Believers (Arab Spring)

SongFacts: Believers (Arab Spring) by Nelly Furtado

Furtado penned this song with San Francisco-based songwriter Rick Nowels around the time of the Libyan revolution and civil war. She explained to Artist Direct: “I was inspired by the rebels and the idea of people having to make really tough decisions in the eleventh hour. I was inspired by the idea of a young man or woman going into battle with one of their close friends. By the time the day is over, their friend has turned to the other side. That dilemma is something we could never imagine in the lives we lead. I found it inspiring people were going through those kinds of emotions the moment I wrote that song, so that’s what I wrote it about.”

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RAND and SeaLight Part 3b: Four Ways China Is Growing Its Media Influence in Southeast Asia

05-10-2022: Four Ways China Is Growing Its Media Influence in Southeast Asia

China’s most straightforward method of media outreach is directly broadcasting or publishing its state media content in target ASEAN countries. Xinhua, China’s official state media agency, has print bureaus in every Southeast Asian country. TV news channels CCTV-4 and the English-language CGTN likewise operate in nearly every country in the region, while China Radio International airs multilingual content in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar. Xinhua is a ministry-level agency directly under the State Council, while the other media organizations all operate under the Chinese Communist Party Publicity Department. 

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Personal: Honest update on the Philippines and Indonesia

I’ve been trying to work on my RAND and SeaLight document, but I can’t seem to get into it. I’m still not feeling well, either. For some reason, I can’t format my document on my iPhone the way that I would like, and I still can’t use my iPad for it. This morning, my iPad fell out of its mount and landed on my face. No worries, my ego was hurt more than my nose. To be honest, I’ve about lost all interest in it. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I feel like that tree. The tree makes a sound, but no one is around to hear it fall. Who has time to worry about details, anyway? I barely do anymore, and I’m unemployed. I’m going to stop now before I have to get the violin out.

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53% of Taiwanese, 36% of Americans think US would send troops if China invades

53% of Taiwanese, 36% of Americans think US would send troops if China invades

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwan-US poll found that Taiwanese and Americans differ on whether Washington would send troops if Beijing launches an invasion, but both support maintaining the status quo. 

On Monday (Dec. 2), the Ministry of National Defense’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs released the results of a joint survey that examined how Taiwanese and Americans view the Taiwan Strait situation and bilateral security cooperation.

Related:

Institute for National Defense and Security Research

While it receives almost all of its funding from government sources INDSR is institutionally independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit.

Chicago Council on Global Affairs 2021 Financial Donors

Chicago Council on Global Affairs (Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab Corporation, Rockefeller Foundation)

Chicago Council on Global Affairs grants from MacArthur Foundation

Corporate Partners | Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Front Organizations (Rockefeller)

Rant About How Tech Companies Use Your Data to Hack Your Mind

Dr. Steven Hassan, the cult expert, interviewed Dr. Dustin Rozario Steinhagen on “How Tech Companies Use Your Data to Hack Your Mind.” It was interesting for a while. His guest started talking about Cambridge Analytica, romances scams, and privacy rights. They lost me at China and surveillance capitalism, though. It’s as if they’ve never heard of the Snowden disclosures or the National Security Agency. COINTELPRO? FBI infiltration of mosques? FYI, the social credit system doesn’t exist! How’s your credit score, BTW? Have you bought your luxury condo and sports car, yet?

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