knowing that any harm which this has done to me personally, to my relationships with my wife, family, friends and employers, is a fraction of the trauma incurred by r*pe survivors whose experiences of abuse, more often than not, go unbelieved.

That being said, if my accuser wishes to pursue an investigation through systems that are less destructive to r*pe survivors and have proven track records of finding justice for r*pe survivors when the system has failed them, I will cooperate absolutely and without question. To my knowledge, such organisations include the Human Rights Commission or the Equality Court, or alternatively organisations like Access to Justice who regularly handle mediation in these matters.

https://web.archive.org/web/20170307121321/https://www.facebook.com/thembi.lewis/posts/10154134671559878

The fallout for him was massive:

>The allegations have turned his life upside down, his employers have placed him on leave of absence, and many of his friends who worked with him in the area of gender violence have “stepped away”.

A writer who looked into his story following the reference list had the following to say:

>He is is, by all accounts, an intersectional, cisgender millennial man. He spells women “womxn”, he has a Xhosa middle name, he is Muslim, he appears to grasp white privilege. He is a part of the national Fallist movement. He talks the talk, he walks the walk.

However, it is worth noting that others have said that he uses social justice language to cover his misdeeds:

>Even after the Reference List came out he wrote a letter using the right language which managed to get even hardened feminists to side with him. I met some of his victims and one thing they said was that he was an incredibly manipulative person

https://x.com/naledimashishi/status/1355047310137450498

Stuart also continued to defend himself in an interview with that journ*list, stating the following:

>“It is hard for me to say why. A few years ago there was an allegation against me, it was investigated but the result was that there was nothing to pursue. There are people with axes to grind against me. I have not been the best boyfriend in the past. I have lied, cheated and been manipulative. I may be young and I may have been a kak boyfriend but I am not a male feminist,” said Hoosen-Lewis.

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymaverick.co.za%2Farticle%2F2016-05-02-jaccuse-life-after-the-rureferencelist%2F

No formal legal charges were laid against him. And that's the story of Stuart Lewis. A seemingly ordinary guy who had his life turned upside down by a r*pe allegation from an anonymous source. Someone posted his name online accusing him of r*pe and just like that he will forever be known as a male feminist. Try searching his name online and the only thing that comes up is r*pe allegations and this whole fiasco.

Conclusion

Stuart wasn't the only one who had their upturned of course. One of the accused was the son of a Harare mayor. The father had this to say regarding the allegations:

https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/suspended-harare-mayors-son-in-university-s*x-storm

Another accused, Kudzi Nzombe, seems to be doing well for himself and is currently the CEO of a sports company.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kudzanayi-nzombe-0676b774

So, what do you think? Is Stuart a male feminist?

Let's play a game. There is a gif below. Take a screenshot. If you land on black, you're Team Venables. If you land on white, you're Team Thompson. Let's see who you've aligned yourself with.

James Bulger

James Bulger was raised by his single mother, Denise Fergus. Denise has three other children, and though she is lower class, she managed to make ends meet for her family. On February 14 1993, two year old James Bulger was taken to the store by his mother. Little did she know it would be the last time they held hands.

Robert Thompson

Robert Thompson grew up a brought home filled with alcoholism and crime. His family was known to the local police, and one of his siblings had been taken into foster care after overdosing on paracetamol. He has been described as frighteningly street smart beyond his years, and psychologists who analysed the two boys have suggested that he may have been the leader of the pack. It has also been reported that Thompon bullied Venables before the two became friends. Adults have this to day about the lad

>Thompson was the most frightening child I've ever seen, with these cold, steely eyes. It was absolutely chilling when he stared at you.

>Neither boy expressed remorse, although Venables was the more emotional of the two, crying and shrieking as the sentence was passed while Thompson sat, dry-eyed, occasionally smirking, fiddling with a gold ring on one hand. The strength of feeling against Thompson ran so high that a frustrated member of his own legal team is said once to have pushed him up against a wall and shouted 'Why don't you ever cry, you little bastard?'

Jon Venables

Venables grew up among alcoholics, and journ*lists who have studied the case note that it was a troubled home:

>I was approached by a relative of Susan Venables who told me some hair-raising stories of the carnage that could result from drinking and fighting within her family. Many of them had been in a show-band that performed at clubs in and around Merseyside. They would drink heavily, often leave children unattended, I was told, and take their arguments on stage. On one occasion one relative, a guitarist, had smashed the neck of his guitar into the mouth of another relative, a woman, in the middle of a performance.

https://web.archive.org/web/20131112145748/http://www.pressawards.org.uk/userfiles/files/Winners2011/entries-301100613-01445.pdf

He attended St Mary's primary school where he was known to be naughty, though he didn't leave much of an impression on his educators or peers.

'I can't really remember him,' he says. 'It's not something you want to remember, to be honest, even though it's always there. Everyone here has been affected by it. A mate of mine found the body. He didn't recognise it as a boy at first. He thought it was a doll. It just destroyed him.'

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/mar/02/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation1

The Murder

On February 13, 1993, Venables and Thompson were seen loitering New Strand Shopping Centre. It wasn't the first time they were playing hookie, and during the afternoon they scoped out strangers and shoplifted from stores. The stolen items include the following:

• sweets

• batteries

• troll doll

• can of blue paint

Today, Venables and Thompson wanted to be naughtier than they had ever been. They wanted to commit murder. Of course, even with two of them, they realized that most adults could overpower them. Furthermore, they wanted to get away with the crime. Consequently, they decided that they would find a small child that they would push into oncoming traffic. They scoped the mall and eventually set their sights on James Bulger, who was being held by his mother, Denise Fergus.

Denise let go of her son's hand to pay for some shopping. This is a mistake she will regret for the rest of her life. Taking advantage of the crowds, the boys grabbed the child's hand and walked away with him. There wasn't a lot of fussing necessary - James was so young that he would go with pretty much anyone who held his hand. They led him out of the New Strand and toward Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Along the way, they were stopped by a few people, but the boys insisted that they were taking their little brother home.

Once they found a secluded spot, the evil began. They hit the boy on the head until he bled, and they threw bricks at him. They attempted to enter a pet store, but they were kicked out, and adults noted that the child was crying and dirtied. Eventually, they arrived at Walton & Anfield train station, passing a police station on the way there. Here, they continued torturing the boy. On the train tracks, the boys poured blue paint on the boy, struck his head with bricks, and kicked and stomped on him. They grabbed iron bars and beat the baby until his bones broke and his skull fractured.

Many of you know the case, but it is seldom discussed just how vile the crime got. They inserted batteries into the boy's mouth and anus. It has been suggested that there was a sexual nature to the crime, and the boys may have digitally sodomized Bulger as well. Bulger was naked, and his foreskin had been forcibly pulled back, serving as evidence that the boys had done something to the baby's peepee. The boy's head was crushed then with a piece of the railway. It is not known at which point Bulger died because there were far too many injuries.

Having watched several documentaries on this case, and having read several articles, I know that many people involved in the case had PTSD and lifelong nightmares, including the lead detective. Even Venables' lawyer suffered:

>For several years after reading the police reports, Venables's solicitor, Laurence Lee, suffered from nightmares. He dreamt that he was eight years old, taking a ride on a ghost train at a local fairground. 'I would fall out on to the tracks, be run over and killed,' he says. 'I'm 54 now but there's not a day that passes without me thinking about it.

The mangled body was left on the tracks where the naughty boys hoped a train track would destroy James Bulger and rid all the evidence of their sordid deeds.

The Hunt for James Bulger's killers

Thompson and Venables did manage to cover up their crime to some degree. The body - in pieces at this point after being run over by a train - was discovered by a group of kids playing soccer. It didn't take long for the boy to be identified, as Bulger had been reported missing almost immediately by Denise. However, all they had to work with initially were pieces of what was once a two-year old boy.

>a train ran James over with such force his legs were sliced from his torso and flung several metres from his upper body.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/mar/02/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation1

A nationwide search for Bulger's killers kicked off. The entire UK was incensed by the idea that someone would do something so heinous to Bulger. Police returned to New Strand Shopping Center to seek evidence, and they discovered that some stores had CCTV. Imagine the shock when they saw the baby being towed away by two young boys! The CCTV wasn't clear enough to identify Thompson and Venables, so the search was on for a while, and some families had their lives ruined when suspicion was incorrectly laid upon their children.

Eventually, Thompson and Venables were identified by a lady who recognised the boys upon viewing the CCTV footage on television. It should be noted that Venables's parents already suspected he may be the killer

>When they came for Jon Venables, his mother Susan answered the door and said, snidely, "I knew you'd be here. I told him you'd want to see him for sagging school on Friday." Susan mentioned that Jon "came home on Friday, coat full of paint." Officers promptly asked for Jon's mustard-yellow coat, which had indeed been splattered with blue paint. It even appeared that there was a small handprint on the sleeve. Jon grabbed hold of his mother and sobbed. "I don't want to go to prison, mum. I didn't kill the baby." He cried hysterically. "It's that Robert Thompson. He always gets me into trouble." Through tears, Jon told police they should speak to Robert. As they drove him to the police station, Jon continued to ask about Robert. Had they arrested him yet, and where were they taking him?

It didn't take too much questioning before the boys spilled the beans. They may have been killers, but they were still 10 year olds. During interrogations, Venables cried, acted into a boylike fashion, and after a bit of lying eventually confesses though he places the blame on Thompson primarily. In contrast, Robert was a tad more composed, and he denied even going to the New Strand. Robert was also very concerned about not being labelled a pervert.

>When they asked who removed James's pants and underwear, he began to cry. "I'm not a pervert, you know," he said, suddenly agitated. "Well, how would you like me calling you a pervert?" Normally collected, Robert lost it. "He said I'm a pervert, they said I've played with his willy," he told his mom, and refused to answer any more questions. But the detectives persisted. "What would Jon say you did to James?" they asked. Robert was greatly upset by now. He said Jon would say he took off James's pants and played with his "privates."

https://web.archive.org/web/20081002060615/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/bulger/5.html

There was also some grizzly evidence as well. Bits of brains were found on the boys' sneakers, and shoe prints on Bulger's slain body matched shoes worn by the boys. There was also blue paint on some of their clothes. Once the boys were in custody, there was public outrage with many baying for blood. They saw the two boys as nothing but demons and literal manifestations of evil. They had to be transported to court in secret vehicles, lest they be attacked, and in some cases, decoy police vans were attacked!

The Long Arm of the Law

Thus, the trial of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson began. It was determined that the boys were old enough and mature enough to recognize that they had done something that was not only wrong, but heinously evil. Though they did not speak during the trial, their interrogation was played in court. To the surprise of nobody, they were found guilty in November 1993, becoming one of the youngest convicted murderers of all time. They were detained indefinitely, though they would be sent to a detention center that offered rehabilitation for troubled minors.

Naturally, the verdict and sentence triggered controversy. Many saw it as a victory and wanted to see the boys permanently removed from society. Others saw it as a gross injustice, and there was outcry at the idea of ten-year-olds being found guilty of murder. Many folks wanted to serve out vigilante justice on the lads. There were also fingers pointed at the parents of Venables and Thompson.

As part of their sentencing, Venables and Thompson were instructed to never contact the Bulger family or return to the city where the crime took place. The boys were also given new identities to allow them to start new lives following their incarceration. They were given a "legacy lie" about their history and family, and it is a grave crime for the press to report on the two boys, though information has a way of finding itself in the public. Eventually, both boys were released, but it would not be the end of them making headlines.

The Fate of Team Venables

It is reported that Venables adjusted quite well to life in detention. He benefitted from the structure and supervision he was given, and his rehabilitation process was overall smooth. One incident occurred where it was discovered that he was having s*x with one of the workers at the detention center, but considering his age, it is easy to argue that he was being r*ped.

>Jon Venables was aged 17 when he had the illegal affair with the woman who was responsible for his care at the Red Bank Community Home on Merseyside.

>Now that it has emerged that Venables engaged in s*x with a member of staff at Red Bank, Denise Fergus wants an inquiry to establish whether there was a covered-up to withold darning information from the judge.

https://archive.ph/20120729013022/http://www.clickliverpool.com/news/national-news/1212824-mother-of-murdered-toddler-james-bulger-calls-for-inquiry-into-jon-venables-parole-after-reports-he-had-s*x-with-carer.html#selection-308.18-308.19

Nevertheless, he suffered severe PTSD from the event and required psychiatric care. Like Thompson, he was released after serving eight years, and at age 18 he was let go to start his life, under supervision of course.

It took him a while to adjust to the normal world, and it is reported that he had a number of underage girlfriends in a moment of "late adolescence". He also revealed his identity to a few friends and seemed to take some pride in his notoriety. It was also reported that he fell into drugs and alcohol. Unable to stay out of trouble, he visited the site of the murder, and sunk into downloading child pornography. In 2010, he was found guilty of download indecent child images. In 2017, he was arrested yet again for child porn.

So this is the fate of Venables-lads. You are a victim of your biology, unable to quell your urges to harm children. Years of rehabilitation have been insufficient to rid you of your demons. However, can we call you immoral? Do you have control over your actions, or are you just a force of nature plaguing society?

The Fate of Team Thompson

We know far less about Robert Thompson, which is a good thing as it indicates that he has not been getting into trouble. It is reported that he is in a homosexual relationship, though it has also been reported that he is married to a woman and has children.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12544075/What-happened-Jon-Venables-Robert-Thompson-James-Bulgers-murder.html

Of course, it could be the case that Thompson, who has always shown himself to be more street-smart, is simply better at covering up his crimes.

Conclusion

There has been very little forgiveness from Bulger's family, and you can't blame them. Denise's mother says the following:

>'I can never forgive Thompson and Venables for the horrendous, calculated, cold-blooded murder of James.

>'They were 10 years of age but much, much older in their minds. They knew full well what they were doing, yet they've never shown a single shred of remorse.'

>Denise finds it especially galling. 'They have been rewarded with the best of everything: a fine education, a new life and protection by the state,' she says. 'They did get away with murder. They got away scot-free. But I am still under a kind of life sentence.'

Denise has had two conversations with Holly Willoughby and it is evident that she has yet to find closure, and that the pain is constant.

So how do we conclude such a case. The death of James Bulger is proof that we cannot always find resolution in life. Nevertheless, our brains severely crave it when we come upon trauma. What is the solution to this quandary? How do you move on from trauma when you have no means to find closure? I leave you with this thought.

You may be wondering right now, why can't Palestinians support a group that's, you know, nice? Why do so many support Hamas?

To answer that, I have to tell you some of the history of Fatah, the Palestinian revolutionaries from my boomer generation and how they failed.

PFLP, DFLP, PFLP-GC, PFLP-LMAO, etc.

Leila Khaled, airplane hikacker for the PFLP.

Besides Fatah there were countless Palestinian groups formed by refugees by the 1960s. While they ostensibly were radical Marxists out to destroy Israel, in practice they ended up as mercenaries working for one or more other Arab countries or the KGB. Much of their time was spent fighting each other on behalf of their foreign masters. Their fighters were largely drawn from the desperate poor of the refugee camps who simply signed on so their families wouldn't starve.

Bourj el-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut.

These groups carried out most of the spectacular international terrorist operations that the Palestinians became known for like airplane hijackings. These attacks did little to further the Palestinian cause but alienated the world. Some were clearly designed to offend, like pushing an elderly Jewish man in a wheelchair off the side of a cruise ship. (This is not to say Fatah didn't do some really sadistic terror attacks too.)

Rome Airport after the massacre by Abu Nidal's gang, 1985.

These radical groups quickly withered away to irrelevance when the Soviet Union collapsed and the whole ecosystem of state sponsored terrorism with it. But they left a legacy for Fatah. These were the guys they didn't want to be like: corrupt, out of touch with the people, and beholden to foreign governments.

Fatah's Rise & Fall

Fatah's origin is similar to these other groups except that after the 1967 war they broke away Egyptian control. While they still relied on foreign funding they found several sponsors so they could maintain their independence.

Abu Ammar AKA Yasser Arafat with Nasser and King Hussein.

They built up their forces among the refugees in Jordan and began raiding into Israel, quickly rising to prominence on exaggerated tales of their successes. But as charismatic as Yasser Arafat was, he had difficulty controlling his own party, let alone the radical factions. By 1970 the King of Jordan had enough and drove them out in a short but bloody struggle.

King Hussein inspecting captured Israeli equipment after the Battle of Karameh, 1968. Jordanian troops were mostly responsible for the victory but Fatah got the credit.

Next the Palestinians moved into Lebanon and started raiding again. Their arrival tipped the fragile balance of power there and civil war broke out, with Fatah as one of the most powerful factions. When they seemed about to win, the Lebanese Christians invited Syria in to stop them. Eventually a stalemate held with the Palestinians mostly restricted to a zone along the Israeli border.

Fatah members in Beirut, 1979.

By now Fatah had alienated Jordan, Syria, and most of Lebanon. The next shoe to drop was Egypt, which made a separate peace with Israel and became a pariah across the Arab world. Israel would never again have to worry about a conventional attack, so their army was freed up to invade Lebanon in 1982. Fatah's pitiful military forces were crushed and the survivors agreed to leave for exile in Tunisia, the closest Arab country willing to take them in.

Israeli troops drive toward the strategically vital Beaufort Castle, 1982.

The years that followed were bleak. With no way to attack Israel, the party lost a lot of its relevance. It could do little to protect the refugee camps, which suffered terribly at the hands of the Israelis and then even worse from the Syrians. Many of the best leaders were assassinated or defected. Several increasingly pitiful attempts were made to return to Lebanon and carve out a new enclave there. Finally Arafat made an incredibly stupid blunder, siding with Saddam Hussein against the US-led coalition in Desert Storm, which outraged the Saudis and most of the world. Meanwhile the US and regional powers gave Syria the green light to crush any opposition in Lebanon, ending any hope of Fatah returning.

Note that by now Fatah has been betrayed by or betrayed every nearby Arab country except Iraq.

Intifada

In the late 1980s-early 1990s, the nadir of Fatah, an unexpected event turned the situation upside down. Remember Palestine, the country that all of this was supposed to be about? Fatah and the radical Marxists had fantasized that the refugees would build up an army and invade Israel from the outside. This was clearly delusional now as they had proven to be at best a speed bump in a full-scale war.

But now those forgotten Palestinians remaining in the occupied West Bank and Gaza rose up in the Intifada, a fiery but mostly peaceful campaign to oppose the occupation. They managed to accomplish more in a few years than Fatah ever had with all its terrorism and bloodshed.

The first Intifada.

Israel finally agreed to peace negotiations and Arafat returned to Palestine to lead it. But too much damage had already been done. Fatah was as corrupt and out of touch with the population as the rival groups it had supplanted. It got few concessions of any consequence from the Israelis. As the peace process dragged on it gradually dependent on the USA and even Israel for financial, military, and intelligence support. By the mid 2000s it had lost most of its popular support and credibility as an independent voice for the nation.

An older and less impressive Arafat with Bill Clinton and Ehud Barak, 2000.

An alternative to Fatah began to emerge during the intifada. Hamas was newer and hipper, employing the Islamist ideology that was popular with the younger generation. But more importantly, it hadn't proven itself to be a failure the way Fatah had. It didn't carry the baggage of decades of broken promises and compromises with the enemy

Most Palestinians were in such a desperate situation that in the 2006 election they preferred the wild psychos of Hamas. At least they were fighting against the Israelis, not asking them for help fighting their political opponents at home. Fatah took its loss in the election about as well as Trump did and fighting broke out. They held onto power in the West Bank but Hamas took Gaza.

Racism is fact of our world and we cannot escape. The question isn't whether you're racist, but rather, what kind of racist are you. Today, I'd like to present to you three individuals who have been accused of racism. It is up to you to decide if they are racist or not. Their names are

a) Thomas Sowell

b) Justine Sacco

c) Rachel Dolezal

Apologies if this is somewhat rushed. I'm tired after a day of being a wagie.

1. Thomas Sowell

The man doesn't need much of an introduction, so I'll just jump into the meat and potatoes of why he is considered a racist. Firstly, he argues that social welfare in the USA has had a dysgenic effect on African Americans.

He also poses an interesting idea that I've since given plenty of thought. He argues that yes, there are differences in the outcomes of different races. However, this is not necessarily a social injustice. Instead, it could be attributed to cosmic injustices. For example, if I am born without legs, is it an injustice you must pay for? Of course not. This may be the way to think of some of the differences between races.

This leads to some interesting conclusions:

He is LOATHED by leftists, especially white liberals who do not want a Black man spewing this kind of rhetoric. To make matters worse, he continually points the finger at liberals as the source of modern day racism.

Do you agree with this man's views? I am intrigued by his idea of delineating cosmic injustices from social injustices.

2. Rachel Dolezal

I'll briefly discuss her history. Rachel Dolezal was a Chapter president for the NAACP, and she identified as Black. She was brought into prominence when it was revealed that she has Caucasian parents. Since then, she has been ridiculed and attacked.

She now identifies as transracial, which is what I'd like to discuss. A common critique of Rachel's transracialism is that she is coming from a privileged position, and is using that privileged position to choose to claim blackness and be part of a marginalized group. According to some, this is insulting as individuals born black did not have the privilege of choosing to be in a socially subordinated group, unlike Rachel. For a summary of the arguments, I'd recommend the now highly controversial paper titled “In defence of Transracialism” by Rebecca Tuvel.

Personally, I believe her argument is sound. Self-identification should be respected, and if she relates to the Black culture, then we should accept that. Being Black is not inherently about being oppressed, so I'm not moved by the argument that she is acting from a position of privilege. Lastly, I must ask: could the same arguments not be waged against heterosexuals, the privileged norm in society, who make an ideologically influenced decision to identify as asexual or lesbian? In other words, if one accepts political sexuality, what reason do you have to not accept transracialism too?

3. Justine Sacco

It's 2013. Justine Sacco was thirty years old and a senior director of corporate communications in New York. Life couldn't have been better for her. One day, she decided to visit her relatives in South Africa (they happened to be whites who were part of the anti-Apartheid liberation struggle). Before boarding her flight, she decided to send out a tweet.

She then put her phone on flight mode and boarded the flight. During this time, her Tweet was shared thousands of times around the world, including by Donald Trump. People figured out that she was on a flight, they found her workplace and her name was removed from the site. She landed and turned on her phone. She saw messages from her friends and family:

>“You need to call me immediately.”

>“You're the No. 1 worldwide trend on Twitter right now,” she said.

People had congregated at the airport in South Africa to watch her land. Her life was over. She was hated around the world, and she was receiving death threats. You see, South Africa has one of the highest HIV rates in the world. It's one of the few countries in the world where women have higher HIV rates than men, largely due to ex-president Thabo Mbeki's AIDS denialism. Her family told her she was a disgrace.

Since then, she has managed to rebuild her life, and she has a high-flying job once again. She is the Chief Communications Officer for the dating app Match.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinesacco

In an interview for the book So You've Been Publicly Shamed, she confessed that she had PTSD from the ordeal, which I believe and sympathise with. Do you think she's racist?

Conclusion

Calling someone a racist is a bit of a Kafka trap. The more you defend yourself, the guiltier you look. As Ayaan Hirsi Ali has stated, “false charges of racism are the easiest way to enforce denial”. Have you ever been called a racist? Was it a valid accusation?

I've always found it weird that we regard courtrooms as the final arbiters of truth. We cannot call someone a killer until they've been convicted, or you're committing libel. I've always had a different view, believing that courtrooms regularly get things wrong.

Today, I'd like to look at three cases where the courts may have gotten things horribly wrong. It will be up to you to decide whether these three men got their just desserts, or if they've been screwed over. The three people we will be discussing are:

a) Daniel Holtzclaw

b) Tex McIver

c) Michael Dunn

Daniel Holtzclaw

I have 0 love for cops. I had an extremely horrible experience with police as a youth when I was apprehended with marijuana on my person. Since then, my hate for cops has been strong. Nevertheless, I always question whether Holtzclaw has become a victim of the system he sought to uphold.

Holtzclaw was born in 1986. He's a big guy, played football, and like his father, he joined the police force in Oklahoma. In 2014, he was accused of sexually assaulting African American women while on the job. The allegations claim that he would drive around in poor areas and stop random women. It was obvious that most of these women had prior convictions, so they were eager to comply with the cop to not get into trouble. He would then take advantage of this by ordering them to give him fellatio, or by vaginally raping them.

His interrogation is pretty interesting. You see the cops attempting to build a rapport with him by making lewd jokes about s*x and masturbation. He seems like a regular guy, and he isn't too stressed out by the questioning.

He was tried in 2015 where a jury of eight men and four women found him guilty. There was a lot of evidence against him, including DNA samples. He was served 263 years in prison, leading to the now infamous video of him crying as he declares that he didn't do it.

Since his arrest, he has continued to assert his innocence, and he has the support of many friends and family. Many have argued that the DNA was a consequence of transfer DNA. In other words, he touched a surface that a female suspect then touched as well. Furthermore, many of the convictions were upheld through testimonies of women claiming to be victims. It has since arose that not all these women may have been telling the truth. A site has been created to defend Holtzclaw, and it claims the following:

>The public has been told of the 13 Daniel Holtzclaw accusers that resulted in criminal charges. They are even often referred to as the "OKC 13." What the public hasn't been told is that there were actually 21 accusers in total and that 62% of all accusers were found to be not credible. That's right, 8 of the 21 total accusers were eliminated almost immediately because they claimed to have been assaulted after Daniel had already been placed on administrative leave and had been relieved of his badge, gun and patrol car. Most of whom later admitted to police they lied. Of the 13 remaining accusers, 5 were not believed by the jury and resulted in acquittals. Eight plus 5 equals 13 women who either eventually outright admitted they lied or were dismissed by the jury. Thirteen of 21 is 62%.

https://www.holtzclawtrial.com/untold-story

At 4:25 of this video, you see what seems like a story being stitched up by a witness.

So where do you stand? Is Holtzclaw a villain that deserves all the years in prison and more? Or is this a man locked up by an overzealous prosecuting team? You be the judge.

Tex McIver

This is an interesting case, and I still don't know where I stand on it. The ultimate problem is that we weren't there. Consequently, it's impossible for us to know the full truth of what happened. Even if we were there, we'd need access to McIver's mind to truly know what he was thinking.

Tex McIver was a highly successful attorney living in Georgia. Additionally, he was a partner in the Atlanta office of Fisher Phillips LLP specializing in labor and employment law, and he was a vice president of the Georgia State Election Board. Most men would be happy with his list of achievements, but he wasn't because he always lived in his wife's shadow. Diane McIver was a successful businesswoman who earned far more than her already wealthy husband. Nevertheless, the two got on well by the looks of things.

One night, the couple, along with a friend of Diane's named Dani Jo Carte, were driving home from an event. It was late at night, so Tex decided to fall asleep in the backseat. However, he kept his gun - a 38-caliber revolver - in his lap because he was afraid that they might run into trouble, as they were driving through the hood on their way home. During the drive the gun went off, killing Diane. According to Tex, it was an accident, and he pulled the trigger while sleeping.

The prosecutors had other ideas. According to them, Tex planned this event, and he wanted to kill his wife whom he was jealous of and owed money to. As further evidence, the prosecutors pointed out that he drove to a further hospital when a nearer one was available. In 2016, Tex was served with a life sentence. This conviction was eventually overturned, and he was found guilty of manslaughter instead.

https://www.gpb.org/news/2022/07/01/murder-conviction-overturned-for-man-who-shot-wife-in-suv

Do you think he did it on purpose?

Michael Dunn

The final case for today involves a gun, Black teens, and rap.

In 2012, Dunn and his wife were returning from a wedding when they stopped at a gas station. Here, Rhonda entered a convenience store while Dunn remained in the vehicle. He soon became annoyed by a group of teens blaring loud music. He told them to turn it down, they told him to frick off. Dunn responded by firing his gun at them. The teens drove away, but 17yo Jordan Davis was struck and died.

Dun and his wife fled, but they were found pretty quickly. Although his wife had heard the shots, she did not know that anyone had been hit. In court, Dunn claimed that he saw the boys produce something that looked like a stick or the barrel of a gun. Prosecutors pointed out that these black boys had no criminal records or history of getting into trouble. None of them had any reason to have a gun, and they were not known for getting into criminal activities. They were literally just driving around blaring loud music. They may have been rude to Dunn, but that is not an excuse to kill someone in polite society.

He was found guilty of murder and was served a life sentence. It seems like a cut-and-dry case, but you should remember that this is the song that was being played:

Does this change your mind regarding Dunn's actions? His daughter stated the following in an interview:

>he's a good man. He's not a racist. He's very loving. He has a family who loves him, and I feel like people need to remember with this verdict his family is over here suffering, just like Jordan's family is suffering so no one wins in this

https://archive.ph/20140222005745/http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/local/2014/02/16/michael-dunn-daughter-interview/5544083#selection-4387.106-4387.345

Want more information on the case? Listen to Davis' parents speak. It's evident that Davis was a regular kid who genuinely didn't do anything:

You can also listen to one of the jurors discuss how they came to the conclusion.

Conclusion

I have never understood the mindset that makes someone believe they're fit to be a judge. Nobody has the right to condemn anyone else to life in a cage. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed today's post. Spider-Man 2 review coming on Monday can't wait!

Original Post:

OP doesnt have the banner, but I've stalked his comments and he's a westoid

"As Africans we have our share of terror, oppression, colonisation. I notice during these few days of events happening in Palestine that Africans either do not care because let's face it we have our own ongoing issues or are somehow unaffected by media biases. The shock that is felt by the west for the turn of balance in power of the two parties is surprising to them."

He's referring to the fact that isreal has significant support from western nations, especially the traditional colonial nations like Bongland

"It might come out heartless but for me personally war is war. " "The war was happening long before these recent events right? the fact that it is now affecting both sides doesn't move me."

"I condemn this situation overall it is needless to say no one want people to die, not just civilians but military too, but from what my country had gone through, for peace to happen I believe both sides need to gain power to actually be able to negotiate and in the real world it happens through confrontation, Does this make sense?"

"Do you guys as Africans just don't find it shocking that an oppressed group had had enough and that there is war in an originally unstable country?"

"Is it that we are immune to bs and media manipulation because of our history?" AHAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAH AHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHA

right sorry, to the stellar high IQ comments

https://old.reddit.com/r/Africa/comments/174jpi0/palestineisrael_we_ve_seen_it_before/k49nuyo?context=8

Also since this is the perpetual rebuttal against the fact that Palestinians have been the ones who rejected 2 state solutions for past 7 decades, both op and top comment emphasize this:

"I believe both sides need to gain power to actually be able to negotiate"

"No one really wants to discuss this openly in the media but that's a huge part of it. The fear, the terror, the hostages, have arguably given Palestine a power they've not seen in years. But it's very sad that this is the only way they've seen potential to gain power."

Palestenoids have been offered EXACTly equal divisions by landmass by western arbiters despite being the unequal fricks in the room 3 TIMES! And rejected it each time as they've always wanted all of it.

https://old.reddit.com/r/Africa/comments/174jpi0/palestineisrael_we_ve_seen_it_before/k49l1gp?context=8

"it's mind boggling to me how people cannot see who the oppressors are here. We look back at the holocaust and know who the bad guys were. We look at apartheid and see clearly who the bad guys were. We look at UKRAINE and see who the bad guys are but for some reason, there are so many people who are looking at this and supporting the oppressors. I do not get it. It is disheartening" the situation is black and white u guysz

200 IQ diaspora cucks tells us the solution is simple

https://old.reddit.com/r/Africa/comments/174jpi0/palestineisrael_we_ve_seen_it_before/k4f19li?context=8

diasporacucks tells us Hamas r wholesome

"We've always heard these stories from colonial occupiers about an impending mass killing of settlers should freedom arrive and you know it never happens. The reason-for-being of Hamas is resistance against the Israeli colonial state and its continued atrocities against Palestinian people. That's where it draws its support from. End the occupation and Hamas will go out with it."

https://old.reddit.com/r/Africa/comments/174jpi0/palestineisrael_we_ve_seen_it_before/k4agccp?context=8

HAMAS NOT REPRESENTATIVE PALESTINIAN PEOPLES

Our boi SS1452 fighting the good fight alone

https://old.reddit.com/r/Africa/comments/174jpi0/palestineisrael_we_ve_seen_it_before/k4a5pgx?context=8

Only one lone Nigerian has braincels

"All these BS stories we tell ourselves about righteous resistance to the oppressors means nothing if you've destroyed any incentive for compromise.The civilian toll of this, the highest number of Jewish deaths since 1945 had ensured Israel WILL not compromise. Gaza will be erased.

There is no “power balance” here anymore than the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour gave the Japanese a power balance with the Americans or 9/11 convinced the US to respect Al Quedas res quests to leave the Middle East. It would have been ridiculous to expect such. Death and Destruction are what's in store now.

The reason Apartheid was able to end in SA wasn't because the ANC and black South Africans more broadly gained “power” over the Apartheid government by kidnapping and massacring white South African civilians. In fact the precise opposite, the conviction that White South Africans had nothing to fear from the end of Apartheid other than finally needing to treat everyone equally was what won the day. Many on both sides still resisted with bot grievance against injustice and fear of retribution. But they were in minority, and they lost. Leading to one of the greatest moments in modern human history."

This upsets the others

But our chadlord is immune to virtue signalling nonsense

==="My brother, There is nothing I nor anyone can demand from the Palestinians. And even less that can be done for them. Because ultimately Israel's “rights” do not matter. They're a fricking state.

What matters is the fact that the State of Israel, Nuclear armed and pissed as frick, possesses the ability to erase Gaza and no one is going to stand in their way now. Not even big daddy USA says stop.

And this is the problem with viewing this conflict as a moral one. It is not. What motivates the state of Israel is not any question of the morality of their actions or the motives but rather the thing that has motivated Jews since 1945 the desire that never be victimized again, even if that means they have to be the ones at the other end.

What is moral cannot fry a bowl of Akara right now. The fact of the matter Israel controls the entirety of the territory right now and that is the frame we are working from. Not some idealized frame of power balances and “rights”.

And this is why shows me that most people don't actually care about the Palestinians but rather sending a message on their own personal morality and ensuring they everyone knows they're on the “right side”. marseyitsover: is disgusting but more importantly it is pointless. I am eternally grateful the ANC and RSA went a different route.

He responds to "The degree to which you drink the Western koolaid (right down to your username) is genuinely worrying."

And this here is just absurd. Often times when no one has an argument to make against the points I make they go to this which is especially funny considering my Username is actually meant to make fun of those who simp for long dead empires and tell themselves stories of “heroes” vanquishing “monsters” and “civilization” fight against “barbarism”.

Back from the time when Reddit was MUCH more white and western than it is now. But y'all are often too young to remember and in a fit of emotional immaturity when having no arguments go straight to Ad Hominems rather than addressing the core question.

He responds to "You are standing around cheering for people that will turn their weapons on any of us as soon as it is convenient."

lol 🤦🏾‍♂️. Again pure drivel and projection at this point from someone with a profound level of immaturity. If you actually read what I wrote you would see this makes even less than no sense.======

more follows

"And therein lies the problem You would never see me accuse you of not being a real African because I disagree with you. Yet often times it is the retort of those with nothing better to say. I can recognize Africans, in this case both of us being Nigerians can have RADICALLY different views on a subject fot a variety of legitimately held reasons. That's what maturity is.

And so call me every denegrating name in the book from a servant to westerners and an American troll simply because I hold different views on the affects of state power and the consequence that has PRACTICALLY for the lives of Palestinians, shows more your unwillingness to actually engage with the core disagreement which can be had without calling everyone you disagree with little better than a colonial subject.

I am Nigerian, born raised and live, and I don't need you to tell me who I am or not. Especially when in all likelihood you are most likely projecting.

I hope you are mature enough to see I am not repeating talking points heard somewhere and chanting “death to Palestine” as I sleep simply because I disagree with you, clearly others can see it. Chill out and understand what I am actually saying rather than the identity you have been projecting unto me. Peace ✌🏾"

The above nigerian is probably a patient 40 year old talking to a smug 18 year old lol

"nothing is more ridiculous and insulting than the "bOtH sIdes" crowd. Sir, one side is committing genocide and the other is suffering it. It's obvious one side has choice and the other not."

Sir, sir, EXCUSE me SIR, but centrism is nazism!

https://old.reddit.com/r/Africa/comments/174jpi0/palestineisrael_we_ve_seen_it_before/k4a0tq8?context=8

Are you joking right now?

So Gaza must be ran by the very people who made it a concentration camp, and the victims of genocide and ethnic cleansing must "be friends" with the ones committing genocide against them. And mindbogglingly... the dispossessed must "give up something" (what? what's left?) to the people who dispossessed them?

Westerners infected your brain. You'd never say this about your own country's colonizers.

"I did not ask about your philosophy, I asked about your solution"

None of us have direct access to reality. We're slaves to subjectivity. The way we interpret events is colored by our past experiences and, most importantly, our emotions. As humans, we have a wide spectrum of emotions we can experience, and they can be overwhelming at times. Sometimes, when we cannot handle our emotions, we endure trauma. No memories are neutral. They are all tinted by emotions.

According to Paul Eckman, we have six basic emotions:

• anger

• disgust

• fear

• Happiness

• sadness

• surprise

Most of us won't have to deal with all these emotions daily, whether we're experiencing them personally, or we're dealing with others who have these emotions. This changes when you're in a courtroom, where we see the extremes of life. A judge may witness all these emotions in one day, every single day in a week. Today, we'll deal with one case for each emotion. I hope you enjoy this adventure.

1. Disgust - Nathaniel Rowland

Typically, we feel disgust when we encounter something contagious or potentially sickening. Disgust can also be expressed towards a person or group of people we find distasteful. Disgust is a powerful emotion, so strong that it can make us vomit. When we experience it toward humans, it can trigger hatred and dehumanization.

In this case, we see a judge express pure disgust toward a defendant and his family. In 2019, Samantha ordered an Uber. She accidentally entered the wrong vehicle - it belonged to Nathaniel Rowland. He locked her in the car and kidnapped her before stabbing her over 120 times. We don't know why he did this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Samantha_Josephson

He was found not long after, and it was discovered that he had committed a few other crimes. He denied all of his charges, but was ultimately found guilty. We see the judge express pure disgust at the mother who attempts to defend her son. He is hearing none of it. He stops the mother in her tracks and assures her that the son she raised is long gone and a demon has taken his place.

When the judge drops his sentence, he expresses how he has sons and daughters, and how this reflects on his choice. He also makes it clear that he is not a man of leniency. He expresses shock at how violent the crime was, and he is appalled that the defend would deny the charges when there is so much evidence against him. I find the whole speech interesting, especially when he talks about his past experiences with murderers.

Do you share the same disgust at Nathanial? Or do you still see the humanity within him?

2. Surprise - Gary Ridgeway

Gary Ridgeway is proof that me and fellow incels are not unloved because we're bad people. It's simply because we're ugly. Ridgeway is a serial killer believed to have committed close to a hundred murders, though he was only convicted of 49. He would purchase prostitutes, r*pe and murder them, then r*pe their corpses before dumping them. On one occasion, he dumped a body while on a camping trip with his son. Despite this, RIDGEWAY HAD THREE SPOUSES in his lifetime. Frick off. What am I doing wrong?!

In court, when Ridgeway was eventually caught, he had to sit through victim impact statements. Of course, the bulk of the speakers expressed rage, telling Ridgeway to go to heck. However, one man bucked the trend. He steps up looking like Santa Claus, and he's wearing LGBT suspenders. With sureness in his voice, he tells Ridgeway that he is hurt, and that he misses his daughter greatly. Nevertheless, he is a Christian, so he is obliged to follow the commandment of forgiveness. Upon bestowing forgiveness unto Ridgeway, the serial killer is taken by a surprise swell of emotion, causing him to weep. Only forgiveness could move this monster.

3. Sadness - Ky'Andrea Cook

Oftentimes, when we think about crime and punishment, we primarily consider the perpetrator. There's nothing wrong with this, and nobody will fault you for wanting to exact revenge on those who hurt you. However, it is worth remembering that a prison sentence hurts the perpetrator's family and friends as well. It harms the community, so it should not be taken lightly. In this case, we'll see the devastating effect of incarceration on a single family.

Ky'Andrea, 19, got herself into some trouble. She went out robbing with some friends. One of her friends pulled the trigger on a firearm. Fortunately, the victim survived, but they were all charged with the carjacking and attack. Ky'Andrea thought she would get a lighter sentence. To her dismay, she is slapped with 20 years. This brings her mother to tears, and she starts howling in pain at the thought of her child spending life in prison. Her mother had dreams of Ky'Andrea being the first child to bring home a high school diploma.

Her mother is inconsolable. After the outcry, her sentence was reduced to 11 years.

https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/crime/2018/04/09/teen-in-viral-courtroom-video-gets-11-years-in-prison-for-s-daytona-carjacking/987231007

Once again, I warn you to be careful who you call your friends.

4. Fear - Tony Farmer

Fear is one of the most intense emotions any of us will ever feel. It's a primitive emotion that even animals react strongly to. For evidence, see the fainting goat which finds itself literally scared stiff. In the next court case, a young teen who had a promising future as a sports star. He ruins his life by beating his girlfriend. You can watch the beating here:

He is given three years in prison, causing him to faint from fear in court. It is easy to laugh at this, but you must remember how brutal prison is for black men. He knows he will have to rough gang activity, violence, and potential r*pe.

Do you feel sorry for this man, especially after seeing him beat his girlfriend? The judge has no sympathy.

5. Anger - Trey Relford

Our penultimate case features a young man who killed Salahuddin Jitmoud in 2015. Jitmoud was delivering pizzas and he was only 22 at the time when Relford and his friends robbed and stabbed him to death. In court, Relford denied being involved or being the one to stab. The father of Jitmoud is a teacher. In court, he expresses forgiveness, because he knows his son would want that. He blames the crime on the devil, not the Black boy. This is an interesting perspective which absolves everyone of personal responsibility. Personally, I disagree with this worldview.

The man's forgiveness moves the whole courtroom and the families embrace each other. Relford acknowledges the forgiveness, and he apologizes while crying.

Are you a forgiving person? What's the biggest event you've ever forgiven?

You may be wondering where the anger is. Well, we haven't seen it yet. The anger will come when Jitmoud is standing before Allah and he must answer for his crimes. Then, he will face righteous rage from the Lord.

6. Happiness

There can be no happiness in a judicial system that is racist, sexist, and classist. Consider the following stats:

>in 2017, the United States Sentencing Commission reported that Black men receive federal prison sentences that are nearly 20% longer than white men convicted of the same crime.

>Federal prosecutors are also twice as likely to charge Black people with offenses carrying a mandatory minimum sentence than their white counterparts.

>70.4% of women attorneys surveyed indicate that they experienced gender bias in the courtroom.

https://www.iadclaw.org/assets/1/7/16.1-_Meyer-_Ageism_and_Sexism_in_Court.pdf

https://www.naacpldf.org/judicial-process-failures

Conclusion

Sorry for the slapdash article, I'm still in shock following Holly Willoughby stepping down from ITV. I hope she's okay. Planned work for the month:

• Spider-Man 2 review (Can't wait to share my thoughts)

• Alan Wake 2 review

• Holly Willoughby's queuegate

• The lies of Mia Khalifa

• Danger in Africa - The story of Justine Sacco

• When women go traveling

• The murder of James Bulger

• Hitler and his dogs

https://old.reddit.com/r/television/comments/1756ksa/amazons_wheel_of_time_has_a_serious_dragon_reborn

fights are shit, translation: actresses and soyboys let stuntment do all the hard work, then when their faces onscreen the lowest common denominator follows

"he fights were so bad! You could clearly tell from her movement that Perrin's new girlfriend had some moves, too bad she was let down by shoddy camerawork." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

https://old.reddit.com/r/television/comments/1756ksa/amazons_wheel_of_time_has_a_serious_dragon_reborn/k4dwejs?context=8

The clear sterile lack of passion, and sandblasting of all originality of the author's touch has made even funky pop redditors nnnoootice the brokenshit tier horrible quality of the show

https://old.reddit.com/r/television/comments/1756ksa/amazons_wheel_of_time_has_a_serious_dragon_reborn/k4dwejs?context=8

500 upmarseys outside the colonized echo chambers

https://old.reddit.com/r/television/comments/1756ksa/amazons_wheel_of_time_has_a_serious_dragon_reborn/k4ec4md?context=8

even bookreaders have no idea what the frick going on half the time, alsy they raping the legacy male characters as is tradition in current year

https://old.reddit.com/r/television/comments/1756ksa/amazons_wheel_of_time_has_a_serious_dragon_reborn/k4du31o?context=8

even redditors notice the widespread contempt new age writers have for the source material

"It feels like an increasing trend where writers are loathe to “just replicate” the source material and so want to add their own plotlines. WoT, The Witcher, Foundation, Halo. The only one that has been done well is Foundation, the rest just feel like the writers wanted to make their own show and forced bits of it into existing IP."

https://old.reddit.com/r/television/comments/1756ksa/amazons_wheel_of_time_has_a_serious_dragon_reborn/k4ejvok?context=8

it's strange how the more non-echo chamber normies of /r/television who's wolrdviers are already much more left wing and liberal than my own openly call out the supreme absence of spark and charisma of recent shows, especially from Amazon

"Halo, Wheel of Time and Witcher really make an unholy trinity of great IPs squandered by talentless hacks more concerned with their fanfiction over adapting the material. Be nice if they could all stay on strike."

"You forgot the lord of the rings: Galadriel's thirst for power (Sauron)"

Halo fans perpetually cucked

https://old.reddit.com/r/television/comments/1756ksa/amazons_wheel_of_time_has_a_serious_dragon_reborn/k4e56ex?context=8

Commenter 1: "Imagine if you will an adaption of Halo that doesn't have Master Chief, or an adaption of The Last of Us that doesn't have Joel, or an adaption of Game of Thrones without Jon Snow and Daenarys. That's what Wheel of Time is - whatever apologists for this show might spout, there is a clear main character in the books and that's the Dragon Reborn, Rand Al'Thor.

And he's nothing - in fact he's less than nothing, he has systematically had every single piece of character development and every big moment stripped away from him. Book 2 (which was very very very loosely adapted into this second season) contains character defining development for Rand - things that are carried through the entire book series.

It has moments that literally affect the setting and Rand personally for the entire series.

And those are gone - but don't worry guys, Season 3 will definitely be better and have all those cool moments for the Dragon Reborn to have right?"

Commenter2: "No need to imagine, we got that."

Redditors call out the girlboss self insert tendancy of new age writers

https://old.reddit.com/r/television/comments/1756ksa/amazons_wheel_of_time_has_a_serious_dragon_reborn/k4ec6f4?context=8

Commenter1: "What's crazy is there's plenty of book content left to go where Rand is arguably not the main character. If the writers chilled for one second, they could get to points in the story where elevating other characters in the story makes sense. Literally, next season would be such an opportunity based on the third book. It would be different if what the writers added and deviated from made the books' story better but it doesn't."

Commenter2": "This is what happens to these adaptations. The person adapting it has their own vision, and literally no one wants it. Just do the fricking books. The story is good, and it's right there already waiting for you. No one is watching and going “thank god they changed that” I don't fricking understand the arrogance of these people. It never works but they do it all the time to beloved stories."

Commenter3: "This is what pissed me off the most about all these adaptions. They think they are better than the authors who create the source material themselves."

Commenter4: "One of the WoT show writers literally said "this is the series Robert Jordan would have written if he were writing today" like they somehow equate themselves as a "better" version of him."

@Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp @Carp

Long time, no see, kittens.

Daddy Chad still has some quality gems collected from his last venture into language groomercords, and his s are itching to spR-SLURsh all over your virgin screens.

Unfortunately, this is a little delayed - he's been a little busy with certain important things :marseygooning: :marseysmokingcrack:

Why don't we begin?

For those unfamiliar with the concept of constructed languages and toki pona in particular, please visit the earlier nazi hunting effortpost (PREMIUM users only) and People of the language learning groomcords . Give both of them your upmarseys, Daddy likes his gold shit ;)

For those TL;DR chads , imagine those childhood games where you and your friends invented a secret "language"? Now imagine this, but instead of you it's internet neurodivergents , and instead of your friends it's

Let's get into it.

Sources used:

1. /r/tokipona (and the associated groomercords)

2. Toki Pona forums

Last time Daddy invited you there, there was some ongoing drama about Groomercord mods possibly subtly reinforcing elections on language usage to bump the local chuds' favorite word down in notability and replace it with another in the dictionary?

Why would anyone do such a thing?

1. Make chuds seethe

2.

Something new happened!

Shortly after Daddy's effortpost, a fellow shit-stirrer investigative reporter chimed in with the following question on the toki pona forum:

Responses were quick:

: We would NEVER do such a thing

Meanwhile, in the poll's secret devchat - thank you to a special kitten ;)

: stats idea

The word "eliki", for those who don't read Daddy's last big, THICK effortpost, is the word referred to as the "admin's pet project".

Unfortunately for dramacoin , the chuds were less proactive.

Here is a snippet.

: My neurodivergent hobby is literally 1984... in front of my very eyes...

Chuds kinda win because of the coldest ever read over a 3% poll difference. But kinda lose because it's fricking r-slurred to take the internet so seriously.

wins in the end anyways

They're back to circlejerking about their Minecraft server or whatever now, disappointing. Daddy likes neurodivergents slapfighting ;)

Part 3: Drive-by trolling bangers

Asking about "enepi" is not the only way to get five different people talking to you the same time. Let's follow a quick masterclass on bait from a roaming chad and a fellow valued participant of the rdrama community - even if he doesn't know he is one:

: *enters the conversation without asking* I unironically follow Redpill YouTubers for health advice

Strong debut. Let's see how this plays out for him.

and * immediately enter the scene. Daddy had trouble telling the marsey lady avatars apart - the originality of the zoomer's self expression isn't what it used to be back in the 70s

*of course they are , what biofoid would unironically use a pfp like that

: I'm not a filthy chud , I just like Jordan Peterman or some shit

: WOW... I can't literally.

moment

Roaming chad proposes solidarity and ...

: Pheh... Civility... Rules are the only thing stopping me from teleporting behind your back right now.

: You are an r-slur

Say it with me, rdrama. BADASS TRANS GIRLS

: You're young , aren't you

: ???

Quick toki pona lesson time!

Daddy can see you eyeing that BOT label. They have a tool that allows a user to communicate as one of their plural headmates

: You... think public's welfare is more important than homosexuality in Ukraine? Mods, ban this Nazi

: But I'm le gay...

Look at this Dora the Explorer butt shit lmbo

The was later banned.

Part 4: Actual grooming no cap - a case study

In the header, Daddy promised you actual groomers. And boy, has he got a delicious surprise for you!

Our guest of the day is Lipamanka. An active participant in the community.

How active , you may ask?

126,105 posts?

Assuming a span of 3 years, that ends up to 115 posts a day. That's more than 3 posts every hour - and you've got to sleep sometime!

What will we learn, if you look at those posts?

1. He is

He literally won't stop reminding you of it.

2. He is a virgin with rage

: Why do all the girls

: Get all of the handsome chuds

Thankfully for whoever would like to imagine this performance, he is not shy about demonstrating his real voice either.

https://rdrama.net/audio/16969596670247762.oga

(Vocaroo mirror for lazychads)

Good content. Why a groomer , though?

Here are a few interactions with another (female ) member of the community over Groomercord and a ko-fi page:

: You live with your parents that you hate and can't afford to strike out on your own? Have some money, come visit me ;)

: Here's several hours' worth of minimum wage. Flee your family.

Frick it, I'll drop the character for a second. This is some creep behavior. You see all those internet jokes, there's memes about grooming this and grooming that all the time, but this is actually right here - in the open. I don't know what to do with that information.

Friends = Life ruined

What is the meaning of friendship? This is a question that has been posed by many philosophers. Some have argued that friends are necessary to our mental health because they are a form of "sanity regulating". By talking to friends, we are constantly reminded how to behave normally and how to amicably interact with other human beings. Others claim that friendship has a purely utilitarian process - we have friends because it feels good.

In reality, we know that friends aren't always there to help us. Sometimes friends will introduce us to the worst pains possible. Is is accurate to call these people friends at all?! Today, I'd like to look at three instances of young folks who decided to have a little fun with friends and consequently completely ruined their lives. As you read, remember the age of the perpetrators and think about whether you're looking at justice or tragedy.

I'd also like to know what's the one thing you did in your youth that should have completely ruined your life but miraculously didn't?

Kia Boyz

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know of this trend already. For those who don't know, a little backstory is necessary. Kias are relatively cheap cars developed by the South Korean manufacturer who also makes Hyundais. In a bid to keep their cars low-priced, some models of Kia do not feature an immobilizer. This is a simple device which reads your key and ensures that it is the correct key. This prevents people from stealing your car by hotwiring it or by making a duplicate of your key. Criminals caught onto this, but it also became popular among young teens who would steal a car, joyride it, perhaps commit a few more crimes, before dumping the destroyed property.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kia_Challenge

You can find several videos online of these youths teaching you how to steal a Kia using nothing but a USB cord. The effect of the Kia boys has been catastrophic. In 2022 alone, there was a 85% increase in the theft of these vehicles, and it is estimated that there are at least 9 million Kias and Hyundais that have the vulnerability. At this point, it doesn't matter if your car doesn't. By virtue of having a Kia or Hyundai badge, it will be targeted by crooks. Since the controversy, the car manufacturers have faced several lawsuits, and have given out free steering wheel locks in addition to paying out $200 million to affected customers. However, the trend continues.

https://old.reddit.com/r/ThatsInsane/comments/13sv53f/a_stolen_kia_rear_ends_a_school_bus_while_it_is

In today's case we'll look at some teens who went for a joy-ride and will regret it for the rest of their lives. The incident in question occurred in May this year. It is not quite clear what events led up to the tragedy, but it is believed that five teens stole a Kia then went on a joy-ride near a school. They went up and down the street repeatedly, until a security guard called the police and started recording. As the boys returned, one of them was sitting out of the window.

At high speed, they crashed into a bus. The boy hanging out the window hits the bus head on and is seen hanging limply from the car as the car rolls forward. The doors fly open and his "friends" abandon him. The driver was a 14 year old, and was charged with the following:

>first-degree reckless injury, hit-and-run, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, second-degree recklessly endangering safety and driving/operating a vehicle without owner's consent

https://www.fox6now.com/news/car-hits-milwaukee-school-bus-teens-charged

https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/14-year-old-driver-charged-in-stolen-kia-crash-into-milwaukee-school-bus-criminal-complaint

The boy who was hanging out the window was 15 and remains in a medically induced coma. The teens were caught and are currently on trial. It was found that they posted about it on Instagram afterwards, and one of the teens claimed he was not at the crash because he was at home sleeping. Let this be a lesson to choose your friends carefully. You do not want to be hanging lifelessly out a window as your friends flee.

The Steubenville R*pe case

I love these types of cases that involve young men getting drunk and either gang raping or hazing someone to death. It's always interesting to see how they try to cover up, and how so much trouble comes from relatively simple forms of mischief.

Today's case was an extremely popular and it became synonymous with the "r*ped at a house party" phenomenon. Steubenville is a town that is crazy for high school football, and much of the town treated the football stars like superheroes. In 2012, the Steubenville High team won a match, and they headed to a house party to celebrate. They could pick what they wanted, as there were a few house parties available for them to pick from. I say this because it's important you understand these were relatively wealthy teens whose parents were the type to give them the house for a party.

A drunk girl passed out at the part, and some men decided to take advantage. Trent Mays digitally r*ped her, while Ma'lik Richmond put his buttocks in her face. Friends were around. They didn't stop the boys. Instead they took videos where they laughed about how the girl was getting r*ped. These videos were shared widely on social media.

>The messages described the inebriated girl as “dead” or as a “dead body” and stated that Mr. Mays acknowledged penetrating the girl with his fingers.

>"they r*ped her quicker than Mike Tyson r*ped that one girl"

>At one point, a friend texted to Mr. Mays, “You are a felon.”

>"I shoulda r*ped her now that everybody thinks I did"

>One text sent from Mr. Mays's phone to an acquaintance stated that “if they press charges, they are going to look at all my texts,” according to the testimony of Ms. Gibb.

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/15/us/in-ohio-r*pe-trial-testimony-on-a-girls-drinking.html

In case you're still not entirely clued in on how football crazy this town was, you should know that when the boys first got a whiff of trouble coming their way, they texted their football coach. His first instinct was to try and help and protect the boys. The girl in question claims she has no memory of the event and only discovered what happened to her afterwards. During the trial, Anonymous leaked the identities of all involved, claiming that the town was doing nothing about the case to protect the boys. They were right about that. Several parents did not want the boys to get into trouble because they loved the football team so much.

There's a few things I find interesting here. Firstly, it is evident that the boys were drunk as well. This does not excuse their actions, but it is an indictment on society that youths had access to alcohol. The teens are being punished when the adults that provided them the alcohol should face the primary charges, in my opinion. The teens deserve secondary charges.

There's also the question of the nature of trauma. Can you be affected by something you have no idea happened? The girl doesn't remember the r*pe. If she never found out about it, would she be okay? Is the knowledge of the event traumatising her, or the event itself?

Sonia Quiles

This is one of my favorite criminal interviews ever. It is despicable because this woman is being interviewed on camera without an attorney and you witness her needlessly criminalize herself. The video also perfectly encapsulates the theme of this post. KNOW YOUR FRIENDS.

The events in question took place in 2015. Sonia Quiles went on a crime spree with Jason Womack (the father of her 2-year-old son) and 17-year-old Dequairius Bailey. During a housebreaking, one of them decided to kill a victim. It appears as though Sonia was in the car at the time, though details are murky. The victim was 54-year-old Frank Massington Jr, and he was found dead by his 28yo son.

https://www.insideprison.com/state-inmate-search.asp?id=2025392163

Anyone who watches true crime should know this pattern already. If you attempt a crime with friends, you have no control over what your partners do. You can't stop them from pulling the trigger or raping someone, and if you get caught, you'll both catch the same charges, even if you never touched a gun during the crime.

This young woman should have been at home looking after her child. Instead, she's out making mischief with her friends and catching murder charges. She didn't pull the trigger. She just traveled with men who did. Now her life is ruined, and her child's life is also probably ruined. It's fricking unfair that murderers can get a girlfriend and reproduce and I can't. I don't commit crimes and I'm poor so women will never turn my way.

Conclusion

I don't have friends or a gf, which is upsetting. However, I have had experiences with bad friends. Let me tell you one thing - I'd take a lifetime of loneliness over a day with a fake friend. Anyone who doesn't uplift your spirit and make you feel loved and happy to be alive, cut them out of your life. The greatest resource we have on Earth is human potential. Don't let anyone destroy yours, especially not anyone calling themselves a friend.

It's the GRAND finale of the Munster Saga! Aren't you excited? Relieved? I can tell you needed your Munster fix; you've been tweaking for days now and it's really noticeable. Anyway, last time(s) LINK | LINK I covered how Munster coped with Jan Matthias' death, the Bishop's failed attempts at retaking the city before deciding to just starve it out, how a little bit of coomerism almost made everything unravel, and van Leyden's royal LARP. Now we'll see if the Bishop can actually manage a win for once and if van Leyden can establish that Kingdom-of-God-on-Earth-thing

===================

RIDER ON A BLACK HORSE

===================

Fall turned into Winter and no help came for Munster. As it had turned out, none of the 27 Apostles succeeded in their task. The news had only reached Munster by way of the return of Henry Graes, the only Apostle to survive the failed mission. Graes was awarded a short tenure in the King's court, as his escape was considered miraculous, but he was soon given another mission. Graes was sent out the city at the beginning of the new year, 1535. He was expected to accomplish what the other apostles could not: garner support from surrounding towns for Munster.

To the credit of the Munsterites, it wasn't completely delusional to expect some kind of relief force to appear and save the day. Anabaptism was still garnering more support every day, particularly in the Netherlands and North Western Germany, areas close to Munster.

In fact, party of a couple thousand of them was busted some months before by local authorities in the Netherlands. They were transporting a stockpile of weapons and were bound for Munster. Another of these war parties was rumored to be organizing in Wesel, a town near Munster generally sympathetic to their cause. Henry Graes, still on his mission outside Munster, sent two of his men to assess the group and assist them in whichever way they could.

(Van Leyden Judging one of his wives who had given up on the cause before ordering her execution)

In less optimistic news, people still need to eat. King Jan had been tightening the belt on rations, but that could only last so long. Eventually, starvation began to set in. Well, not for him, of course. Van Leyden and his court still ate lavish meals, and the garrison was given enough to sustain itself. It was mostly the civilian population that suffered the food shortage. For a time, this was remedied by allowing some of the population to flee the city. The old and young went first, but it wasn't long until many fit adults were requesting permission to leave. No one was forced out the city, but Anabaptist leaders made it clear to the population that some of them had to go.

Those that did go hardly fared better outside the walls. The Bishop was in no mood to be forgiving to those he saw as traitors. He ordered his men to execute any adult male refugee on sight, and to refuse shelter and food to the women and children. Count Falkenstein protested the order, but while he held operational control over the army, he had no influence over the citizens subject to the Bishop. Most refugees that weren't executed remained stranded in the no man's land between the city and encircling army. Those that survived only did so by the charity of the soldiers. Begging on the outskirts of army encampments became their only source of food and water.

=================

FRAUD AND DECEPTION

=================

Mein König... Graes...

Is a turncoat. Turns out he only survived by offering to spy for the Bishop, rather than having been saved by divine intervention. His handling of the situation was actually pretty clever. He hit the Bishop where it hurt most: the ego. Franz happened to have visited his group of prisoners before they were all executed, during which Graes said something along the lines of:

“Does the Bishop have no power to set a prisoner free?”

It's a dig at the Bishop's thoroughly embarrassed authority. That, and the fact that it was said in Latin (a language that of those present, only the Bishop and Graes would know), caught Von Waldeck's attention. He pulled Graes aside for a private meeting, during which Graes agreed to return to Munster as spy. The agreement didn't let Graes off the hook fully, but it meant that he wouldn't be executed.

Oh yeah, and those two agents he sent to "assist" the militia in Wesel? They immediately ratted them out to the authorities when they arrived. No Steiner's attack was coming to deliver the final victory. The Anabaptists didn't even know of Graes' defection until he sent them a letter on May 28th, gloating about it and telling them they're all "poor, stupid people [who] can't recognize that in its entirety what you're engaged in is fraud and deception." Direct quote from the letter

Disillusioned schoolteachers weren't the only ones jumping ship into the Bishop's arms. Remember Henry Gresbeck? He was the one at the wedding that witnessed Jan Matthias' final vision. He'd been serving as a guardsman at the walls for a while, but only now saw the writing on them. Munster was withering under the Bishop's blockade and he wasn't aiming to go down with it. Gresbeck crafted a plan to escape, using his knowledge of the entrances and exits of the city to go unnoticed by the guards on post. Accompanied by a small group of others, including one John "Little Hans" of Longstreet, so-called because of his diminutive height, he escaped the city under cover of night.

The only reason he wasn't immediately killed was because of his young age. Then, the only reason he was allowed to keep living was his usefulness to the Bishop's cause. Gresbeck, in exchange for his life, offered Count Falkenstein his knowledge of the city (yes, the two traitors were both named Henry). The gap in the walls that he and Little Hans used to escape made the perfect secret entrance for a surprise assault. Falkenstein even made him design a full diorama of the city layout as he remembered it (Gresbeck was an experienced carpenter), just to gather as much information about the city as he could before trying anything.

Count Falkenstein only told Gresbeck what his fate would be after he'd given up all the information he could. He'd live, even be granted his freedom, but only after accompanying the army in the assault on the city. Gresbeck was to follow the army across the moat to the gap in the walls, but stop there. While the Bishop's army was securing the city, killing any of the garrison they could, he was to stay put. If he attempted to leave, he'd be treated as a fleeing enemy and cut down. He was also told that the only reason his story was believed was because Little Hans of Longstreet had corroborated it. Little Hans had connections to one of the noble officers in the army, so he'd been allowed to live as well.

==================

RIDER ON A PALE HORSE

==================

Falkenstein planned to conduct the attack much in the same way Gresbeck had made his escape. Using Gresbeck's knowledge of the guard's activities and the cover of night, a contingent of a few hundred soldiers was to make their way into the gap, take control of the garrison there, and establish a foothold within the city on the 22nd of June. Count von Falkenstein would wait outside the city with the rest of the army, commencing his own attack once news of their success reached him.

From there, they'd mop up the remainder of Anabaptist resistance, capture their leaders, and allow the soldiers to loot as they pleased (as per their contract). A final offer to surrender was rejected by King Jan on June 8th, who reportedly laughed while saying "Ask me in a year."

Initial steps went on without a hitch: they'd crossed the moat and entered the walls unnoticed, managing to slaughter an entire guardhouse in their sleep. Pushing on to the city proper, the alarm finally sounded, signaling they'd been discovered. Fighting began proper after that, but the Bishop's soldiers soon found themselves encircled. Turns out they'd forgotten to leave a garrison at the walls, and the Anabaptists had retaken it without a fight. Falkenstein was still holding off on attacking as he received no communications from inside the city.

Malnourished and demoralized, the Anabaptist soldiers were feeling the effects of the food shortage, and were unable to finish off the encircled troops before daybreak. When light finally made the city visible, the army inside signaled for reinforcements. Falkenstein finally had enough confidence to attack, and the fight from there was a cakewalk. The Bishop's army had dwindled to around 3,000 men by this time, but still outnumbered the defenders by double.

(Von Waldeck judging Knipperdolling, Kretching, and Van Leyden) (Current events used to get a lot of cool art done about them, why does no one do that anymore???)

Once the remaining army was inside the city, the fighting turned into a route. This had turned into an exhausting affair for the Anabaptists. Most had known Munster was lost for some time now, and those that remained only did so because they had no other choice. They had no interest in laying down their lives for a doomed king or cause already dead.

All there was left to protect were their own lives, so most civilians attempted to flee while the soldiers fought. The mercenaries had been instructed to give no quarter, nor did they want to. They killed indiscriminately, soldier and civilian, looting whatever was left. Most of what was left was worthless, as anything valuable had long been seized and pawned off by Anabaptist leadership to buy more time.

The Leaders suffered various fates. Henry Kretching had taken lead of a small company of troops and found a defensible position, so he was allowed to leave the city unharmed so long as he took his men with him. Bernard Kretching was captured while fighting. Herman Tilbeck was stabbed to death while hiding in an outhouse. Knipperdolling fought hard the entire battle, but ended up captured days later, found hiding in an attic. Rothmann was seen fighting early on, but disappeared sometime into the battle. His body was never discovered, and rumors that he escaped circulated afterward. King Jan was seized and given into custody at a gate leading out the city. Some say he was fighting there, others that he was attempting to escape.

=============

LAST JUDGEMENT

=============

The Anabaptist dream... Munster has fallen and any remnants of active resistance were pushed North into the countryside, acting more as marauders and bandits than religious revolutionaries. Anabaptism continued to spread but it was mostly the peaceful sects drawing in new members. Aside from a short-lived attempt by 2 disgruntled noblemen to establish another holy city in the Netherlands, Melanchior's dream of a holy kingdom on Earth was dead.

As for the captured leaders, they stuck around for some time. Jan van Leyden met with the Bishop's chaplain for questioning and theological debate during his imprisonment, confessing that he'd gone too far with the Munster business, but never denouncing Anabaptism itself. Knipperdolling was completely unapologetic. Their executions were foregone conclusions by this point, scheduled for the 22nd of January. There's nothing they could have said or done that'd make any difference.

The plaza before St. Lambert's hosted the ceremony. The Bishop himself was in attendance, as well as a few church officials that'd later go on to chronicle the event. Van Leyden, Knipperdolling, and Kretching were all stood atop a wooden platform, held in place by metal collars adorned with spikes pointed inward. Their bodies were to be ripped apart with heated irons while they still lived. Von Waldeck took care that every chunk of flesh removed from the condemned was felt, smelling salts prepared should any of them faint from the pain. Knipperdolling attempted to kill himself on the spiked collar, but was revived. He and Kretching wailed as their flesh was mangled, while van Leyden remained relatively stoic. Each had to endure an hour of torture before they were allowed to die.

Their decaying, mutilated bodies were hung in cages on the cathedral spire, a message to anyone doubting the Bishop's authority.

(They're even still there)

Treatment of Anabaptist women was comparatively tame. Every woman captured during the assault was given the choice to denounce Anabaptism, or face execution. Some, particularly noblewomen, were allowed to be ransomed to their families without denouncing their faith. Divara was executed.

Franz's later reign and legacy were forever marred by Munster. He was left hopelessly in debt, so much so that the Bishop of Munster was still paying off loans to the Bishop of Cologne by 1617, years after Von Waldeck's death. In an effort to cut on costs, he attempted to dock the mercenaries' pay. The measure was walked back after threats of riots surfaced, but he managed to find and keep for himself a couple barrels of gold stored under Van Leyden's palace (a violation of the looting clause of his contract).

The Bishop's especially heavy handed approach to the siege and its aftermath won him a reputation for cruelty. Franz von Waldeck is remembered by history as the perfect caricature of the greedy, wrathful noble lord, an embodiment of the unjust system many Anabaptists and their admirers saw themselves as fighting against.

But hey, someone made a LEGO tribute to him, for some reason

Where I found this

All-in-all Anabaptism didn't have a super profound impact on the state of Europe or the reformation. A lot of people hold it as being significant thanks to its anti-feudal and antigovernmental slants but it was more symptom of the general dissatisfaction of the time, rather than any catalyst for future change or something that would effect Europe long term.

As for what happened to the more general Anabaptist movement, they all became Mennonites and Amish. Those are the only two major sects alive today (Baptism is not an Anabaptist sect btw; it shares a similar theological foundation, but originates separately in England and never quite had the same militant leanings).

And if you wanted to know the fate of our more minor characters: Henry Gresbeck was fine (though did not have his property returned to him) and lived the rest of his life as a normal craftsman (but he did write an account of his time in Munster), Little Hans was awarded a house in Munster, but was murdered a few years later after he tried to scam a jewelry maker out of a payment, Bernard Kretching lead small groups of Anabaptist guerillas in North Germany until he died in 1580, and Henry Graes returned to teaching in a town not too far from Munster.

This def could've been more detailed, but it's hard to keep up enthusiasm when writing for this long. I'll be making a post on /h/lit cuz I want to be transparent about sources since I am a SCHOLAR of INTEGRITY and HONESTY raising the BLIND LAITY reaching from the TANTALIAN PIT of IGNORANCE into the CLEAR DAY of TRUE KNOWING

A very large number of people seldom believes me when I say that Afrikaners didn't have a deep seated history of Anti-Semitism or widespread societal hatred of Jews systemically plaguing our population in the way that it has in Europe. That's understandable, in fact it's logical.

For most people, the only afrikaans word they'll ever know or learn in their lifetimes is Lekker or Apartheid. And for most people who will only learn one singular afrikaans word, it's Apartheid exclusively; and prior to Elon Musk, the one South African anglophones in Bongland or Burgerland could name was Nelson Madiba Mandela - nether facts are famous because of the virtues of the Afrikaner people.

Thus, when I mention that curiously, afrikaners don't have a history of Anti-Semitism, most find the idea ludicrous, the idea that people who dominated South African black peeps, for a century, somehow aren't jewhating nuts, along with most righwingers and authoritarian nationalities??

It comes across as me, an afrikaner, desperately trying to salvage some of our internationally ruined reputation, of all worldwide whites, we are perhaps the greatest pariah, and garner little sympathy from liberal western nations when we b-word about our woes, like farm attacks or national corruption (outside of dedicated Chudzones like 9gag). After all, after the arrogance, cruelty and subjugation we had inflicted upon our fellow blacks for over 50 years, and preventing equal rights for non-whites in SA, we are just what we

But, I'm not lying. The curious absence of anti-semitism and jewhate from afrikaners is curious BECAUSE of our historic bigotry and mistreatment of SA blacks, as naturally any far rightwing ethnic group traditionally almost always hated jews amongst every other conceivable manority. The very famous burgerland KKK for example hated jews as much as burger blacks - our absence in following their steps regarding jewdom is what makes our relationship with jews unique from all other modern right wing predisposed ethnic nationalities on earth I believe.

But the absence of jew-hating isn't a boast about our collective virtue, or a feeble attempt at garnering sympathy, it's a weird and r-slurred set of social-geographic events which took place alongside the formation of the Boer republics, which played a direct role on our relationship with jews

It's a testament to the sheer fricking r-sluration and stupidity involved when it comes to the formation of bigotry in human beings.

One hilarious tidbit I always tell peeps about Apartheid, is that in their infinite wisdom, the Nationale Party racially classified Japanese and Chinese differently as a direct consequence of the economic models of their host nations. Japanese were considered the equal of whites, and could use white amenities and ablutions; but chinese were considered and classified as a lessor race as only subhumans would allow Communism to rule their host nation. This is especially ironic when you consider absolutely most afrikaners would never be able to tell a chinese or japanes apart, from their attire, dialect or physical appearance. And yes, I'm aware many whitoids who spend a lot of time interacting between SEA people, can differentiate between the slight differences of Physiognomy of say Koreans and Japs - but trust me, the apartheid party didn't even remotely put that much thought behind their ruling....

They were genuinely that r-slurred

The Big Reason of why there is such a schism between Boers and euros regarding jew hating, especially at the critical point of the WW2 era, had to do with the event of the Groot Trek

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Trek

Depending on who is doing the measuring, between 1833 to 1838, the largest contingent of proto-Boers/dutch would throw a colossal tantrum at having to be subjugated under British dominion

The Great Trek resulted from the culmination of tensions between rural descendants of the Cape's original European/mostly-dutch settlers, known collectively as Boers, and the Cape's British colonial administration. It was also reflective of an increasingly common trend among individual Boer communities to pursue an isolationist and semi-nomadic lifestyle away from the developing administrative complexities in Cape Town. Boers who took part in the Great Trek identified themselves as voortrekkers , meaning "pioneers", "pathfinders" (literally "fore-trekkers") in Dutch and Afrikaans.

Even a great deal of modern afrikaners who don't know their own history would be surprised to know that this trend started way back as much as 1800 as individual dozens of frontiersmen saught autonomy and land away from the stifling rule of the British. The Great Trek was just the lionshare of dutch GTFOing into the unknown inland wilderniss

anyways, the rest is boring history, the what and why isn't important - that it happened is significant.

You see the biggest thing which makes Burgerland Southeners and Boers similar is also the thing which set them apart. Both American predecessors and Boers are famed for the Frontiersmanships, their extreme individualism, their self-reliance, and also their innate sexual attraction towards firearms.

Both had a history of evolving culture outside of main civilization, living on the brink of developed nations, and farming into the unknown. The pictures of Ossawae or Oxwagons paintings depicting the pathfinders of the Boer Republics, are the same wagons in the Oregon Trail videogame.

And the old battlepaintings of circled wagons , where european settlers fighting off Apaches for their lives, are the same as Boers fighting off Zulus and Matabeles and Xhosas after they had strayed too far into opposing territory, with settlers desperately trying to reload their muskets against arrows or spears.

Most afrikaners who migrate to Burgerland pretty much make a beeline to places like Texas

But here is also the biggest difference. You see in today's world it's not thought of, but in the time of colonialization, there was a perpetual fear of "verwildering" or wildification - the notion that europeans would degenerate into lessor beings, less sophisticated away from civilization. They had a genuine fear that peoples who spent too much time away from civilization and the chuch would unlearn language and devolve into tribal barbaric trogledytes.

If you spent too much time away from the church, you would unlearn respect and loyalty to Christ, you would generate all of the worst vices, and your very children would inherit your devolved nature as if through genetics - it was a whole lot of pseudo science and superstition that was often made manifest as border towns and the frontier was often the most lawless place of any civilization, but especially for colonial states.

It was a genuine belief that too long spent in isolation would rob europeans of good european values, like feral children who grew up in the wild, not learning speech in their formative years. That isolation would have negative impact upon the culture of isolated groups, and that whites spent too long away from european civilization, would be no better than the savages of South American natives or African black peeps.

This is how the British came to view the Boers after a century of "Isolation". From the earliest of the 1800s, then especially from 1833 to 1899, the Boers would make themselves extremely culturally isolated from the rest of the european world.

Where the American frontiersmen kept constant contact with the western world, the boers preferred their isolation. It's important to understand that I don't mean there was NO contact between the forming Boer republics and the rest of euro civilization, everything is relative. Mail frequently exchanged, sometimes even by train between Cape Town and the earliest settlements of Pretoria.

But this was before the age of the internet, before the establishment of the Telegram in SA, before any form of formal mailing system or any communications network. The inland of SA was genuinely wilderniss, at least to the europeans. The fastest mode of transportaion was by horse, both for men and messages. And the fastest mode of transport for goods and supplies was by oxcart or oxwagon, which was much much slower. It was a time of incredible rural isolation and underdevelopment. You guys see that VVitch movie, where the family is literally in the absolute wilderness away from civilization? That was the boer reupblics for every farm outside of Bloemfontein, Joburg and Pretoria. It's difficult to translate this comparative islolation.

In the eyes of the world, and especially the British, the Boers had degenerated into a sub-people. They had become lessor whites, away from civilization, and away from organized religion. They could not fathom the rugged culture of the Boers - to them they were a devolved subspecies of man. In the same way that the Romans completely disregarded the culture of and technology of lessor german tribes, so too did the British see the Boers, the same as the blacks with whom they had intermingled and shared customs with.

Example: Biltong, south african dried meat, similar to burgerland jerky. Today biltong is a delicacy, often expensive, and not something to eat every day. But in the 1800s they were a survival technique to survive the lean winter months of central South Africa. The boers learned it from the Khoi-Sand and friendly Hottentot/Sotho tribes who showed them how they dried buck meat in clay vessels or dry airtight cool and shaded huts, to serve as reserve food in times of hardship.

https://earthwormexpress.com/2017/09/02/saltpeter-horse-sweat-and-biltong-the-origins-of-south-africas-national-food

https://earthwormexpress.com/salt-salz-sul-盐-yan-sol-αλασ-usawoti-ملح-letsoai-sel-sal-نمک-muoi-鹽-sout-塩-shio-소/salt-and-the-ancient-people-of-southern-africa

The Khoi-San and hottentots would mine salt to help cure dried meat.

Instead of seeing this this as an ingenuous survival technique, it was proof to the british that Boers were copying the lower tech tree of lessor people. The british were used to architectural marvels, great cities and vast infrastructure - the meagre farmsteads of the Boer Republics were those of lessor beings. They could not envision that boers had masons from europe constructing stonewalled churches at every Boer settlement, to continue their religious contact, and had not lost their christianity on their way. They could not envision that Boer smiths could create horseshoes and bullet points from meagre veld fires, where british needed smith stations, all they saw was a white race having devolved religiously, technologically and culturally.

Thus, when they in turn, turned to war against the Boers, it wasn't a large leap for the British to extend their own form of cruelty by "treating the boers and their women worse that the most maltreated London stray dog" as Lord Rhodes himself would say, referring to the Concentration camps the British would use to house Boer women, in the hopes to pressure the Boer guerillas to surrender in the 1899-1902 Anglo-Boer war. For them it was nothing to do against a lessor race.

I mention all of the above so that the "Isolation" in which the Boers and proto-afrikaners brought upon themselves can be comprehended. Because isolation is relative. But the isolation meant that many cultural exchanges were greater between Boers and Blacks, than between Boers and the continent of Europe, a tragic irony considering that they would dominate their black peers a century later in 1940 -1990 during high Apartheid.

But the most significant influence this 70-100 year long isolation brought upon the Boers, was their intrinsic absence of Jewhatred. At least comparatively to mainland europe. I don't mean there was never ever any Jew haters in Boer populations, past or present. Qtard boomer boers, rightwing poltards exist just as plentiful amongst boers as any group, but the cutting off of Europe, also meant cutting off from ancient european systemic societal bigotries. In the wild heart of inland South Africa, it was primarily the differences between black and white man which would dominate the hearts and minds of the Boer Republics, and eventually the war against Britain.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/anti-Semitism/Anti-Semitism-in-medieval-Europe

The Nazis invented very little regarding ancient hatred of jews. Example: even the most infamous Yello David Star Jews had to wear on their attire of prison uniforms are an ancient invention.

"Another instrument of 12th-century anti-Semitism, the compulsory yellow badge that identified the wearer as a Jew, was also revived by the Nazis. The practice of segregating the Jewish populations of towns and cities into ghettos dates from the Middle Ages and lasted until the 19th and early 20th centuries in much of Europe."

In midieval Europe for example, Jews were often despised for being the only bankers in a nation state. With Christians banned from lending money at interest by the Catholic Church, and Jews barred from many professions by Christian monarchs, moneylending was undertaken by Jews in much of Europe.

https://www.yourfaithyourfinance.org/money-and-faith/usury-and-the-theology-of-money/usury-in-christian-history

"In much of Europe during the Middle Ages, Jews were denied citizenship and its rights, barred from holding posts in government and the military, and excluded from membership in guilds and the professions. To be sure, some European rulers and societies, particularly during the early Middle Ages, afforded Jews a degree of tolerance and acceptance, and it would be an error to conceive of Jews as facing an unchanging and unceasing manifestation of anti-Jewish oppression throughout this period."

https://www.britannica.com/topic/anti-Semitism/Anti-Semitism-in-medieval-Europe

"As European commerce grew in the late Middle Ages, some Jews became prominent in trade, banking, and moneylending, and Jews' economic and cultural successes tended to arouse the envy of the populace. This economic resentment, allied with traditional religious prejudice, prompted the forced expulsion of Jews from several countries and regions, including England (1290), France (14th century), Germany (1350s), Portugal (1496), Provence (1512), and the Papal States (1569). Intensifying persecution in Spain culminated in 1492 in the forced expulsion of that country's large and long-established Jewish population. Only Jews who had converted to Christianity were allowed to remain, and those suspected of continuing to practice Judaism faced persecution in the Spanish Inquisition. As a result of these mass expulsions, the centres of Jewish life shifted from western Europe and Germany to Turkey and then to Poland and Russia."

"But where they were needed, Jews were tolerated. Living as they did at the margins of society, Jews performed economic functions that were vital to trade and commerce. Because premodern Christianity did not permit moneylending for interest and because Jews generally could not own land, Jews played a vital role as moneylenders and traders. Where they were permitted to participate in the larger society, Jews thrived. During the Middle Ages in Spain, before their expulsion in 1492, Jewish philosophers, physicians, poets, and writers were among the leaders of a rich cultural and intellectual life shared with Muslims and Christians. In collaboration with Arab scholars and thinkers in the tolerant society of Muslim Spain, they were instrumental in transmitting the intellectual heritage of the Classical world to medieval Christendom."

And as we all know few people are hated more than money lenders, doesn't matter how honest they were. As many business enterprises go bust as succeed, and many sour lenders, would come to hate bankers who they had to repay a failing loan. Many actual fricking european kings would banish Jews into the Shadowrealm so as to not to repay their own monarchic loans!

https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/why-were-the-jews-expelled-from-england-in-1290-0

Jews consistently didn't help themselves by having a very insular society, and never trying to convert others, thus they would always remain a numerical minority wherever they went through the ages, and were a prime target for scapegoating during times of hardship. And there were always ALWAYS hardship in europa

Even fricking protestants continued the rich and ancient culture of jew hating and pogroms.

"The idea that the Jews were evil persisted during the Protestant Reformation. Although Martin Luther expressed positive feelings about Jews, especially earlier in his life, and relied on Jewish scholars for his translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into German, he became furious with Jews over their rejection of Jesus. “We are at fault for not slaying them,” he wrote. “Rather we allow them to live freely in our midst despite their murder, cursing, blaspheming, lying and defaming.” Such views were emphasized by the Nazis. They were renounced by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in 1983 and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1994."

Jewhatred was fricking entrenched into european culture, Hitler didn't invent shit.

"The end of the Middle Ages brought little change in Jews' position in Europe, and the Catholic Reformation renewed anti-Jewish legislation and reinforced the system of ghettoized segregation in Roman Catholic countries. Jews remained subject to occasional massacres, such as those that occurred during wars between Eastern Orthodox Ukrainians and Roman Catholic Poles in the mid-17th century, which rivaled the worst massacres of Jews in the Middle Ages. Periodic persecutions of Jews in western Europe continued until the late 18th century, when the Enlightenment changed their position, at least in the West. "

But the Nazis did turbo charge Jewhatred into a magnitude never before experienced in the history of Europe.

Worse yet still, from 1933 to 1945, the nazi Jew hatred and the absence of consequence of fricking up jews in your own country, also inspired other nations to step up their Jew hatred up a notch.

"The storm of anti-Semitic violence loosed by Nazi Germany under the leadership of Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1945 not only reached a terrifying intensity in Germany itself but also inspired anti-Jewish movements elsewhere. Anti-Semitism was promulgated in France by the Cagoulards (French: “Hooded Men”), in Hungary by the Arrow Cross, in England by the British Union of Fascists, and in the United States by the German-American Bund and the Silver Shirts."

I always find it astonishing the sheer magnitude of cooperation Europeans had with the Nazis, the Gestapo, the SS, when it came to ratting out their neighbours. For every heroic Frenchmen sacrificing their lives and safety of their family to let jews literally hang out in their attic for half a decade so that they might survive the gestapo purges, there were TWO frenchmen in their place, who went to equal extreme lengths to rat out their jewish neighbours of over 2 decades, or to snitch on people they disliked. The Vichy French was appalingly predisposed to this.

While some countries like Sweden went into superhuman overdrive to try and smuggle out jewish children from Nazi occupied territories, and disguise them as native swedish adopted kids until the end of WW2.....

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40918381

.....Denmark went to to even greater efforts yet still.....

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/rescue-in-denmark

.......others like Hungary had almost the entire fricking population gleefully participate in aiding Nazi round-up squads, by getting virtually every single jew they possibly could.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4466250

Even Poland, the European nation I admire most of all, filled me with supreme dismay when I discovered the sheer shamelessness of the scope of their participation Poles had in the ratting out, rounding up, and participation of murdering of Jews which had lived as neighbours in their country for hundreds of years. Even as the Poles were being spitroasted by the Nazi and Soviet armies, they had little pity to give the Warsaw Ghetto pleading their capital countrymen to aid them in their futile ghetto final stand, over loudspeakers, as they were being slaughtered to the last

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/warsaw-ghetto-uprising

So when I state Afrikaners didn't hold Anti-Semitism, it's the violent burning bitterness of the WW2 era I refer to, a curiosity especially notable in its absence, considering our famous bigotry against africans.

The strange alliance from the 1950s-1990s between Isreal and the Union of SA wasn't just an alliance between two Pariah states like between North Korea and Russia, it was because the Afrikaners genuinely in large scale and on-average admired and respected Jews and isreal. I'm aware jwehating outliers exist, but they are outliers.

I mentioned before one curiosity was the great support nearly half of all Afrikaners held for Nazi Germany during WW2, in the greatest display of mass wingcuckery any people in history must have had - regarding holding support for something to spite your enemies, despite it going against almost all your intrinsic values.

You see the 1899-1902 Anglo-Boer left a deep scar upon the soul of the Boer/Afrikaner, and it would take more than 50 years to even begin to heal the schism between SA Bong and Boer. In WW1, the Boers desperately wanted to support Germany, as the Germans had been the greatest benefactor of the Boer war, and their biggest indipendance advocate. But SA was a commonwealth nation under British Dominion, and Boers would suffer the indignation of having to oppose their most favoured nation.

In 1939, a repeat of WW1 was brewing when the Ossewa Brand Wag became a serious political party, and their members had to be jailed for the duration of WW2. Of course in hindsight the practical reality of Afrikaners actually overthrowing the Commonwealth government was unlikely, but the SA gov took it extremely seriously. Britain's navy was stretched thin across the earth, and Cape Town was an extremely important keystone refueling location.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossewabrandwag

Anyways point is many Afrikaners were divided in supporting the Allies or the Axis, but postwar was a different story. The infamous Burgerland Supreme Commander Eizenhower had evidence of the Nazi Death Camps collected, and pictures and footage distributed all across the world. When newspaper and video footage reached the tiny south africa, there had never before been such an evaporation of support for any political party before.

The scale of propaganda made discerning news of actual atrocities from Europe difficult to discern all the way in South Africa, so very far away from Europe, but the magnitude and quality of evidence of the Death Camps and Concentration camps would evaporate any wingcuckery the afrikaners had towards the Nazi Germans. Here was a people, the Jews, the Boers had respected and regarded highly, now suffering the same fate on a much much much worse scale than what had been inflicted upon them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower

Anyways that's all I got. SA would have strong relations with Isreal until the ANC took power, when hilariously the position would reverse, and the commies would support Palestinians.

https://www.sajr.co.za/untold-story-of-jan-smuts-and-the-founding-of-israel

Jan Smuts served as prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924, and 1939 to 1948. Smuts would have a key role in the UN Referendum when UN voted to establish Isreal.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2009/7/13/why-the-arabs-were-defeated

After which the entire Arabs world vowed to wipe out Isreal and drive the isrealites into the sea

Today we'll be discussing Valerie Solanas who is most known for her text titled SCUM Manifesto which is said to stand for ‘Society For Cutting Up Men'. Before we begin, it's probably worthwhile to lay out that the analysis is coming from the perspective of a 28yo male incel. Thus, I may never truly know the life experiences which led to her expressing the views she does.

Who is Valerie Solanas?

Valerie Solanas was born on April 9, 1936. She had a rough childhood which involved sexual abuse. She claims her father and grandfather physically and sexually abused her. Solanas was also a playwright, which is eventually what led to her crossing paths with Andy Warhol. In 1968, she shot Warhol as well Mario Amaya (art critic). She also attempted to shoot Fred Hughes, who is Warhol's manager. Her weapon of choice? A .32 automatic. Warhol was mortally wounded and required extensive surgery. He did survive, but he had to wear a surgical corset for the rest of his life. He was also deeply traumatized and deathly afraid of hospitals following the event.

So did Solanas kill Warhol? Depends on how you look at things. Warhol didn't die immediately from the event. However, Warhol had a gallbladder problem, and his newfound fear of hospitals prevented from seeing the doctor as often as he should have. If you ask me, she's a murderer.

Why did she do it? After the shooting, Solanas handed herself in to the authorities. She claimed that she believed that Warhol would steal her script titled "Up Your Butt", and she also claimed that the pop artist had too much control over her. Warhol did have her script - she gave it to him - but he had forgotten about it, and it was later found in a trunk. She was put on trial where she claimed the following:

>it's not often that I shoot somebody. I didn't do it for nothing. Warhol had tied me up, lock, stock, and barrel. He was going to do something to me which would have ruined me

>I was right in what I did! I have nothing to regret!

After an evaluation, she was deemed a paranoid schizophrenic, but fit to stand trial. She represented herself and earned herself three years in prison for "reckless assault with intent to harm". Not bad for a self-confessed attempted murderer with a schizo for a lawyer.

The analysis will go down in three parts to make things easier to digest. I highly suggest you read the whole thing. You can complete it in an hour.

https://editions-ismael.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/1968-Valerie-Solanas-S.C.U.M.-Manifesto.pdf

The SCUM Manifesto - Part 1

To analyse the text, I'll be gong through a few of the central points Solanas brings up and discussing what implications they may have. Solanas begins by constructing an outline of the nature of men. On the first page, Solanas writes:

>the male is completely egocentric, trapped inside himself, incapable of empathizing or identifying with others, or love, friendship, affection or tenderness. He is a completely isolated unit, incapable of rapport with anyone.

I can't speak for others, but that's a pretty spot description of myself. I am worthless trash. She continues by writing:

>the male is, nonetheless, obsessed with screwing; he'll swim through a river of snot, wade nostril-deep through a mile of vomit, if he thinks there'll be a friendly kitty awaiting him. He'll screw a woman he despises, any snaggle-toothed hag, and furthermore, pay for the opportunity

So, on that note, let's discuss toxic masculinity. What Solanas is stressing here is that men behave in ways which suggest uncontrollable sexual hedonism. What accounts for gendered behaviour that emphasises sexual conquest among men? Some answers may come from R.W Connell who has done in-depth studies of masculinities. He is careful to stress that masculinity isn't monolithic but instead takes on a hegemonic form with some masculinities being subordinated to others.

In order to ascend up the hierarchy of masculinity, men may engage in behaviours which are harmful to themselves and others in order to prove their manliness. Some of these behaviours include being dominant, violent, having limited emotional expression and being heterosexually successful. For example, David Lisak points out that within college fraternities “‘sexual conquest' – having s*x with as many women as possible – becomes a critical measure of how men view themselves and each other. The greater the number of such conquests, the more manly he is viewed”. As Connell points out, such behaviours are harmful to society and to men themselves.

There are plenty of men who do not wish to engage in such activities and, consequently can enter an identity crisis regarding their own masculinity when they discover that they are unable to conform to social standards of what a man should be. Furthermore, failure to participate in toxic masculinity can result in one inhabiting a subordinated form of masculinity and receiving less acceptance and respect from male peers.

Are women incapable of toxic behavior? Of course not. Women occasionally partake in fragile femininity whereby women will shame other women for sexually promiscuous behaviours. Now one thing about Solanas is that she doesn't dismantle these tropes of masculinity but instead conveys them as biological truth. In doing so, she becomes a co-conspirator in toxic masculinity. This is not a strange occurrence. Myths about gender exist in our language and culture and are absorbed by men just as much as women. After all, we all exist in the same culture and are exposed to the same influences. Thus, it's not rare for women to engage in toxic masculinity or for men to propagate fragile femininity.

One important thing of value that Solanas does say is that:

>since he's attempting to prove an error, he must ‘prove' it again and again. Screwing, then, is a desperate compulsive, attempt to prove he's not passive, not a woman.

This is actually a very accurate description of gender performativity. One is not born a man, one becomes a man. Moreso, one does not reach a stage where one achieves manhood and no longer has to prove it. Instead, gender is constantly performed and must be constantly re-enacted.

The SCUM Manifesto - Part 2

Solanas also discusses what kind of women she would like to see join SCUM. So, she states that she wants women who are

>cool and relatively cerebral and skirting asexuality

She also claims that s*x is the refuge of the mindless before adding

>the female can easily - far more easily than she may think - condition away her s*x drive, leaving her completely cool and cerebral and free to pursue truly worthy relationships and activities

The idea of politicized sexuality isn't a new one. For example, political lesbianism was advocated for by second-wave feminists such as Julie Bindel. As Bindel writes:

>Political lesbianism had introduced the theory that sexuality is not innate, but a choice, and that lesbianism is a positive alternative to heterosexuality for women.

Solanas seems to be advocating for a similar idea, with the claim asexuality can be chosen as an alternative to heterosexuality. This isn't unique to Solanas. The idea of political asexuality has been a recurring concept within feminist theory and for a history of it, I would suggest Breanne Fahs's article titled “Radical refusals: On the anarchist politics of women choosing asexuality”. Personally, I disagree with this idea. On a surface level, one can decide on how they choose to identify - heterosexual, homosexual, or otherwise. However, there are biological truths that will always cut through the bullshit.

The SCUM Manifesto - Part 3

The last point I'd like to discuss regarding Solanas's text is the role she imagines for men within her ideology. In her words, SCUM should

>overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, institute complete automation, and destroy the male s*x

>SCUM will kill all men who are not in the Men's Auxiliary of SCUM. Men in the Men's Auxiliary are those men who are working diligently to eliminate themselves, men who, regardless of their motives, do good, men who are playing pall with SCUM

Solanas also adds that after the SCUM revolution, men who aren't part of the Men's Auxiliary

>can go off to the nearest friendly suicide center where they will be quietly, quickly, and painlessly gassed to death.

This is reprehensible and cannot be forgiven on any level. This is insane hate speech. However, it does raise the question of how men should behave if they wish to live peacefully with women.

Masculinities

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raewyn_Connell

https://lulfmi.lv/files/2020/Connell_Masculinities.pdf

Connell, in a text I would very highly recommend titled Masculinities begins to outline the basic relationship men have had with feminism. One of the things he notes is a theme of feelings of guilt. For example, one of the men interviewed states that:

>after university I was at the stage where I could understand academic literature, and I read some pretty heavy stuff, which made me feel terrible about being male for a long time

I can definitely relate to this feeling, and I went through a very similar experience. Do any of you resonate with this? Connell also noted a theme of feeling worthless and undergoing a personal crisis after being exposed to feminism.

For some men, the response was to re-evaluate their beliefs and change their actions. For example, one of the men he interviews states:

>logically, it just didn't seem reasonable that women who were human beings also had this role that was different and so less validated. It just didn't make sense. And so Kathy and I did things like swopping roles – she would go to work while I stayed home.

Regarding this, Connell makes a very good claim by stating that:

>with the core of patriarchy perceived to be sexist attitudes and behaviours towards women, the main contribution a man can make is to hold back from any sexist actions or utterance.

This process of reimagining one's masculinity can be an emotional and turbulent one which requires a great deal of introspection, humility and a willingness to change. Of course, Connell notes that some men did have negative responses to feminism. This can cause groomercord between men who have embraced feminism and men who haven't. For example, one interviewee stated that:

>I think a lot of proto-feminist men are still into judging other men

>when you find out about feminism, you tend to go through a period of not wanting to be a man and not liking other men.

Do any of you relate to this bloke? Have you ever been the victim of a man who recently discovered feminism, then proceeded to chastise you? Connell notes that this interviewee felt disconcerted by feminism, as though it were placing him at a disadvantage.

So, we find a complex issue here. The restructuring of masculinity that feminism demands requires negotiating both internal issues such as feelings of guilt and also requires navigating a liveable masculinity in society where one can still relate with other men. How a man traverses this minefield of masculinity is a difficult question with no easy answers. I personally would propose that this transformation cannot take place in an individualized sense, and instead requires group cooperation among men. In other words, a collective movement to change and accept a form of masculinity which is more considerate towards women and conscious of toxic manifestations of masculinity.

However, I'd like to stress that a rejection of feminism does not equate to a rejection of gender equality. Feminism, much like Marxism, religion, and even democracy, is, at its core, an ideology and one can find issues with an ideology while still embracing egalitarian concepts. Much like how Christianity cannot make an exclusive claim to morality, feminism cannot make an exclusive claim to the idea of gender equality. My point is that not all men who aren't feminists are also misogynists.

Conclusion

Here's my closing thoughts. SCUM manifesto is a highly provocative text that does contain morsels of truth and exposes certain flaws in society. Unfortunately, it is covered in hate speech, making it an overall reprehensible text.

I quite admire her cheeky style of writing and her unflinchingly defiant tone. One of the weakest points of the entire text is that Solanas offers a very flat view of the world focused merely on men versus women. However, she fails to take into account an intersection of other identities. That is to say, Solanas, is a woman, which puts her in a historically marginalized position. But she is also a white, Western woman, which puts her in a privileged position. The categories of oppressor and oppressed aren't static. Instead, one can inhabit both and one needs to be very conscious of the ways they can simultaneously be both oppressor and oppressed. This is a complex social identity occupied by both black males and white women. It requires understanding the ways one is marginalized in society while being conscious of the advantages one has inherited over others. It's a pity Solanas mentions not one word of this as it results in a low-fidelity description of society.

I give SCUM manifesto 40/100 Hollys.

Tune in next time when we discuss the ethics of meat eating.