Greta Thunberg is braver than all of us
+ what's happening in LA, and A HAMILTON REUNION
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Hi angels!!!! LOL, first of all, thank you for all your constructive feedback on my hinge profile - I knew I came to the right place.
Second of all, I watched Mountainhead in the weekend and I want you all to watch it please. If not for the billionnaire satire, do it for how fucking adorable Rami Youseff is (and please, if he’s done anything cancellable plz just let me live in ignorance for ONE MORE DAY.)
Third, I love you, and I received my VERY FIRST PEN PAL LETTER ON FRIDAY!!!! You better believe I am immediately writing back, and cannot wait for more to arrive 🥺
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We need to talk about HamilTEN
It will come as no surprise to most of you that I am a Hamilton stan, (Daveed Diggs, I love you) so the fact that the ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST reunited this weekend to perform at the Tony awards was everything I needed to cure my hangover this weekend.
In case you missed it here’s a shitty TikTok video of the whole performance because it hasn’t yet been made public:
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Greta Thunberg is braver than all of us
At just 21 years old, Greta Thunberg has already spent over half a decade challenging the world's most powerful people, but tbh what she’s just done goes beyond UN speeches and climate strikes. Greta was one of 12 activists aboard the Madleen - a civilian yacht trying to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“Organisers said the Madleen was aiming to bring a "symbolic" amount of aid to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade. They said it was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters in the early hours of Monday.
Israel dismissed it as a "selfie yacht", saying it would deport the passengers to their home countries.”
The boat set sail from Italy on June 1, aiming to symbolically break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and draw attention to the current starvation crisis. Yesterday, that boat was seized by Israeli forces in international waters.
Now, all 12 passengers - including Greta, French MEP Rima Hassan, and journalist Omar Faiad - have reportedly been towed to the Israeli port city of Ashdod, and are undergoing medical checks. Footage shows the activists wearing life jackets, hands raised, tossing their phones overboard. It’s tense, fucking scary, and, according to Israel’s foreign ministry, a “publicity stunt.”
Update before I fall asleep:
“Israel says it has begun to deport 12 pro-Palestinian activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, whose Gaza-bound aid boat was seized by Israeli forces in the Mediterranean on Monday.
The Israeli foreign ministry said Thunberg departed Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning on a flight to France after she agreed to be deported.”
LOS ANGELES IN FLAMES: HOW WE GOT HERE
As I’m sure most of you have seen, a wave of protests has gripped Los Angeles over the past few days.
I want to be really clear here: this all started because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stormed Latino neighbourhoods in Los Angeles, targeting workers, day labourers, and bystanders with a level of force that felt designed to humiliate. These weren’t isolated raids. They were coordinated, aggressive, and broadcast loudly by a federal government that wants to make a spectacle out of fear. And LA responded, because people are sick of watching their communities be criminalised and their neighbours disappear in vans without warning.
Here’s how it played out.
FRIDAY, JUNE 6 - THE SPARK
ICE raids began in several heavily Latino areas across LA. One of the most visible operations took place outside a clothing warehouse in the Fashion District.
These were 4 coordinated raids across 3 sites, including Westlake and Paramount - places where the majority of residents are immigrants or people of colour.
Word spread fast. Crowds formed. Protesters threw objects, blocked arrests, and clashed with officers.
Federal agents in riot gear responded with flashbangs and pepper spray.
Protesters then gathered outside LA’s Federal Building, where it was reported detainees were being held.
Graffiti was sprayed. Tensions spiked. LAPD declared an unlawful assembly, claiming 1,000 people surrounded and attacked the building.
By the end of the day, 121 immigrants had been arrested, including union leader David Huerta, who was accused of “obstructing” agents (he says he was peacefully observing).
SATURDAY, JUNE 7 - PARAMOUNT TURNS INTO A POWDER KEG
Rumours swirled that day labourers were arrested at a Home Depot in Paramount. DHS later denied this, but the spark had already caught.
Hundreds of protesters gathered. Someone reportedly threw a Molotov cocktail. A car burned. Shops were looted.
Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and projectiles.
29 arrests were made - mostly for “failure to disperse”.
By 6PM, Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops, overriding California Governor Gavin Newsom, who called the move “illegal and immoral”.
SUNDAY, JUNE 8 - ESCALATION
At 7AM, National Guard troops staged outside detention centres and federal buildings. Armoured vehicles blocked off streets.
By mid-morning, 300 Guard members were deployed across LA. Another 500 Marines were on standby.
At 4PM, protesters flooded the 101 freeway, bringing traffic to a halt near City Hall.
A van drove into a junction, reportedly hitting protesters before circling the area. No injuries, driver arrested.
By the evening, more arrests were made. At 11:15PM, downtown LA was once again declared an unlawful assembly.
What started as a protest against ICE raids has snowballed into something bigger. It’s about borders - yes - but also power, protest, and who gets to feel safe where they live.
Luce note: this is the last update from the BBC before I fall asleep:
US President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of the National Guard - and now Marines - to Los Angeles, in response to the protests.
Let's take a look at the numbers:
4,000 National Guard troops have been mobilised since the beginning of the protests. Nearly 2,000 members are currently operating in the city, and on Monday Trump called up another 2,000 troops
More than 700 Marines based in California have also been mobilised, in an order from Trump announced on Monday. They could arrive as early as Tuesday evening
California Governor Gavin Newsom also announced on Monday that an additional 800 state and local police officers would be deployed, to help the LA Police Department's response to protestors.
Newsom said he would take legal action against the deployment of troops, and called Trump's activation of Marines in LA a "deranged fantasy".
I assume things will change by the time this newsy goes live, so live updates here.
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The situation in LA is awful. It's not ok what ICE and the military are doing. I'm glad people are protesting. Ice and trump need to be stopped. I live in LA and It's reminding me of the 1992 Rodney King riots. It's scary. We just won't learn the lesson. It's not ok to target people for their skin color. We need to treat people like humans. How many people have to die or be hurt before we change? It's heart breaking.
Also: apparently there is no coordination or communication between the feds and state/city officials. This means that there are supposedly over 4,000 troops in CA and we only know where about 400 of them are. Not ok.