The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    What the World needs now...

    By PeraclesPlease on Thu, 02/18/2021 - 11:17pm |

    As Belarusian journalists convicted, new human rights evidence re Chinese treatment of Uyghurs, what else?

    Thread for keeping up with the world beyond Cancun.

    ...is love sweet love...

    https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/18/asia/china-xinjiang-teacher-abuse-all...

    Comments


    by artappraiser on Fri, 02/19/2021 - 3:19am

    US reboots WHO efforts

    (it's not all about military by a long shot)

    https://www.statnews.com/2021/01/20/welcome-back-to-the-global-health-st...


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/19/2021 - 3:30am

    The Nigerian version of prosperity gospel is pretty extreme:


    by artappraiser on Fri, 02/19/2021 - 3:29am


    by artappraiser on Fri, 02/19/2021 - 3:38am

    China, the new world order's capitalist imperialist running dog hegemon:

     


    by artappraiser on Fri, 02/19/2021 - 3:42am

    Much of Silk Road/Belt & Road initiative is dead due to drop in funding and wariness about China's intentions (such as the large absences in China's recent East Europe push).

    But it's not just 1 single approach - there's a lot to be said for pushing plus incentives, not demonize, but also not let China strip away the West's alliance members 1 by 1. Nor no instant miracles, but certainly expect and work towards improvements.

    Chris Patten on the next round of Biden & others' diplomacy.

    https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/joe-biden-china-partnership...


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/19/2021 - 4:30am

    Here's the "MSM" NOT ignoring the Uighur thing:

    The Chinese government is committing genocide against the Uighurs. Right now. We know where. And the world is just sitting back and letting it happen. Disney even thanked local party apparatchiks for letting them film Mulan there. https://t.co/DTP9pxLDHh

    — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 18, 2021

    ALSO: I found this via retweet by Andrew Sullivan (not exactly a leftist)


    by artappraiser on Fri, 02/19/2021 - 5:34am

    China slutshaming, Uighur edition

    https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_603d098dc5b617a7e40f8760


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 03/01/2021 - 5:03pm

    Hong Kong crackdown continues

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/02/hong-kong-defendants-ambul...


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 03/02/2021 - 5:52am

    EU unwinding US nightmare

    https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/19/biden-europe-meeting-g7-leaders...


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/19/2021 - 10:19am

    Syria & Sarin - ingenuity


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 02/19/2021 - 3:50pm

    this should take care of the whole "why are we always meddling with other governments" thing on this one

    When civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, CIA officials were seized with the fear that Damascus might lose control of its vast stores of sarin and other deadly nerve agents. As revealed in this excerpt from the new book “Red Line,” those fears were bolstered by more than 14 years of secret reports fed to the agency by one of Syria’s top military scientists. The CIA knew much of what materials Damascus possessed and where they were hidden — thanks mostly to one agent. The previously untold story of this man, who offered his services to the U.S., is based on interviews with three former U.S. intelligence officials familiar with the case as well as a Syrian scientist and defector who was a contemporary of Ayman.

    but it probably won't, cause the default is always "they're making it up." Actually quite prescient for the C.I.A. to worry that Syria would fall apart and lose control. Did it ever!


    by artappraiser on Fri, 02/19/2021 - 8:35pm


    by artappraiser on Sat, 02/20/2021 - 12:50am


    by artappraiser on Sat, 02/20/2021 - 12:53am

    Erik Prince broke UN embargo on Libya; Trump quickly backed eastern warlord


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 02/20/2021 - 8:16am

    Why China diplomacy fails


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 02/20/2021 - 8:24am

    wonderful example of how so many "cancel" international news according to the supposed ideological purism of the "reporter", ending up in a game of spending more time evaluating the messengers than the facts:

     


    by artappraiser on Sat, 02/20/2021 - 6:47pm

    Venezuelan women need birth control:


    by artappraiser on Sat, 02/20/2021 - 11:12pm


    by artappraiser on Sun, 02/21/2021 - 12:30am


    by artappraiser on Sun, 02/21/2021 - 7:41pm

    The Brazilians are sinking into all these forms of self sabotage, from the personal to the ecological, that may be best observed from their neighbors.

    I ain't linking nothing from nothing. Look if you care to.


    by moat on Sun, 02/21/2021 - 8:54pm

    Albanians in Yugoslavia - understandung the impasse as 1 key to the 20th Century Balkans (thread)


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 02/22/2021 - 12:22am

    Chief Superintendent of New Scotland Yard sez they are all in this attempting civilization thing together

    For those who aren't familiar with the lingo, Tesco is a huge British based multinational supermarket chain


    by artappraiser on Mon, 02/22/2021 - 3:27am

    Criticism for Biden accepting that China is it's "own culture". Yet here watching a procession of families of Indian farmers killed in protest, it would be hard to deny they have their own culture - which doesn't mean the farmers don't have valid reasons to protest, or that theur killings were thus justified as a "culture thing" - it just means an additional lens that may or may not be relevant in understanding foreign events including human rights, general agreements, and everyday life. In fact, it seems respectful to understand that not everywhere is the US, but many of the standards and aspirations deserve to be as high as ours if not higher (even if the implementation may take on a local quality). In some ways these Indians are much like the Belarusians protesters out in the streets for 8 months now, in some ways no quite. It does not diminish their complaints not objections to their treatment to say so.

    With Uyghurs, they have *their* own culture which uses *parts* of Chinese culture, some voluntarily, some forced. Ignoring the cultural aspect is a bland way of missing half of what is going on, as it affects the goals of what's happening, and any possible solutions or lessening of tensions & atrocities.

     


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 02/22/2021 - 4:21am


    by artappraiser on Mon, 02/22/2021 - 4:48pm

    The government of France announced an investigation into social science research, broadening attacks on what it sees as destabilizing American influences.


    by artappraiser on Mon, 02/22/2021 - 10:44pm


    by artappraiser on Tue, 02/23/2021 - 2:54pm

    Defun the Police, Karachi style


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 02/23/2021 - 3:43pm

    Many high level Iranian officials should be charged for the shooting down of a Ukrainian commercial airliner in January 2020, a UN human rights expert has said, describing the killing of the 176 people aboard as a “profound and serious indictment” of the country’s civil and military authorities.

    Agnès Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, delivered a 45-page letter to the Iranian government which was made public on Tuesday, outlining her findings from a six-month investigation into the disaster, and complaining about the lack of Iranian cooperation, which has left many of her questions unanswered.

    Callamard issued a particularly strong condemnation of the Tehran government’s treatment of the victims’ families, who she said had been harassed and threatened, denied the return of remains and personal effects, and forced to go along with officially staged “martyr” funerals....

    continued here


    by artappraiser on Wed, 02/24/2021 - 12:13am

    here's another from Australia


    by artappraiser on Wed, 02/24/2021 - 6:42pm

    Same shit his trolls did to U.S. since 2016, manipulate the woke's passions either to his benefit to cause chaos. Loves to see culture warring, daddy will stop it.


    by artappraiser on Thu, 02/25/2021 - 12:15am


    by artappraiser on Fri, 02/26/2021 - 1:55am

    CNN China coverup issue

    https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2021/02/asia/china-wuhan-covid-truth...


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 02/27/2021 - 11:16pm


    by artappraiser on Sun, 02/28/2021 - 8:25pm

    Hong Kong breaking & Blinken's reaction:


    by artappraiser on Sun, 02/28/2021 - 8:56pm

    FB/Twitter hate use abroad


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 03/02/2021 - 12:54am

    just saw this criticism too


    by artappraiser on Tue, 03/02/2021 - 1:07am


    by artappraiser on Wed, 03/03/2021 - 2:16am


    by artappraiser on Wed, 03/03/2021 - 2:40am


    by artappraiser on Thu, 03/04/2021 - 1:07am

    UK blows NIreland reqs, EU not pleased


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 03/04/2021 - 2:45am


    by artappraiser on Sat, 03/06/2021 - 3:17pm

    ^ especially the Palestinian people in the occupied territories.

    Just pointing it out as interesting because they are like 85% Sunni.


    by artappraiser on Sat, 03/06/2021 - 3:24pm


    by artappraiser on Sun, 03/07/2021 - 1:33am


    by artappraiser on Sun, 03/07/2021 - 2:38am


    by artappraiser on Mon, 03/08/2021 - 12:46am

    Huge explosions rock Equatorial Guinea's main city

    Published @ BBC News, 5 hours ago WITH VIDEO

    At least 15 people have died and hundreds more have been injured in a series of explosions in Equatorial Guinea, the health ministry says.

    Some 500 people were injured following the blasts, which happened near a military barracks in the main city of Bata on Sunday.

    The blasts were caused by "negligence" relating to the storage of dynamite at the barracks, the president said.

    Images on social media showed huge plumes of smoke and widespread damage.

    State television showed people looking for survivors in the rubble and lifting up debris from collapsed buildings.

    President Teodoro Obiang Nguema said in a statement that the impact of the explosion "caused damage in almost all the houses and buildings in Bata", and called for international help with aid.

    He added that the incident may have occurred following the burning of fields surrounding the barracks by farmers.

    In a series of tweets, the health ministry asked for volunteer health workers to go to Bata Regional Hospital. It has also asked for blood donations due to the high number of casualties.[.....]

    embedded TWEETS follow as well as more text


    by artappraiser on Mon, 03/08/2021 - 1:43am


    by artappraiser on Tue, 03/09/2021 - 2:07pm

    Is this some kind of a cultural thing we need to respect? Just askin


    by artappraiser on Wed, 03/10/2021 - 1:27am

    My Thai is pretty bad, but I swear he said "filthy vermin".


    by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 03/10/2021 - 7:09am

    Japan in the mirror - wut happened?

    (extended thread)


    by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 03/10/2021 - 8:34pm

    Syria big picture by Josh Rogin:


    by artappraiser on Thu, 03/11/2021 - 7:59pm

    I give Lulu shit over Syria, but this article seems loony in the opposite direction - keep doubling tripling down on a sliver of hope, rather than coming up with a coherent realistic and humane plan after 10 years. (comparing Assad to the Nazis is a great start) - feels a lot like old school tough love from 20 years ago - is our neocons learning?

    Fortunately Biden is likely to ignore the Rogin types and try to actually work towards peace.

    Note that this idea of ripping off a piece of a country and promoting independence is largely what we complain about Russia doing (Gruzhya, Donbas, parts of Moldova...)


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 03/12/2021 - 2:01am

    Plenty of other sources here if paywall is a problem there: https://twitter.com/i/events/1370829096339447809

     


    by artappraiser on Sat, 03/13/2021 - 5:57pm


    by artappraiser on Sun, 03/14/2021 - 3:47pm

    Actual link: https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/murder-canada-led-unravelling-cc...

    And old complaints about Chinese influence peddling

    https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/2019/11/30/this-bc-mayor-says-his-figh...


    by PeraclesPlease on Sun, 03/14/2021 - 4:10pm


    by artappraiser on Tue, 03/16/2021 - 12:48am


    by artappraiser on Tue, 03/16/2021 - 2:37am

    so much for canards about socialist France:


    by artappraiser on Wed, 03/17/2021 - 1:00am

    take note: these are not typically right winger people


    by artappraiser on Wed, 03/17/2021 - 2:55am

    only for those in need of witty sophisticated analysis of #brexit fallout:


    by artappraiser on Wed, 03/17/2021 - 6:00pm

    More rape gangs, horn of Africa

    https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/19/africa/ethiopia-tigray-rape-investiga...


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 03/19/2021 - 8:56pm

    trying to get people to pay attention:


    by artappraiser on Sat, 03/20/2021 - 3:29pm

    always trying to compete with the rate of U.S. gun deaths:


    by artappraiser on Sat, 03/20/2021 - 1:34pm


    by artappraiser on Sat, 03/20/2021 - 3:37pm


    by artappraiser on Sat, 03/20/2021 - 4:02pm


    by artappraiser on Sat, 03/20/2021 - 10:22pm


    by artappraiser on Sun, 03/21/2021 - 2:20am

    More cheaper housing

    (not dawn of the exurban dead)

    Plus the greenhouse gases...


    by PeraclesPlease on Sun, 03/21/2021 - 9:25am

    Basically accusing China of doing the same thing as Putin trolls in the U.S., stoking tribal divisiveness among the enemy while trying to consolidate ethnicities into one nationalist type within their own border:


    by artappraiser on Wed, 03/24/2021 - 12:40pm

    ah I see, new catchword, *supremacist worldview* now splains all evil:


    by artappraiser on Wed, 03/24/2021 - 2:30pm


    by artappraiser on Thu, 03/25/2021 - 4:08am


    by artappraiser on Thu, 03/25/2021 - 4:35am

    (It's as regards UK politics; so makes it pretty interesting as compared to the U.S.)


    by artappraiser on Thu, 03/25/2021 - 3:23pm

    WAP Suez traffic jam


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 03/26/2021 - 2:15am

    Iran and China going to make it official - best buddies:


    by artappraiser on Fri, 03/26/2021 - 1:52pm

    Daragahi shocked & awed:


    by artappraiser on Wed, 03/31/2021 - 6:14pm

    Seth Ambramson on the horrors in Brazil:


    by artappraiser on Fri, 03/26/2021 - 5:16pm


    by artappraiser on Mon, 03/29/2021 - 8:57pm

    China is very 20th century - 


    by artappraiser on Wed, 03/31/2021 - 2:35am

    1) war approach is diff from development - WWII etc al were shared experiences, developed and not developed. New China dev doesn't equal going thru those war buildups & other mid-century transitions, though jockeying for position will happen in some way.

    2) as Bucky Fuller noted, there's lots of skips later developing countries can do - they don't have to follow every dark twist of the industrial age, but it's still a tough path, and the compressed version can be more stressful in some ways (though I'd say the dragged out version is worse)

    3) China had some great, no, huge advantages* over what sub-Saharan Africa faces, and w 1/3 the world population in 2100, they will have to address this climb through the industrial age very soon with much greater haste.

    4) tho Africa will have some great access to technology as the Covid bump improves health and communication, renewables in 20 years will take pollution down a step.

    *larger, more concentrated populations around Pacific rim, good access to water and transport, relatively homogenous culture under single strongarm government, relatively hi affinity for education, non-fossil bike transportation avoided worse pollution/congestion, urban development embraced high rises early, single language (plus Hong Kong British model as access to rest of world),... And China largely had a pseudo-monopooy on outsourced manufacturing in the 90s on - did not have to compete much with others as field advantage was theirs.

    5) so Africa will have to compete as a bunch of independent states, or if lucky an African EU, but that glib term masks a ton (and centuries) of difference between Africa and the EU. 

    6) another option is putting Africa on a rough Universal Basic Income as efficiences and progress in other regions reach pseudo-exponential rates (machine learning/AI/etc al turned back on itself to speed health, tech, production...) so that the danger of inequality is worse than sharing the wealth.


    by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 03/31/2021 - 2:31am


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/03/2021 - 10:33pm

    Kidnapping in Haiti during a live broadcast church service:

    Another capture of live broadcast and kidnapping in Diquini, #Haiti tonight. pic.twitter.com/HtRNA6cPTb

    — Kevin Pina (@AcrossMediums) April 2, 2021

    This just happened at my church in Haiti like 20 min ago please help pic.twitter.com/cNWYNAKhFt

    — Marc (@marcbrianvil) April 2, 2021

    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/03/2021 - 10:53pm

    Miami Herald has picked up the story:


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/03/2021 - 10:55pm

    Second try.

    I just learned a couple of days ago that the SDS has been resurrected and just now that possibly the Tonton Macoute as well. 


    by EmmaZahn on Sun, 04/04/2021 - 2:49am

    deja vus allover again, thanks for the tip

    (I did type this comment over after my first one got deleted--just so you don't think you're going crazy)


    by artappraiser on Sun, 04/04/2021 - 2:52am

    Gremlins.


    by PeraclesPlease on Sun, 04/04/2021 - 3:05am

    Nearly 20 arrested in alleged plot against King of Jordan:

     


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/03/2021 - 11:33pm


    by artappraiser on Sun, 04/04/2021 - 2:59pm

    Russia's Arctic buildup


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 04/05/2021 - 4:44am

     


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/06/2021 - 3:16am

    ^ Any time something makes you outraged there’s a high likelihood it was manufactured and stripped of nuance. Spend a month, any time you’re outraged, looking at the primary source. You’ll be shocked at how much popular narrative is pure deception.


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/06/2021 - 3:18am

    Close to the Nazi film of happy life in Theresienstadt - gypsy & Jewish paradise set in Xinjiang?
    Heidi & Sound of Music in the Altai or Karakorum?
     



     

    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 04/06/2021 - 3:26am

    wow, that's kind of surprising, venturing backward into North Korean style (which in itself was influenced by Mao cultural revolution, of course) I am not surprised few Chinese are watching it!


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/06/2021 - 3:37am


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/06/2021 - 10:53am

    Lily is great at splaining


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/08/2021 - 3:52am


    by artappraiser on Fri, 04/09/2021 - 8:44pm


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/10/2021 - 8:26pm