Thread: Confucius Institutes, aka Hanban, were intitiated in 2004 as a way to spread the CCP narrative while simultaneously gaining entry to foreign universities. Considered "cultural soft power" and a important part of China's overseas propaganda set-up.

1. Justice Stephen Breyer was nominated by Pres. Bill Clinton on May 17, 1994 and has served since August 3, 1994.

2. "He (Breyer) insists that although decisions of foreign courts are not binding on U.S. courts, they could be “instructive,” and American judges should be free to cite and apply foreign law in cases which come before

3. Justice Breyer is married to Joanna Hare.

4. "Her family is also enormously wealthy, having started the Pearson group, which today is a media empire run by Joanna's older brother, Michael J Hare.. A Apr1994 financial disclosure statement, the Breyers list ownership of $2,324,958 in PEARSON

5. "The Breyers vacation at a rustic 320 acre retreat in New Hampshire, as well as having access to a house owned by Joanna Breyer's mother on the island of St. Kitts in the Caribbean."

1. Adler just got steamrolled by the media who never picked up on ANY of his other shenanigans. Looking at all angles, I noticed Austin DSA was QUICK to comment on #Adler #Cabo. Looks like they were waiting on the right opportunity.

1. Michigan : Product of China
Why did Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and Former Gov. Rick Snyder (R) both endorse Joe Biden?
C H I N A !
special guest: Hunter Biden #9

1. The PURGE - so it begins. They took Parler down and then started the Twitter purge. Parler was hacked about the same time it was being brought down. They successfully dismantled the largest group of patriots and without one main platform, 70+ million people are scattered.

2. China did this same thing to the Falun Gong when they reached about 80 million members. They had to break up this group for fear they would be able to take on the CCP. They criminalized the Falun Gong and started rounding up those that "illegally" produced printed materials.

3. They want us divided & separated. They want us not to communicate or care anymore.

Falun Gong was a peaceful movement. It was a Chinese practice of martial arts and spiritual discipline that is centered on peace and self-improvement.

4. So why did the Chinese government viciously crack down on it? Because the FG opposed communism and they grew too large. The CCP had to stop it for fear of the movement taking over the gov.
The CCP created a propaganda campaign against this group. They called them a cult.

5. Please do not tell me Steve Bannon started this group bc he did not. They were around for decades before, but were banned and censored by the CCP. They support anti-communist like Bannon bc they were oppressed and punished so badly by their own country.

1. Georgia : China
"China is a TOP source for imports and our 3rd largest exports market. We welcome thousands of Chinese visitors each year to the Peach State..."
- Governor Brian Kemp

[thread]

Folks at Marvel were trying to figure out how to launch phase 4 of the MCU, incorporate the addition of the X-Men, the relaunch of the Fantastic Four, and help the MCU on Disney+ get off the ground, and Feige was like:

The meta goes deep on WandaVision. This bit might be unintentional, but there's poetry in Marvel Studios launching its first foray into TV shows with a show about TV shows. Some history:

The previous Marvel TV properties were (mostly) run by Marvel Television and Jeph Loeb. They did some brilliant work, but the MCU films largely ignored the goings-on over there.

Now everything is in one house. It has the potential to be a huge freaking mess.

Part of the problem is how to insert the "first family" of Marvel comics into the MCU timeline. The Fantastic Four are old-school. The MCU heroes we know looked up to them and went to them for advice. Now they are going to get an MCU origin story. That's a conundrum.

Kevin Feige is a big comic nerd with a whole team of comic nerds, and one of them was probably like:

"Hey, did you know the witch who mentored Wanda was a nanny for the Fantastic Four? Maybe she could be in this."

#Avadhūtagītā #SrimadBhagwatham #Dattātrēyanuḍi

In Srimad Bhagwatham, there is a discussion between Sri Krishna & Uddhava about Brahma Jnana.

In this context, a very famous aspect called Avadhūta Gītā / Dattātrēya Nuḍi is described.

Thread below

PC: Google

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Personal anecdote:

This is my 5th attempt in last 6 months to write a thread. I hope I am successful in completing this endeavor. Along with Yama Geetha, these are some of the most wonderful philosophies captured in Srimad Bhagwatham.

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Context:

Krishna and Uddhava would be having a discussion, the basis of which would be to impart the Brahma Jnana to Uddhava

During one such discussion, Krishna describes Anumana and Pratyaksha through a story, which is the Avadhūta Gītā

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As described by Krishna, this incident traverses back in time to his ancestor Yadu (from whom Yadavas originated).

Yadu would be roaming the earth and comes across a young man, barely clad but completely fearless. He had a serene smile on his face

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Yadu recognised him as the Avadhuta , one who has found inner peace and whose face is a sea of tranquility. Yadu requests to know the path through which the enlightened man reached this state.

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Pierre Boulle was born today in 1912, so what better time to look back at his sociological science-fiction classic that paved the way for Star Wars and the MCU.

This is the story of Planet Of The Apes!

Pierre Boulle is probably best known for his 1952 novel Bridge On The River Kwai, based on his wartime experiences in Indochina. So it was possibly a surprise when 11 years later he authored a science fiction novel.

However Boulle had been a Free French secret agent during the war. He was captured in 1943 by Vichy forces in Vietnam and sentenced to hard labour. This experience of capture would shape his novel La Planète Des Singes.

Published in 1963 La Planète Des Singes recieved good reviews. An English translation - entitled Monkey Planet - was issued the following year. It was a story that seemed to strike a chord with readers.

In the novel two rich travellers find a manuscript written by journalist Ulysse Mérou. It tells a fantastical tale: how he travelled with two wealthy explorers to Betelgeuse. They land on the planet Soror, a world of primitive humans ruled by advanced civilised apes.

The more I think about the Bruce Springsteen Jeep ad, the more disgusted I get. It's allegedly a call for unity, but it is drenched in a very particular culture's iconography: a Christian church (that superimposes the cross on the US flag), farms, rural living, "the middle" ...

... it's all so white. This is the "America" of nationalist fairy tales: rural land, settled by self-reliant white farmers & good Christians. It's all trucks & dust & manual labor & squinting at the horizon while wiping sweat from your brow. This is the kind of "unity" ...

... designed to comfort (or at least not threaten) white people. It says, "let's unify by joining together to reaffirm America's mythical self-conception, despite the real-world violence & repression it has always entailed."

If I'm, I dunno, a latino housekeeper in Vegas or black Uber driver in Sacramento, what's in the commercial for me? What does this kind of "unity" promise me? What can I find in "the (mythical) middle"? Nothing. It's not for me.

If America ever does come together in some kind of social solidarity again (which looks pretty doubtful), it's not going to be around the myths & iconography of 20th century hegemonic white culture in the US. It's going to be around something NEW -- new stories, new icons.

#WednesdayWagner Hoiho! Missing your weekly thread on Wagner's leitmotifs and composing strategies? Here I am! This week, we start talking on a leitmotif that appears in every Wagner's opera:
ONE LEITMOTIF TO RULE THEM ALL (part 1 out of 3)
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#WednesdayWagner Although each Wagner's creation has its own "sound world", and although leitmotif technique was not exactly exploited since the 1st one, there is a short gesture/motive that appears in ALL Wagner's operas. Don't you believe me? Keep reading ⬇️
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#WednesdayWagner This is the recurrent leitmotif: the 4-pitch gesture that can be listened to right at the beginning of Lohengrin 
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#WednesdayWagner In this first thread, let's go through the first 3 Wagner operas ("Der fliegende Holländer", "Tannhäuser" and "Lohengrin") to identify this small but powerful melody
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#WednesdayWagner Note that I would just mention the main appearances of this gesture or melodic idea, without digging bar by bar into the whole operas
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