text:
Writer / filmmaker Alexander Markov
Country of production RUS
Running time in minutes 45
Genre Documentary Found Footage
Viewers interested in African history, Soviet history, and the history of the Cold War, and fans of found footage as well.
A Soviet filmmakers created socialism in Africa on celluloid.
Alexander Markov about film
In 1960, seventeen African countries gained their independence. For the two superpowers, competing for influence in the Cold War, these “new” countries were obvious opportunities for deploying their own power. Under Khrushchev’s Thaw, Soviet foreign policy increasingly focused on Africa and the Arab world, which became priorities for proactive Soviet diplomacy.
The 1960s thus witnessed the heyday of African studies in the Soviet Union.
A number of Soviet filmmakers were dispatched to the continent to produce newsreels and documentary films whose mission was to record the “friendships” between the Soviet socialist specialists at the helm of scientific progress and the African socialist hopefuls who had just broken free from the yoke of colonialism.
The films were given titles such as Hello, Africa!, We Are with You, Africa!, and Good Luck to You, Africa!, to convey that desire for friendship unambiguously, and to contrast starkly with films produced on the other side of the Iron Curtain, such as the notorious Italian documentary about the “dark continent,” Farewell Africa (Addio Africa, 1966), which speculated that civil wars and bloody conflict would set the continent ablaze after the European colonialists exited it.
Despite the fact that Soviet film production was centralized in Moscow and Leningrad, studios in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Georgia, and Uzbekistan also produced documentaries about Africa.
There was also an interest among Soviet filmmakers in documenting wars of independence and armed conflicts (Ethiopia, Libya, Algeria, Congo, Egypt, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, and Namibia), but such films were produced differently. Only cameramen were dispatched to film on location, and most of them were veteran WWII cinematographers.
The dramatic structure of these Soviet documentaries about Africa produced in the 1960s and 1970s is perhaps where the ideological conditioning is most palpable. Almost all fit into a particular generic scheme or pattern, because they were commissioned by a state that valued ideology more than the art of documentary cinema.
The footage was edited to fit a script, drafted in the studio back in Moscow or Leningrad, and narrated in a voiceover. Soviet composers were also commissioned to provide the musical scores. In other words, the soundtracks rarely featured sound from the locations where they were filmed, and the voices of everyday Africans were almost entirely absent. Instead, the Soviet narrative carefully guided the viewer’s experience of the moving images.
My film is a whirlwind overview of the views, desires, and policies embodied in the systematic work of Soviet film crews in Africa from 1960 to 1990.
I see no point in duplicating and promoting propaganda. My idea is to deepen the poignancy of Soviet newsreels and documentary films about Africa, to render the propaganda even more propagandistic, and thus сall its bluff in certain excerpts and extinguish its “bold flame” in others.
My research involves shifting the emphasis by undertaking a fast-paced review of the entire corpus of Soviet films about Africa in which I identify the most important and recurrent themes and motifs. In the process of this research, I trace how Soviet views of Africa and plans for Africa evolved over three decades, finally vanishing into oblivion altogether.


text:
Hi everyone! I hope you had a great weekend and are having an even greater week. We went to the movies and had a great time. We saw The Artist which was amazing. My husband and I love old movies and silent movies, so to see a movie like The Artist doing well in the theater and winning awards is awesome. I wanted to watch it again instantly. Sooo good. I also bought The Muppets movie this week, which I can't wait to see again, speaking of great movies. It's a hockey night tonight (Tuesday), but I'm sure we'll watch it the first chance we can get. We adored it in the theater.
Now onto knitting related items.
I was bad and cast on something new. I have so many WIPs that I can't keep them straight, which only makes me want to cast on more. Does that make sense? Do you get that, too? Actually, I blame the skein of yarn. I've had this yarn in my stash since December of '10, buying it on my trip up the California coast. It's Tosh Vintage in Baltic which is a worsted weight yarn. This is my first time using this yarn, and I LOVE it! It's gorgeous in color and texture. Just a pleasure to knit with and holds stitches nicely. Anyway, so the yarn was calling to me on Monday, and what could I do? I couldn't deny it when it's been sitting in my stash for so long. I only have one skein, so I had to sift through projects until the right one jumped out at me.
I decided since this yarn was special to me, as it was one of the memento yarns I brought home from my trip, that I wanted it to be something that I would use often. I also wanted a little bit of a challenge, since my knitting hasn't been calling to me recently. In fact, besides the little bunny I made last Thursday, I hadn't knit since my crochet/knit group last Tuesday! Almost a week had gone by without picking anything up.
That's when I found Treads, a tipless glove pattern and knew my search was over. The pattern looked hard, yet something that wouldn't kill me or frustrate me. So far, it's been a great pattern. I've learned two new things so far! I learned the Lateral Braid, which is magic, and the Linen Ridge Stitch, which is really easy but looks awesome. I'm building the thumb gusset (first time I've done this as well, as my last gloves just had a hole for the thumb) right now and working my way up (or down depending how you look at it) to the fingers. I think if I take the pattern step by step, I shouldn't have too much trouble with them. I can't wait! These will be great, not only on cold days, but also in the mornings when I'm knitting or evenings walking the dog. I could see myself using them a ton! We'll see if I can get at least one finished for FO Friday. :)
That's it for me! Also a quick note. I have a few more sets of the Green Collection mini set if anyone is interested!
For those that are new to WIPW, to share your WIPW post with us, just fill out the Mr. Linky below. Despite it saying you must comment, don't feel as if you do. That is something Mr. Linky automatically adds. I just ask you to check out a few of the links posted to see what everyone else is working on and comment there if you can. Everyone loves feedback and a little encouragement on their projects! Also, please link back to this post in your post to get the word out! The more the merrier!
Oh I loved The Artist!ReplyDelete
And I cast on something (Cough 2 things Cough) new this week, too. I totally get the too many things= cast on more. :/
I absolutely love coming past your site. You always have the most amazing wool on your needles. Some time during this year I will definitely treat myself to some of your gorgeous skeins!ReplyDelete
Love your WIP, I too have this in my library, I love these fingerless gloves, they look so cool!
When I started knitting I was very conscientious and also thought that I would probably get bored and just stop knitting, so I did one WIP at a time. Now, that was some time ago! :-D I too get very itchy hands and almost panic when I get down to only one WIP in the basket. LOL It is even worse when I think my stash is getting too thin...
I love the Treads pattern, I made a pair recently and they are gorgeous :) The thumb and fingers are fiddly but easier than I expected (the pattern was my first time for those 2 things too!)ReplyDelete
I love the colour you're using (it's actually quite similar to the colour I made mine in!)
The Muppets is great! I already saw it, I loved it. I still want to see the Artist but my boyfriend doesn't really like that type of movies. The yarn looks so beautiful, can't wait to see the end result. Oh, I know the feeling of starting something new and the basket of WIP's getting more and more full. Ah well, keeps you busy ;-).ReplyDelete
Ooooh, I love that yarn, and the pattern you picked is a perfect match!ReplyDelete
i totally get what you mean:) just read my post! :) i have been going crazy lately starting new items:) i love the color you are using for the treads (and the yummy yarn). i have that pattern in my queue as well...hum, you may have enabled me to cast on yet another item!!! :)ReplyDelete
I love the pattern and the colour. You always have such gorgeous colour yarns! OMG you are inspiring me far too much, please stop...my craft cupboard and OH can't take the yarnplosion!!!ReplyDelete
(And when I say please stop, I obviously mean please don't ever, ever stop. Ever.)
I understand the yarn calling out to you, and I understand yarn that's been in your stash for along time. It's all a process. Lovely shade of blue.ReplyDelete
I loved The Artist, such a beautiful film!ReplyDelete
I love Treads too, it's been in my favourites list for a while. Yours looks great, that blue is stunning. You're making me want to cast for a pair right now!
Treads is an awesome pattern - can't wait to see yours. Thumb gussets aren't hard; you'll be fine. And they really do give the best fit for a glove! Love the yarn; I can absolutely see why you couldn't wait any longer to cast on!ReplyDelete
I'd love to see The Artist, it sounds fabulous. I love the colour of that yarn.ReplyDelete
The tipless glove pattern caught my eye a few weeks ago as well, but I'm not brave enough to try them yet!ReplyDelete
My knitting hasn't been calling out to me lately either...it wants to be knit but I'm just not feeling it :(ReplyDelete
The glove pattern and yarn are so pretty together. A perfect match.ReplyDelete
Oh it was a hockey night for me too last night! Let's Go Pens!ReplyDelete
Heather, you're a Pens fan!? My first team is the Kings, but I've tried to watch every Pens game since Fleury was a rookie. They're my second favorite team! Obviously, Flower being my favorite guy on the team. Amazing game last night. It was like they were on the PP the whole freakin' game.Delete
Yep! Love those guys, I am from the area so their my team. Love hockey in general and the Kings are pretty good here. Yeah really it was a sprint of a game last night but so happy for Neal's hat trick.Delete
I really want to see The Artist, it looks very good! I also loved the Muppets, and can't wait to watch it again!ReplyDelete
I love that pattern you started working on, it's so pretty. The color works really well with the pattern. Happy Wednesday!
Your pattern sounds really fun, and I totally hear you about yarn sometimes calling out to you. I'm glad you shared your review of The Artist, since I wanted to see it.ReplyDelete
I loved The Artist, too! I still have to wait until The Muppets are out on DVD here. A friend of mine saw the german version and it was just too childish and not in the least subversive like the Muppets are supposed to be... Needless to say it has been a new translation studio...ReplyDelete
Mmm, Tosh Vintage <3 I've knit with that, it's lovely!ReplyDelete
I've been wanting to see The Artist, but I'll probably just wait to see it when it's released on DVD... I'm terrible about seeing movies in the theater. I don't usually get the urge to cast on immediately following the cast on of a new project, but typically, when I finish one, I start two... it's a bad system.ReplyDelete
We bought the Muppets this week too. "Muppet" is my 20 month old's new favourite word : )ReplyDelete
I had that exact yarn in the same colour and used it to make fingerless mitts for Christmas. It was such a lovely yarn to knit with. I love the fingerless glove pattern. They are going to be gorgeous.
I love the yarn you're using. The colour is fantastic!ReplyDelete

domain: artistic


text:
Closets can store memories in plastic containers and cardboard boxes.
Purging these containers ignites a review of a past life and the emotional memories some good and some bad.
With heightened emotions, thoughts long lost, involving the senses unlock the closets of the past.
Thank you so much for your comment. :-)

domain: literature


text:
OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK AND TLC SEAL OFF-NETWORK LICENSING DEAL TO ACQUIRE "UNDERCOVER BOSS" FROM CBS TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION
Los Angeles, CA - OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and TLC have acquired the off-network rights of "Undercover Boss" from CBS Television Distribution. TLC and OWN will each have access to the library and will determine their independent scheduling strategies with regularly scheduled episodes of the hit series set to begin airing Fall 2012.
" 'Undercover Boss' is a great addition to OWN's Fall lineup," said Scott Garner, senior vice president, scheduling and acquisitions, OWN. "The self-contained episodes will serve as strong anchors to complement OWN original programming."
"We think our sale of 'Undercover Boss' creates a great partnership between OWN, TLC and CTD," said Scott Koondel, president, distribution, CBS Television Distribution. " 'Undercover Boss' is a perfect fit for OWN and TLC as it focuses on improving lives, which very much reflects both networks' missions. We are excited that their viewers will have the chance to see this exceptional show."
" 'Undercover Boss' seeks to change the American workplace, and we are delighted that CBS Television Distribution has found such a good home for the series on cable," said Stephen Lambert, chief executive, Studio Lambert. "Oprah helped launch 'Boss' when she devoted a whole show to previewing the series just before its post-Super Bowl launch last year, so it's wonderful that the off-network rights have now gone to her network. In tandem, TLC's programming is focused on finding the extraordinary in the everyday, and nothing reflects that more than the journeys of the 'bosses' and the more than a million employees of the companies featured who have benefited from 73 companywide improvements, as well as dozens of people who have been promoted or received scholarships."
"Undercover Boss" is a one-hour reality series that follows high-level corporate executives as they slip anonymously into the rank and file of their own companies. Each week, a different executive will leave the comfort of their corner office for an undercover mission to examine the inner workings of their corporation. While working alongside their employees, they will learn about themselves, the effects their decisions have on others, where the problems lie within their organization, the perception of their company, and discover the unsung heroes of their work force.
Undercover Boss is produced by Studio Lambert, which is part of the All3Media Group. The series is executive produced by Stephen Lambert and Eli Holzman.
In its first season, "Undercover Boss" was the most popular new series on television with an average audience of more than 17 million viewers. In its second season, the show was a top 20 series with an average audience of more than 12 million viewers. ?
Last year, "Undercover Boss" was nominated for an Emmy in the Best Reality Show category. This month, the Broadcast TV Journalists Association announced nominations for its inaugural Critics' Choice Television Awards and the series was nominated in the Best Reality Show category. Earlier this year the Producers' Guild of America also nominated the producers of "Undercover Boss" in the category of Outstanding Producers of Non-Fiction Television.
TLC is a global brand that celebrates extraordinary people and relatable life moments through innovative nonfiction programming. A top 10 cable network for women, TLC has built successful franchises around the Cake Boss, Say Yes to the Dress and Police Women brands. In 2010, 31 series averaged 1.0 million viewers or more including Sister Wives, Kate Plus 8, 19 Kids and Counting, LA Ink, and What Not To Wear.
TLC is available in more than 99 million homes in the US, and more than 50 million households in more than 30 international markets. A destination online, TLC.com offers in-depth fan sites, exclusive video content, and original editorial covering style, home, food, and more. Fans can also interact with TLC via On Demand services, on mobile platforms, including an iPhone App, and through social media such as Facebook or @TLC on Twitter. TLC is part of Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the world's number one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 180 countries.
About OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK
A joint venture between Harpo, Inc. and Discovery Communications, OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK is a multi-platform media company designed to entertain, inform, and inspire people to live their best lives. OWN debuted on January 1, 2011, in approximately 80 million homes on what was the Discovery Health Channel. The venture also includes the award-winning digital platform, Oprah.com.
About CBS Television Distribution
CBS Television Distribution is the preeminent company in television syndication. CTD produces or distributes 12 first-run series and holds the largest distributed television library at 70,000 hours strong. In addition, CTD handles the domestic television distribution of CBS Films. CTD is a unit of CBS Corp.

domain: entertainment


text:
UPD issued a citation to a couple after finding alcohol in their car.
Staff at the University Music Center reported a theft of approximately $900 from a locked cash box in the ticket office. A resident of Beachside College reported a man and a woman in a physical altercation near the Beachside shuttle stop… and more.
Double bike theft at the dorms Two bikes were reported stolen from Beachside and Parkside dorms on Feb. 11. The first theft occurred just before 5 p.m. at Parkside. A purple and silver Schwinn hybrid bike was stolen after the cable lock securing it was severed. The second theft occurred[Read More…]
Grand theft in Hall of Science On Feb. 1, a Hall of Science faculty member reported a theft of equipment totaling $10,000. The reporting Long Beach State faculty member said the theft occurred sometime between Jan. 14 and Feb. 1. University Police Department Capt. Richard Goodwin explained the stolen equipment[Read More…]
The Parkside College Dorm was placed on lockdown around 4 a.m. Saturday after two armed adult males dressed in black and wearing ski masks were spotted by a University Police officer on the Parkside property near Earl Warren Drive. The two men, armed with a sawed-off shotgun and a knife,[Read More…]

domain: news


text:
To begin with I would love to clear up precisely what a pertinent treatment of psoriasis is. That is software of lotion item, remedy or product even to lube the infected location or to the skin be taken in. Steroids are among the treatments to handle this illness. Therapy of psoriasis for topical steroids ranges from ultra or reduced to large high efficiency. Creams are frequently stronger compared to items which have kind and exactly the same focus of steroid. Generally, physicians could start psoriasis patients using reduced to impotency steroids. The power as well as bottom i.e., lotion or product of the steroid used may be different based on the internet site as well as the kind of psoriasis lesions. For instance, dense plaques of psoriasis about legs as well as the arms might require higher potencies within an ointment type to be able to acquire transmission with the thick skin in these locations.
Salicylic acid may be combined with topical steroid since it might assist in steroid transmission and also reduces the climbing. Regarding the various other hand, physicians usually choose to make use of low potency steroids in extremely delicate areas where your skin is slim, for instance within the dental area, the face location e.g., eyelids, and folds crease between your buttocks, beneath the hands as well as busts. Many topical steroids could be located by prescription just. Simply milder topical steroids e.g., hydrocortisone 0.5 percentages could be located in the pharmacist without any prescription. Physicians and doctors make use of anti-biotic in some circumstances. Antibiotics are not utilized to treat psoriasis however prescription antibiotics are accustomed to eliminate illness in psoriasis clients.
There are many different topical services which are suggested doctors and also by doctors to deal with psoriasis. Agents and shower remedies are a few of the very regular solutions suggested by doctors to handle psoriasis. It is because the areas tranquility, reduces inflammation, as well as reduces dryness. Creams which are utilized straight to the damaged location assistance boost the overall appearance of the afflicted location, infection, get rid of skin establish, and also reduce pain. There are numerous shortcomings of topical remedies for treating psoriasis. The medication within the appropriate treatment may create discomfort to regular skin if an individual works on the topical treatment due to their psorilax over an extended or long term time period. These topical medicines might also have strong smells or discolor apparel among many various other activities.

domain: medical


text:
LearnLux, a Boston, Massachusetts—based digital financial wellness platform, secured $2m in seed funding.
Backers included Sound Ventures, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Underscore VC, and former Wealthfront CEO Adam Nash and others.
Founded by sibling duo Rebecca and Michael Liebman in 2015, LearnLux provides a digital financial wellness platform with interactive learning tools that teach personal finance in an engaging way.
The company offers learning materials and tools around topics like 401(k), Healthcare, Benefits and Taxes to increase employee productivity and utilization of voluntary benefits. For employees, it delivers financial guidance on demand, enabling them to make informed decisions through lessons tailored for all knowledge levels.

domain: finance


When selecting a CPU for gaming, the most important characteristics are the clock speed (or frequency), number of cores and threads, cache size, and type of memory it supports. Additional considerations like integrated graphics and overclocking needs may also influence your selection.
In addition to discussing how good the 9100F is for gaming, this article will discuss our recommended:
When using Intel's Core i3-9100F CPU for gaming, you can expect poor game performance with either a high-performance CPU cooler or a stock CPU cooler.
Check out our Recommended LGA 1151 Coolers below.
This performance assessment is based on the following characteristics of the CPU and their relevance to the latest graphics-intense games:
- 6 MB of L3 cache is poor for performance
- 4 cores allow for mediocre performance
- 3.60 GHz base frequency
- 4.20 GHz single-core max turbo boost frequency is excellent for performance (requires a high-end cooler)
- Max stock DDR4 speed of 2400 MHz can be poor for performance
- Lack of overclocking support cannot benefit performance
- PCIe 3.0 support can be poor for performance (limits potential of fastest SSDs and GPUs)
A CPU's cache is a small amount of memory, close to the CPU cores, containing recently used data.
Games performance can improve as cache size increases, as it will reduce delays when retrieving commonly used game assets from memory.
An L3 cache capacity of at least 20 MB is ideal for game performance.
The Intel Core i3-9100F has an L3 cache capacity of 6 MB.
The 9100F's lackluster 6 MB of L3 cache is poor for performance with the latest graphics-intense games.
Increased core counts can improve the performance of games that use them, but most modern games don't benefit from having more than 6–8 cores. Remember that cache sizes often increase along with core counts, so if you want to increase your L3 cache, you may need to get a CPU with more cores.
Intel's Core i3-9100F CPUs have 4 cores.
The 9100F's 4 cores allow for mediocre performance with the latest graphics-intense games.
Single-core performance is essential for some games, as many don't take full advantage of multiple cores.
Turbo boost frequencies are only achieved under ideal circumstances. The safest strategy for consistent gaming performance with a basic cooler is to get a higher base clock speed processor. However, with adequate cooling, you may be able to maintain speeds near the max boost frequency.
The 9100F CPU's lack of support for overclocking cannot benefit performance with the latest graphics-intense games.
The processor has a 3.60 GHz base frequency and supports a 4.20 GHz single-core max turbo frequency.
The 9100F has a 3.60 GHz base frequency, which is the speed before boosting. You can reach these base frequencies even without a high-end cooler.
With a high-end cooler, the 9100F's 4.20 GHz single-core max turbo boost frequency is excellent for performance with the latest graphics-intense games. You can maintain these frequencies with a high-end cooler.
Check out my article, Choosing the Best CPU Cooler for Intel's Core i3-9100F, for recommended coolers that can maintain these boost frequencies.
The 9100F CPU's support for DDR4 with a max stock speed of 2400 MHz can be poor for performance with the latest graphics-intense games.
Faster PC memory can improve game performance and frame rates, but using the fastest RAM may not have as much of an impact as upgrading your CPU and graphics card or adding more RAM.
Learn about our recommended RAM for the 9100F in Choosing the Best RAM for Intel's Core i3-9100F CPU.
|Processor Name Suffix||Meaning|
|F||"F" means it requires discrete graphics. In other words, it doesn't have integrated graphics (basically a GPU built into the processor), thus requiring a standalone graphics card.|
The 9100F model name has an F suffix. F-suffixed CPUs do not contain integrated graphics, and a separate graphics card is required.
The 9100F model name doesn't have a K suffix. Non-K CPUs can not be overclocked.
A CPU cooler's TDP (Thermal Design Power) rating indicates how much heat it can dissipate in watts. If the cooler can't keep your CPU cool enough, your CPU may throttle (slow down), and your cooler will constantly run at full speed.
Intel CPU specifications indicate this power dissipation number as "Processor Base Power."
The Core i3-9100F has a TDP of 65 watts.
A CPU cooler can still work with a lower TDP rating than the TDP of a CPU. However, the CPU will eventually throttle itself to a lower frequency to allow itself to cool.
The CPU may not achieve or maintain maximum turbo speeds without adequate cooling.
Learn more in Choosing the Best CPU Cooler for Intel's Core i3-9100F.
For Intel's 9th generation Core i3 9100F processor, you'll need a motherboard with an LGA 1151 socket and 300-series chipset.
Motherboards for Intel processors are made with chipsets provided by Intel. Each chipset offers a unique set of capabilities. However, motherboards must explicitly support features and capabilities for you to use them. Verify that a motherboard supports the features and capabilities you desire.
The lack of a "K" suffix in the model name 9100F means it doesn't support overclocking. Because of this, you may not need to use the top of the line Z390 or Z370 chipsets which support overclocking. Instead, you can use a motherboard with Intel's other 300-series desktop chipsets listed below.
For compatiblity with Intel's 11th generation Core processors, you can use any of the 300-series chipsets: Z390, Z370, H370, B365, B360, H310. These are roughly sorted from most to least functionality.
The Q370 chipset is also compatible, but is intended for business use cases; its availability in stand-alone motherboards is limited.
For a detailed comparison of these chipsets, check out my article Which Chipsets Work With Intel's Core i3-9100F CPU?.
- Find Z390 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).
- Find Z370 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).
- Find H370 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).
- Find B365 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).
- Find B360 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).
- Find H310 Chipset Motherboards on Amazon (affiliate link).
Check out my article, Choosing the Best CPU Cooler for Intel's Core i3-9100F, for more info about how to choose the best CPU cooler.
Locked Intel CPUs may come with a stock CPU cooler. These CPU models do not have a "K" in the name. While stock coolers will prevent your CPU from overheating, your CPU will throttle its performance during games and other intensive tasks. Higher TDP coolers will keep your CPU at turbo speeds for longer durations. Stock coolers are often quite loud at their maximum speed.
Best AIO Liquid Cooler: Enermax Liqmax III 360
- This Enermax liquid cooler has an excellent cooling capability with a 360-watt TDP (Thermal Design Power).
- Supports a variety of CPU sockets, including Intel LGA 2066, 2011-3, 2011, 1700, 1200, 1366, 1156, 1155, 1151, 1150 and AMD AM4, AM3+, AM3, AM2+, AM2, FM2+, FM2, FM1.
- Quiet operation at 14-27 dBA.
- Make sure your computer case dimensions support this, as it will take up a decent amount of space!
Best Dual-Fan Air CPU Cooler: Be Quiet! BK022 Dark Rock Pro 4
- Quiet operation at 12.8-24.3 dB.
- The dual fans (120 mm and 135 mm) do a great job of cooling LGA 1151 CPUs with a 250-watt TDP (Thermal Design Power).
- Supports a variety of CPU sockets, including Intel LGA 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011(-3) square ILM, 2066 and AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, AM4, FM1, FM2, FM2+.
- Smaller models are available if you don't need as much cooling ability.
- You can even add another 120 mm fan to it for more cooling!
Runner-Up - Dual-Fan Air CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15
- Dual 140 mm fans provide 220-watt TDP (183 NSPR) of cooling capability.
- Supports a variety of CPU sockets, including Intel LGA 1700, 1200, 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 2011, 2066 and AMD AM4, AM3, AM3+, AM2, AM2+, FM2, FM2+.
- Quiet operation at 24.6 dBA.
Before purchasing memory, review your motherboard specification to verify which speeds are supported. For example, if a DDR4 motherboard stated that it supports "DDR4 3400(O.C.) / 3333(O.C.) / 3300(O.C.) / 3200 / 3000," that would mean that it could support DDR4-3400, DDR4-3333, and DDR4-3300 with memory overclocking, and DDR4-3200 and DDR4-3000 at stock speeds. Motherboard specifications also indicate the maximum capacity per stick of RAM (DIMM) and across all slots.
Recommended Stock-Speed DDR4
- At an effective frequency of 2400 MHz, this memory hits the fastest DDR4 speed supported by Intel's Core i3 9100F CPU without overclocking.
- The low-profile form factor ensures that the heat spreaders don't get in the way of other devices, including your CPU heatsink.
Recommended DDR4 for Overclockers
- This DDR4 memory is designed for overclocking to an effective frequency of 3600 MHz.
- Supports XMP 2.0.
- Compact heat spreaders avoid conflicting with a CPU cooler.
- Which Chipsets Work With Intel's Core i3-9100F CPU?
- Choosing the Best CPU Cooler for Intel's Core i3-9100F
- Choosing the Best Power Supply for Intel's Core i3-9100F
- Is the Core i3-9100F CPU Good for Gaming?
- Choosing the Best RAM for Intel's Core i3-9100F CPU
- Choosing the Best Motherboard for Intel's Core i3-9100F
- How Many Cores Do Intel Core i3-9100F CPUs Have?
- What Is the TDP of the Core i3-9100F CPU?
You can find detailed 9100F specifications on Intel's site.
Want to brush up on other new technologies to consider when building a computer? Check out these articles:
- CPU Coolers:
- Graphics Cards:
- Power Supplies:


text:
Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat said Tuesday his team showed they need to "mature as a group" after blowing a 3-0 first-period lead in their 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
"You give players like that time and space and the ability to take over a hockey game and they're going to do it," Horvat said.
"Again, it's just frustrating, but … it just shows we have to mature as a group, learn from it and move on and do things better the next game. Obviously, this has happened a couple of times and we’ve got to put our foot down right now and make it stop and finish it off."
The loss marked the second straight game the Canucks exited the first period with a two-goal lead, having lost 4-3 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
"I'm getting sick and tired of having leads and giving them back and playing well in periods in the game and then not playing a full 60 minutes," continued Horvat, who scored the opening goal. "Again, we did it tonight and it came back to bite us."
The struggling Canucks have won just two of their past 12 games and sit five points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the fourth and final playoff in the North Division with five more games played.
Head coach Travis Green was honest in his assessment of the team's latest loss.
"Very disappointing, very upsetting," Green said. "We didn't play good enough to win, flat out."
"I didn’t think we were as good tonight as we have been," he added. "Quite frankly, we had some individuals that didn’t play good enough tonight."
The Canucks will face the Oilers again on Thursday before having the weekend off.

domain: game


text:
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation explains that Facebook’s “laughable campaign against Apple” is against users and small businesses.
- The social network targeted Apple via print ads in major newspapers, claiming that Apple’s latest moves threaten small businesses and the internet.
- Apple released a new privacy feature in iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and tvOS 14 that forces developers to explain what personal data the apps collect and ask users for permission to continue tracking them online.
Facebook took full-page ads in print editions of major newspapers last week to attack Apple’s latest privacy measure on iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and tvOS 14. It pulled the same move for two straight days, and irony shouldn’t escape us. The internet and digital ads that appear on web pages helped kill print media, including the ad business associated with it. Now, Facebook needs print edition newspapers to reach the kind of consumer who would not necessarily see the same ads online. That’s the key decision-makers who might read The New York Times paper rather than the online edition.
Apple’s new policy forces app makers to disclose what app data they collect from users, and to ask for permission to collect that data is what’s driving Facebook mad. Apple isn’t doing anything to prevent Facebook from collecting data from iPhones. As long as users are happy with that, that’s not a problem. Most people have already traded their privacy for Facebook, Google, and other “free” products online. The new iOS 14 privacy feature offers users more data about what kind of data is collected.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), whose job is to advocate for civil liberties online, including privacy, is siding with Apple.
The EFF makes its stance clear from the post’s title: Facebook’s Laughable Campaign Against Apple Is Really Against Users and Small Businesses.
“Facebook has recently launched a campaign touting itself as the protector of small businesses,” the article starts. “This is a laughable attempt from Facebook to distract you from its poor track record of anticompetitive behavior and privacy issues as it tries to derail pro-privacy changes from Apple that are bad for Facebook’s business.”
“Requiring trackers to request your consent before stalking you across the Internet should be an obvious baseline, and we applaud Apple for this change,” the EFF says of Apple’s new privacy feature in its latest iPhone, iPad, and
“But Facebook, having built a massive empire around the concept of tracking everything you do by letting applications sell and share your data across a shady set of third-party companies, would like users and policymakers to believe otherwise,” the EFF says. “Make no mistake: this latest campaign from Facebook is one more direct attack against our privacy and, despite its slick packaging, it’s also an attack against other businesses, both large and small.”
The article explains in brief the purpose of the new Apple privacy feature, how the online ads industry works, and why Facebook is going after Apple with such ferocity. It’s a great read, and any Facebook user who cares about privacy should check it out — it’s available at this link.
The EFF is also asking for Google, which is really in a bind here, to follow in Apple’s footsteps. “When a company does the right thing for its users, EFF will stand with it, just as we will come down hard on companies that do the wrong thing,” the organization concludes. “Here, Apple is right, and Facebook is wrong. Next step: Android should follow with the same protections. Your move, Google.”
Google happens to run an online ad operation of its own based on tracking and collecting user data. But it’s also the maker of the world’s most popular smartphone operating system. And Google has been following Apple’s lead when it comes to privacy features, even if it did it reluctantly.


text:
Format Type: PDF
Read Online: 803
After friends of Mac and Kess are thrown into another dimension, they embark on a quest to find and rescue them. Kess is thrown into the Land Between, and quickly finds out that pure magic has a bad habit of going awry in this extraordinary world held together by magic and technology. Meanwhile, Mac finds himself in a dimension he's quite familiar with - Earth. In his search for his friends, he discovers that a malevolent demon from Mystovia has been pulled into Earth's dimension. Racing against time, can they find their friends - and stop the demon that is thirsting for a kill? This is the clear print edition of Uncharted Land Between, with a 14pt font size for easier reading.

domain: library


Just a few weeks ago GTspirit went behind the scenes at McLaren Special Operations to get an exclusive sneak peek at MSO’s technicians hard at work building the first ever MSO 650S Spider that had its official debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2014.
Fast forward two weeks and the jigsaw of carbon and aluminium was blasting up the legendary Goodwood Hill with former Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button behind the wheel! Being treated as VIPs in the marques hospitality, that was adorned by the very P1 that we drove in Bahrain and the all new 650S GT3 car, was a very pleasant experience and guests mingled around the 650S Concept car that shone under the bright lights.
Back to the 650S! After battling through the dense crowds in the Michelin Supercar Paddock we saw the car in all its glory up-close and in one piece. Ticking cool alongside another P1 development car, finished in an attention grabbing yellow, the shared nose and striking lines became more obvious than before.
The most drastic changes are found in the carbon both inside and out of the car. The carbon of the front and rear bumpers as well as the carbon skirt the runs along the doors of the car have all been finished in a matte satin. The wheels use a design that was first seen on the 12C, a car that is no longer being produced, the Super Lightweight wheel that have been refreshed with a gloss Palladium finish with unique diamond cut detailing to the inside of the spoke edges. Against the all new Sarigan Quartz, a vibrant metallic silver that has been given a warm hue with the addition of a golden metallic infusion, the car looks beautiful, especially when seen in motion.
The interiors satin carbon is contrasted with high gloss black switches and a very special plaque featuring the signature of McLaren Automotive’s Design Director, Frank Stephenson, who had a lot of creative input and influence over the changes that MSO implemented.
The 650S and P1 looked fantastic along side one another and were certainly two of the stars of the show!


Authors: Anne Speckhard and Molly Ellenberg
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] is notorious for its slick propaganda videos and effectiveness at online recruitment, particularly on social media, of men and women all over the world to fight for and live under their Caliphate. Now with the territorial defeat of ISIS, its recruiters continue to be prolific online, encouraging supporters to hope and work toward the Caliphate’s return and to seek revenge on those who destroyed it by mounting attacks at home. While ISIS’s activity on Facebook and Twitter, as well as encrypted apps like Telegram, has been studied extensively, there is a dearth of information about their activity on Instagram, a platform increasingly used by young people vulnerable to ISIS recruitment. This article provides a brief examination of ISIS supporters’ activity on Instagram, even in the face of takedown policies, and also briefly discusses the possibilities of using a counter narrative video ad campaign on the platform to intervene in and prevent ISIS recruitment.
ISIS has long been noted for its superior use of social media, resulting in an unprecedented recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs). As of 2020, over 45,000 FTFs had traveled from all over the world to fight with ISIS or live under the ISIS Caliphate in Syria and Iraq. This number peaked between 2014 and 2016, when ISIS was at the height of its reign of terror and has declined since ISIS’s territorial defeat and the 2019 fall of the Caliphate. Yet ISIS still continues to recruit online, urging supporters to seek revenge for the destruction of the Caliphate and conduct attacks in their home countries while waiting and working for the resurgence of the Caliphate. As recently as March and May 2020, ISIS released propaganda videos touting their battlefield achievements in Syria and Iraq, respectively, portraying graphic footage of Syrian and Iraqi soldiers being slaughtered while also calling for revenge against the countries that helped defeat ISIS territorially.
For years, ISIS would blanket the Internet with their high-quality, professionally produced propaganda videos and written content and then use the immediate feedback mechanisms of social media to swarm in on and “love-bomb” anyone who liked, retweeted, commented on, or otherwise responded to their posts. In this manner, ISIS cast a wide online recruiting net but devoted their time and energies trying to seduce further those who showed interest and vulnerability to their online propaganda. Today’s online experience with video chat, online telephoning and text messaging allows ISIS’s online recruiters operating in at least 25 different languages to create deep and meaningful relationships with those on whom they are able to home in. As they do so, they artfully identify and meet the specific needs of their prey, creating intimate relationships and crafting individualized message that promise dignity, purpose, hero status, love, or anything else sought by the recruit should they attack on ISIS’s behalf or travel to fight for them. Due to this advanced recruitment strategy, ISIS was able to attract a significant amount of foreign terrorist fighters solely online, with no face-to-face recruitment.
Because ISIS has been so prolific and so effective at using social media to radicalize and recruit, policy makers, scholars, and practitioners alike agree that effective efforts to prevent and counter violent jihadist extremism also require a social media aspect. Jihadists’ use of myriad platforms, including Twitter, Ask.fm, and Telegram have been studied extensively, and counter narratives have also been used in online campaigns created and posted by government and non-governmental entities, with mixed results, on a variety of platforms.
The International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism [ICSVE] has over the past five years created and built its own counter narrative program, titled Breaking the ISIS Brand Counter Narrative Project, which features 194 short video clips of ISIS and al Shabaab insiders denouncing the group, and TheRealJihad.org website that features additional counter narrative material and resources to prevent and intervene in ISIS’s recruitment. ICSVE has also extensively studied online engagement with their and others’ counter narrative materials. It is clear that the most successful counter narratives are emotionally evocative, use credible insiders to deliver the message, and recognize the grievances that viewers may feel in a manner that creates rapport with the viewer rather than mocking the jihadist narrative, condemning those interested to join, or simply promoting pro-democratic, pro-secular society messages. These latter messages may not resonate with someone who has felt discriminated against as a Muslim immigrant, or individual of Muslim immigrant descent, or as a Muslim convert in the West. ICSVE has also learned from studying multiple campaigns that viewers not only watch the Breaking the ISIS Brand counter narrative videos in significant numbers, but are also moved to engage with the posts, through reacting, commenting, sharing, and saving them, and that viewership can be greatly increased by shortening the videos to one minute and then directing viewers to a website (YouTube or the ICSVE-run TheRealJihad.org) where they can watch longer videos and engage with other counter narrative materials and resources.
Although ICSVE’s Breaking the ISIS Brand counter narratives have been successful in the aforementioned ways, it is critical that ICSVE and others working in preventing and countering violent extremism keep up with current social media trends, just as ISIS does, in order to be able to prevent and disrupt their recruitment, especially of young people. Thus, an examination of social media usage among young people is required. In Europe, where ISIS is still actively recruiting and able to move some youth into attacking at home, ICSVE has also been campaigning against them while watching which platforms are being most used by both European youth and ISIS. In the EU, similar to the U.S., Instagram usage is outstripping Facebook and growing for youth, particularly among people younger than 34. This is opposed to Facebook and YouTube still being the platforms of choice among youth in countries in other parts of the world, such as in the Middle East, though Twitter has fallen in popularity among Middle Eastern youth since the height of ISIS’s online recruitment. In 2017, Instagram was the third most popular social media platform in the EU, after Facebook and Google+. Anecdotally, police and security forces in the Netherlands expressed a worry that the youth most vulnerable to radicalization would not be reached through Facebook, as even if they do have accounts, they are much more likely to be active users on Instagram.
Surprisingly, the specific relationship between Instagram and terrorist recruitment has not yet been studied. While there is extensive literature on militant jihadism and other types of violent extremism on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram, Instagram is typically mentioned only as an example of a social media platform rather than a unique medium for promoting ISIS and militant jihadist propaganda and for terrorist recruitment. This paper begins to delve into the issue of if and how Instagram is being used by ISIS and other militant jihadist groups.
Identifying ISIS and militant jihadist Supporters on Instagram
Identifying those supporting jihadist ideology and groups on Instagram is a relatively simple task. By searching on Islamic terms and names often associated with ISIS, like khilafah, tawheed, and dawlah and even Awlaki, many posts including those hashtags appear, as they were posted by users with public accounts. Among these, most public posts did not include explicit advocations of militant jihadist violence, but rather promoted conservative views such as the requirement for women to be fully covered in niqab, with the implication that women who show their faces at all were sexually promiscuous and that unmarried women who interacted with men were asking to be sexually assaulted. While these views are not necessarily extremist, there could then be found among them ISIS supporters who posted more violent and extreme ideas on their stories or secondary private accounts which made it clear they sympathize with ISIS.
For instance, one commonly shared meme on public pages contrasted “The Hijabi Queen,” a woman who has never had sex before marriage and dresses modestly, with the “Western Thot [Internet slang for a slut or whore],” a woman who is seen as “a pump-and-dump” and “has slept around with countless random guys in her youth, then settles down with someone she’s not even attracted to.” The conservative Muslim woman is portrayed respectfully while the Western woman is dehumanized and degraded, which is not itself violent extremism, but in some cases, it relates to violent suggestions for dealing with Western women’s violations of the poster’s conservative views. For instance, one account posted a photo depicting a man asking, “Is burning the only solution for the feminists?” and another responding, “So it seems. So it seems.”
Other posts advocated violence against members of the LGBTQ+ community, especially during the month of June, which is Pride Month in the United States. Many of these posts appeared at first to advocate tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality until one looked more carefully at the details of the photos:
The photo above was posted by an account which frequently posted other homophobic content and advocated a broad expansion of the global Caliphate but did not believe that ISIS was the group capable of doing so. This view is akin to many others supportive of militant jihad and the idea of an Islamic State Caliphate but who are opposed to ISIS’s propensity for attacking other Sunni Muslims. Below are some posts of memes illustrating such views.
More violent content criticized the relatives of victims of the mosque shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand for forgiving the white supremacist terrorist instead of punishing him according to shariah. Other posts refer to takfir, which is the extremist Islamic practice of excommunicating others for not following their extremist interpretation of Islam, a common practice in ISIS that included the claim that those takfired should be executed as infidels. An example of a post including a meme promoting takfir refers also to the taghut which are, according to ISIS, tyrannical powers that deny and defy Islam, and mushrik, meaning those who reject the oneness of God and who are idolaters. The post is here:
Other posts were anti-Semitic memes accusing figures like the Rothschild family and George Soros of creating the COVID-19 pandemic and inciting race wars which could be found on both far right and militant jihadists sympathizers accounts, again not necessarily denoting militant jihadist sympathy per se. However, among these were also Muslims who appeared to be ISIS supporters based on a video of a man preaching the “ruling of caliphate.”
The account mentioned above, which appears to be an ISIS supporter, posted a meme depicting various high-profile media personalities with Stars of David on their foreheads, below a photo of Jacob Rothschild holding a fan of cash, with an illuminati symbol on his forehead. The title above the photo reads, “The media moguls are highly-paid agents of Rothschild Zionism, hired and paid handsomely serve their global agenda [sic].”
Under the hashtag taghut, denoting tyrannical powers who deny worship of anything other than God and defy Islam, many Instagram users posted photos of Arab leaders, most notably those from Saudi Arabia, accusing them of hypocrisy and Westernization which aligns with the jihadist messaging from al Qaeda, al Shabaab and ISIS, but does not necessarily mean they are militant jihad or ISIS supporters themselves. Messages warning followers not to participate in democratic elections were also posted with the taghut hashtag although this could also be seen as a very conservative, but nonviolent, Salafi view.
One such post featured a Guy Fawkes mask next to the words, “Dumb politicians are not the problem. The problem is the dumb kuffar [disbelievers] that keep voting for them.” The caption specified the leaders of Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh, and Saudi Arabia as polytheists and their supporters as kuffar. The same account posted photos accusing Bill Gates of injecting people with the COVID-19 virus in order to sell them a vaccine; referred to Jews, Shias, Sufis, Brelwees [sic], and Christians of being idol-worshippers; and declared takfir on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for her participation in the U.S. government. Many photos posted by the account featured firearms, though the poster stated that they did not support ISIS specifically.
Of the public accounts that did explicitly advocate for violent jihad, most did not mention ISIS, which may be due to the profile owners’ concerns about avoiding takedowns. Rather than directly mentioning ISIS, they posted photos and quotes from ISIS and al Qaeda English-speaking ideologue Anwar al-Awlaki or exaltations of the Taliban, which seemed to be a far more socially acceptable group, or safer to explicitly post, than ISIS within the jihadist sphere on Instagram.
One post featured a video of Anwar al-Awlaki speaking about jihad, captioned, “Beautiful beautiful reminder, Whoever is going to follow a path should follow the path of the ones who’ve died.” Another post on the account featured only the bottom half of al-Awlaki’s face, presumably to avoid takedown software, as the caption began, “Kuffar deleted this post.”
Another account was dedicated entirely to posting al-Awlaki quotes, with a link to a collection of audio lectures in the bio. According to the account holder, he or she was posting the quotes on behalf of jihad and linking to the audio lectures because “YouTube is deleting the videos of the Sheikh cause [sic] it contains Islam in its purest form.” While many of al-Awlaki’s early videos do address many matters about life in Islam, his later videos promoting endless jihad with the West are the actual reason his videos have been taken down.
One of the most prolific Taliban-supporting accounts frequently posted violent and graphic videos as well as photos boasting of the Taliban’s success. For instance, one photo was accompanied by the caption, “Taliban Lions captured a checkpoint in the Antan area of Siagard in Begha Parwan province, killing and wounding soldiers and looting a large number of arms. Allab Almighty gives us enough weapons in one post to suffice to conquer a large bases… [sic].”
The same account frequently expressed anger toward ISIS, however, citing an oft-referenced conspiracy theory that ISIS was created by the United States and Israel to destroy the Muslim people. The photo below was posted alongside a caption claiming that Edward Snowden had revealed that Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is really a Mossad agent named Elliot Shimon.
There were, however, a few public accounts that were clearly and unashamedly pro-ISIS. Most focused on the women imprisoned at the al-Hol camp in Syria. One account was even purportedly run by women in the camp who raised money through other accounts to finance their escapes. These accounts threatened punishment for the unbelievers who held them captive and yearned for the return of the Caliphate.
An account seemingly run by a woman in al-Hol wrote, “Remember my sisters no matter what state we are in, no matter what the world think of us. The world still trembles at the mention of us, we have left a deep scar that will never heal and we remain a thorn in the side of kufr.”
One account posted in English, Arabic, and German, raising funds to be smuggled out of Camp al-Hol. This account also provided links to other accounts, which posted links to a PayPal account where supporters could donate to the women or write them letters. On June 12th, 2020, one of the associated accounts posted a video claiming that it was taken while the women were leaving the camp. The account also posted graphic photos of bloodied male faces, claiming that “some sisters from the camp recognized their husbands and their husbands were in Hasakah prison.” There were multiple riots and attempted escapes at Hasakah the days and weeks before these photos were posted. The primary account has either been deleted since then or has blocked the account through which ICSVE was following it.
Another account run out of al-Hol, which was not associated with the German account mentioned above, posted in English only. The account posted about fundraisers through Telegram, but did not link to the fundraising websites themselves, likely to prevent the websites from being taken down. The account also lauded ISIS fighters who were captured in ISIS’s last stronghold of Baghouz, fighting until the very end. They also posted about teaching their children to throw rocks at the camp guards and referred to Camp al-Hol as “the cradle of the new Caliphate.” This account has also either been deleted or blocked the account through which ICSVE was following it.
Most accounts that openly supported ISIS were private, though many of these could be identified as likely ISIS followers by a black flag emoji and an index finger emoji in their bios, both common but not unique symbols for ISIS. Notably, proponents of other jihadist groups like the Taliban did not use these symbols in their bios. These pro-ISIS accounts posted photos of weapons and included more provocative messages, such as those denouncing others as unbelievers, in their Instagram stories. Some photos also included selective Islamic scriptures arguing for severe punishment of unbelievers which also aligns with ISIS ideology. Many accounts also posted black and white videos of men with guns on horses with the identifiable black flags of ISIS and women dressed in niqab, expressing nostalgia for the Caliphate. One account even included a story called “44 Ways to Support Jihad,” which included, “Praying to Allah to reward you with martyrdom,” “financing a mujahid [a jihadist warrior] ,” and “arms training.” Another account was dedicated to inspiring hope for the resurgence of the ISIS Caliphate. Under a photo of Bashar al-Assad, the user commented, “The oppressive rule of these tyrants is on its last legs. Their nations are failing, the people want change. The Khilafah is coming very soon, as prophesized. Why don’t you help re-establish it?” Another post read, “The Khilafah state could easily liberate all oppressed Muslims and protect every Muslim living within it. It’s that simple.” Another account used a photo of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as his profile picture and posted videos of sermons on his story, as well as other videos praising ISIS fighters and promising that “Allah will grant you victory.” Another post by the same account featured a drawing of the ISIS flag over the earth. Many of these accounts accepted follow requests from the ICSVE-run The Real Jihad account, likely without looking at the account’s posts, which all contain counter narrative material.
It should be noted that many of these accounts are taken down within weeks of discovering them, although new and similar ones quickly replace them. In the study of terrorist activity on social media, Instagram may well be a new frontier where younger people are able to post anonymously about their violent extremist beliefs. The Instagram “Discover” page also serves as an echo chamber for these individuals, suggesting posts and accounts to follow that are similar to accounts one already follows. Indeed, many of the accounts followed by The Real Jihad were found not by searching on hashtags or perusing other users’ lists of followers, but by simply looking at the “Discover” page without searching anything at all. Thus, as soon as a user reacts to a militant jihadist account, he or she will be recommended to follow other such accounts and will not be exposed to any counter arguments unless accounts like The Real Jihad insert themselves into the echo chamber by tagging counter narratives with militant jihadist hashtags.
Research on Instagram in Regard to Terrorist Propagandizing and Recruitment Strategies
Most research on the impact of Instagram focuses on the different communities that exist on Instagram. While some communities, such as those promoting body positivity among young women, bond users together through prosocial means, other communities allow users to unite in promotion of maladaptive behaviors such as self-harm and excessive reassurance-seeking. Because terrorist recruitment online involves aspects of marketing as well as promotion of maladaptive behavior, some studies of Instagram can be applied to its utility for terrorist recruitment and opportunities for preventing and countering radicalization. For instance, a 2016 study of Dutch teenagers and young adults found that while young people were more likely to express negative emotion on Facebook and Twitter, they were more likely to express positive emotion on Instagram. However, they were most likely to express any emotion, positive or negative, on WhatsApp, likely due to its double-ended encryption that makes users feel that their expressions are more private and secure. The authors of the study concluded that users felt stronger ties to Facebook friends (a reciprocal relationship) than to Instagram followers (a non-reciprocal relationship), thus enabling them to disclose more private negative emotions. These results suggest that Instagram may be an effective platform to attract the initial attention of targets for counter radicalization, but they should be then redirected to a platform that allows for more freedom to express negative emotions and the potential to build a more personal relationship. Whether or not ISIS has learned this yet is unknown, but the results nevertheless provide lessons for counter narrative campaigning and suggest that attracting attention on Instagram may be possible, but moving the viewer to a platform where more intimate relations and fears, doubts, and needs can be expressed and hopefully answered in a way that redirects the user away from violent extremism would be beneficial.
Pittman and Reich (2016) posited that because Instagram is an image-based platform, it is better equipped to reduce loneliness among adolescents and young adults than text-based platforms like Twitter. The study noted that Instagram posts with faces (i.e., selfies or photos of groups of friends) were 38 percent more likely to be “liked” and 32 percent more likely to receive a comment than other types of photos, such as those of food or landscapes. Thus, decreased loneliness related to Instagram use may similarly confer the sense of belonging and significance, such as the idea that one is worthy of being noticed, that is often an integral part of terrorist recruitment, even if use of the platform does not allow for the development of emotionally intimate individual relationships. The latter can be developed by instructing those whose attention has been captured and who begin to feel a sense of being noticed and belonging to migrate to other more intimate platforms and apps.
Instagram’s utility for organizations, rather than individuals, has also been examined. In ICSVE’s preliminary counter narrative campaigns on Instagram the account running the counter narrative ads, @TheRealJihad_Official, is a business account and is not made to look like an individual user. Thus, it is important to understand how businesses and organizations in general are able to engage followers on Instagram. One study in Finland found that users were most likely to engage with brands on Instagram when the brands’ content was personal and emotionally evocative. The same has been found in studies of ISIS’s online recruitment as well as studies of counter narratives. Among Kuwaiti banks, Instagram has been found to be most effective in image building and communication, rather than establishing relationships, and that banks are able to gain the trust of their followers by invoking religious themes. Although the Instagram ads discussed in the present study were not run in the Middle East, many were targeted toward Arabic speakers. It is therefore critical to understand the cultural aspects of engaging with organizations on Instagram, namely, the suggestion of the Kuwaiti study that Arabs are less prone to interact directly with an organization on Instagram and are more likely to view the platform, with respect to organizations, as a one-way communication medium. Still another study of brands on Instagram found that consumers were more likely to trust brands if they perceive the brand’s benevolence and integrity, and if the brand is endorsed by “Key Opinion Leaders.”
ISIS recruiters have utilized these factors well. By stoking distrust in Western governments in the mainstream online media, they also contrast their own claimed shariah-based values and build up their own reputation for integrity. For instance, by emphasizing the atrocities of the Assad regime, they portrayed themselves as benevolent. Finally, by invoking trusted jihadi narratives, such the idea that Muslims are under attack by the West, the idea that defensive jihad is required and that jihad is obligatory for all Muslims, alongside the promotion of suicide terrorism as a type of Islamic “martyrdom,” sometimes via fatwas by Arabic scholars or sermons by Anwar al Awlaki for English speakers, they ensure their followers that they have been endorsed by trusted and credible sources. As such, a key aspect of the counter narratives presented in this article is the use of ISIS defectors, returnees, and imprisoned cadres as credible, reliable speakers who have suffered some of the same grievances as viewers and sought justice by joining ISIS, to deliver an honest, benevolent message and warnings to those thinking of following their same path to destruction.
A Possible Instagram Counter Narrative Strategy?
ICSVE has over the past two years, in partnership with Facebook, run over 125 campaigns in countries and languages all over the globe with good success in reaching the target audience and engaging them with the Breaking the ISIS Brand Counter Narrative videos. It is only recently that ICSVE started counter narrative campaigns on Instagram. While the full-scale ICSVE study of running counter narratives on Instagram has been submitted to a scientific journal, some brief results can be relayed here.
Given that we are easily finding outward expressions of support for ISIS, it was not difficult to identify a target population for the ICSVE counter narratives and build a following of accounts that would be viewed as legitimate for people who are in the process of being radicalized toward militant jihad and thus target them with counter narratives. ICSVE researchers were able to identify potential ISIS supporters on Instagram through their bios alone, meaning that one does not have to request to follow a private account in order to determine whether that user can be considered a likely ISIS supporter. Moreover, there is evidence of a large jihadist-supporting community on Instagram, although many of its members do not openly profess to be ISIS supporters. Thus, those aiming to counter militant jihad generally would be wise not to focus solely on ISIS, lest they be dismissed by supporters of the Taliban, al Qaeda, al Shabaab, and Kashmiri militant jihadist groups who support violence but denounce ISIS.
While the counter narratives used in ICSVE’s first campaign were specifically ISIS-focused and aimed at the general population in numerous EU countries, future campaigns may be hyper-targeted at those people more vulnerable to terrorist recruitment.
Running counter narrative videos on Instagram is a slightly different process than running Facebook ad campaigns. On Instagram, users are wary of interacting with accounts that appear to not be run by engaged, active Instagram users, even if the account belongs to a business. Thus, before running the campaign, ICSVE staff set up the @TheRealJihad_Official Instagram account and attempted to amass followers by posting daily, at noon, links to articles on TheRealJihad.org, photos with quotes from ISIS insiders denouncing the group, and links to other ICSVE counter narrative videos on YouTube. The account also began following a number of accounts with jihadist content, in order to legitimize itself among the intended audience. Jihadist accounts were found by searching various hashtags such as #khilafah, #dawlah, and #tawheed. At the outset of the campaign, the account followed 75 Instagram users and had five followers. By the middle of the campaign, the account was following 104 accounts and had 60 followers, many of whom were members of the target audience, thus demonstrating the ability to ingratiate itself within the pro-ISIS community on Instagram.
Already, photos and quotes from ISIS defectors, returnees, and imprisoned cadres have been posted on The Real Jihad Instagram account daily since the account’s inception to position it as a credible account with postings of potential interest to the target audience. It should be noted that all ICSVE counter narrative videos have ambiguous names that could be considered pro-ISIS, and most have thumbnails taken from actual ISIS footage that has been used to illustrate the speaker’s story, which denounces rather than supports ISIS. These posts have sparked likes and a few comments, including one ridiculing the defector for expecting a life of luxury in ISIS instead of jihad. Another user sent a direct message to The Real Jihad, accusing the account of using a fabricated hadith, arguing against the Islamic tenet that the most important jihad is that being against one’s own whims and evils, rather than against outside enemies. ICSVE’s Islamic scholar responded by pointing out the user’s use of a straw man fallacy, explaining the correct translation and meaning. The user was not able to refute the scholar’s argument, responding simply, “Allah knows best.” Other users direct messaged the account asking for more links to the counter narrative videos, which is a positive sign of engagement among the target audience.
The counter narratives were run in Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, and Italy, all countries from which individuals had traveled to join ISIS in Iraq and Syria. All of the counter narrative videos used were one minute long and featured ISIS defectors, returnees or prisoners speaking about why they joined and what they actually experienced while in ISIS, and finally denouncing ISIS as un-Islamic, corrupt, and overly brutal at the end of the video. Each of the videos featured an ISIS member who had traveled to ISIS from the specific country in which the video was run or a nearby country (for example, the speaker in the video shown in Austria was from Germany). The speakers in the videos told their stories in different languages, but each video was subtitled in the dominant and minority languages used by Muslims in the countries in which they were run. They were run for 13 days, from May 15 to May 27, 2020.
In general, the results of ICSVE’s first campaigns were positive in terms of being able to create an account that could reach the target audience and engage them to a certain extent. However, there are concerns that need to be addressed. One is that through the comparison between this Instagram campaign and the identical campaign run on Facebook a few weeks prior, it is clear that one-minute videos do not have the same capability to retain viewers on Instagram as they do on Facebook. This may be because videos on Facebook can be up to four hours long, so users who are accustomed to seeing longer videos on their feed may not get bored as easily, or may check how much of the video is left after watching for 10 or 15 seconds and, seeing that less than a minute remains, decide to finish the video instead of scrolling past it. On Instagram, however, videos cannot be longer than one minute. Therefore, users who are accustomed to watching videos for only a few seconds may not have the patience to watch a one-minute long counter narrative video.
In order to remedy the poor viewer retention on Instagram, future campaigns will feature photos and even shorter videos, likely utilizing ICSVE’s digital posters. These posters are photos of the ISIS defectors, insiders, and imprisoned cadres featured in the counter narrative videos, alongside emotionally evocative quotes about their lives before ISIS and their experiences in the groups. These posters have gained some traction among The Real Jihad account’s regular followers and will therefore likely spark high engagement in an ad campaign.
In summary, ICSVE has been able to determine that Instagram is being used by individuals whose accounts suggest that they are ISIS supporters, and even ISIS members themselves, and that it is possible to reach and target these accounts with counter narrative campaigns. However, our first campaigns taught us that it is critical to carefully determine the best ways to expose both those who are ISIS supporters and those vulnerable to ISIS recruitment to countering arguments in a way that is engaging and emotionally evocative. Likewise it is necessary to keep in mind that Instagram is unique platform where users are more likely to expect to see extremely short videos and photos with less discussion occurring. Our continued work on the platform and future studies will keep this in mind and focus on increasing viewer retention and effectively providing counter arguments to jihadist ideology through photos and videos that are only a few seconds long. Our first campaigns were an important step toward learning if we could utilize counter narratives effectively on Instagram, which differs quite a bit from Facebook in terms of expected mediums and audience. It is clear from our research that Instagram is being used by those supporting, and even members of, ISIS as well as other militant jihadist groups and thus there is a strong need for counter narrative campaigns to be put in place to disrupt and prevent ISIS and other militant jihadist recruitment on Instagram.
The International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism thanks the Embassy of Qatar in Washington, D.C., Facebook and the European Commission’s Civil Society Empowerment Programme for their generous support of our research, creation of counter narratives and counter narrative campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. This article was partially funded by the European Union’s Internal Security Fund — Police.
 Jihadology. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2020, from https://jihadology.net/category/jihadology/
 Speckhard, Anne, and Molly Ellenberg. (2020, April 15). Is Internet Recruitment Enough to Seduce a Vulnerable Individual into Terrorism? Retrieved from https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/counterterrorism/is-internet-recruitment-enough-to-seduce-a-vulnerable-individual-into-terrorism/
 Yayla, Ahmet S., and Anne Speckhard. “Telegram: The mighty application that ISIS loves.” International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (2017).; Al-Rawi, Ahmed, and Jacob Groshek. “Jihadist Propaganda on Social Media: An Examination of ISIS Related Content on Twitter.” In Cyber Warfare and Terrorism: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications, pp. 1442-1457. IGI Global, 2020.; Speckhard, Anne, Ardian Shajkovci, and Lorand Bodo. “Fighting ISIS on Facebook—Breaking the ISIS brand counter-narratives project.” International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (2018).; Shane, Scott, and Ben Hubbard. “ISIS displaying a deft command of varied media.” New York Times 30 (2014).
 Johnson, Joseph. “Instagram in Europe – Statistics & Facts,” February 10, 2020. https://www.statista.com/topics/3438/instagram-in-europe/.
 AW Staff. “Social Media Use by Youth Is Rising across the Middle East: AW Staff.” Arab Weekly, January 26, 2020. https://thearabweekly.com/social-media-use-youth-rising-across-middle-east.
 Drahošová, Martina, and Peter Balco. “The analysis of advantages and disadvantages of use of social media in European Union.” Procedia Computer Science 109 (2017): 1005-1009.
 “ICSVE – Europe – Dutch Federal Police Training Event.” ICSVE, April 19, 2020. https://www.icsve.org/icsve-europe-dutch-federal-police-training-event/.
 Speckhard, A., Ellenberg, M., Shaghati, H., & Izadi, N. (2020) Anti-ISIS and Anti-Western: An Examination of Comments on ISIS Counter Narrative Facebook Videos. International Studies Journal, 16(3), 127-156.
 Speckhard, Anne and Ellenberg, Molly (May 24, 2020). Inside the Sisterhood Springing Jihadis from Jail. The Daily Beast
 Tiggemann, Marika, Isabella Anderberg, and Zoe Brown. “# Loveyourbody: The effect of body positive Instagram captions on women’s body image.” Body Image 33 (2020): 129-136.
 Brown, Rebecca C., Tin Fischer, A. David Goldwich, Frieder Keller, Robert Young, and Paul L. Plener. “# cutting: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) on Instagram.” Psychological medicine 48, no. 2 (2018): 337-346.
 Sheldon, Pavica, and Megan Newman. “Instagram and American Teens: Understanding Motives for Its Use and Relationship to Excessive Reassurance-Seeking and Interpersonal Rejection.” The Journal of Social Media in Society 8, no. 1 (2019): 1-16.
 Waterloo, Sophie F., Susanne E. Baumgartner, Jochen Peter, and Patti M. Valkenburg. “Norms of online expressions of emotion: Comparing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp.” new media & society 20, no. 5 (2018): 1813-1831.
 Pittman, Matthew, and Brandon Reich. “Social media and loneliness: Why an Instagram picture may be worth more than a thousand Twitter words.” Computers in Human Behavior 62 (2016): 155-167.
 Hellberg, Maria. “Visual Brand Communication on Instagram: A study on consumer engagement.” (2015).
 Speckhard, Anne, Ardian Shajkovci, and Lorand Bodo. “Fighting ISIS on Facebook—Breaking the ISIS brand counter-narratives project.” International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (2018).
 Al-Kandari, Ali A., T. Kenn Gaither, Mohamed Mubarak Alfahad, Ali A. Dashti, and Ahmed R. Alsaber. “An Arab perspective on social media: How banks in Kuwait use Instagram for public relations.” Public Relations Review 45, no. 3 (2019): 101774.
 Che, Jasmine WS, Christy MK Cheung, and Dimple R. Thadani. “Consumer purchase decision in Instagram stores: The role of consumer trust.” In Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. 2017.
 Speckhard, Anne and Ellenberg, Molly (May 12, 2020). How Assad’s Atrocities Became a Powerful Motivator for Terrorist Recruitment. Homeland Security Today
 Speckhard, Anne. “Recruiting from Beyond the Grave: A European Follows Anwar Al-Awlaki Into ISIS.” Homeland Security Today, April 28, 2020. https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/counterterrorism/recruiting-from-beyond-the-grave-a-european-follows-anwar-al-awlaki-into-isis/.
 Speckhard, Anne, Molly Ellenberg, Haider Shaghati, and Neima Izadi. “Hypertargeting Facebook Profiles Vulnerable to ISIS Recruitment with ‘Breaking the ISIS Brand Counter-Narrative Video Clips’ in Multiple Facebook Campaigns.” Journal of Human Security (In Press).
 “Memes – ISIS Defectors Speak Out.” ICSVE. Accessed July 13, 2020. https://www.icsve.org/project/memes/.
Author’s note: first published in Homeland Security Today
Pakistani Intelligence Agencies ignite Tribal Conflicts in Pak-Afghan Region
According to the intelligence information, Pakistani intelligence community supported by some international rings want to once again spread dispute and disharmony among the tribes in Afghanistan and Pakistan; subsequently the centuries-old evils and wars between the tribes will once more take a new color and become fresh. Recently, rumors of the discovery of a mass grave in Kandahar province in the southwestern zone of Afghanistan are spreading; the blame for this mass murder falls on the former police chief of Kandahar province and the former leader of the Achagzai tribe, General Abdul Razaq Achagzai. In order to afresh raising the reaction of the Norzi tribe against the Ackzai and anew the evil and war between these two tribes. Even though the current governing body of Afghanistan is completely under the control of the Noorzi tribe, because most of the high-ranking leaders of the Taliban, including the leader of the Taliban, Sheikh Haibatullah, are related to the Noorzi tribe, so there is a greater threat posed to the Achakzi tribe.
Even now, in spite of such menaces, more than 6000 Achakzi families live in Kandahar province, whose members served in the security departments under the command of General Abdul Razaq Achakzi, a staunch opponent of the Taliban. Currently, in such a tense situation that the Taliban administration has control over Afghanistan and the head of this administration is connected to the Nurzi tribe, the harsh criticism of General Abdul Razaq Achakzai’s mass killings is logical, which can cause international and internal outcries. As a result, the major victims will be the youths and leading tribal leaders of the Achakzai tribe.
By the advent of Taliban on August 15, 2021, in the first four months, more than 600 youths and tribal leaders from the Achakzi tribe were killed in the southwest zone of Afghanistan, while applying night operations or raids by the Taliban. The most famous case happened to the family of Haji Fida Mohammad Achakzai in Spin Boldak district. Haji Fida Muhammad Achakzai, known as Haji Fida Aka, is a leading leader of the Achakza tribe of Spin Boldak district and had close relations with the family of General Abdul Razaq Achakzai.
When Kandahar province fell to the Taliban before August 15, the two young sons of him were killed by the Taliban on the first night, unfortunately none of the Taliban officials took any action to prevent the tragedy. Nevertheless, this time, there is a plan going on at the international level to renew the age-old differences between the Achakzai and Norzai tribes, which the international media warmly supports. If this time the internal differences and conflicts between the Achakzai and Norzai tribes in Afghanistan get sturdier, then it will have damaging effects not only in Afghanistan, but also, serious negative measures will be taken against the Norzai under the leadership of Mahmoud Khan Achakzai, the head of the Achakzai tribe, in the Pakhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan.
In the meantime, the decision of the Pakistani government to hand over the Pashtun areas in Pakhtunkhwa provinces to the Taliban was approved and supported by the Nurzi tribe, conversely, this action of the Pakistani government was strongly condemned by Mahmoud Khan Achakzai and PTM leader Manzoor Pashtun.
Afghan Zarqawi is shot dead in Panjsher valley of Afghanistan
According to intelligence information, the leading Taliban commander Maulvi Habibullah Sheeran, who was known as Zarqawi, a resident of Zhrhai District, Kandahar Province, in the southwestern zone of the Taliban was killed in Panjsher battle.
Meantime, the intelligence report indicates, Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir, the general military officer of Panjshir and Andrab and the deputy of the Ministry of National Defense, was injured in Panjshir on Friday, September 16 at 3:25 p.m.
Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir, who is considered one of the leading and influential war commanders in the southwest zone of the Taliban, has the support of about 4,000 low-ranking and high-ranking Taliban fighters. He is one of the Taliban military commanders who, during the first mobilization of the Taliban, formed the Taliban group with the support of Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid, the founder of the Taliban, and attracted hundreds of young men from Helmand province to the Taliban group.
When the Taliban came to power for the second time in Afghanistan, due to internal differences among the Taliban, Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir left the Taliban for a short time and went to his native Kajki district of Helmand province. However, due to the many efforts of the Taliban, especially Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir’s assistant and the current head of security of presidential palace Mullah Mutaullah Mubarak, He joined the Taliban again and was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Defense.
Taliban leaders made more efforts to reunite Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir with the Taliban, because he was an influential military leader, and on the other hand, Taliban leaders were receiving reports that Mullah Qayyum Zakir wants to join ISIS against Taliban. Nevertheless, when he joined with the Taliban leaders for the second time, he was assigned the position of Deputy Minister of Defense, So, for a period, he cooperated with the Minister of Defense Maulvi Yaqoub as a military advisor in the Ministry of Defense.
When the rumors of the fall of the northern part of Afghanistan were spread and the fighting between the NRF or the National Resistance Front and the Taliban in Panjshir and Andrab intensified, Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir, based on the special permission of Sheikh Haibatullah, Appointed General Military Officer of Northern Afghanistan. In addition, from September 9, under his leadership, a special military operation named Al-Fath began in Panjshir and Andarabs to clear and liberate northern Afghanistan from the fighters of the National Resistance Front.
As a result of the operation, from September 9th to September 16th, dozens of NRF fighters were also killed but the casualties of Taliban fighters are methodically shown below, although scores of Taliban fighters were destroyed.
- The bodies of 60 to 70 Taliban fighters who were killed in the battle of Panjshir have been transferred to Uruzgan province.
- The dead bodies of 50 Taliban fighters have been transferred to Kandahar Province.
- The dead bodies of 33 Taliban fighters have been transferred to Helmand Province.
- The dead bodies of 22 Taliban fighters have been transferred to Ghor Province.
- The dead bodies of 11 Taliban fighters have been transferred to Takhar province.
- The dead bodies of 6 Taliban fighters have been transferred to Kunduz Chahar Dara.
- The dead bodies of 12 Taliban fighters have been transferred to Zabul province.
- The dead bodies of nine Taliban fighters have been transferred to Wardag Province.
- The dead bodies of 10 Taliban fighters have been transferred to Dandi Ghori in Baghlan province.
Last Friday, September 16, in the bloody battle, Mullah Qayyum Zakir, the military officer in charge of Panjshir and Andrab, was seriously injured and eight of his bodyguards, who were residents of Helmand and Uruzgan provinces, were killed. Mullah Qayyum Zakir was transferred to the 400-bed hospital in Kabul at 10 o’clock in the evening on September 16, and former Taliban doctor Atiqullah was invited to Kabul from Al-Khair Hospital of Balochistan province of Pakistan for treatment.
There is a bloody war going on in the north of Afghanistan and around 300 al-Fatih forces are going to Panjshir from Kabul tonight and may reach tomorrow. Meanwhile, in Vienna, the plan for the formation of a new military and political movement was announced in a three-day meeting of the anti-Taliban political officials of the former government of Afghanistan. Moreover, based on that military plan, after dividing Afghanistan into five major parts, the political and military leaders of each zone will start preparing their organizations against the Taliban, and they will use such political and military tactics as the Taliban used against the government of the Republic of Afghanistan during the last 20 years of resistance.
U.S. Finally Admits Ukraine Bombs Zaporizhzhia’s Nuclear Power Plant
Unnamed American officials, according to the New York Times, have admitted that the explosives fired against Ukraine’s nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia have been fired against the plant by Ukraine’s Government, not by Russia’s Government, and furthermore these officials make clear that Ukraine’s attacks against the plant are a key part of Ukraine’s plan to win its U.S.-backed-and-advised war against Russia, on the battlefields of Ukraine, using Ukrainian soldiers.
Zaporizhzhia is a city in Ukraine that is in Russian-controlled territory, and Ukraine’s strategy is to destroy the ability of the plant to function, so that areas controlled by Russia will no longer be able to benefit from that plant’s electrical-power output. The United States Government helped Ukraine’s Government to come up with this plan, according to the New York Times.
This information was buried by the Times, 85% of the way down a 1,600-word news-report they published on September 13th, titled “The Critical Moment Behind Ukraine’s Rapid Advance”, in which it stated that, “Eventually, Ukrainian officials believe their long-term success requires progress on the original goals in the discarded strategy, including recapturing the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, cutting off Russian forces in Mariupol and pushing Russian forces in Kherson back across the Dnipro River, American officials said.”
When IAEA inspectors arrived at that plant on September 1st, after a lengthy period of trying to get there to inspect it but which was blocked by Ukraine’s Government, and the IAEA started delivering reports regarding what they were finding at the plant, no mention has, as-of yet, been made concerning which of the two warring sides has been firing those bombs into the plant. Even when the IAEA headlined on September 9th “Director General’s Statement on Serious Situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant”, and reported that the plant’s ability to operate “has been destroyed by shelling of the switchyard at the city’s thermal power plant, leading to a complete power black-out in” the entire region, and that “This is completely unacceptable. It cannot stand.”, and closed by saying they “urgently call for the immediate cessation of all shelling in the entire area,” no mention was made as to which of the two sides was shooting into the plant in order to disable it, and which of the two sides was firing out from the plant in order to protect it against that incoming fire. Previously known was only that the city of Zaporizhzhia has been and is under Russian control ever since March 4th. Consequently, all news-media and reporters have known that (since Russia was inside and Ukraine was outside) Russia has been defending the plant and Ukraine has been attacking it, but until “American officials” let slip, in this news-report, the fact that this has indeed been the case there, no Western news-medium has previously published this fact — not even buried it in a news-report.
So, although nothing in this regard may yet be considered to be official, or neutral, or free of fear or of actual intent to lie, there finally is, at the very least, buried in that news-report from the New York Times, a statement that is sourced to “American officials,” asserting that this is the case, and the Times also lets slip there that this “shelling” of that plant is an important part of the joint U.S.-Ukraine master-plan to defeat Russia in Ukraine. It is part of the same master-plan, which the U.S. Government recommended to Ukraine’s Government, and which also included the recent successful retaking by Ukraine of Russian-controlled land near the major Ukrainian city of Kharkov, which city’s recapture by Ukraine is also included in the master-plan. Both operations — the shelling of the nuclear power plant, and the recapture of that land near Kharkov — were parts of that master-plan, according to the New York Times.
The Times report asserts that
Long reluctant to share details of their plans, the Ukrainian commanders started opening up more to American and British intelligence officials and seeking advice. Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, and Andriy Yermak, a top adviser to Mr. Zelensky, spoke multiple times about the planning for the counteroffensive, according to a senior administration official. Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and senior Ukrainian military leaders regularly discussed intelligence and military support.
And in Kyiv, Ukrainian and British military officials continued working together while the new American defense attaché, Brig. Gen. Garrick Harmon, began having daily sessions with Ukraine’s top officers.
BJP’s ‘Akhand Bharat’ Dream is Not Only Problematic, Fascist Also
On 7th September, Assam Chief Minister (CM) Himanta Biswa Sarma made a very controversial remark about ‘integrating Bangladesh and Pakistan’....
Listening to Kazakhstan: Survey Spotlights Challenges Along with Optimism on Economic Prospects
The results of the “Listening to Kazakhstan” survey presented today reveal a challenging period for Kazakhstan’s economic and social outlook...
UN urges investment in clean, sustainable tourism
International tourism is showing strong signs of recovery, with tourist numbers rising to 57 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. On...
Hurricanes and cyclones bring misery to millions, as Ian makes landfall in the U.S.
Hurricane Ian caused devastation across western Cuba and increased its strength and size as it made landfall mid-afternoon local time...
Floods; A Challenge to Comprehensive National Security of Pakistan
Pakistan is encountering one of the major catastrophic occurrence in the present day history. The colossal floods, along with the...
U.S. Government Likely Perpetrated Biggest-Ever Catastrophic Global-Warming Event
On September 28th, the AP headlined “Record methane leak flows from damaged Baltic Sea pipelines” and reported that “Methane leaking...
Solar Mini Grids Could Power Half a Billion People by 2030 – if Action is Taken Now
Solar mini grids can provide high-quality uninterrupted electricity to nearly half a billion people in unpowered or underserved communities and...
Economy2 days ago
How America Is Crushing Europe
Green Planet4 days ago
A Healthy Environment is Now a Universal Human Right: But What Does the Recognition Mean?
Economy3 days ago
The Historic Day of Euro’s Downfall
Central Asia4 days ago
Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit and Later Developments: The Politics Analyzed
South Asia3 days ago
Changing Regional Security Paradigm: A Challenge to Kashmir and Options for Pakistan
Middle East4 days ago
Public opinion surveys challenge the image Arab leaders like to project
Intelligence3 days ago
Pakistani Intelligence Agencies ignite Tribal Conflicts in Pak-Afghan Region
Southeast Asia3 days ago
The so-called Indonesia-South Korea Special Strategic Partnership


Who is Chloe Green? Billionaire Philip's daughter and former Made In Chelsea star who's dating Jeremy Meeks – all ... The Sun.
At this point, it goes without saying that the woman who owns somewhere around 90 pairs of Christian Louboutin shoes will undoubtedly wear a pair of “ red bottoms ” on her big day but what about her bridal party? Cardi divulged to Vulture, the women who .
The singer, who coined the term "bloody shoes " in reference to Christian Louboutin red -lacquered soles , envisions her guests all in red . “Everybody got to be wearing red ,” she said, adding, “And my bridesmaids are gonna be wearing suits, what's good.”.
Gigi Hadid Nearly Takes a Tumble in Gold Lace Gown, Bella Catches Her Fall InStyle.
For footwear, the actress chose sparkly, multicolored Christian Louboutin pumps . Willis stepped out in a black, knee-length dress with short sleeves, which she paired with pointy-toed black pumps for a simple, elegant look. Rumer Willis, Demi Moore.
King of red soles Christian Louboutin has collaborated with Indian designer and textile enthusiast Sabyasachi Mukherjee on a capsule collection of ultra-luxe shoes that's bowing today exclusively at Just One Eye in Hollywood, including hand-embroidered .
Cardi B ranked fourth thanks to the fact that her hit “Bodak Yellow” inspired a 217% spike in searches for Christian Louboutin shoes (she call them “ red bottoms , bloody shoes ” in the track). The takeaway here: Power shoes come in all shapes and sizes.
Christian Louboutin was recently asked about Cardi’s infamous bloody shoe reference and he wasn’t sure who she exactly was. In a recent interview with The New York Times, the brain behind “Red Bottoms” admitted that couldn’t pick out the Bronx.
On 7 November, it's a whole year since voters went to the polls at the US election and the whole world was shocked by Donald Trump's surprise victory. The Republican businessman assumed office on January 20, 2017, with his wife Melania by his side, .
As part of its exclusive collaboration with Christian Louboutin , Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle brand, Goop, got the red - soled shoe designer to design his very first baby shoe ! Set to launch on Nov. 16, the limited-edition “Loubibaby” features adorable.
Melania Trump Takes Selfie In $2795 Cobalt Blue Coat Dress, Sunglasses, White House Locked Down Afterward The Inquisitr.
glossy and chip-resistant nail lacquer in the very same shade of red as the soles of every pair of Louboutin shoes. Christian Louboutin has now collaborated with Central London hair salon DryBy Studio to launch the very first luxury nail experience using.
Disney Lays Down the Law for Theaters on 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Wall Street Journal.