⭐️ Must read article by Arundhati Roy on what is happening in India. Great backgrounder for those who haven’t been following closely and some great details for those who have.
Taiwanese Politician Campaigned as Evangelion’s Asuka 《All politics is cosplay, but in Taiwan it really is.》
I hate most games in the App Store, and delete them after a few minutes, but Minit was fun and lasted on my phone for a few weeks. Close to my ideal iPhone game. (But in the end some parts of it were just too hard to figure out without help.)
Video: Hong Kong police accidentally apprehend undercover officers during Boxing Day mall protest
Obama voters for Trump, Clinton voters for McCain, and Sanders voters for Trump. (1) It happens all the time, Sanders voters not special. (2) Numbers going around on Twitter were debunked back in 2017.
I think “lefty concern troll” captures the tactics and goals of those who shout “Squirrel!” every time the subject of Chinese authoritarianism comes up better than “tankie” does. We desperately need a left that is able to tackle these issues without changing the subject.
3,000 Dalits to embrace Islam, cite discrimination by caste Hindus
A quick note on the RFA mass rape story
How reliable is the the Radio Free Asia report about the “mass rape” of Uyghur women by Han Chinese men? It is true that RFA was originally created to promote US anti-communist propaganda; however, it has also played an important role in documenting what is happening in Xinjiang, often at tremendous risk to the families of the station’s Uyghur language staff, many of whom have been detained in order to scare the reporters into silence. This includes the families of Shohret Hoshur, Gulchehra Hoja, as well as the author of the report, Rushan Abbas. The New York Times has referred to RFA as “few reliable sources of information” about Xinjiang.
But as with many such questions posed by online tankies, it is really a distraction. That rape was happening was already clear from other, well placed reporting that was available to anyone paying attention. First of all, we know Uyghur families are forced to accept Han “big sisters” and “big brothers” into their homes. We know the “big brothers” sometimes come to live with the faimly when the fathers are in the camps, as in this video.
Secondly, we know that the increase in marriages between Uyghur women and Han men that is the result of institutionalized “pressures” if not outright “coercion” (for those who want to nitpick). There are also credible stories of rapes in the “reeducation camps.”
So should we trust the RFA report about “mass rape”? I don’t know, but the fact that the story is so believable based on what we already know should be worrying us even more.
With a Thousand Ancestors Front and Back - interview with Nick Estes
🎥 Anyone who enjoys Agatha Christie, Columbo, or Murder, She Wrote will love Knives Out, which offers all the pleasures of the genre along with some not-so-subtle politics and a dash of Pynchon thrown in as well. I’d watch it again.
In Assam, two men tagged Bangladeshi died in detention – one was an Adivasi from Jharkhand
In Hong Kong, a Vast Citizens’ Network Keeps Watch on the Police
How Joe Biden Helped Strip Bankruptcy Protection From Millions Just Before a Recession
CAA protests: Blood and tears in an Uttar Pradesh town where two young Muslim men fell to bullets
Do soda taxes work? The global soda tax experiment 《Yes, they do, and higher taxes could have even greater health benefits.》
There is some epic music playing outside. (Maybe from an election campaign truck?) I feel like I should be doing something epic instead of just sitting on my couch with the dog…
More Than 80 Polish Towns Have Declared Themselves ‘LGBTQ-Free Zones’
Judith Butler: Trump’s Executive Order on Anti-Semitism Enshrines Ignorance Into Law
Exclusive: Canada police prepared to shoot Indigenous activists, documents show