#asian institute of management

[wendellcapili]

Congratulations at Maraming Salamat, UP Broadcast Communication alumnus, and former faculty member Rico Mortel (in photo beside me and UP CMC alumna Joji Banzon) for directing 𝐀𝐈𝐌 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐌 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩’s 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲: 𝟐𝟎 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 and the launch of 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐛𝐲 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 (Asian Institute of Management, 2025) on Friday, 24 January, at Dusit Thani Manila.

Rico is a stalwart of the live entertainment scene in the Philippines. He is President & CEO of Whitelight Events Agency (A Division of Whitelight Creative Management Inc.) and CEO & Creative Director of Rogue Monkey Productions Inc. During the 1990s and early 2000s, he co-conceptualized, co-produced, or directed many groundbreaking television specials and live concerts featuring local and foreign artists while working as Vice President for Creatives of Maxi-Media International. Some of these include Regine 2000 (1999), Regine at the Movies (2001), Regine & Jaya: Independent Women (2001), Songbird Sings Legrand (2003), Martin & Regine: The World Concert Tour (2003), Onstage (Greenbelt 1) Concerts of True Faith, Parokya ni Edgar, and Hotdog, to name a few.

[reasonsforhope]

"The world’s largest hornet, an invasive breed dubbed the “murder hornet” for its dangerous sting and ability to slaughter a honey bee hive in a matter of hours, has been declared eradicated in the U.S., five years after being spotted for the first time in Washington state near the Canadian border.

The Washington and U.S. Departments of Agriculture announced the eradication Wednesday [December 18, 2024], saying there had been no detections of the northern giant hornet in Washington since 2021...

“I’ve gotta tell you, as an entomologist — I’ve been doing this for over 25 years now, and it is a rare day when the humans actually get to win one against the insects,” Sven Spichiger, pest program manager of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, told a virtual news conference.

The hornets, which can be 2 inches (5 cm) long and were formerly called Asian giant hornets, gained attention in 2013, when they killed 42 people in China and seriously injured 1,675. In the U.S., around 72 people a year die from bee and hornet stings each year, according to data from the National Institutes of Health.

The hornets were first detected in North America in British Columbia, Canada, in August 2019 and confirmed in Washington state in December 2019, when a Whatcom County resident reported a specimen. A beekeeper also reported hives being attacked and turned over specimens in the summer of 2020. The hornets could have traveled to North America in plant pots or shipping containers, experts said.

DNA evidence suggested the populations found in British Columbia and Washington were not related and appeared to originate from different countries. There also have been no confirmed reports in British Columbia since 2021, and the nonprofit Invasive Species Centre in Canada has said the hornet is also considered eradicated there.

Northern giant hornets pose significant threats to pollinators and native insects. They can wipe out a honey bee hive in as little as 90 minutes, decapitating the bees and then defending the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young.

The hornet can sting through most beekeeper suits, deliver nearly seven times the amount of venom as a honey bee, and sting multiple times. At one point the Washington agriculture department ordered special reinforced suits from China.

Washington is the only state that has had confirmed reports of northern giant hornets. Trappers found four nests in 2020 and 2021.

Spichiger said Washington will remain on the lookout, despite reporting the eradication. He noted that entomologists will continue to monitor traps in Kitsap County, where a resident reported an unconfirmed sighting in October but where trapping efforts and public outreach have come up empty...

“We will continue to be vigilant,” Spichiger said."

-via AP News, December 18, 2024

[annabelle--cane]

placing my hands out placatingly, asking everyone to please be cool and not reignite og!elias burnt out gifted kid discourse. okay? okay. I think this is setting up some more sam and gwen parallels. from mag 193, we know that elias bouchard (original flavor) was told from a young age that he was smart but lazy, he was squandering his advantages, and he was wrong to envy other children because they were meaningless and he was better. he seemed to internalize this to some extent, because by the time he was in his early twenties he had no friends and no family and no real life, just the certainty that he was destined to deserve better.

I think it is reasonable to assume that gwen received similar messaging during her childhood, as she seems to be treating the OIAR the same way elias treated artefact storage (as a stepping stone job to a bigger career waiting for her up the ladder), and she takes a lot of offence when she feels disrespected. from magp 03, we know she's reticent to tell her friends that she's still working this same job, especially because the friend's party she was going to was to celebrate making partner at a law firm.

from this episode, we know that sam was declared "gifted" as a child and his parents rigorously enrolled him in every program they could find, and it started going down hill when the magnus institute rejected him (did they reject him outright or was he there for a bit and then kicked out? what he said to celia doesn't quite fit his earlier statements, but moving on). he has a lot of pent up and fixated feelings about not being chosen by them, he didn't get into oxford, he just missed the highest grades, and he's reticent to tell his parents that he's working this job, especially because he used to be at a law firm.

we know the bouchards are a wealthy and influential family, and as sam speaks with a south asian accent I think it's safe to assume that his family immigrated. of course, there's a massive amount of variation in the socioeconomic statuses of south asian immigrant families in the UK, and I don't know enough about how british gifted kids programs work to know if sam having been in a bunch of them would imply anything about his parents' disposable income, but nonetheless I still think their different backgrounds potentially say a lot about how they handle these feelings of not meeting the high standards that were expected of / promised to them. gwen is fighting to be on the same level of social status and power as her peers, and sam probably felt like he was he had opportunities for upward mobility in this brand new place but kept failing them. it's causing both of them to be very active characters, they are the two people pushing the story forward the most by far, but the ways in which they are active diverge greatly.

gwen, until recently, had felt like she was unfairly stagnating, like she was "not most people" and was cut out for better, and being constantly barred from climbing the ladder made her both resentful of lena and extremely paranoid / insecure about her own worth. now that she's starting to crack it into the "real work," it's obviously taking a great toll on her, but she doesn't want to back out, she wants to prove herself and take what's rightfully hers and not show herself to be unfit for real power. her actions appear to be guided by an ethos that her life hasn't been wasted yet, she still has time to make good, she just needs to ignore that weakness masquerading as a conscience, please god don't let her fail.

sam feels like he's made mistake after mistake after mistake and led himself to his own desperate state where he only just managed to avoid destitution because his ex was kind enough to hook him up with an emergency job that is actively destroying his physical and emotional health, and he has pinned all this frustration on trying to figure out what the magnus institute was all about and why it didn't choose him. like gwen, great things were expected of him, but unlike her he doesn't seem to still be striving for them, that dried up when he had a breakdown at his last job. now he just wants to figure it out and make sense of it, as if solving the mystery will let him fix it and undo all that time and un-waste his promised potential. his actions seem to be guided by an ethos that, even though he's already screwed everything right up, solving the ghosts that haunt his life will some how lessen their burden and maybe, just maybe, give him closure on the Flaw That Doomed Him and allow him to move past it without dragging it still forward.

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - February 1-7

(sorry it’s late, I’ve had pneumonia. between fever and meds, today was the first day in over a week I could even think)

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles!

1. These solar streetlights can withstand Category 5 hurricanes

“[The solar-powered streetlights] can identify potential problems before an outage occurs, identify current outages without the need for customer reporting, and allow for remote control of brightness settings. The streetlights are built to remain operational even during widespread power outages.”

2. 15 Democratic state AGs stand by gender-affirming care

“"Federal funding to institutions that provide gender-affirming care continues to be available, irrespective of President Trump’s recent Executive Order," the attorneys general say. […] “Health care decisions should be made by patients, families, and doctors, not by a politician trying to use his power to restrict your freedoms.”

3. India doubles tiger population in a decade

“[India has protected] the big cats from poaching and habitat loss, ensuring they have enough prey, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and increasing living standards for communities near tiger areas.”

4. A North Carolina wildlife crossing will save people. Can it save the last wild red wolves too?

“There are thought to be fewer than 20 red wolves left in the wild[…. S]tate agencies and nonprofit groups [plan to] rebuild a 2.5-mile section of the highway with fencing and a series of culverts, or small underpasses, to allow red wolves – as well as black bears, white-tailed deer and other animals – to pass safely underneath traffic.”

5. Merrimack Valley public transit system will keep bus fares free

“[… C]ollecting fares [used to] cost MeVa about $300,000 a year to maintain fare boxes, pay staffers and afford insurance. Since going fare free in 2022, the report found ridership increased 60% from pre-pandemic levels[….] The program is now funded by state allocated funds, including money from the so called “millionaire’s tax.””

6. Health care is key for youths getting out of prison. A new law helps them get it

“[The new law] requires all states to provide medical and dental screenings to Medicaid- and CHIP-eligible youths 30 days before or immediately after they leave a correctional facility. Youths must continue to receive case management services for 30 days after their release.”

7. World’s smallest otter makes comeback in Nepal after 185 years

“Scientists have for the first time in 185 years confirmed the presence of the Asian small-clawed otter in Nepal[….] The last time the […] the smallest of the world’s 13 known otter species, was recorded by scientists in Nepal was in 1839.”

8. B.C.'s smallest First Nation has big plans for a 'stewardship' economy

“The Kwiakah Centre of Excellence will be the base for a dedicated research station, an experimental kelp farm, the nation’s regenerative forestry operations and its territorial Indigenous guardian, or Forest Keepers, program[…. R]esults will include a 100-year management plan that integrates climate, salmon, kelp, and soil research to protect territorial waters and remaining old growth forests.”

9. Glades County schools deploy 13 new Blue Bird electric school buses

“The students at the Glades County school district will directly benefit from the cleaner, quieter rides, and operational cost savings that electric school buses provide[, as well as] the addition of much-needed air conditioning in the new school buses. Until now, only three buses in the district provided air conditioning[….]”

10. e.l.f. Beauty CEO defends DEI: 'Our diversity is a key competitive advantage'

“The cosmetics company recently held that it would not nix its DEI initiatives[….] "Our mission is to make the best of beauty accessible to every eye, lip and face," [CEO] Amin said. "One of the best ways we know how to live that mission is to have an employee base that reflects the community that we serve."”

January 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[orcinus-veterinarius]

So... it seems I accidentally deleted an ask rather than answering it. To whoever asked "is it okay to visit SeaWorld? Does the money go to giving the orcas good care?"... here is your answer!

The SeaWorld parks, as well as Busch Gardens, Discovery Cove, and a few others, are operated by the recently renamed United Parks and Entertainment, a for-profit theme park company. Like any other corporation, their first goal is to remain profitable. Obviously, a large portion of that goes to corporate leadership and shareholders. But that's far from unique to United, or theme parks in general. It's a byproduct of the greedy world we live in. If you're willing to buy a ticket to Disney or Six Flags, then buying a ticket to a SeaWorld or Busch Gardens is no more immoral.

According to the AZA, approximately 46% of their members are for-profit. And while AZA zoos certainly vary in quality (anywhere from "acceptable" to "exceptional" in my opinion), for-profit status does not cheapen or detract from the work they do. In fact, for-profit institutions often have more financial freedom for animal care and conservation efforts than their non-profit counterparts. Non-profit zoos and aquariums are wonderful places, but believe me when I say there's a startling amount of politics in every aspect of their management. Non-profit status does not automatically make a zoo better, and for-profit status does not automatically make a zoo worse.

Now... do SeaWorld ticket sales go toward giving their orcas (and other animals) good care? Yes.

While it's certainly simplistic for parks to claim, as they do, "just by buying a ticket today you're helping save animals in the wild!"... it's not exactly a lie. Being for-profit, SeaWorld doesn't ask for donations to fund park operations or outreach endeavours. That revenue is generated by selling tickets, merchandise, food, etc. The same goes for their wildlife rescue and rehab program, Rising Tide conservation program, Coral Rescue Center, and the SeaWorld-Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, as well as partner organizations like OCEARCH and the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute.

Take ticket sales away, and they can't care for their animals, or continue to fund conservation projects. While I don't know the whole story of what exactly is going on with Marineland Antibes, it appears that the park is in a dire financial situation due to plummeting attendance, to the point that they can no longer maintain their killer whale habitat and are trying to offload their animals onto an Asian aquarium or, potentially, an as-of-yet non-existent third party sea pen. While certainly well-meaning, years of boycotts against Marineland ultimately put their animals in a position where they are not being properly cared for. And it would be horrifying if the same thing happened to SeaWorld. I don't think many people, in their fervor to punish the parks for their perceived misdeeds and save the animals, thought about what the reality of driving a zoological facility into financial ruin would look like.

Don't get me wrong, SeaWorld's shift toward promoting itself as a thrill park that also does conservation rather than a marine facility that happens to have roller coasters annoys me. I would have rather they built a separate, neighboring park for the rides, or at least integrated them into the existing park less obtrusively (Disney's Animal Kingdom, for example, seemlessly integrates the theme park and zoo elements, although they have the benefit of the incredibly talented Imagineering team behind them). But as tiresome as the constant roller coaster announcements are, they are what kept the company afloat financially in the years immediately following Blackfish, drawing in a crowd that previously had no interest in the parks, and for that I'm grateful. Thankfully, SeaWorld is in a better spot nowadays. But the only way to convince them that their animals, not their roller coasters, are what people want to see... is to visit and see the animals.

In short, yes, part of your SeaWorld ticket funds care for their orcas and their many admirable projects. Now if only more of it went to giving their staff better salaries.

[technofeudalism]

the media and California officials' focus on stopping "widespread looting" that is definitely, totally happening in the wake of the ongoing wildfires is the epitome of what i would expect from of this spiraling capitalist police state.

a curfew has been initiated and the National Guard has been deployed near the Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades, where over 10,000 structures have been totally destroyed and near the Eaton fire, which ignited in and burned down Altadena, a historically Black neighborhood.

now, when i say widespread looting, what i really mean is: a total of 20 arrests (not convictions) for burglary (or trespassing even) in a city of 3.8 million people. for context, Los Angeles had about 10,000 burglaries in the year 2024. this amounts to an average of 27 per day.

mind you, there has not been a single video, Ring camera footage or any other evidence of mass organized looting taking place anywhere in California. not only that, but the one instance of "looting" that has actually managed to go viral on social media was simply a Black guy evacuating his home in Altadena. his house number is even visible in the post, which was viewed by hundreds of thousands and now likely millions of people.

please understand: this is not to say people have not been taking advantage of this situation. i am 99.99% sure that evacuated homes have been broken into. perhaps even several! this still does not fit the definition of widespread looting and should not justify it being a large chunk of the coverage by the media.

but the most important part of this post will be what you can learn from all of the other times in history that we were told this was a huge problem and totally not racism or justification for further heavy-handed policing. for example:

Hurricane Katrina, where the incredibly damaging feedback loops of inflammatory coverage lead to the governor highlighting the National Guard's M-16's and saying "these troops know how to shoot and kill," as well as the below infamous photos from the Associated Press*.

Hurricane Harvey, where a photo in "Houston" showed a group of Black men looting a corner store that just so happened to be in my home town of St. Louis, Missouri, 800 miles away.

Hurricane Sandy, where Business Insider was warning people to prepare for a "wave of crime," only for there to be ~100 total arrests for looting in New York City, the majority of which were thrown out of court. 16 of those were arrested for "raiding a Coney Island Key Foods." the overall crime rate in New York dropped after Sandy.

the National Institute of Health addressed the mythology behind disaster looting in 2008 and 9 other common misconceptions. their findings on the topic were consistent with nearly every other sociologist or organization that has researched it:

It is commonly assumed that the social contract is tenuous at best and that major natural disasters and other crises trigger mass disruption, disorder, and social breakdown. While there were well-documented instances of brutal hijacking, rioting, and looting in New Orleans after the deep flooding caused by the hurricane, there were many more reports of altruism, cooperativeness, and camaraderie among the affected population. 8,25,26 The overall cooperative, prosocial, and altruistic individual and community response following Hurricane Katrina was similarly observed after the Asian tsunami of December 2004, and the July 7, 2005, terrorist bombings in London, 27 and may have been reflected in the transient 40% to 60% drop in the homicide rate in New York City after September 11, 2001. 28 In support of de Goyet's thesis, it is well documented that natural and man-made disasters are followed by increases in altruistic behavior and social solidarity. 29–32

do not allow the dangerous combination of cynicism and reactionary propaganda consume you. i fear there's more to come.

[di--es---can-ic-ul-ar--es]

It's pretty straightforward. If you're an elite, Ivy institution whose brand is all about mingling with "future leaders" and the ruling class of tomorrow, the rise of poor and working-class Asian children of immigrants who've been absolutely crushing the SATs presents a big problem. If something like half of an incoming class is composed of these students, it makes it difficult for admissions offices to include enough children of the current (largely white) elite, who will go on to be in influential positions in politics, media, finance, etc. in the next generation (and will be donors, influential alumni, etc.). This is not only *not* about admitting more poor black and brown kids, it's about keeping the "merely" bright kids of laundromat and bodega owners from diluting the social capital of the Ivy league "experience." It is deeply classist on an axis that is also, alas, racist. It is also about keeping elite college presidents from having to testify in front of the Supreme Court (reputation management -- like stock price -- being the obsessive goal of any executive board or body).

Quote is a commenter.

[softsoundingsea]

By Luke Gentile

The FBI announced last week its recovery of at least 22 historical artifacts taken after the American victory at the Battle of Okinawa in World War II.

A deal to return the artifacts to the Government of Japan, Okinawa Prefecture, was arranged via the FBI, and a repatriation ceremony will be held after the artifacts return for the first time in nearly eight decades, according to a release from the FBI Boston Division.

Several artifacts date back to the 18th and 19th centuries and hold a place in the long history of Okinawa, including portraits, a hand-drawn map, pottery, and ceramics, the release noted.

“It’s incredibly gratifying when the FBI is able to recover precious cultural property that has been missing for almost 80 years,” Jodi Cohen, the special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division, said.

“This case highlights the important role the public plays in recognizing and reporting possible stolen art. We’d like to thank the family from Massachusetts who did the right thing in reaching out to us and relinquishing these treasures so we could return them to the people of Okinawa,” Cohen said.

Multiple artifacts now returning to Okinawa were registered with the FBI’s National Stolen Art File in 2001 by the Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education, according to the release.

In 2023, the family of a late World War II veteran (who did not serve in the Pacific) discovered some of the valuable Asian art while they went through his personal items, and they found at least four of the works in the National Stolen Art File, according to the FBI.

“It’s an exciting moment when you watch the scrolls unfurl in front of you and you just witness history, and you witness something that hasn’t been seen by many people in a very long time,” Geoffrey Kelly, an FBI Boston special agent and Art Crime Team member, said.

“These artifacts are culturally significant, they’re important pieces of Japan’s identity. These were especially important because they were portraits of Okinawan kings dating back to the 18th, 19th centuries. This case really illustrates part of the work we do on the Art Crime Team. It’s not always about prosecutions and putting someone in jail. A lot of what we do is making sure stolen property gets back to its rightful owners even if it’s many generations down the road,” Kelly said.

Assisting the FBI in the return of the items was the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of Asian Art, according to the release.

“The FBI reached out, asked us for some help making sure they knew how to care for the works and that they had a safe place to store them while they worked out the repatriation details. It’s an honor to be able to help the works go back to their home,” Danielle Bennett, the head of collections management at the National Museum of Asian Art at the Smithsonian Institute, said.

You can see all of the recovered artifacts here.

[nanshe-of-nina]

Favorite History Books || Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World’s First Empire by Eckart Frahm ★★★★☆

… This birth of Assyria in the proper sense of the term— its emergence as a land that included great cities such as Nineveh, Calah, and Arbela, and soon others much farther away— marked the beginning of a new era: the Middle Assyrian period. Now a full-fledged monarchy, Assyrians started to see their land as a peer of the most powerful states of the time, from Babylonia in the south to Egypt in the west. During the eleventh century BCE, the Assyrian kingdom experienced a new crisis, this one caused by climate change, migrations, and internal tensions. It lost most of its provinces, especially in the west. But when the dust settled, it managed to rise from the ashes faster than any of the other states in the region. A number of energetic and ruthless Assyrian rulers of the Neo-Assyrian period (ca. 934– 612 BCE) took advantage of the weakness of their political rivals, embarking on a systematic campaign of subjugation, destruction, and annexation. Their efforts, initially aimed at the reconquest of areas that had been under Assyrian rule before and then moving farther afield, were carried out with unsparing and often violent determination, cruelly epitomized in an aphoristic statement found in another of Esarhaddon’s inscriptions: “Before me, cities, behind me, ruins.” . . . During the last years of Esarhaddon’s reign, Assyria ruled over a territory that reached from northeastern Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean to Western Iran, and from Anatolia in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south. Parks with exotic plants lined Assyrian palaces, newly created universal libraries were the pride of Assyrian kings, and an ethnically diverse mix of people from dozens of foreign lands moved about the streets of Assyrian cities such as Nineveh and Calah. Yet it was not to last. Only half a century after Esarhaddon’s reign, the Assyrian state suffered a dramatic collapse, culminating in the conquest and destruction of Nineveh in 612 BCE. Assyria’s fall occurred long before some better- known empires of the ancient world were founded: the Persian Empire, established in 539 BCE by Cyrus II; Alexander the Great’s fourth-century BCE Greco-Asian Empire and its successor states; the third-century BCE empires created by the Indian ruler, Ashoka and the Chinese empero, Qin Shi Huang; and the most prominent and influential of these, the Roman Empire, whose beginnings lay in the first century BCE. The Assyrian kingdom may not have the same name recognition. But for more than one hundred years, from about 730 to 620 BCE, it had been a political body so large and so powerful that it can rightly be called the world’s first empire. And so Assyria matters. “World history” does not begin with the Greeks or the Romans— it begins with Assyria. “World religion” took off in Assyria’s imperial periphery. Assyria’s fall was the result of a first “world war.” And the bureaucracies, communication networks, and modes of domination created by the Assyrian elites more than 2,700 years ago served as blueprints for many of the political institutions of subsequent great powers, first directly and then indirectly, up until the present day. This book tells the story of the slow rise and glory days of this remarkable ancient civilization, of its dramatic fall, and its intriguing afterlife.

[beardedmrbean]

SEATTLE (AP) — The world's largest hornet, an invasive breed dubbed the “murder hornet” for its dangerous sting and ability to slaughter a honey bee hive in a matter of hours, has been declared eradicated in the U.S., five years after being spotted for the first time in Washington state near the Canadian border.

The Washington and U.S. Departments of Agriculture announced the eradication Wednesday, saying there had been no detections of the northern giant hornet in Washington since 2021.

The news represented an enormous success that included residents agreeing to place traps on their properties and reporting sightings, as well as researchers capturing a live hornet, attaching a tiny radio tracking tag to it with dental floss, and following it through a forest to a nest in an alder tree. Scientists destroyed the nest just as a number of queens were just beginning to emerge, officials said.

“I’ve gotta tell you, as an entomologist — I’ve been doing this for over 25 years now, and it is a rare day when the humans actually get to win one against the insects," Sven Spichiger, pest program manager of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, told a virtual news conference.

The hornets, which can be 2 inches (5 cm) long and were formerly called Asian giant hornets, gained attention in 2013, when they killed 42 people in China and seriously injured 1,675. In the U.S., around 72 people a year die from bee and hornet stings each year, according to data from the National Institutes of Health.

The hornets were first detected in North America in British Columbia, Canada, in August 2019 and confirmed in Washington state in December 2019, when a Whatcom County resident reported a specimen. A beekeeper also reported hives being attacked and turned over specimens in the summer of 2020. The hornets could have traveled to North America in plant pots or shipping containers, experts said.

DNA evidence suggested the populations found in British Columbia and Washington were not related and appeared to originate from different countries. There also have been no confirmed reports in British Columbia since 2021, and the nonprofit Invasive Species Centre in Canada has said the hornet is also considered eradicated there.

Northern giant hornets pose significant threats to pollinators and native insects. They can wipe out a honey bee hive in as little as 90 minutes, decapitating the bees and then defending the hive as their own, taking the brood to feed their own young.

The hornet can sting through most beekeeper suits, deliver nearly seven times the amount of venom as a honey bee, and sting multiple times. At one point the Washington agriculture department ordered special reinforced suits from China.

Washington is the only state that has had confirmed reports of northern giant hornets. Trappers found four nests in 2020 and 2021.

Spichiger said Washington will remain on the lookout, despite reporting the eradication. He noted that entomologists will continue to monitor traps in Kitsap County, where a resident reported an unconfirmed sighting in October but where trapping efforts and public outreach have come up empty.

He noted that other invasive hornets can also pose problems: Officials in Georgia and South Carolina are fighting yellow-legged hornets, and southern giant hornets were recently detected in Spain.

“We will continue to be vigilant,” Spichiger said.

[wendellcapili]

(L) with former Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Nieves Confesor, seasoned Asian Institute of Management TeaM Energy Center for Bridging Leadership (AIMTEC-BL) senior staff members Mariel Cyrene Collado & Queenie Marquez-Landicho, and TeaM Energy Foundation Inc. Assistant Vice President of Corporate Affairs Techie Lopez.

Our team interviews with Nieves and Techie were two important highlights behind the making of 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗯𝘆 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 (Asian Institute of Management, 2025).

Maryknoll, Ateneo, UP, and Harvard-educated Nieves was the first woman to assume the position of Dean at AIM since the Institute's foundation in 1968. She was also previously AIMTEC-BL Executive Director and the first Filipino and Asian woman to serve as Chairperson of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Governing Body from 1994 to 1995.

Techie graduated from Ateneo De Manila University in 1995 and completed her MBM at AIM in 2000. She concurrently serves as Assistant Vice President of Corporate Affairs for TeaM Energy Corporation, one of the largest independent power producers in the Philippines, and as Vice President for TeaM Energy Foundation Inc., whose programs include rural electrification in far-flung areas in Mindanao. She also sits on the Board of Advisors of the AIMTEC-BL, whose programs strengthen the bridging of leadership capital based on trust, integrity, and stewardship to address societal divides. She is part of the Technical Working Groups of TeaM Energy’s Integrity Initiative Program and Sustainability Report.

The biggest surprise during our field research was my discovery that Nieves is 𝐴𝑡𝑒 to Atty. Gaby Concepcion, a dear friend. She is also one of the closest friends of Ateneo de Manila University Professor Emerita Soledad Reyes, a beloved mentor. In addition, UP College of Arts and Letters Professorial Lecturer D.M. Reyes, another dear friend, was one of Techie's mentors during her undergrad years at the Ateneo 🌻

[jeannereames]

How did Alexander become adept at recruiting, managing and commanding such a vast multicultural army out of nowhere?

My understanding is that he led a broad Greek army, with the regional differences pertinent to each region or polity, but still self-identifying as Greek. This seems very different from the armies he led later on in the later part of his reign, with completely different languages, religions, identities. How did this change happen so successfully?

I think a lot of us would like to know that. Ha.

This is a good example of the logistical matters that the ancient sources simply don't tell us, except in occasional throw-away lines.

For instance, we know that Eumenes needed an interpreter to give orders to his Macedonian troops, in the later Successor Wars. This was, in fact, one of the details that led some historians to doubt whether "Makedoniste" ("to speak in the Macedonian manner") was Greek. We now know it was (a form of Doric), but apparently, that was so different--especially when spoken--that some (maybe a lot) of his Macedonian troops couldn't understand Eumenes's Attic Greek. Also, we may guess that these were more complicated orders, and that in the heat of battle, he could give (and they understood) simpler commands.

What this little incident tells us, however, is that the army had interpreters readily available. And some officers were bilingual (such as Peukestes--why he became satrap of Persia). Also, as suggested, it's highly likely that everyone had learned certain, simple commands. Things such as "Forward!" and "Fall back!" etc. Also, if you've ever been in a country where you don't/can't speak the language, a lot of gesturing is involved. (LOL) And some pidgin.

But we reason out this; we aren't told it in so many words. Also, it seems to have come in waves.

Alexander began to accept non-Macedonian/non-Greek troops after Darius's death, when some Persians and some central Asians (from the Baktrian area) were integrated. This is also when he instituted the training in Macedonian arms of the epigoni (upper-class Persian/other youths), which apparently included some Greek instruction, too.

I'm not sure he ever had that many Indian troops, but when he got back into Persia in 324, that was a second (larger) wave of incorporation of "foreign" (Persian primarily) troops into the army. Plus the epigoni arrived, after having been training a few years by then. According to what little we are told, these seem to be separate units presumably with their own commanders, speaking their own language. So by "integrating," that doesn't mean they were scattered in battalions right alongside Macedonians. That means he had different units of troops: so one (new) unit of Persian Companions was added to the pre-existing hipparchies, for instance.

I'd also point out that the Persians had been using integrated armies for well over a century, so Alexander had a model to follow. Why reinvent the wheel?

Hope that clarifies.

[queengiuliettafirstlady]

trick or treat!

Hello and thank you for knocking at my blog's door. 🤗

Here it take a treat or a trick if you dare. 😏

Random Modern AU headcanons

-Elbert would be the biggest menace alone with internet like can you imagine his endless scrolling through pages looking for beautiful things ? I can totally can picture Alfons getting white hair when the delivery man bring them a whole wagon full of items.

-Talking about Alfons he would be a celebrity on Onlyfans in no time, I assure you but I kinda see even Illusionists trying to hire him at any cost he would become filthy rich if he accepts to be a single night guest of theirs, not mentioning his popularity if he ever decide to take a shot at being a stripper for one night.

-I don't know why but I see Jude becoming like a boss of a big company, like he is in game, so rich to seem shady, without mentioning how much money he actually invest in Stock Exchange managing to always be right on the money about where to invest.

-Ellis dear boy I see him way too much becoming an idol or something, even better if he actually went and became a waiter in a neko cafe can you imagine how popular that bar would become ?

Like one day they hire him and the next week they have all days booked so much girls, but even boys, are open to do pretty much anything to reserve a place for them even if only for a fast break.

-Roger I see him becoming a professional boxer, but even a trainer would sound good as a job for him, or even a coack for boxing, and occasionally teaching self defense, even asian ones in the mix becasue why not. A ton of girls would sign up only to see him shirtless but then actually stayed for how good of a techer he is.

-Liam sweet boy he would be a stand up comedian part time, entertaining people everywhere with his comedic sketch, aside his job as actor of course, I think he would love cinema and would totally be so overly excite to work on it , though not so excited to see a film of his if not accompanied and supported by his best friends.

-On the other hands I bet Harrison would become a writer himself and why not even hold a blog with the reviews of the book he read and where he publish both his new ones and the ones of the writer he follow as an editor, because I am extra sure publishers would gamble to have such a skilled men in their group.

-William He would be such a fashion icon, a sponsor of body positivity everywhere supporting charitable institutions, all the while spreading his ideology of freedom and equal rights, even for animals.

Tag list

@kissmetwicekissmedeadly 

@aquagirl1978 @william-rex 

@writingwhimsey @fang-and-feather

@moonstruckmelancholic @wistfulwanderingone @rjthirsty

@ike-garden2024 @lichtluv

@jollibeeshappiness @starzyquee              

@maeko-kun @rkmaru

[imb3rs]

⊹₊⟡⋆   simone   ashley   +   she/they   ⊹₊⟡⋆   blasting   all   american   bitch   by   olivia   rodrigo   through   their   airpods   is   NALINI   KUMAR   .   oh   ,   you   don’t   know   them   ?   they’re   the   twenty9   year   old   fashion   designer   who   just   went   viral   for   a   fierce   rivalry   with   another   up   and   coming   designer   ,   ateliers   vandalized!   .   yup   ,   the   one   that   drives   a   porsche   taycan   turbo   gt   .   i   hear   they’re   pretty   adroit   ,   but   others   have   claimed   that   they’re   quite   taciturn   .   that   makes   sense   ,   considering   they’re   often   labeled   as   the   high   priestess   .

[  ✰  ]  WANTED  &  ESTABLISHED  CONNECTIONS  (  WIP  ).

penned  by  HECATE  (  she/her  ,  21+  ,  pst  )

001.     ↻     BASICS  .

[  ✰  ]  full  name:  nalini  kumar 

[  ✰  ]  nickname(s):  n/a

[  ✰  ]  age:  29

[  ✰  ]  date  of  birth:  02/20

[  ✰  ]  place  of  birth:  san  francisco,  ca,  usa

[  ✰  ]  ethnicity:  indian  (  tamil  )

[  ✰  ]  nationality:  american

[  ✰  ]  gender:  demi  woman

[  ✰  ]  pronouns:  she/her,  they/them

[  ✰  ]  orientation:  bisexual  /  biromantic

[  ✰  ]  language(s)  spoken:  english,  tamil,  hindi,  french,  spanish,  asl

[  ✰  ]  mbti:  INFJ

[  ✰  ]  element:  water

[  ✰  ]  zodiac:  pisces

[  ✰  ]  character  inspiration:  ilsa  faust  (  mission:  impossible  ),  jane  smith  (  mr.  &  mrs.  smith  ),  lydia  martin  (  teen  wolf  ),  astrid  leong  (  crazy  rich  asians  ),  elizabeth  swann  (  pirates  of  the  caribbean  )

002.     ↻     BACKGROUND  .

NOTE:  this  is  a  quick  summary  /  tldr  of  nalini's  background  .  for  a  more  detailed  bio  ,  please  CLICK  HERE  !

a  determined  individual  dead  set  on  carving  her  own  path  after  years  of  being  overshadowed  by  her  older  siblings’  successes  and  overlooked  in  favor  of  her  siblings  .  despite  the  friendly  and  free-spirited  demeanor  ,  she’s  more  often  than  not  fueled  by  spite  .  pursued  not  only  a  bachelor’s  but  a  master’s  in  fashion  because  of  it  and  has  been  making  waves  as  the  next  big  thing  in  the  industry  .  began  to  thrive  after  stepping  out  from  their  family’s  confines  and  due  to  an  opportunity  too  good  to  turn  down  ,  has  found  themselves  relocating  to  los  angeles  .

003.     ↻     HEADCANONS  .

NOTE:  this  is  a  work  in  progress  so  more  will  be  added  at  a  later  time  !

obtained  a  bachelor’s  in  both  fashion  design  and  advertising  &  marketing  communications  from  the  fashion  institute  of  technology  and  her  master’s  in  fashion  management  from  parsons 

while  her  career  claim  is  vera  wang  ,  nalini’s  designs  often  incorporate  a  mix  of  her  own  culture  .  not  only  do  they  specialize  in  western  wedding  gown  designs  ,  they  also  specialize  in  indian  bridal  attire  as  well

has  a  mixed  british  shorthair  &  russian  blue  cat  named  buttercup

enjoys  sketching  as  a  hobby  .  can  sometimes  be  found  sitting  at  a  cafe  or  a  rooftop  with  a  small  sketchbook  in  hand  

since  moving  to  los  angeles  ,  nalini  picked  up  mixed  martial  arts  as  another  hobby

a  porsche  girlie  .  on  top  of  the  all  electric  taycan  that  they  drive  as  their  daily  vehicle  ,  they  also  have  a  vintage  porsche  911  turbo  (  type  964  )  in  british  racing  green  that's  their  weekender

[centrally-unplanned]

The Harvard "crisis" is a very illustrative example of collective action problems & tipping points. What is happening now - simultaneously an institutional revolt by some of its board and influential donor class and a wider cultural zeitgeist degrading its status - is a reflection of very long-simmering tensions between its stakeholders.

Harvard, like most top universities, has a dozen+ stakeholders but for our purposes today they sort into two buckets; internal & external. Internally, it has to run a university that educates students & publishes papers - it needs to make those students happy, make its staff happy, etc. Externally, it has a brand to manage as a lodestone of America's elite reproduction, and a status-holder for a set of values of US (and even wider) society, as well as being a networking organization building relationships between and for said elite. These are intertwined goals - students only care about a Harvard education because it gets them rewards in the form of jobs from outside companies & orgs, which is in part (not all) a reflection of that societal status. And that outside societal status is replenished, again in part, by the success of its students after graduation, and so on. For this system to function each side needs to 'buy in'.

Starting in ~2010 most elite universities experienced a sea change in the values of their internal stakeholders; large swathes of vocal students and huge swathes of internal staff began to push for governance & priority shifts. These changes - like many societal changes btw, this is not a unique thing - did not have the majority on their side, but internally they were close enough (and, somewhat but not wholly uniquely, employed a variety of dissent-silencing techniques to maximize impact) to carry the day. They never had anywhere close to majority buy-in from external stakeholders; but the unique structure of universities is such that, while the missions are interdependent, their day-to-day operations are quite distinct. A lot of the changes over the past decade have been looked at askance by the donor class and groups like corporate hiring partners, but never askance enough to actually bother to do anything about it. It was too low-stakes to overcome the coordination problem of fighting the internal stakeholders, these things aren't the primary concern of external stakeholders.

So you get this string of controversies throughout the decade, as high-stakes as faculty firings or the Asian applicant discrimination case, to the low stakes culture drama of things like changing the title of "Housemasters". A lot of internal stakeholders were on the other side of these issues - they could have coalitioned with the external stakeholders, but they didn't care enough to really bother. It's all sizzle in the end, they can't coordinate in the face of the unified internal stakeholder mission.

Then Israel-Palestine hits, which is an issue that has its own extremely well organized, high valence stakeholders who absolutely, 100%, care enough to bother. They will take the opposition on and go to the absolute mat. Israel is extremely popular in the United States, Jewish people are literally the most popular religion in the country on some surveys, fighting terrorism is a bit out-of-mind but the default stance for both political parties, etc. But all that really isn't enough to get what you are getting right now - this is the seeds of long dissent, not the response to a singular misstep. After all the misstep was mealy-mouthed doublespeak at a hearing, it's not that high stakes.

However, while those external stakeholders didn't care enough for the past decade, they cared! And those internal stakeholders on the losing side *really* cared. And so suddenly an extremely salient, external stakeholder (America's Israel political advocacy group) shows up and starts scoring wins, and everyone in the room senses "oh yeah this is our time". And so they rise up in coalition to express, not just condemnation of the individual event, but building grievances with the direction of the university. They were just waiting for something to give them the push to do it.

Personally btw, I think the cleavage between the internal & external stakeholder's actual interest in how the university functions is too wide, and too independent of its day-to-day governance (Harvard is in many ways just a stamp for inherent student traits, but companies need that job done in society). As such this will fizzle with minimal changes. Still a good model for how these kinds of moments come about in driving change in social structures though, you need to study the full spectrum as it were.

[mariacallous]

If Donald Trump returns to the White House, close allies want to dramatically change the government's interpretation of Civil Rights-era laws to focus on "anti-white racism" rather than discrimination against people of color.

Why it matters: Trump's Justice Department would push to eliminate or upend programs in government and corporate America that are designed to counter racism that has favored whites.

Targets would range from decades-old policies aimed at giving minorities economic opportunities, to more recent programs that began in response to the pandemic and the killing of George Floyd.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Axios: "As President Trump has said, all staff, offices, and initiatives connected to Biden's un-American policy will be immediately terminated."

Driving the news: Longtime aides and allies preparing for a potential second Trump administration have been laying legal groundwork with a flurry of lawsuits and legal complaints — some of which have been successful.

A central vehicle for the effort has been America First Legal, founded by former Trump aide Stephen Miller, who has called the group conservatives' "long-awaited answer to the ACLU."

America First cited the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in February in a lawsuit against CBS and Paramount Global for what the group argued was discrimination against a white, straight man who was a writer for the show "Seal Team" in 2017.

In February, the group filed a civil rights complaint against the NFL over its "Rooney Rule."

The rule — named for Dan Rooney, late owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers — was instituted in 2003 and expanded in 2022. It requires NFL teams to interview at least two minority candidates for vacant general manager, head coach and coordinator positions.

American First argued that "given the limited time frame to hire executives and coaches after the season, this results in fewer opportunities for similarly situated, well-qualified candidates who are not minorities."

In 2021, Miller's group successfully sued to block the implementation of a $29 billion pandemic-era program for women- and minority-owned restaurants, saying it discriminated against white-owned businesses.

"This ruling is the first, but crucial, step towards ending government-sponsored racial discrimination," Miller said then.

Zoom in: Other Trump-aligned groups are preparing for a future Trump Justice Department to implement — or challenge — policies on a broader scale.

The Heritage Foundation's well-funded "Project 2025" envisions a second Trump administration ending what it calls "affirmative discrimination."

Part of the plan, written by former Trump Justice Department official Gene Hamilton, argues that "advancing the interests of certain segments of American society ... comes at the expense of other Americans — and in nearly all cases violates longstanding federal law."

Hamilton is America First Legal's general counsel.

Such groups have gained momentum with the Supreme Court's turn to the right — most notably its recent rejection of affirmative action in college admissions. The court ruled that programs designed to benefit people of color and address past injustices discriminate against white and Asian Americans.

In 2021, a federal judge blocked a $4 billion program to help Black farmers.

Earlier this month, another federal judge ruled that the Commerce Department's Minority Business Development Agency was discriminating against white people and that the program had to be open to everyone.

What they're saying: The Trump campaign directed Axios to the candidate's already stated positions bashing Biden's policies promoting equity.

"Every institution in America is under attack from this Marxist concept of 'equity,' " Trump said in 2023. "I will get this extremism out of the White House, out of the military, out of the Justice Department, and out of our government."

The Trump campaign's Steven Cheung added: "President Trump is committed to weeding out discriminatory programs and racist ideology across the federal government."

The NFL and Miller declined to comment. CBS didn't respond to a request for comment.

Between the lines: A CBS poll last November found that 58% of Trump voters believe that people of color were advantaged over white people — just 9% of Biden voters said the same.

Polls also show, however, that Trump is gaining support among Black and Latino voters.

Zoom out: Trump has portrayed himself as the victim of racism amid his legal troubles.

He repeatedly has said Black women prosecutors in Georgia and New York are "racist."

His political career really began in 2011 as the chief Birther-agitator, questioning Barack Obama's eligibility to be president.

When Trump jumped into the presidential race in 2015, he accused Mexico of dumping criminals and rapists into the U.S.