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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 1 year

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President Joe Biden ordered the action on Wednesday, but it was delayed until the balloon was over water off the coast of South Carolina to ensure no Americans on the ground were harmed.

"The balloon, which was being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States, was brought down above U.S. territorial waters," Austin said.

The action was taken in coordination and support of the Canadian government. "We thank Canada for its contribution to tracking and analysis of the balloon through [North American Aerospace Defense Command] as it transited North America," Austin said. "Today's deliberate and lawful action demonstrates that President Biden and his national security team will always put the safety and security of the American people first while responding effectively to the PRC's unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," Austin said referring to the Peoples Republic of China.

U.S. officials first detected the balloon and its payload on January 28 when it entered U.S. airspace near the Aleutian Islands. The balloon traversed Alaska, Canada and re-entered U.S. airspace over Idaho. "President Biden asked the military to present options and on Wednesday President Biden gave his authorization to take down the Chinese surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to us civilians under the balloon's path," said a senior defense official speaking on background. "Military commanders determined that there was undue risk of debris causing harm to civilians while the balloon was overland."

An F-22 Raptor fighter from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, fired one AIM-9X Sidewinder missile at the balloon.

The balloon fell approximately six miles off the coast in about 47 feet of water. No one was hurt.

Long before the shoot down, U.S. officials took steps to protect against the balloon's collection of sensitive information, mitigating its intelligence value to the Chinese. The senior defense official said the recovery of the balloon will enable U.S. analysts to examine sensitive Chinese equipment. "I would also note that while we took all necessary steps to protect against the PRC surveillance balloon's collection of sensitive information, the surveillance balloon's overflight of U.S. territory was of intelligence value to us," the official said. "I can't go into more detail, but we were able to study and scrutinize the balloon and its equipment, which has been valuable."

The balloon did not pose a military or physical threat. Still its intrusion into American airspace over several days was an unacceptable violation of U.S. sovereignty. The official said Chinese balloons briefly transited the continental United States at least three times during the prior administration.

While Chinese officials admitted that the balloon was theirs, they said it was a runaway weather balloon. "The PRC has claimed publicly that the high-altitude balloon operating above the United States is a weather balloon that was blown off course. This is false," the official said. "This was a PRC surveillance balloon. This surveillance balloon purposely traversed the United States and Canada, and we are confident it was seeking to monitor sensitive military sites."

The mission now transitions to one of recovery. There are a number of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels establishing a security perimeter around the area where the balloon came to Earth. They are searching for debris, said a senior military official also speaking on background.

There is no estimate for how long the recovery mission will take, the military official said, but the fact that it came down in such a shallow area should make recovery "fairly easy".

The military official gave some detail of the engagement. The F-22 fired the Sidewinder at the balloon from an altitude of 58,000 feet. The balloon at the time was between 60,000 and 65,000 feet.

F-15 Eagles flying from Barnes Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, supported the F-22, as did tankers from multiple states including Oregon, Montana, South Carolina and North Carolina. Canadian forces also helped track the overflight of the balloon.

The Navy has deployed the destroyer USS Oscar Austin, the cruiser USS Philippine Sea and the USS Carter Hall, an amphibious landing ship in support of the effort.

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voyagerprobe · 11 days

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Buckle up, European and Foreigner Tumblypoos, because I'm about to learn you a thing about AMERICA.

You see these delectable motherflippers? These are called STATES. You stupid foreigners might not be able to wrap your head around this, but basically they're administrative subdivisions of the country.

And here's the thing: They are totally heckin' different from each other! For instance, New York:

Looks TOTALLY DIFFERENT from Kansas:

And they both look TOTALLY different from California!

So before you make fun of an American for not knowing where tiny third-world countries like "Check Republic" or "South Korea" are, maybe think about how much we have to learn about the unique regional differences in our OWN country. Maybe you should think about AMERICA more.

#5k #10k

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goalhofer · 2 months

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Where every player played during the 2004-05 NHL lockout: Buffalo

Czech Extraliga: Aleš Kotalík (Bílí Tygři Liberec) ECHL: Eric Boulton (Columbia Inferno) HockeyAllsvenskan: Taylor Pyatt (Hammarby I.F. Ishockeyförening) SEL: Henrik Tallinder (Linköping Hockeyklubb) Slovak Extraliga: Miroslav Šatan (H.K. Slovan Bratislava) DEL: Andy Delmore (Adler Mannheim) & Jochen Hecht (Adler Mannheim) Liiga: Brian Campbell (Helsingin Jokerit) & Mika Noronen (Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho) NL: Daniel Brière (S.C. Bern), Jean-Pierre Dumont (S.C. Bern) & Henrik Tallinder (S.C. Bern) RSL: Maxim Afinogenov (K.K. Dynamo Moscow), Dmitri Kalinin (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) & Oleksiy Zhitnik (X.K. Ak Bars) AHL: Milan Bartovič (Rochester Americans), Rory Fitzpatrick (Rochester Americans), Doug Janik (Rochester Americans), Jeff Jillson (Rochester Americans), Ryan Miller (Rochester Americans), Norm Milley (Rochester Americans), Jason Pominville (Rochester Americans), Derek Roy (Rochester Americans) & Chris Taylor (Rochester Americans) Didn't Play: Martin Biron, Brad Brown, Chris Drury, Mike Grier, Adam Mair, Jay McKee, James Patrick & Andrew Peters

#Sports #Hockey #Hockey Goalies #NHL #Buffalo Sabres #Czech Republic #South Carolina #Sweden #Slovakia #Germany #Finland #Switzerland #Russia #Kazakhstan #AHL #Rochester Americans

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imsobadatnicknames2 · 9 days

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What does the "banana republic is a fucked up name for a store" post you reblogged mean? I'm afraid of looking dumb.

The term "banana republic" was originally coined to describe countries in Central and South America (mainly Honduras and Guatemala) whose economies were rendered dependent on the production and export of bananas (among other agricultural goods, but mainly bananas) by American fruit corporations leveraging the power of the U.S. government, the U.S. military and the CIA.

Throughout most of the of the 20th century, American corporations such as United Fruit, Cuyamel, and the Standard Fruit Company owned large portions of these countries' lands, to the point that in some cases they controlled their railway, road, and port infrastructure, and they engaged in a variety of imperialist actions to lower production costs, such as violence against labor activists and anti wage reform lobbying.

The pinnacle of this phenomenon was the 1954 Guatemalan coup, when United Fruit convinced the goverment of US president Dwight D. Eisenhower that the elected president of Guatemala, Jacobo Árbenz (who had expropriated some of the company's unused land and given it to Guatemalan peasants) was secretly working with the Soviet Union, resulting in a CIA coup which deposed the Árbenz government and replaced it with a thirty-year right-wing military dictatorship which effectively acted as a puppet government to protect the interests of United Fruit and the U.S. government.

Nowadays the term has broadened to refer to any small, economically unstable country with an economy which has been rendered dependent on the export of a particular natural resource due to economic exploitation by a more powerful country.

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whatisonthemoon · 1 year

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From Korea with love (1974)

One of the first in-depth articles in the United States giving a glimpse into the inner-workings of the Unification Church and its politicking

From Korea with love: Shadows on Rev. Moon's beams by John D. Marks Chicago Tribune November 10, 1974 https://www.tparents.org/UTS/DoH2/DOH2-06e.pdf *John D. Marks is an associate of the Center for National Security Studies in Washington and co-author of "The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence." This article is excerpted with permission from The Washington Monthly magazine.

THE MOST widely seen face in American cities today may well belong to a 53-year-old Korean prophet named Sun Myung Moon. His followers energetically force leaflets on innocent pedestrians and hang their leader's picture in fierce competition for poster space. Their success in littering the urban landscape may herald a new form of religious pollution.

Sun Myung Moon interweaves politics and religion in the best tradition of the medieval popes. His Unification Church operates a vast network of affiliate organizations in more than 40 countries, under the distinctly temporal banner of the International Federation for Victory over Communism.

With the formidable task of selling a new messiah to the world, the Moonies [or "the Family" as they call themselves] are extremely media-conscious. Perhaps for this reason, the American branch of the Victory over Communism effort has taken on the less strident title of the Freedom Leadership Foundation [F.L.F.]

POLITICAL ACTIVITIES in this country are not nearly as developed as those in South Korea, where Moon operates a training school to which the government annually sends hundreds of thousands of civil servants, local officials, and military men for a course in militant anti-Communism.

Even as other Korean religious leaders have turned increasingly against President Park Chung Hee's authoritarian rule, Moon has stayed an enthusiastic backer of the regime. Moon's avowed interest is in fighting Communism, not preserving democratic niceties, and, as F.L.F. Secretary General Gary Jarmin asserts, "Even if Park got more dictatorial, we would support him."

Jarmin is a 24-year-old ideologue who has the earnest, well-scrubbed, closely cropped look that I learned to expect in meeting Moonies. Before Secretary General Jarmin is brushed off as a youthful extremist, it should be noted that by Moonie standards he is nearly middle-aged. The movement's American president, Neil Salonen, is only 28, and virtually all of the sect's 2,000 "core" members are in their early to mid-twenties.

POTENTIAL CONVERTS come to the sect largely from the ranks of disaffected young people, and there is no shortage of those. They exist all over the country, chafing under an unhappy lifestyle and looking for meaningful purpose in life.

So far, at least, only the young have been willing to make the full-time commitment that the sect demands and move into the communal living centers where the Family lives in all 50 states. Being a Moonie is not easy: forbidden, in practice, if not by formal rule, are smoking, alcohol, and drugs. Absolutely taboo is premarital sex, which Moon rails against as "fornication."

For what does the Family make these sacrifices? Nothing short of "the kingdom of heaven on earth," as promised to it by its leader, who claims to have found the way through a series of revelations he received from Jesus Christ between his 16th and 26th birthdays. The sect's bible, called "Divine Principle," is the fruit of these "revelations," and it tells how God's original plans for a perfect world fell apart when the archangel Lucifer [Satan] entered the Garden of Eden, seduced Eve, and thus caused the spiritual fall of mankind.

WITH THE forces of the devil on the ascendancy, Moon doctrine teaches, God tried to recoup by sending Jesus, "the second Adam," to earth to marry, have "perfect" children, and kick off the messianic age. But Satan wooed again, and, contrary to God's intentions, Jesus was crucified. Now, the new messiah has come to "fulfill" the promise of the Old and New Testaments.

As for the identity of that messiah, "Divine Principle" does not give his name, except to say that he was born in Korea, "the new Israel," in the years after World War I.

Ask a believer if Moon [born in 1920] is the one, and there is a standard reply: "Many of us believe that Reverend Moon is the messiah, but we consider this a personal matter." Moon, for his part, is perfectly aware that "many" of his followers regard him as the messiah, and he has apparently never made any attempt to convince them that this is not the case.

"Divine Principle" is more explicit about the reasons for the sect's fierce opposition to Communism, giving an analysis strikingly similar to the views of the late John Foster Dulles. In a lecture on the doctrine, Michael Beard, one of their preachers, explains that there are only two major blocs on earth, "The Communist and the Free World," and they are locked in a "Cain and Abel-type" conflict, and that Communism represents the forces of Satan.

The fact that Moon's "revelations" reflect this early Cold War simplicity may be accounted for by the virulent strain of anti-Communism to which he was exposed in Korea for more than 20 years and also by Moon's own imprisonment by the North Koreans for several years prior to 1950 [just as the "Divine Principle's" reliance on intricate diagrams and concepts like "the law of polarity" to explain all relationships may reflect Moon's training as an electrical engineer].

For whatever reason, the sect's Freedom Leadership Foundation opposes détente and works to "roll back the Iron Curtain."

In its four years of existence, the F.L.F. has started a number of programs which, while not coming anywhere near the ultimate goal — "Victory over Communism" — still are impressive in scope.

Its specific target is the Marxist "enemy within" as well as the threat from abroad, and its three main areas of activity are:

The World Freedom Institute. This is the "educational and training arm" of the F.L.F., and it offers programs, courses, and seminars to train students and other young people "in techniques to overcome Communism in the way it is working hardest in America—ideologically." The group plans an "international training center" in Washington and is already active on more than 20 campuses.

The Rising Tide. This is a bi-weekly newspaper which prints Moon's position on various foreign policy issues, publicizes dissidence in Communist countries, and generally puts out news with a rightist slant.

Lobbying. According to Jarmin, the F.L.F. is "already spending a lot of time" on the Hill trying to influence congressmen and senators on national security issues.

Since the F.L.F. (as well as the Unification Church) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization under the Internal Revenue Service's rules, it is forbidden to actually lobby for specific legislation, but Jarmin states it carries on "educational" programs especially for legislative aides.

And soon, according to Jarmin, the F.L.F. intends to spin off a separate new organization which will carry on direct lobbying and support selected political candidates.

The F.L.F. spends about $50,000 to $60,000 a year, not including the labor costs of its eight full-time employees (who receive no salary and who, as "core" members of the Family, live together in their own communal center, with Jarmin serving as their spiritual as well as temporal leader).

Jarmin maintains that most of the F.L.F.'s funds come from private donations and contributions from the parent Unification Church. He says there are 5,000 F.L.F. members, including the 2,000 hard-core Moonies whose names were automatically inscribed on the organization's rolls when they joined the Unification Church.

Several rank-and-file Family members with whom I talked had no idea that they also belonged to the F.L.F., and indeed were almost totally ignorant of the movement's political side. In listening to roughly 12 hours of religious lectures at a weekend workshop designed to attract new recruits, I heard no mention of any of the group's political activities.

When I questioned Jarmin on why the political aspect of the movement was not mentioned, he admitted the omission was no accident: "People who attend the workshops have more concrete ideas about politics than about religion," he said. "We try to avoid politics. If we came on strong about Vietnam, it would chase people away. Our anti-Communism is religious, so until we convince people of a belief in God, it is to our disadvantage to politicize."

That Moon's religion comes complete with its own brand of right-wing politics seems to bother only outsiders. Once newcomers are fully converted, they are all-accepting about every aspect of the sect.

Presumably in keeping with "Divine Principle," Moon took out an immigrant visa and moved permanently to this country in 1972. Working out of a posh, 22-acre estate in Tarrytown, N.Y., he apparently intends to use America's potential as the Free World's most powerful and god-blessed nation as his base for establishing the "kingdom of heaven on earth." His effort moved into high gear last October when he launched a 21-city speaking tour, and his followers believe he is now making great progress in winning American hearts and minds.

But Moon's travels have shown him "a troubled land [in] moral and spiritual decline...mortally wounded in spirit and soul by the tragedy of Watergate."

LAST DECEMBER, hundreds of Moonies - self-described as "well-dressed and prayerful" - rallied in front of the White House "to lift the spirit of the President," bearing signs reading "Support the President" and "God Loves Nixon."

The Unification Church - tax-exempt organization that it is - has since assumed the media cost, which the sect's 25-year-old financial adviser, William Torrey, says has amounted to $72,000.

Altogether, Torrey estimates that the Church is currently operating on about a $3-million annual budget, not including the cost of supporting the 2,000 "core" members who must be housed, fed, and clothed, at a conservative estimate of another $5 million a year.

Where does all this money come from? Well, until recently, Torrey claims the main source of income has been the hawking of decorative candles, followed by the contributions of about 2,500 sympathizers - but not "Family members" - who live and work outside the church.

But even their herculean effort at street peddling has its limits. While financial adviser Torrey claims that this technique, coupled with the contributions from fellow travelers, covered the rapidly expanding budgets of the last few years, he believes the sales now have about saturated the market.

Already the Family is planning to move into labor-intensive businesses like house painting and cleaning. Moreover, they have opened a tea house in downtown Washington and hope to expand to other cities.

From the Family's point of view, tea houses are ideal - they make money and they bring customers into a congenial atmosphere where the general pleasantness thrown off by almost all Moonies (or at least the 15 or so I met) is a lure for potential converts.

Moreover, the tea houses are an outlet for the ginseng tea which is exported from Korea by a company controlled by none other than Sun Myung Moon.

While Moon's American operation is largely limited to penny-ante capitalism, in Korea he is a virtual conglomerate holding, besides the tea business, air rifle, pharmaceutical, titanium, and still other companies. His empire is worth well over $10 million, but Torrey insists that all profits go into the Unification Church and affiliate organizations.

TORREY MAY well be correct, but there are those who do not think so, especially in the Korean exile community. Lee Jai Hyon, who was a top diplomat in South Korea's Washington embassy until opposition to the Park regime caused him to defect to the U.S. in June 1973, equates Moon with another Korean messianic leader, Park Tae Sun, who, Lee says, also raised large sums of money from fanatic believers and grew rich from his business holdings.

Lee and his colleagues in the Korean democratic opposition see Moon as an opportunist who has supported the present government in return for personal gain.

The Park regime, of course, welcomes the backing offered by Moon, but its interest in his movement may well extend into the murky world of espionage.

According to both Lee and State Department sources, the Korean government is actively concerned about improving its dictatorial image in this country, and they do not doubt that its intelligence organization, the Korean Central Intelligence Agency [KCIA], has on occasion secretly subsidized ostensibly private organizations for this purpose - just as the American CIA has done for the last 26 years.

#kcia #cia #sun myung moon #intelligence agencies #republic of korea #south korean government #south korea #unification church #unification church in the united states #church history #unification church in the united states of america #unification church in usa #american church #gary jarmin #Politics #john d. marks #john marks

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candela888 · 11 months

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Same-sex marriage in 2003 vs. 2013 vs. 2023

(20 years of change)

More info below:

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2003:

Marriage : Netherlands, Belgium, British Columbia (CA), Ontario (CA)

Civil unions : France (including overseas territories), Germany, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Greenland, Rio Negro (AR), Ciudad de Buenos Aires (AR), California (US), New York (US), Hawaii (US), Vermont (US), Canary Islands (ES), Aragon (ES), Catalonia (ES), Andalusia (ES), Extremadura (ES), Castilla-La Mancha (ES), Castilla-Leon (ES), Madrid (ES), Valencia (ES), Asturias (ES), Basque Country (ES), Navarre (ES), Balearics (ES), Quebec (CA), Alberta (CA), Manitoba (CA), Nova Scotia (CA), Geneva (CH), Zurich (CH), Portugal.

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2013:

Marriage : Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, France (including overseas territories), Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, New Zealand, Washington (US), California (US), New Mexico (US), Minnesota (US), Iowa (US), Maryland (US), DC (US), New Jersey (US), Delaware (US), New York (US), Connecticut (US), Rhode Island (US), Vermont (US), Massachusetts (US), New Hampshire (US), Maine (US), Hawaii (US), Mexico City (MX), Quintana Roo (MX).

Civil unions : Greenland, Colombia, Ecuador, Merida (VZ), United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Finland, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Australia

Recognizes marriages performed abroad : All 32 Mexican states and Israel

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2023:

Marriage : Netherlands (including overseas territories), Belgium, United States, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, US Virgin Islands, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Malvinas/Falklands, France (including overseas territories), Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland, Austria, Malta, Guernsey, Jersey, United Kingdom, Isle of Man, Ireland, Gibraltar, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Greenland, Luxembourg, Faroe Islands, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, St. Helena, Pitcairn Islands, Gibraltar.

Civil unions : Bolivia, Italy, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Aruba, Curaçao, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Cyprus, Estonia, Liechtenstein

Recognizes marriages performed abroad : Namibia, Israel, Nepal, American Samoa

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Future :

Same-sex marriage is under consideration by the legislature or the courts in Aruba, Curaçao, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, India, Japan, Liechtenstein, Namibia, the Navajo Nation, Nepal, Thailand, and Venezuela, and all countries bound by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), which includes Barbados, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Suriname.

Civil unions are being considered in a number of countries, including Lithuania, Peru, the Philippines, South Korea, Ukraine, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Latvia, Panama, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Thailand, and Venezuela.

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#map #maps #cartography #usa #latin america #mexico #data #americas #geography #europe #gay #lgbt #gay marriage #lgbtq #lgbtq history #lgbt history #history #lesbian #sapphic #marriage #pride

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normanemilioleongoodworlds · 1 year

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L'Express: Stratégie de la France en Afrique : ce qu'il faut retenir du discours de Macron

L'Express: Stratégie de la France en Afrique : ce qu'il faut retenir du discours de Macron.

L'Afrique terre ancienne et terre de jeunesse, passé et avenir de la terre.

Réalité complexe mais non pas illisible.

Terre de richesses minérales, végétales et animales trop souvent soumise aux pillages mondiaux et pas seulement continentaux.

Pour la France, l'Afrique du Nord et l'union pour la Méditerranée barrés par le véto américain.

Le Sahara et le sub-Sahara gangrené par les trafics, l'engagement djihadiste et l'infantilisation des populations touaregs, la solution reste à trouver sinon à pratiquer. Nous y sommes dans une impasse ! Véto américain ?...

l'Afrique de l'ouest, division avec offense islamiste contre les populations du sud chrétiennes, comment ne pas prendre parti, comment n'être pas partisan ? Les ingérences moyen-orientales dans la région n'y sont peut-être pas absentes dans la détérioration des situations locales. Qu'y peut la diplomatie française et européenne ? Peu, bien peu...

L'Afrique équatoriale entre Boko Haram et la société de sécurité privée Wagner, les positions de la France n'y est pas des plus confortables.

L'Afrique centrale, Congos et région des lacs y sont indissociables par l'histoire et la dramatique actualité. Pour les Congos il faut craindre le véto américain. Pour les lacs rien ne se fera sans les populations Houtous, tout se fait sans elles !

La France n'y a pas les leviers d'autrefois, la Belgique et l'Europe pourraient nous aider à résoudre ces équations difficiles !?

Reste l'Afrique australe où rien n'est facile ou profitable, où tout peut devenir facile et, aussi, profitable...

L'Afrique et la France, c'est une longue histoire qui ne fait que commencer.

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arkipelagic · 3 months

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The Spanish surnames of many Filipinos have often misled foreigners here and abroad, who are unaware of the decree on the adoption of surnames issued by Governor-General Narciso Clavería in 1849. Until quite recently in the United States, the Filipinos were classified in demographic statistics as a “Spanish-speaking minority,” along with Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans, and other nationals of the Central or South American republics. The Philippines, as is well known, was a Spanish colony when Spain was mistress of empires in the Western Hemisphere; but the Americans were “hispanized” demographically, culturally, and linguistically, in a way the Philippines never was. Yet the Spanish surnames of the Filipinos today—García, Gómez, Gutiérrez, Fernández—seem to confirm the impression of the American statistician, as well as of the American tourist, that the Philippines is just another Mexico in Asia. Nor is this misunderstanding confined to the United States; most Spaniards still tend to think of “las Islas Filipinas” as a country united to them through the language of Cervantes, and they catalogue Philippine studies under “Hispano-America.” The fact is that after nearly three-and-a-half centuries of Spanish rule probably not more than one Filipino in ten spoke Spanish, and today scarcely one in fifty does. Still the illusion lives on, thanks in large part to these surnames, which apparently reflect descent from ancient Peninsular forbears, but in reality often date back no farther than this decree of 1849.

Somehow overlooked, this decree, with the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos which accompanied it, accounts for another curiousity which often intrigues both Filipinos and foreign visitors alike, namely, that there are towns in which all the surnames of the people begin with the same letter. This is easily verifiable today in many parts of the country. For example, in the Bikol region, the entire alphabet is laid out like a garland over the provinces of Albay, Sorsogon, and Catanduanes which in 1849 belonged to the single jurisdiction of Albay. Beginning with A at the provincial capital, the letters B and C mark the towns along the coast beyond Tabaco to Tiwi. We return and trace along the coast of Sorsogon the letters E to L; then starting down the Iraya Valley at Daraga with M, we stop with S to Polangui and Libon, and finish the alphabet with a quick tour around the island of Catan-duanes. Today’s lists of municipal officials, memorials to local heroes, even business or telephone directories, also show that towns where family names begin with a single letter are not uncommon. In as, for example, the letter R is so prevalent that besides the Roas, Reburianos, Rebajantes, etc., some claim with tongue in cheek that the town also produced Romuáldez, Rizal, and Roosevelt!

Excerpt from the 1973 introduction to Catálogo de Alfabético de Apellidos by Domingo Abella

#philippines #southeast asia #spanish colonialism #colonialism #history #x

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probablyasocialecologist · 9 months

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Degrowth basics

"The word degrowth stands for a family of political-economic approaches that, in the face of today’s accelerating planetary ecological crisis, reject unlimited, exponential economic growth as the definition of human progress."

What is Degrowth? | Caracol DSA

Why degrowth is the only responsible way forward | OpenDemocracy

Degrowth and MMT: A thought experiment

We Need A Fair Way To End Infinite Growth | Current Affairs

Degrowth: A Call for Radical Abundance | Common Dreams

Can degrowth save us and the planet? | Nottingham Trent

Defending limits is not Malthusian | Undisciplined Environments

Can We Have Prosperity Without Growth? | New Yorker

The Urgent Case for Shrinking the Economy | The New Republic

Giving Up on Economic Growth Could Make Us Cooler and Happier | The New Republic

A guide to degrowth: The movement prioritizing wellbeing in a bid to avoid climate cataclysm | CNBC

What is ‘degrowth’ and how can it fight climate change? | Popular Science

Enough for Everyone | Yes! Magazine

Toward a Post-Capitalist Future: On the Growth of “Degrowth” | Lit Hub

All we are saying is give degrowth a chance | The RSA

A pathway out of environmental collapse | newsroom

On Technology and Degrowth | Monthly Review

What is degrowth (and more importantly, what is it not)? | META

Green growth

"There is no empirical evidence that absolute decoupling from resource use can be achieved on a global scale against a background of continued economic growth."

Is Green Growth Possible? | Jason Hickel & Giorgos Kallis

The Myth of America’s Green Growth | Foreign Policy

The decoupling delusion: rethinking growth and sustainability | The Conversation

Is green growth happening? | Uneven Earth

Green Growth | Uneven Earth

The Delusion of Infinite Economic Growth | Scientific American

Degrowth is not austerity – it is actually just the opposite | Al Jazeera

A response to Paul Krugman: Growth is not as green as you might think | Timothée Parrique

Deceitful Decoupling: Misconceptions of a Persistent Myth | Alevgul H. Sorman

Degrowth isn’t the same as a recession – it’s an alternative to growing the economy forever | The Conversation

Degrowth and the left

"In the middle of an ecological emergency, should we be producing sport utility vehicles and mansions? Should we be diverting energy to support the obscene consumption and accumulation of the ruling class?"

The Left should embrace degrowth | New Internationalist

Ecosocialism is the Horizon, Degrowth is the Way | The Trouble

Degrowth: Socialism without Growth | Brave New Europe

Toward an Ecosocialist Degrowth: From the Materially Inevitable to the Socially Desirable | Monthly Review

For an Ecosocialist Degrowth | Monthly Review

Degrowth and Revolutionary Organizing | Rosa Luxemburg NYC

The necessity of ecosocialist degrowth | Rupture

Degrowth is Anti-Capitalist | Protean Mag

Degrowth Communism | PPPR (Part one | Part two | Part three)

Economic Planning and Degrowth: How Socialism Survives the 21st Century | New Socialist

Degrowth and the South

"Southern countries should be free to organize their resources and labor around meeting human needs rather than around servicing Northern growth."

Who is afraid of degrowth? A Global South economic perspective | IBON Foundation

The anti-colonial politics of degrowth | Jason Hickel

Unlearning: From Degrowth to Decolonization | Rosa Luxemburg NYC

Degrowth requires the Global South to default on its foreign debts | Resilience

Journals/Reports

Degrowth: a theory of radical abundance | Jason Hickel

A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part II: synthesizing the insights

What does degrowth mean? A few points of clarification | Jason Hickel

Providing decent living with minimum energy: A global scenario | Global Environmental Change

Urgent need for post-growth climate mitigation scenarios | Nature Energy

Degrowth and critical agrarian studies | Julien-François Gerber

Decoupling debunked – Evidence and arguments against green growth as a sole strategy for sustainability | European Environmental Bureau

Incrementum ad Absurdum: Global Growth, Inequality and Poverty Eradication in a Carbon-Constrained World | David Woodward

Degrowth can work — here’s how science can help | Nature

A New Political Economy for a Healthy Planet | Jason Hickel

Planning beyond growth. The case for economic democracy within limits

Millionaire spending incompatible with 1.5 °C ambitions | Cleaner Production Letters

Is green growth happening? An empirical analysis of achieved versus Paris-compliant CO2–GDP decoupling in high-income countries | The Lancet

Books

Exploring Degrowth: A Critical Guide | Pluto Press

A People's Green New Deal | Max Ajl

Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World | Jason Hickel

Breaking Things at Work: The Luddites Are Right About Why You Hate Your Job | Verso Books

The Future is Degrowth: A Guide to a World Beyond Capitalism | Verso Books

The Imperial Mode of Living: Everyday Life and the Ecological Crisis of Capitalism | Verso Books

Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism | Kohei Saito

Degrowth & Strategy: how to bring about social-ecological transformation

27 Essays and Thoughts on Degrowth | Giorgos Kallis

Videos

Yes To Limits To Growth! | The Other School

How Degrowth Can Save the World | Andrewism

How We End Consumerism | Our Changing Climate

Demystifying Degrowth | Rosa Luxemburg NYC

Degrowth is not Austerity | John the Duncan

Degrowth and Ecosocialism | Planet: Critical

Degrowth in 7 minutes: Fighting for climate by living better | Think That Through

The Future is Degrowth (w/ Aaron Vansintjan) || SRSLY WRONG

"Degrowth means power to the working class!"with Jason Hickel | GND Media

Others

degrowth.info

Degrowth Journal

Doughnut Economics

#degrowth #green growth #postgrowth #ecosocialism #solarpunk #i'll update this as i go

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batboyblog · 10 days

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Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #14

April 12-19 2024

The Department of Commerce announced a deal with Samsung to help bring advanced semiconductor manufacturing and research and development to Texas. The deal will bring 45 billion dollars of investment to Texas to help build a research center in Taylor Texas and expand Samsung's Austin, Texas, semiconductor facility. The Biden Administration estimates this will create 21,000 new jobs. Since 1990 America has fallen from making nearly 40% of the world's semiconductor to just over 10% in 2020.

The Department of Energy announced it granted New York State $158 million to help support people making their homes more energy efficient. This is the first payment out of a $8.8 billion dollar program with 11 other states having already applied. The program will rebate Americans for improvements on their homes to lower energy usage. Americans could get as much as $8,000 off for installing a heat pump, as well as for improvements in insulation, wiring, and electrical panel. The program is expected to help save Americans $1 billion in electoral costs, and help create 50,000 new jobs.

The Department of Education began the formal process to make President Biden's new Student Loan Debt relief plan a reality. The Department published the first set of draft rules for the program. The rules will face 30 days of public comment before a second draft can be released. The Administration hopes the process can be finished by the Fall to bring debt relief to 30 million Americans, and totally eliminate the debt of 4 million former students. The Administration has already wiped out the debt of 4.3 million borrowers so far.

The Department of Agriculture announced a $1 billion dollar collaboration with USAID to buy American grown foods combat global hunger. Most of the money will go to traditional shelf stable goods distributed by USAID, like wheat, rice, sorghum, lentils, chickpeas, dry peas, vegetable oil, cornmeal, navy beans, pinto beans and kidney beans, while $50 million will go to a pilot program to see if USAID can expand what it normally gives to new products. The food aid will help feed people in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen.

The Department of the Interior announced it's expanding four national wildlife refuges to protect 1.13 million wildlife habitat. The refuges are in New Mexico, North Carolina, and two in Texas. The Department also signed an order protecting parts of the Placitas area. The land is considered sacred by the Pueblos peoples of the area who have long lobbied for his protection. Security Deb Haaland the first Native American to serve as Interior Secretary and a Pueblo herself signed the order in her native New Mexico.

The Department of Labor announced new work place safety regulations about the safe amount of silica dust mine workers can be exposed to. The dust is known to cause scaring in the lungs often called black lung. It's estimated that the new regulations will save over 1,000 lives a year. The United Mine Workers have long fought for these changes and applauded the Biden Administration's actions.

The Biden Administration announced its progress in closing the racial wealth gap in America. Under President Biden the level of Black Unemployment is the lowest its ever been since it started being tracked in the 1970s, and the gap between white and black unemployment is the smallest its ever been as well. Black wealth is up 60% over where it was in 2019. The share of black owned businesses doubled between 2019 and 2022. New black businesses are being created at the fastest rate in 30 years. The Administration in 2021 Interagency Task Force to combat unfair house appraisals. Black homeowners regularly have their homes undervalued compared to whites who own comparable property. Since the Taskforce started the likelihood of such a gap has dropped by 40% and even disappeared in some states. 2023 represented a record breaking $76.2 billion in federal contracts going to small business owned by members of minority communities. This was 12% of federal contracts and the President aims to make it 15% for 2025.

The EPA announced (just now as I write this) that it plans to add PFAS, known as forever chemicals, to the Superfund law. This would require manufacturers to pay to clean up two PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid. This move to force manufacturers to cover the costs of PFAS clean up comes after last week's new rule on drinking water which will remove PFAS from the nation's drinking water.

Bonus:

President Biden met a Senior named Bob in Pennsylvania who is personally benefiting from The President's capping the price of insulin for Seniors at $35, and Biden let Bob know about a cap on prosecution drug payments for seniors that will cut Bob's drug bills by more than half.

#Thanks Biden #Joe Biden #jobs #Economy #student loan debt #Environment #PFAS #politics #US politics #health care

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bluewithpurplepolkadots · 2 years

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Like I don’t think reunification will happen like this half of this decade really. (Would be hilarious if Star Trek got hit by the gift of prophecy and became the new Simpsons) but I’ve pretty much considered it inevitable for... almost my entire adult life? Only considered I wouldn’t be any where close to collecting a pension when it happened since Brexit though. (And not just because they keep raising the pension age).

It should happen after all. Colonisation bad shouldn’t be a big thing to say. But somehow is with some of my family members.

#tbh the only reason i was ever leery of the idea was because abortion was already hard enough and thought it'd get worse #but then that turned out to be me getting the wrong end of the stick #because nireland is really backwards far more backwards than the south #honestly we'd ebenfit from it i just don't know if the republic would want us #i was thrilled when the south got it legalised #i think when it happens the only think i'd try to gun for would be something akin to nhs #but that's a campaign thing to do and get involved with #reunification should happen anyway #polka blabs #wondering if many people would become/remain dual citizens #like i am technically #unionist parties are fucking out of their gourds in general for many many reasons too #like if american right wingers were restricted to a small country thats the dup #tuv is like nirish ukip #like the uup are basically english conservatives #just if you guys get confused about who is who #sooo many parties #i sometimes wonder if me and my sister being the few members in the family to be like this is because our dad is the only male members #who isn't an orange man #who knows history #anyyyway #interesting election results!

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 1 year

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The U.S. Navy on Tuesday released the first close-up photos of operations to recover parts of the Chinese surveillance balloon shot down on Saturday.

The photos show debris recovery efforts on Sunday off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the Navy said.

They depict what appear to be evening and nighttime efforts to retrieve the large balloon that the Pentagon has said was about 200-feet tall.

Divers were working to retrieve other parts of the balloon's payload assembly -- estimated to be the size of three buses -- that likely sunk to the bottom in about 45 feet of water in the area.

Officials have said the debris field is approximately the size of 15 football fields by 15 football fields and that the balloon had propellers and a rudder.

The Pentagon has said FBI experts were aboard recovery vessels and a senior government official has said pieces would be brought to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis.

Two U.S. officials have confirmed that most if not all of the balloon’s fabric that was floating on the surface has been recovered from the surface in the search area. It’s possible that other pieces may end up washing ashore but for now what they’ve seen has been picked up.

On Monday, NORAD commander Gen. Glen VanHerck told reporters that the Navy’s Pathfinder vessel, equipped with side-scan radar, was being used to see what was on the ocean floor. One official says that the payload portion of the balloon that was carrying the sensor/photography equipment is not intact and that only a portion of it has been located on the ocean floor. Only a very small portion of this payload was recovered from the surface water, the official said, noting that this description of the payload does not include the solar panels.

The search continues for the rest of that payload, the official said.

Small underwater drones, dropped from inflatable craft, are being used to help with the recovery effort.

Another official confirmed that the balloon was equipped with self-destruct explosives, but so far, no explosives have been found.

The same official confirms that U.S. U2 spy lines were used to photograph the payload area carrying the sensor equipment, adding that allowing the balloon to fly over the U.S. provided valuable information about how they operate.

Previous Chinese surveillance balloon incidents that occurred during the Trump administration and early under the Biden administration were not spotted by NORAD at the time, VanHerck, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, told reporters Monday.

"We did not detect those threats. And that's a domain awareness gap that we have to figure out," VanHerck said.

In Beijing Tuesday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning was asked that about a comment Monday from White House Security Council spokesman John Kirby that there was no plan to return the balloon fragments and equipment to China and whether China had made any demands.

"What I can say is that this airship does not belong to the United States, but to China," Ming said. "The Chinese government will continue to resolutely safeguard its legitimate and legitimate rights and interests."

On Capitol Hill Tuesday, House Republicans continued to blast President Joe Biden over his handling of the balloon incident ahead of his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

"He really gave an order to shoot down a spy plane from China on Wednesday and it didn't happen till Saturday?" House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said. "Have you fired every single person that refused to obey the commander in chief?"

#us politics #news #abc news #2023 #people's republic of china #china #us navy #south carolina #spy balloon #weather balloon #the pentagon #fbi #department of defense #Gen. Glen VanHerck #North American Aerospace Defense Command #us northern command #Mao Ning #John Kirby #rep. steve scalise

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afeelgoodblog · 10 months

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The Best News of Last Week - June 20, 2023

🐕 - Meet Sheep Farm's Newest Employee: Collie Hired After Ejection from Car!

1. Border Collie ejected from car during Sunday crash found on sheep farm, herding sheep

Tilly, the 2-year-old Border Collie who was ejected from a car Sunday during a crash, has been found. He was found on a sheep farm, where he had apparently taken up the role of sheep herder.

According to Tilly's owner, he has lost some weight since Sunday's crash and is now drinking lots of water but is otherwise healthy.

2. After 17-Year Absence, White Rhinos Return to the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) recently welcomed the reintroduction of 16 southern white rhinoceroses to Garamba National Park, according to officials. The last wild northern white rhino was poached there in 2006.

The white rhinos were transported to Garamba, which lies in the northeastern part of the country, from a South African private reserve. In the late 19th century, the southern white rhino subspecies was believed to be extinct due to poaching until a population of fewer than 100 was discovered in South Africa in 1895, according to WWF.

3. UK to wipe women’s historic convictions for homosexuality

Women with convictions for some same-sex activity in the United Kingdom can apply for a pardon for the first time, the Home Office has announced.

The Home Office is widening its scheme to wipe historic convictions for homosexual activity more than a decade after the government allowed applications for same-sex activity offences to be disregarded.

It means anyone can apply for a pardon if they have been convicted or cautioned for any same-sex activity offences that have been repealed or abolished.

4. Study shows human tendency to help others is universal

A new study on the human capacity for cooperation suggests that, deep down, people of diverse cultures are more similar than you might expect. The study, published in Scientific Reports, shows that from the towns of England, Italy, Poland, and Russia to the villages of rural Ecuador, Ghana, Laos, and Aboriginal Australia, at the micro scale of our daily interaction, people everywhere tend to help others when needed.

5. In a First, Wind and Solar Generated More Power Than Coal in U.S.

Wind and solar generated more electricity than coal through May, an E&E News review of federal data shows, marking the first time renewables have outpaced the former king of American power over a five-month period.

The milestone illustrates the ongoing transformation of the U.S. power sector as the nation races to install cleaner forms of energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.

6. Iceland becomes latest country to ban conversion therapy

Lawmakers in Iceland on June 9 approved a bill that will ban so-called conversion therapy in the country.

Media reports note 53 members of the Icelandic Parliament voted for the measure, while three MPs abstained. Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, an MP who is a member of the Liberal Reform Party, introduced the bill.

7. The temple feeding 100,000 people a day

Amritsar, the north Indian city known for its Golden Temple and delicious cuisine, is also renowned for its spirit of generosity and selfless service. The city, founded by a Sikh guru, embodies the Sikh tradition of seva, performing voluntary acts of service without expecting anything in return.

This spirit of giving extends beyond the temple walls, as the Sikh community has shown immense compassion during crises, such as delivering oxygen cylinders during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the heart of Amritsar's generosity is the Golden Temple's langar, the world's largest free communal kitchen, serving 100,000 people daily without discrimination. Despite a history marred by tragic events, Amritsar continues to radiate kindness, love, and generosity.

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That's it for this week :)

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#best news of last week

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