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aletterinthenameofsanity · 7 months

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I'll be your medicine if you let me (the air in my lungs may not last very long but I'm in) (Trobed reunion)

Title is from "Deep End" by Holly Humberstone. Trobed reunion post-finale. Angst with a happy ending.

(Troy returns. It takes a little while for Abed to accept that this could be real.)

---

When the moment comes, it comes unexpected. Unprepared for. The Dreamatorium is long gone and retired, the dreams buried with it in a small city in Colorado. There were no simulations anticipating this moment, this heartbreak renewed, this impossibility come to fruition.

(Except that's a lie. When Abed Nadir is asleep, his mind enters R.E.M. and the chimerical world of dreams. Fanciful, impossible, illusory hopes. When he is asleep, the memory of bright brown eyes and a warm smile becomes a truth impossible to imagine in the daytime.)

A voice, unexpected, impossible, breaks bright and excited across the set. "I'm looking for Abed Nadir," it says, as Abed has never allowed it to say, as the world has been determined not to let it say. "Can you point me in the right direction?"

Abed's knees hit the floor. His right hand bangs against his hip, an attempt to bring the pressure to his senses that is needed to recalibrate.

This cannot be happening. This is an impossibility forbidden by the universe. He's finally having a breakdown. He's having his first psychotic break since he was born, a clone, out of the lava wreckage. His patched DNA was supposed to prevent this. He was supposed to be able to keep himself from descending to these same disastrous lows again.

Someone is keening. Someone is shrieking. Someone cannot handle this moment, this breaking of the formula, the disastrous careening of a show into spin-off territory. No one can handle the introduction of a backdoor pilot where none of the audience or the characters expected one.

There is a hand on his head, gently prying his fingers from his hair. The touch is kind, tender, something that Abed has not felt in years.

Abed cannot bear to look up. He cannot bear to see the person who is trying to help him and managing not to hurt him.

But one hand is at his hip and another is in his hair and he has no hand left to cover his ears, to block out the auditory hallucination of a long-ignored tune from reaching his ears. He doesn't need the voice to sing words to know the lyrics by heart.

Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight, the voice lies, someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight.

Lies. Slander. The person the voice belongs to disappeared on a boat, Styx playing in the background. It's been four years. They would have returned by now-

Abed cannot help the gasp that escapes his mouth as lips press soft and warm against his forehead. His head jerks up involuntarily, his face turning toward the sun, to find Troy Barnes in front of him, concern warm in his gaze, a wobbly smile on his mouth.

Reality wars with impossibility. If this was a hallucination, a psychosis, Troy would look exactly as he did the day he left. This Troy, however, has new wrinkles around his eyes, brought on by sunlight reflected off of ocean waves. A beard traces his jaw line, emphasizing the features that have always captivated Abed. There is a scar crossing his temple right above his left eye, a pale pink rope marring warm brown skin.

"Abed," Troy says, an inconceivable vision. "Honey. Breathe with me, alright?"

Abed is hopeless against his hallucination. He follows the creature's instructions, trying to piece together fact and fiction, allowing himself to be lulled out of his non-verbal state and into some semblance of communication.

"What happened?" Troy asks, voice as gentle as always, but he hasn't had to ask Abed what the matter was for years. Even before he left, he was so good at determining what was going on with Abed, what was triggering him in his environment. But now, he can't tell. And that breaks Abed's heart even further.

(In the first few months after Hickey cuffed Abed to that filing cabinet, Abed liked to imagine that if Troy had been there, he wouldn't have stood for it. He would have yelled at Hickey in that shrill, bad-at-confrontation voice of his, that no one gets to treat Abed like that. That he would have uncuffed Abed and pulled him out of there and made him butter noodles just like he did after Toby locked Abed in that phone booth at Inspecti-Con.

Soon enough, though, Abed had to accept the fact that he had no idea if Troy would still defend Abed like that. Troy left. He abandoned Abed for the wide world after promising that he'd always be there to get Abed out of the lockers he was locked in.

Maybe Abed had Troy wrong. He so rarely had anyone right.)

"You can't be here," Abed whispers, the words rasping out of his throat.

Troy's brow furrows. "This isn't a closed set. I checked with your assistant on the phone before I showed up-"

Imaginary Troy certainly is better at planning ahead than Real Troy was. "You can't be here," Abed repeats, begging the hallucination to understand. Not that he can't be on set, not that anything is stopping him from entering, but that it's impossible for Troy to be here, in person, after so long apart. Troy doesn't want him anymore, and Abed accepted that years ago. No hallucination can convince him otherwise.

"Oh," Troy breathes, his brow smoothing out and his mouth turning down just as it did at the end of the lava, right before he begged Abed to come back to him and Abed dropped into the lava so that Troy could go on his own way, unrestrained by the cuffs of Abed's friendship. "You mean I can't be here, don't you?"

Finally, the impossibility understands him. Synchronicity, the gluon photo, has finally been achieved. Abed nods. "You're gone with Levar Burton. You have your own life without me." His voice purposefully, carefully, doesn't crack on the words without me. He's had enough practice. "You're not here. It's impossible for you to be here."

"I'm back, Abed," Troy says, sinking to his knees in front of Abed. His hand, the one on top of Abed's, slowly drops downward, gently dragging Abed's slack fingers with it. "I'm here. I promise I'm not trying to wrinkle your brain. I went to Greendale to find you first, but when Jeff and Britta and Frankie told me that you'd left, I came after you."

"But why now?" bursts from Abed's lips. "Why after so long?"

"I got held up by some pirates," Troy says, and Abed's mind would jump at such a show idea at any other time, but not now. Not here. Not while it is battling all of this other new-old information, like the warmth of Troy's calloused fingers so stubbornly clinging to Abed's hand. "And a few other crazy people along the way, but I came back. I was always planning to come back. That first year was supposed to be it. Was supposed to be me finding myself outside of Greendale. But this was always the plan, I swear. Me being here." His thumb drags across Abed's knuckles as if on instinct, as practiced as he was four years ago, as if there has been no absence, no departure, no estrangement.

Abed tilts his head just slightly, looking at Troy, listening to the sincerity in his voice. Once, Troy was as hard to read as everyone else. Then, he became as easy to understand as breathing. Troy's mannerisms were not impossible, like everyone else's- they were built out of love.

At least, that's what Abed once thought. He has loved Troy as easy as breathing for so long that when it became as hard as breathing, he barely noticed the difference in the way his lungs squeezed.

"So you came back," Abed says, matter-of-fact.

"I came back for you," Troy corrects softly, and a sharp breath yanks itself through Abed's throat. He and Troy were friends in person for four and a half years and no admission was ever made- why would he make it now?

(What the world believes is roofies obscures an admission, reciprocated from both ends, that was made and forgotten. I love you, coaxed by zombies and a belief that one was about to lose the love of one's life. I know, sworn with the knowledge that death was immediate and that the only possibility of rescue was in the hands of the man that the speaker believed in more than anything else.)

Impossible, Abed wants to say, but Troy's expression is too sincere, too earnest, and his hand too steady, too warm. Abed's mouth closes over the word as a sliver of doubt, of hope, begins to seep in after four years apart.

Fact: Troy is here. Abed has to believe that it's true. And if Troy is here, if he came all the way to L.A. for Abed, then...

The variables and numbers slot themselves into the equation. The scene writes itself to its inevitable conclusion.

Abed knows how reunions scenes go. He knows how love confessions are made, grandiose, finale-worthy speeches and spectacular wedding vows and sweepstakes-promposals.

But Abed is weary. He is human. He knows his scenes, and he knows Troy's willingness to recreate them with Abed, but right now, Abed needs creation. He needs a new scene, written by the characters themselves.

He doesn't need grandiose. He needs rawness, and honesty, and reality.

"Troy," he says, "You came back for me." To anyone else, it would sound like he's just repeating Troy, but to the two of them, the meaning is so much deeper, hidden between the folds of Abed-specific inflections.

Troy's face lights up. "Of course I did, buddy!" Abed's knowledge of Troy's mannerisms has weakened over the years, but he knows Troy well enough to know that 'buddy' is not meant to be platonic in nature.

Abed has done kiss-leans for actors in the last few years, demonstrated how he wants scenes done. He's even filled in on a scene or two.

But when Abed leans forward now, it's with hesitation. It's with uncertainty. Troy is the one who completes the distance, his warm, chapped lips landing on Abed's in the answer to an nine-year question. Troy's free hand lands against the back of Abed's neck, tugging him in, and Abed is all too content to acquiesce to the non-verbal cue.

The kissing sounds that so often bother him in movies don't bother him now. Rather, he relishes in them. Because this is not sensory overload. This is not an artistic choice that needs be borne.

This is every dream he has not dared to have. This is every confession he has craved knowing he could never taste them, every hope he couldn't allow himself to have for fear that it would break him when he remembered that it wasn't true.

The kiss isn't quite happy. It is desperate and fond and hungry and soft and raw and a million other words that Abed would strike from a script for being too flowery.

But it is here. It is real.

And more importantly than any other fact that Abed has ever held true: Troy got on a boat with Lavar Burton and he came back.

#trobed #reunion #troy barnes #abed nadir #angst with a happy ending #community #crossposted on ao3 #fanfic #fix it #post-canon #happy ending #autistic abed nadir #actually autistic #emotional hurt/comfort #aletterinthenameofsanity

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superlinguo · 4 years

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Practical advice if you want to start a podcast

I wrote a post for the RED team at La Trobe with some general advice for podcasting, but I’ve found there are some recurring questions that I get about setting up a podcast. This post is here to answer those questions.

If you’re not interested in starting a podcast, but want to listen to more linguistics podcasts, I’ve got a list for you!

I last updated this post in June 2021 - if you find this post a few years after this you might want to search for some more up to date specs. I’ll continue to update this from time to time as new questions (or answers) come up.

Picture your audience

Before you make any decisions about your show, know who it is for. Your topic might be incredibly niche and have an audience in the hundreds, which is very different to a potentially larger but less engaged audience. See the classic blog post from Kevin Kelly on the power of 1000 true fans. Knowing your potential audience, where they hang out online, and how they’re likely to support you, will help your decision making. I have a self-guided slide set for refining your project before you start working on it. It’s also ok to know who you don’t want as your audience, and make choices that don’t actively include them. Do this early and clearly so people aren’t disappointed. For example, having a show with clearly noted explicit language selects away from young kids and their parents.

The length and format of your show are a product of your aims

I personally like shows in the 25-35 minute range. But, having said that, I love Shortwave, which regularly clocks in at 10 minutes, and I’m disappointed when an episode of You’re Wrong About is less than an hour.

Know your audience and the level of depth you want to explore a topic in. The frequency of episodes and the amount of time you have to prepare and edit will also affect how long episode end up. Record a few episodes first and share them with people you trust will give you good feedback.

The best interviews are conversations

Good interviews are just conversations that are intentionally lopsided, and good interviewers make the conversation feel like it’s not lopsided. Do your homework, write out some questions, and then take a step back and actually listen to the person you’re interviewing.

Anyone who has done even a few interviews has already faced most of the questions you first think of. There are some fixes for this: push through your initial brainstorming, think about the specific angles on their topic that are most relevant to your audience and (again) listen to what the person is telling you. Like many podcasting skills, good interviewing takes practice, and you can practice by staying curious about humans you interact with in any area of your life, not just your podcast guests.

Use the best mics you can, but don’t over-invest

You don’t have go and buy the fanciest tech. If you have access to a studio, great! If you don’t, then decide what your budget is. When we started Lingthusiasm, Gretchen recorded into her phone, because we were running the show on no budget and had no idea if we’d stick it out more than 6 months. When we started making money we got Gretchen a Zoom H4n to match mine. It’s still not the fanciest, but it’s rugged and adequate, especially if you make sure you’re in a closet with some blankets. Do I regret the earlier episodes of Lingthusiasm don’t sound amazing? Not as much as I would have regretted investing hundreds of dollars in a podcast that had 4 episodes.

Edit your show

Even a light edit will make the show easier for your audience to listen to, and show respect for the people you interview. I know people believe there’s an aesthetic of authenticity that comes with not editing, but all podcasting is a performance. Editing is a politeness to your audience.

Editing means a very wide range of things. You can do full production editing, including the addition of music, multiple different voice-overs and voices reading parts (e.g. getting someone else to read author quotes to bring them to life) and additional sound effects. Or you might just edit out the start and end of the recording, and any false starts and errors throughout the show. A lot of the pauses and fillers we use in conversation are designed for an audience who is in on the conversation and can reply, and can feel like they’re holding up a conversation when you’re a passive listener like a podcast audience. Many of the best conversational podcasts are given an edit to make them easier on the ears.

I use audacity to edit

Audacity is free to use. It takes a little longer to learn than something like GarageBand, but once you know how to use it, you’ll be much faster at editing. I appreciate that it has stayed pretty much the same since I started using it almost 15 years ago.

Get your levels right

Once you’ve edited your show, making sure there aren’t too many loud laughs, or your two hosts aren’t unbalanced in loudness. You’ll also need to make sure your podcast isn’t too loud or soft compared to others in people’s list. You need to regularise it. A lot of podcasts regularise to -16 LUFS. A few other numbers bounce around (-14, -18), but this is what we use and no one complains. Audacity can’t do it. You can process a certain number of hours of audio for free each month using the web-based Auphonic. It’s great.

There’s lots of great free music to use

You want to look for music that has a license that’s free to use. Even if you don’t plan to make money from your podcast, make sure the license includes commercial use so you don’t limit your future options. SoundCloud and YouTube have lots of options, as does Kevin MacLeod - who has created royalty-free music in a massive range of genres.

Web hosting is different to getting your show on iTunes

We use SoundCloud to upload and share our audio. It’s fine. I have no complaints. Once you’ve uploaded a few hours of audio you’ll have to pay annually for a pro account. Anchor seems to be a good new competitor, it’s free - I assume they make money off people choosing to run ads on their podcasts. You then generate an RSS feed, which is the thing that points all the podcast players to the place you’ve uploaded your recording. You’ll then have to add your show to major podcast platforms (Apple Podcast, Google Podcast), smaller ones will pick it up from there.

It takes a few days for your show to get picked up on all the podfeeders

Launching a podcast is a bit of a mess - it will go live on your hosting site but then you’ll have to set yourself up with iTunes, Google Podcast etc. and that can take a few days to update and populate. The sites that are popular, and the process of linking into those spaces, changes often enough that you should just google advice when you’re ready to launch, and give yourself a few days. This is part of why some podcasts launch a short ‘episode 0′ or a trailer, it gets the show set up.

Transcripts should be one of the first things you fund

Not every podcast has the time or funds to make transcripts. I do think they’re important though; for people who can’t or don’t want to listen, for discoverability and for your own record when you can’t remember when you talked about a specific story. If you have any time or money and want to be taken seriously at all, this should be one of your earliest priorities. This is even more true for educational podcasts, where a transcript ensures all students can appreciate the content of your show.

You don’t neeeeed a website, but it’s handy

You can run a show using a hosting platform and some social media. Having a website does allow you to add more information about the show and yourself. The Lingthusiasm page has grown over the years as the show has; we made a page for our liveshow events, we provide a list of episodes by topic, information about our Discord community, and our marvelous wall of supporters. The website was much more minimal when we started, but compared to just having a SoundCloud it gave the show room to grow.

You probably want socials, but be selective

You need to make your podcast discoverable by people who are likely to be your audience. Social media is one way to do this, but it’s better to be actually engaging on fewer social platforms than overextend yourself. Focus on platforms that are the intersection of where your possible fans are likely to be and where you enjoy being.

Funding a podcast takes time, and takes work

There are three main revenue streams for podcasts: advertising, crowdfunding and merch. A fourth option is institutional support (through your university or business), but then you’re beholden to the funder. Whichever revenue options work for you, think about them and plan towards them early. Part of that is making sure your podcast gets in as many ears as possible. Most successful podcasts spend as much, if not more, time on marketing, audience engagement and business planning as they do podcasting (it’s just not very glamorous to admit that!).

Choose whether each episode can stand alone

Some podcasts build a narrative over multiple episodes. Others allow listeners to jump in at any point and listen in any order. Whatever you choose, make this clear to your audience. This choice is going to influence a range of choices around what information to include in the opening and closing, how topical to make the show, and how you promote your podcast.

Seasons are a great structure to keep a podcast manageable

Regardless of whether your show runs in a sequence, planning a season with a fixed number of episodes allows you to take some time off, to maybe change some things that weren’t working, or to step away from the project with a podcast that hasn’t been left hanging.

#podcast #podcasting #podcasts

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cappincooks · 3 years

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Greendale goes on the inter-dean! (Trobed au)

Summary: Troy and Abed were always early to show up in their own Zoom classes, even before their professors. They never had a classmate who was as early as they were.. until they met each other in the only class they shared. Troy wanted to chat Abed to gain a friend initially, but he might have gained a little crush in the end ;)

Word count: 1,092 words

Note: I haven’t written a fanfiction for over 3 years so I’m really sorry if I’m a bit rusty. I also apologize if they might be out of character, this is my first time writing them. I really hope whoever reads this enjoys this though! (and I hope you enjoyed the little edit I made of them as well!)

“Cool, cool cool cool.” The boy reached out for his remote to turn off the TV after binge watching his favorite show, Inspector spacetime.

Abed crawled out of his pillow fort in his green set of spaceship pajamas to climb on the top bunk of his bunk bed to get some shut-eye after hours and hours of staring straight through the TV. As he was getting comfortable, he quickly took a glance at the clock: 7:00 am.

Hmm.

“I think it’s better if I just stay up until 7:30 and log in early at the Zoom class.” He whispered and nodded as if he acknowledged what he said to himself, and sat straight up.

As his bunk bed was located opposite to his bedroom window, he decided it was fitting to watch the sun rise for 30 minutes before logging into class.

Picking from his countless amount of crew neck sweaters, Troy has finally decided on a red crew neck, matched with his sports themed pajama bottoms because no professor is gonna see his lower body so who even cares if he was comfy AND smart looking?

He took one last look in the mirror and flashed a grin to himself. Satisfied, he was ready to walk out of his bathroom and checked the time. “7:25? Sweet, just in time to log in.”

Both boys fixed themselves before they clicked the Zoom link even though they were gonna leave their cameras off. Well, until the professor comes anyway.

Troy Barnes. A name popped up on Abed's screen.

Oh.

He was quite surprised to see another student on his screen 30 minutes before class. His classmates usually join a minute before, or 15 minutes after class started, so this was new to him. Nonetheless, he did nothing about this, seeing as there was no reason for him to overthink about it.

While Abed was mindlessly staring into his laptop waiting for the professor to come, Troy was just as surprised when he saw Abed Nadir on his screen.

“....Would it hurt if I chat him up?” He thought hard.

Truthfully, he was having a hard time adjusting to this whole distance learning thing. He wanted to socialize, walk in the hallways, he wanted to learn how to express himself through dance as well, as much as he didn’t want to admit it. Basically, he wanted to experience the world again in its fullest glory. But, he didn’t have much of a choice but to stay at home.

He caught himself overthinking so he snapped out of it and decided to message Abed because he literally has nothing to lose since they don’t know each other.

Abed was disturbed by the notification of a message that popped up on Zoom. From Troy Barnes, apparently. This took him aback as he was pretty self aware that he has a weird personality that more often than not, drove people away from him. He couldn’t help but think about why Troy was messaging him.

He didn’t notice that 3 minutes has passed since Troy’s message and he was only made aware of it because Troy messaged him again.

Abed slightly tilted his head. “..Is this a social cue?”

Abed smiled.

Abed got another notification sound coming from his laptop but Troy didn’t message yet. Upon further investigation, he realized that it was his Professor, who emailed the class that he might not make it in time because they were too drunk or something. Classic Greendale professors.

One more notification sound was heard, but now the message was from Troy.

Woah.

Was all Troy could think of. He didn’t necessarily expect a nice looking guy, but he also didn’t expect him to look so... emotionless? Even so, he was pretty good looking... too good looking.

To put things clearly, he was kinda in a gay panic. He has always kept this information to himself, but he did notice that he does look at guys some type of way. He wasn’t really sure of it until now though, and right now? He’s just a mess, internally. He tried to play it cool on the outside though. If playing cool on the outside meant staring at the screen for a minute without saying a word.

Finally, Abed spoke. “Hi.”

I thought I was the weird one here. The lanky boy thought to himself.

“Uh, yeah. Hey... Abed. What’s up?"

“Oh nothing. I was just staring at my screen before you messaged me.”

Troy stared in amusement. “And you plan to do that for 30 minutes? Maybe even more, because classes were postponed?”

Tilting his head once again, Abed responded “Yeah. It’s fun. You should try it sometime. Wanna see my Lucky Charms?”

Abed held out his bowl filled with cereal. “I also sometimes like to pour hot cocoa mix into cold milk and drink it like a cold hot chocolate. It’s good. I call it, Special drink.” Abed says, proudly.

A wide-eyed Troy was seen on the other end of the screen. “ME TOO!! IT’S SO TASTY AND I LOVE HOW SWEET IT TASTES!”

A grinning Abed and a very happy Troy were displayed on both of their screens and both of them felt so pure and happy amidst everything that has been happening outside.

“Oh hey, Abed, by the way.. are you free later tonight? We could call again, just the two of us. You know, without the possibility of the professor barging in any time and stuff?” He was already scratching the back of his neck, he has never asked a boy out like this before. With hidden romantic feelings, at least.

Abed’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, we can watch Inspector spacetime together!"

Shy smiles and soft eyes are now displayed on both boys’ faces.

“Deal. See you later, Abed.”

“You too, Troy.”

#community #abed community #abed nadir #troy community #troy barnes #trobed #trobed fanfic #troy x abed

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evil-gender · 4 years

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(This is from Deanlighful I can only send from this blog) (Show) Community (Ship) troy and abed (Character ) Troy)

thanks!

community:

Favorite character: abed, annie, and troy in basically equal measure

Least Favorite character: uhhhhh I don’t HATE anyone (pierce as a person, sure, but not as a character), but I've never really been invested in duncan so maybe him? (though the snail plot may change that re. nerdiest timeline . . .)

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): can I count trobed, annie/abed, and trobedison as 3 separate ships? whatever other 2 i’d pick would be honestly too arbitrary

Character I find most attractive: annie!

Character I would marry: i’ll say annie again

Character I would be best friends with: i’d probably most want to be friends with troy

a random thought: the community fandom, or this little circle of it, is the first online fandom community (ha) I've really been ACTIVE in in years, and honestly? it’s pretty great

An unpopular opinion: I've said I ship annie/britta but tbh during the time covered on the show I pretty much just “ship” it an “annie is definitely attracted to britta” way rather than as an actual relationship, largely because, well, i’m around annie’s age and I wouldn’t be comfortable dating someone britta’s age right now (is this actually unpopular? idk)

My Canon OTP: it’s not TRULY canon but damnit i’ll say trobed. it should have been canon.

My Non-canon OTP: I mean none of the various permutations of trobedison are fully canon, so i could go with that, but i’m gonna say jeff/shirley. not actually an OTP so much for me but i want to give it some attention

Most Badass Character: I dunnoooo a lot have their moments

Most Epic Villain: uh. chang in season 3?

Pairing I am not a fan of: jeff and annie

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): I wish shirley had had more focus

Favourite Friendship: a lot of the various friendships within the study group, also the study group as a whole

Character I most identify with: combination annie and abed

Character I wish I could be: no one, really

trobed:

When I started shipping them: either when I started watching community (last august) or when i started getting invested (last December)

My thoughts: Trobed Good

What makes me happy about them: they’re so comfortable with each other! the finding a person/people who Get you . . .

What makes me sad about them: if/when does troy come home! will they see each other again! will they be ok!

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: i’m sure there’s things but can’t think of anything specific atm

Things I look for in fanfic: getting together stuff because that’s always my favorite in shippy fic

My wishlist: i have not seen as much fic about them being parents as i’d like, i don’t typically seek out kidfic but i’d really like to see more of troy and abed ACTUALLY with a kid (I mean. troy canonically wants to have abed’s babies)

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I mean i’m sure you know i also ship abed with annie (though in that case I strongly prefer trobedison endgame)

My happily ever after for them: they reunite and are in love and maybe actually have babies

troy:

How I feel about this character: good. love him.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: abed, annie in the context of ot3

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: i’ll say the same thing I did for britta: I am a Fan of the whole study group’s relationship

My unpopular opinion about this character: ok I think I just don’t know what opinions are unpopular in general

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: his relationship with abed ACTUALLY BEING ROMANTIC

Favorite friendship for this character: with annie!

My crossover ship: hmmm again don’t really have any right now!

#community #trobed #troy barnes

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clumsyghosts · 4 years

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I was tagged by @fandom-star

Choose 10 ships without looking at the questions:

1. Jedtavius

2. Trobed

3. Merthur

4. Clex

5. Cain/Glitch

6. Shelnard

7. Qiu Tong / Sun Jing

8. Olicity

9. RumBelle

10. Sherlock Holmes / John Watson (all forms)

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6? Shelnard - Definitely during season one. The first few seasons were the best as far as their relationship goes; I’ll die mad at how the writers slowly disintegrated their friendship for cheap laughs. All characters should have faults and growth arcs, but Leonard’s passive aggressive “I’m just putting up with you; you’re the worst” attitude broke my shipper heart.

2. Have you ever read a FanFiction about 2? Trobed - Yes, yes! I found a really good series that updates practically every day, so I’m happy and in awe.

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr? Clex - Not tumblr, no, but back when I had LiveJournal, I had icons of Lex. I still have a few icons saved.

4. If 7 were to suddenly break-up today, what would your reaction be? Qiu Tong / Sun Jing - Confident that it’s just a plot device and they’ll be soon back together. They’re canon so… little worries there.

5. Why is 1 so important? Jedtavius - Mostly because of the people in the fandom!

I’ve been on the internet for a long time and while I’ve read a lot of fics for a variety of shows, there are very few fandoms I ever participated in or felt like I ‘belonged’ in. Shelnard was my first, full of lovely people. I have a soft spot for small fandoms / ships. After Shelnard, I was fandom-homeless for a while before I got into Jedtavius. I’ve met / followed a lot of lovely, talented people.

Also, even if people aren’t actively in the fandom, most people recognize Jedtavius and are fond of the movies. It’s a nice connection to others.

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship? RumBelle - Both? They have some funny line exchanges, but mostly their ship is angsty and sweet.

7. Out of all of the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry? Jedtavius and Trobed.

8. Out of all of your ships listed, which ship has the strongest bond? Canon-wise, probably Olicity.

9. How many times have you read/watched 8’s fandom? Olicity - I actually STOPPED watching Arrow because I didn’t want any more drama to upset the main characters. Oliver was finally happy, so I stopped when he and Felicity drove off into sunset at the end of Season 3.

10. Which ship has lasted the longest? Clex - Smallville began in 2001; I never finished the series for various reasons, but I still follow a beloved fan fiction series and re-read it every few years. Besides my RP with my friend, this fanfic and one other is my heart and soul.

I do have older ships that I didn’t put on the list.

11. How many times, if ever, has 2 broken up? Trobed - When Troy gets back from sailing around the world, they never break up again.

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8? Olicity for sure - they’re both super heroes.

13. Did 5 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason? Cain/ Glitch: It seems to be a common fancanon that the restored Queen is not fond of their relationship (or maybe just Glitch in general; she prefers Ambrose.)

14. Is 4 still together? Clex: In my dreams.

15. Is 3 canon? Merthur - “We did, very genuinely, think of the episode as a love story between two men. Which is what I think it is, jokes and innuendo aside.” —Show creators on the finale.

See also “Well, he’s dying, the man he loves is dying, so he’s holding him.”

TL;DR: Basically canon without it being actual canon.

16. If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win? It would come down to Clex vs Olicity and in my opinion, Superman trumps Green Arrow.

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 10’s ship? Holmes/Watson (all forms) - Moriarty? Hahaha. Um, let’s not get into the whole Johnlock stuff.

I read a lot of Sherlock Holmes pastiches and one of the rating factors is how well they do the Holmes/Watson friendship. If they make Watson a dummy, the book is out. I’mv very protective of Watson’s intelligence, which is why I adore the RDJ movie version.

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond? Based on current feelings, probably Jedtavius.

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 1’s tumblr page? Jedtavius: Sadly, no; there’s not that much content for them. But I track the Jedtavius tag, so I happily look forward to seeing new stuff!

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she´d break them all forever, which ship would you choose? Much to my 23 year old self’s shock, Shelnard. TBBT is over and my memories are fond, but I’ve grown used to the canon couple endings.

I tag @boycottinglove and anyone who wishes to do this!

#long post #ask and answer #Thank you for tagging me!!!!!

8 notes · View notes

bigyack-com · 4 years

Text

China's Uighurs Trapped in Factory Toiling for Tech Titans Like Apple, Lenovo

In a lively Muslim quarter of Nanchang city, a sprawling Chinese factory turns out computer screens, cameras, and fingerprint scanners for a supplier to international tech giants such as Apple and Lenovo. Throughout the neighbourhood, women in headscarves stroll through the streets, and Arabic signs advertise halal supermarkets and noodle shops. Yet the mostly Muslim ethnic Uighurs who labour in the factory are isolated within a walled compound that is fortified with security cameras and guards at the entrance. Their forays out are limited to rare chaperoned trips, they are not allowed to worship or cover their heads, and they must attend special classes in the evenings, according to former and current workers and shopkeepers in the area. The connection between OFILM, the supplier that owns the Nanchang factory, and the tech giants is the latest sign that companies outside China are benefiting from coercive labour practices imposed on the Uighurs, a Turkic ethnic group, and other minorities. Over the past four years, the Chinese government has detained more than a million people from the far west Xinjiang region, most of them Uighurs, in internment camps and prisons where they go through forced ideological and behavioural re-education. China has long suspected the Uighurs of harbouring separatist tendencies because of their distinct culture, language and religion. When detainees “graduate” from the camps, documents show, many are sent to work in factories. A dozen Uighurs and Kazakhs told the AP they knew people who were sent by the state to work in factories in China's east, known as inner China — some from the camps, some plucked from their families, some from vocational schools. Most were sent by force, although in a few cases it wasn't clear if they consented. Workers are often enrolled in classes where state-sponsored teachers give lessons in Mandarin, China's dominant language, or politics and “ethnic unity.” Conditions in the jobs vary in terms of pay and restrictions. At the OFILM factory, Uighurs are paid the same as other workers but otherwise treated differently, according to residents of the neighbourhood. They are not allowed to leave or pray – unlike the Hui Muslim migrants also working there, who are considered less of a threat by the Chinese government. “They don't let them worship inside,” said a Hui Muslim woman who worked in the factory for several weeks alongside the Uighurs. “They don't let them come out.” "If you're Uighur, you're only allowed outside twice a month,” a small business owner who spoke with the workers confirmed. The AP is not disclosing the names of those interviewed near the factory out of concern for possible retribution. “The government chose them to come to OFILM, they didn't choose it.” The Chinese government says the labour program is a way to train Uighurs and other minorities and give them jobs. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday called concern over possible coerced labour under the program “groundless” and “slander.” However, experts say that like the internment camps, the program is part of a broader assault on the Uighur culture, breaking up social and family links by sending people far from their homes to be assimilated into the dominant Han Chinese culture. “They think these people are poorly educated, isolated, backwards, can't speak Mandarin,” said James Leibold, a scholar of Chinese ethnic policy at La Trobe University in Melbourne. “So what do you do? You ‘educate' them, you find ways to transform them in your own image. Bringing them into the Han Chinese heartland is a way to turbocharge this transformation.” OFILM's website indicates the Xinjiang workers make screens, camera cover lenses and fingerprint scanners. It touts customers including Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Dell, HP, LG, and Huawei, although there was no way for the AP to track specific products to specific companies. Apple's most recent list of suppliers, published January last year, includes three OFILM factories in Nanchang. It's unclear whether the specific OFILM factory the AP visited twice in Nanchang supplies Apple, but it has the same address as one listed. Another OFILM factory is located about half a mile away on a different street. Apple did not answer repeated requests for clarification on which factory it uses. In an email, Apple said its code of conduct requires suppliers to “provide channels that encourage employees to voice concerns.” It said it interviews the employees of suppliers during annual assessments in their local language without their managers present, and had done 44,000 interviews in 2018. Lenovo confirmed that it sources screens, cameras, and fingerprint scanners from OFILM but said it was not aware of the allegations and would investigate. Lenovo also pointed to a 2018 audit by the Reliable Business Alliance in which OFILM scored very well. All the companies that responded said they required suppliers to follow strict labour standards. LG and Dell said they had “no evidence” of forced labour in their supply chains but would investigate, as did Huawei. HP did not respond. OFILM also lists as customers dozens of companies within China, as well as international companies it calls “partners” without specifying what product it offers. And it supplies PAR Technology, an American sales systems vendor to which it most recently shipped 48 cartons of touch screens in February, according to U.S. customs data obtained through ImportGenius and Panjiva, which track shipping data. PAR Technology in turn says it supplies terminals to major chains such as McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Subway. However, the AP was unable to confirm that products from OFILM end up with the fast-food companies. McDonald's said it has asked PAR Technology to discontinue purchases from OFILM while it launches an immediate investigation. PAR Technology also said it would investigate immediately. Subway and Taco Bell did not respond. A report Sunday from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, researched separately from the AP, estimated that more than 80,000 Uighurs were transferred from Xinjiang to factories across China between 2017 and 2019. The report said it found “conditions that strongly suggest forced labour” consistent with International Labor Organization definitions. The AP also reported a year ago that Uighur forced labour was being used within Xinjiang to make sportswear that ended up in the US. From farmers to factory workers Beijing first sent Uighurs to work in inland China in the early 2000s, as part of a broad effort to push minorities to adopt urban lifestyles and integrate with the Han Chinese majority to tighten political control. At first the program targeted young, single women, because the state worried that Uighur women raised in pious Muslim families didn't work, had children early and refused to marry Han men. But as stories of poor pay and tight restrictions trickled back, police began threatening some parents with jail time if they didn't send their children, six Uighurs told the AP. The program was halted in 2009, when at least two Uighurs died in a brawl with Han workers at a toy factory in coastal Guangdong province. After peaceful protests in Xinjiang were met with police fire, ethnic riots broke out that killed an estimated 200 people, mostly Han Chinese civilians. An AP review of Chinese academic papers and state media reports shows that officials blamed the failure of the labour program on the Uighurs' language and culture. So when the government ramped up the program again after the ascent of hardline Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2012, it emphasized ideological transformation. A paper drafted by the head of the Xinjiang statistics bureau in 2014 said the Uighurs' poor Mandarin made it hard for them to integrate in inner China. It concluded that Xinjiang's rural minorities needed to be broken away from traditional lifestyles and systematically “disciplined”, “trained” and “instilled with modern values.” “The local saturated religious atmosphere and the long-time living habits of ethnic minorities are incompatible with the requirements of modern industrial production,” the paper said. It outlined a need to “slowly correct misunderstandings about going out to choose jobs.” Before Uighurs were transferred for jobs, the paper continued, they needed to be trained and assessed on their living habits and adoption of corporate culture. “Those who fail will not be exported,” it said. The paper also described government incentives such as tax breaks and subsidies for Chinese companies to take Uighurs. A 2014 draft contract for Xinjiang labourers in Guangdong province obtained by the AP shows the government there offered companies 3000 RMB ($428.52) per worker, with an additional 1000 RMB ($142.84) for “training” each person for no less than 60 class hours. In exchange, companies had to offer “concentrated accommodation areas,” halal canteens and “ethnic unity education and training.” But it was a tough sell at a time when Chinese officials were grappling with knifings, bombings and car attacks by Uighurs, fueled by explosive anger at the government's harsh security measures and religious restrictions. Hundreds died in race-related violence in Xinjiang, both Uighur and Han Chinese. A labour agent who only gave his surname, Zhang, said he tried brokering deals to send Xinjiang workers to factories in the eastern city of Hangzhou, but finding companies willing to take Uighurs was a challenge, especially in a slowing economy. "Their work efficiency is not high," he said. The size of the program is considerable. A November 2017 state media report said Hotan prefecture alone planned to send 20,000 people over two years to work in inner China. There, the report said, they would “realize the dreams of their lives.” Answering the government's call The Uighurs at OFLIM were sent there as part of the government's labour program, in an arrangement the company's website calls a “school-enterprise cooperative.” OFILM describes the workers as migrants organized by the government or vocational school students on “internships”. OFILM confirmed it received AP requests for comment but did not reply. The AP was unable to get inside the facility, and on one visit to Nanchang, plainclothes police tailed AP journalists by car and on foot. But posts on the company website extoll OFILM's efforts to accommodate their Uighur workers with Mandarin and politics classes six days a week, along with halal food. OFILM first hired Uighurs in 2017, recruiting over 3,000 young men and women in Xinjiang. They bring the Uighurs on one- or two-year contracts to Nanchang, a southeastern metropolis nearly two thousand miles from Xinjiang that local officials hope to turn into a tech hub. OFILM is one of Nanchang's biggest employers, with half a dozen factory complexes sprinkled across the city and close ties with the state. Investment funds backed by the Nanchang city government own large stakes in OFILM, corporate filings show. The Nanchang government told the AP that OFILM recruits minorities according to “voluntary selection by both parties" and provides equal pay along with personal and religious freedom. OFILM's website says the company “answered the government's call” and went to Xinjiang to recruit minorities. The Uighurs need training, OFILM says, to pull them from poverty and help them “study and improve.” Mandarin is heavily emphasized, the site says, as well as lessons in history and “ethnic unity” to “comprehensively improve their overall quality.” The site features pictures of Uighurs playing basketball on factory grounds, dancing in a canteen and vying in a Mandarin speech competition. In August, when OFILM organized celebrations for Eid Qurban, a major Islamic festival, Uighur employees did not pray at a mosque. Instead, they dressed in orange uniforms and gathered in a basketball court for a show with Communist officials called “Love the Motherland – Thank the Party.” An OFILM post said a “Uighur beauty” dazzled with her “beautiful exotic style.” State media reports portray the Nanchang factory workers as rural and backwards before the Communist Party trained them, a common perception of the Uighurs among the Han Chinese. “The workers' concept of time was hazy, they would sleep in till whenever they wanted,” a Party official is quoted as saying in one. Now, he said, their “concept of time has undergone a total reversal.” In the reports and OFILM posts, the Uighurs are portrayed as grateful to the Communist Party for sending them to inner China. Despite the wan expressions of three OFILM workers from Lop County, a December 2017 report said they gave an “enthusiastic” presentation about how they lived in clean new dormitories “much better than home” and were visited by Communist Party cadres. “We were overjoyed that leaders from the Lop County government still come to see us on holidays,” one of the workers, Estullah Ali, was quoted as saying. “Many of us were moved to tears.” They took my child to inner China Minorities fleeing China describe a far grimmer situation. H., a wealthy jade merchant from Lop County, where OFILM now gets Uighur workers, began noticing the labour transfer program in 2014. That's when state propaganda blaring through television and loudspeakers urged young Uighurs to work in inner China. Officials hustled families to a labour transfer office where they were forced to sign contracts, under threat of land confiscations and prison sentences. H., identified only by the initial of his last name out of fear of retribution, was worried. The government was not only reviving the labour program but also clamping down on religion. Acquaintances vanished: Devout Muslims and language teachers, men with beards, women with headscarves. Toward the end of 2015, when H. greeted his 72-year-old neighbour on the street, the man burst into tears. “They took my child to inner China to work,” he said. Months later, H. and his family fled China. Zharqynbek Otan, a Chinese-born ethnic Kazakh, said that after he was released from an internment camp in 2018, neighbours in his home village also told him their sons and daughters were forced to sign contracts for 6 months to five years to work at factories near Shanghai. If they ran from the factories, they were warned, they'd be taken straight back to internment camps. Nurlan Kokteubai, an ethnic Kazakh, said during his time in an internment camp, a cadre told him they selected young, strong people to work in inner Chinese factories in need of labour. “He told us that those young people would acquire vocational skills,” Kokteubai said. Not all workers are subject to the restrictions at OFILM. One ethnic Kazakh said her brother made power banks in central China for $571.36 a month and didn't take classes. But another said two of his cousins were forced to go and work in cold, harsh conditions. They were promised $428.52 a month but paid only $42.85. Though they wanted to quit, four Uighurs who complained were detained in camps after returning to Xinjiang, scaring others. Uighurs and Kazakhs in exile say it's likely those working in inner China are still better off than those in camps or factories in Xinjiang, and that in the past, some had gone voluntarily to earn money. A former worker at Jiangxi Lianchuang Electronics, a lens maker in Nanchang, told The Associated Press the 300 or so Uighurs there were free to enter or leave their compound, although most live in dormitories inside factory grounds. He and a current worker said they were happy with their working conditions, their salary of about 5,000 RMB ($714.20) a month, and their teachers and Mandarin classes in the evenings. But when presented a list of questions in Uighur about the labour transfers, the former Jiangxi Lianchuang worker started to look very nervous. He asked for the list, then set it on fire with a lighter and dropped it in an ashtray. “If the Communist Party hears this, then” – he knocked his wrists together, mimicking a suspect being handcuffed. “It's very bad.” Read the full article

0 notes

magzoso-tech · 4 years

Text

China's Uighurs Trapped in Factory Toiling for Tech Titans Like Apple, Lenovo

New Post has been published on https://magzoso.com/tech/chinas-uighurs-trapped-in-factory-toiling-for-tech-titans-like-apple-lenovo/

China's Uighurs Trapped in Factory Toiling for Tech Titans Like Apple, Lenovo

Yet the mostly Muslim ethnic Uighurs who labour in the factory are isolated within a walled compound that is fortified with security cameras and guards at the entrance. Their forays out are limited to rare chaperoned trips, they are not allowed to worship or cover their heads, and they must attend special classes in the evenings, according to former and current workers and shopkeepers in the area.

The connection between OFILM, the supplier that owns the Nanchang factory, and the tech giants is the latest sign that companies outside China are benefiting from coercive labour practices imposed on the Uighurs, a Turkic ethnic group, and other minorities.

Over the past four years, the Chinese government has detained more than a million people from the far west Xinjiang region, most of them Uighurs, in internment camps and prisons where they go through forced ideological and behavioural re-education. China has long suspected the Uighurs of harbouring separatist tendencies because of their distinct culture, language and religion.

When detainees “graduate” from the camps, documents show, many are sent to work in factories. A dozen Uighurs and Kazakhs told the AP they knew people who were sent by the state to work in factories in China’s east, known as inner China — some from the camps, some plucked from their families, some from vocational schools. Most were sent by force, although in a few cases it wasn’t clear if they consented.

Workers are often enrolled in classes where state-sponsored teachers give lessons in Mandarin, China’s dominant language, or politics and “ethnic unity.” Conditions in the jobs vary in terms of pay and restrictions.

At the OFILM factory, Uighurs are paid the same as other workers but otherwise treated differently, according to residents of the neighbourhood. They are not allowed to leave or pray – unlike the Hui Muslim migrants also working there, who are considered less of a threat by the Chinese government.

“They don’t let them worship inside,” said a Hui Muslim woman who worked in the factory for several weeks alongside the Uighurs. “They don’t let them come out.”

“If you’re Uighur, you’re only allowed outside twice a month,” a small business owner who spoke with the workers confirmed. The AP is not disclosing the names of those interviewed near the factory out of concern for possible retribution. “The government chose them to come to OFILM, they didn’t choose it.”

The Chinese government says the labour program is a way to train Uighurs and other minorities and give them jobs. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday called concern over possible coerced labour under the program “groundless” and “slander.”

However, experts say that like the internment camps, the program is part of a broader assault on the Uighur culture, breaking up social and family links by sending people far from their homes to be assimilated into the dominant Han Chinese culture.

“They think these people are poorly educated, isolated, backwards, can’t speak Mandarin,” said James Leibold, a scholar of Chinese ethnic policy at La Trobe University in Melbourne. “So what do you do? You ‘educate’ them, you find ways to transform them in your own image. Bringing them into the Han Chinese heartland is a way to turbocharge this transformation.”

OFILM’s website indicates the Xinjiang workers make screens, camera cover lenses and fingerprint scanners. It touts customers including Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Dell, HP, LG, and Huawei, although there was no way for the AP to track specific products to specific companies.

Apple’s most recent list of suppliers, published January last year, includes three OFILM factories in Nanchang. It’s unclear whether the specific OFILM factory the AP visited twice in Nanchang supplies Apple, but it has the same address as one listed. Another OFILM factory is located about half a mile away on a different street. Apple did not answer repeated requests for clarification on which factory it uses.

In an email, Apple said its code of conduct requires suppliers to “provide channels that encourage employees to voice concerns.” It said it interviews the employees of suppliers during annual assessments in their local language without their managers present, and had done 44,000 interviews in 2018.

Lenovo confirmed that it sources screens, cameras, and fingerprint scanners from OFILM but said it was not aware of the allegations and would investigate. Lenovo also pointed to a 2018 audit by the Reliable Business Alliance in which OFILM scored very well.

All the companies that responded said they required suppliers to follow strict labour standards. LG and Dell said they had “no evidence” of forced labour in their supply chains but would investigate, as did Huawei. HP did not respond.

OFILM also lists as customers dozens of companies within China, as well as international companies it calls “partners” without specifying what product it offers. And it supplies PAR Technology, an American sales systems vendor to which it most recently shipped 48 cartons of touch screens in February, according to U.S. customs data obtained through ImportGenius and Panjiva, which track shipping data.

PAR Technology in turn says it supplies terminals to major chains such as McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Subway. However, the AP was unable to confirm that products from OFILM end up with the fast-food companies.

McDonald’s said it has asked PAR Technology to discontinue purchases from OFILM while it launches an immediate investigation. PAR Technology also said it would investigate immediately. Subway and Taco Bell did not respond.

A report Sunday from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, researched separately from the AP, estimated that more than 80,000 Uighurs were transferred from Xinjiang to factories across China between 2017 and 2019. The report said it found “conditions that strongly suggest forced labour” consistent with International Labor Organization definitions.

The AP also reported a year ago that Uighur forced labour was being used within Xinjiang to make sportswear that ended up in the US.

From farmers to factory workers Beijing first sent Uighurs to work in inland China in the early 2000s, as part of a broad effort to push minorities to adopt urban lifestyles and integrate with the Han Chinese majority to tighten political control.

At first the program targeted young, single women, because the state worried that Uighur women raised in pious Muslim families didn’t work, had children early and refused to marry Han men. But as stories of poor pay and tight restrictions trickled back, police began threatening some parents with jail time if they didn’t send their children, six Uighurs told the AP.

The program was halted in 2009, when at least two Uighurs died in a brawl with Han workers at a toy factory in coastal Guangdong province. After peaceful protests in Xinjiang were met with police fire, ethnic riots broke out that killed an estimated 200 people, mostly Han Chinese civilians.

An AP review of Chinese academic papers and state media reports shows that officials blamed the failure of the labour program on the Uighurs’ language and culture. So when the government ramped up the program again after the ascent of hardline Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2012, it emphasized ideological transformation.

A paper drafted by the head of the Xinjiang statistics bureau in 2014 said the Uighurs’ poor Mandarin made it hard for them to integrate in inner China. It concluded that Xinjiang’s rural minorities needed to be broken away from traditional lifestyles and systematically “disciplined”, “trained” and “instilled with modern values.”

“The local saturated religious atmosphere and the long-time living habits of ethnic minorities are incompatible with the requirements of modern industrial production,” the paper said. It outlined a need to “slowly correct misunderstandings about going out to choose jobs.”

Before Uighurs were transferred for jobs, the paper continued, they needed to be trained and assessed on their living habits and adoption of corporate culture.

“Those who fail will not be exported,” it said.

The paper also described government incentives such as tax breaks and subsidies for Chinese companies to take Uighurs. A 2014 draft contract for Xinjiang labourers in Guangdong province obtained by the AP shows the government there offered companies 3000 RMB ($428.52) per worker, with an additional 1000 RMB ($142.84) for “training” each person for no less than 60 class hours. In exchange, companies had to offer “concentrated accommodation areas,” halal canteens and “ethnic unity education and training.”

But it was a tough sell at a time when Chinese officials were grappling with knifings, bombings and car attacks by Uighurs, fueled by explosive anger at the government’s harsh security measures and religious restrictions. Hundreds died in race-related violence in Xinjiang, both Uighur and Han Chinese.

A labour agent who only gave his surname, Zhang, said he tried brokering deals to send Xinjiang workers to factories in the eastern city of Hangzhou, but finding companies willing to take Uighurs was a challenge, especially in a slowing economy.

“Their work efficiency is not high,” he said.

The size of the program is considerable. A November 2017 state media report said Hotan prefecture alone planned to send 20,000 people over two years to work in inner China.

There, the report said, they would “realize the dreams of their lives.”

Answering the government’s call The Uighurs at OFLIM were sent there as part of the government’s labour program, in an arrangement the company’s website calls a “school-enterprise cooperative.” OFILM describes the workers as migrants organized by the government or vocational school students on “internships”.

OFILM confirmed it received AP requests for comment but did not reply.

The AP was unable to get inside the facility, and on one visit to Nanchang, plainclothes police tailed AP journalists by car and on foot. But posts on the company website extoll OFILM’s efforts to accommodate their Uighur workers with Mandarin and politics classes six days a week, along with halal food.

OFILM first hired Uighurs in 2017, recruiting over 3,000 young men and women in Xinjiang. They bring the Uighurs on one- or two-year contracts to Nanchang, a southeastern metropolis nearly two thousand miles from Xinjiang that local officials hope to turn into a tech hub.

OFILM is one of Nanchang’s biggest employers, with half a dozen factory complexes sprinkled across the city and close ties with the state. Investment funds backed by the Nanchang city government own large stakes in OFILM, corporate filings show. The Nanchang government told the AP that OFILM recruits minorities according to “voluntary selection by both parties” and provides equal pay along with personal and religious freedom.

OFILM’s website says the company “answered the government’s call” and went to Xinjiang to recruit minorities. The Uighurs need training, OFILM says, to pull them from poverty and help them “study and improve.”

Mandarin is heavily emphasized, the site says, as well as lessons in history and “ethnic unity” to “comprehensively improve their overall quality.” The site features pictures of Uighurs playing basketball on factory grounds, dancing in a canteen and vying in a Mandarin speech competition.

In August, when OFILM organized celebrations for Eid Qurban, a major Islamic festival, Uighur employees did not pray at a mosque. Instead, they dressed in orange uniforms and gathered in a basketball court for a show with Communist officials called “Love the Motherland – Thank the Party.” An OFILM post said a “Uighur beauty” dazzled with her “beautiful exotic style.”

State media reports portray the Nanchang factory workers as rural and backwards before the Communist Party trained them, a common perception of the Uighurs among the Han Chinese.

“The workers’ concept of time was hazy, they would sleep in till whenever they wanted,” a Party official is quoted as saying in one. Now, he said, their “concept of time has undergone a total reversal.”

In the reports and OFILM posts, the Uighurs are portrayed as grateful to the Communist Party for sending them to inner China.

Despite the wan expressions of three OFILM workers from Lop County, a December 2017 report said they gave an “enthusiastic” presentation about how they lived in clean new dormitories “much better than home” and were visited by Communist Party cadres.

“We were overjoyed that leaders from the Lop County government still come to see us on holidays,” one of the workers, Estullah Ali, was quoted as saying. “Many of us were moved to tears.”

They took my child to inner China Minorities fleeing China describe a far grimmer situation. H., a wealthy jade merchant from Lop County, where OFILM now gets Uighur workers, began noticing the labour transfer program in 2014. That’s when state propaganda blaring through television and loudspeakers urged young Uighurs to work in inner China. Officials hustled families to a labour transfer office where they were forced to sign contracts, under threat of land confiscations and prison sentences.

H., identified only by the initial of his last name out of fear of retribution, was worried. The government was not only reviving the labour program but also clamping down on religion. Acquaintances vanished: Devout Muslims and language teachers, men with beards, women with headscarves.

Toward the end of 2015, when H. greeted his 72-year-old neighbour on the street, the man burst into tears.

“They took my child to inner China to work,” he said.

Months later, H. and his family fled China.

Zharqynbek Otan, a Chinese-born ethnic Kazakh, said that after he was released from an internment camp in 2018, neighbours in his home village also told him their sons and daughters were forced to sign contracts for 6 months to five years to work at factories near Shanghai. If they ran from the factories, they were warned, they’d be taken straight back to internment camps.

Nurlan Kokteubai, an ethnic Kazakh, said during his time in an internment camp, a cadre told him they selected young, strong people to work in inner Chinese factories in need of labour.

“He told us that those young people would acquire vocational skills,” Kokteubai said.

Not all workers are subject to the restrictions at OFILM. One ethnic Kazakh said her brother made power banks in central China for $571.36 a month and didn’t take classes.

But another said two of his cousins were forced to go and work in cold, harsh conditions. They were promised $428.52 a month but paid only $42.85. Though they wanted to quit, four Uighurs who complained were detained in camps after returning to Xinjiang, scaring others.

Uighurs and Kazakhs in exile say it’s likely those working in inner China are still better off than those in camps or factories in Xinjiang, and that in the past, some had gone voluntarily to earn money. A former worker at Jiangxi Lianchuang Electronics, a lens maker in Nanchang, told The Associated Press the 300 or so Uighurs there were free to enter or leave their compound, although most live in dormitories inside factory grounds. He and a current worker said they were happy with their working conditions, their salary of about 5,000 RMB ($714.20) a month, and their teachers and Mandarin classes in the evenings.

But when presented a list of questions in Uighur about the labour transfers, the former Jiangxi Lianchuang worker started to look very nervous. He asked for the list, then set it on fire with a lighter and dropped it in an ashtray.

“If the Communist Party hears this, then” – he knocked his wrists together, mimicking a suspect being handcuffed. “It’s very bad.”

#Miscellaneous

0 notes

sciencespies · 4 years

Text

Scientists seek rare species survivors amid Australia flames

https://sciencespies.com/environment/scientists-seek-rare-species-survivors-amid-australia-flames/

Scientists seek rare species survivors amid Australia flames

This December 2019 photo provided by Guy Ballard shows a male brush-tailed rock wallaby eating supplementary food researchers provided in the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park in New South Wales, Australia. Before this fire season, scientists estimated there were as few as 15,000 left in the wild. Now recent fires in a region already stricken by drought have burned through some of their last habitat, and the species is in jeopardy of disappearing, Ballard said. (Guy Ballard/NSW DPI – UNE via AP)

Australia’s unprecedented wildfires season has so far charred 40,000 square miles (104,000 square kilometers) of brushland, rainforests, and national parks—killing by one estimate more than a billion wild animals. Scientists fear some of the island continent’s unique and colorful species may not recover. For others, they are trying to throw lifelines.

Where flames have subsided, biologists are starting to look for survivors, hoping they may find enough left of some rare and endangered species to rebuild populations. It’s a grim task for a nation that prides itself on its diverse wildlife, including creatures found nowhere else on the planet such as koalas, kangaroos and wallabies.

“I don’t think we’ve seen a single event in Australia that has destroyed so much habitat and pushed so many creatures to the very brink of extinction,” said Kingsley Dixon, an ecologist at Curtin University in Perth.

Not long after wildfires passed through Oxley Wild Rivers National Park in New South Wales, ecologist Guy Ballard set out looking for brush-tailed rock wallabies.

The small marsupials resemble miniature kangaroos with long floppy tails and often bound between large boulders, their preferred hiding spots.

Before this fire season, scientists estimated there were as few as 15,000 left in the wild. Now recent fires in a region already stricken by drought have burned through some of their last habitat, and the species is in jeopardy of disappearing, Ballard said.

In prior years, his team identified a handful of colonies within the national park. After the recent fires, they found smoking tree stumps and dead animals.

“It was just devastating,” said Ballard from the University of New England in Armidale. “You could smell dead animals in the rocks.”

But some wallabies, his team discovered, were still alive. “All you can do is focus on the survivors,” he said.

Australia’s forests and wildlife evolved alongside periodic wildfires. What’s different this year is the vast extent of land burned—an area as big as Kentucky—against a backdrop of drought and searing temperatures attributed to climate change. Last year, among the driest in more than a century, saw temperatures that routinely topped 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).

Not all animals will perish in the blazes. Some can shelter in rock crevices or hide deep in underground burrows. Yet when survivors emerge into a fire-scorched wasteland, they will face hunger, thirst and non-native predators, including introduced foxes and feral cats.

Since fires swept through parts of Oxley Wild Rivers National Park nearly two months ago, there’s been little rain and no green shoots.

So Ballard’s team has trekked through the ash-covered forest carrying water and sacks of sweet potatoes, carrots and food pellets.

This early January 2020 photo provided by Dana Mitchell from the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park shows a rescued koala injured in a bushfire in Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Mathew Crowther, an ecologist at the University of Sydney, says, “Koalas won’t go extinct in the next few years, but if their habitat is destroyed bit by bit, it could eventually be death by a thousand cuts. We have to look at long-term trends— what will the temperatures and wildfires be like in the future?” (Dana Mitchell/Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park via AP)

“There are so few left that, with a species this rare, every individual counts,” he says.

Elsewhere in New South Wales, conservation workers are dropping vegetables from airplanes into scorched forests, hoping that wallabies and other species find a meal.

In the state of Victoria, authorities estimate that brush-tailed rock wallabies lost 40% of their habitat as did another rare marsupial, the long-footed potoroo, according to a preliminary damage assessment.

The full toll on Australia’s wildlife includes at least 20 and possibly as many as 100 threatened species pushed closer to extinction, according to scientists from several Australian universities.

“The worry is that with so much lost, there won’t be a pool of rare animals and plants to later repopulate burnt areas,” said Jim Radford, an ecologist at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

The fires could knock out rainforest species dating back to the time of the Gondwana supercontinent, before the modern continents split apart, he said.

University of Sydney ecologist Christopher Dickman estimated that more than 1 billion animals have been killed so far. His calculations took previously-published animal density numbers for different vegetation types and multiplied that by acreage burned.

He says that number does not include bats, amphibians, insects or other invertebrates.

The wildlife toll includes tens of millions of possums and small marsupials known as gliders, which live in tree tops and can leap extraordinary distances by using a parachute-like membrane of skin between their ankles and wrists. State officials in Victoria predicted more than a 25% reduction in glider numbers from the fires.

“The implications for some species are pretty grim,” Dickman said. “If we can’t protect them here, they’re gone. No one else has them.”

The Australian government announced Monday that it was spending $50 million on emergency wildlife rescue efforts and habitat recovery.

Fires are still burning in the Blue Mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage site west of Sydney—one of the last strongholds of the regent honeyeater, an elegant black and yellow bird that has already lost 95% of its breeding habitat since European settlers arrived in Australia.

There are only 300 to 400 of the birds left in the wild, says Ross Crates, an ecologist at Australia National University. They are dependent on nectar from certain eucalyptus tree blossoms, but the dry weather has meant that many trees are producing no nectar.

This 2017 photo provided by David Stowe shows a female regent honeyeater in Capertee National Park, New South Wales, Australia. There are only 300 to 400 of the birds left in the wild, says Ross Crates, an ecologist at Australia National University. They are dependent on nectar from certain eucalyptus tree blossoms, but the dry weather has meant that many trees are producing no nectar. (David Stowe/davidstowe.com.au via AP)

After the wildfires subside, Crates plans to survey what’s been newly scorched. “Even for birds that survive the fires, we are concerned about how they will feed and nest.”

In recent months, areas that don’t usually burn went up in flames. Some rainforests dried up in the drought and extreme heat, allowing fire to sweep through them.

Few images have tugged at heartstrings more than koalas clinging to burnt trees. Unlike birds or ground mammals, they cannot fly away or burrow underground.

While koalas are not classified as vulnerable to extinction, their populations in some fire-ravaged areas may have been snuffed out. “We know there’s been a massive reduction of their overall habitat, and we’re not even at the end of fire season,” said Mathew Crowther, an ecologist at the University of Sydney.

“Koalas won’t go extinct in the next few years, but if their habitat is destroyed bit by bit, it could eventually be death by a thousand cuts. We have to look at long-term trends—what will the temperatures and wildfires be like in the future?”

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Australian animals face extinction threat as bushfire toll mounts

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Stena Impero seized in Strait of Hormuz on Friday night A second tanker, Mesdar, was stopped before being released Jeremy Hunt says seizures "unacceptable", holding a COBR meeting Government warns UK shipping to avoid area Analysis: Boris Johnson could face early test as Iran 'exploits' political uncertainty US developing 'coalition' of navies to protect ships amid Iran tensions Two British oil tankers were seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday night, in a major escalation of tensions in the Gulf. The British-flagged Stena Impero had been en route to Saudi Arabia, but abruptly changed course and began sailing towards the Iranian island of Qeshm, data relayed by maritime tracking services showed. The 30,000-tonne ship “went dark”, meaning its transponder was turned off, at 4.29pm UK time and nothing has been heard from her or her 23 crew since. A second oil tanker, the British-operated, Liberian-flagged Mesdar, was intercepted by the Guards about 40 minutes after the course shift by Stena Impero, and was held for some time before being allowed to resume navigation. HMS Montrose, the Type-23 frigate, was understood to have been dispatched to help the Stena, but was minutes too late. Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, said he was “extremely concerned by the seizure of two vessels by Iranian authorities in the Strait of Hormuz”. British oil tanker seized in the Gulf Mr Hunt said he was attending a Cobra meeting to determine the UK’s response and what could be done to secure their release, adding that the seizures were “unacceptable”. He said it was understood there were no British citizens among the two crews. "We remain deeply concerned about Iran's unacceptable actions which represent a clear challenge to international freedom of navigation," a Government spokesman said after the meeting. UK vessels have been advised to "stay out of the area" of the Strait of Hormuz for an "interim period", the spokesman said, adding: "As the Foreign Secretary has said, our response will be considered and robust and there will be serious consequences if the situation is not resolved." US President Donald Trump said Iran was showing its true colours and warned that it was in “big trouble". Northern Marine, a Clyde-based subsidiary of the Stena Impero’s Swedish owner Stena AB, said a “hostile action” had preceded the vessel’s change of course on Friday afternoon. The company issued a statement saying it had been “approached by unidentified small craft and a helicopter during transit of the Strait of Hormuz while the vessel was in international waters”. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that they stopped the Stena Impero at the request of the maritime authority in the Iranian province of Hormozgan on suspicion that it had “violated international maritime law”, but did not elaborate. Iran tensions | Read more The head of Iran’s port authority was quoted by Guards-affiliated Tasnim news agency as saying: “We received reports of the British oil tanker, Stena Impero, causing problems, and therefore asked the military to guide the tanker towards Bandar Abbas harbour.” They said the Mesdar, whose transponder was also turned off, was briefly held and cautioned about “environmental regulations” before it was let go. On Saturday, Iran's Fars news agency claimed the Stena Impero was in an accident with an Iranian fishing boat and ignored its distress call. All 23 crew on the tanker were now at Bandar Abbas port and would remain on the vessel until the end of an investigation, Fars quoted an official as saying. "It got involved in an accident with an Iranian fishing boat... When the boat sent a distress call, the British-flagged ship ignored it," the head of Ports and Maritime Organisation in southern Hormozgan province, Allahmorad Afifipour, told Fars. "The tanker is now at Iran's Bandar Abbas port and all its 23 crew members will remain on the ship until the probe is over." Stena Bulk said the ship was "in full compliance with all navigation and international regulations." "There are 23 seafarers onboard of Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino nationality," said Erik Hanell, president and chief executive of Stena Bulk. He said there had been no reported injuries. Tracking data showed the Stena Impero was in the same area that a United Arab Emirates-based vessel was detained on Sunday and where a British vessel, the British Heritage, was blocked by Iranian forces earlier this month. The move appeared to be in retaliation for Britain's seizure of the Iranian Grace 1 tanker in Gibraltar earlier this month. Rising tensions between UK, US and Iran British authorities seized the Iranian Grace 1 supertanker off the coast of Gibraltar on July 4, on suspicion it was carrying crude to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. The fate of the tanker has been at the centre of escalating tensions between the UK and Iran and was seen as a pawn in the standoff between the Islamic Republic and the West. Mr Hunt had hinted that the UK would release the ship if Iran promised its cargo would not go to the Syrian regime. The Foreign Secretary said talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, had been productive. However, a court in Gibraltar on Friday extended for 30 days the detention of the vessel, which was carrying two million barrels of oil. Tensions have been building for weeks in the Persian Gulf. On July 10, HMS Montrose intervened to drive three Iranian military vessels that were attempting to divert the British Heritage. Iran seized a Panama-flagged ship on Sunday, it alleges, for “smuggling oil to foreign countries”. Mystery surrounds the capture as no country has come forward to claim the ship or its cargo. The US claimed on Thursday to have downed an Iranian drone that had been flying too close to one of its navy ships. Iran denied the claims. Oil prices rose on Friday night after the tankers were seized. The Trump administration is trying to block Iran’s exports to put pressure on it to renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal it abandoned last year. Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if it cannot export its oil. 6:41AM Boris Johnson could face early diplomatic test Iran’s seizure of a British oil tanker couldn’t have come at a worse time for the UK - and Tehran knows it. While Theresa May has days left as Prime Minister, her foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has been in the midst of a leadership election campaign to replace her. His rival, Boris Johnson, is the favourite to win the Tory battle, but the former foreign secretary will be carrying diplomatic baggage if he enters Number 10. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani greets then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson at the start of their meeting in Tehran in 2017 Credit: AP “The timing from a transition viewpoint is awful,” said Dr Euan Graham, an expert in maritime security and Executive Director of La Trobe Asia. “It could be an instant early test of Johnson’s crisis management skills, or lack thereof, if the issue is unresolved and he becomes PM next week.” Read the full analysis. 6:37AM Oil tanker was involved in 'accident', Iran claims Iranian media claims the Stena Impero was in an accident with a fishing boat before being detained on Friday. All 23 crew seized on the tanker are now at Bandar Abbas port and will remain on the vessel until the end of an investigation, Iran's Fars news agency reported on Saturday, quoting an official. "It got involved in an accident with an Iranian fishing boat... When the boat sent a distress call, the British-flagged ship ignored it," said the head of Ports and Maritime Organisation in southern Hormozgan province, Allahmorad Afifipour. "The tanker is now at Iran's Bandar Abbas port and all of its 23 crew members will remain on the ship until the probe is over." 5:11AM US official plays down seizure An American military official has played down the latest escalation in the region, calling it a foreseeable response to Britain's seizure of the Iranian tanker near Gibraltar. In a discussion with journalists at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, Lt. Gen Robert P. Ashley Jr., the top military intelligence officer, said: “They look for things that are proportional in nature. They aren’t looking to go to war but at the same time they are looking to project strength.” “They’re not looking to do something that is going to spiral out of control because war is not what they’re looking for,” Ashley said. “But at the same time, their decision calculus is they’ve gotta do something in response.” My story coming soon...— Katie Bo Williams (@KatieBoWill) July 19, 2019 3:54AM 'This is precisely how Iran negotiates' Suzanne Maloney, an Iran expert at the Brookings Institution, has told AFP that the recent events involving Tehran are "the exact opposite of odd." "This is precisely how Iran negotiates: the unctuous charm of (Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad) Zarif paired with a punch in the face from the (Revolutionary Guards). They are two sides of the same coin, complementary and coordinated." Nicholas Burns, US ambassador to NATO during President George W. Bush’s administration, suggested resurrecting a 1980s policy of having tankers accompanied by military escorts in the Gulf. “We should form an international coalition of democratic countries to escort every single commercial vessel through the gulf,” Burns told Bloomberg in an interview in Colorado. “The Iranians are an outlaw, they’re acting like an outlaw country, they’re trying to shut down one of the major waterways in the world and then hold us up on it and blackmail us.” 2:56AM Saudi Arabia to host US forces The US Defence Department has confirmed that Saudi Arabia will host US forces in the region, saying it would deploy troops and resources to the country to "provide an additional deterrent" in the face of "emergent, credible threats." The gesture comes amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran in the Gulf, as well as the seizure of the British oil tanker in the region. The decision on hosting US forces aims "to increase joint cooperation in defence of regional security and stability and to preserve its peace", the state news agency (SPA) reported, quoting a Ministry of Defence official, without giving further details. US Marine Corps General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. (C-L), Commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), shakes hands with Saudi military officers during his visit to a military base in al-Kharj in central Saudi Arabia on Thursday Credit: AFP A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the deployment would include about 500 US military personnel in Saudi Arabia, and is part of a boost in the number of US troops in the Middle East that the Pentagon announced last month. In June, the Pentagon said it would deploy 1,000 troops to the Middle East but did not say where they were going. Saudi Arabia has not hosted US forces since 2003 when they withdrew following the end of the war with Iraq. 2:13AM What has led to this seizure? The seizure of the Stena Impero tanker in the Strait of Hormuz is the latest episode to contribute to rising tensions between the UK, US and Iran in the region. Here is a timeline of recent incidents involving the three nations: Rising tensions between UK, US and Iran 1:28AM Government warns UK shipping to avoid Strait of Hormuz After a COBR meeting this evening, the government is urging UK shipping the avoid the Strait of Hormuz region. “We remain deeply concerned about Iran's unacceptable actions which represent a clear challenge to international freedom of navigation. We have advised UK shipping to stay out of the area for an interim period. “As the Foreign Secretary has said, our response will be considered and robust and there will be serious consequences if the situation is not resolved. “We remain in close contact with our international partners and there will be further meetings over the weekend." 12:57AM Oil tanker was 'in full compliance of regulations' The British operator of the Stena Impero was in full compliance with all navigation and international regulations, a spokesman has said. Iran's state news agency IRNA quoted a military source as saying the vessel had turned off its tracker, ignored warnings from the Revolutionary Guards and was sailing in the wrong direction in a shipping lane. "There are 23 seafarers onboard of Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino nationality," said Erik Hanell, President and Chief Executive of the operator, Stena Bulk. "There have been no reported injuries and the safety and welfare of our crew remains our primary focus." The ship "is no longer under the control of the crew and remains uncontactable", he added. British oil tanker seized in the Gulf 12:45AM Corbyn says Trump fuelled risk of conflict Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, responding to the seizure of two British tankers by Iranian forces, said: "The seizure of these vessels is unacceptable, and the tanker that remains under Iranian control must be released. Escalation risks a slide into an even deeper conflict. "President Trump's decision to tear up the Iran nuclear deal fuelled the risk of full-scale conflict. "A negotiated reinstatement of the nuclear deal through the UN is essential to wind down tensions and defuse the threat of war in the Gulf." 12:12AM US sought 'coalition' of navies to protect ships amid Iran tensions Hours before the hijacking of the British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, America's special representative for Iran was explaining its position to diplomats in Washington, Josie Ensor reports. Some 100 envoys took part in the briefing by Brian Hook, who outlined the Trump administration's initiative for maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran released footage on Friday from what it said was the "downed drone" Credit: AFP Mr Hook said tensions had risen sharply and necessitated the need for a "coalition" of navies to protect their ships through the strait. Read the full story. 11:52PM US intensifying air patrols in region US Central Command says the US has intensified air patrols over the Strait of Hormuz in response to the Iranian seizure of a British tanker. A Central Command spokesman, Lt. Col. Earl Brown, says a small number of additional patrol aircraft are flying in international airspace to monitor the situation. He also says Central Command's naval arm has been in contact with U.S. ships operating in the area to ensure their safety. 11:22PM Stena Impero 'surrounded by four vessels and helicopter' Mr Hunt said the Stena Impero was surrounded by four vessels and a helicopter, and is heading into Iranian waters. The second ship - the Mesdar - was surrounded by 10 speedboats, Mr Hunt told Sky, though said it was "not clear yet" whether it had changed course. He said he had spoken to US secretary of state Mike Pompeo this evening about the situation and had tried to speak to Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif but he is on a plane. "I will speak to him as soon as I can", Mr Hunt said. 11:21PM Hunt warns of 'serious consequences' Mr Hunt warned there would be "serious consequences" if the situation is not resolved quickly. He told Sky News: "We will respond in a way that is considered but robust and we are absolutely clear that if this situation is not resolved quickly there will be serious consequences." Asked if he could rule out military intervention, Mr Hunt said: "We're not looking at military options - we're looking at a diplomatic way to resolve the situation - but we are very clear that it must be resolved. "Freedom of navigation in the Gulf is absolutely essential. If that freedom of navigation is restricted, Iran is the biggest loser and so it is in their interest to resolve this situation as quickly as possible and we will do everything we can to do that." 10:31PM Tanker released? Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said Iran's Revolutionary Guards had not captured the Mesdar. "Despite reports, the ship has not been seized...and was allowed to continue its course after being warned about safety issues by Iranian forces," the report said. A spokesman for Norbulk Shipping UK confirmed the crew of the Mesdar are "safe and well" and the vessel has been "allowed" to continue its voyage. 9:16PM Is it rash to sail through the Strait? Sir Richard Dalton, former British ambassador to Iran, suggested the owners of the Stena Impero had been "rash" in sailing the tanker through the Strait of Hormuz. Speaking to Sky News, he said Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had promised retaliation following the detention of Iran's Grace 1 tanker in Gibraltar. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waving to the crowd during a ceremony attended by Iranian clerics in the Iranian capital Tehran, on July 16 Sir Richard said: "With hindsight, it's easy to say that this was a somewhat reckless act by the owners, given that there was no British naval vessel in the vicinity." He said the Iranians had "lost their cool" despite recent "constructive discussions" over the Grace 1. Sir Richard added: "I don't think the Iranians will continue to try to seize British vessels given they have got what they want, which is something to hold in a negotiation with Britain about their cargo held, they consider illegally, in Gibraltar." 9:07PM UK Chamber of Shipping calls for increased protection for vessels Bob Sanguinetti, the CEO of the UK Chamber of Shipping, says: “We condemn unreservedly the capture of Stena Impero as she transited the Strait of Hormuz earlier today. The action by those involved is in violation of international regulations which protect ships and their crews as they go about their legitimate business in international waters. “Our priority is for the safety and welfare of the crew. We call on the UK Government to do whatever is necessary to ensure their safe and swift return. An Iranian navy boat trying to control fire from the Norwegian-owned Front Altair tanker, said to have been attacked in the waters of the Gulf of Oman in June “This incident represents an escalation. Whilst we call for measured response, it is also clear that further protection for merchant vessels must be forthcoming to ensure enhanced security to guarantee free flow of trade in the region.” 9:03PM Donald Trump being kept informed President Donald Trump said he would "talk to the UK" about the incident. “We heard about it,” he said. "We don’t have many tankers going in.” Donald Trump said he is being kept abreast of developments "This only goes to show what I'm saying about Iran: Trouble, nothing but trouble," he said. Trump said "Iran is showing their colors" and "in big trouble right now" because its economy has been crippled by U.S. economic sanctions. The U.S. has asked Mideast allies like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in past weeks to contribute financially and militarily to a Trump administration proposal called the Sentinel Program - a coalition of nations working with the U.S. to preserve maritime security in the Persian Gulf and keep eyes on Iran. 8:54PM Foreign Secretary responds Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said: “I’m extremely concerned by the seizure of two vessels by Iranian authorities in the Strait of Hormuz. “I will shortly attend a COBR meeting to review what we know and what we can do to swiftly secure the release of the two vessels - a British-flagged vessel and a Liberian-flagged vessel. “Their crews comprise a range of nationalities, but we understand there are no British citizens on board either ship. Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary “Our Ambassador in Tehran is in contact with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to resolve the situation and we are working closely with international partners. “These seizures are unacceptable. It is essential that freedom of navigation is maintained and that all ships can move safely and freely in the region.” 8:50PM Crew from multiple countries Our Political Editor, Gordon Rayner, writes: A Government source said the crews on board the two ships are “a range of nationalities” but no Britons are among the crews of either ship. A Conta meeting due to start at 10.30 tonight will be chaired by either Jeremy Hunt or David Lidington.

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Why Conversion Camps are BAD!

Conversion camps or Conversion Therapy is coming back into “Fashion” in a big way. But here is why I think they should be completely banned and Illegal.

Conversion therapy is the Pseudoscientific practice of trying to change an individual’s sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual using psychological or spiritual interventions.

In Russia they claim that they have no Gay People in Chechnya, So therefore cannot have any Gay Torture Camps, Even though evidence has repeatedly proven that statement to be false, There are Gay People literally everywhere.

Amnesty International has announced that police are kidnapping and imprisoning gay men simply for being gay. They’re tortured and killed. It is hard to believe that these places exist in these days. It might be even harder to imagine that similar camps exist in the United States today, and have for decades.

It is said that Gay Conversion Camps are quieter these days, than they were decades ago. largely because they’ve fallen out of political favor. We’ve long since established that being homosexual is not a mental disorder: it’s just as natural as heterosexuality, Unfortunately there are some groups, almost mostly exclusively religious, that are determined to believe otherwise.

Here is a small story I found while I was researching information for this post.

“Samuel Brinton was told he was the “only gay person left in the world."Brinton, now 29, was raised as a Southern Baptist missionary, growing up in Africa and the Amazon jungle. After returning to the United States, Sam wasn’t having the “urges” that other young boys his age had. It quickly became clear that Brinton was indeed having those feelings; they were just directed toward a male friend. Sam’s father attempted to “scare the gay away” through physical abuse, but when that didn’t work, his parents allegedly sent the 10-year-old youngster to conversion therapy in their home state of Kansas. Brinton describes it as having been “mental torture.” But what took place there has been impossible to wipe from Sam’s memory. The conversion therapist allegedly told Brinton that the government “had come and killed off” all gay people because they “brought AIDS into America.” Sam claims that the therapist also said that homosexuals are an “abomination” in God’s eyes. When that didn’t cure Brinton of his same-sex longings, Sam says that the therapist attempted “physical aversion therapy,” burning or freezing the child’s hands when pictures of men touching other men were displayed.”

When applying hot and cold didn’t work either, they moved onto electroshock therapy.

hese treatments — which lasted for two years — didn’t cure Brinton’s urges, but they did have harmful, long-lasting effects. The pain Sam experienced made Brinton “terrified” to be physically affectionate with men, even something as small as exchanging a friendly hug. Over 15 years later, Sam is still “constantly in need of mental health support,” often experiencing thoughts of suicide. This is extremely common. Statistics from the American Psychological Association show that survivors of conversion therapy are 8.9 times more likely than their peers to consider taking their own lives. “

Here is the link to this information if you wish to read the whole thing.

https://www.salon.com/2017/03/21/conversion-therapy-is-torture-lgbt-survivors-are-fighting-to-ban-pray-the-gay-away-camps/

Gay conversion therapy survivor, Chris Csabs, has amassed 43,000 signatures on a petition to outlaw the kind of 'therapy’ Aside from Victoria, no other state in Australia has a ban on conversion therapy. “Far from going away, [gay conversion therapy] is actually expanding in Australia,” says researcher at La Trobe University, Dr. Timothy Jones. Which is fucking disgusting and so sad to know, This is 2019, why do so many people around the world still believe that these are helpful? how many more people have to die before these get banned and become illegal?

“If you have ever seen American Horror Story: Asylum, you may have seen a glimpse of what gay conversion therapy is. During this season a woman by the name of Lana Winters, played by Sara Paulson, is a lesbian woman who is brought into the asylum on the accounts of being gay. During her time there a doctor trying to get her out does a series of tests and practices to try and change her sexual orientation from lesbian to straight. The tests that he practices are all also used in some Gay conversion camps”. Now I only vaguely remember this happening because that season was pretty traumatic for me.

These tests and therapy treatments include:

-institutionalization

-castration : the removal of the testicles of a male animal or man. This is used due to the belief that homosexuality is rooted in the testicles, they would remove the testicles of a gay man and give them “heterosexual testicles”

-electroconvulsive shock therapy: this includes the doctor to send shocks through a persons body while looking at erotica of the same sex or sexual photos of the individuals partner until vomiting occurs.

-psychological abuse: this can be categorized into many things but this is also one of the top treatments used to conversion therapy.

While some of these aren’t used much anymore today, it is still important to address it

Here is another link you should read, where I got information from

https://aminoapps.com/c/lgbt-1/page/blog/gay-conversion-camps-what-you-should-know/Rr8k_4D2cwuWa5Gl0YVX5jQWP2QqBlR0PdB

Here is another link I haven't added anything from this page but I think you should read it

https://www.nowtolove.com.au/news/real-life/what-really-goes-on-during-a-gay-conversion-therapy-session-10468

Members that manage to endure the months of torture and abuse at the hands of these gay conversion programs are forced to live a lie and repress their true selves when they rejoin the outside world. For others, the horrors of the camp leave them with no choice but to escape and risk further abuse or put an end to it all and commit suicide. Astonishingly, most of these horrifying true accounts of life in a gay conversion camp are fairly recent – proof if any were needed that so much more needs to be done about protecting and ensuring the rights of the LGBT community.

Here are 15 moving and truly chilling stories from gay conversion therapy camps.

FOUND ON https://www.therichest.com/shocking/15-haunting-stories-from-gay-conversion-therapy-camps/

HAVING TESTICLES ELECTROCUTED

Many of the young men and boys that are sent to ‘straightening’ camps are felt especially stigmatized and judged by their father – this was the case for one unnamed member who was determined to reprogram himself because his own father didn’t view him as a normal kid. Most people would be equally hurt by their parents' decision to send them to a gay conversion camp, but feeling like a disappointment in the eyes of your main male role model can have a significant impact on some young boys.

Concerned so much about earning his father’s approval, one boy agreed to undergo a form of electroshock torture which involved taping electrical pads to his testicles while he viewed gay porn. If the young man got an erection from watching the video, he would get his manhood electrocuted. The lengths this boy went to just to win his dad’s respect is heartbreaking and reveals just how brainwashed camp members can become.

DRIVEN TO SUICIDE

Gay conversion camps are hell-bent on destroying self-worth by any means necessary, so it’s no surprise to learn that for some, suicide can seem like the only way out. This was the tragic outcome for one young girl, who at the age of 17 decided to end her own life after camp counselors did what they do best by convincing her that she didn’t deserve to be loved.

According to her cousin, the young girl had long pleaded with her parents to take her back home since she was hopelessly unhappy. Unfortunately, her parents were adamant that she saw the gay therapy program through to the end. By then, of course, it was too late. Her suicide letter pointed the blame towards her parents, saying “Mom, Dad I love you, despite how misguided you are, you taught me how to hate and feel disgusted with myself rather than to love myself.”

STARVED AND TORTURED TO DEATH

At age 15, South African teen Raymond Buys was enrolled into a ‘Game Rangers’ camp by his parents. Buys was not gay, but was thought to have exhibited ‘gay traits’, so his mother and father sent him off to a training camp that they assumed would make him “a better man, and give him a better future.” The next time they saw their teenage son was in the hospital three months later – he was severely malnourished, bruised and fighting for his life.

The camp Buys’ parents had assumed would simply train their son in the art of being 'manly' turned out to be a gay conversion camp that subjected Raymond and the other boys to round the clock torture. According to a camp mate of Raymond’s, their camp leader reportedly chained Buys to his bed every night, refused him toilet access and one occasion, Buys was forced to eat his own feces. Raymond was later taken to hospital emaciated and suffering from brain damage as a result of his beatings. He died soon after.

A BRAVE AND RISKY ESCAPE

An anonymous gay man on Reddit shared his experience of escaping from a ‘Pray the gay away’ program organized by his local church as a teenager. Faced with endless sermons about how destructive and sinful homosexuality was for the soul, he felt increasingly isolated and close to suicidal. He bravely decided that enough was enough and it was time to plan his escape.

Luckily one morning, one of the doors outside his dorm was unguarded and he managed to slip out of the camp and on to the main road. He followed it until he was out of sight and was able to get a reception to call his dad and brother. To the young teen’s surprise, his dad was proud of his successful escape attempt and applauded him for sticking to his beliefs. The camp counselors, on the other hand, were not so happy and considered him an abomination and destined for hell. By the sounds of things, he’d already escaped hell.

PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY TORTURED

29-year-old Samuel Brinton is truly an inspiration to the LGBT community. As a boy, Brinton was physically abused by his father for revealing he had feelings for another boy. Soon after this, his mother sent him off to be treated with gay aversion therapy – the methods of which belong in a horror movie. Throughout his time in therapy, Brinton was made to believe that all gay people had AIDS, that all other gay people had been killed by the government and that he would be next.

In addition to the brainwashing came the physical and emotional torture that continues to plague him in adulthood. Brinton was made to associate gay sex and feelings of arousal with extreme pain using methods which included electrocution, being burnt with hot copper coils and being frozen with ice. Brinton attempted suicide 5 times and still experiences pain when his current boyfriend shows him any affection. Admirably, Sam now speaks about his hellish ordeal around the world as a campaigner for LGBT rights.

REGULAR EXORCISMS TO ‘DISLODGE’ SHAMEFUL DEMONS

When most of us think of exorcisms, we can’t help but picture spinning heads, a possessed girl, and projectile vomiting. The reality, however, can simply involve hours of intense prayer and repentance for the so-called sin of being born homosexual – but this doesn’t make the experience any less traumatic for the individual. Exorcisms in gay conversion therapy can consist of shaming techniques to expose the unnatural ‘demons’ within people. This is what Peterson Toscano had discovered.

Toscano was raised as a devout Christian and problems arose when his faith stood in the way of his true sexual orientation. Fearful about being a gay teenager at a time when ‘gay’ was synonymous with AIDS, Toscano’s faith convinced him that he needed ‘fixing’. One area of his exorcism-like treatment forced him to record every homosexual encounter he ever had and share the most embarrassing one with his family. Toscano suffered from a long period of depression as a result of his treatment, which did nothing to suppress his true nature.

TAUGHT TO HATE THEIR FATHERS

Very often, young gay men who are struggling to come out have a fractured relationship with their father and this is something gay conversion camps will frequently use to their advantage. An undercover reporter at a gay reprogramming camp recalls how most men in the camp lacked a father figure in their life and were often asked to think of their most traumatic and painful memories involving feelings of fatherly neglect. It wasn’t long before things got out of hand.

Camp leaders would often encourage these young men to engage in roleplay whereby they were able to beat up and brutally ‘kill’ their fathers. The undercover camp member reportedly watched as one young man was given a bat and a punching bag to represent his father. The camp leaders encouraged the member to beat his imaginary father until he was dead, allowing a new more accepting father to appear. By the camp’s logic, the young man no longer had father issues and was therefore no longer homosexual. Horrific.

ESCAPING TO A PSYCHIATRIC WARD

You know things are bad amongst intolerant and homophobic people when you’d rather seek solitude in a psychiatric ward. This is exactly what one 16-year-old girl was driven to after facing extreme prejudice both from her family and officials at a ‘pray the gay way’ program. The young girl (who has shared her experiences anonymously on Reddit) recalls how she was found out as a lesbian by her brother. Her parents' immediate reaction was to send her to what she thought were ‘family counseling’ sessions.

These, of course, turned out to be a gay conversion-style program, where the 16-year-old was repeatedly told by staff members and her own flesh and blood that she was destined to go to hell. To make matters worse, her parents even asked her to sign a contract before allowing her to live at home again. Before long, the pressure overwhelmed her so much that she asked to be admitted to a psychiatric ward for a whole week, just to escape her overbearing counselors and family.

BRAINWASHED TO BELIEVE HE WAS ABUSED

James Guay was brought up in a strict Christian household in California, where homosexuality was viewed upon with the same level of disgust as rape and child molestation. Once Guay began to experience feelings for other boys, he fought his natural desires at every opportunity, which eventually led to self-harm and suicidal tendencies. Since suicide was as much of a sin as homosexuality, however, Guay was torn between being true to himself and the prospect of burning in hell. Discovering he had self-harmed, Guay’s parents enrolled him in therapy sessions and it was here that he was told that his gay feelings were down to his parents.

Guay was wrongly told by his therapist that his gay feelings were down to ‘an overbearing mother and distant father’ and convinced him that he had suffered physical and sexual abuse throughout his childhood. There was no absolutely no truth to this, but James’ therapist would encourage him to remember non-existent abuse memories to ward him off homosexuality. Forced associations between abuse and homosexuality is a popular technique of anti-gay counselors, and these practices are thankfully now banned in Guay’s home state of California.

BRED INTO A VIOLENT PERSON

Like anything you repress about yourself for years on end, bottling up your true desires when it comes to your sexual orientation will always have a lasting and very damaging effect in later life. As well as affecting the life of the camp member, gay conversion camps can destroy so many other lives in their wake. One boy on Reddit disclosed how his father’s experience at a gay conversion camp in his youth eventually turned him into an abusive father and husband.

His father forced himself to believe he was ‘cured’ of his homosexuality and vowed to live a straight life – getting married to a woman for 30 years and fathering a son in the process. Throughout the marriage, they boy’s father was a pressure cooker of emotions – leading to violent outbursts that culminated with his father leaving his mother for a man. His son forever blames the camp for turning a man against himself and destroying innocent lives - all for the sake of being gay.

A STRAIGHT KID WAS MISTAKENLY SENT TO CAMP

This sounds like the premise of a comedy film, but the reality was far more disturbing that it sounds. When one teenage girl was spotted hanging out with her gay and female best friend, her strict Catholic parents believed the two girls were secretly dating and decided to take action. Recalling her experience on a forum, the straight 15-year-old revealed that her parents had sent her to a ‘pray the gay away’ camp, where she spent a week before making a break for it.

While in the camp, she was made to attend regular prayer circles and was often denied food and water because she refused to admit that she was gay and had a ‘problem’. During her time there, she also witnessed a camp counselor and camp member of the same sex get together. Finally, sick of the hypocrisy and abuse at the hands of the camp, she escaped with the help of a male friend. When her parents found the two together, they assumed the conversion therapy had been a huge success!

HORRID TEACHINGS DISCOVERED BY AN UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATOR

An anti-gay organization in Australia known as Living Waters intrigued investigator, Claire Weaver, to go undercover and discover exactly how they operate. Like most gay conversion programs, Living Waters was designed to help men and women across the country ‘overcome’ their homosexuality – mainly by inventing idiotic statistics about gay people and brainwashing camp members into believing them.

Throughout her time at the organization, Weaver attended speeches that told members that 80-85 % of lesbians were sexually abused in the past and that women who were never breastfed were more likely to become attracted to women! Weaver also discovered the detestable philosophy the camp lived by, which was to enforce gender stereotypes in order to prevent homosexuality in kids. Living Waters believed in forcing feminine things on to girls and vice versa to ensure children never grow up ‘confused’. The only thing guaranteed to confuse children is to be taught this utter bullsh*t

TREATED LIKE ROBOTS, NOT HUMAN BEINGS

In the words of one gay conversion camp survivor, simply known as ‘TC’, conversion therapy made him and others feel that they “were no longer people at the end of the program.” At the age of 15 in 2012, TC was forced by his parents to receive conversion treatment. This form of treatment wasn’t simply designed to change his sexual orientation, however, it was to kill any trace of his former self and start afresh.

TC’s conversion therapy consisted of two major steps – to break his self-worth using torture methods and to rebuild a ‘new’ character with the teachings of Jesus. The initial step (lasting six months) involved shock therapy and physical abuse with sessions lasting for 1-3 hours at a time. By the second step, members had become numb, blank shells ready for the program to rebuild with a different way of eating, talking and thinking. TC survived his horrific experience but saw many friends take their own lives because of the inhumane system.

THE BLACK SHEEP OF HER OWN CHURCH

Churches should be seen as a place of peace and a sanctuary that welcome all of God’s children. In recent years, however, some have shown themselves to be very judgemental and backward in their view of the LGBT community. This was apparent to a girl from West Yorkshire, who found herself victim to anti-gay blackmail in her own evangelical church.

In 2007, the girl (given the pseudonym ‘Louise’ to protect her identity) was told that she was forbidden from socializing with anyone under the age of 18 in the church for fear that her homosexuality could influence younger churchgoers. As well as this, she was made to feel further isolated by having regular exorcisms performed on her. Her progress in shedding her ‘gay tendencies’ was constantly monitored by the church elders. Louise later revealed that if she had been more impressionable, she could have easily become very “damaged by the process.”

FORCED TO LIVE A LIE

Sometimes, the most difficult period in the lives of gay conversion camp members is the life that awaits them once they become ‘cured’. Having spent their formative years being taught that their natural desires for a homosexual relationship are inherently wrong and sick, many camp survivors struggle to form same sex relationships and consequently, wind up married to the opposite sex, raising kids and living a lifelong lie.

This was the harsh reality for men like Anthony Venn-Brown and Simon Tinkler from Australia, who spent years married to women and even fathering children because evangelical pastors convinced them that through enough prayer and marriage, they could become straight. Years of brainwashing treatment and enforced ‘manly chores’ in their youth had people like Venn-Brown and Tinkler convinced that their conversion therapy had worked. But both now live openly gay and are having to start their lives from scratch – all because religious nutcases perceived their natural feelings as ‘evil’.

Sources: BBC News; Huffington Post; Now To Love.

The below stories come from this website

https://www.ranker.com/list/reprogramming-camp-horror-stories/jacobybancroft

A Girl Commits Suicide After Attending a Conversion Camp

This redditor had a friend whose 17-year-old cousin was sent to a reprogramming camp, and the results were both tragic and avoidable. While she was there, she begged her parents to pick her up and take her home. She told them that all the camp was doing was making her hate herself for who she was. She was absolutely miserable, but her parents insisted she finish the program. Of course, it didn't work.

A month later, she committed suicide, with a letter to her parents saying, "Mom, Dad I love you despite how misguided you are, you taught me how to hate and feel disgusted with myself rather than to love myself."

An Undercover Straight Reporter Watches as a Gay Man Beats His Imaginary Father to Death

n his undercover mission to research the harmful and deceitful reprogramming camps that were designed to offer a "freedom from homosexuality," Ted Cox witnessed some crazy and truly horrendous acts. Throughout his weekend posing as a gay man on a quest to cure his "disease" at the Journey into Manhood retreat, he was constantly asked to define what manhood and masculinity was, and was forced to face his most traumatic memory. Most of the other men in the group had memories dealing with neglect from their fathers (a big talking point of the conversion therapy camps is that homosexuals just didn't receive the proper love from a father figure), but when the time came to face those memories, things got violent.

A majority of the men in the group recreated scenes with counselors portraying their fathers and then were forced to physically drag the counselors out of the room and shut the door. One of the younger guests was given a bat and a punching bag was placed in front of him. He started whacking the punching bag with half-hearted enthusiasm, but with the encouragement of the counselors, he was told to really hurt the bag until it was dead. While he was hitting it, the man's imaginary father died, and in his place a new father appeared, one who was more accepting. This was to help the man get over his father issues and therefore, no longer be homosexual.

To Earn Dad's Approval, a Boy Gets His Testicles Electrocuted

The only reason this kid went to a reprogramming camp was because his father didn't see him as normal. Many of the other stories on this list include people who worried about eternal damnation, but this boy was only worried about his father's approval.

At the camp, counselors would tape electrical pads to young men's testicles while making them watch gay porn. If they got an erection, they got zapped.

After the camp, this man got married to a woman, only for it to end in divorce later when it turned out that both he and his wife were homosexual.

Pray the Gay Away Gathering Leads to Admittance to the Psych Ward

After she was outed by her brother, a lesbian's parents made her go to "family counseling" that turned out to be a "pray the gay away" meeting. Throughout it all, her stress continued to grow. Not only was she constantly told by both her family and the staff that she was going to tell, but her parents took it a step further by whipping up a contract she had to sign in order to continue living in their house.

At that point, the pressure became too much. The girl, age 16, asked to be admitted to a psych ward and stayed there for a week just to get some space from her family and the camp counselors.

A Conversion Camp Creates a Ticking Time Bomb of Violent Rage

The biggest thing this redditor is mad about is the damage these camps do to a person's sense of self. At a young age, this man's father went to one of the camps after being told by his church that he could be normal and cured of his sinful thoughts. At the camps, they claimed an abusive home, depression, and a poor relationship with one's father is what leads to homosexuality.

After he left the camp, the man's father was told he was "cured." He married a woman without telling her his past and they had kids. Throughout their almost 30 years of marriage, he was a bad husband and father. He was abusive, angry, and even violent before finally leaving his wife (the redditor's mother) for a man.

Today, his son doesn't entirely blame his father, but rather he blames the camp and the church that convinced his father that he was wrong and sinful, ruining not only his own life, but the lives of his wife and children, too.

After Realizing He Didn't Belong, a Young Man Plans his Great Escape

During a "pray the gay away" weekend, a gay teen realized that he wasn't in the right place. He was subjected to sermons about how the homosexuals were destroying the world and he was treated like a leper. He realized that staying at that camp would only be bad for him. So, fearing for his safety and believing that he would quite possibly become suicidal after the ordeal, he woke up early in the morning and fled into the forest.

In the end, when he called his father to tell him he'd escaped, his dad was proud that his son stuck to his guns. Though the counselors themselves weren't too happy and were convinced that the kid was an abomination and going to hell

A Straight Girl Was Sent to a Camp Accidentally and Her Heterosexuality Was Taken as Proof the Camp Worked

This redditor was put in a situation straight out of a 90s sitcom. When she was younger, her best friend was gay and the girl's Catholic parents thought they were dating. They forced her to go to one of the "pray the gay away" camps where she was subjected to "prayer circles and abuse."

After a week there, where she witnessed a bunch of strange things (including a camper hooking up with a counselor of the same sex on the obstacle course), she decided to run away. The camp staff waited two days before reporting her missing, because they thought she would return, but she didn't. The girl called one of her male friends to pick her up and she stayed in his treehouse for a few days. When it was raining, she snuck inside his basement, but was caught by the boy's parents.

Her parents were furious at her for running away, but also saw her staying with a boy as a sign that the camp was a big success

A Woman Goes Undercover and Is Taught Absurd Myths About Lesbianism

Clair Weaver was curious about how Living Waters, an organization dedicated to help people overcome their homosexuality, got their message out, so she decided to infiltrate one of the camps. During her investigation, she attended seminars where she was told that 80-85 percent of lesbians were sexually abused in the past, that women who weren't breastfed ended up sexually attracted to women, and that popular culture is somewhat to blame for glamorizing same-sex relationships and making them seem okay.

She was also told that it parents should push feminine things onto girls and masculine things onto boys so they aren't confused about what they like when they grow up. According to the camp, if you keep up a healthy childhood filled with strict gender distinctions, homosexuality can be prevented a majority of the time.

Conversion Camps May Just Offer Some Young People a Place to Hook Up

This story isn't verified, but this reddit user claims he has a friend who was forcibly sent to a conversion therapy camp, and then proceeded to have more sex there than he had ever had before. On some level, that doesn't sound too far-fetched. You're putting a vast number of boys or girls who are questioning their sexuality all together in one place, away from home, and then putting them through exercises that involve a lot of touching and emotional connectedness.

Is it that hard to believe some campers would start having sex with one another?

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mikeyd1986 · 5 years

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MIKEY’S PERSONAL BLOG 129, November 2018

On Monday morning, I met up with my support worker Seb at Jamaica Blue Cranbourne at Cranbourne Park Shopping Centre. Following on from what happened last Friday, I was willing to give Seb a chance to prove himself as my new support worker. I also decided to focus mostly on his strengths: He is kind, professional, non-judgemental, a good listener, open minded, funny, easy to talk to and easy to get along with. It also gives me a reason to get out of bed and get myself out of the house on a Monday morning which has always been a huge struggle for me.

While it’s going to take some time for me to open up to him about my personal issues and mental health problems, today’s session certainly flowed much better than when I first met him. I guess we’re both finding our feet. But I can tell that he is genuinely trying to make an effort to get to know me by asking me casual questions about my week and not staring at his phone the whole time. https://www.vetrorecruitment.co.uk/blog/2018/03/what-makes-a-great-support-worker

I mainly talked about my first appointment with Dr. Peralta and how I feel about transitioning from 100mg of Sertraline (Zoloft) to 10mg of Escitalopram (Lexapro). It’s a slow, daunting process for me but one that will hopefully help me feel better and be a more effective form of medication for treating my depression and anxiety symptoms. https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/how-to-taper-off-your-antidepressant

Obviously part of me is worried about the possible withdrawal symptoms and side effects that I may endure but at least I’m prepared and I’ve heard mostly positive things about this particular anti-depressant that I’m switching to. I just have to give myself a few weeks to adjust to my new medication and see if I’ve noticed any improvements or changes. https://www.nps.org.au/medical-info/medicine-finder/lexapro-tablets

I’m also hoping to use more of my NDIS funding towards services at Mentis Assist such as life skills, personal development, travelling, community programs and social outings. Whilst Seb may not directly help with treating my underlying mental health issues, at least he is someone who can provide social company and a listening ear as I need it. That’s better than nothing in my books. He can also make connections to other Mentis Assist staff higher up in order to provide me with that information and those services. Relationships build over time, not over night and so I just have to be patient as things slowly unfold for me. https://mentisassist.org.au/what-we-do/our-programs

I've never really been into the Melbourne Cup or horse racing in general even before it became more of an animal rights issue in the last few years. Personally, it's just a sad excuse for people to dress up in expensive outfits, get wasted and blindly bet on horses. It's also a greedy business for bookies wanting to profit and rake in millions of dollars. Big celebrities like Tom and Gai Waterhouse continue to flaunt how rich they are every year and it's so disgusting!

I used to be of the opinion "What's wrong with putting on a harmless bet?" until recently. I will never support this day and it's a blessing that the hype of Halloween this year has masked a lot of the promotion around the horse racing carnivals. It's good that more awareness is being raised each year about the treatment of racehorses that happens "behind the scenes" and that punters and bookies alike seem to ignore. FUCK THE CUP! https://www.peta.org.au/issues/melbourne-cup-8-things-you-need-to-know-about-horse-racing/

On Thursday night, I attended my third Sleep Intervention Group workshop held at La Trobe University Psychology Clinic in Bundoora. I was feeling particularly restless and moody today. Some of these could be attributed to the side effects from my new medication whilst others could be coming from my chronic sleep problems and mental health issues. Poor concentration, sudden mood changes, irritability and extreme fatigue are probably the most dominant symptoms I’ve been experiencing over the past few days. https://www.verywellmind.com/throwing-up-after-taking-an-antidepressant-1067352

But I’ve been doing my best to remain strong during this difficult period of transition and giving myself the self-care that I need to cope with it all. I still find driving down to the La Trobe University - Bundoora campus to be an absolute chore especially in the middle of peak hour traffic that tends to build up quickly along Banksia Street in Heidelberg. But I figure that I’m getting close to the end of this research study and I really don’t want to drop out now. http://otarc.blogs.latrobe.edu.au/sleep-help-for-adults-on-the-spectrum/

During tonight’s session, we learned about how to develop a new sleep routine which incorporates things like the ideal hours of sleep required per night, times you go to bed and wake up. The most important thing to remember is to allow it to be flexible and not rigid as this will invite more arousal and therefore further fuel unwanted anxiety about sleep. https://www.sleep.org/articles/get-sleep-schedule/

Lauren, Eric and Alexa also talked about the essential tips for good sleep hygiene which includes keeping the bedroom dark, cool and comfortable, avoid consuming any caffeine, alcohol and heavy meals before going to bed, not using any technology or devices with blue back lighting and opening up the curtains when you wake up in the morning. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/sleep-hygiene

On Friday morning, things took a turn for the worse. The plans I had for the day essentially went out the window as my symptoms seemed to escalate. It began normally enough. I spent an hour or so just catching up on my recorded TV shows (Real Housewives of Dallas and Home & Away), ate some breakfast and took a shower. After that, I had zero motivation to leave the house and my brain was getting wound up over the recent Christmas party that I decided to organise at home in a few weeks time.

I just couldn’t seem to handle the amount of “not attending” responses on the event page even though realistically this was to be expected. December is a busy time for everyone and of course people are going to have other plans and commitments to attend to. I guess I just wished that I had a more positive response to it, that people would be excited to see me and therefore I would be more enthusiastic about organising it. Feeling let down and upset over a social event of mine going pear shaped was not a new thing for me and yet it still sucks.

Mum rang and asked if I wanted to meet her for coffee at Degani Cranbourne Park. It was around 11.30am and I decided to go as I needed ANY reason to leave the house and not spend my day being socially isolated and withdrawn. Momentarily, I found myself to be a bit more upbeat but it didn’t last long. Sitting in the cafe, I felt like a depressed mess with many worrying thoughts flooding my mind and it was really uncomfortable being around other people (I had no friends. Nothing is going right for me. I don’t know where my life is heading. I feel like shit. I feel hopeless). https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/depression/signs-and-symptoms

We tried moving to a different cafe The Coffee CLUB Cranbourne but it didn’t really help my symptoms much at all. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this severely depressed and perhaps the change of medication plus my chronic sleep problems and average diet could all be contributing to it. I also noticed that my appetite decreased as I didn’t “feel like” eating even half a slice of cake carrot that Mum ordered. Something was definitely up with me and now more than ever, I really have to look after myself. https://www.healthline.com/health/mdd/switching-antidepressants

“Weeping, kicking these words around too long. I had a feeling we were close to something bigger. Deep breath under a baseball cap. One way ticket to a heart attack... And it's gonna be tough 'cause I got a few things to work through. And I'm all loved up in a world I can't explain.” Amy Shark - All Loved Up (2018)

“Oh, something good better come out of this. I don't even know how to exist...How do you keep it together like this. Never again, I'm a nervous wreck. Please don't repeat anything that I said. I'm forced to see you. But deep down I love it. So far away, but I still see you coming, alright. Let it go, let it go. Hopefully we run into each other.” Amy Shark - Don’t Turn Around (2018)

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internetbetterforall · 6 years

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Nature The Leaders Who Unleashed China’s Mass Detention of Muslims

Nature The Leaders Who Unleashed China’s Mass Detention of Muslims Nature The Leaders Who Unleashed China’s Mass Detention of Muslims http://www.nature-business.com/nature-the-leaders-who-unleashed-chinas-mass-detention-of-muslims/

Nature

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Men congregating outside a mosque after evening prayer in the old city in Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China. Nearly half of the province’s 24 million people are ethnic Uighurs.CreditCreditAdam Dean for The New York Times

BEIJING — Rukiya Maimaiti, a local propaganda official in China’s far west, warned her colleagues to steel themselves for a wrenching task: detaining large numbers of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minorities.

The Chinese government wanted to purge the Xinjiang region of “extremist” ideas, she told her co-workers, and secular Uighurs like themselves had to support the campaign for the good of their people.

“Fully understand that this task is in order to save your relatives and your families,” wrote Ms. Maimaiti, a Communist Party functionary who works on the western edge of Xinjiang, in a message that was preserved online. “This is a special kind of education for a special time.”

Her warning is one piece of a trail of evidence, often found on obscure government websites, that unmasks the origin of China’s most sweeping internment drive since the Mao era — and establishes how President Xi Jinping and other senior leaders played a decisive role in its rapid expansion.

In a campaign that has drawn condemnation around the world, hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities have been held in “transformation” camps across Xinjiang for weeks, months or years at a time, according to former inmates and their relatives.

Beijing says the facilities provide job training and legal education for Uighurs and has denied carrying out mass detentions.

But speeches, reports and other documents online offer a clearer account than previously reported of how China’s top leaders set in motion and escalated the indoctrination campaign, which aims to eradicate all but the mildest expressions of Islamic faith and any yearning for an independent Uighur homeland.

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Chen Quanguo, right, served as the party chief in Tibet before coming to Xinjiang. In Tibet, he won official praise for ramping up policing and quelling protests.CreditEtienne Oliveau/Getty Images

Mr. Xi has not publicly endorsed or commented on the camps, but he ordered a major shift in policy soon after visiting Xinjiang in 2014 to weaken Uighurs’ separate identity and assimilate them into a society dominated by the Han majority, according to the documents.

Later, amid official reports warning the results were insufficient, Mr. Xi reassigned Chen Quanguo, 62, the hard-line party chief in neighboring Tibet, to act as the chief enforcer of the crackdown in Xinjiang. Mr. Chen was also promoted to the 25-member Politburo, the party leadership council that governs China.

“What is happening in Xinjiang is the leading edge of a new, more coercive ethnic policy under Xi Jinping’s ‘new era’ of Chinese power,” said James Leibold, an expert on Xinjiang at La Trobe University in Australia who has monitored the campaign.

The Trump administration is weighing sanctions against Chinese officials and companies involved in the indoctrination camps, a move that would extend the friction between Washington and Beijing over trade and military disputes to human rights. A bipartisan commission has singled out Mr. Chen and six other officials as potential targets.

Last week, apparently stung by the international criticism, the Xinjiang government issued revised rules on “deradicalization” that for the first time clearly authorized the indoctrination camps.

Worried about Muslim extremism and ethnic nationalism, Beijing has long maintained tight control of Xinjiang, where nearly half the population of 24 million are Uighurs. In the decade up to 2014, the security forces struggled with a series of violent antigovernment attacks for which they blamed Uighur separatists.

Mr. Xi made his first and only visit as national leader to Xinjiang in April 2014. Hours after his four-day visit ended, assailants used bombs and knives to kill three people and wound nearly 80 others near a train station in Urumqi, the regional capital. The attack was seen as a rebuff to Mr. Xi, who had just left the city and vowed to wield an “iron fist” against Uighurs who oppose Chinese rule.

“That seems to have been taken by Xi Jinping as an affront,” said Michael Clarke, a scholar at the Australian National University who studies Xinjiang.

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An indoctrination camp in Hotan, China. The indoctrination campaign aims to eradicate all but the mildest expressions of Islamic faith and any yearning for an independent Uighur homeland.

A month later, Mr. Xi called for a vigorous push to make Uighurs loyal members of the Chinese nation through Chinese-language instruction, economic incentives and state-organized ethnic intermingling. The leadership also approved a directive on establishing tighter control of Xinjiang that has not been made public.

“Strengthen public identification of every ethnic group with the great motherland, with Chinese nationhood and with Chinese culture,” Mr. Xi said at a meeting on Xinjiang at the time. “There must be more ethnic contact, exchange and blending.”

In the year after Mr. Xi’s visit to Xinjiang, the documents show, the party began building “transformation through education” camps to warn Muslim minorities of the evils of religious zealotry and ethnic separatism.

The camps were relatively small back then; many detainees were held for just a few days or weeks, official speeches and reports show. But there were no public guidelines for how they should operate.

By taking a harder line in Xinjiang, Mr. Xi effectively endorsed a group of Chinese scholars and officials advocating an overhaul of the party’s longstanding policies toward ethnic minorities.

For decades, the party kept Uighurs, Tibetans and other groups under tight political control while allowing some room for preserving each nationality’s language, culture and religion. The mosaic approach was copied from the Soviet Union and made Xinjiang an “autonomous region,” where, in theory, Uighurs enjoyed greater rights and representation.

But in the 1990s, Chinese academics advising the government began arguing that these policies had contributed to the breakup of the Soviet Union by encouraging ethnic separatism. To avoid similar troubles, they argued, China should adopt measures aimed unapologetically at merging ethnic minorities into a broader national identity.

“So-called ‘ethnic elites’ must never be given an opportunity to become the leaders of the pack in splitting the country,” said Hu Lianhe, a researcher in this group, in a paper he co-wrote in 2010.

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President Xi Jinping has not publicly endorsed the camps, but he ordered a major policy shift toward Xinjiang that emphasized efforts to assimilate ethnic minorities into a greater “Chinese nation.”CreditLintao Zhang/Getty Images

Mr. Hu is now a powerful voice setting policy for Xinjiang as a senior official in the United Front Work Department, a Communist Party agency that has claimed a growing say over the region.

He has been identified as a potential target of American sanctions. In August, he categorically denied reports of abuses in Xinjiang during a United Nations hearing. “There is no ‘de-Islamization,’” he said.

By 2016, the Communist Party’s main newspaper declared that the “deradicalization” campaign was succeeding; no serious acts of antigovernment violence had been reported since Mr. Xi’s visit to Xinjiang.

But officials gave grimmer assessments in less prominent forums. Some said that young Uighurs were more alienated from China than their elders; others warned that Uighurs who had traveled to the Middle East, sometimes to fight in Syria, were bringing back extremist ideas and fighting experience.

Such warnings appeared to persuade Mr. Xi and other leaders to back tougher measures. In August 2016, they brought in Mr. Chen from Tibet to run Xinjiang. He became the first party official to have served as the leader of both territories.

In Tibet, another frontier region experiencing ethnic strife, Mr. Chen had expanded the security forces, sent party officials to live in villages and tightened control of Buddhist monasteries and temples.

Less than three weeks after his arrival in Xinjiang, he announced a “remobilization” plan to ramp up security, citing orders from Mr. Xi.

Officials in Xinjiang were told to prepare for a multiyear offensive, according to one official report.

Image

A statue of Mao Zedong in downtown Kashgar. China is now engaging in the most sweeping internment drive since Mao’s era.CreditBryan Denton for The New York Times

In March 2017, the regional government issued “deradicalization” rules that gave a vague green light to expanding the internment camps, but the national parliament never enacted a law authorizing the detentions as would be required by the Chinese constitution. . Local officials soon began reporting growing numbers of Uighurs arrested or detained for indoctrination.

“Since the strike-hard began in 2017, there have been many detainees, including many ultimately convicted,” an official assigned to Hotan, an area in southern Xinjiang, wrote last year. “The numbers sent to transformation-through-education centers are also quite high.”

As the camps and surveillance efforts expanded, Beijing directed new funds to Xinjiang, where spending on security nearly doubled in 2017 from the year before, to $8.4 billion, according to data released early this year.

“The central level ultimately pays for all of it, so some kind of consent was certainly given,” said Adrian Zenz, a scholar at the European School of Culture and Theology in Germany who has studied the camps.

The scale of detentions across Xinjiang may have gone further than initially expected. “They were having to use train stations and other random places to hold people because they weren’t expecting to have so many,” said Jessica Batke, a former State Department analyst.

A broad definition of “religious extremism” — which included behavior as simple as trying to persuade people to quit alcohol and smoking, as well as more serious transgressions — gave the authorities wide leeway to punish even mildly pious Muslims.

Local officials like Ms. Maimaiti had little incentive to hold back; those found dragging their feet in the crackdown have been named and punished.

The public has been told to prepare for a long offensive, which one local official last week called a “campaign of intellectual emancipation.” The Xinjiang government decreed late last year that the security drive would last five years before achieving “total stability.”

A version of this article appears in print on

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with the headline:

Xi Began Drive To All but Erase Islam in China

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Image

Beijing says the facilities provide job training and legal education for Uighurs and has denied carrying out mass detentions.

Image

Chen Quanguo, right, served as the party chief in Tibet before coming to Xinjiang. In Tibet, he won official praise for ramping up policing and quelling protests.CreditEtienne Oliveau/Getty Images

Last week, apparently stung by the international criticism, the Xinjiang government issued revised rules on “deradicalization” that for the first time clearly authorized the indoctrination camps.

“That seems to have been taken by Xi Jinping as an affront,” said Michael Clarke, a scholar at the Australian National University who studies Xinjiang.

Image

An indoctrination camp in Hotan, China. The indoctrination campaign aims to eradicate all but the mildest expressions of Islamic faith and any yearning for an independent Uighur homeland.

The camps were relatively small back then; many detainees were held for just a few days or weeks, official speeches and reports show. But there were no public guidelines for how they should operate.

By taking a harder line in Xinjiang, Mr. Xi effectively endorsed a group of Chinese scholars and officials advocating an overhaul of the party’s longstanding policies toward ethnic minorities.

Image

Mr. Hu is now a powerful voice setting policy for Xinjiang as a senior official in the United Front Work Department, a Communist Party agency that has claimed a growing say over the region.

Less than three weeks after his arrival in Xinjiang, he announced a “remobilization” plan to ramp up security, citing orders from Mr. Xi.

Officials in Xinjiang were told to prepare for a multiyear offensive, according to one official report.

Image

A statue of Mao Zedong in downtown Kashgar. China is now engaging in the most sweeping internment drive since Mao’s era.CreditBryan Denton for The New York Times

Local officials like Ms. Maimaiti had little incentive to hold back; those found dragging their feet in the crackdown have been named and punished.

A version of this article appears in print on

, on Page

of the New York edition

with the headline:

Xi Began Drive To All but Erase Islam in China

. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Read More | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/13/world/asia/china-muslim-detainment-xinjang-camps.html |

Nature The Leaders Who Unleashed China’s Mass Detention of Muslims, in 2018-10-14 04:43:04

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

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