#diverted to vietnam

[kazifatagar]

New: Malaysia Airlines flight diverted to Vietnam due to technical issue

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that flight MH79, traveling from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur, was diverted to Vietnam’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport due to a technical issue encountered mid-flight. Flight diverted In a statement, the airline explained that the diversion was a precautionary measure to ensure the issue was resolved before continuing to Kuala Lumpur, emphasizing…

[mariacallous]

In May, pro-independence demonstrations spread across New Caledonia, a small Pacific island territory that has been ruled by France since 1853. Waving the flags of the Indigenous Kanak people as well as the flag of the pro-independence Socialist National Liberation Front, demonstrators took to the streets to protest voting reform measures that would give greater political power to recently arrived Europeans.

Curiously, however, they also waved another flag—that of Azerbaijan. Although the similar colors of the New Caledonian and Azerbaijani flags led some to speculate whether the demonstrators had inadvertently acquired the wrong flag, other observers viewed the presence of the Azerbaijani flag as an indication of ideological support from Baku.

It turns out, the Azerbaijani flags were not mistaken. Since March 2023, Baku has strategically cultivated support for the New Caledonian independence movement under the guise of anti-colonial solidarity. As payback for French diplomatic backing of Armenia after Azerbaijan’s 2020 invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh, Baku has disseminated anti-French disinformation related to New Caledonia. Following the outbreak of protests this May, France publicly accused Azerbaijan of doing so.

Baku’s influence campaign successfully inflamed long-simmering hostilities toward French descendants in New Caledonia, culminating in violent demonstrations and riots, which triggered a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron—as well as French police forces—even though Macron ultimately issued a de facto suspension of the reforms.

The incident in New Caledonia is hardly an isolated one. Anti-colonialism, which rose as a powerful ideological force during the 1960s and 1970s, is having a resurgence, and its philosophical underpinnings continue to shape some of the biggest geopolitical crises of the day, from Gaza to Ukraine. But unlike the decolonization movements of the Cold War era, this wave is being driven by opportunistic illiberal regimes that exploit anti-colonial rhetoric to advance their own geopolitical agendas—and, paradoxically, their own colonial-style land grabs.

The basic aims of the decolonization movement during the Cold War were twofold: securing national independence for countries colonized by the West and preserving sovereignty for postcolonial countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, whether through armed struggle or ideological diplomacy. Focused on ending the Vietnam War and fighting white minority rule in southern Africa, the movement quickly became the cause célèbre of the international left.

Despite divergent views on economic and social issues, the movement’s proponents coalesced around a central belief that Western imperialism, particularly the U.S. variant, singlehandedly held back the advancement and development of what was then known as the third world—ignoring the fact that many anti-colonial movements often had their own internal issues of graft and corruption. Disheartened by the West’s history of imperialism, many on the left even embraced authoritarian leaders, such as Zimbabwe’s anti-colonial freedom fighter-turned-despot Robert Mugabe and even former North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung.

Today, the anti-colonial movement is less about securing independence for the few remaining colonial outposts or debating the proper developmental pathway for countries in the global south. Bolstered by powerful state-backed media corporations in the capitals of authoritarian states, the current movement is largely a Trojan horse for the advancement of global illiberalism and a revision of the international rules-based order.

Authoritarian governments in Eurasia have taken their influence operations to social media, where they hope to inflame grievances—possibly into actual conflicts—to divert the attention of Washington and its allies from areas of strategic importance. This is the case for not only Azerbaijan, but also for China in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Iran, which provides financial support to anti-Israel protest groups in the United States.

But more than any other country, it is Russia that is attempting to ride the resurgent anti-colonial wave and position itself as a leading voice of the global south. Russian leadership describes itself as the vanguard of the “global majority” and claims to be leading “the objective process of building a more just multipolar world.”

After his visit to Pyongyang in June, Putin wrote in North Korea’s main newspaper that the United States seeks to impose a “global neo-colonial dictatorship” on the world. In the United States, several Russians alleged by prosecutors to be intelligence agents have been accused of funneling financial support to an anti-colonial Black socialist group to promote pro-Russian narratives and justify Russia’s illegal military actions in Ukraine. And in regard to New Caledonia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova fanned the flames when she said in May that the tensions there stemmed “from the lack of finality in the process of its decolonization.”

Moscow’s primary stage to project itself as the spearhead of a new global anti-colonial movement is Africa. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union provided ideological and military support to numerous national liberation movements and anti-colonial struggles in sub-Saharan Africa on the grounds of proletarian internationalism and socialist solidarity. According to a declassified 1981 CIA report, Namibia’s SWAPO guerilla group received nearly all of its arms from the Soviet Union, and Soviet military personnel trained South African anti-apartheid guerrillas in Angola-based training camps. Moscow also trained and educated a large number of African independence fighters and anti-colonial rebels at Communist Party schools and military institutes back in the Soviet Union.

This legacy of Soviet internationalism and socialist goodwill generated lingering sympathy for the Kremlin, and Russia continues to be widely perceived as a torchbearer of anti-colonial justice and national independence on the continent, particularly in the Francophone Sahel region. Before his death in August 2023, former Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin blamed instability in the Sahel on Western interventionism, saying, “The former colonizers are trying to keep the people of African countries in check. In order to keep them in check, the former colonizers are filling these countries with terrorists and various bandit formations. Thus creating a colossal security crisis.”

Despite Moscow’s own imperialist legacy and its current war of recolonization in Ukraine, Russia is increasingly seen as an anti-Western stalwart in the Sahel and a key supporter of anti-French political movements. Kremlin-backed mercenaries from the Wagner Group’s successor, Africa Corps, have supplanted French security services as the primary counterinsurgency force for fragile West African governments. And in addition to the counter-insurgency operations, Russian mercenaries have provided personal protection for key African military and government leaders.

But the shift from French to Russian interventionism in the Sahel raises the question of just how much national sovereignty the governments in the affected countries have.

Military juntas in West Africa exploit anti-French sentiments among the general public in order to obscure the fact that they are merely relying on a different foreign state for regime security, effectively trading one colonialist power for another. Most importantly for the juntas, unlike the French, the Russian security forces have no qualms about violently cracking down on political dissent and committing war crimes. For example, in late March 2022, Russian mercenaries assisted the Malian military in summarily executing around 300 civilians in the Malian town of Moura, according to Human Rights Watch.

With its colonial baggage, France has struggled to penetrate pro-Russian propaganda in its former African colonies. For instance, Afrique Média, an increasingly popular Cameroon-based television network, often echoes the Kremlin’s positions on international events. In April 2022, Afrique Média promoted a Russia-produced propaganda video that depicted a Russian mercenary escaping his African jihadi captors and then revealing U.S, and French flags behind an Islamic State flag, suggesting that these Western countries are supporting religious extremists.

Russia’s anti-colonial crusade belies its efforts to advance its own political and economic interests. Moscow’s efforts in Africa are borne from a desire to undercut Western influence in the region; shore up diplomatic support for itself in multilateral forums, such as the United Nations; and reinstate Russia’s reputation as a global superpower. Moscow may also seek to secure access to Africa’s vast natural resources, including criterial minerals, and take advantage of illicit networks, such as illegal gold mining, to circumvent international sanctions and fund its war in Ukraine.

Authoritarian regimes, including those in Russia, China, and Azerbaijan, would not exploit anti-colonial rhetoric if it did not continue to resonate in the global south. Long-standing economic disparities with the global north and painful histories of Western interventionism, especially the post-9/11 U.S. wars in the Middle East, have fostered sympathy for revisionist authoritarian regimes. The current humanitarian crisis in Gaza has heightened feelings of Western hypocrisy among some commentators and public figures in the global south.

As Kenyan journalist Rasna Warah explains, “There is deep sympathy and support [in the West] for Ukrainians who are being bombed and made homeless by Russia but Palestinians being killed and being denied food and water are seen as deserving of their fate.”

Therefore, it is crucial for Western governments to acknowledge the shortcomings of the current international liberal order to governments in the global south, rather than attempting to gaslight them into believing that it is equitable and just. The Western-led international order has a long history of violence and instability in the developing world. The trauma of Western imperialism and colonialism should not be forgotten but rather reworked into developmental programs that help to build robust institutions and infrastructure in the global south.

For example, Germany’s joint declaration with Namibia in 2021, which acknowledged the genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples between 1904 and 1908, committed $1.2 billion over the next 30 years to funding aid projects in Namibia, which are more likely to have a long-lasting positive effect on the development of Namibian institutions than individual financial handouts to descendants of colonial-era violence.

In the near term, the United States and its Western allies should actively counter propaganda from Baku, Tehran, Moscow, and Beijing that seeks to portray these nations as free from interventionist pasts. Exposing their disinformation campaigns in the global south—starting with labeling social media accounts linked to state-run media—could help to alert the public to the presence of bad-faith actors, who exploit genuine anti-colonial grievances for their own political and economic goals.

While the Soviets were certainly no saints, there was a genuine internationalist and collectivist spirit in their interactions with the Cold War anti-colonial movement. The same cannot be said for Russia today.

[theaussieblue]

A lot of people right now are worried about what the US election means for Ukraine, or Gaza, or the US, and you have every right to be concerned because those are huge problems.

But down here in the Land Down Under, I'm worried about what's gonna happen to us.

Australia only has about 24 million people in a country the size of the entire United States. There's not a lot of us, we're not very wealthy, and we're pretty far away from our allies.

Australia doesn't have many friends in our neck of the woods. We've tied ourselves to the US ever since and during Vietnam cause we know that we cannot go it alone.

To our north is China. A lot of you may not know this, but China is pretty aggressive in our seas, and not just to Taiwan. Over the last few years, they kidnapped 43 political enemies THAT WE KNOW OF from our shores and took them back to China to stand a rigged trial.

Chinese merchant vessels regularly enter our waters to fish in our seas illegally, using drag nets which damage sea life and threaten endangered species we declared to be protected. Getting them to stop is extremely difficult.

Chinese ships like to sail very close to our ships in a game of chicken, often forcing our coast guard to divert course to avoid a crash. They have been doing this for years.

And worst of all, China has tried on two separate occasions to put Chinese-Australian agents into our Parliament as elected MPs, so they can change our political course to suit their interests (This doesn't mean Chinese-Australians are evil or foreign spies, let's make that clear, many of them wanted to get away from China and breathe free and I welcome them).

One of the things that's helped over the years is that America has had our back. America has, in exchange for us letting them use our land for a number of operations - both overt and clandestine - lent their ships in support of ours, put political pressure on China when they put economic pressure on Australia, and generally been our Ally.

But Trump is very much an America First kind of guy, who doesn't lend help unless it benefits him directly.

I am seriously worried that he will pull back support in the pacific, meaning that not only will Australia be left much weaker, but that the pacific islands will be as well. There are more than a few countries in the Philippines who have it just as bad, if not worse, than we do, when it comes to China.

A lot of countries around the world depend on the US.

I don't know if we can depend on Trump.

[whatthehelloh]

Trump

This is an edited thread that @JohnFugelsang posted on Twitter

“Here's a thread for anyone who's been conned into believing Donald Trump cares about the US military or our troops.”

Faked a disability 5 times to avoid a war he didn't oppose

So 5 non-rich guys went to Vietnam in his place

Tried to kick homeless vets off 5th Ave

Stole from vets via his fraud online U

Lied about donating $1 million to veterans' nonprofits

Said he'd make troops commit war crimes

Pardoned a guy who committed war crimes

Falsely claimed he signed Vets' Choice into law

Insulted POWs

Insulted Gold Star Families 

Fined for misusing funds from 2016 Vets fundraiser

Called Generals "dopes & babies"

Falsely accused US service members of stealing funds for Iraqi reconstruction

Deployed 5,600 soldiers to the border in a midterm election stunt 

Personally insulted Generals Allen, Mattis, Kelly, Powell, McChrystal; Purple Heart recipients Mueller & Vindman, & Admiral McRaven

Lied about donating $6 million to veteran’s groups in 2016

Sided with Putin against all branches of military intelligence 

Blew off Veterans Day cemetery ceremony in France because it was raining.

What he said to Myeshia Johnson, widow of ambushed Sgt. La David Johnson. Not gonna repeat it.

He wants to cut SNAP. Do you understand how much that hurts military families & vets?

His budget seeks to cut Medicaid. Do you understand how much this hurts military families & vets?

Froze pay for all Fed agencies via Executive Order

Fed workforce is 31% veteran, approx. 623k vets

Undid regulations on predatory lenders who target military members 

He tried to destroy the Post Office, which employs thousands of veterans

Declared a fake national emergency to divert billions from the Pentagon to fund a wall he lied that Mexico would pay for

Downplayed & trivialized troops w/traumatic brain injuries in Jan 2020 

Insulted troops with PTSD

Used the national guard to tear gas US protestors so he could be photographed w/an upside down bible

Forced West Point cadets to travel back for graduation during a plague, endangering their health and the health of their families, for a photo-op 

Said 26,000 military sexual assaults were to be 'expected' because America lets women serve

Announced that transgender troops could no longer serve, via a tweet, without informing the Pentagon.

Invited the Taliban to Camp David on the anniversary of 9/11 

Claimed, stupidly, that his military budget made up for his lack of military experience

Told wife #2 he'd disown their daughter if she entered the service

Remember his fake veteran’s hotline?'

Here's What Happens if You Call the Veterans Hotline Donald Trump Set Up in 2015 | Blaze Media

TheBlaze decided to investigate.

Lied to US troops in Iraq that he'd given them their 1st pay raise in over a decade

Trump Institute fired a vet for 'absences' after he was deployed to Afghanistan

Claimed if an armored Humvee was hit by an IED, soldiers "go for a little ride upward & they come down." 

Blamed military leaders for the deadly failed Yemen mission he approved

He can't stop defending the Confederacy

Said his expensive prep school gave him “more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military.” 

Attacked Navy Captain Crozier, who sounded COVID alarm for his sick sailors

Used military against peaceful protests by citizens of color

Had government give hydroxychloroquine to 1300 vets w/COVID-19 despite evidence it was dangerous

Didn't know what happened at Pearl Harbor 

Pulled out of Syria with no notice, abandoning US allies

Russia then posted footage of Syrian base, built by US, that they now own

Exploited 4 murdered Americans in #Benghazi for crass political purposes, after his own party had cleared the Obama WH in multiple investigations 

He kept trying to destroy NATO

Because of his government shutdown, members of US military worked without pay for the 1st time ever

No Other President Would Have Survived Defrauding Veterans’ Charities

No Other President Would Have Survived Defrauding Veterans' Charities | Washington Monthly

One of the many perversities of the Trump era is the low bar to which presidential accountability has now become set.  We are currently watching unfold the saga of presidential bribery and extortion o…

Said in 2018 that he was too busy to visit the troops: "I don’t think it’s overly necessary"

Ordered Navy to Strip Medals from Prosecutors in Eddie Gallagher's War Crimes Trial, even though Gallagher was extremely guilty.

Trump Orders Navy to Strip Medals From Prosecutors in War Crimes Trial (Published 2019)

President Trump lashed out at military lawyers who tried the case of Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL who was acquitted of killing a captured teenage Islamic State fighter.

Now this. Read it to a #MAGA loved one

Putin is financing the murder of our troops and Trump couldn't stop siding with him.

Russia bought the murder of our soldiers.

Trump knew for months and chose to say and do NOTHING about it.

Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says (Published 2020)

The Trump administration has been deliberating for months about what to do about a stunning intelligence assessment.

The Pentagon & cabinet presented him with many options:

a diplomatic complaint to Moscow

a demand that they stop offering bounties for murder of US troops stop

an escalating series of sanctions

Trump has refused to say or do anything. 

He knew that Putin, who owns his debt via Deutsche Bank, was paying Islamic militants for murdering US troops.

He gave a speech and did nothing. 

Well, that's not actually fair…

Trump did a few things after learning Putin was paying for dead US troops in Afghanistan.

He lobbied other countries for Russia to be let back into the G7.

He also talked to Putin on June 1.

Days later he signed off on a plan...

...to permanently withdraw up to 1/3 of the approx. 34k U.S. troops currently based in Germany.

Which is part of Putin's dream of dismantling NATO.

Trump never told Germany he was going to do this.

[hyumjim]

And I just want to share my immense disgust for this person specifically. How callous cruel and empty can a person be. The little nod to “oh but of course suicide isn’t funny except in this particular situation”—a politically motivated suicide. So fucking ignorant. Look up the history of self immolation, even just within the United States. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, 10 Americans self-immolated in protest of the Vietnam War. In order, these were Alice Herz, Hiroko Hayasaki, Norman Morrison, Roger Allen LaPorte, Celene Jankowski, Florence Beaumont, Erik Thoen, Ronald Brazee, Robert Rex Vice, and George Winne Jr. Is that funny? Is that a joke? Were they all mentally ill? How about the monks in Vietnam? Over 100 self-immolations occurred during that period all told.

And yes there was “another one.” A woman set herself on fire on 12/1/2023 in front of the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta. The reason you haven’t heard of this is because she didn’t livestream it like Aaron Bushnell did, and the suppression of information about her has been extreme. We don’t even know her name or anything else about her. That’s because self-immolation is a powerful political statement whether you like it or not, and if it’s possible for the media to suppress it and divert attention then they will do that. The only reason we know Aaron Bushnell’s name is because he filmed himself saying it.

[alex99achapterthree]

On top, the customer...

Vought F8-J CRUSADER from VF-191 takes on fuel from...

...A-7B CORSAIR II from VA-155, both embarked aboard USS ORISKANY for a deployment to Vietnam in 1972-73.

The A-7 is carrying a "buddy store", a fuel tank that included a hose reel and drogue along with 3 more external fuel tanks. With this setup, any aircraft could be a tanker. The tanker pilot streams the drogue and hose and the customer flies up, makes the connection with his refueling probe and takes whatever fuel the tanker schedules for that offload.

Having even this relatively small amount of giveaway fuel in the air was very useful. These tankers could "top off" aircraft too heavily loaded with weapons to be launched with a full load. Also, they could offer a pilot having trouble getting aboard enough gas for a few more passes at the deck, saving him from at best a trip to a divert airfield on the beach and at worst an ejection into the sea.

[multiverseofseries]

Fly Me to the Moon: Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum o di come vendere l'idea dell'America

Tra verità e finzione, Fly Me to the Moon - Le due facce della luna ci porta in un periodo sociale molto simile a quello contemporaneo. Con la differenza che oggi non c'è nessun sogno da raggiungere.

Citando fin dal titolo una famigerata canzone resa celebre da Frank Sinatra (il primo a cantarla fu Kaye Ballard nel 1954), e scelta da Buzz Aldrin come brano ufficiale del volo Apollo 11, quello di Greg Berlanti è un piacevole divertissment sugli eventi che hanno preceduto l'allunaggio. Come se stesse attraversando l'altro lato della Luna, Fly Me to the Moon - Le due facce della luna è cinema che mischia la commedia all'epica, la farsa alla realtà, confondendo (volutamente) i fatti, tra verità e smaccata finzione.

Scarlett Johannson è Kelly Jones, versione al femminile di Don Draper

Con un avviso ai naviganti: se quello di Berlanti, poi, è un enorme giocattolo, bisogna allora affrontarlo con una propedeutica leggerezza, senza cercare la veridicità o la precisione. Dall'altra parte, tra il fascino degli Anni Sessanta e l'attitudine alla romanticizzazione storica (e con i 60s è facile), Fly Me to the Moon, a tratti, sveste la maschera della commedia facendosi disamina sulle attitudini americane: il profitto, l'apparenza, il sogno che diventa competizione, per un archetipo narrativo dall'animo pop, che convince molto di più della traccia divertita, a volte poco centrata, ma comunque coerente con la brillante sceneggiatura firmata da Keenan Flynn e Bill Kirstein.

Fly Me to the Moon, l'altro lato della Luna con Scarlett Johansson e Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum al memoriale per le vittime dell'Apollo 1

Il gancio di Fly Me to the Moon, essenzialmente, si allunga fino ad un parallelo contemporaneo, mettendo in correlazione (tramite un'attenta visione), sia gli States dell'epoca che quelli odierni. Prima del 21 luglio del 1969 gli Stati Uniti d'America stavano vivendo il peggior momento della loro storia. Se la rabbia e l'indignazione aumentavano, complice il dislivello sociale, la lotta di classe e l'assurda violenza perpetrata in Vietnam, la corsa allo spazio (contro i cattivi per eccellenza dell'URSS) poteva essere il diversivo perfetto, la distrazione di massa che avrebbe risollevato l'immagine del Paese. Per certi versi, oggi gli USA vivono una situazione simile, con un calo della popolarità enfatizzato da improbabili dibattiti televisivi (ed ogni riferimento alla campagna elettorale 2024 è assolutamente voluto) e da candidati oggettivamente impresentabili.

Nella stazione di controllo di Cape Canaveral, il Kennedy Space Center

Per risollevare le sorti della missione, e in un certo senso "vendere l'idea stessa dell'America", l'amministrazione Nixon chiama Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson), pubblicitaria di Madison Avenue che tanto ricorda il Don Draper di un capolavoro intitolato Mad Men. La sfida per Kelly è complicata: far credere agli americani che la corsa allo spazio sia fondamentale per il States. Grazie alla sua esperienze nel marketing, escogiterà una campagna di comunicazione ad hoc, creando quello che adesso definiremmo come hype (scusate, ho dovuto). Insomma, giustificare la spesa come se fosse una questione di identità nazionale. Nel farlo, si scontra (almeno all'inizio) con Cole Davis (Channing Tatum), il responsabile della missione NASA ancora scosso dal drammatico incidente dell'Apollo 1, in cui persero la vita tre astronauti.

Verità, menzogna e un passato in cui rifugiarsi

Ancora Scarlett Johannson in una scena dal film

Dunque, se la menzogna in Fly Me to the Moon è palesemente al centro del film, la traccia reale mantiene coesa la sceneggiatura: in effetti, la NASA, nei mesi immediatamente precedenti allo sbarco sulla Luna, mise in piedi un'agguerrita campagna di comunicazione, a cui ammicca l'opera di Greg Berlanti. Il tono, come detto, è di quelli divertiti, quasi dilettevoli, e si affida quasi totalmente all'alchimia tra Channing Tatum e Scarlett Johansson; un'alchimia che ricalca il modus operandi tipico di una commedia romantica, e per questo universale. Un bilanciamento umorale comunque complesso da gestire, tanto che a tratti la struttura del film sembra cedere, seguendo tracce non totalmente congrue.

Alchimia e talento: Scarlett Johannson e Channig Tatum

Resta però l'ottimo livello produttivo, avallato da una calorosa atmosfera che riesce a coinvolgere, sebbene il contesto di per sé sia già marcatamente galvanizzante e cinematografico. Ed è curiosa la strada (più o meno inventata) che segue l'allunaggio fake, organizzato preventivamente dalla NASA negli hangar di Cape Canaveral, qualora Neil Armstrong incappasse in qualche problema (la menzione va alla scenografia di Shane Valentino, che ha ricreato il set). Ma ciò che convince di più (e meglio) di Fly Me to the Moon - Le due facce della Luna è proprio il panorama legato alla conformità sociale degli Stati Uniti, come se fosse un paese basato sullo slogan e sulla pubblicità, re-immaginando un sogno (e la luna è il sogno per eccellenza) come persuasione e paradigma politico.

Stesso concetto, applicabile al 2024: una crisi di valori sovrapponibile a quella del 1969, se non più drammatica (basti considerare la spaccatura ideologica, cavalcato tanto da Biden quanto da Trump) e, a ragion veduta, teoricamente insanabile. Con una dolorosa differenza: se il sogno, all'epoca, era tangibile, oggi non c'è più nessuna Luna da raggiungere. Ancora una volta, il passato al cinema (vero o finto che sia) è una tana in cui rifugiarsi.

Conclusioni

In conclusione Greg Berlanti rivede l'allunaggio partendo da una verità che poi diventa finzione, miscelando la narrazione al meglio delle possibilità. Il resto, la fa la coppia composta da Channing Tatum e Scarlett Johansson, oltre al grande fascino di un'epoca storica decisamente cinematografica. Se i toni umoristici a volte esagerano, la cosa migliore di Fly me to the Moon è il sommesso parallelo tra passato e presente, incentrato sul profilo in crisi degli Stati Uniti d'America. Oggi come ieri, il Paese è in crisi d'immagine: se nel 1969 la Luna era il sogno, adesso non c'è sogno che regga sotto il peso di una società e di una politica che ha perso le loro rispettive identità.

👍🏻

La chimica tra Tatum e Johansson.

Il fascino dei 60s.

Il tema, sempre molto cinematografico.

Il sapiente mix tra verità e finzione.

👎🏻

L'umorismo spesso punta all'esagerazione.

L'approccio farsesco, a volte, non ha il giusto tono.

[00shorrorfilm]

diverting straight friend’s “boy talk” by directing convo to world politics 🫡🫡

babes i’m a lesbian and vape…my family escaped the vietnam war i don’t wanna hear it…the have NO IDEA to the american dream i’m living

[usafphantom2]

If this story makes me smile when I think of Jerry O’Malley and Ed Payne, as I knew them personally growing up with their daughters, was a frequent guest at their homes .

As told by Paul F Crickmore in his book Lockheed SR-71 Operations in the Far East, having deployed ‘976’ to Kadena air base, on the Japanese island of Okinawa, 11 days earlier, Maj Jerry O’Malley and Capt Ed Payne duly flew the same aircraft on the Senior Crown (codename for the SR-71 programme) operational debut. They coasted in on a heading of 284 degrees at 78,000 ft (23,774 m) and Mach 3.17, passing over Haiphong. In just 12 minutes they had overflown Hanoi – then the most highly defended city on earth – with impunity, the jet’s sensors recording dozens of high-value targets, before exiting hostile airspace in the vicinity of Dien Bien Phu. Decelerating and descending over Thailand, the crew rendezvoused with several KC-135Q tankers and took on 80,000 lbs of JP-7 from two of them. With fuel in the tanks, Maj O’Malley quickly reached the SR-71’s optimum speed and altitude and headed back over North Vietnam, before plotting a course for ‘home-plate’ – Kadena air base, on Okinawa.

On contact with Kadena, Approach Control, they were dismayed to find that the base was completely ‘fogged in’. The pilot talked to the tower controller and then to Col Charlie Minter, who agreed to allow them to attempt a low visibility approach for a visual landing.

O’Malley never saw the runway, and pushed the throttles forward to go back ‘upstairs’ to contemplate further options. Low on fuel, he called for the standby tanker that had been launched earlier just in case the weather at Kadena turned nasty. After link-up, he took on 25,000 lbs of fuel, while Payne copied a two-figure encoded number that told them the location of their divert airfield — Ku Kuan, on the island of Taiwan.

Two additional KC-135s were launched to accompany ‘976’ to Nationalist China, the SR-71 adopting a tanker call sign as the number `two’ aircraft in a three-ship formation. This deception was undertaken to hide the inter-island diversion from SlGINT monitors on the Chinese mainland. As they made their way `low and slow’ with the tankers, the destination airfield’s non-directional beacon returned. As they made their way `low and slow’ with the tankers, the destination airfield’s non-directional beacon returned the unexpected Morse Code identity signal of CCK. The tanker crew soon resolved this problem, however.

It turned out that Ku Kuan had recently been re-named Ching Chuan Kang!

O’Malley asked the CCK tower for permission to land, and made a straight-in visual approach at 175 knots, before performing a smooth touch-down. After clearing the runway and lining up behind the lead tanker, he sandwiched ‘976’ between two KC-135s as they taxied in. This unusual sight caused considerable confusion in the tower, particularly when one controller asked for the call-sign of ‘the little black aircraft between the two tankers, which had replied with a tanker call sign’. While Payne was talking to the tower people, O’Malley dialled up the radio frequency of the SAC Command Post that had recently opened on CCK. He asked for the aircraft to be ‘hangared’ (for security. A crowd of at least 500 Taiwanese gathered 15-deep along a 300-yard section of the fence, all of whom were fascinated to see such a futuristic jet standing on their airfield almost within touching distance. *Note years later, when General O’Malley was a PACAF Commander he found out that SR 71 pilot David Peters was having trouble finding a hangar for his SR 71. O’Malley made a phone call minutes later a hangar became available for Lt.Col Peters. I’m sure he was remembering this moment when he needed a hangar.. second and third photograph are of O’Malley and Payne. The last one is a Charles Minter.

Part of this article were previously posted by Dario Leone in aviation geekclub.

@Habubrats71 via X

[learnwithmearticles]

College Protests

The first recorded college protests in the U.S.A. were in the 1960s, with the first major one taking place at the University of California at Berkeley in 1964.

In 1964, students at this college rallied for the Free Speech Movement. They carried signs and shouted chants to protest the unlawful limitations on freedom of speech that the college administrators had imposed.

This protest was “disruptive”. In one instance, students sat around a police car to prohibit an arrested protester from being brought to jail. In another, about 1,000 students occupied an administration building on campus. The protests were peaceful, while disruptive, as is the nature of protests. In the latter event, hundreds of protesters were arrested for protesting. Contemporarily, this was the largest mass arrest in California history.

At the time, protesters also had to be careful about perceived associations with the Communist party. Any related allegations could be used to discredit the Civil Rights Movement - and in fact, were in some instances. One student from the UC protest in 1964 discussed limitations in going to advocate in the south due to his parents’ communist affiliations.

In interviews since, one member of the university spoke about the school administration diverting the issue of the protest, making it seem like the issue was the legality of the protest as opposed to the issue of free speech.

While this protest was for the Civil Rights Movement, many college protests have also taken place over the U.S.A.’s involvement in wars.

The Vietnam war drew college communities into protests around the country. At the University of Washington, and many others in the 1960s-1970s, anti-war protests often went along with anti-racist, civil rights, and workers’ rights activism.

In 1967, students at the University of Wisconsin protested the chemical manufacturer Dow, which was trying to recruit on campus. Dow was specifically producing Napalm, which is now considered internationally illegal to use against civilians. Students sat in the way of the room in which Dow was holding interviews. The Wisconsin Alumni Association states that the protest started as “peaceful civil disobedience”.

When police arrived and tried to end the protest, they made the situation violent, including police beating protesters and the use of tear gas. The contemporary Chancellor considered the involvement of police necessary.

We can also discuss Kent State, of course. In 1970, students protested the Vietnam war and the U.S. invasion of Cambodia by rallying and giving speeches. What initiated the violence at these protests is still speculated on, but law enforcement, including the National Guard, was present. Tear gas was used, some protesters reportedly interfered with firefighters’ jobs, and Guardsmen shot at unarmed students, injuring nine and killing four. The contemporary governor of Ohio said that the protesters were the worst type of people in the U.S.

1900s activism on college campuses is now largely regarded as “important and inspiring”. Yet at the time were met with much criticism and legal repercussions. Modern protests are similar. While many support student protests taking place on college campuses throughout the spring of 2024, the protesters have dealt with a large number of arrests and derisive press.

In the long run, these students are doing important and inspiring things. The protests of the genocide of Palestinians will be another in a long list of activist movements exemplifying the errors of government, society, and law enforcement.

Additional Resources

1. 1964 UC at Berkeley Protests

2. Free Speech Movement

3. Free Speech Movement 2

4. Vietnam War Student Protests

5. Student Protests of Dow

6. Vietnam War Student Protests 2

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.28 (after 1940)

1942 – World War II: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin issues Order No. 227. In response to alarming German advances, all those who retreat or otherwise leave their positions without orders to do so are to be tried in a military court, with punishment ranging from duty in a shtrafbat battalion, imprisonment in a Gulag, or execution. 1943 – World War II: Operation Gomorrah: The Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg, Germany causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians. 1945 – A U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing 14 and injuring 26. 1957 – Heavy rain and a mudslide in Isahaya, western Kyushu, Japan, kills 992. 1960 – The German Volkswagen Act comes into force. 1962 – Beginning of the 8th World Festival of Youth and Students. 1965 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000. 1973 – Summer Jam at Watkins Glen: Nearly 600,000 people attend a rock festival at the Watkins Glen International Raceway. 1974 – Spetsgruppa A, Russia's elite special force, was formed. 1976 – The Tangshan earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 moment magnitude flattens Tangshan in the People's Republic of China, killing 242,769 and injuring 164,851. 1984 – Olympic Games: Games of the XXIII Olympiad: The summer Olympics were opened in Los Angeles. 1996 – The remains of a prehistoric man are discovered near Kennewick, Washington. Such remains will be known as the Kennewick Man. 2001 – Australian Ian Thorpe becomes the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single World Championship meeting. 2002 – Nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, are rescued after 77 hours underground. 2002 – Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9560 crashes after takeoff from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing 14 of the 16 people on board. 2005 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army calls an end to its thirty-year-long armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland. 2010 – Airblue Flight 202 crashes into the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad, Pakistan, killing all 152 people aboard. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan history and the first involving an Airbus A321. 2011 – While flying from Seoul, South Korea to Shanghai, China, Asiana Airlines Flight 991 develops an in-flight fire in the cargo hold. The Boeing 747-400F freighter attempts to divert to Jeju International Airport, but crashes into the sea South-West of Jeju island, killing both crew members on board. 2017 – Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from office for life by Supreme Court of Pakistan after finding him guilty of corruption charges. 2018 – Australian Wendy Tuck becomes the first female skipper to win the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

[gone2soon-rip]

JIM BROWN (1936-Died May 18th 2023,at 87). American football fullback, civil rights activist, and actor. He played for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one of the greatest running backs of all time, as well as one of the greatest players in NFL history,Brown was a Pro Bowl invitee every season he was in the league, was recognized as the AP NFL Most Valuable Player three times, and won an NFL championship with the Browns in 1964. He led the league in rushing yards in eight out of his nine seasons, and by the time he retired, he held most major rushing records. In 2002, he was named by The Sporting News as the greatest professional football player ever.. Brown was one of the few athletes, and among the most prominent African Americans, to speak out on racial issues as the civil rights movement was growing in the 1950s. He participated in the Cleveland Summit after Muhammad Ali faced imprisonment for refusing to enter the draft for the Vietnam War, and he founded the Black Economic Union to help promote economic opportunities for minority-owned businesses. Brown later launched a foundation focused on diverting at-risk youth from violence through teaching them life skills, through which he facilitated the Watts truce between rival street gangs in Los Angeles.Brown was also an actor,appearing in films such as Ice Station Zebra,Mars Attacks,and leads in films such as 100 Rifles,and The Split.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Brown

[roosterarts]

We're Special Forces of the AFP,

And we are soldiers of liberty.

Some infiltrate into the enemy;

Others are sky paratroopers.

AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) Special Forces Song

The Philippine Army's 1st Special Forces Company (Airborne) was activated on June 25, 1964. Later on, as more qualified members joined the unit, the organization would recieve support formations and would be upgraded to become the Special Forces Group (SPG).

Trained in both internal defense, and possible external deployment, recruits for the SPG would have to first endergo rigorous training program and pass the Special Operations Course, the Ranger Course, the Airborne Course, Communications Course, Medical Course, Weapoms Course, Demolition Course, and the Intelligence Course.

The 1st Special Forces Company would see its first deployment in the jungles of Sulu, where it would conduct counter-insurgency operations.

However, by the late 1960s, trouble would hit the SPG. Due to the Philippine's commitment to the Vietnam war, many of its members were diverted to PHILCAG-V (Philippine Civic Action Group - Vietnam). To make things worse, the reputation of the SPG was tarnished due to its involvement with the contraversial Operation Merdeka, which was a secret Philippine attempt to invade Sabah.

Due to its involvement in Merdeka, the SPG had to change its name in hopes of distance itself from the operation. Its new name thus became the Home Defense Forces Group (Airborne) - HDFG. Over the next decades, the HDFG would continue to conduct counter-insurgency operations throughout the country. In 1976 the HDFG would be placed under the Army Special Warfare Brigade, where they would join other units such as the Scout Rangers and Special Operations Group.

After 1986 People Power Revolution, the HDFG would once again be renamed, this time to the People's In Defense Regiment. However, this name did not last long, and would soon be redesignated back to HDFG within the same year.

In 1989, the HDFG would return to its original name and would be called the Special Forces Regiment. Today, the unit continues in its task of protecting the country and conducting counter-insurgency operations.

----------------------------------------

Depicted in this pieces is Silver and Unnamed GF Pony (Yes that's what I'll call her OC for now until we agree on a name) wearing the HDFG's iconic Seven Colour Brushstroke Pattern Camouflage Uniform. On Silver's left shoulder you can see the Airborne patch, while on Unnamed GF Pony's right shoulder, you can just about see the Ranger patch. Both are armed with M-16 rifles.

[beardedmrbean]

A Malta-flagged, Greek-owned vessel has been hit with a missile in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, maritime security firm Ambrey has said.

It is thought to be the third incident involving Zografia, a bulk carrier, in 24 hours.

Tuesday's incident comes as the US military announced it had seized Iranian-supplied weapons bound for the Houthis during an operation last week.

Meanwhile, the US has hit more targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

An official told CBS, the BBC's American partner, that the US conducted further strikes on Houthi positions overnight.

Four anti-ship ballistic missiles that were ready to be launched were destroyed, the official said.

The US and UK launched a wave of airstrikes against dozens of Houthi targets on 11 January following attacks by the Iran-backed group on shipping in the Red Sea.

It is not yet known what was attacked in the latest US operation.

The Houthis have vowed to retaliate.

On Sunday, the US said it had shot down a missile fired towards one of its warships from a Houthi area of Yemen.

A day later, the group said they had carried out a ballistic missile strike on a US-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden.

While it has not yet been confirmed that Tuesday's attack on the Greek-owned vessel was carried out by the Houthis, it appears to follow a similar pattern of strikes.

Who are the Houthis attacking Red Sea ships?

Several vessels have been targeted by the movement's fighters since November in protest at Israel's war with Hamas.

The Houthis say they are targeting vessels which are Israeli-owned, flagged or operated, or are heading to Israeli ports. However, many have no connections with Israel.

The Zografia, which was empty, was sailing from Vietnam to Israel with 24 crew onboard when it was struck on Tuesday, Greek shipping ministry sources have told the media.

No injuries were reported, only minor damage to the carrier. The Houthis later claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Red Sea connects the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal but several shipping lines have announced they are now diverting round the Cape of Good Hope to reach Europe instead.

British oil giant Shell on Tuesday became the latest to suspend all of its shipments through the Red Sea indefinitely, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The US said on Tuesday that analysis of the weapons it seized from a ship near the Yemen coast suggested the Houthis had been using the same kind of weapons in their Red Sea attacks.

The seizure took place on 11 January near the coast of Somalia - the same day as the first US-UK airstrikes.

Cruise and ballistic missile components were among the items found on a ship, as well as parts for air defence equipment.

"This is the first seizure of lethal, Iranian-supplied advanced conventional weapons (ACW) to the Houthis since the beginning of Houthi attacks against merchant ships in November 2023," US Central Command said in a statement.

The ship - a traditional vessel known as a dhow - was considered unsafe and sunk by the US. Legal responsibility for the 14 crew members is being determined.

Central Command also said a search is continuing for two Navy Seals who were lost overboard during the operation.

According to media reports, one officer was knocked off the ship by high waves and the second jumped in afterwards to try and help as is required by protocol.

Washington has blamed Iran for being behind the Houthi missile capability, which Tehran denies. Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said in a press conference on Monday that the West must stop the war against Yemen immediately.

In a separate development, the Greek ambassador to Iran is reported to have issued a formal appeal to Tehran to release one of its citizens - the captain of an oil tanker that was seized last week.

Armed men wearing masks boarded the vessel St Nikolas, close to the port of Sohar in Oman, on Thursday and ordered it to sail to an Iranian port.

Tehran said the seizure was in retaliation for the ship and oil it had aboard being confiscated by the US last year.

The vessel's owner, Empire Navigation, said on Sunday that it had been told by Iran that all of the tanker's 19 crew were safe and in good health.

[howieabel]

“Propaganda campaigns in general have been closely attuned to elite interests. The Red scare of 1919-20 have served well to abort the union-organizing drive that followed World War I in the sell and other industries. The Truman-McCarthy Red scare helped inaugurate the Cold War and the permanent war economy, and it also served to weaken the progressive coalition of the New Deal years. The chronic focus on the plight of Soviet dissidents, on enemy killings in Cambodia, and on the Bulgarian Connection helped weaken the Vietnam syndrome, justify a huge arms buildup and a more aggressive foreign policy, and divert attention from upward redistribution of income that was the heart of Reagan's domestic economic program. The recent propaganda-disinformation attacks on Nicaragua have been needed to avert eyes from the savagery of the war in El Salvador and to justify the escalating U.S. investment in counterrevolution in Central America.” ― Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media

[bm2ab]

Arrivals & Departures 17 February 1936 – 18 May 2023 James Nathaniel Brown

James Nathaniel Brown was an American football fullback, civil rights activist, and actor. He played for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one of the greatest running backs of all time, as well as one of the greatest players in NFL history, Brown was a Pro Bowl invitee every season he was in the league, was recognized as the AP NFL Most Valuable Player three times, and won an NFL championship with the Browns in 1964. He led the league in rushing yards in eight out of his nine seasons, and by the time he retired, he held most major rushing records. In 2002, he was named by The Sporting News as the greatest professional football player ever.

Brown earned unanimous All-America honors playing college football at Syracuse University, where he was an all-around player for the Syracuse Orangemen football team. The team later retired his number 44 jersey, and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995. He is also widely considered one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time, and the Premier Lacrosse League MVP Award is named in his honor. Brown also excelled in basketball and track and field.

In his professional career, Brown carried the ball 2,359 times for 12,312 rushing yards and 106 touchdowns, which were all records when he retired. He averaged 104.3 rushing yards per game, and is the only player in NFL history to average over 100 rushing yards per game for his career. Brown was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. He was named to the NFL's 50th, 75th, and 100th Anniversary All-Time Teams, comprising the best players in NFL history. Brown was honored at the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship as the greatest college football player of all time. His number 32 jersey is retired by the Browns.

Shortly before the end of his football career, Brown became an actor. He retired at the peak of his football career to pursue an acting career. He obtained 53 acting credits and several leading roles throughout the 1970s. He has been described as Hollywood's first black action hero and his role in the 1969 film 100 Rifles made cinematic history for featuring interracial love scenes.

Brown was one of the few athletes, and among the most prominent African Americans, to speak out on racial issues as the civil rights movement was growing in the 1950s. He participated in the Cleveland Summit after Muhammad Ali faced imprisonment for refusing to enter the draft for the Vietnam War, and he founded the Black Economic Union to help promote economic opportunities for minority-owned businesses. Brown later launched a foundation focused on diverting at-risk youth from violence through teaching them life skills, through which he facilitated the Watts truce between rival street gangs in Los Angeles.