#overseas Vietnamese

[hotaruofthehighseas]

🫡 FAQs (of sorts) before we start:

Q: Who the hell are you?

- Some Vietnamese living overseas ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Q: What do you do?

- I fiddle with Aegisub to generate words you can understand from words you can’t understand. Basically.

Q: What are the things you do with Aegisub?

- Translate, subtitle and format Vietnamese-language media into English. I also provide cultural and linguistic explanations in the T/N (plus unhinged commentary). I am not a native speaker and this is a mostly solo endeavour (the proofreader is already dead from reading the T/N).

Q: Do you expect others to watch your projects?

- Obviously not. What do I expect, I’m literally interviewing myself right here. But some people did show interests in watching them and I did send them the finished projects to watch privately. PM for link to the media and subs.

Q: Did anybody else already do this translating thing?

- Perhaps, but not to my knowledge. Likely I’m just living under a rock but I don’t know anyone else do these particular Vietnamese media translations ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Q: Your projects?

- Completed:

• IDECAF Aladdin and A Bunch of Genies (Aladdin và Đủ Thứ Thần);

• IDECAF On the Golden Banner (or, The Flag With Six Golden Characters) (Lá Cờ Thêu Sáu Chữ Vàng);

• Judge Bao 1993 (Ep 12-15) (Fafilm dub);

• Paris by Night 100 comedy;

• Paris by Night 102 comedy

- In progress:

• Paris by Night 19

• Paris by Night 88

• Paris by Night 129

• Paris by Night 132

• IDECAF Princess Shama (Công chúa Chích Choè)

• IDECAF The Great Sage Clashing With Hong Hai Er (Tề Thiên Đại Chiến Hồng Hài Nhi)

Q: Isn’t that a lot of half-finished projects?

- I know (´ー｀)

[thrina-thrina-on-the-wall]

well I'm back to having a guy from the islands message me hello and end up asking how my boyfriend is and that was interesting because I told New Zealand guy that it was going nowhere two months ago and we haven't talked since

This led to "God will find someone good for you" then a suggestion of "what if you married an islander 🤣?"

I don't think he necessarily means him, but...

[therealtorasia]

Why Majority of Vietnamese Businesses Seek to Invest Abroad?

According to recent research by UOB, most Vietnamese businesses remain optimistic about the business environment and have plans to invest in foreign markets over the next three years. UOB Vietnam’s 2024 Business Outlook Study, which surveyed over 4,000 businesses including large enterprises and SMEs in seven key markets across ASEAN and China, reveals these insights. The study included 525…

[hellkeepers-if]

DEMO (prologue out) UPDATES

Set in an alternate version of Singapore, you're a fresh university graduate bumbling through life as you desperately look for a job.

...Or that's what your mother thinks. In a world where occult ceremonies are as common as an existential crisis, there's no way you were ever going to be a perfectly average office worker. Just like your twin brother, you work for the International Society Of Exorcists (ISOE) which deals with supernatural occurrences, demonic rituals, and the like.

When a tragic event befalls your older sister, it uproots your entire life and everything you ever knew about the supernatural. With it, comes a forced need to come to terms with a family history straight out of the movies. 

After all, how the hell did it take twenty years to find out that you're descended from the freaking king of the underworld?

"I have a duty to myself, but more importantly, my family."

——————

Inspired by Supernatural, Fullmetal Alchemist, Noragami, and the Percy Jackson series, Hellkeepers is a +18 urban fantasy/paranormal interactive fiction, involving elements of Chinese and Southeast-Asian mythology. In every playthrough, you will...

• Play as a female, male, or non-binary Chinese demigod/ess.

• Determine the relationships between you and your family members. After all, they will play a big part in your story...

• Peel apart the full truth behind you and your siblings' birthright. Your parents can't hide it forever.

• Learn more about Chinese and Southeast Asian mythology as you warp into different dimensions, unlike anything you've seen before.

• Learn more about who you were in your past life.

| Nishimura Kazuo (he/him)

Age: 26

Ethnicity: Japanese

With a penchant for mischief and a charm that woos even the most stubborn of grandmas, Kazu is the wildcard of your organization. You think he's an anarchist, and the only reason he's tied down to the ISOE is so that he has an excuse for whatever havoc he wreaks on the supernatural. 

The A-ranked exorcist is your colleague and your brother's mentor, though you rarely ever see him in his office. But if you ever need him for demon fighting, he'll be there. Most of the time.

"Mind taking that pesky thing out for me while I take a quick nap?"

| Quentin Khanh (Quan) (he/him)

Age: 25

Ethnicity: Vietnamese

Quentin, more affectionately known as Quan, was your childhood friend. After he moved overseas, the weekly texts you sent him fizzled into nothing but a lost friendship.

Since then, he's returned to Singapore as a forensics pathologist and researcher under your organisation. Whether you like it or not, you have to no choice but to work with him for most of your investigations.

"If your bribe doesn't involve a penthouse worth of money, don't talk to me."

| Reyna Aliyah Santos (she/her)

Age: 23

Ethnicity: Mixed (Filipino-Chinese)

You've never quite met someone like Reyna. A halfling with a demon mother and a human father. Being raised in Singapore all her life with little knowledge of her parents, it's natural that Reyna would come to the ISOE for help at the mere instance of a fox tail and white fur.

You've been tasked to help her mask and get comfortable with her supernatural powers, but she won't make it easy for you. After all, foxes do bite. 

"Technically, I'm not stealing anything if they don't notice."

| Song Huayun (she/her)

Age: ????

Ethnicity: "Uhh...from Hell?" Chinese

| You don't know too much about Huayun, except for the fact that she lives in Diyu, the Chinese Underworld. As Diyu's gatekeeper, Huayun has seen countless depravities committed by humans before their deaths. That alone has made it hard for her to like them, and the contempt she shows you is no different than what she shows everyone else.

But with time, maybe she'll finally learn what it is like to feel human…and what a smile is.

"If it isn't the star of tonight's show. Welcome to Diyu."

| The Arbiter of Fate (m/f)

Theyre a stranger, or so you say. But this deity knows everyone...especially you.

[slashthrashandcrash]

Give us the dad thoughts please!

HERE ARE MY DADDY JOHNSON SR THOUGHTS..................

So it's heavily implied enough that Daddy Johnson was a war vet, and most likely the war he would have served in was Nam. If we assume Danny is like 30 in 1993, he would have been born 1963-ish, which would have been smack in the middle of all that. We don't know when his dad enlisted or was discharged or how long he served though, but clearly not all the way through. Could have been honorably discharged after 10 yrs, could have gotten a purple heart after a year, who knows--

But I'm also thinking about Mama Johnson. Danny did not spawn into existence as we all might like to believe. Daddy Johnson had to have met a girl long enough to get a kid out of her and keep him, but also Danny never seems to harbor any resentment towards women or mommy issues or anything of the sort, which leads me to believe she was out of his life completely when he was still a baby. Did she willingly leave? Did she die? Did Daddy Johnson have a say/hand in her abandonment? Because also think about that fact that he kept his son and raised him as a single father, in the 60s no less. Not unheard of but definitely uncommon, and Danny clearly had a level of respect for him even if he thought his dad was crazy and made him his first victim.

A theory I read on Reddit that I really like is that Daddy Johnson wasn't actually training his son to be a ruthless serial killer, he was just a war vet telling overly graphic stories with enthusiasm to his young child, hoping to turn him into a "real man", maybe steer him into the same path of enlisting in the military to get a taste of the violent action. Yes, he was still psychopathic and got way too much enjoyment out of his time during active duty, but he only killed when he had a license to do so overseas, and he yearns for the freedom of those glory days again. But Danny was the one that took those life lessons too literally. He was a child raised on his father's PTSD, of course he's going to idolize this way of life his old man seemed to thrive in. He made those foreign stories a reality. He wasn't meant to take those lessons to heart unless he had a gun in another warzone on the government's dime.

And then a bonus idea...we know Danny has white skin by virtue of a few sleeveless cosmetics, but we can't say for certain he's 100% Caucasian, especially without a face model. There could be a very real chance Danny is half Vietnamese, curtesy of his father's rampant debauchery during his enlistment that earned him his own personal war trophy to take home. But the fact again that Daddy Johnson kept the baby and raised him alone without any outward hostility (abusive, yes, but not because Danny was unwanted) tells me he was willing to be a father, maybe simply because it was a son.

[catmaid-san]

Reading Daomu Biji as a non mainland Chinese would make you feel like, "Why so racist?"

But actually, NPSS might not be as racist or eccentric but in fact, truly a good writer who understood the way his characters and their setting would think.

The somehow racist part of Daomu Biji, perhaps is the subtle prejudice about their own Ethnic Minorities and the subtle Han Chinese supremacy, and unsavory comments about their bordering countries.

But If you're looking at it from the characters' POV, meaning, from a (somewhat average) mainland Chinese dude, it's actually quite natural. That's what they get from their history and the information from their media.

The way Daomu Biji put any extreme culture, such as sacrifices etc, to Ethnic minorities is actually quite justified, since in other countries too, that's what happened. And it's also quite logical or accurate, historically. Even today, some ethnic minorities are still continuing their "strange" customs. So it's not entirely racist.

In fact, Daomu Biji also wasn't merciful to their own Han Chinese ancestor's past incident. For example, by telling that King Mu of Zhou was fabricating history. Instead of being warmly welcomed by XiWangMu, he's actually there to invade but failed. In embarrassment, he fabricated history about him being entertained in XiWangMu's territory.

Next, the beef with other countries.

But in reality, it's not just Chinese, but other countries' citizens too, in Asia, particularly, would have beef with their bordering countries. And some (rather uncultured) people would also call them using nicknames. For example, in JP media, we often see how the Yakuza are always either connected or having dispute with Chinese Mafia. In SK media, we often see their Mafia connected or in a hostile relationship with Yakuza. In China too, their Mafia/other underground forces would often either connected or have enmity with Vietnamese Gangster.

In Daomu Biji, we can see that Wu Xie 's perspectives would always go neutral. Either citing the history or telling the informaiton that was told in China to general public like Wu Xie.

Pangzi or Pan Zi, on the other hand, are characters who aren't as "cultured" as Wu Xie. So their POV would often be quite racist. And that's actually rather in character and accurate, considering their background and character setting.

This, also applied to XiaoGe or Men You Ping. We can see that someone like him who cares a shit about the world, will turn out to never give zealous Han Chinese supremacy or racist comment about anything or anyone.

Surprisingly, Daomu Biji actually also isn't subtle to the actions of their Han Chinese or the past action of their government. For example, whenever the book was discussing about various people who smuggled Tombs goods overseas, the book didn't try to gloss that even among Han Chinese there were people like that. There's also when the book was describing the cruel reality during the purge of Superstitious and Religious forces in China, to strengthen their government's influence. At that time, people didn't even dare to say they know a little about Chinese ancient divination technique (Qimen Dunjia) for fear of being arrested or worse, eliminated. But most of all, Daomu Biji too, isn't merciful when it came to the protagonist's perspectives. The book isn't trying to beutify or justify Wu Xie's actions as a grave robber throughout.

But what I want to say is that, Daomu Biji is a series written from the perspective of (quite) average Chinese citizens, who aren't Overseas returnee (to be able to see more perspectives from the global history or information other than their government propaganda). While some topics were probably quite sensitive, but if you stop for a second and consider where they're taken at, you will understand why the Author wrote it that way.

[0mega-x]

I have like the exact same thoughts. Holy shit the low-key anti religion part is almost like my dad jsisjs

Would Francis be catholic or atheist today ? Hard to say anything about his religion. There's no official census like that to base his faith on the population's, so it's hard to say. However, as a french, I think this is how he would describe himself as : "Traditionally catholic"

A lot of people I know around me, including the French side of my family, don't believe in god. However, some of them would still practise catholic rituals (don't know the word sorry eidheje) like (mostly) baptism. So when it comes to polls, they'd vote catholic even though they don't believe in god. Of course a lot also simply say they're atheist (close family in my case).

So what about Francis? [Read it through my headcanon that he is born a gaul] Well, he's seen the birth of Christianity, but he would have had gone through two religions by then (Celtic->Roman). So, it might be me looking at it through an atheist point of view, but I don't think Francis would have believed that much in Christianity—at first. When the Franks came, he finally got baptised and adopted the Christian faith. But I want to say he did so more put of a will to stay close to his people, the gallo-roman, he who was a gaul before. Faith might have come to him later on. He might not have been the strongest believer, but he was attached to Christianity (especially Catholicism) because it's what he saw as a link between him and the people (see Jeanne d'Arc!).

When the religion wars started, he was devastated, because the thing he thought was bringing him peace was now tearing him apart. But he still called himself Catholic. When the French Revolution started, he saw how the clergy were seen by the people, and began to doubt his faith. With the other revolutions of the XIXth century, he ended up not trusting the Church anymore and grew distant with his faith. It's not like his people would hate him for it anyway, a lot of them did so as well.

And here he is now. Not quite Christian, not quite Atheist. Did he ever truly believe in god? No idea, and I don't know if I will ever make up my mind about it. Agnostic theist/atheist would be the closest bet. He can't deny how much Christianity has impacted his and his people's lives, for better of for worse. But as a french, Traditionally Catholic seems to be the best term to describe it.

[carelessflower]

sunday recap 🥓😽

so many things today but more importantly SO MANY CATS LET GET THIS THROUGH SO WE GET TO CATS

fit check, i changed like 5-6 times wanna lean into a coquette style but sadly this the shirt with the closest match I could find

seafood buffet because we didnt have any breakfast so this kinda our brunch. this just opened in the mall near where I lived lmaoo, basically they served seafood in any kind, and also there bbq and hotpot too but we didn't take the hotpot. all seafoods are very fresh (look at that tank!!!) again ranking

grilled shrimp and oyster with cheese: 8/10, the cheese is like too sweet and fatty

grilled snail with scallion: 8/10, good but nothing special

sashimi: 9.2/10, very solid!!! and u can get as many as u want

sushi: 7.8/10, idk I dont grab those much there not much variation also it can make u full quick

grilled abalone (not pictured): 9/10, for the price we can get as much as we want and I think its neat! also it got run out so quick lmaoo

seafood soup: 9/10, phenomenal, like I had two bowl of these

grilled everything (had pork chest, pork, beef, octopus, grouper fish, okra, eggplant and cheese fish ball): 9.5/10, I love the way they marinated the meat!!

durian ice cream: 7.5/10, nothing special also it all durian which I dont like and they run out of chocolate ice cream :((

flan with coffee sauce: 9.2/10, smooth, creamy with that bitter sauce like it just top notch flan, literally one of the best I've ever eat

also on the way down i saw they're having this cat contest thing like there so many booths it looked so fun (pictures later cuz I took like A LOT)

first tried a bunch of stuff at uniqlo, obsessed with these snoopy shirts and these cutest zip up, like the zip up are clothes for children but there big size and I can fit in there too

trying on, the shirts is from the male section and the zip up and hoddies are from children section biggest size they look so cute tho icant think of the way I would wear the white zip up a lot and the green shirt is xs so I def need a size bigger

next is cotton-on, they're having this collab with polly pocket which is sawr cute if only they're not like fucking expensive, like why is that shirt 30$ and that tiny MICRO purse 28$ like I dont get it, it not even real leather! also oversea website having XL size but vietnamese store doesn't is criminal

tried on a bunch of stuff the sale associate was looking at me like crazy also the price there has only gotten more ridiculous with time. the black shirt was giving sabrina carpenter and there another one with blue background and red font just like short n sweet aesthetic lmeow. the cardigan looked so close like that coloring the cutest but it looked wear on my body. the mentioned polly pocket shirt, I mean idk it fit but it expensive and also I dont like too much figure hugging in my clothes. same with the other shirt who I think the color pretty nice

can you guess which one i got hehe

[cherrypikkins]

for lunch i cooked some Spam fried rice!

and while some of you may be tempted to @ me for using Spam, i'd like to instead invite you to read up on some of interesting history surrounding Spam and its significance in various cuisines and food cultures in asia - vietnamese included, which is my background.

you might be surprised to learn that Spam is considered a commonplace ingredient in dishes from such places as south korea, japan, china, hong kong, the philippines, and vietnam! It's popularity surged during a time of heightened american military occupation in the east, when spam was being used to bolster the food supplies the military bases overseas. Inevitably, its consumption made its way to the local populations as a relatively cheap and readily available source of food during a time of nutritional and economic scarcity - which was a result of World War II food rationing and all of the occupations that followed. So yes, sadly, the popularity of spam in asia is a result of western colonialism.

To this day, you can still find spam options for onigiri and burgers in Japan. Spam is regularly added to stir fries. South Korea is infact the largest world wide consumer of spam to this date. Mainland China has developed its own 'luncheon meat' products inspired by the original Spam, catered to local tastes and preferences. And so to this day, as far as food staples in east and southeast asia are concerned, Spam is here to stay! It is even considered a treat during Lunar New Year.

So I guess my point is, whatever feelings or opinions you may have towards spam, you may find its history and significance in non-American cuisines interesting to look up! For myself, I've been privileged to have grown up in a place where food is readily available and in large supply. My parents, on the other hand, lived through warfare, poverty, and displacement - so they took the time to educate me on some of the foods they have had to rely on during times of nutritional scarcity. Like Spam!

Also, the spam fried rice was pretty good, if I do say so myself.

[thuan-thien]

Huông and Malignant Hauntings

The recent trend of buying and wearing vintage or thrifted clothes often leaves many Vietnamese parents aghast. Many Asian youths, especially overseas, often write this off as superstitious, but the underlying spiritual concept has been a part of many of our cultures for quite a long time.

𣟂苦 - The local folk term, “huông” is a derivative of the term “khuôn khổ”, the latter meaning a specific structure or pattern. Huông itself refers to the accumulated, malignant spiritual energy resulting from any tragedy, misfortune, or horrible act committed against a person being transferred to an object or place, forcing that tragedy to repeat itself again and again.

圖咕 - The most common cultural expression of this in Vietnam is the aversion to old, second-hand clothes or objects. The khí of the owners who used those objects or wore those clothes is repeatedly transferred to them, so by the time the owner discards them or passes away, their khí and every bad thing that happened to them throughout their life, their abuse, their poverty, their insanity, their poor choices, are all imprinted onto that object, and force all those terrible events to endlessly cycle for those who use such objects, wear such clothes, or visit such places. This is the mechanism by which a curse develops.

圖㵋 - This explains the fixation in Vietnamese, and other East Asian cultures, with only purchasing new things, never used.

𠸥傳 - When my family still lived in Vietnam, my mother and her siblings all grew up during the war, when money was tight, they had to pass down clothes as hand-me-downs. My Dì Út, my youngest aunt, was the youngest of more than 10 siblings. She had to wear the hand-me-downs of hand-me-downs of hand-me-downs. My aunts taught me that wearing and using hand-me-downs are fine as long as they belonged to a family member. However, as my aunt is the youngest amongst her siblings, she had no one in the family to hand her old clothes down to, so her Bà Nội/paternal grandma gave her old clothes to a poor family in the center of Sài Gòn, who had an infant my aunt’s size. After said infant wore my aunt’s old clothes, she drowned in a pond. Once my aunt’s Bà Nội heard of the infant’s death, she immediately bought new clothes for the deceased infant’s entire family, took back the dead infant’s hand-me-downs, and burned them.

𠸥傳 - A story of mine that involves huông is when I got into a car accident in early 2023. I was unharmed, but I was driving in an area that my family felt was affected by huông because of the murders, mugging, and robberies that took place there in the past. So after my sister drove me home from the accident, my parents burned the clothes I was wearing in case it had any huông that would get me into another car accident, or an even worse incident, and they purified me of any huông by forcing me to bathe in a “tea” made from lemongrass and “bát” lime branches.

坭被魔暗 - There is a particular boulevard in my city’s Chinatown that is known to have huông because of the amount of car crashes that happen there, it is a spiritual self-replicating cycle of death. One should avoid places known to be affected by huông during the day, and obviously such places should never be visited at night.

𣟂 - In a sentence, to be affected by huông is to inherit another’s misfortune.

Artwork depicting Ma Rừng, by artist Duy Văn for the series Ma Quỷ Dân Gian Ký

[thekhoei]

The Beatles and Vietnam (part 1/?)

My Roman empire is whenever my favourite bands have songs in my mother tongue. Today's case is the most influential band of all time, The Beatles (now why im sounding like a freaking interviewer). I wanna share yall a 1987 record by an overseas singer named Kiều Nga (overseas artists are conservative due to the complications behind USA's most infamous war crime - Indochina/Vietnam war). It will take me long to explain the whole thing, so i will break it short while writing about that record. You can find it here on Spotify (im so grateful to still get chances to listen to it, bc the real tape costs quite a lot in my currency, but i can link you where to buy. it's around 32$ in foreign currency. and the fact that it still exists tho i thought it would become a lost media 😭)

This is not the only songs that were covered in Vietnamese, as there was this version of Something by Don Hồ (1992), or You won't see me by Thúy-Hà-Tú (a pre-1975 girl band (?)). You can find some other different and later covers besides the 1987 record on a local channel here. The Beatles and Beatlemania became a worldwide phenomenon during the 60s, and in Vietnam it was no exception. There were so many young bands inspired by them, and even one of our big song-writers Phạm Duy was a fan of them. The Beatles left a foot print in our flow of music during the war. And iirc, there was a commotion (?) relating to the rock n roll wave and The Beatles in the late 60s - early 70s. In old magazines, image of The Fab Four were on almost every pages! It shouldn't be a surprise to me but i'm still so shocked to learn about how the 4 guys brought love to my beautiful homeland, and so many early fans who were, and still are in love with them, like me, a youngster in 21st century. I mean, who am i even kidding, not my country being an inspiration behind those well-known songs.

The 1987 tape was produced by Dạ Lan Productions (originally Mây Productions), and it was numbered the 46th.

Some fyi/disclaimer ig: I did mentioned of why this is a conservative topic. I am a nothern Vietnamese. And Dạ Lan Productions was a product by the overseas singers who followed the lead of RVN/South Vietnam. But i have been growing up with many kind of music without bothering to care whether it is against the government's ideal. And i'm not the only one who has that thought. Most Vietnamese are working class/peasants, and not much gain access to higher education. Music is the beauty of life, and the heart of the composer. Whether it's bad or good deed, it's only love that matters. Not like all of us understand the true nature of communism or capitalism, we only want peace and love, and that war is over. Our current government is no longer against most RVN artists and it's legal for this kind of music to be spreading now.

Dạ Lan tape 46 is a cassette tape featured 10 translated Beatles songs by various artists, with Yesterday/Mới hôm qua, And i love her/Và tôi yêu nàng, Here comes the sun/Vầng dương sáng ngời, Michelle/Michelle yêu dấu, Strawberry fields forever/Tình yêu cuối trời on side A; and I want to hold your hand/Đôi tay thiên thần, Let it be/Chớ âu lo, Ob-la-di Ob-la-da/Cuộc tình Desmond Molly, The long and winding road/Dấu đường tình, If i fell/Một mai nếu yêu anh on side B. Most of them stay accurate to the og, except the Vietnamese version of SFF has a whole new name and meaning (roughly translated as Love in the end of the world??). Mind you that when western music arrived to this land as a result of the first colonization by French, there started a trend named "nhạc ngoại lời Việt", which means creating a whole new lyrics on the original foreign song. I mean it's obvious that not many understand about copyright back then, and the music was only circulated in the country. That era was called "Tân nhạc Việt Nam" (Vietnamese modern age music), along with the modern changes of literature and many forms of art. The overseas singers who moved to a new land during the war mostly were against VietCong, so this kind of music was banned in the northern. Except it broke the wall and bridge that held the grudge.

I will make this a long series to break down the history of The Beatles and Vietnam's connection (will have tag as well if anyone's interested and want to follow) and compare the difference between both versions, as well as finding more information on this topic bc im so invested. There are still concerts and shows running by this generation fan of The Beatles, and im so grateful to be a part of it. I mean, isn't it wonderful that The Fab are still listened by 21st children, like what Brian once predicted?

Thanks for coming to my Ted yap (i'm a professional yapper)

[jennilifeva]

Explore top tips and resources to find single Vietnamese women living overseas who are looking for men. Start your journey towards meaningful connections today!

[scarlethyena]

One interesting feature of growing up in the US is the fact that we're constantly flooded with propaganda but often we don't realize it until later. For example, you ever think about how many popular shows and movies revolve around cops or people working in the CIA or FBI? Oftentimes it's a pretty simple "officers catching Bad Guys" and the Bad Guys in question are usually unambiguously evil and will do stuff like kill kids for seemingly no reason. Or our main characters go to a prison to get info and the place is filled with unrepentant murderers and rapists who would do it again if they had the chance. And of course lawyers and officers rightfully pointing out how overzealous our main cast are will inevitably be framed as "pencil-pushers keeping the heroes from Doing Their Job and listening to them means letting the Bad Guys Get Away" because in this fictional world, anyone coming under the scrutiny of the law is evil. So notions of human rights or police accountability are laughable and police should get to be judge, jury and executioner because doing so will Keep These Streets Safe. Oh, and sometimes they'll make the main cast diverse just to avoid the whole "the system is biased against certain groups" thing. Now, while I do have a certain appreciation for simple "popcorn entertainment" of good guys vs. bad guys, it becomes an issue when the "good guys" are real life institutions that have gotten god knows how many innocent people killed, while the "bad guys" are criminals who, realistically, may simply be individuals living in poverty who had few (if any) available options.

And this is just crime stories. Not even mentioning how many movies seem to feature the US military in a positive light. Marvel movies get a lot of flack for this, but I've noticed that the majority of USAmerican action movies seem to do this. The movie starts and our protagonist is just in some ambiguous desert area, obviously meant to be Iraq or Syria (it's always a desert too, because a lot of people see that region as a desert and nothing else, oldest agricultural civilizations be damned), being all gallant and heroic before something weird or supernatural happens or they just return home to find something's changed; maybe the film is even about their own experiences as a soldier. But regardless, there's no need to explain what they're doing there in the first place, because everyone already knows that we send soldiers overseas to fight Bad Guys in Desert Region.

Michael Parenti has so many good works and I can't recommend his stuff enough, but he did one lecture that's always stuck with me titled "Rambo and the Swarthy Hordes" where he describes how often these action movies present us with the basic dichotomy of "civilized human beings vs. savages" Who exactly the human beings are, where they're located, and who the savages are evolves over time but that same basic set up remains. It doesn't matter if they're Arab Muslims, Black Africans, Vietnamese, Koreans, Russians, or whoever. They are simply vast hordes of bloodthirsty beasts for our heroes to gun down without remorse.

And a lot of USAmericans are quick to dismiss all of this as just being simple entertainment and that people like me are politicizing a non-political topic. This can be for a lot of reasons that I won't get much into here, but regardless, USAmericans are heavily propagandized and it's so effective, at least in part, because many won't even recognize that the propaganda is there.

[lboogie1906]

Ambassador Major Charles Aaron Ray (born July 5, 1945) was a former diplomat who acted as the US Ambassador to Zimbabwe (2009-12). He is a former Foreign Service Officer and career member of the Senior Foreign Service who held the position of Ambassador twice and retired with the rank of Minister-Counselor. He is a retired Army officer who was decorated twice for his actions in combat during the Vietnam War and served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs.

He was born in Center, Texas. He earned his BA from Benedictine College and his MS from USC and a MS in National Security Strategy from the National Defense University.

He joined the Army in 1962 and earned a commission as a second lieutenant in 1965. In 1982, he retired from the military with the rank of major. He received two Bronze Star medals and the Armed Forces Humanitarian Service Award. He did tours of duty in Vietnam, Germany, Okinawa, and South Korea.

In 1983, he joined the US Foreign Service. He was in its Political and Military Affairs Bureau. His first overseas assignment was in the US Consulate General Offices in Guangzhou and Shenyang, China. His overseas assignments included serving as an administrative officer in Thailand and deputy chief of mission at the Embassy in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He became the first US Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City.

President George W. Bush nominated him to his first ambassadorship, in Cambodia (2003-05). He served as diplomat-in-residence at the University of Houston. He was appointed as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs.

President Barack Obama nominated him for ambassadorship to Zimbabwe (2009-12).

He began writing as a teenager and he has published several books. He is the author of Things I Learned from My Grandmother about Leadership and Life and Taking Charge: Effective Leadership in the Twenty-First Century. He produced photography and art for publications such as Ebony, the Foreign Service Journal, and Newsweek. Proficient in Vietnamese and Thai, he knows German, Korean, and French. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[aronarchy]

(currently reading Trauma and Recovery) I don’t think she theorizes white privilege/whiteness/race relations very well (so far seems to be overlooking it). When I first reading the subtitle From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror I got the impression that it would be about the political nature of patriarchy and how patriarchal oppression scales up to state oppression. But apparently she actually meant (cis) men oppressed by the state in more traditionally-visible ways, including going to war or being sent off to war to kill in the name of U.S. imperialism. What about the oppressed Vietnamese people killed by these soldiers? Where is the talk of their trauma? Does she treat war-related trauma like some sort of both-sides thing where both are equally valid, prevalent, and important? This is a common view in popular culture as well and I wish there were more nuanced analyses of it because, like, it’s true many soldiers are traumatized, and also not bourgeois and were sent by the bourgeoisie to fight their wars for them, and the way they are often treated by superiors and authorities during and afterward sucks, but also there are distinct differences in power between an oppressing army and its overseas victims (are we going to start arguing that cops’ trauma is revolutionary too now?)

[rose-in-a-fisted-glove]

do you have any soup recipes that you would really recommend?

No specific recipes off the top of my head, sorry! Other than (non- instant) Ramen, I usually get them from restaurants or while traveling overseas or pre-made from specialty grocers.

Ramen is just easy for me because my grocers has a really good Asian section with things like (non-instant) dry ramen noodles and soy-ginger broth. There's also the ingredients to make Pho in the same section but usually I get that from the Vietnamese cafe pre-made. I haven't been brave enough to try making it myself yet.

But also, the Vietnamese cafe is awesome and has delicious food and drinks and is so worth the money.