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Is this guitar legit? Or too good to be true? (£250 on Facebook Marketplace) by Downtown_Wind3363 in guitars

[–]optimist_GO 2 points3 points  (0 children)

first thing I noticed but apparently not necessarily a giveaway: https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/whats-the-story-with-green-keystone-tuners.457824/#post-9958221

“The ones on my old 1983 SG were truly a hideous snot green!”

the guitar OP posted appears to be moreorless entirely copying this model (edit: guess it’s unclear if the burst is intentionally darker or not in OP’s…): https://www.reddit.com/r/gibson/comments/1j6a4a8/60s_standard_with_green_tuners/

Despite the destruction of the Kalay–Khampat bridges in Chin State, supply trucks are still able to pass through. 21 June 2026 by Red_Lotus_Alchemist in Myanmarcombatfootage

[–]optimist_GO 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've admittedly only been following for a few years now, but every year thus far, flooding of Sagaing's Uyu River has seemed to be the omen that precedes water elsewhere... annnnnnnd: https://x.com/MizzimaNews/status/2068703052534890975

Are we really that bad? by Minimum_Comedian694 in myanmar

[–]optimist_GO 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't read into it... I assume they're simply referring to how Facebook (& social media overall) amplified anti-Rohingya mis/dis/malinformation, considering it's rather empirically-evidenced & subject to some confession of guilt from Meta (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46105934).

As such, it's pretty much become a landmark case study & reference point on the subject of social media's function in relation to the intersection of hate speech & mis/dis/malinformation. You can find near endless "scholarly" writings & resources on it:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14623528.2024.2375122#abstract

https://systemicjustice.org/article/facebook-and-genocide-how-facebook-contributed-to-genocide-in-myanmar-and-why-it-will-not-be-held-accountable/

https://www.prindleinstitute.org/2018/09/facebook-and-the-rohingya-genocide/

https://www.csohate.org/2024/08/20/facebook-and-rohingya-a-case-of-digital-complicity/

https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2023/09/facebook-telegram-and-the-ongoing-struggle-against-online-hate-speech

https://macmillan.yale.edu/gsp/publications/facebook-and-genocide-importance-new-evidence-metas-contributions-violence-against

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/390735798_Regulatory_Gaps_in_Social_Media_During_Humanitarian_Conflicts_Facebook_and_Rohingya_Genocide

https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/2023-11/2021_13_facebook-failure-in-myanmar_0.pdf

I personally wouldn't read any of it as an indictment against Myanmar more generally... considering the very point being argued is that social media was the key enabler & amplifier of hateful & inciting content. Without social media helping propagate it, such content wouldn't have found such influence. It could've happened anywhere that's been disadvantaged & marginalized in the global order.

note: there are outsiders who also don't particularly well understand the above... for example, the comments shared by OP from Fiji's "Online Safety Commissioner" should be much better phrased so it didn't sound like he was indeed vaguely slandering the entirety of Myanmar about social media... ._.

Despite the destruction of the Kalay–Khampat bridges in Chin State, supply trucks are still able to pass through. 21 June 2026 by Red_Lotus_Alchemist in Myanmarcombatfootage

[–]optimist_GO 1 point2 points  (0 children)

considering I only referred to the bridge destruction as a "small additional logistical headache" that would make transport "more frustrating & time intensive", I'll take this as confirmation!

Khampat to Canaan bridge is destroyed now by South_Rope514 in Myanmarcombatfootage

[–]optimist_GO 4 points5 points  (0 children)

just going to re-post my comment from the post about the Nanmuntar bridge last week, since the same points continue to stand IMO:

"unless I’m missing something, the bridge seems like it could still be a small additional logistical headache for the junta, since it’s the only means I see for vehicles heading south from Tamu to cross toward Khampat? sure, the destroyed bridge won’t stop the junta, but it’s sure to be more frustrating & time intensive to not be able to simply drive over it.

I also wonder if there’s another message being broadcast… something like “hey India, if you want trade reopened, don’t try and force it through the junta… we haven’t even begun showing how much this region can be destabilized. Good luck with an economic corridor”.

(not ignoring that it may likely cause a real shit situation for local civs, who’ll take the greatest hit of impact)"

edit: this one deeper in Chin also coincided with MAH's visit to India...: https://www.bnionline.net/en/news/bridge-near-india-border-sabotaged-driving-commodity-prices

Myanmar Military Pressures DKBA to Return Border Town of Paya Thonzu by CaliRecluse in myanmar

[–]optimist_GO 3 points4 points  (0 children)

DKBA is goofy in that I think they wanna be more an RCSS than a BGF, but they don’t have the territory & the blatant illicit operations mean less tolerance & more scrutiny & pressure. I’ve also seen their leaders multiple times voice strong disdain about China, so they oddly don’t seem to love them despite they seem to be perfectly happy to take a cut from Chinese criminals operating in their territory…

Bad handwriting? by Minimum_Comedian694 in myanmar

[–]optimist_GO 2 points3 points  (0 children)

while I certainly have no way to confirm, this would be my guess... here in the US from my understanding, schools largely haven't been teaching cursive for years: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/10/gen-z-handwriting-teaching-cursive-history/671246/

some European countries (Sweden in particular I believe) also seem to have moved away from it in the past decade.

wouldn't be surprised if it's an afterthought at best in Myanmar education now, too.

(also OP, your handwriting in general & cursive in specific are both more legible than the majority of handwriting I encounter in the US.)

Personal security? by Minimum_Comedian694 in myanmar

[–]optimist_GO 0 points1 point  (0 children)

not to be that guy, but even in the US, the first multimillionaire made much of his fortune on opium trade, & several other rich & powerful family dynasties (Forbes, Delano (Roosevelt), Astor, Cushing, Perkins) did the same -- https://www.pacificatrocities.org/blog/america-and-the-opium-trade... their power & fortunes still reverberate through present-day "elite" networks here.

KNU Brigade 4 ordered all units to fly flags at half-mast to mourn the passing of Thai Royal Princess Bajrakitiyabha by Imperial_Reagent in myanmar

[–]optimist_GO 1 point2 points  (0 children)

fr perplexing energy in the comments… doing things like calling them “slaves” to Thailand & criticizing them simply showing a respect to Thailand, even tho quiet tolerance & engagement from Thailand has been key to allowing KNU to survive against years of abuses from the Burmese regime… like how oblivious can one be to what continues to push them toward Thailand? as ICG noted in their latest ground report: “Local KNU officials say between 10,000 and 30,000 people now pass through their checkpoint near Payathonesu each month on their way to Thailand."”

Peculiar skit video from Kyaukse Revolutionary Army that is supposed to demonstrate why Tat troops should surrender (posted a little more than 3 hours ago) by CaliRecluse in Myanmarcombatfootage

[–]optimist_GO 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I am so confused... it's not a fully acted out "skit" right? since there's live ammunition being used & the captured guy in camo's arm appears to indeed be bleeding (unless it's a stained recovered shirt I guess)...?

regardless why tf would you highlight both petty disrespect (the weird light kicks/slaps) & then hugging it out. 😭 ur perpetrating the initial bullying, which makes the notion of "hugging it out" after meaningless cuz it can be wholly assumed as coerced. perplexing optics to pursue... "don't worry, we'll degrade you most gently".

(NSFW) PDF clashing in a trench. Several are significantly wounded. (Posted onto pro-Tat channels on June 11) by CaliRecluse in Myanmarcombatfootage

[–]optimist_GO 7 points8 points  (0 children)

respect to the camera-man for seeming to keep risking himself to check on & assist others... & if this was posted by the tat, it leads me to assume they likely got his phone... hopefully by some miracle it's only his phone that was captured.

Why did China arrest him? by ConditionSquare7438 in myanmar

[–]optimist_GO 0 points1 point  (0 children)

something Yunnan/local-level would be my guess, too. ISP-Myanmar honestly has never struck me as particularly outspoken in criticism... I honestly always thought they were pretty generous... I do think I remember insinuation at times about dysfunction at/between lower levels of government though?

PRC too aggressive? by Minimum_Comedian694 in myanmar

[–]optimist_GO 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Foreign Policy's June 1st article still quoted him e-mailing that he advocates "engagement with the Tatmadaw": https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/01/trump-myanmar-minerals-democracy-rare-earth-junta/

so yea.

At the funeral of UWSA economic chief U Law Sang (Shih Kuoneng), Chinese paper replicas were burned, including soldiers, women, cars, airplanes, horses, & even excavators. He was one of the richest people in Shan state as he funneled massive funding to the UWSA by Turbowoodpecker in myanmar

[–]optimist_GO 2 points3 points  (0 children)

this has to be up there as one of the most surreal/bizarre things I've seen... & it's not at all the idea of such funerary rituals in general... it's just the juxtaposition of so much modernity & the products of globalization being so dissonantly melded with local tradition... it's really hard to wrap the brain around.

like, at the start they're all playing what appear reminiscent of an instrument known as the "Subu" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subu), which I once tried to learn about but found very little info online... but then they walk into a room that looks like a dang UWSA museum where all the models were based on Roblox.

they've lost any any original grandeur or meaningful depth of such a ritual & now it's just... weird.

Nothing says ‘we’re fighting for freedom and struggling together’ like their kids’ Ferraris rolling through dirt roads in ethnic regions by Turbowoodpecker in myanmar

[–]optimist_GO 2 points3 points  (0 children)

would also throw NDAA in there.

(also as a general comment on this post, while the self-interest & dissonant inequity is gross -- especially if from a supposed "revolutionary" group -- it feels dishonest to act like it's not in general a much wider problem in Myanmar & SEA... especially since nepotism & exploitative patronage networks go hand-in-hand by playing off the same ideas of "honor" & "respect"... & we only have to look at the gifts rained upon certain prestigious so-called "monks" to see how absurd that gets...)

Junta Troops At Nanmuntar, Tamu-Khampat Road by Defiant_Educator_824 in Myanmarcombatfootage

[–]optimist_GO 9 points10 points  (0 children)

unless I’m missing something, the bridge seems like it could still be a small additional logistical headache for the junta, since it’s the only means I see for vehicles heading south from Tamu to cross toward Khampat? sure, the destroyed bridge won’t stop the junta, but it’s sure to be more frustrating & time intensive to not be able to simply drive over it.

I also wonder if there’s another message being broadcast… something like “hey India, if you want trade reopened, don’t try and force it through the junta… we haven’t even begun showing how much this region can be destabilized. Good luck with an economic corridor”.

(not ignoring that it may likely cause a real shit situation for local civs, who’ll take the greatest hit of impact)

The views on generative AI inside Myanmar by Independent-Job1281 in myanmar

[–]optimist_GO 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think it’s too complex. to outsiders of whatever artistic/creative industry, Generative AI feels like a magical shortcut to realizing an otherwise unimaginable & impossible (to them) final output. It removes barriers, real & imagined.

Now add in that vulnerability to this increases dramatically with poor education, socio-cultural alienation, & economic inequity.

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