#olymp trade countrie

[mesetacadre]

this might be a silly question, but. ive recently learned more about the devastating effects of sanctions on countries like cuba, dprk, or venezuela, and how much unnecessary suffering they cause among the population, especially when it comes to food or medicine shortages. but then bds also calls for sanctions against israel, and im wondering, is there any meaningful difference between that and the sanctions already imposed by the US on other countries? i feel a bit hypocritical when i argue against sanctions while at the same time supporting bds, i feel like they are very different situations with different outcomes but i lack the understanding to really grasp how they are different, if that makes any sense

Sanctions are the systematic blockade of all or certain sectors of trade under military or economic threat by the sanctioner (mostly just the USA in recent history) to any potential agents who might try to ignore the sanction. These sanctions typically include things like medical supplies, food if the country is dependent on imports (like most countries who get sanctioned), electricity, fuel, both light and heavy industry, agricultural products and machines, the global financial system, and other such key sectors. These sanctions, overwhelmingly, only serve to impoverish the country, create undue suffering and political strife. This political strife/instability is usually the main goal of sanctions, to destabilize the target government. However, this political instability more often than not does not result in a magical restoration of "democracy" or "human rights", it usually leads the country down a path of further isolationism and political violence that only worsens its general situation. It also makes it much easier for factions like ISIS to gain popularity and support, since people are desperate. Sanctions are inhumane measures which only makes a country suffer for no good reason. The sanctioners know this, they don't care, and I'd wager that suffering is often the actual point of these sanctions. What has the 60 year old blockade achieved in Cuba? It has only caused pointless poverty, and the stated goal of the sanctions, which is to ultimately remove the communist government, has failed, is failing, and Cuba is managing to make due with what they have.

BDS call for sanctions mostly in regards to military equipment and related products/services, for NATO to stop aiding the genocide, or the banning of Israel from international events such as the olympics. No Israeli will ever go hungry because they no longer get European-made ordinance or because they don't get to participate in Eurovision. This is what BDS says in their Sanctions and governments campaign (which is behind two menus, this is also not the main focus of BDS, by far):

The BDS movement calls for sanctions against Israel, similar to the sanctions that were imposed against apartheid South Africa. These sanctions could include a military embargo, an end to economic links and the cutting of diplomatic ties. In the meantime, the BDS movement is calling for states to take steps to meet their legal obligations not to be complicit in the commission of particular Israeli crimes and not to provide recognition, aid or assistance that help Israel maintain its regime of settler colonialism, apartheid.. This includes, for example, the obligation for states to immediately end to all trade that sustains illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the suspension of free trade agreements and other bilateral agreements with Israel.

Notice the greater emphasis on military and diplomatic ties, and how economic/trade sanctions are only called for when it «sustains illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory». Sure, this will (if it is ever adopted by Israel's significant trade partners) cause some suffering for the poor illegal settlers who had just moved into their shiny new apartment blocks built atop acres of land that sustained the surrounding Palestinian villages. The mere existence of these settlements cause more suffering than any sanction could ever cause.

Calling for these sanctions against Israel, which again, don't even come from comparable agents, are both less harmful towards the total population of Israel, and occur in a completely different context. I'm not going to pretend I care about the wellbeing of settlers whose houses didn't even exist 10 years ago. If these sanctions ever do occur in a significant enough scale (dubious), and those settlers don't want to find themselves in a food desert because Carrefour closed all their stores in the west bank, they shouldn't have moved into land stolen from a people facing genocide in the first place. We're also wagering hypothetical and non-global suffering against the now more than 100,000 dead Palestinians in Gaza in the past year, not even counting those who died ever since the first Nakba.

Like BDS points out, these types of grassroots and targeted boycotts/sanctions worked in South Africa, and the white South Africans didn't even suffer that much. Wager these short-lived and targeted sanctions against these other half-century long sanctions sustained by the US' strongarm policy that have prevented basically anything from getting into Cuba or the DPRK.

While those two things are both called sanctions, they have radically different objectives, methods, range, timescale, and character. I can't reiterate this enough, the North Korean collective farmer and the Israeli settler in the west bank have nothing in common when it comes to their position. Only one of them is complicit in genocide through their own actions, only one of them has any degree of blame, and only one of their governments is actually doing anything that warrants any kind of international action. And again, the BDS strategy focuses much more on military sanctions. Let's also be practical for a second, and acknowledge that the US is never going to withdraw their support for Israel, and especially will never sanction Israel. Israel is simply never going to face the same kind of sanctions that Venezuela or Cuba are facing, nor with the same severity, nor with the same restrictions on products essential for life.

[norrisainz33]

footy star || cl16

☆ summary: charles loves his successful olympic footballer wife!

☆ pairing: charles leclerc x olympic!reader

☆ fc & warnings: emily fox & none

☆ requested: yes!! thank you 🫶🏻

☆ a/n: all pictures from pinterest - none of them are my own

ﾟ. ✿ ୨❤︎୧⠀✿ . ﾟ

charlesleclerc has posted to his story

view all story replies

arthurleclerc: you’ve never sent me off like this before

arthurleclerc: also tell y/n/n i am sorry i couldn’t be there to say good luck in person

charlesleclerc: told her and she says she misses you already

ynleclerc: you spoil me 🤭

charlesleclerc: of course i do ma cherie! you’re my wife after all ❤️

user1: i am so jealous of this

user2: candle on the bed is a move

scuderiaferarri: our girl 🫶🏻

user4: i want what yall have

ynleclerc has made a post

liked by charlesleclerc, scuderiaferrari, yourbff, uswnt, arsenalfc, user1 and 435,274 others

ynleclerc: traded in my arsenal kit for my country kit! i am overjoyed to be representing my country for the second time at the olympics but this time as a leclerc 😉🇺🇸🤍

view all 526 comments

user1: mommmmaaaaaaaa

user3: AS A LECLERC ??? IM CRYING

charlesleclerc: that’s right mrs leclerc 😘 i’m so proud of you

ynleclerc: i love you mr leclerc

user2: arsenal kit is better

carlossainz55: vamos y/n!! (i’m rooting for spain)

iamrebeccad: vamos y/n!! (i’m rooting for y/n)

ynleclerc: and that’s why rebecca is my favorite

user4: i am so obsessed with this

iamrebeccad: the most radiant footballer i’ve ever seen 🫶🏻

ynleclerc: stop it i love you

user7: a leclerc representing the usa doesn’t sit right with me

user4: monaco doesn’t have a team 😭

user5: my favorite wag 🗣️

scuderiaferrari has posted a video

user7: the way carlos and charles look at each other got me feeling some type of way

user8: omg stop carlos is going with charles to paris?! 🥹

user9: need a baddie to look at me with big puppy dog eyes like carlos does to charles tf

user10: FORZA FERRARI

user11: admin putting “soccer” in quotes is sending me

user12: husband charles is my favorite charles

user13: y/n has the two hottest drivers in the world as her biggest fans im

user19: beeee who you areeeee

charlesleclerc has made a post

liked by scuderiaferrari, ynleclerc, maxverstappen1, lewishamilton, yourbff, yoursibling, carlossainz55, and 743,234 others

charlesleclerc: half of the season done. some ups like realizing a childhood dream in monaco and marrying my best friend in tuscany and some downs but it’s time to rest, cheer on my wife at the olympics and come back stronger than ever in the second half! thank you to everyone for the continuous support - see you soon ❤️

view all 829 comments

user10: NEW WEDDING PICS DROPPED 🚨

user16: enjoy the break charles

maxverstappen1: let’s go y/n!! enjoy your break charles! try not to cause an inchidents in paris

charlesleclerc: i’ll do my best!! see you soon mate

scuderiaferrari: rest and recovery time 🔋

user16: no rest for yall tho !! get back to the factory and start making a better car

ynleclerc: je suis si fier de toi charles. je t'aime tellement [i am so proud of you charles. i love you so much]

charlesleclerc: je t'aime toujours et pour toujours [i love you always and forever]

user33: she’s learning her french 🥹

landonorris: tell y/n to bring me some thing back from paris

ynleclerc: a baguette?

landonorris: that or a magnet or a medal

ynleclerc: you got it bud

user32: charles leclerc the man that you are

user43: i hope they never stop posting wedding photos

ynlecelrc has posted to their story

view all story replies

user16: THAT MEANS EMOTIONAL SUPPORT PERSON (charles) ALSO ARRIVED AHHHH

yourbff: i miss little leo oh my god he’s so cute

ynleclerc: he’s getting so big 😭😭😭🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

charlesleclerc: what about me 🥺 just kidding mon amour

ynleclerc: well you too baby but leo just looked too cute not to post

carlossainz55: principito [little prince] 👑

user17: heck he’s my emotional support pup too

user22: GOOD LUCK TONIGHT Y/N

arthurleclerc: and nothing about your emotional support brother in law???????

ynleclerc: oh hush

arthurleclerc: I WILL NOT BE SILENCED

arthurleclerc: oh and now you leave me on read

F1Gossip has made a post

liked by user1, user2, user3, user4, user5, user6 and 123,435 others

F1Gossip: charles was in the stadium today supporting his wife, y/n leclerc, who is playing in the finals of the olympics for the uswnt! fans said charles was spotted with carlos, rebecca, arthur, pascale and lorenzo.

view all 453 comments

user22: all the leclerc’s in attendance stop 😭

user23: this is so sweet omg

user24: why are carlos and rebecca there

user23: y/n and rebecca are best friends!!

user25: the leclerc’s love y/n so much im sick

user26: y/n is living the dream. a footy super star and a member of a truly royal family

user12: i just fell to my knees ,, look how smiley he is

user16: he loves his girl so much

user18: no bc i want someone to be this happy watching me 😭💔

user32: my favorite couple on the grid

user45: i’m not ready for my family to be broken up after abu dhabi

ynleclerc has made a post

liked by charlesleclerc, arthuerleclerc, iamrebeccad, yourbff, uswnt, trinity_rodman, lavellerose, mrapinoe, sbird10, erling.haaland, and 435,273 others

ynleclerc: WE DID IT WE WON GOLD!!! we left absolutely everything out on that pitch - i am so unbelievably proud of this team. thank you to all the fans who supported us along the way and to my beautiful family and husband for making the trip to paris. i love you all 🤍🇺���

view all 654 comments

user87: so proud of you

yourbff: you are so amazing i love you so much that’s my BEST FRIEND

ynleclerc: BESTIE BESTIE BESTIE

logansargeant: making america proud y/n!

ynleclerc: so are you logie 🇺🇸

charlesleclerc: y/n you inspire me every day. i could not be more in awe of you and everything you have and continue to accomplish. i love you my gorgeous golden girl

ynleclerc: 🥹 charlie!! don’t make me cry again

charlesleclerc: no crying cherie! leo can’t handle his maman crying

ynleclerc: ok i’ll hold it together for the baby

user16: ok but they’d be the cutest actual parents

ynleclerc: and we just might be sooner than you’d think user16

user16: Y/N?!?!?!? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN GIRL PLEASE TELL US RNCIM NAKENFKWNGKG

landonorris: so you are bringing me home a medal

ynleclerc: i told you i would

landonorris: sorry for doubting you bestie

ynleclerc: you should be sorry

user98: THATS OUR GIRL

mrapinoe: congrats y/n! so well deserved 🤍

ynleclerc: megan 😭😭😭😭 thank you

iamrebeccad: see how she wins a gold medal? very demure, very mindful, very cutesy

ynleclerc: see how she’s the most supportive best friend ever? very demure, very mindful, very cutesy

ﾟ. ✿ ୨❤︎୧⠀✿ . ﾟ

a/n: thanks for reading!! likes and reblogs appreciated. been a bit slow on requests but am going to try to post more this weekend!!

ﾟ. ✿ ୨❤︎୧⠀✿ . ﾟ

disclaimer: pictures are not mine and everything i write is fiction

© norrisainz33 || please do not rewrite, translate, or copy any of my works posted here on to any other platform

[peachhcs]

I also imagine Hannah and James keep it a secret but imagine they do a soft launch but no one knows yet so all their friends are so confused. The only people who make the connection are Sammy and will

SOFT LAUNCH INCOMING y’all i love doing social media posts and i also love starting the au with a good ol’ soft launch ☺️

hard launch coming soon and everyone’s reactions to james and hannah dating!! 😌

also in the process of making the au masterlist with the entire background + everything so stayed tuned for that

au masterlist

hannahduke a weekend in my life 🤸🏽‍♂️

view all comments

nick_moldenhauer damn you traded to the dark side in the last pic

| hannahduke forgive me nick 😔✋

tj_hughes13 michigan STATE???

| hannahduke i promise it was only for a day

user1 wait why is no one talking about pics 3 and 4???

user2 does hannah have a bf???

julianne_gelinas Girl..if u dont start explaining who pic 3 and 4 are…

| hannahduke 🤭

teddystiga_ 😦😦😦

| hannahduke what?

coleeiserman i got such whiplash from this photo. a man AND michigan state? wow

| hannahduke 😔

user3 WHO is her boyfriend??? wait

ryan.leno_4 hannah i’ve known you for like 3 years now and you’re telling me none of us know who this secret man is??

| hannahduke pls forgive me i like surprises

gabeperreault44 😦 hannah duke boyfriend alert??

| hannahduke surprise!

tyler___duke5 wait even i don’t know who this is?? who is this?? when did u get a boyfriend??

| hannahduke all great questions

drewf2 what a shocking turn of events

| hannahduke ikr

samyhughes WAIT A DAMN MINUTE…

| hannahduke …

_wilvote soooo when did this happen?

| hannahduke soo..about that..

aram_minnetian i’m shocked actually bc who is this??

| hannahduke 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️ beats me

jameshagens_4 i really like your shoes they’re cool

| hannahduke hey thanks! i like yours!

samanthaminnetian gurllll ur so crazy omg

| hannahduke :))

user4 using my full detective skills rn to see which one of these guys it is bc it HAS to be one of the hockey boys

user5 it’s so hard to figure out when they all flirt with each other in the comments

dylanduke25 wait when did you get a boyfriend???

| hannahduke good question

edwards.73 LITTLE DUKER IS CUFFED UP!!!⚠️⚠️⚠️

| dylanduke25 i feel so dumb rn

markestapa what an interesting turn of events

| hannahduke very interesting

user6 one of the country’s best gymnast is cuffed up and no one knows who is so funny to me

user7 well whoever he is must have major rizz if he pulled the hannah duke

user8 hope he knows he’s dating an olympic gold medalist 🤞🤞

danielle_minnetian damn did he pull off the road to pick those for you??

| hannahduke yes he did 😸😸

_willsmith2 crazy hannah lore drop

| hannahduke frrr

emmagcooper hannah this is so funny of you

| hannahduke hey emma thanks i’m glad you think so!

jacob_fowler24 i’m with @user4 trying to figure out who this is

| hannahduke good luck trying to figure it out :)

michaelhagens_11 wait..i’ve lowkey seen those shoes before..

| hannahduke have you now?

zeevbuium28 nooo wayyyy u soft launched someone i never thought u would

| hannahduke honestly me neither i thought i was dying alone

olivianmorriss hannah ur playing everyone rn i love it

| hannahduke my speciality 🥰

farahlipetz han this is so cutie aw

| hannahduke thanks farah 🥰

jameshagens_4 got me back and forth

view all comments

teddystiga_ now hold on..

| jameshagens_4 ?

user1 🤨🤨🤨 now when did he have a gf???

aram_minnetian HAGS NOT U TOO😭😭😭

| jameshagens_4 i’m sorry 😭

coleeiserman i’m so confused actually

| jameshagens_4 why??

| coleeiserman WHO is that 😭😭

ryan.leno_4 first hannah and now you 😭😭

| jameshagens_4 so crazy 😭

_willvote i stood up and applauded for you

| jameshagens_4 wow thanks vote

michaelhagens_11 dude..this is..interesting..

| jameshagens_4 wdym??

gabeperreault44 this is a crazy soft launch tbh

| jameshagens_4 is it?

drewf2 AYEEE i made it 🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️

| jamehagens_4 ofc ❤️‍🔥

jacob_fowler24 i have so many questions yet none of them are getting answered

| jameshagens_4 😦

samyhughes this is..a really suspicious post..

| jameshagens_4 what does that mean??

_willsmith2 is that..y’all are not slick with this

| jameshagens_4 i’m confused

user2 we lost another one guys wtf 😔😔

user3 HOW are all of these boston hockey players getting cuffed up???

user4 there’s something in the air over there istg

zeevbuium28 okkk haggy i see you 🙂‍↔️

| jameshagens_4 😉😉

trevorconnelly16 crazy lineup dude

| jameshagens_4 trust me i know

brandonsvoboda_ my mannn i knew u had it in you

| jameshagens_4 😌😌

emmagcooper this was such a surprise to see on my feed this morning

| jameshagens_4 ur welcome :)

hannahduke wow 2nd pic kind of gas

| jameshagens_4 thanks i really tried to make it look good

[wileys-russo]

my latest hyperfixations are;

1. any tiktok made about/within the olympic village - i have FOMO?? it seems so fun?? 2. the little country specific pins all of the olympic athletes are trading with one another - i've fallen down a deep deep rabbit hole of comparing and rating them + simone biles having her own PERSONAL pin you can only trade and get from her??? girl boss moment fr

[argumate]

you've mentioned china's trade surplus effectively ripping of Chinese citizens (they are generating product but not getting access to it, I think?) and I was wondering... why? what benefit does this give to the people of China? I assume they operate that way for a reason but I don't know what the reason could be

I think it was a sensible strategy for at least 25 years or so, from when open policy began under Deng Xiaoping in 1979 up to the Beijing Olympics and Global Financial Crisis in 2008, then it became increasingly unhelpful but it was difficult to stop.

China was coming out of 30 years of Maoism when Deng took over, disconnected from the global economy, lacking infrastructure, and extremely underinvested: the GDP of Japan was 5x larger than China and it was exporting 10x as much as China, despite China having 8x more people.

under open policy, China created special economic zones across the south east and encouraged companies from Hong Kong and Taiwan to setup low cost operations there, then later invited US and European corporations too but always with strict conditions to partner with local businesses and state owned enterprises to ensure technology transfer (the classic story of investing in China is to do the work of setting up a partner company then later have that partner company take over the market).

at the same time as opening up to global markets (and getting rid of rations and price controls and switching to a market economy domestically), China poured resources into infrastructure investment, building factories and highways and bridges and docks and harbours and the largest high speed train network on the planet and vast cities of apartments to accommodate the biggest urbanisation project in history and so on and so on.

this transformed China at vast scale with shocking speed into the industrial powerhouse that it is today, with GDP 4x Japan and exporting 5x as much, an incredible turnaround from the 20th century, when cyberpunk authors were predicting the Japanese economy would eat the world.

but all that infrastructure and property development required to urbanise and industrialise was a massive investment, funded by the government and paid for by the hard work of Chinese households, whose incomes were suppressed by a range of mechanisms: fixed exchange rates and tariffs making imports expensive and helping exporters, bank spreads giving low deposit rates for savers and cheaper loans for favoured industries, the hukou system taking away rights from rural residents so they could be used as cheap labour in the cities much like undocumented immigrants in the US, and of course the labour movement was carefully controlled by the government and suppressed when its demands grew too strong.

the Chinese people paid for the transformation of China, but by and large I'd say it was well worth the effort: even if the politically connected elite siphoned off the top and wealth inequality increased, the overall quality of life improved enormously from the Maoist dark ages that preceded the open era.

the transition from the rationed economy to the market economy was rough, and inflation and unemployment not always perfectly managed, but the unrest of 1989 was relatively minor in the scheme of things, compared with the chaos and dysfunction of Russia's failed attempt to cross the chasm and liberalise its economy.

so that's the Chinese success story, which I think peaks in 2008, when China is inviting the world to the Beijing Olympics while America is busy spending billions of dollars invading other countries and has just blown up the global economy thanks to poor regulation of its banks inflating a mortgage bubble into a credit crisis.

however at this moment of triumph, China faces a quandary that it has not resolved to this day: the development model that has made it the industrial envy of the world has run its course and must be changed in order to continue steady growth, but it is very difficult to change course when politically connected vested interests owe everything they have to the continuation of these policies!

but first, why were exports important to China's growth in the first place? I think there are multiple reasons for this:

foreign companies that setup operations in China were focused on the export market because the Chinese people at the time had very little money, making them great workers but poor customers, and although the domestic market would steadily grow in size over time, the size of the global market and the suppression of local wages would continue to favour exports.

the government knew that the export market was highly competitive and would keep industry honest in a way that the domestic market might not, avoiding the problems seen in the USSR where protected industries could manufacture low quality products and faced little pressure to improve: "Made in China" would start cheap and then work its way up in quality, a classic tale of market disruption, as we see today with China subsidising Tesla factories as a rabbit for its own greyhounds (BYD) to chase.

possible geopolitical advantages to taking over critical industries for the entire world, along with an ideological bias in favour of production over consumption which means industries will habitually produce more than the domestic market can consume, requiring exports to meet the demand for demand.

so the problem was that over time China began to run out of opportunities for productive investment: when every person has an apartment and every river has a dozen bridges and the country is exporting a trade surplus of a trillion dollars a year it's time to slow down investment driven growth, shift towards consumption, pay households more, and let increased demand from Chinese consumers drive future development.

however, this requires reversing the transfers currently in place that take money away from households to subsidise exporters, which would immediately hurt export competitiveness and risk businesses downsizing and spiking unemployment -- much as we're seeing with Trump's tariffs in the opposite direction, any poorly managed change causes an economic downturn immediately but the potential economic growth is delayed, leading to a painful adjustment period and possible political instability.

as a result the Chinese government has been announcing plans to raise consumption and deleverage (reduce debt-fueled investment driven growth) for fifteen years now but it has balked from actually doing it every time, so the trade surplus mounts ever higher and popular discontent grows as -- much like America -- the people see the economic growth opportunities that their parents enjoyed now receding into the distance.

in theory the US could force this adjustment unilaterally, ideally by controlling financial investment from China (which is how China balances its enormous trade surplus) or much more clumsily by the kind of tariffs that Trump is levying (although bilateral tariffs may just push trade into more circuitous paths through other countries to evade them).

if the US no longer accepts Chinese trade surpluses then the government will have no choice but to shift the economy in a different direction, and perhaps it will be easier to justify the transition when the disruption can be blamed on a foreign adversary.

so if I had to summarise I would say that extracting wealth from the people can be beneficial if it is invested productively, but ultimately what makes an investment productive is that it meets demand from the people, that is what an economy is for, and we see countries experience growth booms when demand drives investment to meet demand and stagnate when demand drops and investment becomes increasingly unproductive, pushing on a piece of string in the hope that people will spend money they don't have if you just build enough shopping malls.

[shranstan]

Moby Dick Modern AU

Captain Ahab isn't actually a captain but instead a professor in the marine biology department. He does, however, answer to "captain" instead of "professor", and will never call the captain of the ship he is currently on the captain.

Ahab is obsessed with the white whale in that he's been trying to put a GPS tracker on it for years but it always fails someway. Moby Dick is such a distinctive whale, and he really really wants to study it, but it just keeps getting away or moving at the last moment so that the suction cup gps doesn't stick...

The Pequod is a research vessel owned by Ahab's university, Starbuck is the actual captain, but is called the first mate by Ahab because.. Ahab is Ahab. So, the others started calling him that, too.

Ishmael is also a marine biologist by trade however because of his controvertial opinion (whales are fish! most species we consider fish aren't that closely related anyways! it's a description of ecological, not genetic, importance! so whales should be considered fish, too!) he has been largely shunned/considered of no importance in the scientific community. He teaches biology at a highschool instead.

Ishmael is also a trans man. That is also canon to Herman's novel but I need to underline it here bc naming yourself basically "Is-male" is such a funny joke.

Ishmael signs himself up for a research cruise under the guise of not being a biologist but a simple sailor - this ruse is discovered incredibly quickly (it only takes one infodump).

Pip is one of those brilliant kids who skip 5 grades. He's 16 and in the final year of writing his bachelor's thesis. Ahab is his supervisor.

Queequeg is the ship's chief engineer, making him 3rd most important person on the ship (after the captain and first mate; source: my childhood bff's father was one) and also making him a lot of money. The university's usual chief engineer was unavailable and Ishmael was hyped to get his hubby on the same expedition as him.

Speaking of, Ishmael and Queequeg met at a motel in Vegas, got high, cuddled all night, and then got married the next day.

Queequeg usually works on all sort of ships, spending a couple months home with Ishmael and then doing engineering for the next couple months away on the sea.

Tashtego is working on his master's in marine biology and unfortunatelly Ahab's his supervisor same as Pip except Ahab loves Pip's ideas but hates Tashtego's

Daggoo is on a scientific exchange from a university from his home country, he's just a researcher (as in, doesn't study or teach)

Fedallah is there even though he's like. Completely unrelated to marine biology. He's like a professional olympic-level archer but Ahab forged his papers to bring him aboard so that he can finally put that tracker on the Moby Dick.

The rest of the crew are a combo of researchers and regular sailor folk who are, y'know, needed for the ship to function as a ship.

Pip falls into the ocean multiple times while trying to take samples but is saved quickly every time. They just force him to essentially wear buoy marker attached to him at all times in case he was submerged and unseen.

[puckpocketed]

why is kopitar so underrated? maybe it's bc i'm not a kings fan (and that i'm quite new to the nhl), but i never hear anyone talk about him. as someone who wasn't following the league back in 2012-2014 i'm sure there was more of a buzz then, but he's doing really well right now, especially considering he is the same age as crosby and one of the best players on a (likely) playoff bound team. even if he isn't as good as crosby or ovi, he's still by far one of the best older guys in the league. ofc he doesn't have the same international prestige, but slovenia is a country that has been consistently promoted from and relegated to wc d1a, so he's not going to be winning medals at worlds or the olympics no matter how good he is. i am aware that hockey prestige tends to be focused more on north americans, so does the fact that he's not from NA - and more specifically not from a typical hockey nation - play into it? and how much longer do you reckon he'll play for? it would be nice to see him stick around for a bit longer as i'm quite keen on him (if you couldn't tell)

Why is he underrated? -> Your guess is as good as mine! probably even better than mine since I don't have the data or the expertise. I also just got here. AND im very biased lmao i think he's cool as fuck and so are the Kings... my sillies........

if you put a gun to my head I'd say i think lak play late night games + LA is not a Traditiional Hockey Market + also he is... not flashy?? <- probably why he's aged so well. he's not reliant on a speed/power game.

i dooo wonder how much of QB's emergence as a defensive center this season has to do with being around Kopi and learning from him... ough... i don't have enough of a skilled eye to tell.. i suppose my point is who the hell watching lak games except for me and the 2 moths and 3 dust bunnies that inhabit lak lb.

and I can't speak to NA biases except to shrug and say yeah I'd believe that. people love dismissing foreigners LOL!! xenophobia is all around us!! wheehehee!!!

How long will he play for? -> He's signed for 7M until 2025-26. He'll be 38 by then. He hasn't shown decline. He STILL leads the Kings in scoring (though right now that's by 1 point ahead of Kempe) and remains a locker room stalwart. His leadership, as far as I know, has never been in question. I can't see him asking for a trade or being dealt unwillingly seeing how well the whole team is playing and how he contributes to that.

Furthermore, much as I malign Jim Hiller for it, I do believe the lak youth movement has truly arrived <3 I'm so so so happy for Laferriere, Turcotte, Byfield, Clarke, Moverare, Helenius, Thomas, Lee.... Everything that could go right this season has gone right, with regards to bringing in so many of the Ontario boys (i LOVE home grown talent... love how weirdly attached they are to each other from marinating for years in the AHL)

Byfield in particular is taking on more responsibilities; just in the last couple games we've seen him butt heads with Kucherov's line as a matchup center and get rotated into Kopi's line when the Kings were in a pinch. He's gained Hiller's trust, skating just as many if not more minutes than Kopi. Going into the future this can only be a good thing for Kopi's longevity.

So given the team isn't on the decline, and the fact that Kopitar has remained remarkably healthy, and his game has never been dependent on being particularly fast/strong, and given there are young legs available to insulate him as he slows down... I'm gonna be bold and say if circumstances allow (cap, overall health, role) he plays into his 40 year old season in a reduced role <3

I hope he's a Kings lifer. He means so much to the org, to all the boys he's raised... I'm tearing up just thinking about it... ough...

thank you for dropping by!! A great reminder that i am NOT immune to beautiful goth gf...........

[kevinsdsy]

another shawn at the olympics thought: he somehow makes into onto basically every tiktok page of an olympian. doesn’t matter the sport he is either featured or in the background, the other trojans have literally no idea how he seemingly has a sixth sense for befriending olympians with tik tok and also where he gets the time ????? they’re scrolling and oh. there’s shawn again ???? anyway shawn is my pookie bear and i know he’s having a ball in this bitch

WAITTTT I LOVE THIS SO MUCHHHHH IM CRYING AHHHH

shawn and the muffin man making tiktoks about the muffin, shawn indulging in the cookie vs muffin beef, shawn making a tiktok with simone biles, shawn and that random ireland exy player i made up for the au becoming besties, shawn and SNOOP DOG supporting the USA team together in the stands for idek what sport, shawn deciding he’s going to support the USA gymnastics team but whenever they land something crazy the camera seems to find him and he has the most flabbergasted look on his face— multiple commentators have had to go “for the people watching at home who don’t know, this is one of the Class I Exy USC Trojans players— shawn anderson. the palmetto state foxes and USC trojans seem to be enjoying the olympics together… blah blah blah.”

anyways by the end of the olympics this man has gotten multiple pin and his team is ANNOYED about it because it was supposed to be pin trading among the olympians HOW DID HE EVEN GET THOSE???? (he has been determined to get the countries of his teammates and gifts them the pins— he was also very busy finding kevin an ireland pin after finding out he’s half-irish and using kevin’s name to get into sean’s room (once again ireland exy player i made up for the au)— but kevin actually managed to get his own.

[chirpingfromthebox]

Victoire acquire forward Kaitlin Willoughby from the Sceptres for defender Anna Kjellbin NEW YORK AND TORONTO (March 13, 2025) – The Montréal Victoire and Toronto Sceptres have completed a trade, with Montréal acquiring forward Kaitlin Willoughby from Toronto in exchange for defender Anna Kjellbin. The trade was the first and only deal made today before the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) trade deadline at 2 p.m. ET.

“First of all, we'd like to thank Anna for the trust she had placed in us and for accepting a contract with our team,” said Montréal General Manager Danièle Sauvageau. “Anna is the captain of her national team and has had a significant impact on our players, coaching staff and support staff. Her time with us has been nothing but positive. We wish her all the best with her new team. Kaitlin's arrival allows us to add even more depth to our squad. Both teams are visibly happy with these additions, which answered both of our needs.” “With the trade deadline, we felt strongly about bringing another defender onto our roster,” said Toronto General Manager Gina Kingsbury. “Anna, a right-handed D, brings international experience and is a proven leader as the captain of Team Sweden. We are excited to welcome her to our Sceptres family. At the same time, we thank Kaitlin Willoughby for her contributions to the organization and her impact on the team, fans and community as an inaugural member of Toronto’s team.” Willoughby has been a two-year member of the Sceptres, first joining the team in the inaugural season as a free agent invite, then signing a one-year contract extension prior to the 2024-25 campaign. The 29-year-old from Prince Albert, SK, has recorded one assist in 43 career regular-season games in Toronto. Prior to the PWHL, Willoughby spent four seasons with the PWHPA from 2019-23 and one season with the CWHL’s Calgary Inferno in 2018-19. She is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan where she played five U SPORTS seasons with the Huskies. Kjellbin was selected by the Victoire in the sixth round of the 2024 PWHL Draft and signed a one-year contract with the team ahead of this season. She appeared in 18 games for Montréal and recorded her only point, an assist, against Toronto as part of a 4-3 overtime win for the Victoire on Dec. 21 at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Prior to the PWHL, the 30-year-old from Göteborg, Sweden, played 15 years in the SDHL, most recently with Luleå HF, where she won three-straight championships. Kjellbin also represented her country at the 2022 Olympics and has played in five Women’s World Championships, serving as Sweden’s captain in the 2024 tournament in Utica. Montréal’s next game is Tuesday night in Boston against the Fleet, then Toronto hosts the New York Sirens on Wednesday.

[jade-efflorescence]

and if you traded friendship bracelets at the eras tour i love you and if you watched the eras tour movie i love you and if you hopped on grainy livestreams to hear surprise songs i love you. if you taygated stadium parking lots or sat in munich on olympic hill or filled the streets of vienna with singing i love you. if you spent hours planning costumes or creating bracelets or making eras-themed blankets and artwork i love you. if you drew lyric parallels with every new song combo or played mastermind or chatted with swifties across the country i love you. if you had a new album and two new taylor's versions on repeat through the end of 2024 i love you. if you cheered on each opener for the eras tour, whether at your concert or virtually so, i love you. if you have created a safe space for fans and artists by being positive and supportive, i love you.

[justforbooks]

House of Huawei by Eva Dou

A fascinating insight into a Chinese telecoms giant and its detractors

Huawei is not exactly a household name. If you’ve heard of it, you either follow the smartphone market closely – it is the main China-based manufacturer of high-end phones – or else consume a lot of news, because the company is at the centre of an ongoing US-China trade war.

But this enormous business is one of the world’s biggest producers of behind-the-scenes equipment that enables fibre broadband, 4G and 5G phone networks. Its hardware is inside communications systems across the world.

That has prompted alarm from US lawmakers of both parties, who accuse Huawei of acting as an agent for China’s government and using its technology for espionage. The company insists it merely complies with the local laws wherever it operates, just like its US rivals. Nevertheless, its equipment has been ripped out of infrastructure in the UK at the behest of the government, its execs and staffers have been arrested across the world, and it has been pilloried for its involvement in China’s oppression of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.

Into this murky world of allegation and counter-allegation comes the veteran telecoms reporter Eva Dou. Her book chronicles the history of Huawei since its inception, as well as the lives of founder Ren Zhengfei and his family, starting with the dramatic 2019 arrest of his daughter Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, at the behest of US authorities.

Dou’s command of her subject is indisputable and her book is meticulous and determinedly even-handed. House of Huawei reveals much, but never speculates or grandstands – leaving that to the politicians of all stripes for whom hyperbole about Huawei comes more easily.

At its core, this book is the history of a large, successful business. That doesn’t mean it’s boring, though: there’s the story of efforts to haul 5G equipment above Everest base camp in order to broadcast the Beijing Olympics torch relay. We hear about the early efforts of Ren and his team, working around the clock in stiflingly hot offices, to make analogue telephone network switches capable of routing up to 10,000 calls; and gain insights into the near-impossible political dance a company must perform in order to operate worldwide without falling foul of the changing desires of China’s ruling Communist party.

Dou makes us better equipped to consider questions including: is this a regular company, or an extension of the Chinese state? How safe should other countries feel about using Huawei equipment? Is China’s exploitation of its technology sector really that different to the way the US authorities exploited Google, Facebook and others, as revealed by Edward Snowden?

Early in Huawei’s history, Ren appeared to give the game away in remarks to the then general secretary of the Communist party. “A country without its own program-controlled switches is like one without an army,” he argued, making the case for why the authorities should support his company’s growth. “Its software must be held in the hands of the Chinese government.”

But for each damning event, there is another that introduces doubt. The book reveals an arrangement from when Huawei operated in the UK that gave GCHQ unprecedented access to its source code and operations centre. US intelligence agencies seemed as able to exploit Huawei equipment for surveillance purposes as China’s. While Huawei’s equipment was certainly used to monitor Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, it was hardware from the US company Cisco that made China’s so-called Great Firewall possible.

Anyone hoping for definitive answers will not find them here, but the journey is far from wasted. The intricate reporting of Huawei, in all its ambiguity and complexity, sheds much light on the murky nature of modern geopolitics. The people who shout loudest about Huawei don’t know more than anyone else about it. Eva Dou does.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[joshujin]

stops and starts [teaser]

one mistake. one injury. one chance to mend it all.

you were just approaching the peak of your career when it all came crashing down around you—and in front of the entire world, no less. now, two years later, you are an officially retired olympic athlete, and you have little to show for it other than unchecked resentment and rage.

but one person is standing in the way of you and your exit from the games. one person you attribute the destruction of your dreams to. one person who, despite everything, might be the answer to finding your way back to your dreams and, more importantly, back to yourself.

pairing: jeonghan x afab reader cw: teaser: none || fic: descriptions of sports injuries, mention of blood, smut (smut tags to be included later) tags: exes to lovers, angst with a happy ending, second chance romance, alternating pov, flashbacks, reader is a figure skater, jeonghan is a halfpipe snowboarder

one week with you has simultaneously felt like a lifetime and a millisecond to jeonghan. already, he feels like he’s known you across several lives, as cheesy as that is to say, but somehow, he also feels like he’s only spent a modicum of time with you—that all the time the universe has to offer would never be enough.

in just the past seven days, he’s learned more about you than he’s learned about anybody else.

he knows that on your off-season, you cycle through hobbies like nobody’s business, reading being the only one you consistently come back to (you read 80 books last year. how you found the time, he has no clue).

he knows that you need to have the sound of rain softly playing at night to have a restful sleep (and having fallen asleep wrapped around you every night, he needs it now too).

he knows that you think your life has been slipping away from you. it’s not something you ever verbally shared with him, but he recognizes it in everything you do. it’s when you suggest the two of you do something on the verge of insane even though it’s nearing midnight and you already had a full day of activities. it’s the way you ask him dozens of questions at a time, several times a day—like you’re afraid you’re running out of time to get to know everything you want to know about jeonghan. it’s in your eyes, when you’re staring at him and you don’t think he notices, or when you turn over in bed and trace the features of his face with your finger, unaware that he’s still awake under your touch.

you’re scrambling to keep your experiences and your newfound connections as close to you as you can, and he sees it.

of course, he’s fully aware he only recognizes it in you because he’s feeling it himself too. because sure, it’s only been one week, but it’s also already been one week. the winter olympics will come and go like they do every four years, and you two will have to get back to training at one point or another. it’s hard not to feel like you’re both borrowing time.

he knows one more thing about you, maybe the most important of all the things he’s learned so far. it’s that you love figure skating—a no-brainer for anyone who’s watched you perform, which he has for years now. but nothing lights your entire being up quite the way that talking about your sport does. it makes it plain to see that it seems like a fair trade-off to you—your life slipping away in exchange for being the best of the best at your very favorite thing to do in the world.

but this one thing about you… this is one thing jeonghan does not see in himself. he loves snowboarding. he loves being an athlete—an olympian. he loves making his loved ones, his country, and koreans everywhere proud. but now that you’re finally here, and now that you feel like you’re his, he can’t imagine thinking that a life with you slipping away from him is a fair trade-off for… snowboarding.

jeonghan thinks this feeling should scare him. he’s had a fair share of partners, dates, and casual sex, but he’s never felt happy enough to be this carefree and certainly not this fast. he’s never been so lost in his own joy that he put snowboarding on the backburner, which is exactly what he finds himself constantly doing in just the first week of knowing you.

but it doesn’t scare him. it exhilarates him.

jeonghan has been snowboarding since he was just four years old, and it’s been his entire life since. having something—someone else be the focus for once feels like the first breath of air after holding it underwater for as long as he could. he just didn’t realize that’s what he was doing until you skipped right into his life.

it only took one dinner date for him to decide he was keeping you for as long as you’d have him. one full day spent exploring the village and its outskirts for him to completely forget why he was in france in the first place. one night falling asleep together in the common room watching curling and trying to figure out what was happening without googling it for you both to decide you’d rather just board together for the month (jeonghan abandoned his room for yours).

it was fast—he knew this even without all of soonyoung’s questioning and judgmental stares—but he also couldn’t stop if he tried. because every time he looked up, you were there, and it took so much brain power to process your smile, your hand in his, your laugh, that he couldn’t think of anything else, let alone think of stopping.

so he’s not surprised to find you’re having the same thoughts. you’re both sitting on the edge of the deserted superpipe in the dead of night, after you just made him perform a bunch of tricks for you (another one of your midnight ideas) when you suddenly ask, “do you think we’re moving kind of fast?”

he smirks, throwing an arm around your shoulders and pulling you close. “we haven’t even kissed. is this fast for you?” he jokes.

you nudge him with your shoulder as you blush even harder than the nighttime cold has already made you. “hannie.”

his heart flutters every time you call him that. “i’m kidding,” he whispers, leaning down to kiss the shoulder closest to him. you shiver even though you probably can’t even feel his lips through your snow jacket. he rubs your arm. “i don’t think this is fast,” he tells you honestly. “do you?”

“i… don’t know,” you grumble bashfully. “i’ve never done this whole… dating thing before.”

jeonghan isn’t surprised by this admission; you’ve been more than clear about how strict everyone in your life has been with your time and your sport, and if he did the math, he knew that didn’t leave much time for any human interaction at all.

“that doesn’t matter,” he assures you. “even if you’ve dated a million people before, that wouldn’t really have any bearing on you and me, right?”

you seem to mull this thought in your head. you nod. “yeah, you’re right. i guess it doesn’t.”

“so?” he looks down to find you staring at your hanging feet as you kick them. “do you feel like this is happening too fast? because if you do, it’s not a big deal. we’ll just slow down.”

it’s the opposite of what jeonghan wants to do, actually. he’s falling so hard and so fast, he thinks if he slows down now, he’ll go crazy, but if that was what you wanted… well, he would just have to go crazy.

“no!” you exclaim, immediately looking up at him and shaking your head vehemently. “god, no. that’s not what i want. like, not even a little bit.”

the relief that blooms in his chest keeps him warmer than his gear. he can’t help the smile that makes its way across his cold-bitten lips.

“good, because that’s not what i want either.”

you bite your lower lip to tamp down the grin threatening to envelop your entire face. you slap his chest gently, averting your gaze back to your feet.

“i’m just worried that this isn’t how normal people do it,” you confide in him. “i’m worried i’m pushing this along so fast and maybe it’s not normal or healthy or good and i wouldn’t be able to recognize it because i’m… me.”

jeonghan frowns at that. you’re already tucked under his arm but he needs to get even closer to you. he releases his hold and quickly scoots back away from the edge and behind you, moving one leg to the other side so that you’re situated right between his legs. he scoots back up until your back is flush against his torso, and he wraps his arms tightly around your middle. he smiles at the way your body melts against his—like it knows it’s safe with him. he plants a kiss on the crown of your head before he rests his chin there and starts speaking.

“this isn’t how normal people do things, y/n,” he confirms. he squeezes when he feels you tense. “but normal people also don’t train for four straight years for a singular event that’s televised for the entire world, either.”

you snort at that. “okay. true. but—”

“but,” jeonghan interrupts before you can talk yourself into taking on any more anxiety, “we still deserve happiness however we can get it, don’t we? who’s to say this isn’t healthy or good just because it happened quickly? i, for one, feel my healthiest right now. my serotonin levels have been through the roof since i met you.”

he had hoped to get one of your cute, flustered giggles he’s grown accustomed to out of you, but instead, you just sigh and lean further back into his touch. your silence tells him you’re still not convinced.

“okay, think of it this way,” he says, sliding his chin off your head so he can lean forward and press his cheek against yours. “let’s say one date is, on average, four hours long.”

“that’s it?” you ask incredulously. “our first dinner together lasted like…”

“baby, our first dinner date never ended. it’s literally still going,” jeonghan points out, laughing when he cranes his neck to see your face and notices the intense blush creeping across your cheeks. he makes a mental note of it.

“okay, okay, fine,” you relent. “four hours. go on.”

“an average date is four hours, and you’re seeing this new person you’re dating maybe… two times a week.”

you hum to signal you’re following along.

“but you and i, we have spent seven full days together,” he says, eyebrows scrunching as he tries to do the math in his head. “that’s almost 170 hours together. but let’s be fair and subtract 10 hours for showers, bathroom breaks, meetings, and practices. so that leaves us at 160 hours together so far, right?”

“right…”

“well then, by the standards we’ve set as average—or ‘normal’—we would’ve already been dating for…” he curses under his breath as he glares up at the black sky, doing more math in his head. he ignores your giggling.

“it’s—”

“don’t you dare tell me the answer,” he mutters. “i’ve got this.” you laugh fully now, hands squeezing his. “stop distracting me!”

after a few more moments of your giggles and him having to start over, he smiles triumphantly. “by normal standards, we would’ve already been dating for five months! five whole months! we’re basically almost to our six month anniversary, baby. which means we're almost to a year. and then ten years."

you slap his hand playfully but he knows you like the idea by the way you laugh.

"really, this isn’t fast at all! wha’cha so worried about?”

another squeeze of his hands.

when he looks at your face again, your features have settled into what he thinks is a state of peace and content, and he knows he did his job. you notice him staring and smile, wriggling out of his hold carefully and backing away from the edge of the superpipe to turn to him, sitting back on the heels of your feet.

you take his hands in yours.

“jeonghan,” you breathe his name and he swears these letters were strung together for only you to say. “happy five monthaversary.”

his lips break out into a wide grin and he can’t help the giddy laugh that escapes him. “happy five monthaversary, baby.”

being face to face with you now, he enjoys seeing the way your expression lights up at the pet name.

“i’m really happy,” you whisper like you’re afraid if you lend any more volume to the statement, someone will hear and come and whisk that happiness away from you. “you make me really happy.”

jeonghan’s lips part slightly. he thought he was going to respond, but he realizes that, sitting here staring at you, he has no words to. as you sit back on your heels, your knees in between his legs and your hands resting together on your thighs, he realizes one more thing.

it would’ve never taken him five months to fall in love with you in the “normal” world. he would’ve been head over heels within the first two dates. and it’s true even now. he’s in love with you. and he feels like his world should be ending because if he loves you, then the trade-off of losing you for snowboarding is no longer worth it to him. and who will he be after that if an athlete is all he's ever been?

you smile at him like he’s the only person in the world you’ve ever seen.

well, he’ll be a man in love with you.

he lifts a hand to cup your cheek, his thumb running across your skin. he tucks your hair behind your ear before letting his hand fall to the back of your neck. his gaze drops to those unfairly pink lips—lips that part for him in anticipation. he gently pulls you in closer, and you rest your hands on his shoulders as you let him.

when your mouths are just a breath away from each other, he looks up to find your eyes already closed.

he enjoys this moment. he lets his world stand still.

the quiet, black night, dotted with flecks of white snow dancing up to meet the breeze. the only feeling of warmth emanating from every place your skin meets his. the trust you have in him to allow him the privilege of convincing you what he knows is true: this is right, this is real, and this is not normal because it’s better than anything normal could’ve ever given either of you. and he would take you over normal any day.

he takes a beat too long relishing in this moment, and your eyes flutter back open.

“i’m happy too,” jeonghan whispers before closing the distance and enveloping your lips with his for the first time.

and now he’s sure you know what he does: normal is not something either of you want anymore.

a/n: this snippet is taken from a flashback of when they were still together! if you’re interested in listening, the title is taken from a song i’ve had on repeat while writing this: after all by cher and peter cetera. this was supposed to be a one shot but i’m 10k in and nowhere near where i want it to be lol. so i’m unsure if i’ll release this in chapters as i go or just post the longest one shot in the world once it’s done. i’m about 30% in, so if you have an opinion, lmk! i hope either way, you’ll wait for it and read 🥹

[justbackgroundnoise]

sometimes I really hate how we live in this tik tok obsessed social media based world but not right now, not when the Olympics are on! because it’s allowing us to see some truly enjoyable behind the scenes content that is just so fun to watch. these athletes are giving us such a unique peak behind the curtain at the largest and most iconic sporting event in the world and I just think that’s neat.

please give me all the fun tik tok dances that show your countries kits, show me the cardboard beds, show me what it’s like to go get soap and toilet paper and to meet athletes from other countries in the dining hall as you trade pins. you are experiencing something so special and you’re allowed to have fun while you’re doing it so show me everything because I love it!!

[blubushie]

One of the horses threw his jockey during the Olympics

The Olympics doesn't HAVE jockeys, does it?

Oh. No it was King Edward throwing von Eckermann.

Minor inconsequential note but just one I wanna mention—jockeys are people who ride horses for races. If they're not racing a track, they're not a jockey, just a rider. And even sometimes if they ARE racing a track (like a cross-country course) they're STILL a rider.

Anyway, onto The Incident™:

Can't quite say I care. I do not have a high opinion of professional showjumping, which is amusing considering the reason I don't have a high opinion is mainly because of how high the jumps are and how little time the horses are given between them to recover.

And also how the jumping horses themselves have few bonds with their riders and are often traded like Pokemon cards... But that's true of professional equestrian competition in general, especially that of English riding.

Case in point: King Edward threw von Eckermann after landing a jump and seemingly losing his own balance. Von Eckermann was gonna push him to the next jump without time to recover, King Edward slammed his anchors, von Eckermann got chucked. C'est la vie.

Of course I hope von Eckermann is fine and dandy and isn't hurt or nothing but also, is Kind Edward alright? I'd expect better performance of the top showjumping horse in the world so watching the video makes me wonder what's up with him. That second stumble was a hard one since he didn't get time to recover from the first.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil’s rising role as a geopolitical heavyweight

Brazil takes center stage as host of this year’s G20 Summit, marking a defining moment in the nation’s ascent as a geopolitical powerhouse. Dina Ting, Head of Global Index Portfolio Management, explores Brazil’s economic ambitions alongside its increasing influence in shaping the future of international economic cooperation.

For many people, Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro evokes images of sunny beaches and colorful celebrations. But the city’s biggest international event of this year (in fact, the largest since the 2016 Olympic Games) will likely involve more suits than bikinis. Next month, for the first time, Brazil will take center stage on the world’s preeminent platform for global economic cooperation as host of the G20 (Group of 20) Summit in Rio.

The coalition, which includes the United States, China, India, the European Union, and most recently, the African Union, represents the world’s major economies—accounting for roughly 80% of global gross domestic product (GDP), 75% of global trade and two-thirds of the global population.1

Since taking office early last year for his third non-consecutive term, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (Lula) has spent much time abroad trying to raise his country’s global standing. His efforts may be paying off. A recent Pew Research survey found that most Brazilian adults are optimistic about their country’s status as an international power.2

Beyond the G20, Brazil is also slated to play host for other high-profile events, such as the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in 2025, while concurrently pursuing membership in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Continue reading.

[hiddenwashington]

the fanfare plays on televisions throughout the world, signaling an official start to the huge quadrennial event. athletes proudly make their way across screens, ready to represent their home countries with their upcoming accomplishments in this year's summer olympics. millions of viewers cheer their olympians on, and even for many citizens of dc, this is not an event to be missed. while unable to compete themselves, perhaps there are big dreams from dc's residents, and now would be a good time to explore those athletic aspirations!

it's been a while since our last task, so here's a fun one! a huge shoutout to our very own mario for the idea, and this one is of course inspired by the olympics! the format of this task is slightly different from usual, with only one aspect required to count as complete, but more about that will be below as we explain our task about your muses' athletic abilities!

for this task, we will only be requiring a written portion! if you would like to add an edit though, you are absolutely able to do so! some options might include a stat board like this one, or even a aesthetic moodboard like this one! but again, we're NOT requiring a visual aspect this time around, and you can choose whatever graphic you want if you decide to make one!

for the written aspect though, we have a list of questions that should be answered! this can be used as a paragraph guide, or you can answer them directly, the choice is yours! but we would love to see all of this information covered, so that we can get to know more about your characters! and thank you again to mario for some of these!

the questions:

which game(s) would your character compete in for the olympics? – for a list of games, click here & here

how would they likely rank in their event(s)?

does your muse have a supernatural ability that could aid them? if so, how would they use them?

if your muse isn't a skilled athlete, what sport(s) do they wish that they were able to play?

if your muse wouldn't compete, what would be their favorite sport(s) to watch? would they prefer to watch in person or on tv if given the choice?

if they come from a fictional country or world, what might their opening ceremony uniform look like?

what would their personal trading pin look like?

what would their social media presence be like throughout the games?

would they go viral on olympic tiktok? if so, what for?

what would your muse like or dislike about the olympic village?

as always, tasks are encouraged but not mandatory, and there is no time limit to when they need to be completed! you are free to do this task for all, some, or even none of your characters, but remember that tasks count as character activity! we ask that you tag your posts with ' hwtask14 ' so that we can all find & appreciate them, but if you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to reach out to the main! please give this a like once you've read it all! ♥