#iranian robots

[rihkal]

Surena IV by the University of Tehran (2020)

[jarviskingston]

💡🔥❤️‍🔥

[mariacallous]

I stopped using my cellphone for regular calls and text messages last fall and switched to Signal. I wasn’t being paranoid—or at least I don’t think I was. I worked in the National Security Council, and we were told that China had compromised all major U.S. telecommunications companies and burrowed deep inside their networks. Beijing had gathered information on more than a million Americans, mainly in the Washington, D.C., area. The Chinese government could listen in to phone calls and read text messages. Experts call the Chinese state-backed group responsible Salt Typhoon, and the vulnerabilities it exploited have not been fixed. China is still there.

Telecommunications systems aren’t the only ones compromised. China has accessed enormous quantities of data on Americans for more than a decade. It has hacked into health-insurance companies and hotel chains, as well as security-clearance information held by the Office of Personnel Management.

The jaded response here is All countries spy. So what? But the spectacular surprise attacks that Ukraine and Israel have pulled off against their enemies suggest just how serious such penetration can become. In Operation Spiderweb, Ukraine smuggled attack drones on trucks with unwitting drivers deep inside of Russia, and then used artificial intelligence to simultaneously attack four military bases and destroy a significant number of strategic bombers, which are part of Russia’s nuclear triad. Israel created a real pager-production company in Hungary to infiltrate Hezbollah’s global supply chains and booby-trap its communication devices, killing or maiming much of the group’s leadership in one go. Last week, in Operation Rising Lion, Israel assassinated many top Iranian military leaders simultaneously and attacked the country’s nuclear facilities, thanks in part to a drone base it built inside Iran.

In each case, a resourceful, determined, and imaginative state used new technologies and data to do what was hitherto deemed impossible. America’s adversaries are also resourceful, determined, and imaginative.

Just think about what might happen if a U.S.-China war broke out over Taiwan.

A Chinese state-backed group called Volt Typhoon has been preparing plans to attack crucial infrastructure in the United States should the two countries ever be at war. As Jen Easterly put it in 2024 when she was head of the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), China is planning to “launch destructive cyber-attacks in the event of a major crisis or conflict with the United States,” including “the disruption of our gas pipelines; the pollution of our water facilities; the severing of our telecommunications; the crippling of our transportation systems.”

The Biden administration took measures to fight off these cyberattacks and harden the infrastructure. Joe Biden also imposed some sanctions on China and took some specific measures to limit America’s exposure; he cut off imports of Chinese electric vehicles because of national-security concerns. Biden additionally signed a bill to ban TikTok, but President Donald Trump has issued rolling extensions to keep the platform functioning in the U.S. America and its allies will need to think hard about where to draw the line in the era of the Internet of Things, which connects nearly everything and could allow much of it—including robots, drones, and cloud computing—to be weaponized.

China isn’t the only problem. According to the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Annual Threat Assessment for this year, Russia is developing a new device to detonate a nuclear weapon in space with potentially “devastating” consequences. A Pentagon official last year said the weapon could  pose “a threat to satellites operated by countries and companies around the globe, as well as to the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial, and national security services we all depend upon. Make no mistake, even if detonating a nuclear weapon in space does not directly kill people, the indirect impact could be catastrophic to the entire world.” The device could also render Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile shield largely ineffective.

Americans can expect a major adversary to use drones and AI to go after targets deep inside the United States or allied countries. There is no reason to believe that an enemy wouldn’t take a page out of the Israeli playbook and go after leadership. New technologies reward acting preemptively, catching the adversary by surprise—so the United States may not get much notice. A determined adversary could even cut the undersea cables that allow the internet to function. Last year, vessels linked to Russia and China appeared to have severed those cables in Europe on a number of occasions, supposedly by accident. In a concerted hostile action, Moscow could cut or destroy these cables at scale.

Terrorist groups are less capable than state actors—they are unlikely to destroy most of the civilian satellites in space, for example, or collapse essential infrastructure—but new technologies could expand their reach too. In their book The Coming Wave, Mustafa Suleyman and Michael Bhaskar described some potential attacks that terrorists could undertake: unleashing hundreds or thousands of drones equipped with automatic weapons and facial recognition on multiple cities simultaneously, say, or even one drone to spray a lethal pathogen on a crowd.

A good deal of American infrastructure is owned by private companies with little incentive to undertake the difficult and costly fixes that might defend against Chinese infiltration. Certainly this is true of telecommunications companies, as well as those providing utilities such as water and electricity. Making American systems resilient could require a major public outlay. But it could cost less than the $150 billion (one estimate has that figure at an eye-popping $185 billion) that the House of Representatives is proposing to appropriate this year to strictly enforce immigration law.

Instead, the Trump administration proposed slashing funding for CISA, the agency responsible for protecting much of our infrastructure against foreign attacks, by $495 million, or approximately 20 percent of its budget. That cut will make the United States more vulnerable to attack.

The response to the drone threat has been no better. Some in Congress have tried to pass legislation expanding government authority to detect and destroy drones over certain kinds of locations, but the most recent effort failed. Senator Rand Paul, who was then the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and is now the chair, said there was no imminent threat and warned against giving the government sweeping surveillance powers, although the legislation entailed nothing of the sort. Senators from both parties have resisted other legislative measures to counter drones.

The United States could learn a lot from Ukraine on how to counter drones, as well as how to use them, but the administration has displayed little interest in doing this. The massively expensive Golden Dome project is solely focused on defending against the most advanced missiles but should be tasked with dealing with the drone threat as well.

Meanwhile, key questions go unasked and unanswered. What infrastructure most needs to be protected? Should aircraft be kept in the open? Where should the United States locate a counter-drone capability?

After 9/11, the United States built a far-reaching homeland-security apparatus focused on counterterrorism. The Trump administration is refocusing it on border security and immigration. But the biggest threat we face is not terrorism, let alone immigration. Those responsible for homeland security should not be chasing laborers on farms and busboys in restaurants in order to meet quotas imposed by the White House.

The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are giving Americans a glimpse into the battles of the future—and a warning. It is time to prepare.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

There you have it... FLOW wins the Oscar for Best Animated Feature released in 2024...

Gints Zilbalodis' painterly odyssey has achieved a few firsts with this Oscar win...

It's the first Latvian film to get the gold man, in addition to being the first French and Belgian film to get it. The first continental European film to get it, too. Not a film that came out of the UK, like WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT. A rare film that wasn't all-American or even an American co-production to get it.

So now, we're three years in a row of a CGI Disney film NOT getting this Oscar, an award that they often easily get.

For 2022, it was GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO, a U.S.-Mexican stop-motion production. 2023, Hayao Miyazaki's THE BOY AND THE HERON, obviously a hand-drawn anime film. Now this, a Latvian-French-Belgian film with a unique and more 2D-looking art style.

That's a pretty big deal! Disney didn't win for once, a little guy actually gets some spotlight, and more visual diversity gets rewarded. I was certain FLOW could possibly lose to DreamWorks' THE WILD ROBOT, which I would've been okay with, given that director Chris Sanders is loooong overdue for an Oscar. Maybe next time, with THE WILD ROBOT ESCAPES, huh? Upon finally seeing FLOW, I wanted it to win, but again, I would've been okay if WILD ROBOT got it. DreamWorks hasn't won for Best Animated Feature since, not counting WALLACE & GROMIT (almost entirely an Aardman production anyway), since... SHREK... The inaugural Best Animated Feature winner... 23 years ago...

Really shows how Disney just easily won all these years, huh? It's curious to see the tides turning here after three ceremonies, and it's curious that it all started after the ceremony honoring the films of 2021.

The early 2022 ceremony was where Disney Animation's ENCANTO beat out THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES and FLEE. Two films that some felt were worthier of the Oscar. That same ceremony, three actresses who portrayed Disney princesses in live-action remakes took to the stage to present the nominees and made cracks at animation being just kiddie-fare. To much backlash and annoyance... Even though the Oscars had done similar sideshow-esque presentations of the BAF nominees in several past ceremonies... This time, it felt personal. Especially after animation production could continue at home during the early years of COVID while all live-action had to be halted, and the medium more or less saved Hollywood's asses for a little while.

Yeah, that whole ceremony in 2022 was a real doozy when it came to animation: Disney won YET AGAIN easily, and three actresses portraying Disney princesses presented the award, feeling the need to insult animation in the process. (I'm pretty sure some 70-something-year-old crank who couldn't give two shits about cartoons wrote that speech for them.)

And then, afterwards... Three non-Disney winners in a row! Can we keep this up by any chance? I'm sure something other than ELIO and ZOOTOPIA 2 can take home the prize for this year's crop of films, ditto the coming years. And of course, if we can get more respectful presentations of these films. But, I need not ask for too much nor lose sleep over it. I'm just happy the three recent winners of this prize are these very films.

Best Animated Short went to the 20min Iranian film IN THE SHADOW OF THE CYPRESS, from directors Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani. This portrait of PTSD actually first appeared at the Venice Film Festival towards the end of 2023 and won several awards in 2024, so it's made the waves for quite some time before tonight.

[yandere-wishes]

⋆  ⋆ 𝕐𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤//𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕤 ⋆  ⋆

Yandere drabbles (not fics, but equally as sweet)

Just shorter yandere ideas that me and the anons have come up with. If you're not in the mood to read long format 'x reader' stories then these goodies are perfect for you! Feel free to add/further discuss any ideas you may have regarding these snippets. Full Masterlists Here and Here

💜General

Genie's clothing brand (Melancholy and Pitch)

Yandere x Reader X Platonic!Yandere

Marry Me

If evil why husband?

Why did you start writing Yandere?

The darling with no attention span

Is he mentally unhinged?

They're perfect!!

My favorite Disney prince

My spirit is in the 70's

And now I have become her

My two types

💋💋💋

Just say I love you!!

This one is for the hot girlies

My aesthetic

How I write a resume

Nostalgia

I chose violence

I need more...

I have QUESTIONS

Men...

Fav Authors

Transformers terminology

The sons of sand😍🤩😍🤩

Tanjiro moodboard

Literal "bloodbath"

💜Genshin impact

▹▹General 

Just a dream

▹▹ Wriothesley

Yandere Werewolf Wriothesley

Yandere Werewolf Wriothesley part 2

Wriothesley's cute housewife

Making out with Wriothesley

You're so perfect. You're so scary

Wriothesley's cheerleader

▹▹Neuvillette

Neuvillette and darling at a ball

▹▹Scaramouch

Fluffy Scaramouch

Scaramouche x Ballarina!Reader

💜Barbie

Kens w/ self-harming reader

Kens w/ a Barbie who liked them before

How to love a Ken

Ken w/ a reader who has intrusive thoughts

Ken kidnapping a human

KEN-cerning

Fate

💜Star Wars

▹▹General 

💞Mandalorians💞

Anakin Skywalker and Darth Maul sharing a darling

🥰Head Empty Just Them🥰

An idea (ft. Maul, Anakin and Baby Luke and Leia)

Spoiled sith lords

Domestic life with Darth Maul and Anakin Skywalker

Future Sith lords drabbles

Maul's robotic legs and Grievous' body

A random cheerleader Au (read the comments)

Star Wars Prequel Analysis

Kiss the Mask (Yandere! Sith Lords)

Ancient Sith Lords(Marka Ragnos and Tulak Hord)

▹▹Anakin Skywalker

Anakin falling for his Padawan

Ghostface Anakin

Ghostface! Anakin future ideas

▹▹Darth Maul

Darth Maul taking a Nightsister as his queen

Darth Maul origins

Extracts from Darth Maul's journal

Pain and Pleasure ft. Darth Maul

▹▹Obi Wan Kenobi

"I'm staying with Obi Wan"

▹▹General Grievous

Cyborg lovers unite

The Bride of Grievous

▹▹Boba Fett

Yandere! Boba Fett x reader (Ft. Fennec Shand)

▹▹Clones

Yandere Fives

The clones sharing their lover

▹▹Savage Opress

Yandere!Savage and nightsister darling

▹▹Luke Skywalker

Luke my prince 😍

▹▹Revan

General yandere Revan headcanons

Revan w/ an unwilling and willing darling

▹▹Sol

Sol repressing his emotions

💜Dune

▹▹General

Paul and Feyd being cousins

Feyd my babyboi!!

Chase scene

Emperor Paul Atreides

💜Twisted Wonderland

General

Leona Kingscholar vs Fellow Honest

Dorm Leaders as french expressions

▹▹Fellow Honest

Fellow Honest feeding his darling sweets

Fellow Honest and his Darling (first/initial take)

Fellow Honest buying his darling luxurious gifts

Fellow Honest and his foxy nature

💜Marvel

▹▹ Tony Stark (Ironman)

Do it for HIM!

▹▹ Miles Morales

The prowler and 42!Spidergirl

▹▹Megneto

Megneto my love

💜Important/social commentary

Iranians and the Occupation of Palestine

💜Tokyo Revengers

Bonten!Baji

💜Jujutsu Kaisen

How to get an obsession

💜Honkai Star Rail

Boothill x Housewife!Darling

Never disrupt Boothill's naptime

Yandere!Boothill x Nihility Reader

Yandere!Sunday feeding his darling ice cream

💜Marvel

Yandere! Bucky Barnes moodboard

💜Wuthering waves

Somehow, this blew up🤷🏽‍♀️

[o-craven-canto]

Words borrowed from other languages in English

Very incomplete list, based mostly on The Languages of the World (3rd ed.), Kenneth Katzner, 2002 + a heavy use of Wiktionary. some notes:

Many of these words have passed through multiple languages on their way to English (e.g. Persian -> Arabic -> Spanish -> French -> English); in that case I usually list them under the first language that used them with the same meaning as English.

I generally don't include words whose ancestors already existed in Middle English, unless their origin was exotic enough to be interesting.

The vast majority of borrowings are terms very specific to their culture of origin; I generally only include those that are either well known among English-speakers, or of general use outside that culture. As always, this is largely subjective.

INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY (West and South Eurasia)

Hellenic

Greek: angel, chronometer, democracy, encyclopedia, geography, graphic, hieroglyphic, homogeneous, hydraulic, kudos, meter, microphone, microscope, monarchy, philosophy, phobia, photography, telephone, telescope, thermometer, and way too many other scientific or technical terms to count

Germanic

Afrikaans: aardvark, apartheid, fynbos, rooibos, springbok, trek, veld, wildebeest

Danish: Lego, simper

Dutch: brandy, bumpkin, coleslaw, cookie, deck, dock, dollar, freight, furlough, hodgepodge, landscape, maelstrom, noodle, Santa Claus, waffle, walrus, yacht

German: aurochs, bildungsroman, blitzkrieg, cobalt, dachsund, eigenvector, ersatz, gestalt, glockenspiel, hamburger, hinterland, kindergarten, kohlrabi, lager, poodle, quark, sauerkraut, wanderlust, yodel, zeitgeist

Icelandic: eider, geyser

Norwegian: auk, fjord, krill, lemming, narwhal, slalom, troll

Swedish: lek, mink, ombudsman, rutabaga, smorgasbord, tungsten

Yiddish: bupkis, chutzpah, kvetch, putz, schlemiel, schmaltz, schmooze, schtick, spiel, tchotchke, and the X schm-X construction

Slavic

Czech: robot

Russian: fedora, glasnost, intelligentsia, kefir, mammoth, pogrom, samizdat, steppe, sputnik, troika, tsar, vodka

Serbo-Croat: cravat, paprika

Celtic [many of these words are shared between the two languages]

Irish: bog, galore, gaol, geas, glen, orrery, shamrock, slob, whiskey

Scottish Gaelic: bard, bunny, cairn, clan, loch, ptarmigan, ?scone, slogan

Italic-Romance

†Latin: way too many, but ignoring the ones that were already naturalized in Middle English: a priori, arcane, algae, alumni, artificial, calculus, cancer, carnivore, cavity, circa, confide, dire, federal, flammable, homicide, interregnum, larva, lemur, magnanimity, manuscript, millipede, nebula, nimbus, nocturnal, octave, optimal, postmortem, senile, supernova, urban, verbatim, and countless medical or legal terms

French: the bulk of French (or rather Norman) borrowings occurred before Middle English, but to stick to my rules: aubergine, bourgeois, buttress, camouflage, capitalism, caramel, chassis, chauvinism, cheque, collage, elite, embassy, ennui, espionage, etiquette, facade, fondue, gouache, guillotine, infantry, lingerie, mauve, mayonnaise, mollusk, Renaissance, reservoir, sabotage, souvenir, turquoise...

Italian: allegro, aria, balcony, bandit, bravo, calamari, casino, cello, chiaroscuro, crescendo, contraband, contrapposto, fresco, gazette, ghetto, gusto, inferno, lagoon, lava, mafia, malaria, pants, quarantine, tempo, umbrella, vendetta, volcano

Portuguese: baroque, brocade, cachalot, cobra, creole, flamingo, petunia, pimento, zebra

Spanish: abalone, armadillo, bolas, bonanza, canyon, cargo, chupacabra, cigar, cilantro, embargo, gaucho, guerrilla, junta, manta, mesa, mosquito, mustang, patio, pueblo, rodeo, siesta, tornado, vanilla

Iranian

Persian: bazaar, caravan, checkmate, chess, crimson, dervish, divan, jackal, jasmine, khaki, kiosk, lemon, lilac, musk, orange, pajama, paradise, satrap, shawl, taffeta

Indo-Aryan

†Sanskrit: brahmin, Buddha, chakra, guru, karma, mantra, opal, swastika, yoga

Bengali: dinghy, jute, nabob

Hindi: bandana, bungalow, cheetah, chintz, chutney, coolie, cot, dungaree, juggernaut, lacquer, loot, rajah, pundit, shampoo, tom-tom, thug, veranda

Marathi: mongoose

Romani: hanky-panky, pal, shiv

Sinhalese: anaconda, beriberi, serendipity, tourmaline

DRAVIDIAN FAMILY (Southern India)

Kannada: bamboo

Malayalam: atoll, calico, copra, jackfruit, mahogany, mango, pagoda, teak

Tamil: catamaran, curry, mulligatawny, pariah

Telugu: bandicoot

URALIC FAMILY (Northern Eurasia)

Finnic

Finnish: sauna

Saami: tundra

Samoyedic

Nenets: parka

Ugric

Hungarian: biro, coach, goulash, hussar, puszta, tokay

VASCONIC FAMILY (Northern Pirenees)

Basque: chaparral, chimichurri, silhouette

TURKIC FAMILY (Central and Northern Eurasia)

†Old Turkic: cossack, yurt

Tatar: ?stramonium

Turkish: baklava, balaclava, bergamot, caftan, caviar, harem, janissary, kebab, kismet, minaret, pastrami, sherbet, tulip, yoghurt

Yakut: taiga

MONGOLIC FAMILY (Mongolia and surrounding areas)

Mongol: horde, khan, ?valerian

SINO-TIBETAN FAMILY (China and Southeast Asia)

Tibeto-Burman

Burmese: ?marzipan

Tibetan: lama, panda, tulpa, yak, yeti

Sinitic [Chinese languages closely related, not always clear from which a borrowing comes]

Hokkien: ?ketchup, sampan, tea

Mandarin: chi, dazibao, gung-ho, kaolin, oolong, shaolin, shanghai, tao, yin-yang

Min Nan: nunchaku

Yue (Cantonese): chop suey, dim sum, kowtow, kumquat, lychee, shar-pei, ?typhoon, wok

TUNGUSIC FAMILY (Eastern Siberia)

Evenki: pika, shaman

KOREANIC FAMILY (Koreas)

Korean: bulgogi, chaebol, hanta[virus], kimchi, mukbang, taekwondo

JAPONIC FAMILY (Japan)

Japanese: banzai, bonsai, dojo, emoji, geisha, ginkgo, hikikomori, honcho, ikebana, kamikaze, karaoke, koi, kudzu, manga, origami, pachinko, rickshaw, sake, samurai, sensei, soy, sushi, tofu, tsunami, tycoon, zen

KRA-DAI FAMILY (mainland Southeast Asia)

Thai: bong, pad thai

AUSTROASIATIC FAMILY (mainland Southeast Asia)

Vietnamese: pho, saola, Vietcong

AUSTRONESIAN FAMILY (maritime Southeast Asia and Oceania)

Western Malayan

Javanese: ?junk [ship]

Malay: amok, camphor, cockatoo, compound [building], cootie, durian, kapok, orangutan, paddy, pangolin, rattan, sarong

Barito

Malagasy: raffia

Phlippinic

Cebuano: dugong

Ilocano: yo-yo

Tagalog: boondocks

Oceanic

Hawai'ian: aloha, hula, luau, poi, wiki[pedia]

Maori: kauri, kiwi, mana, weta

Marshallese: bikini

Tahitian: pareo, tattoo

Tongan: taboo

TRANS-NEW GUINEAN FAMILY (New Guinea)

Fore: kuru

PAMA-NYUNGAN FAMILY (Australia)

Dharug: boomerang, corroboree, dingo, koala, wallaby, wobbegong, wombat, woomera

Guugu Yimithirr: kangaroo, quoll

Nyungar: dunnart, gidgee, quokka

Pitjantjatjara: Uluru

Wathaurong: bunyip

Wiradjuri: kookaburra

Yagara: dilly bag

AFRO-ASIATIC FAMILY (North Africa and Near East)

Coptic: adobe

Berber

Tachelhit: argan

Semitic

†Punic: Africa

Arabic: albatross, alchemy, alcohol, alcove, alfalfa, algebra, alkali, amber, arsenal, artichoke, assassin, candy, coffee, cotton, elixir, gazebo, gazelle, ghoul, giraffe, hashish, harem, magazine, mattress, monsoon, sofa, sugar, sultan, syrup, tabby, tariff, zenith, zero

Hebrew: amen, behemoth, cabal, cherub, hallelujah, kibbutz, kosher, manna, messiah, myrrh, rabbi, sabbath, Satan, seraph, shibboleth

NIGER-CONGO FAMILY (Subsaharan Africa)

unknown: cola, gorilla, tango

Senegambian

Wolof: banana, fonio, ?hip, ?jigger [parasite], karite, ?jive, yam

Gur-Adamawa

Ngbandi: Ebola

Kwa

Ewe: voodoo

Volta-Niger

Igbo: okra

Yoruba: gelee [headgear], mambo, oba, orisha

Cross River

Ibibio: calypso

Bantu

Lingala: basenji

Kikongo: ?chimpanzee, ?macaque, ?zombie

Kimbundu: ?banjo, Candomblé, gumbo, macumba, tanga

Swahili: askari, Jenga, kwanzaa, safari

Xhosa: Ubuntu

Zulu: impala, mamba, vuvuzela

KHOE-KWADI FAMILY (Southwest Africa)

Khoekhoe (Hottentot): gnu, kudu, quagga

ESKIMO-ALEUT FAMILY (Arctic America)

Greenlandic Inuit: igloo, kayak

Inuktitut: nunatak

ALGIC FAMILY (Eastern Canada and northeast USA)

†Proto-Algonquin: moccasin, opossum, skunk

Cree: muskeg, pemmican

Mikmaq: caribou, toboggan

Montagnais: husky

Narragansett: ?moose, ?powwow, sachem

Ojibwe: chipmunk, totem, wendigo, woodchuck

Powhatan: persimmon, raccoon

SALISHAN FAMILY (Pacific coast at the USA-Canada border)

Chehalis: chinook

Halkomelem: sasquatch

Lushootseed: geoduck

IROQUOIAN FAMILY (Eastern North America)

Cherokee: sequoia

SIOUAN FAMILY (Central USA)

Lakota: teepee

MUSKOGEAN FAMILY (Southeast USA)

Choctaw: bayou

UTO-AZTECAN FAMILY (Southwest USA and north Mexico)

Nahuatl: atlatl, avocado, chili, cocoa, coyote, chocolate, guacamole, hoazin, mesquite, ocelot, quetzal, tamale, tegu, tomato

O'odham (Pima): jojoba

Shoshone: chuckwalla

Yaqui: ?saguaro

MAYAN FAMILY (Southern Mexico and Guatemala)

Yucatec Maya: cenote, Chicxulub

ARAWAKAN FAMILY (Caribbeans and South America)

†Taino: barbecue, cannibal, canoe, cassava, cay, guava, hammock, hurricane, iguana, maize, manatee, mangrove, maroon, potato, savanna, tobacco

Arawak: papaya

CARIBAN FAMILY (Caribbean coast of South America)

unknown: curare

Galibi Carib: caiman, chigger, pawpaw, peccary, yucca

QUECHUAN FAMILY (Andes)

Quechua: ?Andes, caoutchouc, coca, condor, guano, jerky, llama, mate, poncho, puma, quinine, vicuna

AYMARAN FAMILY (Andes)

Aymara: alpaca, chinchilla

TUPIAN FAMILY (Brazil)

[borrowings are often shared between these two languages]

†Old Tupi: ananas, arowana, Cayenne [pepper], jaguar, manioc, piranha, tapioca

Guarani: cougar, maracuja, Paraguay, petunia, toucan

CREOLE LANGUAGES (worldwide, mixed origin)

English-derived

Chinese Pidgin English: chopstick, long time no see, pidgin, taipan

Jamaican Creole: dreadlocks, reggae

Chinook-derived

Chinook Jargon: potlatch

EDIT 08-01-24: added lots more examples, especially African, Asian, and North American languages. Still not done. EDIT 17-01-24: finished adding examples, more or less. EDIT: 18-02-24: apparently not (cheetah). EDIT: 20-05-24: nope (mosquito); 30-06-24: jerky, mukbang, cello, glockenspiel, hodgepodge; 06-06-25: marzipan, lagoon, contraband, artichoke EDIT 02-11-24: finally expanded the French and Latin points. Also, added kudos, camphor, moose, and the Thai and Vietnamese sections. EDIT 19-05-25: added messiah and X schm-X. Also corrected the spelling of "Inuktikut" to "Inuktitut", can't believe it took me this long. EDIT 22-06-25: catamaran

[sae-something]

Your favorite and least favorite book and movie?

I'm gonna answer this for 2024 because for my whole life I can't possibly do that!!

Movies first - might offend some people but I fucking hated Dream Scenario (2024). Holy crap what a horrible movie. I seriously considered getting up and leaving the theater about halfway through. Hated the plot, hated the story, hated the ending, hated it all :')

I can't pick just one for the favorite so I'm gonna name three:

Nata per te (Italian queer adoption storyline)

The Wild Robot (the cutest animated movie of the year, I sobbed)

Tatami (Iranian female judoka gets in trouble with the authoritarian regime)

Bonus mentions for Das Lehrerzimmer (German teacher fights rigid school system) and Monster (Japanese boy copes with trauma/abuse).

Books - the worst was a Dutch children's book I read for my bookclub (we exclusively read children's books).

Some of my favorite books of 2024 (and more but felt useless to list a bunch of Dutch books here):

Leerschool (Educated), Tara Westover

Maak me eendimensionaal, Sang Young Park (translated from Korean and I hate that it hasn't been translated to English yet!!)

All my mothers, Joanna Glen

Blue Sisters, Coco Mellors

Thank you for the fun ask, this definitely got me out of my foggy unstable brain for a bit <3

[mmmmalo]

Huh, the Iranian mythic figure "Zahhak" was at an earlier time called Aži Dahāka, making it a cognate of Tajik "Azdaja". The Homestuck wiki suggests that the Zahhak was selected because the deity's appellation of Bēvar Asp means "he who has 10,000 horses", but the repetition with Azdaja (which means dragon) makes me wonder if horses and dragons are being mingled here... we've already established that Alternia's drones are sort of dragons, so locating them at the intersection of Equius's interest in horses and robots would be pretty tidy...

[9eeeeevvvvvaaaaa6]

‼️🚨 ATTENTION EVERYBODY 🚨‼️

The nominations for this year's Academy Awards have been announced. Emilia Pérez" leads the field.

After two disaster-related shifts, Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang revealed on Thursday afternoon, the works and stars were hoping this year at the 97th place. The genre-explosive musical "Emilia Pérez" by French director Jacques Audiard is the favourite in the award ceremony, which will be held on 2nd. March will be held. The film, already successful at the Golden Globes, brings together 13 nominations, announced the Academy on Thursday. This is followed by the fictional biography "The Brutalist" and the Disney (?!) musical "Wicked" with 10 chances of winning each.

Foreignoscar without Austria

In the race for the foreign Oscar is "Die Saat des heiligen Feigenbaum" by the director Mohammad Rasoulof, who lives in Germany. The native Iranian measures herself here with the omnipresent "Emilia Pérez" as well as the Danish production "The Girl with the Needle", "I'm Still Here" from Brazil and the Latvian animation strip "Flow". The Austrian entry "Des Teufels Beitrag" by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala had not made it to the pre-selection before.

The favourites and their number of nominations

"Emilia Pérez" (13) "Wicked" und "Der Brutalist" (10) "Konklave", "Like A Complete Unknown" (8) "Anora" (6) "Dune: Part Two", "The Substance" (5) "Nosferatu" (4) "I'm Still Here", "Sing Sing", "Der wilde Roboter" (3) "A Real Pain", "Flow", "Nickel Boys", "The Apprentice" (2)

The nominees in the categories

Actor in a Supporting Role Yura Borisov, Anora Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown Guy Pearce, The Brutalist Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

Costume Design A Complete Unknown Conclave Gladiator II Nosferatu Wicked

Makeup and Hairstyling A Different Man Emilia Pérez Nosferatu The Substance Wicked

Music (Original Score) The Brutalist Conclave Emilia Pérez Wicked The Wild Robot

Music (Original Song) "Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late “El Mal” from Emilia Pérez “Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez “Like A Bird” from Sing Sing “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight

Animated Short Film Beautiful Men In the Shadow of the Cypress Magic Candies Wander to Wonder Yuck!

Live-Action Short Film A Lien Anuja I’m Not a Robot The Last Ranger The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

Writing (Adapted Screenplay) A Complete Unknown Conclave Emilia Pérez Nickel Boys Sing Sing

Writing (Original Screenplay) Anora The Brutalist A Real Pain September 5 The Substance

Actress in a Supporting Role Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown Ariana Grande, Wicked Felicity Jones, The Brutalist Isabella Rossellini, Conclave Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pére

Documentary Feature Film Black Box Diaries No Other Land Porcelain War Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat Sugarcane

Documentary Short Film Death by Numbers I Am Ready, Warden Incident Instruments of a Beating Heart The Only Girl in the Orchestra

International Feature Film Brazil, I’m Still Here Denmark, The Girl With the Needle France, Emilia Pérez Germany, The Seed of the Sacred Fig Latvia, Flow

Animated Feature Film Flow Inside Out 2 Memoir of a Snail Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl The Wild Robot

Production Design The Brutalist Conclave Dune: Part Two Nosferatu Wicked

Sound A Complete Unknown Dune: Part Two Emilia Pérez Wicked The Wild Robot

Visual Effects Alien: Romulus Better Man Dune: Part Two Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Wicked

Actor in a Leading Role Adrien Brody, The Brutalist Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown Colman Domingo, Sing Sing Ralph Fiennes, Conclave Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

Actress in a Leading Role Cynthia Erivo, Wicked Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez Mikey Madison, Anora Demi Moore, The Substance Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

Directing Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez Sean Baker, Anora Brady Corbet, The Brutalist Coralie Fargeat, The Substance James Mangold, A Complete Unknown

Best Picture Anora The Brutalist A Complete Unknown Conclave Dune: Part Two Emilia Pérez I’m Still Here Nickel Boys The Substance Wicked

Source:

[dear-indies]

Anonymous asked: hi!!! i was hoping you could provide a list of some actresses that have resources with them veiling? i'd prefer a good mix of cultures & ethnicities not just hijabis. also open to all ages! thank you!!!

(I somehow deleted the ask but I luckily sent it to a friend asking for suggestions! I sadly couldn't find many cultures with notable actresses/roles but I hope this helps.)

Afsaneh Bayegan (1961) Iranian.

Mahtab Keramati (1970) Iranian.

Leila Hatami (1972) Iranian.

Vishka Asayesh (1972) Iranian.

Hanan Tork (1974) Egyptian.

Elma Theana (1974) Indonesian.

Sarah Vi (1976) Indonesian.

Mahnaz Afshar (1977) Iranian.

Mercy Aigbe / Hajiya Meena (1978) Nigerian.

Sareh Bayat (1979) Iranian.

Niusha Zeighami (1980) Iranian.

Tannaz Tabatabaei (1983) Iranian.

Negar Javaherian (1983) Iranian.

Elnaz Shakerdoost (1984) Iranian.

Baran Kosari (1985) Iranian.

Yuna (1986) Malay and Bugis.

Heliza Helmi (1986) Malaysian.

Leah Vernon (1988) African-American.

Neelofa (1989) Malaysian.

Dina Torkia (1989) Egyptian / English.

Bella Dally (1991) Malaysian.

Wawa Zainal (1991) Bruneian, Bajau Malaysian, and Tausug Filipino.

Mariah Idrissi (1992) Pakistani and Moroccan.

Maria Alia (1993) Palestinian / Puerto Rican.

Mira Filzah (1993) Malaysian.

Elfira Loy (1994) Malaysian.

Leena Asad / With Love Leena (1994) Palestinian.

Habiba da Silva (1994) Lebanese, Syrian / Brazilian (Unspecified North African, Unspecified West African, Unspecified Indigenous, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese).

Jasmine Fares (1995)

Shahd Batal (1996) Sudanese.

Hajar Brown (1996) Moroccan.

Sabina Hannan (1996) Bangladeshi.

Halima Aden (1997) Somali.

Sonita Alizadeh (1997) Afghan.

Halima (1997) Somali.

Sarina Farhadi (1998) Iranian.

Touka El-Fawwal (1998) Egyptian.

Imen Siar (1999) Moroccan, Italian and British.

Laura Melodie Lutiq (?)

Roles only:

Öykü Karayel (Ethos) Turkish.

Yasmine Al Massri (Quantico) Palestinian / Egyptian.

Gizem Erdogan (Caliphate) Turkish.

Gülsim Ali (Payitaht Abdülhamid) Turkish.

Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts) Tamil.

Juliette Motamed (We Are Lady Parts) Iranian.

Sarah Kameela Impey (We Are Lady Parts) Afro Guyanese / British.

Lucie Shorthouse (We Are Lady Parts) Kenyan.

Faith Omole (We Are Lady Parts) Black British.

Shraddha Kapoor (Haseena Parkar) Punjabi / Marathi and Konkani.

Medalion Rahimi (NCIS: LA) Iranian, Mizrahi Jewish.

Sunita Mani (Mr. Robot) Indian.

Nikohl Boosheri (The Bold Type) Iranian.

Mina El Hammani (Elite) Morrocan.

Assa Sylla (Skam France) Black French.

Iman Meskini (Skam) Tunisian / Norwegian.

Nicole Chamoun (Safe Harbour) Lebanese.

Amanda Stephen (Orange Is the New Black) Black Canadian.

Sinem Öztürk (Huzur Sokagi) Turkish.

Burçin Abdullah (Selam) Turkish.

Helana Sawires (Ali's Wedding) Egyptian.

Esra Bilgiç (Dirilis: Ertugrul) Turkish.

Özge Yagiz (Yemin) Turkish.

Nazanin Boniadi (Homeland) Iranian.

Alia Bhatt (Gully Boy) Kashmiri and German.

[octoberfest1]

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Don’t be fooled by these Arabs The Muslims don’t give a damn about their people in Palestine they just want the world against the Jews because what they want is to finish what happened Nov 7th. Don’t be fooled.

These Muslims escape for their lives to flee the Middle East to get freedoms in the west so understand they were never free!! Israel isn’t holding them hostage the Jews are kind people, it’s these barbaric Islam regimes who hold every country in the Middle East hostage. No one flees Israel. Think!! And it’ makes no sense that these Muslims never advocate for their own people being murdered by Islamic regimes, they just hate against the Jews.

The Quran says to, Spread Islam and kill anyone who is not following Islam. First it’s the Jews, then they are after you! I have an Iranian friend these are facts.

Ask yourself, why do these Muslims never voice concerns for the barbarism that goes in in the Middle East, public hanging with out court, flogging, gassing, decapitating, executing children by firing squad, oppressive veils, hijabs, no freedom of choice, no freedom to protest the list is endless. The crimes against humanity in the Muslim Arab world is horrific YET, they never protest for their people. Because they don’t care about them these Muslims are cold and heartless they are martyrs. You believing the Jews have done anything wrong is pure ignorance! These disgusting muzzies are lying to make you go against very educated, wealthy kind people who have been through thousands of years of Arab brutality and a Holocaust.

Netflix watch Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial

This docuseries was made for Generation Z especially - It’s hard to watch but this is how Hitler lied and had people turn on the Jews, just like the Arab Muslims are doing now! Stop these sick, ill minded Muslims! Don’t forget Muslims are so religiously deluded they will become martyrs and kill themselves for Allah. This is how they were raised cold, non human robots draped in black. They don’t care about their own children, or people they just love Allah!

[eye-of-enigmatic-thought]

[ID: Traditional art of a humanised P03 from Inscryption, though now repurposed into a original character named Sohrab. Sohrab is a tan skinned Iranian nonbinary with a rectangular face, a large nose, and combed over black hair. Xe wears a black jumper with black trousers and shoes. Sohrab's legs and right arm (our right) are prosthetics due to being a triple amputee. First image has Sohrab greet and say "Yo!" with a mischievous look as he waves hi with xer prosthetic clawed hand. Second image is a small fullbody of Sohrab standing whilst holding a cane with xer prosthetic, now looking more like a anatomical hand. Next to the fullbody is a half body of a shirtless Sohrab putting on its prosthetic arm. Third image shows Sohrab with a disappointed expression. End ID.]

What was originally a human P03 design became its own thing due to me liking the design too much. Hopefully the inscryption crowd will still like my 'grumpy Iranian lad' design xD

On the more oc side... say hi to Sohrab! Xe is a Iranian roboticist that goes by it/xe pronouns! Sohrab is in the same headworld as John and takes care of them and their robotic body.

[ghelgheli]

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

from the end-of-year book ask

in no particular order:

I absorbed Martha Wells' murderbot diaries like my life depended on it. i've enjoyed her comfortable prose and casually intricate worldbuilding a lot. it's been textually backgrounded so far but it's clear she's interested in taking on the political-economic implications of relying on forced labour classes in a sci-fi context. she writes rich interiority and loves to bounce her characters off each other, which is especially fun when the pov character is some kinda robot. obviously my jam.

maybe too soon to say "love", idk, only one book in, but Cixin Liu kind of just stunned me with three body problem. don't know how else to put it. I'm a slut for hard sci-fi that looks effortless (anyone who's talked to me about this for two seconds knows i can't shut up about peter watts) and most of the book was just that, flowing from one thought experiment put to paper to another seamlessly. found his prose went down so smooth too. altho it was funny reading it and remembering how in the 2000s writing string theory into sci fi was almost a foregone conclusion, the nu-metal of sf worldbuilding

i was put on to ali rahnema's research work too and his book on the iranian fadayaan just gripped me with the combination of meticulous research and thoughtful storytelling, so i have more of his stuff on my list 100%

ty for ask✨🐐

[danglovely]

Regrading Taskmaster: S06E04 BMXing!

Been a bit! I really don't like Series Six, so it is actually tough sledding writing it up. Still, the faster we get through Six, the sooner we get to Seven.

We get to meet Alex's assistant "Little Ian" who is quickly sacked. He just has enough time to trick Greg and get Alex a silver car.

Prize Task: The Most Thought Provoking Thing

I've worked it out . . . Bill is dead.

Greg seems to be looking for items that provoke a wide variety of thoughts. I'm more of the opinion that anything that inspires a strong sense of curiosity fits the bill here. Asim's Iranian prince portrait does look a lot like him, but Greg is not wrong in saying that having a doppelganger doesn't really wrinkle the brain.

Tim's Bill Cotton and Kathie Kay record really seems to get Greg's conspiracy brain going. I'm less intrigued by it; it's just kind of a bad album cover. It's interesting that Greg didn't seem to know who Tesla was before Liza brought in her prize. Tesla is thought provoking, but she didn't really have a prize to bring in other than "files." I am curious what those files consist of, which technically fits the category.

Alice brings Don't Pee on my Leg and Tell Me It's Raining by Judy Sheindlin. I can't really speak to how thought-provoking the book is, but Alice does not sell it well. Russell has a photo of a Buddhist monk playing with a fidget spinner app on an iPad. I'm not so thrown by the mystique of monks that I can't imagine them using apps.

Overall, a pretty weak showing in my opinion. Alice goes in last because of her pitch. Tesla goes in first because he's an interesting figure. The rest are mostly interchangeable, but personal preference dictates Russell > Tim > Asim.

Alice: 1 (-2) Asim: 2 (+1) Liza: 5 (+3) Russell: 4 (-1) Tim: 3 (-1)

VT 01: Do something manly with this cardboard box.

Go down to the local abattoir, take your own hammer, and start taking names.

Interesting task because "manly" is a construct that is mostly in the eye of the beholder. The easy ones I can mark down are those who failed to use the box. Tim's flexing has a simple elegance to it, but he is just standing in the box. Alice's play about the wage gap doesn't integrate the box at all and seems pretty half-hearted.

Asim makes a cardboard feeling robot that does go beyond the conventional understanding of "manly." It's not brilliant, but it's better than most of the showings. For example: Russell basically loses his mind (he also just stands in the box). I do think Liza has the best effort by casting the box as a man and creating a pretty depressing image of a servile marriage.

Alice: 1 (-3) Asim: 4 (0) Liza: 5 (0) Russell: 2 (-2) Tim: 3 (-1)

VT 02: Have the most fun. Exactly recreate your attempt at the first task.

Fun!

The point of this task really seems like it's the recreation attempt and "having the most fun" is pretty superfluous. The team of three definitely seems to have more fun than Team Funk and for that reason, they're a lot worse at recreating the attempt. That said, Russell and Alice don't do so perfect a job that they deserve more than the 3-2 split.

Team Funk: 3 (-4) Asim, Liza, & Tim: 2 (-6)

VT 03: Make the best art using the entire contents of this can of squirty cream.

Her majesty the cream.

I'm not entirely sure what Liza made and I'm a little shocked she gets five for it. Tim went for the pun, but it's not an impressive bit of art. Alice's, on the other hand, is really really good. Asim doesn't have the clearest idea to represent global warming, so he's going to slide in after Russell.

Alice: 5 (+1) Asim: 3 (+2) Liza: 1 (-4) Russell: 4 (+1) Tim: 2 (0)

VT 04: Remove the £5 note from under the pint without spilling any of the pint. If you spill any of the pint, you are disqualified.

Zero points for Alice and Liza who both spilt so much beer.

Alice seemed to have the strategy figured out by sliding the pint off using the task. It's just unfortunate that she spills. They're not allowed to touch the glass and it doesn't seem like anyone broke that rule.

Gotta respect Liza for just going "fuck it" and going for the whip. It does get her disqualified.

Alice: DQ Asim: 4 Liza: DQ Russell: 5 Tim: 3

Live Task: When tapped on the shoulder, shake hands with the Taskmaster without revealing your identities. You may not speak during the task. Everyone must shake hands with the Taskmaster once for at least 2 seconds. If the Taskmaster guesses your identity, you are disqualified.

The breathing is awful.

This is a winner-take-all task. Asim and Tim accidentally give away that Greg guesses them correctly. It doesn't really matter because Alice is the only one who successfully dupes him. No controversy here.

Alice: 5 Asim: DQ Liza: DQ Russell: DQ Tim: DQ

F I N A L

Alice: 15 Asim: 16 Liza: 13 Russell: 18 Tim: 13

Russell won the first time and he does so again.

[andronetalks]

A woman tried to call her mom in Iran. A robotic voice answered the phone

AP News By FARNOUSH AMIRI and SARAH EL DEEBUpdated 5:19 PM EDT, June 20, 2025 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — When Ellie, a British-Iranian living in the United Kingdom, tried to call her mother in Tehran, a robotic female voice answered instead. “Alo? Alo?” the voice said, then asked in English: “Who is calling?” A few seconds passed. “I can’t heard you,” the voice continued, its English…

[home-inspiration-blog]

A woman tried to call her mom in Iran. A robotic voice answered the phone

By FARNOUSH AMIRI and SARAH EL DEEB DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — When Ellie, a British-Iranian living in the United Kingdom, tried to call her mother in Tehran, a robotic female voice answered instead. Related Articles Internet and phone outage in much of Gaza disrupts humanitarian operations and deepens isolation Mexico assesses damage from Hurricane Erick as rising rivers leave at…