All posts by Đọt Chuối Non

Me? Me? Me?... Yeah yeah yeah amigo... What can me say about me-self?... me-self...me-self... Ole ole ole... me me me... I'm a young banana shoot... My dad is Banana Pa... My mom is Banana Ma... I am happy happy happy... I run around... oops... I can't run... I sing aloud... all day long... I sing in the rain... I sing in the shine... I sing day and night... I sing all the time... I watch the butterflies and the bees... and the cranes and the geese... Aha aha aha... here we go again... this little swallow circling on my head... the little swallow on my head... is about to poop on me... Hey, little fella, don't cha know where to unload ya poopa?... But, that's alright... I can swallow my pride to befriend a swallow... Yup yup yup... swallow my pride to befriend a swallow...

Bộ Công an hướng dẫn kỹ năng xử lý khi bị mắc kẹt do cháy ở các chung cư, tòa nhà cao tầng

 

Hiện nay, tại các chung cư cao tầng, có nhiều trường hợp những người sinh sống tại các khu chung cư bị mắc kẹt khi xảy ra cháy hoặc do trẻ nhỏ ham chơi mà bị mắc kẹt ngoài ban công, lô gia dẫn đến bị thương tích hoặc tử vong. Những tai nạn đó phần lớn đều do thiếu kỹ năng xử lý, theo đó, Bộ Công an hướng dẫn người dân cách xử lý khi bị mắc kẹt ở các tòa nhà cao tầng để di chuyển đến nơi an toàn, như sau: 

Continue reading Bộ Công an hướng dẫn kỹ năng xử lý khi bị mắc kẹt do cháy ở các chung cư, tòa nhà cao tầng

Gray Zone Tactics Playbook: Cable-Cutting

Cable-cutting is a sabotage and harassment tactic in which a ship will attempt to sever the cable to another ship’s trailing equipment, such as trawler lines or towed array sonars.

Gaute Friis | JULY 26, 2023

Gray Zone Tactics Playbook: Cable-Cutting
Chinese fisherman using a boat hook pole in an attempt to snag the cable connecting U.S ocean surveillance ship USNS Impeccable’s towed sonar array, March 8, 2009. (Source: USN)

Gaute Friis, analyst

This tactic is an act of sabotage which aim to cut the cables to a ship’s trailing equipment, such as trawler lines or towed array sonars. 

Cable-cutting is most frequently used against commercial research vessels conducting survey operations in disputed maritime zones, such as within China’s huge “nine-dash line” claim in the South China Sea. 

Continue reading Gray Zone Tactics Playbook: Cable-Cutting

Gray Zone Tactics Playbook: Laser Dazzling

Dazzlers are non-lethal laser weapons meant to cause temporary blindness in humans or confound sensors. Recently employed against the Philippine Coast Guard, laser dazzlers have also been employed against U.S. and Australian military helicopters and surveillance planes operating in the region.

Gaute Friis | SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

Gray Zone Tactics Playbook: Laser Dazzling
CCG 5205 firing laser at Philippine Coast Guard cutter BRP Malapascua, February 6, 2023 (Source: Philippine Coast Guard)

Gaute Friis Analyst

Dazzlers are an emerging category of non-lethal but potentially dangerous weapons and a relatively recent addition to China’s gray zone arsenal. They can be used as a harassment tool; for destroying sensitive electro-optical sensors as an electronic warfare component; or as a weapon of psychological warfare. 

Dazzlers are not themselves considered illegal. The U.S. military — which refers to them as “non-lethal optical distractors” — considers them an essential capability to “minimize fatalities,  protect the innocent and limit collateral damage” when the alternative is lethal force, with the caveat that:

“Prior to fielding, all previously and currently fielded lasers or distracter devices have undergone legal reviews to ensure compliance with obligations assumed by the U.S. under applicable treaties, customary international law, and the law of armed conflict.”

China has used dazzlers to temporarily blind the crew of other countries’ ships. Because dazzlers have both physical and psychological effects their use against vessels at sea is hazardous, eroding their crews’ ability to navigate and react to maritime contingencies.

As detailed in our “going dark” playbook entry, a Chinese Coast Guard cutter used a dazzler to harass a Philippine resupply escort mission on February 6th, 2023.

The Philippine Coast Guard later clarified that was the second time this had occurred during a resupply mission.

China has also employed dazzlers against U.S. and Australian aircraft since at least 2018, as documented in incidents over the Pacific Ocean, the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Arafura Sea, and near the Horn of Africa

Note: Any use of lasers to permanently blind personnel is illegal under Protocol IV (Blinding Laser Weapons) under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which China joined in 1998.

See the rest of the gray zone playbook here.

Introducing China’s Maritime Gray Zone Tactics Playbook

While China’s use of maritime gray zone tactics is well known, few resources describe the actual tactics in detail. We’ve developed a publicly available systematic examination of these concrete tactics, which we will roll out for you in the coming weeks.

Gaute Friis | JULY 6, 2023

Introducing China's Maritime Gray Zone Tactics Playbook
Chinese fishing vessels leave port in Fujian Province in August 2020 (Source: US Naval Institute)
Continue reading Introducing China’s Maritime Gray Zone Tactics Playbook

AP PHOTOS: 20 images that documented the enormity of 9/11

Pedestrians in lower Manhattan watch smoke billow from New York's World Trade Center on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
Pedestrians in lower Manhattan watch smoke billow from New York’s World Trade Center on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

BY JENNIFER PELTZPublished 7:30 PM GMT+7, September 8, 2021Share

EDITORS: This story first ran in 2021 for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. It is being republished for the 22nd anniversary.

Continue reading AP PHOTOS: 20 images that documented the enormity of 9/11

China’s neighbours upset over new official map

South China Morning Post – 7-9-2023

The latest “standard map” released by China on August 28, 2023, has sparked a rare display of unity among its neighbours against the expanded territorial claims by Beijing. Japan joined a list of countries, which also include India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, that have lodged protests against territorial claims by China in disputed areas in the region. The release of the new map came ahead of the attendance of Chinese Premier Li Qiang at two key summits: Asean and the Group of 20.

Remarks by President Biden and General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Joint Press Statements [on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership]

THe White House

SEPTEMBER 10, 2023

Central Office of Communist Party of Vietnam
Hanoi, Vietnam

6:33 P.M. ICT

GENERAL SECRETARY TRỌNG: (As interpreted.) Your Honorable Joe Biden, President of the United States of America, distinguished delegates, on behalf of the leaders of the party, state, and people of Vietnam, I’d like to extend my warmest welcome to his Honorable President Joe Biden, who has great affection for the country and people of Vietnam, and for his various contributions to the strengthening of the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the U.S. in different capacities.

His visit to Vietnam on this occasion is of great significance, for it coincides with the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries.

Continue reading Remarks by President Biden and General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Joint Press Statements [on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership]

Việt Nam – Mỹ trở thành đối tác chiến lược toàn diện

Lê Hiệp– lehiepthanhnien@gmail.com

10/09/2023 19:06 GMT+7 Thanh Niên

Tổng Bí thư Nguyễn Phú Trọng và Tổng thống Mỹ Joe Biden thông báo Việt Nam – Mỹ thống nhất nâng cấp quan hệ lên đối tác chiến lược toàn diện.

Chiều 10.9, tại trụ sở Văn phòng T.Ư Đảng, ngay sau khi kết thúc hội đàm, Tổng Bí thư Nguyễn Phú Trọng và Tổng thống Mỹ Joe Biden thông báo Việt Nam – Mỹ thống nhất nâng cấp quan hệ từ đối tác toàn diện lên đối tác chiến lược toàn diện – cấp cao nhất trong quan hệ ngoại giao nhà nước.

Việt Nam - Mỹ trở thành đối tác chiến lược toàn diện - Ảnh 1.
Toàn cảnh cuộc hội đàm
Continue reading Việt Nam – Mỹ trở thành đối tác chiến lược toàn diện

Biden’s Vietnam Deals Should Center on the Mekong

A vital regional river can be a route for U.S. diplomacy.

By Brian Eyler, the director of the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia Program.

My FP: Follow topics and authors to get straight to what you like. Exclusively for FP subscribers. Subscribe Now | Log In

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023, 4:38 PM

On Sept. 10, Joe Biden pays his first visit to Vietnam as U.S. president, where he is expected to ink a deal to elevate the U.S.-Vietnam relationship from “comprehensive” to “comprehensive strategic”—the highest level of Vietnam’s diplomatic hierarchy. Biden is forgoing this week’s twin summits in Indonesia—the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit and the East Asia Summit—to show the value Washington places on key bilateral partners, such as Vietnam, in the Indo-Pacific.

Some critics worry that China and Russia, two of Vietnam’s other comprehensive strategic partners, could punish Vietnam for its choice to upgrade relations with the United States. But Vietnam can come out of this complicated diplomatic competition a clear winner by centering the U.S.-Vietnam collaboration on the Mekong—the mighty river that keeps both Vietnam and much of the rest of the world fed.

Continue reading Biden’s Vietnam Deals Should Center on the Mekong

Bình Thuận: Nhận diện lãng phí – Hồ thủy lợi hàng chục tỷ đồng bị bỏ hoang trên vùng đất khát

>> Bình Thuận: Khu rừng hơn 600 ha sắp bị phá làm hồ thủy lợi

Truyền hình Quốc hội

Hồ thủy lợi Biển Lạc ở tỉnh Bình Thuận được đầu tư xây dựng hàng chục tỷ đồng từ năm 2006 nhằm chào mừng Đại hội Đảng toàn quốc lần thứ 10 rồi bỏ hoang từ đó đến nay.

Từ trên cao nhìn xuống, nhiều người sẽ nghĩ đây là những đầm nuôi tôm hay là thửa ruộng trên một cánh đồng nào đó ở đồng bằng. Nhưng thực chất đó là hồ thủy lợi Biển Lạc. Hồ thủy lợi Biển Lạc diện tích hơn 1000 hecta nằm trên địa bàn 2 huyện miền núi Tánh Linh và Đức Linh của tỉnh Bình Thuận. Những ô nhỏ là ao, hồ, di chứng do hoạt động khai thác khoáng sản vô tội vạ hàng chục năm qua tạo nên.

Trong lòng hồ, hàng chục con tàu khai thác cát neo đậu. Những núi đất sét, cát hàng nghìn m3 tập kết quanh lòng hồ khiến người ta khi nhìn vào không biết đây là một hồ thủy lợi.

Lòng hồ bị đào bới nham nhở, chia tách thành từng ô thửa nhỏ. Mặc sức ai mạnh thì bao chiếm, nơi khai thác khoáng sản, chỗ trồng lúa, nơi trồng sen, nuôi cá…

Cùng tìm hiểu vấn đề này mới quý vị và các bạn theo dõi nội dung chương trình!

Statelessness Around the World

CFR.org

Without a country to call their own, millions of people experience discrimination and persecution. 

Last Updated January 10, 2023

Rohingya walk near the no man's land area between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Palongkhali area next to Ukhia on October 19, 2017.

Rohingya walk near the no man’s land area between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Palongkhali area next to Ukhia on October 19, 2017. Source: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty ImagesSHARE

Teaching Resources—Building Blocks: Challenges (including lesson plan with slides)

Every two years, athletes from around the world gather to compete in the Olympic Games.

Competitions commence with host nations organizing spectacular opening ceremonies full of pageantry and, at times, peculiarities. At the 1992 Barcelona, Spain, opening ceremony, an archer lit the Olympic torch with a flaming arrow. At the 2012 London opening ceremony, organizers screened a film showing James Bond and Queen Elizabeth II, with stunt doubles later parachuting into the stadium. And in Sochi, Russia, in 2014, the Russian Police Choir kicked off the winter games with a rendition of Daft Punk’s disco-pop hit “Get Lucky.”

Continue reading Statelessness Around the World

Inside the US-China battle for silicon chip supremacy

Al Jazeera English – 24-8-2023

From computers to toasters, smartphones to refrigerators, semiconductors are essential in our daily lives.

Advanced chips power military hardware, artificial intelligence and supercomputers.

But a persistent shortage is reshaping geopolitical relations, fuelling inflation and increasing tensions between the United States and China.

While demand for cutting-edge chips grows, only a few countries have the specialised knowledge and ability to produce them.

Taiwan produces 90 percent of the world’s most advanced chips, making its stability critical to global economic and geopolitical security.

101 East investigates the battle to control the world’s semiconductor industry.

‘I almost lost my will to live’: preference for sons is leaving young women in China exploited and abused


Hình ảnh chán đời

Published: September 1, 2023 1.52pm BST The Conversation

Author: Chih-Ling Liu Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Lancaster University

Disclosure statement: Chih-Ling Liu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Partners:

Lancaster University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK.

CC BY ND

 

China has a gender crisis. The country has a huge surplus of men – around 722 million compared to 690 million women in 2022. This is largely because of sex-selective abortions linked to China’s one-child policy, which ended in 2015.

Though popular belief is that the policy was strictly enforced, many Chinese couples managed to have more than one child by paying fines, accepting benefit deprivations, or proclaiming their membership of a minority ethnic group. Often, they chose to do so because their first child was a girl. The one-child policy lasted three and a half decades, replaced by the two-child policy in 2016 and the three-child policy in 2021. But even today, the belief that boys have more value than girls persists.

Continue reading ‘I almost lost my will to live’: preference for sons is leaving young women in China exploited and abused