THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATIONAL FLAG (1857-1947)

The INDIAN NATIONAL FLAG is not just a flag! It's a testimony of patriotism and seamless sacrifice. A symbol representing one of the oldest civilizations on this planet.

Let's hope what happened yesterday never repeats!

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After the revolt of 1857, the first Indian flag was designed. The design was based on western heraldic standards with "Union Jack" in the upper-left quadrant and a "Star of India" enclosed in the royal crown in the middle of the right half.(1)

The flag was a symbol of the direct imperial rule in India.(2)

In 1904 the first Indian flag which stood for India's independence from the British was devised. The design was provided by sister Nivedita, an Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda.(3)

The flag was red and yellow with an image 'Vajra' (weapon of god Indra). The phrase 'Vande Mataram' was written in Bengali on it. The red colour and the yellow colour signified freedom and victory while the symbol of vajra stood for strength.(4)

My Notes on Democracy Part 1

MANUFACTURING Dl55ENT AND MODI'S RESPONSE - AN ANALYSIS

DlS5ENT is allowed in a democracy. Any democratic leader or government will uphold - and MUST uphold its citizens's right to DlS5ENT.

This thread analyses the recent Indian experience.

Some years ago, a western country displayed a movie on India in their visitor centre. Showed @Narendramodi the then Gujarat CM as a devil incarnate drinking the blood of MU5LlM.

A tough battle with the authorities resulted in taking down this video.

Lesson - this obscure country which Modi never visited till date has little to do with Indian politics. Yet, there is this need to stop Modi in his tracks of becoming the future PM by smearing him.

Most of you may have noticed Modi as a potential PM in the last decade.

But the Break India F0rces saw this before 2000. It was no surprise as he was the architect of BJP win in the state. This explains why Godhra, the best managed riot turned into a career-defining event for Modi-Shah.

Who are these people and what is their connection to the topic?

C0MMUNl5T5. As most of us know, Political C'sm is but a surface body of an underground larger body. It has many voices, resources, money, and massive techniques in social sciences, economics, and government machinery.

Almost all 'isms' are products of C'sm.

There is a recent new word in Chinese that I think deserves introducing into the Western neoreactionary canon.

The word is 内卷 (nei-juan) which has been translated as "involution". Originally a Chinese phenomenon it increasingly applies anywhere there is modernity.

To capture the essence of what "involution" means it helps to picture a spiral in your mind. Our modern narrative says that as we progress technologically we should progress OUT of the spiral and have more free time to be capable of ever more amazing things...

But what if the progression of technology and society actually sends us WITHIN the spiral in an infinite number of ever-decreasing circles? What if we are walking DOWN the spiral staircase of progress rather than UP?

"Involution" in its original meaning has been used to describe agrarian societies and how their development actually leads to self-perpetuating processes that prevent change and progress rather than encourage it.

Increased food production has limited many civilisations and sent them into stagnancy rather than allowed them to grow. This stagnancy can continue for millennia in safe environments till threatened, other times it drives the civilisation into extinction from external threats.

In more Securing Democracy at #enigma2021, @ChrFolini talking about "THE ADVENTUROUS TALE OF ONLINE VOTING IN

Switzerland is a direct democracy where citizens get to vote at least 4x/year, with a lot of mail-in voting. We have a long history of online voting.

Disclaimer: THIS IS NOT SWEDEN.

[I get the picture that @ChrFolini has had to explain the difference several times.]

Process around mail-in ballots.

[tl;dr it's very complicated and wasn't threat-modeled until recently]

But the in-person ballots are complicated, too!

Most security folks don't think that we can't make a secure online voting system.

@ChrFolini says this is because of encryption
[Note: this is not the main reason that a lot of people cite -- we're more worried about things like malware but it's complicated]

NIGGA SURVIVAL

This is what white supremacy looks like. A smiling Negro thanking a good white man 4 giving him 2 life sentences 4 low level drug possession b/c U know, the judge "did what he had 2 do" & deep down inside, Mr. Charlie really loved him.

Nevermind the judge was appointed by Obama, the so-called 1st BLACK president, the harsh sentence was caused by DEMOCRAT Biden's crime bill & YET, somehow the harsh sentence was commuted by the so-called racist white president black people hv been instructed 2 hate, Donald Trump.

Read dat back. We so fucked up as a people, we don't even know who is friend & who is foe. This is the essence of just how perilous our situation is on American soil. How the hell do U unite with any black person when most Negroes dont even know who the fuck their enemy truly is?

Attempting solidarity with black people who don't know who their enemy is will guarantee all black people's annihilation. So I stay to myself, surrounded on all sides by forces that can devour me at any moment. Whether it be by a virulent in your face racist, a liberal racist or-

by a soft genteel respectability politics Clyburnian Negro who has no clue that their words & actions are operating up under the influence of or deference 2 white supremacy. Every black person on American soil is operating under the influence of what I call "Racial Gravity."-

The assassinations of #MirwaizFarooq & #AbdulGhaniLone that reveals the ugly face of #Pakistan’s proxy war in #Kashmir. A #Thread

Pakistan is a festered wound in the lives of #Kashmiris that has been eating away the soul of Kashmir for decades now.

Some sane leaders in #Kashmir who saw through the devilish design of #Pakistan & tried to save its people from this snake in the grass were either sidelined or worse killed in cold blood.
This includes the two most influential leaders of Kashmir #MirwaizFarooq & #AbdulGhaniLone.

What happened with them?
At 7:15 p.m. on 13 Feb 1990, #terrorists shot Lassa Kaul, 45, director of the government-run #television station as he stepped from a vehicle in front of his home.
It shook Mirwaiz Farooq, Lassa Kaul was his dear friend.
#Kashmir

Mushir-ul-Haq, Vice Chancellor of #Kashmir University, another friend of Mirwaiz Farooq was kidnapped on 6 April 1990, together with his personal secretary Abdul Gani Zargar, and their bodies were found on 10 April 1990. #murdered by #terrorists

#MirwaizFarooq was upset because the series of murders and the ineludible slippage of #Kashmiri Youth into the spiral of #Violence which made him question the direction in which the masses were being led.
#Kashmir

Thread: There is the usual talking point going around the pro-Iran-Regime-Lobby in which Israel is once again presented as somehow doing something wrong by seeking to work with the US on Iran threats...or that Israel could start a "war"...the usual "war" bogeyman myth

The fact is that Israel is the one being threatened. Israel doesn't run proxy groups throughout the Middle East and arm them illegally by giving militias weapons...or have whole days devoted to bashing Iran or soldiers marching on Iran's flag. Only Iran does that.

There is never going to be a "war" with Iran, war is the talking point to claim that those who oppose the Iran regime far-right extremists are "hawks" or "for war"...which is nonsensical. Iran's regime can't afford a war, that is why it arms militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon,Yemen

Iran knows how to get the poor to do the fighting for it...recruiting people from Pakistan and Afghanistan, not to defend their own communities, but sending them to Syria while they are attacked at home by extremists. Awful.

So the "war' talking point is always used to claim Israel wants "war"...or "drives wars"...but there is no evidence of this. Israel is totally open about its goals to deter Iran or keep its entrenchment in Syria away from the Golan. Israel found relative calm with hamas-Hezbollah

#vanpoli Vancouver's Non-Partisan Association will have a general meeting to elect a new board. Angelo Isidorou has stepped down.

But if the NPA really believes "in an inclusive, compassionate and caring city free from hate, stigma and discrimination," 7 more also have to go:

1. NPA president David Mawhinney

He oversaw Isidorou's addition to the board and signed off on a "Trumpian" press release that reads like Isidorou's work for far-right propaganda site The Post Millennial. He has refused to answer pertinent questions about extremism in his party.

2. NPA director Wes Mussio

He's an outspoken Trump & anti-mask supporter who called Dr. Henry "Dumb Bonnie." He challenged a reporter to a fight "if you are a man" & encourages people to join a far-right social media platform. He claims to be in the process of moving to Florida.

3. NPA director Dave Pasin

He echoed Trump's lies about the US election being rigged, which incited the Jan. 6 takeover of the Capitol by violent right-wing mobs. He has also attempted to defend Isidorou's use of a white supremacist gang sign, as well as Andy Ngo's "journalism."

4. NPA director Chris Wilson

Former BC bureau chief of far-right Rebel Media, which also employed well-known extremists. His videos defend Trump and white nationalist conspiracy theories. He called Catherine McKenna "Climate Barbie" and encourages "harassing" unhoused people.

Hmmm #dekubaku w/ fem!baku fantasy AU??

Princess Katsuki is known throughout the land as being unruly, feral, and brash. No one has /ever/ seen her smile, outside of a battle or a hunt that is. She most commonly has a sneer of disgust on her face, considering-

-every person who has tried for her hand nothing more that an insignificant extra. A rumor began to circulate around the kingdom that the one who could make her laugh would be the one to marry her. The Queen, Katsuki’s mother, thought this was hilarious, and began to-

-challenge her daughter’s suitors to make Katsuki laugh. It usually ended up with them making a fool of themselves, but the princess didn’t even smile. If anything, her frown only deepened at their attempts to humor her.

The Queen is growing increasingly irritated by the failed attempts thus far. Why was her daughter so hard to please? Well, she had her own high standards as well, but it had been worth it in the end. Still, it was frustrating to watch.

“I just want her to-

-make up her mind already!” Mitsuki complained to her husband as they strolled around the castle, accompanied by their personal guard. Not that they were needed, Mitsuki was a fearsome warrior, but it was to prevent anyone from trying.

“I know, my dear,” the king-

[drabble]

Li Juyao is to be betrothed. To whoever the heck it is, he doesn't know. What he does know is that the caravan of the royal he's supposed to marry is nearly at Taiyuan's gate.

He must escape.

He puts on his bounty hunter clothes, and sneaks out.

But alas, Butler Shi seems to have predicted that this would happen, and has scouted outside of the prince's manor. With the help of a few giggling maids, he captures Ji Chong, ties him tightly with a strong rope, the prince's hands at his back, and throws him in an empty room.

"Behave! You will be let out when the king summons you!" Butler Shi hisses, and shuts the door.

Ji Chong can only grumble and accept his fate. He, too, has suspected that this will happen after all. He'll have to personally let down his to-be-betrothed, then.

Meanwhile, Anzhi is grateful that Zichen had agreed to represent him in his audience with the King of Jin. Maybe if it's viewed to be rude enough, whoever it is that he shall marry will be put off by this behavior. Maybe they'll withdraw. He hopes they'll withdraw.

So here Anzhi is, disguised as an attendant, even though everyone in the caravan knew of his identity. He doesn't tag along in the main hall however, lest Zichen fail and be forced to bring him out.

The managerial style and persona of Thomas Tuchel. 🇩🇪

[Thread]

Thomas Tuchel:

“My philosophy is an aesthetic one; aesthetic means to control the ball, the rhythm to attack in every minute, and to try and score as many goals as possible.”

If there is to be a defining and key element to Tuchel’s style and philosophy, it has to be his willingness and ability to shift and alter his setup - varying on matter of opposition that his side will face.

Essentially, he epitomises the post-modern manager.

Pep Guardiola is a prime example of a manager hell-bent on positional shifting and versatility in this side.

Thomas Tuchel takes this to even bigger heights. Engrossed on the desire to have multiple formations and systems, it’s almost as if he’s managing a video game.

The need for control is another part of the game that can be attributed to Tuchel’s style.

The core aims of Tuchel - a fusion of Klopp and Guardiola - include preventing the opposition from playing through the Gegenpress and attempting to dominate at any given time.

[THREAD]

@azulfeehely describes Jules Koundé as one of Europe's most promising centre-backs. Let's take a look at why that might be.

#SquawkaScout x @LaLigaLowdown

@LaLigaLowdown "There’s few with as high a ceiling as the young Frenchman."

The full lowdown from @azulfeehely. 🔎

@LaLigaLowdown Koundé is an excellent defender, but when you consider the amount of space he has to cover due to the buccaneering Jesús Navas his work becomes even more impressive.

Just look at that coverage.

@LaLigaLowdown First and foremost, defenders should love defending. Koundé does.

Since the start of last season, he’s made more goal-line clearances (5) than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues - a testament to his awareness, anticipation & concentration.

A busy boy inside the box.

@LaLigaLowdown At 5’11, Koundé is relatively small for a centre-back. But it doesn’t seem to have an impact on his aerial ability:

He contests 5.7 aerial duels per 90 with a win rate of 61%.

Interestingly, if you replace #SovietUnion with #USA and #Communism with #Capitalism, you have a very exact display of our current, turbocharged #LateCapitalism that is willing to sacrifice peoples' lives across the globe for

So no matter if your facism pays in Mark, Ruble or Dollar: At the end of the day, it's #ModiOperandi are similar if not identical.

It's just Germany that industrialized human slaughter for profit during WW2.

Similarly, people lie to themselves that they either enjoy #capitalism or are "better off with this system than X" when it's not

I mean, almost everyone [with very, very few exceptions based of partially and mostly privilegue] is forced to work some sort of job to be able to pay the bills with no actual alternative

...regardless of the fact that people would most likely be far more productive, creative and useful if they're given the economic freedom to spend their time with something that doesn't essentially pay well, but is serving others if not the entire society.

New — Trudeau announces Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing, and Air Transat are cancelling air service to all Caribbean destinations and Mexico starting this Sunday until April 30th.

"They will be making arrangements with their customers who are currently on a trip in these regions to organize their return flights," Trudeau says of the airlines.

"With the challenges we currently face with COVID-19, both here at home and abroad, we all agree that now is just not the time to be flying," Trudeau says.

In addition to the pre-boarding test that is already required, Trudeau says in the coming weeks the government will be introducing mandatory PCR testing at the airport for people returning to Canada.

Travellers will then have to wait for up to three days at an approved hotel for their test results, at their own expense which is expected to be more than $2000, Trudeau says.

A thread on useful material explaining what our subsidy control regime currently is.

An introduction with various comments

A not entirely complimentary account of where the current government has left us.

An account of the role of the courts in the current subsidy control regime.

An account of what the TCA says about subsidies.