fyi for those in Phoenix Arizona: stay away from Target because the Phoenix Police still won't arrest this dude despite it being illegal to declare intention of violence like this 🙃
HEY GUYS/GALS/THEY'S I literally hate being the person asking people to reblog something and I scroll past posts that do, but I have been crying tonight about this, because I remember the Pulse shooting where LGBTQIA people lost their lives and the idea of another attack like that terrifies me, so please, because Phoenix has over 1 million people, just reblog? sorry.
How to recognize state-sponsored Russian propaganda
It's no secret that the Russian state, using troll farms and other means, has been spreading deliberate disinformation for years. They are known to be behind the 2016 Presidential election in the US, the Brexit referendum in the UK, and other smaller and bigger events. For example, the EU discovered financial ties between Kremlin and right-wing political figures in Europe, with Marine LePen being openly financially supported by the Russian bank. Their propaganda has been in full force ever since Russia invaded Ukraine and is part of the openly stated Russian war against the West, which Kremlin propagandists and state media describe as being amoral, degraded (referring to LGBTQ+ community rights in particular), and out to destroy the great and traditional Russian state. It's modern, hybrid warfare is set against us every day.
So how to recognize if something you are reading, whether repeated on the news or in social media comments/posts, is Russian propaganda?
It's going to be a long post, unfortunately, as it's directly linked with the DebunkEU.org investigation, but certainly worth reading.
Part 1: Narratives related to war
After Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February, the trolls had a period of unusual silence. But soon enough they picked up where they left off, perhaps even more severely than before. There were a few key points that Russian trolls spread in the comments:
Refugees are all crooks, that are rude to volunteers, steal from their hosts, steal husbands (the latest British tabloid the Sun post seems to perpetuate this story without any credible evidence, other than a Facebook post), etc. Some impersonate registration center employees to spread fake stories about supposed bad characters among the Ukrainian refugees. Such posts are usually the same in every country and are meant to discourage people from helping those in need. Similar tactics were used in regards to Syrian refugees, who fled Russian-bombed Aleppo, but that time it actually worked. Any actual bad-apple cases would get blown out of proportion to paint all refugees as such. It shows the absolute despicable nature of the Russian government - not only do they destroy a country, but they also make sure its citizens are despised wherever they go. (began to spread late February-early March till now)
Questioning national identity + Whataboutism: "What about Liberia/Iraq/Palestine", "Why are you not putting up your own country's flag?" It's to minimize the open support for Ukraine and spread the classic Russian attitude of {if America did it, why can't we?} (began to spread on the 28th of February)
Ukraine is evil: Biolabs in Ukraine, Ukrainians killing Russians in Donbas, and other similar lies are all just poor attempts at justifying the war. (28th of February till now)
The West is to blame: from blaming NATO to saying that it's America, and not actually Ukraine, that is fighting Russia is all part of Russia's general attitude of "fight against the rotten West and Gayrope [gay Europe]". Even though NATO only expanded as a response to Russian aggression and there were no agreements for it not to expand. The reason it pisses the Russian gov off is that it makes it hard for them to restore the USSR borders by swallowing its neighbors. (began to spread early March till now)
Part 2: What Russia wants you to believe
There are three main conspiracy theories that Russia tries to spread to destabilize Western societies and "divide and conquer".
The concept of public safety. This theory questions the very basics of democracy, by trying to prove that a secret group is controlling everything behind the scenes, thus undermining your power as a voter and belief in a democratic system. This group is supposedly making us choose between few, suitable to them, options, and the only way to avoid being part of the system is by removing ourselves from it altogether and assembling into independent societies. The greatest evil is the West and US in particular, meanwhile, Russia is a state that's immune from this and protects traditional values and spirituality. In Europe, this group calls for the return of the USSR, and all around the world, they are recognized for their talks about globalists and praises of figures like Stalin. This propaganda was first spread by the Soviet secret service and has been officially approved by Putin himself.
New World Order. This theory is perhaps the most widespread and accepted. It states that the world is ruled by elites (again, democracy means nothing), who seek to eliminate individual countries and establish a New World Order. It tries to paint many cultural and intellectual figures as members of this organization, and they are behind every major event locally or internationally, from financial crises to unpopular political decisions. This theory began spreading in the 50s and 60s and gained particularly strong traction during the pandemic.
The great reset. This is a theory that exploded in 2020 and states that while the earth is overpopulated, vaccines and other methods can be used as population control to reset the global political system and economics. Klaus Schwab became a figurehead of this conspiracy. Again, Russia somehow is immune to all of this.
Just so you get an idea of how widespread is Russian state-sponsored propaganda, Lithuania, a country with a population of less than 3 million, has identified 105 pro-Russian or propaganda spreading Facebook groups alone, not to mention websites, "news" sites, and individual fake accounts. Most of those are managed by just 8 people. Think how much could be in large countries like America that Russia considers an enemy state. Also, be careful about what you spread regarding Ukrainian refugees, as an example of what happens when misinformation gets out of control can be seen in how Syrian refugees are treated to this day.
Part 3: Trolls
Regarding trolls, another example of a Lithuanian investigation into one of the pro-Russian Facebook groups shows this:
A post is created that spreads fake news, support for Russia, or some shocking new info about Ukrainians.
In two days, 227 comments are left under the post.
2571 comments are left right after the Bucha massacre.
484 users posted those comments.
400 reacted positively to "Bucha is fake" posts.
An unusually large amount of comments were either a direct/poor translation or in Russian.
Most of the comments were written by fake accounts. One of such accounts wrote 9 comments in just 21 seconds.
What does it tell us? Most of the traction in pro-Russian or misinformation groups is coming from Russia, troll farms in particular. Also, there is no point to argue with them. A bot that posts 9 comments under different posts in just 21 seconds is not going to read your replies or answer them. The best course of action is to report the comment. Facebook is notorious for not giving a shit, but if enough people will report both the comment and the profile, chances of those getting taken down will massively increase. Don't just scroll by, report both the comment and the user.
Also, follow the money. Facebook ads are not cheap, and if you see someone promoting their conspiracy ideas, think about how they got the cash. In a small country like Lithuania for a politician or supposedly freelance journalist to have 10'000-16'000 euros for ads is highly suspicious. It rings true everywhere - from QAnon to others, how can they afford to promote themselves, to buy domains, to support a large team, etc. Basically, follow the money.
And for goodness sake, stop watching those random YouTube videos as a source of truth.
A young and broke man, Yang Jinghua, finds himself 10 years younger after waking up from a traffic accident. Just as he is dreaming about it
Hey folks! Unfortunately that shitty wecomics will shut down by the end of December :( but we'll still have access to the official English translation of Spiritpact there:
This is a partial translation of an interview given by the author in March 2018, it can be found on her Weibo. There are actually 40 questions in the full interview about all three of her books, her upcoming fourth book and also about herself and her writing in general. I’ve only kept the parts pertaining to Mo Dao Zu Shi for the sake of clarity and because I doubt many people have finished reading all three books. Some parts were a bit confusing, hopefully I got it right…
Mild spoilers for the main story.
Original interview: https://www.weibo.com/6049110380/G7RfoEcj9
Where did Wangxian perform their third marriage bow? How did Lan Wangji call his rabbits?
The names of Lan Wangji’s little rabbits is a secret that only he knows, even I don’t know.
Anyway, Wangxian’s third bow was done before their second time together.
Luo Binghe likes using Immortal-Binding Cable, Lan Wangji likes using his forehead ribbon, what about Hua Cheng? Can the skills of the three be scored? [1]
The most skilled of the three is without a doubt Hua Cheng. He is talented with his words and even more with his actions as well as extremely appealing. Even though Xie Lian is easily embarrassed, he will obediently do anything he is asked.
Lan Er is the hard-working and straightforward type, but that’s all right, Wei Wuxian can tell him himself how to play.
It goes without saying for Luo Binghe. Shen Laoshi, please be a little more patient with him.
What is Wei Wuxian like when he is drunk? Does he act any different than his normal self?
Not really, there’s no big difference between him drunk or sober. It’s not everyone that has a change of personality when drunk, it’s just really over-the-top in the case of the Gusu Lan Sect.
What did Wei Wuxian go through during the three months he spent in Burial Mound? Was there really a mysterious book artefact left there by a master? [2] When Lan Wangji healed Wei Wuxian after the massacre at Nightless City, what did he say to him? How did Wei Wuxian pass the time during the thirteen years he was dead?
Some things that were said were not to be taken seriously, there is no mysterious book from a master. I don’t really like the kind of plot where predecessors do the hard work and plant the trees and their successors can just cool off in the trees’ shade.
Please do your own research.
He was in a confused and chaotic state [3], not quite conscious but not completely unable to feel anything either. It’s like being stuck in an unending nightmare.
When Wen Ning went berserk at Qiongqi Path and Koi Tower, was that an accident for both times? After changing into a fierce corpse, how long can he live?
When Wen Ning attacked at Qiongqi Path, it was Wei Wuxian losing control.
What happened at Koi Tower wasn’t an accident.
It depends on the maintenance.
Is Jin Ling’s courtesy name the one chosen by Wei Wuxian, Rulan [4]?
That’s right. But he never ever uses it. Jin Ling dislikes it because it sounds sissy.
What was the relationship between Cangse Sanren and Lan Qiren and why did she cut off his goatee? Does Lan Qiren have prospects for elderly marriage? What are the criteria Lan Qiren looks for when choosing a spouse?
It was because Lan Qiren was not as understanding and sensible during his youth as compared to now. At some point it resulted in Jiang Fengmian and his servant Wei Changze running into trouble while night hunting and they almost lost their lives. But Lan Qiren deemed that he was only following the rules and that the fault was not his so he refused to apologise, angering everyone. Then Cangse cut off his beard to play a trick on him. To tell the truth, beardless Lan Qiren is still very handsome, there’s no one bad-looking in the Gusu Lan Sect!
It’s unlikely to happen so there is no criterion.
PS. Why are there people asking for Lan Qiren’s spouse criteria…
What is the age difference between Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang and how is their relationship? Was the part of Nie Huaisang’s partner [5] that was mentioned before deleted from the book or was the design simply scrapped?
Five or six years. Although they are half-siblings with different mothers, they get on pretty well.
Scrapped as I found out afterwards that the story remained consistent without adding this character. Adding the character would instead make things difficult and the final result might not have been satisfactory.
Translator’s Notes
[1] Skills in bed.
[2] That’s how Wei Wuxian explains his demonic powers to Jiang Cheng when he returns from Burial Mound.
[3] 混沌 (Hùndùn) means literally ‘muddled confusion’ and also refers to the primal chaos that existed prior to the formation of the world and in which nothing could be distinguished or perceived according to Chinese classic texts.
[4] Rulan (如兰) means literally ‘like an orchid’.
[5] It’s mentioned in an older interview that the author had planned Nie Huaisang to have a subordinate helping him behind the scenes so the meaning was a partner in crime.
Copper Coins Audio Drama S1 Ep 12 is now available English Subbed.
Download Link: >> Here <<
You can download all previous episodes from >> Here <<
We have a small discord server~ Please join to get updates on new releases. Here’s the link: >> Discord Invite <<
Notes:
1) Please download the file to your device first. If you play the file directly on MEGA, then the bandwidth could get exhausted and others might not be able to view the file for some duration.
2) Please use >> VLC Player << to play the file. It is available for a large range of operating systems as well as devices.
For advanced users, I’d recommend
>> K-lite codec pack + MPC-HC player << Standard version or above.
The player is included from the standard version onwards.
3) Please avoid sharing these files on YouTube and other video streaming platforms. If you wish to share our subbed files, please just reblog this tumblr post or link this post in your social media accounts.
4) You can check out our English subbed videos for our other project Husky and His White Cat Shizun (or 2ha) Audio Drama from >> Here <<
video description: a tiny, tubby orange and white kitten is rolling around on a patterned blanket. someone approaches him with an appropriately small brush and attempts to groom him, succeeding in brushing his side and tummy but then having to field his clumsy attempts at smacking the brush. he is so cute it is criminal.
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