Paul Harris

New Yorker living in Manchester. Not New Hampshire, the other place. Francophile. Bibliophile. Photographer. Melomaniac. (In no particular order)

[Paul Harris @pathrs]

“Cette loi, c’est la consécration officielle et décomplexée de l’apartheid.”

[Gérard Araud @GerardAraud]

Israël est entraîné dans une course en avant mortifère où ne règne que la force. Cette loi, c’est la consécration officielle et décomplexée de l’apartheid.

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

Israel has invaded Lebanon for the sixth time in 48 years. Al Jazeera’s Hala Al Shami takes us through a history of invasions and resistance.

[Rachel Moiselle @RachelMoiselle]

Ireland now provides Russia with 99% of all alumina from the EU. The utter shame of it. Where is the outrage?

[Dr. Allison Wiltz @queenie4rmnola]

Facts

[Angelica Shalagina🇺🇦 @angelshalagina]

🤡 “Ukraine has no air defense system, only separate elements. And we have,” – putin.

Saint Petersburg says hello😏🔥

[Margus Tsahkna @Tsahkna]

While Ukrainians are dying, Russians should not be vacationing on European beaches.

In a joint letter, Estonia and 10 other countries have proposed new measures to limit the issuance of EU tourist visas to Russian citizens.

[Judy Chu @RepJudyChu]

At today's @WaysMeansCmte hearing, I challenged @SecScottBessent on the growing affordability crisis facing American families.

He said inflation would be temporary. It wasn't. And the evidence is everywhere: higher prices for gas, groceries, electricity, and other necessities that families rely on every day.

President Trump said he doesn't think about Americans' financial situations. The American people deserve leaders who do.

[Dr. Allison Wiltz @queenie4rmnola]

Support black-owned beauty supply stores.

[Thomas Massie for Congress @MassieforKY]

Sir, we have Trump disappointment syndrome. When you said no new wars, we took it to heart, and a few of us meant it.

[Rick Wilson @TheRickWilson]

The power to ignore is the power to destroy.

[Captain Mark Kelly @CaptMarkKelly]

Families, farmers, and communities across Iowa are being hit hard by rising costs — and they deserve a leader who isn’t afraid to fight for them in Washington. That’s @Turek4Iowa, because he understands exactly what they’re going through. Let’s make him Iowa’s next U.S. senator.

[Yaroslav Trofimov @yarotrof]

Got it. If Irish aluminum is used to kill Palestinians, it’s shouldn’t be sold, but if it’s used for Russian missiles killing Ukrainians, we just need to think about local jobs first.

[Club Shay Shay @ClubShayShay]

"Last I checked, Egypt is in Africa. ... I'm going to sound like Martin Luther King: 'I'm tired of having people deny the intellect of Africans in Egypt 5,000 years ago.' ... Denial of dark skin people having that ability." - @neiltyson

[Marwan @marwanbishara]

It’s so f stupid and cowardly that I think they’re taking it down

[Covie @covie_93]

Pretty soon everyone in Texas will be vegan because no one will be able to afford beef thanks to trump and Republicans.

[Seyed Mohammad Marandi @s_m_marandi]

The genocide in Gaza is ongoing.

[Historical Africa @historical_Afr]

To be African American is to be African without any memory and American without any privilege.” —James Baldwin

[Alex Cole @acnewsitics]

Trump the idiot... thought that Massie, Cornyn and Cassidy were "immediately" "kicked out of Congress" after he defeated them in the GOP primaries.

He didn't realize they can still vote until the Christmas recess.

So did a lot of the MAGA morons.

[Anthony Scaramucci @Scaramucci]

This month and every month make sure you take care of your mental health.

Every morning I wake up and tell myself it’s going to be a great day.

Then I hit the gym, even 15 or 20 minutes if that’s all I have, because I know if I do that, I’ve already accomplished something before the day really starts.

Watch what you put in your brain too.

If you fill it with garbage, it starts reacting to the world through a garbage prism.

Practice gratitude by telling the people around you that you love them.

Getting two or three real things done at work.

And every so often — disappear for three days.

Read a book, go to a spa or just stare at a wall.

You have to take care of the mind. Nobody else is going to do it for you.

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

In 1965, a 17-year-old girl in Sicily was kidnapped, assaulted, and held captive for over a week.

Then her attacker offered her a deal:

Marry him, and everything would be “forgiven.”

At the time, Italian law allowed rapists to avoid punishment if they married their victims.

It was called “reparatory marriage.”

The logic was horrifying:

A woman’s “honor” mattered more than her consent.

If she married the man who violated her, her reputation could supposedly be restored — and the rapist could walk free.

Most women had no real choice.

Families pressured them.
Communities expected obedience.
The law itself encouraged silence.

But Franca Viola said no.

At 17 years old, traumatized and publicly shamed, she refused to marry the man who assaulted her.

That single word changed Italy forever.

Her decision sparked outrage in her town.

Neighbors turned against her family.
Their vineyards and olive groves were burned in retaliation.

But Franca’s father stood beside her and supported her decision to press charges.

In 1966, Franca testified publicly against her attacker in court.

At a time when most victims were expected to stay silent forever, she spoke openly in front of the entire country.

Italy watched in shock.

Her attacker, Filippo Melodia, was convicted and sentenced to prison.

For the first time in Italian history, a woman had publicly rejected “reparatory marriage” and won.

The case became international news.

But the law itself still remained.

For another 15 years, rapists in Italy could technically still escape punishment by marrying their victims.

Then finally, in 1981, Italy abolished the law completely.

And many activists pointed to Franca Viola as the moment the country first began confronting the cruelty of that system.

Years later, Franca married a childhood friend who had stood beside her through everything.

Not because she needed her “honor restored.”

But because she deserved love, dignity, and a life defined by her own choices.

That’s why her story still matters.

Franca Viola wasn’t just resisting one man.

She was resisting an entire culture that treated women’s suffering as something to hide rather than something to fight.

At 17 years old, she stood against her attacker, her community, and even the law itself.

And eventually, the law changed.

Sometimes history moves because powerful people decide to act.

And sometimes history moves because one terrified teenager quietly refuses to surrender.

[Hakeem Jeffries @RepJeffries]

So let me get this straight.

Donald Trump wants his personal lawyer and the architect of a corrupt $1.8 billion slush fund to be the Attorney General?

Get lost.