Fuck it, thread on orientalism, emasculation, and Asian fetishism for trans women:

CW: Racism, sexuality, fetishisation, orientialism

(switching from my usual Eleanor gifs because, well, it would be ironic not to)

Once again the nighmarish scenario of the Nigerian military not only decimating Boko Haram, but going after ISWAP in the Lake Chad basin has triggered the same sort of activities that preceded the March/April 2020 false flag Maskirovska.

In the early months of 2020 the Nigerian Army recorded unexpectedly significant gains against Boko Haram insurgents. Remember this was the period Boko Haram insurgents were surrendering to the Nigerian army by the hundreds. Who remembers the audio tape of Abubakar Shekau

...weeping to Allah/God for intervention. This was the first time Field artillery troops coordinated with the NAF for round the clock air and artillery bombardment. This affected the morale of BHTs who have never experienced this level of firepower and began surrendering en mass

Things got so bad Shekau sent assassination squads to go after BHT commanders surrendering. This did nothing to deter the exodus of frightened fighters. The army was having a hard time processing the hundreds surrendering. A BHT commander surrendered with his wife and children.

What happened next? Boko Haram supposedly attacked a Chadian Army base, a few kilometres from U.S and French military bases for NINE straight hours. Killed 100 Chadian troops and escaped on canoes with caches of weapon. Think about it. For nine hours the vaunted Chadian army

THREAD.

In analysing the Afghan political spectrum something becomes obvious: Kabul's base is far more diverse than the Taliban's. For simplicity's sake, I'll count stronger opposition toward the Taliban than Kabul as 'pro Kabul'.

Let's assess these generally. Exceptions apply.

A diverse base isn't necessarily, however, a good thing. Appealing to everyone ensures you appeal to no one, or that your support base is so fractured that it actually becomes a liability. Think of Clinton losing the Democrat majority in Congress being a blessing in disguise.

Some pro-Kabul groupings:

1) ethnonationalists of all ethnicities. Whilst the non-Pashtuns amongst them aren't pro-Ghani, they're pro-Kabul as an institution; they see it as far more representative and amenable to their interests than the Taliban.

Some Pashtun nationalists do support the Taliban (majority Pashtun) but these are a minority. The biggest blemishes on the Taliban's Pashtun credentials:

a) The Taliban/Pakistan relationship
b) their overt Islam, which many Pashtun nationalists are hostile toward.

2) The enlightened 'roshan-fikr' demographic

Liberals/seculars. Not much intro needed: progress, freedom, spectacular gains of the last 19 years, women's rights et cetera. You generally notice quite an anti-Islam, wholesale adoption of War on Terror rhetoric in their rationale.

In more Securing Democracy at #enigma2021, @ChrFolini talking about "THE ADVENTUROUS TALE OF ONLINE VOTING IN

Switzerland is a direct democracy where citizens get to vote at least 4x/year, with a lot of mail-in voting. We have a long history of online voting.

Disclaimer: THIS IS NOT SWEDEN.

[I get the picture that @ChrFolini has had to explain the difference several times.]

Process around mail-in ballots.

[tl;dr it's very complicated and wasn't threat-modeled until recently]

But the in-person ballots are complicated, too!

Most security folks don't think that we can't make a secure online voting system.

@ChrFolini says this is because of encryption
[Note: this is not the main reason that a lot of people cite -- we're more worried about things like malware but it's complicated]

(1/11) This term, I’ve taught a seminar @IslamicSt_UniFR called “Little Ice Ages and Mighty Microbes. What Environmental History Can Tell Us about the #MiddleEast”. These are some of the things that I’ve learned. A thread. #twitterstorians #environmentalhistory

(2/11) The Arab invasion of #Iran led to a cotton boom – until the 11th century. Then a “big chill” made agriculture detract. Leading Sunni scholars moved elsewhere &bimportant madrasas closed. This helped to eventually convert Iran into Shi’i-majority lands in the 16th century.

(3/11) The “golden age” of the Ottoman Empire saw the conquest of Egypt. With grain (incl. rats/fleas) now being shipped in huge quantities from Alexandria to #Istanbul, the capital became a constant “plague hub” (which, in turn, dramatically increased Ottoman medical knowledge).

(4/11) At the same time, several #Ottoman provinces were already operating at the ecological limit while still being forced to provide Istanbul with animals. When the Little Ice Age hit these semiarid areas in the late 16th century, significant rebellions & crises ensued.

(5/11) Not only humans suffered but animals, too. Epizootics killed livestock in 18th century #Egypt, which made peasants become more dependent on large landholders. Consequently, “changes in nature of rural labor degraded the lives of both beast and man.”