The Safeguard Defender's report Link...
(https://safeguarddefenders.com/en/blog/new-report-chasing-fox-hunt)

Over the past decade China has forcibly repatriated more than 12,000 fugitives, as part of a state campaign to stamp out corruption, according to a new report by a human rights group.

Safeguard Defenders, the Spain-based group, says that Xi Jingping’s government has relied heavily on extrajudicial methods such as kidnappings, harassment and intimidation to “persuade” and coerce Chinese nationals living in more than 120 countries to return to China.

Though Beijing claims the fugitives are alleged criminal suspects, the group’s report says that China’s “deeply flawed and politicized” judicial system makes it difficult to know with certainty whether the accusations have merit.

“It is essential to point out that these extrajudicial operations are illegal under international law regardless of the type of target and all constitute instances of transnational repression,” Laura Harth, one of the authors of the report, told the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The report, titled “Chasing Fox Hunt,” is based on accounts of 283 individuals who were repatriated or extradited from more than 50 countries, as well as data published by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the agency that coordinates anti-corruption activities under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.

“Fox Hunt” is the official name of the international policing operation launched by the Chinese government in 2014. In 2015, it became part of a broader initiative called “Operation Sky Net,” which added dedicated task forces to crack down on money laundering, fake passports and illegal income, according to the report. Both “Fox Hunt” and “Sky Net” are still active today, and are only two of the state-sponsored operations targeting Chinese nationals overseas.

"If Beijing cannot secure their loyalty via persuasion, it will demand their loyalty via force."

Sato already tops the list of Japanese surnames, accounting for 1.5% of the total population, according to a March 2023 survey, with Suzuki a close second.

Some social media users wrongly assumed the study, first reported on Monday but published in March, was an April fools’ day prank, but Yoshida said he wanted it to give people pause for thought.

A nation of Satos “will not only be inconvenient but also undermine individual dignity,” he said, according to the Asahi Shimbun, adding that the trend would also lead to the loss of family and regional heritage.

According to Yoshida’s calculations, the proportion of Japanese named Sato increased 1.0083 times from 2022 to 2023. Assuming the rate remains constant and there is no change to the law on surnames, around half of the Japanese population will have that name in 2446, rising to 100% in 2531.

Couples in Japan have to choose which surname to share when they marry, but in 95% of cases, it is the woman who changes her name.

However, the picture would be different if Japan’s government submitted to growing pressure to allow married couples to use separate surnames.

The study contained an alternative scenario extrapolated from a 2022 survey by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, in which 39.3% of 1,000 employees aged 20 to 59 said they wanted to share a surname even if they had the option of using separate ones.

Under those circumstances, Yoshida, whose study was was commissioned by the Think Name Project and other organisations that want to legalise the opportunity to select your surname, projected that by 2531, only 7.96% of the Japanese population would be named Sato, the Mainichi Shimbun reported.

Actually my summary is far less acute than the video.

This is the best summary of what Jidu Krishnamurti, David Bohm, and others connected to JK are trying to tell the world. In a nutshell, self-centred thought is created by thought itself and is an attitude of thought that creates an illusion of a self. The truth is found in an attitude of wholeness that questions all assumptions of a distinct self, and of any dependable judgement made through thought. This is not to deny the importance of applications of thought, such as in scientific practice, or planning buildings etc. Rather it calls for a similar attitude in which the importance of suspension of judgement in all aspects of life is especially important for self-centred thoughts and feelings which tend to warp individuals attention to reality such that they may even become completely detached from it.

I agree. I’m no marathon kbin contributor, but I like it here a lot and I would be happier if this thread was about what we can do to support kbin as an instance.
If mbin where a placeholder for doing this (as in if certain permissions aren’t available yet) then I’d be buoyed up by OP’s thread.
Anyhoo, viva la kbin, viva la federation!

Just a loose round up so far

Seveneves Neal Stephenson
Tau Zero Poul Anderson
Metro 2033 Dmitry Glukhovsky
The Children of Time Adrian Tchaikovsky
Lucifer's Hammer Larry Niven
Pushing Ice Alastair Reynolds
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
Diaspora by Greg Egan
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martin
The 100 Kass Morgan
Interdependency trilogy by John Scalzi.
Silo series of books by Hugh Howey

...A Paraguayan government official has been replaced after it was revealed that he signed a memorandum of understanding with representatives of a fugitive Indian guru’s fictional country, who also appear to have duped several other officials in the South American country.

Arnaldo Chamorro was replaced as chief of staff for Paraguay’s agriculture ministry on Wednesday shortly after it was revealed that he signed a “proclamation” with representatives of the United States of Kailasa...

Yup, sounds about right. Plus less tolerance
of freedom of assembly, and civil disobedience in major Western democracies will continue.

For analysis see article from PinkNews here
https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/09/06/elle-hungary-gay-dads-anti-lgbtq-laws/

From Article:
"...Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, who previously served as a state governor and senator, was confirmed as a new minister in Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s government last week, despite having played an “instrumental role” in Abacha’s plundering of the country from 1993 to 1998, according to the United States Department of Justice..."

From the article:
...Sydney private equity firm recently nabbed PwC Australia’s government consulting arm for a single Australian dollar, or around 67 U.S. cents.

The fire sale came after the auditing giant burned its local reputation in a tax leak scandal likely to rank among the country’s biggest financial stories of the year.

In January, the Australian Financial Review revealed PwC partner Peter Collins had shared confidential information about a Treasury tax reform plan, on which he was advising, with dozens of his colleagues. PwC then used the intel to court top U.S. tech companies eager to minimize their tax bills Down Under...

Yes it's horrifying. The article states that most Western countries are moving away from trade deals that allow corporations to sue countries for loss of business etc, but I believe that pacts like the Trans Pacific Partnership may include such idiotic rights for corporations; leaving countries in compromised situations should they need to change business practices for example.

From article:

“If we were to shut our doors today, they would be homeless with no food,” Christina Lane​, a support worker for the Asylum Seekers Support Trust (ASST), said of her clients.

The charity relies on donations to help about 400 asylum seekers across the country, including those who had been detained in detention facilities.

Lane said clients are regularly referred by Immigration New Zealand, but the government agency refuses to provide funding for their care

French policing of climate protests have been draconian from the get go, state violence is encouraged by the heavy militarisation of the gendarmerie in France.

Not uncommon around the West since 911, and getting worse in many countries as social protest and political polarisation intensifies.

The issues being protested are unifying, or would be if not for this militarisation of state force, indicating intolerance for dissent.

But instead of Airs he used Ass.

Sorry for late reply, still getting used to the fediverse.

Everyday for the weather, ETS gets replaced by similar concepts.

Thanks for asking. Have a nice one.

Bird Jaguar the great likely used his hips or buttocks to send the victim's remains, encased in a large rubber ball down a long flight of stone steps.

Ball skills!

The captain maybe, but if someone actually made the ball go through the hole the game was stopped and that person was given all the wagered loot, and was also able to take things from the audience or whoever he wanted too.

Thing is, it was really difficult to make the shot. So a very rare occurrence.

Also the audience got really into betting, some of them lost it all, and some even gambled themselves into slavery.

Fun game!

He’s a stunt, JFK’s generational legacy is a reminder that aristocracy has not gone away, it just pantomimes as a participant in democracy.