(This has got to bethe most apparent confirmation that we are “watching a movie”, a most hideous one, but its a movie)

13 Mar, 2023 21:56

Ukraine objects to ‘Navalny’ film Oscar win

Kiev believes awarding a documentary on Russia while snubbing Zelensky proves the Academy Awards are political(WTF???)

Refusing to let Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky address the Academy Awards ceremony while handing an Oscar to a documentary about Russian activist Alexey Navalny means politics and movies do mix after all, adviser Mikhail Podoliak tweeted on Monday. (They really said this???)

“If Oscar is outside of politics how should we understand the documentary manifesto Navalny where internal Russian politics is overflowing?” Podoliak asked, “If Oscar is out of the context of the war in Ukraine [and] the mass genocide of Ukrainians, why do you constantly talk about humanism [and] justice?”

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had declined Zelensky’s request to address Sunday’s ceremony for the second year in a row now. While there has been no official comment on the matter, US media outlets reported that Hollywood wanted to “steer clear of anything political” amid concerns that giving attention to Ukrainemight offend non-white people around the world. (OMG this is too funny! Why would non-white people be offended?)

Since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022, Zelensky has appeared via video link before film festivals in Cannes, Berlin, and Venice. He has also addressed the Grammy Awards and the Glastonbury music festival and virtually ‘rang’ the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in September, among others.

Officially the senior adviser to the president’s head of office, Podoliak has been one of the most outspoken voices of the government in Kiev, second only to the president himself. Last week, he lashed out at the luxury brand Louis Vuitton, imagining an anti-Ukrainian message in the company’s long-standing logo based on the French flag.

‘Navalny’, a CNN-HBO production directed by Canadian filmmaker Daniel Roher, won the Academy Award for best documentary on Sunday. The film focuses on the alleged poisoning of the man Western media outlets have described as Russia’s “opposition leader.”

Navalny’s wife accepted the award on his behalf, as he is currently serving a prison sentence for fraud and parole violation. A Moscow court found him guilty in 2014 of defrauding the Russian subsidiary of the French cosmetics producer Yves Rocher and another company, to the tune of some $400,000. Navalny has denounced the charges as fabricated and politically motivated.

(Zelensky and Ukraine just alienated the most hateful group of radicals that is possible. That was a big mistake, demanding Zelensky talk or be included in the Oscars, is more arrogant than them. They will not respond well.)

https://www.rt.com/pop-culture/572924-zelensky-podoliak-navalny-oscars/

14 Mar, 2023 00:14

Ex-US official discusses destroying Taiwan chip plants

Washington would raze the high-tech factories rather than let China capture them, a former national security chief has told Semafor

Washington is so determined to prevent China from seizing control of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry that it would destroy the chip factories in the event of an “invasion” by Beijing’s forces,former US National Security Adviser Robert O’Briensaid on Monday.

“The United States and its allies are never going to let those factories fall into Chinese hands,” O’Brien told the online media outlet Semafor. Allowing China to capture the plants would make the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “like the new OPEC of silicon chips,” enabling it to “control the world economy,” he added.

O’Brien, who served as national security adviser under President Donald Trump from 2019 to January 2021, didn’t specify whether it was official US policy at any point to raze Taiwanese semiconductor factories to deter Beijijng. Asked whether the plants would really be “gone” in such a scenario, he said, “I can’t imagine they’d be intact.”

Taiwan’s TSMC is the world’s dominant maker of advanced computer chips, supplying around 90% of the most cutting-edge semiconductors globally. President Joe Biden’s administration has sought to block China’s efforts to become a bigger player in the chip industry, restricting exports of chips and semiconductor-making equipment. Washington considers China’s technological advancement a threat to US national security.

Chinese officials have argued that the US “weaponization and politicization” of science and technology won’t stop their country’s progress. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has predicted that such tactics will “isolate and backfire” on the US.

A US Army War College paper in 2021 argued that Taiwan should threaten to sabotage its chip plants to deter Beijing.

“Even if China got ahold of the golden hen, it won’t be able to lay golden eggs,” Chin Ming-tong, director-general of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, said last October, suggesting that Beijing wouldn't be able to operate the factories anyway.

Beijijng considers Taiwan to be part of its sovereign territory and has vowed to peacefully reunify with the island, while reserving the right to use military force if necessary. Tensions in the region have escalated to the point that the Taiwanese Defense Ministry reportedly plans to focus its spending this year on preparing for a “total blockade” of the Taiwan Strait by Chinese forces.

(Anons what is this, comms? Robert O’Obrien saying this is odd.He’s saying this under Bidan, is Bidan not in charge?)

https://www.rt.com/news/572928-taiwan-destroy-semiconductor-plants/