#and ones that are still in active use in China no less

[melonymint753]

So I initially just wanted to add an "acktually, the dots mostly represent fire, not legs, and 熊 is also used to describe a big fire, isn't that neat! And please credit the Chinese language for the characters next time :D"

But my need to double check things made me dig a little deeper, and uh. That's not how it worked actually.

熊 is not 能 on legs.

能 WAS bear.

Look, a chonky fella with ears, legs and a little tail! That got stylized over the ages. Since OP has decided to skip over this not "too important" bit, I'm going to pick up slack and point at how the bear's legs became the two "匕"-s, the upper left part is the head, and the 月 radical, while meaning "moon” on its own, takes on a "flesh" vibe when it's part of a character. So the modern character is still a chonky fella with legs, but square.

What happens next is a bit blurry (since Baidu results are various levels of source: Just Trust Me), but people started using this word for “bear" to also express energy/ability and just. decided that 能 should exclusively mean that.

Using 熊 to mean "bear" has some element of chicken-and-egg-ness. Some places say that when people wanted a new bear character, they added fire under its original form to express how bears were warm, or could survive forest fires, and the "big fire" meaning came later. Others say that 熊 meant a big fire in the first place (a fire so strong it's like a bear, if you will), and when people decided they wanted 能 for themselves, the bear meaning got moved over.

From the above picture, you can tell that 熊 had some form of beastness pretty early on. The second character already shows the "能 over fire (火)" structure, and a cursory search says it existed in the hundreds of BC times.

So basically, humans invented a word for "bear", decided they didn't want to share an adjective with an animal (???like why), and lit a fire under it to chase away the original meaning. Now in modern times, 熊 can still mean a stubborn person, while another animal is used to describe impressive stuff: 牛, aka bull/cow. The animals still win.

Image source

Articles , all in Chinese

What I love about Japanese

Sometimes it’s frustrating. I’m learning it because I love anime and want to be able to engage with the culture, but all the shounen I-belive-in-my-friends inspiration can’t help you when you’re faced with a list of 1000 kanji to learn before you’re at the reading level of a five-year-old. Sometimes I wish I’d picked a language with a writing system that made sense. 

But then once in a while something comes along that makes it all worth it. 

Now this. This is the kanji for ability.

It’s a nice enough kanji, has some radicals of its own but isn’t too full of itself. Learning all about it isn’t too important, what you need to know is that this is the character for ability. 

Now. 

This. 

This here is the kanji for bear. As in the animal, not the verb.

That’s right. According to the Japanese language, a bear is ability 

ON LEGS

[bibleofficial]

it’s me & my faggoty ass scrunchie against the world

[apas-95]

Idk how to feel about China opening diplomatic relations with the Taliban. Yes Afghanistan's assets should be unfrozen and the entire reason the Taliban runs Afghanistan now is the fault of the US, but they are still an extremely brutal reactionary theocracy enforcing the most extreme gender apartheid in the world. It's not China's (or anyone's) place to change that obviously, but I can't bring myself to celebrate China opening diplomacy with them as a win for the third world.

So, in a word: non-interference.

You're right that the Taliban are a reactionary organisation, and you're right that they're in power because of US interference and invasion. Furthermore, you correctly point out that China should not attempt to change the internal political structure of Afghanistan, but the reason for that is much more than an abstract notion of sovereignty or respect - it is moreso a matter of practicality.

The Taliban are in power because they are the Afghan-nationalist group most favourable to US interests. The US would prefer its puppet government be in power, but failing that, there are groups it very much does not want to take power, such as Afghan communist organisations. The US directs more resources to undernining those groups than it does the Taliban. In any case, the Taliban are still better for Afghanistan than the US-comprador government is, but they are still ultimately in power due to continued US intervention. The US refusal to recognise the Taliban is an element in a continuum of intervention, attempting to tip the scale towards US-favourable groups - it is, counter-intuitively, an element of the exact strategy that is keeping the Taliban in power.

China's non-interference policy not only does not influence the internal affairs of other countries - inherently, it actively *weakens* US influence in those countries. If the threat keeping US-favourable groups in power is sanctions, blockade, and international non-recognition, then the credible promise that China, an incredibly useful partner, will engage with *whichever* domestic group takes power, no matter their ideology, allows for organic Afghan interests to express themselves and bring about organic Afghan political goals. Similarly, the provisioning of no-strings-attached investment, infrastructure, etc, makes US support of preferred groups less effective, as Afghanistan is both less desperate for support, and also has less incentive to take aid packages that include 'restructuring' demands.

In essence: refusing relations with the Taliban, like the US is doing, is part of the exact gradient of political-economic pressures that keeps the Taliban (the group least threatening to US interests, other than an unsustainable puppet) in power. Opening non-judgemental relations to *whoever* achieves power weakens that gradient, and strengthens the ability for the genuine interests of the Afghan people to determine who achieves and retains power. China refusing to open relations with the Afghan government because they do not align ideologically would not change that gradient at all, and could only add yet another set of foreign interests overriding those of the people (interests which could not be more commanding than those of the US military empire, in any case). Free and non-judgemental relations with a reliable trading partner is precisely the environment that weakens the political base of reactionary organisations, and strengthens genuinely revolutionary ones.

[doodlepede]

something i love about Dunmeshi is the principle that the only thing that really matters is whether you're getting enough nutrients. You need to eat enough, in terms of both quality and quantity.

An entire fit is made about Shuro not eating enough, and how it had dire consequences for his physical and mental health. When the party was briefly aghast that Izutsumi is a picky eater, I expected a lecture about how variety is the spice of life and that you have to just get over it to survive down here and yadda yadda fucking yadda but that isnt what happened.

Senshi was forced to cannibalize a member of his party (so he suspected) because it was that or starve to death. Is Izutsumi going to starve to death if she doesnt eat the mushrooms in her rice? no. Senshi lets it go. He's way more concerned with the way she holds her utensils improperly.

Marcille impresses upon Izutsumi that sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do in order to get where you need to go, and she remembers that Tade was willing to do things she didn't want to do because she wanted to prove her gratitude - it's lucky she's being fed at all. Maizuru directly tells her that she should practice gratitude.

A less complicated story would have Izutsumi concede, but she doesn't. The show doesn't call attention to it, but Senshi cares enough about ensuring a young'in eats properly that he actively tries to make things she will actually like, and he doesn't seem bothered by it. He's willing to go completely out of his way to make the leftover dumplings more appealing to her, using the changelings to make each one unique so there has to be at least a few she ends up liking.

Rather, Izutsumi learns to pick her battles. So far at least, she is unwilling to eat things she doesn't like, but she is willing to fight for her newfound party, since she gets something good out of it: She is being actively accommodated for. She is being allowed to be picky. That unconditional love and support from her, ahem, found family, is the good thing she gets out of fighting with them.

-

I found out a couple days ago that Ryoko Kui is a picky eater, saying so herself in response to an interview question asking if there were any foods from the manga she'd like to try. Knowing that, it only makes sense why she'd have a sympathetic attitude toward picky eaters. How many people grew up hearing that "there's starving kids in China or Africa" or other equivalent? How many kids were forced to sit at the table, awash with guilt and shame or anger and frustration, and above all else, boredome, trying to choke down some vomitous vegetable or other foodthing. How many people still face that pressure, from peers or internalized, to just get over it, as if being picky is the worst thing a person could be? Did Kui have to deal with that?

Considering that fun fact I learned recently about that link between pleasure and nutrient intake, that you literally get more nutrients out of food that you enjoy.....

I'm happy Izutsumi has people who won't treat her that way, y'know?

[gallifreyriver]

Reminder that Zuckerberg actively lobbied with Republican PR firms to make TikTok illegal because he couldn't compete with it.

Reminder that for all its faults TikTok has brought tons of awareness to important issues that barely got any coverage until they blew up on TikTok, and more that still barely got any mainstream coverage even after they did.

Reminder that TikTok has become the largest and easiest place for people to come together and organize, and has 150 million active users in the US.

Reminder that congress, especially conservatives, stand to gain a lot by banning it, because it means less people will hear about all the problematic (fascist) shit they're trying to pass, such as the 300+ anti-trans bills, the bills seeking to make abortion a felony punishable by death, or how they're trying to remove the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). They also get to 'look tough' against China.

Reminder that claims of concerns over data privacy are bullshit, because China could literally just buy our data if they wanted it. Tech companies just like and including Facebook collect and sell our data all the time. China wouldn't need to build an app to get it.

Reminder that banning TikTok sets a precedent that Congress could come for literally any other social media they deem 'a threat' and ban that too. Yes, even your personal favorite one.

Reminder that we should care about this and instead of saying "Good Riddance TikTok!" we should be actively trying to stop this violation of free speech and stop handing more power to fascists just because we personally don't like a thing or think it's cringe. This is bigger than your personal tastes.

Please sign this letter from the ACLU to your members of Congress and urge them to listen. There's also a hearing this Thursday on March 23rd at 10am EST in DC where the TikTok CEO will be testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The hearing will be open to the public and will also be live streamed online.

I don't care if you hate TikTok or think it's "cringe." If you all actually hate Facebook and fascists as much as you say you do, then you won't stand for letting them win this fight to ban it.

[arminreindl]

Benggwigwishingasuchus: The Fisher Crocodile

I once again come bearing news from the realm of Pseudosuchia. Yes, we got a new taxon. Benggwigwishingasuchus eremicarminis ("Fisherman Croc's desert song") is a new basal member of the poposauroidea, a clade you might have heard about before.

But first some more key notes. Benggwigwishingasuchus has been recovered from the Anisian Fossil Hill Member of the Favret Formation, located in the US State of Nevada. It is known from a decently complete skeleton that preserves much of the neck and torso, a decent chunk of the limbs but only small pieces of the skull.

Left: Press release artwork of Benggwigwishingasuchus looking across the Panthalassan Ocean (Jorge A. Gonzalez) Right: Fossil material

As said already, Benggwigwishingasuchus is considered a member of the poposauroidea, one of the most enigmatic groups of early pseudosuchians. The reason for that is that we primarily know them from their most derived members, the bipedal Poposaurus, the sail-backed ctenosauriscids, Lotosaurus, the ornithomimosaur-mimics of the Shuvosauridae and Qianosuchus. As you can see many appear kind of like proto-dinosaurs and most have lost their osteoderm armor, requiring a whole different skeletal structure to support their erect posture. But until recent years we knew little and less about where they came from. This is thankfully starting to change now, since we now not only have Benggwigwishingasuchus, but also Schultzsuchus (formerly "Prestosuchus" loricatus) described earlier this year, Mambawakale from two years ago and recently assigned to the group as well as Mandasuchus (similar to Mambawakale originally described as something else and recently considered as a basal poposauroid). Thanks to these we are slowly starting to see a transition. Schultzsuchus still has pretty standard armour for example, but Qianosuchus shows clear signs of reduction, with Benggwigwishingasuchus kinda falling into the middle between them.

Assorted Poposauroids: clockwise from top right: Poposaurus (Skye McDavid), Arizonasaurus (Gabriel Ugueto), Lotosaurus (Gabriel Ugueto), Shuvosaurus (Joschua Knüppe)

What's also interesting about Benggwigwishingasuchus is its ecology, or what little we can infer based on the circumstances of its preseration. You see, the Favret Formation preserves marine sediments and was previously best known for its ichthyosaurs (including the giant Cymbospondylus). So its kind of weird seeing a rather lanky pseudosuchian there. What's weirder still is the fact that the preservation seems to suggest that it wasn't swept out. No, its still reasonably complete, partially articulated and in the classic death pose with its back bent backwards, this thing was moved little before being burried. BUT. It wasn't marine. The skeleton fits of a terrestrial animal and both limb proportions and histology show no evidence of it being a swimmer or diver. Instead its hypothesized that it might have been an animal that inhabited the coast, possibly drawing sustenance from the sea but not actively adapted to forage in it. In this sense Benggwigwishingasuchus could parallel Ticinosuchus from Switzerland and Qianosuchus from China, both of which were coastal animals yet not explicitly aquatic (in the case of Qianosuchus it was originally proposed given its specialised tail, but recent work seems to suggest it was never very fast nor enduring).

Top image: Benggwigwishingasuchus standing on the skull of Cymbospondylus (Joschua Knüppe) Bottom left: Ticinosuchus among a group of Tanystropheus (Zach Robinson) Bottom right: Qianosuchus holding a fish (Gabriel Ugueto)

All in all, Benggwigwishingasuchus is an interesting animal that does fill in some gaps in the fossil record, both phylogentically and ecologically and though the description is sparce on actually describing the skeleton, here's hoping that more research will come out eventually. Hell, they dropped a histology on it like a day after it was named.

Wikipedia:

Benggwigwishingasuchus - Wikipedia Papers: A new pseudosuchian from the Favret Formation of Nevada reveals that archosauriforms occupied coastal regions globally during the Middle Triassic | Biology Letters (royalsocietypublishing.org)

Diverse growth rates in Triassic archosaurs—insights from a small terrestrial Middle Triassic pseudosuchian | The Science of Nature (springer.com)

[coochiequeens]

Anthropologists just proved what every women already knows

For most people around the world, physical work takes up a great amount of time and energy every day. But what determines whether it is men or women who are working harder in households? In most hunter-gatherer societies, men are the hunters and women are the gatherers – with men seemingly walking the furthest. But what’s the labour breakdown in other societies?

We carried out a study of farming and herding groups in the Tibetan borderlands in rural China – an area with huge cultural diversity – to uncover which factors actually determine who works the hardest in a household, and why. Our results, published in Current Biology, shed light on the gender division of work across many different kinds of society.

The majority of adults across the world are married. Marriage is a contract, so one might expect roughly equal costs and benefits from the union for both parties. But unequal bargaining power in a household – such as one person threatening divorce – can lead to unequal contributions to the partnership. 

Leaving home

We decided to test the hypothesis that leaving your natal area after heterosexual marriage to live with your spouse’s family may contribute to a higher level of workload. In such marriages, the new person typically isn’t related to, and doesn’t share a history with, anyone in their new household. Without blood relatives around them, they might therefore be at a disadvantage when it comes to bargaining power.

The most common form of marriage around the world is where women are the “dispersers”, leaving their native home, while men stay with their families in their natal area. This is known as patrilocality. 

Neolocality – in which both sexes disperse at marriage, and the couple lives in a new place away from both their families – is another common practice in many parts of the world. Matrilocality  – where women stay in the natal family and men move to live with the wife and her family – is quite rare. And duolocality – where neither sex leaves home and husband and wife live apart – is very rarely seen. 

Luckily, in the diverse Tibetan borderlands, all four of these different dispersal patterns can be found across various different ethnic groups.

Our study focused on rural villages from six different ethnic cultures. With our collaborators from Lanzhou University in China, we interviewed more than 500 people about their dispersal status after marriage, and invited them to wear an activity tracker (like a fitbit) to assess their workloads.

Women work harder

Our first finding was that women worked much harder than men, and contributed most of the fruits of this labour to their families. This was evidenced both by their own reports of how much they worked and by their activity trackers. 

Women walked on average just over 12,000 steps per day, while men walked just over 9,000 steps. So men also worked hard, but less so than women. They spent more time in leisure or social activities, or just hanging around and resting.

This may be partly because women are, on average, physically weaker than men, and may thus have reduced bargaining power. But we also found that individuals (be they male or female) who disperse at marriage to live away from their kin have higher workloads than those who stay with their natal families. 

So if you are female and move away from home at marriage (as most women do throughout the world), you suffer not just in terms of missing your own family but also in terms of workload. When both sexes disperse and no one lives with their natal families, both sexes work hard (as there is little help from kin) – but the woman still works harder. According to our study, perfect sex equality in workload only occurs in instances where men disperse and women do not. 

These results help us to understand why women globally disperse, but men generally do not. Dispersal is especially bad for men – adding about 2,000 more steps per day to their step count, but only adding about 1,000 steps per day for women.

Time and energy spent on farming, herding and housework competes with free time. So substantial labour contribution to households in these rural areas can result in less time spent on rest. From an evolutionary view, giving up rest isn’t favourable unless it contributes to higher fitness – such as enhancing offspring survival.

We don’t actually know whether it is favourable in this case, as it hasn’t been researched much. It may be true in poor and rural areas around the world, but less so in wealthier settings.

In most urban areas, for example, an inactive lifestyle is becoming more pervasive. And research has shown that sedentary lifestyles in such areas among white-collar workers are becoming a significant public health issue. They are linked to many chronic health conditions such as obesity, infertility, and several mental health disorders. 

Sex inequality in workload persists both in the home and outside. Now our study has given an evolutionary perspective on why women are more likely than men to be bearing a heavy work burden. 

But things are slowly changing. As women are increasingly starting families away from both their partner’s and their own family, their bargaining power is increasing. This is further boosted by their increasing levels of self-generated wealth, education and autonomy. Ultimately, these changes are leading men to take on an increasing workload in many urban, industrial or post-industrial societies.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

The Burden of Debt For Wei Wuxian: Part One

The burden of debt was consistently placed upon Wei Wuxian and it very much was do to the classist expectations that Jiang Fengmian held regarding his former servant as well as Madam Yu's derision of servant class.

Yes, Wei Wuxian has an ideal social position as a favored servant and "spoiled" in the sense that the position came with many benefits reserved for what the real world equivalent of scholars would have received moving through the political courts of China, but as the novel world is anachronistically strewn with various points of historical and loose context, it carries over these aspects into fictional sects that rely on familial blood associations for inheritance of them. What had once been typical xianxia sect dynamics were inverted to resemble the political systems of the mundane human world, and is also brought up within the novel itself as having significantly changed the cultivation world's own dynamics.

Wei Wuxian is in full awareness as to what his position is to the Jiangs and as such is able to hold secure in this and what he means for the family. He is brought in by Jiang Fengmian with the expectation to be a servant for his son and a right hand, not a brother. This is noteworthy to point out as Jiang Fengmian does not hold the same expectations or protections he reserved to Jiang Cheng. As a sect and clan heir Jiang Cheng should not be placed in extreme danger as what was argued for the Indoctrination. He is the only male blood heir for the clan, Wei Wuxian, being neither family nor adopted, had the expectations of representing their clan as a servant would and the expendability if it came to such. Madam Yu on the other hand irrationally disliked Wei Wuxian dueto his mother and saw this placement of expectations as a derision, of her blood, and the lack of respect of her place as the other Jiang leader and mother of the future of Yunmeng because he was ambivalent to her nature and self.

Wei Wuxian knew what he was to Jiang Fengmian and willingly would serve the lord that had afforded luxuries he would have no access to otherwise if he had not been found by him and by that extension would serve his son that would take his place in debt for this. While proud of his own abilities and intelligence he uses those in service to the Jiang principle and reputation that he was raised to follow. Filial Piety does not just extend to birth parents but to the community that has actively raised and nurtured you. To do less is shameful, a lack of character and respect to the fundamentals you learn to follow.

Madam Yu saw him as a servant more favored than her own son, Jiang Cheng saw this relationship much the same way. Jiang Fengmian did not respect the morals of Madam Yu that Jiang Cheng also embodied but he could easily continue to believe that due to the debt of having been raised under the Jiangs meant that Wei Wuxian could not and would not usurp his claims. These two consistently bring up that while of a favorable position, Wei Wuxian to the family, is still a servant and use that to condemn both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Fengmian's characters as well as using this as a boon that despite Wei Wuxian's talents he will and never can be more to overshadow their places of higher standings.

Even after the Jiang parents own deaths, Wei Wuxian places his position as servant that owes a debt to the Jiang leadership to keep Jiang Cheng safe as they had ordered, not as a brother. Due to his lack of knowing that Jiang Cheng had tried to impulsively protect him and thus Jiang Cheng losing his cultivated core, he sees this as a lacking on his own part for not doing as ordered by his leaders and the threat of the collapse of the sect that fostered his talents he was to use for. He rationalizes the transfer of his core to Jiang Cheng is giving back what was already made by the Jiangs teachings and thus already something that is by default Jiang Cheng's. He is giving back what was given by Jiang Fengmian after being picked up off the streets as debts are meant to be repaid in full return for what had been taken.

This was already a cycle as Jiang Fengmian had looked for an orphaned Wei Wuxian due to the debt he had owed Cangse Sanren for saving his life in their youth and further debt upon Wei Wuxian to now serve the clan for that chance of life repaid again. Similarly, Wen Ning, much like what Cangse Sanren did, saved both Wei Wuxian as well as Jiang Cheng by harboring them as well as Wen Qing. Due to their association with Wen Ruohan and the other Wen aggressors, Wei Wuxian makes his own stipulations of debt by asking Wen Qing, an esteemed doctor of the cultivation world to perform the transfer. Her clan had helped destroy the Jiang's and in that sense she was given an equal opportunity of survival back to Jiang Cheng upon this agreement that Wei Wuxian would later assist her if called upon.

Wen Qing secures a call of safety for herself and Wen Ning for the shelter they provided Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng, as well as the personal debt expected repayment from Wei Wuxian's begging for her to perform a transfer of power for an enemy of her people she is supposed to be politically loyal to and in service to. Due to the surgeries success, he metaphorically has given this protection and talent fostered by the Jiang's back to who he sees it as having been provided. The physical debt of life being saved has been repaid with this action by Wei Wuxian to Jiang Cheng in exchange for that debt to be expected repayment to the Wen siblings eventually for their secrecy and harboring the two.

Wei Wuxian himself due to his own personal moral and loyalty still does stay by Jiang Cheng's side as the expected right hand man he was told to be by Jiang Fengmian, even with the loss of his core, his talents for creating Gui Dao are a draw for cultivators to be drawn to the newly established strength that Yunmeng Jiang held. In essence of strength and reputation Jiang Cheng was politically untouchable due to his tie with Wei Wuxian as his right hand servant that followed his command. Despite his strengths not being due to a core any longer he was still able to entice the world to make Jiang Cheng and his home seat of loyalty prosper with raw intelligence and being able to harness unorthodox methods to create something new that was not understood within the expected framework of the Jianghu. Despite Wei Wuxian's own complacency with staying an advisor to Jiang Cheng alone, Jiang Cheng's jealousy from their youth still festers.

Jiang Cheng refusal to see any of Wei Wuxian's support without the debt he now associates with Wei Wuxian having been the cause of his parents deaths, despite his own self admittance during the event he knew he had no reason to place that guilt in Wei Wuxian. This debt and jealousy is now further twisted that Wei Wuxian further owes him for something that was not his to claim on the death of Jiang Fengmian. This placement of repayment for deaths is insatiable and stays as such the more Jiang Cheng's jealousy and hate for what Wei Wuxian as a person grows. The more Jiang Cheng hates, the more trouble Wei Wuxian seems to cause for him and the more Jiang Cheng in claim needs to clean up. The debt grows and Wei Wuxian is indeed as ungrateful as Madam Yu had always said. This fracture in morality continues as they become adults set upon their own moral ideals that clash as well as the expectations of what Jiang Cheng sees as Wei Wuxian's debts owed to "Yunmeng Jiang" for all that they had done for him, what Wei Wuxian wants or does is lesser in the face of what Jiang Cheng sees as owed to him first. This claim of debt is ever growing along with Jiang Cheng's hate for Wei Wuxian himself now.

Eventually Wen Qing is in need of Wei Wuxian's help as well to save Wen Ning, and not only due to what Wei Wuxian sees as being owed for her help previously to save Jiang Cheng, but also because he knows Wen Ning as a kind good person that does not deserve to be treated like a slave prisoner based on cruelty alone. He argues this with the cultivators present that they are being cruel and callous towards those with tenuous ties to Wens that were already killed based on their own cruelty and want of power only. He notes the hypocrisy as well to claim all Wens deserve the treatment despite those of the same name previously sitting amongst them not being a part of this encampment. He states that it is because of Wen Ning that Yunmeng Jiang stands as well due to his kindness that would have gotten him killed if found out.

Out of desperation and disgust he kills the Jin guards that refuse to admit to their own inhumanities while claiming righteousness to save Wen Ning as well as the Wens willing to follow him for protection and safety. He leaves the others to do as they want that stay.

While Mianmian and Lan Wangji try to attest that Wei Wuxian did what he did to save others as he always placed the safety of others regardless of life circumstance above political gain, they are talked down as it being irrelevant due to prejudice associated with the Wen name surviving and further rumors being told loudly now that Wei Wuxian's reputation is stained and Jiang Cheng's tenuous like of him can be exploited. The text itself delves into Jiang Cheng's own thoughts that he is not at any point worried about what could become of Wei Wuxian or the harm potentially waiting now for Wei Wuxian, but of the trouble that Wei Wuxian and work he has made for Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng resents that Wei Wuxian can't stay in line and voiceless in his morals and can't stay down as Jiang Cheng told him to, complicit as long as their positions stay the same and unthreatened. Jiang Cheng the master and Wei Wuxian the dog that acts untrained.

[sadclowncentral]

do you think any of the ongoing troubles faced by the crew of the iss are going to have implications on international space law in the near-mid term?

what a great question! for those unaware, two astronauts are currently stranded on the ISS until at least early july due to technical failures in Boeing's return capsule.

while the astronauts are safe and sound and in no need of rescuing at the moment, the problem of astronauts in distress has actually been exhaustively been addressed by international space law and was even one of the first things lawmakers worried about. for example, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST) states that:

States Parties to the Treaty shall regard astronauts as envoys of mankind in outer space and shall render to them all possible assistance in the event of accident, distress, or emergency landing on the territory of another State Party or on the high seas. [...] In carrying on activities in outer space and on celestial bodies, the astronauts of one State Party shall render all possible assistance to the astronauts of other States Parties. [...] (Article V OST)

keep in mind, this law was written in the sixties. the drafting of this provision was less about getting stuck on space stations and much more about the fear was much more that us or ussr astronauts would accidentally land on the wrong side of the iron curtain and be detained. but still the issue of astronauts in distress was taken incredibly seriously - so much so that the second space treaty, the aptly named 1969 Astronaut Rescue and Return Agreement (ARRA), focuses entirely on the issue, reiterating that:

If information is recieved or it is discovered that the personnel of a spacecraft have alighted* on the high seas or in my other place not under the jurisdiction of any State [i.e. outer space], those Contracting Parties which are in a position to do so shall, if necessary, extend assistance in search and rescue operations for such personnel to assure their speedy rescue. [...] (Art 3 ARRA)

what does that mean in practice? not much right now, as the astronauts are not in distress, they are simply delayed. you wouldn't call search and rescue on yourself when the train has a malfunction that makes it late either. but should a case of distress occur, and it is impossible to intervene on a national level by sending a falcon rocket up, it could be argued that the only other nation that has ratified the treaties and can currently easily and regularly access the international space station** - russia - could be obligated to provide assistance for their rescue. even though, while legally sound, i wouldn't want to touch that diplomatic baseball bat to a bee's nest if you held a gun to my head.

tldr; there are no implications for international space law as of yet*** as the situation is not severe, and if it became so, our beloved envoys of mankind would not be on their own. hopefully.

* we can fight about the word alighted an it's implications in this scenario but I don't have my cologne commentary on hand and I don't go into battle unarmed.

** China also has independent access to outer space and its own space station so it could in theory provide assistance but i have no idea if they can dock with the ISS or not.

*** the question if Boeing has to compensate for the damage incurred from the delay is also unanswered but as these are American astronauts and an Americans company that is national space law and therefore not my problem. #internationallawforever

[mask131]

Some times ago, I posted about the vandalizing of the Wall of the Justs at the Parisian Shoah memorial. The post is here if you are interested, and it got many, many notes, so I thank you very much!

But I hope this post will also get as many notes - because we found the guilty party. We know who did it and... gosh, it sounds like a fucking joke but it is not, and it just proves how complex the situation is, and how dangerous the times we are living are.

If you recalled the obvious guilty party, the first suspects, the ones that seemed to have done that were the so-called "pro-Palestinian" activists that in fact are just antisemitic people disguising their hatred under the pretense of "fighting for Palestine". It is well-known that the pro-Palestinan manifestations, events and representatives in France have all versed at one point or another into very antisemitic comments or actions, and the movement is currently being parasited by antisemitism - ranging from actual antisemites who use "Zionist" as a way to designate all Jews, including French-Jews who never saw Israel in their life ; to people who are taking back antisemitic slogans without knowing they are antisemitic in the first place.

The reason the investigation directly was aimed at them was very simple: the red hands, or red handprints, is a symbol that many pro-Palestine manifestants have been using recently. Which, in itself, sparked a whole new debate - about whether it is an antisemitic symbol or not. Because while for some it is the universal "You have blood on your hands" symbol, for others it refers to the blood of a soldier of Israel on the hands of his murderer, during the second Infifada... And while attacking the Wall of the Justs would have been a new low and a new step for these left-leaning antisemites (because so far they only attacked Jews, now they would attack those that saved Jews and assorted Nazi victims during World War II), it was in line with a new form of radicalization of the movement - see the "Block Out" phenomenon on Internet, a cancel culture aimed at those that did not support enough Palestine... As a personal note I will say: where was all this energy and effort when the it was time to defend the Uyghurs against their wiping out by the Chinese regime? It is still time today, their suffering is still going on... But as a prominent Uyghur activist said (I think it was Rebiya Kadeer, but I do not have my notes with me so I might be mistaken) - people care less about the Uyghurs than Palestinians for one simple reason "Because it isn't Israel that is killing us..." It is China, and as a result nobody really cares...

Anyway, I digress... So while it is known, confirmed and recorded that the so-called "pro-Palestine" activists in France are slowly oscillating and sinking into antisemitism, it isn't actually them who did these red handprints. No, they're not guilty this time.

In fact it is something I talked about when I made my original post: there was another very likely suspect which would have surprised nobody. Neo-Nazis. Because while the pro-Palestinian movement is currently crystallizing in France the entire antisemitism wave that has been on the rise for a decade now among the extreme-left, the extreme-right political groups have also been gaining terran and strength for quite a long time, and now, we have actual neo-Nazi parties very vocal and active today... Due to the ungodly amount of terrorist attacks France had to face, due to the frightening strenghtening of radical and extreme Islam in France, due to the whole endless debates about immigration in France, and due to the hyper-violent civil unrests that are clearly just to cause chaos and nothing else (like the riots following the death of Nahel Merzouk, which clearly were not about the Nahel case and just to cause as much destruction and steal as much things as possible)... Well of course, when these types of problem arise, who gains the upper-hand? The extreme-right.

And so now we have far-right candidates so popular they have a good chance of being elected as the representatives of France, and we have many groups of antisemitic Christian fanatics popping up everywhere, and we have neo-Nazi movements literaly returning like some perverted phoenix from their ashes... As such, it was thought that maybe these red handprints could have been the work of a neo-Nazi movement, who would use the current situation to perform their antisemitic deeds while blaming the extreme-left for it... After all, the two movements have been currently doing the exact same thing. Before the Hamas attack, far-right groups were defacing Jewish cemeteries and soiling Simone Veil's grave with Nazi swastika ; and today far-left activists are "denouncing" Israel by... tagging on Jewish temples drawings mixing the six-point stars with a swastika...

So, you know, the typical horseshoe effect. The two extremes are literaly doing the same things, and as such we have a hard time differentiatng one from another.

But no... Turns out it isn't them either! Turns out... it isn't even French people who did this.

And here's where the dark joke comes... You know who did it? FUCKING RUSSIA OF COURSE!

We forget to so easily that Putin is literaly sending his agents in every friggin' political or social event that goes on in the world right now... And in fact that's the whole point: Putin wants us to be so obsessed with the Israel-Hamas conflict and how Gaza is trapped in it all, so that we forget about how Russia is currently destroying Ukraine.

The investigation found out that the people who painted these red hands were three men that had recently arrived in Paris from Bulgaria... They were staying at an hotel and the very day following their crime, they left France for Belgium (Bruxelles to be precise). Now... You're going to say "So they're just Bulgarians? They're not Russians, nothing proves its Russia". Except for one thing... While yes the involvment of Russia has not been "confirmed", Putin's Russia is not known for its vivid imagination... And they have literaly done the same thing some times ago.

If you recall, I posted about it before... It happened last october. Right after the Hamas attacked the music festival, causing the whole madness we are into today, blue David stars were painted on buildings where Jewish people lived, echoing the dark times of the Nazi Occupation in France... Here is the post I made back in February, and I couldn't guess how far things would go back then... While everybody was getting scared about the return of French antisemitism turned out... It was a group of people from Moldavia that was paid to paint those stars everywhere. Paid by... a pro-Russian, pro-Putin Moldavian businessman, Anatoli Prizenko.

You can read more about this on my old post, but investigation concluded it was indeed an operation where Russian forces used the Moldavians as puppets. All to cause fright and chaos in France. When you consider that Bulgaria, like Moldavia, is unfortunately today one of the "screen-countries" Russia likes to use to shield themselves when doing their dirty chores... Blue stars, red handprints... This is clearly the same thing, done all over again.

And where the "joke" part comes out even more - in the sense of a perverse, venomous, fetid joke part of some putrid dark comedy... Russia has currently been truly harassing France through all sorts of operations, each more outlandish than the next, and yet all working in their own way to cause fear and chaos... More specifically two cases are regularly being brought up.

Case 1: The Doppelgänger operation

In June of 2023, the French authorities warned about what was called the "Doppelgänger operation". A massive campaign of Internet misinformation created by Russia. The purpose was simple: create mirror-websites to the official websites of French information networks, newspapers and TV channels. They were almost identical to the official news outlet of France, to the point many mistook them for the real thing - sometimes the only difference you could spot was in the URL. ".fr" became ".ltd", and ".com" became ".cam".

And all those fake websites shared articles about the Ukrainian-Russian war, articles written purposefully to spread misinformation about Russia. Some claimed that the Ukrainian population were in full distrust of their government and wanted to see it brought down... Others wrote that all the Ukrainian operations were disasters and failures. Some invented fake tragedies and disasters in Russia to try to paint Ukrainians as the villains. And others yet wrote about how the donations of Europe to Ukraine were either wasted by the Ukrainians, or would cause economic crisis in European countries...

Case 2: The bed bugs hysteria

In september of 2023, the discovery of bed bugs on several public places in Paris was shared on social media. Some were discovered in a movie theater, the presence of others was attested in some subway lines... The social media being what they are, it became a hot topic talked about by everybody, shared by everyone - and the facts were exaggerated, and rumors started spreading, and soon an entire mass hysteria started overtaking France. It wasn't just Paris anymore, but all the big cities that were supposedly infested by "bed bugs". People claimed to find them in every public places - every theater, every subway line, every hotel, even in hospitals...

Turns out, there wasn't as much bed bugs as the social media wanted us to believe. It was mostly a sanitary mass panic, echoing the fear caused by the Covid epidemic and fed by the worries about the upcoming Olympic games. And... and also fed by Russia. Investigations revealed that there was a lot of fake accounts, troll accounts and bots created by Russian servers and Russian URLs, and who spent their entire time spreading and sharing bed-bugs articles, writing fake articles twisting the facts, and spamming everybody with news of this mass hysteria..

This is the sore and infuriating conclusion. Remember, everyone, that this isn't just about Israel and Palestine... It isn't just about the Hamas or Netanyahu... And we already knew that, because already in Europe it was clear this wasn't truly about what happened in the Middle-East - it was also about the shadows of antisemitism and the wraith of the Nazi presence, it was about the extreme-left movement spreading from the USA university down to European ones, it became a fight about the Jewish and Muslim populations in Europe rather than in Palestine and Israel - and even more, a political fight between the far-right and the far-left across the continent... But it isn't just about that anymore, because now Putin is in the dance and Russia is gleefully putting oil on the fire in hope it will burn everything... This is a fucked-up chess game with many, many players... That all look the same in the end, somehow, so it becomes hard to identify which one does which move.

But at least we know who painted the blue stars, and who painted the red hands, and who pits the extreme-left against the extreme-right, and is trying to make sure the Jewish people of France are feeling scared in their own country. Putin and what he turned Russia into.

[sgiandubh]

When you do not know a thing about the issue at stake...

...perhaps it's better to remain silent.

Some of you know, others don't - and that's fine - but my main field of expertise is labor law.

I just read this in anger and disbelief:

Look, lady. I don't care who the hell you are, what you do for a living or why you felt entitled to answer those insistent questions on your side of the fandom. I suppose you are North American and have no idea of how things work on this side of the pond. It is fine: I might know what a Congress filibuster is, for example, but I'd be severely unable to judge the finer points of competence sharing between Fed and state level.

The difference between you and me?

I keep my mouth shut and/or do my own research before opening it in public.

Have you no shame to write things like: 'It was discovered clothing factories in Bulgaria and Portugal made it and how workers were exploited, mostly women, because these factories were in special economic zones in these countries exempt from EU employee rights and regulations.'

HOW DARE YOU? What strange form of illiterate entitlement possessed you to utter such things with confidence, comfortably hidden behind a passive voice ('it was discovered')?

Portugal joined the EU in 1986. Bulgaria (and my country) joined the EU in 2007. I have given 5 relentless years of my life to make this collective political project a reality, along with hundreds of other people my age who chose to come back home from the West and put their skills to good use for their country. In doing so, I rejected more than 10 excellent corporate job offers in France and China. To see you come along and write such enormities is like having you spit in my face.

Article 4 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (aka The Treaty of Rome) is formal and clear, as far as competence sharing between the EU and its Member States goes (the UK was still, back then, a full member of the EU - it quit on February 1st 2020):

That means that ALL the EU regulations are being integrated into the national legislation of the Member States. This is not a copy/paste process, however. And because it is a shared competence area, the Member States have a larger margin of appreciation into making the EU rules a part of their own. While exceptions or delays in this process can be and are negotiated, the core principles are NEVER touched.

Read it one hundred times, madam, maybe you'll learn something today:

THERE ARE NO SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. THE WHOLE FUCKING EUROPEAN UNION IS A SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE, THIS IS WHY IT IS CALLED THE SINGLE MARKET.

What the fuck do you think we are, Guangzhou? We'd wish, seeing the growth statistics!

Now, for the textile industry sector and particularly with regard to the Bulgarian market, a case very similar to my own country. Starting around 1965, many big European textile players realized the competitive advantage of using the lower paid, readily available Eastern European workforce. In order to be able to do business with all those dour Communist regimes, the solution was simple and easy to find: toll manufacturing.

It worked (and still does!) like this:

The foreign partner brings its own designs, textiles and know-how into the mix - or more simply put, it outsources all these activities. The locals transform it into the finished product, using their own workforce. The result is then re-exported to the foreign partner, who labels it and sells it. In doing so, he has the legal obligation to include provenance on the label ('made in Romania', 'made in Indonesia', 'made in Bulgaria' - you name it).

The reason you might find less and less of those 'made in ' labels nowadays at Primark and more and more at Barbour, Moncler and the such is the constant raise of the workers' wages in Eastern Europe since 1990 (things happened there, in 1989, maybe you remember?). We are not competitive anymore for midrange prêt-à-porter - China (Shein, anyone?), Cambodia and Mexico do come to mind as better suppliers. To speak about 'exploited female labourers in rickety old factories' is an insult and a lie. They weren't exploited back in the Eighties, as they are not now (workers in those factories were and still are easily paid about 50% more than all the rest) and the factories being modernized and constantly updated was always a mandatory clause in any contract of the sort. Normal people in our countries rarely or ever saw those clothes. You had to either be lucky enough for a semi-confidential store release or bribe someone working there and willing to take the risk, in order to be able to buy the rejected models on the local market.

If I understood correctly, you place this critical episode at the launch of the limited SRH & Barbour collection, for the fall of 2018. How convenient for you, who (I am told by trusted people) were one of the most vocal critics of S during Hawaii 2.0!

And as far as Barbour goes, it never pretended to manufacture everything in the UK only:

This information is absolutely true. You can read the whole statement, signed in October 2017 by one of their Directors, Ian Sime, here: https://www.barbour.com/us/media/wysiwyg/PDF/Ethical_Statement_October_2017.pdf

And a snapshot for you:

Oh, and: SEDEX is a behemoth in its world, with more than 75.000 companies joining as a member (https://www.sedex.com/become-a-member/meet-our-customers/). Big corporations like TESCO, Dupont, Nestle, Sainsbury's or Unilever included.

I am not Bulgarian, but I know all of this way better than you'll probably ever do. The same type of contracts were common all over Eastern Europe: Romania, Poland, the GDR (that's East Berlin and co, for you) and even the Soviet Union. I am also sure your Portuguese readers will be thrilled to see themselves qualified by a patronizing North American as labor exploiters living in a third-world country with rickety factories.

You people have no shame and never did. But you just proved with trooping colors you also have no culture and no integrity. More reasons to not regret my unapologetic fandom choice.

I expect an angry and very, very vulgar answer to this, even if I chose to not include your name/handle. The stench of your irrelevance crossed an ocean.

[accio-victuuri]

xiao zhan’s mfw interview clues, talismans and matching ads. 🎤

based from the ones released today: v magazine, tencent fashion, tod’s and mr. bags. nothing too big, just some connection/s to already established cpns. feel free to appreciate and enjoy the interviews for what they are even without clowning. 🫶🏼

* V Magazine China

when he talked about superpowers, he has changed his answer from being invisible, he just wishes that there will be no disputes in the world. tho the topic is really about what he wants a parallel world to be like. interesting answer. i’m gonna wait for wyb to have an interview with a similar question and see if they will match 😂😂😂

he also answered that his style is more casual and comfortable which is exactly the same as wyb answered a similar question. not that we ever doubted how similar their personal style is. they may choose or prefer different pieces, but it has the same feel. this is who they steal each other clothes and blend in when they want to.

how he answered the question what he learned about style is to subtract. which may mean less is more or something like that. it matches what wyb said he learned about a different thing — acting. so i see this as a similarity between them, they don’t do overdo things.

🎤: If you had two hours of free time, where would you like to spend it?

🐰: Just strolling around. A city-walk.

I hope he does this with WYB! We was this happen in a lot of ZZ’s vlogs.

🎤: What is the most surprising thing from Gucci 2024 Autumn/Winter Women’s Wear show?

🐰: I think the biggest surprise is the bag. I like it very much, the shape of the bag is very avant-grade and bold.

His interest in bags is here again 👀 In his 2019 interview for MFW, he was asked about what his favorite accessory and he answered bag. The CPN happened because WYB was asked in an interview of his promotion of a jewelry brand (Emphasis ) about what jewelry he will give to his loved one. he answered a bag. lol. the question is about a jewelry but he still answered something different. who is he thinking about? a certain someone who loves bags?

🎤: Do you have any unforgettable anecdotes during the Chinese New Year that you can share with everyone?

🐰: There seems to be no Chinese New Year because I spent the Chinese New Year with the crew.

A confirmation what we already know, that he spent CNY in HD. the thing we won’t ever know tho is if WYB was there. Tho some clues point to the answer being yes.

* Tencent Fashion interview

Not much here but he just repeated how he loves bags. Lol. && how his priority is to film. I imagine the same is true for WYB.

* Tod’s interview

I didn’t share the translation for that. sorry! here it is in all it’s glory. not much cpn tho because the questions are centered on his clothes and the show.

🎤: After watching the first show of Tod's new creative director Matteo, can you share with us your first impressions?

🐰: Excited! and then when I was watching the show, I have been taking pictures all the time. Because there are many coats which I like it very much, including the bags, and I think it’s a brand-new attempt. You can see the second show, which is very unique especially it is placed at the tram stop in Milan — I heard that this tram stop is still in active service, can still be used.

🎤: What are the highlights of today’s outfit? Can you introduce it to us?

🐰: Today’s outfit is a more elegant and low-key style. It is a design of the collar on this coat, in fact you can see that it is actually a leather material, this collar can stand up, then you can put it on here and put it on in another way. Then, include this pair of shoe which is also my favorite loafer and this belt, it is also has a very unique design, it has a hemp material and then combine it with leather.

🎤: If you were asked to recommend one of the most “Italian” items you saw on the show today, which one would you recommend?

🐰: Ah~ it’s so difficult! I think there is a lot of it — I think it’s leather, I think everything about leather, the coat including leather on it’s shoes and trousers.

🎤: What are the three must- have travel stuffs during fashion week?

🐰: phone, passport, also…also the (important) card.

🎤: In a series of film and television works, how do you think different costumes help shape the character’s image?

🐰: It does help yourself to get into the role better.

🎤: You have been to Milan Fashion Week many times. Compared with the first time, what changes do you feel this time?

🐰: This time I felt more relaxed and also more cordial. There is a feeling of going home, especially there is DDV Yeye ( Tod’s CEO ) just now, he always tell me how he always welcomed me back says “Welcome back!” I felt woah! that moment was very warm. Then, of course there is conscious lifestyles of Tods that can’t live without.

🎤: Not long ago, you sang “As You Wish” at the Beijing TV Spring Festival Gala. What kind of New Year wishes do you have for everyone?

🐰: (smooth and healthy) for everyone

* Interview with Mr. Bags

this is year 3 of his interview with him! it’s one i’m waiting for cause xz is comfortable with & i feel like he can get away with asking more personal questions.

🎤: Yes, then I saw your personal clothes later I did serious study and research of it on internet. I think our Xiao laoshi really have a personal style, is very good at dressing and I just found out that — for example you will wear some hats, then the scarf and then you will also wear some of these big coats?

XZ: That’s right.

🎤: It looks warm, it has a sense of youth.

XZ: In fact, I felt it safer and then it’s more comfortable because I’m actually myself, in terms of personal clothing I prefer not too many colors, It is mainly; gray, black series and white colors. Those that are comfortable to wear and can’t go wrong and also most effective.

same thing about his personal style and what colors he chooses which is very close to wyb’s.

🎤: I also heard that Xiao Zhan is actually a very homely person. If it weren’t for work then you would just stay at home so I wonder what you usually do when you are at home?

XZ: Actually, I can also play games, sometimes I will have fun, but for most of time I spend my time working out.

this matches some recent fake rumors. 😭😭😭 especially with the part about how xz prefers to stay-in. and then how he likes to play games! who does he play games with??? WYB. there are already a couple of fake rumors and interviews of them talking about the two playing! it’s so nice to hear it from xz.

THE ALLEGED TALISMAN. 💛

p1 is GG recently, from his flight back home and p2 is a not so clear photo of WYB’s phone during HB screening where you can see what looks like a yellow paper. I have no question that GG does this, we have seen it before. but i like the idea of WYB doing something similar, maybe GG even drawing one for him. and this may be the reason why they chose this type of card case.

Finally, the matching ads by Shu Uemura and Loreal. Two different brands and products but I can’t help but see the similarity with the ads 🥹🥹🥹

-END.

[theculturedmarxist]

It’s not the big, glaring, obvious lies that get you. The New York Times is the world’s most destructive propaganda outlet not because it publishes giant ham-fisted whoppers, but because it appears trustworthy. Its reporting looks authoritative. Children are taught in school that it’s what credible news media looks like. This lets the well-crafted propaganda slide into people’s minds, undetected and without resistance.

❖

The western media are so ridiculously deceitful and propagandistic that the fact that popular comedy shows and famous comedians aren’t making fun of them constantly proves those shows and comedians are themselves part of the propaganda network.

❖

Most mainstream western reporting on Chinese military activity essentially amounts to “OMG you guys China isn’t just passively sitting there while we militarily encircle it and prepare to attack it!”

Example:

That’s what all the banging on about China’s “military build-up” is doing too; acting like it’s alarming and sinister that China isn’t just passively allowing itself to be surrounded with war machinery amid glaringly obvious western preparations for war without doing anything to defend itself.

China’s still spending vastly less on its military than the United States, both overall and as a percentage of GDP. Yet we’re meant to act like China is the obvious aggressor nation, even as it’s being rapidly surrounded by US war machinery and increasingly militarized US allies.

❖

One thing I’ve learned from interactions with Robert F Kennedy Jr supporters is that many of them sincerely don’t understand why his position of “unconditional support” for Israel is such a deal breaker for many anti-imperialists. They think it’s all about Palestinian rights, but it’s a lot more than that.

Unconditional support for Israel doesn’t just mean supporting apartheid abuses and frequent bombings of Gaza, it means supporting the regular bombing of Syria, the annexation of the Golan Heights, and Israel’s insane warmongering against Iran. Israel is always in a state of war.

“Unconditional support” for Israel means imperialist foreign policy throughout the middle east. This isn’t just conjecture — we already see it in RFK Jr’s other middle east foreign policy like his staunch opposition to the Iran deal.

It’s a nonsensical, self-contradictory position to claim you want to dismantle the empire out one side of your mouth and pledge “unconditional support” for a nation that’s never not at war out the other. If you’re saying both, there’s one you’re not being truthful about.

There’s not enough rage at the US empire for provoking and perpetuating the war in Ukraine. Objections you see to this proxy war are mostly just griping about how much it costs or whether it’s sound strategy or whatever, but how about the fact that human lives are being spent like pennies for the advancement US global hegemony?

Think about how much it hurts to have one death in your family. Think about how much it rocks an entire community to lose even one life to violence. Mountains of human bodies are being piled up in violent deaths, all to secure US geostrategic interests in Eurasia. It’s pure horror.

The empire had multiple opportunities to end this before it started. It had an opportunity to end it in April 2022. It had an opportunity to end it this past November. But it kept shoving it through to advance US interests, and young lives kept being sacrificed to the war god.

Meanwhile US officials openly gloat all the time about how much this war is serving US interests, while anonymously whining to the press that the counteroffensive is failing because Ukrainians are too cowardly to charge through Russian minefields under heavy artillery fire. This should draw white hot rage from everybody.

Basically the US empire’s strategy is to use Ukrainian bodies like a giant sponge to soak up as many expensive Russian military explosives as possible.

❖

For western war propagandists Syria was like a dress rehearsal for the war in Ukraine. The lies are being peddled mostly by the same people, using mostly the same methods, funneled up into the same mainstream media platforms. The only real difference is that the empire is on the side of the official government in Ukraine, so it can simply use its officials and its media platforms as on the ground sourcing instead of setting up a bunch of weird little propaganda constructs like the White Helmets etc. Syria marked a new era of imperial narrative management.

[mopillow]

He Cheng Week Day 1

I have to make a confession, forgive me OX because I have sinned, I didn’t made any content for Shark Week aka He Cheng week and I have been punished with 2 Q updates, still OX was so kind that they added some data for us to gain some He Cheng content

So 10 years ago Q looked like this

And He Cheng like this

I don’t really care much for Q but the information that we got with the last update is quite interesting

He joined the military, like any redneck he did it to touch a gun seriously He Cheng you could do better,did you guys knew I can handle a gun? I can also disarm people anyway when can you join the military in China?[Article 12] Each year, male citizens who have reached 18 years of age by December 31 shall be enlisted for active service. Those who are not enlisted during the year shall remain eligible for active service until they are 22. You can join after finishing college too but I doubt Q went to one, I’m guessing 18 is his age

18+2=20

22+2=24

Got it, now I think that in the 10 years ago chapter he was already a bodyguard, why? Well because of this dialogue

So in the first imagine Q could be between 20 to 24 if that’s his first job after getting out of the military, He Cheng looks younger

Now they look close to this

10 years ago He Tian was 5, He Cheng was already taking care of him if he was the same age as Q that would have made them at least 15 years apart but they share the same mom, was she a teenager when she had He Cheng? Or is He Cheng younger than Q? could it be that He Cheng wants to fuck an old guy? Wait … what was I saying? Oh yes if we take this in count Q could be from 30 to 34 and He Cheng could be younger, mind you we don’t know if the 10 y ago chapter is when the kids were 15 or current time so the age could also be from 30 to 38 no info on He Cheng but the estimation made a few years ago isn’t that far off, thank you OX for your kindness pleases gives me more He Cheng and less Q

[velvetvexations]

I'm not engaging in whataboutism when I see someone who has "death to the USA and Israel" in their header and go like, "you know there are other bad countries, right?" because I am literally just trying to ask, no seriously, why are you not concerned about literally anything else that doesn't directly affect you?

Like it sucks hard to have been so concerned and vocal about Saudi Arabia and Russia and China and Israel, for a decade now, just to see exactly one of those go viral to the point of tunnel vision.

That doesn't apply to everyone who engages in pro-Palestinian activism or critiques liberals, obviously. This doesn't even apply to everyone who hasn't gone as hard on, like, supporting Ukraine. Like, I do get that people don't have time or the capacity to talk about everything all the time. But it's just so conspicuous, you know? Where were all these people when Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2022? Actually, where were all these people when Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014? Because I was there and it felt like no one else in the West, at least not that were my age, could care less. The support Ukraine got from us in 2022 was somewhat encouraging, but it certainly wasn't a youth movement. It certainly wasn't the hardcore crowd that still dreams about a Russian dommy mommy even though the Russian Federation is the greatest example of capitalist parasitism that's ever existed.

One might say that to an extent, Israel is different because the US is tied to it. But like, we're increasingly tied to Saudi Arabia day by day, and if you want to hate Democrats, Biden shook the prince's hand - you know, the guy who famously ordered the brutal assassination of a journalist in a shockingly grotesque and gruesome way? Republicans have greatly affected aid to Ukraine and the results of the 2024 election could be game over for them if we let it.

But for as long as I've been alive foreign policy was just grown-up politics while the people who are all "voting blue means you only care about Americans" now completely ignored everything outside their window, and continue to ignore everything except this new thing that's completely taken over their brains as being what you absolutely must prioritize above all else, even doing things that would keep that issue from getting even worse.

And is that even accelerationism? Because I keep thinking "fucking accelerationists", because that's what they claim, they give it an accelerationist window dressing, but I don't think that's what it is. I think it's people who have their heart in the right place being led by lazy insincere grifters who think it makes them look smart to brag about the privilege of not having to vote because nothing will change for them personally.

So like. I want everyone to keep talking about Israel and Palestinians. I just wish they'd talk - I wish they'd give a damn - about other things too.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group H Round 1: #H3 vs #H6

#H3: Two guys time-travel through photos. Depression ensues.

Best friends, roommates, and business partners Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang run a photo studio, developing pictures and the like. But that’s not all they do. The Shiguang Photo Studio has a secret extra service—they can deliver messages you never got to send and find information you never got to learn, so long as you bring a photograph, or maybe several.

Their method? A clap of the hands, and Cheng Xiaoshi dives into the past and into the body of the photographer. Guided by Lu Guang, he has twelve hours to achieve his goal, whether that is finding a secret, saying goodbye, or winning a fight.

Assisted by their friend and landlady Qiao Ling, the duo navigates a gallery of corporate lies, interpersonal drama, old regrets, and crime. The recently released second season continues threads that begin in the first episode of season one, showcasing the same level of brilliant writing and even higher stakes for our beloved characters.

#H6: Cozy slice of life about a high school girl with a camera

In her last year of middle school, Fuu Sawatari had trouble dealing with her emotions following the sudden death of her father. Through the help of her brother and childhood friend, she rediscovered her love for photography, an activity she and her father often did together. In addition, she decided to attend high school in Takehara, her father's hometown and a place they often visited when she was younger.

It has been one month now since Fuu moved to Takehara and became close with her current group of friends: carefree Kaoru Hanawa, excitable Norie Okazaki, and quiet Maon Sakurada. Together with them and several acquaintances around town and abroad, Fuu continues her mission of capturing the joys of everyday life using her father's camera, while also helping her friends discover their own passions.

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#H3: Link Click (Shiguang Dailiren)

Propaganda:

(Admin: Five people submitted different propagandas for this. Instead of posting each of them as they are and making this post even longer, I merged them altogether for coherence and brevity.)

Link Click is a show that is criminally underrated outside of China that it’s become a running meme in the fandom (i.e. Link Click fans to everyone they know: WATCH LINK CLICK!!!). Some people are just so resistant to watching anything Chinese that even others in the Link Click subreddit prefer its Japanese dub—which is sad because they don’t get to hear certain nuances in the original audio. It’s also just really frustrating how xenophobic people can get.

Anyways, the beauty of Link Click lies in its simplicity. For a time-travel show, you’d expect our characters to tackle on tasks that involve the fate of the world or something, but no. In Link Click, it’s all about the ordinary person. All the people Cheng Xiaoshi dived into have been your everyday person—an office woman who gets harassed at work, a restaurant owner who’s grown estranged from her best friend, a man who misses his first love and his old friends, a man who wants to gain the approval of his girlfriend’s family, etc. Even when the stakes go high in season 2, the core of the conflicts still lie in the personal problems that the characters face—which may seem small in the grand scheme of things, but they are not any less important.

And I think that’s beautiful. It’s hard to relate to grand plots of saving the world or facing an apocalypse and whatnot, but it’s easy to relate to the day-to-day struggles that humans face. 

But it’s also depressing, in a way. Link Click is very adamant that the past remain unchanged. Cheng Xiaoshi has to go there, do his mission, and then leave the past as it is—which is difficult when he gets to feel the emotions of the person he’s possessing. Many times he wants to change things for the better, but Lu Guang always pulls him back. 

Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang’s relationship is also really nice. Cheng Xiaoshi is the empathic and reckless type, while Lu Guang is the rational and cold (but inwardly a dork) type. They balance each other out, and when they have conflicts, they face it maturely. They also care for each other so so much that the moment the other is in danger, all their personal philosophies get thrown out the window just to ensure the other person’s safety.

The male characters also cry without getting emasculated. They have mental breakdowns that are done so well and feel like a real reaction instead of just the solitary tear down one’s cheek. 

Link Click… is not a gentle show. It will strongly grab your heartstrings and make you cry several times. It doesn’t pull its punches, and it’s always happy to hit you with the “past or future, just let them be” beam. It is cruel, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Lastly, Link Click is really about friends being there for each other in hard times, and knowing that while it’s impossible to take all those painful memories back, it is possible to take them with you in the future and turn them into something beautiful.

On Soundtrack: The soundtrack of this show is just amazing. The s1 opening song may seem all fun and games with the finger-tutting, but after s2, you’ll realize how meaningful the lyrics are. The s1 ending is also iconic for us fans. It starts playing before the episode ends, and the ominous start of the song always sends chills down our spines because it signals that something has gone wrong.

The s2 soundtrack gets even better. The s2 opening’s second chorus is basically just the first chorus played in reverse. The director specifically requested for a song that would sound good even when played in reverse, and it’s amazing how the band managed to pull off something so difficult. The s2 ending, like the s1 ed, continues the Link Click style of playing before the episode actually ends, making the last few moments of the episode even more emotional.

Trigger Warnings:

S1: Flashing lights in the opening, attempted and implied sexual harassment, slight panic attack, death, kidnapping, drugging, suicide, blood. Complete list of TW’s for s1 can be found here (it may be spoilery)

S2: Fast-changing images in the opening, domestic abuse, child abuse, emotional abuse, violence, blood, murder.

#H6: Tamayura: Hitotose

Propaganda:

No stakes, only warmth. Tamayura: Hitotose is the single coziest anime I have ever watched. It is like Moomins or Studio Ghibli (without all the excitement), in that after watching it you feel like the greatest magic the world has ever known is a home-made bowl of soup, a trip to the mountains, a photograph of a memory. Which is all true. Animes like this teach you to live right, and that's why we need them. Also to teach us to be "more aggressivu!" If you ever have a really rough day/week/month/year/decade, let your soul be soothed and watch Tamayura: Hitotose.

Trigger Warnings: Unknown.

If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.