#he's the ruler of canada so HOW LONG has he been in that position

[captainkingsley]

I don't need fics to be 100% accurate, time period wise, besides, this is X-Men, nothing makes sense, I say, and then agonize over what year to set this wolverine/hercules fic in

[kingofthenorth49]

Can someone check the GFCI?

When a circuit breaker snaps, it’s because the circuit was beginning to heat beyond design capacity and it’s shutting down to prevent something worse from happening, like fire or damage to a sensitive circuit or device.

It’s a safety device, and we all know how much I love safety devices, but at the end of the day if you don’t take action when a safety device activates, generally the damage can be much worse than what the device was actually protecting.

Folks, our owners have decided that it’s going to be much easier to control the world if they only have to do it from one government, and if you still think this is a conspiracy theory, you need to turn off CNN and step outside your basement. Even the dimwit in Ottawa can no longer keep the secret of where those in lofty chambers have decided we are going, although I sincerely doubt he understands the repercussions, just like 98% of the population. It’s not their fault, they are wired in such a way they can’t see the truth, either by design or programming.

Doesn’t matter which it is (blue dress/brown dress), the damage to our population has started and we don’t have the collective will to stop it, because we’ve been conditioned to be victims. Correction. Most have been conditioned over the past two decades to be victims, to be at the mercy of big government and those who know better than you do.

I’ve a friend who explains it perfectly. He says that most people cannot see past the end of any given month. It’s not a derogatory thing, it’s just who they are. These are the people who live paycheck to paycheck, who don’t plan for the future because they are just trying to stay alive. They work hard to keep up, but are consumed by just trying to cope with what life throws at them. These are the majority of people on this planet. Not a bad thing, but these are the type of people easily controlled by fear.

The next group are the people who can see 6 to 12 months, and they understand cause and effect better than the first group. They understand that payday loans are bad and that you should control your destiny through planning. These are the type of people who run our governments and provide services. They see the benefits to organized approaches to problems and find safety in numbers of like minded people.

The last group, the smallest one are those who can see 3 to 5 years down the road. These are the visionaries, people like Edison and Orwell, Tesla and Rand. These are the Elon Musks and Bill Gates of the world. They drive humanity through aspiration and ambition.

Unfortunately they aren’t always right, for example I would consider Karl Marx to one of the latter.

So why am I talking about Karl Marx and circuit breakers you ask?

Well it’s because my tin foil hat is on too tight, or because I’m not quite right in the head I guess, or any other of the labels those who can’t see past the end of the month would paste to someone like me who likes to think a bit more long term than the end of the next season of the Kardasians.

Shutting down the world for a bad flu wasn’t a decision based in science. It’s not even a decision based in safety, and believe me I know a thing or two about that. The whole “nobody moves, nobody gets hurt” thing really doesn’t work for long. Sure, nobody gets hurt, but no body eats either. This is what your average person isn’t thinking about when they scream “stay the blazes home”.

Yes, you can stay the blazes home. Yes,  you can cower under your bed until the bad thing passes, but at the end of the day the Magic Pantry was just a kids TV show.

Dude’s gotta eat, right?

I’m currently living inside the “Atlantic Bubble”, or whatever is left of it after those anointed in oil decided to take their toys and go home, but in reality we’ve created an interesting paradigm here on the east coast of Canada that’s unlike anywhere else in the world.

We’ve created the perfect culture of fear.

Now for those living outside the bubble, we’ve shut the door, turned off the lights and posted a big “FUCK OFF” sign on the front lawn. We’ve turned our back to the virus like it’s a Trump supporter. This is our plan. We’ve posted guards, created intricate rules around who can go where and why, and basically made it impossible to move anywhere without government permission. All over a bad flu with a survivalbility rate of over 99.4%, with 70%+ of the mortality coming from those 70 years of age and older. You are more likely to die from an automobile accident today than COVID.

Don’t get me wrong, COVID is no cake walk, it’s a nasty disease, but it’s not Ebola. I’ve been battling this virus now for 11 months, I’ve seen how it works, it’s veracity is substantial, and if you have co-morbidities such as diabetes or heart disease, it can take a toll on you, and yes, more people are dying from it than the seasonal flu, but at the end of the day it’s not going to wipe out the human race. The majority of the people who test positive don’t even know they have it.

And don’t get me started on testing.

I can’t talk publicly about it but if you see me out and about, ask me why I think testing is a control and not a diagnostic element. Sorry, the hat’s tightening.

Let me throw one example out for you to chew on, let’s say vaccines. Now the vaccines are the panacea for the masses right? I mean we should be amazed we were able to concoct a vaccine that is 95% effective in eradicating this virus inside 8 to 10 months, hell, we should be ecstatic, right? I mean it took 30+ years to get a handle on AIDS and we beat COVID in just 240 days. We currently linbe up to get an annual flu shot to protect us from the last major Coronavirus (Remember the Spanish Flu?) that has been in development for the last 60 years and it’s still only 35-40% effective, and less than 50% of Canadians get it

We must be freaking geniuses now.

I’ll never understand the sheer amount of dumb optimism that’s out there, but I certainly appreciate it. Without that optimism we’d be more like Lemmings than we currently are.

But back to the “great reset”, shall we?

So dude’s gotta eat, right? I’m going to quote one of my modern day heros, Elon Musk when he says “If people wants stuff, they have to make it” or something along those lines. In other words, there’s no money tree. My parents very early on taught me that lesson, and that if I wanted anything in life I had to earn it or make it, that there was no such thing as a free meal. The problem is most people today have been conditioned to think there is. Trudeau has been giving away our money like a drunken sailor on shore leave to the tune of $400 BILLION dollars in 8 months. Let me put it another way, in the last 240 days Trudeau has spent $10,814.00 per Canadian citizen, or around $25K per taxpayer. That’s debt folks, that’s directly on the shoulders of every Canadian. But it’s ok they say because interest rates are so low we can afford the additional leverage.

Problem is folks is interest rates don’t stay low after a major crisis. Why? It’s called inflation. As money supply loosens, so does the value of a dollar, and when the value of a dollar decreases because there’s more supply of dollars then prices increase. When prices start increasing wages need to go up to keep pace with inflation, and when that happens there are two options. Control monetary supply, otr deal with runaway inflation.

How do you control inflation you ask? Great question. You raise interest rates to throttle spending.

How can anyone forget the late 1970’s? It was less than 50 years ago folks. Remember Trudeau’s 6 & 5? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? JUSTIN? For fuck sakes the kid was living at 22 Sussex drive when his father created the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime.

Wait, check that. Apparently the second wave will be worse than the first.

This great reset is gong to be tragic. Already they are estimating over 100 Million people in 3rd world countries will die next year due to disease and starvation because of the lock downs. In our own western countries the most disadvantages are already our most vunerable populations. Humans aren’t meant to be caged, nor can we afford to be. We need to be free, have purpose, and contribute to a vibrant society.

You can’t govern that. You can’t rule over a captive society for long. History has shown us that time and time again that King’s aren’t benevolent rulers and those who suffer the most are at the bottom the societal ladder.

If you aren’t seeing the end goal yet, I get it, but I do. You only need look as far as the ice cream eating elite who enjoy fine dining when your cupboard is near empty and jet off to Mexico while telling you can’t bury your spouse or child. They make you endure cruel mental anguish while they spend your tax dollars on jet setting and pontificating about a communist world that they rule.

All in the name of a better world, one free of climate change and racism.

Who knows, maybe they are right, maybe they are part of the component of society that sees the future more clearly than the rest of us.

I guess that’s why they get ice cream and can go spend Thanksgiving with their moms while you can’t bury yours.

I guess that’s just our lot in life, to be ruled, to understand it’s for thee, but not for me.

This what we want? This what we deserve? Am I wrong?

I don’t think I am, I just want to be. Can someone go downstairs and check the fuse?

Jim Out

[a-drunkard-muses]

All that you have to think about Shuffleboard

Table Shuffleboard is where players alternate sliding weighted pucks down a long, smooth table made of wood. The finish of the table is set apart with explicit territories for scoring.

History

Shuffleboard is accepted to have its inceptions in England, around the 1400s. Around then, players would play a game called "Shoffe-Groat", sliding an enormous 4-pence coin (a "groat") down a long table with focuses being scored for getting the coin as near the edge of the table as could be expected under the circumstances, without tumbling off.

Ruler Henry the VIII was known to be a shuffleboard player, as he is on record as having shed nine pounds to Lord William playing the game. He is additionally known for having prohibited the game with plebeians, as he felt it diverted them from their every day obligations.

Shuffleboard is additionally answered to have been mainstream with early American homesteaders. The play "The Crucible", which narratives the Salem Witch Trials of the late 1600s, makes reference to 1692 as a year where there were a lot of "good for nothings" (sluggish, useless people) accumulated around the shuffleboard in the nearby bar.

Additionally of chronicled essentialness is a 1848 lawful case, The State versus John Bishop. Priest was a bar proprietor blamed for running a round of chance as a shuffleboard without a permit to do as such. The appointed authority, in any case, decided that shuffleboard was in fact not a round of possibility, however a round of aptitude.

Towards the finish of the nineteenth century, shuffleboard was taking off as a serious game, especially around New York City. Papers announced the outcomes with a similar normality as baseball, boxing and different games.

As shuffleboard was essentially played in bars, preclusion had an inconvenient effect on the game. During the 1920s numerous bars shut, leaving their shuffleboard tables inactive. The Great Depression of the 30s was a wellspring of difficulty for some individuals in any case, so when denial was lifted, shuffleboard indeed got famous as an outlet for stress.

During the war, the 1940s were additionally grieved occasions, and by and by shuffleboard gave a feeling of discharge. For some it was a wellspring of extraordinary rivalry, for other people, it was only an agreeable method to sit back. Its base of players developed, be that as it may, and even Hollywood superstars were having tables introduced in their homes.

The 1950s saw shuffleboard arrive at its top in fame. Competitions were across the nation, frequently supported by shuffleboard makers. In spite of the fact that the game declined throughout the following couple of decades, in the mid-80s it started to see a restoration. The 1990s saw the development of the TSA, or Table Shuffleboard Association which built up a lobby of acclaim to deify the absolute best players of the game click here

The Table

The official shuffleboard table length is twenty-two feet in length by twenty inches wide, albeit informally sizes can be as short as nine feet, despite everything saving the width.

At each finish of the table, about 33% is secured by three scoring regions. Each scoring territory covers the width of table despite the fact that they can fluctuate long. The zone nearest to the edge of the table, set apart with a "3" which means three focuses, and is about four to five creeps long. Equivalent long is the adjoining scoring zone, set apart with a "2" for two focuses. Close to this is the "1" segment, for one point. This area is about multiple times as long both of the other two segments. The lines that different the focal point of the table from scoring regions is known as the "foul line". A shot must pass the foul line nearest to the player, or, in all likelihood it is expelled from play. Around the table is a canal, called the "back street". Pucks that fall or are thumped into the rear entryway are considered out of play for that round.

Shuffleboard Powder

To keep play smooth, a lot of an item made called "shuffleboard powder" are sprinkled liberally on the table.

Shuffleboard powder empowers the puck to slide easily no matter how you look at it. The silicone dots act like small metal rollers, empowering a puck to slide down the table with a negligible measure of exertion.

Despite the fact that it is otherwise called shuffleboard wax, it is in reality a powder produced using dried silicone globules and cornmeal (some time in the past it was produced using sawdust), instead of a fluid. It is sold in a holder that appears to be like powdered blanch chemical, complete with openings that take into consideration even circulation over the table. It is prescribed to store the powder in a dim, dry spot.

Shuffleboard powder is accessible in an assortment of types, for changing table sizes and speed inclinations. A few players lean toward a game with quicker activity, while others favor more command over the puck.

Shuffleboard Rules

In light of a legitimate concern for good sportsmanship, it is suggested that all players shake hands before the game starts. Choosing who goes first should be possible various ways, anyway the easiest path is to flip a coin. Recollect that it is invaluable to go second. After the first round is played, the champ plays first on the following round.

Players utilize red or blue-shaded pucks to demonstrate which player (or group) they have a place with. Players alternate sliding their puck down the table. The fundamental objective is to get the pucks as near the finish of the board as conceivable without tumbling off the end.

The middle is isolated from each finish of the table by two lines called "foul" lines. At the point when the player makes an effort, the shot must pass the foul line closes to the player, else it is expelled from the table, as it is regarded being in the "illicit zone". Encompassing the table is a canal called the "back street". Pucks that fall into the back street are out of play for the rest of the round.

When shooting, you can hit the pucks of your adversary. The thought is to attempt to hit your adversary's pucks out of play by driving them into the back street, while moving your pucks into a higher-scoring area. In the event that your puck passes the foul line, at that point bobs off a puck and comes back to the illicit zone, both your puck and your adversary's are expelled from play.

After every player has shot four pucks, the round is done. When scoring toward the finish of the round, focuses are granted distinctly to the player whose puck is nearest to the edge of the table. Your puck can possibly score focuses on the off chance that it is on the table, over the foul line, and closer to the furthest limit of the table than any of your adversary's pucks.

A puck that overhangs the edge of the table gets four focuses. A puck that is in one of the scoring zones gets focuses as indicated by its zone (one, two, or three focuses). A puck that is contacting the line between zones gets focuses just from the most minimal zone. For instance a puck in zone two that is contacting the line for zone one would just get one point).

On the off chance that there are two players, the first to arrive at fifteen focuses is the victor. In the event that there are four players in a 'duplicates' coordinate, the main group to arrive at twenty-one focuses wins.

Certain infringement that will bring about a one-point punishment. To maintain a strategic distance from this, ensure you don't rub your hands over the playing surface, and abstain from broadening the lower half of your body past the finish of the board. While your adversary is shooting, don't grasp a playing puck. Abstain from contacting the real playing surface with either hand previously, during or in the wake of making a shot (in spite of the fact that it is allowable to contact the casing).

In a duplicates coordinate, colleagues remain on the furthest edge of the table and play each other round, shooting from substituting finishes of the table. Basically it resembles playing two rounds of shuffleboard simultaneously, and joining the scores of each group. During a duplicates coordinate, player are not permitted to go the opposite finish of the board to see the situation of the pucks. In the event that you need to think about a puck's position, you should ask your accomplice and depend on their data. Going past the foul line whenever during the round outcomes in a punishment.

Contacting a puck that is in play isn't admissible while any other individual is shooting, regardless of whether it's your adversary or your accomplice. The equivalent is valid for contacting the playing surface or the table edge. Likewise, any pucks in the drain ought not be contacted until the round is done. Causing any table vibrations will bring about a punishment, regardless of whether the vibration is coincidental, for example, hitting the floor. Generally speaking of decorum, it's ideal to remain far back and give your rivals bunches of room when they are shooting.

Varieties

While shuffleboard associations have settled upon some official guidelines, the casual and unconstrained nature of shuffleboard fits a wide assortment of house rules, territorial varieties, and varieties by nation.

In Canada, for instance, shuffleboard is played by decides that have been endorsed by the Canadian Shuffleboard Congress. In many competitions, singles games are played to a score of fifteen. Copies matches are played to twenty-one focuses. In the two circumstances, a round comprises of four pucks for each player.

Guard Shuffleboard

Now and then known as backboard or pad shuffleboard, guard shuffleboard replaces the conventional drains along the edges of the table with pads, empowering players to ricochet their pucks off the sides of the table, which can be helpful for moving around an impeding puck. Regularly guard shuffleboards are twelve to thirteen feet long - shorter than an ordinary shuffleboard.

Sjoelen

Sjoelen, or Dutch Shuffleboard, is played basically in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. It utilizes a wooden board generally 6.6 feet long by 1.3 feet wide. Rather than pucks, it utilizes wooden circles. Around seventeen creeps from the front of the board, a level bar of wood is situated over the table, and the plates go under it. This is known as the "start bar". Around fifteen creeps from the rear of the board is the "entryway bar", which is a bit of wood with four opening gaps in it. These openings are set apart, from left to right, as two, three, four and one. Behind this entryway, the board is isolated into four equivalent allotments.

When playing the game, every player takes one turn, with the triumphant player being the one with the most noteworthy score. Each turn is involved three opportunities to slide all the circles down the board, focusing on the numbered compartments. Each possibility is known as a "sub-turn". Players will mean to get a plate into every one of the four compartments, as doing so duplicates the scoring estimation of the considerable number of circles.

In first sub-turn, the player slides each of the thirty circles. Toward the finish of the turn, any circles that have advanced into compartments remain there, yet are stacked in heaps toward the finish of the holder, to keep the compartment passages clear. In the event that each of the thirty plates have entered compartments, the turn closes. Something else, the player gets one more opportunity to shoot the rest of the plates. Toward the finish of the subsequent sub-turn, by and by circles that have entered compartments are stacked flawlessly, and remaining plates can be shot again by the player. This third sub-turn is the player's last opportunity to get the circles inside the compartments, after which the turn closes and the score is determined.

To be considered being inside the compartment, the entire circle must go over the front essence of the door bar. In the event that a debate emerges, a "door plug" can be pushed level against the front entryway bar. In the event that the circle moves when the door plug is pushed, at that point it was not completely in the compartment.

Any plates that have totally gone under the beginning bar ought to be considered in play and should not be contacted until the finish of that sub-turn. The main special cases would be if a plate enters a compartment by means of some other technique than through the space of that compartment, tumbles off the board, leaves a compartment other than through it's opening, or returns under the beginning bar. In any of these cases, the plate is expelled from play, however might be utilized in the following sub-turn.

Sjoelen Scoring

In Sjoelen, scoring is resolved first by including the circles in every one of the compartments. Getting a plate in every compartment causes a twofold score for those circles, making a sum of twenty focuses ((1+2+3+4)x2=20). After each arrangement of four plates is checked, the rest of the circles are granted a score of the number appeared in their compartment.

To give a model a player has five circles in opening two, nine plates in space three, five circles in space four, and seven plates in space one. The player at that point has five complete arrangements of plates, scoring one hundred focuses. There are four residual plates in opening three, scoring twelve focuses (4x3=12). There are additionally two outstanding plates in space one, scoring two focuses (1x2=2). In this manner, the player's all out score is one hundred and fourteen focuses (100+12+2=114).

The most extreme conceivable score ought to be one hundred and forty-eight (seven arrangements of twenty in addition to two circles in the four focuses space). In any case, a player figuring out how to do this inside two sub-turns with get an additional plate, making the all out conceivable score one hundred and fifty-two focuses.

In rivalries, coordinates commonly comprise of a set number of games, for example, five, ten or twenty, and the all out score from all games will be utilized to decide the match champ. As sheets can shift broadly, players are generally allowed to toss five practice plates before the game starts.

Push Ha'penny

Push Ha'penny is well known in England. Like Shuffleboard, it is a descendent of Shoffe-Groat, where rotating players push coins up a board including flat lines. The space between each pair of lines is known as a "bed", and the objective is to push the coins os they land straightforwardly in the beds without contacting the lines. The champ must get a coin in each bed multiple times. A player who can score three coins in a single bed during a solitary turn scores a "sergeant" and a player scoring every one of the five coins in a solitary turn wins a "sergeant major" or "gold watch".

Pushing is generally finished with the impact point of the hand, albeit different procedures are utilized including the palm, side of the thumb or fingers. To keep the board elusive, an assortment of substances can be utilized including lager, paraffin, dark lead, and brew, albeit customarily French chalk is utilized, with baby powder being a cutting edge decision. Each coin has been smoothed down on one side. Albeit lawfully, the tails side of the coin ought to be smoothed in order to abstain from mutilating a picture of the ruler, there are numerous who smooth the heads side at any rate. This has the additional preferred position of leaving the date of the coin obvious, as in a perfect world the coins should all be from that year.

Push Ha'penny is accepted to have begun around 1840. Initially, the game would have been played on any level surface, and the lines would simply be drawn not he surface. In present day times, in any case, official loads up are produced using record or hardwood and the lines are indented on a superficial level. Premium sheets have rails inside the imprints. The reason for these rails is to settle debates about whether a coin is contacting a line. After raising the rails, if the coin moves, it is contacting the line and in this way doesn't get any focuses.

Rules

Sheets can differ in size, yet a run of the mill board approximately twenty creeps by fourteen inches. Every even line is about one thirty-second of an inch. The primary level line is four creeps from the front of the board and the last even line is around five crawls from the board's end. The nine beds between the lines are one and a quarter inches wide. A bit of wood might be added to the furthest limit of the board to shield ha'pennies from sliding off.

A line runs vertically, around one and a quarter crawls from either side, with the goal that the finish of the board is contained a square scoring territory. An inch and a quarter in from either side, a vertical line runs the length of the board. As each bed lies on a level plane, this makes a square spot toward the finish of each bed, which is utilized to check the score.

Players alternate pushing five coins up the board. The ha'penny is situated at the front of the board, with the finish of the coin simply coming over the front edge of the board. From this position, any piece of the player's hand would then be able to be utilized to push the coin. In the event that the coin doesn't make it to at any rate the principal line on the board, it tends to be pushed once more.

After each turn is finished, each coin that is totally inside a bed and not contacting any lines scores a point for that player in that bed. Chalk is utilized to check the score on the finish of the square of each bed, with each side of the board having a place with an alternate player. For instance, if the correct side of the board marks one player, the other player is set apart on the left side. The objective is to get three chalk marks in each square, with three coins in every one of the nine beds. When three scores have been made in a bed, notwithstanding, any extra scores will be granted to the rival, except if the adversary as of now has three scores in that bed. The exemption to this standard is that the triumphant point must be scored by the triumphant player, not parted with as a punishment.

Experienced players will attempt to make a coin thump onto recently pushed ha'pennies to show signs of improvement position, simultaneously scoring with the ha'penny they are playing. System and ability is required to genuinely get capable at the game.

Open air Shuffleboard

Open air shuffleboard ought not be mistaken for Deck Shuffleboard, which will be talked about later. An outside shuffleboard court is long and rectangular, having the two closures set apart with scoring territories. The full court is fifty-two feet in length, and the six and a half feet from the end is a line called the "standard". The territory from the benchmark to the furthest limit of the court is known as the shooting zone. One and a half feet past the gauge is the "10 Off" region, with 10 Off significance less ten focuses. The 10 Off territory is partitioned in the center by a slim triangle, just as on either edge by two calculated lines.

The following line is the beginning of a triangle known as the scoring zone, which is nine feet to the tip. The triangle comprises of five regions. The little zone nearest to the tip is checked 10 for ten focuses, and contiguous this are two equivalent estimated zones stamped 8 for eight focuses. At long last, between these regions and the in advance of referenced 10 Off territory are two equivalent estimated zones stamped 7 for seven focuses. The center of the court is isolated by two lines called the "dead lines". Circles that are shot must pass the dead line farthest from the shooter to be in play.

If you are interested in purchasing a shuffleboard table visit to https://areviewguide.com/

Plates have a width of six inches, and are between nine-sixteens of an inch and one inch thick. A regular plate weight is fifteen ounces. Customarily the circles are dark and yellow, with four of each shading used to play the game. The prompts are shafts, close to six and a half feet long with two short prongs on the end, and they are utilized to slide the circles.

The player with the yellow circles starts, and players alternate sliding plates down the court. At first, the four plates are put in the left 50% of the 10 Off zone and the dark circles in the correct half. The little slim triangle goes about as a divider between each side. A prompt must be utilized to slide each circle, and the slide needs to begin inside the 10-off zone and finish inside the scoring triangle nearest to the player. In the event that the circle doesn't slide far enough to pass the dead line farthest from

[travelingstar]

Opportunity Chapter 2

Again before I begin, I just want to state that this fic came from me and @starkravingspiders going back and forth on this idea. They will also be writing their own version of this story, so look out for that!

And I wanted to give my thanks to those who liked and reblogged the first chapter. I am so happy to see others enjoying what I’ve given so far.

Peter felt himself turn pale.

He faintly heard his bag drop as he looked at Tony. Everything sounded faint, like a bomb went off next to him and he lost his hearing for a moment.

He knew that this wasn’t Mysterio fucking with him. This wasn’t his sleepy haze messing with him. This was Tony.

Not his Tony.

But Tony regardless.

This Tony looked the same but also different.

He looked healthy, like he had actually ate a decent meal lately. He had a slight tan, and had that glow that Peter rarely saw that now was just radiating off naturally.

The Tony he knew had looked like he had skipped meals, would be pale, rarely smile as much and looked pained.

This Tony was smirking at him and giving off warmth.

Something Peter hadn’t felt in so long.

He must’ve been staring at Tony for a longer time than necessary, cause Tony started to walk up to Peter and gently put his hand on his shoulder. Peter momentarily flinched, but felt himself leaning into that touch. God, it had been so long since he had any affection given to him.

Tony looked at him gently, with those soft dark chocolate brown eyes that Peter could just get lost in. Even those were more radiant than the ones he fell for over five years ago on the Tony he knew.

���C’mon Petey, don’t leave me hanging. Tell me everything about this universe. Am I a mob boss and your a hipster trying to live in the worst part of town to get my attention?”, Tony asked grinning, clearly teasing, but Peter could see that Tony was worried about the college student.

Peter felt himself curl up a bit when imagining explaining to this Tony that not only is he dead but- wait.

How does Tony not know that he’s dead? How did he get into his apartment? Did he land here? How can he help to get him back?

So many questions were running through his head that he didn’t feel Tony slightly shaking him to get his attention.

“Hey Peter, what’s really wrong? You haven’t said anything and you look extremely pale. C’mon, let's sit down okay?”, the older man gently told rather than ask Peter and moved them to the couch where Tony was seated close to him. In any other situation, Peter might’ve blushed over the closeness of Tony.

But here, Peter was really trying to keep calm and sort his brain to make sure he can tell Tony everything without having his own feelings get in the way.

Tony leaned back and let out a buff of air before talking again, “How about this, I ask about a given person and you tell me how you see them in this universe and what they are doing so I don’t accidentally insult them and know which ones to insult.”

He winks at Peter, trying to lighten the mood.

Peter took a deep breath before nodding. He knew he at least owed this Tony this much. Maybe he can ask questions later if he’s lucky. “Okay.”

Peter looked over as Tony dramatically sighed before falling to his side and letting out, “Oh thank god you can talk! I was worried that my boy couldn’t talk, cause your greatest strength had always been your sharp tongued wit. Or at least, in my universe you were.” At the last word, Peter saw Tony deflate a bit.

Wha- No. Peter had to focus. Questions later.

Tony sits back up and looks at Peter before asking, “Okay let's start with Bruce. Where is he?”

Peter was internally sighing with relief that Tony was asking him about someone who Peter barely interacted with. Less pain.

“Well, after Thanos snapped 50% of the universe away, Bruce and the Hulk blamed themselves before fusing together. Last I heard, he was doing research on something I don’t quite remember. However I did hear his hand healed alright after he wielded the second Infinity Gauntlet and yeah.”

Peter’s eyes had wandered off whilst talking and when he looked back at Tony, the older man was staring at him like he had just killed a goat, whilst smoking a huge ass pipe and declaring himself the ruler of Canada. In other words, like he was batshit.

“Wait, what?! Thanos did what? Bruce did what with Hulk? He wielded what? Jesus Christ what else happened in this Universe?”

Peter had rarely seen Tony look this shocked and baffled, he kind of laughed as he watched the man trying to wrap his head around all of this.

“Okay, okay, maybe if I hear about the others I might understand a bit better. Clint?”

Peter had to think for a moment. He never once really talked to Clint and didn’t hear much about him except for the more basic stuff.

“Well I don’t know much about him to be honest, since you from this universe never really talked about Clint all too much. So what I know is that he left the Avengers to look after his family before joining again to fight against the accords, siding with Captain Self Righteous and he got put under house arrest for doing so and I think after his family poofed, he started to go on a killing stream before returning to the Avengers to help go back in time to get the Infinity Stones and him and Natasha were teamed up where Nat sacrificed herself for one of the stones. He’s now back on I think his farm with his family? Sorry if it isn’t much.”

As Peter had told Tony this, his facial expression had morphed to looking like he was about to laugh his ass of, to confused, to horrified, back to being confused like he had been with Bruce.

Tony looked off to the side for a moment before looking at Peter with those mixture of expressions on his face.

“Okay, I think it would be good for me to share my own universes version of the Avengers so that were on the same playing field, so that you aren’t left in the dark. So with Bruce firstly, while he has controlled the Hulk and befriended him, he has never fused with the Hulk. Also Clint having a family is honestly too hilarious. The Clint I know has a family that consists of the Avengers, his dog and the Air Vents at Avengers tower. Sure he likes kids, but him having kids? Never in a million years.”, Tony giggled at the end and throughout that as well.

Tony continued with, “Also Captain Self Righteous? I mean sure Ol Stevie can be a bit stiff, but he couldn’t be that bad right? Right?”

Peter thought that a Captain America who was actually good must be impossible, which he assumed Tony could read off of him, because the man looked worried.

Worried what this universes Captain America did to cause the positive Peter Parker to view him so badly?

Peter sighed and let out a empty laugh.

“Oh god where do you want me to begin? Maybe where he decided to just leave you and not read the Accords that were made to restrict Superheroes and to run after his brainwashed friend who needed to be arrested and taken care or? Or that time that he got me crushed under a container at an airport in Germany after he refused to try and talk to you when you offered? Or when he held back the information that Bucky had killed your parents and he left you in Syberia alone without a working and you had to be hospitalized for weeks, leaving us all worried. Fearing that you might die. And then you did! Not than but later. You saved the universe, leaving behind friends and family and your child. And Steve just bailed and left his responsibilities to live his life with a old love he should’ve let go and leaving behind his friend who was also out of time.”

Peter couldn’t stop the words to pour out of him. All of these feelings were trying to claw their way out of his throat. But he didn’t want to burden this Tony. But he couldn’t stop.

He also couldn’t stop the tears from falling down and his breath starting to shake.

He than felt Tony grabbing his arm and pulling him closer towards him, not having realized that he had scooted away from the man.

Peter tried to pull away, the voice again telling him that Tony didn’t need this. He didn’t need someone to just break down and cry. He didn’t need to have to care for Peter. He was just some dumb kid, he didn’t matter.

Before Peter could reach up and scrub away his tears, he felt Tony gently brushing away his falling tears. He felt a gentle kiss on his head before Tony looked him directly in the eye.

His eyes weren’t harsh, instead his eyes were filled with worry over the college student in front of him.

Tony continues to rub and gently holding his face before starting to talk again, his voice being heavy and yet gentle on Peter’s mind.

“If I’m dead in this universe, why isn’t anyone taking care of you? What about Thor? He would’ve let you stay on Asgard to properly heal. Or Rhodey? He’d never let you out of his sigh and would’ve made sure that you were cared for. Happy? He would have pretty much adopted you and cared for you and would’ve done anything for you. Pepper? She would have at least taken you into Stark Tower or whatever it’s called here. She would’ve given you much more than this old apartment with barely anything. Why didn’t you get anything? Did this universes me give you nothing in the will? Why do I have a kid here? Where is Aunt May and your friends? Where is anyone?”

God did Tony looked pained. Peter wanted to look away, feeling ashamed for making Tony feel this way because of him. Wasn’t it clear why no one was there for Peter?

Peter’s hands gently reached up to touch Tony’s hands that here cupping his face, he could feel himself shaking slightly, but tried to pull himself together. He also tried to keep his voice steady, but it didn’t come out as strong as he had hoped.

“W-why would they care for me? They didn’t know me. They lost you a-and I didn’t want to bother them. I-I wasn’t there when the will was read, but I took that old prototype arc reactor and a old shirt of yours. I know it’s bad, but I badly needed something to remind me of you. After I was gone for 5 years, I found out that you and Pepper had a kid. My friends are now older than me and Aunt May is busy. They are all busy. Why would they care? I'm just some kid who isn’t important. I only annoy others and am not important. I can’t even do my jobs and classwork properly to than be allowed by SHIELD to be Spiderman and help others. I’m just in the way of others and am usele-.”, before the now shaking boy could finish, he was pulled into a tight hug by the older man.

He felt Tony rubbing his back and gently heard him whispering to him to let himself cry and that he’s here and that everything will be okay.

That did Peter in.

He starts to sob into Tony’s shoulder, smelling Tony’s usual smell of machine oil, old cologne and something else. He also smelled like freshly made cookies and warmth.

Peter was both melting and sobbing more and as he was reaching his arms around to hug Tony, he noticed that he had held the old arc reactor in his hand. He must’ve grabbed it whilst rambling.

Peter almost didn’t hear Tony speak up again.

“Peter I don’t know what else to say other than I am sorry. I can’t believe that you weren’t cared for by any of the people who I trust my life with and would do anything for in a heartbeat. I am disgusted that you were thrown to the side like a forgotten toy by the others. They should’ve taken care of you. Myself in this universe should’ve cared for you. I don’t know why SHIELD would have control over your suit and being a superhero, but regardless that is wrong. You saying that your dumb and useless is breaking my heart. You are not dumb. You are not useless. Lord you are so damn important. You help keep everyone determined. God damn, I not only failed you in my universe, but here as well.”

That last comment really struck with Peter and so did the rest of what Tony had said. The way Tony spoke made him think that maybe the way the Avengers in his universe had been acting had been wrong? Tony’s voice had shaken at the last part, which made Peter worried as to what had happened to him. But how had Tony failed him in Tony’s universe?

Peter pulled away a bit and looked at Tony in his eyes, which were filled with sorrow and pain that he was trying to hide.

“Tony. What happened in your universe to me?”, he asked whilst looking into his eyes.

Tony looked away for a moment, turning pale whilst taking a couple of deep breaths before he answers.

“When Thanos came, we were prepared. But the fight was hard. We were close to losing, than you were able to get the gauntlet. You wielded it and Thanos along with his army had turned to dust. You soon also turned to dust. You died whilst I held you in my arms.”

[whoacanada]

PART TWO -- Zimbits, Royal!Jack AU

PART TWO -- (Prompt: ROYAL AU + POORLY TIMED CONFESSIONS + ZIMBITS )

Part One Here

They land and pull into a private hangar with more black SUVs, more agents, and, blessedly —

“Jack!”

Bitty nearly trips over his feet getting out of the plane and crashes hard against his boyfriend’s chest.

“Honey?” Bitty points defiantly at the red coat of arms painted on the tail of the jet. “Explain. Now.”

“Bits, I didn’t know anything about this before a few days ago,” Jack apologizes, turning pink. “I swear I wasn’t keeping this from you on purpose.”

“I’m pretty sure Nursey was on the phone with the State Department when we left,” Bitty cautions as they’re waived into another car. “Just so you know what’s coming.”

“We’re aware, sir,” replies another agent Bitty doesn’t recognize. “It’s been handled.”

“Oh really? And my finals?”

“Handled as well.”

Bitty clicks his seatbelt and turns to Jack, who has fallen guiltily quiet beside him.

“You had time to tell everyone else but me?” Bitty huffs, looking out the window as the small motorcade departs, weaving through unfamiliar streets.

“I had nothing to do while you were in flight so I tried to fix as much as I could to make this less stressful.”

Bitty gives up some of his irritation when he feels Jack take his hand.

“I’m still mad at you for sending secret service agents instead of just coming yourself.”

“Lapin, it took an entire country to keep me from you.”

It takes a moment for Bitty’s brain to catch up with his heart because the line is clearly rehearsed but it still makes him swoon.

“Did you come up with that yourself?” Bitty chirps, trying to regain composure. “Which one of these suits prepped that apology for you?”

“Surprisingly, that one came from my brain,” Jack says, flashing a pleased if hesitant smile. “You still mad?”

“Tell me the truth,” Bitty says softly, lacing their fingers. “Then we can discuss how I feel.”

Jack takes a breath and Bitty watches the way the streetlights dance over his tired face.

“This is everything I know . . .”

There isn’t a castle or palace, just a federal building; albeit an old, stately one. And on the fifth floor of that building, Eric Bittle is just ripping into one Robert Zimmermann.

“How are you not king?” Bitty questions. “You’re his father, you made Jack, so how is he the successor?”

“I abdicated in ’75,” Bob explains, taking a glass of water from Alicia. “It was the only way I could play. I changed my name, gave up any rights to any titles or property — and thank God I was half decent on the ice or who knows where I’d have ended up — but the result is that I have no legal claim to the throne.”

“What does this mean for Jack? If you voluntarily abdicated, shouldn’t that remove him from the line of succession?”

“Normally, yes, but there’s no one else of blood left. I didn’t have any siblings, my father was an only child, so Jack has as much a claim as anyone. Now, if Jack ascended, he could reinstate me and step aside, but that’s only if Jack agrees to be crowned in the first place.”

“Did you ever expect this? Did you know?”

“No, and not in the way you think,” Jack is perched on the edge of his chair, hair unkempt and tie loose around his throat. “Papa always called me his little Hockey Prince but I didn’t think he was talking in a literal sense. Who would? Crisse, Bits, I’m not King material.”

“You’re a great leader,” Bitty defends reflexively, though Jack waves off the compliment, standing to pace.

“This wouldn’t be an issue at all if there wasn’t an arcane constitutional stipulation that ownership of all properties and holdings in the name of the ‘Monarchy’ will revert if there’s no natural-born ruler,” Jack rubs his eyes and groans. “No one ever amended the documents so if we don’t step in a good chunk of Canadian land will end up being owned by England again. If ‘I’ don’t step in.”

“Trudeau has called me ‘three’ times today,” Bob adds apologetically, “and I will be god-damned if we lose Banff to the Windsors.”

“It’s not on you, Bobby,” Alicia counters. “You literally gave up your right to be defensive.”

Bitty turns back to Jack, who has stopped to look out the window only to be immediately shooed away by an aide who quickly closes the curtains.

“Jack?”

“All I have to do it take the title long enough to amend a two-hundred-year-old treaty and then we can just dissolve the monarchy,” Jack tugs the knot out of his tie and falls back onto the couch beside his father. “That’s easy enough. Right?”

“You could abdicate as well,” Alicia offers. “Let them keep hunting for another heir. It could take years, or days, this doesn’t have to fall on your shoulders, Jack.”

“I would be the most hated man in Canadian history,” Jack explains, leaning his head to rest on the couch back, staring at the ceiling. “I have to do it.”

“I never wanted you to be in this position,” Bob apologizes vehemently. “I’d never even considered the possibility.”

“What about the Falconers? Can Jack still —” Bitty realizes a hair too late that Alicia is making an aggressive slashing motion across he throat.

“I watched a Knight’s Tale with you at the Haus, right?” Jack laughs sharply. “Remember that scene where the prince is trying to joust and no one will face him?”

“No more hockey,” Bob says, pained.

“Can I talk to Eric in private?” Jack says, lifting his head. “Please?”

The room clears quickly and Jack’s parents follow soon after with parting hugs.

Bitty’s never felt so unsettled in his entire life.

“Jack,” Bitty starts when they’re finally alone. “I don’t understand, where does this leave me? Why am I even here?”

Jack makes a pained sound and tugs Bitty close.

“Bits, you’re not going anywhere — this doesn’t change anything between us.”

“I respectfully disagree, hon.”

“We just can’t do things like we planned,” Jack says sadly, taking Bitty’s hand. “It’s going to be different for a while. Harder.”

“Alright,” Bitty breathes, trying to keep himself together. “I understand.”

Bitty pulls off his necklace, his ring, chest aching with the effort, and hands it to a bewildered Jack.

“What is this? What are you doing?”

“It’s okay, I get it,” Bitty can’t find the courage to look up from his feet, he knows he’ll just start crying. “It’s one thing for you to be the first out hockey player, this is something else entirely.”

“What are you talking about?” Jack questions, voice cracking. “Are you. . .  breaking up with me?”

There’s a brief rush of anger that Bitty tamps down when he finds Jack looking down at him with an expression of abject devastation.

“You’re not breaking up with me?” Bitty clarifies, trying his damnedest to figure out what is going on.

“What? No! Crisse, I’m not breaking up with you!” Jack hands back the ring and pulls Bitty toward him. “Bits, I still want to marry you.”

“It's just…I thought…you’re going to be a King now, for real, or a Prince — can we even get married?”

“That's why Papa wanted you here for the announcement,” Jack takes his hands. “You may have to give up your US citizenship but if we’re legally married before I take the throne you’ll have rights, a title.”

Bitty balks for more than a few reasons, not the least of which was he had convinced himself their relationship was over not a minute prior.

“Honey, I can’t even keep the boys in line half the time, I can’t rule a foreign country.”

”That’s not what —“ Jack drops his head and laughs. “You don’t have to do anything. You remember telling me how when you were five you were obsessed with The Little Mermaid, and your parents told everyone you wanted to be Prince Eric? Then you realized years later that it was only because you wanted to fall in love with a handsome prince? Now both of those things can happen. Papa’s working out the specifics with some of the historians but you'd get a title. Only if we’re married, though.”

“How dare you use that against me,” Bitty tries to argue, though he really isn’t that upset when Jack steals a quick kiss.

“This is a trick,” Bitty whispers before Jack kisses him again. “A deplorable,” kiss, “terrible,” kiss, “shotgun wedding of a trick.”

“As it stands, your official designation would be ‘Prince Consort’,” Jack teases, nipping at Bitty’s jaw. “But unofficially, you’d be the Lord of my Heart.”

Bitty can’t fight the laugh that bubbles in his throat.

“Was that too much? I went too far.”

“Shut up, Jack,” Bitty breathes, leaning into the contact as Jack tries to worm a hand under his shirt to tickle his stomach. “Mama is going to murder you if we get married like this.”

“I have guards, now,” Jack counters. “I’d like to see her try. Besides, they’re already on their way. MooMaw, too.”

Bitty stills, thinking through the logistics of getting his family to move so quickly.

“How much time did you have?”

“Well, I am going to be a King,” Jack chirps, burying his face against Bitty neck. “Need to make sure my Prince is taken care of.”

“Need to make sure your ‘Prince’ is even a Prince,” Bitty murmurs.

“Will you marry me?” Jack asks softly, still hiding his face against Bitty’s neck. “Officially? Probably in a room downstairs with more government officials present than family. It won’t be romantic but —“

“If I divorce you later do I get half of Canada?” Bitty interrupts, lacing his fingers in Jack’s hair to tug at his scalp lightly. “You obviously would keep Quebec but I really think I want Ontario.”

Jack stills and Bitty doesn’t know what reaction he’s actually going to get before Jack replies, “Of course, that should go without saying. Though do you think we should live so close if we separated on bad terms?”

Bitty presses a kiss to Jack’s hairline, distracting him.

“Oh, honey, of course I’ll marry you. Even if it’s only a huge distraction so you can dismantle an outdated Canadian institution and save your national parks.”

“You’re taking this surprisingly well.”

Bitty nudges Jack’s face up and plants a kiss square on his lips.

“I’m completely exhausted,” he whispers. “I’m exhausted and my boyfriend turned fiancee is long-lost royalty. I haven’t even finished school and I’m going to be a Prince. I don’t have the energy to freak out about this right now. First, let’s get my parents here, and the priest, then we can discuss crippling panic attacks and life changes we’re not prepared for.”

“Crisse, I love you,” Jack pulls himself up and crushes Bitty in a bear hug. “And if it helps at all, I think I might be able to get Beyoncé to attend the coronation.”

Bitty smiles at the thought.

“Oh, honey, one step at a time. You’re the King of Canada. Not god.”

[helenmaybewriting]

Apparent global ‘rise’ of young political leaders: some further thoughts

On Friday I was asked to briefly appear on Australia’s national news channel ABC News 24 to comment on the apparent rise of young leaders globally, prompted by 37-year-old Jacinda Ardern’s win in New Zealand last week. 

I had never done television before so live evening news was being thrown into the deep end, but it was a great experience to have. You can watch the full 5-minute clip just below (or link here , but as it was only 5 minutes there was (of course) much more I could say. So I wanted to include just a few quick additional thoughts here.

[Video of brief segment on ABC News 24, Friday 19 October 2017]

Attention has been drawn to younger leaders as elections around the world in the last year have lifted many ‘young’ people to leadership not only of political parties, but as leaders of their nations. There are now eight elected leaders under 40 globally, including, in addition to Ardern: in France Emmanuel Macron is 39, in Ireland Leo Varadkar is 38, while Austria’s new Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz is only 31 (there are 12 leaders under 40, but some are hereditary positions). Canada’s Justin Trudeau often gets mentioned in these conversations about young leaders, at 44 he is the second youngest prime minister in Canada’s history.

What is noticeable about this list is what is being described as ‘young’. In the global political arena, forty is youthful. This is in part due to a dominance of what gets referred to as gerontocratic rule – rule by the old: for example in Africa the average age of rulers is almost three time that of the population, while in the USA requirements to be 25 for the House and 30 for the Senate mean political representatives are inescapably older than a chunk of the population.

I think, as I noted in passing in the interview, that the election of these younger people is only one piece of the puzzle. We are in fact seeing even younger people than those currently touted as ‘young leaders’ run for, and get successfully elected to, political office. Here in Australia Wyatt Roy became the youngest person ever to be elected to an Australian parliament in 2010 at age 20. He was the youngest ministerial appointment at 25 also. In the UK Mhairi Black has not been holding back since her maiden speech until now about her views on how the government has abandoned young people; with a politics degree, she was elected at age 20 and recently re-elected. I wrote last year about youth running of office in the context of the federal election here, and in recent research (yet to be published) conducted last year in Guatemala and Colombia young people were claiming their space both as activists but also as aspiring politicians, arguing their absence exacerbated the corruption they saw in the system, corruption brought about by well established, old career politicians who had lost sight of the purpose of office. In many different places we are seeing young people actively engaged with and campaigning for political office.

[MP Mhairi Black’s maiden speech]

So why should we care about whether younger people are leading countries, or running for office? I believe it matters for two reasons, one principled and one pragmatic. The principled reason it that democracy is designed for plurality, it needs multiple positions to be heard to ensure it is best representing [pdf link] everybody; if young people are missing from the room they are missing from the democratic process. In pragmatic terms, young people have particular interests and agendas (just like everyone), and if they aren’t participating in the debates and arguing for their interests to be heard they won’t end up on the policy agenda. Research by Youth Action and the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth noted in the last election campaign younger voters prioritised issues including climate change, marriage equality, and more humane asylum-seeker policy; topics that weren’t receiving much air-time from many politicians on the campaign trail.

This isn’t to say that young people have a unified agenda. While research shows there are topics and issues that have a larger base of support in particular demographics, young people are not homogenous. In many places youth involvement in politics, whether by running, by agitating, or by turning out to vote, has pushed a more ‘progressive’ agenda. There are however young leaders working for more conservative agendas, such as Austria’s new Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, who is fiercely anti immigration, and right-wing in his politics and has tapped into a fear in Austrian society to propel him to victory. In a different vein, Wyatt Roy was keen to be seen not as a young politician with a youth agenda, but as a serious political contender, despite ongoing media coverage about his age.

Whether younger people need to be occupying these leadership positions, or whether it is sufficient to have older politicians who argue for youth issues as important is an important consideration. For example, Barack Obama’s first campaign was fueled by tapping in to the youth vote, he styled himself as young and valuing the issues of concern to younger voters.  Both Bernie Sanders in the US and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK have positioned themselves as advocates for, simultaneously and connectedly, youth and progressive politics. Can Sanders, who is 76, or Corbyn, who is 68, meaningfully represent younger people? I would argue that its always good when parts of the electorate that are often marginalised are given serious attention by politicians of any age. But I believe that younger people themselves also need to be present in these positions as they bring unique perspectives and a different investment in the issues.

[Jeremy Corbyn’s effort to appeal to youth had an impact at the ballot box]

As to claims of inexperience, often levelled at these politicians – from Mhairi Black to Wyatt Roy - if their constituents believed they could do the job, and then re-elected them, they are doing their job well, and in a democracy you have to trust the voters.

Finally, its important to recognise that leaders in their 30s is not the only indicator of youth engagement. Young people are often criticised for being apathetic or uninvolved in politics. The election of some of these leaders in different parts of the world has happened because younger demographics were mobilised, were enthused, to vote. But young people have long been participating in politics, both in formal and informal ways. If we are measuring political wisdom by time spent in politics (as an opinion piece in The Australian did yesterday, with a headshake-worthy front page), or by their membership of formal political parties, then we are not capturing the full range of way young people are participating. They are on the street protesting, they are talking and organising digitally, they are advocating for causes that matter to them, and as the current Australian Youth UN Ambassador Paige Burton discovered from talking to school students around the country, even before they can vote they hold articulate and critical views of Australian politics and society. 

[Paige Burton, Australia’s 2017 UN Youth Rep has been meeting with young people for a comprehensive survey of young people’s opinions. See the project at her facebook page, linked above]

And while some research notes that young people are enthused but confused by the political process, their presence and engagement is evident over and over again. Yet the major parties here in Australia and elsewhere are not always listening to their concerns.

We should be excited that young people are being elected to political office, to lead parties, and to lead countries. They are not a homogenous group, they bring diverse insights and new opinions to the table. And they should be measured by what they do with the job, not the number of candles on their next birthday cake. That’s how to judge young leaders, by how well they lead.  

[ericfruits]

Xi and Trump look friendly, but anti-US feeling stirs in China

CHINA’S leader, Xi Jinping, welcomed Donald Trump on the American president’s first visit to Beijing like a Chinese emperor receiving a barbarian potentate, with a mixture of flattery and disdain. The government closed to the public the 9,000-room Forbidden City—the vermilion-walled former imperial palace at the heart of Beijing—so the visitor could have his own tour and dinner there. The courtiers of the Communist Party have lost little of the ancient art of feigned deference.

The Chinese also bore gifts: trade deals worth over $200bn, covering everything from jet engines and car parts to shale gas. Most of the pledges were memoranda of understanding: expressions of intent, not enforceable contracts. Many concerned things the Chinese would have done anyway. Still, Mr Trump seemed pleased, as he also was by Mr Xi’s (reiterated) pledge to enforce UN resolutions on North Korea.

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The question is how long the summit’s bonhomie will last. Under Mr Xi, China has become more open in its challenge to American influence in Asia. The official media have turned more sharply critical of America’s political system. The problem has hardly reached the embassy-burning stage (angry crowds last surrounded the American embassy in Beijing in 1999, after NATO’s mistaken bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade). But there is a whiff of anti-Americanism in the air.

Mr Trump claims that he and Mr Xi are close. The same can hardly be said of public attitudes towards each other’s countries. A study in 2016 by Zhang Kun and Zhang Mingxin of Huazhong University of Science and Technology found that America was far down the list of countries about which the Chinese express favourable opinions—below Germany, Britain, France, Canada, Australia and Russia. Things may have changed since then because views of Mr Trump are warmer in China than in most places. But opinions of America itself are unlikely to have improved much. A survey in the same year by the Pew Research Centre in Washington also found that only half of Chinese respondents were favourable to America—much less than the global median “favourability rating” for the United States of 64% then.

American opinions of China are even cooler. Pew’s poll in 2017 found more Americans expressed negative views about China than positive. Such attitudes might not affect policy but they could make public dissatisfaction easy to ignite.

Anecdotal evidence suggests there is plenty of flammable material. One of the most popular questions on Zhihu, a Chinese question-and-answer site, is “Is America preparing to dismantle China?” (the most popular answer, though, is that if China were to collapse, America would not be the main reason). It has been viewed 3m times since the start of 2016. The phrase “American air is so sweet” has become a term of online abuse. It stems from a comment by a Chinese graduate of an American university who said that “when I took my first breath of American air, it was so sweet and fresh…I felt free.” The remark produced a torrent of criticism in China; she apologised and closed her online account. The term is now used as sarcastic criticism of all things American.

For many years, despite ups and downs in policy, China’s rulers stuck to a strategic view that the United States was essential to their country’s modernisation. China, they argued, needed American technology to upgrade its industries and American markets for its exports. That view has become far less strongly held as China’s economy shifts away from exports and towards home-grown innovation. In the past year, moreover, it has been overlain by a competing idea: that China’s global ambitions require a dose of anti-Americanism.

Bucking the norm

In a speech last month at a five-yearly party congress, Mr Xi made those ambitions even more apparent. He talked of moving China “closer to centre stage” and of the country’s “all-round efforts” to pursue “great-power diplomacy with Chinese characteristics”. It is not clear what these characteristics are, but it is a safe bet that they do not involve accepting global norms established by America.

The United States has long proclaimed itself “the last, best hope of Earth” (to quote Lincoln). Now Chinese media are advancing similar claims about China’s system. In mid-October Xinhua, the main state-run news agency, made the case explicitly. In an article called “Enlightened Chinese democracy puts the West in the shade”, it said the Western kind was “doddering”. It argued that the Chinese system “leads to social unity” rather than the divisions which it said were an “unavoidable consequence” of Western democracy. The commentary forbore to name names, but state media often talk of Mr Trump’s America as a prime example of what Xinhua referred to as “the endless political backbiting, bickering and policy reversals which are the hallmarks of liberal democracy”.

Xinhua’s description of democracy’s self-destructive tendencies echoes that of a book published in 1991 called “America Against America” by a professor at Fudan University, Wang Huning. But there are three important differences between China’s interaction with America today and the way it was then. One is that Mr Wang has just been elevated to the party’s most powerful body, the Politburo Standing Committee, where he is likely to be in charge of propaganda (that is, projecting the party’s image at home and the country’s abroad). Having in such a position an America-sceptic who actually studied there is unprecedented.

Next, the government has started to export what it calls “the China model”. Deng Xiaoping once said China was not a model for anyone. At last month’s party gathering, Mr Xi talked about China “blazing a new trail for other developing countries” and offering “Chinese wisdom and a Chinese approach to solving problems” (his “Belt and Road Initiative” offers lots of cash, too). Orville Schell of the Asia Society in New York says this seems to set up a clash not just of civilisations and values, but of political and economic systems.

Third, the anti-American strain now seems to run from the top of the Chinese state (Messrs Xi and Wang) to the bottom (Xinhua and internet trolls). That suggests such sentiment is gaining strength. Mr Xi may still prefer to exercise caution in his country’s rivalry with America. But he does not seem to have moderated his global ambitions because of Mr Trump. And it will take more than a dinner in the Forbidden City to wish those ambitions away.

This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline "Barbarian outreach"

http://ift.tt/2yKsA2J

[hasansonsuzceliktas]

Capricorn: Science, Genius and Technology

Modern astrology is so popular that we can find paradoxes when the classical basics are missing. p>One of these is Saturn’s focus on science and technology. According to classical astrology, Saturn is concerned with science and technology, not just from its Aquarius aspect but also from its Capricorn aspect. In fact, I’ve had many astrology students who have shown no surprise when I mention Capricorn. In such circumstances, however, we need to test this argument of old against the charts, so the information can stand up and avoid becoming lost in the dusty halls of time, only to be replaced by flawed knowledge… I also tire of repeating the same things “parrot-fashion.” If you deviate from the popular culture, it seems like you favor a certain sign or planet, yet the reality is very different. The reasoning behind my desire to direct everyone toward a more experiential, questioning form of astrology is based on a wish for objectivity and a withdrawal from subjectivity. I could very well choose to boast about my Uranus and Aquarius Mars making a triangle with the Sun, but it wouldn’t reflect the reality of the matter. Naturally, my lazy Pisces Mercury will get cozy and write this article. It will only link with those who connect with technology and Uranus and therefore gain (Saturn’s) time. There are many misconceptions about Saturn and Capricorn these days. Many people don’t understand that heavenly bodies and signs are “headlines,” and astrology has very ancient foundations. This is especially true in the case of Saturn and Capricorn. For example, they know that Saturn represents limitation, but they don’t realize it is also about the removal of limitations. However, astrology has its headlines. If Libra is balance, it is also unbalanced at the same time. If Pisces is secrecy, it is also the exposure of secrets, and we astrologers use these headlines when we make predictions. Every one of them is an “unexceptional” headline. What’s more, Capricorn does not have a single ruler—it also has Mars as a culmination ruler. In the grading of nobility, rulers have +5, while culminations have +4. Because of this, in almuten calculations, the owner of a house may be its culmination rather than its ruler! It is essential for anyone wishing to learn astrology to understand this important basis. There is also, of course, experience, but I don’t even think I need to explain the importance of experience, so let’s continue with some examples. Higgs Boson On July 4, 2012, when CERN declared they may have discovered a particle that could be the Higgs Boson, I said it really was the Higgs Boson based on my research data. At that moment, the Moon, the dispositor of the chart lord, was in the Capricorn sign in its chart. On March 14, 2013, eight months after my prediction, the particle was confirmed as the Higgs Boson. If I had considered Uranus as science and technology, the t-square it had with the Sun and Pluto may have led me to a mistaken conclusion. In my inexperienced days, I made many mistakes like this. Saturn V The Saturn V was a disposable rocket made by the USA to carry astronauts into space. It was used in NASA’s Apollo and Skylab programs between 1967 and 1973. NASA launched this multi-phased, liquid-fueled vehicle 13 times from Kennedy Science Station, never once losing any crew or cargo. It is the longest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket that has ever been used. It remains the only launch vehicle capable of carrying humans beyond Earth’s orbit. When Saturn V was first launched, Scorpio was on the rise and Mars, the ruler of Scorpio, was in a mutual reception with Saturn. If we remember rightly, Mars and Saturn are the two rulers of Capricorn. Geniuses When astrologers associate genius with Aquarius and Uranus, I think they must have just checked a few charts. When I look at the charts of geniuses and great scientists, I see Saturn in corner houses more frequently than Uranus. Uranus, meanwhile, can always be found somewhere else, usually a place I wouldn’t associate with genius at all. It may represent recognition, fame, or even craziness, and that is fine. The Saturns of Isaac Asimov, Tycho Brahe, Nicolas Copernicus, Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Michelangelo, Carl Sagan, Leonardo Da Vinci, Paracelsus, Sherlock Holmes, and Mimar Sinan are all at the corner. Mars is also associated with genius, and it is no coincidence how it is located in the Arabic points about genius. Hakan E. Kayıoglu will be publishing a research article about this subject, so I won’t include Mars in the discussion here. The Mensa member Kayıoglu can explain Saturn in the corner house better than I could, and you can read more on http://astroturkiye.com/house-strength-of-the-part-of-reasoning-and-iq-statistics/ (Note: I should clarify that not every Saturn in a corner house indicates a genius. You should not consider it so simply. It’s like how smoking may cause cancer, but not all smokers get it. Saturn in the corner house can make some people geniuses, but it can also make some people title-obsessed or able to bear heavy responsibility. In conclusion, Saturn needs to be interpreted. There are various other indications of genius, and in the charts I’ve checked, Uranus unfortunately tells me very little about this subject. Shame, because I would have like to have boasted about my Uranus being in an exact triangle with my Sun. ) Charts of the Astronauts When we’re talking about science, another subject related to Uranus is of course space. I examined the data of 78 astronauts from the Astrodatabank of astro.com. In the articles I’ve written over the years, I’ve related space to the sign of Pisces, because Pisces involves nothingness, the unknown, the unreachable, and emptiness. It seems I was not wrong, because 16 of the 78 astronauts were Pisces. In all probability, this should have been six or seven instead. Pisceans are two and a half times more likely to reach space. Meanwhile, only six were born under Aquarius and only one was a Sagittarian. Now let’s talk about the Saturn part of it, because first of all, being an astronaut requires more comprehension about science and especially technology than any Earth-based scientist. When it comes to fame and reputation, these people are hailed as national heroes, while the Sun provides certain angles regarding space and technology. Just like how we see Sun-Mars angles 3.2 times more than expected in Formula 1 champions, in the astronauts’ charts, we often see a celestial body that represents space and technology in relation to the Sun. As a classical astrologer, I see it also. In 48 of the 78 astronauts, a Sun-Saturn angle is present. In the astronauts’ charts, neither Aquarius nor Uranus parameters are present. Of course, we expect Uranus at some points, because even though we classical astrologers do not relate Uranus with technology and science, we relate the collective celestial bodies with attributes such as the diminishment of the world, fame, and collective participation. This is why the Sun-Uranus triangle in the chart of the astronaut who first stepped on the Moon, which we can observe easily from the Earth’s surface, is reasonable, yet there are no great concepts linking science and technology to it… Judaism Judaism is ruled by Saturn. Science and technology has been a strength of the Jews for a long time. Look at the innovative companies of Silicon Valley and the big technology companies. Jews have made substantial contributions to humanity in many areas, including scientific disciplines, art, politics, and business. More Jews have won the Nobel Prize than you would expect given the relatively small Jewish population. Thank about Einstein, Isaac Asimov, Carl Sagan, William Herschel (the astrologer who discovered Uranus—yes, he also wrote a book for astrologers), and countless other geniuses. This race is often unjustly despised, a victim of conspiracy theories and even genocide. This is very convenient for what people are trying to do to Saturn. These days, we approach Saturn as being fascist toward the Jews, by not using the positive indications but rather ignoring them. The German retail chain Saturn has sold electronics and technological devices for years. After all, the Capricorn stellium is in the sixth house of the Germans. Is there any need to dispute their technological prowess? General Motors introduced a new technological point of view with its Saturn brand. In the US market, this company managed to sell hundreds of thousands of cars a year by applying four chassis and three motors to a single model for 24 years. When it built its factory, the crew moved millions of tons of dirt and constructed the factory underground to avoid ruining the natural view. None of its subsidiaries sold to other regions, with the exception of Canada and Hong Kong, so it would not need to compromise customer satisfaction. It also barely ran any commercials. Its Sun is in Capricorn, and it makes a sextile with Saturn. Should we go a little more crazy now? Works of Science Fiction According to many people, the best works of science fiction include Battlestar Galactica, Dr. Who, and Star Wars. The accepted god of Science Fiction is Isaac Asimov, who was of Jewish origin. Isaac Asimov was from a Capricorn Sun, with this Sun being in an exact triangle angle with Saturn (the culmination of the Capricorn sign squared with Mars). The Sun of Battlestar Galactica (the recent version) is squared with Saturn (also exactly). (For the old series, Saturn is under the Sun’s rays.) The culmination of the Capricorn sign is also in conjunction with Mars. This work also includes astrology. The 12 human colonies and the cylons (a robot race, some in human disguise) are aligned astrologically, and the spaceship Galactica belonged to the central world of these colonies, Caprica (from Capricorn). There was also a spinoff from this series named Caprica, which of course derives from Capricorn… For Star Wars, the Sun is in conjunction with Jupiter and Leo is sextiled with Saturn. When Dr. Who was first shown, Aquarius Saturn was on top. Those who have watched Dr. Who should know it’s somewhat crazier than most science fiction shows. Even though I’m a big science fiction fan, I only watched it at the strong insistence of Devrim Yılmazer. There are completely over-the-top elements in this series, and these aren’t always appreciated in science fiction, such as time travelling in a police telephone box. Yet it also features more acceptable elements. By the way, the “Doctor” is a time (Saturn) lord. Some 12 actors have played Dr. Who, and I’ve examined all their charts together with Devrim Yılmazer. We saw the rulers of Capricorn, Mars, and Saturn. (Both of our Moons are squared with Leo and Neptune and Uranus triangulated with a Pisces Sun in conjunction, so our entertainment preferences are very different, shadowed by Virgo, and yes, excessive.) Note that when I saw Aquarius and Capricorn, I’ve wrote it down. If you don’t see it below, it means we didn’t see them in related places. The very first doctor, William Hartnell: Mars and Saturn conjunction in Pisces (the Sun is at Capricorn and sextiled to the related conjunction). Peter Capaldi: Saturn and Mars sextile (the Sun is triangulated with Saturn and sextiled with Mars). Matt Smith: Mars and Saturn sextile (the Sun is in conjunction with Saturn). David Tennant: Mars and Saturn triangle (the Sun is squared with Mars in Capricorn). Christopher Eccleston: Sun/Saturn/Mars conjunction in Aquarius. Paul McGann: Sun and Mars conjunction in Scorpio (a high orb sextile with Saturn). Sylvester McCoy: Sun is sextiled with Saturn and squared with Mars. Colin Baker: Sun and Saturn conjunction and sextile with Mars. Peter Davison: Sun is in conjunction with Mars, unrelated to Saturn. Tom Baker: Sun/Mars/Saturn Aquarius stellium. Jon Pertwee: Mars and Saturn sextile (the Sun is in conjunction with Mars, with a high orb). Patrick Troughton: Mars and Saturn sextile (the Sun has no relation to this double other than being at Aries). By the way, The Matrix was also a very successful science fiction movie. It would be unfair not to mention its contrast to Mars and Saturn and its Aries Sun. Capricorn: The Magic of the Old Science Today… My astrology adventure continues to weed out my old mistakes and the nonsense I’ve read as I try to find new, practical techniques. For this reason, I try to focus my articles on common mistakes rather than the well-known, often repeated patterns by detailing new techniques and giving different points of view that may be helpful. After all, many people write about the established, classical patterns. As astrology develops and grows, it becomes more susceptible to mistakes. Thankfully, we have curious minds and eyes that can perceive what is being said when we look at a chart. I often mentioned coincidental symbolisms in my previous articles. Unfortunately, astrology is full of these. For example, the Aquarius Jupiter of Einstein in the ninth house indicates science and his large number of articles, and maybe those of his physicist wife? Einstein wrote some 300 articles, but only four of them changed the world. What’s more, there are more than a few scientists who claim that their spouses contributed. We can see this astrologically. Einstein’s physicist wife is represented in her chart with a mutual Mars and Saturn. For this reason, we must try to reach the same solutions with the same technique when we evaluate every chart individually, or we will never notice our own mistakes. We would look at the charts. We would make indistinct, psychological speeches and hopefully expect some intuition. In the driving seat of astrology, there should be knowledge rather than intuition. If the knowledge is in control, intuition can work safely in comfort. When the intuition is in control, however, you have a position that’s not comfortable at all and leads to mistakes. See here for a previous article I wrote on knowledge and intuition. This is what is written in my resume: Trying, failing, trying again, failing again, and trying yet again has become a lifelong goal. As long as you have the will to keep trying, failure is nothing more than the beginning of an entertaining adventure. I think everyone who has reached this point in the article will agree that astrology is the most entertaining subject in the world. We need curious and inquisitive astrology lovers on the borders of science rather than selling vague prophecies through the media. My ninth house Aquarius Mars wants an army of them… Read the full article

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Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis https://ift.tt/2ykHz0Z

Business

Kim Hjelmgaard

USA TODAY

Published 7:20 AM EDT Oct 13, 2018

LONDON — A member of a protest-art group in Moscow is rendered temporarily unable to see, speak or walk – likely the result of nerve poison. A popular YouTube satirist from the Middle East is beaten on the streets of London. China’s most famous actress vanishes. So does the boss of the world’s largest international police organization.

Grisly revelations that Saudi Arabia may have helped orchestrate a brazen plot to abduct and even murder Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident-journalist critical of the oil-rich kingdom, have highlighted anew the threats faced by reporters, activists, reform advocates and all those who use their voices and platforms to fight discrimination, rights abuses and corruption while falling on the wrong side of government policy. 

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, the nation’s de facto ruler since 2017, has presided over the arrest of hundreds of activists, officials, writers, religious clerics and even opponents inside his own royal family as part of efforts to suppress dissent and consolidate power, according to Freedom House, a civil liberties group.

The Saudi Arabian government strongly contests any allegations connecting it to Khashoggi’s disappearance. He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, was there that day to get a document that would allow him to wed his Turkish fiancée. Officials in Turkey say they have persuasive audio and video evidence suggesting Khashoggi was tortured, murdered and dismembered. U.S. intelligence officials also previously intercepted communications indicating the Saudis had discussed a plan to capture Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia.   

The investigation is still unfolding. Yet, whatever it may ultimately yield, it’s clear that Saudi Arabia has a longstanding record of repressing peaceful dissidents. In May, it detained, without charge, 12 women-rights activists, including the “right-to-drive” campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul, just weeks before the monarchy officially ended a ban on female drivers. Prior to that, in 2014, in an incident that has some potential eerie parallels to the Khashoggi incident, Al-Hathloul had been “rendered” by the Saudis – to Riyadh from Abu Dhabi — for once attempting to drive a car inside the kingdom. 

More: Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi tortured, dismembered in Saudi consulate, report says

“If Prince Muhammad bin Salman wants to reform Saudi Arabia the best reform would be to release all our political prisoners,” said Ensaf Haidar, the wife of Raif Badawi, a writer and social activist jailed in Saudi Arabia after falling afoul of religious authorities.

Badawi was arrested in Jeddah in 2012 for “insulting Islam through electronic channels.” He was a blogger and, according to his wife, a humanitarian and free thinker. In 2013, he was convicted of several charges, including apostasy, and sentenced to 7 years and 600 lashes, a form of punishment with a whip or stick the United Nations says is cruel and inhumane. A year later, the prison term was increased to 10 years and 1,000 lashes. Badawi suffers from hypertension and Haidar, who was granted asylum in Canada with her three children, said her husband’s health is deteriorating. “I hope President Trump can help release my husband,” she said when asked whether Khashoggi’s case would bring new scrutiny of Badawi’s plight. One of Badawi’s alleged crimes was to mock Saudi Arabia’s prohibition against celebrating Valentine’s Day.  

Last year, Lebanon’s president accused Saudi Arabia of holding captive its former prime minister Saad Hariri and his family as part of an attempt to force him to resign. The Saudis were reportedly unhappy with Lebanon’s support for Iran, a bitter Saudi rival, and its allies such as the Shia group Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia disputed the allegation. 

Still, Saudi Arabia is not alone in how it apparently treats those not prepared to toe the party line. In fact, harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention, violence, and even state-sponsored murder are fairly routine tactics used by authoritarian and illiberal governments to crush dissent, according to dozens of reports and studies published by organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Freedom House. 

This year alone, 27 journalists have been murdered in Brazil, the Central African Republic, India, Mexico, and even the European Union and the United States, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Over the last 26 years, 848 have been killed.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told British media Saturday that incidents such as Khashoggi’s disappearance were becoming “the apparent new normal.”

In Iran, eight environmentalists have languished in prison for eight months without receiving clear charges. Ogulsapar Muradova, an activist and investigative reporter for Radio Free Europe, was tortured and killed while in government custody in Turkmenistan. In Venezuela, Fernando Alban, an opposition party councilman and fierce critic of President Nicolás Maduro, died last week after his arrest in Caracas. Maduro’s regime said Alban took his own life by jumping from the 10th floor of Venezuela’s intelligence agency’s headquarters. Critics say he was executed. 

More: White House blames Venezuelan President Maduro’s regime for opposition leader’s death

Ghanem al-Dosari, a Saudi human rights activist known for his biting satirical YouTube videos ridiculing the Saudi royal family, was attacked last month outside the posh London department store Harrods. His assailants shouted slogans supportive of Saudi Arabia’s government. Al-Dosari fled Saudi Arabia in 2003. He has never been back.

Chinese Hollywood star Fan Bingbing mysteriously disappeared from the public eye for three months this summer amid $130 million tax evasion allegations, leading to speculation that she was quietly arrested, jailed and “rehabilitated.” Fan re-surfaced earlier this month with a lengthy and profuse apology to the Chinese government.

Also, this month: Fan’s fellow national, former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, one of China’s most high-profile international officials who also holds a position in China’s security establishment, vanished after returning to China, from France, for a visit. The China government later said he was “under investigation” for violating unspecified laws.

The message from China’s government appears to be pretty unambiguous: No matter who you are, and no matter where you are, we can get to you if we want. 

The German authorities concluded that Pyotr Verzilov, a member of the Russian feminist punk band and activist group Pussy Riot, was likely deliberately poisoned by a nerve agent in September. Over the summer, Verzilov ran onto a field during the World Cup soccer finals in an anti-government protest in Moscow that was seen by millions of people around the world. Verzilov has had various run-ins with Russian security agencies and other members of Pussy Riot have been jailed. He was also looking into the case of three Russian journalists who were killed in the Central Democratic of Congo in August while investigating a private military company with links to the Kremlin. 

And there is a long and complex history of Russian deaths and unexplained foul play in the United Kingdom under mysterious and suspicious circumstances with everything from poisoned umbrellas to radioactive substances, including the ongoing saga of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia — poisoned by a Soviet-made nerve agent in the British provincial city of Salisbury earlier this year. 

The British government has concluded Moscow was behind the Skripals’ poisoning, but Alexander Yakovenko, Russia’s ambassador to London, told reporters on Friday that the allegations were simply a result of a concerted effort by Prime Minister Theresa May’s administration and other western democracies, including the U.S., to discredit Russia. 

“No, we don’t accept that,” Yakovenko said in response to a question about whether two men accused by Britain of traveling to Salisbury to assassinate Skripal were undercover military officers deployed by GRU, Russia’s foreign intelligence agency. 

More: Senate Foreign Relations chair: Saudis responsible for missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi

More: What we know (and don’t) about missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Ali Al-Ahmed, a Washington-based Saudi scholar who claims he has been the target of Saudi government attempts to buy his silence over his negative views about the monarchy, as well as a specific effort several years ago to lure him to different countries including Turkey, said Saudi Arabia “has a system of masters and slaves, princes and paupers” and that it was this, along with a refusal by the Saudis to consider increased political freedoms and reforms, that caused people like Khashoggi, a regular contributor to the Washington Post’s Global Opinions section, to speak out. 

“I am a republican,” he said, referring to the form of government, not the political party. “I believe in equality. I am anti-monarchy and think it’s sacrilegious to have one.”

Al-Ahmed said he knows Khashoggi but they were not on friendly terms following personal and professional disagreements. He said that he has not dared to step inside a Saudi embassy or consulate since trying to renew his passport a number of years ago.

“(Prince Muhammad bin Salman) is a megalomaniac,” he said. “The guy thinks no one can touch him and that he can do whatever he wants. Look, he took the prime minister of Lebanon hostage. And what happened? Nothing happened. I mean, who does that?”

More: Bulgarian TV reporter Viktoria Marinova third journalist to be murdered in EU in last year

Read More | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/10/13/saudi-arabian-journalist-jamal-khashoggis-disappearance/1611739002/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=amp&utm_campaign=speakable | Kim Hjelmgaard

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis, in 2018-10-13 11:41:45

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Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis http://www.nature-business.com/business-intimidation-detention-even-murder-world-is-full-of-many-potential-jamal-khashoggis/

Business

Kim Hjelmgaard

USA TODAY

Published 7:20 AM EDT Oct 13, 2018

LONDON — A member of a protest-art group in Moscow is rendered temporarily unable to see, speak or walk – likely the result of nerve poison. A popular YouTube satirist from the Middle East is beaten on the streets of London. China’s most famous actress vanishes. So does the boss of the world’s largest international police organization.

Grisly revelations that Saudi Arabia may have helped orchestrate a brazen plot to abduct and even murder Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident-journalist critical of the oil-rich kingdom, have highlighted anew the threats faced by reporters, activists, reform advocates and all those who use their voices and platforms to fight discrimination, rights abuses and corruption while falling on the wrong side of government policy. 

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, the nation’s de facto ruler since 2017, has presided over the arrest of hundreds of activists, officials, writers, religious clerics and even opponents inside his own royal family as part of efforts to suppress dissent and consolidate power, according to Freedom House, a civil liberties group.

The Saudi Arabian government strongly contests any allegations connecting it to Khashoggi’s disappearance. He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, was there that day to get a document that would allow him to wed his Turkish fiancée. Officials in Turkey say they have persuasive audio and video evidence suggesting Khashoggi was tortured, murdered and dismembered. U.S. intelligence officials also previously intercepted communications indicating the Saudis had discussed a plan to capture Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia.   

The investigation is still unfolding. Yet, whatever it may ultimately yield, it’s clear that Saudi Arabia has a longstanding record of repressing peaceful dissidents. In May, it detained, without charge, 12 women-rights activists, including the “right-to-drive” campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul, just weeks before the monarchy officially ended a ban on female drivers. Prior to that, in 2014, in an incident that has some potential eerie parallels to the Khashoggi incident, Al-Hathloul had been “rendered” by the Saudis – to Riyadh from Abu Dhabi — for once attempting to drive a car inside the kingdom. 

More: Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi tortured, dismembered in Saudi consulate, report says

“If Prince Muhammad bin Salman wants to reform Saudi Arabia the best reform would be to release all our political prisoners,” said Ensaf Haidar, the wife of Raif Badawi, a writer and social activist jailed in Saudi Arabia after falling afoul of religious authorities.

Badawi was arrested in Jeddah in 2012 for “insulting Islam through electronic channels.” He was a blogger and, according to his wife, a humanitarian and free thinker. In 2013, he was convicted of several charges, including apostasy, and sentenced to 7 years and 600 lashes, a form of punishment with a whip or stick the United Nations says is cruel and inhumane. A year later, the prison term was increased to 10 years and 1,000 lashes. Badawi suffers from hypertension and Haidar, who was granted asylum in Canada with her three children, said her husband’s health is deteriorating. “I hope President Trump can help release my husband,” she said when asked whether Khashoggi’s case would bring new scrutiny of Badawi’s plight. One of Badawi’s alleged crimes was to mock Saudi Arabia’s prohibition against celebrating Valentine’s Day.  

Last year, Lebanon’s president accused Saudi Arabia of holding captive its former prime minister Saad Hariri and his family as part of an attempt to force him to resign. The Saudis were reportedly unhappy with Lebanon’s support for Iran, a bitter Saudi rival, and its allies such as the Shia group Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia disputed the allegation. 

Still, Saudi Arabia is not alone in how it apparently treats those not prepared to toe the party line. In fact, harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention, violence, and even state-sponsored murder are fairly routine tactics used by authoritarian and illiberal governments to crush dissent, according to dozens of reports and studies published by organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Freedom House. 

This year alone, 27 journalists have been murdered in Brazil, the Central African Republic, India, Mexico, and even the European Union and the United States, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Over the last 26 years, 848 have been killed.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told British media Saturday that incidents such as Khashoggi’s disappearance were becoming “the apparent new normal.”

In Iran, eight environmentalists have languished in prison for eight months without receiving clear charges. Ogulsapar Muradova, an activist and investigative reporter for Radio Free Europe, was tortured and killed while in government custody in Turkmenistan. In Venezuela, Fernando Alban, an opposition party councilman and fierce critic of President Nicolás Maduro, died last week after his arrest in Caracas. Maduro’s regime said Alban took his own life by jumping from the 10th floor of Venezuela’s intelligence agency’s headquarters. Critics say he was executed. 

More: White House blames Venezuelan President Maduro’s regime for opposition leader’s death

Ghanem al-Dosari, a Saudi human rights activist known for his biting satirical YouTube videos ridiculing the Saudi royal family, was attacked last month outside the posh London department store Harrods. His assailants shouted slogans supportive of Saudi Arabia’s government. Al-Dosari fled Saudi Arabia in 2003. He has never been back.

Chinese Hollywood star Fan Bingbing mysteriously disappeared from the public eye for three months this summer amid $130 million tax evasion allegations, leading to speculation that she was quietly arrested, jailed and “rehabilitated.” Fan re-surfaced earlier this month with a lengthy and profuse apology to the Chinese government.

Also, this month: Fan’s fellow national, former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, one of China’s most high-profile international officials who also holds a position in China’s security establishment, vanished after returning to China, from France, for a visit. The China government later said he was “under investigation” for violating unspecified laws.

The message from China’s government appears to be pretty unambiguous: No matter who you are, and no matter where you are, we can get to you if we want. 

The German authorities concluded that Pyotr Verzilov, a member of the Russian feminist punk band and activist group Pussy Riot, was likely deliberately poisoned by a nerve agent in September. Over the summer, Verzilov ran onto a field during the World Cup soccer finals in an anti-government protest in Moscow that was seen by millions of people around the world. Verzilov has had various run-ins with Russian security agencies and other members of Pussy Riot have been jailed. He was also looking into the case of three Russian journalists who were killed in the Central Democratic of Congo in August while investigating a private military company with links to the Kremlin. 

And there is a long and complex history of Russian deaths and unexplained foul play in the United Kingdom under mysterious and suspicious circumstances with everything from poisoned umbrellas to radioactive substances, including the ongoing saga of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia — poisoned by a Soviet-made nerve agent in the British provincial city of Salisbury earlier this year. 

The British government has concluded Moscow was behind the Skripals’ poisoning, but Alexander Yakovenko, Russia’s ambassador to London, told reporters on Friday that the allegations were simply a result of a concerted effort by Prime Minister Theresa May’s administration and other western democracies, including the U.S., to discredit Russia. 

“No, we don’t accept that,” Yakovenko said in response to a question about whether two men accused by Britain of traveling to Salisbury to assassinate Skripal were undercover military officers deployed by GRU, Russia’s foreign intelligence agency. 

More: Senate Foreign Relations chair: Saudis responsible for missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi

More: What we know (and don’t) about missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Ali Al-Ahmed, a Washington-based Saudi scholar who claims he has been the target of Saudi government attempts to buy his silence over his negative views about the monarchy, as well as a specific effort several years ago to lure him to different countries including Turkey, said Saudi Arabia “has a system of masters and slaves, princes and paupers” and that it was this, along with a refusal by the Saudis to consider increased political freedoms and reforms, that caused people like Khashoggi, a regular contributor to the Washington Post’s Global Opinions section, to speak out. 

“I am a republican,” he said, referring to the form of government, not the political party. “I believe in equality. I am anti-monarchy and think it’s sacrilegious to have one.”

Al-Ahmed said he knows Khashoggi but they were not on friendly terms following personal and professional disagreements. He said that he has not dared to step inside a Saudi embassy or consulate since trying to renew his passport a number of years ago.

“(Prince Muhammad bin Salman) is a megalomaniac,” he said. “The guy thinks no one can touch him and that he can do whatever he wants. Look, he took the prime minister of Lebanon hostage. And what happened? Nothing happened. I mean, who does that?”

More: Bulgarian TV reporter Viktoria Marinova third journalist to be murdered in EU in last year

Read More | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/10/13/saudi-arabian-journalist-jamal-khashoggis-disappearance/1611739002/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=amp&utm_campaign=speakable | Kim Hjelmgaard

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis, in 2018-10-13 11:41:45

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Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis http://www.nature-business.com/business-intimidation-detention-even-murder-world-is-full-of-many-potential-jamal-khashoggis/

Business

Kim Hjelmgaard

USA TODAY

Published 7:20 AM EDT Oct 13, 2018

LONDON — A member of a protest-art group in Moscow is rendered temporarily unable to see, speak or walk – likely the result of nerve poison. A popular YouTube satirist from the Middle East is beaten on the streets of London. China’s most famous actress vanishes. So does the boss of the world’s largest international police organization.

Grisly revelations that Saudi Arabia may have helped orchestrate a brazen plot to abduct and even murder Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident-journalist critical of the oil-rich kingdom, have highlighted anew the threats faced by reporters, activists, reform advocates and all those who use their voices and platforms to fight discrimination, rights abuses and corruption while falling on the wrong side of government policy. 

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, the nation’s de facto ruler since 2017, has presided over the arrest of hundreds of activists, officials, writers, religious clerics and even opponents inside his own royal family as part of efforts to suppress dissent and consolidate power, according to Freedom House, a civil liberties group.

The Saudi Arabian government strongly contests any allegations connecting it to Khashoggi’s disappearance. He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, was there that day to get a document that would allow him to wed his Turkish fiancée. Officials in Turkey say they have persuasive audio and video evidence suggesting Khashoggi was tortured, murdered and dismembered. U.S. intelligence officials also previously intercepted communications indicating the Saudis had discussed a plan to capture Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia.   

The investigation is still unfolding. Yet, whatever it may ultimately yield, it’s clear that Saudi Arabia has a longstanding record of repressing peaceful dissidents. In May, it detained, without charge, 12 women-rights activists, including the “right-to-drive” campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul, just weeks before the monarchy officially ended a ban on female drivers. Prior to that, in 2014, in an incident that has some potential eerie parallels to the Khashoggi incident, Al-Hathloul had been “rendered” by the Saudis – to Riyadh from Abu Dhabi — for once attempting to drive a car inside the kingdom. 

More: Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi tortured, dismembered in Saudi consulate, report says

“If Prince Muhammad bin Salman wants to reform Saudi Arabia the best reform would be to release all our political prisoners,” said Ensaf Haidar, the wife of Raif Badawi, a writer and social activist jailed in Saudi Arabia after falling afoul of religious authorities.

Badawi was arrested in Jeddah in 2012 for “insulting Islam through electronic channels.” He was a blogger and, according to his wife, a humanitarian and free thinker. In 2013, he was convicted of several charges, including apostasy, and sentenced to 7 years and 600 lashes, a form of punishment with a whip or stick the United Nations says is cruel and inhumane. A year later, the prison term was increased to 10 years and 1,000 lashes. Badawi suffers from hypertension and Haidar, who was granted asylum in Canada with her three children, said her husband’s health is deteriorating. “I hope President Trump can help release my husband,” she said when asked whether Khashoggi’s case would bring new scrutiny of Badawi’s plight. One of Badawi’s alleged crimes was to mock Saudi Arabia’s prohibition against celebrating Valentine’s Day.  

Last year, Lebanon’s president accused Saudi Arabia of holding captive its former prime minister Saad Hariri and his family as part of an attempt to force him to resign. The Saudis were reportedly unhappy with Lebanon’s support for Iran, a bitter Saudi rival, and its allies such as the Shia group Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia disputed the allegation. 

Still, Saudi Arabia is not alone in how it apparently treats those not prepared to toe the party line. In fact, harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention, violence, and even state-sponsored murder are fairly routine tactics used by authoritarian and illiberal governments to crush dissent, according to dozens of reports and studies published by organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Freedom House. 

This year alone, 27 journalists have been murdered in Brazil, the Central African Republic, India, Mexico, and even the European Union and the United States, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Over the last 26 years, 848 have been killed.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told British media Saturday that incidents such as Khashoggi’s disappearance were becoming “the apparent new normal.”

In Iran, eight environmentalists have languished in prison for eight months without receiving clear charges. Ogulsapar Muradova, an activist and investigative reporter for Radio Free Europe, was tortured and killed while in government custody in Turkmenistan. In Venezuela, Fernando Alban, an opposition party councilman and fierce critic of President Nicolás Maduro, died last week after his arrest in Caracas. Maduro’s regime said Alban took his own life by jumping from the 10th floor of Venezuela’s intelligence agency’s headquarters. Critics say he was executed. 

More: White House blames Venezuelan President Maduro’s regime for opposition leader’s death

Ghanem al-Dosari, a Saudi human rights activist known for his biting satirical YouTube videos ridiculing the Saudi royal family, was attacked last month outside the posh London department store Harrods. His assailants shouted slogans supportive of Saudi Arabia’s government. Al-Dosari fled Saudi Arabia in 2003. He has never been back.

Chinese Hollywood star Fan Bingbing mysteriously disappeared from the public eye for three months this summer amid $130 million tax evasion allegations, leading to speculation that she was quietly arrested, jailed and “rehabilitated.” Fan re-surfaced earlier this month with a lengthy and profuse apology to the Chinese government.

Also, this month: Fan’s fellow national, former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, one of China’s most high-profile international officials who also holds a position in China’s security establishment, vanished after returning to China, from France, for a visit. The China government later said he was “under investigation” for violating unspecified laws.

The message from China’s government appears to be pretty unambiguous: No matter who you are, and no matter where you are, we can get to you if we want. 

The German authorities concluded that Pyotr Verzilov, a member of the Russian feminist punk band and activist group Pussy Riot, was likely deliberately poisoned by a nerve agent in September. Over the summer, Verzilov ran onto a field during the World Cup soccer finals in an anti-government protest in Moscow that was seen by millions of people around the world. Verzilov has had various run-ins with Russian security agencies and other members of Pussy Riot have been jailed. He was also looking into the case of three Russian journalists who were killed in the Central Democratic of Congo in August while investigating a private military company with links to the Kremlin. 

And there is a long and complex history of Russian deaths and unexplained foul play in the United Kingdom under mysterious and suspicious circumstances with everything from poisoned umbrellas to radioactive substances, including the ongoing saga of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia — poisoned by a Soviet-made nerve agent in the British provincial city of Salisbury earlier this year. 

The British government has concluded Moscow was behind the Skripals’ poisoning, but Alexander Yakovenko, Russia’s ambassador to London, told reporters on Friday that the allegations were simply a result of a concerted effort by Prime Minister Theresa May’s administration and other western democracies, including the U.S., to discredit Russia. 

“No, we don’t accept that,” Yakovenko said in response to a question about whether two men accused by Britain of traveling to Salisbury to assassinate Skripal were undercover military officers deployed by GRU, Russia’s foreign intelligence agency. 

More: Senate Foreign Relations chair: Saudis responsible for missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi

More: What we know (and don’t) about missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Ali Al-Ahmed, a Washington-based Saudi scholar who claims he has been the target of Saudi government attempts to buy his silence over his negative views about the monarchy, as well as a specific effort several years ago to lure him to different countries including Turkey, said Saudi Arabia “has a system of masters and slaves, princes and paupers” and that it was this, along with a refusal by the Saudis to consider increased political freedoms and reforms, that caused people like Khashoggi, a regular contributor to the Washington Post’s Global Opinions section, to speak out. 

“I am a republican,” he said, referring to the form of government, not the political party. “I believe in equality. I am anti-monarchy and think it’s sacrilegious to have one.”

Al-Ahmed said he knows Khashoggi but they were not on friendly terms following personal and professional disagreements. He said that he has not dared to step inside a Saudi embassy or consulate since trying to renew his passport a number of years ago.

“(Prince Muhammad bin Salman) is a megalomaniac,” he said. “The guy thinks no one can touch him and that he can do whatever he wants. Look, he took the prime minister of Lebanon hostage. And what happened? Nothing happened. I mean, who does that?”

More: Bulgarian TV reporter Viktoria Marinova third journalist to be murdered in EU in last year

Read More | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/10/13/saudi-arabian-journalist-jamal-khashoggis-disappearance/1611739002/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=amp&utm_campaign=speakable | Kim Hjelmgaard

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis, in 2018-10-13 11:41:45

[blogparadiseisland]

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis http://www.nature-business.com/business-intimidation-detention-even-murder-world-is-full-of-many-potential-jamal-khashoggis/

Business

Kim Hjelmgaard

USA TODAY

Published 7:20 AM EDT Oct 13, 2018

LONDON — A member of a protest-art group in Moscow is rendered temporarily unable to see, speak or walk – likely the result of nerve poison. A popular YouTube satirist from the Middle East is beaten on the streets of London. China’s most famous actress vanishes. So does the boss of the world’s largest international police organization.

Grisly revelations that Saudi Arabia may have helped orchestrate a brazen plot to abduct and even murder Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident-journalist critical of the oil-rich kingdom, have highlighted anew the threats faced by reporters, activists, reform advocates and all those who use their voices and platforms to fight discrimination, rights abuses and corruption while falling on the wrong side of government policy. 

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, the nation’s de facto ruler since 2017, has presided over the arrest of hundreds of activists, officials, writers, religious clerics and even opponents inside his own royal family as part of efforts to suppress dissent and consolidate power, according to Freedom House, a civil liberties group.

The Saudi Arabian government strongly contests any allegations connecting it to Khashoggi’s disappearance. He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, was there that day to get a document that would allow him to wed his Turkish fiancée. Officials in Turkey say they have persuasive audio and video evidence suggesting Khashoggi was tortured, murdered and dismembered. U.S. intelligence officials also previously intercepted communications indicating the Saudis had discussed a plan to capture Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia.   

The investigation is still unfolding. Yet, whatever it may ultimately yield, it’s clear that Saudi Arabia has a longstanding record of repressing peaceful dissidents. In May, it detained, without charge, 12 women-rights activists, including the “right-to-drive” campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul, just weeks before the monarchy officially ended a ban on female drivers. Prior to that, in 2014, in an incident that has some potential eerie parallels to the Khashoggi incident, Al-Hathloul had been “rendered” by the Saudis – to Riyadh from Abu Dhabi — for once attempting to drive a car inside the kingdom. 

More: Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi tortured, dismembered in Saudi consulate, report says

“If Prince Muhammad bin Salman wants to reform Saudi Arabia the best reform would be to release all our political prisoners,” said Ensaf Haidar, the wife of Raif Badawi, a writer and social activist jailed in Saudi Arabia after falling afoul of religious authorities.

Badawi was arrested in Jeddah in 2012 for “insulting Islam through electronic channels.” He was a blogger and, according to his wife, a humanitarian and free thinker. In 2013, he was convicted of several charges, including apostasy, and sentenced to 7 years and 600 lashes, a form of punishment with a whip or stick the United Nations says is cruel and inhumane. A year later, the prison term was increased to 10 years and 1,000 lashes. Badawi suffers from hypertension and Haidar, who was granted asylum in Canada with her three children, said her husband’s health is deteriorating. “I hope President Trump can help release my husband,” she said when asked whether Khashoggi’s case would bring new scrutiny of Badawi’s plight. One of Badawi’s alleged crimes was to mock Saudi Arabia’s prohibition against celebrating Valentine’s Day.  

Last year, Lebanon’s president accused Saudi Arabia of holding captive its former prime minister Saad Hariri and his family as part of an attempt to force him to resign. The Saudis were reportedly unhappy with Lebanon’s support for Iran, a bitter Saudi rival, and its allies such as the Shia group Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia disputed the allegation. 

Still, Saudi Arabia is not alone in how it apparently treats those not prepared to toe the party line. In fact, harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention, violence, and even state-sponsored murder are fairly routine tactics used by authoritarian and illiberal governments to crush dissent, according to dozens of reports and studies published by organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Freedom House. 

This year alone, 27 journalists have been murdered in Brazil, the Central African Republic, India, Mexico, and even the European Union and the United States, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Over the last 26 years, 848 have been killed.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told British media Saturday that incidents such as Khashoggi’s disappearance were becoming “the apparent new normal.”

In Iran, eight environmentalists have languished in prison for eight months without receiving clear charges. Ogulsapar Muradova, an activist and investigative reporter for Radio Free Europe, was tortured and killed while in government custody in Turkmenistan. In Venezuela, Fernando Alban, an opposition party councilman and fierce critic of President Nicolás Maduro, died last week after his arrest in Caracas. Maduro’s regime said Alban took his own life by jumping from the 10th floor of Venezuela’s intelligence agency’s headquarters. Critics say he was executed. 

More: White House blames Venezuelan President Maduro’s regime for opposition leader’s death

Ghanem al-Dosari, a Saudi human rights activist known for his biting satirical YouTube videos ridiculing the Saudi royal family, was attacked last month outside the posh London department store Harrods. His assailants shouted slogans supportive of Saudi Arabia’s government. Al-Dosari fled Saudi Arabia in 2003. He has never been back.

Chinese Hollywood star Fan Bingbing mysteriously disappeared from the public eye for three months this summer amid $130 million tax evasion allegations, leading to speculation that she was quietly arrested, jailed and “rehabilitated.” Fan re-surfaced earlier this month with a lengthy and profuse apology to the Chinese government.

Also, this month: Fan’s fellow national, former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, one of China’s most high-profile international officials who also holds a position in China’s security establishment, vanished after returning to China, from France, for a visit. The China government later said he was “under investigation” for violating unspecified laws.

The message from China’s government appears to be pretty unambiguous: No matter who you are, and no matter where you are, we can get to you if we want. 

The German authorities concluded that Pyotr Verzilov, a member of the Russian feminist punk band and activist group Pussy Riot, was likely deliberately poisoned by a nerve agent in September. Over the summer, Verzilov ran onto a field during the World Cup soccer finals in an anti-government protest in Moscow that was seen by millions of people around the world. Verzilov has had various run-ins with Russian security agencies and other members of Pussy Riot have been jailed. He was also looking into the case of three Russian journalists who were killed in the Central Democratic of Congo in August while investigating a private military company with links to the Kremlin. 

And there is a long and complex history of Russian deaths and unexplained foul play in the United Kingdom under mysterious and suspicious circumstances with everything from poisoned umbrellas to radioactive substances, including the ongoing saga of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia — poisoned by a Soviet-made nerve agent in the British provincial city of Salisbury earlier this year. 

The British government has concluded Moscow was behind the Skripals’ poisoning, but Alexander Yakovenko, Russia’s ambassador to London, told reporters on Friday that the allegations were simply a result of a concerted effort by Prime Minister Theresa May’s administration and other western democracies, including the U.S., to discredit Russia. 

“No, we don’t accept that,” Yakovenko said in response to a question about whether two men accused by Britain of traveling to Salisbury to assassinate Skripal were undercover military officers deployed by GRU, Russia’s foreign intelligence agency. 

More: Senate Foreign Relations chair: Saudis responsible for missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi

More: What we know (and don’t) about missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Ali Al-Ahmed, a Washington-based Saudi scholar who claims he has been the target of Saudi government attempts to buy his silence over his negative views about the monarchy, as well as a specific effort several years ago to lure him to different countries including Turkey, said Saudi Arabia “has a system of masters and slaves, princes and paupers” and that it was this, along with a refusal by the Saudis to consider increased political freedoms and reforms, that caused people like Khashoggi, a regular contributor to the Washington Post’s Global Opinions section, to speak out. 

“I am a republican,” he said, referring to the form of government, not the political party. “I believe in equality. I am anti-monarchy and think it’s sacrilegious to have one.”

Al-Ahmed said he knows Khashoggi but they were not on friendly terms following personal and professional disagreements. He said that he has not dared to step inside a Saudi embassy or consulate since trying to renew his passport a number of years ago.

“(Prince Muhammad bin Salman) is a megalomaniac,” he said. “The guy thinks no one can touch him and that he can do whatever he wants. Look, he took the prime minister of Lebanon hostage. And what happened? Nothing happened. I mean, who does that?”

More: Bulgarian TV reporter Viktoria Marinova third journalist to be murdered in EU in last year

Read More | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/10/13/saudi-arabian-journalist-jamal-khashoggis-disappearance/1611739002/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=amp&utm_campaign=speakable | Kim Hjelmgaard

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis, in 2018-10-13 11:41:45

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Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis http://www.nature-business.com/business-intimidation-detention-even-murder-world-is-full-of-many-potential-jamal-khashoggis/

Business

Kim Hjelmgaard

USA TODAY

Published 7:20 AM EDT Oct 13, 2018

LONDON — A member of a protest-art group in Moscow is rendered temporarily unable to see, speak or walk – likely the result of nerve poison. A popular YouTube satirist from the Middle East is beaten on the streets of London. China’s most famous actress vanishes. So does the boss of the world’s largest international police organization.

Grisly revelations that Saudi Arabia may have helped orchestrate a brazen plot to abduct and even murder Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident-journalist critical of the oil-rich kingdom, have highlighted anew the threats faced by reporters, activists, reform advocates and all those who use their voices and platforms to fight discrimination, rights abuses and corruption while falling on the wrong side of government policy. 

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, the nation’s de facto ruler since 2017, has presided over the arrest of hundreds of activists, officials, writers, religious clerics and even opponents inside his own royal family as part of efforts to suppress dissent and consolidate power, according to Freedom House, a civil liberties group.

The Saudi Arabian government strongly contests any allegations connecting it to Khashoggi’s disappearance. He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, was there that day to get a document that would allow him to wed his Turkish fiancée. Officials in Turkey say they have persuasive audio and video evidence suggesting Khashoggi was tortured, murdered and dismembered. U.S. intelligence officials also previously intercepted communications indicating the Saudis had discussed a plan to capture Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia.   

The investigation is still unfolding. Yet, whatever it may ultimately yield, it’s clear that Saudi Arabia has a longstanding record of repressing peaceful dissidents. In May, it detained, without charge, 12 women-rights activists, including the “right-to-drive” campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul, just weeks before the monarchy officially ended a ban on female drivers. Prior to that, in 2014, in an incident that has some potential eerie parallels to the Khashoggi incident, Al-Hathloul had been “rendered” by the Saudis – to Riyadh from Abu Dhabi — for once attempting to drive a car inside the kingdom. 

More: Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi tortured, dismembered in Saudi consulate, report says

“If Prince Muhammad bin Salman wants to reform Saudi Arabia the best reform would be to release all our political prisoners,” said Ensaf Haidar, the wife of Raif Badawi, a writer and social activist jailed in Saudi Arabia after falling afoul of religious authorities.

Badawi was arrested in Jeddah in 2012 for “insulting Islam through electronic channels.” He was a blogger and, according to his wife, a humanitarian and free thinker. In 2013, he was convicted of several charges, including apostasy, and sentenced to 7 years and 600 lashes, a form of punishment with a whip or stick the United Nations says is cruel and inhumane. A year later, the prison term was increased to 10 years and 1,000 lashes. Badawi suffers from hypertension and Haidar, who was granted asylum in Canada with her three children, said her husband’s health is deteriorating. “I hope President Trump can help release my husband,” she said when asked whether Khashoggi’s case would bring new scrutiny of Badawi’s plight. One of Badawi’s alleged crimes was to mock Saudi Arabia’s prohibition against celebrating Valentine’s Day.  

Last year, Lebanon’s president accused Saudi Arabia of holding captive its former prime minister Saad Hariri and his family as part of an attempt to force him to resign. The Saudis were reportedly unhappy with Lebanon’s support for Iran, a bitter Saudi rival, and its allies such as the Shia group Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia disputed the allegation. 

Still, Saudi Arabia is not alone in how it apparently treats those not prepared to toe the party line. In fact, harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention, violence, and even state-sponsored murder are fairly routine tactics used by authoritarian and illiberal governments to crush dissent, according to dozens of reports and studies published by organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Freedom House. 

This year alone, 27 journalists have been murdered in Brazil, the Central African Republic, India, Mexico, and even the European Union and the United States, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Over the last 26 years, 848 have been killed.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told British media Saturday that incidents such as Khashoggi’s disappearance were becoming “the apparent new normal.”

In Iran, eight environmentalists have languished in prison for eight months without receiving clear charges. Ogulsapar Muradova, an activist and investigative reporter for Radio Free Europe, was tortured and killed while in government custody in Turkmenistan. In Venezuela, Fernando Alban, an opposition party councilman and fierce critic of President Nicolás Maduro, died last week after his arrest in Caracas. Maduro’s regime said Alban took his own life by jumping from the 10th floor of Venezuela’s intelligence agency’s headquarters. Critics say he was executed. 

More: White House blames Venezuelan President Maduro’s regime for opposition leader’s death

Ghanem al-Dosari, a Saudi human rights activist known for his biting satirical YouTube videos ridiculing the Saudi royal family, was attacked last month outside the posh London department store Harrods. His assailants shouted slogans supportive of Saudi Arabia’s government. Al-Dosari fled Saudi Arabia in 2003. He has never been back.

Chinese Hollywood star Fan Bingbing mysteriously disappeared from the public eye for three months this summer amid $130 million tax evasion allegations, leading to speculation that she was quietly arrested, jailed and “rehabilitated.” Fan re-surfaced earlier this month with a lengthy and profuse apology to the Chinese government.

Also, this month: Fan’s fellow national, former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, one of China’s most high-profile international officials who also holds a position in China’s security establishment, vanished after returning to China, from France, for a visit. The China government later said he was “under investigation” for violating unspecified laws.

The message from China’s government appears to be pretty unambiguous: No matter who you are, and no matter where you are, we can get to you if we want. 

The German authorities concluded that Pyotr Verzilov, a member of the Russian feminist punk band and activist group Pussy Riot, was likely deliberately poisoned by a nerve agent in September. Over the summer, Verzilov ran onto a field during the World Cup soccer finals in an anti-government protest in Moscow that was seen by millions of people around the world. Verzilov has had various run-ins with Russian security agencies and other members of Pussy Riot have been jailed. He was also looking into the case of three Russian journalists who were killed in the Central Democratic of Congo in August while investigating a private military company with links to the Kremlin. 

And there is a long and complex history of Russian deaths and unexplained foul play in the United Kingdom under mysterious and suspicious circumstances with everything from poisoned umbrellas to radioactive substances, including the ongoing saga of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia — poisoned by a Soviet-made nerve agent in the British provincial city of Salisbury earlier this year. 

The British government has concluded Moscow was behind the Skripals’ poisoning, but Alexander Yakovenko, Russia’s ambassador to London, told reporters on Friday that the allegations were simply a result of a concerted effort by Prime Minister Theresa May’s administration and other western democracies, including the U.S., to discredit Russia. 

“No, we don’t accept that,” Yakovenko said in response to a question about whether two men accused by Britain of traveling to Salisbury to assassinate Skripal were undercover military officers deployed by GRU, Russia’s foreign intelligence agency. 

More: Senate Foreign Relations chair: Saudis responsible for missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi

More: What we know (and don’t) about missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Ali Al-Ahmed, a Washington-based Saudi scholar who claims he has been the target of Saudi government attempts to buy his silence over his negative views about the monarchy, as well as a specific effort several years ago to lure him to different countries including Turkey, said Saudi Arabia “has a system of masters and slaves, princes and paupers” and that it was this, along with a refusal by the Saudis to consider increased political freedoms and reforms, that caused people like Khashoggi, a regular contributor to the Washington Post’s Global Opinions section, to speak out. 

“I am a republican,” he said, referring to the form of government, not the political party. “I believe in equality. I am anti-monarchy and think it’s sacrilegious to have one.”

Al-Ahmed said he knows Khashoggi but they were not on friendly terms following personal and professional disagreements. He said that he has not dared to step inside a Saudi embassy or consulate since trying to renew his passport a number of years ago.

“(Prince Muhammad bin Salman) is a megalomaniac,” he said. “The guy thinks no one can touch him and that he can do whatever he wants. Look, he took the prime minister of Lebanon hostage. And what happened? Nothing happened. I mean, who does that?”

More: Bulgarian TV reporter Viktoria Marinova third journalist to be murdered in EU in last year

Read More | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/10/13/saudi-arabian-journalist-jamal-khashoggis-disappearance/1611739002/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=amp&utm_campaign=speakable | Kim Hjelmgaard

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis, in 2018-10-13 11:41:45

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Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis http://www.nature-business.com/business-intimidation-detention-even-murder-world-is-full-of-many-potential-jamal-khashoggis/

Business

Kim Hjelmgaard

USA TODAY

Published 7:20 AM EDT Oct 13, 2018

LONDON — A member of a protest-art group in Moscow is rendered temporarily unable to see, speak or walk – likely the result of nerve poison. A popular YouTube satirist from the Middle East is beaten on the streets of London. China’s most famous actress vanishes. So does the boss of the world’s largest international police organization.

Grisly revelations that Saudi Arabia may have helped orchestrate a brazen plot to abduct and even murder Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident-journalist critical of the oil-rich kingdom, have highlighted anew the threats faced by reporters, activists, reform advocates and all those who use their voices and platforms to fight discrimination, rights abuses and corruption while falling on the wrong side of government policy. 

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, the nation’s de facto ruler since 2017, has presided over the arrest of hundreds of activists, officials, writers, religious clerics and even opponents inside his own royal family as part of efforts to suppress dissent and consolidate power, according to Freedom House, a civil liberties group.

The Saudi Arabian government strongly contests any allegations connecting it to Khashoggi’s disappearance. He was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, was there that day to get a document that would allow him to wed his Turkish fiancée. Officials in Turkey say they have persuasive audio and video evidence suggesting Khashoggi was tortured, murdered and dismembered. U.S. intelligence officials also previously intercepted communications indicating the Saudis had discussed a plan to capture Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia.   

The investigation is still unfolding. Yet, whatever it may ultimately yield, it’s clear that Saudi Arabia has a longstanding record of repressing peaceful dissidents. In May, it detained, without charge, 12 women-rights activists, including the “right-to-drive” campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul, just weeks before the monarchy officially ended a ban on female drivers. Prior to that, in 2014, in an incident that has some potential eerie parallels to the Khashoggi incident, Al-Hathloul had been “rendered” by the Saudis – to Riyadh from Abu Dhabi — for once attempting to drive a car inside the kingdom. 

More: Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi tortured, dismembered in Saudi consulate, report says

“If Prince Muhammad bin Salman wants to reform Saudi Arabia the best reform would be to release all our political prisoners,” said Ensaf Haidar, the wife of Raif Badawi, a writer and social activist jailed in Saudi Arabia after falling afoul of religious authorities.

Badawi was arrested in Jeddah in 2012 for “insulting Islam through electronic channels.” He was a blogger and, according to his wife, a humanitarian and free thinker. In 2013, he was convicted of several charges, including apostasy, and sentenced to 7 years and 600 lashes, a form of punishment with a whip or stick the United Nations says is cruel and inhumane. A year later, the prison term was increased to 10 years and 1,000 lashes. Badawi suffers from hypertension and Haidar, who was granted asylum in Canada with her three children, said her husband’s health is deteriorating. “I hope President Trump can help release my husband,” she said when asked whether Khashoggi’s case would bring new scrutiny of Badawi’s plight. One of Badawi’s alleged crimes was to mock Saudi Arabia’s prohibition against celebrating Valentine’s Day.  

Last year, Lebanon’s president accused Saudi Arabia of holding captive its former prime minister Saad Hariri and his family as part of an attempt to force him to resign. The Saudis were reportedly unhappy with Lebanon’s support for Iran, a bitter Saudi rival, and its allies such as the Shia group Hezbollah. Saudi Arabia disputed the allegation. 

Still, Saudi Arabia is not alone in how it apparently treats those not prepared to toe the party line. In fact, harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention, violence, and even state-sponsored murder are fairly routine tactics used by authoritarian and illiberal governments to crush dissent, according to dozens of reports and studies published by organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Freedom House. 

This year alone, 27 journalists have been murdered in Brazil, the Central African Republic, India, Mexico, and even the European Union and the United States, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Over the last 26 years, 848 have been killed.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told British media Saturday that incidents such as Khashoggi’s disappearance were becoming “the apparent new normal.”

In Iran, eight environmentalists have languished in prison for eight months without receiving clear charges. Ogulsapar Muradova, an activist and investigative reporter for Radio Free Europe, was tortured and killed while in government custody in Turkmenistan. In Venezuela, Fernando Alban, an opposition party councilman and fierce critic of President Nicolás Maduro, died last week after his arrest in Caracas. Maduro’s regime said Alban took his own life by jumping from the 10th floor of Venezuela’s intelligence agency’s headquarters. Critics say he was executed. 

More: White House blames Venezuelan President Maduro’s regime for opposition leader’s death

Ghanem al-Dosari, a Saudi human rights activist known for his biting satirical YouTube videos ridiculing the Saudi royal family, was attacked last month outside the posh London department store Harrods. His assailants shouted slogans supportive of Saudi Arabia’s government. Al-Dosari fled Saudi Arabia in 2003. He has never been back.

Chinese Hollywood star Fan Bingbing mysteriously disappeared from the public eye for three months this summer amid $130 million tax evasion allegations, leading to speculation that she was quietly arrested, jailed and “rehabilitated.” Fan re-surfaced earlier this month with a lengthy and profuse apology to the Chinese government.

Also, this month: Fan’s fellow national, former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei, one of China’s most high-profile international officials who also holds a position in China’s security establishment, vanished after returning to China, from France, for a visit. The China government later said he was “under investigation” for violating unspecified laws.

The message from China’s government appears to be pretty unambiguous: No matter who you are, and no matter where you are, we can get to you if we want. 

The German authorities concluded that Pyotr Verzilov, a member of the Russian feminist punk band and activist group Pussy Riot, was likely deliberately poisoned by a nerve agent in September. Over the summer, Verzilov ran onto a field during the World Cup soccer finals in an anti-government protest in Moscow that was seen by millions of people around the world. Verzilov has had various run-ins with Russian security agencies and other members of Pussy Riot have been jailed. He was also looking into the case of three Russian journalists who were killed in the Central Democratic of Congo in August while investigating a private military company with links to the Kremlin. 

And there is a long and complex history of Russian deaths and unexplained foul play in the United Kingdom under mysterious and suspicious circumstances with everything from poisoned umbrellas to radioactive substances, including the ongoing saga of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia — poisoned by a Soviet-made nerve agent in the British provincial city of Salisbury earlier this year. 

The British government has concluded Moscow was behind the Skripals’ poisoning, but Alexander Yakovenko, Russia’s ambassador to London, told reporters on Friday that the allegations were simply a result of a concerted effort by Prime Minister Theresa May’s administration and other western democracies, including the U.S., to discredit Russia. 

“No, we don’t accept that,” Yakovenko said in response to a question about whether two men accused by Britain of traveling to Salisbury to assassinate Skripal were undercover military officers deployed by GRU, Russia’s foreign intelligence agency. 

More: Senate Foreign Relations chair: Saudis responsible for missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi

More: What we know (and don’t) about missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Ali Al-Ahmed, a Washington-based Saudi scholar who claims he has been the target of Saudi government attempts to buy his silence over his negative views about the monarchy, as well as a specific effort several years ago to lure him to different countries including Turkey, said Saudi Arabia “has a system of masters and slaves, princes and paupers” and that it was this, along with a refusal by the Saudis to consider increased political freedoms and reforms, that caused people like Khashoggi, a regular contributor to the Washington Post’s Global Opinions section, to speak out. 

“I am a republican,” he said, referring to the form of government, not the political party. “I believe in equality. I am anti-monarchy and think it’s sacrilegious to have one.”

Al-Ahmed said he knows Khashoggi but they were not on friendly terms following personal and professional disagreements. He said that he has not dared to step inside a Saudi embassy or consulate since trying to renew his passport a number of years ago.

“(Prince Muhammad bin Salman) is a megalomaniac,” he said. “The guy thinks no one can touch him and that he can do whatever he wants. Look, he took the prime minister of Lebanon hostage. And what happened? Nothing happened. I mean, who does that?”

More: Bulgarian TV reporter Viktoria Marinova third journalist to be murdered in EU in last year

Read More | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/10/13/saudi-arabian-journalist-jamal-khashoggis-disappearance/1611739002/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=amp&utm_campaign=speakable | Kim Hjelmgaard

Business Intimidation, detention, even murder: World is full of many potential Jamal Khashoggis, in 2018-10-13 11:41:45

[mikemortgage]

How to succeed at the toughest job in any business

In 2015, after 30 years of advising Canadian businesses, Pat Kramer assumed the role of CEO of BDO Canada. Having risen through the ranks at the almost century-old company, he’s seen his fair share of leadership styles and has witnessed the rise and fall of some of Canada’s most influential companies.

Here’s a glimpse into some of the wisdom Kramer has gleaned over the years, including the growing importance of leading change, plus sage advice about making use of one of our most influential and powerful teachers — failure.

When he was approached about taking the role, Kramer instantly understood the weight of the responsibility and was very deliberate in his thought process. “I get told all the time that this is the hardest job of the business, and I wouldn’t disagree. When you accept the mantle of CEO, everyone tends to look to you for guidance. The focus is on you all the time no matter where you are.”

He also says there’s also a massive shift taking place in the why and how of leadership. “The old style of autocratic leadership doesn’t work anymore.” The idea of one supreme ruler — the separate, “corner office” mentality of traditional CEO roles in the past — simply doesn’t resonate in a digital age. Now more than ever, CEOs need to be leaders of leaders, especially adept at leading change. Although it may seem counterintuitive in the world of social media where everyone is searching for a platform to speak, Kramer argues one of the cornerstone skills that executives need to develop is listening.

“One of the reasons I was chosen to be the CEO was my ability to listen to people.”

So, given its critical nature, how can a leader grow his or her listening skills?

“I believe that when you’re listening, you need to have the intent to understand what a person is communicating, even if you do not agree with their point of view. It’s all about pausing and letting people finish expressing their thoughts. They will appreciate that you’re taking the time to understand them.”

A strong leader also needs an agile mindset. Kramer highlights the cases of the Amazon and Google leaders, who continually demonstrate the ability to shift and respond to new challenges and opportunities.

Taking risks is a scary but essential aspect of growth. The ability to manoeuvre swiftly, without hesitation, is what separates the wheat from the chaff. Fear can’t be a factor in making smart decisions.

“In the professional services business especially, failure is often seen as a terrible thing,” Kramer says. “Almost career-ending. We need to adjust to the concept that failure, if utilized properly, can be an incredibly positive learning opportunity.”

It’s all about finding ways to turn mistakes into successes.

“It’s okay to fail,” Kramer says, “as long as you learn from the experience. Learning leads to doing things better, breaking through and sometimes changing the game. As leaders, our obligation is to eliminate barriers and create an environment where this is possible.”

The popular acronym F.A.I.L. stands for such phrases as First Attempt In Learning and From Action I Learn have been utilized to remove the sting and negativity associated with the word. Feel better?

No? You’re not alone.

Despite their importance, failures are difficult to handle, no matter the circumstance, and Kramer acknowledges that this can be especially difficult for people who occupy the corner office. However, he believes leaders need to accept that even though they try to do everything right, failures are inevitable. It’s how they rebound that counts.

Kramer points out that, unfortunately, many CEOs, and especially new leaders, put so much pressure on themselves to be all-knowing, it greatly limits their success. “CEOs need to embrace the fact that as a leader, there are a lot of people with great ideas. You are not the expert on everything,” he says. “The CEO is the person who puts together a great team who he or she works with to develop the idea, the strategy, and the things that are necessary to achieve it.”

When asked about one of the biggest challenges facing executives today, Kramer highlights the lack of focus, that is, “trying to do 10 things when really two or three are the most important. Understanding that is absolutely critical because if you make progress on those two or three things each and every day, you’re moving the needle on the things that matter most.”

For success, he says, CEOs must put their ego aside and focus on the people they serve. That is the crucible of leadership. “It’s not about what you do, it’s about what your customers, your stakeholders, or your employees need from you that is most important. If you focus on that, you will be on a much better path to success.”

• Craig Dowden (PhD) is president of Craig Dowden & Associates, a firm focused on supporting clients in achieving leadership and organizational excellence by leveraging the science of peak performance. Connect with him by email or LinkedIn, or follow him on Twitter @craigdowden

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