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micdotcom:

If U.S. diplomacy with China falls apart, it could have major ramifications

  • Trump continued to needle at China Sunday by openly questioning the so-called “one China policy” on Fox News.
  • China then issued a stern rebuke to Trump’s comments early Monday through its foreign minister.
  • “I don’t know why we have to be bound by a one China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade,” Trump said Sunday, adding, “I don’t want China dictating to me.”
  • That provocative language prompted a Monday editorial in China’s state-run newspaper describing Trump’s diplomacy as “ignorant as a child.”
  • On Dec. 8, China flew a long-range nuclear bomber outside of the nation for the first time since the Taiwan phone call — reportedly a symbolic show of strength.
  • The threat of trade war with China is a real risk to Americans, experts warn.
  • Policy analysts also warn that military conflict could be on the table if aggression between China and the U.S. escalates further. Read more

micdotcom:

Clinton campaign calls for Electoral College briefing on Russia’s reported meddling

  • Clinton’s campaign joined a group of members of the Electoral College in calling for electors to receive an intelligence briefing on Russia’s reported meddling in the U.S. election
  • This comes after bombshell reports saying Russia’s cyberattacks on the Clinton campaign were in an effort to help elect Trump.
  • The call came from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, who said  Russian interference “did not receive the attention it deserved by the media” during the campaign.
  • A bipartisan group of members of Congress have come forward to call for a full investigation as well. Read more

npr:

Winter has descended on North Dakota. A blizzard swept through the state earlier this week, shutting down nearly 300 miles of interstate highway there. And the weather doesn’t promise to relent in the coming months.

In the midst of it all, a large group of protesters remains at the temporary camps on the northern edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The movement, which started in early 2016, had small roots but grew into the thousands, drawing support from Native Americans from across the country, as well as activists who joined in solidarity against the proposed route of the 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline just north of the reservation.

Last week those protests won a concession from the federal government: The Army Corps of Engineers announced it would deny the permit necessary to build the oil pipeline in that area. And now, with an eye toward the impending winter weather, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota is asking people camping near the route to go home.

Still, many “water protectors” have vowed to hold their ground.

Here are some of their own stories, their experiences at the camp and their reasons for joining the protest — in their own words.

In Their Own Words: The ‘Water Protectors’ Of Standing Rock

Photos: Cassi Alexandra for NPR

On Asian “accents”

ciaomunch:

traumachu:

It started when I was in kindergarten, and I was so proud I did not have to go to Bingo class, unlike my friends, because I could speak good English -

although I had no idea what a yellow dog that could spell had anything to do with Chinese. 

(I figure out now that it was probably called Bilingual class)

I am lucky. I speak the fluent, accentless English of newscasters, the dialect spoken by the children of immigrants, that we learned not from our parents but rather from watching Sesame Street and other things on tv.

Last year, a white facebook friend of mine posted, “In order to celebrate Chinese New Year, me talk rike chinese man arr day.” 

And then told me that she was “sorry I was offended” and “she didn’t mean anything by it” when I (nicely, sweetly) told her that that shit was not okay. She said that she saw it the same as doing an accent, like Irish. Or British. Or Italian. (for bonus points, she even said that she has lots of Asian co-workers and friends, and LOVES Asian people, and so is not a racist.)

And when one of my white friends gets drunk, he thinks his “Asian accent” is hilarious.

And I was told by a coworker about the time my Asian coworker mispronounced “Barroway” as “Bwawwoway” and how hilarious it was.

Here’s the thing - can you guess how many Asian people I know who actually say

me rikey

me from _____

me so solly

(or, if you like, the fetishized versions: me so horny, me love you long time)

if you said ZERO, then ding ding ding! Congratulations, you have working brain cells.

No, my misguided fb friend, the “Asian accent” is not an actual imitation of an accent, comparable to your bad British/Irish/Italian - but rather a mockery of Asian people and their supposed inability to speak English. It is the perpetuation of the image of Asian people as perpetual foreigners in America.

Like that time when my family was at an Italian restaurant, and we were speaking to my father in Cantonese, and a drunken white lady said very loudly, “GOD when you come to this country at least learn the language!”

Or when my father was pulled over for speeding, and although he said “what’s the problem, officer?” the first thing the state trooper said was, “Do you speak English?”

Your fake “Asian accents” are not harmless and silly, because at the root of the joke, it says - you, you are stupid. You cannot speak English. You are Other. You do not belong.

my parents have been in this country for 30 years. They have been American citizens for 30 years.

And they are very self-conscious of their imperfect English, afraid that it makes them look ignorant, knowing that it marks them as immigrants. That, after 30 years, you can still be told (in not so many words) that you do not belong.

The Cultural Revolution started in China when my father was 13. He was pulled out of school and, later, sent to work in the fields. (He escaped to Hong Kong when he was 18, but that is another story for another time.)

When my father came to this country, he had a middle school education and did not speak a lick of English. He worked as a busboy at a Chinese restaurant, the evening shift that ran until 3 or 4 in the morning, and went to school during the day.

It took my father ten years to earn his bachelor’s degree. He is now an engineer.

Is this not your “American Dream?”

When my mother came to this country, she spoke very little English. She got a job as an entry level clerk. Over the years she earned one promotion after another. She is now management at a large federal agency, and manages funds for the whole state.

Is this not your “American Dream?”

And my father didn’t understand why his coworkers said, “flied lice, flied lice!” to him over and over and laughed.

And my father is still afraid to speak in a professional setting, even when he has ideas. 

And my mother still checks and double checks her professional e-mails with me, for fear of mockery from the same people she manages.

And people don’t understand why I can’t take a harmless joke. Why I don’t think that shit is funny.

No, I don’t “rikey.” 

No, I won’t “love you long time.”

And no, I’m not sorry.

So, please, kindly - FUCK OFF.

Reblogging this for, like, the fiftieth time because it has never stopped being relevant to my life and it always, always breaks my heart.

It’s not funny. It’s not okay. It’s not harmless. It’s alienating and hurtful.