I just signed a @theactionnetwork.bsky.social petition: Voluntarily Recognize The Capital Times NewsGuild!!!. Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/vo...
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Voluntarily Recognize The Capital Times NewsGuild!!!
On April 30, reporters at the Cap Times announced we have formed our union and are seeking voluntary recognition from newspaper management. The Cap Times NewsGuild includes all of the news organizatio...
![eath of Amangkurat II in 1703, was designed to indicate why
Pangeran Puger, who with Dutch assistance usurped the throne
from his nephew Amangkurat III, was the deceased sovereigns
legitimate successor. "The story is told that the [dead] king's man-
hood stood erect and on the top of it was a radiant light (tjahja),
only the size of a grain of pepper. But nobody observed it. Only
Pangeran Puger saw it. Pangeran Puger quickly sipped up the
[drop of] light. As soon as the light had been sipped, the manhood
ceased to stand erect. It was Allah's will that Pangeran Puger
should succeed to the throne." 39 Indeed the sexual fertility of the
ruler is one essential sign of the Power that he holds, for his seed
is the microcosmic expression of the Power he has concentrated. The
fertility of the ruler was seen as simultaneously evoking and guaran-
teeing the fertility of the land, the prosperity of the society, and the
expansionist vitality of the empire. The Sukarno period once again
provides a striking modern parallel to this old idea. Outside ob-
servers of the Indonesian scene frequently remarked that Sukarno's
well-publicized sexual activities appeared to do him no political
harm. It was even said that the Javanese indulgently expect their
rulers to act in this way. But if the foregoing analysis is correct, the
political aspects of Sukarno's personal life are overlooked in such a
perspective. For signs of the ruler's virility are political indicators
that he still has the Power. Conversely, any marked decline in sexual
activity could be taken as sign of waning Power in other respects.
More sophisticated observers of late Guided Democracy were
indeed inclined to suspect that Palace officials deliberately spread
exaggerated stories about the President's personal life as part of a
continuing effort to maintain his authority.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:c2j4ta6z47nl3nxpb3urcrcm/bafkreihxx47eugygqq7adzhqgwwcytvw3tflflczowywh7ln6gadw7bbxe)
