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reasoningdaily · 8 months ago

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Pioneered by digital literacy experts, the "Sift" strategy is a technique for spotting fake news and misleading social media posts, says Amanda Ruggeri.

It's no secret that misinformation is rampant on social media. And it's even more so in some subjects than others. Research has found, for example, that around two-thirds of the most popular YouTube videos on vaccines contain misinformation. The fall-out can be dire: an uptick in inaccurate anti-vaccination content online correlates with a decline in vaccination coverage, especially among children. That has led to larger outbreaks of potentially deadly diseases, like measles, than have been seen in recent years.

"Misinformation is worse than an epidemic," Marcia McNutt, president of the US National Academy of Sciences, put it in 2021, implicitly referring to the Covid-19 pandemic. "It spreads at the speed of light throughout the globe and can prove deadly when it reinforces misplaced personal bias against all trustworthy evidence."

HOW NOT TO BE MANIPULATED

In today's onslaught of overwhelming information (and misinformation), it can be difficult to know who to trust. In this column, Amanda Ruggeri explores smart, thoughtful ways to navigate the noise. Drawing on insights from psychology, social science and media literacy, it offers practical advice, new ideas and evidence-based solutions for how to be a wiser, more discerning critical thinker.

There are many reasons why misinformation travels so quickly – according to some research, even faster than accurate information. One reason is that people are far more likely to share a claim when it confirms their pre-existing beliefs, regardless of its accuracy. This cognitive bias may help explain why even more misinformation seems to be shared by individuals than by bots. One study, for example, found that just 15% of news sharers spread up to 40% of fake news.

That's a sobering statistic, but there's an upside. As long as individuals are the ones responsible for sharing so much misinformation, we're also the ones who – by being more mindful of what we "like", share, and amplify – can help make the greatest change.

When it comes to not falling for misinformation, being aware of our human fallibilities, such as our quickness to believe what we want to believe, is a good first step. Research shows that even being more reflective in general can "inoculate" us against believing fake news.

But it's not the only thing that we can do. In particular, researchers have found there are several simple, concrete strategies that we all can (and should) use, especially before we're tempted to share or repeat a claim, to verify its accuracy first.

One of my favourites comes with a nifty acronym: the Sift method. Pioneered by digital literacy expert Mike Caulfield, it breaks down into four easy-to-remember steps.

1. S is for… Stop

Perhaps one of the most pernicious aspects of the modern era is its urgency. Thanks to everything from our continual phone use to nonstop work demands, far too many of us seem to be navigating the world at a dizzying speed.

Being online, where both news cycles and content are especially fast-paced and often emotive, can put us in a particularly "urgent" mindset. But when it comes to identifying misinformation, immediacy is not our friend. Research has found that relying on our immediate "gut" reactions is more likely to lead us astray than if we take a moment to stop and reflect.

The first step of the Sift method interrupts this tendency. Stop. Don't share the post. Don't comment on it. And move on to the next step.

2. I is for… Investigate the source

Posts show up in our social media feeds all the time without us having a clear sense of who created them. Maybe they were shared by a friend. Maybe they were pushed to us by the algorithm. Maybe we followed the creator intentionally, but never looked into their background.

Now's the time to find this out. Who created this post? Get off-platform and do a web search. And because search results can be misleading, make sure you're looking at a reputable website. One that fact-checkers often use as a first port of call might surprise you: Wikipedia. While it's not perfect, it has the benefit of being crowd-sourced, which means that its articles about specific well-known people or organisations often cover aspects like controversies and political biases.

While you're investigating, ask:

If the creator is a media outlet, are they reputable and respected, with a recognised commitment to verified, independent journalism?

If it's an individual, what expertise do they have in the subject at hand (if any)? What financial ties, political leanings or personal biases may be at play?

If it's an organisation or a business, what is their purpose? What do they advocate for, or sell? Where does their funding come from? What political leanings have they shown?

And finally, once you've run your analysis (which can take just a couple of minutes), the most telling question of all: Would you still trust this creator's expertise in this subject if they were saying something you disagreed with?

3. F is for… Find better coverage

If, from the previous step, you find that you still have questions about the source's credibility, now's the time to dig a little further. What you're looking for is whether a more trustworthy source, like a reputable news outlet or fact-checking service, has reported and verified the same claim.

No surprise, but I find Google has some of the best tools for doing this. Obviously, there's Google itself, and if you're specifically looking to see if news outlets have covered something, Google News.

But I sometimes prefer to use the Google Fact Check search engine, which searches just fact-checking sites, specifically. Just keep in mind that Google says it doesn't vet the fact-checking sites it includes, so to make sure your results are reputable, you'll need to do a little further sleuthing – I like to see if an outlet has signed up to Poynter's International Fact-Checking Network, which you can check here.

If it's a photo you're investigating, use a reverse image search tool to see where else the image comes up online. Google has one, but I also like TinEye and Yandex. (You can also use these for video: take a screenshot from the video and put that in for your image search).

Your goal? To see whether there are any credible sources reporting the same information as what you're seeing, and saying that it's verified.

4. T is for… Trace the claim to its original context

Often, you'll wind up doing this at the same time that you're trying to find better coverage, at least if you're using the tools mentioned above. But the idea here is a little different. You're trying to find out where the claim came from originally.

Even if you see that a claim has been reported on by a credible media outlet, for example, it may not be original reporting; they may have gotten that claim from another outlet. Ideally, the original story should be linked – so always go there – but if it's not, you may need to search for it separately.

Crucially, you want to figure out not just whether something like this really is true, but whether anything was taken out of context. If you're looking at an image, does how it was described in the social media post you saw line up with what its original caption, context, and location? If it's a quotation from a speaker, was anything edited out or taken out of context or, when you see their full interview or speech, does it seem like perhaps they misspoke in that moment?

Taking these steps before deciding whether to simply share a claim might feel onerous. But the time investment of just a few minutes may save you not only embarrassment – but help ensure you're not spreading misinformation that, at its most dramatic, can even lead to illness and death.

Today, anyone can make a claim on social media. And anyone can be the person whose re-sharing of that claim is the one who makes it go viral. That means it's the responsibility of each one of us to make sure that what we are posting, liking, and sharing is, first and foremost, actually true.

#The 'Sift' strategy: A four-step method for spotting misinformation #misinformation #fact check #fact checkers #how to fact check #SIFT

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burrowkit · 5 days ago

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My Cat is a Flight Risk at the Vet

So, my cat is a very intelligent cat. Yes, I do realize cats in general are very smart, but sometimes... my cat is too smart.

As the standards, she likes to converse with us (we tell her about something and she talks back and we go back and forth, less so in her old age). She can tell time and knows what day we plan to return home from a weekend away (with her, she cannot be left home alone).

I can't remember if I've told much of her story, so I'll just do it here.

So, my cat knows how to open sliding doors/pocket doors. She doesn't always open them, but she can open them if she wants to open them.

My vet has sliding doors for their exam rooms.

Anyways, pre-covid, this wasn't as big of a deal. Miss Cat was only ever in the rooms with both my mom and I (usually it was the two of us, because she doesn't travel very well, but hates being home alone more... anyways. So messes need to be cleaned up, and someone needs to constantly watch my cat).

When covid hit, they put in the rule of "drop the cat off from outside" thing. Okay, it was pretty cool.

But, they would, I guess, leave the pet in the exam room unattended or something. Likely for a few seconds to grab something, then return (as was standard when their pet owners came in).

Anyways, every time I dropped her off, I would remind them that she's a bit of a flight risk. She's not trying to escape the building itself per say... no, she's been known to try and break into the back rooms (there are 2 doors on the exams. One to the front, one to the back).

Anyways, she's kind of escalated her events there. One time she refused to eat, and the vet came out (this time we were allowed in the waiting area, not in the room) to tell her she did eat the cat treats, so I think the decision was she just was going on her regular hunger strikes. When we finally get her back, the vet informs us that thank goodness he got back in the room when he did... she was 2 seconds away from getting into the treat jar!

She also had a stroke a couple of years ago now, I guess. We had left her home alone (with food and water) and she freaked herself out over it enough. So, we dropped her off at the emergency vet with the "she's a notorious escape artist. Do NOT trust her alone".

My usual vet at the time would wave the warning off, but these peeps took it seriously.

They call us with an update later that evening and informed us that thank goodness we did warn them. She was hooked up with the IV or whatever, they were prepared, and she still almost escaped.

{The final of that story was the next day they called with a "she's probably done", since she was disoriented and wasn't engaged with life and such. They had us show up in case it was her missing us, and she saw us and perked right back to life. She was promptly discharged. The final final part of that: she had to be taken off blood thinners due to how stressing they were for her and making her hate life and everyone around her. This cat's a pet or be pet cat. If she won't go near any humans for weeks on end, then that's a major problem}

Since then, my local vet office does take the Escape Artist warnings seriously (I suspect they had other issues, and now they all know how sneaky she can be).

Anyways.

Maybe this is one of those cases where I'm saying she's smart when this is just average cat intelligence. But...

I love her.

She may hate travelling, but she'd rather be with us than left alone. And, she often will accept said travelling if she knows she'll be with everyone she loves.

She absolutely has, in a recent trip to the vet, informed me I was getting off at the wrong exit (as I usually drop her off at my parents' which is another exit later, and my mom drops her off, because I start work 30 minutes away at 8am, and she needs to be dropped off by 8am).

#cats #intelligence creature #fur cat #fluffy baby cat #she's an “old lady” now #notorious escape artist #wants what she wants when she wants it... and knows how to get what she wants when she wants it

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exeggcute · 1 year ago

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hey I have messaged you before because we both have boneitus but I wanted to ask - how severe has the immune compromise from humera and biologics been for you? My joint pain is just on the inside of manageable and I'm concerned that, going to uni and generally being outdoorsy, I'm putting my health more at risk by starting it then by seeking other methods of management? right now inflammation and pain are the only concerns, not more severe health risks.

[2nd message: obviously you can't give medical advice etc I'm just hoping to hear your perspective and experience. my mother is less severely impacted and also doesn't seem to be too compromised but I think she's a bit casual about health risks sometimes]

tbh I haven't felt like the immune compromise has been too bad even though I started taking biologics during the height of covid... now that I'm thinking about it I remember I was supposed to start my first humira shot before the covid vaccine was widely available, literally had the shot sitting on the counter to thaw, but then the pharmacy rang me up to say they got a batch of vaccines in and I postponed my humira shot a few days so I could go get a different shot first lol. other than getting Actual Covid about a year ago (which sucked ass but obviously didn't kill me, I think my partner who's normally in great health got hit harder by it than I did) I actually think I've gotten sick way less often in the past few years than I ever did pre-biologics/pre-covid. knock on fucking wood obviously. and I was aaaallllwaaaays getting sick with random shit pre-2020. not sure whether that's a testament to how well proper masking works or a testament to how treating my fucked-up immune system actually made me less susceptible to random viral infections but either way there's some anecdata for you.

but full disclosure that I'm a homebody in general, and then the combo of covid and my Problems means I haven't been traveled out of state more than once or twice, I still mask up in public 95% of the time, my only roommate is my partner who also masks up in public 95% of the time, we live in a private residence with our own bathroom/laundry facilities, etc. granted I do still Go Out and have potential avenues of exposure to whatever random shit is brewing, particularly in restaurants, but I don't wanna generalize my experience too too much if you're a student and might be living in a dorm, travelling a lot, etc.

although with that said I think (and don't quote me on this?) the main concerns with biologics are less about your average cold/flu/covid situation than with more serious stuff like TB or hospital acquired infections or whatever. I definitely had to get a TB test before I could start humira. and I have admittedly had some chronic but very mild skin infections thanks to being immunocompromised, but they've all been treatable, and it's hard to say whether they were caused by the biologics themselves or the combo of biologics + intermittent steroid use + preexisting eczema + recently adding methotrexate into the mix. and generally having the constitution of a sickly orphan boy lol. which is all to say that unless you're being exposed to really freaky shit on the regular I don't think going on biologics will be the difference between you staying healthy and you getting struck down by Icky Space Virus, especially since biologics are a targeted immunosuppressant in a way that (e.g.) prednisone isn't. a good N95 or KN95 mask goes a long way, too.

it's ultimately up to you and your comfort level, especially if you said you're managing the joint pain okay right now—but I've also been there and I know that "managing" pain still is not a fun place to be at all. I also don't know if you have a flavor of boneitis that turns into degrative damage over time, so that's another consideration; I was honestly pretty scared about the (depending on who you ask, minor) cancer risk of taking TNF inhibitors, but I kind of rationalized it as like, okay, if I go on these drugs and get cancer, there's a solid chance of surviving cancer, but if I don't go on these drugs and my spine fuses permanently then my spine will be fused forever and ever and I can never fix it. there's also the fact that untreated inflammation is a major cancer trigger in itself, so on the crohn's side of things I have a way higher chance of getting cancer from untreated crohn's than I do of getting cancer from crohn's treatment.

don't take it as medical advice but here's my two cents: if your doctor thinks it's safe, and if you would benefit significantly from treatment, I think it's worth trying. soooooo many people take these drugs and the majority don't have life-altering side effects. with the immune suppression specifically, or even other minor side effects, I see it as a question of whether those risks/side effects are outweighed by the symptoms you're dealing with on a daily basis. I tend to approach that with a rough formula of severity x probability on both sides, which means unless the side effects are really bad AND really likely to happen, or unless the symptoms are relatively minor, I usually gravitate towards taking the drug. "symptom I already have that fucking sucks" usually comes out on top as the greater evil. but that's just me!

tangentially related point you might find interesting: I mentioned the other day about getting a consultation from a cosmetic surgeon who I later found out was related to the lead singer of imagine dragons, but the way I found that out was because I asked the surgeon if it was okay to get operated on while taking humira, and he said that not only was it fine, but also that he takes humira for the same arthritis + IBD combo that I have. and then later I heard an imagine dragons song on the radio, which reminded me how the lead singer is my nemesis because he's the most famous person alive with spondylitis but makes shitty music, and then I thought about how he's from vegas, and then how he's mormon, and then how the surgeon I saw is also mormon (BYU diploma spotted in his office lol. despite his main specialty being top surgery. #respect), and then how the surgeon told me he has like eight brothers and they all have IBD too, and then I was like "there can't be that many mormon families in las vegas with the same genetic autoimmune issues, right...?" and looked up the lead singer's last name and it was the same as the surgeon's...

so anyway just know that active practicing surgeons take biologics and seem to be doing alright! and also that someone out there has a family with a million sons who all have Shitting Constantly disease. the toilet paper bill when those kids were growing up must have been totally insane

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kspp · 9 months ago

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Celebrating Women Or Reinforcing Stereotypes?

On 8th March 2022, just like any other morning, I was going through the WhatsApp statuses of my contacts. Everyone was celebrating Women’s Day; quotes were shared, the importance of women in life was acknowledged, images of women who inspire were put up – Women as the superhero, the goddess with multiple hands, the backbone of our life, the multiple bonds and relationships shared were all cherished. These WhatsApp statuses celebrated Women’s Day but I couldn’t stop myself from feeling a sense of helplessness. I am hence penning down my thoughts here in the hope that my thoughts can travel beyond my head.

I shall begin by asking a question that I want you to ponder.

What is a woman?

I googled this question. According to Google sources, a woman is an adult female human being. Notice that Google also displays a picture of Michelle Obama. Google aptly draws the contour of a woman by hinting at the age and sex determined at birth by society. Nevertheless, the definition overlooked the roles, responsibilities, and expectations assigned to the gender being called women whose agency as an adult is limited by the same social roles, responsibilities, and expectations.

From birth, women are conditioned to behave and act in a certain way. They are constantly reminded of the roles and responsibilities that need to be fulfilled to be a good daughter, good sister, good wife, good daughter-in-law, good mother. Let us take note of the word ‘good,’ which demands care work from women. As ‘adults,’ (drawing from Google’s definition mentioned above), their agency is limited by this conditioning, forcing them to live a reality created by society. These norms and expectations come to govern their lives; their experiences, in turn, are measured against these norms (Geetha, 2007). A reality where they need to maintain a balance between their work and home, a balance between their parents and in-laws, a balance between them and their husbands; the list is never-ending.

The outbreak of covid and the subsequent lockdowns disproportionately impacted genders adding more stress and exhaustion for women. With children and family members spending more time at home, implied increased household chores for women.

Woman as a noun becomes a verb dictating the way of doing (West and Zimmerman, 1987). Failing to do this, they also fail to qualify as a woman.

By labeling women as our backbones and responsible for our success, we might be acknowledging their care work and support, but are we recognizing how much they endure? Is one day of acknowledgment enough?

Women’s Day was supposed to be a celebration of their struggles toward making a gender-equal society. Albeit we are unconsciously perhaps reinforcing certain conditionings and stereotypes that are making the gender-equal vision a dream far from reality.

The feminine virtues of a woman are glorified hiding their sufferings and exploitation. The glorification further reinforces the stereotypical roles and responsibilities. These virtues discipline their lives, restricting their true independence. This is not to say that women don’t have choices, but their choices are heavily pre-determined by the traditional gender roles. Their food choices, health choices, sexual choices, and reproductive choices are all constrained by the invisible threads that were tied to them just after their birth. Thinking for own self is considered taboo and labeled as being selfish.

I narrated the problem that was stuck in my head. Is there any solution to this? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. One might argue that in recent times we all are aware about the gendered role and to mitigate the gap we all are helping at home. But the question that remains unanswered is to what extent? And is that enough?

We need to revisit our thoughts, words, and actions, constantly asking ourselves – Are we glorifying and taking the women in our lives for granted or acknowledging their struggle and putting an effort to realize their vision for a gender-neutral world?

And amidst all these, guess who is the society?

Don’t worry! You do not have to google that; The answer is me, you, and us.

Food for Thought: Why do you think the image of Michelle Obama popped up when I searched ‘what is a woman’ in Google?

#kautilyaschoolofpublicpolicy #policymakers #public policy

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bookstoreadbtr · 1 year ago

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In the intricate tapestry of Canadian heritage, author Terry Birdgenaw emerges as a captivating storyteller, weaving together threads of Metis, Oji-Cree, English, Scottish, Dutch, and French-Canadian ancestry. Despite the veils of assimilation that enveloped his family's journey generations ago, Birdgenaw's fascination with his ancestor, Mistigoose, ignites a profound narrative exploration. Mistigoose, a poignant yet resilient figure, forms the cornerstone of Birdgenaw's novel and series, "The Antunites Chronicles." Through Mistigoose's sorrowful tale of loss and resilience, Birdgenaw crafts a narrative tapestry that intertwines themes of identity, inheritance, and the enduring power of legacy. From the depths of Mistigoose's tragedy emerges a narrative rich with symbolism, where even the smallest twig bears significance, echoing through generations and shaping the destiny of characters like Antuna and Dinomite.

Amidst this literary journey, Birdgenaw's unique perspective shines through. A scientist turned science fiction author, Birdgenaw brings a meticulous attention to detail and a passion for exploration to his storytelling. Through his dual lenses of science and imagination, Birdgenaw invites readers to embark on a journey that transcends the boundaries of time and space, bridging the realms of history and fiction with eloquence and insight. As Birdgenaw's saga unfolds, the legacy of Mistigoose resonates, reminding us of the profound connections that bridge past and present, and the enduring strength found in embracing one's heritage.

In a recent interview, Terry Birdgenaw graciously shared insights into his unique journey from the realm of science to the realm of fiction. As a scientist turned science fiction author, Birdgenaw's trajectory embodies a fascinating fusion of disciplines, marked by a passion for exploration and storytelling. Delving into his experiences, Birdgenaw offers valuable reflections on the intersection of science and imagination, shedding light on the transformative power of narrative in bridging diverse realms of knowledge. Join us as we uncover the intricate layers of Birdgenaw's journey, from his scientific roots to his emergence as a compelling voice in the world of speculative fiction.

1. When did you decide to become a scientist?

I decided to become a scientist when I volunteered as a research assistant to work in the laboratory of a professor that I got along with well in my second year of university. I was not too fond of the research project I first started, but when I told my professor, he helped me by starting a new area of research in his laboratory that was more in line with my interests. If not for that accommodation, I may never have gone on to graduate school and started my scientific career.

2. Did you want to be a writer before you became a scientist, or did you get the idea after?

Oddly, I never considered being a fiction writer. I always thought if I wrote a book, it would be a non-fiction book in my field of research, related to psychology or neuroscience. It wasn’t until my wife, who is an elementary school librarian, fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming an author, that I was inspired to join her in her quest.

3. What encouraged you to make the leap of faith to publish your first book?

I say that I wrote my first book on a whim or a dare during the COVID-19 pandemic. My wife, Ann Birdgenaw, was starting the second book in her middle-grade Black Hole Radio series. The series was about three pre-teens who travel through wormholes to far-off planets with aliens that have problems the kids help them solve. Ann wanted to use acronyms for her characters’ species and was deciding between PIG or BUG. She asked me to help her fill out the letters. I couldn’t come up with anything for PIG, but I suggested Bipedal Unibodied Gomers for BUG. She changed Gomer for Golem, and then I suggested other acronyms like Allied Noble Tripod for ANT and Bi-winged Essence Extractor for BEE. So, she decided to write her aliens as human-sized cyborg insects in her book called Black Hole Radio -Bilaluna. Because I helped with the decision about the story’s characters, I continued to give her suggestions about the plot line. She took a few ideas, but at some point, told me my ideas were great, but they were too advanced for her middle-grade readers. When she suggested I write the backstory for her book with a novel targeted at young adults and adults, I ran with it.

4. How did you get started with the publishing process?

Some of the plot lines I suggested for my wife’s book reflected my interest in dystopian classics, like those written by George Orwell. I was also concerned with the state of our modern world with many countries moving away from democracies toward autocratic rule. Realizing that my backstory about cyborg insects would be a dystopian allegory, I decided to read George Orwell’s Animal Farm for inspiration. I read his book on New Year’s Eve and started writing my first novel on January 1, 2020. It was an allegory, but about insects, not farm animals, and would be about failing democracy, not communism gone wrong.

5. What were three things you learned about the publishing process?

The first thing I learned was that science fiction writing was very different from science writing. The second thing I learned is that I loved learning all about the process and that I was good at it. The third thing I learned was that traditional publishers would never be interested in a book about insects and that I would have to publish it myself.

6. What was a mistake you made you have used as a lesson learned?

I initially queried my work to traditional publishers, but only gradually learned that I started too soon. Thanks to the lag time waiting for responses, and some constructive criticism from various publishers and agents, I learned what was missing from my writing, and came to realize I needed additional editing. I credit my developmental and copy editors for inspiring me to discover a creative side that I never realized I had, which allowed my books to blossom.

7. What advice would you give an aspiring author?

Don’t be afraid to show your work to beta readers and developmental editors at the early stages and don’t try to save money by skipping various editorial steps. Take advantage of experts in the field who can help you make the most of your writing. A few suggestions here and there, and before I knew it my original novella became a trilogy.

8. What inspired your book series?

In writing the backstory for my wife’s book, I needed to get Earth insects to a far-off planet, have them destroy that planet’s atmosphere, and escape to its moon. As an allegory about failed democracy, I decided to have the autocratic leader ignore a growing climate crisis to the point of an atmospheric catastrophe. My original novella expanded to a very long novel, and while I waited for a final editor’s report, I decided to accept a NaNoWriMo (National November Writers’ Month) challenge to write a 50,000-word draft of a sequel in 30 days. When I finished that early draft of the new novel, I realized that it would be best to split the too-long first novel in two and market the works as a trilogy. The three books would then highlight three different dystopias, one about unnecessary war, a second about failed democracy and a climate crisis, and a third about social control and racism.

9. Write a brief summary/synopsis of the first book in the series.

Antuna’s Story is a Watership Down-like story about the early survival of insects transported to a far-off planet. Antuna, an ant heroine, becomes close friends with two bees, a termite, and a spider and encourages ants and other insects to work together to survive under harsh conditions. Yet in time, the joy of friendship and cooperation is eclipsed by the horrors of war when a Putin-like character puts his glory above all else and destroys entire communities. The insects’ struggles between aggressive and altruistic tendencies are an allegory for human frailties; the lust for power and hatred of others leads to widespread prejudice and racism.

The second and third books of The Antunite Chronicles occur much later but also feature heroes battling leaders who use propaganda and tyranny to obtain power and wealth. Book 2: The Rise and Fall of Antocracy is an Animal Farm-like allegory about failed democracy, where the planet is placed in peril by the leaders ignoring a climate catastrophe. The rulers in Book 3: Antunites Unite create an Orwellian society that uses histrionics, bionics, and socionics to subjugate its citizens. An allegorical dystopian tale like 1984, it’s a brave new world out of this world, where freedom-loving spies from the nearby moon infiltrate the colony and start a revolution.

10. What was the biggest lesson you learned during publishing your first book that you used on your second book?

I learned the importance of showing and not telling and using more dialogue, character development, and action scenes as opposed to omniscient narrative, as well as overcoming a scientist's tendency to write in a passive voice. To achieve those aims I crafted most of what became my first book after I wrote the first draft of my second book. Thus, all the main characters of my first book were developed to help reduce the overly narrative world-building originally used for the second book. I also learned to use my long-developed skills as a scientist to complete the research that was needed to make my stories more authentic. I am not an entomologist, but I knew how to find scientific sources that could develop my characters in a way that reflected their natural tendencies and extraordinary talents.

11. Discuss some of the awards you won for the series.

I entered all three books into various literary competitions and received awards in most of them. All three books won awards in the Firebird International Book Awards; in the new fiction category for Antuna’s Story, (Book 1) young adult fiction for The Rise and Fall of Antocracy (Book 2), and dystopian fiction for Antunites Unite (Book 3). Books 1 and 2 won Readers’ Favorite gold medal for young adult Sci-Fi and an honorable mention for fiction environmental-thriller, respectively. Antuna’s Story also won the Entrada Incipere Award for young adult Sci-Fi and a gold badge award from BookView Review, while Antunites Unite won the Entrada Incipere Award for young adult Sci-Fi and a Literary Titan gold book award. Finally, The Antunite Chronicles trilogy was selected as the top young adult series and a finalist for the best genre fiction series in the Chanticleer International Book Awards.

12. Which age range is the best fit for your book?

I decided to target my books to young adults because of the juvenile nature of the allegory on alien insects and because I felt teens need to learn about the dangers of failed democracy and be alerted to the rising threat of fascism and authoritarianism in today's world. I believe, however, that the trilogy can be enjoyed by anyone above the age of twelve, although Antuna’s Story may also appeal to pre-teens who are advanced readers.

13. Congratulations on two of the books making it to #1 on Amazon’s hot new releases. Any advice for authors on how to accomplish that goal?

Begin marketing your book well before its release and take care to choose Amazon categories that are not too broad, but also well reflect your book’s themes.

14. Where can your future fans follow you on social media?

Terry can be found at:

15. Do you have a website?

Yes, my website and blog about my writing can be found at: https://terrybirdgenaw.wordpress.com/

As our journey with Terry Birdgenaw draws to a close, we find ourselves enriched by the array of experiences and insights he has shared. From his scientific beginnings to his evolution as a science fiction author, Birdgenaw's story is a testament to the boundless potential of human creativity and curiosity. Through his words, we've traversed realms of both fact and fiction, discovering the profound connections that unite them. As we bid farewell, let us carry forth Birdgenaw's spirit of exploration and imagination, inspired to chart our own paths of discovery in the vast expanse of the cosmos.

#books #book worm #bookworm #book nerd #reading #book life #book #readers #sciencefiction #science fiction books #science fiction #sci fi #scifi #science #author interview #authors #authors and books #books and authors #books to read

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asiaplus · 2 years ago

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What do Vietnamese think of Japanese cultures?

In 2023, Japan and Vietnam will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and we have had / will have a number of events celebrating the relationship of the two countries. I feel proud of this, as my country have had a very good relationship with Vietnam.

Japan as the most favorite country for culture, food and travel

Probably due to this long good relationship between the two countries, Japan is considered the most favorite country in terms of “country with favorite culture”, “favorite international food”, “favorite country to visit”.

Manga as an effective information source of Japanese culture

What has been the information source among Vietnamese to know Japanese culture? Interesting to know that Japanese animation (manga) plays an important role to know about Japan. From the traditional Japanese manga such as Doraemon, there are many other manga that Vietnamese are familiar with such as Konan, Kimetsu-no-yaiba to a recent slum dunk.

Japanese food - Sushi, Takoyaki and Ramen

When it comes to Japanese cuisine, it is not surprising that we see Sushi (or Sashimi) voted as the most favorite foods. On the other hand, more variety of Japanese foods come to be recognized among them. Takoyaki became popular as we came to have several street vendors selling it, while we have more restaurants who provide good Japanese noodles of Ramen, Udon or Soba.

Japan trip - authentic food, beautiful scenery of cherry blossom

Japan also is the most favorite destination for an international trip. Vietnam is one of a few countries that the number of visitors are on the increase compared with pre-covid timing, and ranked as 6th in terms of the visitors in Jan-Mar 2023.

Why Japan for travel - Vietnamese are interested in “enjoying authentic Japanese food”, “seeing beautiful scenery” and “experiencing Japanese traditional culture” as top of their bucket list. The two dominant popular location is Tokyo and Mt.Fuji, followed by Osaka, Kyoto etc. In addition, many love to see beautiful cherry blossoms in Japan, which make the Japan trips during end of May to beginning of April super popular.

Language barrier and Visa as concerns of Japanese trip

How about their concerns on visiting Japan? The biggest worries are the communications partially as they do not feel that Japanese are communicative in English. On top, the strict policy of obtaining Japanese visa stands as the 2nd biggest concern. The high cost used to be the top reasons but now ranked as the third, due to the economy growth of Vietnam and the weaker yen.

Japanese culture penetration in Vietnam has become versatile thanks to the easier way of getting international information, while Vietnamese came to have more economical power. As a native of Japanese, I do hope that these two countries remain to have the good relationship and we have more opportunities in Vietnam that people come to experience attractive Japanese cultures.

#Vietnam market #vietnam market research #vietnam & japan

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creatiview · 2 years ago

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[ad_1] Posted: 12/19/22 | December 19th, 2022 The term “budget travel” has long been synonymous with “cheap travel.” Finding deals, getting off the beaten path, eating at “non-touristy” (i.e. inexpensive) restaurants, and staying in hostels. The budget traveler is on a quest for a “local” experience at a low cost. During the 2010s, the rise of sharing economy websites like Airbnb, increased competition in the travel industry, and the growing number of budget airlines offering long-haul flights made traveling on less a lot easier to do. And travelers took advantage: global tourism rose from 946 million annual travelers to 1.4 billion over the past decade. However, this spiraling growth created a lot of backlash among residents, as many destinations weren’t equipped to handle so many visitors driving around, clogging streets, and raising the cost of living. Plus, locals didn’t like feeling like they lived in a zoo, constantly being gawked at by tourists. Pre-COVID, overtourism became the hot industry topic. “How do we make travel more sustainable?” we all wondered. And, despite the recent rise in prices post-COVID, traveling is still relatively affordable, especially compared to historical averages. But is inexpensive travel really a good thing? Should it be so cheap if it means it’s also unsustainable? I know that’s a weird question for me to pose, as I’m in the business of budget travel. And don’t get me wrong: I don’t think travel should only be for the wealthy. Travel opens the mind. It helps people understand the world, those who live in it, and themselves. So, I want to be very clear that I am not advocating that travel be out of reach for all but the elite few. I think every person in the world should be able to see more than their little corner of the world. But should we enable a type of mass tourism that creates a lot of environmental and social woes? Looking around these days, I think we have too much of a good thing. I think there should be some tighter restrictions on travel so that we don’t love places to death. I backpacked a lot back when Wi-Fi, apps, and smartphones were not widespread and you still had to use a paper guidebook to get around. (Even then, though, people would tell me how hard travel “back in the day” was and how easy I had it with the advent of online booking platforms.) There were plenty of ways to travel cheap back then — it was just that the information you needed was harder to find. I learned so much that first year, but it was information discovered on the road, not online or in print. They were tips and tricks I found through people and experiences. The growth of travel blogs like this one, as well as through social media, has made information about how to travel cheaply a lot easier to find. No tip is a secret that hasn’t already been shared. No place in the world doesn’t have at least a dozen articles written about it. And one no longer needs to roam the streets looking for a place to stay or eat. Heck, type in “Thai” into Google Maps on your phone, and you’ll get nearby restaurant results with directions, saving you from wandering around! All these new services and technological developments I mentioned in the beginning — coupled with easy access to information — have made travel so affordable so quickly that I don’t think most destinations have had time to adjust. Take Airbnb. Its rise has led to overtourism, housing shortages, noise issues, and other social ills. Gone are the days when you are actually staying in someone’s home. Now, you are more likely to be in someone’s tenth rental property, where there are no standards or rules, especially regarding safety. What happens if there’s a fire? Is everything up to code? Who knows! And that cute neighborhood you wanted to enjoy so you can get a taste of local life? That’s full of tourists staying in Airbnbs now too. And, like anyone else, I don’t like paying a lot for airfare, but all those cheap, short-haul flights mean

lots of people going to places not designed to handle them all (see the weekend trips to Amsterdam). Plus, short-haul flights have the highest environmental impact. Do we need a tax on frequent fliers? Or restrictions like the ones we are seeing in France. With the rise of digital nomadism and remote work, people are getting up and moving in record numbers again. (Don’t get me started on those skirting visa and work rules.) This means lots of people living in places where they don’t pay taxes or adapt to the community, or where they cause other issues. Just look at Mexico City. I love it, but the increase in the number of Americans living there has produced a big backlash among locals, who are now getting priced out of their own neighborhoods. And think about waste. Plastic bags, electricity, even your poop. I’m sure it’s a subject you never really consider when you travel. But what happens to all the waste you produce? Are the power plants, sewer systems, and trash management systems of that beautiful Greek island meant for the 20 million extra people it sees a year? No. They aren’t. And cruises! Cruises cause a lot of problems (and I say that as someone who likes them). In 2017, Carnival’s alone caused ten times more sulfur oxide air pollution than all of Europe’s cars (over 260 million) combined! That $50-a-night cruise might get more people moving — but not so sustainably. Santorini during cruise season is a nightmare. The solutions to these problems are complex and will require the industry, consumers, and governments to work together to make sure tourism is sustainable. You can’t stop people in popular destinations from wanting to make money to feed their families. And I don’t blame a lot of locals, especially those on the lower end of the economic spectrum, choosing living over protecting a nearby marsh. I think, as travelers, we should be more willing to vote with our dollars and decide: are we going to be good and make sure we leave no trace, or are we there to treat destinations as zoos, parachuting in for a “local experience,” taking a few photos, and then heading off, leaving a wake of social and environmental headaches for the residents who live there? Yes, it’s not the budget traveler who is causing a lot of these issues (they tend to avoid big hotels, eat local food, take public transportation, and stay longer). But they still cause some. A body is a body. This leads me back to my original question: should travel be so cheap that it causes so many people to descend on certain destinations they buckle under the strain? While we all want to spend less, I think it’s time to ask ourselves what are we taking and what are we leaving? What is the impact of cheap travel on destinations and the people who live there? Yes, hotels and traditional guesthouses are more expensive, but, unlike Airbnb, they are licensed and don’t take away from the local housing stock. Yes, a train might be slower and more expensive, but short-haul flights are worse for the environment. Yes, we all want to see Venice in the summer, but the city can’t support that many people at once. I think the solution is not less travel but better travel. When I see cities imposing taxes and fees and restrictions on things like Airbnb and cruises, I can’t help but say, “Good!” There should be more restrictions on Airbnb and cruises, as well as other forms of mass tourism, to ensure that destinations can handle the crowds and that the locals are not displaced or otherwise negatively impacted. Over the last few years, we here have put a real focus on sustainable travel, alternative tours, getting away from Airbnb, traveling in the off-season, and reducing waste, because I’ve become a lot more conscious of the negative impact travel can have when there is unfettered growth. I think everyone should travel, but the unintended consequences that the rise of cheap travel has created need to be addressed. As travelers, we can do a lot. We can avoid environmentally

harmful travel, reduce our flight use, avoid Airbnb, and go to “second-tier” destinations — or at the very least not the tourist centers of overcrowded cities. As “top-tier” destinations crack down on overtourism, people will have to go to other cities, which will spread the tourist numbers and dollars around while also showcasing new destinations and unclogging more popular cities. Plus, when you go where the crowds aren’t, you tend to have more unique and fun experiences. Will more rules and restrictions lead to higher prices? Probably. Does that mean not as many people might get to visit Machu Picchu or Petra or Japan? Possibly. And, as someone who wants more people to travel, I admit that that kind of sucks. Even though there are plenty of other destinations to choose from, it still sucks that some of these changes will lead to some people being unable to visit some of them. But, as we think about sustainable travel and its impact on the world, we can’t deny that people moving around in such large numbers has negative consequences. We need to come to grips with the fact that many places can’t handle so many people and that some restrictions are needed if we hope to keep them around, even if that means we won’t be able to see them all. Travel is a give-and-take relationship between the destination and the visitor. We must be willing to give a little more and take a little less. Our job as travelers is to make sure we aren’t hurting the locals and the environment. That means traveling as sustainably as possible and doing no harm to the local community. Because there’s no point in going somewhere and then leaving it worse off. We can’t love places to death. How to Travel the World on $50 a DayMy New York Times best-selling paperback guide to world travel will teach you how to master the art of travel so that you’ll get off the beaten path, save money, and have a deeper travel experience. It’s your A to Z planning guide that the BBC called the “bible for budget travelers.” Click here to learn more and start reading it today! Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks Book Your FlightFind a cheap flight by using Skyscanner. It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned. Book Your AccommodationYou can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels. Don’t Forget Travel InsuranceTravel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are: Want to travel for free?Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation. They are what keep me traveling so much for so little. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals. Ready to Book Your Trip?Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip. [ad_2] Source link

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chanelfunnell · 2 years ago

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Tiny mail box

A) I have no photo of Tazer from skating party than I reblogged ..I don't search it and no more photos seen there is one photo of geeky Tazer for you.

B) Stroke's daughter looks quite a mischievous ball of energy at least..Montreal Canadians' are keen to sing often their karaoke but it's horror..Also once drunk Kaner and Crosby lol. Not for Christmas parties

C) she wants to know Pens Wags' sector because she wants to track Kathy Leutner as Crosby's partner at Winter Classics. I doubt Ash Mrs Troll will travel down from Canada.

M was removed by Camilla and urged by Zelensky who tried to train with other actor involved with Royal Marine Reserve Zelensky run off from army recruitment and trashes former boxing champion Klitschko Kyiv Mayor doing not enough but he does not lift the finger and a coward to face even a dialogue so trying to be a macho with the balls in the media like UK fatto who is called apparently Boris Johnson. It is not about the war and countries but fat Johnson (his liver. Markle and Patel are M's trolls and after her address and movements across UK for their espionage about M and army) is a chum of Zelensky. Zelensky gets bs about M who said something what he does not like and he dislikes his own people from fattie who posed in the army tank but run to hide into the fridge facing UK journos that he courts often lol. M has found UK article about poor us no house Norwich and Xmas but their Christmas is in January. M is very smart about spotting bs and trap and Z PR run new PR in Czechia where M was just born about other Ukrainian lady. Mother of 4 like Julie Petry here, a supermom and self made biz girl like M who has own house...it is not about Ukraine. It is about his bs taking it from coke fattie and his Cray coke crew how M is in Czechia (no she lives in UK and anybody knows where) and Z's attitude to troll Klitschko and others so her. He has found Kate does not hold power. M does and she does not eat all his manipulations such as UK PM Sunak who started to pose in the soup kitchen what M has on her old FB Marketa Windsors. Very goody goody. M lives in Stanmore close to UK army and NATO HQs. Royals have more houses and it is known that she has a software cloud company in Manchester and she has rented her second apartment in Liverpool. She said it. She posted it but that UK fattie with their former female PM as ministers were often in Liverpool.., Manchester. M runs IT biz, no looting or lobbying UK assets. That's what Johnson and his lover, Patel do and M holds army regrets. They even sold multiple times US UK special forces and operations by ,leaving it at the bus stop, or recently all data to Chinese. Patel., The author of racist card with deluded post signs sold UK biometrics apparently. She is behind the damage of UK police. Z is close ally of fat Johnson with his crazies and he had huge monologues on the day when Fattie left PM office. Z uses often pre recorded videos and put claws into a lady who is Windsor royal born and at her own merit and will not be bullied bcs one fattie with his crew made from her fake ,poor girl, lol. Z has no input in centres but Klitschko is bad.They stalk her bcs her army links and they sell UK to the highest bidders. Plus on coke and not just at Pam's seat in the countryside so denial of facts. There is Grinch Camilla shaming young girls. So M and I don't support self made or working girls. Their bodies,virtues, lives and no way any peep show filming and spreading it..not as a woman about a woman. I think it's good to stand up and bullies try to pick up the most vulnerable (or looking so) victim and it back fired or they have big issues and try to prove themselves as sexier or more masculine action hero's or police girl boss by screaming on staff and chasing old ladies in covid while they partied and not arrested yet. Lets start 2023 without M, her cray family and any trolls and cray fans of Crosby.it is like a real athlete and big mouth noisy person trolling anything behind the screen what's wrong on the game and how to do it but never trying skates etc on lol...the top in their own world, in reality cowards ,inept. UK ex homeland woman's work with UK cops, chasing the softest targets to make stats but burglaries and rape is ignored so looting if not by politicians. Try US abortion clinics and gun totting protesters, not standing peacefully or arresting black UK marine without investigation speeding crap bout him to his commanders

#jonathan toews #Brandon hagel #dylan strome #chicago blackhawks #vitali klitschko #kathy leutner #Winter classics #Nhl #Ice hockey

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capitalism-and-analytics · 3 years ago

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What have you done to help tax the rich? What have you done to help the poor? Genuinely asking.

Sure...

What have you done to help tax the rich?

Provided advisory services over internal controls and reporting of financial statements to be prepared in accordance with the proper financial reporting framework, typically GAAP. The financial statements are one of the most commonly used sources of financial information used by the IRS. Furthermore, a large portion of the financial data that I worked with would ultimately be used by the tax preparers (typically another Big 4) in the preparation of their tax return.

As most of my work heavily deals with risk management, I would also argue that helps ensuring the longevity of the rich being a taxable source.

Depending on your threshold of "the rich", I've worked in the tax preparation for several rich individuals.

What have you done to help the poor?

Donate a percentage of my salary each year to two non-profit organizations: Children's Healthcare of [Redacted] and Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Only redacting the city name to reduce the chance of being doxxed.

At my prior employer, as part of our compensation package, we were given the opportunity to have our employer to give one-time donations to the charity of our choice. My first two years I did Children's Healthcare of [Redacted] and my third year I did Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

At another prior employer, it was a non-profit organization for assisting J-1 visa sponsorships to visit the US for work & travel programs, most participants were poor,.

I've volunteered with MUST Ministries (I'm not religious) which is a volunteer organization dedicated to helping homeless and struggling individuals and families with food, clothing, housing, employment, and other needs.

Use to volunteer at Children's Healthcare of [Redacted] pre-COVID, but due to COVID, they reduced volunteer opportunities significantly (for obvious reasons).

When I was in school, I was a Volunteer Tax Preparer primarily for VITA recipients.

Served as a corporate partnership volunteer for Toastmasters at one of the local Title I schools, which promotes leadership and public speaking skills.

Volunteer as a personal finance and career advisor providing various workshop sessions (typically resume, mock interviews, and making a budget).

Since graduating, I've also volunteered twice for Hire Heroes USA for mock interviews.

Stupid, but I've been a long-time resume advice giver on /r/resumes on reddit, which I get a lot of positive feedback from poor people, so it counts IMO.

Probably more, but that's what comes up at the top of my head in recent years.

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cutesilyo · 3 years ago

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Notes and References for i know your eyes in the morning sun

Hi! These are notes and references for my IndoPhil fic i know your eyes in the morning sun, so please check it out before reading this!

Title: i know your eyes in the morning sun Summary: When a homesick Indonesia is unexpectedly taken out of his meeting for a day trip in Rome with Philippines, he isn't expecting much more than exhaustion ahead of him. Instead, what happens is a whirlwind of food, fun, and a surprising amount of reflection on their histories and differences as nations. And as he looks deeper and deeper in the other nation's bright eyes, he learns to come to terms with the feelings he's been ignoring for far, far too long. Alternatively: a nation who's too attached to the past goes on a date with a nation whose entire philosophy is built on trying to live in the moment. Yes, there is kissing involved. Read on: AO3 | FF.net

Scene 1: Pizza al taglio

As coincidence would have it, the G20 2021 Summit actually will be held in Rome, Italy. However, it’ll be on the end of October rather than the end of September like how its depicted in the fic. I’m also very much ignoring the COVID-19 pandemic. Pretend it never happened.

Borobudur is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, found in the island of Java, Indonesia. It was built way back in the 7th Century and it's probably Indonesia's top most visited site.

Terang bulan is basically like a really large, fluffy, folded pancake. It also has a variety of different names and is also eaten in Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore.

If you could have a convenience store dedicated solely to pizza, that's what pizza al taglio establishments are like. Its literal translation is pizza by the cut, and since it's a lot more common to find in Rome than in other places in Italy, it's also called Roman-style pizza. The layout for the al taglio shop that Indonesia and Philippines go to is inspired from the shop that me and my family went to: a small family establishment just a short walk away from the Vatican.

You can actually find a recipe for Indonesia’s arugula and mozzarella pizza here: https://shared.publicmediaconnect.org/docs/atk/Pizza_Taglio_Cooks_Illustrated.pdf

Scene 2: Souvenir store + Bus stop

Indonesian rupiahs are notoriously hyperinflated, so the 15 euros that Philippines uses to buy the keychains convert to 250k+ rupiahs. That's around 50k short for actually being able to buy a local economy flight on Lion Air. For comparison, the same amount of euros convert to approximately 900 Philippine pesos. It’s also a few hundred pesos short of buying a local economy flight on Cebu Pacific.

There actually was a point when a G20 meeting was held in the Coliseum. It was the G20 culture ministers meeting just a few months ago, in July 2021.

Yes, on top of the thousands of festivals we already have, Filipinos also celebrate Oktoberfest! It's more of an excuse for local beer companies to shamelessly promote their product and encourage drinking fests on a massive scale, but a more legitimate Oktoberfest celebration is organized by the German Club in Manila. Lucky Philippines gets to celebrate it authentically in Munich with the German brothers, who historically aimed to conquer the Philippines before America managed to stake his claim. So if you sense that Germany is being oddly shy towards Philippines here, that's just Germany being embarrassed because of their history.

Italy's major international airport in Rome is Aeroporto Internazionale di Roma–Fiumicino "Leonardo da Vinci", so you generally just call it Fiumicino for short. A possible travel route for flying from the Philippines to Italy is Clark-Dubai-Rome, and another is Manila-Hong Kong-Rome.

Scene 3: Gianicolo

Bali, Boracay, and El Nido are beaches that serve as major tourist destinations.

Vietnam has already been mentioned to be a menace when she's drunk in her most recent character introduction. Laos is at the top of ASEAN when it comes to alcohol consumption, with the average Laotian drinking seven liters of pure alcohol every year.

Indonesia is sometimes known as the Invisible Nation. What this means to say is that there have not been many things that Indonesia has done that made massive waves on the global scale. From what I’ve read, this seems to have been an especially popular sentiment among Western analysts during the Cold War.

Australia's awkward attempt at an apology is a reference to when the Australian government had allegedly monitored and spied on the phone calls of several Indonesian officials. Indonesia and Australia have a history that goes far deeper than that though.

Monas is a common abbreviation for Indonesia's Monumen Nasional, proudly standing tall in the middle of Merdeka Square as a commemoration of the fight for Indonesian independence. Taman Surapati is a large, chill public park; it also has a monument dedicated to commemorating ASEAN there. Both are located in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital. Meanwhile, Philippines' mention of Luneta refers to Luneta Park. It's also known as Rizal Park, as it's the place where the national hero Jose Rizal was executed for the influence he had in encouraging the fight for Philippine independence.

In Rome, there are seven major hills: they formed the geographical heart of Ancient Rome, with Palatino and Campidoglio as the most significant given how connected they were to Rome's founding and Rome's religion. Gianicolo is outside the boundaries of Ancient Rome, and as such, it isn't counted among the seven hills. It is dedicated to the Roman god Janus and was a place for the augurs to divine the will of the gods — kind of like a prophecy, if a prophecy could be divined from bird entrails. Now it's a great spot for a scenic view of modern Rome which features, among other things, a large statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi. Garibaldi was a major figure in the Italian Reunification.

Nusantara means many different things, but in the era of the Majapahit empire, it referred to the vassal kingdoms in what is now modern-day Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Timor Leste, and the southern parts of modern-day Thailand and Philippines. Modern usage of the word in Indonesia generally refers to the Indonesian archipelago, but it can also be used to refer to the entirety of maritime Southeast Asia. Culturally and historically, Southeast Asia is divided into the mainland region (the countries connected to the Asian continent: Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar) and maritime (the countries that are islands and archipelagos: Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines).

Italy, together with the United Kingdom, is the largest European migration destination for Filipinos. The largest migration destination for Filipinos in general is America.

Shout-out to Ro-na for this wonderful headcanon of Philippines being sickly in his early days as a Spanish colony! The galleon ships used to facilitate trade between the Philippines and Mexico (perhaps the Philippines' most major contribution to the Spanish crown) would often be attacked by pirates or destroyed in typhoons, especially in the first few decades.

Majapahit and Srivijaya are only two of pre-colonial Indonesia's many powerful empires. A lot of the pre-colonial stuff has been simplified for brevity's sake, but a brief summary of it all basically goes like this: pre-colonial Indonesia was involved with everyone in maritime SEA, where everyone traded with each other; and mainland SEA was non-stop fighting where the major powers were the empires that would later become Vietnam and the Khmer empire that would influence everyone else in mainland SEA. You can find a more detailed look into mainland SEA history by Gemu in her posts here, who is my main influence for everything mainland SEA-related.

A young Brunei picking flowers for a young Philippines is a reference to all the marriages that had occurred between their nobility during the pre-colonial era.

Scene 4: Apartment

The turtle fountain in Rome is a real thing: Fontana delle Tartarughe was originally designed with dolphins in mind, but the dolphins were removed and replaced by turtles. In fandom, you usually see Philippines calling Indonesia kuya, which is Tagalog for older brother. In at least one Indonesian language (I can't remember which one at the moment, sorry!), kuya means turtle.

Tondo, Seludong, Butuan, Sulu, Sugbu, and Panay are all polities in pre-colonial Philippines, two for each of the main island groups in the country: Luzon in the north, Mindanao in the south, and Visayas in the middle. Unlike pre-colonial Indonesia, the societies in the Philippines were never united by a single kingdom or empire; the Philippine islands were only united through the efforts of Spanish and American colonization.

Filipinos tend to sing a lot. Many of us are really good at it. Karaoke is really popular here.

Philippines' PIN code of 8862 is a reference to when ASEAN was founded: August 8, 1962. The founding members were Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

This might be as good of a time as ever for me to mention that I am depicting Philippines and Indonesia as Catholic and Muslim respectively. Filipinos are predominantly Catholic and the Philippines is the largest Catholic country in Asia, while Indonesia has a number of official religions and is the largest Muslim nation in the world.

Special thanks to Desa for helping me with Indonesia's prayer times! Normally, Muslims pray five times a day, but when travelling Muslims are allowed to pray only three times. This is called Qasr salah, or Qasr sholat in Indonesia. What is usually Fajr (called Subuh in Indonesia), Zuhr, Asr, Magrib, and Isha becomes only Fajr, Zuhr-Asr, and Mahgrib-Isha; essentially, without getting into the specifics of time, a prayer for sunrise, afternoon, and night. The mosques will remind everyone when it's prayer time with adhan (called adzan in Indonesia), but in non-Muslim countries abroad, many Muslims have to use websites and apps to keep track. Something I didn't mention in the fic is that Rome actually has the largest mosque in the Western world, Moschea di Roma, so Indonesia could have potentially prayed there.

Scene 5: Apartment dinner table

Sholat wouldn’t take Indonesia more than a few minutes, so imagine that he did something else while waiting for Philippines to finish cooking.

Baked fish with sliced lemons is a meal that got served to me a lot in Italy. Chop suey is Chinese, but China has had a significant cultural influence for most of Southeast Asia throughout history; the Indonesian version is known as kap cay. Indomie Mi Goreng is a particularly tasty and famous kind of instant noodles from Indonesia. It's very popular in many Asian countries. Indonesia doesn’t drink, but Philippines is drinking white wine because that’s what you’re supposed to do when eating fish. Red wine goes with meat.

Admittedly, this is my own personal headcanon, but I like to think of Philippines living in Spain with the other Spanish colonies while everyone else in maritime SEA were left behind to live in their own countries. It's my own neat Hetalia universe explanation for how much Spanish influence there is in Filipino culture, and how isolated Filipinos can sometimes feel among their neighbors.

I do think that Philippines would have a Hispanic-sounding human name, but I've never really settled on what name actually would be: in fandom, Felipe, Lorenzo, and Jaime get thrown around a lot. In contrast, it seems like most people have settled on Dirga (short for Dirgantara) for Indonesia.

Philippines is sometimes called as la colonia abandonada in Spanish sources: the abandoned colony. Because the Philippines was so far away, Spain couldn't manage the colony directly and had to rely on Mexico/Nueva España to do the dirty work until Mexico became independent. This led to a more relaxed manner in how the country was managed for most of its Spanish colonial life; some scholars even go as far as saying that Spain's treatment of the Philippines was kinder than Spain's treatment of Latin America. I don't really agree — it was different, sure, but it wasn't kind in the least.

Contrast that with Indonesia as the largest and most important colony of the Dutch empire. Aside from all the money and economic prosperity that Indonesia gave to the empire, you'll also find many Dutch songs and hymns that are all praises to Indonesia. Much of the research in Indonesian history, ethnography, and archeology was made possible because of Dutch interest and support; until now, the Netherlands remains to be Europe's leader when it comes to Indonesian studies. This isn't to say that Netherlands treated Indonesia well, however.

After the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in WW2, Netherlands fought to keep power over the archipelago. Needless to say, the Netherlands failed. Indonesia was recognized as an independent country soon after.

Indië is the Dutch colonial name for Indonesia.

APEC is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, of which Philippines and Indonesia (and Thailand!) are members.

Scene 6 + 7: Apartment bedroom

What was Philippines doing in the 1920s, you ask? Being an American colony and trying to lobby for laws that would hasten his independence. Indonesia was in the middle of what’s called the Indonesian National Awakening; all the different peoples under Indonesia were beginning to come together and unite to fight for a single independent nation.

As a tarsier, Pien is actually supposed to be nocturnal; he shouldn't be sleeping at night at all. Maybe he just got jet lagged? Who knows.

BL stands for the boy's love genre of TV series. For years, Thailand had been the lead when it came to BL production with shows like TharnType and SOTUS. Recently, the Philippines has also been developing BL series — Gameboys specifically had achieved worldwide acclaim and is distributed globally through Netflix.

Filipino languages tend to have more complex verb conjugation and sentence structure compared to Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia. The linguistic explanation for this is that most of the Filipino languages are based on the older Proto-Malayo-Polynesian language while Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia are based on the newer, more simplified descendants of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian.

Pramoedya Ananta Toer was an Indonesian author that focused a lot of his work on nationalistic sentiments. He has a quote on bravery that I really like: Dalam hidup kita, cuma satu yang kita punya, yaitu keberanian. Kalau tidak punya itu, lantas apa harga hidup kita ini? Loosely translated, this reads as: In our life, we only have one thing, which is bravery. If it’s not, what is the value of our life?

Indonesia, as a large archipelago in the Pacific Ring of Fire, has a lot of active volcanoes. In contrast, the Philippines is regularly hit by tens of typhoons annually.

There are an estimated 12 million Filipinos overseas, and this number consistently rises through the years. It's one of the largest diaspora populations: name a country, you'll probably find a Filipino working there somewhere. OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) account for 10% of the country's population and the remittances they send back to their families account for 10% of the country's GDP. Indonesia has a similar phenomenon with TKIs (Tenaga Kerja Indonesia), of which there are 4.5 million worldwide.

Post-independence, Indonesia was very paranoid over Western influence in Southeast Asia. In that same time period, Philippine delegates to international conferences would always speak of democracy and the looming threat of Communism; even though most of the Asian delegates would prefer to move past Western problems and disputes to focus on a united Asia.

Telenovelas are soap operas produced in Latin America. They became popular in Southeast Asia as they were distributed and remade here. The Indonesian equivalent is the sinetron, and the Filipino equivalent is the teleserye.

Additionally, I cannot stress enough how much this fic is built on the foundations laid by others. I’ve already mentioned how much I took inspiration from Gemu’s depiction of mainland SEA, but I also credit Indonesia’s thing for temples to Desa; the passive-aggressive energy between Thailand and Philippines to Hali; amnesiac Piri to Koko, Kopi, and Sopas (among the many). There are a dozen other things I can attribute to a huge assortment of writers and artists: that Singapore has trouble remembering his pre-colonial roots as well, that Piri might have had a good relationship with Romano, Piri’s general flirty and flighty attitude, Indonesia’s awkwardness and big brother aura, etcetera, etcetera. If you’re someone that has been contributing to the SEA fandom these past few months, thank you. Thank you so much.

#mine #indophil #hws indonesia #hws philippines #hws #PHEW THIS TOOK THE WHOLE MORNING TO WRITE

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twoflipstwotwists · 4 years ago

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It’s a late afternoon in April, and Sunisa “Suni” Lee is where most people find themselves a year into the pandemic: Home, in a sweatshirt, talking into a webcam. The 18-year-old gymnast is poised to make history at the summer Olympics, but over Zoom, she’s just like any teenager, reflecting on everything she’s balancing behind the scenes.

While training for a wildly unpredictable Games, Lee has been caring for her recently paralyzed father, mourning the deaths of her aunt and uncle from COVID, and recovering from a broken foot that jeopardized her lifelong dream to win gold. Now Lee, whose parents emigrated from Laos, is also fighting to qualify as the first-ever Hmong American Olympic gymnast—all while her community contends with a national surge in anti-Asian violence. “People hate on us for no reason,” Lee says from her parents’ house in St. Paul, Minnesota. “It would be cool to show that we are more than what they say. I don’t know how to explain that...”

Lee’s father inches his wheelchair closer into the Zoom screen, and answers for her. “It would be the greatest accomplishment of any Hmong person in the U.S. ever,” he says. “It will go down in history.”

Before the Tokyo Olympics were postponed in March 2020, Lee’s family was preparing for the trip of a lifetime. Though she hadn’t actually made the team yet, her parents John Lee and Yeev Thoj had no doubts. They bought plane tickets to watch their daughter compete, and planned to celebrate afterward with a trip to Laos to show Lee and her siblings where they grew up. Both John and Yeev are Hmong, an ethnic group made of people primarily from Southeast Asia and areas in China who fought alongside the U.S. in the Vietnam War. After losing most of their land in the war, many Hmong fled to Thailand as refugees. By the late ‘70s and ‘80s, around 90 percent of the refugee population had resettled in the U.S., where there are now 18 Hmong clans, the largest residing in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Lee describes her community there as “really close.” More than 300 people come to her family’s annual camping trip, and she can’t go to a local Asian store without someone asking after her dad. She has become something of a local celebrity herself. At Hmong events, Lee gets stopped for photos by people who tell her how proud they are. “It’s nice knowing I have them to fall back on,” she says. “The support is amazing.”

But last May, just two months before the Olympic opening ceremony was originally scheduled to take place, Lee’s family and the rest of the Twin Cities Hmong community found themselves thrust into the national conversation over race and policing. Kellie Chauvin, the now ex-wife of Derek Chauvin, the officer who murdered George Floyd, is Hmong American. So is Tou Thao, another officer on the scene who is set to stand trial in August on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in connection to Floyd’s murder. As part of the ensuing protests, several nearby Hmong American businesses were vandalized. John says it got “scary” when several homes on their block were broken into.

“I was trying to make the Hmong community more known,” Lee says. “When that happened, I felt like it was a setback.”

Lee’s journey to the Olympics started with a lumpy mattress and a piece of plywood. Her parents were eager to preoccupy their energetic, gymnastics-obsessed seven-year-old, and a balance beam seemed like the perfect distraction. John built a four-foot-long structure from a spare mattress that, to his credit, still stands in their yard today. He also taught Lee, who’s one of six kids, how to do flips on the bed.

By then, Lee had captured the attention of Jess Graba, a coach at Midwest Gymnastics. “It was super raw and she was just a little kid, but she had some talent,” Graba says, remembering when they met. “Her flips were kind of crazy—she had been practicing in her yard—and she clearly had some ability to go upside down without fear.”

In 2016 when she was 14, Lee was named to the U.S. junior national team, and it became clear Graba could be coaching one of the next great American gymnasts. They traveled around the world together for competitions, and by 2018, Lee had won a gold medal on uneven bars at the National Championships. Five-time Olympic medalist Nastia Liukin, Lee’s longtime hero, took notice of the high-flying athlete. “Her abilities as a gymnast, especially her bar routine, are incredible,” Liukin tells ELLE. “But it’s the unparalleled mental strength that she has shown during the most difficult time of her life that make her the person she is.”

Just two days before the 2019 National Championships, John fell from a ladder while trimming a tree. He was paralyzed from the chest down. At the time, Graba thought Lee shouldn’t compete out of concern for her safety: A distracted athlete is a danger to themselves because they are much more likely to lose focus and get injured. It would have been a devastating end to a decade of training, as nationals are like an unofficial pre-qualifier for the Olympic Games. But John remained confident in his daughter’s ability to compete under pressure. Before Lee stepped onto the mat, they FaceTimed and he advised her to clear her mind—and remember to have fun. “She can stay focused when she puts her mind to it,” he says.

As John watched the competition from his hospital bed, beaming with pride, Lee won the silver in all-around competition, nailing one of the hardest bar routines in the world. One month later, at the U.S. World Championships selection camp, she came within four-tenths of a point of beating Simone Biles in the all-around—the closest anyone has come to Biles in years—and landed one step closer to fulfilling her Olympic dream.

In March 2020, Lee was scrolling through Twitter after practice when she saw the news: The Olympics were postponed, for the first time in modern history, due to COVID. Lee wiped tears away with chalky hands as years of carefully laid plans were thrown into limbo. “To have that taken away from us without having any control is very hard,” she says. “I went through a depressed phase, and it was hard to get out of.”

For weeks Lee could do little more than sleep and cry. Her gym was closed for three months— practically an eternity in the unforgiving timeline of an elite gymnast. When it did reopen in June, Lee broke her foot, meaning three more months of downtime. “If you were 100 percent ready for the 2020 Olympics, then you’re spending the year going, ‘Let’s just not get injured. Let’s just not make any mistakes,’” Graba says.

Lee found an unexpected source of comfort in Biles, who went from being her biggest competition to one of her closest friends after they competed in 2019. “She was there for me,” Lee says. During lockdown, they Snapchatted and texted—two of the only people in the world who truly understood the gut-punch of waiting another year for the Games to begin.

Then, as the country continued to face rising COVID rates in summer 2020, Lee’s own family was devastated by the virus. Her aunt and uncle—close family members who babysat her as a kid—both died of COVID less than two weeks apart. Lee’s uncle, a Hmong shaman, had helped heal her hurt foot with hot ginger and other herbal medicines. Like so many others did during the pandemic, Lee said goodbye over Zoom.

As the nation slowly starts to heal, so has Lee. She can now spot small silver linings from the past year, like spending more time with her siblings and driving her dad to doctor’s appointments, which she calls “good for me mentally, because typically I’m never with them.” It has taken months and months to get back to the peak shape she was in pre-pandemic, but now it’s full steam ahead. The U.S. Championships are the first week of June, and the Olympic trials are later that month. Lee says the extra year has strengthened her performance on the uneven bars and made her more consistent overall. “I just didn’t want to see myself fall back,” she says. “I don’t want to disappoint my coaches or my parents.”

Still, a spot on the team isn’t guaranteed. For the first time in history, U.S. women’s gymnastics has only four open spots (down from five at the 2016 Games), one of which will almost definitely go to Biles. At this point, it might be harder for a U.S. gymnast to make the Olympic team than it is to actually win a medal once they’re there.

Unsurprisingly, none of this seems to phase Lee. She is no stranger to finding the best version of herself under intense circumstances—the version that wins medals, defies gravity, and advocates for her community. Before falling asleep at night, she visualizes herself sticking a perfect landing and coming home as the first Hmong American Olympic gymnastics champion. History made.

#sunisa lee #i want nothing but good things for her

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sketchfanda · 3 years ago

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for anyone who has known me here on deviantart especially since back in those pre eclipse glory days,or on tumblr especially back before the nsfw ban or on twitter will know I’m a something of a long time pro wrestling fan. When I say wrestling of course I’m not talking about wwe,aka the “leading global force in sports entertainment” who have of course continually insulted the intelligence of fans and gone out their way these last 2 decades with their attempts to monopolise the scene. I’m talking the wider world of Independent wrestling,the alternative of all elite wrestling,the collective variety of compamies like Impact,ring of honor and pwg,game changer,the fighting spirit of new Japan,and case in point here,a little canadian based promotion called interspecies wrestling. Operating since 2005,they had been gaining some traction with some stateside shows, especially their contribution to game changer wrestling’s collective during the wrestlemania weekend in 2019 where two of their signature gimmick matches were in full force. The food fight snd the fans bring the legoes deathmatch. Well,technically they can’t legally call it legoes they have to call it the toy blocks match or something or other,but I digress. Now like many wrestling companies among other places,the global bastard that still won’t stop trying to fuck us over,fuck you with your delta an lambda and every other fucking variant you viral prick!! Pretty much out a kibosh on ISW’s personal plans for shows,including a special anniversary show. especially with borders and international travel complications but now they’ve begun making big plans.

lastwordonsports.com

Death by Lego: ISW's Michael Woods Talks Conception of Professional Wrestling's Most Colorful and Unique Match - Last Word on Pro Wrestling

Inter Species Wrestling's Balls Out features the return of one of the more innovative wrestling matches, the Lego Death Match.

as the website link up above will inform you as I am now,Inter-species wrestling is planning to hold their first show since the pandemic,with their signature gimmick match set to mak a record,One Million blocks! slamtasia 7:the big dumb block party happens October 29th,in New Jersey and even if you can’t get a ticket,you can help out and contribute to this show by going to their Amazon wishlist and sending some blocks their way. The closer they get to that magic number,come between now and October,barring the bitch thst is Covid screwing us all, you can see to it no inch of that ring is left uncovered in a horrible rain row of little interconnecting toy bricks and blocks

So If you've got any blocks taking up space in your garage or attic, and you'd like to send them their way - please do. Contact them by email to set that up. If you've got a few extra bucks burning a hole in your pocket, and you'd like to purchase blocks to send their way - they graciously accept those as well

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3QW7PR1J9D9HI?ref_=wl_share

Other ways to support :

Watch their content on IWTV.live - they directly benefit from your views, and any money made will go towards the goal. Use promo code ISDUB for a free trial.Purchase t-shirts or hoodies off of their shop at ShopIWTV

Again any funds made will go towards the goal of 1,000,000 blocks.and if you want an idea of what kind of big dumb insane fun to look forward to,here is some examples.

youtube

the food fight invitational,featuring one Sean handlerson,where crumbs and mayhem will go flying and will feature a foodfight championship for the winner

youtube

a highlight video of last block deathmatches

youtube

their biggest wildest fans bring the toy that shall not be named match,from their 2019 wrestler mania collective weekend show featuring veteran of this match and isw regular addy starr and Indy death match regulars,Jeff cannonball,nick effin gage who recently made an appearance onvice’s dark side of the ring and AEW,and retired grappler and promoter Matt Tremont,whose promotion hardcore hustle organisation will be hosting slamtasia at the hardcore hustle organisation’s training school and arena warehouse.

youtube

if that’s enough to whet the appetite,as said before help out by donating some blocks, or sending them what’s in their Amazon wishlist,the more blocks the better and quicker they get to that magic number of One Million,be part of the dumbest,funbest,craziest match in history of wrestling. @theemptycoliseum @opinionatedwrestlingfan @prfctcellrulz @joearlikelikeswrestling @closetofanxiety @vashito @roninkairi @wftc141

#pro wrestling #professional wrestling #indy wrestling #independent wrestling #indie wrestling #inter species wrestling #interspecies wrestling #GCW #gcw wrestling #game changer wrestling #GameChanger Wrestling #addy starr #nick gage #matt tremont #jeff cannonball #dan barry #hardcore hustle #h2o wrestling #legoes

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newstfionline · 3 years ago

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Wednesday, December 1, 2021

International travelers stranded, angry in omicron’s wake (Washington Post) Lauren Kennedy Brady landed in Johannesburg on Friday to a flurry of text messages and news alerts. The Broadway veteran and North Carolina resident was headed home after 11 days touring Africa alongside her mother, daughter and niece. Everything was going smoothly. But scanning her phone, Kennedy Brady, 47, learned a new variant of the coronavirus had been detected in South Africa. Not long after, the family found themselves stranded, their reservation on the next flight canceled amid the new restrictions. The disruptions for Kennedy Brady and her family, as well as so many others, come as various governments scramble to place restrictions on travel, closing their borders to southern African countries. Travelers have been left stuck abroad, desperately trying to get home amid a slew of cancellations, while others are scratching plans to see loved ones in other countries.

Vaccine makers and the balance of power (Financial Times) The Financial Times has spoken to more than 60 people involved in the vaccine process, including current and former Pfizer employees and government officials across the globe, to lift the veil on how the company that has contributed so much to saving the world from Covid has also ensured it is such a lucrative business. They are all grateful for a safe and effective vaccine. But many question if the balance of power has tipped too far in Pfizer’s favor. Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University, says Pfizer and other vaccine makers have been “hard edged” in negotiations because politicians have been reluctant to push back. “I’m not anti-Big Pharma . . . I think they have created a miracle, a scientific triumph,” he says. “But to say that they are wielding their power fairly, openly, with a sense of compassion, is manifestly untrue.”

Canada to require people arriving by air to take COVID-19 tests; measure excludes U.S. flights (Reuters) Canada, seeking to halt the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, will require people arriving by air from all nations except the United States to take a COVID-19 test, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said on Tuesday. “All air travelers coming from outside Canada, apart from the United States, will now need to be tested at the airport (where) they are landing in Canada,” Duclos told a briefing. “They will then need to isolate themselves until they get the results of their test.”

Pandemic inspires burst in entrepreneurship across US (WSJ) The pandemic has unleashed a historic burst in entrepreneurship and self-employment, The Wall Street Journal reports. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are striking out on their own as consultants, retailers and small business owners. The move helps explain the major shifts happening in the world of work, with more people looking for flexibility, anxious about COVID-19 exposure, upset about vaccine mandates or simply disenchanted with pre-pandemic office life. It is also aggravating labor shortages in some industries. The number of unincorporated self-employed workers has risen by 500,000 since the start of the pandemic, Labor Department data shows, to 9.44 million. The total amounts to an increase of 6% in the self-employed.

The declining US birthrate (The Week) The long decline in the U.S. birthrate continues. 2020 saw the fewest babies born relative to the population of women between 15 and 44 of any year in American history. A recent Pew poll found the fraction of non-parents between 18 and 49 saying they were “very likely” to have kids fell from 32 percent in 2018 to 26 percent this year, while the fraction saying they were “not too likely” or “not at all likely” increased from 37 percent to 44 percent. There are strong reasons to think these trends will only escalate. Absent major changes, in the next decade or two, the American population is likely going to start falling fast. The American welfare state effectively imposes massive penalties on people who have kids, especially if they’re on the bottom half of the income ladder. Our health care system is the most expensive and worst-performing in the rich world. We have no national paid family leave, no public child care, and no national public pre-K. Our income distribution is hideously unequal. We do have a child allowance of sorts thanks to the American Rescue Plan, but it’s designed poorly and isn’t reaching many of the people who need it most.

Barbados says goodbye to queen, transforms into republic (AP) Barbados stopped pledging allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as it shed another vestige of its colonial past and became a republic for the first time in history. Several leaders and dignitaries, including Prince Charles, attended the ceremony that began late Monday in a popular square. The last time the queen was removed as head of state was in 1992 when Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, proclaimed itself a republic.

A Brazilian town empties as migration to U.S. accelerates (Reuters) Amid tearful goodbyes, Ana Paula Souza, her husband and their infant son set off for the United States, one of hundreds of families to depart the small Brazilian town of Alpercata in recent months. Nestled in the hills of southeastern Minas Gerais state, Alpercata has been sending its townspeople north for decades. But as locals grapple with a pandemic that has killed jobs, battered Brazil's currency and sparked double-digit inflation, a piecemeal migration from this poor, okra-farming area has become an exodus. Municipal data suggest hundreds of households in Alpercata, home to roughly 7,500 people, have this year taken their kids out of school and sold their belongings to finance the journey to the United States. The stampede from Alpercata and other nearby towns underscores the lingering impact of a pandemic that has killed more than 600,000 people in Brazil, second only to the United States. And a booming U.S. job market and a strong dollar that makes remittances sent back to Brazil stretch farther are proving hard to resist.

Sweden’s first female prime minister quit after several hours. Less than a week later, she’s back. (Washington Post) Her historic initial appointment as Sweden’s first female prime minister lasted a matter of hours. Now, just a few days later, Magdalena Andersson is back and hopes to hold the job for a decade—if she can conquer the obstacles of minority government and an election due to be held in less than a year’s time. “It feels good and I am eager to start working,” Andersson told reporters at a news conference on Monday, in which she committed to an agenda focused on the environment, welfare and tackling crime.

Greece to make vaccinations for persons over 60 mandatory, PM says (Reuters) Greece said on Tuesday it would make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for people aged 60 and over, a drastic step for the country grappling with a new surge in coronavirus cases. Authorities said they would impose a 100 euro ($114) fine on every individual over the age of 60 who was not vaccinated. The measure would apply each month from Jan. 16 onwards.

Sneakernet (MIT Technology Review) Prior to the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan was home to a thriving sneakernet. Basically, when access to the internet is spotty, it becomes more cost-effective just to load a bunch of digital media onto a hard drive and transport it physically to the person who wants that digital media. And while there are 23 million mobile phone users in a country of 39 million, as of early 2021 there were less than 9 million internet users. Locally known as “computer kars,” people who sell digital content by hand had been a staple of the local digital economy, distributing Hollywood and Bollywood films throughout the country. Data was sold locally, with 5 gigabytes of data flipping for around 100 afghanis, or $1.09. Business is bad, in no small part because of declining incomes and crackdowns on people who import content that the religious hardliners don’t approve of.

Iran strikes hard line as talks over nuclear deal resume (AP) Iran struck a hard line Tuesday after just one day of restarted talks in Vienna over its tattered nuclear deal, suggesting everything discussed in previous rounds of diplomacy could be renegotiated. Speaking to Iranian state television, Ali Bagheri, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, referred to everything discussed thus far as merely a “draft.” It remained unclear whether that represented an opening gambit by Iran’s new president or signaled serious trouble for those hoping to restore the 2015 deal that saw Tehran strictly limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Leaked papers link top Chinese leaders to Uyghur crackdown (BBC) Excerpts have been put online from previously unpublished documents directly linking top Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, to the state's crackdown on Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in Xinjiang province. According to analysts, the documents show that former government leaders called for measures that led to forced internments, mass sterilisations, forced assimilation, "re-education", and coercion of detained Uyghurs to work in factories. China has consistently denied committing genocide against Uyghurs.

Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians spike in the West Bank (Washington Post) Israeli settlers have dramatically increased their attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank over recent months, with violent incidents up about 150 percent in the past two years, according to data presented by the Israeli military at a defense ministry meeting this month. A United Nations agency has separately found that 115 Palestinians have been beaten or otherwise attacked by settlers since the start of the year, with four fatalities. More than 300 incidents of property destruction, including olive trees cut and burned during the autumn harvest, were documented over the same time period. The wave of beatings, arson, vandalism and rock-throwing—most taking place where Palestinian farms and groves are adjacent to Jewish settlements established on land captured by Israel in the 1967 war—has prompted some leaders of the Israel’s governing coalition to call for a crackdown on settler violence.

How to supercharge your donations (Yahoo News) In September, Matt Schulz started a GoFundMe fundraiser for American Cancer Society as a way to honor his father who had passed away the year before. He told family, friends, and colleagues and on a lark, he contacted his employer's human resources department to see if the company would also contribute. Turns out, it would match employee contributions up to $1,500 every year. The perk is actually pretty common, though how much each employer is willing to match varies among companies. Nearly two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs, according to Double the Donation, which helps nonprofits increase their gift revenue, and 26 million individuals work for companies with these programs. While $2 billion to $3 billion is donated through these matching programs every year, per Double the Donation, the problem that Schulz discovered is that many employees are unaware of these matching programs. That means as much as $7 billion in funds don't get donated to charitable organizations every year, according to statistics from Double the Donation. "If we could change that, it could make an enormous difference for money-strapped charities and for people in need all over the country," Schulz said.

#headlines #news

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swanlake1998 · 4 years ago

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Article: Why I Left My Classical Ballet Job to Explore My Roots in Javanese Dance

Date: February 6, 2021

By: Cat Woods

At the peak of her career, dancer Juliet Burnett left the Australian Ballet to explore her Javanese roots. Now, the Indonesian-Australian ballerina is drawing on her heritage to expand the often narrow world of performing arts.

When Juliet Burnett smiles, the full gloriousness of her high-cheekbones and angular face are both feline and balletic, not dissimilar to the finely boned, regal faces of Javanese dancers. Her facial expressions, like her body — sculpted by almost two decades of professional dance — are deliberate and refined.

It's been five years since Burnett left The Australian Ballet at the peak of her career, having been steadily promoted, over 13 years, to the role of senior artist within the Melbourne-based company.

From her family home in Sydney, where she is temporarily living while borders are closed for travel due to COVID-19, Burnett is fired up about the attitudes of classical dance. She has memories of feeling like an outsider amongst a largely middle-class, white company that espoused creative adventurism but failed to appeal to — or recruit — more than a couple of Indigenous dancers, nor to make the Asian-Australian dancers in the company feel that their cultural heritage was encouraged in the imperial values of classical ballet. "Black dancers, Asian dancers, and dancers of color aren't made to feel like their cultural provenance is celebrated," she tells Allure.

"I felt like the role of women in classical ballet is to be subservient," she says now, reflective and thoughtful in her wording, though not cautious. Burnett is not one for tip-toeing about. "Not just the roles for women, but the very system of classical ballet.”

The Australian Ballet encountered backlash in June this year after it published a black square on social media. The national ballet company was accused by its Instagram followers of being "lazy," doing the bare minimum in its response to Black Lives Matter.

In 2019, in a review of the Australian Ballet’s version of The Nutcracker for Australian arts publication Limelight Magazine, the critic viewed the production as perpetuating "racialised stereotypes of Chinese characters." The lack of diversity in the ballet industry as a whole has been brought to public conversation by numerous dancers over recent years, including Misty Copeland, who, via a 2019 Instagram post, called out dancers who were in blackface during a rehearsal for a performance for the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. (Following the post and media coverage, the New York Times reported that the general director for the Bolshoi said in a statement at the time that the ballet company "will not comment on the absurd allegation" of racism.)

A statement provided to Allure from The Australian Ballet says: "The Australian Ballet aims to reflect the diverse Australian community that we operate in and foster an inclusive environment for all. We’re continuing to learn and we are working on longer-term strategies to increase participation in dance across all communities, and provide more access to The Australian Ballet for all Australians, it may take time, but we are committed to working on the bigger picture."

The statement continues: "The Australian Ballet recruited its first Indigenous dancer [Ella Havelka] in 2012, and since then has recruited a second First Nations dancer."

While Burnett would eventually become an outspoken advocate for diversity in ballet, her experience with dance began without an agenda towards a career, nor even the intention to practice classical ballet.

"My grandmother, Raden Ayu Catherine Ismadillah Brataatmaja, was a professional Javanese dancer," she says. "As soon as I was five, my mother was curious about whether dance was in my blood too, so she enrolled me in ballet with the idea that I could follow in her footsteps. She was totally not a pushy dance mum."

Brataatmaja was the star palace dancer of the Surakarta Sultanate (Javanese monarchy in Indonesia), performing the royal court dance Bedhaya Ketawang for Indonesian royalty. Widyas Burnett, while also fully encouraging her daughter to embrace classical ballet, endeavored to make the costume for 14-year-old Juliet's first school choreographic effort, "Campursari." The final number combined classical ballet moves with Javanese dance positions, set to the soundtrack of traditional gamelan music.

Like many young dancers who are recruited to train endless hours through their pre-teen and teenage years to be auditioned for international ballet schools, her talent was spotted by her dance teachers, Valerie Jenkins and Christine Keith. Her graduation from The Australian Ballet School led to the beginnings of her career in 2003. As a dancer with The Australian Ballet, she embodied Odette in Swan Lake, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, and La Sylphide.

In 2011, Burnett was awarded the Khitercs Hirai International Scholarship, intended to allow members of The Australian Ballet companies to travel internationally. She used the scholarship to visit Indonesia to study her grandmother's art of Javanese dance and to initiate workshops for Indonesian kids — particularly those in underprivileged "slums" along the Ciliwung riverbank in Java. Burnett also trained in the theatrical, dance, and meditation techniques as pioneered by her uncle, the actor, poet, and activist, W.S. Rendra.

"When visiting my Mum's side of the family in Indonesia, we'd arrive in Jakarta and there's this big fly road that was built during Suharto's time, and you go across this modern freeway and you peer down the side and there are all these shanty towns," she recalls. At a young age, Burnett was struck by the financial inequity in such a big, prosperous city. Her parents were very open about the fact that many children didn’t have access to clean drinking water, but "then I'd go to my aunt's place and have a beautiful home-cooked meal and watch their big screen TV and everything’s clean and they’ve got their maid cooking for us." Once her dance career started taking off, she "wanted to go back and try and reconnect and bring something back to [those children]."

"Ballet dancers can live in a bubble," she says. "The level of training, rehearsal and performance becomes more than work, it's a lifestyle. I knew, from early on, that I would have to work to maintain my curiosity for other cultures, other forms of dance, to ensure I was not losing my own spirit."

There was no sudden event that resulted in Burnett's choice to leave The Australian Ballet. In fact, Burnett says she had been open with the Ballet from the beginning of her tenure about the fact that she found the hierarchical structure to be outdated and felt that it clashed with her values, and saw the system of promoting dancers destroy careers. Since leaving The Australian Ballet, Burnett has been more creative and vocal in demonstrating how dance can be a political and social statement, and provocation to limited perspectives on culture, poverty, justice, and gender. She created and shared “Injustice: a short film” on her website last year. To get the clips seen in the film, Burnett made a call out on Instagram, inviting people to submit videos of themselves following her choreographic instructions.

In pre-pandemic times, Burnett resided in Belgium, where she is a dancer for The Royal Ballet of Flanders. Burnett has also just launched her own company, A-Part. "It's purely online for now," she explains, "but obviously, once the travel restrictions allow and it is safe to do so, it will be a real-world dance company that travels and performs."

For Burnett, working with the Pina Bausch Company and alongside Akram Khan as a first soloist dancer with The Royal Ballet of Flanders allowed her to shake off the shackles of rigid, classical training and methodology in favor of the liberation, the sometimes feral and primitive nature of contemporary dance and to finally indulge her need to journey into her own Indonesian roots.

"What's wonderful about the Royal Ballet of Flanders is that it's enabled me to dance the choreography of Pina Bausch, Akram Khan, and Édouard Lock, all these contemporary choreographers who I'd never have had access to in Australia," she says. "After I left The Australian Ballet, I wanted to delve into my artistic identity."

Burnett's activism has been creative, positive, and aligned with her belief that education and collaboration are the only ways to provide inclusive, safe environments for those in the dance world. She has presented master classes in collaboration with Ballet.id (Yayasan Bina Ballet Indonesia), which is a non-profit foundation enabling partnerships between Indonesian and international dancers and academics.

In an essay for Pointe in August, writer and educator Shaté L. Hayes writes that the only meaningful response to racial insensitivity within ballet is to genuinely commit to change within ballet schools through major companies. Posting PR-approved hashtags isn’t enough.

David McAllister left his role as artistic director of the Australian Ballet last year. In the statement provided to Allure, the new artistic director, David Hallberg, says, "The future of The Australian Ballet will continue to uphold the rich repertoire of classical ballet but as well, search for new ways to communicate the spirit of dance in this country. I am absorbing the diversity that makes Australia the great country it is, full of varied voices in dance, music, and art, that will be a part of building the repertoire at The Australian Ballet."

That can't happen too soon. Burnett's bravery in speaking of her own experience of working within the ballet world as an Asian-Australian also echoes the experiences of Black, Latinx, and multiracial dancers internationally. “For those of us who were mixed race or fully Asian, Black, or a dancer of color, the ballet world can feel really homogenous, and difficult to find your place and to find a way to celebrate your cultural identity with truth and authenticity,” Burnett says. “It’s important not to be afraid to question the systems that we work in, to say things to your directors. I really hope for a day when the structures we work in don't ask dancers to be mute, subservient, and to comply all the time."

#article #juliet burnett #allure #racism #ballet

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crystal-in-nagasaki · 3 years ago

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preparing for the move

To everyone taking the time to read this, welcome to my blog! My name is Crystal and in about 22 days from today, I will be moving to Omura city in Nagasaki prefecture, Japan to work as an English teacher for 1-5 years through the JET program. If you are unfamiliar with where Nagasaki is located, here is a map for reference (Nagasaki is in red at the bottom):

And here is a map of my city, Omura within Nagasaki prefecture:

Living in Japan is something I have been dreaming of since I was a big weeb in high school, and something I’m very grateful to be a part of now. During my time in college, I did an 8 month study abroad program in Hikone, Shiga, Japan, so I have had some experience living in Japan, but I imagine there will be many new experiences and challenges both from being a part of the workforce rather than a student, and living in an entirely new region that I have never visited before (I have never been anywhere south of Hiroshima except the island of Okinawa). During this time in Japan previously, I took many photos of my day to day life and experiences, but found that I did not keep any sort of written record of my experiences, so I have lost some of these precious memories due to lack of documentation. Therefore, this time around I have decided to keep this “travel diary” of sorts to share with friends, family, and even strangers on the internet interested in learning about my life in Japan. I am not leaving for a few more weeks, but decided to make this first post introducing the intent of this blog, as well as to document some of my recent experience preparing for my move.

As anyone can imagine, preparing to move abroad--in edition to the excitement of a new change-- can be a terrifying and tiring experience. This year in particular has been difficult because of COVID-19 restrictions. I fully support the use of caution when bringing many new people into the country, but there are a lot of new stresses involved with going abroad that I had not had to worry about during my past stay in Japan. Here is a brief explanation of some of the procedures we must take: Prior to entry to Japan, we must all sign several pledges and agreement forms agreeing to comply with COVID-19 health measures. We must locate a COVID-19 testing facility with a quick turnaround rate which provides a specific type of test collection and lab analysis, then provide a certificate showing that we have received a negative test result within 72 hours of departure. This form must be filled out by an MD and with an official seal by the clinic. Thankfully, there are COVID testing sites which specifically cater to this specific type of travel test, but come with a hefty fee of $200 after insurance. We will however be reimbursed for this fee by our employer upon arrival in Japan.

Two weeks before arriving in Japan, each person must self quarantine at home in order to ensure a negative COVID test. If you test positive 72 hours before departure, you will be barred from entering Japan, and cannot leave with the next departure until as early as January. This on its own has caused a lot of personal stress for many of us departing!! After all of our months of preparation, there is a chance that within 3 days of departure we may be barred from entering the country. That is why it is imperative to take the pre-departure self-quarantine very seriously.

Upon arrival in Japan, we will receive another COVID test. If positive, you will be confined to your quarantine hotel room and not allowed to leave for a designated amount of time. If negative, you will still spend two weeks at a quarantine hotel, but will be allowed at certain times to leave your room (with mask on) to purchase snacks at the convenience store inside the hotel, or walk in the hotel gardens. We will be provided with three meals per day, but I have heard from those who have already departed that these meals are not always satisfactory, which is why many end up buying supplementary meals at the convenience store. Throughout our two weeks in quarantine, we will complete various course modules online which serve as our orientation into the program. We will also have to provide regular health checks and location checks to ensure that we have not contracted COVID-19 and are remaining in our rooms and in the hotel. We are not under any circumstances allowed to leave the hotel building, and doing so results in immediate deportation and expulsion from the program. Personally, I am thankful to have this time during quarantine to adjust to the time difference and to prepare myself for the beginning of my job through the online orientation and opportunities to study up on my Japanese.

As far as other preparations, I am taking the next week before my self-quarantine to run errands and shop for last minute necessities. Some errands include canceling my phone service (I will be using a Japanese phone number and phone service in Japan), visiting the bank to notify them of travel and to exchange currency (it’s cheaper to do through the bank than at the airport), renewing prescriptions which I will be bringing to Japan and completing an import document which allows me to bring them into Japan, canceling my gym membership and other subscriptions, shopping for necessities, etc. There is a lot to get done, but being a dedicated capricorn, I have hundreds of lists and reminders to keep me on track :)

Lastly, a preparation that must be made when going abroad that often gets overlooked is mental preparation. As I have lived in Japan before, I know well what the effects of isolation and culture shock can have on my mental health. In order to prepare myself for this, I am spending a lot of time with family and friends before I go, and making plans to keep in touch. I have been eating well, exercising regularly, drinking water, and getting plenty of sleep to keep my mood in high spirits before departure. I’m taking moments of calm and quiet every day to meditate or read in order to give my mind a reprieve from all of the stressful feelings. I am also indulging in plenty of hobbies such as crocheting, watching movies, reading books, and playing video games! Keeping my stress levels at bay is an important step so that I can enter Japan will hope and excitement rather than fear and worry :)

Apologies for the long post! I wanted to share my state of mind going into this experience as well as detail a bit of the measures that it takes to enter Japan in the current COVID-19 situation. I will probably make one more post from self-quarantine at home in the US talking about my experience, and then every post from there on will be from Japan!! Thank you for taking the time to read this post, if you have made it to the end here. My ask box on this blog will be open for any questions regarding any of my experience. I have allowed anonymous asks, but please use this respectfully and refrain from sending any inappropriate or offensive messages.

Thanks again, and I will see you in a few weeks to talk about my pre-departure self-quarantine experience. :) Until then, have yourselves a good one!

Crystal <3

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