@KarlitoRichII @JoLuehmann 1. Thanks, Jay. Yeah... the Gracies have had connections with oppressive violence in Brazil from day one. Their recent interaction with the fascist dictatorship (1964-85) is still not sufficiently told. @UrbanAntonio has been collecting pieces here and there.

@fvckinashman @KarlitoRichII @JoLuehmann @UrbanAntonio 2. There is another phenomenon that grew as an offshoot of Gracie-inspired BJJ: the neonazi BJJ groups in large cities like Sao Paulo, Rio and Brasilia. Their shady relations with the repression institutions is still not sufficiently documented, as a lot about ....
@fvckinashman @KarlitoRichII @JoLuehmann @UrbanAntonio 3... what happened in the dungeons of the dictatorship. Anyway, they have established a strong tradition of fascist support in BJJ. They openly support Bolsonaro and we believe (but have no hard evidence) that several MMA ...
@fvckinashman @KarlitoRichII @JoLuehmann @UrbanAntonio 4... fighters in Brazil were intimidated into publicly supporting Bolsonaro. It's not hard to understand why: their tentacles are long and they can end a career. If you go back to social media in 2018, all of them posted something ...
@fvckinashman @KarlitoRichII @JoLuehmann @UrbanAntonio 5... supporting Bolsonaro.

If any of you find info written in Portuguese about that, send it my way and I'll translate it. We have some awesome people in the fights there like @souljacker and @JrGabrielBjj but the left is still microscopic in BR MMA.
@fvckinashman @KarlitoRichII @JoLuehmann @UrbanAntonio @souljacker @JrGabrielBjj 6. As to the claim that MMA is a product of capitalist lsakdf;kjfd and patriarchy a;kdfj;sjdf... In a capitalist society, all the infra and superscructure are controlled by the rulling class by definition.
@fvckinashman @KarlitoRichII @JoLuehmann @UrbanAntonio @souljacker @JrGabrielBjj 7. We don't throw the baby out with the bathwater for this reason. Marx was the first to point out that the arts and the sciences were Humanity's patrimony, DESPITE being controlled by whatever ruling class there is. There is still space for ...
@fvckinashman @KarlitoRichII @JoLuehmann @UrbanAntonio @souljacker @JrGabrielBjj 8. ... a lot of progressive and culture-building action (again, despite the ruling class' control of society's superstructure). Sport is one important manifestation of human culture. All sports derive, at different levels of abstraction, from the arts of fight.
@fvckinashman @KarlitoRichII @JoLuehmann @UrbanAntonio @souljacker @JrGabrielBjj 9. The fights are not evil, pro-capitalist and pro-patriarchy any more than science or art. There are more right wing practicing individuals and directors/institutionally empowered folks in the sports than in the arts or science.
@fvckinashman @KarlitoRichII @JoLuehmann @UrbanAntonio @souljacker @JrGabrielBjj 10. For that reason, one can appreciate MMA (I do, and I watch the fights every Saturday) while disapproving of right wing behavior. A combat sport fight is a ruled game.

More from World

A quick thread on #Myitsone dam & #MyanmarChinaRelations in light of the SAC announcement that they would be restarting some stalled Chinese projects in Burma. This announcement has led to speculation about Myitsone, which has been suspended since 2011. Let’s go! ➡️ China has


consistently misunderstood & underestimated popular opposition to Myitsone. First and foremost, to the Burmese people, this is about the “mother river” of Burma - the Irrawaddy- and it’s nearly sacred importance to them as a lifeline of their country. This is what drove the

organic anti-dam movement that started locally in Kachin but +/- 2007 was effectively picked up & nationalized by Burmese environmental CSOs. Instead of understanding this, the Chinese lashed out and blamed the United States when Thein Sein suspended the project. I assure you

the USG was as surprised as China when the project was suspended. But China never believed it was truly the desire of the Burmese people that stopped the project. Today, the dam doesn’t make sense economically for Beijing & will definitely alienate Burmese, yet they stubbornly

continue to push it. Why? Let’s unpack a bit further. In addition to Myitsone, there were other campaigns & protests targeting Chinese projects such as Letpadaung copper mine & Kyaukphyu pipeline, port & SEZ. While these campaigns had varying levels off effect, none was as
Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time! https://t.co/xPMGL36VGy


So today, I am going to quickly talk about 4 or 5 countries where you can get residence visas.

Why residence visas?

For starters, they are cheaper, FAR CHEAPER than passports, and offer almost all the benefits, not not, but a large swathe of them.

Second, residencies can be...

a pathway to citizenship.

In one or two of the countries I will talk about tonight, if you renew your residencies long enough, and fulfill all requirements, according to their law, which differs from country to country, you become eligible to apply for full citizenship.

So...

you can see why they are good enough?

Cool. Alright, let's begin.

The first country is

1. Barbados

Yes, @Rihanna's country.

The first thing I love about it is it's fully black, majority descendants of ex-slaves of Igbo extraction.

That's why they refer to their country...

Barbados last year officially launched its 12-month Barbados Welcome Stamp, a new visa that allows remote workers to live and work from the Caribbean country for up to a year.

Applicants must electronically submit documents, such as a copy of their international passport and...

You May Also Like

Great article from @AsheSchow. I lived thru the 'Satanic Panic' of the 1980's/early 1990's asking myself "Has eveyrbody lost their GODDAMN MINDS?!"


The 3 big things that made the 1980's/early 1990's surreal for me.

1) Satanic Panic - satanism in the day cares ahhhh!

2) "Repressed memory" syndrome

3) Facilitated Communication [FC]

All 3 led to massive abuse.

"Therapists" -and I use the term to describe these quacks loosely - would hypnotize people & convince they they were 'reliving' past memories of Mom & Dad killing babies in Satanic rituals in the basement while they were growing up.

Other 'therapists' would badger kids until they invented stories about watching alligators eat babies dropped into a lake from a hot air balloon. Kids would deny anything happened for hours until the therapist 'broke through' and 'found' the 'truth'.

FC was a movement that started with the claim severely handicapped individuals were able to 'type' legible sentences & communicate if a 'helper' guided their hands over a keyboard.