#i’m talking about how the news media in the USA handles politics LIKE it’s a fucking horse race

[fluffypotatey]

i fucking hate horse race journalism

[mirandamckenni1]

Liked on YouTube: WHAT'S UP WITH AMERICANS AND NUDITY? | Feli from Germany || https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5_1eiLzXDY || Compare news coverage from around the world and across the political spectrum with Ground News: https://ift.tt/MVU3A9y ▸"Florida principal forced to resign after showing students Michelangelo's 'David' statue" or "Parents Complain About 'Pornographic' David Statue" 👈 These types of headlines went around the world a couple months ago and left many people in Italy and other countries utterly confused. What's wrong with the David Statue? How could anyone think this is p*rn? So let's talk about how nudity is handled in everyday situations in the US compared to Germany, and why it seems to be such a big taboo topic in the US! Related videos: ABSTINENCE-ONLY?! Sex Education USA vs. Germany ▸https://youtu.be/eTnr9q70_jw Sex Ed & Teen Relationships in Germany vs. USA w/ @MyMerryMessyGermanLife ▸https://youtu.be/34-ZReaxZ2s @DreamPrague CZECHIA vs. USA (different attitudes towards nudity) ▸https://youtu.be/anv0BRs_T5w Get your Bavarian beer mug or Servus t-shirt ▸https://ift.tt/vpeRuZr Check out my PODCAST (with Josh)▸ https://www.youtube.com/understandingtrainstation or https://ift.tt/7R4Gzwr FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook▸https://ift.tt/SwdC9ui (Feli from Germany) Support me on Patreon▸ https://ift.tt/dOgcwM7 Instagram▸@felifromgermany▸https://ift.tt/QpLUNkF Buy me a coffee▸https://ift.tt/sLGOKXg ▸Mailing address: PO Box 19521 Cincinnati, OH 45219 USA ------------------------- 0:00 Recent headlines about the David statue 1:40 What exactly happened in Florida? 6:13 Reactions in Italy & other countries 8:20 Nudity Germany vs. USA: #1 Sauna 9:22 #2 Nudism/FKK 11:57 #3 Communal showers 13:45 #4 Doctor's office 14:50 #5 Breastfeeding 17:08 #6 Media 19:41 Nudity = cultural difference 20:06 Possible explanations 24:25 Sex in American pop culture ------------------------- ABOUT ME: Hallo, Servus, and welcome to my channel! My name is Felicia (Feli), I'm 29, and I'm a German living in the USA! I was born and raised in Munich, Germany but have been living in Cincinnati, Ohio off and on since 2016. I first came here for an exchange semester during my undergrad at LMU Munich, then I returned for an internship, and then I got my master's degree in Cincinnati. I was lucky enough to win the Green Card lottery and have been a permanent resident since 2019! In my videos, I talk about cultural differences between America and Germany, things I like and dislike about living here, and other topics I come across in my everyday life in the States. Let me know what YOU would like to hear about in the comments below. DANKE :) ------------------------- MY FILMING EQUIPMENT Camera: https://ift.tt/UVO5Zy2 MAIN LENS (Sigma 18-35mm F1.8): https://ift.tt/PI3UG0b Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens: https://ift.tt/fY4kDLZ Tripod: https://ift.tt/YXFDgOr Remote: https://ift.tt/3h1TGHY Lighting: https://ift.tt/F5fpe8K Back Light: https://amzn.to/3gJD8QL H1 Zoom Recorder (audio): https://ift.tt/T169eOh Lav Microphone: https://ift.tt/rYpD9h5 GoPro Vlogging Setup: GoPro: https://ift.tt/Wl3Y1Ct Case: https://ift.tt/tDprchC Tripod: https://ift.tt/RvSbkle Microphone: https://ift.tt/Islahjt Mic Adapter: https://ift.tt/jNKapez Mount: https://ift.tt/4b2zYsK *These links are Affiliate links. If you buy the product through that link, I'll receive a small provision while the price for you stays the same! Thanks for your support! :) ------------------------- Music by ARTMAN MUSIC https://ift.tt/798dGTF based on a theme by https://ift.tt/HcWmFK9 (CC BY 4.0)

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

Sept 2021 Wk 5

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Don’t Say No Ep 9 (Line) - It’s my corny af hurt/comfort soap opera that I watch at 1.5x and skip all the sex scenes and Fiat crying, but I like it that way, so there. Yes I am one of those people who only eats the outside of the peanut M&Ms, why do you ask? Episode recaps here. 

Bite Me Ep 5 (Viu & Viki) - sometimes I feel like this show is skipping all the important bits, or having them occur off screen intentionally, like some ancient Greek play. Still, the depth of the feeling understood between the two leads is clearly transferred to us despite that. Are they dating? Sure seems that way. Without anything being actually said about it. It’s oddly magical. I talked a bit about the north/south divide and food as a love language with regards to kao soi in this post. 

7 Project Ep 5 The Breakup Zone (iQiYi & YouTube) - another het installment, so I skipped it. Nash. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Peach of Time Ep 10 fin - A Korean BL (maybe not BL tho) featuring Thai talent that really went beyond a lot of tropes into interesting territory and allegory in a way only Korea does. I hope we get more collabs like this, perhaps happier than this one next time? RECOMMENDED only if you are prepared for The Sad. Because it is quite sad.  

x Friend or Lover (YouTube) Ep 6 - still waiting on the final of this Taiwanese indie series.  

Love is Science? (BL sub plot on Viki) Ep 14 (aired ep 15) - Taiwanese drama finally got subbed yesterday, so those of us who are waiting seem to be on a week’s delay. The BL couple actually has the most interesting story arc and the most unusual character growth. I’m enjoying how unpredictable these two are. Honestly, they could have gotten their own series with this much story - and now I really want that for after the baby comes. I’m a little sad we didn’t get the coming out in the skate park sequence (LOOK I love coming out drama, especially with sporty friends, it’s a THING), but I also get why the writers are doing what they are with these boys. And the actors sure can handle it. Taiwan at it’s finest.  

Love Is the series (YouTube) Ep 5 - continues to be fine for a V-BL but not all that actually good. 

See You After Quarantine? (Viki) Ep 6, 7 - Taiwanese gameboys with Japanese talent stuck in, what more could we ask? AND THEN they gave us some *thirsty boi* action, great kisses, and charmed the pants off... well... everyone. Taiwan, we don’t deserve you. Honestly, you spoil us. Turns out Aaron Lai is the best wingman any gay Japanese man in quarantine could ask for. Everyone should be watching this. It’s utterly charming. 

The Tasty Florida (Viki) Ep 3 & 4 - this Korean BL so fucking cute. Look it’s formless and too short but simultaneously aching and kinda special-sweet. But Korea has got to settle into something a bit longer for their BL for everyone’s sake. It’s time. Light On Me proved it was possible. I’m not asking for much, just 15 min+ of fresh content with at least a 10 ep arc. 

In Case You Missed It

Someone dropped K-BL movie cut of 2015′s The Lover series onto YouTube. The series was about 4 different couples all living in the same apartment complex, one of the 4 was a BL plot about a sunshine sweetie Japanese tourist who ends up roommates with a hot shy tsundere Korean boy. It’s 1.5 hours, proving Korea and stretch its BL when it wants to. 

Read more about it here. 

GOSSIP!

Rumors of OhmFluke to star in new Thai BL Oh! My Sunshine Night. It’s from Newsinfinity Entertainment who announced the casting and showed the couple in workshops. This is this (small) production house’s first BL and they aim to “appeal to to general audiences* with a “broader view of BL that everyone will watch.” Which is code for LOW heat, light gay, soft boys. If this happens I think we can expect this to be Thailand doing Korean-style BL. 

* GENERAL AUDIENCE? Let’s be clear no piece of media will EVER appeal to everyone. Here is the USA “general audience” is code for “families with socially conservative values and children who are still minors” AKA what used to be prime time TV watchers AKA suburbia. 

 The concept is analytically old fashioned and so fractured at this juncture (socially economically spatially politically) that “general audience” is actually impossible to target and it doesn’t really exist. But try telling that to the publicity department. 

We also call this the “Disney live action demo.” (Think Pirates of the Caribbean.) I occasionally refer to them as “the Simpsons.” And they’re about as realistic. All that to say I am VERY suspicious of Oh! My Sunshine Night‘s production house. 

To My Star does seem to be getting a second season, same director, same mains. Korea is much better about executing on its promises than Thailand, but until I see proof of filming or an honest trailer, my favorite boys are staying in the gossip section. I don’t wanna get my hopes up. (Honestly now, how many of you also want an alt reality with these two as a couple but Kim Kang Min playing his long suffering cardiologist intern character from Hospital Playlist? Just me?) 

I reported on Unforgotten Night a while ago. It seems to have been fully cast now, I still think the publicity stills make it look like a joke. But with this line-up I guess it’s even more of an alt answer to KinnPorsche. 

You know that thing that happens in media when suddenly we get multiples of the same style of movie or show at once? It’s now happening with BL. Love triangles. Restaurants. And now mafia. 

Cutie Pie (our arranged marriage Thai BL staring Zee) dropped some wardrobe fitting photo ops. Also... fancy pants sexy suits that fit, so that’s exciting. 

Starting Soon

My Mate Match from Starhunter should be starting on Line TV next Saturday. Usually, Line has subs relatively quickly and is available internationally. However the fact that the trailer is not subbed and the show is not listed on Line’s site has me nervous. No idea on length of run either. 

Starhunter studio doesn’t have a great track record in general for narrative arcs and this one is not based on a y-novel so could get waffly. This is a roommates love triangle BL about a boy who is looking for one roommate and ends up with two vying for his home and his heart. Stars Jet as the uke lead which I’m pretty happy about as he’s got great comedic timing and is accustomed to BL. He’s opposite two friends/co-actors from Gen Y and other projects, so we know they’re comfortable with each other. They could do great things... if they get a decent script. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International subs accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

This week’s best moment?

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 18, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

It is still early days, and the picture of what is happening in Afghanistan now that the Taliban has regained control of the country continues to develop.

Central to affairs there is money. Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, with about half its population requiring humanitarian aid this year and about 90% of its people living below the poverty line of making $2 a day.

The country depends on foreign aid. Under the U.S.-supported Afghan government, the United States and other nations funded about 80% of Afghanistan’s budget. In 2020, foreign aid made up about 43% of Afghanistan’s GDP (the GDP, or gross domestic product, is the monetary value of all the goods and services produced in a country), down from 100% of it in 2009.

This is a huge problem for the Taliban, because their takeover of the country means that the money the country so desperately needs has dried up. The U.S. has frozen billions of dollars of Afghan government money held here in the U.S. The European Union and Germany have also suspended their financial support for the country, and today the International Monetary Fund blocked Afghanistan’s access to $460 million in currency reserves.

Adam M. Smith, who served on the National Security Council during the Obama administration, told Jeff Stein of the Washington Post that the financial squeeze is potentially “cataclysmic for Afghanistan.” It threatens to spark a humanitarian crisis that, in turn, will create a refugee crisis in central Asia. Already, the fighting in the last eight months has displaced more than half a million Afghans.

People fleeing from the Taliban threaten to destabilize the region more generally. While Russia was happy to support the Taliban in a war against the U.S., now that its fighters are in charge of the country, Russia needs to keep the Taliban’s extremism from spreading to other countries in the area. So it is tentatively saying supportive things about the Taliban, but it is also stepping up its protection of neighboring countries’ borders with Afghanistan. Other countries are also leery of refugees in the region: large numbers of refugees have, in the past, led countries to turn against immigrants, giving a leg up to right-wing governments.

Canada and Britain are each taking an additional 20,000 Afghan women leaders, reporters, LGBTQ people, and human rights workers on top of those they have already volunteered to take, but Turkey—which is governed by strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan—is building a wall to block refugees, and French President Emmanuel Macron asked officials in Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey to prevent migrants reaching their countries from traveling any further. The European Union has asked its member states to take more Afghan refugees.

In the U.S., the question of Afghan refugees is splitting the Republican Party, with about 30% of it following the hard anti-immigrant line of former president Donald Trump. Others, though, especially those whose districts include military installations, are saying they welcome our Afghan allies.

The people fleeing the country also present a problem for those now in control of Afghanistan. The idea that people are terrified of their rule is a foreign relations nightmare, at the same time that those leaving are the ones most likely to have the skills necessary to help govern the country. But leaders can’t really stop the outward flow—at least immediately—because they do not want to antagonize the international community so thoroughly that it continues to withhold the financial aid the country so badly needs. So, while on the streets, Taliban fighters are harassing Afghans who are trying to get away, Taliban leaders are saying they will permit people to evacuate, that they will offer blanket amnesty to those who opposed them, and also that they will defend some rights for women and girls.

The Biden administration is sending more personnel to help evacuate those who want to leave. The president has promised to evacuate all Americans in the country—as many as 15,000 people—but said only that we would evacuate as many of the estimated 65,000 Afghans who want to leave as possible. The Taliban has put up checkpoints on the roads to the airport and are not permitting everyone to pass. U.S. military leaders say they will be able to evacuate between 5000 and 9000 people a day.

Today, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark A. Milley tried to explain the frantic rush to evacuate people from Afghanistan to reporters by saying: “There was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days.” Maybe. But military analyst Jason Dempsey condemned the whole U.S. military project in Afghanistan when he told NPR's Don Gonyea that the collapse of the Afghan government showed that the U.S. had fundamentally misunderstood the people of Afghanistan and had tried to impose a military system that simply made no sense for a society based in patronage networks and family relationships.

Even with Dempsey’s likely accurate assessment, the statement that U.S. military intelligence missed that a 300,000 person army was going to melt away still seems to me astonishing. Still, foreign policy and national security policy analyst Dr. John Gans of the University of Pennsylvania speculated on Twitter that such a lapse might be more “normal”—his word and quotation marks—than it seems, reflecting the slips possible in government bureaucracy. He points out that the Department of Defense has largely controlled Afghanistan and the way the U.S. involvement there was handled in Washington. But with the end of the military mission, the Defense Department was eager to hand off responsibility to the State Department, which was badly weakened under the previous administration and has not yet rebuilt fully enough to handle what was clearly a complicated handoff. “There have not been many transitions between an American war & an American diplomatic relationship with a sovereign, friendly country,” Gans wrote. “Fewer still when the friendly regime disintegrates so quickly.” When things started to go wrong, they snowballed.

And yet, the media portrayal of our withdrawal as a catastrophe also seems to me surprising. To date, at least as far as I have seen, there have been no reports of such atrocities as the top American diplomat in Syria reported in the chaos when the U.S. pulled out of northern Syria in 2019. Violence against our Kurdish allies there was widely expected and it indeed occurred. In a memo made public in November of that year, Ambassador William V. Roebuck wrote that “Islamist groups” paid by Turkey were deliberately engaged in ethnic cleansing of Kurds, and were committing “widely publicized, fear-inducing atrocities” even while “our military forces and diplomats were on the ground.” The memo continued: “The Turkey operation damaged our regional and international credibility and has significantly destabilized northeastern Syria.”

Reports of that ethnic cleansing in the wake of our withdrawal seemed to get very little media attention in 2019, perhaps because the former president’s first impeachment inquiry took up all the oxygen. But it strikes me that the sensibility of Roebuck’s memo is now being read onto our withdrawal from Afghanistan although conditions there are not—yet—like that.

For now, it seems, the drive to keep the door open for foreign money is reining in Taliban extremism. That caution seems unlikely to last forever, but it might hold for long enough to complete an evacuation.

Much is still unclear and the situation is changing rapidly, but my guess is that keeping an eye on the money will be crucial for understanding how this plays out.

Meanwhile, the former president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, has surfaced in the United Arab Emirates. He denies early reports that he fled the country with suitcases full of cash.

—-

Notes:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/world/asia/ashraf-ghani-uae-afghanistan.html

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/afghanistan/overview

https://asiatimes.com/2021/08/the-root-of-russias-fears-in-afghanistan/

https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2021-07-30qr-section2-economic.pdf#page=14

https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-afghanistan-funding-int/u-s-other-aid-cuts-could-imperil-afghan-government-u-s-watchdog-idUSKBN2B72WJ

https://www.dw.com/en/eu-will-have-to-talk-to-taliban-but-wary-of-recognition/a-58890698

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/08/17/treasury-taliban-money-afghanistan/

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/08/18/business/afghanistan-lithium-rare-earths-mining/index.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russia-taliban-afghanistan-putin/2021/08/17/af53a9ec-ff4c-11eb-87e0-7e07bd9ce270_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/18/afghanistan-kabul-taliban-live-updates/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/aid-groups-warn-of-possible-refugee-crisis-in-afghanistan-far-beyond-western-evacuation-plans/2021/08/18/0d7094fc-0058-11ec-825d-01701f9ded64_story.html

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/21/1008656321/how-does-the-u-s-help-afghans-hold-on-to-gains-while-withdrawing-troops

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/18/afghanistan-kabul-taliban-live-updates/

https://www.reuters.com/world/canada-accept-20000-vulnerable-afghans-such-women-leaders-human-rights-workers-2021-08-13

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/us/politics/memo-syria-trump-turkey.html

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/18/afghan-refugee-debate-fractures-gop-506135

​​https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/18/politics/us-must-rely-on-taliban-for-evacuation/index.html

John Gans @johngansjrFrom what I'm seeing and hearing, the reasons for the mess in Afghanistan might be far more 'normal' than many are suspecting/suggesting -- driven more by typical pathologies in government & Washington. More to be learned. But a few thoughts. 1/x

533 Retweets2,195 Likes

August 18th 2021

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/15/1027952034/military-analyst-u-s-trained-afghan-forces-for-a-nation-that-didnt-exist

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[andmaybegayer]

[Warning: this post is mostly me talking to myself in text form for journaling purposes, and as a result is boring and sucks. I told you so.]

I've been listening to The Anthropocene Reviewed for the past couple months, slowly working through the episodes. A couple weeks ago I listened to the one on "Tetris, and, The Seed Potatoes of Leningrad."

You've probably heard about the seed potatoes of Leningrad, there was a post from the @tilthat bot going around. TL;DR, during the siege of Leningrad, scientists at the seed bank in Leningrad protected the enormous cache of food crop samples in storage there (many unique) and didn't eat any of it, while the scientists and people around them starved to death, cut off from supplies by the siege.

There are of course, two ways to look at this. Those scientists were brainwashed idiots, who protects mere crops while human lives are ending, how cold and heartless can you be. Those scientists are stoic heroes, they understood that the value of a seedbank far exceeded the value of the individuals around them, a fact they knew truly and objectively as professionals in their field.

Lots of problems people face look like this. Do you do something that helps you and the people immediate to you in the short term, likely leading to long term benefit for your group, or do you do something that is suboptimal for you and yours but helps many more people who may not help you in turn or even know you exist.

This post takes a turn now, and we’ll talk about Brain Drain.

Brain Drain (more formally "Human Capital Flight") is when people trained by one nation emigrate to another, usually because of actual or perceived improvement to quality of life in the second place, carrying their skills with them. The classic example is Jewish scientists fleeing the Nazis, or for a more controversial example, Soviet professionals defecting to the USA.

Now those are highly politically charged situations, so let’s look at the one I’m dealing with: South Africa is kind of a lame place to live compared to some other places.

South Africa is a rich and functional country by African standards but it’s still not a First World Country. Our currency is weak. Our Gini index is a joke. Education is poor the moment you step outside of urban centers, and even then, there are problems. The electrical supply is mostly reliable but regularly suffers from rolling blackouts. Violent crime rates have fallen dramatically over the years but are still higher than in many other parts of the world. Cities are unnavigable sprawls with little public transport. Internet is expensive. We get lower quality produce because the best stuff gets exported to richer countries who can pay more for it. The political system is deeply corrupt in ways that make even normal corrupt politicans go “well that’s a bit much.”

But I also grew up here. I got my immunizations from government clinics and government nurses. I attended a government school, and my university education was heavily subsidized because I am a citizen. I drive on public roads, My house is lit with electricity from a nationalized electrical grid. I was part of a team that had government funding to compete in a high-profile supercomputing competition, which included a completely free 10 day long training course for 80 undergraduate students. At some level, the investments of the government (and by extension, taxpayers) function and provide a return, if by return you mean training individuals within the population who can produce value in the standing economic system, workers with high school certificates and medical doctorates and welding qualifications.

Lots of South African professionals seek to leave the country. It is all at once a sufficiently modern and unequal country that if you grow up and become University Educated, you will likely identify more with other countries than with South Africa at large. I have lost count of how many people I know who have moved to Australia or the Netherlands or the UK or the USA. Many of them went through the same school and university system I did, and benefited from the same subsidies.

People frequently encourage me to leave the country, both for the primary reason (you can make more money as an engineer in the West) or for other reasons (you should see the world/you should experience other people) and I always feel torn between those. I have long been on the side of those Soviet scientists protecting their seed bank. I like to believe that I would choose the mass benefit over short term personal gain, that is the Socialist™ way after all. I feel (at some level) an obligation to live here, work here, to work to (at least) give value to people around me and (at best) to directly improve the systems around me.

But there is a thin line between obligation and nationalism. This is a nationalist tendency, at some level. Not quite “this country is good because it is mine,” but “this country has a claim to me, and I to it, and so I should stand by it,” which is, worrying, at times. How do you tell the difference. Should you even contribute to a system that you think creates a great deal of pain, suffering, and violence, and which sustains many harmful cycles. Can the good cop improve a bad system. Or should you just take what you can get and run as far as you can, because nothing you can do will help.

(Incidentally, I believe that a lot of things tied to the fascist aesthetic are not implicitly bad, but rather things that combine poorly with other traits. Nationalism is theoretically a powerful attribute to cultivate, if, of course, you are a truly virtuous nation which can vouch for the aims of its people en masse. Not that those nations exist anywhere.)

A deep part of me also /wants/ to flee. The work to improve a country (even when you are in a good position to do so) is slow, frequently hopeless, and does not often bear fruit in your lifetime. I have ADHD, so that’s a rough proposition. I can barely wait for things that I know will bear fruit in the next three days. I have been to New York City twice, and since the first time my heart has ached for dense public transport, the alien experience of white people walking in the street by choice, and the strange sense of certainty New York has of its place in the world. I love central Johannesburg, I like walking and being there when I get the chance, it is a place that is full of people and occurrences, but I am always reminded of a line by Neal Stephenson.

The only ones left in the city are street people, feeding off debris; immigrants, thrown out like shrapnel from the destruction of the Asian powers (and) young smart people... who take the risk of living in the city because they like stimulation and they know they can handle it.

Many people despise central Johannesburg, because it is a dangerous kind of stimulating which does not allow much room to relax if you, like me, are an outsider to the place. This isn’t the USA where every seventh person has an iPhone, it is easy to be a mark. Hell, several of my friends have been robbed in the suburbs, the city is a whole other animal.

That was fairly off topic. This is also my post, so I don’t care.

I have mostly been on the side of staying. The potential benefits of moving away are often just ideas of greener grass on the other side. There is no reasonable proof that I would be happier with public transport in the long term, merely more mobile. There is no reason to believe that living in the country that produced the media I am inundated with will somehow make that more meaningful to me, just physically closer. There is no reason why people from elsewhere could make better friends in person than the ones I already have here. These are mostly thoughts that are appealing to think because they cannot be proven, and so benefit from being hypothetical.

[roywangtoday]

王源：成为那道光

Wang Yuan: Be the Light

2018年岁末，王源经历���刚成年后的第一个冬天，在新发表的专栏文章里，他开启了对人生命题的总结和思索，记录了自己身处喧嚣时被诗人费尔南多·佩索阿的作品集《我的心略大于整个宇宙》击中心灵的瞬间。然后，他在文中写道：“满天繁星，有我想成为的那道光。”

At the end of 2018, Wang Yuan experienced the first winter of his adult life. In the newly published column, he had a summary and reflection on questions of life, and described the moment when he was hit by “A Littler Larger Than the Entire Universe”, poems written by Fernando Pessoa, in the hustle and bustle. He wrote: “The sky is full of stars, and there is a light I want to be.”

人的一生是悬于两道永恒黑暗间的一隙微光，唯当人内生的自我开始觉醒时，这道光芒才会璀璨闪现，在即逝的瞬间穿透黑夜，为更多双眼所看到。王源找到了那道应属于自己的光，而接下来，他要成为那道光。

A person's life is a gleam of light between two eternal darkness. Only when his inner self begins an awakening will this light flash brightly, penetrate the night at an ephemeral moment, and be seen by more eyes. Wang Yuan has found the light that belongs to him, and then he wants to be the light.

坐在采访桌前，王源轻轻呼了口气，已经是晚上11点，杂志封面的拍摄刚刚结束，他还需要完成专访。白天是他的个人纪录短片《没有哪个夏天像今年一样》的线下分享会，算起来，他已经连续工作了十几个小时。

Sitting in front of the interviewer, Wang Yuan exhaled softly. It was already 11:00 pm. The shooting for the magazine cover had just finished and he still needed to do an interview. He had a press conference for his personal documentary short film “No Summer Is Like This One” during the day. In total, he had been continuously working for more than fourteen hours.

“我得想想怎么说。”垂下眼，盯着自己交握在桌上的双手，王源停顿了下来。采访者提出的问题在过去大半年里，已经不止一次出现在他面前，记者们��是反复问他：是否意识到去异国学习音乐这一决定背后潜藏的风险和损失？他们总像是不能轻易接受他面上表现出来的坦然。

"I have to think about how to say it." Wang Yuan paused, staring down at his hands on the table. The questions raised by the interviewer have appeared in front of him more than once in the past six months, and journalists repeatedly asked him: are you aware of the risks and losses behind the decision to study music abroad? They always seemed unable to accept the calmness shown on his face easily.

这次得换种说法，王源抽出手比划起来：“打个比方，今天在您面前摆了一个最新款的包，买吗？”

This time, he had to put it another way, Wang Yuan took out his hand: "For example, today there’s a latest designer handbag in front of you, will you buy it?"

对方愣住了。

The interviewer froze.

“买不买？”王源继续追问道。

“Will you buy it or not?” Wang Yuan continued to ask.

“买吧。”

“Yes, I will."

“好，买！它有啥用？有性价比吗？没有，喜欢就完事了。”

"Okay, you will! What's it for? Is it cost-effective? No, just because you like it."

“前提还得要有钱……”回过神的采访者逗起他来。

“First of all, if I had a lot of money..." The interviewer collected herself and started to tease him.

“不是，那您都说买了。”王源有点着急，身体前倾抢过话头，但言语依旧礼貌。他拊掌强调着：“喜欢就完事了，喜欢就完事了，对不对？”

“But you said you would buy it." Wang Yuan got a little bit nervous. He leant forward and interrupted her, still in a polite way. He clapped his hands and emphasized: “It’s because you like it and that matters, right?”

话音刚落，身边的工作人员都为这孩子气的举动笑了起来，王源面上透出些不好意思，抓抓后脑勺补充道：“有些决定就是脑子一热，喜欢，而且我现在年纪其实也小，还有机会去试错，但如果现在错过了喜欢的事情，其实是会后悔的，我挺怕自己后悔。”

As soon as he finished his words, the staff around him all laughed at the boyish behavior. Wang Yuan seemed a little embarrassed, he scratched his head and added: “I made some decisions impulsively, just because I like it, and I’m still young, so there is a chance of trial and error. But if I miss the thing I like now, I will regret. I don’t want to have any regrets.”

双手叠放回桌面，王源又恢复了乖巧标准的坐姿，他套着件白色的粗棒针毛衣，肩头瘦削，还带着少年人的脆弱美感，但微抬的脸上，轮廓线条已经立体起来，下颌转折处也有了凛冽的角度——这是19岁的王源，一个能与自己对话，并始终坚持自我选择的成年人。

Putting his hands back on the table, Wang Yuan returned to a proper and standard sitting position. He wore a white thick needle sweater, and the top of his shoulder looked slim, fragilely beautiful. However, he has a defined facial profile and a sharp jawline — this is 19-year-old Wang Yuan, an adult who knows himself and sticks to his decisions.

大一新生王源

Freshman Wang Yuan

“大家好，我叫王源，来自中国，见到你们很高兴。”

——王源／2019年9月／美国波士顿伯克利音乐学院"

Hello everyone, my name is Wang Yuan and I’m from China. Nice to meet you."

——Wang Yuan / September 2019 / Berklee College of Music, Boston, USA

2020农历新年过后，王源恢复到了“学校——公寓”两点一线的异国求学生活。他曾突发奇想把自己的生活划分成旧磁带的两面，A面是规律的学校生活，B面则代表着忙碌的工作。回到学校，身体就按下了跳转A面的播放键，开始了“吹不出褶”的平静日子。

After the Chinese New Year 2020, Wang Yuan got back into his life as an international student commuting between his apartment and school everyday. He once had an imagination to depict his life as two sides of an old tape, side A is regular school life, and side B represents busy work. Back at school, the body pressed the play button to jump to the A side, and peaceful days “without waves” began.

娱乐圈的喧嚣消失了，没有跑不见头的通告，也没了簇拥在左右的鲜花掌声和火热的眼神。在这里，王源能把头发简单地推成板寸，不需要每天出门前花费许久收拾造型，也不用时时戴着口罩。他能够自由地去逛超市，甚至大大方方地扛着���袋大米游荡��头。

The hustle and bustle of the entertainment industry disappeared. There were no endless schedules, no applause and flowers around, and no one was watching. Here, Wang Yuan can simply have a crew cut, instead of spending time on styling before going out every day, and he doesn’t have to wear a mask all the time. He is free to go to the supermarket and even walk in the street with a bag of rice on his shoulder.

“除了华人之外，国外的人其实不知道我是谁，我也不会告诉他们。”大一新生王源褪去了自己身上环绕许久的明星光环，快速融入了简单的求学生活。他和那些来自世界各地的同届学生一样，为了完成老师布置的作业头疼，还得提前很多天为排练作业订排练室，要不“就抢不到了”。新结识的外国朋友们也不曾发觉这个中国少年有何特别之处，除了一开始总会好奇地问他为什么总穿名牌。

"Except the Chinese, foreigners don't really know who I am, and I won't tell them." Freshman Wang Yuan took off his halo as a celebrity and quickly adapted to college life. Like other students from all over the world, he had to handle the coursework assigned by teachers and reserved the resemble room in advance for his rehearsal, or “they will be fully occupied”. New foreign friends have never noticed anything special about this Chinese boy, except that they asked him curiously in the beginning why he always wore expensive designer brands.

“他们老说我。”聊到这个，王源又有些不好意思：“我这几年没怎么买过衣服，带去美国的大部分都是品牌送的，上面都有logo。”

"They kept talking about that." Wang Yuan was a little embarrassed about it: "I haven't bought much clothes in the past few years. Most of those I brought to the United States were gifts from brands, with logos on them.”

被身边同学反复问过几次后，王源趁着波士顿大降温的机会，私下买了些寻常服装，替换掉了那些扎眼的名牌，不过他最后还是没将脚上的品牌球鞋换下来。“我从初中就开始收集这个牌子的鞋了，因为我喜欢，我还是照穿。”

After being asked several times by classmates, Wang Yuan bought some ordinary clothes in private to replace those fancy designer brands while the temperature dropped significantly in Boston. But he eventually kept his branded shoes. “I’ve been collecting shoes of this brand since junior high school, because I like them, I still wear them.”

“喜欢”，能为王源的很多决定作出最准确的注解，也是他选择在国内星途事业亟待更进一步的关键时刻，转而来到伯克利求学的源动力之一。但他新选择的道路又注定是不平坦的，一个曾替多位华语乐坛代表人物制作专辑的音乐制作人坦诚表示：“现在音乐是整个娱乐行业里最低的一个领域，艺人赚钱最少的就是做音乐。”

“I like it" can make the most accurate explanation for his many decisions. This is also one of the driving forces for him to study at Berklee at such a critical moment in his career. However, the path he chooses is destined to be uneven. A music producer who has made albums for many top Chinese musicians candidly admitted: "Now music is the underclass in the entire entertainment industry, and artists earn the least money by making music.”

高王源几级的伯克利音乐学院毕业生曲扬也同意这样的观点：“在国内，大家默认的华语音乐比较好的时段已经过去了。”曲扬先后就读于上海音乐学院和伯克利音乐学院，在他进入上音的第一堂课，老师就在讲台上向学生提问——“有多少人是想通过音乐赚大钱的？如果有人是这样想的，建议赶快改行。”

Qu Yang, a graduate from the Berklee College of Music, who is senior to Wang Yuan, agrees with that view: "We believe that the best era of Chinese music has gone.” Qu Yang once studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Berklee College of Music. During his first lecture at the SCM, the teacher asked students: “How many of you want to make a lot of money from music? If anyone thinks so, I suggest you change your career as soon as possible.”

早在王源还未出生时，世界音乐唱片行业就已经被盗版和流媒体播放器的浪潮冲毁，而他还未长成的童年时期，属于华语音乐的黄金时���也飞速落幕。那条通过音乐抵达人生更高舞台的道路，已经变得格外狭窄，王源清醒地知道自己的选择中存在足够多的不确定性，采访中他用三个“不知道”回答了关于未来更高成就的设想，但他同样清楚，选择一条更为艰难的道路，于他而言具有更多的必然性。

Long before Wang Yuan was born, the world's music record industry was already destroyed by a tidal wave of piracy and streaming media players. And in his childhood, the golden age of Chinese music came to an end. The road to the higher stage of life through music has become extremely narrow. Wang Yuan clearly knew that his choice came with uncertainty. In the interview, he said “I don’t know” three times to answer the question about his vision for future achievements. And he’s also aware that choosing a difficult path means more inevitabilities for him.

2019年9月3日，在飞往美国波士顿的航班起飞前，王源在微博上发布了新的消息：“去一个陌生的地方学习音乐，就是为了在未来能够把自己变得很好，带回更好的我。”少年成名的偶像早就明白，自己不仅代表作为单一个体的王源，时至今日，被太多人关注和推崇的他，身后亦有不少年轻一代紧紧追随。前行的力量得源于此，他需要变得更强大完美，才能更好地回馈身后的千万支持者。

On September 3, 2019, before the flight to Boston took off, Wang Yuan posted a Weibo: "Going to an unfamiliar place to learn music is to make myself good enough in the future and to bring back a better me.” He became famous while young and had long understood that he not only represents Wang Yuan as a single individual. Today he’s been followed and admired by so many people, including the younger generation. The strength to move forward comes from this, and he needs to be stronger and more perfect to give back to the millions of supporters behind him.

偶像王源

Idol Wang Yuan

“大家看舞台上亮吗？但我看你们很黑。”

——王源／2019年4月／《我是唱作人》对战赛

“Do you think it’s bright on the stage? But when I look at you, it’s actually very dark."

— Wang Yuan / April 2019 / The competition show “I Am A Singer-Songwriter”

作为千禧年代最具代表性的青少年偶像之一，王源身上有着诸多奇迹，他现在在微博上拥有7883万粉丝，单条微博创下过转发超4.7亿的记录。这群数量庞大的粉丝，还有着惊人的购买力：2016年5月，王源登上一线时尚杂志封面，杂志48秒售出71319册，打破了彼时圈内记录。这个记录在一年后又被他自己打破：2017年王源拍摄封面的杂志当期线上预售8秒16万册售罄，付款金额高达480万元。

As one of the most iconic millennial teen idols, many miracles happened to Wang Yuan. Now he has 78.83 million followers on Weibo, and a post from him has set record for more than 470 million reposts. This large number of fans also has amazing purchasing power: In May 2016, Wang Yuan made an appearance on a top fashion magazine. In 48 seconds, the magazine sold 71,319 copies, breaking the best selling record of that time. One year later, this record was broken again: in 2017, a magazine with cover of Wang Yuan was pre-sold online, 160,000 copies were sold out in 8 seconds and total sales amounted to 4.8 million yuan.

王源的影响力更在持续向多元圈层辐射。2017年，他被《时代》周刊评选为2017年30位全球最具影响力青少年之一；2018年11月，刚满18岁的王源又出任联合国儿童基金会大使，并于次年11月在联合国大会上发表中文演讲，呼吁关注儿童受教育权利。

Wang Yuan continues to radiate influence on multiple circles. In 2017, he was named one of TIME’s 30 most influential teens of 2017; in January 2018, Wang Yuan, who had just turned 18, became the UNICEF ambassador, and spoke at a high-level meeting held by UN General Assembly in November 2019, calling for children’s right to education.

与王源合作制作英文单曲《The Wrong Things》的北美音乐人Justin Gray曾在微博上发布了自己与王源合作的视频，播放量很快就超过了100万。“It's crazy.”看到数据的Justin Gray感叹道。

Justin Gray, a Canadian musician who worked with Wang Yuan on his English single "The Wrong Things", once posted a video about their collaboration on Weibo, which soon surpassed 1 million views. "It's crazy." Justin Gray was surprised when he saw it.

去美国念书后，国内的通告大量减少，但王源依旧被动地活跃在公众视野中心——近期他曾心血来潮在波士顿的公寓里下了两次厨，煎了一回牛排，还用火锅底料煮了“不一样的面”。他把这些发在了社交平台上，话题“王源煎牛排”“王源用火锅底料煮泡面”很快登上了微博热搜。而他在出国读书后参加的首档综艺里，因为小秀了一把厨艺，为其余嘉宾做了重庆小面，节目播出当晚，“王源温柔”的话题就成了粉丝热议的焦点。

After he went to US for study, the domestic schedules were significantly reduced, but Wang Yuan is still in the public eye passively — he recently cooked twice in his apartment in Boston, once for steak and once for noodles with hot pot broth. He posted these on social media, instantly the topics “Wang Yuan Cooked Steak” and “Wang Yuan Boiled Noodles With Hot Pot Broth” started trending on Weibo. In the first variety show he joined after studying abroad, he made Chongqing noodles for other guests, and “Wang Yuan Kind” became a hot topic for his fans on the night the show aired.

这种细致又过度的关注从七年前王源出道时，就如影随形。13岁的少年一路走来，为万人追捧的光环下，埋藏着各��各样的争论和质疑。这种分裂的现实持续打磨着这个少年偶像，让他飞速成熟，也让他变得足够细腻敏感。

People has been paying meticulous and excessive attention to him since seven years ago Wang Yuan debuted. The 13-year-old boy walked all the way to here, behind his popularity there are all kinds of arguments and doubts. The divisive reality constantly polishes this young idol, which makes him become mature faster than others, and be considerate and sensitive enough.

“害怕有一丁点不完美的事发生，害怕内心的成年跟不上身体的成年，害怕无法实现昨天预设下的明天。”在被视为内心“自留地”的《王源说》专栏里，王源这样描述成长给予他的焦虑，他把自我审视列为每日任务清单上的常见栏目，时时冷眼回视着这个跌跌撞撞向前走的自己。

“I was worried that things couldn’t go perfectly and my mental couldn’t keep up with my body. Also I was afraid of failing to achieve goals I set for tomorrow.” In the magazine column “Roy Says”, which is seen as a secret base for him, Wang Yuan described the anxiety of growing up. He puts self-examination on his daily to do list, and frequently looks back at himself, one stumbles forward.

2019年，参加华语唱作人挑战类节目《我是唱作人》时，王源在舞台上落了泪，当时他正在演唱自己作词作曲的歌曲《世界上没有真正的感同身受》。他的歌词写道：“面对其实只有一个人，一个人在夜里哭着，哭到头疼直到睡着，没有人能真的理解你啊，觉得虚伪你逢场作戏，我一直都会记得一句话，强大到无往不利……”唱到高潮处，站立在聚光灯最盛的舞台中心，抱着电吉他的王源红了眼眶。

In 2019, during a Chinese competition show “I AM A SINGER-SONGWRITER”, Wang Yuan shed tears on the stage when he was singing “Impossible Empathy”, a song written by himself. He said in the lyrics: “I face situations all alone. I cried alone at night with a headache till I fell asleep. No one can really understand you, people think you’re a hypocrite. There’s one word I always remember, be strong to conquer it all…” Wang Yuan teared up when he hold an electric guitar and stood in the center of the stage, singing the chorus.

开唱之前，他曾问台下的观众：“大家看舞台上亮吗？”

Before singing, he asked the audience: “Do you think it’s bright on the stage?”

“亮！”观众高喊着回答。

"Yes!" The audience answered in a loud voice.

“但我看你们，其实很黑。”攥紧话筒，这个穿着白衬衣的少年人慢慢说道。

"But I look at you, it's actually very dark." Holding the microphone, the young man in a white shirt said slowly.

同年，在一档访谈节目中，王源坦然把自己的成功归结为“十四亿分之三”的运气，他没有表现出“顶流”的骄傲，也不曾抱怨这难得的运气背后隐藏的其他一些东西，而是平静地一道接受了它们。

In a talk show of the same year, Wang Yuan frankly attributed his success to luck, “three out of 1.4 billion”. He didn’t behave arrogantly as a “top artist”, nor complained about anything behind his good luck, but accepted reality calmly.

“你不可能永远幸运，有一次幸运你就得把握好它”。镜头前，王源穿着深色西装，领带系得标准，眼神愈发沉静硬朗。

“You can’t be lucky forever. Once you have the opportunity, you have to seize it.” In front of the camera, Wang Yuan wore a black suit with a proper tie, and his eyes showed firmness.

成人王源

Wang Yuan as an adult

“长大也必然伴随着焦虑与敏感，唯一的解决之道，就是站起来、走出去，去做自己该做的、喜欢的、能做的事。”

——王源／2019年1月／专栏《王源说》之《长大这件小事》

“Growing up is always accompanied by anxiety and sensitivity, and the only solution is to stand up, to walk out, to do what you need to do, what you like to do, and what you can do.”

— Wang Yuan / January 2019 / Magazine Column “Roy Says”: The Little Thing Called Growing Up

曾有评论者将王源比作流量文化下为粉丝所“驯养”的那朵玫瑰——是大众虚拟希望和现实客体的结合，是玻璃橱窗里包装精美的脆弱花朵。

Some people once described Wang Yuan as a rose “domesticated” by fans in the context of current celebrity culture — he is a combination of people’s virtual hope and the realistic object, a delicate and attractive flower in the display window.

但七年的时间过去，王源的选择和行动正持续打破着这个定义的边界，他证明了自己确有为人叹服的美丽，但美丽的“玫瑰”却韧不可摧，也积蓄了独自抵御风雪的力量。这种独立生长的意愿在更早的时候就显现了出来。

However, after seven years since his debut, Wang Yuan's choices and actions repeatedly broke the boundaries of this definition. He has proved his charm, a beautiful but indestructible “rose” with strength to withstand the storm alone. And his desire to grow independently emerged even earlier.

2019年上映的王小帅导演作品《地久天长》里，王源饰演一个顶着死去孩子“刘星”的名字生活、最终选择拿回自己的名字去流浪的少年。片中，王源提供了最为本色的演出，他觉得这个角色就根植在自己的身体里。“我们是自我意识很强的一代人。”电影在柏林电影节上展映后，他这样评价道。

In a 2019 film “So Long, My Son” directed by Wang Xiaoshuai, Wang Yuan played a teenager who lived with the name of a dead child “Liu Xing” and eventually chose to take back his real name and leave home. Wang Yuan gave the most authentic performance in this film and he felt that this character took root in his body. “We are a generation with a strong sense of self awareness” He commented after the film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.

进入19岁的这一年，强烈的自我感知在王源身上更加鲜明地袒露出来。入学伯克利之前，王源发行了第一张真正意义上的个人专辑《源》，并在南京举办了首次个人演唱会。在那档他不顾团队建议、执意要参加的音乐节目中，他表现得格外具有“进攻性”。最开始的试听DEMO环节，当其他选手还在迟疑，他就第一个冲进了试音间。

The year he turned 19, the self-awareness of Wang Yuan was revealed more clearly. Before he went to Berklee, Wang Yuan released his first official album “YUAN” and held his first solo concert in Nanjing. He was surprising “aggressive” in the competition show which he insisted to attend despite objections from his team. At the demo session, he was the first to go into the audition studio when others hesitated.

一个多月里，被质疑没有作品的王源，接连拿出了《随想》《吆不到台》《世界上没有真正的感同身受》等五首原创曲目，而每次挑战赛他对战的选手，都是比他资深许多的乐坛老将。

During the six weeks, facing disapproval of his previous work, Wang Yuan continuously wrote five original song, including “Random Thoughts”, “Yao Bu Dao Tai” and “Impossible Empathy”. Every opponent he chose was much more experienced in the music industry.

“成年猛虎！”哪怕充满了紧张和不安，这个满脸胶原蛋白的年轻人也只是张开双臂，对着镜头晃晃拳头给自己短暂鼓劲儿后，就转身跑进了赛场。

“Adult tiger!” Although he felt stressed, this young man opened his arms and shook his fists in front of the camera to cheer himself up, then ran onto the stage.

“这一年，我觉得是成长最快的一年。几件大事情都是自己在做决定，自己在承担。”采访桌那头，王源的语气沉稳有力，和大家梳理着过去大半年的生活。

“I grew up the fattest this year. I made decisions and took responsibilities for several big things in my life.” From the other side of the table, his voice sounded deep and powerful. He shared his life in the past six months.

这个曾急切地想以“刚哥”的绰号摆脱固有标签的男孩，成年后更趋向于以“柔”作为新的进攻方式，也逐渐学会与自己的焦虑和解，找到了内心世界攻防相守的平衡。面对曾让他最头疼的写歌“难产”期，王源现在也淡定了很多：“以前抓耳挠腮，现在就不管了，等灵感来了再写。着急也没用，不如放轻松。”

In the past, he was eager to get rid of stereotypes and wanted to be called “Steel Brother”. After turning 18, Wang Yuan tended to attack in a moderate way. He gradually learnt to reconcile with his anxiety and found balance in his inner world. Even in face of challenges in songwriting that troubled him most, Wang Yuan is calmer: “I used to be stressed out but now I’ll leave it there until I get inspirations. Anxiety is not helpful, it’s better to take it easy.”

当然，某些时候你还是能看到他身上藏着的柔软和不安，去异国求学半年，除了工作需要，他基本都待在波士顿及周边。

Certainly you can still see the softness and worry hidden by him sometimes. During the past six months, he stayed in Boston and neighborhoods except for work.

“（长途旅行）挺危险也挺麻烦，虽然自由，但人生地不熟，一个人跑到一座新的城市，也没啥好玩的。”没课时，王源宁愿待在公寓看书写歌，或者和国内的小伙伴组队玩玩游戏。

“(A long-distance travel) can be dangerous and troubling. Although it’s free in an unfamiliar city but not much fun when you visit it alone.” In spare time, Wang Yuan would rather stay in his apartment, reading books, writing songs or playing games with friends in China.

当被追问是否从小就不习惯一个人去陌生的环境时，他淡淡答道：“不知道，我从小就出来工作了，没有一个人去过。”

When asked if he was not used to facing a new environment alone since he was a kid, he answered: “I don’t know. I started working young so I've never visited places alone.”

那些独属一个少年偶像的痕迹显露了出来。他过早地被这个时代选中，巨大的流量将他飞速推向成功，但接下来却又要花费十数年，跋涉过五光十色的山水，走出那片最初的福泽。对王源来说，成长的契机来得那样早，而长成的路也那样长。幸运的是，在赞歌和荣光的包围中，他牢牢防守住了自己的初心。

The unique features of a young idol gradually appear. He was chosen by the era too early, enormous popularity drove him to success overnight, and it may take years for him to walk through mountains and pay for the gift bestowed in life. For Wang Yuan, the opportunity came so early but it would be a long way to go. Luckily, even when surrounded by praise and glory, he firmly remembers why he started.

采访结束时，王源意外说起自己最近迷上了单板滑雪。“最大感受就是摔。摔得比较狠，是真疼。”他还是初学者，不久前才刚会换刃。早两年学习双板滑雪时，他从没摔过，但现在却只能在一次接一次摔跤的挫败中，慢慢爬起来，站回板上。

At the end of the interview, Wang Yuan mentioned that he got hooked on snowboarding recently. “The most impressive thing is falling. I fell badly and that really hurt.” He lately learnt how to turn on a snowboard and was still a beginner. Two years ago when he learnt to ski, he never fell. But now he has to overcome the frustration after falling over and over again, stand up and get back on the skateboard.

“是真的很挫败、很挫败，但从刚开始完全不会，后来能站上去慢慢往下滑，能一点点找到新的成就感。”说到这里，一直表情严肃的年轻偶像不知想到了什么，终于笑了起来。兴许把每一次尝试都当做fresh start，也挺好。

“It was really frustrating. In the beginning, I didn’t know how to do it at all, but now I can stand on the skateboard and go downhill slowly. It gives me a sense of accomplishment little by little.” When he talked about it, this young idol who looked serious during the interview seemed to think of something and finally smiled. Maybe it’s great to take every attempt as a fresh start.

translated by Mian, Sheep

proofread by Moni, Nancy

[nightskied]

coup in bolivia.

not only that, but surprise surprise (not to anyone), USA is involved, once again, in staging a   right wing coup in a country of América Latina.  this has happened before, this is NOT NEW.

did Evo Morales resign? he was forced to. when the army “suggests”, it isn’t a suggestion. 

after the 78k fraud, the OEA (organism that we should remark has remained quiet upon the rise of a fascist like Bolsonaro in Brazil and hasn’t asked for Piñera’s resignation in Chile but oh goody, a sindicalist, indigenous president in a country that doesn’t allow the stablishment in is suddenly intervened), from USA and biased, intervened and Evo allowed for a recount of the votes, making it so that the results would be binding.

he called again for elections. and hours later, a right-wing group of religious fundamentalists “suggested” that Evo should resign.

let’s take a bite out of any Latinamerican history book: what happens when there’s strong socialist/socialist-like governments in América Latina for long periods of time? USA intervenes. Condor Plan (1970 dictatorships), the (WHINSEC-dependant) Army School of the Americas (1946, created by the USA in Panamá, the SOA called for every middle-range of latin armies to be instructed in the annihilation of the “inner enemy”, which at that point was the advance of communist and socialist tendencies), to mention a couple.

we know that when the army gets involved in politics, they are easy to take the power because, well, guns and force. it’s not a decision made by the president, then, to resign, but an open threat that forces him to leave. previously, senators of the MAS (the Morales party in Bolivia) had been attacked, the intendent of Cochabamba (also from MAS party) was kidnapped by extremists of the right wing, they cut her hair and threw red paint on her (VIDEO HERE). the extremists that now have effectively exhorted the coup had done attempts to burn Evo Morales’ house down.

That is not a “suggestion” to resign presidency, that’s a threat.

Bolivia, a Plurinational Country.

Bolivia is constituted as a plurinational country, sovereign and de-centralized. as far as i know, and as far as i’ve found of information, in 2006 there’s a constituent assembly and the new Constitution, the Plurinational Constitution is approved. This, for indigenous people (in which we can count the aimara, quechua and guaraní), was an unprecedent thing: they had representation, their costumes and cultures, which make up most of the population of the country, were seen and recognized by the constitution.

To this point, we can’t forget the history of colonization of South America isn’t the history of colonization of North America: Here, the spanish used brute force, genocide, they did not bring in the amounts of slaves that the yanquis did (because spaniards and “the bible isn’t ok with slavery” half-assed shit), so they used to natives, especially in the mines.

To have recognition, after 500yrs of erasure, colonialism and neo-colonialism, is huge, and has angered the religious fundamentalists in Bolivia, and Evo Morales’ social politics have angered the USA, and Bolivia has natural resources and, well, let’s look at Venezuela, because Venezuela has petroleum.

As Bolivia constituted a plurinational country, the WIPHALA, the flag and symbol utilized by some of the communities of the Cordillera de los Andes, became a symbol for the country. Let’s think representation.

Evo Morales, a proletariat, sindicalist, indigenous president, not allowing the nasty yanquis into the economy and taking populist (social welfare) measures, giving voice to the once-erased native communities, giving them dignity and possibility of ascending in the social scale. Populism has a long run in América Latina. I’m personally not a fan, but i am not a fucking asshole.

Who are the ones doing this coup?

Evangelist groups that have stated that “Pachamama is out, we anwer to Christ”, the right-wing, primarily the cops and now the army too. 

Camacho, the prime face of this coup, has gas business that weren’t being fruituous due to Morales’ control of the economy. William Kaliman, leader of the Bolivian Army, was formed by the SOA. Recently, it has leaked that USA has hands in it. This was anticipated by Morales himself.

The Wiphala has been removed from the govt house, replaced by a bible. Wiphalas are being burned by religious fanatics that support the inconstitutional regime, cops are cutting them out of their uniforms, and people respond to the burn of their symbol: La Wiphala se respeta, carajo.

Jeanine Áñez, an evangelist senator, has declared herself “Constitutional President of Bolivia”, without enough quórum (the MAS representatives of parliament, who have majority, couldn’t come in), the presidential band was placed on her by a dude from the army. She demanded the army take an active role in repressing the manifestations against the coup, calling the army traitors for (initially under Kaliman’s leadership) refusing to take part. Kaliman has “resigned” two days ago.

The MAS representatives weren’t allowed entrance to the Senate and violently handled by the “security” forces.

This is a civic-military coup d’êtat.

The fundamentalists are now trying to implement a mediatic wall and isolate the country, they’ve already murdered people that have been protesting, they’re burning long-distance transports, they’re forcing international news reporters to quit reporting, and the return of said reporters isn’t granted either.

Meanwhile, international media is biased between two stories: this is/isn’t a coup. So let’s be clear: when the army “suggests”, they’re never suggesting. When USA is involved, it’s for economic reasons, it’s for resources, it’s for exploiting us as they have always, historically done. When the Church is involved, they’re accomplices. The media that doesn’t call this as what it is, a coup staged by the empire and the right-wing, is also an accomplice. The media that portrays the protesteres as “violent” and “deviating the purpose of protests” are also accomplices. The media that talk about the actions of the protesters and not the extreme violence exhorted by the oppressors, are accomplices. The media that don’t talk about this, are accomplices.

We need to talk about this, with the right information, we can’t let this happen. We can’t let a coup settle in power. We need to understand, without a “nationalist” blindness, the roles that are being played here, the pattern of behavior, the brute violence of the oppressors.

Globalization and technology makes it so it’s easy to get information and to viralize things. We need to viralize the violence, we need to not stop talking about the coup in Bolivia.

History has already told us how this goes.

[lit--bitch]

Current-Reads (13/04/20 - 18/04/20) 🎺🐝

(Disclosure: I know one of the writers (Annie Dobson) I’m featuring in the current-reads this week through Writing Squad. I also know Tom Bland who runs Spontaneous Poetics but I don’t personally know the two writers whose work I’ve enjoyed on the zine. And I don’t know anybody else sadly, probably because I’m a loner and a loser). 

Here’s the standard preface: every Sunday without fail I throw up the freshest literature and photography I’ve read over the week, sometimes it’s a book, sometimes it’s a piece I saw in a magazine or an online zine, sometimes it’s something I saw on social media, etc. Sometimes I add ‘RECOMMEND’ next to a few of the titles, but that’s not to say I don’t recommend all of them, I just love some pieces more than others. C’est la vie. And any titles that you see in bold are hyperlinked so if you click or tap them they’ll direct you straight to the source... or shopping basket. 

Anyway I’m just gonna get right into it. 

So this week I’ve been reading C.C. Hannett / kmwgh’s Lockdown Life and Charles Theonia’s Two Poems on Queen Mob’s Teahouse, I’ve read Haibun/Uncertainty/A Promise To Your Clothes from Jane Burns on Spontaneous Poetics and I flipped right back to September 2019 and re-read E.A.B’s have a wank because it’s fitting advice for our current predicament. I’ve returned to Patrick Süskind’s Perfume and I’ve been falling in love with Ariana Reines’s The Cow all over again, (whose new collection, A Sand Book, I’ll be reviewing in a few weeks time). Also been reading Annie Dobson’s Before The Ghost Town on the Writing Squad’s Staying Home series which boasts brilliant work. I can never get over how many amazing writers there are in the world. I’ve also discovered a new photographer with a brand new book out from Palm* Studios, Molly Matalon’s When a Man Loves a Woman. 

***

E.A.B’s have a wank, Spontaneous Poetics (21/09/2019): I keep going back to this specific piece because this poem makes you feel like you’re stood outside the John Snow in Soho, completely wasted, having a cig with a friend who’s also pissed up too. That’s the feeling I get from E.A.B’s work. She’s memorable and familiar and probably has a decent right hook. This poem is short, succinct, and means exactly what it means. I love work that is entitled quite plainly, in a way doesn’t subvert expectation—it’s tongue-in-cheek and funny. It’s also pretty good advice for when you’re in the midst of a global pandemic... or a personal crisis, I’m not sure what the difference is anymore. She also has another one up on Spontaneous Poetics, which is equally brilliant, blue balls at the end of humanity. 

Jane Burn’s Haibun/Uncertainty/A Promise To Your Clothes, Spontaneous Poetics (17/04/2020): This is a deeply sad poem eclipsed by grief and time’s relentless push and pull. It also has some absolutely beautiful personification, and it’s in the description of these vernacular objects that you really feel the subject’s hurting. ‘You’ is so empowering here, because it attempts to universalise the reader’s accessibility to the ardour of experience in this work, but is equally an attempt to sever the writer’s ‘You’ from themselves as ‘I’. This poem tells us that some pain is so painful, we can never fully accept that it has been ours to bear. 

Annie Dobson’s Before The Ghost Town, Staying Home from The Writing Squad (RECOMMEND): I’m not saying this just to be kind, all of the work on Staying Home is absolutely brilliant (discluding my own work, I promise I’m not that full of it) but Annie’s piece happened to be one of the first I read and I still think about it. Annie probably doesn’t know this but I stalk her writing. I’m her big fat secret admirer. Quintessentially British, her work smacks of kitchen-sink realism and cherry chapsticks you get in the chemist’s. I always get a noughties vibe from Annie’s writing, I always know what she’s on about. She doesn’t make the banality of life mystical, she treats the ordinary as well, just ordinary, and that’s magical enough anyway. Before The Ghost Town is a mish-mash of genres, it’s an essay but it’s a thought piece but it reads like a diary-entry and is formatted like poetry in some places. More than anything it’s a document on civilisation in Lewisham during the Covid-19 pandemic, and how full the world is still despite the reductive effects of a worldwide crisis. It’s a political critique on how fucked the UK government is, and how community is still one of the most valuable things we have in a world that is trying to make you fight over the last bag of fucking bread flour. It’s honest and sad and retrospective. It’s also filled with promise. I absolutely loved it. 

Molly Matalon, When a Man Loves a Woman: For a long time I shot pictures of men on 35mm to 120mm. I often felt strange doing it. I was used to the dogma of typical male politics; boys don’t cry, having a tough dad, penis envy, etc. It didn’t interest me anymore; the object of masculinity in its most vulnerable, in its deepest sensitivities was the impetus behind my desire to photograph men. Molly Matalon takes pictures of men I wish I had taken. But I don’t think she reverses the power dynamics, per se, although you can absolutely make the case for this, even argue her work is a case for the female gaze. But for me, she strips away these typical power dynamics, she doesn’t polarise herself as the subject, or the object. I don’t see tensions between sexes in these images. I see vulnerability, I see trust, I see relationships. I see men just as worthy of depiction as flowers, as fruits. I feel softness, I feel curves. The photographs in When a Man Loves a Woman are works of of idealisation of woman is implied by man, man as woman, woman as man, the fragile unity in these two creatures, and their reciprocations. She’s absolutely one to watch. 

Ariana Reines, The Cow (RECOMMEND): Ariana Reines is a writer so dear to me, that I can’t really contain in words just how much impact she’s had on me. I salute Elizabeth Ellen (a wonderful writer, and an editor at HOBART magazine in Los Angeles) who, one day, was moving apartments and very generously sent me a box of books all the way from the USA to my parents’ house in Manchester. In that box amongst many books lay Tiqqun’s Theory of the Young-Girl translated by Ariana Reines, and her debut collection, The Cow. So if it wasn’t for Elizabeth, I wouldn’t have read any Ariana Reines until probably much later on in life. At least, I’d like to think I’d have come across Ariana at some point anyway. 

The Cow was published in 2006 by my all-time fav magazine/publisher, Fence. The Cow isn’t poetry, isn’t prose, it’s not an essay, it’s just not any genre at all. And the fact you can’t categorise it is just really is emblematic of Ariana Reines as a writer, because she doesn’t redefine the dimensions of genres, she fucking blitzes them up in a big genre-food-processor. The Cow is the mythologisation and de-mythologisation of the woman as cow. It is the consumption and defecation of woman as cow. It is a lamentation. It is raw. It is beastly. It is thoughts and statistics and menstruation and abbattoirs. It is a dark work of art, and it’s one of the most beautiful, angry and strong texts I’ve ever read. It’s one of those books I think about often. I’d be engrossed on London tubes re-reading this over and over. It’s absolutely everything. 

Patrick Süskind, Perfume (RECOMMEND): Ah, the mothership. Patrick Süskind is... one of a kind. I borrowed the book from my best friend James and after reading it, I read it again. I still haven’t given back James’s copy (which I really need to), and I recently bought a UK first-edition of Perfume so now I can say it’s on my bookshelf. Reading Perfume is an intoxicating experience... I guess it’s because of the way Süskind writes about smell, and he writes about it so vividly that, for me at least, it can induce olfactory hallucinations. It’s not just about the story of a murderer with a superhuman power for scent, it’s about our relationship with different smells we come across throughout our life, their pungency and their ability to kind of tattoo our memory. You can recall scents in a way that you might not be able to with sounds. I don’t remember fully the way my maternal grandmother sounded, she passed when I was a little girl, but I still know her smell. It’s Youth Dew and sweets. Perfume induces sensations and memories in me. It’s a text I go back to time and time again. 

C.C. Hannett / kmwgh’s Lockdown Life, Queen Mob’s Tea House (03/04/2020): Queen Mob’s Tea House is a new fav of mine and their zine kind of reminds me of the Richmond Tea Rooms in Manchester’s Gay Village. They’re a bit Alice in Wonderland, a bit occult, a bit down-the-rabbit-hole, pink and sparkly, with black lace. If that description of the zine borders on pretension then, sorry. I have zine synaethesia. So these poems from ‘C.C. Hannett / kmwgh’ (I’m not sure I understand the name) were awesome little tidbits on living through a global pandemic. An ellision of pop culture, absurdity and tenderness. A reminder that we will never get this time back, and that if you’ve got the luxury of being with your loved ones right now, cherish it. I also really loved the last line of this guy’s bio, no social media handles or website, just: “You can find him if you want to.” Lol. 

Charles Theonia, Two Poems, Queen Mob’s Tea House (24/05/2017) (RECOMMEND): I loved both of these poems but I mostly wanted to talk about ‘shame’. I enjoyed ‘shame’ for its density—it’s a single block paragraph—the format has a weight to it, like that of feeling shame. I know this was published in 2017, basically I was just surfing the zine’s website and clicked on Queen of Pentacles (I was intrigued bc I read Tarot) and this was the  latest entry on there. I enjoy the bluntness and conversational-ism of these two pieces, but I particularly loved ‘shame’ for the way it unpacks shame as a multi-faceted, festering spawn that drags you under, and under, and under. Its resonance is powerful. 

*** Anyway that is enough from me zis week. Next Friday I’m reviewing Charlotte Geater’s poems for my fbi agent which is again from Bad Betty Press. Stay safe, eat cake. xxxxxx

[feministdragon]

okay, so here's this fantastic rant that I want to share

http://gaslitnation.libsyn.com/mafia-state-usa  

https://www.gaslitnationpod.com/episodes-transcripts-20/2019/11/19/mafia-state-usa-1

@44:50

Andrea Chalupa: There was a study how in political journalism white men talked to other white men and women get shut out of the conversation, and therefore women are locked out essentially of being prominent political journalists. There are very few of us. And there's no greater example of that than just now, Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo and Jon Favreau of Pod Save America saying that I am the former DNC contractor who has been called before the House. Andrea Chalupa.  [It’s Alexandra Chalupa, her sister]

Sarah Kendzior: [laughter] Oh my God.

Andrea Chalupa: And I'm sort of like, wait a minute, you guys. I want to say to Josh Marshall and John Favreau of Pod Save America: the Kremlin, the Kremlin can tell me and my sister apart, which is why we in America here, our media, and our government has been played so successfully by the Kremlin. If you here in America cannot even tell that my sister and I are two very different people, what is wrong with you? How can we trust you to accurately, successfully, effectively cover one of the greatest crimes in human history? Get it straight. On the heels of the Steele dossier being dropped by BuzzFeed, Putin's Sean Hannity did a segment on how my sister created the Trump Russia scandal and how I helped her. The only solace I took in that was that, "Okay, well, at least the Kremlin is smart enough to know that we're two different people. I wish my own media would catch up."

Sarah Kendzior: Yeah, I mean, it's pathetic. It's a sign of their laziness. It's a sign of their incompetence, but their incompetence puts people's lives at risk.

Andrea Chalupa: It's a sign of their arrogance. It's a sign of their arrogance. We've had this show for a year. We have members of Congress that follow this show. We've had outreach from members of Congress. We've had impact with what we've had to say. And yet our colleagues in the political journalism world, we don't register with them. We don't count on their radar, because they're busy talking to each other. If we were two men that launched a successful podcast within a year, there's over half a million podcasts out there. Very few rise to the surface. Gaslit Nation within a year was able to do so, within its first few episodes was able to do so. Our trailer announcing the show went viral. If we were two men who managed this on our own, we would have profiles written about us. Instead, Sarah and I continue to be ignored, even though we're at the center of this and our lives are threatened by this and we're getting harassment and phishing emails and other things as a result of the reporting we're doing. And yet, we're still continually sidelined by our colleagues who are also covering the story.

Sarah Kendzior: Right, and it's only by a certain type of colleague, to be honest. It's by rich white men who live in New York and D.C., because we do have a very large audience. We have a very diverse audience. We have an international audience. You have a movie; I have a bestselling book. We both do media appearances regularly. Like, we're not exactly languishing in obscurity. What I find frustrating about this is like, you know, I certainly do not need the validation of like Pod Save America, or, God help me, Josh Marshall to get through my day. I can live without that. What is frustrating is that the information that we're putting out there is coming months in advance of other publications and that it's because of our expertise, because we both spent our lives studying the former Soviet Union. And of course, in your case, your sister is caught up in this whole mess. And so when we come out in April and May with warnings about Giuliani's activity in Ukraine and about how he is the new Manafort and about everything else that we were like, "Please, Congress, look at this. Please, U.S. media with more resources and money than us. You need to look at this. You need to examine this, or we're going to end up with something like, oh, I don't know, Trump conducting an extortion scheme in July." Maybe if you would actually pay attention to what's going on and listen to people who have experience with this region, despite the fact that we happen to be women, maybe you’ll fucking know a thing or too, instead of just running out your mouth like, "Wow, I can't figure out why in the world Trump is connected to Putin." It's like, holy fucking shit, man. Like, there are books about this. Like there are books, you know, there are books written by me, but there are books written by many other people. There are television shows run by women like Rachel Maddow or Joy Reid that have been documenting this for years. You've got to catch up. You suck at your job. Like, either quit your job or catch up, because lives are on the line.

Freedom of speech is one of the few weapons that we have at our disposal that we more or less control. Free speech, free media. Guess what? It's probably not going to last forever, so it's your duty as an American citizen, as a journalist, to try to inform the public. And if your information is marred by your inability to actually consider women as human beings and listen to their expertise, then we're in a lot of trouble, because as we see again, as they pointed out in the beginning of the show, people who are bringing the truth forward are often women. It is Fiona Hill. It's the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. It's whistleblowers like Reality Winner. It's the journalists I just mentioned. And it's a very consistent phenomenon of being marginalized in this discussion. And again, this is not about ego. We've been around long enough that we really don't give a fuck. It's about facts.

Andrea Chalupa: It's about facts. Let me break it down to you like this. So I have a friend who is an executive coach, and she said that her clients primarily come from mediocre white men who are so shocked that they keep getting promoted that they need help managing the extra responsibilities, and women who are doing all the work and never being promoted. That's her client pool.

Sarah Kendzior: And that's how things are. That's how things are in the United State of America.

Andrea Chalupa: That's political journalism. That's journalism. That's government. That's the space we're in.

Sarah Kendzior: And we encourage women to just keep speaking out and keep telling your stories and to, you know, if you can, run your own podcast or your own publication. Like, media is dying. We've seen a gutting of independent journalism. We're losing outlets right and left. The mainstream media is largely co-opted not just by government pressure, but by corporate constraints. We have barriers to entry where you have to be quite wealthy a lot of times to work for a pittance at one of these prestigious publications in the most expensive cities in America. We've got one out of every four journalists living in a very expensive place, while people like Missouri can afford to shoot their mouths off. And so I just encourage, you know, I don't want women to listen to this and feel discouraged, feel like no one's going to listen to them, because that's a really funny thing. Every day I get probably a hundred to a thousand tweets of people saying that, you know, "No one listens to Sarah Kendzior." [laughter] I'm like, well, if no one's listening to me, why are my mentions just an endless stream of people telling me that no one listens to me? And really, the key word in that sentence is "no one," because what they mean by "no one" is wealthy, white men, because everybody else is listening and is, you know, quite aware. It's this very narrow group, a kind of tyranny of the minority within journalism that, you know, part of it is they cannot come to grips with the breakdown of American exceptionalism. They cannot come to grips with the fact that they missed the story. They missed the boat. This all went right over their head while they were busy rambling on about Hillary's emails and how she was destined to win the election and all the other shit they got wrong. They cannot handle that. It's incredibly humiliating, because our very existence is a slap in the face to that establishment. And it's like, well, you know what, tough shit. We're all on the same sinking boat. We're all Americans living under this incredibly corrupt administration. We should all be trying to do our part to get the facts to the people. So yeah, I'll leave it at that.

Andrea Chalupa: And let's end it with Elizabeth Warren. You have Biden potentially crumbling as a frontrunner because he doesn't have what it takes. And it's just a simple fact of Biden not reading the room, not being part of the zeitgeist right now and giving the terrorist organization fueled by blood money—the Republican Party—way too much credit, saying that if only the Republicans can free themselves of Trump, we can have a united country. The Republican Party created Donald Trump. They are complicit. They're all in this together. This was the inevitable. The Trump Frankenstein monster was the inevitability of the Republicans party's ideology of hate, which has been growing in this country for so long, and so Biden's not reading the room. And what you're having is this emergence of Elizabeth Warren. Elizabeth Warren has been doing such an incredible job in having this common-sense platform where she has these plans on how she's going to confront the corruption that allowed Donald Trump to come to power. Elizabeth Warren is framing the debate accurately that the 2020 election is going to be about corruption. It's just corruption, plain and simple, and that is what her plans are about, is tackling gross income inequality, tackling the inhumane policies in America, where people are continuing to fall through the cracks as a society where any sort of health problem can make you lose your house and go bankrupt. And yet, you have a cable news bubble that continues to demonize her because they are afraid of losing their own power. What we're hearing on cable news is the familiar sound that all women know, and that is the entitled scream of the mediocre white man, because they know that we are coming for them because they have had power for far too long and they did not use it responsibly. So now nobody, nobody gives up power willingly, especially idiots. So what we need to do is arm ourselves with our grassroots armies, wait for nobody to save us but ourselves and show up, and show up for each other, and do not give in to their gaslighting. Elizabeth Warren has what it takes. She's a well-balanced candidate, and she has solutions to all of the social ills that gave rise of Donald Trump. And she understands. She has called the enemy by name, and the enemy is corruption.

Sarah Kendzior: Absolutely. And you know, on the final note, what they were chastising Warren for this week was being, quote, "angry and antagonistic." Which, quite honestly, I'm glad she's angry. She's angry at injustice. She's angry at the corruption of billionaires who are influencing and breaking our institutions, who have run this nation roughshod. And so yeah, she's antagonistic toward them. To be clear, she's not alone in this. You see this kind of rage from Sanders, you saw it from Beto O'Rourke, you see it sometimes from Kamala Harris, from Julian Castro. You see it from many of the candidates, and it's a good thing. We should be angry right now. That type of anger is a form of compassion. It is the opposite of hate or spite. It is the opposite of apathy, and I think people oppose this, people in the media from high positions of power who have been entrenched in that power despite their lack of merit, because it makes them very uncomfortable. It reminds them that there is an alternative to godlessness and to moral failure, and so I encourage all the candidates to continue speaking out in the way Warren has, and I encourage female journalists and other female activists to keep speaking out despite these sexist caricatures and attacks, and this insistence that we play nice, because quite honestly, there's a difference between nice and good, and I think that what we need to do is do good, is do things that are morally sound, things that are beneficial and helpful to vulnerable people, instead of just valuing this, quote-unquote "civility" above all else, because all civility is is a cloak for corruption.

[ograndebatata]

My thoughts on some issues with Season 3 of Elena of Avalor

Disclaimer: This post is only an exposition of my personal opinions on what I think are bad aspects of a series that I overall like. It is not meant to reflect my thoughts on the series as a whole, on the show’s creators, cast members, or anyone else involved in its production. It’s also not meant to reflect my thoughts on fans of the show who don’t find any problem with the things I’ll be pointing out.

However, while I will do my best to go about it politely, said opinions are still about ‘less good’ points of the series. 

I’m not saying any of you has to agree with everything I said, or even with a word with it. And I’m also not saying I posted this because I wanted to start an argument. I just happened to find enough issues with the series in too few episodes that I wanted to put forth my thoughts on them.

All those who feel curious as to what those are, feel free to read on. 

Introductory words

This one is a first for me.

To the best of my memory, I never actually wrote such a lengthy piece of text offering criticism on any kind of media, be it a book, a video game, a TV series, or anything else. 

But despite how little my Tumblr may or may not reflect it, I am a fan of various TV series and book series and film series, and many books and films that aren’t part of any series as well.

Two shows that I can safely say I am a devoted fan of are Sofia the First and Elena of Avalor. Yes, it may sound odd that a guy my age likes TV shows meant for preschoolers (at least regarding Sofia the First, as I have seen some debate on whether Elena of Avalor actually is for preschoolers) but both of them, in my opinion, are good for all ages. 

To those who might be dropping in out of nowhere and are at a loss on what I’m talking about, I will offer some context, in case you’re interested in reading more about this. However, I strongly recommend you watch both series before diving in, especially because this will contain spoilers for recent episodes. 

Sofia the First is a series that aired on Disney Junior from 2012 to 2018 (in the USA, at least, as other countries had different release dates), about a princess whose widowed shoemaker mother falls in love with a king. As a result of her mother’s eventual marriage, Sofia gains a new father and two new siblings, but also the responsibility of learning to be a princess, even though she doesn’t become the crown heir. 

It was a fun show, with lots of good elements, such as likable characters, fun adventures, defiance of gender stereotypes (both from girls and from boys) and occasional cameos from various Disney Animated Canon characters, such as Snow White, Mulan, and Olaf. I strongly recommend it.

Elena of Avalor started airing in 2016, and takes place in the same universe as Sofia the First, with its intended premiere actually being a spin-off of Sofia the First called Elena and the Secret of Avalor, meant as a backdoor pilot to the series, but which eventually became an episode with a framing device in present day added in. It premiered on Disney Channel, but it was eventually reclassified as part of Disney Junior. 

In my opinion, it is even better than Sofia the First. Besides including the same kind of likable characters and fun adventures, it also focuses on elements like family relationships, dealing with trauma, mourning deceased loved ones (with onscreen murder of the protagonist’s parents actually being committed by the show’s starter villain), and a few characters that can’t be so easily labeled as heroes or villains. It also has character growth from the leading characters, which by itself makes it stand out. I recommend it even more strongly than Sofia the First. 

However... I do feel both series have their points where they seem to show lack of work put into them, for lack of a better description. 

For Sofia the First, I feel those started in the fourth and final season, when the series became more serialized. And coincidentally or not, they seem to be starting in Elena of Avalor in its (so far, at least) final season (in this case, its third), which has also been said to feature a single, largely serialized arc. 

This is, by and large, my attempt at laying out the current on that front in Elena of Avalor, and my general feelings on them.

I will give from the get-go that the bulk or even the entirety of these are bound to go over the heads of the target audience, which is not made up of adults like me. However... I am someone who likes consistency and continuity in the media he consumes, and while I don’t mind some wiggle room, I find that there are limits. And while things like action and humor and the like aren’t handled the same way for all audiences, I feel that general attention to detail should be applied with the same rigor whatever the target demographic.

Anyone is welcome to read, but once more, people who didn’t watch the series are bound to have no idea what I’m talking about, and will get spoiled in case they decide to watch either series later.

To use somewhat of a stereotypically stern sentence... don’t say I didn’t warn you

Overview of Season 3 so far

Let me make one thing clear. Just because I’m speaking of negative points in Season 3 of Elena of Avalor, it doesn’t mean I hate the season. It’s not horrible, or even bad. 

It already showed a lot of strong points, of which I will list a few.

- We get to see interesting new locations, both within Avalor itself (like Xotep and the Sunbird Temple) and outside (like the Grotto Metamo in the realm of Vallestrella and the Kingdom of Norberg)

- Old characters that haven’t been seen in a while return, such as the noblins, Princess Valentina, and the sunbirds Lama, Qapa, and Hool. 

- We got to meet fun new characters, such as Queen Abigail and Princess Chloe of Norberg, and the vulture-humanoid imp Zopilote. 

- We’re seeing more character development, both for heroes, like Elena, Isabel and Migs, and for villains, like Victor Delgado, Carla Delgado, and King Hector.  

- The animation is still overall great, despite minor goofs here and there.

But overall, I do find this season ‘less good’ so far when compared to the previous ones, as well as indicative of a certain sloppiness from the creators. And the main reasons why are below.

Just where is the source of all magic?

In Sofia the First, a plot-point that has been accused of being tacked-on is the element of the Mystic Isles, a floating magical archipelago which forms an important plot-point of the series’ fourth and final season, and was only introduced in said season’s first episode. 

Overall, I see where that statement is coming from. While there was nothing before that directly contradicted said place’s existence, it did suffer from a lack of foreshadowing. 

Granted, one thing many shows end up falling into is having to come up with new plot points for upcoming seasons if a series lasts longer than expected even though the creators had been planning to wrap everything up before. And sometimes, that’s difficult. 

And despite it seeming relatively out of nowhere, the Mystic Isles had fun elements (like Sofia’s general exploration of the Mystic Isles), interesting characters (like Chrysta, Sofia’s trainer as a protector) and lessons relevant to the target audience being taught (such as being accepting of differences). 

However, in Sister of Invention, the premiere of Season 3 of Elena of Avalor, we are introduced to the concept of Tacaina, which is said to be the source of all Maruvian magic, and a place that supposedly can be found through a special map which is only obtained via the cracking of a special puzzle.

Fans who never watched Sofia the First most likely will not notice this element, but as someone who did watch it, I’m a little confused. After all, both shows are set in the same universe, with both series referring to the world they’re set in as the Ever Realm. And in Sofia the First, the Mystic Isles were specifically said to be the source of all magic, period. 

I will give it is possible that said information was give by someone, shall we say, not fully informed on the matter (in Sofia the First, it’s given by a painter seen at the Conjurers’ Conference in the Season 4 premiere). But in Sofia the First, the Mystic Isles seemed to be enough of a widespread secret there that wizards knew about them and what they were. So I’m not sure how likely this is.

Overall, some kind of actual confirmation on this would be nice, if one is to determine what is specifically canon. 

Otherwise, it’s a plothole, although one that’s admittedly hard to spot.

What makes a villain?

One thing that has been praised, and fairly so, is how most villains in Elena of Avalor are not only fun to watch, but well developed enough to have some kind of motive. Those motives may be simple, but they do exist. Troyo wanted to be King of the Jungle, Fiero wanted revenge for not having been Royal Wizard, Victor and Carla want respectively respect and an escape for loneliness, and the list could go on. 

The only two villains which were so far shown to have a complete lack of a motive (going only by what we see on the series) are Shuriki and Zopilote. The former was an evil old hag who wanted to oppress, the latter is an evil old creep who wants to destroy. 

Adding to that, many villains were shown to be dead serious and had genuinely unsettling vibes even for an adult audience. Shuriki committed onscreen murder and oppressed a kingdom for 41 years, Fiero could have left a whole ballroom’s worth of people petrified for eternity, and Marimonda could have killed thousands or even millions with her magical gardening if her rampage had continued. 

For Season 3, we have Ash Delgado, who despite being tamer than other villains in the show, already proved to be a threat to be wary of, having come almost as close to killing Elena as Shuriki (although I do still think Shuriki is scarier). 

But... there are things about her which don’t seem to add up. 

For one, in her first villain song, The One And Only, she claims that Zopilote took everything he wanted from her town, including her two pet mice, and that the deed made her realize that the most wicked always wins and caused her to say goodbye to goodness.

A bit simple, but I think it still serves its purpose, especially if those pet mice were, for some reason, the only family she had.

But then, she tracks down the very same malvago that took her pet mice from her and wants to learn magic from him specifically.

It seems odd.

There’d be other malvagos as well for sure. Why would she want specifically that one? After all, supposedly she would hold a grudge against him for taking what she had. Yes, she specifically alluded to saying goodbye to goodness, but... even from a practical sense, it doesn’t seem like a good decision. After all, there were all sorts of inherent risks.  

Could this actually be some kind of long game at revenge? Or was losing her pet mice just an excuse to be a shit, which she actually always was from day one after all? 

I’ll give it’s the kind of thing that we can get actual confirmation on later in the series, but... it’s still a bit of a confusing setup.

When are we again? 

One thing that I personally always found strong in Elena of Avalor, and which I loved since it was first implemented, is the general attention to continuity. While some episodes, most notably Realm of the Jaquins and Two Left Fins, did have their first airings out of order, they were somehow conveyed to be out of order, and could be retroactively fit into their right place in an appropriate way.

Overall, it largely seemed like there was a clear timeline of events, despite a few minor hiccups. 

But now, things are just getting confusing there. 

First, Sister of Invention seems to show a sort of graduation/end of the year diploma for Isabel after she finishes her stint at college. However, the bulk of indications suggest that said stint should have ended months before, given the duration of the average school year. 

Yes, it’s possible that the school year in Avalor is one of those that goes from February to December, like those in the Southern Hemisphere in the real world. However, going by the very long vacation Isabel took in Nueva Vista, it doesn’t seem likely, unless the time we saw her in Return of El Capitán was some kind of temporary leave to attend Dia de los Muertos with her family. 

Which is a possibility, especially given how the upcoming Carnaval episode (which has to be set in either February or March) will take place shortly after Season 3 begins, but it’s another kind of thing that would be nice with some concrete indication.

Second, the episode The Incredible Shrinking Royals has a feast of friendship somewhere between January and March. Season 1 showed it to be somewhere in July or August (given how Party of a Lifetime was specifically said to take place in July, and Masks of Magic seems to have taken place either afterwards or not very long before), but now we have it in February or March.

Fair enough. Maybe this year’s Feast of Friendship happened earlier... but then there is another problem that comes from a line of dialogue in the episode. It’s when Elena tells Doña Paloma that it was she who told her that what matters is what people do when they arrive where they want to be... at the previous year’s Feast of Friendship!

Which I’m sorry, doesn’t add up.

Between Masks of Magic and The Incredible Shrinking Royals, there was one Dia de Los Muertos in The Jewel of Maru, and another in Return of El Capitán. By that reckoning, more than one year has passed between the two. And also, Doña mentions that the feast in the latter episode will be her thirteenth, when it should be her fourteenth. Yes, maybe there wasn’t a Feast of Friendship on that missing year for some reason, but still, the Feast of Friendship on which Doña told that to Elena would have been two years before not the previous year.

This one is actually a repeat of a prior error, as in All Kingdoms Fair Julio told Doña that she helped them build their float last year and they had a parranda. Granted, things could have happened exactly that way in the Christmas we didn’t see, but well... it just seems more like a goof.

How much time to traditions?

I will admit, this one is largely nitpicky. 

But it’s still something I noticed, and thus I felt it should be included. 

In Father In Chief, Chief Zephyr briefly sits down on what seems to be some kind of magical stone that makes his statue, which in turn is inside the Commander’s Rock, which we first saw in Shapeshifters. Skylar calls it a jaquin tradition. Which on itself, seems fair. 

But in Shapeshifters, Chief Zephyr specifically mentioned that it was Alacazar who built the Commander’s Rock. Alacazar, who was King Raul’s Royal Wizard, less than fifty years before. Yes, Alacazar could have been the Royal Wizard for longer than that, but given how long-lived jaquins seem to be (King Verago has ruled for over fifty years and still looks fairly youthful), Alacazar would have to be very long-lived to have built the Commander’s Rock long enough ago for all those jaquin chiefs to exist. Which doesn’t seem likely, given how in Elena and the Secret of Avalor he seemed to largely age at the rate of a regular human.

Yes, I will plead guilty to wizards in my fanfic continuity also being more long-lived than non magical humans, so I can’t fault canon for doing the same, but.. by that much? It just seems... well, unnaturally rushed.

I will give it’s also possible that the jaquin statues and the plaque that makes them were elsewhere before and were moved to the Commander’s Rock later... but again, it seems something that could have had more of an explanation in canon. 

If love really is in the air, it started floating a bit suddenly  

If the page about him on TV Tropes is anything to go by, Craig Gerber isn’t big on romance in the series he conceives, at least between the main characters.

That said, for a series where romance isn’t the main focus, he and his team overall do a very good job of portraying nice romantic relationships in it, whether they’re between couples that have been married for decades (such as Francisco and Luisa, who in their time together are clearly shown as very much in love after all these years) couples that fall in love at first sight (like Charoca and Charica, who were just adorable) or what appears to be a sum of both (like King Pescoro and Queen Camila, who look like they fell in love at first sight, but have nurtured that relationship over time and been together for around twenty years, if not longer).

And if Elena and Mateo end up becoming a romantic couple, I can say without exaggeration that it will be the best progression from friends to lovers that I have seen in recent television.

Still... I can’t help but think they kind of dropped the ball in the most recent relationship they have apparently introduced.

I will give I may be unduly biased, given my shipping preferences for the characters... but I promise I’m trying my best not to be. 

In a recent Twitter post, I called it a romance that seemed out of nowhere.

In a more recent Twitter post, I said it seemed less out of nowhere, but still an abrupt leap. 

And well... as I write this, I still stand by the latter statement.

I’m sorry, but I feel that, on a canon level, if Gabaomi is really meant to be portrayed as romantic, it got the short end of the stick on portrayals of couples in Norberg Peace Prize.

Maybe it has to do with different expressions of affection across cultures, as well as with my personal views on affection. I mean, I hug my best friend when we meet after we don’t see for a while, and we’re both guys and hetero. And it’s not at all unusual here in Portugal for friends of different genders to greet each other with hugs and cheek kisses. On a familial level, it’s also common for mothers and children of both genders, as well as fathers and children of both genders, to greet each other with cheek kisses. 

So to me at least, mere hugs between two friends, even if of a different gender, don’t exactly scream ‘ROMANCE!’. 

I will give that Gabe and Naomi had subtle moments so far that could be interpreted as romantically coded, such as their dance in My Fair Naomi, their hug in Song of the Sirenas, and their hug in Naomi Knows Best. But... well, again, it doesn’t exactly shout like there was a romantic relationship upgrade.

I also know it’s a Disney Junior show, and that there possibly is some form of rule against explicit romance, at least between younger characters, in the series. But unfortunately, I feel that only makes the whole thing even more confusing.

Is it romantic, or is it not romantic?

If it’s not... then perhaps this is all a mountain made out of anthill.

If it is... it does feel a bit sudden, despite those subtle moments. I feel there should have been some kind of ‘more overt’ display between Naomi Knows Best and Norberg Peace Prize. As is, it feels a bit too sudden of a leap. 

At least to me. 

I have no idea what lies in store on that front. It’s possible that this was never romantic to begin with. It’s possible that this ends up being a relationship that doesn’t work. And it’s also possible that this is it. 

Either way... well, the whole plot point doesn’t outright have me go ‘EW!’, but it does have me a fairly bit puzzled. 

Again, maybe it’s something else that will turn out to be clearer as the show goes on. 

But if the current status of things is really it, period, then I have my doubts.

Full sum

To reiterate the point I made in the beginning, Season 3 of Elena of Avalor still has a lot of good things going for it. 

To add a few to the list I made above:

- The cast members’ performances are as good as always, like those in the scene where Elena and Esteban have their... tense moment after Esteban admitted he sabotaged the Feast of Friendship hosted by Julio. 

- There are plenty of hilarious moments, such as the antics between Queen Abigail and King Hector. 

- The action scenes so far, such as the battle in Sister of Invention, are great.

Once more, the list could go on. 

But despite that, if Season 3 already has so many issues in so few episodes (and I’m not even including things like animation goofs in these things I point out) I feel it’s not presenting the best image of itself so far. 

Yes, individually, each of these things is fairly small, but when all of them add up and one keeps in mind that the average is basically one issue per episode... well, being as gentle about it as possible, it doesn’t exactly give as good an image of the series as it once had. 

It’s not an awful series for sure, but I do feel sad that it started to show so many signs of ‘less effort’ in a row. 

That said, it’s true things can still improve on the remainder of the season. And being a fan of the series, I hope they do.

Thank you to all those who actually made it to the end of this essay. I look forward to knowing your thoughts on this, whatever they are.

Peace out.

[insideabunker]

The Games: Chapter 5

"A mere five days since the opening ceremony here at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and already athletes from around the world have astounded us with seemingly superhuman feats of strength and skill."

The television screen flickered and gleamed, illuminating the faces in the darkened lounge in an ethereal blue glow.  From ever couch and chair, athletes watched as the clips flashed past on the screen, searching for their faces among the event highlights.

"There I am!"  A 16-year-old from Quebec pointed eagerly at the screen where a clip played of a tiny snowboarder, flying over the side of a halfpipe as he grabbed the front of his board and spun in the air.

"There's been no shortage of heartbreak either, with several heavily favored athletes going home empty-handed in their final Olympics."

A scruffy Luger in the front row of couches sighed, watching himself cross the finish line a tenth of a second shy of a medal.  A shaggy-haired skier just behind him placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. “Your run was still a beauty Sammy. No shame in that."

"Here at the Coastal Cluster in Gangneung, South Korea, all attention seems focused on the highly anticipated preliminary matchup between the U.S. and Canadian women's hockey teams."

In an armchair in the back of the room, Lexa shifted uncomfortably in her seat.  Try as she might, it had been impossible to drown out the media's furor over the upcoming game.  All week long, the predictions and opinions of commentators had been buzzing in her ears like a million tiny mosquitos, refusing to be silenced and impossible to swat away.

"The two powerhouses meet tomorrow, in a contest which is sure to incite pure pandemonium among spectators.  Both teams are overflowing with talent and likely candidates for Olympic medals.  Who will leave PyeongChang with Gold, however, is perhaps the most hotly contested subject of this Olympics.  For predictions on that subject, we turn to longtime Olympic hockey commentator Liam McHugh.  Liam, welcome to the show."

"Thank you, Jim.  It's nice to be here again."

"Liam, I'd like to get right down to it.  What do you think the significance of this preliminary game is?"

"Well, Jim, I suspect that it will set a precedent for the level of play we're going to see going forward into the medal rounds.  Among the competitors in PyeongChang, there's a sense that any team looking to win gold needs to go through the U.S. or Canada.  Frankly, no two teams go at it harder than these two, so if they kick it up a few notches during this game, I suspect that’s where the effort will stay throughout the medal round.  It should make for some very exciting hockey.

"What do you think the chances are that we'll see a repeat of the U.S. vs. Canada final from Sochi?"

"I'd say the odds are pretty good.  Since women's hockey was introduced in 1998, there has only been one Olympics in which the U.S. and Canada haven't ended up fighting one another for the gold medal."

"That was Turin?"

"Yes, in 2006.  Now, when you look at this on an international play level, ranking aside, it's construable that either team is the most dominant women's program in the world.  Canada has a slight lead regarding numbers, ten IIHF titles to the United States eight, but of those World Championships, the United States has won the past four.

"Liam, it sounds like there's a but in there."

"But... As far as Olympic Hockey goes there is no question; Canada's been the reigning powerhouse for some time.  In twenty years of Women's Olympic Ice Hockey, Canada has won gold in four out of the five games.  The U.S. hasn't stood at the top of the medals podium since 1998, and frankly, if they lose tomorrow's game, it isn’t likely they will this year either.

"You don't think that a preliminary defeat will get the American's fired up even harder?"

"I doubt it, Jim. So far the United States managed a two-point victory over Finland and beat the Olympic Athletes from Russia, handily, six to one.  As for Canada, they've had shutouts in their first two, thanks to this new goalie of theirs.  But, neither one has been put through the paces the way you'd want building up to a contest like tomorrow's matchup.  I think the shift in play from low to high gear is going to come as a wake-up call for both teams, and if the U.S. loses, it would significantly bolster team Canada's considerable confidence going into the medal round. That doesn't mean that Team USA is guaranteed a loss in the medal round, but it would create a significant psychological obstacle.

"So what you're saying is, the American girls have a game to win if they want to stay competitive."

"Well, at the very least they need to make it a close one.  If Canada forces another scoreless game, it's going to make their seemingly unbeatable defense that much more of a challenge from here on out.  The U.S. could overcome a loss tomorrow if, at the very least, they manage to break Lexa Woods' shutout streak.  In my opinion, everything hinges on that."

"Speaking of Lexa Woods, we managed to get a brief interview with the phenom yesterday after Canada's victory over Finland."

The picture changed again, and Lexa cringed as she saw herself onscreen, goalie mask tucked under her arm, her brow pouring sweat, her face red and splotchy from overexertion, her hair a tangled mess of brown rat's nests.  She squinted into the camera light, awkwardly attempting to push matted, sweaty locks out of her eyes with the back of her arm.

"So, two shutouts so far. How does that feel?"

"Um... Good, I guess."

"Are you surprised?"

"Not really.  I transitioned to the national team from the OHL, so I'm used to a style of play that's a bit more fast paced if I'm being honest; certainly more physical. I think that gives me an advantage that makes shutouts more likely at this level."

"And I'm sure that your team's defensemen have contributed significantly to that success. Wouldn't you say?"  The reporter subtly attempted to lead the goalie towards a more egalitarian breakdown of team Canada's success, smiling as she held the mic closer.

"Oh, yeah. I mean, they've definitely contributed."

Lexa cringed as she listened to herself, realizing that she sounded more than a little cocksure.  She was confident that if any of her teammates were watching, she'd catch hell later.

"What an ass."  Lexa heard a speed skater a few rows up whisper to the curler next to him.  She scowled, pulling the hood of her sweatshirt up a bit further to hide her face.  People could talk about her if they liked. She was more than used to it.

A body settled into the next chair over, nudging her in the side as an arm extended, offering her a bag full of popcorn.

"Echo's been pretty strong on the back-check. You couldn't have been a little more generous about her performance?"  Lincoln smirked, leaning in and cocking an eyebrow quizzically.

"I panicked! You know I'm terrible at interviews."

Under his breath, Lincoln let out a low "Humph," in agreement.  "Well, I hope your terrible interview demeanor doesn't get you in hot water with your teammates."

Lexa shrunk down in her chair, crossing her arms as she cast a sullen glance in Lincoln's direction.  "I doubt they could dislike me any more than they already do.  They're all off together watching the Men's halfpipe qualifiers."

"Why didn't you go with them?"

"Because they got tickets and didn't tell me." She crossed her arms, sinking even further into the armchair.

"So... things not going so well, eh?" Lincoln bit his lip hesitantly. Never quite sure how to handle his childhood friend when she was in the mood to sulk and feel sorry for herself.

Lexa frowned. "Obviously not."  She furrowed her brow, seething at the frustratingly amused look on Lincoln's face.  "How did you get in here anyway?  I thought you were supposed to be at your hotel with Dante?"

Lincoln held up an all-access visitors pass, turning his attention back to the flat screen, where commentators were still discussing the game.

"Well Jim, I think the primary difference is the team dynamics. Canada has been relying heavily on the individual skills of their players, but all of those players are extraordinarily good at what they do, and nearly all are Olympic veterans.  Team USA has fewer seasoned players, but on the other hand, they play seamlessly together.  Their system and team dynamics are terrific, their coaching staff is outstanding, and their current on-ice leadership is, in my opinion, phenomenal.

"Speaking of that leadership, we were able to catch Team USA's Captain, Clarke Griffin, earlier today for a quick interview."

Clarke appeared on screen, looking frustratingly natural on camera as she stood outside the dorms of the Olympic Village in the falling snow. She rubbed her irritatingly well-formed button nose, bright red from the chill of the frigid air, with the back of a mitten-clad hand, cupping her face politely as she let out an absurdly dainty sneeze.  The whole scene only made her seem even more infuriatingly charming than she already did.

"So, how do you feel going into your game with the Canadian team?"

“I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit anxious to play one of the best teams in the world, but having said that, I am so confident in my team that it makes it hard to be too nervous.  There's an old expression that I think sums my feeling up well.  'If you want to be number one, you have to train like you are number two.'  That's really where our mindset has been since the Sochi games, and in particular for the past year.  Every woman on team USA has given 100% and thrown everything she has into preparing for this moment.  We trained to be the best, and we trained to beat the best, and I think that's what people are going to see tomorrow."

"Gotta say, she's pretty hot, ya know?"

"Do you have something useful to add?"  Lexa stared at him skeptically.

"And what do you think about the hype surrounding Canada's goalie, Lexa Woods?  How do you feel about going up against someone who's been playing primarily in men's leagues?  Do you think that has given Canada an unfair advantage?"

Lexa bit the inside of her cheek, anxiously waiting for the subtle prejudice of the question to creep under Clarke's skin, making her come unglued on camera.  She watched as the blonde paused, calm on the surface, though her irritation showed around the edges.  For half a minute Clarke remained silent.

"You know."  She paused briefly to tuck a few strands of golden hair behind her ear.  "A lot of people have been talking about this recently, and the truth is I'm not sure it's a useful discussion to be having."

The reporter leaned in curiously. "Can you elaborate on that."

"Sure, I mean... Every time this gets brought up it seems to unravel into a discussion of physical differences and biology and what women can and can't do as well compared to men.  Honestly, I wonder if we're not asking the wrong question altogether."

"What question should we be asking?"

"Well, for starters, we should be asking why women's abilities are always defined by their approximation to men's.  Why do we have to appraise women's skills and talents by saying that they are "strong for a girl," or "as good as a man?"  I don't think that is useful to anyone.  I mean women and men are different.  Obviously, we're different.  In the same way that we solve problems and communicate differently, women and men play hockey differently.  Different doesn't mean worse; it just means different.  We play our own game. We play it with skill, and with passion and every woman here is phenomenal at what she does. If that's not enough for fans, then they're welcome to watch the men’s game instead.”

Lexa leaned forward, watching as Clarke paused again.  She took a deep breath to help maintain her calm, smooth demeanor.  

"More importantly, to suggest that Lexa Woods is a remarkable goalie because she's been playing with men is to more or less give men credit for her talent. That is misguided. Lexa Woods is an extraordinary goalie because she has extraordinary ability and, from what I hear, she works her ass off.  That, thus far, she's been able to keep up in this new arena only means that's she's that much more versatile.  Frankly, I would have suspected that a men's goalie would have struggled to adjust switching to the women's game."

"Well, Lexa Woods sure hasn't been struggling so far.  In fact, she's just recorded her second NGA performance against Russia.  When we spoke to her earlier today she seemed confident that she could stretch that shutout streak to three."

Clarke laughed bitterly, piquing the reporter's interest.

"Uh-oh, sounds like we've got a little bit of a rivalry in the works here."

"I mean, so far Canada has played Finland and Russia, and while both are great teams defensively, they've also lost some critical offensive players in the past few years.  Moreover, Canada has defensemen like Echo Cote who, despite our history, is in my opinion, one of the best defensive players in the world. I think that she has contributed as much as Lexa Woods has to those shutouts."

Lincoln elbowed Lexa in the ribs.  "See, she talks about the team as a whole.  She gets it."

Lexa scowled at him, sticking out her tongue.

"As far as Team USA goes, we play effective two-way hockey, and we've got some unbelievably good young forwards. I don't think Lexa Woods has had to contend with a strong offense yet. Woods seems to favor a stand-up style of goaltending that's effective against screening and shots from the point, but I don't think she'd used to having players crashed the net as hard as we do.  I guess we'll have to see how she handles herself."

Lexa frowned, pushing herself out of her chair in disgust.  "We'll see alright."

Lincoln shook his head, shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth as he watched Lexa trudge out of the room in a huff. 

It was rare for a competitor's comments to bother Lexa as much as this Griffin women’s seemed to.  Whatever it was about her, the American Captain certainly rattled Lexa's cage in a way few others had managed.

"Two minutes to go here in the third period and we've got a real nail-biter on our hand’s folks, with Canada leading the U.S. 1-0."

A Canadian defenseman slid the puck out to the point, where it was picked up by Echo.

"Côté drifts into the slot.  She winds up, shoots, and..." The announcer paused as the shot whizzed through the air.  "Save! It's a brilliant glove save by Raven Reyes.  She saw that one coming from a mile away, ladies and gentleman."

Fog filled the air as the panting players crouched around the face-off circle, steam rising from their bodies as they waited for the puck to drop out of the referee's hand.  It hit the ice with a hollow thud, and the rink once again erupted into a chaotic confusion of colliding bodies.  The crunching of skates as they cut through the ice was deafening with the forwards fighting for an opening.  Clarke snagged the puck and sent it gliding over to Harper who made a sharp cut behind the net, eyes trained piercingly on Octavia, already cutting towards the boards, ready for a pass.  The puck sailed across the ice with precision, landing deftly on the left wing's stick just in time for her to slip past a hulking defenseman.  The freshman forward flew across the neutral zone like a lightning bolt, Canada's players hot on her trail.  She crossed the blue line alone, dropping low in the slot and cutting right at the last minute to try and sneak a backhand by the Canadian goalie.

The slap of vulcanized rubber hitting wood filled the arena as the puck deflected off her stick.  Lexa dropped to her knees, covering it with a gloved hand as she waited for the whistle to sound. Three sharp blasts signaled a stoppage in gameplay, much to Lexa's great relief.  She watched as Echo skated towards her casually, smirking at her through her face cage.

"You just gave them a face-off in our zone with a minute and a half left in the game. Wait to go, Woods."

Lexa pulled off her goalie mask and slammed it down on top of the net.  She desperately grabbed at the water bottle that hung in the loose mesh, using it to wet down her sweat soaked face.

"Seriously, Côté?  I wouldn't have had to force a whistle if you'd been here five seconds ago!  You've been dragging ass on the back-check all night, and I can barely get help in front of the net when they've got the puck in our zone.  What the hell is wrong with all of you?"

Echo narrowed her eyes at the goalie, leaning on the goal post as she bent forward, sneering.  "Oh, I'm sorry.  Are we not contributing enough for you?"

Lexa's eyes nearly popped out of her head.  She threw her water bottle back into the netting and surged forward, pushing Echo away from the goal.  "Are you fucking kidding me right now?!  Is that why I've taken 47 shots to Reyes’ 29?"

She spat water onto the ice, inching forward as though she was ready to pummel her towering defenseman.  "You're fucking letting them take shots on me to teach me a lesson?"

Echo winked at her contemptuously, turning Lexa’s face crimson.

"How's that working out for you, Woods?"

"I'll tell you when I finish this shutout!"

Before Lexa could completely lose her temper, a referee intervened, skating between the two women and eyeballing them suspiciously.

"That's enough squabbling ladies.  We've got a face-off.”

Echo nodded at the man, pausing just long enough before he fell back into position to give Lexa a final derisive glare.

"Do your job Côté!" Lexa yelled at her retreating teammate, pulling her face mask back on and crouched between the pipes.

The puck dropped, and a wall of bodies smashed into each other once more, a symphony of slashing and crunching filling the air as both teams dug in and fought for ownership.  Finally, Gaia managed to knock the puck back to Echo, who sailed around the goal and sent it shooting out to a forward along the boards.

The players shifted across the ice as each one pursued the puck carrier into the American zone.  The forward went low, flipping around at the red line and banking a shot off the boards to her defenseman.  The crack of a slap-shot rang out, followed by the ping of metal as the puck ricocheted off the goal post and went careening into the sea of players clustered in front of the net.  It was knocked loose by a skate, sliding into the corner as Harper, and a Canadian forward following close behind.  They crashed into one another hard, the glass rattling as their bodies struck the boards and battled for control of the disk.  In a moment of panic, the Canadian forward began to lose her composure, reaching out an arm to create space and maintain her balance.  Her hand grabbed the first solid object on which it found purchase, the shaft of Harper's stick, eliciting an immediate whistle blast from the referee.  

"Number 21; holding the stick; two-minute penalty!"  The referee held up a hand pointing to the benches with his other.  A yelling match between him and the Canadian coach ensued, and in the brief downtime, Kane waved his arm, calling his players back towards the bench for a moment of strategizing.

"There's still forty seconds left, and we've got a golden opportunity here."  He turned to his captain, his expression deadly serious "Griffin, you're my quarterback on this power play.  How confident do you feel?"

Clarke splashed her face with water, giving him a curt nod before she lowered the cage of her helmet and answered.  "We've got this, Coach."

Kane winked.  "Then go get 'em, ladies."

With a few slaps on the shoulders for good luck, the American players departed the bench.  They glided back over to the face-off circle and hunkered down, staring back and forth at each other intently, their tension palpable as the referee skated into position.

The moment the puck hit the ice the world fell shock silent, every spectator in the stands holding their breath in anticipation, the only sound in the rink the voice of the announcer as he called the play by play.

"Back to the corner and it's Griffin and Côté fighting for the puck.  Griffin with control now. A pass to McIntyre on the point.  McIntyre drifts high in the slot and takes a shot and... Oh! It rebounds off of Anderson, but the Canadians can't get it back on the pine.  The puck is picked up by Blake. Blake back to Cooper at the left point.  Cooper passes to McIntyre.  McIntyre winds up and...  She fakes!  McIntyre fakes, and now the American women seem to be shifting positions. McIntyre transitions to the left point with right winger Johnson moving to the right point from low in the zone.  A pass to Johnson with three seconds left.  Johnson glides to the top of the face-off circle and...  She shoots!"

At that moment, Lexa felt as though the world had shifted into slow motion.  Through the screen of players lingering in front of the net, she watched as Johnson wound back and swung her stick forward with all the force of a wrecking ball.  She heard the crack of the slap-shot reverberated through the arena, saw the puck cutting through the air as it flew at her, a perfect spinning disk, high and to the right.  She raised her blocker reflexively, deflecting the puck, and sending it floating high over her left shoulder and out of sight.  Suddenly everything sped up.  There was a flash of an arm catching the puck mid arm, a split second of a swinging stick, and the ding of metal as the puck grazed the crossbar and sailed into the net.  Only then was the silence of the rink finally broken, shattered by the horrifying sound of a goal horn going off.

"And they score!  The Americans score! Oh, my goodness!  What was that!?  American captain Clarke Griffin scores in the craziest rebound return I think I've ever seen, folks."

Lexa could only stare, shocked, as a startled Clarke was enveloped in her teammates' embraces, their faces brimming with gleeful revelry.  Standing in front of the referee yelling, Echo looked like a volcano ready to erupt.  She gestured wildly, pointing this way and that as she yelled something about high sticking and touching the puck.  Over the loudspeakers, an announcer said that they were going to a video review, his voice mumbled as though he were an adult in a Peanuts cartoon.

The world finally came back into focus, and Lexa turned her eyes to a nearby monitor, where the final moments of the game were being played back from every available angle.  She watched in horror as the puck rebounded off her block and was knocked out of the air by Clarke's outstretched hand.  In the millisecond it took for the puck to drop to the level of her mid-torso, Clarke had grabbed her stick, swung it, and made direct contact with the black blob on the screen, knocking it past Lexa's glove side and into the goal as though it were a baseball.  Over and over again, Lexa watched the incredible scene; her jaw slacks with awe as she realized that Clarke's stick had indeed been below the level of the crossbar, making the shot a legitimate one.

The referee waved his arms declaring the goal fair.  The commentator excitedly announced that the game was going into overtime.  The fans exploded into a mixed chorus of cheers and booing.  Lexa could only stare at Clarke, wholly unable to process the impossible feat she had just witnessed the too-small American center perform.  Through the sea of bodies crowding her, Clarke stared back, smiling defiantly.

Next Chapter ->

Leave Comments

*For those wanting clarification on what Clarke’ s goal would look like, or if you are wondering whether or not this kind of “baseball goal” is something that actually happens in hockey, here is a link to a video of the real-life play that inspired it.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBcKHrTyG0I

[wellesleyunderground]

(PART 1) Wellesley Writes It: Offering Art and Theater Amidst War and Censorship As An “Insider”/ “Outsider” in Kashmir: A Follow-Up Feature of Author and Activist Nandita Dinesh ‘06

Image Credit: Jennifer Arnwine provided with permission from Nandita Dinesh

Interviewed by Shelly Anand and Camylle Fleming, WU Editors

Nandita Dinesh double majored in economics and theatre studies at Wellesley and spent a semester during college at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Centre’s National Theatre Institute. She also spent a semester abroad in Uganda with the School for International Training’s Development Studies programme. Nandita’s honors thesis and focus after Wellesley concentrated on using theatre in war-affected areas of the world. She has since been a Watson Fellow, earned an MA from New York University in performance studies and a Ph.D. in drama from the University of Cape Town, written a number of academic articles concerning drama and war, and published multiple books:

Theatre and War: Notes from the Field (2016 Edition; 2018 Republication)

The Memos from a Theatre Lab series:

Exploring What Immersive Theatre “Does”

Spaces, Relationships and Immersive Theatre

Immersive Theatre and Time

Scripting Detention: A Project in Theater and Autoethnography with Incarcerated Teens

Information for/from Outsiders: Chronicles from Kashmir

Immersive Theater & Activism: Scripts and Strategies for Directors and Playwrights (Forthcoming)

Wellesley Underground previously interviewed Nandita about her book Theatre and War: Notes from the Field. You can read that interview here. Currently, Nandita teaches Theatre and Literature & Performance, while also overseeing the Juvenile Justice Programming, at UWC-USA.

WU: Tell us about Chronicles of Kashmir, your latest project.

Chronicles from Kashmir has been in development since 2013, as a collaboration between myself and the Ensemble Kashmir Theatre Akademi in Srinagar. It uses Argentine playwright Griselda Gambaro’s (1992) Information for Foreigners as its point of departure, takes place in the promenade, and is site-adaptive -- we've staged it in a two-storied building in Kashmir, and in a sprawling theatre workspace outside Pune. Different scenes take place in different locales and audience members walk around under the supervision of  'Guides' who tell them the route to take.

Audiences 'live' in our theatrical Kashmir for twenty-four hours and in so doing, experience the Valley's many realities: they encounter larger questions around complicity; they are asked to engage with multi-media installations that speak to the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits; they are invited to witness narratives of former militants; they are given occasion to experience how celebrations are conducted under curfew; they are permitted to observe stories from soldiers in the Indian Army.

Pic Credit: Vineet Pandey

Chronicles from Kashmir seeks to create a sense of “balance”: between differently positioned voices that emerge when speaking about Kashmir; between differently placed narratives on the “victim”/“perpetrator” spectrum. While there is an inevitable streak of political commentary that runs throughout the work – a political current that cannot be escaped when talking about Kashmir – Chronicles from Kashmir does not espouse any one political ideology. We see ourselves as being artists and educators, using aesthetics and pedagogy to engage audiences with diverse perspectives from/about the Valley.

Chronicles from Kashmir like any other performance has its limitations. It can never do justice to all the narratives that compose Kashmir... It's a step, though, a small step toward engaging audiences in stories and experiences that mainstream media might never share with them; a small step toward sparking more educated -- and less polarized -- opinions about what is happening in the region.

WU: Recently, you went through quite an ordeal with Facebook, whereby the social media platform censored your book. Can you talk to us about that experience?

It’s been one of the more recent attempts at censorship…

From the beginning of  Chronicles from Kashmir, there has been censorship at play in different ways. First, in Kashmir itself, we would sometimes get explosive feedback from Kashmiri audiences -- often because elements of the content, to them, was made problematic because of who I am (non-Kashmiri, Indian, woman, young, artist). Even now, I daresay that there are still many who think that I am an Indian “agent” who is trying to use this work for some sort of agenda, despite my Kashmiri colleagues’ efforts to dissuade them of this notion.

Then, in 2017, when we had the first 24-hour iteration of the work outside Pune, in western India, the cops showed up. We don’t know who called them and what they were hoping to find, but they were intimidating enough to lead us to cancel the third and final performance of the show (which was for an audience of students; we didn’t want to put them in any risk). And subsequent to this, it has been near impossible to find potential hosts for Chronicles from Kashmir in the Indian subcontinent. People are afraid to host us and in their fear, have led to a censoring the work from public spaces…

Pic Credit: Vineet Pandey

Most recently, in July 2018, alongside Facebook’s “ban” of the book on the publisher’s own marketplace on their page, we were placed under something akin to “house arrest” by the institution that was hosting our filming of Chronicles from Kashmir… At least the institution explained their reasons to us -- they had a journalist on their backs, apparently, and were afraid of bad press from hosting us (though neither the journalist nor our hosts had even read the script, so this bad press would simply have been because they were hosting a project about Kashmir, regardless of content). Facebook, on the other hand, reversed their “rejection” of the book after a few journalists went around, asking questions… Their response was something along the lines of: “Well, the book is up now, so what’s the problem?”... Essentially, we still don’t know why the ban took place to begin with. Whether it was an algorithm that flagged the cover -- at that point only the cover was available on Facebook -- or whether the community moderators who police pages’ adherence to Facebook’s commerce guidelines made a decision based on their own affiliations and agendas… Either way, it was/is incredibly unnerving.

WU: When and how did you first get interested in Kashmir?

When I first went to Kashmir, the “why” (apart from being my doctoral project) was to consider the possibilities of using theatre to access perspectives from across the “victim”/“perpetrator” spectrum in the region: to draw in narratives from civilians; from militants/former militants; from soldiers/former soldiers in the Indian army. What if I were to create immersive, theatrical experiences about Kashmiri civil society, which the army could experience? What if I could design a performance for active militants, about the experiences of armed forces’ soldiers? How could I work with people from each of these identity groupings, to create a polyvocal, theatrical representation of Kashmir?

Gradually though, as I began to learn more about the Kashmiri context, that initial articulation of my intention had to shift. I realized that the idea of bringing “opposing” voices to the table was not only dangerous; it was ethically fraught. Because of my being Indian. Because of my being a woman. Because of the form of the theatre. Because of the many complexities that Kashmir remains mired in.

Pic Credit: Vineet Pandey

So, in collaboration with a team of incredible colleagues from the Ensemble Kashmir Theatre Akademi the intention of Chronicles from Kashmir has become about using theatre to educate (self-identified) “outsiders” about different aspects to Kashmir’s conflicts. Outsiders like myself, of course; but also a whole range of outsiders to whom voices from Kashmir remain inaccessible.

WU: Last time that you talked with WU, you shared the journey in the intentions behind the theater you’re creating. It went from “big ideas” to an emphasis on “beauty” and aesthetics as well as the ethical inclusion of victim and perpetrator narratives. Can you give us an update on where you are calling attention to today?

I think I’m still dealing with those questions of beauty and ethics; but I find myself trying to find more of a middle ground vis-à-vis the “big ideas”. Especially with Chronicles from Kashmir, I find myself wanting the work “to do” more; to create the potential for more tangible shifts to occur in how Kashmir’s conflict are studied, discussed, and considered. Might that mean adapting our script into a study guide, of sorts, that can be used by schools across the Indian subcontinent? Might that mean workshopping ideas from the work with new collaborators across Jammu and Kashmir, and across Indian and Pakistani borders? That remains to be seen…

Pic Credit: Vineet Pandey

WU: You’ve talked about the dynamic of being an “insider”/ “outsider” in your conflict theatre work in Kashmir. How are you handling that balance?

It depends on when you ask me :) Sometimes, the balance is easy to attain; at others; it seems like the complexities will only ever continue to grow. At this point in time, having just returned from another year of developing Chronicles from Kashmir, I am questioning my own role in the future of this initiative. Having been the one to spearhead new directions for this project over the last six years – albeit in constant collaboration with my colleagues at EKTA -- now that the work has been performed live, filmed, and published, I find myself wondering if it’s time for me to take a back seat and to rely on my Kashmiri colleagues to take the lead on where we go from here. Have we come to a point, I wonder, where I (the insider/outsider) must step back (despite my own relative privilege and increased access to resources/opportunities) and wait for my colleagues (the insiders) to catalyze our way forward?

WU: What is something you wish the world knew about Kashmir?

More than something that I wish the world knew, I wish there was more palpable desire amongst the international community to support/advocate for the search for a resolution to Kashmir’s crises.

[patriotsnet]

What Does The Bible Say About Republicans

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/what-does-the-bible-say-about-republicans/

What Does The Bible Say About Republicans

What Does God Say About Democrats

What Does the Bible Say About 2016 Election – Hidden Secrets Revealed – Republican vs Democrat

Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Saving America

Steven Andrew is leading the nation to reaffirm covenant that the USA follows Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches covenant is the most important action to save lives, restore safety, strengthen the church, and raise godly generations.

testimonials

Michael

I know of no one doing everything they can to help our nation to turn away from wickedness and sin, and turn back to God, like Steven Andrew.;

Craig

Giving to USA Christian Church is the most powerful way to support God’s will for the nation and defend Christianity.

The USA is in a national emergency. Our only hope is to surrender our lives and the nation to God and agree to obey the Lord. We have hope. It is not too late to find Gods mercy. Steven Andrew

People are very concerned. The news shows the USA is in a freedon verses tyranny national emergency. It could even be a life verses death crisis if the nation goes into captivity as happened to Israel and Judhae for their sins. If we want to honor God and have God bless our lives and nation, it is important we know: What does the Bible teach about Democrats?

I am Steven Andrew, the pastor who believes like the founding fathers. I am on a mission from God

Pray

Is the Bible your final authority or do you go by your feelings and own ways?This is Gods opinion, not mine.

For protection and national security, the nation needs to see Democrats hearts the way God does.my This is Gods opinion not my opinion.

Grist Is The Only Nonprofit Newsroom Focused On Exploring Solutions At The Intersection Of Climate And Justice

Our team of journalists remains dedicated to telling stories of climate, justice, and solutions. We aim to inspire more people to talk about climate change and to believe that meaningful change is not only possible but happening right now.;Our in-depth approach to solutions-based journalism takes time and proactive planning, which is why Grist depends on reader support.

This September, become a monthly donor, and your entire yearly amount will be matched. Grist hopes to welcome 200 new monthly members by September 30, and were closing in on our goal! Help us further advance our reporting by giving us the stable, reliable funding we need. Consider becoming a Grist member today to ensure this important work continues and thrives.

Bible Verses Violated By The Republican Party

Please note this article is not another case of a Democrat insulting the Republican party and their religious members.; I dont like either political party and Ive lost hope in the current political system until major changes are made.

While Ive lost most; interest in national politics,; some things still catch my eye. But what bothers me the most, and always gets my attention, is when a politician campaigns on a the premise that their allegiance to their God makes them a better person than the other candidate. Fast forward a few months after their election and there they are obstructing ethical legislation; for their constituents only to make their donors happy.

If a politicians; adherence to the Bible is what makes them a good person and good elected official, what do they become when they no longer adhere to the Bible?

You can understand why I feel my arguments made here are sound: The voting and campaign records of Congress are widely-available public records, and since 7 out of the 10 Bible verses I used are from either Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, meaning that 70% of this is literally the Gospel truth

You May Like: Trump Calls Republicans Idiots

James : 19 Niv: Everyone Should Be Quick To Listen Slow To Speak And Slow To Become Angry

Well THAT’S a big red flag if I ever saw one. Any of the above points show that Donald Trump does not have a reasonable filter. Whatever comes to mind comes straight out of his mouth, especially when he gets angry. If our president acts out in anger, we are going to have a lot of issues on our hands. Can you imagine how he would converse with other world leaders? What would he do if they insulted our government, or heaven forbid, Trump’s hand size? How would he react to negative criticism from countries we very much need to remain on good terms with? Not only is this dangerous, it also gives more reason for people not to respect America. It would say a lot about us if our leader had the same temperament as a two-year old in a time out. A true God following leader would participate in rational discussion, in which all sides are heard and acknowledged.

I’m not trying to tell anybody that Hilary is the Christian candidate we’re looking for. In fact, I don’t even believe we need a Christian candidate at all. This is America, where anybody of any race or religion can do the job. What I am trying to say, is that if you think Donald Trump is your closest bet to having a Christian in office, you’re making the wrong choice.

Your choice matters. Choose wisely.

Abortion Is An Integral Part Of The Vaccine Industry

For you created my inmost being;;you knit me together;in my mothers womb.;Psalm 139:13

The Bible makes clear that life begins at conception. It says that every child is a gift from God . If Jesus were here today, I am not sure if He would be carrying a sign, but we can agree He would be pro-life.

Many are surprised to find that in fact, vaccines do contain;aborted fetal tissue,;including lung and kidney tissue.

This is because scientists grow live vaccines in living tissue. You can find aborted fetal tissue in 23 total vaccines, including:

MMR

Read Also: We Are All Republicansâwe Are All Federalists

Gop Lawmaker: The Bible Says If A Man Will Not Work He Shall Not Eat

This storys headline;has been corrected. A quote from Rep. Jodey Arringtons remarks at a congressional hearing has also been added.

One lawmaker is citing a godly reference to; justify changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Rep. Jodey Arrington recently quoted the New Testament to question the strength of current work requirements.

The biblical passage, 2 Thessalonians 3-10, was a rebuttal to one of the hearings expert witnesses, a representative of the Jewish anti-hunger group MAZON. It is also a familiar refrain to anyone who has watched past debates about SNAP.

House Republicans have historically cited the verse if a man will not work, he shall not eat as justification for cutting some adults SNAP benefits. Arrington referenced the verse in a discussion;about increasing the work requirements for unemployed adults on the food stamp program. But critics say that;advances;a pernicious myth about the unemployed who receive SNAP.

The verse in question applies specifically to people who can work or otherwise contribute to society but choose not to, said theologians from several denominations who spoke to The Post. There is a perception, among some voters and lawmakers, that many adult SNAP recipients are exactly this sort of freeloader.

More from Wonkblog:

James : 26 Esv: If Anyone Thinks He Is Religious And Does Not Bridle His Tongue But Deceives His Heart This Person’s Religion Is Worthless

Wow. That was blunt. I commonly hear people say that they like Donald Trump because, “He speaks his mind.” There is a monumental difference between speaking your mind, and throwing words about without caution. The things that Donald Trump has used his platform to say should not only shock you; they should offend you. His words are rash, prejudiced, and hurtful. You don’t believe me? Here are some examples:

“You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of a**.”

“My fingers are long and beautiful, as, it has well been documented, are various other parts of my body.”

Now I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sound like the kind of man who has proper control over his tongue to me. Words are some of the greatest indicators of who we are. The president of our country should be able to possess certain qualities, such as engaging in foreign affairs without flying off the handle. Not only is this concerning to our national security, it is also a warning sign of poor character.

You May Like: When Did Republicans And Democrats Switch Platforms

Looking For Some More Related Articles

Take a look at these other similar type articles:

Robert

Great article Jack,Sure a lot of good points you brought up. A lot to ponder as an election grows near.

It seems like the people who get elected reflect the sentiment of the nation. If we are concerned with the economy, we vote for the people we think will fix it. If we are concerned with moral issues, we vote for those we think care about what we care about.

This may also be a way in which God judges, or blesses, a nation. As the individuals of a nation move further from God, they elect representatives that are also further from God. These representatives are then naturally going to be motivated by something other than God and His love. Therefore, the nation suffers.

On the other hand, as the individuals of a nation move closer to God and elect godly representatives, these representatives seek Gods will for themselves and the country. The nation is blessed.

Thanks again for a wonderful, thought-provoking article.

Yours in Christ,

Friendship Is The Goal Of The Gospel

What does the Bible say about voting in 2020?

Christians rightly think about salvation as forgiveness of sins and eternal life. But it is more than this. Jesus gives all who trust him the privilege of being his friends . And what is eternal life, after all? According to Jesus, this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent . He rescued us to forge an intimate relationship with the triune God . God forgives us that we might share in his triune fellowship of love forever.;

In the new creation we will enjoy true friendship with all other believers. Our future is a world of friendship.

You May Like: Republicans Wear Red Or Blue

Matthew : 28 Esv: But I Say To You That Everyone Who Looks At A Woman With Lustful Intent Has Already Committed Adultery With Her In His Heart

Now, I’m not trying to single out Donald Trump for having completely natural biological urges. All of humankind has fallen prey to the allure of lust. However, to battle with that in one’s heart and to voice it out loud to others are two completely different things.

The LORD calls men to honor and protect women. Women are handcrafted by God, and they are to be respected. Donald Trump has been quoted saying things that go directly against this God-given duty:

“Grab them by the the p*ssy.”

If that wasn’t vulgar enough for you, here’s a list of adjectives he has publicly used to describe women: Fat. Dog. Pig. Slob. Disgusting animal.

I don’t know what it’s going to take for this country to start valuing women properly, but having this guy in charge isn’t going to do it. As a woman, you should be concerned that a candidate for president is getting away with talking about your demographic like that. As a man, you should be standing up for the women in your life by saying that this is NOT okay! Young girls in this world should not grow up thinking that those words are okay because the President of the United States says them. If we elect this man, that will be the standard our girls will have for the men in their lives.

Exercising Our Civic Responsibility: What The Bible Says About Voting

Before we look at what the Bible says about voting, let us look at how our individual votes count.

Song of Solomon 2:15 says, Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. Foxes sometimes, in search of food, would enter into the grape orchards and devour the grapes and spoil the crop. However, the little foxes were too small to reach the grape bunches so they would chew on the vines and it would kill the whole vine. Instead of the farmer just losing his crop, he would lose his vine which was more disastrous. Spiritually some things we do or allow that we might think are little or insignificant can also be disastrous for us.

Listed below are some of the little foxes that generally keep us from our civic responsibilities, in the area of voting. The devil uses these lies and others so that he can keep godly men and women away from the polls and get the candidates of his choice elected. If we do nothing, it makes it easy for the enemy to help those who could become the wrong leadership for our nation.

My one vote doesnt count anyway.

Im disillusioned by the whole political process.

Im already too busy to take the time to cast an informed vote, so I just dont vote at all.

Politics are corrupt anyway and as a Christian I dont want to be involved.

What the Bible Says About Voting

_______________________________________________________________

Don’t Miss: How Many States Are Controlled By Republicans

Achieving Racial Justice And Equity

The Bible is very clear that God does not show favoritism, and neither should his followers. So, there is no place for racism in the church or in America. The Democratic Party is absolutely just in standing strong against racism in America.;

Now, personally I think that some of the Democrats policies for eliminating racism are not biblical at all. But the fact still remains: The basic policy position is biblically just.

As the election approaches, remember: As Christians we are called to lead people to Christ, not to an elephant or a donkey. Dont allow your politics to sabotage your witness to unbelievers or your fellowship with believers.;

Our loyalty must be to Christ. So, do some research, and vote in line with the heart of Christ. Lets do our best to vote for right and just leaders, and to pray for righteousness and justice in the hearts of those who are elected.

Dane Davis is the pastor of Impact Christian Church. Join Impacts live outdoor worship service at 9 a.m. Sunday at 17746 George Boulevard in Victorville, or tune in online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page.

Christianity For Votes: How Republicans Are Using A Religious Facade To Gain Political Power

On full display: Rep. Ted Yoho, in his non-apology to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, remarkably argued, I cannot apologize for my passion or for loving my God, my family, and my country.

Talk of God has been brought into and out of national politics throughout American history, with various partisan and non-partisan causes, but rarely in our history has any political group weaponized faith for political goals as comprehensively as todays Republican Party. Although the name of God has been used as a rallying cry for Republicans for decades, the party that claims to support Christian values has developed a twisted ideology where the mere mention of God has become a license for injustice. Consequently, his name is being thrown out in vain by Republicans who seek to avoid being held responsible for their actions, even when those actions go directly against the Scripture.

The contradictory nature of devotional statements made by GOP;members;was put on full display in a recent scandal in Congress,;when Rep.;Ted;Yoho, R-Florida,;was forced to resign from a Christian organizations;board after publicly exhibiting a behavior profoundly opposite to the values he claimed to stand for.

Yohos non-apology

A powerful political tool

If we want to resemble a hope for uniting and healing;within our;nation, we must rebuke lies, hate and division. We must rejoice in the truth.

WANT TO ADD YOUR VOICE?

Read Also: Why Do Republicans Wear Blue Ties

Christians Cannot Serve Both God And The Gop

The Christian right is the backbone of the Republican Party. Christians of all stripes from Catholics to Protestants and evangelicals consistently vote Republican. The core tenets of the modern Republican Party, however, are at stark odds with biblical scripture.

Over the last four decades, few priorities have consumed the Republican Party more than economic policies that benefit the ultra-wealthy. The Ronald Reagan presidency, in particular, ushered in an era where corporate bottom lines took precedence over fair wages for American workers. The rise of the Reagan-Republican ethos, which preaches the elevation of over virtually all other considerations, directly influenced of American jobs to countries with vast pools of cheap labor. Ditto for union-busting and the adoption of job-killing automation in pursuit of maximum profit.

These factors, unsurprisingly, the American middle class. Moreover, Presidents Reagan, George W. Bush and Donald Trump all pursued radical tax policies that overwhelmingly; if not solely; benefitted a small group of exceptionally wealthy Americans at the expense of the working and middle classes.

Republican policies favoring the ultra-affluent, however, stand in stark contrast with biblical scripture. The Bibles condemnations of the wealthy and the accumulation of riches leave zero room for ambiguity.

In short, followers of Christ must choose between God and money.

Property was sold and the proceeds distributed to anyone who had need.

[jechristine]

Hi, Lila-Rae!

This is probably longer than you wanted but really I’m only passing on three things that I found compelling and helpful with some screenshots :) I’m not sure they are what you had in mind but my background and overriding interests are in the humanities, not PR or even praxis, so I come at the questions from a slightly different angle. Anyhow, I’d like to see what else you’ve been reading.

1. David Roberts for Vox a few years ago provided a great overview of the traditional news media crisis that is cause and consequence of the “tribal epistemology,” he calls it, that afflicts American political culture atm. I know you’re thinking about a broader problem, but the conclusions here could very well be extrapolated to other crises in truth, facts, and expertise. And indeed political culture maps onto nearly every other division we face, at least in the USA and probably elsewhere (including, I’d bet $1 million, Tomdayas vs antis).

The piece is long but really good imo. Here’s a little snapshot:

2. I think along these lines it’s also useful to think about how Russian propaganda works, as Putin has been a leader in using modern media to overwhelm and confuse people so they simply give up on truth. There’s lots now about his strategies, but I found this Rand Corp piece from several years ago that’s succinct and gestures to praxis:

There’s a lot of information there, and it’s all worth a read, and the authors do look at psychology—why people believe disinformation. Here are two excerpts:

3. But my favorite read, which has stuck with me the longest, is this 20pg essay by philosopher Harry Frankfurt from the 2000s, I believe, “On Bullshit.” It’s been criticized for being too simplistic, but that’s its strength imo.

Here’s the gist, bullshit vs. lies:

I think that undergirds the whole propaganda and media crisis problems in the first two articles I shared. There’s no connection to truth; truth is totally irrelevant.

At the end of the article, HF talks about what purpose bullshit serves the bullshitter. He ends up helping me to understand how/why people propagate the bullshit that they get—because they feel overwhelmed and, in the face of that feeling, what they really want to do is to get a handle on themselves, construct their own identities, make themselves make sense.

This essay was written before the rise of social media, really, and it was quite prescient. Things trend and we all feel like we need to take a position on them even if we don’t care and don’t have time or energy or desire to learn anything about them. The feeling is constant and the bullshitting is necessary to how we create our avatar’d, alienated selves. coupled with bad actors trying to manipulate us it’s a wonder we’re all holding on as much as we are!

It’s something about to happen? Cause the way the crazies are spiraling in my inbox... I literally was gone for a day and came back to ridiculousness. I mean generally anytime that happens something exciting happens so keep it up. But I’m just curious if there’s some secret memo y’all get telling you the future and how can I get it?

On a serious note though I’ve been on a psychology kick recently and have been reading about why people believe what they believe so strongly. In the age of misinformation and disinformation it’s interesting to look at, especially what lengths people will go to (harassing strangers on the internet) to try and get others to agree with them. Or maybe they’re just trolls but I think some people legit hold these alt. beliefs even on here. I’ve also been looking at how people will just set aside logic and facts in order to hold on to their beliefs cause their stance becomes more important that being right. It’s a giant problem in American culture but also seems to be an issue on social media just globally.

Additionally I’ve been looking at and discussing with my peers how this growing resistance to truth effects how we do our jobs in the publicity field. The rise of the skeptics and conspiracy theorist from being a small faction to a growing minority. And how you combat peoples general mistrust of media and press. How do you help a client who’s in the midst of a smear campaign of untruths when it’s becoming more and more difficult to sway public opinion.

(Anyways these are just my rambling thoughts as I go through my ask box) if you have any good readings on the subject I’d love to see them. I’m solo for the next week while my family’s in the UK so I have a bunch of free time and a curious mind. Or if you just have thoughts on the subject feel free to send them.

[news4dzhozhar]

**Kinda makes you wonder how things would have gone down after the BMB if it happened now instead of 2013. We’ve basically got Alex Jones as VP**

Welcome, Parkland shooting survivors, to the ugly world of politics in 2018.

In the aftermath of last week’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida, some of the most powerful testimonies have come from the teenagers who survived the rampage. They have repeatedly detailed their harrowing experience to national news networks, many calling for stricter gun control laws while decrying President Donald Trump for not doing enough to protect students. Others have merely wept with grief while telling their stories again and again.

The students have become a mobilizing force unlike any seen after previous mass shootings, planning marches and rallies in Florida and Washington, D.C. - all while mourning the friends they’ve so recently lost.

They have also become a target of right-wing smears and innuendo.

Some prominent figures in the right-wing media are suggesting that the students are making it all up, or that the children are paid actors or that their talking points have been manufactured by public relations experts on the left.

An aide to a Florida legislator was even fired Tuesday after claiming two survivors who spoke to CNN were not students, but instead “actors that travel to various crisis when they happen.”

While these claims have no basis, they spread quickly in conservative circles on social media and among popular right-wing commentators.

On Wednesday morning, a video purporting to support one of those false theories - targeting a teenage survivor of the school shooting that left 17 people dead - was listed as the top trending item on YouTube. As of Wednesday morning, the clip had more than 200,000 views.

The video was simply a news report from the summer before the massacre, in which David Hogg happened to appear. In recent days, Hogg, 17, has become one of the faces of March For Our Lives, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student initiative responding to the shooting they survived. But a caption that appeared alongside the video’s thumbnail and title on YouTube’s trending page on Wednesday, claimed that the video showed “DAVID HOGG THE ACTOR…”

And that is a clear reference to a viral, false conspiracy theory that Hogg is actually a paid “crisis actor.” The “crisis actor” is a mainstay of any mass shooting false flag theory - basically, the claim is that gun control advocates send in actors to pretend to be victims in order to push for stricter gun laws.

The students proved quite capable of defending themselves Tuesday.

“I am not a crisis actor. I’m somebody who had to witness this and live through this and I continue to have to do this,” Hogg told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “The fact that some of the students at Stoneman Douglas high school are showing more maturity and political action than many of our elected officials is a testament to how disgusting and broken our political system is right now in American. But we’re trying to fix that.”

He was quickly backed up by fellow students. Sarah Chadwick, for example, tweeted that Hogg “can’t act to save his life. The fact that some people think he is being payed to is hilarious.”

Hogg, the high school’s student news director, has been among the most vocal students. He interviewed his classmates during the shooting, and has spoken passionately to various news outlets in the days since.

But right-wing media websites, such as Infowars, have attacked Hogg for becoming an “overnight celebrity” of the left.

Hogg has described his father as a retired FBI agent - a detail that right-wing commentators have jumped on. An Infowars story called it a “peculiar coincidence” that his father is a retired FBI agent, as “the FBI has come under fire for not preventing the Parkland massacre despite being warned about suspected killer Nikolas Cruz repeatedly beforehand.”

The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., liked two tweets disseminating conspiracy theories about Hogg. One tweet linked to a story in Gateway Pundit that accused Hogg’s father of coaching his son in peddling “anti-Trump rhetoric and anti-gun legislation,” claiming the FBI is using Hogg as its pawn.

The other tweet linked to a story in True Pundit that described Hogg as “the kid who has been running his mouth” about President Trump and Republicans. “If Hogg knew the shooter would snap - as he and other students have professed - perhaps he could have told his father about it,” the story charged.

These conspiracy theories attacking the FBI parallel similar rhetoric from right-wing groups - and Trump - who have claimed the FBI is tainted with political, anti-Trump bias.

Gateway Pundit and Infowars both criticized Hogg and other students for smiling for a photograph on the set of a CBS interview, claiming that instead of grieving they are “acting and being feted like rock stars.”

Infowars’ attack was no surprise. Its founder, Alex Jones, claimed the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 that claimed the lives of 20 small children and six adults, was a false flag operation perpetrated by the United States government. “Sandy Hook is a synthetic completely fake with actors, in my view, manufactured,” he said on his radio show in Jan. 2015.

Some, like conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza, mocked the Florida teenagers. “How interesting to hear students who can’t support themselves for one day giving us lectures about American social policy,” he tweeted early on Tuesday. It was liked more than 22,000 times. A Florida lawmaker’s aide called school-shooting survivors ‘actors.’ Within hours, he was fired.

A few hours later, he tweeted a video interview with 17-year-old Delaney Tarr, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who has emerged as one of the loudest voices calling for gun control in the wake of the shooting. In the video, she directly addressed Trump and requested greater restrictions on the purchase of semiautomatic weapons, such as mental health checks.

D'Souza said Tarr appeared “coached and also a bit deranged,” adding, “Trump’s (sic) should ignore these media-manufactured theatrics.”

And when the Florida House rejected a motion to consider a bill that would ban the sale of assault rifles, he tweeted, “Adults 1, kids 0.”

He followed that with a photo of students reacting to the decision. The students are stone-faced in the photograph, and one has a hand to her mouth, as if to hold in crying.

“Worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs,” D'Souza tweeted. Hours later, he added, “Genuine grief I can empathize with. But grief organized for the cameras - politically orchestrated grief - strikes me as phony & inauthentic.”

Armond White, the National Review’s film critic, drummed up a Trumpian nickname for the students: “Parkland Puppets.”

“Why their ubiquitous presence on TV news shows? Who’s their publicist?” he tweeted, along with a photograph of Hogg and 18-year-old Emma Gonzalez. “Obviously not just being picked up off the street, no 16-year-old has quick access to network news producers. Clearly, some PR exec is handling these Alt-Left kids.” (Neither student pictured is 16 years old.)

Bill O'Reilly, the former Fox News host, disgraced by a sexual abuse scandal, criticized the media for broadcasting interviews with teenagers “who are in an emotional state and facing extreme peer pressure.”

“The national press believes it is their job to destroy the Trump administration by any means necessary,” he wrote on his website. “So if the media has to use kids to do that, they’ll use kids.”

Former Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., on Sunday tweeted a USA Today story about the student organizers helping lead a nationwide student walkout in protest of America’s gun laws, adding the message: “O really? 'Students’ are planning a nationwide rally? Not left wing gun control activists using 17yr kids in the wake of a horrible tragedy?”

Kingston then appeared on CNN’s “New Day” Tuesday and doubled-down on his remarks.

“Do we really think - and I say this sincerely - do we really think that 17-year-olds on their own are going to plan a nationwide rally?” Kingston said, adding, “They probably do not have the logistical ability to plan a nationwide rally without it being hijacked by groups that already had the preexisting anti-gun agenda.”

The show’s co-host Alisyn Camerota fiercely disagreed.

“I talked to these kids before they knew the body count of how many of their friends had been killed. No one had talked to them yet,” Camerota said. “They hadn’t been indoctrinated by some left-wing group. They were motivated from what they saw and what they endured.”

Brandon Abzug, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas senior who survived the shooting, then appeared on CNN and said of the former representative’s comments, “I think it’s very despicable … to say that just because we’re young we can’t make a difference is not right and he should apologize for that.”

Kingston began backtracking on Twitter, saying that “not only do I respect their right to protest & their resolve to look for answers, I admire it” and that’s “why it’s sad local gun control activists would hijack the tragedy to drive their own agenda.”

[paulbenedictblog]

%news%

New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

Usa today The Backstory: America is divided, causing anxiety and gridlock. How USA TODAY will help.

Usa today

USA TODAY Published 7: 23 a.m. ET Dec. 5, 2019 | As much as this level 7: 31 a.m. ET Dec. 5, 2019

I'm USA TODAY editor-in-chief Nicole Carroll and here is The Backstory, insights into our ideal tales of the week. If you happen to would like to bag The Backstory on your inbox a week, subscribe here.

The US is divided. And People are inserting blame:

►On national politicians, who promote adversarial public debate for private reach.

►On social media, which has extra to reach than lose from divisiveness.

►And, sure, on info media. "Now it relies on what channel and what role you survey," Lynn Andino from Modern Rochelle, N.Y., counseled our compare companions. "Wasn't the media supposed to be neutral, to record on information?"

However here is the hopeful portion: People don't desire it to be this methodology and contain suggestions on programs to repair it, in step with a modern Public Agenda/USA TODAY/Ipsos ballotmeasuring the depth of our divide.

This look launches our courageous Hidden Stylish Ground mission, monthly compare and prognosis that surfaces areas of settlement and provides instruments to abet us contain extra constructive conversations. Every month, USA TODAY will recede deep into thorny topics and offer solutions from understanding leaders.

You've gotten got counseled us you desire to issue up, however are vexed of being criticized.

You are looking out to must better realize the views of the opposing political celebration, however attach no longer contain a true methodology to reach so.

And, in my understanding, you wish reduction – the rancor is making too comparatively heaps of you anxious, sad and wretched.

Agree with in mind this portion blueprint, portion balm.

We're no longer advocating for watering down suggestions. We're suggesting that we better realize how others think and be taught programs to contain productive debate. You've gotten got counseled us: Our divisiveness is killing our capacity to handle our considerations. In a democracy, change may maybe perchance tranquil be grounded in public enhance.

Our companions on the nonpartisan Public Agenda compare and engagement organization had been finding out public understanding for bigger than 40 years. President Will Friedman says he factual didn't seize the story of a hopelessly divided The US. "All that gave the influence overstated to us to the level of being self good and self adversarial," he says.

Friedman approached USA TODAY with a proposal: What if we joined forces to existing the correct The US? To search out out the put we agree bigger than disagree. To provide instruments to abet us talk. To reach the "exhausted heart of the electorate."

It modified into once a finest match for USA TODAY, lengthy identified for being the home of negate information and multiple viewpoints. On every occasion you ogle a grid of media on a political spectrum, researchers grunt USA TODAY squarely in the heart. The mission displays founder Al Neuharth’s 1982 mission statement about USA TODAY serving as “a discussion board for better working out and team spirit to abet fabricate the US truly one nation.”

Mizell Stewart III, our senior director of info partnerships, worked with Public Agenda and market compare agency Ipsos on the topics we'll tackle. "Of us reach are looking out to search out total ground." he says. "They don’t consistently know how.”

Right here's how:

►Every month, we’ll explore your opinions on complex considerations like health care, immigration and economic opportunity. To boot to the prognosis in USA TODAY, yow will discover paunchy experiences at publicagenda.org.

►We will ship you tales of growth. "Whereas you bag outdoors the Beltway, you net comparatively heaps of oldsters working together, attempting to resolve considerations," Friedman says. "They aren’t paying as noteworthy consideration to the partisan affiliations."

►We will bag a home for constructive discussion. Join us at talk.usatoday.com, the put it is probably going you'll be in a grunt to be a a part of moderated conversations on every month's topics.

►We will partner with the National Components Boards on on-line and in-person gatherings that mean it is probably going you'll be in a grunt to be taught the methodology to tease out solutions to sophisticated considerations. "Of us must realize regarding the tradeoffs," Friedman says. "What course reach we are looking out to recede, what's onerous about it, what's going to must change to bag there? That's what makes it right.” 

Ninety-two percent of People scream it be vital to decrease divisiveness in our country, and here is equally correct amongst Republicans, Democrats and Independents. Sixty-five percent scream it be very vital.

We're proud to reach our portion.

"Working with you all, we hope to bag a mannequin that we and others can be taught from," Friedman says, "a info media partnership that contributes in a creative methodology."

Nicole Carroll is the editor-in-chief of USA TODAY. She is a Pulitzer Prize worthwhile journalist, Benjamin C. Bradlee "Editor of the Year” and proud mom of three. Feedback? Questions? Attain her at EIC@usatoday.com or reveal her on Twitter here. If you happen to would like to bag The Backstory on your inbox every Friday, subscribe here.

Learn or Piece this chronicle: https://www.usatoday.com/chronicle/understanding/2019/12/05/backstory-the United States-divided-how-united states of americaa.-this day-abet/2599103001/