#scarborough college

[ilcontephotography]

Scarborough College - University of Toronto, by John Andews with Page and Steele Architects (1963-1965).

Toronto, Ontario - Canada.

© Roberto Conte (2022)

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[rottenteethkids]

Edited: SPOILERS FOR MIDNIGHT MASS (2nd or 3rd episode, can’t remember)

Thinking about Leeza’s confrontation with Joe in Midnight Mass.

It is, alone, a very powerful scene, but watching it again under the lens of a recently physically disabled young adult; It feels so cathartic. To stand before the person who crippled you and yell, “You stole from me things I didn’t even have yet. You reached through time [, Joe Collie]!” Is so, so fucking real.

I wish I could stand before the universe and scold it over my troubles, how active employment is impossible to achieve between my chronic fatigue and aged joints, how I didn’t even get a chance to save my earnings or engage experience I could flaunt because classic opportunities were ripped from me so young, how I’ve burdened friends who want to spend their prime years in lively activity I simply cannot ascertain, how the expenses hang over my parents heads since I have no finances to ease them. My teenage years are cemented by my health. My good times are made shallow with the trailing questions of how they would be better if I was an average young man. The expectation of a normal relationship has been ripped from my grasp before one could’ve even been made. I wish I could stand before the universe and scream, “You stole from me things I didn’t even have yet!” Though I can not say I’d extend apologies, for I am never going to be healed, and the universe is not fallible as man is. The universe will never have my forgiveness.

Applauds to Mike Flanagan & Annarah Cymone.

[autisticlancemcclain]

ewww canadian 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡 yucky maple syrup and igloo house!!!! (i live in scarborough.)

YOOOOOO WE’RE NEIGHBOURS!!!!!!

[misterparadigm]

Updated character design art for Isaac’s brother, Dustin. From the Mallory Bash series concept and web comic.

[skypodimmigrationconsulting]

Important Facts About Study Permit Extensions in Canada

When choosing to study in Canada as an international student, there are a lot of factors to take into account. Arranging your study permission, nonetheless, may represent the most crucial step! The fees associated with obtaining a study permit are a crucial but unclear component of the application procedure. You may have been curious how much a study permit costs in Canada in comparison to other nations. Perhaps you would like to know if there is anything you can do to change the overall charges. Most likely, we'll be able to answer your question! We will cover everything in this article, so read on to find out more about Canada's study permit fees for Study Permit Extension Consulting in Canada !

[ashtonderoy]

Best Buy Belleville Ontario is a high Pressure sales Operation.

Written by Ashton Deroy Related Best Buy article by CBC. My job in an argument is not to turn the other cheek after you smacked the first one. It is to bend your Wrist, win definitively and make sure you know it is not worth it to fight with me. I have Anger Management issues. There is a lot of injustice in this world. Cause there are a lot of stupid people walking around unchallenged and…

[tahacollege]

Laser Hair Removal Certificate In Toronto

Laser Hair Removal Certificate In Toronto at taha College.

Laser hair removal is a medical procedure that uses a concentrated beam of light (laser) to remove unwanted hair from different parts of the body.

[summercreolefanfictioner]

diabolik lovers modern college au general headcanons (sakamaki brothers)

• the sakamaki bros don't live in the same house, except for the triplets bcos cordelia is the only legal wife of karl in this au (she's the first wife after all)

• shuu lives in one of beatrix's old condo unit while reiji in one of karl's mini house (yeah he has that house all by himself bcos kaaaaarl)

• subaru lives in the university dorm bcos he doesn't like relying on karl (well except for christa's meds bcos she went insane and all that sht so karl might as well pay for that)

• despite going to the same university, the six of them don't cross paths often (except for the triplets and subaru bcos they like to rile him up and tease him endlessly like a torture)

• since this is modern college au, all characters are aged up (shuu is 22, reiji is 21, the triplets are 20, and subaru is 19)

• despite being the oldest, shuu is stuck in his second year bcos he kept repeating most of his law electives (he would rather slack off than pass his law course wtf and it usually takes around 4-5 yrs to finish)

• all bros were mandated by karl to take at least one business elective per year bcos they might be working under his corporation in the near future (ayato's major is business so he has no escape)

• reiji is an exception to this rule bcos he had been granted by karl to focus only on neurosurgery since "he's the only son who doesn't disrespect me" (tbh it was only a ruse by karl since he has no reasons to make reiji his heir despite him being a genius 💀💀💀)

• ayato is so famous in the university like his red hair stands out and his status as the university's most popular basketball player made him the school IT boy

• but bcos he's a varsity player, he's not often at school so he had to take weekend classes (this is also another reason why most of his exes are either girls who watched his game or they're students from other univ or college)

• his famous relationship tho was with a rich girl who's also the main dancer of a popular cheerleading squad from a rival school (ayato broke up with her due to the immense pressure of social media and her fans)

• ayato is also the eternal chauffer of his two bros like hello let him flaunt that red sports car baby (laito and kanato have their own cars; they just don't like driving that much)

• kanato studies forensic mortuary in the same bldg as ayato and reiji; the law bldg is a separate institution from them so they have no idea what shuu was doing

• except for kanato bcos he likes lounging in the music room singing scarborough fair and bcos his voice is so relaxing, shuu listens to it for free (kanato secretly hates that shuu does it tho bcos it reminds him too much of cordelia and her shtty ways of traumatizing him)

• laito is studying hotel and restaurant management on another bldg and it's the farthest one from all his bros (like you have to pass by 4 or 5 larger bldgs before you reach their institution)

• this is bcos ryoutei university has their own dedicated hotel and restaurant for students with courses related to said industry

• so yeah maya (aka my oc/kanato's s/o) sees laito more often than her own boyfriend in the campus

• laito always has exes in every course like there would be 3 or 4 girls under the same course that have already slept with him what a slut

• and yes there is a huge possibility laito, subaru, and shuu have dated the same girl bcos these three would only date the same type of girl (the pure looking one who secretly has lewd desires and digs bad boys like them)

• it was a shock for yui when she found out half of the girls from her class have slept with laito

• then laito told her he likes corrupting pure girls and toying with their minds until they become insane and dependent on him (sounds canon, no?)

• there was a time when laito dated one of kanato's professors and she ended up dealing with kanato's incessant and murderous glares every time she teaches their class. his reason? bcos "she reeks so much of that perverted laito"

• the sbros actually had this same english prof who randomly fails someone despite their intelligence bcos he likes exerting his power like that

• while some of them threaten him using the sakamaki name, kanato had to disguise as a girl and seduce the sht out of this perverted teacher (the old geezer was so hooked he just believed this girl was kanato's twin substituting for his bro bcos he was 'sick')

• speaking of which, subaru got attracted to kanato's alter ego like once upon a time he saw her daintly pick up her bag and tuck her hair behind her ear and boom heart arrows everywhere

• afterward, subaru asked kanato who was that one chick at his class with the long black hair dressing like a sexy lolita

• "oh, you mean me?"

• subaru had nightmares after that

• and yes kanato uses that info to blackmail him to do his bidding

• "if you don't do what I say, I'll tell everyone you fell in love with my alter ego"

• oh btw subaru's major is more on athletics? like he wanted to be a PE or sports instructor/coach in the future bcos accdg to him "fighting is the only thing I'm good at"

• his allowance is mostly spent on repairs on the dorm tho (guess punching walls ain't limited in the family house)

• the reality of his dream is beginning to weigh on him tho bcos some students are scared shtless of him and his violent tendencies

• laito became one of his students one time when he was assigned to be an assistant coach

• "waaahh subaru-kun your expression is so scary pls be gentle"

• reiji actually dated someone from ayato's class bcos her father has huge connections with famous neurosurgeons

• shuu keeps a video of one of his exes doing some cowgirl sht on him (he likes her moans that's why)

• all of kanato's exes studied in the same bldg as him; and yes, they are all from yui's course but each of them from different years and classes (he is picky like that)

• up to this day, reiji looks down on this one female classmate who dated shuu like what does she see in that good-for-nothing (well uhh his huge d-)

• accdg to both kanato and laito, yui is the loudest girl ayato has been with (kanato swore one day he'll stuff her mouth with socks until she chokes if she keeps moaning so loud while he's watching his fave murder docu series)

• ayato keeps teasing both reiji and subaru as virgins (they aren't tho; but despite their tough facade, their experiences are quite hmmm minimal so there are things they don't know)

• shuu almost dated this one classmate of kanato (almost bcos she keeps talking abt those dead people she handled with formaldehyde which is gross so he was turned off a bit)

• the triplets are usually the representatives of karl during his corporate and family parties (sometimes the other three will drop by... well mostly reiji but the other two must've been forced by karl somehow)

• there was a drunk scandal video of the triplets and subaru where subaru was driving while kanato and ayato kept making fun of him

• then kanato was video calling maya and asking her to come over and "watch a movie with him" while ayato was making delusions of aliens flying around the car, almost causing subaru to drive the wrong way

• laito was sitting beside subaru, reprimanding ayato to stop his delusions bcos there were no aliens but only flying trees (ayo what?)

• there's a part 2 but this time shuu and reiji were in the car and shuu kept laughing at ayato bcos subaru's driving is getting messed up bcos of the alien shenanigans

• and reiji was crying bcos apparently all of them are going to die and also bcos kanato is finally talking "properly" to a girl (what do you mean properly he is being a pervert)

• he also said "laito has finally seen the light and started being the good son"

• yui is actually the one filming all this videos tho

ps. I might make memes abt modern college au later on

[mycatsaidwhat]

things i’ve heard english majors say pt. 17

-not capitalizing I’s in poetry was a moment in tumblr history but that moment is gone and we don’t have to do that anymore 

-have you ever killed off a main character in any of your stories?

Like physically?

-I’m almost done with this stupid discussion post and then I’m gonna go for a stupid walk before I make any more stupid decisions about my stupid life

-I read over 55 poems for the lit mag and I read 46 pages of an 18th century diary for my American revolution class and yet the most productive thing I’ve done today is adding “Scarborough” to my list of name for future pets

-what’s my specialty? Prose-poetry nonfiction vignettes about the generation z experience 

What the fuck? 

-go to class, just don’t run into a guy who you ask to be the father of your children on the way there 

-we’re running on poet time, so the event is gonna go late for sure

-killing off a main character is so original that it’s unoriginal. Living people can make you cry too, John Green and Suzzanne Collins and me

-I’m all concept, no practicality

-someone pry the word slay from my cold dead hands

-I don’t know why I like poems that are, like, gross

-not to be a prude but I would have liked the poem more if it was in a more traditional format

-most shitty poetry of this era can be traced back to the grip that milk and honey had on us for a good year there

-this piece looks like it was mauled by a thesaurus

-don’t look at me using slash marks in a poem it’s a stylist choice and it isn’t cliche yet

-I can hardly keep living at all, in any condition

-I’ve been at college for two and a half years, I know how to bullshit for 10 pages

-I changed what I was going to read six or seven times since we started this open mic–

*deafening* MOOD

-ugh, is it really necessary to submit portfolios for job positions with literary magazines? 

Everyone: YES

-yeah, Buzzfeed used to be into deep long-form journalism. And now it’s not. 

-hey, there’s no mirrors in your apartment

Well duh 

-honey, I’m an English major with minors in political science and American studies, critiquing the American Dream is what I do 

-English majors love to read right that’s what we all say even though we don’t 

-I should really go get a green-colored juice so I eat a vegetable 

-the idea of a very hungry spider patrolling our house is terrifying but also like. Kind of on brand for us

-I titled my creative nonfiction collection “The Hauntings and Homelands of One-Cent Treasures” and I need you to be proud of me that I came up with a title at all

That’s literally so sexy 

-if you tell the teacher that it’s my turn to talk, I will kill myself in front of you

Don’t do that, then I’d have to write a poem about you

You’re welcome

-don’t you get free tuition if your roommate kills themselves?

Is that written down somewhere?

-are we all just unstable then?

We’re creative writing majors, there’s some sort of preamble there to not be okay

-an undergrad never asks for permission. We walk into rooms and say we should be here

[lizzybeth1986]

Meet My MC: Basil Park

FC: Eric Mun

Book: Perfect Match

Name: Park Byeong-Cheol. But at school and among friends he was called Basil so the name stuck.

Age: 26 at the start of PM.

Birthday: June 5th.

Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

Hair: Short, Brown.

Eyes: Deep Brown.

Birthplace: New York

Race/Ethnicity: Asian. From Seoul, South Korea.

Love Interests: Sloane Washington, Sage Young (formerly Hayden), Khaan Mousavi, Alana Kusuma, Damien Nazario.

Personality: Calm - Logical - Ambivert - Flirtatious - Goal-oriented - Patient.

Trivia:

- Basil and Sloane are very fond of exchanging different cultural stories and legends on constellations!

- Loves collecting pebbles and smooth stones!

- Favourite food item is the saffron and rose ice cream sandwich from Mashti Malone in LA. At one point in their friendship, he told Damien once he wouldn't mind moving there just to have it every day (that was how he found out Damien was from LA, coz that's what he said after Basil said that). He also loves bagels with cream cheese and lox

- Is a good singer and has learned tap dancing

- Like all PM MCs, can't cook to save his life

- He dated Sloane and Sage from the start, but started dating Damien shortly after they reunited in Tokyo

- On the jet plane to Berlin, Basil and Hayden listened to music together. Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair" was a song both Basil and Hayden loved, and they sang the refrain together, very dramatically ("parsley saaaaaage rosemaryyyy and thyyyyyyyme!!!"). So when she wanted to change her name, the two chose Sage as an inside joke on that song 😅

Education: A BFA and MFA in Illustration from School of Visual Arts, NY. Nadia and Basil have both always showcased talents and interest in the visual arts, but Nadia's interest encompass various genres of art, while Basil focuses more on illustration and visual design. He's designed a couple covers, mostly for children's books.

Favourite Travel Destination: Jeju Island in his native SK, Santorini in Greece.

Backstory: No one who knows him now will believe how much of a wild-child he was as a kid. Very distracted, extremely talkative, really stubborn, and Basil and Nadia always got annoyed with each other at that age. Most of the family wouldn't be able to pinpoint exactly when he changed coz it happened so gradually over a long period of time, but clearly by the time he left for college he was a different person altogether. Since he and Nadia attended the same uni, they grew closer to each other in comparison to most of their cousins (tho they do love them all!)

Relationships and Children: I'm still deciding on kids! I do know that all the group besides Damien (coz he usually sticks to one relationship), the others date other people - Sloane dates Khaan and Alana, Sage also dates a Sri Lankan woman called Nilukshi who she meets while taking up rock climbing.

--

Tagging @choicesficwriterscreations for Meet My MC!

[lboogie1906]

Danny Lyon Scarborough (July 27, 1947 - May 10, 1989) made his mark in the world in two arenas, as an innovative, Emmy Award-winning choreographer/dancer and as one of the first well-known African Americans to go public about having AIDS. He grew up on a farm near Wake Forest, North Carolina. He was adopted by a caring, supportive family. Those early years inspired one of his 1986 concerts based on African American folklore, “When Roosters Crow, Something ’Pose to Happen.”

He was close to his adopted grandfather who instilled a love of learning in him. He him the importance of knowledge as the best defense against racism and hatred. He attended St. Augustine’s College, the University of Massachusetts, Yale University in Connecticut, and Columbia University in New York.

San Diego State University became his professional base. He taught at the rank of Associate Professor in the Africana Studies program and was chair of the department. He founded SDSU’s Black Repertory Theatrical Experience and for the next decade, he wrote, directed, and choreographed each of its concerts. The dramatic performances combined blues, jazz, and spiritual forms with African-themed dance expressions. The Los Angeles Times called him “San Diego’s missionary of Afro-American culture.” His group received an Emmy for his choreography of Roots. There is no complete list of his works has been compiled, two additional plays, Daybreak in Alabama and The Path are among them.

In 1984, received the devastating news that he had AIDS. He contracted it from a former lover. He resolved that he would work to prevent other Black men from making the same mistake. He went public in 1989 about his bisexuality and AIDS. He pleaded with his peers to turn to the lifesaving practice of condom use.

San Diego State University honors his memory by annually offering the Danny Scarborough Scholarship. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[world-cinema-research]

Short Essay: The Graduate (1967)

by Rachel Powers

Mike Nichols’ The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, is the coming-of-age story of Benjamin, an aimless college graduate contemplating the direction of his life. During this tumultuous period, Benjamin is seduced by an older woman, Mrs. Robinson, only to end up falling in love with her daughter Elaine.

The film, adapted from Charles Webb’s novel of the same name, was released in December 1967, The Graduate has made a worldwide gross amount of $105,015,318 on an estimated $3 million budget. It was a huge success, resulting in Mike Nichols’ 1968 Oscar win for Best Director. Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, and Katharine Ross were also nominated for Oscars for their roles. The Graduate also won a Grammy for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture.

Mike Nichols winning Best Director at the 1968 Oscars

“'The Graduate,' the funniest American comedy of the year, is inspired by the free spirit which the young British directors have brought into their movies. It is funny, not because of sight gags and punch lines and other tired rubbish, but because it has a point of view. That is to say, it is against something. Comedy is naturally subversive… In the direct style of new British directors, the audience is the target of the joke, and the funny events do not happen in the movie -- they are the movie… When something funny happens, the actors don't react; the movie itself reacts by what it shows next.” – Roger Ebert (1967)

Even the original poster of the movie expresses the humor that Roger Ebert wrote about in his review. The quote "This is Benjamin. He's a little worried about his future," paired with an image of the character behind a woman's leg pulling on a stocking, portrays the comedy that is to be found in this film.

 A great example of Roger Ebert's observation of the movie reacting to comedy rather than the actors reacting to it is the scene where Benjamin grabs Mrs. Robinson's breast. Mrs. Robinson is unfazed and fusses with her sweater. Benjamin turns around, walks across the room, and bangs his head against the wall. In fact, this was all unscripted. Dustin Hoffman spontaneously improvised grabbing Anne Bancroft's breast and found her lack of reaction so funny that he almost broke character. To stay in character, he had to turn around, walk away, and bang his head against the wall to hide his laughter from Mike Nichols. This improvised scene made it into the final cut.

Any review of The Graduate would be remiss to leave out Simon and Garfunkel’s musical contribution. The famous song “Mrs. Robinson” was written specifically for The Graduate, and the film’s score hosts many of their other songs such as The Sound of Silence, Scarborough Fair, and April Come She Will.

Paul Simon describes the incarnation of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson”

"Simon and Garfunkel’s eerie and sublime The Sound of Silence perfectly captures both Ben’s alienation and bewilderment about what he should do with his life, and then his postcoital disenchantment and self-loathing. And Here’s to You Mrs Robinson, with its gentle reassurance that Jesus loves her, provides a note of final gentleness and forgiveness for this character that is really nowhere in the script." - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian (2017)

In the above clip, the Simon and Garfunkel song “The Sound of Silence” is used to join scenes of Benjamin's emptiness. Dustin Hoffman's vacant facial expressions pair well with Simon and Garfunkel's music to express the isolation the character is feeling. This adds to the films style, look, and feel as well with this demonstration of the passage of time.

The beginning of the song “Mrs. Robinson” starts at night when Benjamin is searching for Elaine. The intro of the song (instrumental, with the only lyrics being "de de de de") is dragged out while overlaying a few scenes as Benjamin continues his search. As dawn breaks, Benjamin drives onto the Bay Bridge towards Berkeley and the song breaks into its full version. I find Peter Bradshaw's observation of this song's impact very enlightening. Although not in the script, the use of this song and its lyrics does offer the feel of forgiveness towards Mrs. Robinson.

The style of the film is also quite consistent in it's camera work. At times, certain camera shots and angles are used to add or remove distance from characters. In the beginning of the film, the shot is framed tight onto Benjamin’s face at the party. Although all he wants to do is escape, the guest of the party proceed to invade his personal space as demonstrated through these crowded, tight shots.

Camera zooms were also used to create distance, as such in the scene where Mrs. Robinson says goodbye to Benjamin after he confessed the affair to Elaine.

A conventional film, The Graduate was made to make money and appeal to both older and younger generations. At the time, Mike Nichols was a relatively new director who had just seen success with his first film, Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf. Dustin Hoffman was virtually unknown as an actor, and this was his first feature film. The use of Simon and Garfunkel’s music for the score compounded the audience draw. Prior to The Graduate’s release, they performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, which is widely regarded as the beginning of “The Summer of Love.” Influential in their reach, it is no doubt that their participation in The Graduate drew larger numbers to the box office.

In 1967, the younger generations were becoming more rebellious, resistant, and unconforming, which was a fitting audience for those same themes found in The Graduate. This was also demonstrated in protest events such as the March on the Pentagon in 1967.

“Flower Power,” the famous photograph by Bernie Boston, taken at the March on the Pentagon in 1967. This image was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

The Graduate has inspired other movies, especially with its older-woman-younger-man relationship dynamic. Films such as Harold & Maude and American Pie notably use this same dynamic. The term “Mrs. Robinson” is still used to this day in popular culture to refer to age-gap relationships or attractive older woman (sometimes also referred to as “cougars.”) Although released in 1967, this film is just as entertaining and relevant today as it was then.

[tienramadan]

Watching the watchdogs: How US media weaponised campus protests coverage

A great, novel experiment in political physics is under way in the United States, as the unstoppable moral force of youth-led protests against Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza runs into the immovable object of the American power elite’s support for it.

In this clash, two critical forces have been weaponised: the US mainstream media that heavily disseminates Israeli propaganda and shapes many local, state and national policies, and the scourge of anti-Semitism that has been unfairly used to demonise and silence Palestinians and shift attention away from the US-enabled Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Since Israel launched its assault on Gaza, President Joe Biden’s steadfast support for it has galvanised young Americans and pushed them to mobilise.

They have formed decisive coalitions with Muslim and Arab Americans, Jewish, Black, Hispanic and Native communities, labour unions and churches. They have given notice that if the US continues to support the war, they will abandon Democratic candidates in the November elections, which would likely be fatal for the party.

The American power elite largely ignored the initial criticisms of the young and the marginalised, until student encampments started springing up at universities across the country three weeks ago. The students demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, a halt to US government financial and military aid to Israel, and the divestment of university investments from military industries that enable the Israeli genocide.

The mainstream media’s coverage of the campus encampments and the violence against them has exposed it as a central actor in the power elite that sustains Israel’s war and simultaneously tries to silence Palestinians and criminalise anyone who supports them.

As I closely followed US media outlets in recent weeks, I was shocked to see reporters, commentators and hosts use the exact same words and phrases that Biden and US and Israeli officials have used to smear the protesters. The mainstream media gives the impression of circling the wagons with Israeli and American officialdom to prevent at all costs an open, honest, comprehensive and contextualised public discussion on Israel’s behaviour while trying instead to focus public attention on spurious accusations.

The mainstream media has widely condemned students and accused them of using “hate speech and hate symbols” (in the words of the US president), endorsing terrorism, advocating for Israel’s destruction, resorting to anti-Semitic slurs and threatening and frightening Jewish students. Everywhere they look in the student protest encampments, the media oracles have seen “terrorists” in training, “anti-Semites” at work, “Jew-haters” being groomed, universities collapsing, and “Nazi mobs” in the making.

Prominent TV hosts have unleashed passionate, vicious diatribes against the students who have camped out to demand an end to America’s role in Israel’s genocide against Gaza, and peace and justice for all in Palestine.

MSNBC’s Morning Joe show – reportedly a Biden favourite – is one glaring example of systematically biased TV programming that sometimes veers into incitement against the student protests and the university administrators. One of its hosts, Joe Scarborough, has claimed that students want “to wipe out all Jews”, “they are Hamas on college campuses”, and they are “not helping those of us who want to fight fascism in America”. His co-host Mika Brzezinski has said that the campus protests “look like January 6”, referring to the riot by Donald Trump supporters on Capitol Hill in January 2021.

Such unsubstantiated allegations against the protesters are common to varying degrees across all the major networks, including ABC, CNN and NBC.

Most of the “expert” analysts I have heard on mainstream TV in the last few weeks commenting on the protests have been former US government or security officials, or people close to the Israeli viewpoint, including former Israeli officials. They have also offered variations on the themes of terrorism, radicalisation and anti-Semitism.

Except for some interviews I have seen on MSNBC, networks have avoided inviting Palestinians and knowledgeable Americans who could explain the actual meaning of expressions that the media and officialdom find offensive or threatening, and could address the actual nature and extent of the fears of those Jews who sincerely worry about how the protests impact them.

Unsurprisingly, most media outlets have covered US officials’ statements against peaceful protesters on campuses without much scrutiny as well.

This was apparent, for example, when Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and heads of several key congressional committees gave a press conference on April 30 where they threatened universities for allegedly allowing anti-Semitism to thrive on campus.

“We will not allow anti-Semitism to thrive on campus, and we will hold these universities accountable for their failure to protect Jewish students on campus,” Johnson said.

By reporting the many accusations against the protesters without seriously questioning or verifying them, the mainstream media itself appears to adopt the conflation of anti-Semitism with valid criticism of Israeli policies, which many scholars have warned is a dangerous practice. Israeli policies that warrant criticism include patently illegal ones that contravene international law, like expanding settlements, laying siege to Palestinian territories, and carrying out the genocidal attack on Gaza.

While mainstream media has struggled with its biases in covering the campus protests, there have been reports and commentaries by serious and knowledgeable people who actually have spent time among the defiant students, understood their motivations and their cause, and have not been beholden to domestic or foreign lobbies. Everyone I encountered – in person at universities or in the more honest, independent and progressive media outlets that do not see their job as supporting the power elites’ war-making frenzies – has reported calm, harmonious, often joyous gatherings of many faiths, aiming for a common goal of equal justice for all.

The alignment of mainstream media with the American political elites’ stance and all the exaggeration, misinterpretation, hysteria, lies and hallucination is unprecedented. It begs the question, why American officials and media leaders who traditionally parroted the Israeli line and simply ignored Palestinian voices are all up in arms now? Why would a gentle old man like Biden knowingly transform the Arabic word “intifada” (uprising) into what he calls “tragic and dangerous hate speech”?

I suspect this fanatical rhetoric reflects the power elite’s fear of being challenged in the domestic political arena for the first time ever by an issue related to Palestinian rights that also exposes and opposes Israel’s military extremism and genocide. They fear the growing coalition of Americans who are not afraid to challenge the falsehoods and distortions of staunch Israel supporters or ignore biased media offerings. They should worry, as a CNN poll last week suggested that 81 percent of Americans aged 18-35 disapprove of the American-backed Israeli war policy in Gaza.

Many young protesters have spoken of the US-enabled genocide in Gaza as “the moral issue of our age”. They feel they cannot stay silent in the face of Israeli-made starvation and American-made bombs ravaging Gaza.

But when this principled stance is distorted by the US mainstream media into an “anti-Semitic” and “pro-terrorist” frenzy, then it becomes clear that the commitment to truth-telling in large swaths of the media is far weaker than their desire to be close to the imperial seats of war-making power in the US and the Middle East.

[mariacallous]

On Dec. 9, China Coast Guard vessels fired water cannons at Philippine supply ships in the Scarborough Shoal, where the Philippine ships had arrived to resupply fishermen. That’s just the latest skirmish in the disputed atoll, which is located near the Philippines but was seized by China in 2012. In fact, in recent months, China has markedly increased its maritime bullying in the waters off the Philippines. That trend is already beginning to spread nervousness among Western businesses interested in friendshoring some of their operations to the Philippines—which may be precisely what China is after.

The water-cannon attack on the Philippine supply ships, which resulted in one of the vessels suffering engine damage and having to be towed back to port, came only a few weeks after two other heavy-handed actions by Chinese vessels near the Philippine coast.

In late October, a Philippine supply vessel and a vessel from the Philippine Coast Guard were bumped, respectively, by a China Coast Guard vessel and a vessel belonging to China’s maritime militia. The incidents took place near the Second Thomas Shoal, in waters that both the Philippines and China consider their own. In 2016, the tribunal in charge of enforcing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) sided with Manila over the Second Thomas Shoal, but that hasn’t stopped Beijing from claiming it is the rightful owner and underlining this point through various maritime provocations.

Indeed, for the past decade, there have been regular encounters between China and the Philippines in the desolate waters.

In recent months, China has been particularly keen to demonstrate its presence around the Scarborough and Second Thomas shoals. It has rammed Philippine Coast Guard vessels and boats resupplying fishermen. It has used water cannons against Philippine vessels and tried to chase them away. On just one day in November, 38 Chinese vessels were circling the Second Thomas Shoal’s waters, according to The Associated Press.

“There has been a gradual escalation this year, which you can trace back to February, when a Chinese vessel directed [a military-grade] laser against a Philippine vessel and the Philippines made the footage public,” said Ray Powell, the director of Stanford University’s SeaLight group, which tracks maritime gray-zone aggression. “The footage got a lot of attention, which encouraged the Philippines to take pictures of other incidents that were already happening,” Powell added. “That has continued throughout the year, and now the situation has become escalatory.”

Beijing’s objective, Powell said, is to discourage any attempts by nearby countries to follow the Philippines’ example in asserting their rights to waters that China has unilaterally declared to belong to Beijing. “China wants to communicate that it has jurisdiction in the South China Sea and gets to decide over activities there,” he explained.

The aggression may be of the gray-zone kind—that is, not involving military violence—but it’s decidedly harmful, and not just to the Philippine and other vessels being targeted. “China’s harassment of civilian Philippine vessels carrying out humanitarian missions has a negative impact on shipping in the surrounding waters,” Amparo Pamela Fabe, a professor at the Philippines’ National Police College and a fellow of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Brute Krulak Center, told me. “It also heightens the geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea.”

Indeed, the harassment has so alarmed the U.S. Defense Department that the U.S. military is now making a point of showing its presence off the Philippine coast, including by sending aircraft to circle above altercations between Chinese and Philippine vessels. But in reality, there isn’t much the Pentagon can do to deter the vessels from the China Coast Guard or the maritime militia off the coast of the Philippines: The United States wouldn’t risk an armed conflict with China over the harassment of Philippine vessels.

So the harassment will continue and even expand—and simply being a nuisance in the waters may be China’s whole point, because the altercations are causing considerable anxiety. “Philippine vessels cannot freely enter the area within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, and Philippine fisherfolk cannot go fishing in the area,” Fabe noted.

And the anxiety doesn’t end there. That’s because the Philippines is one of the countries to which manufacturers keen to reduce their operations in China have turned their attention.

Global manufacturers assessing potential new locations for some of their manufacturing see lots of benefits to setting up shop there. The country has a comparatively well-educated labor force that includes many English-speaking workers. It’s mostly friendly with the West. It’s geographically close to China, which would mean comparatively moderate disruption as entire supply chains are shifted. It even has workable relations with its other regional neighbors, which is indispensable to friendshoring efforts, as no single country can replicate China’s extraordinary all-in-one manufacturing solution.

But getting friendshoring business is by no means something to be taken for granted; competition is fierce among the prospective beneficiaries of this sudden and rapidly accelerating shift. In a July ranking of friendshoring destinations published by the consultancy Kearney, the Philippines had dropped three places since the company’s 2021 ranking, falling to 12th place, primarily as a result by significant efforts by Mexico and Colombia to attract U.S. manufacturers.

And easy access to ports in prospective new locations is crucial as manufacturers decide where to set up shop or expand operations. Without a guarantee that the transportation of components can take place without disruption, manufacturers will be wary of setting up factories in the Philippines or anywhere else in the region.

That’s why China’s maritime harassment is so effective: It not only immediately affects Philippine fisherfolk, shipping companies, and manufacturers, but also makes global manufacturers nervous about friendshoring in the Philippines. And the manufacturers don’t need to be reminded that China can choose to engage in the same bullying of Vietnam and other nations in the South China Sea to whose waters China also lays partial claim and which also stand to become friendshoring destinations. Indeed, China Coast Guard, civilian, and “research” ships have already taken to harassing Vietnamese oil and gas operations in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone.

China didn’t launch its maritime harassment with friendshoring in mind. But being able to delay or even thwart friendshoring has turned out to be one of the benefits of the harassment. And because it’s not military aggression, it’s unclear what the response should be.

One thing is clear, though: If the world wants friendshoring to succeed, China’s maritime harassment will need to be stopped. The question is by whom.

[mightyflamethrower]

U.S. — Democrats have officially begun to panic as, against all odds, President Joe Biden is still not dead.

As polls persistently show Trump leading President Biden in both the popular vote and electoral college, Democrats have become increasingly anxious that Biden may survive to November. "He was supposed to bite the dust months ago," sighed top Democratic political operative Dan Scarborough. "Everything has gone perfectly to plan these last four years. Biden wins from his basement, then his body begins shutting down right on schedule... but the guy just won't die. It's looking dire."

In lieu of Biden dying, Democrats hoped he could be reasoned with to make way for a stronger candidate. "We tried to tell Joe that he's done great and it's time to move on, but he won't budge," said Democratic strategist Lisa Hanes. "He just laughs, grabs another vanilla cone, and starts arguing with the ghost of Lyndon Johnson. We may have gotten more than we bargained for nominating a dementia patient."

With Biden holding firm on running for a second term, Democrats have begun trying to place the President in increasingly dangerous situations. "We've got sandbags strategically placed all over the Rose Garden," said Scarborough. "We installed random stairways throughout the White House. For goodness' sake, we've fed an elderly man literally gallons of ice cream every day, his arteries are half-filled with chocolate chips. How has Joe not kicked the bucket? How??"

At publishing time, Democratic strategists had been spotted placing banana peels at every doorway in the West Wing.

[skypodimmigrationconsulting]

Tips for Successful Spousal Sponsorship in Scarborough

In order to be eligible for spousal sponsorship in Scarborough, one must complete the requirements set forth by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and acquire the required documentation. Make sure you and your spouse are a real couple and that your spouse is qualified as a dependant spouse or common-law partner. Next, collect the necessary paperwork, including evidence of income, relationship, and language skills. Make sure you also fulfill the minimal income standards and give a formal commitment to support your spouse financially. Depending on where your spouse lives, it's also critical to select the appropriate application type—either inland or overseas. In order to increase the likelihood that your application will be approved, make sure it is accurate and comprehensive by speaking with an immigration lawyer or expert for Spousal Sponsorship Consulting in Scarborough .