#south east asian face claim

[zvaigzdelasas]

South Africa’s genocide case has put the spotlight on a deeper fault line in global geopolitics. Beyond the courtroom drama, experts say divisions over the war in Gaza symbolize a widening gap between Israel and its traditional Western allies, notably the United States and Europe, and a group of nations known as the Global South — countries located primarily in the southern hemisphere, often characterized by lower income levels and developing economies.

Reactions from the Global North to the ICJ case have been mixed. While some nations have maintained a cautious diplomatic stance, others, particularly Israel’s staunchest allies in the West, have criticized South Africa’s move.

The US has stood by Israel through the war by continuing to ship arms to it, opposing a ceasefire, and vetoing many UN Security Council resolutions that aimed to bring a halt to the fighting. The Biden administration has rubbished the claim that Israel is committing genocide as “meritless,” while the UK has refused to back South Africa.[...]

As a nation whose history is rooted in overcoming apartheid, South Africa’s move carries symbolic weight that has resonated with other nations in the developing world, many of whom have faced the burden of oppression and colonialism from Western powers.

Nelson Mandela, the face of the anti-apartheid movement, was a staunch supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization and its leader Yasser Arafat, saying in 1990: “We align ourselves with the PLO because, akin to our struggle, they advocate for the right of self-determination.”

Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that while South Africa’s case is a continuation of its long-standing pro-Palestinian sympathies, the countries that have rallied behind it show deeper frustrations by the Global South.

There is “a clear geopolitical context in which many countries from the Global South have been increasingly critical over what they see as a lack of Western pressure on Israel to prevent such a large-scale loss of life in Gaza and its double standards when it comes to international law,” Lovatt told CNN.

Much of the non-Western world opposes the war in Gaza; China has joined the 22-member Arab League in calling for a ceasefire, while several Latin American nations have expelled Israeli diplomats in protest, and several Asian and African countries have joined Muslim and Arab nations in backing South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ.

For many in the developing world, the ICJ case has become a focal point for questioning the moral authority of the West and what is seen as the hypocrisy of the world’s most powerful nations and their unwillingness to hold Israel to account. [...]

Israel sided with the West against Soviet-backed Arab regimes during the Cold War, and Western countries largely view it “as a fellow member of the liberal democratic club,” he added.[...]

“But the strong support of Western governments is increasingly at odds with the attitudes of Western publics which continue to shift away from Israel,” Lovatt said.

Israel has framed the war in Gaza as a clash of civilizations where it is acting as the guardian of Western values that it says are facing an existential threat.

“This war is a war that is not only between Israel and Hamas,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog told MSNBC in December. “It’s a war that is intended – really, truly – to save Western civilization, to save the values of Western civilization.”

So far, no Western countries have supported South Africa’s case against Israel.

Among Western states, Germany has been one of the most vocal supporters of Israel’s campaign in Gaza. The German government has said it “expressly rejects” allegations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that it plans to intervene as a third party on its behalf at the ICJ.

An opinion poll by German broadcaster ZDF this week however found that 61% of Germans do not consider Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip as justified in light of the civilian casualties. Only 25% voiced support for Israel’s offensive.

But it is in Germany’s former colonial territory, Namibia, that it has attracted the fiercest criticism.

The Namibian President Hage Geingob in a statement on Saturday chided Berlin’s decision to reject the ICJ case, accusing it of committing “the first genocide of the 20th century in 1904-1908, in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions.” The statement added that the German government had not yet fully atoned for the killings.

Bangladesh, where up to three million people were killed during the country’s war of independence from Pakistan in the 1970s, has gone a step further to file a declaration of intervention in the ICJ case to back South Africa’s claims, according to the Dhaka Tribune.

A declaration of intervention allows a state that is not party to the proceedings to present its observations to the court.

“With Germany siding with Israel, and Bangladesh and Namibia backing South Africa at the ICJ, the geopolitical divide between the Global South and the West appears to be deepening,” Lovatt said.

Traditionally, the West has wielded significant influence in international affairs, but South Africa’s move signals a growing assertiveness among Global South nations that threatens the status quo, says Adekoya.

“One clear pattern emerging is that the old Western-dominated order is increasingly being challenged, a situation likely to only further intensify as the West loses its once unassailably dominant economic position,” Adekoya said.

19 Jan 24

[sunshinemarauders]

Racebending In The Harry Potter Fandom

In 2012, the fan cast were all white actors- Andrew Garfield for Remus Lupin, Ben Barnes for Sirius Black, Aaron Taylor Johnson for James Potter, Karen Gillan for Lily Evans. However, as the years progressed, fans pointed out that all the actors chosen as face claims were much too old to play the role of characters who died at 38, 36, and 21 respectively. As the Marauders fandom had another wave of popularity with All The Young Dudes in 2020, fans started to use younger face claims who were young enough to be in their late teens and early 20s, and they also began to racebend characters like James Potter and Sirius Black. Making James Potter Desi and making Sirius Black East Asian offered much more nuance to their characters. However, there’s also been a rise in Harry Potter edits using the original fancast- the all white one. I think this is a reaction to the diverse fan casts that have been used in edits over the last two years- white fans are uncomfortable no longer seeing themselves in every character, so they’ve reverted back to the 2012 fan cast.

The fan spaces are predominantly white, which is evident by the fans who make TikToks with their own faces instead of their faceclaims. The racebending of James Potter and Sirius Black, however, has shown that those who do identify as South or East Asian do carry power in the fandom, and they are able to bring their own experiences into the fandom. For example, making James South Asian and making Sirius East Asian can offer more nuance and power to the canonical events in the Harry Potter texts, like James’ in-laws being rude to him and abusive to his son was because of their race, and Sirius’ family uses shame and guilt to manipulate their children because of the shame cultures that are so prominent in East Asian countries. The experiences that Asian fans have had in the real world have influenced so much how they view the Harry Potter texts, and therefore it also influences their transformative content they produce as well. 

#harry potter #harry potter fandom #black hermione #hermione granger #james potter #lily evans #marauders era #ron weasley #desi james potter #desi harry potter #black james potter #black harry potter #asian sirius black #racebending

[mercyisms]

wld love for u to expand on your thoughts about asian jewish mercymorn?? my beloved hater girl

(:<<<< i was delighted to receive this ask and rolled it around in my brain for days and days, even though the real answer is "i'm silly and i like to have fun." to preamble: very, very generally, i think it can useful to have fun with white characters in works written by white novelists. i think it can be a lot of fun, too, to see a fancreator re-interpret a work into a culture they know a lot about and bring out different textures or tensions. but i also think it’s fun to reconsider specific characters (sometimes especially the ambiguously raced ones) and tease out tensions that might feel interesting or ones that somebody without cultural context may have overlooked. i like resisting the idea that whiteness is the default or a neutral default.

though! on the flip side and despite routinely joking that augustine being canonically blonde is a hate crime against me somehow, i also recognize that, for example, augustine’s whiteness (or presentation towards whiteness) seems intentional and is doing work in the text. (when i joke about john always having one six foot plus blonde around, it’s funny! but it’s also reflecting something the text is engaging with with regards to race.) so, anyway, that man can stay white. but to speak, at last, to our beloved hater girl. i think the first thing that opened the door for me is one of the initial descriptions we get of mercymorn.

The face beneath the icy parti-coloured hood was a prim, virginal oval; much in shape and feature like the shape of a saint’s face in a portrait, or a death mask. The nose and jaw and forehead were all carven and serene, and therefore had the same indifferent dullness of a well-formed statue.

i am fairly certain tamsyn is consciously trying to evoke one of the infinitely funny and also very beautiful medieval paintings or sculptures of the virgin mary (etc.) (divine conception: difficult mode, am I right, lads?). but for me, the refrain of mercy’s oval face is a great example of a descriptor that isn’t exclusive to whiteness. very practically, when i started looking for references to make humble sketches of mercymorn, i first turned to michelle dockery (expressive eyebrows! a face that can be cold and severe but then melts into heartbreaking, childish expression!) and then more and more to (an aged down!) kim seo hyung. (for the record, when i make stabs at augustine, i am usually drawing on a richard ii era fiona shaw, with dashes of young peter capaldi and perennially ancient jeremy irons. recently, my go-to for cytherea has been ophelia-era—of course—helena bonham carter.) but it’s rooted in more than just me dicking around in procreate. the idea of an asian mercymorn became more compelling to me when i considered how that would change the texture of her character. to try and be as brief as possible, there, as you may well be v familiar with yourself, are longstanding stereotypes of (largely east and south, but it all gets homogenized) asian immigrants being depicted as cold and unfeeling robots, as excelling only at rote memorization and lacking critical thinking or social skills, as being dangerous or suspicious or obnoxious over-achievers, and as, depending on the day, being too sexy or utterly sexless. (i am not claiming any of these are unique to the very broad category of ‘asian,’ just setting the table.) and i think mercymorn becomes really compelling reinterpretation and rebuke to expectations if she is asian. because she is so many of those things: overachieving med school graduate; someone who (though she seems to have excelled at the magicky part) gift comes from stubborn, rote memorization; someone deeply repressed; someone who is told and believes herself to be unfeeling and inhuman (”Every time you’ve said that I did not understand the human heart, that I was unfeeling, that I only knew worship without adoration”)—but is also a disaster of emotions, despite it all, and is driven by incredibly messy emotions and whose skills (the memorization, the drive to overachieve, even the repression) come from this vast and terrifying well of emotions that even she can’t really look at head-on. before mercymorn, i don’t know that i had seen these tropes reworked in exactly this way or thought to rethink these stereotypes in this way, and so that’s some of what mercymorn-as-asian does for me. (obviously caveat that i’m very strongly drawing from a north american context and i totally confess to not knowing what stereotypes are present in new zealand! but anecdotally through friends in australia and england, these stereotypes certainly seem present throughout the globe, and i would not be surprised if they were also present in nz. but just recognizing that!) i also, personally, find this a lot more satisfying than just going off tamsyn’s canon sheet and being like, yeah, got it, isaac is the one canonical east asian. that’s nice! that’s lovely! but it doesn’t really do anything for me or the narrative. i’m not upset about it! but the lyctors, those who lived pre-ressurection and lived closest to john and carry some of their biases with them, are people who have been shaped by a society where race is very present. vs. the younger 10,000 years out gen who ostensibly (though of course they are in a text written here and now) live in a “post-racial” society, at least from what we see within the house system. (i mean, i say this, but then i also feel like... have u met east asian christian converts. there is some eighth house energy there is all i will say. so, again, i just like to have fun.) re: the jewish thing, i am a hater girl myself and cannot like catholics have anything not ever (hashtag joking, tbc) and a) would love for a foot in and b) as myself and others have pointed out, mercymorn would love to kvetch, she’d be so good at it, she understands it implicitly and she deserves to have a community to kvetch with and c) as i think the inciting post for this ask pointed out she’d be so good at saying ‘oy vey’ and d) idk i just think it’s even funnier if a lapsed jewish woman and a nun walk into a bar and then kiss. in general, i also feel a vested interest in opening the door for mixed race readings of characters and one’s that, again, reinterpret or add to the texture of that character’s presence in text and are done in a thoughtful, fun, interesting way. i could possibly say more but i think this is enough for right now!! maybe!!! sorry this took me so long!! uhh but that’s a taste into my thought process, anyway, for how i like to interpret and reinterpret les lyctores and specifically best beloved hater mercymorn m. nolastname i love u. it is (obviously!) not the definitive or only interpretation, but is the one that currently speaks deepest to my soul. but i do love to see all kinds of interpretations and reinterpretations of our beloved necro-cast.

#i kept trying to make tags and tumblr kept eating them so tags tk pray that this posts #2 #3 #4 #5 #asks #anonymous #mercymorn the first

[spite-and-waffles]

Found this excellent thread compiling the evolution of the DCU's Asian mothers - Lady Shiva, Shado, Cheshire, Talia Al Ghul and Linda Park.

Talia is the only one not entirely of East/South East Asian descent (for all the good that does her lmaoo DC absolutely hates Asian women), and I've mentioned earlier that she's still probably three-quarters Chinese (Ra's was originally a manifestation of the US's Yellow Peril, which later evolved into the "Arab World" anxieties around the Gulf War in the '90s and finally Arab terrorist tropes post 9/11). Still, considering Damian was introduced with Arab jihadist tropes, that Talia' still very much the "Arab terrorist woman", and the lack of West Asian characters in the DCU, it gave me a little thrill to see this:

(Alt text included)

It's from a fan created book called Gotham: (1919 - 1939) by the boutique publishing company Giant Panda King. It's not a DC affiliated or authorized one, but it's still the first time I'm seeing such a gorgeous face claim.

#ladies of dcu #dc canon #character history #dc history #dc canon history #asian representation #talia al ghul #damian wayne #lady shiva #cheshire #linda park #dc comics #batfamily #dcu face claim #dcu fancast #spite waffle

[asianpopfan]

Asian (specifically South Korean) transracialism is a far bigger problem than thought of.

Why? Because many do not actually consider themselves transracial(It’s the minimum) but show “symptoms” of it in their DRs:

The practice of modeling their own personal appearance is not understandable. Even changing names and sometimes even profiles (where they have lived on etc) basically creating an alter ego and dream self/dream past.

But they often make themselves east Asians , at least half or fully.

On one side I heavily criticise this but on the other side I think that this is unfortunately a hidden self belief of “adjusting” themselves to Kpop. You see how people complain that non Korean artists shouldn’t be in kpop? It is all because they do not fit the average image of an East Asian person. People think that a fully and clearly non EA person is like a “fish out of water”. That they might lower the visuals of the group or the industry overall. It’s like a fetish without the segsual connotation to it.

There was a video made by a YouTuber, I can’t find it but I found out another similar one that said the similar things. And the argument is always that they risk wasting time(especially if they start training older, many SKorean trainees themselves “waste” many years into it) and facing discrimination. But it’s like that for almost everything all over the world with any person who becomes a minority in preferred country. If everyone acted on that, there would absolutely be no revolutionary people to look up to. People who “pass” as South Koreans to the international eye, are far more allowed. Think of light skin Vietnamese and Thailandese people. Because it’s still passable as “fetishizable”.

Anyway, these people who do DR, just feel like they would be uncomfortable in their own skin and body in such a fantasised environment, and that’s why they make themselves Skoreans, Chinese American, half Chinese half Thailandese etc. Me too, when I think of my ideal life, it all comes in a package or improved appearance.

Personally? I don’t do DRs, I don’t even know how they are done, but I fantasize a lot and sometimes get “help” from DR promos/scenarios, many times I fantasize being a whole other person with different skin colour, born and grown up on the other side of the world, but if I think “Ok, let’s seriously fantasise a bit actually putting myself in it!” I can barely purposely force myself to change such things.

DR means “Desired (alternate) reality” right? , so you DO desire to actually be East Asian, at least in the reality in which you are a kpop idol. Maybe not in your others DRs as you have “confidence” in yourself.

You are literally inserting your real world deepest concerns and insecurities in your fantasy that you do hardly claim doesn’t have those problems regardless if you are a minority or not. (You can clearly be a minority without facing “problems” for it).

For this reason I truly hope that you all find peace upon yourself. It’s your DR, right? You can literally scripts that things such as discrimination etc do not exist at all.

#transracial #kpop #DR #desired reality #desired life #shifting script #reality shifting

[voskhozhdeniye]

Global economic contours are shifting inexorably towards the countries of global south. The U.S. and EU markets are less important to China, relatively speaking, than are the growth markets of the developing world. And for the developing world, China is a more important partner than most others. Trade and investment flows have been trending in this direction for some time already, aided by initiatives such as the BRI as well as the recently launched Asian free trade zone - the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. The growing interlinking of Chinese capital markets with those of Saudi Arabia and the UAE are creating the new pipelines for capital flow between China and West Asia. The consolidation of a Eurasian economic sphere, including the energy-rich nations of West Asia, is creating new opportunities for value growth and flow. Trade growth is being complemented by capital circulation by way of investment flows denominated in national currencies. The ability to trade OPEC oil with national currencies is enabling these nations to evolve away from dependence on the USD. Economic decentering is one feature of the collective west’s displacement anxiety. The reality that its claimed military preponderance is more rhetoric than real brings a “hard power” edge to these anxieties.   These material factors are buttressed by deep rooted Manichaean frames in which racialised exceptionalism is ever-present. This is most pronounced in the Millenarian zealotry that underlies American exceptionalism. The idea of decentering is bad enough; it’s made all the worse as the new centres are found in the Orientals of the “near- and far east”.   Against this backdrop, we can expect the transatlantic neocons to intensify their attempts to hang on to what’s left of western colonial hegemony and American primacy. The neocon playbook has been to generate regional instability whenever and wherever it feels threatened. This “divide and conquer” strategy has played out in numerous “colour revolutions” and “coups” over the decades; in short, regime change operations aimed at installing pliable regimes.   Colour revolution risks across Eurasia are likely to intensify over the next few years. China’s President Xi was prescient last year when he warned Shanghai Cooperation Organisation members of these risks.   Additionally, preparations for proxy wars in Asia, borrowing from the Ukraine 2014-2022 playbook, are also likely to continue, as I have previously described. The Philippines is being groomed, as is Taiwan. As the US and NATO face defeat on the steppes of Ukraine, NATO has set its sights on becoming a global military force; and that means it will continue to seek ways of asserting a presence in Asia. Its attempt to secure a foothold in Japan was rebuffed by the French, but this is unlikely to be its last attempt to turn the “A” in NATO from meaning “Atlantic” to meaning “Asia”. The transatlantic neocons have been decentred, economically and geopolitically. Five centuries of colonial dominance, coupled with seven decades of American Primacy are coming to an end. This is doubtless a discomforting experience. Antonio Gramsci once observed: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” Today, the monsters Gramsci spoke of are those that torment the collective west and its neocon political elite as they confront their anxieties of being displaced by a Multipolarity that is struggling its way forward. This is why the 2020s is the “decade of living dangerously”.

[somuchyoudontknow]

In short she is herself problematic. She never showed remorse or guilt. It seems like she wants people to forget everything like Justin said about his tweets and posts that they were posted years ago so we should forget about them.

This is another HUGE ASS part into why so many don’t like her. Once again for some people who can’t understand this: we aren’t jealous or just don’t like her because she’s being linked to Chris, no matter what partner he chooses to be with in the future, some of his fans won’t like them. Sadly, it just is what it is. However, the cultural appropriating, the body shaming, the antisemitism, the blatant fucking racism is on the list of reasons to not like her or her friends. You are exactly who you hang out with. You chose your friends, they are not just plopped into your face and you’re stuck for life. It’s not like your family. You decide to hangout with shitty people with shitty views then chances are you’re just as shitty and have the same perspective as them. Neither she, Justin or Kiko once took accountability for their behavior once it was exposed. Kiko flat out didn’t say shit and I think I’ve read that those horrific ass tweets are still up, and apparently she runs a Neo Nazi page 😟 like are you serious. Justin acted as if being called out and exposed for his own words and behaviors was a disruption to his trolling. He didn’t even give a half ass apology. He moreso just continued to be a prick and dismiss all of the outrage and frustration that was being thrown his way. And we already saw how Alba handles being exposed. My eyes still have just barely recovered from that. And for some who say people are body shaming her when we bring that up, it’s the idea of seeing someone’s T&A combined with a child-like face on a public social media page where children could be watching that was scarring. Once she did that she dodged the hell out of that convo and dipped off of social media for 3 months. No I will not be forgetting about her dressing up as Indigenous People, no I will not forget about her painting her face cultural markings and using them as carnival play, no I will not forget about the stories I’ve seen of her body shaming and being antisemitic to individuals for absolutely no fucking reason, no I will not forget about her and Justin mocking South East Asian culture, no I will not forget the video of Justin and their friends chanting a tribal sacred savage war cry for fun, no I will not forget the picture of Justin with a plate on his head and stretching his face/eyes and claiming to be Asian, no I will not forget Justin & Kiko’s nasty ass tweets. Until those pieces of garbage decide to be the grown adults they are supposed to be and learn some accountability I will continue to bring up their ideologies and actions.

Seems like after a few months we need to remind certain people for the exact reason why we don't like her. There are blogs and fan pages that act as apologists for her behavior and come up with excuses.

#chris-evans #chris evans pr #alba-baptista

[system-of-a-feather]

Fundamentally one of the largest reasons syscourse is stupid is that people are defining plurality / system as different things and thus arguing different topics and using evidence to back their differing definition that is ridiculous to the other side.

If you define plurality / system as specifically DID, the disorder, then its pretty obvious and likely that endos don't exist because the etiology of DID stems from trauma.

If you define plurality / system as identifying as multiple people / experiencing what one would describe as being plural or considering yourself plural, then of course endos can exist cause its an identity label and like any identity label from otherkin, to spiritualities, to whatever, if you feel that is what you are, you are that.

Any anti-endo trying to argue that plurality / systemhood (DID) is a trauma only experience, will look stupid to a pro-endo arguing that plurality / systemhood (the identity and life style of being multiple people) can occur without trauma. Vice versa applies as well.

Quite frankly, we run on the definition that plurality is an identity claim and DID is a clinical claim and thus our stances are you probably can't have DID without trauma, but you can be plural without trauma because being plural is an identity. Discourse over terminology is a separate thing, but those two groups are different, even though some have overlaps but A LOT of discourse would just be over if people defined which definition they were arguing about before they argue.

Any beef beyond that is community behavior / culture which is just absolutely a pain in the ass waste of time imo cause arguing to one person about the behavior of many is like slamming your face against a brick wall given said person isn't SUPER huge in the circles.

Thus the only thing I care about is boundaries being respected of the individuals themselves and people not being culturally appropriative (ie tulpas, looking at you)

We don't identify as plural cause our living experiences do not feel as though they match up with "plural" people much at all and thus have no interest in a community I'm not a part of. We have DID. People that identify with both are valid, people that have DID that identify as being "plural before" - as much as I don't get it - are fine and valid.

We do identify as "endogenic annoyed / plural annoyed" because people of endogenic / pro-endo communities have ignored boundaries more than I'd like but beyond that I think its stupid to argue them not existing under their own definition of plurality because its an identity and not a disorder. And to mutual that do spend a lot of time sweating and arguing this, I say with all affection in mind, I think its stupid and wasting your energy arguing over "if it is real" or not. I love you, but you are not excluded in my collective sigh at syscourse.

Anyways, just some of my thoughts and annoyances about syscourse. Still vehemently hate tulpas though, if you believe in them and do that, cool on you, but don't call it tulpas and leave Buddhism out of your discussions, sincerely, a South East / East half Asian who heavily respects, borrows from, and honestly might delve properly into Buddhism later in our healing journey.

#alter: riku #syscourse #discourse #syscourse tw #discourse tw

[warningsine]

BEIJING (AP) — China and Syria announced the formation of a strategic partnership on Friday as Chinese leader Xi Jinping kicked off a series of diplomatic meetings ahead of the upcoming Asian Games.

Xi met Syrian President Bashar Assad in the southern Chinese city of Hangzhou, which is hosting the 15-day sports competition.

“In the face of the unstable and uncertain international situation, China is willing to work with Syria to firmly support each other ... and jointly safeguard international fairness and justice,” Xi said in a video clip posted online by state broadcaster CCTV.

Assad’s visit parallels in some ways that of Russian President Vladimir Putin last year for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Both leaders are virtual pariahs in the West but welcomed by China as it tries to expand its global influence and promote an alternative to the U.S.-led international order.

The Syrian leader will attend the Asian Games opening ceremony on Saturday night along with the king of Cambodia, the crown prince of Kuwait and the prime ministers of Nepal, East Timor and South Korea, China’s Foreign Ministry has said.

Xi also met Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah on Friday and said he would work with him to take bilateral relations to a new level, CCTV reported.

Both meetings took place at a state guest house at West Lake, a scenic tourist destination in Hangzhou that has inspired Chinese painters for centuries.

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni arrived Friday at the airport in Hangzhou. CCTV video posted online showed him walking down the stairs from his plane to the tarmac for a red carpet welcome that included the Asian Games mascots.

Assad, who is making a rare trip abroad, is looking for ways to emerge from the international isolation brought on by a brutal war at home that shows no sign of ending after 12 years. He was expected to discuss economic assistance from China, which could play a major role in Syria’s future reconstruction.

Syrian state TV quoted Assad as thanking Xi and his government for standing on the side of the Syrian people “during the crisis and suffering.” China has backed Assad, using its veto on the U.N. Security Council eight times to block resolutions against his government.

Xi told Assad that China supports Syria in opposing external interference and unilateral bullying and promoting a political solution that is led and owned by Syrians, China’s CCTV said.

Assad expressed hope that the meeting would be the basis for “wide-ranging and long-term strategic cooperation in all fields” between China and Syria.

The Asian Games, which have more participants than the Olympics, also sparked a diplomatic row between India and China. Three Indian athletes from Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as its territory, refused to accept their visas and stayed home after they were given visas stapled to their passports — different from those given to the rest of the team.

The Asian Games were scheduled for last year but postponed because of China’s then-strict pandemic restrictions. China eased its restrictions in December of last year.

#Bashar al Assad #Xi Jinping #Belt and Road Initiative #politics

[zvaigzdelasas]

WaPo - Pentagon opens sweeping review of clandestine psychological operations

Complaints about the U.S. military’s influence operations using Facebook and Twitter have raised concern in the White House and federal agencies.[...]

The Pentagon has ordered a sweeping audit of how it conducts clandestine information warfare after major social media companies identified and took offline fake accounts suspected of being run by the U.S. military in violation of the platforms’ rules.

Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, last weekinstructed the military commands that engage in psychological operations online to provide a full accounting of their activities by next month after the White House and somefederal agencies expressed mounting concerns over the Defense Department’s attempted manipulation of audiences overseas, according to several defense and administration officials familiar with the matter.

The takedowns in recent years by Twitter and Facebook of more than 150 bogus personas and media sites created in the United States was disclosed last month by internet researchers Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory. While the researchers did not attribute the sham accounts to the U.S. military, two officials familiar with the matter said that U.S. Central Command is among those whose activities are facing scrutiny. Like others interviewed for this report, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

The researchers did not specify when the takedowns occurred, but those familiar with the matter said they were within the past two or three years. Some were recent, they said, and involved posts from the summer that advanced anti-Russia narratives citing the Kremlin’s “imperialist” war in Ukraine and warning of the conflict’s direct impact on Central Asian countries.[...]

Centcom, headquartered in Tampa, has purview over military operations across 21 countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Central and South Asia. A spokesman declined to comment. [...]

Spokespersons for Facebook and Twitter declined to comment.

According to the researchers’ report, the accounts taken down included a made-up Persian-language media site that shared content reposted from the U.S.-funded Voice of America Farsi and Radio Free Europe. Another, it said, was linked to a Twitter handle that in the past had claimed to operate on behalf of Centcom.

One fake account posted an inflammatory tweet claiming that relatives of deceased Afghan refugees had reported bodies being returned from Iran with missing organs, according to the report. The tweet linked to a video that was part of an article posted on a U.S.-military affiliated website.

Centcom has not commented on whether these accounts were created by its personnel or contractors. If the organ-harvesting tweet is shown to be Centcom’s, one defense official said, it would “absolutely be a violation of doctrine and training practices.”

Independent of the report, The Washington Post has learned that in 2020 Facebook disabled fictitious personas created by Centcom to counter disinformation spread by China suggesting the coronavirus responsible for covid-19 was created at a U.S. Army lab in Fort Detrick, Md., according to officials familiar with the matter. The pseudo profiles — active in Facebook groups that conversed in Arabic, Farsi and Urdu, the officials said — were used to amplify truthful [sic] information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the virus’s origination in China.

The U.S. government’s use of ersatz social media accounts, though authorized by law and policy, has stirred controversy inside the Biden administration, with the White House pressing the Pentagon to clarify and justify its policies. The White House, agencies such as the State Department and even some officials within the Defense Department have been concerned that the policies are too broad, allowing leeway for tactics that even if used to spread truthful information, risk eroding U.S. credibility, several U.S. officials said.

“Our adversaries are absolutely operating in the information domain,” said a second senior defense official. “There are some who think we shouldn’t do anything clandestine in that space. Ceding an entire domain to an adversary would be unwise. But we need stronger policy guardrails.” [Editor's Note: Lolling & Lmaoing]

A spokeswoman for the National Security Council, which is part of the White House, declined to comment.

Kahl disclosed his review at a virtual meeting convened by the National Security Council on Tuesday, saying he wants to know what types of operations have been carried out, who they’re targeting, what tools are being used and why military commanders have chosen those tactics, and how effective they have been, several officials said.

The message was essentially, “You have to justify to me why you’re doing these types of things,” the first defense official said.

Pentagon policy and doctrine discourage the military from peddling falsehoods, but there are no specific rules mandating the use of truthful information for psychological operations. For instance, the military sometimes employs fiction and satire for persuasion purposes, but generally the messages are supposed to stick to facts, officials said.

In 2020, officers at Facebook and Twitter contacted the Pentagon to raise concerns about the phony accounts they were having to remove, suspicious they were associated with the military. That summer, David Agranovich, Facebook’s director for global threat disruption, spoke to Christopher C. Miller, then assistant director for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict, which oversees influence operations policy, warning him that if Facebook could sniff them out, so could U.S. adversaries, several people familiar with the conversation said.

“His point‚” one person said, “was ‘Guys, you got caught. That’s a problem.’ ”[...]

With the rise of Russia and China as strategic competitors, military commanders have wanted to fight back, including online. And Congress supported that. Frustrated with perceived legal obstacles to the Defense Department’s ability to conduct clandestine activities in cyberspace, Congress in late 2019 passed a law affirming that the military could conduct operations in the “information environment” to defend the United States and to push back against foreign disinformation aimed at undermining its interests. The measure, known as Section 1631, allows the military to carry out clandestine psychological operations without crossing what the CIA has claimed as its covert authority, alleviating some of the friction that had hindered such operations previously.

“Combatant commanders got really excited,” recalled the first defense official. “They were very eager to utilize these new authorities. The defense contractors were equally eager to land lucrative classified contracts to enable clandestine influence operations.”[...]

Last year, with a new administration in place, Facebook’s Agranovich tried again. This time he took his complaint to President Biden’s deputy national security adviser for cyber, Anne Neuberger. Agranovich, who had worked at the NSC under Trump, told Neuberger that Facebook was taking down fake accounts because they violated the company’s terms of service, according to people familiar with the exchange.

The accounts were easily detected by Facebook, which since Russia’s campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential election has enhanced its ability to identify mock personas and sites. In some cases, the company had removed profiles, which appeared to be associated with the military, that promoted information deemed by fact-checkers to be false, said a person familiar with the matter.

Agranovich also spoke to officials at the Pentagon. His message was: “We know what DOD is doing. It violates our policies. We will enforce our policies” and so “DOD should knock it off,” said a U.S. official briefed on the matter.

In response to White House concerns, Kahl ordered a review of Military Information Support Operations, or MISO, the Pentagon’s moniker for psychological operations. A draft concluded that policies, training and oversight all needed tightening, and that coordination with other agencies, such as the State Department and the CIA, needed strengthening, according to officials.

The review also found that while there were cases in which fictitious information was pushed by the military, they were the result of inadequate oversight [sic] of contractors and personnel training — not systemic problems [sic], officials said.

Pentagon leadership did little with the review, two officials said, before Graphika and Stanford published their report on Aug. 24, which elicited a flurry of news coverage and questions for the military.

The State Department and CIA have been perturbed by the military’s use of clandestine tactics. Officers at State have admonished the Defense Department, “Hey don’t amplify our policies using fake personas, because we don’t want to be seen as creating false grass roots efforts,” [sic] the first defense official said.

One diplomat put it this way: “Generally speaking, we shouldn’t be employing the same kind of tactics that our adversaries are using because the bottom line is we have the moral high ground [sic]. [...] We promote [our set of] values around the world and when we use tactics like those, it just undermines our argument about who we are.”

Psychological operations to promote U.S. narratives overseas are nothing new in the military, but the popularity of western social media across the globe has led to an expansion of tactics, including the use of artificial personas and images — sometimes called “deep fakes.” The logic is that views expressed by what appears to be, say, an Afghan woman or an Iranian student might be more persuasive [!] than if they were openly pushed by the U.S. government. [...]

A key issue for senior policymakers now is determining whether the military’s execution of clandestine influence operations is delivering results. “Is the juice worth the squeeze? Does our approach really have the potential for the return on investment we hoped or is it just causing more challenges?” one person familiar with the debate said.[...]

Clandestine influence operations have a role in support of military operations, but it should be a narrow one with “intrusive oversight” by military and civilian leadership, said Michael Lumpkin, a former senior Pentagon official handling information operations policy and a former head of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center. “Otherwise, we risk making more enemies than friends.”

19 Sep 22

[mariacallous]

The moment has been long in coming, but India is turning into a strategic actor in Southeast Asia. Amid a flurry of regional diplomacy, India has sealed an arms deal with Vietnam, sided with the Philippines over China on sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea, and enhanced defense cooperation with Indonesia. It is balance-of-power politics worthy of an international relations textbook: Even though most Southeast Asian governments have long made it their mantra not to choose geopolitical sides, China’s aggressive posture in and around the South China Sea is driving India and its partners in the region together. As yet, none of these relationships are on the level of alliances or include a serious force deployment component, but the trend is clear. And even though the United States and its Asian treaty allies are not involved, India’s moves raise the tantalizing possibility that it will increasingly complement the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy to counter China in the coming years.

India’s strategic outreach had its humble beginnings in 1991, when New Delhi announced the Look East policy—a recognition of the geostrategic significance of Southeast Asia to Indian security. More a vision than a concrete set of measures, Look East was followed by the Act East policy in 2014, when India began to proactively engage with the region to prevent it from succumbing to Chinese domination. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who first announced Act East, India in recent years has steadily strengthened key partnerships across Southeast Asia, particularly with countries along the maritime rim of the Indo-Pacific. These moves are clearly designed to cooperate with Southeast Asian partners who also seek to maintain the rules-based international order and norms of behavior in the face of rising Chinese assertiveness in the region.

Last month, Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang visited his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi and announced that India would transfer a missile corvette to the Vietnamese Navy to enhance maritime security. The two sides also reportedly discussed stepped-up training for Vietnamese military personnel operating submarines and fighter jets, as well as cooperation on cybersecurity and electronic warfare. There is also ongoing speculation that Vietnam may soon purchase India’s BrahMos cruise missile, which is co-produced with Russia and could complicate Chinese military operations in disputed seas. To strengthen relations further, Hanoi and New Delhi have also been considering a potential trade deal.

These recent moves reinforce the “comprehensive strategic partnership” India and Vietnam have maintained since Modi’s 2016 visit to Vietnam. Hanoi maintains just four partnerships at this highest of levels—with China, India, Russia, and most recently South Korea. That underscores the high strategic value Hanoi places on New Delhi. By comparison, the United States is only a “comprehensive partner” for Vietnam, two levels below India’s status. Washington has struggled to raise the partnership.

The Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, is steadily expanding and deepening its security partnership with India as well. Late last month, Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo visited New Delhi and met with his Indian counterpart, S. Jaishankar. For the first time, India recognized the legitimacy of the 2016 arbitration ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in favor of Philippine sovereignty claims over China in the South China Sea. During the meeting, Jaishankar reiterated India’s call on China to respect this ruling. Both sides further vowed to enhance their defense partnership through increased interactions between defense agencies and by sending an Indian defense attaché to Manila. India also offered a concessional line of credit to the Philippines to buy Indian defense equipment. According to a diplomatic source close to the negotiations, “We are both maritime nations and there is great scope where we could identify various cooperative activities including, in the future, joint sales and joint patrols and exchanging information, best practices and anything to enhance [maritime domain awareness].”

Both nations have closely collaborated on security matters in recent years. In 2019, for example, India participated in a joint naval drill in the South China Sea with Japan, the Philippines, and the United States. In 2021, the Indian Navy conducted bilateral drills with the Philippines. In addition, a fourth round of high-level defense dialogue between India and the Philippines concluded in April, with the two sides pledging to deepen defense cooperation further. In 2022, the Philippines inked a major deal to purchase India’s BrahMos missiles. According to the Indian ambassador in Manila, India is exploring a preferential trade deal with the Philippines to boost their relationship, similar to what it is discussing with Vietnam.

Meanwhile, India’s security partnership with Indonesia has quietly been evolving in ways that also support the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy. In February, an Indian Kilo-class conventional submarine made a first-ever port call to Indonesia, underscoring that New Delhi’s undersea assets could have access to Indonesian ports sitting astride the strategic waterways traversing the vast archipelagic nation. Beijing already faces a major strategic headache in the form of the so-called Malacca dilemma—China’s vulnerability to having its most important trade route cut off by the United States and its allies in the narrow waters between Singapore and Malaysia. Add potential blockades of Indonesia’s Sunda Strait and Lombok Strait—two other strategic narrows—and China might have to rethink future military operations entirely.

Indo-Indonesian defense relations truly kicked off in 2018, when Modi visited Jakarta and elevated relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership. As part of this, the two nations signed a new defense cooperation agreement. That same year, India and Indonesia launched a new naval exercise, Samudra Shakti, that incorporated a warfighting component. Since then, the two navies have conducted four rounds, the last of which was in May and prioritized anti-submarine operations. The Indian Navy has further supported Indonesia with humanitarian and disaster relief operations, particularly following the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami that hit Palu in 2018. New Delhi and Jakarta are exploring potential air force cooperation as well. Indonesia may also follow in the footsteps of the Philippines by purchasing BrahMos missiles.

On the economic side, the two nations are considering a preferential trade agreement, similar to what India is discussing with Vietnam and the Philippines. Other plans include enhancing links between Indonesia’s Aceh province and India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These parts of the two countries are separated by just over 500 miles of sea, and Jakarta and New Delhi have been cooperating to boost trade and travel between them. India and Indonesia are also cooperating on developing infrastructure, such as a port at Sabang in Aceh, which could be viewed as India’s rival to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

India is also cooperating with Malaysia, another counterclaimant against China in the South China Sea, on the basis of an enhanced strategic partnership signed in 2015. In 2022, both Jaishankar and Singh met their Malaysian counterparts and expressed interest in deepening their partnership. After his meeting with Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin bin Hussein, Singh described the engagement as “wonderful.” Although Kuala Lumpur’s decision earlier this year to cancel a deal to purchase Indian-made Tejas fighter aircraft may have dampened the partnership somewhat, the intent clearly remains to strengthen ties in line with upholding the mutual goal of maintaining the rules-based international order in the region—especially internationally recognized maritime borders and freedom of navigation, neither of which Beijing accepts. When Jaishankar met then-Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, the latter emphasized that India is a friend who shares the “ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific,” using the acronym for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Brunei is another emerging partner for India along the South China Sea. In 2021, the two nations renewed their defense agreement for five years, and they regularly engage in joint exercises, port visits by navy and coast guard ships, and official defense exchanges.

India’s strategic partnerships with Singapore and Thailand—a key partner and ally of the United States, respectively—are also close and long-standing. Singapore regularly engages in bilateral exercises, high-level dialogues, visits, and professional training with India. Modi visited Singapore twice in 2018, and on the first trip, he signed 35 memoranda of understanding agreements on a range of security and economic issues. For example, he signed a logistical agreement to boost bilateral naval cooperation and multiple agreements pertaining to investment in human capital. On his second trip, Modi attended the India-ASEAN summit, underscoring New Delhi’s emphasis on the region’s significance.

In 2022, Thailand and India took stock of their partnership and pledged to elevate defense engagements further, to include cybersecurity. Perhaps of greater importance is the economic side of their relationship. In a nod to New Delhi’s original Look East policy, Bangkok implemented its own Look West policy in 1997, in part to tap into the enormous Indian market. Moreover, Thailand and India are partnering with Myanmar to construct the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway that will significantly upgrade transport links between Southeast Asia and South Asia. Once the highway is completed, Modi and his government also want to add connections to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam—another clear rival to China’s BRI.

India further has good relations with both Cambodia and Laos. In May, Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni visited India, and the two sides reaffirmed “the strong civilizational bond between us.” Phnom Penh and New Delhi cooperate on a range of socioeconomic projects, de-mining, water conservation, and heritage protection. India’s engagement with Laos is less robust, but nevertheless, New Delhi and Vientiane are likely discussing ways to boost economic ties. This is all the more remarkable as both Phnom Penh and Vientiane are widely considered to be firmly in China’s camp.

Not all Indian engagements in the region are necessarily positive for the United States and its Indo-Pacific strategy, however. One notable example is India’s relationship with the military junta in Myanmar, which has plans to enhance its partnership with Beijing. New Delhi has yet to condemn the 2021 coup that brought it to power, and India refuses to join Washington in putting political pressure on the junta in the form of sanctions or through other means. To be sure, India is in a difficult spot as chaos in Myanmar has caused concerns that instability could spill over the border, where the Indian states of Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland have ethnic and kinship ties with Myanmar. New Delhi hopes that its continued cooperation with the Burmese junta will contribute to greater stability in the border region.

But even in Myanmar, India is doing some things that are in Washington’s interest. Modi’s joint statement with U.S. President Joe Biden last month, for example, mentions Myanmar and notes the importance of the junta releasing all political prisoners and returning to constructive dialogue. While this is hardly the condemnation of the regime Washington has been seeking, it is a start. Additionally, New Delhi in recent months confronted the junta on how it is apparently allowing Chinese workers to build a listening post to spy on India in the Coco Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

From a multilateral perspective, India has been active as well. Within the existing India-ASEAN framework, the two parties in May held their inaugural group military exercise, known as ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise, in the South China Sea. The exercise reportedly attracted the attention of China’s maritime militia, which was operating within Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and approached the exercise participants.

Overall, India’s Act East policy is a net positive for the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy aimed at countering China. Washington should welcome and gently encourage New Delhi to do even more. For example, additional joint patrols in the South China Sea among India, the United States, and other nations—including those in the region—could bolster deterrence. Additional Indian infrastructure and development projects, as well as trade deals, could help lessen Beijing’s economic dominance of Southeast Asia.

Realistically, however, New Delhi rightly worries first and foremost about its own neighborhood, and its time and resources are inevitably constrained. China also maintains the inside track in Southeast Asia due to its growing power and proximity to the region. That said, New Delhi’s policy of outreach to Southeast Asia—even if it is sustained only at current levels—will help further undermine Beijing. That, in and of itself, is a big win for Washington and its Asian allies.

[smckesprite]

❀ *◦ ⇝ hey, isn’t that si-woo “addison” graves-seong? i think that the 27 year old from aurora, west virginia works as a drag queen and a donut maker at top pot doughnuts, but outside of that people describe them as having the inability to focus on a single thing, golden retriever energy, and innocence. i hear they are sensitive & acute, but they are also known to be magnanimous and neurodivergent. consider giving them a visit at their home in kingpin trailer park and get to know why they’re called the kaleidoscope hair.

» BASICS.

FULL NAME. si-woo “addison” graves-seong

NICKNAME(S). addy, sunny, sudowoodo ( dustin’s nickname for them, no one else *glares* )

AGE. twenty-seven ( 27 )

DATE OF BIRTH. april 22, 1996

ASTROLOGICIAL SIGN. taurus

PLACE OF BIRTH. aurora, west virginia

HOMETOWN. ?

ORIENTATION. asexual + panromantic

GENDER & PRONOUNS. genderfluid ╱ he + him ┊ they + them

NATIONALITY. american

ETHNICITY. east asian — ( south korean )

RELIGION. atheist

LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN. english, korean, spanish & portuguese

RELATIONSHIP STATUS. single

CURRENT LOCATION. anchorage, alaska

OCCUPATION. drag queen & donut maker at top pot doughnuts

FINANCIAL STATUS. working-class, poor; barely hanging on for dear life

EDUCATION LEVEL. high school diploma ( salutatorian graduate — didn’t bother trying to go to college because he only lasted one semester )

» APPEARANCE.

FACE CLAIM. lee felix

HEIGHT. 5 feet, 7 inches ┊ 171 centimeters

HAIR & EYE COLOR. naturally dark brown, constantly dyes their hair & hazel eye color ( wears contact lenses of various colors, purple contact lenses as lulu lopunny )

TATTOOS. their parents and siblings’ names in hangul on their inner wrist — ( tiny, minimalist )

PIERCINGS. two on each earlobe, cartilage, right helix & left orbital

» FAMILIAL DETAILS.

PARENTS. eomma & appa — deceased ✝

SIBLINGS. duck-young “dustin” graves-seong — 36 ; sun-young “valeria / valerie” graves-seong — 25 ; da-eun “dorothy” graves-seong — 23

CHILDREN. n/a

PETS. southern chorus frog ( unnamed, refers to it as frog or dusty sometimes )

CONNECTIONS. circus members he frequently traveled with throughout his time as an act, during his childhood, before and after leading to his parents’ deaths, + relations made through their siblings in town — tbd.

» PERSONALITY.

POSITIVE. magnanimous, empathetic, caring, gentle & neurodivergent

NEGATIVE. acute, sensitive, forgetful, indecisive & unpremeditated

» BACKSTORY.

** posting this before i accidentally delete it & have a mental breakdown again. * TBA.

#anchorintro #death mention tw #* LONG OVERDUE INTRO. 💀 #basically nothing / only facts (?) #maybe it helps with plotting (?)

[lostmykeysie]

can i ask who are ur fave fancast/face claims for the marauders?? or how do you picture them in the horcrux hunt?

omg what a fantastic question okay prepare yourself for the most boring answer babes

i have no idea!!!!! i don’t think i’m very creative because i struggle to actually marry up how i think about them and how they look?? i also remember about 3 famous peoples names and when you think of me you should think of someone who lives in a hole somewhere so my knowledge of anything is CRAP

who do y’all picture???? help me get my brain juice flowing?? i want a fave fancast :( pls help me cure my depression this might be the only way

i have done a ramble (i’m really sorry i can’t figure out how to do the ‘read more’ thing on my phone????):

the only person (who isn’t even in THH for the love of god) that i have a fave fancast for is mary, who is duckie thot. she just is

i’m very much from the dev patel as james potter generation, and i think he might be the easiest one to fancast? south asian golden retriever man. that’s it. that’s all you need and you’ve got JP

i like to think of remus as mixed race with a mixed race parent (lyall). one of those people you look at and think hmmmm. he looks…. not fully white. a bit racially ambiguous. i like to think of him as an absolute mess hot pot of a person who’s grown up with a whole different confusing bunch of cultures, ethnically and muggle vs magic, and then throw in the werewolf… he’d have an interesting experience growing up but he’d struggle with the feeling of belonging you know??? a bit odd looking but in a nice way. an interesting looking guy (maybe this is why i can’t think of a faceclaim)

i love seeing east asian reg and sirius but i cannot claim C&TW black brothers are asian when i’ve done nothing to indicate the fact! THH black brothers give me french aristocrat vibes, pale but with olive toned skin. sirius defo has a broody face and a strong jaw and those lush brows that are thick with just a hint of an arch, and of course, grey eyes like his mama. reg i think of as having really dark eyes, ones that look black, and much more delicate features. one of those adorable noses that points up a little awwww

everyone else is generic descriptions :(

I DONT KNOW!!!!! give me INSPO, PLEASE

#someone asked me a q #lovely wonderful anon #chimaera & the wolf #the horcrux hunt #face claim #fancast #this was fun it made my morning thanks #i mean nothing was cleared up my end but it got me thinking #ya know #tell me urs pls i wanna crack open your brain

[rincewindsapprentice]

Also, the claim that the Malians or the Chinese actually 'discovered' the Americas before Columbus doesn't really make much sense on its face given the fact that there wasn't really a reason to do so for them. They were already prosperous! Why waste tons of resources and manpower just to... possibly discover something?

Zheng He's voyages in the 15th century were generally made to re-establish old tribute relationships between the Ming Empire and various Southeast and South Asian polities, and for possibly establishing these kinds of relationships with the Middle East, and were ended once the Ming Court saw little need to repeat or expand the journeys due to refocused priorities.

Mansa Musa's hajj, which was an absurdly extravagant journey that demonstrated the wealth and power of Mali, was obviously focused on Mecca and the broader Arabian world. His predecessor, meanwhile, may have sent out expeditions to explore the Atlantic Ocean, but Mali generally was focused on their thriving trade with other Sahel kingdoms and with trade across the Sahara to the Mediterranean.

Finally, it is just absurd to assert that Egyptians would have journeyed out to the Americas multiple times for sustained trade. Why, when their focus was on the Nile, the Mediterranean, and Arabian peninsula trade? Why would they choose to send out multiple perilous journeys without really any particular benefit, and how would we just not find any substantial evidence of these kinds of journeys?

It is easy to look back and ask why a given people did not just decide to build some boats and journey out across the Ocean because we are looking back with particular knowledge and motivation that did not exist back then. People did not opt to make perilous journeys for no reason or simply out of curiosity. The Portuguese and Spanish were sailing not out of simple scientific or cartographic interest, but due to particular constraints on their internal economies and flagging trade networks.

#it is fun to entertain these ideas for sure #but they often are made at the expense of indigenous Americans #and don't really make much sense on their face #we do not need to use colonialism as the marker of civilization or worth for peoples in the past #history

[sincerely-krp]

As a Black mun, I'm curious if the same people who think it's problematic for Non-Asian/Non-Korean people to be in KRP also find K-Pop to be equally as problematic since the entire genre was created off the backs of Black and Brown people. Can someone please weigh in on this? / i'm black so i'm probably not who you're wanting an opinion from, but i studied music for a while before i had to get serious and i agree with the pov ur contesting so. wanted to hop in anyways! i don't think the two are related.

the first has to do with the fact that south korea is an extremely conservative country. it's also a nation primarily made up of people who look east asian, and on top of that they have some of the strictest beauty standards on the planet. so their media represents that: their culture, their values, their people. this is why to see a non-asian or non-korean in the kpop industry is jarring, because they do not visually represent the components of kpop that south koreans value, and south koreans themselves are extremely conservative, but also (excuse my language) extremely racist. the korean herald and the diplomat both have excellent insights on this matter, highly recommend giving it a try if you're interested. because of this, it's difficult trying to accept non-asians and non-koreans because the consumers the media is intended for would likely not classify them as kpop themselves.

the expectation for korean media to abide by the expectations we put on american media largely neglects to acknowledge that the two are completely different because their demographics are completely different. it's the same in many medias by the way, in japan, in india even.

if you are in a krp, you expect to see faces from the kpop community.

that being said, on a seperate plate, the discussion of where genres originated will go back forever: if you trace sources back to rnb, you go further back to the blues or rock and roll, gospel, and now you're in an era where predominantly afro or african american music was combining with the european music and instruments present (that is to say, similar to how african-americans lay claim to folk or bluegrass due to the use of the banjo and the predominant methods of playing the banjo, most of the blues, rock and roll, jazz, were all created with the use of european instruments). not much was documented at this time since antebellum era to the 1980s the literature is all white-led, and also more than that, black-erasing. not only were black artists likely putting out music that the white companies they were under were censoring to make sure it would sell, but many hits at the time were erased of any tie to black songwriters. the point i'm laying down here is that music itself should not be associated to a skin color- however, the correct cultures, peoples, and contexts should be recognized when discussing them. this includes re-adding the black american population that was erased, and also acknowledging that these genres came as a blend by themselves. genres, especially musical, cannot be made in a vacuum.

・❥・

[mightyflamethrower]

Taxpayers in the UK are questioning the allocation of over £750,000 for academic research on topics like “Comics and Race in Latin America” and “the Europe that gay porn built,” The European Conservative reported this week.

People in the UK are starting to get upset as new reports reveal that millions of pounds are being directed towards what is being labeled as “pointless woke academic research,” drawing criticism from various quarters.

The UK government’s non-departmental body, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is responsible for distributing funds amounting to £8 billion annually, with some controversial projects receiving substantial sums. Examples of research titles that have received significant funding include “Decolonizing South East Asian Sound Archives,” “Screen Encounters with Britain,” “Queer Music, Queer Theory, Queer Music Theory,” and “Trans Performance Now: Glitching cisgenderism.”

“[The] UKRI should be using taxpayers’ money to fund academic research, not political activism,” said Dr. Joanna Williams, author of the book How Woke Won.

UKRI defended its funding decisions, stating that they undergo rigorous peer review by independent experts, although questions have been raised about the political affiliations of these reviewers.

Most American Greatness readers know that woke ideology is spreading in corporate America.

Planet Fitness faces a $400 million market value drop due to a controversy involving a woman being banned for confronting a biological man in the women’s locker room, we reported last month. Patricia Silva’s membership was terminated after she confronted a man who was shaving in the ladies’ room, with the company citing a mobile device policy violation as the reason for her termination. Despite backlash, Planet Fitness defended its policy allowing transgender members to use facilities based on their gender identity, emphasizing that discomfort is not a reason to deny access.

Conservatives are criticizing Big Pharma for serving as a financial supporter of left-wing causes and promoting woke ideologies within its ranks and in society. Despite Democrats often appearing to oppose Big Pharma, the industry heavily favors them in terms of political donations, with a significant amount of money going to Democratic candidates.

Big Pharma extends its influence beyond political campaigns by funding left-wing organizations like the PBM Accountability Project, which aims to limit the power of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to negotiate lower drug prices. The industry’s support for left-wing causes includes endorsing movements like Black Lives Matter, implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, and promoting gender ideology through initiatives like the Healthcare Equality Index.

Woke ideology in California classrooms is nothing new.

Grassbrook Elementary School in Hayward, California, invested $250,000 in federal funds to implement “Woke Kindergarten,” a program focused on instilling far-left ideologies in kindergarten students. Despite the school’s intention to boost attendance through the program, student test scores have declined over the past two years, with math and reading scores dropping by 4%. Only a small percentage of students, less than 12% for reading and less than 4% for math, are performing at grade level. Hayward Unified School District Superintendent Jason Reimann defended the decision, emphasizing the program’s focus on creating a safe and inclusive environment rather than solely improving academic performance.

Kids inside classrooms aren’t the only targets of woke activism.

The parents of the young Kansas City fan sued Deadspin’s parent company over an article that falsely accused their son of racism. The article by Deadspin’s Carron J. Phillips claimed the boy was wearing “blackface” and a Native American headdress during a Chiefs game, leading to online backlash and threats towards the family. The boy, who is of Chumash-Indian heritage, had his face painted half-red and half-black to support the Chiefs, not in blackface as alleged.