#I feel so bad for the uyghurs

[psychotrenny]

Pretending like any communist country had no faults is just as bad as Europeans acting like their country has no faults, you can only battle corruption by calling it out and I have a feeling that if Israel was somehow communist you'd be defending them and somehow excusing what they're doing to the Palestinians much like how you're excusing what China is doing to the Uyghurs

Thank you for providing an example of exactly what I was talking about. Now China isn't perfect (and I never claimed it was) and if you want to criticise it's mistakes and wrongdoings there's plenty to talk about both past and present. Just off the top of my head you could talk about the reflexive anti-Sovietism leading to attacks on fellow revolutionaries (i.e. Vietnam) and support for misguided or even counter-revolutionary movements (CPK in Cambodia, UNITA in Angola) or the excessive concessions to foreign capitalists (i.e. Foxconn) in the name of economic development that allowed these firms to exploit and abuse Chinese citizens. But what you can't talk about is the "Uyghur Genocide" because it's not a fucking thing that's happening. It's completely fucking made up by reactionary dipshits as a part of the USA's strategic "pivot to Asia". Like it's not as though China has perfectly handled the issue of Islamic Fundamentalist violence in the territory (i.e. forbidding certain items of clothing is clearly an unnecessarily oppressive and likely counter-productive tactic) but their focus on countering terrorism by changing the material conditions that led to radicalisation in the first place put the Chinese above any part of "The West" in this regard. And whatever you want to say about China's policy towards Xinjiang it's sure as fuck not "genocide"

Anyway plenty of people do in fact claim that Israel is some sort of communist and on this blog I have always expressed the view that this position is complete bullshit; "Labour Zionism" is a fucking joke of an ideology that only functions as a tool for class collaborations with the Settler Bourgeoisie granting their Proletariat concessions in exchange for support in the super-exploitation of the Indigenous working class. Like you can't just say "Oh I'd bet you'd fall for this" when I very clearly haven't

My point isn't that "any communist country has no faults". My point is that Left Anti-Communists don't want a good faith discussion of these faults as is proven by their obsession with faults that aren't even fucking real. Just like you are doing right now in fact. If you want to criticise people for being too soft on communist regimes then please do so over things that are actually happening and not completely fabricated by the most rabidly reactionary US propagandists. Thanks 👍

[judaismandsuch]

An Open Letter to Dropout

@dropoutdottv I am disappointed in you.

I know that this will not change your policy, nor will you make a folloe up statement, as proportion wise the number of people you have lost from your last post, vs. the number of people you will lose should you make an apology and walk back the statement are not in any way the comparable.

But you have failed your Jewish audience.

A group of your viewers accused an openly and actively Jewish guest on one of your shows of being Zionist. Despite him not making any statements since the few days after October 7th.

So you made a statement, saying that no one you have had on identifies themselves as such. And that even if anyone did you would give them the room to grow, and learn, and repent from such a horrific view.

That you condemn the genocide. Which hasn't been found to be a genocide by the international court. Which has a death toll of combatants-to-civilians far less than even just the bombing of Dresden of WWII. An event can be horrific without being genocide. But calling it 'monstrous' or 'horrific' wouldn't have placated people.

Though I noticed that you haven't spoken about the genocide (or at least, wide spread persecution and inhumane treatment) of Uyghurs in China. But that may lead to you becoming completely banned in China. Which could impact your bottom line.

You will give more money to PCRF, and you encourage people to donate to UNRWA.

What is wrong with you?

What is it, that an accusation of 'Zionist', which can mean anything from "Israel exists now, and it no longer existing is bad" to the Kahanist definition, requires an immediate response and excuse?

You continue to recommend supporting UNRWA, despite documented proof that UNRWA members took part in October 7th.

In your first milque-toast response to your Discord's meltdown on the subject you supported JVP, and mentioned that there are several equally horrific events going on around the world.

But you haven't supported any of the other causes.

Several of them are far worse than what is happening in Gaza, but you haven't raised a cent for them.

You continue to tacitly support JVP, despite any affiliated Jew saying that they are clearly not Jewish. There practices show that they don't understand Judaism, and their founders and board of directors is mainly non-Jews. They have a page on ADL describing all the Antisemitic acts that they have done. But you still keep a pinned post in support of them.

Why aren't you fundraising for WCK? They do good work in Gaza, and unlike the rest of the groups you platformed, they haven't had a single accusation of association with Hamas.

But, you treat a baseless call of 'Zionist' as if it were a nearly credible call of 'Nazi'.

You make a post on this, the day before the American Election, but haven't even done a single 'go out to vote' post?

What is wrong with you?

Are you afraid that because @samreich is Jewish, if you don't get in front of demands that all obvious Jews you have on demonstrate their alliance with 'the cause', people will start to ask if Sam Reich is 'one of the good ones'?

To be clear, this isn't antisemitism.

This is performing for an audience that doesn't realise that a witch hunt for Jews, demanding that the Jews show that they are 'good jews' is in fact antisemitism.

This is focusing on one conflict to the exclusion of all others. Perhaps Myanmar and Sudan just aren't that important. Afterall, no one is talking about them.

Feeling the need to address baseless accusations thrown on obvious Jews that haven't performed well enough.

You have sent your message.

I am unwelcome.

I hope it was worth it

[antiyourwokehomophobia2]

Seeing people’s mindset this past year has been frightening. Many people have a burn it all down to the ground mentality when it comes to America. When it will be us the regular people burning. Like you said they won’t be showing Kamala Harris anything. If anything this will probably just make Democrats move more towards the right next election if she doesn’t win. Also seeing people start supporting other countries for doing bad things just because they also speak out against America is wild. Yes what’s happening to Palestine is wrong, but what do you mean Putin isn’t bad? Or the Uyghur genocide isn’t real? I’m trying not to lose my faith in people here. Maybe it’s online brain rot? Or maybe I’m excusing people too much and they really are willing to cut their noses off to spit their own face.

I don't know what's gotten into the water. I feel like even just a few months ago everyone was on board with voting for Harris. How can there be so much backtracking? Did Harris get worse? Even if you say 'yes' I gotta ask: Did Trump get better?

[idohistorysometimes]

A reminder for people regarding current events

(source: I am a political science and history major specializing in extremism, radicalism, and conflict and Ive also worked at museums for many years)

You can support Palestine WITHOUT being anti-Semitic. Not only do Palestinian Jews exist, but Israel also isn't Judaism, its a country. Judaism isn't a massive monolith and not all Jewish people are connected with Israel. Critiquing the actions of a government and military does not mean targeting random Jewish people in the name of the Palestinian people. Being angry at and harassing random people does not help solve the issue. In fact, it compromises the cause because this isn't a "Muslim good Jew bad" issue.

Do not just blindly support every single thing relating to Palestine you see. Make sure what you are donating to and who you are following are truthful. At the moment not only have Neo-Nazis hijacked the "free Palestine" movement simply to have an excuse to harass Jewish people more openly, but a lot of those donation links being posted are NOT going to aid people in Gaza or being displaced by the shellings. They are scams. That money is going to a scammer's bank account The same thing happened when the war in Ukraine kicked into full swing and when the protests in Iran broke out. VERIFY WHO YOU ARE DONATING TO AND WHO YOU ARE FOLLOWING. MAKE SURE WHO YOU ARE SUPPORTING IS BEING HONEST WITH THEIR INTENTIONS. PEOPLE LIE. Nazis only care about Palestine because they want an excuse to be anti-Semitic. As soon as this is over they will go back to being Islamophobic. Palestine is a means to an end for them. And scammers will always scam no matter how tasteless it is.

It is ok to take a break from the doomscrolling. I am specifically talking to those from Western countries who have gotten extremely invested in this conflict despite having no personal or cultural ties to it whatsoever. This is a complex conflict that has been going on for longer than some of your parents have been alive. Does this make it good? Hell no. And yes, people are suffering. They will be even when you turn your phone off. But doomscrolling and driving yourself to the point of crippling depression watching war footage and reading what is going on will not help them or you. You alone cannot and will not fix this. Support how you can, but remember that it is not up to you to fight all of the worlds battles and shoulder that weight. You do not have to constantly be engaging with this subject in order to help.

Do not talk over people living in these areas because you feel passionate about what is going on. You are not them. You do not know more than a Palestinian person about what is going on in Gaza. It is not up to you to constantly be inserting yourself in the conversation and saying what should or should not be done.

Do not shame people for saying they don't know enough to comment on what is going on right now. Not everyone is a terrorism expert. Not everyone is proficient in Middle Eastern studies or the history of Israel and Palestine as nations. You probably are not either if your only real engagement with this topic comes from the last month or so. Its ok not to know what is going on. Its ok not to fully understand. Not having a comment does not equate to lack of support or empathy.

None of those other news worthy social issues have stopped. The protests in Iran are still going on, the Uyghurs are still being oppressed, Ukraine is still being shelled and invaded, those at the US border with Mexico are still being horrifically mistreated. What is going on in Palestine does not replace those issues. And when the next event comes along, whats going on in Palestine wont magically just stop. All social issues are important. This isn't a game of which group is being shat upon worse.

Tiktok is also, just universally, a horrible place to be getting info from. It is brain rot the app.

This issue has been so greatly bastardized in the West its fucking exhausting. None of this slacktivism on behalf of photo edits and really stupid discourse is helpful or healthy for those engaging in it. Palestine needs freed, but a 13 year old from Wyoming isn't going to do that by calling a random Jewish person a slur or by spamming comment sections. This isn't a simple issue. People simply living in an area are not inherently evil. State actors are. Governments are. Support how you can and listen, I mean truly listen, to Palestinian people when they tell you how they are feeling and what they need.

And for the love of all that is holy and just in this world: put down your phone and stop doomscrolling.

You cannot be an effective agent of change if you spend more hours a day engaging with internet discourse on a subject you know little about and or watching horrifying war footage and making yourself severely depressed than you do sleeping or conducting your own personal responsibilities you have. Yeah, you are privileged by the fact you are not in that situation. Yes, those people are suffering. But making yourself suffer in kind isn't being productive or helping them. Comparative suffering is stupid and not helpful either.

Thank you.

[screamingfromuz]

my problem with the genocide charge is honestly multifaceted, (sorry I'm just having thoughts in your inbox) it's first of all; things can be bad, very bad, without being the worst anything has ever been.

and I don't know... if we're going by the kinda sorta academic definition of genocide that includes things like 'the ongoing genocide of african americans' or 'the ongoing canadian genocide of the first nations' and the sort of political situations where two groups can be attempting to genocide one another at the same time, then yes, I do think it's an accurate charge against medinat israel, probably. but it's still an antisemitic charge because it fails on the double standards clause. These western leftists aren't gathering this degree of outrage or demands of punative action for the US or Canada or the Scandinavian countries or literally all of europe, the countries they live in and whose governments (gd willing) they influence and vote for, despite being an equal charge, and as citizens they have an actual chance of influencing things for the better, as they do for the same claim levied against israel, by orders of magnitude.

and if we mean the legal definition, the popular understanding of genocide, then it is just wholly inaccurate - are palestinians oppressed? absolutely, is the occupation bad? absolutely, are civilians dying in war a terrible horrible no good very bad thing? yes of course, every life is priceless and irreplacable! but the pure numbers don't add up - the cide part of genocide matters for this definition, and a population whose growth isn't inhibited, and whose numbers (despite the civilian casulty toll) are nowhere near the losses of the rohingya or the armenians or the ukranians or the uyghurs or the tutsi or the jews... it's just not true. which should be an obviously antisemitic charge - a full lie about the bloodthirsty jews.

and I think a lot of the people out chanting wants the general population to think of definition two, but if you point out that the math aint mathing, they'll say that OBVIOUSLY they mean the first definition, so neener neener they aren't antisemitic. But as I said, I think definition one is still antisemitic, because reacting way harsher when the jewish state does something than when other countries do is antisemitic, EVEN IF what israel did is unambiguosly bad. but also. They want people to think definition two. to me it's a 'innocent to the murder, was busy robbing the bank' defence - claiming innocence on the blood libel by copping to the double standards.

And of course; things can be bad without being the worst.

sorry. that was a lot of words without any conclusion. I just. had thoughts.

feel free to have thoughts in my inbox (I promise nothing)

[pardonmydelays]

This is the second time you reblogged something like this so I feel like I should point out, this is a dangerous double standard. You expect Taylor Swift to talk about palestine, to the point where her silence is a problem which implies two things:

Famous people are not allowed to not talk about bad things

Israel's attack on Palestine is the only bad thing/the worst thing happening right now

before I point out the actual problem with the first one I want to point out that you now hate Lin because afaik he hasn't talked about it since oct 10th, (and before that he supported israel). The issue with this idea is that when someone, anyone, famous or not, has to talk about an issue, they could take their time to learn the nuance of it and form an educated opinion, but they have no incentive to do that. They need to talk about something they don't care about, so they'll take the path of least resistance. The pro-palestince movement is full of neo-nazis trying to co-opt it into spreading anti-semitism, and when people talk about it for the sake of talking about it, they'll freely grab the closest opinion, which the previously mentioned neo-nazis made sure would be theirs. The end result of forcing famous people to talk about issues not relevant to them is usually neo-nazis win.

the second issue I brought up probably seems like what-aboutism. Advocates for palestine often face that what-aboutism with people saying what about x issue. issues like china's oppression of Uyghurs, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the religious persecution of everyone different in Iran are all things happening now, that are worse, and absolutely do not cancel out what is happening in Gaza. Just because they are happening doesn't mean you can't fight for palestine, but when you say that anyone HAS to talk about palestine, you either imply that those other things aren't as bad or aren't happening which is a dangerous implication to make, or you imply that there's another reason Palestine is important, the only reason that could be is anti-semitism (in the form of the jewish country is held to a higher standard of morality), which is why I'm assuming you haven't thought this through, because if you have, you're either stupid or anti-semetic, and I already know you to not be either.

In conclusion, If Taylor Swift is obligated to talk about palestine, that means that every celebrity is obligated to and encouraged to take whatever closest dangerous opinion they can find and hold it, and they need to do this with every tragedy happening in the world, which is much more than is reasonable for any human being, let alone someone so busy with their public image and music

thank you for this essay, i'm sure it took you quite some time to type this. i'll be quick tho, i only have one question: why do you still follow me if it bothers you so much? you can, you know, unfollow or block instead of keeping track of my reblogs.

[aprilflowers2040]

While I said in a previous post, I'd talk about my trip to Israel, I feel it's necessary to dive into issues when it comes to aspects of the Pro-Palestinian movement. So consider this as me swapping around parts 2 and 3.

While a majority of people in the movement are in it with the best of intentions, it shouldn't be ignored that there are those within it that are there for less then pure reasons. For starters, while not as prevalent as in the Pro-Israel, there have been neo-Nazis who have decided that their islamophobia and Arab-based xenophobia is secondary to their hatred of Jewish people.

I re-posted a video before talking about the subject so I will re-blog it after this is posted. In summary, it's how genuine anger towards the Likud led government of Israel is co-opted in certain circles to sneak in classic antisemitic talking points, such as Jewish people controlling the media, that the Jewish Diaspora and Israel are to be conflated with one another, by both antisemites, and extreme Zionists.

this goes into my next point, that there are those who proclaim support for Palestine, yet downplay the religious, ethnic and historical connections Jewish people have to the region in order to justify their own viewpoints, that extend to a denial of any nation-state representation. While I'm more for unity unless under certain circumstances, unfortunately, we live in a post-Balfour world, so we deal with the cards dealt. However, I digress.

Back to the matter of weaponized Pro-Palestinian elements. A trend I notice with far too much frequency in posts proclaiming Pro-Palestine is "Death to Israel" or referring to Israel as "IsNotReal" or "Israhell". This isn't even with any effort on my part, but seems to be baked into elements of the Pro-Palestine fringe. This is troubling given the above mentioned conflation of Jews and Israel. It seems downright hypocritical for people like this profess a desire to recognize Palestinian statehood, which it rightfully deserves and is now receiving, while denying Israel's own existence. While Likad propaganda isn't exactly in short supply on social media ,see the litany of porn bots on Tumblr and Twitter, there has also been enough disinformation from people who support Palestine that it should raise eyebrows. For example, footage of people in Ben Gurion Airport which was used to proclaim that people were fleeing back to places like the United States and that they were settlers, when in reality it was people returning home from Passover celebrations. However, it's not only those on the far-right that are spreading falsehoods. There are those in left-wing circles that ascribe to a "West = bad" mentality. While this isn't entirely wrong, as Western governments, including and especially the United States, have used their power for their own selfish interests, the views of Tankies are so black and white, that it borders on pure brain rot. This especially is apparent in their contrasting feelings when it comes to places like China and Russia compared to Israel. Each is currently enacting genocide, with China's CCP against the Uyghur people, Russia's Putin against the Russian queer population and the people of Ukraine, and of course Israel's Likud government on the Palestinians. However, while Tankies are quick to decry Israeli crimes, they remain slavishly loyal and excusatory about the crimes of Russia and China because they aren't "western powers" (looking at you, Hasanabi. Check out Lonerbox's videos on him and his Russian dick riding), which basically results in cutting your nose to spite your face, or in this case supporting one group of authoritarians to spite another group of authoritarians. Thus it extends to apologia towards Hamas and the actions of Palestinian groups both past and present, that used outright terrorism to get what they wanted. If these same people support Palestinian independence while preciously saying that Ukraine should kowtow to Russia's own territorial invasions, turn and run for the hills.

Which brings me to Hamas and previous Palestinian leaderships. Oh God, where do I even start. Firstly, I should clarify that I believe that armed resistance isn't an inherently bad thing. There are times where it's the only solution remaining. However, what you do with it can still be judged, and in this case, Palestinian "liberation" groups have shown a far too common trend of targeting civilian populations such as what happened on Oct.7th. It would be one thing if it was on military or government spaces, yet these actions on civilians screams of utter cowardice on the parts of Hamas. While both the IDF and Hamas have done these things, I've only noticed the IDF being called out, and although their blatant disregard for life should be decried, it's troubling how identical behavior by Hamas and other Palestinian leadership has been swept under the rug for the sake of "support". Hamas has its origins in the Muslim Brotherhood which is a very ultra-orthodox sect of Islam that has multiple bigoted aspects to it which include antisemitism, which Hamas inherited from its parent movement after separating, that wasn't "officially" removed until 2017 (I have their manifesto linked above twice just to be sure of any inconstancies given these are translations.). As for previous incidents, the Munich terrorist attack of 1972, where a combined group of the Palestinian extremist group Black September alongside West German Neo-Nazis killed eleven Israeli Olympics athletes and coaches. While it has been weaponized for darker purposes, it should be noted that while the Palestinian factions had every right to be upset by the destruction of their communities which was what led to this event, their way of dealing with it was horrifically misplaced.

For those who say that Hamas doesn't represent all Palestinians, then you are correct. They don't. They were elected in 2006 before a large portion of Palestine's current population were even born, and yet here they must suffer because the leaders they never elected, chose to break a ceasefire and murder 1,200 people and kidnap 240 more, that opened the gates of Hell upon them from an equally genocidal government with a trigger happy military, and a civilian population primed by 2,000 years of exile and (understandable) generational trauma at the hands of multiple countries and empires, mixed with propaganda and exposure to only the worst of Palestinian society in the form of terrorism to explode in anger with zero consideration for the innocent. That being said, there are Israelis and Jews who support Palestinian struggles that also point out that the Likud don't represent them either, yet those of bad faith are willing to blind themselves to this fact.

This went on longer then I meant it to, if I'm being honest. I wish this was more put together, but this was something I feel I needed to talk about. Still, for those wishing to learn more, I've linked to other sources that are more articulate. For now, I leave it here. Next time, I will get to my critiques of Israel outside of its "relationship" with Palestine.

I just want this to end. I want things to heal. All we can do is take action however we can, and cling onto hope for those who are gone, and those who continue on.

[opinated-user]

In Lily's video on why The Legend of Korra is awful, she rants that Republic City is just like America because a mix of people of different cultures live there and that has created a unique place. In reality, Republic City is based off of Shanghai, which is a mixture of distinct Han Chinese cultures - Anhui, Jiangsu, Henan and Sichuan - and nine foreign ethnic groups that make up substantial populations, in addition to ethnic Russians who have lived in the city for four or five generations and Uyghurs.

Lily hates the US most of the time when she mentions it, but she doesn't care about Canadian politics or history even as anti-Native sentiment increases in many provinces and multiple Canadian conservatives propose anti-trans laws, so she's managed to convince herself that it's the center of the universe. She projects it onto everything. When presented with media based on Shanghai, she says it's just like America, because she thinks only the United States has diverse metropolitan areas. (The oldest city we have proof of having a diverse population, Ur, was established in 3800 BC, btw. She is literally ignoring 6000 years of history in order to pretend diversity = USA.) When presented with the idea of another country, Japan, she falls over herself to ramble about how Japan is just like the United States.

I've never seen someone this incapable of understanding the real world before. She genuinely cannot grasp that different places are different. She can't understand that more than one culture exists on Earth. She doesn't know that cities throughout the world have a long history of diversity and multiple ethnicities living in one place.

When she's screaming on YouTube, it's performative, reactionary panic and rage meant to draw in people who mistake talking quickly for being intelligent (the Fox News maneuver, basically). But when she's streaming, she's off the cuff, and off the cuff, she's so bafflingly stupid. Even when I was a little kid I understood that different places are different and not everywhere on Earth is just like the United States. Even when I was a little kid I understood that cities have people from different places.

When she goes full mask off, she's as racist as she is with the mask on. What I was not expecting was the utter and total inability not just to think, but to put together coherent thoughts to express her bad opinions.

I just cannot fathom what's wrong with her. I have some pretty severe mental illnesses, but even prior to medication and treatment, I still had the ability to think circles around her, uh... I don't even know how to describe what she's doing. Rambling implies a coherent through-line. This feels more akin to what my dad says when his Alzheimer's is particularly pronounced that day.

I don't understand how people follow her or look up to her. She's just so dumb. She didn't know that places other than the United States have diverse cities, ffs. What's the appeal?

i honestly don't know anymore. i had said before that she being angry at things worth getting angry about (homophobia, transphobia, etc) was what made me subscribe to her and even become her patreon, but lately even that has been lost among the bad awful comments that she can say with the same confidence as her own name.

[jyndor]

Good. You should do your own research and not just believe me. Also, by saying "this might not be something you care about", I just meant that a lot of people do not care who the op of a specific post is if they agree with the specific post and honestly that's fine, too. But then there are people who will immediately block and delete posts if the hear op is a terf or a tankie.

fair enough but I will say it is actually a bit odd to me to compare tankies with terfs. tankies can be moronic and fall into enemy of my enemy shit with russia but terfs are fascists like ??? also edit but I feel like a lot of people call all communists tankies which... lmao naur. It's a term that I feel like sometimes people use for all sorts of communists, not just mls.

I block fascists, racists and terfs on sight. I give so-called tankies a bit of leeway until I see them being genocide deniers, and undoubtedly that does happen a fair bit. that user idk they seem more interested in the war ending than being like a shill for fascist putin but there were some posts that made me go ehhh definitely unfortunate "I'm annoyed about this bc libs care about Ukraine and I hate libs" vibes. as much as libs are unbearable, I don't discount all liberals as allies. like actually many of us were liberals before we were leftists lmao so I don't love that energy I'm seeing.

I will say that there is a lot more sympathy for Russian soldiers than there is for IOF soldiers. let alone American soldiers. tbh you're never gonna catch me feeling bad about any of these soldiers dying in expansionist, imperialist wars of aggression. like I understand drafts, I understand that it's easy for me to say I'd rather go to prison than ever serve in the military, butttt I would. so no sympathy for soldiers who do harm because ~they had no choice. there's always a choice.

it isn't Russian propaganda to discuss the azov battalion in theory but in practice most people who talk about it overestimate the n*zis in Ukraine and underestimate the n*zis in everywhere else lmao. yes actually there are fascists and n*zis in Ukraine. no that does not mean Russia is actually sincere in its "denazification" lmao. why is this hard for people to understand idek

I haven't looked to see if there's uyghur genocide denial yet.

one thing I will say is that everyone who talks about the news needs to start screenshotting the entire source - like including the header and title of the news source - and providing urls because this is something I am seeing on their blog but like that's not unique to tankies lmao everyone does it.

anyway idk I'm not gonna cosign that blog because there may be a bit of misinformation but I also think sometimes people just are wrong on some things. and very right on others.

[the-celestial-bitch]

Hey! I saw your tags in my post. Just curious about why you can't trust the Chinese government? What did they do to you?

Hello! ill try to give a comprehensive answer, but i apologize in advance if it feels like rambling and my sources are weird, bc im mostly used to following politics in my own language.

that being said, I'd like to first clarify that my apprehension and distrust in chinese government is different from the anti-chinese propaganda currently happening in america. from what ive seen, the fear of chinese government meddling in us politics and economy is fearmongering for the sake of increasing the military budget. china wouldnt start a war like this. china would, instead, join a war in middle east.

first id like to point out that im iranian, and so ill be talking about chinese government in relation to iran. i know some stuff about other countries, but ill leave the matter to people who know it better than me.

china has been known to sell arms to iranian military and aid them in using new technologies in war. this might seem like a positive matter to a leftist westerner at first glance, bc they are doing it under the guise of helping middle easterners defend themselves against us military's invasive actions, but in reality its not a good thing for several reasons—most obvious of them all: giving the military even more power will only lead to more tension in the region. currently most of the fights in middle east are bc of the sunni/shia dispute. on one hand, you have saudi arabia, advocating sunni, and on the other hand, iran is the one advocating shia. shia is significantly less popular than sunni, but iran has its way of appealing to marginalized shia groups in sunni-majority countries. bc of the iran-saudi proxy conflicts, and the power-hungry governments, saudi arabia and iran have been at war, but not in their own countries—in other countries such as syria, iraq, lebanon, etc. for more information on this, you can check out this source. china has sold arms to both saudi arabia, and iran, for many years. they have, indirectly, added fuel to the flame of wars happening here. (sources: 1, 2). china has also been helping iran in developing nuclear weapons (source), despite it being a bad idea (for obvious reasons, i dont think i need to explain why giving nuclear weapons to governments are bad. but if ur wondering just look at us government and the bombing of hiroshima and nagasaki).

i think i should point out a certain hypocrisy, and that is the issue of the genocide of the Uyghurs. if you dont know what exactly is happening, its basically like holocaust, with concentration camps, taking the children away from the families, and persecuting people for their religion and their race. for more on the matter, check this and this, but be warned, its pretty brutal. youd think that, considering that the current tension in the middle east is bc each branch of islam deems itself the true salvation of all muslims, their collective silence on this is deafening. yet its not really silence, is it? they have publicly defended chinese governments horrendous inhumane actions, as u can see it reported here. the real reason behind it is bc the chinese government has been supporting and aiding many of the governments who have yet to speak against the genocide happening right now. again, iranian government claims itself to be the true leader of the muslims, so why are they covering their eyes when they see uyghurs who have no one stand up for them?

thats bc the chinese government also does the same for these countries! for example, i dont know if you know about the protests happening in iran since last september. an innocent girl was murdered by the morality police, and since then hundreds have been murdered, thousands have been captured without even knowing where they are being kept, tortured, raped, abused. aside from that, the internet connection has been limited, often cutting off entirely when a huge protest has been happening. chinese government has not only aided iran in suppressing the protesters by granting them weapons and the technology of controlling the internet (for real, google is on safe-lock unless we use vpns. we cant use twitter, tiktok, instagram, whatsapp, twitch, and we dont have access to many websites such as bbc news, iran international, etc. they have also been controlling the vpns, killing them one after another. you'd be lucky if a vpn works for more than a month for you, and i cant stress this enough: u cant do anything without the vpns. its just the hell we're living in), they have also publicly defended irans rights to oppress the people, saying that the UN shouldnt interfere with a countrys affairs. (source) dont get me wrong, i dont believe that any of the western countries are trying to help us for the good of their hearts or whatever—they just want to omit a rival from the board, thats all. but siding with the oppressors leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, especially since i know they have also been brutally oppressing their own protesters, as we saw in the hong kong protests a few years ago.

aside from that our country has basically signed a contract with china that literally sells our everything to china to get arms and stuff (heres the whole contract shared in a propaganda website run by the iranian government and heres the wikipedia page for it breaking it down).

tldr: the chinese government has been actively aiding iran in the recent murdering of the protestors, and also the fact that they have been an indirect benefiting factor in the various middle eastern wars makes me suspicious of the sudden peacemaker mask theyre putting on.

[aventurasdeunatortuga]

Fenghuang

The past 3ish days have been spent in the city of Fenghuang 凤凰, literally, Phoenix Town, in Hunan province.

This town was established sometime in the 1700s and was generally a sleepy river town until recent years. The famous Chinese author Shen Congwen is from here and he wrote a famous novel called Border Towns set in this town in the 1920s about a Romeo and Juliet -esque romance. Shen Congwen is now considered to be one of the greatest Chinese modern authors, but during his life he was targeted by the Communist government because his novels were too “apolitical”. He was socially ostracized to the point where he attempted suicide. He later was “reeducated” and became a scholar of traditional culture working at a museum, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for his novels in 1988 but died before the result was announced.

This town is famous nowadays for its architecture and for being the setting of this novel. It is an extremely popular tourist destination in Hunan province but relatively unknown within the rest of China and abroad. I only found out about it from a TikTok comparing it to the town in the Japanese animated film, Spirited Away, and thought it was pretty.

The old town here remains pretty much exactly as it did during the 1700s, which is pretty rare. It is built pretty much right up against the Tuojiang River with houses partially built on stilts overlooking the river. Its also known for the local indigenous Miao (also known abroad as Hmong) and Tujia culture. Nowadays it is a very touristy town. Each night the entire ancient town is lit with an enormous amount of lights and the river itself becomes the stage for a 3.5 hour continuous reenactment of Shen Congwen’s novel, complete with actors on floating stages reenacting key parts of the novel and light shows depicted on the walls, on the cliffs, and in the sky. The main characters of the novel, Cuicui (a 13 year old girl) and her grandfather run the local ferry in the book, so tourists can pay to ride around on a replica of this ferry to visit the various scenes being reenacted throughout the river. I did that on Thursday night and it was pretty cool even though I didn’t understand what was going on. I later found an English version of the novel online and read it and now it makes more sense.

Its also very popular here to rent traditional Miao/Hmong and Tujia clothing for the day and hire a professional photographer to go around and take photos with you. It is very picturesque here so it makes sense, I was just not prepared for the sheer quantity of people doing this. It was very hard to not end up in people’s photos.

Its also interesting that it is so trendy to dress up and do photoshoots wearing traditional ethnic clothing when only a few decades ago it was considered very shameful to be a part of the Miao/Hmong ethnic group. They were often referred to by offensive names such as ‘rude’ or ��dirty’ people. Shen Congwen himself was part Miao but hid that fact until near his death. There are hundreds of ethnic groups in China, while the Han group is the largest and most culturally dominant, and even now ethnic minorities such as the Uyghurs in Xinjiang (western China) are persecuted and forced into ‘reeducation’ camps, but that is kind of a taboo topic in China. Its just interesting that both Shen Congwen and indigenous cultures are so celebrated here when historically they have been treated so poorly, and I wonder how much of it is genuine admiration and how much of it is just for the “fun” of it. I mean it is nice that culture is being celebrated but I wonder how authentic and genuine it all is, It all seems a bit Disney-fied to be honest.

Anyway, this town is beautiful but very hot and extremely touristy. I think I am the only foreigner I’ve seen the entire time I’ve been here, so its always a big production every time I try to buy something or go in a shop. Everyone has been really nice but I just feel bad inconveniencing people with my broken Chinese when everywhere is so crowded and busy.

I went around a few times really early in the morning and again while it was raining out and there was almost no one out so it was really nice to walk around then. Although it is truly beautiful here; most of the time I’ve been here I’ve been in my hotel room because between the tiny streets, the overwhelmingly enormous crowds, and the nearly 100 degree heat and humidity its all been a bit too much for me.

I’m leaving tomorrow and it will be my most complicated transportation feat yet because I have to take public transport to the train station, go to a different city, and from there get to the airport and fly across the country, all before 11am. Wish me luck. I’ll be in Lijiang, in the mountains near the Himalayas in southwest China. I’ll be there for a fairly long stint, nearly 2 weeks, and hopefully it won’t be as hot there.

Until next time,

[infiniteglitterfall]

I mean, kudos to everyone who had the sudden revelation that celebrities are actually strangers.

But uhhh, in terms of activism, "everyone needs to declare an undetermined, undeclared level of support for Gaza or we're all unfollowing them" is a completely bugfuck ridiculous premise.

For starters, the fact that they have to guess what you want is an emotional abuse tactic.

So is the verbal abuse that people consistently provide in comments about this stuff.

Elyse Myers left TikTok and Instagram entirely because she hadn't kept up with the news or Said Anything, because her newborn had been undergoing open heart surgery... and people were coming for her, daily, for Not Saying Anything. And it was further destroying her mental health.

Famous people might not be our actual friends, but they are actual humans.

And so is the immediate goalpost-moving. Oh, Lizzo not only said something but started fundraising for Palestinian families? BLOCKED. She should've given a huge amount, because we don't know if she has any actual cash but she's worth $40 mil on paper!! and then told us she'd given!! And how much she'd given!

We definitely aren't holding her to a higher standard than anybody else, or making an example out of her for being a fat Black woman! Surely we would never cannibalize our own! Surely we would only hold rich straight white men to disproportionate and ever-changing standards!

The demand that everyone choose ONE political issue to care about, and it has to be this one, or else they're Bad People, is also bugfuck shenanigans and just garbage boundaries in general.

Deciding that other people are Good or Bad depending on whether they repeat the words you want is the kind of thing one of my abusive exes would do.

This is not something we should be modeling for each other, or treating as a positive act.

This particular choice, in a global context, is really awful. I feel like we've collectively chosen to scream over people experiencing unimaginable, decades-long horrors. Like we're trying to drown them out, to avoid the harder fights.

20,000 civilians die in 8 months of war in the Gaza Strip.

Everyone online: "THIS IS A GENOCIDE. IF YOU'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT PALESTINE, A COUNTRY WHOSE CULTURE, POLITICS, GEOGRAPHY, AND HISTORY I KNOW VIRTUALLY NOTHING ABOUT, YOU ARE DEAD TO ME."

Russia kills 75,000 civilians in three months of war, in ONE Ukrainian city.

Everyone online:

China has imprisoned millions of Uyghur Muslims in brutal, often lethal concentration camps for 10 years now.

Everyone online:

In 2023 alone, the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias in Sudan killed civilians by the thousands, burned whole neighborhoods, and used rape as a weapon, against Massalit and other non-Arab civilian groups.

Everyone online:

Abdel Wahid Al-Nur, the leader of one faction of the Darfur rebel Sudan Liberation Movement, thinks that “if the Arab and Islamic countries mobilized 10% of what they [have done recently] for Gaza,” they could have stopped the suffering of millions in Darfur long time ago.

...It is appalling that the people of Darfur, who have suffered unspeakable atrocities since 2003, do not matter to many in the Arab and Muslim world only, it seems, because their tormentors are Arab Muslims and not Jews or Christians.

more good news from tiktok: they’ve started blocking celebrities.

they’re calling it block party 2024. just blocking and ignoring countless celebrities who havent said shit about palestine. influencers, actors, anyone who went to the met gala, whatever, they’re getting blocked. and people keep talking about how cathartic it is, how good it feels, how they never realized they could DO that. there was some kind of subconscious law against blocking famous people, but it’s broken, and people are LOVING it. and it’s WORKING. a social media/digital advertising coordinator was talking about how ad companies are PANICKING, because they can’t accurately target anymore. so many big influencers, including fucking LIZZO started talking about palestine the MOMENT their follower counts started going down. and the best part? no one is forgiving them. lizzo posted a tiktok asking people to donate to palestinian families, and all the comments just said you’re a multimillionaire. put your money where your mouth is. blocked.

i feel like i’m witnessing the downfall of celebrity culture, right here right now. people are waking up.

[theoscout]

I've forgotten the kind of impact that abandoned by disney and its sequels and spinoffs had on me, except for FNATI because I never spent long on it.

It just seemed... realistic? It talked about how corporations are known to do seedy and awful things and cover it up, supernatural or otherwise. It doesn't so much scare me now, as make me horribly depressed.

Sometimes, the only source of news about something isn't from employed journalists, it's from random people on the internet who run blogs and might be hunted down by authorities over it. That was something I actually romanticised when I was younger- putting my life on the line and being the one and only source for information to come through, like being the hero of my own story. So many of my ARGs were written with this format in mind, and Abandoned By Disney was the one that introduced me to it in that way.

Now I think about Friendlyjordies getting his house firebombed over youtube videos and the people of Palestine letting a glimmer of their suffering be preserved through their phones. Disney funded the latter one. It also funded Uyghur concentration camps and was responsible for all kinds of horrible laws about copyright, I could go on and on about what kind of things they done but these two are the most egregious examples that come to mind. A messed up figment of imagination coming to life through collective belief isn't even this scary.

I almost, almost wish I lived in the ABD universe more than this one, because at least the horrors I'll be facing there are charismatic. The horrors here are just depressing and sad. And the disney company is arguably more respectable there- instead of just being lazy tyrants who sit on a throne of enslaved creative potential, they're at least also running some kind of scp-esque program to keeping these horrors contained, even if they need to do bad things to do that.

admittedly, I never really went too far into fnati. I felt like we had missed potential. I feel like disney secretly trying to capture and contain weird dream demons is way more interesting than what we got. You could have been an investigator who was offered a job into the role of a cast member, and told that in exchange for being let known the truth about these shady coverups, you would need to let the company silence you. You could have been sent to fight the corruptus or contain them. We could have explored the Unknown Avian Species, Friendly John, Wily Wizard, many more things.

SIGH.

Maybe certain fan works did explore it, just without my knowledge. I can see why the people initially thought that Bendy would be a better adaptation of Abandoned By Disney than the FNATI games, especially with the Corruptus entry coming out. It sure as hell went viral, due to being a mascot horror game in a time when 90% of mascot horror was FNAF fangames with no distinct style.

lowkey, I didn't want to spend this long on Disney. I don't believe they deserve the additional allure of secretly having cool horrors being kept under lock and key. I don't feel like ANYONE who does the things they do deserve a cool horror spinoff. I don't even want to write an expy of them, because it means deriving some level of joy from their existence. Somewhere, I'll also be factoring in the suffering Palestinians and Uyghurs, and that doesn't sit well with me. I don't know how or why, but it just don't. Taking out the real life horrors to write about fictional horrors feels exploitative and wrong. It does to me, even if that's not the same for other people.

[cuomophobe]

I feel like I need to say it bc it's miserable watching myself, my friends, and so many young people batter themselves emotionally. Turning yourself into a joyless husk will not help the Palestinians in any way shape or form. The reality is that millions of people are suffering and dying every single day, the vast majority of which you and I know nothing about. This doesn't make us bad people. This makes us people. There's also the reality that social media is designed to focus on trends. Climate change is still an issue, black lives still don't matter in the United States, the uyghurs are still the victims of genocide, ukraine is still a warzone, and many more tragedies are still ongoing, but again, you are not a bad person for being swept up in the Palestinian genocide, because the algorithm is designed to overload you, and stir outrage. Please don't yell at people, whether they're your fav celebrities, or your actual real life friends, for going about life as normal. Watching eurovision and attending the met gala is not the problem here. The Israeli government's genocide, and the western governments backing it, is.

[taxfraudhousewife]

hey toga i can’t even process your actual death i feel like im still processing the concept of your death

and i wish i could ask you what to do

you’re a normal guy sometimes i forget

i use muslim jesus like shorthand for something i can’t explain

and i think it made me forget you’re just a fuckin guy

that makes everything so much worse

you became a drinker and a nyquil addict

you were still preachy and you liked to gossip

doesn’t that make it so much fuckin worse

i’ve been trying to write about the terrible half known unknown

hoping once it’s in words it won’t be in my head

but i can’t explain it

terrible unknown suffering

in terrible context that makes optimism for retards

the shit i can’t admit

despite the evidence

the probably heavily censored story is all i have

she said zip tied to a lashing post

she said they left you there to die

she said it took days

lashing post niga what do you mean

what do you fucking mean

my brain is always going crazy imagining what your last few days were like

like did the courtyard have a roof

did it rain

i’ve been assuming they stripped you as genocidal sex freaks do

and assuming they did at least a little lashing if you were already on the lashing post

that scares me

their giant high wattage batons and where they might’ve stuck them scares me even more

the stories are terrible

and everyone says the same shit

i can’t stomach it

they can have everyone with a single drop of uyghur blood just not you

they can have hong kong and tibet and the whole continent just not you

i can’t just keep existing assuming the worst

i know not to be optimistic but i wish you’d reincarnate as a crow and tell me you didn’t get fucked in the ass with a taser baton

like i keep imagining it

everyone says it

EVERYONE FUCKIN SAYS IT

i’m losing my shit over here i can’t stop imagining it

niga every terrible fuckin story is happening to you at once in my head all the time

israel and russia and ukraine aren’t helping

hey news flash rape in warfare is fucked up

in ethnic cleansing

super fucked up

hey guess what if that happened to you no it didn’t

no thanks that will radicalize me (in a bad way)

i can’t stop imagining it

i try to picture you before

i can’t

you’re a whole ass person

and like i can’t even comprehend it

super dead super fuckin dead

insultingly dead

it feels like i’m the only one carrying you

i know that’s not true but i’m at least the only one in my subgroup of the family

i’ve been grieving you by myself and wishing you were here to grieve with me

i’m so pissed off at you for leaving me

because obviously it’s about me and not uyghur emancipation

WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME

this is why we can’t have nice shit

can’t have nice fuckin uncles can’t have shit

toga i can’t make sense of it

i know that’s the point it’s senseless

the senselessness is gonna kill me

sorry

you would’ve handled it better

you would’ve turned this into angry letters to unhrc and revenge money to spend on lawyers

you wouldn’t have lost your fire

i’ve been clinging to what i have left in fleeting moments

but it doesn’t feel like fire anymore

it just feels like a dense fuckin void in my chest

suckin me inside out

not just because of you it’s everything

but you were kinda my last straw

just like that i was alone in my grieving again

i know that’s not that you want

i also know there’s a real good chance you don’t care what the fuck i do

that’s the most embarrassing part

i’m pissed off cause i still think

with only more time i’d be your right hand

and how dare you take that opportunity away

you were my opportunity for something more the only opportunity that’s ever meant shit to me

i know how stupid it is to wish for nothing more than to save the world with the only family whose politics you share

still i wish it hard

i thought i was gonna help you save the world

i believed in your fucking speeches

you don’t get it you were literally fuckin muslim jesus to me

everything you said i believed that you felt it and you made me feel it too

this is it this is my fucking religion now don’t you get it

i can’t believe anything else and i’m grateful for finally believing that i know some kind of fundamental truth

but i’m so lonely in this stupid religion

it feels like a disease

one id rather not suffer alone

one i’d have the time of my life with if only it’s suffered with you

i almost converted to islam

almost considered it at least

you would’ve laughed at me

i thought i’d find you there

i think i might be too mentally ill for religion

i liked praying with you

i would’ve converted if we could’ve done that more

it was cause i got to listen to you talk

and repetitive movements are lit

that’s a thing i try to remember instead

i thought you were tryna convert me

but holy shit it was kinda nice to hear you say

i’ll feel better after we pray

you’ll show me how

we’ll pray for east turkistan

and donetsk

and yemen

even the russians and the chinese too

even the americans

you said peace

for everyone

and i watched and listened and copied you

and it was warm and i was drunk and hungry

and you were just you

super sweaty and gross and shaking like a chihuahua

refusing to do what you’re supposed to

i kinda wished you’d stayed in bed

but what was i gonna do infringe on your human rights

so i just watched and listened and copied you

wondered if you were also trying to not faint

i’ve been trying to describe your voice in words

before i forget it completely

quiet and hushed like the walls are listening

passionately too serious when you get going

like you forget you’re not talking to foreign ministers

something deep and rich but muted and slightly sour like goat milk

maybe goat milk with honey cause you always tried to include me in conversation

this is unrelated but your cane made me freak the fuck out

still does

when i pulled up to the becky mansion i was mentally preparing to mask for eight hours

not that

that whole WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU thing

that’s how that started

i can’t explain it

i wanted to cry

wanted to personally curb stomp everyone who did that to you

wanted to hug you then i did

but you decided to fuck with me for mysterious muslim reasons

fuck you i wanted to cry i still wanna cry every time i think about it

why the fuck would you say that

everything felt like you personally wanted to torture me

but it didn’t feel like an accusation at least

[medicinemane]

You know, it bothers me the way it seems like people have totally forgot about Iranians... thought we were all on the same page, wasn't it... women, life, freedom? (I legit don't remember, but the reason for that is it wasn't my slogan to say. Maybe it sounds strange, but that's how I felt, so I never actually wrote it, which makes it harder to remember)

Just feels like for a brief window there we were all talking big talk about supporting them, but then it all kinda dried up

I'll be totally transparent about one of the reasons this keeps coming up for me, russia is a major ally of Iran, Iran supplies the kamikaze drones russia hits civilians with... you know they're not giving them away for free... I worry what the Iranian government uses anything it gets to do... I don't really hear anything from Iranians anymore (though once again I fully admit that most of what I was hearing was second hand, I never had found an Iranian to directly follow... I don't know if anyone's still talking)

I just... I legit worry that people talk a big game about Gaza right now, but will they in a year?

I'm frustrated because a lot of the support people and causes around the world get seems like it's almost more self masturbatory than anything real... sure, everyone really well and truly means it, but then they get bored and it's on to a new cause

So I worry the support will be fleeting... and I see some people really getting down in the mud in ways... well, I'm not a people keeper, I don't get to tell people what to do, but I wouldn't be very pleased if I was acting the way I see some people act and my real point is I worry they're doing all this shit and they're not even gonna stick it out with the cause... seen people get bored and dip to many times to trust it

I'm not perfect... I have a shit memory a lot of the time, and I got a lot on my mind, but I still remember Hong Kong... at least sometimes... even looked into it from time to time and the news never looks good

I remember the Uyghurs, though my shit spelling always makes me look it back up. I think about Syria and how forgotten they are. I do actually still keep up with Ukraine... and then I see connections between russia and Iran and assad and...

I don't know... this stuff eats a me a little... not a lot, not more than the helplessness we all feel about bad things beyond our control usually does... I just worry about people, how they act with shit

Worry that you roll around in the mud too long it starts getting hard to wash off, and I worry that people sometimes get in the mud less cause they're trying to help anything and more cause sometimes it feels good to have an excuse to get dirty... righteous anger that makes any behavior permissible

I don't talk about current events that are on everyone's radar nonstop cause I don't want to burn support out by just overloading people with horror... but I generally find murdering innocent people to be a bad thing, so yeah... I want to see a fucking ceasefire already

Don't talk about it, but I actually do care quite a bit... and I worry... I worry that it'll be forgotten the second the news cycle moves on like everything else is

Worry that every bit of vile behavior I've seen that was for high minded goals will turn out to be dropped in an instant...

Almost like that's not a bug, that's just the point