silk & blade

full of stories that will break your heart

[silk & blade @firball_]

"the highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world."

-Plato

[silk & blade @firball_]

@TorontoPolice y’all are good at letting criminals get away with stolen cars, but don’t MISS issuing those parking tickets 20 mins before the roads are free! Get your priorities together. You do nothing for people.

[silk & blade @firball_]

@Toronto get your shit together in this already mediocre city. The fact that a park/beach is closed off at capacity should not be the case in a city that COSTS THIS MUCH & has this much space! #blufferspark

[silk & blade @firball_]

@cityoftoronto

[silk & blade @firball_]

#richmondhill #Toronto

[silk & blade @firball_]

Live from Richmond hill Silver Linden intersection. Suburban home engulfed in flames within minutes. 5-6 trucks at the scene and it’s now finally subsided.

[silk & blade @firball_]

Can’t believe they discounted these deliciosossss 😫😭 do they have any to send me??

@werthers_orig

[silk & blade @firball_]

Delicious Canadian brands I can’t find in stores 😩:

@FameSoda
@Hardbite

[𝐫. @aemisias]

To celebrate Challengers coming out today, here’s every look Zendaya wore on the press tour — a thread ✴︎

[silk & blade @firball_]

is idealism a sign of insanity?

[silk & blade @firball_]

a man should never receive more than he’s earned.

[Idriss C. Ayat 🇳🇪 @AyatIdrissa]

Thread 🧵 Congo 🇨🇩:

What are the causes of the ongoing conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo today, and how did it begin? Where has it reached, and how far has its impact been in fueling a regional conflict in the Great Lakes region of Africa? What role do regional and international parties play in fueling the conflict and benefiting from its continuation?

The media coverage of current events in the "Congo" these days bears a special character. It focuses on groups of "Blacks" killing other groups of "Blacks" without discussing the reason for this infighting, who contributes to making it a daily event for the locals there, or even who supplies them with the weapons that fan the flames of conflict among them.

These ethnic groups have become fuel for these conflicts due to the concentration of mineral wealth in certain areas, including regions rich in gold, oil, tin, and cobalt. The immense mineral wealth has not addressed the country's poverty, ranked among the world's poorest, in addition to political instability and rampant corruption.

Rebel groups and networks closely linked to the Congolese army are active in the trade and smuggling of these resources abroad.

In 2012, former soldiers of the National Congress for the Defense of the People rebelled against the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The rebels formed a group called the March 23 Movement, sponsored by the neighboring states' governments, Rwanda, and Uganda.

This conflict provided all regional and international parties (Burundi-Rwanda-Uganda) & (the United States of America- the European Union - Israel) with a means for the economic exploitation of Congo's resources, taking advantage of the Congolese authorities' lack of control over the mines in the east.

Regrettably, the Congolese state has not provided radical solutions to this conflict because the army suffers from low wages and neglect of junior recruits. In contrast, generals earn the vast majority of their income through lucrative economic privileges, bribery, and informal security contracts in eastern DRC, which means there is little incentive and interest in ending this conflict.

The "M23" movement formed from the "Union of Congolese Nationalists," a political group with an affiliated militia that controlled the eastern Congo region, founded by Thomas Lubanga in 2001, then led by Bosco Ntaganda from 2002 to 2005. After signing a peace agreement on March 23, 2009, the movement took the agreement's date as its name, stipulating the movement's integration into the Congolese army. However, the movement concentrated its presence in oil and gold regions, and conflicts with the army arose, accusing the Congolese government of not respecting the agreement regarding the demobilization and reintegration of its fighters.

This pushed the movement to lead a coup supported by Rwanda, launching several attacks against the army from border areas with Uganda in June 2012.

On November 20, 2012, the M23 Movement took control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. The conflict displaced over 500,000 people. On February 24, 2013, eleven African countries signed an agreement aiming to bring peace to eastern Congo.

In October 2013, the Congolese government announced that the March 23 Movement rebellion had effectively ended after the movement was confined to a small area near Rwanda. On November 7, 2013, the M23 Movement forces crossed into Uganda and surrendered.

After the 2013 peace agreement, many of the movement's fighters were integrated into the army. However, in March 2022, the "M23" movement organized itself again and managed to invade and seize major parts of the Rutshuru region adjacent to Uganda and Rwanda.

In May 2022, the movement invaded the "Rumangabo" base, the largest military facility for the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the northeast, then the movement's forces moved south towards the regional capital "Goma."

[Karsen 🇵🇸 @karsbreanne]

Yesterday my husband was on the phone with his friend who’s from Gaza, and when my husband made a comment about this all being a test, he said: “it is not a test for us. We have already passed this test. It is a test for the rest of the world.”

[Rehan Jaji @rehanjaji]

This child is not a child from Gaza but an Afghan refugee who was attacked by a Pakistani soldier at the border, all because he was carrying sugar with him. Pakistan is not only expelling Afghan refugees forcibly but also confiscating their belongings.
#AfghanRefugees #Pakistan

[silk & blade @firball_]

@scott_robb @6ixbuzztv Canadian peaceful protestors are terrorists now? Oh because they’re wearing a hijab right?!

[𝔸𝕝𝕚 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕙𝕓𝕒𝕫 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕦𝕕𝕙𝕣𝕪 @sospunjab]

@jacksonhinkle

[𝑆 @leoninethings]

When a girl falls in love with herself, the whole world falls in love with her

[silk & blade @firball_]

@ImpatienTourist this IS all we get in Canada!!!!!!!!! I don’t see it changing.