#About Pakistan Magazine

[avi-on-jumblr]

absurd and ridiculous tweet warning:

this is so fucking stupid on so many levels. first is that time magazine makes this decision in SEPTEMBER. this is not a global conspiracy to silence palestinians. it's just not how the magazine works. they choose the person who "for better or for worse… has done the most to influence the events of the year".

who do they want on the cover? hamas? fucking yahya sinwar? can any of them name a single palestinian? can any of them name a single person working for peace? doubt it! because this is a trend for them and they only care about generating outrage to get likes.

but. most glaringly. it is insane that they think that israel/palestine is the Biggest Thing Happening In The World. yes, it is obviously extremely significant. in terms of media attention it's basically the only thing people are talking about at all. in terms of global impact to jews in the diaspora it is fucking terrifying to see the rising antisemitism and for a lot of us it is the biggest thing happening right now. BUT for random-ass americans (et al) with zero connections to the region, this should not be more important than crises in ukraine, or iran, or pakistan, or yemen, or china, or sudan, or armenia, etc, etc, etc. in terms of scale, if we go by number of deaths, or number of displacements, there are so many things happening that are so much worse. the only reason it's receiving such an insanely disproportionate amount of attention is, of course, that this is the thing involving jews.

and like. it is genuinely fucking insane that people legitimately think that every single thing in the world revolves around this. the spotify and black friday conspiracies were baseless and delusional enough. genuinely can we not go five fucking seconds without a new one?

[somerabbitholes]

Hey, Do you have any foreign policy reading recommendations?

Here are a few. Since I don't know what exactly you're looking for and foreign policy is huge, I've tried to go with a diverse bunch

The Revenge of Geography by Robert D. Kaplan: about what geography can tell us about conflicts and possible directions that international politics would take; really good analysis, really good starting point to learn how to think about geopolitics. You can check out his other books too, he's quite good

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall: more on what the map and geography tells us about global diplomacy and international politics

Belt and Road by Bruno Macaes: about the Belt and Road project and the kind of international order it and China through the project envisions; the politics of the project

The Chip War by Chris Miller: it's a history of semiconductors and through them, about global supply chains and industrial manufacturing circuits and how geopolitics and foreign policy impacts industry/business

The Blood Telegram by Gary J Bass: about US involvement in South Asia during the Cold War and particularly how it shaped politics between India, Pakistan and China

War by Margaret MacMillan: not strictly foreign policy, but it is about the place of war in history and politics

I'd also just recommend reading magazines and news and reporting about international politics; it's always more timely and easier to get the hang of. You can check out Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Politico, Carnegie Endowment, Lowy Institute to start with; most of them also have podcasts

[thebusylilbee]

a thing I noticed :

if you go to the front page of the New York Times rn, no country other than the US and the UK is mentioned for like 70% of it, you get one news about Russia, 1 about Ukraine, 1 news about the hurricane in Mexico, 1 about Palestine, 1 about France, 1 about Japan and a tiny ass "spend your summer there" article about Turkey and Greece... => so 8 places outside of the UK and the US if we're being very generous, all of them only once except for Russia which is twice, and ZERO proper international news section

on the front page of Time Magazine, you get the US for most of it, the UK too, 1 news about Taïwan, 1 about Pakistan and Afghanistan, 1 about the hurricane in Mexico too, 1 about China... => so 4 places outside of the UK and the US, all of them only once, with ZERO proper international news section either....

on the front page of The Washington Post it's a little better, you get the US, the UK, the hurricane in Mexico, the Vatican, France, Palestine, Ukraine, Iran, Japan, Hungary, Afghanistan. => so 9 places mentioned outside of US/UK. There is a proper international news section.

now for comparison with some big french newspapers :

on the front page of Le Monde you get France, Palestine, Iran, South Africa, Argentina, the UK, Ukraine, the US, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Italia, Tunisia, Cameroon, Congo, Tchad, Eritrea and the Caribbeans... => so 17 places outside of France and the UK, with BIG international sections for Palestine, the Ukraine and Africa with 7 articles in each section, and then another international section for other news...

on the website of Le Figaro (far right) you get France, Russia, the UK, Greenland, Italy, Ukraine, Greece, the US, China, Palestine, Ecuador, the hurricane in Mexico, Germany, Japan => so 12 places outside of France and the UK, with an international news section at the bottom

on the website Les Echos you get France, the UK, Russia, Ukraine, China, the US, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Argentina. => So 8 places outside of the UK and France, with an international news section

on the front page of Libération you get France, Hungary, Qatar, Brazil, the UK, Palestine, Liban, Ukraine, Italy, Russia, the hurricane in Mexico, the US... => so 12 places outside of the UK and France, a HUGE international section for Palestine with 9 articles, a medium section for Ukraine with 4 articles, and a general international news section at the bottom with 5 articles...

mmmh guys... I think... I think the news in the US might be incredibly self centered.... just a thought

[bopinion]

2024 / 33

Aperçu of the week

“All we have to do is call our opponent a communist or a socialist or someone who will destroy our country.”

(Donald Trump. We'll see about that...)

Bad News of the Week

Since the end of the coronavirus pandemic - although there hasn't actually been one - I've been waiting for its successor in a slightly anxious mood. Another rapidly infecting virus that spreads worldwide, is potentially deadly and, above all, restricts all our lives again. Now it's here: Mpox. For the first time since Corona, the WHO (World Health Organization of the United Nations) has declared the highest alert level, a “public health emergency of international concern”. Because of the virus that was previously called “Monkey Pox”. Discovered in Congo at the end of 2023, it has now also broken out in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya.

The initial figures spoke of 14,000 suspected cases. Based on the usual 50% rate and the reported 500 deaths, this means that one in twelve people who become infected will die. That's a lot. So it's certainly a virus that should be taken seriously. One day later, it was reported that the first case in Europe had emerged in Sweden. Then the first three in Asia in Pakistan. It's the usual pattern: on the one hand, every infectious disease spreads faster and more uncontrollably in times of international travel. On the other hand, specific cases are only discovered when they are specifically sought or tested for. So the numbers will now quickly go through the roof. Because the spread is already more advanced than we know.

What will happen now? What will the states do? How will society react this time? And above all: what have we learned? There is a lot of talk in Germany about the need to come to terms with everything that has happened around COVID. Also to learn from the mistakes. There is a lot of need for clarification - for example with regard to the procurement of masks, the closure of schools, compulsory vaccination, curfews and unequal treatment in the retail sector. And what has happened since (drum roll please!): Nothing. What applies to politics also applies in private life. Some friends turned out to be conspiracy theorists, others were law and order hardliners, most were simply irritated and unsettled. There were even rifts right through families. Rifts that still exist.

And now we could all be facing the same situation, just as ill-prepared. And if Mpox doesn't develop into a pandemic, perhaps swine fever will spread to humans. Or bird flu. Or something else entirely, be it from the South American jungle or from the secret laboratory of some deep state. Or a revenant from the past spreads again - cholera still exists after all and first cases of polio are reported from Gaza. No, I'm not panicking. But I do have one or two worries. After all, humanity has shown itself more than once to be incapable of learning from the past. I would love to be wrong about that.

Good News of the Week

Venezuela is not giving up. It is wonderful to see how the people are fighting for democracy, no longer wanting to put up with the corruption of their “elites” and finally wanting to have a perspective worth living in. Just under a month ago, elections were held in the Latin American country, which could actually live in prosperity and peace but is suffering from dramatic economic decline, inflation and poverty since years. Or as investigative journalist Sebastiana Barráez says in the news magazine Der Spiegel: “Maduro has couped!”

Initially, the state electoral authority declared President Nicolás Maduro Moro, who has been clinging to power since 2013, the winner without providing any evidence - as is actually required by the constitution. The opposition has now had access to more than 80 percent of the printed protocols of the individual polling stations and has made them public. According to these, their candidate Edmundo González won with around 67 percent of the vote - compared to 30 percent for the incumbent head of government. So did Maduro commit electoral fraud? It looks like it.

The United Nations and the Carter Center had sent election observers to Venezuela. They have now criticized the election authority's actions and declared that the official result was not achieved democratically. The panel of experts speaks of an “unprecedented process in recent electoral history”. No wonder that most Latin American countries as well as the USA and Europe did not recognize the “official result”. And Maduro? He doesn't give a damn. The despot has further intensified the repression against the population with the help of the military, the National Guard and other state organs loyal to him. According to the independent rights organization Foro Penal, over 2,000 people have been arrested since the election. These include opposition politicians. And journalists. That speaks a clear language.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the US government has now offered Maduro and close associates of the regime an amnesty if they relinquish power. I wish the Venezuelans would keep up the pressure. And the international stage too. Until Madura and his clan really abdicate. Because then the country, which has already been abandoned by 20% of its population in recent years, could return to better times. In a survey conducted by the Gallup polling institute in December 2012, the country's inhabitants were among the happiest people on earth. It would be nice if this vague memory could become reality again.

Personal happy moment of the week

“Your application for an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) has been approved. You are now authorized to travel to Canada by air.” Nothing more to add here. Taking off this sunday. Boy am I excited...

I couldn't care less...

...about the discussion that Germany “only” came 10th in the medal table at the Summer Olympics in Paris - behind hosts France and Great Britain, even though their populations are smaller. “What does it take for more medals?” asks the Tagesschau news channel. That is of little interest to me. Much more important is the charisma of athletes as figures of identification for a nation, the role model function for children, the motivation to surpass oneself. After all, it's not for nothing that the Olympic motto is “Taking part is everything”. In that sense, Eddie the Eagle really did fly.

It's fine with me...

...that the Democrats' party conference is now turning into a coronation mass. Because the most important decisions have been made: Presidential candidate and his (better in this case “her”) running mate. Normally, I would now say that political program content should not be completely secondary. But I don't care about that at the moment. The main thing is momentum. The main thing is optimism. The main thing is not to go back. The main thing is that Donald Jessica Trump doesn't triumph in November. Harris Walz!

As I write this...

...we're trying to catch a mouse. Apparently it was raining too hard outside and it wanted to get out into the dry. Now she's hiding behind a bookshelf and is afraid of us - even though we want to rescue her and set her free. Update: we've got her and she's fine. Second update: there seems to be another one...

Post Scriptum

It's good when someone doesn't look away but points. Even if it's about Israel committing an injustice. After all, you are then almost reflexively vilified as an Anti-Semite. In this respect, I am pleased that the European Union is showing more and more backbone in this regard. In this case, I am not referring to the maltreated Gaza Strip, but to the West Bank, where the Palestinian population is suffering more and more from brutal attacks by militant Israeli settlers - who can be sure of the backing of Benjamin Netanyahu's increasingly right-wing extremist government.

Once again, there have been attacks by extremist Israeli settlers on the population of the West Bank. And now EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has had enough. He will “present a proposal for EU sanctions against the supporters of the violent settlers, including some members of the Israeli government”. Including the government! That's a bombshell. I very much hope that he finds the necessary support for this. Because this massive problem is currently all too easily overlooked in the great shadow of Gaza.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Phyllis Chesler

On Monday, a J Street and Democrat party operative posted a piece at her Substack. I am choosing not to name her or to link to the piece because I don’t want even more people to read it. The piece is titled in this way: “Elie Wiesel on indifference. A child killed in Gaza every 15 minutes. Two mothers every hour. Seven women every two hours. Are you OK with that?”

READ MORE: History Isn’t All Black and White. Just Look at Israel.

The piece then proceeds to trot out a series of mainly fake news talking points about the deaths of women and children in Gaza, hour by hour, day by day. How many J Streeters have expressed similar moral outrage about the much larger body counts in Ukraine (an estimated 30,457 civilians and 31,000 combatants, or 61,500 all together) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (an estimated 5 to 6 million civilian deaths thus far)? We cannot trust the estimates of civilian and/or combatant deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, China, North Korea, Sudan, Somalia, and so on.

To the best of my knowledge, few J Street–style journalists have presented the much larger body count in Ukraine and warned us against being indifferent to it — at least, not again and again, day after day.

The above-mentioned Substack piece is in gruesome lockstep with the New York Times, which, on the very same day, had five full pages of photos of murdered Gazans, all identified by age, name, and profession. In the paper’s pages, murdered Israelis rarely appear, nor do the many hundreds of thousands of displaced Israelis. They remain nameless and faceless, as do the Israeli hostages who’ve been hidden in Gaza for five months while they’ve been beaten, raped, tortured, starved, and murdered.

I sometimes wonder whether both the New York Times and J Street are on the Hamas/Iran payroll, whether they are simply funded by Soros — or whether they are true-believing Jew haters. One damning piece of evidence that they are Jew haters is their refusal to acknowledge Hamas’ complicity in civilian deaths. Hamas doesn’t just hide behind civilians when they are available; Hamas operates and maneuvers mostly in civilian areas, a clear violation of international law. Given this, and despite Israel’s almost suicidal efforts to prevent civilian deaths, J Street argues that Israel has no right to fight back against those trying to destroy them. (READ MORE from Phyllis Chesler: Silence of the Feminist Lambs: Not a Word on Hamas Horrors)

The piece up at Substack essentially dares to turn Elie Wiesel’s moral authority into a sock puppet in order to use his Holocaust-era perspective to condemn Israel and to warn us against our own “indifference” to Gazan civilian suffering. What Wiesel said, however, was far more relevant than the phrase quoted at Substack. Please allow me to quote from an interview given by him to Merle Hoffman in 1991, as reported in On the Issues magazine (full disclosure: I was the magazine’s editor at large at the time):

HOFFMAN: You have been severely criticized for not condemning Israel about the intifada. What is your current position on the Palestinian situation? WIESEL: I have been criticized for many things… Yes, I refuse to systematically condemn Israel. H: For anything? W: There are certain red lines that I will not cross. If I had known at the time that Israel was involved in torturing I would have spoken out, but it was too late. When I found out, a commission had already been formed and justice prevailed, but I don’t feel I have the right to apply public pressure on Israel. H: But you have the moral authority. W: But what if I’m wrong? H: Can’t you afford to be wrong? W: Yes, but only if I pay the price. What if I am wrong and they pay the price? What if I apply such pressure on a decision and that decision may bring disaster or at least tragedy to Israel? Do I have the right to do this? It is their children who will pay the price, not mine. I do go to Israel and speak to the leaders there[.] I can say what I feel. But here, especially here, I have no right to speak out publicly…. I am offended when I see Jewish intellectuals who all of a sudden remember their Jewishness only to use that Jewishness to attack Israel. These are men and women who have never done anything for Israel [and] all of a sudden they remember they are Jews.

I hope and pray that J Streeters and Democratic Party operatives pay attention to these words of Weisel as well as to those they manipulate in order to condemn Israel.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Andrew Doyle

Published: Mar 8, 2024

Today is the fifth anniversary of the publication of Titania McGrath’s acclaimed book Woke: A Guide to Social Justice. I created this intersectional activist and slam poet in order to satirise this new intolerant and authoritarian identity-obsessed religion and its stranglehold on society. Having seen so many posh and entitled activists berating working-class straight white people for their privilege, I could think of no more appropriate reaction than mockery. Even Harry Windsor was at it. And he’s an actual prince. 

Five years on, and I cannot decide whether I find it funny or depressing that so many of Titania’s ideas in that book ended up becoming reality. Nothing that Titania was ever able to suggest has not eventually been outdone by real-life activists. It is as though they were reading her book for inspiration. 

For instance, in a chapter from Woke entitled “Towards an Intersectional Socialist Utopia”, Titania makes the following observation:

“Capitalism, after all, is a singularly male phenomenon. The ultimate symbol of capitalism, the skyscraper, is nothing more than a giant cock on the horizon, fucking the heavens.”

Sixteen months after the book was published, this article appeared in the Guardian:

Or what about this passage from a chapter in Woke called “White Death”? Here, Titania calls out Hellen Keller for her white privilege:

“Consider, if you will, the example of white American author Helen Keller (1880–1968). Even though she was left deaf and blind following an illness as a baby, she still managed to study for a degree, write twelve books and travel the world to give lectures. This kind of privilege is staggering.”

Compare this with an article that appeared in Time magazine over a year later, in which the author writes:

“However, to some Black disability rights activists, like Anita Cameron, Helen Keller is not radical at all, ‘just another, despite disabilities, privileged white person,’ and yet another example of history telling the story of privileged white Americans.”

And how about this tweet from October 2019, in which Titania had some advice for dog owners:

The subsequent outrage ensured that the tweet went viral. And just a couple of months ago, a leading pet talent agency in the UK called Urban Paws was asking owners whether their cats or dogs identified as “gender neutral” or “non-binary”. 

After the backlash, the company claimed that it was a mistake. But the specific addition of a “gender identity” category on an application is hardly the equivalent of a typo. 

And what about this article on the website of Vet Help Direct?

And then of course we have PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the world’s leading animal rights organisation, which posted the following call to arms on Twitter to “end speciesism”:

“Evolve your language. Unlearn how we’ve been taught to think of other animals. They’re NOT an ‘it’ and should never be talked about like objects.”

It’s about time that somebody took a stand for non-binary pigeons.

This is by no means the only example of Titania’s ideas being enacted by woke activists. Here are my top ten examples of when her absurd demands became reality…

On 22 December 2018, Titania called for biological sex to be removed from birth certificates.  

On 17 December 2020, the New England Journal of Medicine concurred.

On 1 October 2019, Titania suggested that young women should be encouraged to travel alone in rural Pakistan.

On 12 October 2019, Forbes Magazine concurred.

On 15 October 2018, Titania argued that Winston Churchill was worse than the Nazis.

On 11 February 2021, Churchill College at Cambridge University concurred.

On 19 September 2018, Titania criticised Julie Andrews (aka Mary Poppins) for chimney soot blackface.

On 28 January 2019, the New York Times concurred.

On 29 April 2019, Titania pointed out that scientists have yet to discover the difference between men and women.

On 24 March 2022, USA Today concurred.

On 22 January 2019, Titania called for the Oscars to prioritise diversity.

On 12 June 2020, the Academy concurred.

On 30 January 2019, Titania accused Laurence Olivier of a hate crime for his performance as Othello.

On 9 October 2021, the University of Michigan concurred.

On 2 May 2020, Titania criticised the NHS for appropriating the LGBTQ rainbow flag.

On 6 May 2020, Forbes Magazine concurred.

On 6 June 2019, Titania demanded an option on social media to mute white males.

On 14 July 2020, Instagram concurred.

On 12 September 2019, Titania argued that scientists cannot possibly know whether ancient skeletons are male or female.

On 18 July 2022, gender activists concurred.

Titania McGrath’s Woke: A Guide to Social Justice is available to buy here. It’s also available on audio book and Kindle.

==

This ideology has become so deranged that it's not possible not parody it anymore. Anything you propose in jest today, they'll take up in sincerity tomorrow. Which shows how performative, directionless and unserious they are.

The Civil Rights and Gay Rights movements had specific aims: eliminate segregation, ensure all laws are race-neutral, that opportunities and resources are available regardless of race, decriminalization of homosexuality, recognition of same-sex partnerships the same as opposite-sex partnerships, including marriage. They were specific, measurable and could be ticked off as they fell.

Woke idiots have no damn clue what they're after. And all they can show us is the stupidest, most petty, most insane non-issues that telegraph to the world they have no real problems to complain about. Elimination of all skyscrapers? A lawsuit over who owns the rainbow? (Fundamentalist Xians would like to get in on that.)

They're just making this crap up as they go along, fighting for who can be the most offended and screaming about their imaginary hurt feelings to garner attention and control.

Why did we ever pay attention to this lunatics?

[usafphantom2]

China offered its Y-20 transport plane to Nigeria

The air transport plane was placed on the international market in November, when it was shown to the head of Nigeria's defense.

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 01/13/2024 - 19:00 in Military

China is trying to sell its Y-20 Kunpeng transport plane to foreign buyers, with its manufacturer expanding production capacity in preparation, according to media reports.

The strategic military transport aircraft was placed on the international market in November, when the Y-20BE model was shown to Nigeria's Defense Minister Mohammed Badaru Abubakar in Beijing, the military magazine Ordnance Industry Science Technology reported last week.

The heavy transport plane, nicknamed the 'chubby girl' (chubby girl) for its large fuselage, is comparable to the Soviet Ilyushin Il-76 and the American Boeing C-17.

According to the report, it will be an opportunity for China to “establish deeper strategic relations and cooperation with countries as soon as they have the Y-20”.

Although Nigeria currently depends on the C-130 Hercules as its main tactical air transport aircraft, military experts say the Y-20E would provide the country with genuine strategic air transport capabilities.

The aircraft manufacturer, XAIC, operates assembly lines for mass production, according to the Chinese state broadcaster.

Its manufacturer, the state-owned Xian Aircraft Industrial Corporation (XAIC), has been operating assembly lines for mass production to increase efficiency and expand capacity, the state broadcaster CCTV reported in November.

Instead of mounting the aircraft on a fixed workstation, its parts are moved along a "pulse line" as the work steps are completed - similar to the way cars are produced. These assembly lines are used to build some of the most advanced aircraft in the world, including the Lockheed Martin F-35 and the Boeing 787.

More than 90 percent of the parts of the Y-20 are manufactured by a digitized system, according to the CCTV report, which showed images from the XAIC factory of robotic arms, remotely controlled maneuvers and laser-assisted high-precision assembly work.

The broadcaster's report said that the production capacity of the plant could meet the demand of both the Chinese air force and international customers.

"The production speed of the Y-20 is the fastest in the world in this type," he said.

The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has received almost 100 planes so far, half of them in the last two years.

The plane, which is 47 meters long and 50 meters wide, has become the flagship of the People's Liberation Army since it entered service in 2016. It can transport up to 66 tons.

XAIC has delivered almost 100 planes to the PLA Air Force so far - about half of them in the last two years. It also changed from Russian-made Soloviev D-30KP-2 engines to the most powerful Chinese-made Shenyang WS-20 turbofan engines.

Variants were also developed, the Y-20U tank plane and the Y-20AEW airborne alert and early control aircraft.

Tags: Military AviationChinaNAF - Nigerian Air Force/Nigerian Air ForceXian Y-20

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[mumanddadgoglobal]

Cruising past a Prada shop darling on our buggy ride through Dubai International.

A gold shop in the Airport that was 20 times the size of what you can see.

We flew with Emirates airline to get to Vienna, because they have a flight direct to Vienna from their hub in Dubai.  For this reason, we had a four hour stopover at Dubai airport, which gave us a chance to experience the league of nations traipsing through the 38km of shops and air terminal ‘gates’.

Due to its location close to the equator, Emirates is able to hoover up people from north and south, Africa, India, the Middle East, Europe and of course Australia.  The massive airport terminal was filled with a cross section of humanity – or at least those who can afford to fly overseas.  There was an old Arab, who looked like he had parked his camel outside; families big rollie bags from India; more sandaled Arabs, with wives following behind; fat businessmen from India; a lone nun in a habit of Arab white; skinny men from India; overloaded Aussies; busy mothers from India; a couple of tidy lesbians with matching: buzzcuts, yellow sneakers and yellow wheelie bags; old shuffling women from India; colourfully clad tall Africans; young single men from India; and a Chinaman or two.

Dubai is an entrepot, though not in the normal sense: a port where goods are brought for import then export, such as Singapore or Hong Kong.  Instead, it is a city where millionaires are brought to avoid taxes, and store wealth that may be suspect or otherwise subject to sanctions.  According to the Economist magazine Dubai was forecast to add 4,000 millionaires in 2022, as criminals and Russians (not necessarily analogous) moved to secure their wealth, and Indians moved for lower taxes.  This is understandable, since there are no questions asked about whence the money came and there is no taxes on income and capital gains, as it inevitably arrives.

The lack of time and absence of inclination, meant that we did not venture out to experience this Gucci entrepot of the desert.  But the fly in got me sufficiently curious to read up on how rapidly this city has expanded.  In 1950, it had 20,000 people rising to 3.6 million today.  90% of the population are expatriates, so not citizens, most of whom are the help from India and Pakistan.

In some respects, the free-for-all method of expanding this city has created opportunity and employment for people from poorer countries, that enables them to send money home.  But this laissez-faire approach to growing a metropolis has a dark side.  It is home to a lot of shady money owned by shady people.  It is also the home of no choice for at least 20,000 Nigerian women who have been trafficked into the city, had their passports and phones taken, and then enslaved as prostitutes to minister to the needs of shady people that no taxes and no questions attract.

I wonder if they have a community library.

[richincolor]

Review: Seven Days by Rebeka Shaid

Publisher's Summary: This is a story about Noori and Aamir. A story about grief, family, and the unexpected turns life can take. A story of first love.

Noori has it all sussed out. She may only be fifteen and a Bollywood fanatic with an incredible lack of foresight, but she knows a thing or two about life and its messy heartaches. When she runs into Aamir, a scruffy desi dude with tea-stained eyes, her confused soul turns upside-down. There is something about him she can’t work out.

Aamir is trying to escape a misunderstood and painful past. When his world collides with Noori’s, life gets even more complicated. Invisible threads connect them. Will they both realize what's at stake, before they run out of time?

My Thoughts: Can you fall in love in a week? The question is posed on the cover of the book. Is it possible? This story attempts to provide an answer through the eyes of Noori and Aamir. There are cute rom-com tropes and humorous moments within their journey, but there is also grief and pain to be found.

Noori believes she knows what she needs next in life and is pretty set on her path. She's finding comfort with Rumi quotes and her dream to go to school in Pakistan. Before she can actually set her plan in motion though, she and Aamir cross paths.

As you might guess from the title, the book is divided a part for each day with one additional portion at the end. It is further divided between the main characters. It was very helpful to have the dual perspective as we can learn about each character through their own thoughts, but also in the way they are viewed by the other. The author still managed to provide slow reveals of their backstories though.

Both of them are having issues with their families and as they spend time with each other and share, they help each other see things they may not have been considering. The storyline is somewhat predictable, but in a comfortable way for the most part. The ending has a twist and then skips to the future kind of abruptly, but otherwise, it followed a typical rom-com arc.

Recommendation: This is a romance, but is also a book about identity, family, hope, and how to move through the world even when things seem out of control. Readers who have faced loss may connect with the characters and anyone can appreciate the smiles and chuckles along the way.

Extra: Interview with author at PaperBound Magazine Publisher: Walker Books Pages: 299 Pub date: January 2024 Review copy: Purchased

[evansbby]

No I totally get you! It really really didn’t feel right to me as a Muslim too! It was borderline uncomfortable which is why I’ve only seen scenes of it. //

Girl this is what I’ve been saying for so long!! They portray muslims as these terrorists and barbaric people. And with muslim countries, it’s always portrayed as a “low income” country, or as poor individuals who are homeless?? Like wtf? I honestly hate it when movies do that and it instantly makes me hate it. And what I also see in some movies is that the man always has like an underaged wife or something💀 or when the woman is ALWAYS ‘oppressed’ and she takes off her hijab. Don’t even get me started on how badly they represent us. A quick google search shows how a muslim prays, yet they still mess it up💀

It just shows how the west sees us and it honestly saddens me that that’s how they see us since we’re nothing like that. If they honestly just took the time and effort to idk visit a mosque and talk to the people there, they could see that it’s a peaceful religion. It can be one person who goes on and does something bad and they instantly blame the ‘muslim community’.

Like sometimes I’m so scared to walk past certain places since I wear a hijab and a abaya. I get so many weird looks especially from elderly white people😭 I’m already scared walking alone in London and then I’m reminded of the fact that I wear a hijab and abaya. Because people WILL hate us for no reason, I seriously knew someone who hates muslims, why? because they’re barbaric people who are trying to “take over the world”. ??? I don’t even know what that means tbh😭 I mean I know a lot of kids who get it passed down from their parents and probably half of their opinions are also from them.

Oh my GODDD I literally agree with everything you’re saying!!!

I am Muslim but I don’t wear hijab so I didn’t quite realise how much they HATE us… like when I lived in Pakistan I had NO CLUE the west hated us so much and thought we were some backwards people when really we’re not at all!

I know it must be 10000x harder as a hijabi Muslim, it’s like they already just see you as oppressed bc that’s what is shown to them on TV. It’s just so unfair and dumb and Hollywood KEEPS making more content like this…

I actually wrote an essay about this in my second year of university, wherein the west measures how “progressive” and “modern” a Middle Eastern or Muslim woman is based on whether she’s wearing a hijab and abaya or not. And i analysed this magazine cover, I think it was from Time magazine or something like from 2009 issue, where it was talking about how Middle Eastern women are so educated now and the cover literally showed a woman in Niqab as the “before” and a woman in a blazer and skirt with a briefcase as the “after” LIKE WHAT???????

No wonder everyone in the west thinks Muslims are backwards and barbaric and bad, it’s what their media and culture teaches them.

[dragoneyes618]

I have been hesitating over writing this column for some weeks. The topic is sensitive and involves people I either know or admire or both. With the volume of antisemitism growing to deafening proportions, I finally decided it’s too important not to write.

I should also admit to some unease that all three are women. That is accidental, I simply don’t personally know three men in equivalently influential positions.

The first of the three is Lady (her husband is a Lord) Nicola Mendelsohn. I am a friend of her parents and used to teach her in Manchester, UK where she grew up.

She chose advertising as her career and success soon gained her senior positions in some of the world’s most successful advertising firms that handle the accounts of clients like, Honda and Heineken. She has been repeatedly voted one of the most influential women in the UK by several organizations.

Nicola occupies several other prestigious roles like non-executive director of Diageo which owns 42% of all Scotch Whiskey. Unsurprisingly and typically, Nicola is involved in lots of charity work too.

But it’s her most significant role that makes her one of the three women in this piece. Nicola Mendelsohn is the Head of Global Business Group at Meta, leading the company’s relationships with top marketers and agencies, as well as global partnerships.

Meta is the 2021 rebranded name for Facebook. In the last few days, it has posted its best quarterly results in two years. If only that was the only metric for judging Meta, but it isn’t.

The scandals surrounding the company are legion. One of the most egregious (and there are so many) is its inaction over pedophiles. Several governments have accused it of offering sanctuary to child abusers. However, I am going to focus on another of its worst failures, antisemitism.

I have written here before about Facebook’s abysmal and ongoing inaction over antisemitic content on its site. Much worse; since October 7, has been its “Fact Checkers” interventions to quell and stifle posts supportive of Israel or condemning Hamas.

Here’s only one example from the Spectator Magazine’s, Rod Liddle entitled, “Facebook’s not so secret police.”

“A woman on Facebook was warned she would be blocked because she was spreading ‘false information’…the beheading of babies by Hamas…the Fact-Checkers that Facebook quoted were based in Pakistan – not a country renowned for its amicable relations with Israel.”

And so, Lady Mendelsohn, as I know you to be an outstanding person and certainly one loyal to your people; allow an old teacher to urge you to resign.

I am sure you will argue that things would be even worse if you were not there, but… to stand up proudly as a Jew and say loudly and fearlessly that you can no longer be associated with and oppose Meta’s tolerance of Jew hatred, would be the best thing you could do after October 7’s micro-Holocaust.

The second of my great Jewish ladies is Journalist Melanie Philips. Her autobiographical account of her life tells the story of a Jew of evolving Jewish awareness and commitment. It also shows her great courage.

She publicly took a stance against two pronounced enemies of the Jewish people she once used to be part of, the Guardian newspaper and the British Labour party. She resigned from both.

Interestingly, when in 2022 I resigned as a writer and broadcaster with the BBC, Melanie (whom I know and admire) was very upset. I left after an incident which showed the BBC had stopped camouflaging their antisemitism behind the pretense of anti-Zionism. I declared it to be irretrievably and institutionally antisemitic.

Melanie’s distress was about something I said in one of the numerous TV and radio interviews I gave at the time…

“I simply don’t see how I or any Jew who has any pride in that name can be associated with the BBC anymore.”

Melanie passionately disagreed and wrote, “I have no intention of resigning from the BBC… We need more platforms and more fighters, not fewer. Why oh why, Rabbi YY?”

I respected Melanie too much to respond. Many others did challenge her argument, asking why then, she hadn’t stayed within the Labour Party or the Guardian to fight?

The answer she gave in her autobiography was that she simply felt there was no point.

So now, post-October 7, allow me to ask Melanie the “Dr. Phil question; “How’s that working out for you?”

Has your “fight” and Israel advocacy over the last two years made things better at the BBC… or have they become exponentially worse despite your courageous lone soldiering?

Melanie was quite right when she wrote of my resignation that it would not change the BBC’s mind one jot. It did though deliver it a parting blow and brought it more unwelcome scrutiny over its antisemitism. So, to my second remarkable Jewish woman, allow me to ask, is it not now time to resign?

The last Jewish woman in my troika is Dr. Deborah Lipstadt and the only one I don’t know personally. She has been the U.S. special envoy to combat antisemitism since 2022.

My connection to her is through the event that probably defined her career more than any other; her trial in England for libel brought by David Irving whom she had accused of being a Holocaust denier.

I was contacted by her defense team after speaking on national BBC Radio about a Holocaust survivor I knew who had been in the gas chambers but was taken out at the last moment as the SS needed some tall men for a certain job.

English law puts the burden of proof on the person accused of libeling someone to prove that their statement is true.

As Irving argued that there was no evidence to support the gas chambers, the burden of proof lay with Lipstadt. My broadcast and friend testifying on her behalf, was a trump card they could use.

Recently, she joined with Michele Taylor, U.S. ambassador to the UN to write an article in the Guardian newspaper bemoaning the world’s hesitancy to condemn the Hamas rapes and violence against Israeli women and girls.

However, she is crucially part of the Biden administration that has appeased and empowered the source and inspiration of Hamas’ violence and so much suffering in the Middle East, Iran.

That administration’s support for Israel has wobbled and is keen to appease Michigan’s pro-Hamas Arab/Muslim community to get their votes. Then there is the matter of Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and the rest of the Squad. Oh! and the large number of the Democratic party that are Hamas-friendly. Their latest anti-Israel action is to try to stop Israel replacing Palestinians, (most of whom are pro-Hamas) with foreign workers citing “Human Trafficking” as the justification!

So, Ambassador, I admired the stand you took against someone who denied the Holocaust in 1996, but it is time to take that stand again against the support the October 7 mini-Holocaust is getting from members of your administration and its party. The Guardian column was nice… but it’s time to recapture the passion of the past. It is time to resign.

[generalpierrotdameron]

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is a celebrated Pakistani-American journalist, filmmaker, and activist best known for two award-winning documentaries confronting inequality in Pakistan; one discussed acid attacks on women, and another focused on honor killings. Her works have been hugely influential, resulting in actual changes of the law pertaining to honor killings in Pakistan. In 2012, the Government of Pakistan awarded Obaid-Chinoy one of its highest civilian honors, and Time Magazine recognized her as one of its top 100 most influential people in the world.

This is the context in which, eight years ago, Obaid-Chinoy joked she likes to make men feel uncomfortable. The full quote can be watched on YouTube, and it’s clearly about her work as an activist, campaigning against acid attacks on young girls and honor killings. These documentaries are understandably uncomfortable viewing for men, but that kind of discomfort is the only way to drive change. The quotes are nothing to do with Star Wars, which makes their current use in the fandom rather disappointing.

[universalcovers]

Steven Mccurry

People that want to examine the world, that want to wander and explore, they can write, they can photograph – it just depends on what your inclination is. You could travel the world and be an architect or a ballerina! I think it has more to do with curiosity. With photography and travel… I don’t know, sometimes those two things collide and all kinds of things happen. - Steven Mccurry S: The John Adam Institute

Steve McCurry has been one of the most iconic voices in contemporary photography for more than 30 years, with scores of magazine and book covers, over a dozen books, and countless exhibitions around the world to his name.

Born in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; McCurry studied film at Pennsylvania State University, before going on to work for a local newspaper. After several years of freelance work, McCurry made his first of what would become many trips to India. Traveling with little more than a bag of clothes and another of film, he made his way across the subcontinent, exploring the country with his camera.

It was after several months of travel that he found himself crossing the border into Pakistan. There, he met a group of refugees from Afghanistan, who smuggled him across the border into their country, just as the Russian Invasion was closing the country to all western journalists. Emerging in traditional dress, with full beard and weather-worn features after weeks embedded with the Mujahedeen, McCurry brought the world the first images of the conflict in Afghanistan, putting a human face to the issue on every masthead.

Since then, McCurry has gone on to create stunning images on all seven continents and countless countries. His work spans conflicts, vanishing cultures, ancient traditions and contemporary culture alike - yet always retains the human element that made his celebrated image of the Afghan Girl such a powerful image.

McCurry has been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards in the industry, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal, National Press Photographers Award, and an unprecedented four first prize awards from the World Press Photo contest. The Minister of French Culture has also appointed McCurry a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters and most recently, the Royal Photographic Society in London awarded McCurry the Centenary Medal for Lifetime Achievement.

Pic: About Photography Blog/ Content: All About Photo

[gavingrievekinny]

I saw a post on Reddit criticising south-asian countries (namely, India and Pakistan, although that's only two of the seven countries that make up that area) for not supporting divorce and thus making sure the children are all "traumatised".

As a young girl living in Bangladesh, which is probably the least developed of the Indian sub-continent, I can say that this statement, although not completely baseless, is a mere assumption from what media has shown developed countries.

Please, do not assume the societal and economic conditions of other countries, or worse, insult our cultures, in order to appear involved or woke.

If you do want to gain insight on the lives of women and divorcees and children raised with our traditions, you can read an article I wrote for the youth magazine I work at about being brought up by a single-mother:

or at least do some research before going on the internet and posting your thoughts.

Just needed to rant. If you read till this far, then you are an amazing person.

[sophie-e-b]

Ruby Hammer MBE is a make up artist and entrepreneur. I first met Ruby when she made me up for a Christmas cover of Red magazine. I love her hardworking ethics as well as her helpful and gentle honesty.

I spoke to Ruby earlier this year and she told me how her family moved to the UK from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during the civil war there. She talked honestly and movingly about her strong connection with her late mum, who had her at the age of 17. She also told me how she believes the layers and layers of love and discipline that you lay down as a parent, show up in your child as they grow up. She also shared how much she treasures her little grandson.

Listen now: http://smarturl.it/spinningplates

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Tom Slater

Published: Mar 30, 2024

‘Forte non Ignave’, ‘Bravely not cowardly’, is the motto of Batley Grammar, a free school in West Yorkshire, founded in 1612. How grimly ironic, then, that three years ago, it became the site of one of the most craven capitulations to religious bigotry Britain has seen since the Satanic Verses controversy.

On Monday 22 March 2021, a religious-studies teacher at Batley Grammar showed his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, as part of a lesson on blasphemy. The cartoons were from Charlie Hebdo, the satirical French magazine whose staff paid the ultimate price for their supposed blasphemy in 2015, when two al-Qaeda gunmen showed up at their offices.

The cartoons had been on the syllabus for at least two years, and no one had batted an eyelid. Up to that point, Batley Grammar – a secular state school – had no reason to suspect it should have to respect Islamic blasphemy codes, especially when teaching about religion, free speech and blasphemy. It was in for a rude awakening.

‘The lesson descended into chaos as pupils took out their phones and attempted to film the teacher’, according to one report. The teacher, according to another, had a heated phone call with the father of one Muslim pupil. Then things spun out of control. Word got out online. Protesters – a mix of parents and activists from Leeds, Rochdale and beyond – pitched up outside the school gates, shutting down the school for a number of days.

All the while, the teacher was menaced by death threats. A local Islamic charity, Purpose of Life, published a statement, outing the teacher and comparing his indiscretion – bizarrely – to the brutalisation of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. A group called Muslim Action Forum also published his name, alongside more lurid libels, accusing the teacher of ‘inciting hatred’ and accusing his supporters of ‘blind hatred of the Muslim community’. These groups were, in effect, putting a target on the back of a man they had likely never met. Young men were spotted knocking at the door and trying the handle of the teacher’s house, where he lived with his wife and their children.

The bigoted caricature bore no relationship to reality, of course. According to the teacher’s Muslim neighbour, his was a nice family, who bought cards and sweets for the Muslim kids in the neighbourhood during Eid. Even so, no one should be expected to go through what this teacher went through – facing all the violent intolerance and hysteria of a medieval village, only spread far and wide by social media. He spoke to Dame Sara Khan, for her new report on modern-day mob censorship, which was published by the UK government this week. His treatment, Khan writes, left the teacher feeling suicidal.

He feared for his life, and with good reason. Five months before that fateful religious-studies class in West Yorkshire, French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in a Paris suburb by an Islamic extremist. Paty’s ‘crime’ was almost identical: showing Charlie Hebdo cartoons to his pupils in a lesson on freedom of expression. Adil Shahzad, an imam from Bradford who shot straight to Batley to lead the protests, warned darkly at the time that Britain risked ‘becoming like France’. Shahzad insisted Muslims should make their feelings known in the ‘democratic way’. But it turns out he has a history of praising murderous anti-blasphemy groups in Pakistan.

Where Britain after Batley certainly differed from France after Paty was in the reaction. Thousands took to the streets in France, in solidarity with the slain teacher and in support of free expression. The murder inspired President Emmanuel Macron to mount a personal crusade against Islamist extremism. In Britain, there was just capitulation. The school suspended the teacher and penned a grovelling apology. For some reason, a West Yorkshire Police officer was enlisted to read it out to the protesters. All this was welcomed heartily by Labour’s Tracy Brabin, then MP for Batley and Spen. She said she was ‘pleased that the school has recognised it was inappropriate and apologised’. After an investigation, the teacher was cleared of any personal wrongdoing, but the cartoons were removed from the syllabus. The mob won. And the teacher is still in hiding.

None of this has calmed tensions, of course. It has only emboldened the hardliners. Capitulation always does. There’s been a string of similar blasphemy scandals since. In 2022, Sunni Muslim protesters managed to get Cineworld to pull screenings of The Lady of Heaven, a Shia-made film they deemed to be blasphemous. In 2023, another school, less than 10 miles from Batley Grammar, this time in Wakefield, found itself in the zealots’ crosshairs, after a schoolboy brought a Koran to school and accidentally scuffed it. He too was bombarded with death threats. In the end, the police took no action against those trying to intimidate a child. A child who also happened to be autistic. But they did record a ‘non-crime hate incident’ against him.

A hardworking teacher forever looking over his shoulder. Shias censored at the behest of sectarians. A schoolboy threatened with death and arson. This is the cost of our cowardice, of our institutions’ inability to make clear that no one can expect to have their views forcefielded from criticism and that a free society cannot tolerate violence and threats in response to mere speech, words, cartoons. Blasphemy trials are back – only they are conducted by the mob, rather than a court. We’ve sent out a signal – loud and clear – that threats and violence and intimidation work.

And we’ve done so due to some genuinely bigoted assumptions about British Muslims. The first is that they are incapable of being citizens of liberal democracies – that, unlike any other religious group, they should expect to have their heretics burned, or at least punished. The second misconception is that the screeching rent-a-mobs that now show up whenever a ‘blasphemy’ scandal erupts are the authentic voice of British Muslims. They’re not. In fact, British Muslims and ex-Muslims are often on the sharp end of anti-blasphemy intolerance. In 2016, Glasgow’s Asad Shah and Rochdale’s Jalal Uddin both lost their lives, within weeks of each other, for their respective ‘blasphemies’. Hatun Tash, an ex-Muslim turned Christian preacher, has been stabbed and been the target of a terror plot for railing against her former faith. Thankfully, she’s still alive.

Three years on from Batley Grammar, we need to fight for the right to blaspheme all over again, before any more Brits – Muslim, non-Muslim or ex-Muslim – pay the price for our cowardice.

==

Said it before and I'll say it again: start revoking citizenship and deporting those who make these threats. They're trying to make our liberal societies into their Islamic hellholes.