Newer
Older
* automatically add random topics that you don't care about to your suggestions, with no easy way to prevent that.
* questions cannot have more than one sentence. There used to be a question body, but it was replaced with a "link for context". Ridiculous.
As a result, on the few occasions that Ciro posts on Quora, all content will also be mirrored here. Ciro's China Quora answers include:
* https://www.quora.com/What-would-happen-if-I-walked-around-Beijing-with-a-t-shirt-that-said-freedom-of-speech-is-pretty-great/answer/Ciro-Santilli[What would happen if I walked around Beijing with a t-shirt that said "freedom of speech is pretty great"?] (https://archive.is/PxjJA[archive]) see also: <<t-shirt>>
* https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-net-worth-of-Xi-Jinping/answer/Ciro-Santilli[What is the net worth of Xi Jinping?] see also: <<panama-papers>>
* http://archive.is/WzIcg[]: a Han supremacist!
Related posts:
* https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/lv0n24/has_quora_been_overrun_with_chinese_propaganda/
[[ptt]]
==== PTT Bulletin Board System 批踢踢實業坊
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTT_Bulletin_Board_System
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/批踢踢
Popular <<taiwan,Taiwanese>> forum system and server from 1995, pre HTML, works from telnet terminal, so likely very programmer heavy, and obviously anti-CCP, as of 2020 often shows <<falun-gong>> ads.
* 2020-10-09: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/joke/M.1602211516.A.3FB.html 如何一秒惹怒中國人 (how to provoke a Chinese person in one second) by https://pttweb.tw/user/abc60575986/[abc60575986] saying "台灣是一個國家" (Taiwan is a country). Then https://pttweb.tw/user/kugwa/[kugwa] linked to <<keyword-attack,Ciro Santilli's Stack Overflow profile>>
* 2020-01-31: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/Gossiping/M.1580484253.A.37A.html "stackoverflow菁英卻痛恨中國" by https://pttweb.tw/user/Eric0605/["Eric0605 (我還有點餓)"] on the Gossiping board. One of the comments then links to http://cirosantilli.com
* 2017-06-19 https://pttweb.tw/s/2K9zV "Ciro Santilli <<the-709-crackdown,709大抓捕>> 六四事件 法轮" on the Gossiping board
* 2016-10-03 https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/Soft_Job/M.1478104872.A.916.html "Github也出現網軍了嗎?" (Is there an emerging wumao army on GitHub?) by gocreating on the Soft_Job board
Archaic, fucking impossible to learn how to use. Ciro Santilli hasn't managed yet, so if you want a reply from him, open an issue on this repo instead. Some tips:
* on the web UI rendering replies can be either likes (推 as in 推荐), dislikes (噓, hush!) or neutral (right arrow)
* per-page threads are basically flat. You can however reply to another post with a "Re:" post. One application of this seems to be to post images which might only be allowed on the thread starters, e.g.: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/joke/M.1602324724.A.CA0.html is a "Re:" to https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/joke/M.1602211516.A.3FB.html It is not clear if Re: and original posts are interlinked in any way.
TODO: can anyone comment, without having a Taiwanese university address? This suggests no: https://www.reddit.com/r/taiwan/comments/1etbvb/anyone_on_pttcc_advice_suggestions/ Also asked at:
* https://www.quora.com/unanswered/Can-you-comment-on-the-PTT-Bulletin-Board-System-at-ptt-cc-from-Taiwan-without-working-or-studying-at-a-Taiwanese-university
* https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/92
A source informed Ciro that now only https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Taiwan_University[NTU] alumni can have an account.
Maybe the email requirement is the only way to prevent <<wumao,wumaos>> from flooding the website.
Normal people see it on a web viewer hosted on: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/index.html
However it is fucking impossible to web archive that web interface because there is a cookie I'm 18-years-old confirmation before the first connection.
This shows how to connect for the first time: https://www.ptt.cc/index.firstbbs.html
....
luit -encoding big5 telnet ptt.cc
....
"本站目前暫停開放新帳號註冊。" "This site is currently suspended for new account registration."
And you try `new` it says: "目前無法註冊帳號![按任意鍵繼續]" "Account cannot be registered at this time."
....
luit -encoding big5 telnet ptt2.cc
....
Then there is a registration process that seem to require you to prove that you work at Taiwanese university, but not sure it is mandatory to post.
But I couldn't find Gossiping there either, which is the only board that matters, so not sure it is on this server.
[[lihkg]]
==== LIHKG (連登)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIHKG
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIHKG討論區
URL: https://lihkg.com
<<hong-kong>> Reddit. Requires a Hong Kong IP or university address to login, a bit in the spirit of <<ptt>> to avoid <<wumao>>.
If it goes down, they created: https://www.reddit.com/r/LIHKG/ on <<reddit>>.
* 2020-08-24 https://lihkg.com/thread/2171918/page/1 "工信部培植代碼平台取代GitHub" (The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology cultivates a code platform to replace GitHub) linking to: https://hk.appledaily.com/china/20200823/AOAQRQURIRCT3D2DNPLMXUVC2M/ Then 菱川六花 linked to this page on a comment. Too young, too naive, they did not know about the more specific and interesting https://gitee.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship from <<gitee-censorship>>
* 2019-10-31 https://lihkg.com/thread/1685513/page/3 "Notepad{plus}{plus}新版代號「自由維吾爾」，GitHub網頁被灌爆，網站遭DDoS" about <<notepad>> "Free Uyghur" version. On page 3 comment links to Ciro's <<stack-overflow>> account. Big thread with 500+ likes.
* 2019-10-05 https://lihkg.com/thread/1625310/page/1 "聽講GitHub好好用" (Attending lectures on GitHub is very useful.). But likely some <<slang,slang>> for politics, because on first comment "可以好好上去發表下愛國論". Then someone links to <<nine-nine-six-icu>>, then to the GitHub <<mirrors,mirror of this page>>, and then to <<gitee>>.
* 2018-07-31 https://lihkg.com/thread/762440/page/1 https://archive.is/7REOi. Title: "依條友都幾屈機, 係Stack overflow撚共匪". I'm unable to understand the first sentence, but the end is something along "to play tricks on the commies". First comment (likely by OP): "佢個個人home page好多5毛留言, 唔知會唔會搞到block堆stackoverflow". The entire thread is about Ciro's <<stack-overflow>>.
[[google]]
==== Google 谷歌
* <<google-china>>
* <<google-cache>>
[[google-mirrors]]
===== Google mirrors 谷歌镜像
Do the names mean anything? Are they owned? The fact that they are Alexa top 1000 domains is just so funny, Google redirects for China.
Alexa top 1000 domains and blocked in China as per <<greatfire>>:
* https://gdl5vtbbv0lj.com
* https://au79nt5wic4x.com
https://library.ac.cn/ large list of university Google/Google Scholar/Wikipedia/Twitter mirrors maintained by Chinese university students under an unified system. Each one asks for verification that you are from that university via some little known fact about the university:
* https://g.luciaz.me from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhejiang_University[Zhejiang University] "需要验证您是否来自浙江大学". Question: "请问浙江大学内网最大的论坛中, 每天发帖量最大的版块是哪个?" (Ask your colleagues on the internal forum, what is the most popular section of the forum every day?)
* https://g0.njuu.cf/ from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjing_University[Nanjing University] "需要验证您是否来自南京大学" Question: "西大楼是哪个系的?" (Which department is in the big Western building?)
* https://g0.library.edu.eu.org/
* https://chacha.design/
* https://g0.nuaa.cf/
* https://g1.liuxiongb.in/
* https://google.zenith.workers.dev/
* https://proxy.juchiahau.com/
* https://seeres.com 闭站维护中
* https://www.muzhiso.net/
* https://www.sanzhima.com/
* https://cjh0613.github.io/blog/GoogleMirror.html
The commies are not a fan. But as someone once told me: the commies are not a fan of a bunch of things!
As mentioned at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_China there are only a few state approved churches under total CCP control, and the others are forbidden. For example one of them is called the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Patriotic_Catholic_Association[Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association]! God and CCP on the same sentence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_XII[Pope Pius XII] excommunicated people from that organization who were appointing new Bishops!
* 2020-11-24 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/24/pope-says-for-first-time-that-chinas-uighurs-are-persecuted "Pope says for first time that China's Uighurs are 'persecuted'"
* 2018-12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzWApdCNdik "100 Christians detained in China crackdown" published by CNN
* 2018-09 Vatican Christian pope makes deal with China
+
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China–Holy_See_relations#September_2018_Holy_See–China_Agreement
+
.<<rebel-pepper>> 2018-09 cartoon showing the Pope Francis with a Christian cross containing the Hammer and Sickle communist symbol, in reference to one of the accords that the Vatican struck with the Chinese government. https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/vatican-china-cartoon-09282018102133.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Pope_CCP_deal.jpeg[height=400]
* 2018-01 Chinese authorities demolish Christian mega-church "Golden Lampstand" sparking fears of religious persecution
** https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-authorities-demolish-christian-mega-church-in-crackdown-2018-1
+
.China's Golden Lampstand Church being demolished. https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-authorities-demolish-christian-mega-church-in-crackdown-2018-1[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Church_demolition.jpg[height=400]
* 2016 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/world/asia/china-zhejiang-christians-pastor-crosses.html pastor 14 years jail
* 2015 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/christians-in-china-feel-full-force-of-authorities-repression/2015/12/23/7dd0ec5a-a736-11e5-b596-113f59ee069a_story.html
.<<rebel-pepper>> 2018-09 cartoon showing Jesus and the Apostles in the Last Supper being arrested by CCP guards. https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/china-crackddown-Christianity-cartoon-09072018150421.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Last_Supper_arrest.jpeg[height=400]
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Hongtu[Zhang Hongtu] cartoon showing <<mao-zedong,Mao Zedong>> and other communist officials at the Last Supper instead of Jesus and the Apostles. https://musicandculture.blogspot.com/2010/03/massive-last-supper-parodies-post.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Last_Supper_Mao.jpg[height=400]
[[life-of-brian-nazi-jew]]
.https://youtu.be/wthHB3iTC7M?t=556 Nazi Jew deleted scene from <<life-of-brian-1979>>. If you want to stop <<christianity>>, don't put them in jail like the <<dictatorship,dictators>>. Do it the same way you stop dictators: with <<funny,comedy>>. Otherwise, the dictators remain in power, and <<intolerance,next person in jail, will be you>>. <<the-secret-life-of-brian-2007>> is a good documentary about it.
video::wthHB3iTC7M[youtube,width=600,height=400,start=556]
.https://youtu.be/tRr_1U9EvWI "How China uses intimidation, negotiation to bring Christians under its control" by CBC News: The National (2018). Talks about the Pope's deal with the CCP. Shows some good footage of a house church with a guard in front of the door.
video::tRr_1U9EvWI[youtube,width=600,height=400,start=556]
[[eastern-lightning]]
==== Eastern Lightning 全能神教會 (1991-)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Lightning
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/全能神教會
A persecuted Christian sect that believes that some Chinese woman is Jesus.
=== Kaifeng Jews
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaifeng_Jews#Recent_repression
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/开封犹太人
Even with such tiny community, the <<ccp>> is still trying to pretende they never existed.
[[gay-rights]]
=== Gay rights LGBT权利
Yes, gay people are also <<evil-west,discriminated to different degrees in Western countries>>, and even legally prohibited notably in the Islamic world.
But <<intolerance,like all minorities>>, they are generally more fucked in <<dictatorship,dictatorships>>, since they can be easily crushed by majorities.
Therefore, all gay people must be against the CCP:
* 2020-08-14 https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3097377/shanghai-pride-cancelled-after-11-years-blow-lgbt-community "Shanghai Pride cancelled after 11 years in blow to China's LGBT community". "
Organisers are 'taking a break from scheduling any future events', they say in social media message".
** the Tweet: https://twitter.com/ShanghaiPride/status/1293897794919510016 "上海骄傲节终止所有活动" (Shanhai Pride will be stopping all activities)
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Pride
* 2020-01-07 https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/why-china-raising-prospect-same-sex-marriage-n1109471 "Why is China raising the prospect of same-sex marriage?"
* 2018 Weibo temporary homosexual ban:
** 2018-04-16 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/16/china-weibo-bans-homosexual-content-protest "China's Weibo reverses ban on 'homosexual' content after outcry", hashtags `#iamgay` and `#iamgaynotapervert`
** 2018-04-13 https://www.whatsonweibo.com/weibos-new-online-guidelines-no-homosexuality-allowed/
* 2017-07-16 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-40610679 "Chinese gay video ban sparks online backlash"
** 2017-06-30 https://www.whatsonweibo.com/new-rules-online-videos-china-no-displays-homosexuality/ "New Rules for Online Videos in China: "No Displays of Homosexuality""
* 2016-03-04 https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/mar/04/china-bans-gay-people-television-clampdown-xi-jinping-censorship "China bans depictions of gay people on television". One of the most prominent series banned was link:++https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addicted_(web_series)++[Addicted (2016, 上瘾)].
+
.Widely distributed still from the Addicted 2016 series which was banned showing a presumably gay couple lying in bed. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/mar/04/china-bans-gay-people-television-clampdown-xi-jinping-censorship[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Addicted_bed.jpg[height=400]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_China | https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中国同性恋史
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_by_country_or_territory | https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/各地LGBT权利
* <<gay-putin>>
* https://www.zhihu.com/question/370080866/answer/1046195468 at <<zhihu>>
.Lesbian couple kissing in <<tiananmen,Tiananmen Square>> with Mao's painting and confused/disgusted guards in the background who are likely about to call their superiors to ask what they should do. The photo likely surfaced in 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20200301224434/https://www.salon.com/2006/01/17/lesbians_china/[as mentioned] in link:++https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salon_(website)++[salon.com] which said it came form https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boing_Boing[Boing Boing]. It was not however picked up by any major website. Ciro actually thought this could have been ripped from some television series due to the amazing expression on the guards' faces. TODO: find the original Chinese source, translate the watermarks, and see if their identity is known. https://web.archive.org/web/20200301223317/http://www.chinatoday.com/entertain/tiananmen_kiss.htm[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Tianmen_lesbian_kiss.jpg[height=500]
[[qing-gay-scroll]]
.<<throne,Qing dynasty>> (18th–19th c.) panel from a scroll showing two men engaging in foreplay, apparently located in the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_Institute[Kinsey Institute] as of 2005. For an ancient depiction of heterosexual sexual activity, see <<jin-ping-mei,this image>>. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Love_play_in_China.jpg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Qing_Dinasty_gay_foreplay.jpg[height=400]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_Too_movement#China
They seem to have had difficulty in expressing themselves due to <<censorship>>, unsurprisingly.
* Zhou Xiaoxuan v. TV anchor Zhu Jun
* Liu Jingyao v. billionaire Liu Qiangdong
* Zou Sicong and He Qian v. Deng Fei
https://github.com/sikaozhe1997/Xin-Yue on <<github-repositories-with-censored-information>> is an open letter by student activist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Xin_(activist)[Yue Xin] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/岳昕[岳昕]) about the events described at https://web.archive.org/web/20200104064812/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/world/asia/china-metoo-gao-yan.html["China's #MeToo: How a 20-Year-Old Rape Case Became a Rallying Cry"] she accuses professor Shen Yang of the Peking University Chinese literature of raping student Gao Yan, ultimately leading to her suicide in 1998:
* https://sikaozhe1997.github.io/Xin-Yue/#/岳昕：致北京大学师生和北大外国语学院的一封公开信.md Chinese original
* https://github.com/sikaozhe1997/Xin-Yue/blob/master/letter.md in-tree translation "Yue Xin: An open letter to the students and academic staff of Peking University and the PKU School of Foreign Languages"
* 2018-04 https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2018/04/translation-open-letter-on-peking-university-metoo-case/ "TRANSLATION: OPEN LETTER ON PKU #METOO CASE"
This was one of the starting points of <<terminus2049>>.
The letter was also apparently embedded into the <<bitcoin-blockchain,Ethereum blockchain>> according to https://theconversation.com/chinese-internet-users-turn-to-the-blockchain-to-fight-against-government-censorship-111795[].
Russia is clearly the number 2 <<dictatorship>> in the world by population / GDP and the link:https://www.ploughshares.org/world-nuclear-stockpile-report[#1 nuclear arsenal], so here we go.
Ciro has always been curious about how Russia can be both oppressive and a appear democratic, unlike China which doesn't even try to pretend. This is what he gathers:
* the government controls all major media. If any media says bad things against them, the government finds pretexts to create lawsuits or increase taxes against such companies. Therefore all people end up thinking that the government is good.
* just like China, <<evil-west,they emphasize the threat of the foreign countries>>, especially the US, as a justification for having an oppressive power.
* the government puts pressure on any significant opposition candidate. One technique is to find some reason to put them in jail for two months, which by Russian law forbids them from participating in further elections. Only candidates that don't really stand a chance are left as a fake opposition. But if you reach some prominence, you start taking the same risks as politicians, although you are more likely to face more brutal illegal gangster violence threats as you are less visible
See also: <<communist-youth-league>>
While we are at it, some interesting news:
* 2019-12-14 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50902496 "Russia 'successfully tests' its unplugged internet". Russia's <<gfw>> is ready?
* 2018-04 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-43752337 "Russia to block Telegram app over encryption"
* 2017 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40635267 Russia Jehovah's Witnesses banned after they lose appeal
* 2017 https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/2085395/its-now-illegal-russia-share-image-putin-possibly-gay
* 2016 https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/kzgkv3/russians-now-need-a-passport-to-watch-pornhub
* 1995 Vladislav Listyev
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladislav_Listyev
** https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Листьев,_Владислав_Николаевич
The Russians have very different style to the Chinese, who are much more subtle, and just put people in jail or handicap them in several ways without killing them.
Other political murders or attempts:
* 2015 Boris Nemtsov Немцов, Борис Ефимович https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Nemtsov | https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Немцов,_Борис_Ефимович
Some other interesting political suppression lists:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_Russia[list of journalists killed in Russia] (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Список_журналистов,_убитых_в_России[Список журналистов, убитых в России]).
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Soviet_and_Russian_assassinations[List of Soviet and Russian assassinations]
* 2017 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/23/here-are-ten-critics-of-vladimir-putin-who-died-violently-or-in-suspicious-ways/ "Here are 10 critics of Vladimir Putin who died violently or in suspicious ways"
* 2017-07-18 https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/07/18/online-and-all-fronts/russias-assault-freedom-expression "Online and On All Fronts Russia's Assault on Freedom of Expression"
* <<seventeen-moments-of-spring>>
[[federal-list-of-extremist-materials]]
=== Federal List of Extremist Materials (Федеральный список экстремистских материалов)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_List_of_Extremist_Materials
* https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Федеральный_список_экстремистских_материалов
<<censorship-monitoring,Unlike the Chinese>>, they have a public list, each entry had a numerical ID even. This is the best thing ever made! The dream for <<keyword-attack,keyword attackers>>!
Most of it appears to be anti/<<nazi>>, and notably anti-anti-semitic but several items are purely political anti-freedoms.
One wonders if the majority of the items are just fillers to hide the really juicy anti-freedom ones.
We need to make a GitHub mirror of all of those some day!
The list: http://minjust.gov.ru/ru/extremist-materials[] Here's an archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20200817142035/http://minjust.gov.ru/ru/extremist-materials/export.csv?attach=page[]. The website has a CSV for download with all entries at the bottom. Enca says the encoding is "MS-Windows code page 1251", convert to UTF-8 with:
....
iconv -f WINDOWS-1251 -t UTF-8//IGNORE export.csv
....
`//IGNORE` is needed because their fucking CSV export has a bug and otherwise `iconv` stops at the first error.
Result at: https://github.com/cirosantilli/media/blob/039ed572f61866655fc6ea3333b199527df4f3eb/russian-federal-list-of-extremist-materials-utf8-2020-08-17.csv
From this we can grep, and then to overcome translation limits as there is no offline option yet: https://askubuntu.com/questions/380847/is-it-possible-to-translate-words-via-terminal[], dump your selection on a gist and use Google translate on the Gist.
A website "dedicated" to bypassing censorship of the list: http://zapretno.info/[]. TODO much of that website's content is not clearly marked as being on the list.
* 2791: "Blowing up Russia: Terror from Within" by <<litvinenko>>
* Religion
** 1171, 1172, 1173: "What is Scientology", which likely refers to this L. Ron Hubbard book. https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Scientology-L-Ron-Hubbard/dp/1573181226[] and two other books. Coverage: https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-officially-bans-scientology-books-brands-them-extremist-2012-3?r=US&IR=T
** 2904: Jehovah's Witnesses website https://www.jw.org/en/[]. Coverage: https://www.state.gov/reports/2017-report-on-international-religious-freedom/russia/
* Ukraine due to <<russo-ukrainian-war>>
** 2596: A. M. Byvshev's poem "Ukrainian patriots", where he disagreed with Russian intervention in Donbass and supported military resistance by Ukrainians.
** searching for "суда" (Crimea) has dozens of hits
* Anti-Putin and apparently non hate-crime:
** 1000:
*** Leaflets with the following content: "Down with the power of the Cheka-nuty Putin and Medvedev", "Down with the power of the Cheka-nuty Putin"
*** Листовки следующего содержания: «Долой власть ЧК-нутых Путина и Медведева», «Долой власть ЧК-нутого Путина»
** 4071: <<gay-putin>>
** 4914:
*** The book "Where did Mr. Putin take Russia?" author Yu.E. Kozenkov (M., 2005 - 208 p.)
*** "Книга «Куда завел Россию мистер Путин?» автор Ю.Е. Козенков (М., 2005 – 208 с.)
[[roskomnadzor]]
==== Roskomnadzor (Роскомнадзор)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Service_for_Supervision_of_Communications,_Information_Technology_and_Mass_Media
* https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Роскомнадзор
The Russian censorship body under <<putin>>. The Russian <<cac>>.
They are the ones who make Russian takedowns on <<github-gov-takedowns>>, e.g. https://github.com/github/gov-takedowns/tree/master/Russia/2020
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin
* https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Путин,_Владимир_Владимирович
* 2020-12-22 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/22/russias-putin-signs-bill-giving-presidents-lifetime-immunity "Russia's Putin signs bill giving ex-presidents lifetime immunity". Shit is going down.
* 2019-12-19: Putin proposes abolishing term limits. <<xi-abolishes-term-limits-2018-03,Learnt from Xi>>:
** https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/putin-presidential-term-limit-russia-moscow-conference-today-a9253156.html
** https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-russia-putin-constitution/putin-says-hes-open-to-tweaking-presidential-term-limits-idUKKBN1YN1JO
** 2020-03-25 vote delayed due to <<corona>>
* 2014 Putin khuylo!
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putin_khuylo!
** https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Путин_—_хуйло!
Notable dissidents:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Limonov | https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Лимонов,_Эдуард_Вениаминович
https://youtu.be/fAoMzxKkH2M?t=3628 Can't Get You Out of My Head S01E06 "Are We Pigeon Or Are We Dancer" highlights the fact that Putin came to power without a vision, without ideals and without personality. He was clearly just put there by the corrupt oligarchs who controlled the media as an administrator who would favor corruption.
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiI5UuCiEoU Russian Youtuber Bashir Dokhov puts Putin portrait in a lift as an opinion poll. TODO evidence that it was not staged, e.g. address, identities of people shown. But in any case, Ciro does feel that as of 2020 Putin's power is very precarious compared to <<xi-jinping>> for example. E.g., whenever Ciro spoke to Russians abroad, they were all able to criticize Putin. But about on third to half of the Chinese abroad were completely brainwahsed and thought China has the best government possible. Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeb3MMl3lB4[].
video::BiI5UuCiEoU[youtube,height=400,width=600]
==== Putin-sponsored poisonings
Russia apparently has a long list of poisoning political enemies: https://nypost.com/2018/06/23/inside-russias-long-history-of-poisoning-political-enemies/
* 2020 <<the-poisoning-of-alexei-navalny-2020>>
* 2018 <<skripal>>
* 2012 Alexander Perepilichny Перепеличный, Александр Юрьевич https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Perepilichny | https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Перепеличный,_Александр_Юрьевич
* 2006 <<litvinenko>>
* 2006 Anna Politkovskaya Анна Политковская https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Politkovskaya | https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Политковская,_Анна_Степановна Interview excerpt: https://youtu.be/fAoMzxKkH2M?t=3616
* 2004 Viktor Yushchenko Ющенко, Виктор Андреевич https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko | https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ющенко,_Виктор_Андреевич
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_laboratory_of_the_Soviet_secret_services[Poison laboratory of the Soviet secret services] (link:++https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Токсикологическая_лаборатория_НКВД_—_НКГБ_—_МГБ++[Токсикологическая лаборатория НКВД — НКГБ — МГБ])
[[superputin]]
==== Superputin
Meme partially supported by Putin himself, showing how physically strong and <<gay-putin,manly>> the president is. A form of <<ccp-cult,personality cult>>.
Similar to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Norris_facts[Chuck Norris facts].
"Putin does manly things" photo galleries:
* 2017-06-07 https://mashable.com/2017/08/07/the-swaggering-masculinity-of-vladimir-putin/?europe=true (https://web.archive.org/web/20200412092201/https://mashable.com/2017/08/07/the-swaggering-masculinity-of-vladimir-putin/?europe=true[archive])
* https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/vladimir-putin-doing-manly-things/
.Putin swims Butterfly stroke in a Siberian lake around August 2009. The Telegraph https://web.archive.org/web/20200412090316/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/6175324/Vladimir-Putin-gives-strong-signal-he-may-be-president-again.html[correctly interpreted this as a sign that he would be re-elected in 2012]. For reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Baikal[Lake Baikal in Siberia has a maximum temperature of 14 °C in summer]. Other dictators have used similar swim tactics before, the most notable possibly being <<mao-swim>>. https://web.archive.org/web/20200412090316/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/6175324/Vladimir-Putin-gives-strong-signal-he-may-be-president-again.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Putin_swim.jpg[height=400]
.Putin riding a horse shirtless https://nypost.com/2014/08/29/putin-its-best-not-to-mess-with-us/[near Lake Seliger in August 2009]. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/worl-photo-caption-contest-shirtless-putin_n_3263512[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Putin_horse.jpg[height=500]
.Putin riding a bear. https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/469429961142687422/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Putin_bear.jpg[height=400]
.Putin riding a shark. https://sharkdivers.blogspot.com/2011/05/russian-pm-putin-rides-great-white.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Putin_shark.png[height=400]
.Putin riding a giant eagle. https://www.quora.com/Is-this-picture-of-Vladimir-Putin-riding-a-bear-fake-or-real[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Putin_eagle.webp[height=400]
.Putin riding a meteor. https://www.quora.com/Is-this-picture-of-Vladimir-Putin-riding-a-bear-fake-or-real[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Putin_meteor.webp[height=400]
.Putin riding a dinosaur in a Sci-Fi planet. https://9gag.com/gag/a5K5jLG[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Putin_dinosaur.webp[height=400]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgGzAKP_HuM "RASPUTIN - Vladimir Putin - Love The Way You Move (Funk Overload) @slocband" by Pace Audio (2016). Somewhere in the 2010's the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasputin_(song)[Rasputin 1978 song] by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boney_M.[Boney M.] saw a https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ra-ra-rasputin[meme resurgence] by adapting the song to refer to Vladmir Putin instead of the original song's originally intended https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Rasputin[Grigori Rasputin]. This video adds amazing cute animations of Russian scientists trying to create the perfect funk dancing machine, and highlights the <<superputin>> meme as Putin himself is the perfect dancing machine in the end.
video::YgGzAKP_HuM[youtube,height=400,width=600]
[[night-wolves]]
===== Night wolves (Ночные волки)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Wolves
* https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ночные_волки
Russian ultra-nationalist and motorcycle group supported by Putin.
Notably, they have made large incredibly cheesy Putin supported music/theatrical/stunt shows to revive Russian nationalism.
Mentioned at https://youtu.be/9Q1hZmAcE08?t=4974 "Can't Get You Out of My Head - Part 6: Are We Pigeon? Or Are We Dancer?"
Sample show on <<russia-today>>: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDyk1Ajq8yE
[[gay-putin]]
==== Gay Putin (2017)
Added to the <<federal-list-of-extremist-materials>>.
* https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-putin-gay-clown-memes-internet-extremism-opposition-president-kremlin-a7669486.html
<<gay-rights,Homosexuality>> is not super popular in Russia in general:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Russia
* 2013 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_gay_propaganda_law Russian gay propaganda law (2013) forbids the favorable depiction of homosexuality to minors
.The possibly Gay Putin clown image banned in 2017. https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/2085395/its-now-illegal-russia-share-image-putin-possibly-gay[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Gay_Putin.jpg[height=400]
.Possibly Gay Putin kissing possibly Gay <<flg-trump,Trump>> mural entitled https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_Everything_Great_Again[Make Everything Great Again] painted in Lithuania in 2016 by by artists Dominykas Čečkauskas and Mindaugas Bonanu. It references the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2016_United_States_elections[Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections]. It was https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/12/vandals-censor-image-of-putin-snogging-trump-lithuania[later vandalized]. Now we just need a Putin <<xi-jinping>> kiss. Trump Xi kiss https://www.dw.com/en/sierens-china-survival-of-the-fittest/a-49498499[can be found here]. https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/opinion/putin-will-pay-a-high-price-for-trumps-friendship/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Putin_Trump_kiss.jpg[height=400]
[[skripal]]
==== The poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal Серге́й Ви́кторович Скрипáль (2018-03-04)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Sergei_and_Yulia_Skripal
* https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Отравление_Сергея_и_Юлии_Скрипаль
For more poisonings see: <<putin-sponsored-poisonings>>.
In 4 March 2018, the Russian double agent and his daughter were poisoned with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novichok_agent[Novichok agent] (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Новичок_(отравляющие_вещества)[Новичо́к]), a Soviet-era nerve agent, which was likely put on their front door knob in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury[Salisbury, UK], exact address https://goo.gl/maps/oKASuLWpcSmLqL8F9[Christie Miller Road]! Straight out of a spy novel.
On 30 June 2018, the man of an unlucky drug addict couple found the counterfeit expensive looking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Ricci_(brand)[Nina Ricci] Premier Jour perfume bottle containing the poison, and gave it to the woman who died. How unlucky can you fucking be, as if heavy drug addiction weren't enough, you still have to deal with fucking Russian Novichok!
.The assassination suspects Alexander Mishkin (Алекса́ндр Евге́ньевич Ми́шкин, alias Alexander Petrov) and Anatoliy Chepiga (Анатолий Владимирович Чепига, alias Ruslan Boshirov) in a CCTV still at Salisbury Station on 3rd March 2018 the day before the assassination. Both GRU and Alexander being a doctor, which is consistent with a poisoning assassination attempt. They later explained on an RT interview that they were visiting the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_Cathedral[world renowned Salisbury Cathedral] in their 3 day trip to the UK, and that they <<gay-putin,were not gay>>. Some Western sources interpreted this as an intentional suggestion that they are gay, which for many Russians would imply that they cannot be FSB agents. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/sep/05/planes-trains-and-fake-names-the-trail-left-by-skripal-suspects[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Skripal_assassins_station.jpg[height=400]
.Counterfeit Nina Ricci Premier Jour packet that contained the Novichok. https://www.npr.org/2018/09/05/644782096/u-k-charges-2-russians-suspected-of-poison-attack-on-skripals[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Skripal_perfume.jpg[height=400]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku8OQNyI2i0 "Full Skripal case interview with the UK's suspects (EXCLUSIVE)" by RT with Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov. Not gay moment at: https://youtu.be/Ku8OQNyI2i0?t=461[461s].
video::Ku8OQNyI2i0[youtube,height=400,width=600]
==== Electoral fraud in Russian elections
Besides barring opposition from participating such as <<alexei-navalny>>, electoral fraud was off the charts:
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KQlCRLCw_I 2019-09-12 CCTV footage of Vasily Dyachenko (Василий Дьяченко), who had reported electoral fraud concerns regional 2019 elections, getting surprise punched in the stomach at the St. Petersburg polling station 1619, while the police who is right in front of it do nothing about it. English coverage: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-police-stand-idly-by-as-election-observer-sucker-punched/30160427.html
video::-KQlCRLCw_I[youtube,height=400,width=600]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oSeRyaFllY 2018-03-18 alleged https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fraud#Ballot_stuffing[ballot stuffing electoral fraud] caught on CCTV in Lyubertsy, Moscow Oblast
video::3oSeRyaFllY[youtube,height=400,width=600]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMEqv-NNLW4 Мусора избили ребёнка и наблюдателей на выборах TODO find English version
* Golos (Голос) is the main independent election monitor organization in Russia:
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golos_(election_monitor)
** https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Голос_(мониторинг_выборов)
[[litvinenko]]
==== The murder of Alexander Litvinenko Литвиненко, Александр Вальтерович (2006)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Litvinenko
* https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Литвиненко,_Александр_Вальтерович
Poisoned with polonium-210, for more poisonings see: <<putin-sponsored-poisonings>>:
* 2006-10-29
** meets with two former FSB agents Dmitry Kovtun and Andrey Lugovoy at Millenium Hotel London TODO exact address
** eats with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Scaramella[Mario Scaramella] at an Itsu in London TODO exact address. <<ciro-santilli>> believes the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itsu[Itsu] food to be the real cause of death.
* 2006-11-01 falls ill
* 2006-11-03 admitted into hospital
* 2006-11-23 dies
* 2007-01-26 UK police says they had found a teapot at Millenium Hotel containing extremely high Poloninum-210 traces
* 2010-12 US leaked cables show that Dmitry Kovtun left "positive traces" of radioactive polonium-210 in Germany before departing for Britain https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/11/wilileaks-cables-litvinenko-murder
His 2002 book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowing_Up_Russia[Blowing up Russia: Terror from Within] (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ФСБ_взрывает_Россию[ФСБ взрывает Россию: Федеральная служба безопасности — организатор террористических актов, похищений и убийств]) accuses the FSB of setting up false flag bombing operations, and figures on the <<federal-list-of-extremist-materials>>.
.Litvinenko in his death bed.
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Litvinenko_hospital_bed.webp[height=400]
[[russia-mandatory-registration-of-bloggers]]
==== Mandatory registration of bloggers (2014)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28583669
Bloggers with more than 3000 daily readers must register and cannot be anonymous.
The following Chinese policies come to mind:
* <<icp-license>>
* <<anonymous-accounts-ban>>
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_Vladimir_Putin_in_Russia
* https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Политическая_оппозиция_в_Российской_Федерации
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yegor_Zhukov[Yegor Zhukov]: 2020-08-31 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53972592 "Yegor Zhukov: Leading Russian opposition blogger beaten up", good photo of swallen face
==== NFKRZ
Real name: Roman Albertovich Abalin.
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC19xLluI7dG093Gmw57BhHw
More information: https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/NFKRZ
Interesting videos:
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp_S_kIowGY "Why You Shouldn't Trust RT (Russia Today)" (2020). Douh!!!!!! <<russia-today>>
* <<my-paranoia-as-a-russian-youtuber>> talks about the <<chilling-effect>>
[[alexei-navalny]]
==== Alexei Navalny (Навальный, Алексей Анатольевич)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Navalny
* https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Навальный,_Алексей_Анатольевич
Casually barred from the 2018 presidential campaign:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Alexei_Navalny_presidential_campaign
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42479909
* https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Навальный,_Алексей_Анатольевич#Президентские_выборы_2018_года
His Wiki page does say one thing of interest though, he has right wing tendencies which scared off liberals:
____
The BBC noted in a profile of Navalny that his endorsement of a political campaign called "Stop feeding the Caucasus" and his willingness to speak at ultra-nationalist events "have caused concern among liberals".
____
This video of his https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQZr2NgKPiU might have been added to the <<federal-list-of-extremist-materials>>, wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Deripaska#Navalny_video[], coverage: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-deripaska-prikhodko-rybka-nuland-yacht/29028148.html but I can't find where it is in the list exactly.
* https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-navalny-nationalist-fears/25059277.html
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVNJiO10SWw
===== The poisoning of Alexei Navalny (2020)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexei_Navalny_(2020)
* https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Отравление_Алексея_Навального
For more poisonings see: <<putin-sponsored-poisonings>>.
The second one! The first one was in 2019, but this one is more serious, the German government said tests confirmed it unequivocally that it was Novichok, which was also recently used in <<skripal>>.
* 2020-12-28 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/28/russia-gives-navalny-ultimatum-return-immediately-or-face-jail "Russia's ultimatum to Navalny: Return immediately or face jail
Russia's prison service accuses Kremlin critic of violating terms of his suspended prison sentence by staying abroad"
** https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/12/14/fsb-team-of-chemical-weapon-experts-implicated-in-alexey-navalny-novichok-poisoning/ indicates the names of 8 suspects. They had phone metadata for them including geolocation. How did they get that data??? https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/164
** https://www.dw.com/en/navalny-poisoning-russia-made-second-assassination-attempt-report/a-55921189 "Navalny poisoning: Russia made second assassination attempt - report". Says British intelligence told that to The Times, paywall https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/revealed-kremlin-made-a-second-attempt-to-poison-alexei-navalny-in-botched-assassination-nh32x737j "Revealed: Kremlin made a second attempt to poison Alexei Navalny in botched assassination". TODO any further evidence? WTF they reveal to a paywall newspaper?
** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smhi6jts97I Navalny's video accusing people who he belieaves poisoned him
* 2020-10-18 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alexey-navalny-poisoning-putin-russia-60-minutes-2020-10-18/ 60 Minutes interview, they flew over to Germany to interview him. He looks normal.
* 2020-09-05 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54039710 "Alexei Navalny: Trump refuses to condemn Russia over poisoning"
+
____
President Donald Trump has refused to condemn Russia over the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, saying he has not seen proof.
He said the case was "tragic" but urged reporters to focus instead on China, which he said was a bigger threat to the world than Russia.
____
+
Even after Germany and NATO said it was Novichok for sure... He must be <<putin-trump-kiss,sucking Putin's cock>> to have more nukes pointed against China, or maybe with some cyberhacking for the reelection campaign. Perhaps not a bad strategy, but does completely disregard human rights. Do <<violence,the ends justify the means>>?
+
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54097162 Pompeo then condemned.
+
2020-09-14: laboratories in France and Sweden independently confirmed: https://www.dw.com/en/french-swedish-labs-confirm-navalny-poisoned-with-novichok/a-54918924
* 2020-09-04 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54012278 good timeline of events so far
* 2020-09-02 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/world/europe/navalny-poison-novichok.html "Aleksei Navalny Was Poisoned With Novichok, Germany Says". Tests done on a military weapons facility, which the German government said was based on "unequivocal evidence".
* 2020-08-24 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53892900 "Alexei Navalny: Putin critic 'probably poisoned' - doctors"
He was forcibly kept in Russia for a few days to make the poison effect undetectable before they allowed him to be flown to Berlin.
Several policemen prevented family access to him while in Russia.
First doctors told family he was poisoned, but then soon after they changed their minds to some random excuse.
Poison effects consistent with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholinesterase_inhibitor[cholinesterase inhibitors], but the exact substance was not identified in tests.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-russia-politics-navalny-probe/russian-prosecutors-say-no-need-for-criminal-investigation-in-navalny-affair-idUKKBN25N14A
.Photo published on <<alexei-navalny,Navalny>>'s Twitter on 2020-09-15 of him sitting awake in a hospital bed in Germany with his family. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54163389[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Navalny_hospital_sitting.jpg[height=400]
[[khabarovsk-krai-protests-2020]]
==== 2020 Khabarovsk Krai protests (Протесты в Хабаровском крае)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Khabarovsk_Krai_protests
* https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Протесты_в_Хабаровском_крае
In support to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Furgal[Sergei Furgal] (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Фургал,_Сергей_Иванович[Фургал, Сергей Иванович]).
=== Russian state media
[[russia-today]]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)
=== Censorship of images in the Soviet Union
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_images_in_the_Soviet_Union
.Before/after comparison of picture of Stalin with Nikolai Yezhov at the Moscow Canal. Nikolai was edited out form the second picture. (Credit: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images & AFP/GettyImages) https://www.history.com/news/josef-stalin-great-purge-photo-retouching[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Nikolai_Yezhov_Stalin_canal_edit.webp[height=400]
.A meeting of the St. Petersburg chapter of the Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class in February 1897, including Lenin and Alexander Malchenko. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Union-de-Lucha.jpg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Malchenko.jpg[height=500]
.Same as above, but with Alexander Malchenko edited out. link:++https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St_Petersburg_Union_of_Struggle_for_the_Liberation_of_the_Working_Class_-_Feb_1897_-_Altered.jpg++[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/No_Malchenko.jpg[height=500]
==== Soviet Union radio jamming stations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_in_the_Soviet_Union#Radio_jamming
Ah, the good old days <<gfw,before the TCP/IP>>, when you could just jam around a border ;-)
http://www.antentop.org/008/files/jamm008.pdf has good pics.
[[stalin]]
=== Stalin 斯大林 (1922-1952)
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_Yagami[Light Yagami] from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Note[Death Note]: "I can kill anyone by simply writing his name here". Stalin: "Bitch please". https://ifunny.co/picture/1-can-kill-anyone-by-simply-writing-his-name-here-TjXCcyuM2[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Stalin_bitch_please.jpg[height=500]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT2z0nrsQ8o "Rasputin vs Stalin." Epic Rap Battles of History YouTube video. This is fire. https://epicrapbattlesofhistory.fandom.com/wiki/Rasputin_vs_Stalin/Rap_Meanings[Explanations].
video::ZT2z0nrsQ8o[youtube,height=400,width=600]
[[russo-ukrainian-war]]
=== Russo-Ukrainian War (2014-)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_War
* link:++https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Російсько-українська_війна_(з_2014)++[]
[[mykola-semena]]
==== Mykola Semena (Семена Микола Михайлович)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykola_Semena
* https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Семена_Микола_Михайлович
Ukrainina, worked for <<rferl>> previously, and published against the annexation of Ukraina territories.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/07/18/online-and-all-fronts/russias-assault-freedom-expression suggests that one of her articles was added to the <<federal-list-of-extremist-materials>>, possibly "Blockade–the Necessary First Step for Liberation of Crimea", but I can't find the entry.
[[anti-russia-dictatorship-info-sources]]
=== Anti Russia dictatorship sources
[[rferl]]
==== Radio Free Europe (Радио_«Свобода»)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Free_Europe/Radio_Liberty
* https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Радио_«Свобода»
Website: https://www.rferl.org/
USA funded sister media of the <<rfa>>.
=== Mini-Russias
==== Belarus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarus
The dictator: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lukashenko[Alexander Lukashenko]. Close ties to his buddy <<putin>>.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Belarusian_protests[2020 Belarusian protests].
[[moscow-minsk-friendship-mural]]
.The Moscow-Minsk friendship mural in Minsk (capital of Belarus), originally meant to show the harmonious alliance between Belarus and Russia, was defaced in 2016 by adding barbed wire amidst the flowers held and worn by the boy and girl which represent Russia and Belarus respectively, which indicates that the friendship is actually a prison for Belarus. <<dictatorships-tend-to-work-together>> comes to mind. Photo by Aleh Larychau. Upload https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Mural_Minsk-Moscow_in_Minsk_1.jpg[on Wikimedia Commons] deleted because of the lack of https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Freedom_of_panorama[Freedom of panorama in Belarus]. https://www.euronews.com/2020/12/21/how-the-crisis-in-belarus-is-politicising-a-new-wave-of-street-artists[].
image::{cirosantilli-media-base}/Moscow-Minsk_friendship_mural_girl_with_barbed_wire.jpg[height=400]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mural_Minsk-Moscow_in_Minsk_1.jpg
==== Kazakhstan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB9O4PU5Nnk "How Much Do You Know About The Real Kazakhstan?" by Journeyman Pictures (2016) shows how Western leaders turn a blind eye to Kazakhstan's dictator at the time, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nursultan_Nazarbayev[Nursultan Nazarbayev], because they have oil and are willing to cooperate with the West on the war in Afghanistan. In 2019 he was replaced by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassym-Jomart_Tokayev[Kassym-Jomart Tokayev], gotta learn more about the new one. Includes interviews with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_L._Spratlen[Pamela L. Spratlen], an US diplomat, where she diplomatically refuses to say anything meaningful.
video::eB9O4PU5Nnk[youtube,height=400,width=600]
=== Dictatorships tend to work together
Dictatorships naturally become allies.
The thing a dictatorship is afraid more than anything is of their own citizens, and therefore that they might be influenced by democracies to rebel against the oppression.
For this reason, the world basically always tumbles into a dictatorship vs democracy global war.
Also, since dictatorships don't need to convince their people of anything, they tend to make such alliances much faster.
But this presents a serious dilemma to dictatorships, because you can't really trust the other dictator either, as they are just waiting to put a knife behind your back at all times.
This leads to constant tensions between allied dictatorships, e.g. <<russia>> vs China:
* 2020-07-02 https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3091611/why-russias-vladivostok-celebration-prompted-nationalist "Why Russia's Vladivostok celebration prompted a nationalist backlash in China" on <<scmp>>
This creates one of the most serious strategic problems faced by dictatorships. It is similar situation with organized crime.
And of course, when a smaller dictatorship like <<belarus>> makes an alliance with a larger dictatorship, they basically immediately become a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassal_state[vassal state], see e.g. <<moscow-minsk-friendship-mural>>.
==== Anti-dictatorship alliances
[[ipac]]
===== Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (對華政策跨國議會聯盟, 2020)
* https://ipac.global/
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-Parliamentary_Alliance_on_China
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/對華政策跨國議會聯盟
[[thailand]]
== Thailand (泰国)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lèse_majesté_in_Thailand
As https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Gilliam[Terry Gilliam] brilliantly says in the <<the-secret-life-of-brian-2007>> https://youtu.be/hdU_6jUQI9s?t=492[]:
[[sacred-cows]]
____
I was always convinced that there is no where you should't go. There are no https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_cow_(idiom)[sacred cows]. And if there are, if they are really sacred, let's see how much we puncture them and see if they still float.
____
___
Vajiralongkorn, you little piece of shit, grow some balls and learn how to take an insult. A man who cannot take an insult is not a man, but a big pussy.
___
Everyone who has political power must know how to be laughed at criticized, otherwise <<dictatorship,dicatorship>> follows:
* 2020-08-24 https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/24/after-restricting-a-group-critical-of-thailands-monarchy-facebook-says-it-will-take-legal-action-against-the-government/ "After restricting a group critical of Thailand's monarchy, Facebook says it will take legal action against the government"
* 2017-05-17 https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3578661/from-fake-tattoos-and-crop-tops-to-making-a-poodle-air-force-chief-the-king-of-thailands-maddest-moments-revealed/ "As Thai monarch Maha Vajiralongkorn attempts to sue Facebook over photos posted online, we look at the wacky royal's bizarre life" TODO real? Erm, video by 60-minutes Australia: https://youtu.be/HfF3CGVwrs4?t=84
** 2015 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fufu_(dog).
** Topless wife birthday celebration video: https://youtu.be/HfF3CGVwrs4?t=311
Dissidents:
* Rap Against Dictatorship
** https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCukIPSb0N6_vRVD_5VlzqQg
** https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/8/20/rap-against-dictatorship-artist-arrested-in-thailand "‘Rap Against Dictatorship' artist arrested in Thailand", artist Dechathorn Bamrungmuang arrested
** https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/16/rap-against-dictatorship-protests-thailand/
[[thai-king-hamtaro]]
.Side-by-side comparison between https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajiralongkorn[Thai King Vajiralongkorn] and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamtaro[Hamtaro]. This is the Thai version of <<winnie-the-pooh>>. It https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Japanese-cartoon-Hamtaro-used-by-Thai-protesters-to-mock-government[has been used by protesters] as part of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Thai_protests[2020 Thai protests]. Left https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Thai_protests[photo source].
image::{cirosantilli-media-base}/Side_by_side_comparison_between_Thai_king_Vajiralongkorn_and_Hamtaro.jpg[height=400]
.Leading Thai politicians prostrate themselves before Vajiralongkorn in 2016, presumably during his ascention to the throne. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/bbc-investigation-thailand-king-defamation-a7460046.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Thai_king_prostrated_officers.jpg[height=400]
.Suthida Tidjai, Vajiralongkorn's wife, prostrated before him during their marriage in 2016 before he officially ascended to the throne. Yes, prostration is a big thing in Thailand. An older king, Rama V, had apparently even https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chulalongkorn#Abolition_of_prostration[abolished this practice in 1873]. Clearly, <<xi-jinping>> could learn a thing or two from a proper monarch like Vajiralongkorn. https://web.archive.org/web/20190723095722/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/03/thailand-coronation-king-maha-vajiralongkorn-rama-x[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Thai_king_prostrated_wife.jpg[height=400]
.Thai king Vajiralongkorn wearing a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_top[crop top] so tight that it could be called a bra, and accompanied by one of his girlfriends, in a shopping center in Munich. He can wear whatever he wants, but to both wear that and enforce Lèse majesté? That's the ultimate torture for the Thai people. TODO date, exact location, original report. Here is one of the many reports, https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3578661/from-fake-tattoos-and-crop-tops-to-making-a-poodle-air-force-chief-the-king-of-thailands-maddest-moments-revealed/[sample report from 2017 in a British tabloid].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Thai_king_crop_top.jpg[height=400]
== Iran
First, <<iranian-coup-1953>> Now let's criticize the dictatorship.
* Ayatollah Tanasoli
** https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-31164583
** https://twitter.com/tanasoli
[[iranian-coup-1953]]
=== 1953 Iranian coup d'état (TPAJAX Project, Operation Ajax, 1953年伊朗政變)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953年伊朗政變
Yes, this was a <<western-democracies-are-not-perfect,a major fuck up of the West>>.
[[military-dictatorship-in-brazil]]
== Military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_dictatorship_in_Brazil
One of Ciro's favorite stories about the dictatorship is how cake recipes or classical https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luís_de_Camões[Luís_de_Camões (1524-1580)] poetry were introduced in newspapers to replace news that had been <<censorship,censored>> in the last minute:
* https://www.vice.com/en/article/j57exd/how-cake-became-a-form-of-resistance-under-brazils-military-dictatorship
* (pt) http://www.memorialdademocracia.com.br/card/noticia-censurada-da-lugar-a-camoes
Who would have thought that even the limiting and ancient limitations of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagination[pagination] would have their usefulness!!! Today's Chinese censors have it easy, as they can just remove the stuff and that damned HTML reflow automatically to fit.
[[apesar-de-voce]]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33-bMTOlvx0 Apesar de Você (In spite of you [the Dictatorship])] by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Buarque[Chico Buarque] (1970). This is one of the many anti-Brazilian-dictatorship songs of the time, and Ciro really enjoys it. https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Chico-Buarque/Apesar-De-Voc%C3%AA/translation/english[Lyrics with translation]. Top quotes: "You [the dictatorship] who invented this State, who invented sin, forgot to invent forgiveness." and "Where will you hide, from the enormous euphoria [of a revolution]? How will you prohibit it when the rooster insists in singing?". Slideshows with that song have been made for several events, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOqaF3shq6o[the Syrian civil war], and Ciro would like to do a China-themed one as well one day.
video::33-bMTOlvx0[youtube,height=400,width=600]
[[os-problemas-da-imprensa-livre]]
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jornal_da_Tarde[Jornal da Tarde] (Afternoon Newspaper) issue entitled on top "Os problemas da imprensa livre nas Américas" (The problems of the Free Press), followed by small rectangles with coverage of several countries such as the USA, Cuba, and others, but not Brazil. The bottom half of the page however hilariously contains recipes for "Doces" (Sweets) and "Salgados" (Dishes), instead of the presumed coverage about Brazil. http://www.memorialdademocracia.com.br/card/noticia-censurada-da-lugar-a-camoes[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Os_problemas_da_imprensa_livre.jpg[height=600]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Falun_Gong
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/610_Office
<<flg-religion,Religion>> created in the '80s by a Chinese dude called <<li-hongzhi>>.
With the support of the Communist Party to Qigong movements, it reached 70 million believers in 1999, at which point the commies decided they had to be shut down and banned the religion.
Li fled to the USA and lives near New York, where he continues to run the religion as of 2020.
.<<falun-gong>> believer arrested by police in Beijing <<tiananmen,Tiananmen Square>> in 2000-01-10. https://www.theepochtimes.com/spiritual-practice-continues-to-be-persecuted-in-china-amid-the-ccp-virus-pandemic_3296045.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Falun_Gong_lady_silenced.jpg[height=600]
.Police steps over <<falun-gong>> believer's face in 2000 at Tiananmen. This images was http://content.time.com/time/covers/asia/0,16641,20010702,00.html[on the cover of the July 2, 2001 cover of Time Magazine "Crushing Falun Gong"]. https://www.businessinsider.com/dragon-springs-falun-gong-upstate-new-york-compound-photos-2019-9?r=US&IR=T[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Police_steps_over_Falun_Gong_believer_s_face_in_2000_at_Tiananmen.jpg[height=600]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClvX7ED8UUI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_%26_Eric[Tim and Eric]'s Zone Theory. If you want to stop <<falun-gong>>, don't put them in jail like the <<dictatorship,dictators>>. Do it the same way you stop dictators: with <<funny,comedy>>. Otherwise, the dictators remain in power, and <<intolerance,next person in jail, will be you>>.
Ciro Santilli
committed
video::ClvX7ED8UUI[youtube,width=600,height=400]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYJ1dbyDcrI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_%26_Eric[Tim and Eric]'s The Universe. Basically the same as <<zone-theory>> but from the believer's perspective. Source a popular mind blown meme: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mind-blown
video::FYJ1dbyDcrI[youtube,width=600,height=400]
[[aarvoll-shenyun]]
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=IAQ14AnAsmU YouTubber under pseudonym "Aarvoll" (TODO full real name, face shown in channel all the time) tells about his experience playing trumpet for Shen Yun in 2013 as a non-believer and Falun Gong in general. Reading the sacred books and doing Falun Gong exercises were mandatory. He also talks about <<flg-organized>>. Ciro agrees/finds what he says convincing. In one interesting anecdote, he tells how although Li Hongzhi claims to be a God, he looked like an average slightly overweight dude, and had a trumpet since he used to play it, but couldn't really play it because he hadn't practiced in so long. He also comments on the obvious fact that Li does not speak English very well, e.g. on the Shen Yun tour bus he was there one day answering questions, and a translator was needed.
video::IAQ14AnAsmU[youtube,height=400,width=600]
[[christine-marie]]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwoO7Nekmpw&t=445 Christine Marie, founder of http://voicesfordignity.com/[Voices for Dignity] which takes care of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalist_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-Day_Saints[FLDS] leaves, was interviewed in VICE documentary "Polygamist Mafia: Escaping The Kingston Clan". While Ciro does not believe Falun Gong is as extreme as FLDS, he does really like the things Christine says. E.g., she calls "cult leaders" with the neutral <<flg-religion,religious>> form "<<li-hongzhi,prophet>>", just like Ciro, and mentions the important fact that "And the another thing that the public doesn't realise, is that there are also beautiful thing within those communities". This is the mindset of <<intolerance,tolerance>> that the world needs.
video::GwoO7Nekmpw[youtube,height=400,width=600,start=445]
[[flg-important]]
=== Why is it important to talk about Falun Gong?
The main reason <<ciro-santilli>> emphasizes FLG is that it shows how the CCP can mercilessly crush a 70M strong group (according to CCPs own statistics) out of a population of 1.3B in 2000, i.e. 5% of the population, and of course not because of <<flg-bias>>, since Ciro is completely and totally unbiased.
If that number is correct, Ciro wonders curious what you would consider an important movement? :-)
Anything much larger would take down the government and change China's history forever.
OK, maybe the fact that 69M of those were likely old ladies didn't help much either. Tip to next <<li-hongzhi,prophet>>: make something that appeals to aspiring military officers.
Let's try to gather some well sourced footage showing huge numbers of believers on the streets:
* https://www.aparchive.com/search?query=falun%20gong&from=1&orderBy=OldestFirst#7e34a6 AP Archive: could not find a good one there
* rehashes of Falun Gong propaganda videos with good footage:
** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7cz4Tkbwy8 contains old good footage
** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDRUp50XkSs Chinese with English subs, above is rehashed from this one most likely
.Thousands of <<falun-gong>> practitioners in Guangzhou, China, 1998. https://www.theepochtimes.com/finding-the-balance-between-ancient-and-modern_2248694.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Falun_Gong_Ghuangzhou.jpg[height=600]
.Thousands of <<falun-gong>> practitioners in Liaoning Industrial Exhibition, China, likely 1998. https://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2016/5/21/157091.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Falun_Gong_Liaoning.jpg[height=600]
.Hundreds of <<falun-gong>> believers in Chengdu, China, 1998. https://faluninfo.net/falun-gong-the-practice/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Falun_Gong_Chengdu.jpg[height=500]
[[does-ciro-santilli-believe-in-or-practice-falun-gong]]
=== Does Ciro Santilli believe in or practice Falun Gong? 三西猴相信法轮功吗？
No, Ciro is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism[agnostic] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/不可知论[不可知论]) and therefore believes that all the metaphysics that <<li-hongzhi>> says is bullshit.
Here are some things that he doesn't like about Falun Gong for example: <<things-ciro-santilli-dislikes-about-falun-gong>>.
Ciro believes Falun Gong can be split into two parts, like any other <<flg-religion,religion>>:
* the "self-help" "how to live well" part, including the physical exercises and meditation, which cannot be proven or disproved, like any other self-help and <<democracy-is-a-religion,political opinion>>
* the metaphysics, most notably, Li Hongzhi is a living God, and all other non verifiable things he claims like aliens, alternate dimensions, etc., see:
** <<flg-religion>>
** <<flg-verifiable>>
Ciro thinks that FLG's self-help part could potentially be good for you, just like many other meditative practices such as Yoga, Buddhist meditation, Tai chi, deep Catholic prayer, etc. As far as he has heard, all of it sounded good standard religious self-help: be peaceful, be good to others, etc. Like any other well managed religion, FLG does have good things to offer, see also: <<christine-marie>>.
However Ciro believes that the metaphysics is all complete and utter bullshit, child stories made up by Li Hongzhi, and just as real as Father Christmas or the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster[Flying Spaghetti Monster].
Also the "obligation to reach Salvation" is boring like for many other prophetic <<flg-religion,religion>>.
From a purely strategic point of view, the metaphysics is a trade-off:
* some people will believe you are a freaking living God
* others will laugh at you and say you are a charlatan
It may be argued however that Li played this card beautifully: since all Chinese power is concentrated in the CCP, any non-CCP movement dies out, so he was better off long run playing the metaphysics game. The only other choice would have been joining the CCP.
To Ciro it is obvious that Falun Gong is just one of the many very similar movements that came out of the Qi Gong Boom, such as: <<zhong-gong>>. It just happens to be the one that survived due to better luck and strategy.
The absolute truth is already known by the <<li-hongzhi,prophet>>, although he does not want to give clear evidence for reasons: <<flg-verifiable>>, and Ciro finds that utterly boring. There's no fun in living in a world where the absolute truth has been found.
For these reasons, Ciro cannot bother to read even into the self-help part: how can you read that when there is so much bullshit every other page?
Ciro would really like to know if <<li-hongzhi>> really believes in FLG himself, or is just a complete manipulating charlatan, but unfortunately we will never know that. Just imagine if before he died he published a video saying: "it was a joke, gotcha!". Now that would be **epic**!
Since Ciro is good-natured, it's hard for him to believe that he doesn't believe in anything, how can anyone be that evil? Maybe he believes in part of it, but made up some stuff to sell it better, maybe with good intentions that selling the fake part would also lead more people to see the good part?
Like any other prophetic religion, FLG gives tiny evidence that you can directly feel through meditation. The energies, which Ciro believe are real feelings. And then using that entry point asks you to believe a whole lot more, that you can't feel: <<flg-verifiable>>.
This becomes especially strong when a critical mass of believers is reached, and then they start interpreting all sorts of events as miracles, and you start to believe other believers without questioning them, and a circle is formed.
This post by a former believer gives what Ciro feels is a realistic account that matches Ciro's observations: <<me-and-li-by-ben-hurley-2017>>.
And yet, all those who love freedom, must oppose FLG ban, or be themselves enslaved by tyrants themselves: <<democracy-is-a-religion>>.
In any case, at least FLG got one thing right: the commies are <<ccp-evil,evil>>, and we have to get rid of them.
[[how-much-does-ciro-santilli-know-about-falun-gong]]
==== How much does Ciro Santilli know about Falun Gong? (三西猴对法轮功有多熟悉？)
He hasn't read their <<flg-canon,canon>> himself, no patience, but he has had <<flg-bias,constant contact with believers>> and so has an idea of its content.
Ciro has summarized his thoughts about <<falun-gong>> at: <<does-ciro-santilli-believe-in-or-practice-falun-gong>> and <<flg-religion>>
[[flg-religion]]
=== Is Falun Gong a religion? 法轮功是一个宗教吗？
If asked if they follow a religion, most FLG believers will say "no", and <<li-hongzhi>> explicitly says that in <<flg-canon>>, e.g. https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/jjyz52.htm[]:
____
Falun Dafa is not a religion, but future generations will regard it as one.
____
E.g. they call themselves "practitioners" or "students" (学员) or "disciples of the Great Law" (大法弟子, or mare accurately, of <<li-hongzhi>>'s Law) instead of "believers", and their peers "practitioner colleagues" (https://baike.baidu.com/item/同修[同修]).
And if you say you don't believe in their FLG metaphysics bullshit, they will often reply "he does not understand".
To them, it is not about belief, the truth is clear, and you just don't see it yet.
To this you should reply: "and you don't understand that <<li-hongzhi,Li Hongzhi>> is a master manipulator dude who deceived you and millions of others".
But <<ciro-santilli>> strongly believes that this is just a language barrier/FLG propaganda question (see also "Different levels of truth" from <<orange-papers>>), and that 99.9999% of people in the West would classify FLG as a religion just like <<christianity>> if they are told about FLG's beliefs:
* absolute truth comes from an enlightened <<li-hongzhi,prophet>>, who is perfect and has superhuman abilities
* weekly in-person meetings (学法 "study the Fa", or more verbosely "study the law (of the universe (of <<li-hongzhi>>))"）or daily online meetings where they read from a <<flg-canon,sacred book>>, either written by the prophet, or transcribed from his presentations to disciples, including the disciples questions, much like traditional Chinese texts like <<analects>>, just like Christians read from the Bible over and over again.
+
In both cases, some believers claim that sometimes even reading the same text again gives them new insight.
* prescribed daily meditation exercise hours, somewhat like Muslim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salah[Salah] prayers which they call https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fazhengnian[发正念 (fa1 zheng4 nian4)], which means "send righteous thoughts". They seem to believe that this meditation helps external good magic things happen, so it is half meditation half prayer.
* longer "less mandatory" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qigong[Qigong-like] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/气功[气功]) exercises (lian4 gong1, 练功) followed by a meditation (打坐) and which they collectively call https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/修道_(道教)[修炼] "practice austerities". note that this term is borrowed from Taoism but possibly with different precise meaning. There are exactly 5 exercises (meditation being the fifth) some with a fun supernatural name, on <<flg-canon>> https://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/flg_2006_4.htm[] "The Falun Gong Practice System":
** Buddha Stretching a Thousand Arms
** Falun Standing Stance
** Penetrating the Cosmic Extremes
** Falun Cosmic Orbit
* higher intelligent beings
* some believers who practice really well can also get some "supernatural powers" (功能), but not everyone develops them (luckily only so many people are that manipulable!), and you are <<flg-verifiable,not allowed to show your poweres to "ordinary people">> of course, from <<flg-canon>> https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/zfl_34.htm[]:
+
____
What will one develop in the course of his cultivation? He will develop supernatural powers which are called supernormal capabilities for short.
Do you want to use them among ordinary people? You are absolutely not allowed to use them among ordinary people at will.
____
+
See also "You don't get the promised goodies" from <<orange-papers>>
** other dimensions, which some select people with vision superpowers can see, this being one of the supernatural powers that may be developed, the "Celestial Eye" https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/zfl_21.htm[]:
+