#and like vice versa; he will internalize all acts of service done to him

[unexpectedbrickattack]

Proposal: Peppino is a really caring S/O, friend, husband, what have you, but he's really oblivious when someone's interested. No matter how much Gustavo flirted, showed special attention and affection to Pep, our lovely protagonist dismissed it as as Gus being really nice (which to be honest, he is).

Rotating this in my brain bc i am still thinking of how to characterize him in this way so thank u 🧡 This is also why i havent tried to do any real shipping content w him (cause i wanna do more stuff w him and the bosses)😭

🤔🤔🤔 I feel like hes not exactly oblivious. He can read a room and take a hint, but hes a little dense (a little bit!!!!). His indifference/lack of a reaction comes off as being completely unaware but in reality, he is thinking of Other Pressing Matters. Like. When traveling through the gnome forest for deliveries, hes very aware of them being Weird and Friendlier than usual (which in the past, HAS actually translated to some level of flirting) but he doesnt want to look too deep into it bc the forest is Hot and its full of Bugs and it makes him Itchy and Sweaty and hes Tired from delivering everything ON FOOT bc his stupid scooter and car cant drive on fucking GRASS.

Like hes Aware but he doesnt pay it any mind. Two to three strangers being sweet with him? Yeah sure that makes sense i guess. He’ll entertain them :) But like, the MAJORITY of his customers in this forest being equally weird and friendly? Maybe gnomes are just Like That. Gustavo is clearly a weird and friendly little guy. Dont think too hard about it 😊👍🏾 Hes got other shit to worry about.

So honestly Gus would be in hell trying to woo this fuckin man 😭 Not because hes not trying hard enough, and not bc Pep is so completely oblivious, but bc in this specific instance, Peppino is just a man stressed about 40 different things all at once, and allocating ANY of that brain power to determine if his friend it flirting or being friendly when Gustavo is just known to be very friendly to everyone is a waste of his precious, LIMITED mental energy 😭

[aquanova99]

amazing! i don't know if you've ever done the alphabet headcanons before. but would you do them for either percy or nico whenever you get the chance? thank you so much!!! ⚡️🌷

Asdajkfhsakjh Percyyyyy my beloved 😍 I would love to do these and I will do some for Nico later as well, but I have never done the alphabet one so if anyone has any suggestions on how to fix it please let me know

Also and this is a big ALSO obviously all of these characters are at the ages up point. Let’s not be weird. And for Percy wel let’s say you either also went on the quests or you went instead of Annabeth bc baby if she went and you didn’t there’s no chance

Also I am using Logan Lerman as Percy because he is the definition of right person wrong time he was perfect

A= Affection (how do they show affection)

Percy definitely is a physical touch kind of person. If you go on yet another quest it’s grounding to him. Hr will pull you in a tight hug when he knows your safe. We know he kisses you anytime you two have to go separately. Meanwhile at home he likes to wrap his arms around you whenever he can. He is also pretty big on acts if service, he is just very thoughtful to everything you say and do. Are you hungry he stops somewhere before he gets home and gets every type of your favorite snack. Loves to spoil you with both of these.

B= Beautiful (what is their pet name for you)

I think this happened on accident. Like either you guys just started dating or you’d been hanging around so often that you basically were and he had to ask for something. “Hey babe could you pass me my pen?”

You notice immediately but it was kind of cute so you start reaching over for his pen. He kind of freezes as you reach over as he starts to realize what he said

“Shit did I—“

“Yeah yeah you did.”

He begins to panic and starts apologizing immediately and you have to cut him off and tell him you liked it. He malfunctions for awhile because he’s not sure what that means but he tries to call you that again when he can.

C= Cuddles (Are they a cuddly person?)

Oh my god read above, yes! He loves to cuddle! He likes having a constant in his life, ie you. On quests when you would both have to sleep anywhere strange you would often find yourself having fallen asleep on his shoulders and vice versa. It became a very comforting thing to both of you, and you guys did everytime. Grover is the equivalent of Charles Boyle and is screaming internally the first time because he thinks the two of you are perfect together.

D= Domestic (Do they want to settle down? What kind of future do they want)

Luckily for me, we get a lot of these answers in canon. Percy 1084918484843939% wants to settle down and stop worrying about saving the world for a damn minute and find a nice place for the two of you. He is in love with the thought of you as a parent so if you want any kids he will jump with excitement because he thinks you’ll be best and while he’s scared he may not do as well he still wants to live every aspect of what some may think is a mundane life with you. It’s his dream.

E= End (How would they break up with their partners if they had to? What would make them do that in the first place?)

This is absolutely never happening unless it’s life or death for you. Like some god or entity has to have the power to end your life and you and Percy are separated at the moment. He would probably go to you with tears in his eyes and tell you that it is probably best for the two of you to part ways. You know something is going on but once he sets his mind to something it’s almost impossible to change it. Even if he takes care of whatever is threatening him if he sees you really are safer without him he will stay away.

F= Fear (Whats something that terrifies them)/ Fiance (How would they propose)

For the fear aspect is losing. Not being able to save you. Anything of the sort we see he is willing to risk his life for someone he loves so not being able to get there in time is his worst nightmare. Again thanks to canon we know that he’s actually terrified of drowning.

When he proposes he’s going to try and be as romantic as possible. Take you to the first place he kissed you kind of romantic. But it is a Percy so he gets kind of tongue tied when he’s trying to tell you how much he cares about you and after a while the “will you marry me?” comes out or you have to kiss him to get him back on track

G= Gentle (How gentle are they emotionally, physically?)

An angel. Percy takes it so slow with you to begin with, you definitely set the boundaries whether you know it or not. He’s seen the worst type of guy first hand and would never try to do anything to hurt you or rush you. He’s also very emotionally in tune with you, he will know when you need someone to just be there and when you need to talk and he’s okay with doing either until you feel better

H= Hugs (Are they a hugger? What do their hugs feel like? How much do they like to hug?)

Yes. Yeah. Absolutely. You know the hug in movies when characters A&B haven’t seen eachother in forever and A holds them so tightly and lifts up B just enough where their toes are off the ground? Yeah that’s the kind of hugs he gives all the time. He knows what it’s like to almost lose you, he takes all the hugs he can get. Even if it’s not that dramatic he hugs very tightly he wishes he didn’t have to let go.

I= I love you (how soon did they know they were in love? How long did it take to say the words?)

Honestly uncle Rick was looking out because this really is all answered.

It takes him forever to realize he’s in love with you. He knows he loves you but I mean it probably takes some major battle for him to realize it’s more than that. Once he figures it out though he will tell you almost immediately.

J= Jealousy (Do they get jealous easily? Do they try and make you jealous)

Yeah. And this comes with anything. Anyone you have history friendship or otherwise. But not in the creepy possessive way but in the way that he wishes he had been there. He may feel like he is keeping you from a different life. When you get excited even with a friend and remember any adventures you have he worries you don’t have as much fun with him and he is stressed fam. He trusts you like I said he would just rather be with you.

No he does absolutely not try and make you jealous. Except maybe with his power for fun. But with other people no. However, homeboy is oblivious when other people are into him so their blatant flirting probably goes over his head. You have to spell it out for him and while he thinks it’s cute you were jealous he won’t let it happen again.

K= Kisses (what do their kisses feel like? Where do they like to kiss you?)

Similar to his hugs. He kisses very strongly. The ones where he breathes in as he starts to kiss you just in case it’s the last time. When it’s the two of you he likes to kiss you more passionately but he waits for you to initiate. He likes grabbing your hair and slightly pulling you closer to him. Helps him remember it’s all real.

L= Littles (Do they want kids? What are they like around kids? How many?)

Oops already answered this but yes of course! He probably wants at least two so no one feels lonely, he remembers having to constantly move and he thinks if they at least have a sibling it won’t be so bad if you all do have to move. We see how he is around Estelle, he’s naturally kind and caring around kids and he would be the BEST dad.

M= Mornings

He likes to cook. Whether you like it or not he’s up in the morning making blue pancakes. Does not mean he’s a morning person he just like to do so when you wake up. He enjoys sleeping in or cuddling for as long as you can before having to get up. Gets you coffee/juice as you start getting ready for the day. He waits until the last possible second to get ready but he’s ready to go in like 15 minutes. He’d rather hang around with you.

N= Nights

Definitely prefers cooking breakfast to dinner but he will still try and help or will order take out if neither of you are feeling up to it. He thought your skin care routine was kind of pointless at first, mainly because he didn’t really get it. But now he’s almost excited to do it with you, because no matter what anyone says it’s relaxing and he enjoys this winding down activity. I see him putting on a movie or show before bed and cuddling until you fall asleep and then he will turn it off, and then probably run his hand up and down your arm until he drifts off

O= Open up (When do they feel comfortable enough to open up? Is it all at once or painfully slow? Do you have to dig?)

Honestly, while it’s easy to read Percy’s feelings it isn’t as easy for him to explain why certain things bother him or to talk about his past. It would have to be when he isn’t feeling upset for you to be able to bring up talking about his childhood, yours he wants to hear everything about. He tried to play it off when does eventually talk about it but he’s been through some shit. He doesn’t like burdening people with why he’s upset though, even if he isn’t burdening anyone especially you.

You really have to dig for him. And while he does tell you eventually he’d rather just move on from it. There’s some people that while he refuses to forget, he doesn’t want to talk about them because it gets kind of painful. And yes I’m talking about beckendorf. It’s not because he isn’t comfortable sharing on his part, it’s just talking about things can make it worse before it makes it better and that’s no fun.

P= Patience (Are they quick to anger? How do they calm down?)

Percy is pretty patient. Unless someone is hurting his friends or more importantly you, he doesn’t get riled up easily. Usually has his witty remarks to annoy the other person back. But man, get him angry enough and he can be terrifying. Usually, as long as he doesn’t have a storm forming around him a simple touch to his arm will make him realize you’re okay and he will start calming down. But he does usually need to walk it off. Prefers if you go with him to help through it.

Q= Quiet/Quizzes(What do they like to do when they have time to be alone? What fun things do they remember about you? DO they remember everything?)

Percy would rather not be alone honestly. I feel like his anxiety just shoots through the roof after all of those quests. It does help if he’s around water and he go swimming and relax. Waters always calmed him it doesn’t really change.

Percy remembers EVERYTHING about you. Like I said before he’s a big acts of service guy so if he sees something that he knows you will love doing or will love to have he’s doing his best to do said activity.

R= Recovery (How you take of them and vice versa after a battle?)

Hard to take care of someone who can just heal himself with water or ambrosia. But say you guys are far inland with nothing in sight you are going to have to use all of your persuasion to let you help him. He would rather focus on you. And because he’s going to use all of the supplies on you this can be a struggle. Most of the recovery is going to be making sure he’s okay or just letting him fall into you because he is exhausted.

Him on the other hand is very gentle with you. Drawing water around whatever he can to heal you as much as he can and if there’s no water or the injury is too big he is making sure you get the ambrosia and nectar. You take priority to him. If you’re totally fine like I said he would rather just lean on you than anything else but he still loves when you try and help him. Falls in love over any bandages you may put on him, seriously he loves that you’re worried about him.

S= Safety/Solution (How protective are they? How do they solve problems)

I’m sure you can tell by my above answers but very very protective. He values other peoples lives at the risk of his own and it’s something that you both love and are terrified of. He is an emotional problem solver, he is witty and clever as we see in the labyrinth battle but he will take whatever course he can to get you safe.

T= Try/ Touch (How much effort do they put in? When they need or want your touch what do they do? How often do they do this?)

These are hard because so much of this is repeated so I apologize 😭 but anyways Percy puts all the effort in. He doesn’t take any relationship light and I mean that to include friendships. If for some reason you guys are long distance for a quest or maybe you’re visiting family he will make sure to keep in contact. And in the relationship he keeps very important dates in the front of his mind so he isn’t someone to miss birthdays or holidays or anything of the sort. He also puts in effort to make sure you enjoy said holidays.

Percy often needs touch just to calm down. Not from being angry by years of almost dying has him anxious and he likes have his lifeline close to him just to let him know you’re there. I think without think he will outstretch his hand to you for you to hold it. He often times does not realize he does this if it’s a bad day. If he doesn’t get much sleep he likes to rest his head on your shoulder. If he’s having a regular good day or you’re out he probably still enjoys holding your hand and as stated previously lots of hugs from behind.

U= Ugly Side (What a pet peeve of yours they have? Bad habits?)

Percy doesn’t mean to do this and it’s not in a rude or condescending way but he often questions the bings you say. He doesn’t even realize the way he asks could be taken as rude but it used to make you feel like he didn’t trust what you were doing or planning or maybe didn’t know better. I’m so serious he just wants details on the plan or what you guys are doing he thinks the world of you, his questions are more about how he fits into the plan or how he can help not to attack you or make you sound dumb.

V= Vanity (Do they concern themselves over how they look?)

Percy doesn’t like to look like a hobo but he also isn’t going to spend a ridiculous amount of time getting ready. Unless he’s taking you out the he will dress appropriately. He would rather be comfortable and be ready to fight something or run if he needs to.

W= Whole (What makes them feel complete?)

Family. You, his mom, Estelle, Grover, Tyson,even Paul. The people he know will do anything for him and he would do the same. The people that wouldn’t leave him or disappear. The more of his family is around the better he feels, and then going home with you at the end of the night.

Y= Yuck (What do they not like in a partner?)

I would probably say someone who’s micromanaging. Not in the Annabeth I always have a plan way. But I’m the way that they nitpick anything he does. Percy likes someone who can have fun every once in awhile. At the same time he wouldn’t want someone who can’t be serious when they need to be. Honestly other than that Percy is pretty flexible he thinks life experiences shared takes weight over anything else.

Z= Zzzzz (How do they sleep? Sleeping Habits?)

On you. It’s still hard for any demigod to sleep. He keeps riptide on his nightstand religiously. He still worries something will happen to you so whether he admits it or not he is up for a while after you’ve gone to bed. Best way for him to fall asleep first is if you’re rubbing his back and talking about anything. It reminds him you guys are and have been fine and he will let himself drift off. Even then he would rather you lay on him and he stay up for a bit, just in case.

[swaps55]

2, 10, 20, and 25 for the writer asks please? :D

Meta Asks for Writers

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project.

The third chapter/story in Cantata is going to be about the first time the ‘Yang crew goes into combat with Shepard. I cannot wait to write this. A) I have really missed writing action. B) I have one of those crystal clear, perfect visions in my head of the pivotal moment when Shepard really unleashes, and everyone, both enemy combatants and his own team, have a “holy shit” moment. It’s awesome, and I can only hope I capture it well. I’m giddy about it.

10. How would you describe your writing process?

It depends on the project. But there are a few things I always try to think about before I start writing and constantly come back to while I write.

What’s my goal? What do I want this project/story/scene to accomplish? Sometimes, say for a quick prompt, that’s a small, simple thing. Other times it’s a much larger question, and I have to ask it several times throughout for both larger and smaller pieces of the story. Any time I get stuck, any time I am not sure how to get from point A to point B, or any time a scene doesn’t feel right, I back up and ask myself what the goal is, and how is whatever problem I have working to achieve that goal?

What, Why, How? I ask myself these questions all the time. A lot of people have commented how real and authentic characters feel in Sonata, and I think part of the reason is that I constantly ask myself “why would X person react like this? What is their motivation? Why would they think X or Y? How would they feel about Z? For instance, with Lora Alenko I asked myself, “what would it be like to watch your son walk through the front door when you’ve seen him once in ten years? How would that feel? What would be going through her head and how would she respond, both internally and externally?” This really helps me develop a scene that feels rooted to a particular character, and not just something that functions as plot service.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

There are. So many. Threads in Sonata. SO. MANY. I have no idea how many folks actually picked up on, but I worked really hard to lay them in place.

Here are a few of them. Putting under a cut if anyone wants to avoid spoilers.

Rain Changes Everything. Tali talks about rain as a romantic device. Kaidan talks about rain as something that helps him clear his head to think. The weather threatens rain throughout the story, but it doesn’t rain until Kaidan goes after Shepard in the park. The chapter leading up to The Big Moment ends with mention that is has started to rain, which was me screaming IT’S RAINING NOW THEY CAN KISS. And why are they in the rain? BECAUSE SHEPARD NEEDED TO THINK. The line “rain changes everything” is a line from the song that drove most of the fic. It all ties together. :) 

“Hey, you.” Once Kaidan tells his story about why his parents affectionately call each other, “hey, you,” I went out of my way to weave that into the story. Virtually any time the scene involves the Alenko Seniors, one of them calls the other, “hey, you.” And for those who have read it, “hey, you” comes back in a big way at the end. :)

Panic attacks. Shepard talks about how the first time he met Kaidan, he was experiencing a panic attack. Kaidan, who didn’t know him at all, stepped in to help. This essentially founded their friendship. Later in the story, a panic attack serves as a big tipping point to moving them past friendship and into a romantic relationship.

Choice/Found family. This story is about choice as an incredible act of love. Shepard chooses Kaidan, and vice versa. Kaidan’s family chooses to be Shepard’s family. Liara and Tali choose to embrace the Normandy and its crew as their home/family. Joker chooses to help his friends, rather than just be Joker, heh. Mrs. Alenko chooses to help her son find happiness, and in doing so, redeems herself from some of the toxic “helping” she’s done in the past. Mr. Alenko chooses to support Kaidan, even though he strongly disagrees with being in a relationship with your XO.

Letting go. The story starts and ends with Kara Pendergrass, Kaidan’s former crewmate. In the beginning, she’s the catalyst to a lot of grief and guilt. In the end, she’s a stepping stone to healing. Also, coming home for Kaidan is about letting go of family issues. The story revisits his struggle with control, contrasts it with the freedom finds in doing just that. Ultimately Kaidan accepts and embraces the moments where it’s okay to let go.

Foreshadowing. I foreshadow everything in this fic. What I am particularly proud of is that everything that Shepard tells Kaidan about what his strategy would be to “control” him if the Alliance decided he was in their way comes to pass. When Shepard dies, Kaidan isn’t able to put the bullhorn to his mouth and keep shouting about the reapers. He can’t keep the crew together. The Alliance manages to quietly push him to the side, giving him shit to do that makes him feel useful, but in the end he’s not doing what really matters: finding a way to stop the reapers. 

The soundtrack. I have a very deliberate soundtrack to this story, with one marquee song for each chapter. It’s songfic, after all. The lyrics/message/theme of each song play heavily into each chapter. I am crazy proud of how well it all fit together. 

I also love, love that ultimately the thing that Kaidan and Shepard really have to overcome isn’t understanding how they feel about each other – it’s recognizing the consequences of those feelings. The story opens with some rather vicious survivor’s guilt on Kaidan’s part after Virmire and his fear that that Ashley Williams died because they could have feelings for each other. Shepard outright acknowledges to Liara that there could never be anything between them because he knows how the consequences of fraternization would impact Kaidan. And then in the end, Shepard makes it clear where he stands, because while he doesn’t give a damn about right and wrong when it comes to Kaidan, he knows that Kaidan does. He respects that, and puts Kaidan’s well being above his own desires.

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

Answered here!

[fursasaida]

this is totes random sorry pls feel free to ignore but is there a 'STATE' that's completely independent from like elected government, heads of state, partisan politics etc.. like what's this state that some ppl talk abt that doesn't include the elected president? e.g."korea and france have greater deference to state." is there polisci literature/concept on this? what is this STATE that doesn't include the president or CDC head nominated by said president? im sorry im just so ignorant of polisci

This is not at all an ignorant question! This is a huge issue people argue about--maybe less in poli sci than in other social sciences, because poli sci has gone so completely up its own quantitative ass that it has abandoned what should be its obvious theoretical domain and so other disciplines have kind of taken over this kind of question. There are full professors who cannot answer this question (I know because some of them are on my listservs).

So: what is the state. Seriously, really, there is no one widely accepted answer to this. So I’ll go through a few of them under the cut for you. This ended up being really long because it’s something I’ve been thinking about lately, so the simplest, shortest answer to your question is the first one.

1. Institutions

In this view, “the state” means the institutions and bureaucracy that stay on when political leadership changes. The political leadership is called either “the regime” when we want to imply it’s evil or “the administration” or “the government” when we don’t. (I think this terminology is silly and “the regime” should mean the whole arrangement plus some other things--as in a regime of power--without negative or positive implications, but I don’t make the rules.)

Obviously these two things are not firewalled apart. Elected officials can alter the state through policy and/or direct reforms (creating, merging, or eliminating existing state organizations), and the existing state can constrain what elected officials can do through anything from ethics laws to bureaucratic foot-dragging. (In the US context, when we talk about “political appointees,” we mean high-level officials in “the state” that get appointed by elected leaders, but they take over organizations generally staffed by people who have come up through the bureaucracy and are supposed to be “apolitical,” i.e. just there to do a technical/bureaucratic job. So that’s another way that the two blur.) A great example of this would be what happened with the US’s Syria policy under Trump. Trump (”the administration”) wanted to pull out of Syria. The Pentagon, The State Department, various diplomatic branches, etc. (”the state”) did not. The state succeeded in putting him off executing his desired policy for years, even though as the Commander In Chief Trump in theory had really extensive authority to do whatever he wanted. Eventually he exercised that authority and state officials found themselves scrambling madly to try and salvage something of their preferred policy, which is how the US military ended up with this ridiculous non-presence in NE Syria. Another example would be the attempt to take down the USPS.

That’s why partisan politics and elected leaders are excluded from “the state” in this view; “the state” forms the organizational containers that those movements and individuals fill, and the structures they seek to act on or act from. You can think of it like the ground they stand on. This doesn’t have to mean it is itself “apolitical,” since the terrain has implications for everyone standing on it, but it is the object or delivery channel of politics, not politics itself. (Again I don’t agree with this, but it’s what you’re seeing reflected in the discourse you’re talking about.)

When people go on about “the deep state” they’re espousing a conspiratorial version of this view, where they think the ~real behind-the-scenes power lies in these institutions and the long-term bureaucrats who (sometimes) staff and run them. Definitely some power does lie there, but the conspiracists overweigh this into an Elders of Zion type thing.

2. A sovereign entity.

This is more about distinguishing states from other kinds of political entities, and as a result it’s less concerned with fine distinctions about what is and isn’t “political.” The idea is that there are lots of political structures and systems in the world (anything from tribal law to international associations like NATO) but not all of them are states. States are distinguished from other things by virtue of sovereignty. The classic definition (from Max Weber) of sovereignty is “a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence within a clearly bounded territory.” In other words, a state’s police, military, national guard, security forces, etc. have a license to use violence within its borders that no one else has--anyone else engaging in violence is a criminal. It is these groups’ status as “agents of the state” that grants them this license. The bordered, yes/no territorial nature of this status--Turkish security forces have no mandate to act in Greece and vice versa--is also distinctive; fixed, defined, cartographic borders are not necessarily a given. In this view, all power and indeed all law is ultimately founded in violence (enforcement), so what matters is who/what can use force with impunity. (When the state’s monopoly on force is challenged in its territory--e.g., Hizballah making war on Israel without the Lebanese army, the original Zapatistas forming a breakaway region during the Mexican Civil War, or any occupation by a foreign force--then the state’s sovereignty is “weakened” or “under attack,” etc.)

Lots of people have criticized and elaborated on this definition. I don’t want to go on forever about all the critiques that exist, but basically in reality, sovereignty is not a yes/no binary where either you have it completely or you don’t have it at all. Things tend to be more mixed and blurry. It also has more dimensions: two important examples are 1) controlling and disposing of the territory itself (exploiting natural resources, moving people around, etc.), and 2) recognition. In many cases, the difference between a state and a non-state is whether other states recognize it as such, i.e. act like it is one. So for example, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus exercises sovereignty and has a state bureaucracy, elections, etc., but because it is not recognized by ~the international community~ it isn’t “a state.” (This isn’t just semantics; it may seem arbitrary when you just think about what goes on inside the TRNC, but when its citizens try to emigrate, for example, they encounter very specific, concrete problems on this basis--e.g., their passports will not be recognized as valid.)

I find this more useful personally, especially because it doesn’t assume a liberal democratic state--it can apply to a dictatorship or a monarchy or whatever you like. But in practice, i.e. how people use it, I still think this approach is frequently too worried about pinning down differences that aren’t always useful. On the one hand, I wrote my BA thesis about how Hamas and Hizballah aren’t states (it was common for a while to refer to them as “states within states”) while also not just being political parties, terrorist organizations, service providers, or any of the other things they get tagged with, precisely because of the way they relate to the Palestinian and Lebanese states. This is worth understanding because it helps explain their political projects and their successes. On the other hand, I don’t think it’s very helpful to go around arguing that, say, ISIS was a state (or state-like) and the Houthis are not because of some detail of how they think/thought about territory, or courts, or bureaucracy. Like what do you get out of making that distinction. If you want to argue that a tribal council somewhere is “the state” for its context I think that’s fine depending on what you’re trying to get at. It all depends on what kind of question you want to answer, and on what scale.

3. There’s no such thing.

This view recognizes that the state is a salad bowl full of different organizations, individuals, ideologies, etc. that do not actually all work in lockstep together or have the same goals. To talk about “the state” is to reinforce the fallacy of unified power and cooperation. Instead, we should recognize that actors within states have their own agendas, institutional cultures, power struggles, etc., and that whatever the state does is the outcome of 1) these internal dynamics, 2) the ability of different external actors (from citizens to foreign governments) to play on/appeal to/push back against different pieces of the state, and 3) the interactions of 1 and 2.

This to me is common sense. You just have to be careful not to take it too far. We can acknowledge that the state is internally differentiated/not any one single thing without going so far away from what most people understand about their worlds. There’s no point saying “there’s no such thing as a state” when people still have to pay taxes.

4. "The state effect,” or: there both is and is not any such thing

This idea, put forward by Tim Mitchell, is my favorite. It is also the subtlest, and a little tricky to explain, but I think it’s the most useful.

This view steps back and looks at all the endless, elaborate debates about every possible nicety of “stateness” and says: perhaps we are asking the wrong question here. Maybe it doesn’t matter what the state is. Maybe it matters what the state seems to be; how it seems to be that; and what “resources of power” are generated by these impressions.

This is the tricky explanation part, so bear with me for a few paragraphs.

Where exactly do we draw the line between “the state” and “civil society”? Are NGOs and nonprofits part of the state? What if they get government funding? Especially in a neoliberal context, when so much policymaking is done through contractors, consultants, tax breaks, etc., are these kinds of organizations not carrying out the state’s agenda, consciously or otherwise? Okay, that’s tough, let’s try something easier: individual people and families aren’t the state. But if a household depends on an income from state employment, does that not affect their politics and their actions in society? Is a person “part of the state” in one building and not in another? How do we account for the way off-duty cops behave, for example, then? You can do this same exercise for “the economy” or any of the other things that are supposedly separate things/domains that the state manages. How can, e.g., the American economy be separate from the state when the state prints and guarantees the currency, sets interest rates, enforces contracts, and generally sets the terms on which the economy can exist? (Going back to your original question, you could probably also do this same exercise re: political parties, or partisanship.)

The point here is not that absolutely everything is actually the state. The point is also not that there is no state. It’s that there are not firm lines. Amazon may be the state when it builds systems for the Pentagon even though it is also, clearly, a private company and not part of the state’s institutions or subject to the same kinds of political controls that state institutions are. Similarly, the state itself is not one smooth solid object (as in #3). But it seems obvious, common sense, that “the economy” is a thing, just as “public health” is a thing, etc., and both of these things are objects of state management/governance/power.

This makes it easy for political leadership to make claims on the basis of these other things as separate “objects.” I.e., “we need to take drastic action to save the economy.” So the impression of these divisions can be used to justify or legitimate state action. You can see this super clearly in the current coronavirus situation. How many times have we been told the US has to “reopen” for “the economy,” and how many times has it been pointed out that the government could just take its own economic measures to allow people to stay home--because “the economy” is not some separate object that works by itself. (I myself had to explain to a friend that the government couldn’t just switch the economy back on by “reopening.” I think we underestimate how powerful these conceptual divisions really are in people’s understanding of how the world works.)

So, therefore, “the state” is the effect of ideas and practices that make things that political leaders and institutions do seem like they form a freestanding, separate structure, a thing, that we call “the state.” It is the ensemble of all these pieces (as noted in #3), and said pieces often include things that are generally thought of as not the state; these lines between state/nonstate shift all the time. What matters is not where the line is at any given moment but what the particular configuration allows state power (including the consideration of force from #2 and the structural concerns from #1) to do.

The problem I have with this is that it doesn’t really account for state capacity very well, but that’s for another day because I haven’t figured it out via paper-writing yet.

[klynn-stormz]

Legally Swan Chapter 3

AO3: 1 I 2 I 3 I

CH 3

Emma looked around the small dorm room; it was bigger than she was expecting it to be, but still the size of a closet, a twin bed sat on side of the room, facing a small window, the closet made her cringe and think that it was a good thing she had packed light. She didn’t care much about the size, she’d slept in smaller accommodations before, and honestly, she had this gut churning excitement coursing through her. Here she was a Harvard, holy shit she was a Harvard, she had done it! She had hoped and dreamed about it, but she always had that sliver of doubt that it would not go in her favor. But she had done it and now she was here to prove herself. She thought back to her mom’s final words to her before she got in her little bug to drive cross-country to Cambridge.

“I know you have an idea of why you are doing this, but please try to put yourself first Emma. Make sure that you are happy rather than trying to make others happy.”

She understood her mother’s reluctance to accept that she was doing this for Neal, and maybe she was doing this for herself as well, she just needed to prove to her that Neal was worth it. Because he was, wasn’t he? Emma has met him her first year at UCLA, they had been together for a while and just seemed perfect. So what if he told her things she needed to fix about herself, he was just trying to help her be a better person. And sometime he was annoyed if he felt she had bested him on something, it as just his pride, it wasn’t a big deal when he put her down. She already knew most of what he told her was true anyway. She wasn’t the prettiest without makeup or good clothes, he just wanted her to look her best, there was nothing wrong with that. He thought she wasn’t smart, he had told her that before he broke up, but if she ever tried to show him she was smart, he would get angry and say she was just trying to one up him. She stopped trying to show him. The dumb blonde act wasn’t hard to keep up when people expected you to be that. She was certain that this would show him who she was and how perfect she was for him.

“Henry, are you ready to become a lawyer?” She asked her little dog, he perked up and barked at her, obviously agreeing.

When Emma had been with Ingrid for about six months, Ingrid had noticed she was showing symptoms of anxiety. It wasn’t until she witnessed a bad anxiety attack of hers that she finally convinced Emma to go to a doctor with her. When she was diagnosed with a severe anxiety disorder Emma felt even more broken than she had before. The doctor recommended medicine to help her through the attacks, and even suggested a service dog to help her during the attacks; she has shown reluctance to the first and interest in the second. Ingrid had immediately gone online to find the best service dog providers and with all permissions filled out she had gotten Emma dog who had recently completed training.

Henry didn’t seem like much, he was tiny and pretty scrawny, but Emma had fallen in love on site, and vice versa. Since then they were inseparable. It had been nerve-wracking trying to make sure that they would accept her bringing Henry to Harvard with her, of course by law they had to, but service dog laws were still minimal, and most people assumed that she was just using that as an excuse to drag her dog everywhere with her. Since getting Henry and finding the right medication her anxiety attacks had been reduced drastically. While she still had them, they weren’t as debilitating nor painful as they had been.

She was taken out of her thoughts by another bark from Henry, and she got to work on unpacking her room. It was two days before the semester would officially begin, all of her books were out, she was trying to make sure she had done all the reading required for each class before they began. A lot of the language was hard to understand at first, but she was starting to get the hang of it. Once she was all unpacked she relaxed on her bed to watch a few Netflix episodes she has missed, but after a few hours she felt restless. Maybe it was time to do some exploring around town.

---

It was a college town, so there was some nightlife, but it was tame compared to what she had dealt with at UCLA. She found a small bar at one end of town called the Rabbit Hole, it wasn’t crowded but it wasn’t dead inside either. After ordering a beer and finding a quiet booth in the back, she pulled out one of her textbooks and began going over the reading for her first class tomorrow, Law & Ethics. It was with a teacher named Professor Elsa Arendale, Emma had looked up reviews for her on a rate my professor site. She seemed harsh, cold even, with most of the students saying if you didn’t have the right answers she would kick you out of class. Emma did not want to be kicked out on her first day, and with her luck it would happen, so she was going to be prepared as she could.

“I don’t think studying is the best option at a bar on a Saturday night love.” A smooth British voice interrupted her studying.

“Not your love.” She replied automatically, not moving her eyes away from the textbook.

“Well then, I’ll need a name to call you by.” He responded; his cheerful voice seemingly not affected by her ‘back off’ tone.

“Look, I’m really not in the mood to deal with a man who assumes I need company when I'm obviously busy.” She sniped back, finally turning her eyes towards him.

Everything froze for a moment when her eyes met the most gorgeous vivid blue ones she had ever seen. He had a square, slightly stubbled jaw his mouth was stretched into a beautiful grin, one of his eyebrows was raised as she took him in. His dark hair brushed at his forehead, it made her want to run her fingers through it and see if it was as soft as it looked. Taken back by her thoughts she blinked and tried to focus.

“Well? Can I get a name now?” He asked. “I might just keep calling you love.”

“You’re going to stick around long enough? Really?” She asked, suspicious and not really liking his overall pushiness.

He shrugged before replying. “Not if you really don’t want me too, you looked stressed while reading and I thought I’d see if I could make you smile. I’d say I’ve almost accomplished it.”

She held back a small smile "And your way of doing it was to critique me?" She settled on staying annoyed with him. She definitely didn't need this right now.

"Well when you put it like that, you're right, bad form." He agreed. He grabbed her hand and brushed his lips over her knuckles. "My sincerest apologies."

She smiled and blushed a little at his actions. Emma hoped that the bar was dark enough he wouldn't see. "Since you seem intent on staying." She gestured for him to sit down

“Killian Jones as your service.” He smiled and again she was struck by just how gorgeous it was.

“Emma Swan.” She finally conceded, much to his apparent delight.

“Swan, it suits you. Now what in the hell are you doing at a bar on a Saturday night with law textbooks?”

“I don’t know you well enough to give you my life story, but I’ll tell you it’s my first year at Harvard and I’m trying to make sure I’m prepared, but I needed to get out of my room for a bit.”

“Ah, that makes much more sense. When I’m not saving damsels in distress, I’m getting ready for my final year.” Killian gave her a crooked smile.

“Hey, the only one who saves me is me. In fact I’d go as far to say that you are distracting me from my purpose.” She glared at him.

He put his hands up in placation. “Love, you were about to die of boredom or a migraine, I couldn’t very well let that happen! Besides, now that I’m here I can give you inside advice on the teachers you’ll be dealing with.”

Emma tilted her head at that, it would be nice to have some first hand information on the professors.

“Let me see your schedule.” Killian said, holding out his right hand. Emma rolled her eyes, but thought it would be nice to have a little more information from a senior who had probably dealt with most of the teachers she would meet. Pulling it up on her phone, she handed it over. He scrolled through, one eyebrow raising as he saw her classes. She already had it memorized:

7am-9am MWF-Ms. Elsa Arendale: Law and Ethics

9:30am-10:30am MWF-Mr. Isaac Print: Legal Research 101

11:15am-1:30pm MWF-Mr. Robert Gold: Complex Law & Politics

8am-11am TTH- Mr. Graham Humbert: Criminal Law Introduction

12pm-2pm TTH- Ms. Ruby Lucas: Civil Law

“Wow, you’ve got some good ones. In fact most of these will probably end up being your teacher through the rest of university.” He commented.

“So what can you tell me about them?” She asked, trying not to seem too eager.

“Well, Ms. Arendale is a hardass, she rules her class like a kingdom. Make sure you are over prepared for her, if not she’ll have no qualms kicking you out. She doesn’t tolerate people with no drive, so you’ll need to make sure you try to speak up every class. Mr. Print is, well, creepy. I honestly don’t know why he’s a teacher for law, he’s much more interested in news and politics than anything else, sit in the back in his class, he tends to lisp and spit.” He gave her a crooked grin, which she returned. “Mr. Gold hires four interns for his law office every year, so fight hard to make your case. He expects to see hard work, and likes a little blood in the water between classmates. Last semester he actually had a fist fight break out in one of his classes, he didn’t try to stop it, let them fight till one was unconscious. While the student was carried out by a few of her friends, he proceeded to lecture us about being prepared to go to war to prove your point. He doesn’t have any ethics, no qualms as long as he wins.”

Emma shifted uncomfortably as he related this information. He caught it and quickly backtracked. “He’s not the worst person, he’s just… well,” He paused for a moment to think about it. “he’s like a crocodile. Just waiting for some unsuspecting creature to get close enough to snap.”

“I thought lawyers were supposed to be sharks.” Emma joked.

“Oh most of them are, rest assured. But him, he’s different. Sharks go on the attack pretty fast, and most of the time their pray knows they’re after them. But crocodiles, they’re a quiet kind of dangerous. He doesn’t attack till he knows he can win. He has deep pockets and a lot of sources to keep him on top. Don’t let your guard down with him. And don’t give up on that internship, it’s the most coveted here, it pretty much guarantee’s you will have job offers when you graduate.”

Emma tilted her head. “Did you get the internship?”

“Aye, worked bloody hard for it too.” He spoke proudly.

“So how about the rest of the teachers?” She asked.

They got into a discussion about the rest the teachers she would have, which turned into recommendations for next semester, then his favorite classes. He tried to ask a few questions about her but she evaded them like a pro. It was getting late, time to go get some sleep, and Henry was probably missing her.

“I better get going.” She announced, gathered in books and standing up. He stood up as well and she was a little surprised that he walked out the door with her.

“May I walk you to your dorm milady?” He asked with that crooked grin, it made her heart stutter for a moment before she shook it off.

“Oh so now you’re a gentleman.” She asked, she wouldn't admit it was maybe a bit flirtatious.

“Darling, I’m always a gentleman.” Killian responded, his tongue flicking across his lips.

“I can handle myself. Thanks for the help tonight.” Emma said, and walked away.

“See you around Swan.” He called to her, making her smile at the nickname.

---

“I don’t have time to mess around Henry! I can’t get distracted by some guy.” Emma was pacing her room after returning from the bar. Henry barked and she rolled her eyes.

“Yes, okay, he was attractive.” Henry barked again. “Oh my gosh stop pushing! He was funny and interesting and maybe he didn’t see me as just a blonde. But none of that matters! I’m here for Neal remember? I’m going to prove to Neal that I’m good enough for him.”

She could almost see Henry roll his eyes. Great, she had no one to talk to but her dog now. She needed to sleep. Her room was all unpacked, she had studied, and she had had a fun night. Should could admit that to herself privately.

The next day was boring as well. Emma caught up on all reading for the classes, reading a few of the cases and quizzing herself to make sure she understood. She felt ready to go take on Harvard and show Neal who she was. Maybe she'd even run into the blue-eyed Brit a few more times.

[daresplaining]

SO LIKE. did the spider-gwen comics explain how murderdock and nelson are close enough to call each other "matt" and "foggy"?

    They did… sort of. I was actually just gearing up to write a post on Earth-65 Matt and Foggy, because I find them fascinating, so this is perfect timing! 

    There’s a lot of variation between Earth-65 Matt’s origin story and that of his 616 counterpart, to explain how he developed into such a morally bankrupt character in this universe. Much of this difference comes down to his brutal long-term training with the Hand, during which time he became such a formidable figure within their ranks that they quickly tossed him a leadership position and shipped him overseas. He moved to New York and took a job as head assassin for Wilson Fisk, Kingpin of Crime (later, of course, Matt would steal his crown and take over NYC’s criminal underworld himself). The extra layers of loss added to his origin story in this universe, and the ruthlessness taught to him by his Hand mentors, mean that Earth-65 Matt is a fighter more than anything else– a cunning fighter, certainly, but violence (either his own or that of his pawns) is his primary way of getting things done. But he’s still a Matt Murdock, and though legal work seems to be a much smaller part of his life in this universe, on entering Fisk’s inner circle he was promptly sent to ESU to study law, on what I’d like to think was the mob boss equivalent of a scholarship. And just like in the main continuity, his roommate was Foggy Nelson.  

Foggy: “You have to understand… Matt Murdock’s always been… intense. I roomed with the guy for three years of law school. Believe me. I know… But I swear… I never thought he was capable… I never really believed he could… No. I knew. I knew and I still did what I always do… I let him push me over the edge.”

Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #27 by Jason Latour, Veronica Fish, and Rico Renzi

    It’s worth pointing out that everyone seems to call Foggy “Foggy” in this universe (and that’s pretty true of 616 Foggy too), so that in itself isn’t indicative of his relationship with Matt. But they have known each other for a long time. Sadly, Foggy’s comment here is the only glimpse we have of that early period in their relationship, but we can extrapolate how fascinating and upsetting it must have been from their dynamic as adults. I would kill for this version of Matt to get his own solo series. There is so much to explore, up to and including this period of his backstory. But I am grateful for his mini-arcs, one of which follows his corruption of Foggy over the course of the series.   

    While Matt has hit a career high as the new Kingpin and leader of the western branch of the Hand, Foggy has also made it big as the NYC District Attorney. But it’s clear early-on that even though Foggy outwardly opposes Matt’s criminal behavior, these two still have a connection. In fact, given Matt’s comfort in his dealings with Foggy, I’d theorize that he may have (either on Fisk’s instruction or following his own whims) helped engineer Foggy’s career success. After all, it’s very useful for him to have the D.A. in his pocket. And Foggy, though he hates it, is willing to ask for Matt’s help whenever he gets in over his head.  

Foggy: “[…] New York’s top cop wants to get up under oath and clear his conscience… air the entire department’s dirty laundry. But we both know Castle connected the Stacys to Spider-Woman. And the public? They’ll roast me on a spit if I don’t do my job… but there’s no way I’m letting George Stacy tell the world we made him hunt his own daughter. So, cards on the table, okay? This is me crossing the aisle… How the hell do we get out of this, Matt?”

Matt: “Why, Foggy… I thought you’d never ask.”

Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #20 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi

    And this isn’t just a one-time thing. Context suggests that Foggy has reached out to Matt (and/or vice versa) for favors before. 

Foggy: “You’re not hearing me, Murdock. Big surprise, I know– but just like always… I’m try to give you what you want, Matt.”

Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #20 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi

    616-verse Matt and Foggy often act as each other’s moral anchors. Matt’s unyielding passion for justice is a source of inspiration for Foggy, and Foggy in turn is there to pull Matt back from the brink of making bad decisions. On Earth-65 we see the exact opposite: a mutually detrimental dynamic in which Foggy can’t resist using Matt as a quick, extra-legal solution to his problems– a service Matt, who is always up for some good law-breaking and stabbing– is happy to render. And so we see a Foggy who, though clearly uncomfortable with the whole thing, still plays his part in Matt’s nefarious plots. I’m not sure I would call this a friendship; it’s something far more perverse, a convenient sharing of corruption, and a bond created simply by the fact that they can’t let anyone else know that this alliance exists. Again– I would have loved to see them in law school. Were they ever actually friends? Is there genuine affection at the heart of this dynamic? Or has it always been Foggy just trying to stay afloat in Matt’s overpowering presence?

Judge: “…In light of the mishandling of key evidence by District Attorney Nelson’s office […] I have no choice but to choke back my need to vomit all over these robes… and deem this case a mistrial. Aleksei Sytsevich… you are free to go.”

Foggy: “This #$% better work, Matt.”

Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #21 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi

    Matt’s burden in this universe is power. He is haunted by his own corruption and the ease with which he is able to bend the world to his will. This internal conflict nearly prompts him to commit suicide, and his persistence in toying with Gwen is fueled by a desire to see her corrupted in this same way; to not feel alone in his moral bankruptcy. Leading Foggy into the dark likely isn’t quite as satisfying, because it’s so much easier, but it probably gives Matt some degree of comfort and smug satisfaction.  

Richie: “There ain’t no runnin’, man… not from this thing Spider-Woman’s become… S-she coulda– I barely got off that roof without breakin’ my neck! An’ DeWolff? She’s Captain Stacy’s old partner. Ain’t no way I can confess to her… so I thought– Foggy Nelson. He helped me before. An’, well– if it comes out that you was in on what happened– well, you stand as much to lose as me here. So I jus’ thought maybe… maybe you could reach out ta Mr. Murdock for me? Mr. Nelson? Foggy, you still there?”

Foggy: “Yeah. Yeah, I’m here, Richie.”

Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #27 by Jason Latour, Olivia Margraf, and Rico Renzi

    But everything starts unraveling for Matt toward the end of the series, including his alliance with Foggy, who gets serious cold feet once real blood starts being shed. 

Foggy: “Oh my god… George?”

DeWolff: “You… you and Murdock… Why, Foggy?! Do you even know why?”

Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #22 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, Jorge Coelho, Rico Renzi, et al.

Matt: “Frankly, I’m confused, Foggy. Does George Stacy seem particularly chatty to you?”

Foggy: “I wanted him silent, Matt! Not dead!”

Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #24 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi

    The near-fatal attack on his friend George Stacy, prompted by his own request for extra-legal help, causes Foggy to hesitate. He still doesn’t completely reject his alliance with Matt, but he starts seriously questioning his own decisions and the degree to which he has lost his moral center. He is likely too scared to oppose Matt directly, and knows that he is now in so deep that coming clean would land him in jail. But the instant Matt is out of the picture, Foggy tries to clear his conscience by dropping the most serious charges leveled against Gwen. He knows it doesn’t completely make up for what he did, but he wants to atone and this is his attempt at doing so. 

Jen: “Foggy’s the district attorney. He decides what you’re charged with. So be it guilt, or sympathy… or some other bewildering reasons that are likely the death of his career– he’s decided to drop the big stuff. Including murder and manslaughter for your role in Peter’s death.”

Spider-Gwen vol. 2 #33 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, Chris Visions, and Rico Renzi

    Again, I wish we’d seen more of this relationship. I would have loved to witness Foggy’s reaction to Matt’s disappearance/maaaybe death(?) in issue #32. The mini-arc following this dynamic mostly presents it as a professional alliance, a long-term relationship that Foggy stumbled into once upon a time and that he now can’t quite convince himself to get out of. Earth-65 Matt doesn’t have many personal relationships, and so it’s possible that as perverse as the dynamic is, Foggy fits whatever definition he has of friendship. With the recent relaunch of the series under a new creative team, I’m holding a small amount of hope that Matt and Foggy might pop up again. But if not, I’ll always be a fan of what Latour created. Earth-65 Matt has become my favorite alternate universe Matt (just edging out 1602 Matt), and his relationship with this version of Foggy is endlessly compelling to me. 

[thelastdivide]

The Prince of Judah and the Vice-Consul of Japan

In December 1939, an eleven-year-old Jewish boy named Solly Ganor invited a stranger to his family’s Hanukkah celebration at their home in Kaunas, Lithuania– then the capital city. Solly had gone into a little shop owned by his aunt to borrow a couple of coins to see the newest Laurel and Hardy movie. He found his aunt deep in conversation, speaking Russian with a tall, elegantly dressed Japanese man– the first Asian person Solly had ever seen. His aunt introduced him formally as “His Excellency Chiune Sugihara, the Vice-Consul from Japan.” Solly would have been intimidated, but he felt an aura of kindliness around the stranger. He shook hands with Sugihara and then told his aunt he wanted to go to the movies. Before she could move, Sugihara had pulled out his coin purse and given Solly the money. Solly, a little confused but grateful, responded in kind. He invited Sugihara to their Hanukkah dinner. His aunt was embarrassed and assured the diplomat he was under no obligation to attend. But Sugihara cut her off. “Actually,” he said, “I’d love to.”

It was in one of the darkest winters in human history that Chiune Sugihara joined his Jewish neighbors to hear and celebrate the Festival of Lights’ ancient message of hope and perseverance against all odds, a message that Sugihara needed as much as any of them. Just two months prior, the Nazis had invaded Poland. The large and thriving Jewish community in Kaunas had followed Hitler’s rise closely and listened to his hateful rhetoric on the radio, but they assumed that the worst of the rumors were exaggerated, and the Nazi threat would blow over quickly. Now, thousands upon thousands of Polish Jewish refugees were flooding over the western border into Lithuania, bringing with them reports of atrocities too terrible to imagine. Ghettos in the cities. Pogroms in the villages. Wholesale slaughter of their friends, neighbors, and families. Most had escaped with little or nothing, and the Jewish community of Kaunas was stretching its resources to the limit to take them in. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union had occupied tiny Lithuania and dissolved its government, building up its “buffer strip” against the inevitable German advance. It wasn’t a matter of if the war would come to Kaunas, but when. By the summer of 1940, all but two foreign diplomats had been evacuated from the city, leaving only Sugihara and a middle-manager from the Phillips corporation who had been made temporary consul for the Netherlands.

By this time, the Jewish refugees in Lithuania and elsewhere had applied to nearly every country in the free world– including the United States– but all had stopped or severely restricted their acceptance of refugees. To our everlasting shame, we ignored the cry of the helpless and turned our backs on the needy. In March 1939, a Congressional bill that would have allowed 20,000 German Jewish children to immigrate was allowed to die in committee. This was just a few months after Kristallnacht; there was no secret about the threat to Jews who remained in Germany. But we had strict immigration quotas to maintain. In June 1939, 907 Jewish refugees aboard the German transatlantic liner St. Louis made it all the way to Miami harbor, only to be sent back to Europe, where nearly a third of them were murdered in the Holocaust. An executive order could have permitted their entry into the U.S., but 83% of the public was against it, and President Roosevelt had a third term to win. Everyone from the FBI to FDR invoked “national security,” suggesting it was possible– likely, even– that some of the ship’s passengers were Nazi spies masquerading as refugees.

With so much of the western world under Nazi control or turning a blind eye, the two diplomats left in Kaunas had a full-blown refugee crisis on their hands. Lithuania’s Baltic ports were blockaded. The only safe escape route was eastward across Russia to Japan, from whence they could safely sail to resettlement. But the Soviet officials refused to let the refugees cross Russia without visas approved by the Japanese government.

So it was that Chiune Sugihara and his family woke up one morning to find a crowd of hundreds outside their door, begging for assistance with this last-ditch escape effort. Sugihara wired his superiors in Tokyo three times. He got three ambiguous refusals. They told him to stop asking. Sugihara was left alone, with the fate of thousands in his hands.

A story: According to a classic midrash, when the Israelites arrived at the shores of the sea after their exodus from slavery in Egypt, the waters didn’t immediately part for them. Actually, no one knew what would happen. With the open ocean ahead and Pharaoh’s army behind, they were trapped. An argument broke out. Some said, “We should surrender. Better to go back into slavery than for all of us to be killed.” Others said, “We should fight. If we’re going to die, we’ll die free.” Even Moses, the fearless miracle worker, was at a loss. The people turned on him. “Have you brought us all the way out here only to die?” they asked. He turned aside from the group and went up on a little hill to pray.

Amid all this, a man named Nachshon stepped forward. He was a prince from the tribe of Judah, a leader. But on this occasion he said nothing. He simply walked, directly into the sea, and began to sing praises to God. The water came up to his knees and soaked his robes. It rose to his waist, then to his chest. The waves washed over his head, but he could still be heard, singing clearly between the swells. Finally, he slipped under and was heard no more. The whole congregation of Israel fell silent. It was then that God turned to Moses and said, “Look! My child, my beloved, is drowning in the sea, and you’re standing here praying? I gave you the power to perform miracles. I gave you your staff. Use it!”

And Moses lifted his staff. The waters of the sea parted, and Nachshon led the way to freedom.

Chiune Sugihara was a career diplomat and a man of strict discipline. He had a family to provide for. He knew that if he acted outside of his orders he risked firing and disgrace. But he later recalled being haunted by a Japanese proverb: “Even a hunter cannot kill the bird that flies to him for refuge.” Refugees were begging at his door, even kneeling to kiss his shoes. “The people in Tokyo were not united,” he said later. “I felt it silly to deal with them. So, I made up my mind not to wait for their reply.” The visas would be written.

For the next 30 days Sugihara and his wife, Yukiko, worked 18 to 20 hours a day, until their hands were raw and aching and they were nearly collapsing of exhaustion. They produced upwards of 300 visas– what would typically be a month’s workload– every day. Solly Ganor recalled seeing his friend Sugihara in the last days of his monumental effort– the dignified, elegant vice-consul standing outside in his shirtsleeves, haggard, eyes bloodshot, handing out visas. According to some eyewitnesses he was still writing visas and throwing them out of the train’s windows when he and his family were finally forced to evacuate.

Chiune Sugihara saved over 6,000 Jewish refugees from the Holocaust. It’s estimated that there are over 45,000 people alive today– their descendants– who would not exist had it not been for a mild-mannered diplomat’s extraordinary courage and fidelity to his own conscience. The Talmud tells us, “Whoever saves one life, saves an entire world.” As he expected, Sugihara was fired from the Japanese diplomatic service after the war. He spent the rest of his career working as a translator for various private companies. Ever humble, he did not talk about his heroic deeds. His own neighbors had no idea what he’d done until his death in 1986, when a massive Jewish delegation-- including the Israeli ambassador to Japan-- showed up at his funeral.

Solly Ganor, incidentally, was unable to escape Lithuania and ended up in Dachau concentration camp, where he survived to the end of the war. Ironically, the camp was liberated by a battalion of Japanese-American soldiers– men whose families were interned in their own country.

Since the issuance of last Friday’s abominable executive order I have seen a million and a half moralisms about welcoming the stranger, helping the helpless, and refusing to fear difference. These are indispensable values, foundational to the maintenance of an open and healthy society, and they bear endless repetition.

But that’s not what I want to say here. We already know the ban is wrong. We already know that “national security” is a false flag for the workings of hatred and greed. We already condemn the culture of fear that has turned so much of our country against its own principles– although we can never condemn it loudly enough. But what we need to have constantly before us, now more than ever, is the example of people like Chiune Sugihara. People like Nachshon. People who know that God and public opinion will follow a true act of conscience, not vice versa.

Someday long in the future the descendants of Syrian refugees will not thank us for our political memes or our late-night comedy bits or our private exasperation. They won’t thank us for impotent prayers of the mind without acts of the body and heart. They won’t thank me for writing this.

But they will thank us for our deeds. They will thank us for hounding the authorities, no matter how many times we’re rejected, and defying them if they fail us. They will thank us for protecting our immigrant neighbors, for meeting injustice with ferocious and creative resistance, for showing up, for hitting the streets, for donating, for volunteering, for putting all our strength of arm and heart and brain into every task, no matter how small, that our lives demand of us in the struggle to heal our broken world. There is no such thing as an insignificant action or an insignificant life. You don’t have to be a diplomat. You don’t have to be an immigration lawyer. You don’t have to be the Prince of Judah or the Vice-Consul of Japan. All that is asked of you is to live the life before you, and live it well, with open eyes, a courageous spirit, and an undivided heart. Don’t wait for anyone, human or divine, to light the fire of justice. Your deeds are both the spark and the smoke.

The great second-century Jewish sage Rabbi Tarfon would say, “We are not obligated to complete the task before us, but neither are we free to abandon it.” Do not be daunted by the magnitude of human suffering. Start where you are. Start now.

Sources:

"An Interview with Solly Ganor, September 1998." Interview by Diane Estelle Vicari. Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness. WGBH/PBS, n.d. Web.<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/sugihara/readings/ganor.html>

"Chiune Sugihara." The Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2017. <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/chiune-sugihara>.

"Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2017 <https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005594>.

"Voyage of the St. Louis." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2017 <https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005267>

[letswatchwithlite]

Killing Eve (Season 2)

Type: Series (2019)

Platform: BBC America

What is it about?

A cat-and-mouse game between a psychopathic assassin, Villanelle (played by Jodie Comer), and the agent tasked to hunt her down, Eve (played by Sandra Oh). It is a thriller that has it all: guns, kills, drama, even comedy, largey hinged on the dynamic of the relationship between the two main characters, whom are fueled by obsession with each other.

Should you watch it?

Yes - If you’ve never seen S1, but likes cop-and-bad-guy thrillers, or delving into the minds of psychopathic killers (althought I wouldn’t say Killing Eve dived too deep into that compared to shows like “Mindhunters”), or you love some good old spy-action series with a healthy dose of comedy that is not slapstick, WATCH IT!

Also watch it for the incredible acting chops of Ms. Jodie Comer, which deservedly landed her her Emmy and BAFTA wins for Best Actress. If she was very good in S1, her performance in S2 is on another level - she made a psychotic killer ALLURING!

No - While still a commendable season, and I’m not sure if it’s because Phoebe Waller-Bridge is no longer the lead writer for S2, but the quality of the season in terms of pacing & storyline did drop a bit. Fans of S1 who had placed extremely high hopes on S2, will likely be disappointed.

For non-fans who’ve never watched this series before, what are you waiting for? Go and watch S1 FIRST before you even touch this!

How long will it take?

There are 8 episodes in total, at about 40-45mins each.

Rating: 85/100

Ready to watch? Or perhaps not? Here’s where you’ll want to stop reading if you want to watch the series spoiler-free and come back later for the full review. If you just don’t care, or you’ve finished it, read on my friend!

FULL THOUGHTS (SPOILER ALERT)

The Good Ones

I thought they did a pretty good job of keeping the relationship dynamic between Eve and Villanelle and cranking it up a few notches in S2. The tension is crazily good! The other characters, particularly Carolyn (more meat this round) and Konstantin (a slightly subdued amount of appearances, but lights up the scene everytime he’s with Villanelle) makes decisions that have far more profound impact on the lives of both Eve & Villanelle compared to S1. Those came at a bit of a price though at the sake of Kenny, as we see a decreased role for him this season. Hopefully we can see more of him in the next!

1. Chemistry & Heightened Tension

If Villanelle was hesitative and shy about meeting Eve in S1, her obsession with her was blown fully open in S2. A testament to Jodie Comer’s innate ability to disappear 100% into her character (watch her interviews and be blown away), she portrays Villanelle so perfectly in all her emotional range that you can’t help but feel for her when she’s disappointed or sad about Eve; or laugh at her childlike, compulsive behaviours and deadpan remarks, or be scared of her in her killing mode because you can never be sure when she’s going to strike you down.

She’s not alone with her thoughts though - Eve can’t shake her mind off Villanelle as well. While Villanelle develops an unhealthy, one-sided relationship with Eve in her mind, Eve goes through her life feeling sorry about what she did to Villanelle in Paris at the end of S1. Her fascination of how Villanelle works and her determination to catch her seems to have faded away to a more personal level - she wants to know everything about her, and the thought of putting her behind bars seem to dissipate even more as the season goes on.

The buildup to both characters eventually meeting each other was done so well - it’s just like the first time they met in S1. Even watching them together one can feel the tension in the air, almost as if you’re in the room with them and you’re peeking at them from the shadows. The dialogue, their movements, all are executed so well, which is great because their chemistry and tension are what’s driving this series!

Does Eve harbour romantic feelings towards Villanelle? Honestly I don’t think so. If anything, it’s likely an infatuation at this point. Here is an exciting woman who shows no intention to stop pursuing her (but happens to be a psychotic killer), on the other hand she has a loving husband who genuinely cares for her albeit a little too boring. I would understand if Eve’s intrigued, thrilled to be wanted even! But I feel she does love Niko more romantically compared to Villanelle.

2. Batman & The Joker Parallels

I can’t help but sense the increasing parallels between Eve and Villanelle, and Batman and The Joker in S2. Just like how The Joker is obsessed with Batman and vice versa, Eve and Villanelle both goes to the extreme in this slow but filled-with-tension dance between them. Villanelle starts to make direct moves on people she sees as a love threat (aka Niko) to her relationship with Eve, and Eve herself is spiraling down the path of psychosis herself by starting to disregard her own sanity and good judgment, and even Kenny who genuinely cares for her, to try and lure Villanelle to see her.

The chemistry and dynamics between Eve and Villanelle remains the core strength of the series, and it is made even better in this season, to some points poetic even. Villanelle repeatedly says that she and Eve are the same type of person, that what makes Eve interesting is she herself (can you feel the Joker-Batman parallel here?), and she is quite right as we slowly see the Eve untangling herself due to her own obsession with Villanelle. Has Eve started on the path to villainy herself? We shall see!

Not all the ‘good guys’ are as good as they seem to be, and not every villain is as bad as they make themselves out to be. Everyone operates in a grey area, and largely the focus has been on Eve & Villanelle.

Will we get more character backstory on Konstantin & Carolyn? I surely hope so! Carolyn has a bigger and shadier role this time around and you can’t help but wonder if we should be more careful of her from now on.

The Bad Ones

In general, there’s a couple of quetionable plotholes that I feel is a result of abit of too much going on to move the story along, and the first few episodes’ pacing were a bit too slow (in comparion, the entire S1′s pacing was excellent). Yes, there needs to be a new plot device to drive Eve and Villanelle back to each other, but I felt it could’ve been worked out better (is this because PWB is not the head writer anymore?).

1. “The Ghost”

I felt The Ghost was grossly underused and misused. Sure, she’s a plot device to get Villanelle jealous, and is also the prime suspect in a new case Eve is working on (thus the cause of said jealousy), but the way her character was handled felt very shortchanged.

It’s like she’s being built up to be the direct opposite of Villanelle yet equally lethal, but turns up and disappears in a rather anti-climactic way. She was cast aside too easily because compared to Villanelle, she is relatively ‘boring’!

Her confession: could’nt they have used her children as a leverage to make her confess? I guess that’s way too easy & convenient, as it wouldn’t have lead to Eve & Villanelle working together. Is this really the best way they could’ve brought the two characters together in the same room again?

The aftermath of her confession: wasn’t it enough to arrest Aaron Peel? There could be transactional records of payment for her service and whatnot, but Aaron Peel conveniently controls the whole of UK’s data now so....

It was a shame we didn’t get to see a direct showdown between Villanelle and The Ghost. I hope we see another opponent like this in next season?

2. Villanelle’s Escape

Villanelle had a REALLY hard time escaping from the Paris hospital and back to London. I’m pretty sure she would’ve eased through the trip quite easily in her S1 form. Yes she is injured, but her wit & survival skills would’ve moved her along faster innit?

So tough was the escape, that we needed 3 episodes before she was ‘rescued’ by a member of The Twelve. This was what bothered me about the pacing in the opening 3 episodes: they put a heavy handicap on her abilities. Also, given how efficient The Twelve is, it took 3 episodes for them to track down Villanelle? Really?

Villanelle and The Twelve, you both had suddenly become sooo sloppy.

3. Eve’s New Case

If the opening three episodes slowed down Villanelle’s return to badassery, it also serves an introduction to the new case Eve’s team is working on. From then on, the entire series’s plot suddenly lurches forward as we anticipate Villanelle finally reuniting with Eve again. Suddenly, they are working together on a case! Are international criminals allowed such freedom to walk across the globe so easily by exchanging personal favours with old acquantainces? Does it really work like that? It was even shown that Carolyn had an upper management to answer to! This means she can’t necessarily be allowed to make all the calls right? But conveniently, she does seem to have all the power to do so!

The case also involves a rather mediocre story about a son seeking to sell his dad’s company in a dodgy way. Carolyn so conveniently halts the Villanelle case as a result, at least for Eve. You couldn’t help but think - Villanelle definitely killed more and has more high-profile cases than The Ghost, and the entire MI6 division stops right there entirely to focus on The Ghost?

Hmm maybe that’s her deal with Konstantin? But it doesn’t add up still. Just like how Kenny reminded Eve and us all, “She killed Phil!”, Villanelle is easily let off the hook like that? Seemed abit too easy, and we’re talking MI6 here. I’m amazed though that the writers still remembered to use Phil! :D

Summary

I loved how they ended the season on another cliffhanger (and another amazing performance from both actresses!). The best episodes in this season happened in the middle, when Eve & Villanelle finally sees each other again and rekindled that chemistry/tension between them. After a rough start, it’s still a solid season carried well thanks to the performance of the actors, and some great cinematography and direction.

Season 3 should be exciting - what’s next? Can’t wait to see :)

[kerahlekung]

UMNO may not exist by 2023 ...

UMNO may not exist by 2023 ....

Dr.M’s Final Touch To Destroy 

The Party Before He Retires...

Opposition parties, consisting primarily of UMNO (Malay nationalist party) and PAS (Islamist party), have been linked to an infographic illustrating a list of new Cabinet ministers – if both parties win the next general election, which must be held by 2023. The list includes Foreign Minister Lokman Noor Adam, the man often ridiculed and laughed at for having “IQ of a carrot”. Known as the “fried rice” minister, Ahmad Maslan, the man who had previously lectured people who couldn’t make ends meet due to GST (goods and services tax) to cook at home to avoid the tax, would become the new Minister of International Trade and Industry. Perhaps he would bring back the GST to prove that the tax regime isn’t that bad after all. Rahman Dahlan, one of the biggest supporters and cheerleaders of former PM Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor during the peak of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, would become the Economic Minister. Even joker Bung Moktar would be appointed as the Minister of Rural Development portfolio. Ismail Sabri, a die-hard fan of 1MDB, would be in charge of the police force. If indeed the new Cabinet line-up of UMNO-PAS was the idea cooked up by the opposition parties to strengthen their alliance, they have done a horrible job. As usual, almost all the important and lucrative ministries would be dominated by UMNO, leaving crumbs for PAS. But the fantasy of an UMNO-PAS government may just remain a dream – UMNO may not exist by 2023. While UMNO is down, it is not out. And Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad knows better than anyone to leave UMNO alive and kicking, the same dominant party which he once led for 22 years from 1981 to 2003 as the country’s fourth prime minister. Returning as the premier once again after last May election, Mahathir has almost burned the bridge of returning to his former party – UMNO. Perhaps the biggest hint that UMNO would soon remain a distant memory is the latest call from PPBM Youth Chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman for actions to be taken against UMNO for receiving funds from the 1MDB funds. Coming from Syed Saddiq, the youngest minister from Mahathir’s own party, it speaks volumes about the world’s oldest leader’s next action.

MACC Chief Commissioner - Latheefa Koya

Last Friday, newly crowned MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) Chief Commissioner Latheefa Koya announced that her commission had filed a civil forfeiture suit against 41 entities comprising individuals, companies and political parties – aiming to recover RM270 million, the biggest forfeiture by the anti-graft body in its history so far. As expected, UMNO was the biggest recipient constituting close to 80% of the total dubious money, with RM212 million going into the accounts of several state liaison committees, divisions and leaders. The civil action was filed under Section 56 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA). Like Najib, who was terribly upset when prosecutors slapped a similar civil forfeiture suit last month against him and families in relation to properties and goods such as jewellery, designer handbags, watches and sunglasses valued at RM680 million believed to have been bought using 1MDB funds, UMNO has been equally panicked over the latest civil forfeiture lawsuit. And UMNO has every reason to be worried and terrified. Civil forfeitures are different from criminal charges as they were initiated only against the property and not against persons. The advantage of using civil forfeiture action is that it will ensure those assets seized are not dissipated – money or property doesn’t get spent, sold or transferred. That explains why the US-DOJ has filed civil – not criminal – lawsuits initially in 2015 to seize billions in assets allegedly bought with stolen 1MDB funds, including a private jet, luxury real estate, artwork and jewellery. So, in this case, UMNO will have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the RM212 million did not come from 1MDB – an impossible mission. Unlike criminal prosecutions, the prosecutors do not have to prove anything in civil cases. But here’s the fun part. If UMNO and their divisions and leaders were to return the money, it will prove they had taken money stolen from 1MDB. If they refused to, and plan to challenge the government, they have to prove in court that the money, which UMNO claimed had been spent, was not stolen from 1MDB. However, because their bank accounts have been frozen since last July, and will continue to be frozen as the investigation of 1MDB scandal is still ongoing, UMNO appears to be at a dead end. The once-rich political party does not have RM212 million to return to the government, even if they wanted to. Hence, they could be declared bankrupt. Any way you look at it, UMNO is toast.

UMNO Raising Flag As First Time Opposition

Adding salt to the injury, PPBM Youth Chief Syed Saddiq said a complaint will be launched against UMNO with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) for receiving the RM212 million in 1MDB-linked funds. Clearly, this is an attempt to dissolve or de-register the party. If the civil forfeiture lawsuit fails to kill UMNO, an order from ROS to UMNO to be shut down will definitely kill the party. What goes around comes around. Interestingly, at the eleventh hour before the 14th general election in May 2018, Mahathir’s party – PPBM (Bersatu) – was temporarily dissolved by ROS, an order believed to be from Najib. As a result of Najib’s dirty politicking last April, PPBM was not allowed to use its name and logo to contest in the May general election. ROS claimed that PPBM had violated Section 14(5) of the Societies Act 1966 in failing to submit information and documents pertaining to the minutes of branch meetings, divisions and centres. It also claimed that PPBM had failed to submit party financial statements within the stipulated deadline. Now, UMNO, at the receiving end, has committed an even bigger crime – receiving RM212 million of stolen money. Of course, PM Mahathir has rubbished criticism that his Pakatan Harapan government is out to bankrupt UMNO, let alone any attempts to close down the party using ROS. But UMNO has nobody to blame but itself. Had the corrupt party refused to take the government’s money stolen by Najib, it would be hard for the 93-year-old prime minister to find reasons to terminate UMNO. Mahathir said he did not mind if UMNO had plans to create a new party, if indeed the ROS decides to dissolve the party – suggesting that the premier was not concerned at all that UMNO could rebuild or its members could flock to PAS Islamist party. Sure, the UMNO branding itself was invaluable. But it requires a leader with a bigger reputation to make the brand spins. The PM knew only he possesses the formula to revitalise UMNO, the same way he skilfully destroyed the old UMNO (UMNO 1.0) in 1988, before rebuilding “UMNO Baru” (UMNO 2.0). Now that Mahathir’s PPBM is running the country, he will destroy the existing UMNO so that its MPs and members would have no choice but to flock to PPBM, making PPBM the UMNO 3.0 (“UMNO Lagi Baru”). Yes, Mahathir has everything to gain, but nothing to lose by destroying UMNO. Once ROS declares UMNO must be disbanded, its members and MPs will be forced to decide – to join PPBM, or PAS or a newly created party. Chances are, most of them will join PPBM due to obvious reason. UMNO leaders and members know only 2 things – power and money – something which PPBM has in its possession.

  Hadi Awang and Mohd Hassan

Once dissolved, UMNO will be split further and like a damaged good, it would be worthless. Pro-UMNO cybertroopers, propagandists and bloggers, however, had been arguing that in the eventuality that UMNO is killed, everyone in the party will join PAS in droves. Is that true? Perhaps the answer can be found during the PAS congress about 4 days ago. Kedah PAS Youth said while a cooperation with age-old nemesis UMNO is acceptable, the Islamist party insisted they must be the leader on top, despite PAS has only 2-million supporters in comparison to UMNO’s 4-million – indicating the Islamist party’s grassroots are not fully comfortable with joining forces with their political foe, even for the sake of religion. PAS President Hadi Awang, however, said his leadership was not asking or demanding to lead the UMNO-PAS alliance. In fact, he tried to beat around the bush saying despite wanting an Islamic leadership; it may not necessarily be UMNO or PAS which leads. He also admitted that there is still UMNO-phobia in PAS, and vice-versa, there is PAS-phobia in UMNO. So, if PAS and UMNO could not even decide who will lead in a new government come 2023, despite both parties being led by Malay-Muslim leaders now, is it possible that 4-million UMNO supporters and members would blindly cross over to PAS? If UMNO can accept a full-blown Islamic country like Afghanistan, why aren’t UMNO and PAS merged already? Be it Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan or Kelantan, in reality, UMNO-Malay leaders can never accept PAS as their new home, let alone the extreme and conservative ideology of the Islamist party. That explains why Mahathir is perfectly happy if UMNO is dissolved and a new party is to be created. As a master strategist, Mahathir knew a wounded tiger is a dangerous beast. Even if it’s true that majority of the ethnic Malays plan to vote UMNO back to power by 2023, why should Mahathir does nothing and allows himself to be slaughtered. If the old man can’t have UMNO members and MPs, not to mention its assets which include the PWTC, he will make sure nobody gets the toy. It will take years and tons of money to build a new party with a network as extensive as UMNO. - FT

Ibu berang anaknya dirotan 

kerana panggil cikgu 'pondan'...

Semalam, viral klip video seorang guru dimarahi oleh ibu kepada seorang pelajar perempuan kerana berang anaknya dirotan sehingga berbirat di lengan dan kaki.  Difahamkan, guru lelaki itu berbuat demikian kerana pelajar itu memanggilnya 'Ah Kua' yang bermaksud pondan.  Video tersebut dirakam sendiri oleh ibu pelajar terbabit dan tersebar di media sosial mencetuskan pelbagai reaksi netizen. Ada yang menyokong tindakan guru itu dan ada juga yang sebaliknya.  Dalam video itu juga, si ibu mendakwa kesan dari tindakan guru berkenaan menyebabkan tangan anaknya mengalami kesakitan sehingga tidak dapat mengangkat tangannya. 

Namun, tampil salah seorang remaja perempuan yang dipercayai rakan sekelas pelajar terbabit menceritakan serba-sedikit mengenai kejadian tersebut.  "Saya sokong tindakan guru saya itu. Pelajar perempuan ini merupakan pelajar nakal di sekolah saya. Jadi, saya rasa tindakan guru merotannya adalah tidak salah.  "Apabila dia pergi membuat laporan polis, dia kelihatan gembira, langsung tak fikir apa yang dia dah buat. Jadi, macam mana guru nak didik pelajar dengan kasih sayang?  "Ibu dia kata, mungkin dari kesan rotan itu anaknya tidak dapat mengangkat tangan, mungkin tangannya patah. Tetapi dia masih boleh main telefon.  "Jika awak dimaki 'Ah Kua' (pondan), boleh ke awak bersabar? Siapa tak marah? Kalau awak hormat saya, mestilah saya hormat awak. "Pelajar itu pergi depan cikgu dan cakap dia Pondan. Takkan disebabkan pelajar itu yang buat salah, guru yang kena pecat? Cikgu pun manusia tau," katanya.  - the reporter

Dulu, bila dikata PAS nak taawun,tahaluf dengan UMNO,pengikut PAS bukan main MARAH. Sedikit demi sedikit,akhirnya lebai PAS pikul juga biawak hidup..😂😂😂

Hadi kata,"PAS yakin memenangi sekurang2nya 40 kerusi Parlimen pada PRU14." 

Akhirnya PAS hanya dapat 18 kerusi Parlimen saja berbanding 1568 kerusi yang dipertandingkan.Nyawa itu Allah yang tentukan,bukan ulamak2 PAS...

cheers.

Sumber asal: UMNO may not exist by 2023 ... Baca selebihnya di UMNO may not exist by 2023 ...

[deniseyallen]

On CNN & MSNBC, Portman Honors the Life of His Friend and Mentor, President George H.W. Bush

On Saturday, Senator Portman joined CNN’s Jake Tapper and MSNBC’s David Gura to discuss the passing of his dear friend and mentor, President George H.W. Bush. In a statement after his passing, Portman said: “An early boss and mentor, President Bush was one of the most decent and honorable men I’ve ever known, and a model that I have tried to follow in my years in public service.” 

The CNN interview can be viewed here and MSNBC interview can be viewed here.

    PORTMAN ON CNN:

“Every summer I was in the habit of going up to Kennebunkport to visit and sometimes visiting him in Houston as well but it was another visit. It was in September and he was typical George Bush. Generous with his time and comments. Humorous. You know, when you are in your 90s, sometimes it’s tough to have a good attitude and be humorous and he was all of those things. His last comments to me were, ‘You know, you’re a good man,’ and so you saw the George Bush that all of us came to know and love right through to the end. He was just an amazing people person. You know, he loved people. I remember being at Kennebunkport with him when there were Democrats, Republicans, Independents up there. Everybody wanted to come and flock to him and talk to him, and be around him. He was just an amazing person, and you’re right, he is a mentor. He also got me involved in this crazy business. I never would have gotten involved in politics I don’t think but for him taking a chance on me and bringing me into his White House and putting me in jobs that probably I wasn’t qualified for at the time and testing me. I owe him for that as well.

  “I had worked back here in Cincinnati, Ohio, in his campaigns, and when he was elected president in 1988, he asked me to come and be one of the seven or eight lawyers on his staff. Now I think there are 40 of them. I started off as one of the lawyers, and after about six months an opening occurred on the legislative affairs side of things, and I went over there to become director of that office. I really wasn’t qualified to do it to be frank, I had worked on the Hill as an intern. Yet, he trusted me. I appreciated the confidence he showed in me, and I tried to earn that. Lots of George Bush stories, but one would be the Desert Storm experience that I had and sitting behind him at one of those meetings with all of the members of Congress and cabinet members. I remember some of the advisors telling him he should not seek approval from Congress because, frankly, it was uncertain whether that would be successful, and everybody believed that Saddam Hussein needed to be pushed out of Kuwait, and President Bush pushed back and said, ‘No, we’re going to go to Congress, and we’re going to seek that approval under the War Powers Act,’ and he thought he could be successful by persuading people of the importance of it. In fact, it was a very tough vote. I remember working it on the Hill, and we ended up winning it by just three votes, and yet in retrospect, he did the right thing against the advice of some of his advisors because that helped to bring the country together, and that was his point. One, he respected the institution of Congress, having served there himself, but second, he wanted Congress representing the American people to put their imprint and bring people together. As you know, shortly thereafter, 100 hours thereafter, he was able to declare victory. I think one reason that was such a successful contest or successful conflict for the United States was that the American people were really behind this from the start and it wasn’t just the administration going out on its own. It’s just one example of many that I would have where his wisdom, from experience being on the Hill himself, and his ability to sort of take a strong firm position, which was Saddam Hussein had to go, but also wanted to go through the appropriate process and the institutions of government to be able to insure that it was ultimately successful.

  “We just loved both of them, but the lesson that we learned from them I would say is a little different than some might say. Barbara Bush was feisty and didn’t always agree with him and vice versa and yet unconditional support and love, you know, so he stood with her and she stood with him and that was a great lesson. Also just being in politics and having kids is tough because you’re apart from your family a lot, and so watching how they did it and how they kept their family together, how they kept their family first even in difficult times. It was the combination of the support they showed for one another. Jane and I to this day consider them to be the model political couple and family. I know a lot of people at Barbara Bush’s funeral talked about the fact that she was an equal partner at least in that relationship and that’s important also.

“I think it’s coming back. Seriously. I think this is a time for us to reflect on why it’s okay to reach across the aisle to get things done. Why it’s okay to be civil and to respect your political opponents, not treat them as enemies, and I think that’s where most American people are. Right now our politics are rougher than that, and our country is more divided, but I suspect that part of what we will see over time is a coming back to that. I think George H.W. Bush’s passing and the celebration of his life is a wonderful opportunity  for us to reflect on that and the importance of it. Look, he wasn’t a person without principle and conviction. He had plenty of them. But he also knew ultimately you had to work together to get things done.”

PORTMAN ON MSNBC: 

“He was personable. He’s known for writing those handwritten notes but it goes well beyond that. It’s about understanding people and liking people and being able to connect with people, and he also seemed like he was the best experienced person, you know, who had ever run for president. I think that’s certainly true. He had the background at CIA, the background as ambassador of the UN, he had the China envoy, and of course having been a congressman. So he just seemed like he was a person who was ready, and we really didn’t know at that time, as you know because there were probably 15 people running for president, whether he’d have a chance. But sure enough he did really well in Iowa, not quite as well in New Hampshire, and ended up being picked as vice president, and the rest is history.

  “He had a great respect for Congress, and a lot of friends. In fact, a lot of his friends were Democrats. That’s been noted in other programs I’ve seen today. But a lot actually from Ohio as an example of that, a Toledo congressman who was a Democrat and was a dear friend of his. It was easy to be his legislative liaison. He had a lot of goodwill on Capitol Hill. It also enabled him to see the role Congress could play, a great example of that would be Desert Storm. There were advisers, Andy will remember this, who did not believe he should go to seek the approval of the United States Congress for that military action because they thought we could possibly lose. Everybody knew that Saddam Hussein had to be kicked out of Kuwait and why bring Congress into it. He felt differently. He had firm convictions as to what should happen, but he also had firm convictions that Congress should be brought in, and that through them the American people should be brought in so there would be more consensus about resolving that conflict. In the end, David, as you may remember, it was a very close vote. I was up on Capitol Hill working it. We ended up winning it by three votes. It was very close. But in retrospect it was the right thing to do and it reflected the fact he served in Congress and understood Congress and understood the role they could play.

  “I hope it reminds us that it’s okay to reach across the aisle and try to get things done working with the other side. It’s okay to respect your political opponents and not consider them enemies. It’s okay to practice, as he did, civility in politics. He’s my mentor. He brought me into this business. I’ve seen how you can do it as a gentleman. Also as somebody who can be firm. He had convictions, no question about it. But he did it in a way that I think sometimes is lost these days, which is not just to reach across the aisle, but to do it with respect and sincerity, we can learn a lot from that.”

  ###

from Rob Portman http://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=F19361B4-125E-4222-BE77-C5838EF15E9D

[attendantdesign-blog]

New Post has been published on Attendantdesign

New Post has been published on https://attendantdesign.com/state-department-to-ban-americans-from-visiting-to-north-korea/

State Department to ban Americans from visiting to North Korea.

The State Department stated Friday it’s going to restrict U.S.

Residents from traveling to North Korea beginning late next month, mentioning the risk of arrest and imprisonment by way of the authoritarian regime.

The pass follows the death of an American pupil ultimate month who changed into imprisoned for nearly 18 months in Pyongyang earlier than he turned into flown domestically to Ohio in a coma.

The State Department long has suggested Americans no longer to go to but the choice with the aid of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson flatly bars the use of U.S. Passports “to travel in, via, or to North Korea,” spokeswoman Heather Nauert stated in an assertion.

Several hundred Americans visit North Korea each 12 months on excursion businesses that specialize within the united states. Some aid workers, newshounds, and teachers additionally journey there.

Actions that aren’t criminal, or not fundamental crimes, somewhere else can cause harsh punishment underneath North Korea’s totalitarian device. More than a dozen Americans had been arrested and detained considering 2009, and three are still held there.

Nauert said Tillerson determined to prohibit U.S. Tour to North Korea “because of mounting concerns over the extreme risk of arrest and lengthy-term detention” there.

“The protection and security of U.S. Residents distant places are one in every of our highest priorities,” she brought.

The restriction could be posted next week inside the Federal Register and take impact 30 days later. Exceptions may be made on a case-by way of-case foundation for a few humanitarian journey, Nauert stated.

The motion comes as President Trump grapples to discover a strategy to stress North Korea to rein in its robust nuclear guns and ballistic missile assessments in a duration of rising tensions.

In April, Trump in my view sought the assistance of Chinese President Xi Jinping to persuade North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but that method has in large part failed to produce effects.

Since then, the management has delivered new sanctions on human beings or businesses, along with some in China, that do commercial enterprise in or with North Korea.

Earlier this month, North Korea tested a missile that flew a trajectory that U.S. Experts stated indicated an ability for the primary time to move the Pacific and probably threaten the United States.

U.S. Officers say the united states has yet to build a nuclear weapon small sufficient to in shape atop a missile and live on, however that is probably a matter of time.

The Americans State Department visiting declaration targeted, but, on the threat of arrests and imprisonment North Korea.

A University of Virginia pupil, Otto F. Warmbier, turned into arrested at the giving up of his journey to Pyongyang with an excursion group in January 2016 for trying to scouse borrow a propaganda poster from his lodge.

Two months later, he changed into sentenced to fifteen years in jail with difficult hard work. In June, he becomes released on clinical grounds and flown to Cincinnati in a coma. He died six days later.

Warmbier’s family says they’ve now not received a fine clarification of what occurred.

North Korea said Warmbier reduced in size botulism rapidly after he becomes imprisoned, changed into given a snoozing pill and by no means weakened. U.S. Docs did now not find that version attainable.

What Are the Differences Between Travel Agent and Tour Operator?

The Travel Agent and Tour Operators are usually separate carrier carriers managing exceptional parts of the adventure, no longer always distinctive however the difference does lie within the provider they provide.

From patron point of view, the big alternate took place in 1992, when you consider that then anybody who’s presenting the services for travels is accountable based totally upon their stake and expected income which they are looking forward to. This is high-quality development for the purchaser facet as now economic responsible for the ability liability is split into every birthday celebration accountable.

The Tour Operators provide a lot extra exact offerings which you require from every little thing in the course of the go to. It might not appear a huge difference, however, the both of those events are the exclusive result in a case of any liability and so forth. As the journey dealers do not have big stakes to the entire adventure, being only a cross between, so they are taking the fee for their offerings. In the case of the dissatisfaction or problem, they may not be dealing with huge proceedings as they’re not the number one dealers.

The foremost difference among is that the scope. The Travel Agents offer the precise offerings unless one asks for them to address other things, they act as pass between the airways and tourists. It is predicted that the journey marketers maximum of instances have enterprise internal their personal office and don’t have any stakes inside the jogging of excursions, or aren’t connected with the real centers and services.

The difference between Agent and Tour Operator also can be seen in the way they are being paid. The retailers are given commission for their services for the regular things like air tickets and many others. The bill of the agent is often very small as examine to.

The offerings of each the tour operator and travel marketers are basically related so some of the corporations begin to take each the sports. This however rarely occurs as the duties of Tour Operators are big as examine to the Travel Agent.

What Would an Invasion of North Korea Achieve?

The international awaits a way to the standoff over the nuclear missile threat posed by using the president of North Korea, Kim Jong-un. His leading opponent is Donald Trump, the newly elected president of the USA. Over the time considering that his ascension to the top activity the North Korean has put the Americans on being aware that he’ll construct an inter-continental-ballistic-missile capable of attaining America. It seems that he has done that purpose.

The question is what will Trump do about it? The disaster has escalated over the previous few days due to the anti-American rhetoric and provocation by means of his foe who’s taunting him into creating a circulate by means of his movements.

The subsequent query is what will the other countries within variety also do? The today’s take a look at proves that Kim has a functionality of attaining as ways as Australia and all the international locations in a circle of that distance around him. Those maximum anxious include Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and even India.

Globally there is a nervousness in an effort to in no way subside until something primary happens. For a few sixty-seven years the threat of retaliation via the North in opposition to the South and its allies has existed. On twenty-fifth June 1950, a navy of 75,000 poured across the 38th parallel and within per week had control of Seoul.

The cause for the invasion happened, reputedly, on the top of World War II while the allies had been given manipulate over the peninsula after 35 years of Japanese occupation. It passed off that the Soviet Union and the united states have been given joint partnership of its management.

The Communist regime of us fostered the rise of Kim il-Sun in the north to move a communist government. The USA supported Syngman Rhee and provisional authorities within the south. The end result turned into catastrophic as the two opposites and their adversarial armies confronted every other throughout the 38th parallel.

It changed into additionally going to lead to the war and the inclusion of 21 international locations who rose to the defence of South Korea. They supplied military system, armies, and all the important aspect-lines to the defence of South Korea.

By November the Chinese had entered the war at the aspect of North Korea and therein lies an extraordinary tale to what the West expects today. Both China and North Korea have communist-led philosophies of a rule. It is tough to assume that one will aspect towards the opposite. Putin, on the other hand, who inherited the significantly faded Soviet Union, is openly favouring the dictators who’re opposing the united states and the West.

Given Russia’s guide of North Korea inside the beyond and the connection between the leaders, Putin and Xi Jinping, one has to surprise if the vintage struggle is set to start again. The Chinese President has made common journeys to Russia and vice-versa in current months. The remaining only a few days ago.

Something is cooking and some thing massive will result. What to be able to be in every body’s guess but Russia is increasing its forces into the Pacific location. One of its struggle-ships turned into spotted off the Australian Coast multiple weeks in the past, even though in International waters.

China has made massive inroads into Australia over the last few years and even has a lease on the Port of Darwin. Its people have offered up land and homes here and its investment is a fear for plenty Australians who see it as a threat to our security. We are not secure and no matter whether the united states invade the North Korean region or now not there may be some thing taking place that the world holds its breath to discover what it’s far.

An invasion of that kind could be unsightly, devastating, and lead immediately to a prime battle between the most effective countries. The question is are we prepared for it as there can be no winners and nothing desirable performed?

[touristguidebuzz]

Airbnb Settles Race Discrimination Complaint in California

Airbnb and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing have signed a voluntary agreement to work toward curb racial discrimination on the Airbnb platform. Airbnb

Skift Take: Whatever can be done to prevent discrimination and bias on the Airbnb platform is a good thing. Let's just hope this plan works toward that goal.

— Deanna Ting

Nearly a year after a California government agency filed a complaint alleging that Airbnb failed to prevent discrimination against African-American guests using its short-term rental platform, the company is making an attempt to work with government regulators to police and improve upon its non-discrimination policy.

On April 27, Airbnb and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) announced that both parties had signed an agreement on April 19 whereby Airbnb would, for at least the next two years, voluntarily agree to take specific actions that address racial bias and discrimination on its platform.

These actions include, but are not limited to, regularly scheduled reports to be submitted to the DFEH about the company’s ability to curb discrimination, as well as fair housing testing by the DFEH on Airbnb hosts with three or more listings in California who have been the subject of one or more discrimination complaints.

“We will continue to work collaboratively with Airbnb to prevent racial discrimination by its hosts,” said DFEH Director Kevin Kish in a press statement. “California is committed to removing all discriminatory barriers in housing, including in new platforms and marketplaces. Fair housing testing is an important and powerful tool in enforcing fair housing laws.”

In a statement published on Airbnb’s blog, Airbnb General Counsel Rob Chesnut said, “Fighting discrimination is fundamental to our mission and we are committed to creating a community that is open to everyone. Our work with the State of California builds on our ongoing efforts to fight bias and we look forward to continuing to work with state leaders to ensure the Airbnb community is fair for everyone.”

Airbnb has long battled allegations that the design of its short-term rental platform does little to prevent bias or discrimination, either on the part of its hosts or its guests. Those complaints, which stretch as far back as 2015, came to boiling point last year when the hashtag #AirbnbWhileBlack brought international media attention to the problem and a class-action lawsuit followed.

In response, Airbnb launched a review of its policies, led by civil rights leader and longtime American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) executive Laura W. Murphy and former U.S. Attorney General Eric J. Holder. That review, in turn, resulted in a revised nondiscrimination policy that was announced on Sept. 8, 2016 and further clarified on Nov. 1 with new updated terms of service for all users.

The Bigger Question: Was This Agreement Absolutely Necessary?

While Airbnb has made concerted efforts to show it is actively fighting discrimination and bias on its platform — including achieving its goal of having at least 1 million of its more than 3 million listings instantly bookable by January 2017 — a bigger question lingers.

Namely, why did the DFEH feel it was necessary to accept this agreement from Airbnb? And vice versa: Why did Airbnb agree to it?

In a release issued by the DFEH, it noted the agreement was reached after “more than ten months of investigation and collaborative work between DFEH and the company.” DFEH Director Kevin Kish originally filed complaints against Airbnb on June 7, 2016, alleging that the company “may have engaged in acts of discrimination in violation of Government Code, section 12955 and the Unruh Act, Civil Code, section 51,” according to court documents relating to the agreement (attached below).

Essentially, the DFEH’s complaints said Airbnb may have violated the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the Unruh Act because it failed to prevent discrimination from taking place on its platform, whether intentionally or unintentionally. The Unruh Act says it is illegal for a business establishment of any kind to intentionally fail to prevent discrimination.

However, as noted in the court documents, Airbnb maintains it is exempt from any liability under the FEHA and Unruh Act because of its favorite federal law: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). The CDA is a federal law that basically says websites can’t be held responsible for the actions of the people who use those sites.

This is the same law Airbnb has used to make its case in various legal battles over short-term regulation, both in New York City and San Francisco. Airbnb’s CDA argument helped the company “win” its case in New York City by placing all legal liability on the company’s hosts, instead of Airbnb itself.

Airbnb’s CDA argument is noted in the court documents, but the DFEH does not explicitly say that this CDA argument is valid. However, the agreement does note that the DFEH will not file any discrimination-related complaints against Airbnb for at least two years.

Ben Edelman, the Harvard researcher whose work is cited as evidence for Airbnb’s violations of the FEHA and Unruh Acts in the same court documents, said he’s baffled by the DFEH’s decision to accept this agreement by Airbnb.

“The fact that they have to settle to get the right to ‘test’ Airbnb is incredibly ironic,” Edelman said. “Imagine if a police officer needed a settlement from me to check if he can use his radar gun to check my speeding. That’s basically what’s happened here. To test Airbnb for discrimination, they [DFEH] have to promise not to sue Airbnb for 18 months. Regulators shouldn’t have to ask permission to examine a product or service that they’re regulating. The settlement wasn’t totally clear as to why the DFEH felt it needed to ask permission. Did the DFEH feel constrained by Airbnb’s terms of service that don’t allow fake accounts and testing?”

Edelman said that in the course of his research into discrimination and bias on the Airbnb platform that Airbnb “blocked” him from creating fake accounts to do testing.

“If the state of California needs its help in order to test Airbnb’s service I think that portends badly for independent oversight of tech companies,” Edelman added. “It makes it harder to get regulators informed about what’s going on and what work needs to be done. It seems, to me, quite alarming. I didn’t like that as a bargaining chip. That, to me, is table stakes. If you want your service to be technically legal in the state of California, the regulator needs to be able to protect it.”

On the other hand, Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law and an expert on legal issues relating to websites, said it was prudent for the DFEH to be able to “test” the platform in this manner.

“Does the government need an agreement to gather that information to assess discriminatory behavior on the Airbnb site? The short answer is, ‘Yes.’ If the government wants to do that they have to create fictional listings and engage in fictional activity. That’s against Airbnb’s rules and that would create a lot of chaos in their system.”

Goldman also thinks that, in comparison to many other tech companies, Airbnb is investing much more into fighting discrimination than most.

“Airbnb has gone way above industry standard behavior for paying attention to discriminatory issues,” he said. “We don’t see Internet companies investing these kinds of resources that Airbnb is investing here. Whether you call it ‘voluntary’ or ‘coerced,’ the fact that Airbnb is doing this without being legally required to do so shows that they took this issue seriously.”

Goldman added that while he’s not familiar with legal procedures related to this particular government agency, he thinks the complaints would have led to some sort of litigation had Airbnb and the DFEH had not come to an agreement.

“If this had gone to court, Airbnb would have invoked Section 230 [of the CDA] and other defenses,” he explained. “The court may have said the department completely overreached. Both parties had some uncertainty over what would happen. So, they came up with an agreement that was helpful to both sides.”

A Closer Look at the Agreement

Within the agreement itself, there are references to a few different actions Airbnb may (or in some cases, may not) take in an effort to prevent discrimination and bias, many of which were originally cited in Murphy’s September report.

This includes making the revised non-discrimination agreement more prominent and visible on Airbnb’s website and mobile, and if Airbnb makes any changes to the policy it has to notify DFEH. Airbnb will also explore “the availability of alternatives to the current use of guest photos and names.” The displaying of people’s names and photos is something Edelman and other critics have pointed out as one of the biggest deterrents to establishing a discrimination- and bias-free platform. Airbnb will also focus on increasing the number of listings it has that are instantly bookable, and regularly inform the DFEH about its actions.

Interestingly, the agreement with the DFEH also says “Airbnb shall consider developing a feature” that would hold hosts who reject a request on “claimed unavailability.” In Murphy’s report, however, Airbnb said that it would develop a feature that would address this very issue within the first half of 2017. So, if a guest is informed by a host that his requested dates are unavailable — even though the dates were advertised as being vacant — Airbnb would automatically block out those dates for any other requests that come up for those same dates, ensuring the host cannot make the listing available to other guests of a different race, etc. Judging from the DFEH agreement, it’s unclear whether that feature is set to be completed or implemented anytime soon.

Another interesting product feature mentioned in the agreement is the addition of a “gallery” in the host’s profile that would collect information on all the guests who were rejected by a host. This gallery would only be seen by the host and, internally, Airbnb, “for the purpose of identifying, monitoring, and preventing discrimination.” Airbnb is expected to make a decision about this new feature within the next three months and if it ultimately decides not to proceed with the “gallery feature,” it will have to inform the DFEH as to why.

Edelman, for one, doesn’t think the gallery tool will be an effective way to combat discrimination or bias, however. “The gallery feature embodies Airbnb’s vision of hosts being responsible for making these decisions,” he explained. “Airbnb would have California look at an individual host and an individual host’s decision about whom to accept and whom to reject. That’s all well and good but that puts aside the fact that Airbnb designs the platform in the first place. Why are the pics even there? Why are names even included in a reservation request? The gallery puts the focus away from those fundamental questions and it’s a very narrow view of the individual actions of an individual host.”

Edelman also wondered why Airbnb would only create a gallery of all the people whom a single host has declined, without also creating a gallery of all the guests whom that host has accepted.

Additionally, Airbnb has agreed to offer anti-discrimination and bias-awareness training to all of its California-based employees, including customer support employees, and it will also make available unconscious bias training for hosts with listings in California. Airbnb’s Tax & Legal department will provide a report at least every six months to the General Counsel of Airbnb and DFEH, and the DFEH has right to review and copy non-privileged records upon request. The company also said it has a full-time product team devoted to advancing “belonging and inclusion and to root out bias.”

If Airbnb doesn’t show “statistically significant and operationally meaningful improvement in the relative acceptance rate” for “Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian American guests” within 18 months of the agreement going into effect, the terms of the voluntary agreement will be extended for one more year, and Airbnb will have to come up with a new plan for increasing the relative acceptance rate.

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New Post has been published on http://drubbler.com/2017/01/29/nagorno-karabakh-in-the-middle-east-system-roulette/

Nagorno-Karabakh in the Middle East system Roulette

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Stanislav Tarasov, January 29, 2017, 12:06- REGNUM

United States Secretary of State candidate Rex Tillerson during hearings in the Senate, referring to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said that “will work with the Governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan to find a peaceful, long-term solution that would ensure the stability and prosperity in the region.” According to him, “the first step to establish peace in the region must be to achieve confidence and guarantees that the agreement between the parties are respected, as to the question of” what will make the United States to lift the blockade of Armenia by Turkey, “Tillerson responded that” intends to support the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey.

But on the mentioned two items Tillerson situation remains uncertain. If we talk about the legal side of the problem, the existing ceasefire, which is constantly broken, lies document 1994 year. Reached after the April war 2016 year Vienna and St. Petersburg agreement concerning the establishing of the contact line between the conflicting parties and the monitoring system of the Institute of international observers are weak because there is no signature under them Azerbaijan. To establish between the conflicting parties “of peace, confidence and guarantees” not done anything. As regards the issue of normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey, to bind this issue to the problems of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict missed time.

If Turkey goes on the ratification of the agreements signed in October 2009 year famous Zurich protocols providing for the restoration of diplomatic relations between Yerevan and Ankara and the opening of borders between them, it is for other reasons. Even if some coalition forces may be able to achieve victory over the IGIL (structure, banned in Russia) will hang over Turkey the Syrian issue and the problem with the Kurds. In such a situation, Ankara has a chance to be invited (though far from fact-S.t.) to participate in the process of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but not in the leading role. At the same time, when in the course of the April war, Russia was the only country out of all the other co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, speaking with mediation efforts in ending armed clashes Baku, refusing to sign the agreement in St. Petersburg and then thwarting the alleged Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders Summit, sought to neutralize the growing role of Russia in the region. Therefore, the statement of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has become not just an internal matter for Azerbaijan, perceived as a reaction to the policy of Baku, noting that Azerbaijan had lost sovereignty over Nagorny Karabakh and the problem has long been on the international plane with its own set of rules on the mechanisms for the settlement of the conflict.

at one time, in February, 2006 year, being paid a visit to Baku Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a number of statements concerning Georgia. According to him, “very sorry, because Georgia is going through a difficult period and huge social problems,” and “If someone believes that such issues can be solved by diverting attention to the search for new enemies is the wrong path.” At the same time, he stressed: “while criticizing the SOVIET UNION for what it happening, even if correctly criticizing, you cannot step on the same rake. Georgia in August 2008 of the year occurred on these rakes, and Azerbaijan with them never tears. The situation is still in limbo. European experts believe that “to date, practically all positions, scenarios, options spelled out countless times, with neither the United States nor Russia nor France as mediators of the talks, had no differences on known to all” Madrid principles “, which is registered and the item, along with the release of some districts of Azerbaijan-referendum and determining the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. While the very logic of this document provides an introduction to the negotiating process which actively opposes the Stepanakert, Azerbaijan. Moreover, all his attempts to cast in their favour “map” of the Russian-American or Russian-Western standoff, reach a solution to the problem of their scenario through energy projects failed. Curious: in relation to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between the co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group has always been general agreement.

change the situation the new administration of Donald Trump? According to our observations, only Azerbaijan in Transcaucasia and Georgia expressed visible concern about regional policy the new President of the United States. Russian expert thinks Irina Jorbenadze, the problem for them is expectations from the United States and the West “desire or lack thereof to lead the region, like all post-Soviet space, from the influence of Russia continue to use or not to use a former Soviet Republic, as an instrument for pressure on Russia. True, who was recently in Tbilisi former Secretary United States John Kerry claimed that President Trump “will continue to support Georgia. In Baku and Yerevan Kerry didn’t check previously stating that the parties to the conflict are not prepared to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Now, if you think in analogies, Baku and Yerevan will act on the basis of the progress of specific geopolitical events, which is undoubtedly is affected primarily by the nearby Middle East.

held a telephone conversation Russian President Vladimir Putin and the President of the United States for Trump. Moscow formally considered these talks as positive and said that the parties have discussed the fight against terrorism, the Syrian conflict, situation in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the scope of strategic stability and non-proliferation, as well as the situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear programme and the Korean peninsula. As you can see, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not in the list. Earlier, the President of Trump has already instructed Defense Minister James Mjettisu develop within 30 days a plan to combat the IGIL (structure, banned in Russia), which, according to u.s. media, will involve finding new allies for a coalition led by the United States. The White House expressed willingness to work together with Russia and willingness to cooperate with any country which shares these objectives. The Kremlin’s press service said that the two heads of State “were in favour of establishing a real coordination of Russian and American action to defeat IGIL (structure, banned in Russia) and other terrorist groups in Syria.” But there is intrigue.

the fact is that the United States currently already headed consisting of more than 60 countries in the international coalition to combat the IGIL (structure, banned in Russia), there are Islamic-led coalition led by Saudi Arabia, as well as the Alliance of Russia-Turkey-Iran. And Turkey, as well as several other countries in the Middle East, is in all coalitions and alliances. What new alliances talk in Washington? In this context, some experts point to the recent visit to Azerbaijan, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the consequence of which could become a triangle United States — Israel — Azerbaijan, which can project its influence and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. But it clearly would cause themselves a reaction on the part of the other Russia triangle-Armenia-Iran. At the same time, it seems that Trump intends to “more actively intervene in the conflict in Syria”, creating a so-called “protected area”, and even possibly send American ground troops against the IGIL (structure, banned in Russia).

Ankara, ratovavshaja previously about such “zones”, responded with restraint, fearing that the United States along with Israel would support the Kurds in Syria. Such developments would alienate Turkey from Azerbaijan, as an ally of Israel, will encourage its drift toward Iran, which has already outlined problems in relations with the United States, to strengthen relations with Russia. In this scenario cannot be excluded of the normalization process between Turkey and Armenia, mentioned by the United States Secretary of State candidate Tillerson.

but how will in reality United States plans conform with the goals and objectives of Russia in the Caucasus and the Middle East, it is hard to say. Settlement of u.s.-Iranian relations and further convergence and the combination of the interests of the United States and Iran, by contrast, can lead to a decrease in the importance of Turkey and Azerbaijan for geopolitical positions and tasks in the West. The wait that was thrown on the mountain the next Washington geopolitical designers, which bundle and whom they see regional role of Azerbaijan, and not only it, and whether the United States intend to strengthen or vice versa to weaken the role of the States of the Caucasus in its Black Sea-Caucasus strategy, having as main partner Russia. So it would be up to the historical destiny of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ahead will be a very difficult game.

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