#been army since November 2021

[emperorsnero]

Anyone else enjoying the Bangtan concert?

HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY 💜💜💜

[wearenotjustnumbers2]

Since I've seen a number of people shocked about the Palestinian kids kept in Israeli prisons, here's more. I suggest you read about it more and spread the truth.

Ahmad manasra was arrested in 2015, after he was run over by Israeli soldiers and his cousin who was walking with him killed. He has been kept in solitary confinement since November 2021. He started showing signs of mental disorders as well as schizophrenia due to the torture he endured by the IOF. Read about our children who are getting tortured and abused in Israeli military prisons. They are not criminals, freedom to all of them.

Soldiers versus children, yet the world sides with soldiers! This is pre-OCT 7th! A western backed, democratically elected government with one - if not THE strongest army in the world! I am a mother my heart skips beats when I look at their faces. These could be my children or your children. These are our children! Enough! This occupation must end now! This madness must end now!

[no-passaran]

Spain lied about not selling weapons to Israel.

Even after October 7th, Spain has sold more than 1 million € of weapons to Israel. Norway and Finland make it possible.

In January, Spain made headlines word-wide when the government's Minister of Exteriors, José Manuel Albares (PSOE), claimed in Congress and later again in a radio interview that Spain had stopped selling weapons to Israel ever since October 7th. Israel's intensification of violence in Gaza following October 7th meant that, on top of decades of apartheid and ethnic cleansing, between October 7th and January 23rd Israel had already killed 28,000 people and forced 2 million out of their home. In this context, many people were demanding their governments stop arming and funding the genocide of the Palestinian people, and here on Tumblr and other social media sites like Twitter I think we all saw the many posts praising the Spanish government for this.

Well, it turns out it was a lie.

According to Albares, "Since October 7th there are no more weapons exportations [from Spain] to Israel". But in November alone, Spain exported weapons to Israel for 987,000€, as was published on the Spanish Government's official website dedicated to exterior commerce (Comex). A researcher from Centre Delàs (an independent centre for peace studies) found it and published it, and it has also been verified by newspapers such as elDiario.es.

This 987,000€ worth of weapons in November was not the only ammunition that Spain has sent to Israel in 2023. In 2023, Spain exported a total of 1.48 million € in war material to Israel.

All of the weapons sent in November come from the factory of Nammo Palencia (Castilla y León), a corporation that is 50% property of the Government of Norway and 50% owned by a public Finnish business. However, even if the owners are foreigners, the ammunition was sent from Spain and thus it had to be authorized by the an organism of the Spanish Government named Junta Interministerial de Defensa y Doble Uso, whose deliberations on whether a weapons exportation is accepted or denied are kept secret. The only cases where they have denied exporting weapons to Israel have been when they thought that Israel would re-sell these weapons to the Philippines.

Spain has had a close relation with Israel for years. As published by the Spanish Government, Spain has sold 20 million € of weapons to Israel between 2012 and 2022. Spain also buys weapons and military software from Israel (for example, the Spanish Intelligence Service has been using the Israeli software Pegasus to illegally spy on Catalan activists, journalists, politicians and civil society members and their relatives to attack the Catalan independence movement), and Spain has continued buying from Israel and allocating defense contracts to Israel even after the October 7th attacks. It is very difficult to track the concessions of public contracts such as buying weapons, but some contracts have been known. For example, on November 24th 2023, Spain bought 287.5 million € of missiles from Israel. This is not unusual: between 2011 and 2021, it is publicly known that Spain bought war material from Israel for at least 268 million €, but experts say that the real number could be two or three times as much.

Spain has also continued allocating concessions to Israel. For example, on December 15th 2023 Spain allocated a contract worth over 576 million € to Israel for a rocket launcher programme. On November 22nd, Spain allocated another another Israeli company to provide missiles for 237 million € at the same time as the Spanish army bought Israeli inhibitors for 1.4 million €. The very next day, November 23rd, Spain signed another military allocation to Israel for 82,600€. The following week, Spain signed yet another allocation with a different Israeli military corporation for 3.7 million €.

Spain also allows Israeli weapon manufacturing companies to produce weapons through their branches located in Spain. This way, Israeli weapons make their way to markets with which Israel doesn't have diplomatic ties but Spain does, like Saudi Arabia. And since Spain is a member of NATO, Israeli weapons produced in Spain are approved according to NATO standards and access it easily. In the same way, these Israeli weapons manufacturers also access European Union defense funds through their branches in Spain. (source).

As I said, I saw a lot of positive posts around when Albares said Spain was going to embargo, but I haven't seen any post about how they didn't do it. I also (personally) haven't seen anything on international media, and barely anything on Spanish media, which is already busy with the PSOE covid material corruption scandal. So I share this in the hope of helping put pressure on Spain to cut all ties with Israel immediately.

SHAME ON EVERYONE WHO GIVES ISRAEL THE MATERIAL AND MONEY THAT WILL BE USED TO MASSACRE THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE. SHAME ON SPAIN, NORWAY, AND FINLAND.

[singto-prachaya]

Did I make a banner specifically for this post? Yes I did. This is a post to introduce you to Offroad Kantapon and Daou Pittaya who are currently starring in the BL Love In Translation. Get to know these two and their close soulmates bond through this post.

Let's start first with a short history lesson: Both participated in the survival show Lazicon (started airing October 9, 2021) and it was the first time they met each other. They became close in a short amount of time and you would often see them holding insta lives together. For a compilation of how they acted with each other during those lives as well as some Lazicon clips I made a fanvideo a while back. I never published it because it was just something I wanted to make for myself and one other person.

Now since the post will be long you can find the rest under the read more link.

One thing Offroad wanted during Lazicon was to perform in the final with Daou and some of his close friends from Insight Entertainment. This would have happened if Daou was fully recovered from having covid but he wasn't. So the performance was without him. Daou however was present through a video call. During a performance were all Lazicon contestants sung together Offroad looked at the screen, saw Daou and started crying. A timestamped video were you can see Offroad getting emotional.

Not in front of my salad! Straight to this point. If you watched my fanvideo or at least a part of it skinship between those two is pretty normal. However if you are contantly all over each other it can cause people to want you to get a room! Especially their band members. There is this behind the scenes clip of Rak Diao in which they made an appearance and check out the timestamped part. Watch for about 20 sec.

Close friends! Daou has some close friends. A couple were from Insight and they had no problem with spilling some tea sometimes. Frank who is now DVI said during a live with the boys and some other contestants "It looks like they are flirting". Daou is also close with Joong Archen and he also had some things to say. "What everyone sees is just a little bit. Joong saw a lot more than that". And he mentioned once how Daou has never taken care of someone like this before not even his close friends. Also during a live with Joong and Daou, Daou got called. Joong then was like "Who is calling? Is that handsome boy. The blond haired one".

The part with Joong starts at 1:45

Jealousy what's that? Anyone who has been in the fandom long enough knows how they talk to each other on twitter and IG. One thing is pretty clear, Daou doesn't like it when Offroad shows to much skin. And he will let it know pretty clearly. Ban hammer gifs, talking about how he has the full sized picture, trying to pull Offroad's shorts, you name it. When the trailer of Our Days was released Offroad appeared half naked in it a couple times and fans then took screenshots and put shirts on Offroad to cover him up. Atime26 even released an edited trailer with those shirts on twitter. The inpact! Most recently Offroad wore a shirt with tiny holes in it and Daou called it see through. And during a recent twitch stream of Daou a fan asked if they could buy a see through shirt for Offroad. They could, but fans can only look. Another recent jealousy example here!

Talking about each other! They talk a lot about each other. Good things but sometimes things can also get sad. I will start here around the time Daou posted that he had to go into the army (he had to enlist 1 November 2022). Offroad commented and said "Eat well. I wish you luck, no suffering, no call, no disease. 👏❤️ Send your heart to me. I love you so much. I will do my best here. Let's go". The last day before Daou's enlistment a podcast was posted by The Modernist with the Laz1 boys. There was also a written version and let me copy a part. One question that was asked was "Choose one person and tell him your innermost feelings".

Offroad: But if I want to talk to another person who is very special, that is, I want to talk about P'Wu. Because he was the only person in the group who saw me from the beginning. I want to say that my place is like this. What I want to say is that I want him to see that I'm getting better. (Crying so much that he couldn't breathe) I wanted to tell him that. I have been with him for a long time and he is another person who has fulfilled me to be here as well.

Offroad has said a couple times before that he felt like he was a burden to Daou because he felt like he wasn't good enough.

During the last day they also had last fanmeet. And when Daou grabbed the microphone to talk he put his arm around Offroad's shoulder. And then when he started talking Offroad broke down (video linked there).

And here someone made a tiktok about the enlistment.

They had to work in pairs after the first round in Lazicon and Daou picked Offroad.

Special person talk during EMF fandom live today.

Couple rings! Daou lied to Offroad and said his fanclub wanted to buy a ring so they needed Offroad's ring size. Turned out Daou wanted to buy couple rings. A fan found out it were Cartier rings worth 1500 euro's each. And Daou isn't even rich. During EMF fandom live today there was more couple rings talk.

This was for an interview with Mint Magazine. Full trans for the interview here. As a long term fan I was confused by their answer because for me it's always been a 10. Not sure how it could have gotten more.

Daou talking about how in BL series the characters at least have to love each other but that they don't have to force themselves since they already have a close relationship. Full interview here and you can use google trans on the webpage.

Couple song! Last part. Daou and Offroad's fandom name is Nubdao and they have a song called Nubdao which was written by them and which is about each other. Nubdao means counting the stars.

Translation of this song in a comment here

[day6source]

[Exclusive] DAY6 is coming together as a whole at the end of the year…Concert for the first time in 4 years

by Reporter Hwang Hyejin

[Reporter Hwang Hyejin on the news] Band DAY6 (DAY6) will unite as a whole at the end of the year. According to news reports, DAY6 will hold a solo concert at Hwajeong Gymnasium in Seoul at the end of December. This performance is meaningful in that it is the first musical performance that all members announce as a team after ending their 'military period' (military + gap period). Leader, vocalist and guitarist Sungjin was discharged from active duty in the army in September last year, and vocalist and bassist Young K, who became the first idol singer to become a KATUSA soldier, finished his military service in April of this year. Drummer Dowoon was discharged from the army in July, and Wonpil, the first idol singer to enlist in the navy, became a civilian on November 27. It has been four years since the concert in December 2019 that DAY6 met with fans My Day through a face-to-face group concert. As existing songs such as 'You Were Beautiful' and 'Time of Our Life' were re-examined in 'Military Baekgi', and the charts were resurrected, it is expected that a ticket war will break out as the firepower of new fans is added to existing fans. Through this performance, the members said, "Our story will continue." Let's meet again with a smile" and "I want to come back in a good way and play with My Day (DAY6's official fandom name) on the stage." In particular, Wonpil proved his special love for DAY6 My Day by volunteering in the Navy, which has about two months longer service days than the Army, and taking about a month off to quickly recover his musical sense. The fact that there are quite a few live stages that will be revealed for the first time in this performance also raises the expectations of prospective audiences. DAY6 was unable to present all the songs from their 6th mini album "The Book of Us: The Demon" (released in May 2020) and 7th mini album "The Book of Us: Negentropy - Chaos Swallowed Up in Love" (released in April 2021). DAY6, who debuted as JYP Entertainment's first band in September 2015, established themselves as 'Trust and Listen in DAY6' by making numerous self-composed songs such starting with 'Congratulations', followed by 'Letting Go,' 'You were Beautiful,' 'I like you,' 'days gone by,' 'Time of Our Life', 'Zombie', and 'Right Through Me'. In just four years since its debut, DAY6 has achieved achievements such as exceeding 100 live performances, holding two world tours, and winning the Best Band Performance Award at the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards. They signed a renewal contract last September, the 7th anniversary of their debut, and promised to write countless pages of the second act together. DAY6, who has confirmed the long-awaited group concert, will appear on KBS Cool FM's "DAY6's Kiss the Radio" at 10 p.m. on November 28th.

[foxes-that-run]

Midnights is the break up album

In the above interview with Zane Lowe Taylor talks about Happiness and how it is about ending a long term life changing relationship. Taylor said it was the last song for Evermore, and started relating to friendship. Toward the end she switches to speak in the first person. That was in December 2020, 1.5 years before Midnights. After that we saw Joe very little.

The concept of the album was a series of midnight thoughts throughout Taylor’s life, which many tracks are, however there is an element of viewing the downfall of this relationship through them. I think Taylor didn't want to make the announcement through a publicist but through her lyrics on Midnights.

Question, Glitch and SOTB are plain wishing she was with an ex

Bejeweled is remembering when CH didn’t value her love, reflecting that she also also bored and under appreciated in her current relationship

Midnight rain is possibly the toughest, it’s reflecting on a relationship she let go for fame

Dear reader is a statement that she is not who her fans think because the happy in love narrative is not her experience

Taylor stopped liking Joe's IG posts 11 May 2022, he didn’t attend her NYU doctorate ceremony on the 18th May 2022, midnights was released in October and the break up announced the following April after the Eras tour had started.

A relationship having ended would not have been announced in real time ahead of a world tour and new album. Us knowing is a secondary challenge to actually going through the break up. What I wonder about is why was Invisible String ever on the setlist, was it there to be removed when it went public?

Taylor stopped liking his IG posts 11 May 2022

Taylor also went from always liking Joe’s IG posts to stopping between 27 April and 11 May 2022, she hasn’t liked one since:

So when?

Taylor may share one day. But to me this lyric in Stop you're losing me hints at the point she realised it was over:

Fighting in only your army Frontlines, don't you ignore me I'm the best thing at this party(You're losin' me)

Taylor is the best thing at most parties, but after showing up at the Golden Globes and wrap parties for a not great TV series for Joe he made some not great (or not at all) showings at big events for her:

2020

25 November - In the Long Pond Session Taylor said Joe was William Bowery

16 December - Taylor said to Zane Lowe that Happiness is about ending a long term relationship, she switched to first person

2021

15 March - Grammy's Joe had never come & it was COVID limited, but he won a Grammy for *Album of the year* & I'd say she has the pull for a ticket for a producer of it

April - Folklore credits update to add Joe as producer on 6 songs, including 3 William Bowery wrote, Grammy eligible. No credits for midnights and evermore.

12 May - Taylor was honored with a Global Icon award but Joe left to film in Belfast the week before. Harry also at Brits and won.

21 August - Joe actually seen with Taylor

14 September - Taylor seen in ireland, seen at conversations with friends cast party

14 November - Blake, Ryan, Sophie & Selena join Taylor at the SNL All to Well launch party. Joe A was filming in Panama.

2022

27 March - They went to the Vanity Fair Oscars pre-party, but Taylor skipped the 2022 Grammy's, Brit Awards and Oscars. It's interesting that the only photos of Taylor are of getting out of the car with Joe squinting, they bypassed the press line.

11 May Taylor stopped liking Joes IG posts

18 May - Taylor receives an honorary doctorate from NYU, while not a party it is a massive deal. In her speech she smiled at a particular part of the audience when she referenced friends and family, but Joe was at a Rising Hollywood party in LA.

19 May - Joe on Kelly Clarkson talking about William Bowery

31 August - VMAs afterparty - Joe & Taylor's unglamourous run to a car. VMAs have been important to Taylor since 2009. She was on the cusp of winning the most VMAs ever, announced Midnights and All to Well won. I wonder if Midnights was already done though.

20 October - Midnights pap walk where Joe uses a coffee table book to shield his hand from being held.

2023

9 February - Grammy afterparty- Joe came to afterparty

31 March - The 1 replaces Invisible String.

8 April - break up announced said it occured 'weeks earlier'

[usafphantom2]

Russia's 'inability' to establish air superiority in Ukraine

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 01/09/2024 - 19:30in Military, War Zone.

Russia is once again showing that it is not able to achieve air superiority in Ukraine, as it did at the beginning of its large-scale invasion of the country, British defense officials said.

In the autumn, Ukrainian forces established a bridgehead, or a strong support point, on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, near the city of Kherson in the south. The river has long been a critical natural barrier that prevents advances, but Kiev has taken a bold strategic measure that is re-enarging this front area.

To make the Ukrainians retreat, Russia resorted to its available air power to attack the Ukrainian bridgehead at Krynky, on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, controlled by Russia. But that changed on December 22, when Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk, commander of the Ukrainian air force, said that his troops shot down three Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers.

Su-34 Fullback.

The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense (MoD) noted on X, former Twitter, the importance of the overthrow of the three Russian Su-34 jets over southern Ukraine.

A U.S.-made MIM-104 Patriot air defense system shot down the planes, according to Russian military bloggers. Ukraine also said that, on December 24, its armed forces destroyed two other Russian warplanes, a Su-30 and a Su-34, on the fronts of Odessa and Mariupol in the Black Sea. There has still been no official confirmation of the statements from either side.

After the losses, the Russian Aerospace Forces almost completely interrupted manned operations in southern Ukraine, the United Kingdom MoD said on Saturday.

“This demonstrates once again that Russia's inability to establish air superiority in the early stages of the Russia-Ukraine war continues to undermine its daily operation,” the MoD said.

Russian Sukhoi Su-35 jet fighters fire rockets during the Aviadarts competition, as part of the 2021 International Army Games in the Dubrovichi mountain range, near Ryazan, Russia, on August 27, 2021. (Archive photo: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)

This lack of air support may have contributed “to the failure of an attempt by the 18º Combined Weapons Army of the Russian Ground Forces to clean the bridgehead,” British authorities said. In recent days, Russia has increased air strikes around the bridgehead, “but to a lower level than before the slaughters”.

Although the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in November on the X that its forces had consolidated positions in fortresses on the Dnieper River, the Ukrainian Marines questioned the operation around the bridgehead and spoke of high losses.

Some have told Western media, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, that the operation is useless, with many hit on the banks of the rivers or in the water before they even reach the other side.

Su-35 Flanker.

Open source military and intelligence analyst Emil Kastehelmi said last month that it was not clear what Ukraine's objectives were. “Although the operation itself may be somewhat questionable from the Ukrainian point of view, the Russians were not able to take the bridgehead,” Kastehelmi said.

“Instead, they continuously attack there with limited forces, suffering constant loss of equipment,” he added. "There is still the possibility of Ukrainians trying to open a new bridge elsewhere and expand the operation during the winter."

MiG-31 Foxhound.

The Russian military was expected to pave the way for their ground attack with air power that would destroy Ukrainian air defenses and ensure air superiority, but the Russian air force was practically absent in action, surprising many observers.

This unforced failure to compromise their air forces in combat at first was seen as a big mistake, which helped give Ukrainians an opportunity to combat. Russia has never had the same opportunity again and since then has paid dearly for this mistake with lost fighters and helicopters.

At the end of December, the independent think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stated that, after the losses of aircraft, Russian forces were “concerned with Ukrainian air defense capabilities” and limited manned aviation near the Crimea occupied by Russia, particularly in the northwestern Black Sea region.

Moscow demonstrated that it can overcome Kiev in the skies thanks to disparities in the size of the force, in the electronic and technical capabilities and in the performance of missiles and radar, neither Russia nor Ukraine managed to establish air superiority due to the formidable capacity of the ground-to-air missile system on both sides. The airspace above the battlefield in Ukraine remains disputed.

Soon Ukraine will receive F-16 fighters.

Ukraine hopes that its fate will change with the eventual arrival of F-16 fighters manufactured in the US, some of which were promised to Kiev by some of its European supporters. But when exactly these advanced aircraft are scheduled to arrive is not clear and can still take months, if not more.

Tags: Military AviationRFSAF - Russian Federation Aerospace Force/Russian Aerospace ForceWar Zones - Russia/Ukraine

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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[girlactionfigure]

He was the proud son of Italian immigrants, and he was born on August 3, 1926 in Astoria, Queens, New York. His mother was a seamstress and his father was a grocer. His father died when he was 10.

He grew up during the Great Depression and quickly learned what life was about. With no father, the family lived in poverty, and by the age of 16, the young boy had dropped out of school to support his family.

In November 1944, during the final stages of World War II, he was drafted into the United States Army and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. After seeing the horrors of war firsthand, fighting Nazis, and liberating a concentration camp, he said, "My experience in the Army turned me into a lifelong pacifist and it’s my hope that all wars and violence will become a thing of the past."

He added, "Anybody who thinks that war is romantic obviously hasn't gone through one."

While in the army, he also saw what racism was about firsthand. He got demoted for dining with a black friend, at a time when the Army was still racially segregated.

“An Army officer blasted the two soldiers — one Black and the other White — with a hate-filled rant for being together in public,” according to The Washington Post. “In the segregated military of the day, the two men were not allowed to socialize. Back then, the punishment for Black and White soldiers associating with one another was more severe than if they fraternized with civilians in occupied Germany.”

“This officer took out a razor blade and cut my corporal stripes off my uniform right then and there,” he wrote. “He spit on them and threw them on the floor, and said, ‘Get your ass out of here!’”

~~~~~

He had been interested in singing since he was a child, and after his discharge from the Army and with the help of the GI Bill, he started studying at the American Theatre Wing. He continued performing whenever he could, even while waiting on tables.

One day, singer Pearl Bailey recognized his singing talents and asked him to open for her in Greenwich Village. There he met entertainer Bob Hope who was also impressed with him, and suggested he change his name.

He would eventually cut a demo, remembering his difficult time, growing up, singing the words, "I left my... soul behind me" in the song, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."

By this time, he had taken Bob Hope's advice and had simplified his name, from Anthony Dominick Benedetto to . . . Tony Bennett.

“Tony Bennett, a singer whose melodic clarity, jazz-influenced phrasing, audience-embracing persona and warm, deceptively simple interpretations of musical standards helped spread the American songbook around the world and won him generations of fans, died on Friday at his home of many decades in Manhattan. He was 96,” according to the New York Times.

“Mr. Bennett learned he had Alzheimer’s disease in 2016, his wife, Susan Benedetto, told AARP The Magazine in February 2021. But he continued to perform and record despite his illness; his last public performance was in August 2021, when he appeared with Lady Gaga at Radio City Music Hall in a show titled ‘One Last Time.’

“Mr. Bennett’s career of more than 70 years was remarkable not only for its longevity, but also for its consistency. In hundreds of concerts and club dates and more than 150 recordings, he devoted himself to preserving the classic American popular song, as written by Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Duke Ellington, Rodgers and Hammerstein and others.”

The Peace Page last shared a story on Tony Bennett in 2019. This is an updated story, remembering Mr. Bennett’s life.

The Peace Page focuses on past and present stories—some seldom told, others simply forgotten, still others intentionally ignored. The stories and chapters are gathered from writers, journalists, and historians to share awareness and foster understanding—to bring people together. We thank you for taking the time to be here and helping us share awareness.

~~~~~

In July 1961, Mr. Bennett was performing in Hot Springs, Ark., and about to head to the West Coast, according to the New York Times.

Bennett's accompanist and arranger for more than 50 years, Ralph Sharon, found sheet music to a song, stashed in a drawer, along with some shirts, according to NPR. “He packed it before hitting the road.”

"I always remember," recounts Sharon. I took this out of my bag, and looked at it, and called Tony. And I said, 'You know something, we're going to San Francisco next.' And I said, 'This is a song here that might be interesting.' "

“Mr. Sharon and Mr. Bennett decided that [the song written by George Cory and Douglass Cross] would be perfect for their next date, at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, and it was.”

“They recorded the song — of course it was “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” — six months later, in January 1962. It won Mr. Bennett his first two Grammys, for best male solo performance and record of the year, and worldwide fame.”

Tony Bennett would go on to become one of the most beloved singers in history, winning 20 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, and two Emmy Awards. He has sold over 50 million records worldwide.

But, he never forgot his past, and he never forgot the promise of America, saying, "we’re the greatest country," but adding the reason is "because we’re all different nationalities and all different religions."

He remembered when his good friend Harry Belafonte, who he had known since the 40s when they were both just starting out, gave him a call and "told me what was going on in the South and asked me to join Dr. King on his march to Selma.”

Bennett recalled on CNN in 2013, “I didn't want to do it, but then he told me what went down — how some Blacks were burned. Had gasoline thrown on them and they were burned. When I heard that, I said, 'I'll go with you.'"

“I knew it was important to be there and support. I remember it was decided that we wanted to set up a performance for the marchers one night, but we were in an open field. One of the organizers had a friend who owned a funeral home and they brought in 18 wooden coffins and we used that as the foundation for a stage that night."

“I kept flashing back to a time twenty years ago when my buddies and I fought our way into Germany,” he wrote in his autobiography. “It felt the same way down in Selma: the white state troopers were really hostile, and they were not shy about showing it.”

At the march, Bennett also met Detroit civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo, who had driven Bennett to the airport, according to the Detroit Free Press. The next day, Liuzzo was shot and killed by the Ku Klux Klan .

~~~~~

Bennett continued speaking out for civil rights and would also speak out against apartheid in South Africa.

He would also say his war experience gave him "a social conscience," saying he believes "every gun in the world should melt somehow and as soon as possible," and comparing America’s gun culture and the political tolerance of it to Hitler’s Germany.

He said, "I consider myself a humanist."

When he received the Jazz Foundation of America Lifetime Achievement Award, presenter Ben Stiller mentioned his admiration for the singer in taking on social justice issues long before it was fashionable, from marching in Selma to refusing to play in South Africa during Apartheid, according to Billboard.

~~~~~

“There is one other very important thing about Bennett to note and to admire,” according to the The Editorial Board of the Chicago Tribune. “He continued to perform despite the onset of dementia.

“For anyone who watched his late-in-life work with Lady Gaga, here was a remarkable example of someone who showed the world one of the oft-forgotten truths about a condition that afflicts so many Americans: People with advanced levels of dementia still can contribute a great deal, especially if it is something they have done for years.

“Bennett struggled to remember names and faces, but when he started to sing, he went on a kind of autopilot, the familiar smile returning to his face and the notes and even the lyrics flowing like good wine. This was familiar to many people who knew dementia well: a reminder that the original person always is in there, communicating and loving just as at the times when it was far more obvious to those on the outside. In his courage, Bennett offered a great deal of comfort to those who best knew what he was facing.

“Fortunately, Bennett managed to surround himself with kind family members and fellow artists who protected his reputation as they did his spirit.”

~~~~~

The Hollywood Bowl said, "Throughout his life, Tony Bennett has been a dedicated pacifist and proactive humanitarian selflessly supporting many causes whose goals benefit the lives of millions. His love for his country has earned him the distinction of national treasure and the United Nations has named him a Citizen of the World as one of their foremost ambassadors."

Bennett remembered in the army when he couldn’t dine with his Black friend.

“I couldn’t get over the fact that they condemned us for just being friends, and especially while we served our country in wartime,” Bennett wrote in his 1998 autobiography, “The Good Life.” “There we were, just two kids happy to see each other, trying to forget for the moment the horror of the war, but for the brass it just boiled down to the color of our skin.”

Bennett remembered being “terrified by the violence,” but it only confirmed his belief that no one “should suffer simply because of the color of his skin.” He continued to speak out against bigotry and hatred throughout his career, often performing with African American entertainers at a time when it wasn’t socially acceptable, according to The Washington Post.

According to an interview with Susan C. Ingram in October 2018, Bennett recalls what his former neighbor Ella Fitzgerald told him - “Tony, we are all here.” "And Ella was right, we share this planet together and we have more in common than we have differences since we are all human."

~ jsr

The Jon S. Randal Peace Page

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Jack Smith, the U.S. special counsel named to investigate Republican former President Donald Trump, has a reputation for winning tough cases against war criminals, mobsters and crooked police officers.

Behind the scenes, however, Smith's former colleagues say he is just as tenacious in his pursuit to get criminal charges dropped for the innocent as he is to win convictions against the guilty.

When Smith isn't busy competing as a triathlete in Ironman races, they said, he is working as a dogged investigator who is open-minded and not afraid to pursue the truth.

"If the case is prosecutable, he will do it," said Mark Lesko, an attorney at Greenberg Traurig LLP who worked with Smith when both were prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York City's Brooklyn. "He is fearless."

Smith recently returned to the United States after working from The Hague in the Netherlands since November while recovering from knee surgery following a biking accident, a person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday.

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November to take over two investigations involving Trump, who is running for President in 2024.

The first probe involves Trump's handling of highly sensitive classified documents he retained at his Florida resort after leaving the White House in January 2021.

The second investigation is looking at efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election's results, including a plot to submit phony slates of electors to block Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's victory.

Grand juries in Washington have been hearing testimony in recent months for both investigations from many former top Trump administration officials.

SEARCH FOR INNOCENCE AND GUILT

Smith, a Harvard Law School grad who is not registered with any political party, started as a prosecutor in 1994 at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office under Robert Morgenthau, who was best known for prosecuting mob bosses.

Smith's friends credit Morgenthau with instilling in him the skills that made him the prosecutor he is today.

"There was just a real emphasis, from Morgenthau on down, on not just going after convictions," recalled Todd Harrison, an attorney at McDermott Will & Emery who worked with Smith in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and later in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn.

"We were praised if we investigated something and demonstrated that the target of the investigation was innocent."

Once, he and Smith "spent the whole night making phone calls" after learning that a jailed suspect in one of their cases was innocent. The suspect was released the next day.

In 1999, Smith started working at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn.

He won a conviction against New York City Police Officer Justin Volpe, a white policeman who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for assaulting Abner Louima, a jailed Black inmate, with a broomstick.

Smith also won a capital murder conviction against Ronell Wilson, a drug gang leader who murdered two undercover New York City police officers, though a federal appeals court vacated the death penalty verdict.

In 2008, Smith left to supervise war crime prosecutions at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He returned to the Justice Department in 2010 to head its Public Integrity Section until 2015.

Most recently, he worked as chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague investigating war crimes in Kosovo, and won a conviction last month against Salih Mustafa, a former Kosovo Liberation Army commander.

Moe Fodeman, an attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati who worked as a prosecutor with Smith, said his former colleague is known for being methodical and thinking outside the box.

"He is famous for to-do lists," said Fodeman, adding that the lists would be filled "with ideas that, of course, you should do, but no one thinks of."

Smith is also known for being expeditious, and Fodeman predicted the special counsel's investigations involving Trump will probably move swiftly.

"He's not going to be dillydallying," Fodeman said. "He's going to get the job done."

[arkipelagic]

November 18, 2023 — Kapatid Southern Tagalog released a statement on the second death anniversary of Antonio “Tatay Antonio” Molina:

Today, we remember Antonio Molina, farmer and peasant organizer, on his 2nd Death Anniversary.

Antonio Molina, fondly called as Tatay Antonio, hailed from the countryside of General Nakar in Quezon Province, which is 8 to 10 hours away by land from the National Capital Region.

Raised in a poor family of coconut farmers, Tatay Antonio was radicalized at a young age and chose to serve and organize fellow farmers that government services were unable to reach. He started organizing in his hometown, before organizing in the whole of Quezon province, until he became a member of Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (KASAMA TK), a regional federation of peasant organizations from the regions of CALABARZON and MIMAROPA.

Despite his old age and ailing sickness, Tatay Antonio remained firm and resolute in organizing farmers and indigenous peoples in the island province of Palawan, the largest province in the Philippines, where land and environmental issues remain rampant.

He was 65 when he was illegally arrested along with 6 other rights defenders in Puerto Princesa City back in 2019.

In his arrest, Tatay Antonio was served an alias warrant of a certain "Domingo Ritas" and was accused as a revolutionary combatant under the New People's Army, state agents overlooking the fact that the elderly was diagnosed a Stage 4 Abdominal Wall Sarcoma, a type of cancer, and was already bedridden. Their team was supposed to assist Tatay Antonio to the hospital for his chemotherapy when they were stopped at 2 checkpoints.

On November 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tatay Antonio suffered a cardiac arrest in the middle of the night. He passed away at 66, inside the jail away from his family. The court denied his and his legal counsels' plea for Motion on Bail for Recognizance. Due to the these circumstances, as well as the far distance of his place of detention, his family was only able to visit Tatay Antonio once. None of his family expected that the next time they will be laying eyes on Tatay Antonio and holding his hand, he has already passed due to his dire health situation inside his detention.

It has been four (4) years since Palawan 7's illegal arrest, far from their families and colleagues.

The Philippine government's insistence on accusing rights defenders as rebels to halt their activities in communities and organizations is nothing but a desperate tactic to paralyze them and put them behind bars--in an attempt to weaken the people's movement.

Still, we remain hopeful that Palawan 7's trumped up charges will be dismissed, and the justice for Tatay Antonio be served.

#JusticeForAntonioMolina #FreePalawan7

(Photographed: Tatay Antonio on the right with his son Cris on the left.)

Power to the People.

[zvaigzdelasas]

The breakaway region of Somaliland has formally announced the discovery of oil deposits, the [most] ever in the history of the secessionist state, adding that exploration will be done soon by a United Kingdom-based firm which is critical in the latest development.[...] The discovery comes two weeks after the Somali federal government warned Genel Energy against oil exploration in Somaliland without authorization from Mogadishu, saying the firm was undermining its sovereignty. Somalia insisted that all mineral resources belong to the federal government. [...] The federal government of Somalia has been warning states against running affairs without following the laid down protocol. The sharing of resources has been a thorn in the flesh, with Puntland becoming the latest state to dissociate itself from the federal government until the new constitution is crafted and passed through a plebiscite.

10 Jan 23

The US Africa Command is set to rigorous training in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland, which will also incorporate various military teams from across Africa as part of security preparedness on matters of counter-terrorism in the continent. [...] The US has been spirited in maintaining close security and development cooperation with African states amid pressure from China and Russia whose military presence in Africa is increasing. Previously, the US has expressed concerns over the new approach by Beijing and Moscow in Africa. [...] Somaliland, which claimed its own independence from Somalia in 1991 and has since been fighting for international recognition, is also facing local political unrest with the opposition accusing outgoing President Muse Bihi Abdi of failing to organize presidential polls which were scheduled for in November 2022. [Somaliland is not officially recognized as an independent state by the US.] The US military has been active in Somalia for the last six months after their reinstatement moments following their unprecedented withdrawal in 2021. The soldiers have been helping the Somali National Army and the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] with aerial surveillance in the Al-Shabaab war.

14 Jan 23

[theculturedmarxist]

When Burns told the Ditchley Foundation last month that “My job now is to help President Biden and senior policymakers understand and shape a world transformed” (emphasis added), he said the quiet part out loud.

It is therefore unlikely that Burns’ elevation to the cabinet has anything to do with enhancing the CIA’s prestige or making it easier for the agency to do its job. After all, the CIA’s power comes not from its “status” with the public or even in Washington at any given moment but from its unique resources and capacities, and the fact that it contributes more than any other agency to the president’s Daily Brief. Nor can Burns’ promotion have much to do with his auxiliary role as envoy: His trips to Kabul to meet with the Taliban in August 2021 and to Moscow to speak with Putin in November 2021 both ended in catastrophe. Nor can it be based on the agency’s analytical performance: Since the humiliations of Kabul and Kyiv, the United States has committed $75 billion of assistance to Ukraine at least partially on the back of U.S. intelligence predictions that the Ukrainian counteroffensive would likely succeed and that the army would not run out of gas.

Moving Burns into the cabinet should therefore be understood not as giving the CIA “a credibility boost,” as The New York Times put it, but as a further normalization of the agency’s emergent role as a policy actor. Sanctioning and highlighting the agency’s political role poses a danger to its longtime mission of providing the president with clear, unbiased information and analysis. It is also dangerous for the American public, which faces an increased risk from a powerful foreign intelligence bureaucracy that is being positioned as an actor within the domestic sphere.

Before 9/11, the CIA director could plausibly serve in the cabinet—as a representative from an outside agency providing data to the White House—without also assuming the more political role of serving on the president’s team. But while the formal ban on CIA involvement in domestic affairs remains, it has become all but empty of significance. The post-9/11 doctrine of interagency “intelligence sharing” and the formation of the now 18-member intelligence community means the CIA can and does hand off domestic intelligence it gathers and formulates to the FBI.

The CIA-led intelligence community remains wounded and publicly compromised, moreover, by the insistence of so many eminent former intelligence chiefs in the days before the 2020 election that the story of Hunter Biden’s laptop was a Russian information operation, and thus a legitimate cause for both social media censorship and a journalistic blackout. Burns was not complicit in this now-infamous episode, but neither has he attempted (or been allowed) to acknowledge or apologize for it.

If President Biden is in fact concerned with restoring the CIA’s credibility, he would do better to keep it outside his cabinet rather than brazenly welcoming it in.

[watermelonsource]

🧐 politics in perspective: how the israeli army fails its soldiers

more than 5,000 israeli soldiers have been physically injured since october 7th, but only 2000 of them have been recognized by the ministry of defense as disabled, and more than 58% of them have had amputations. this article is from november 2023, during the agreed upon four day ceasefire.

but treatment is hard to get, even in a medically advanced society like israel.

this article is from 2021, when they recognized more disabled soldiers. israel has long been criticized by its own people for its lack of identification or treatment of disability and mental health conditions like PTSD in its soldiers.

military service in israel is compulsory.

the recently released documentary israelism explores the ways in which israeli children are exploited by the state:

2007 interview with former IOF soldier, a clip from the documentary "to see if im smiling", a look at former female israeli soldiers by tamar yarom, a former IOF soldier herself:

the full version of "to see if i'm smiling" is currently on youtube:

• all information verifiable with google

• follow @watermelonsource for more "too much news at once" 🍉

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Okay, yes. It turns out I'm an actual fan of a music group...

What with everything going on in my life (mostly my aide of over 25 years telling me she's quitting by the end of the year, and giving me until then to figure out alternatives solutions), I've been finding emotional escape through finding first-time reacions to VoicePlay. ... It's my personal game of "Today's lucky Ten Thousand:"

[Transcript from ExplainXKCD.com in the alt text]

I'm picky, though. It truly has to be either: one of someone's first three reactions to VoicePlay, itself (not just a first reaction to a particular song), or: an in-depth analysis that shows an insight to things I don't know about.

...Not just someone expecting to be wowed sitting there going: "Wow!" Either I'm watching someone learn something new, or I'm learning something new.

Anyway, these truly first-timers will often request recommendations for more songs by them (I realize this is often done to milk YouTube's engagement algorithm as least as much as it's honest curiosity). And that got me thinking of my own "VoicePlay Defined" recommendation list. So I thought I'd post it here.

These are not all necessarily my faves, but illustrate the group's artistic evolution, and breadth of styles, which is at least as impressive as any individual songs.

Road Trip (May22. 2014) a comedy skit from "The Sing-Off" live tour, of friends fighting over the car radio. Arranged by the bass singer, Geoff Castellucci.

Phantom of the Opera Featuring Rachel Potter (November 18, 2015) Warning: Flashing / strobe effects. Their first experimentation with cinematic storytelling along with their singing. Arranged by the vocal percussionist, Layne Stein.

Queen in 5 Min (November 23, 2018) Warning: Flashing / strobe effects. Tells the story of their high tenor, Earl Elkins Jr., contending with the various gods of Death, as told through the lyrics of Queen songs. With a cameo from Earl's husband. Arranged by Layne Stein and second tenor Eliezer (Eli) Jacobson.

Just Sing (May 15, 2020) Filmed during the first round of quarantine, a stitched-together collaboration with former group members, family, and colleagues. The closed captioning is given over to the names of all the participants, and their connection to the group. This is the last video before Earl Elkins left for private reasons. Arranged by Layne Stein.

Man in the Mirror Featuring D.J. Young (May 28, 2021) J. None's last video as their baritone, before leaving for a five-year stint singing in the U.S. Navy Choir. though he has since come back to sing with them, when he's on leave. Arranged by Geoff Castelucci.

Wicked A Cappella Medley | A Chance To Fly Featuring Rachel Potter and Emoni Wilkins (November 25. 2021). Arranged by Geoff Castelucci.

Dragonborn Comes Skyrim Featuring Omar Cardona (February 4, 2022) An example of their Gamer Geek side. Arranged by Geoff Castelucci.

And finally: Seven Nation Army Featuring Anthony Gargiula. (May 12, 2023). In this one, they really leaned into adding effects (or filters?) on their voices in post production, to give a more textured, instrumental feel. Also, you can clearly see how Eli Jacobson has matured from second tenor to first tenor with a hard rock belt. Arranged by Geoff Castellucci.

[litcityblues]

The Wheel of Time Rewatch/Reread Pt. 1

The Wheel of Time debuted on Amazon in November of 2021 and the reaction to it was, I think it would be safe to say, decidedly mixed. In general, it was well-received enough to get another season pretty quickly (and now it's earned a third season as well) but fans of the books were not pleased. (To the point where some of them earned the moniker of 'Bookcloaks' on various Wheel of Time subreddits and other places online.)

My fandom growing up was Star Trek, so I think because of that experience, I tend to grade shows on a fairly generous curve. (Every Trek Fan knows that it takes a Trek show three seasons to 'grow its beard' and get really good-- I don't know if that pattern is holding with the newer shows, but certainly, this applies to the '90s run of Trek.) Given that, I was fairly agnostic on the First Season of The Wheel of Time-- I thought some of the criticism was fair but didn't quite understand why people were so vociferous about other aspects of it.

After the end of the 2nd Season, I got curious and decided I would embark upon a closer examination of the source material while I re-watched the show. Since the first season covered the first book, The Eye of The World, that's what I started with. (I also re-read New Spring as well.)

My general hypothesis is this: Maybe Season 1 isn't that good because Eye of the World isn't the best book in the series?

Upon reflection, I don't think that's a fair assessment of either the book or the first season of the show. There's a lot the show does really, really well- but reading the book shows where the gaps in the first season are obvious and even, perhaps, detrimental. People who object to the First Season aren't wrong-- there were some things I objected to, especially in the last episode. But I also think we have to acknowledge the constraints showrunners are forced to operate under as well.

Amazon, for whatever reason, is putting the lion's share of its money into The Rings of Power. Would I be happier if The Wheel of Time had their budget? I sure would. But the two bigger constraints are to make a television show for people who have read the books and the people who haven't AND only having eight episodes to work with. The former is something every adapted work has to deal with, the latter explains the compressed storylines of the first season far more than the former.

So, let's talk about what the first season gets right:

I like that they hit the ground running. It takes a while for the book to get started- though in a mild defense of The Eye of The World, a lot of the front part of the book really sets up more plot threads that pay off further in the series than you realize a first.

Padan Fain (Johann Myers) is perfect. No notes there-- though it would be nice if he was a little more cracked and broken by the end, but I like him and, more to the point, I like that he keeps showing up- sometimes even just in passing.

The Whitecloaks are also absolutely perfect right from the jump and they are menacing, they are dangerous and Valda's casting (Abdul Salis) is also absolutely perfect.

The Tinkers are excellent. So is Thom (Alexandre Williams)- when he tells them about his nephew Owyn, that's more or less straight from the book. More perfect casting: Loial (Hammed Animashaun), Siuan Sanche (Sophie Okwendo)

The Ways work really well- they track very closely to what goes down in the book. They're not in The Ways as much, but with their 8 episode limit, things are compressed- I get it. Machin Shin is really well done- Nyn's Super Saidar I do have an issue with, but we'll get to that in a bit.

I do like that the show expanded the role of Logain (Alvaro Morte) a bit right off the bat. In the book he's referred to and Rand catches sight of him in Caemlyn but that's all we see of him until much later. I like that the show demonstrates just how destructive his army has been and how they portray his madness as shadowy figures whispering to him.

So what fits with the books better than the show?

It's been a while since I've read Eye Of The World, but there's an EARLIER chapter that is like when they're kids and Tam tells them the story of the Dragon? I don't remember it at all also: Egewene has sisters which is something I don't remember at all. But the original prologue where we see Lews Therin destroy himself: still slaps. 10/10 way to open this book. (I don't know if the Prologue to the Prologue was something they added in later editions or what, but it's weird and seems redundant to me.)

If you've read quite literally any other fantasy novel, the early chapters are chock full of loosely concealed references. They're waiting for a festival to start- someone is late and is bringing fireworks? They're a ring and a birthday party away from Bilbo's bash in the Shire. Similarly, the black figure in the cloak has to be from The Belgariad. Eddings might have taken that from somewhere else, but that's where I recognized it from. (The show plays with this too: their pursuit def looks like the flight to Rivendell from The LoTR movies.)

The books have Lan and Moiraine concealing their identities-- whereas the show has them revealed right away. I think the book does that better, but if you don't want to piss around with character development and just get down to brass tacks, I can see making the choice the show made. But the book does it better. With Moraine facing down the mob? ("Is this what Aemon's blood has come to?") Thom is also introduced from the jump, which I like and I love that he recognizes Moiraine right away and doesn't want to have anything to do with her.

13 chapters we spend in the Two Rivers-- nearly 25% of the book and far more than I remember, but it's worth it. Winternight is really what gets you hooked as a reader. That sense of isolation as Rand is trying to get to the safety of the village of being alone in the wilderness and hearing Tam's fever dream letting his parentage slip.

The journey out of the Two Rivers which in the book leads to Caemlyn and not Tar Valon is remixed and reorganized but lays the plot threads for things like the Aiel (in the mining camp) and Birgitte (when they stay in the barn and kill the Fade) and while in the books we meet Bayle Domon in the first book, he do show up in the television show right at the start of season two. I get that they have time constraints they need to work with, but missing Whitebridge in the show is big for me. After Shadar Logoth in the books, there is a profound uptick in the pace of the book. Perrin and Egwene are running. Mat and Rand are running. Lan, Moiraine, and Nynaeve are running. Those chapters really hit home in the books, the impact of them is lessened here.

But what the book does have that the show doesn't is so much foreshadowing. The World of Dreams doesn't get explicit until Book 3 or Book 4 territory, but it's right there in Book 1, even if we don't know what to call it yet. We see references to the Giant Fist on Tremalking, which we see used to cleanse saidin much, much later in the series and we get references to the Panarch's Palace in Tanchico that pays off down the road as well. Rand is also unconsciously channeling now and again throughout the whole book and if you read it again, it's kind of obvious.

Nynaeve's relationship with Moiraine is far more hostile in the books-- she's not a huge fan of the show either, but it's coded as far more hostile in the books which tracks better with what we know about Nynaeve's block and her ability to channel. Her Super Saidar and Egwene's bringing Nyn back from the dead at the end of the show are the things I objected to the most. At no point in the books does channeling work that way and more importantly, it's inconsistent with the show itself as no other Aes Sedai shows even a fraction of the ability the possible exception of Moiraine and the lightning/fireballs against the Trollocs. I get that Nyn and Egwene are supposed to be strong- maybe the strongest potential Aes Sedai in centuries in the books, but they're not that strong.

The 'Perrin Kills His Wife' thing is also not nearly as bad as it appears to be in the show-- if you dig into the books a bit. you'll get to the chapter where Egewene, Perrin, and Elyas are trying to outrun the ravens-- there are so many of them that they will be torn apart if they're caught. In the books, Perrin is presented as being very aware of his capacity for violence- he's a big kid, but for the first time in that chapter he has to contemplate if he would kill Egwene to spare her from being torn apart by the ravens. It's kind of the inverse of what they do in the show: there, they establish his capacity for violence/temper/to kill and his struggle is fighting that. (Though he has far less interaction with Hopper in real life than I remembered-- and to the show's credit, they bumped Hopper's death to Season 2.)

I am also thoroughly unbothered by the Siuan and Moiraine of it all- again, Sophie Okwendo was perfect casting and she uses the required fish metaphors "Skin me and salt me!"- the main series nods to the notion with all the talk of 'pillow friends' but New Spring goes a step further and straight up makes it explicit: "Siuan wanted to kiss Moiraine. So she did." Also, just look at a map of Tar Valon, then go look at some Georgia O'Keefe paintings, and then come back and talk to me. Extrapolate accordingly and if this is the hill you choose to die on with the first season of this show, I can't help you.

The first time through, I had a big problem with the Oath of Fealty that Siuan makes Moiraine take. It's subtle, but Siuan makes her swear fealty to 'the judgment of this seat' which is different and doesn't, to me, imply absolute obedience to the Amyrlin. It does what the show needs it to do- which is to kick Moiraine out of Tar Valon and make sure she can't come back. BUT, Moiraine changes the words of her reply? Does that still bind her? I have questions about this because at the end of Season 2 it looks like an awful lot like Compulsion-- I think that's going to be used against Siuan when Elaida takes her down, but I also think the show kind of made a hash of it all. (Also: what's with that secret passageway thing to the hut? Is that Travelling? I have so many questions!)

The show does get some world-building in that I think is important-- I think exploring what it's like when Warders lose their Aes Sedai is important. I think having white be the color of mourning and the whole funeral sequence was really, really excellent- but not at all in the book.

The struggle with Ishmael (great casting, again!) also tracks really well with the books-- The Last Battle in the books ends up being a very cerebral, inner struggle type of affair, it's an unseen fight and the show sets that pattern as well, even if Rand doesn't realize who Ishmael is quite yet.

The show, I think, misses The Eye of The World. I love The Green Man and how The Blight is portrayed in the books far more than the show and the show is wrong in that the Dark One's prison isn't at the eye.

Little Internet Birdies seem to be convinced that we're getting Queen Morgase, Gawyn, and Galad next season-- but the sequence in Caemlyn is really excellent in the book. At this point, you've already heard about ta'veren from Loial, but meeting Elayne, the Queen, Elaida, Gareth Bryne-- all of that is Rand being ta'veren like crazy and would have been an awesome thing to include in the show.

Moiraine and Lan's relationship in the first season also makes what happens in the second season seem profoundly bizarre. She references not being able to see men's weaves but doesn't actually make that jump until late in the second season and it takes Lan to figure that out? Seems contradictory to me-- she also tells him at one point: "Your losses are mine and mine yours" but then proceeds to shut him out for most of season two? So weird.

The show also dances around "Who could be the Dragon" way too much-- the idea of "five potential Dragons" is something that I get that has to squarely aim at new viewers who hadn't read the books, but it got tiresome, especially since it became pretty obvious who it was- good television practice probably means you want to make that reveal a big moment for the show, but it just didn't work for me.

If you're making this show, you want to balance between new viewers and book readers-- they cannot make a television show that requires people to do homework. Hopefully, they can build a world that inspires people to go and read the books, but if you've read the books already that's a tough thing to accept. So I get the unhappiness, but only to a point. My verdict stands: the First Season was better than people give it credit for, given the constraints they were operating under. At the time, it earned my confidence enough to give a second season a chance and that season was a vast improvement over the first. I'm onboard and ready to go for Season 3.

[usafphantom2]

Chinese Navy Fujian aircraft carrier advances with J-35 stealth fighter tests

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 12/13/2023 - 12:15 in Military

The recent progress of the Chinese Navy is evident in the Fujian aircraft carrier, Type 003 model, including tests with the J-35 stealth jet.

The tests include electromagnetic catapults with two red vehicles and an aircraft similar to the J-35 stealth fighter on deck, as reported by passengers flying over the aircraft carrier.

Chinese media sources released new photos depicting Fujian's activities, including the J-35 stealth fighter, initially identified from low-resolution images and later confirmed in sharper images. This aircraft is probably the first to undergo electromagnetic catapult tests in Fujian.

The J-35 is a next-generation multifunctional poaching fighter, developed by China as an improved and combat-ready version of the FC-31, an aircraft carrier-based fighter. Scheduled to debut in 2021, the J-35 is a collaborative effort led by the Chinese Aeronautical Establishment, AVIC's Shenyang Aircraft Research and Design Institute and the 29º Chengdu Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation.

The FC-31, predecessor of the J-35, debuted in 2012. However, China has never mass-produced it, mainly due to inexperience in the manufacture of jet engines. The FC-31 is equipped with Klimov RD-33 engines, the same as those used in Russia's MiG-29 aircraft. China has faced challenges in the design of high-performance turbofan engines with post-combustion, especially in metallurgy, although it has made significant progress in other aircraft components.

The J-35 meets the urgent need of the People's Liberation Army Navy for a stealth fighter capable of operating from future aircraft carriers. This is partly a response to the U.S. F-35B and F-35C stealth fighters developed for amphibian assault ships and aircraft carriers.

After the inaugural flight of the J-35 in 2021, it is expected to undergo about five years of testing before active service. As the FC-31 has been tested for many years as a technical demonstrator, this testing period may be reduced, according to Chinese defense experts.

Chinese J-35 stealth jet.

Satellite images from November 2023 indicated that Fujian temporarily left its pier, suggesting an imminent maritime test. With a displacement of almost 80,000 tons, the aircraft carrier can accommodate more than 20 aircraft, such as the J-35 twin-engine jet.

In addition to the J-35, other aircraft scheduled for testing include the KJ-600 early air alert aircraft and the Z-20 utility helicopter, which has already been widely deployed in several Chinese military branches. The KJ-600, crucial for aircraft carrier combat capability, will probably follow the J-35 in the test sequence. Unmanned aerial vehicles are also on the testing agenda, with a forecast to be tested after the J-15T and Z-20.

Tags: Military AviationPLAN - People's Liberation Army Navy / People's Liberation Army Navyaircraft carrierShenyang J-35

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has work published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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