Mass Kidnappings Of Kids Are Not Unique To The Middle East. Putin's Russia Has Been Doing It Since Its

A Palestinian father playfully balances his son on his right hand at the beach in Gaza City early one evening.

The coast of Gaza has grown increasingly popular over the years. It had always been a sight for weary eyes but with Israel’s siege denying Gazans the freedom to move, its seemingly endless seascape offers, for many, a very tangible escape, even if only temporal. It has also become a very popular family destination. Entire meals are prepared, served, and eaten here, and it is not uncommon to stay the night, father, son, and all.

Photo credit: Ali Ali, June 2013. (via smpalestine)

even if u only watched the movies or the show, ur media literacy is shot

I often think about how John Walker, still trapped in that dark abyss of emotional despair and pain and loss, still dissociating, with no one who can understand how he feels willing to actually help him process those emotions, with no way to access medical help and therapy, and left adrift to drown on his own with all the cards stacked against him, STILL managed to pull himself out of the darkness and do the right thing because he genuinely wanted to do good things all along

He could have kept falling deeper into the darkness. He could have let that anger and desire for revenge consume him. It would have been all too easy. The whole world was against him and he could have said fuck them all. But he didn’t. Because for all the “bad” the serum may have amplified in him, it also amplified everything about him that was good too. It amplified the man who wanted to do the right things and help save lives. Because that’s why he became Captain America in the first place. His genuine good intentions was never an act. It wasn’t for the cameras or fame or attention or to trick Sam and Bucky. He wanted to help. He always did, even when no one believed in him or wanted to give him a fair chance.

What's your opinion on putin sympathizers?

I think sympathizing with Putin/Russia in this scenario is stupid and wrong.

It's like sympathizing with China over Hong Kong.

I was just reminded of the fact the writers actually made Bucky and Sam BREAK John Walker´s arm over that stupid shield (Stupid as in the comical importance it is given in the show when it could have simply belonged to Sam from the beginning without the bullshit drama, there, I said it) minutes after Lemar died and John is clearly in a vulnerable state of mind. 

Ehem… wtf? I love Sam and Bucky but I hate this moment so much I am just going to imagine it is as canon as Steve going back in time and abandoning his friends and Sharon to be with a married woman (Meaning, I am in denial, these are not my Sam and Bucky).

Of course most fans don´t care (More like, they actively celebrate it) because John just killed a man (Which doesn´t stop those same fans from feeling bad about characters with as much blood on their hands, but that is another issue), but these are supposed to be the heroes of the story, the moral compasses to contrast John´s impulsiveness, which I admit is a huge character flaw, to show how much “better” they are than him. And yet they can´t even wait until John is in a more balanced mental state to go for the shield?

Don´t kid yourselves, this may be a cool “yaasss finally!” moment for most of the biased audience, but in my eyes, it just portrays Sam and Bucky as not caring about either Lemar nor the flag smasher that was just killed in place of Karli. They just jumped at the first opportinity they had to grab the shield when it was probably going to be taken from John later by the government anyway, as if it was all they cared about. 

They acted like petty schoolchildren fighting over a toy and were willing to physically harm someone who had fought with them and even saved their asses one time when it was not their friend who had just died in front of their eyes. They showed no compassion whatsoever, and I hated that decision from the writers on Sam and Bucky´s behalf.

You want to talk about how John didn´t deserve the shield? You want to talk about how Steve decided not to kill Tony in the end of Civil War? Fine, John is too impulsive and emotional for the shield, and I agree that flag smasher should have been arrested, but how about the fact in this scene neither Sam nor Bucky acted as compassionately as Steve did when Wanda blew up a building accidentally, for example? Different circumstances and levels of culpability, I agree (Like, it is hard to find a 100% similar scenareo, Wanda´s situation was a complete accident, but one she caused and killed lots of innocents), but Steve did what was best for both the victims by calling for emergency services, and for the person responsible. He continued caring for Wanda and worrying for her.

And no, it wasn´t done for “safety” reasons, what use could it have been to take the shield away from Walker when he had already taken the serum and was a “weapon” himself? (As far as I can remember, he had already taken it, correct me if I am wrong, but if I am wrong then this is much worse for the writers, as it would then make no sense that it took so much effort for Bucky and Sam to break his arm) It is clear the anger was directed at the flagsmashers, not random civilians, and the fight had already finished, there were no flag smashers around. 

Sam and Bucky broke John walker´s arm to get the shield because they wanted it, as simple as that, they cared more about an inanimate object (As much symbolism as it has, that is all it is) than any of what had just happened,  more than the deaths, more than John having just done something  terrible, more than his pain over losing his friend that very same hour, more than anything else. Of course I blame the writers and am outraged on Bucky but especially Sam´s behalf (Didn´t he counsil traumatized soldiers, what gives?), but following my own logic, in universe, that is what happened, and I just can´t see how is is that they are much more worthy of the shield than John himself.

Why was Isaiah recognised as a victim, but not Bucky?

(Just to be completely clear this is not me trying to take away any attention or downplaying the horrible and horrific things that was done to Isaiah in any way. Its just me wondering why they recognise Isaiah as a victim, but not Bucky)

Yes Isaiah went through racism as well, which is obviously horrible. But other than Isaiah and Bucky have a lot of parallels.

Had the supersoldier serum forced on them

Imprisoned for decades before managing to escape

Experimented on without their consent during their entire imprisonments

Tortured and abused during their entire imprisonments

Lost almost all of their loved ones because they died during the decades they were imprisoned

Lost everyone and everything they knew before their imprisonments

In tfatws they recognise what was done to Isaiah and that he was a victim as they should, but for Bucky they do the opposite.

For an example, lets look at how they talk about what dr Nagel admitted to. Dr Nagel dehumanised Isaiah and worked on samples from him from around 2014 to 2018 so around 30 years after Isaiah managed to escape, and they recognised the horribleness of that as they should. However he also admitted to working on the winter soldier program (aka the torture, abuse and anything else that went into keeping Bucky as the winter soldier) from around 1992 to 2014. So he was participating in Buckys torture and abuse for over 20 years! But that isnt even mentioned after dr Nagels said it and explained that was the only reason he was hired by the government and was able to experiment with the samples taken from Isaiah in the first place. Dr Nagel literally admitted to being one of Buckys abusers for over two decades, and no one even mentioned it?! No one called him out on what he had done to one of the main characters?! What the hell?!

I mean for all the talk about how Buckys trauma isnt more valid than others, the same isnt said for any of the other characters. All trauma is valid and should be treated like it! And just as Buckys trauma isnt more valid than Isaiahs, it goes the other way too. So why do they validate Isaiahs trauma and victimhood but do the opposite for Buckys? Is it because Isaiahs was racially motivated? I mean obviously that adds another layers, but Buckys trauma also has additional layers (what they did to his mind and being used as a weapon). However I would never invalidate either of them, because I recognise how wrong that is. Unfortunately the writers and creators of tfatws clearly didnt realise that.

Female Portrayals in Video Games

Recently Overwatch released a new character, citing complaintsof a lack of ‘body diversity’.  Now, Idon’t like the character but that’s for a variety of reasons and that’ll becoming at a later date.  No, what really botheredme was this argument and the implications for a common trend in representation of women in video games.

To add some context, I’m a gay woman and I want to be a game dev.  I’ve loved video games and been a gamer for close to 15 years.  And I really feel there are pressing issues with the arguments for ‘representation of women in video games’.  I’ve made similar rants about this general topic before and you can find my most successful one here.

If you’re concerned with women, body types, representation, etc, I suggest you give me a fair shake and read all the way to the end.  More under the break.

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Is Hound colorblind like dogs? How does this go over with Mirage since he's one of the more artsy ones?

I never actually thought of that! I imagine yeah, he’s colorblind, and makes up for it with sharper vision for nocturnal missions.

Mirage honestly doesn’t have an issue with it, he’d be a little downcast initially when it would seem that Hound can’t enjoy most of his work, but then he figures out what colors Hound sees most brilliantly, and maybe that explains why his suit is mostly in shades of

(It’s Hound’s favorite color and the one he can best appreciate in its full splendor)