mawarannahr posted:

the pronunciation of letter names was one of countless groundbreaking reforms instituted by Ataturk, who returned the letters to their original nature after the Arabs forced Turks to pronounce the letter K wrong. you might be chided for saying K that way as a child, even if it “slips through” once in a while, no matter how hard you try.

in this highly normal country, one of the most prominent shibboleths for whether you support the PKK or not is whether you pronounce PKK the way one would in “standard” Turkish or the cruder sounding alternative pronunciation that is frowned upon for racist reasons having to do with Arabs. PKK supporters will loudly and proudly say it the “right” way one would in Turkish, whereas the nationalists (essentially everyone else in Turkey) regress to this embarrassing condition.

so. idk.

Pener Kropoopkin posted:

Red and Black posted:

U.S. general warns troops that war with China is possible in two years

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/01/27/us-general-minihan-china-war-2025/

stephenthinkpad posted:

It's weird Modi is so afraid of using his own currency to buy energy, they still don't have a direct currency deal with Russia.

The Indian people see Russia as fam! Much more so than the Chinese people to Russia.

https://twitter.com/GarimaMo/status/1628317070931656705?s=20

(The 5% Americans who see Russia as ally are all in Brighten Beach or CSPAM)

Centrist Committee posted:

oh no these made up numbers on a spreadsheet have been wasted on this useless bridge

AnimeIsTrash posted:

It's the indian equivalent of this

Comrade Koba posted:

jfc that motherfucker is literally a century old and still somehow has the energy and mental presence to go across the world and do diplomacy poo poo like this

gradenko_2000 posted:

Free? Hong Kong!

fart simpson posted:

is 22% of chinas market a big deal?

Regarde Aduck posted:

what the gently caress?

stephenthinkpad posted:

Guangzhou's older districts have narrow roads and slower traffic flow.

So while it's scary to cross the road when you do it the first few days, you just wait for the herd of pedestrians and cross the road together and it will be fine. Also look at the eyes of the bus drivers when you are crossing so they step on the brakes.

Taffer posted:

Can anyone write some words about the Judge-ordered liquidation of Evergrande and what effects it might have? I'm particularly curious how it got in such a mess in the first place.

I wish I had better sources for this stuff but all western reporting on China is psychotic, never quite sure where to look

quote:

>> Storage wars <<
China v The Cholmondeleys

For reasons that Messrs Harbottle & Lewis would rather we didn't explain, a number of internet users have recently been scouring through old pictures of David Cholmondeley and his wife Lady Sarah Rose. Specifically a couple of 'At Home With The Cholmondeleys'-style photoshoots that show the Marquess and Marchioness draped across some rather gorgeous antique Chinese furniture they have installed in their country pile, Houghton Hall.

The pieces have now caught the eye of Chinese TikTokkers who were curious as to their provenance. It didn't take much sleuthing to discover that David's grandmother was Sybil Cholmondeley – née Sassoon. Of the same Sassoons who did such a roaring trade in opium in China in the 19th century. And also had a decent sideline in pillaging goods as the Qing dynasty collapsed.

So it seems fairly clear which side China is going to take in the rural rivalry.

fart simpson posted:

i might be able to get one of these next year

Orange Devil posted:

That's his name now.

Boat Stuck posted:

Fun fact, China didn't really have gun control until 1993 when 5000 people from two villages in Hunan fought a 2-day battle over a blood feud with WW II surplus guns + homemade artillery and shut down the Beijing-Guangzhou railway (which passes between the two villages).

https://www.quora.com/I-heard-that-...or-is-it-a-myth

quote:

Organisers of the Beijing half marathon are investigating the men’s race after two Kenyans and one Ethiopian runner appeared to deliberately allow China’s He Jie to win.

Footage of the final few hundred metres of the race seemingly shows Robert Keter and Willy Mnangat of Kenya and Ethiopia’s Dejene Hailu Bikila slow down and gesture in front of them, encouraging He to pass and take the lead.

The four athletes, who had run together for the whole race, then ran side by side to the finish line, before the three Africans dropped back to let He cross the tape first.

Mnangat told BBC Sport that they were running as pacemakers for He, who is the Chinese national champion in the full marathon distance. “I was not there to compete,” Mnangat said. “It was not a competitive race for me.”

Immediately after the race the Kenyan initially said he allowed He to win “because he is my friend”. “He comes to Kenya and I was [pacing for him] in the Wuxi Marathon, so he is my friend, OK,” Mnangat told the South China Morning Post.

Mnangat said the three African runners, as well as a fourth who did not finish the race, were hired to pace He to a Chinese half marathon record.

“I don’t know why they put my name on my bib/chest number instead of labelling it as a pacemaker,” Mnangat told the BBC. “My job was to set the pace and help the guy win but unfortunately, he did not achieve the target, which was to break the national record.”

Winning in a time of 1:03.44, He fell short of the record by one minute and 11 seconds, while Mnangat, Keter and Bikila tied for second place.

The Beijing Sports Bureau confirmed to AFP they were investigating the circumstances around the finish and any results would be “promptly disclosed to the public”.

In a statement World Athletics said: “We are aware of the footage circulating online from the Beijing half marathon this weekend and understand an investigation is currently being conducted by the relevant local authorities. The integrity of our sport is the highest priority at World Athletics, while this investigation is ongoing we are unable to provide further comment.”

stephenthinkpad posted:

https://twitter.com/GameofTrades_/status/1780244757693763935?t=WyoyMgz6q_qBKshSy2HYog&s=19

They got to bring Abe back.

Spergin Morlock posted:

Iran has a very large azeri minority population. I doubt they want to get entangled there