Dogs Dressed As Pandas Twitter

Red pandas, classified as "vulnerable" by the IUCN, are threatened by habitat loss and poaching, despite being protected by legislation in the countries where they're found. Because of that habitat loss, wild populations of red pandas are increasingly fragmented. One fragment that hosts a population of around forty red pandas is Nepal's Langtang National Park, in the Himalayas. Even within the national park, those forty pandas are fragmented into four groups. You see, the park is also home to two cheese factories that produce a combined 14,000 kilograms of cheese each year to be sold in nearby Kathmandu. To amass the 140,000 liters of milk necessary to make the cheese, farmers keep large herds of chauri, a yak-cow hybrid, and those herds are permitted to graze within the park.

The competition over food sources with the chauri combined with other threats to their lives from the herders and from their dogs has led to the death of many, many red pandas. "This problem might be solved," write a pair of researchers in the journal Conservation Biology, "by reducing cheese production and restricting the number of chauri while commensurately increasing the price of cheese so that farmers' income from milk could remain the same." Each avatar club is a strange combination of gated online community, stock-shareholding group, and art-appreciation society. When one ape is bought for a high price, the perceived value of all ten thousand authentic N.F.T.s in the set rises, the same way a painting fetching a record price at auction might increase the value of an artist's entire œuvre.

When a buyer makes his Twitter avatar an image from a new N.F.T. club, it's a sign of allegiance, and also a signal to other buyers in the club to follow him on social media. ("I changed my picture to the ape and I got hundreds of Twitter followers the first day," Swenson said.) The center of most clubs is Discord, the real-time chat app. Bored Ape Yacht Club's Discord server has more than thirteen thousand members—fans as well as N.F.T. owners—and hosts constant discussion in channels such as #crypto-talk and #sports-bar. The mutual investment, both social and financial, forms a kind of bond among club members within the wider Internet bedlam. The first real test of China's road to rejuvenation — and of the wolf warriors' ability to help the country get there — came from Hong Kong and the pro-democracy protests that swept across the city in early 2019. That year, as the protests gained momentum, a new wave of Chinese diplomats joined Zhao on Twitter.

"Right before things kicked off in Hong Kong, there was basically no diplomatic presence for China on Twitter, other than Zhao," said Bret Schafer, the media and digital-disinformation fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, a national-security advocacy group. "Now we've seen an explosion of accounts come online." Beijing also began experimenting with covert information operations on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, including creating fake profiles and pages. The response to the Hong Kong protests marked China's first major foray into so-called information warfare on Western social media. Michaela Okland, who runs the popular Twitter account SheRatesDogs, said she received hundreds of messages from women with stories about D'Elia — some who claimed they'd had negative encounters with him, some who knew other women who allegedly had. Okland shared many of these stories, most of which were anonymous, in a thread that went viral.

Zhao's tweets offer a window into the global audience that China seeks to cultivate. Just before his confrontation with Susan Rice, Zhao promoted a United Nations resolution echoing China's position on Xinjiang. During the recent 11-day conflict in Gaza, Zhao tweeted a cartoon image of a bald eagle dropping a missile on the territory.

"See what '#HumanRights defender' has brought to #Gaza people," he wrote. With wolf-warrior diplomacy, China is positioning itself as a leader of the non-Western world — and betting that other members of the bloc are just as eager to see a world free of America's overbearing influence. Almost as soon as he arrived in Pakistan, however, Zhao began tweeting again.

He had reason to believe that an outspoken Chinese diplomat would be well received in the country. Zhao had served in Pakistan before, in his first foreign assignment with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; it was a posting uniquely favorable to aggressive Chinese diplomacy. Pakistan was one of the first noncommunist countries to switch diplomatic recognition from the exiled government in Taiwan to the People's Republic of China, in 1950, and it placed a bet on China's rise well before other regional players. Zhao had already made headlines once before, for a tweet in the early days of the pandemic in which he floated a conspiracy theory that the virus originated in the United States. " That time, the United States State Department summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest the accusation.

The images that sparked Crokin's accusations are of baby Luna showing off her Halloween looks, which included a hot dog and "Alice in Wonderland" costume. On Snapchat, the social media platform on which she shared the pictures, Teigen's username contains a pizza emoji. Crokin claimed the emoji, along with the Alice costume, proved a link between Teigen and the secret society, as some believers claim the Lewis Carroll novel makes connections to pedophilia. D'Elia proceeded to give Holtzman a phone number, which public records link to his name, and suggest that she travel from Long Island to New York City to come see him. She never went, but saved screenshots of their correspondence for years. This week, she shared them publicly for the first time on Twitter, where multiple young women have come forward in recent days to allege that D'Elia was sexually inappropriate with them.

Police said Monday afternoon they are reviewing photos and videos from the scene, gathered through surveillance video and social media hoping to identify people who engaged in criminal behaviour at the party. Despite their name, red pandas aren't actually closely related to giant pandas , but it wasn't until the last ten or fifteen years that scientists settled upon just where red pandas fit on the evolutionary tree of life. It was clear that red pandas were members of the taxonomic "infraorder" Arctoidea, placing them in a group with bears, pinnipeds , raccoons, and mustelids . Research published in 2000 in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution determined that they were not most closely related to bears or to raccoons as had been previously suggested. Instead, red pandas form their own phylogenetic family, alongside skunks, raccoons, and mustelids.

From a genetic perspective, they're more like the skunks and raccoons you might find in your own backyard than the giant pandas with whom they share habitats. For most brands that produce culture, whether Supreme streetwear, Marvel superheroes, or pop music, letting intellectual property circulate freely is verboten; exclusivity is the business model. The Bored Ape Yacht Club founders, by contrast, see their openness as an asset. "Anything that people create with their apes only grows the brand," Goner said. The account was then quiet for two years, until May 5, 2012, when Zhao tweeted "Hello" in Chinese. Two months later, he posted four seemingly random and nonsensical messages, like "@jacuib07 Mizzelle is.gd/LCCdAV." The recipient was a grandmother in Australia with only a few dozen followers; the link redirected to a now-defunct site called bibankle.info.

He doubled the Foreign Ministry's budget during his first term and created new offices and coordinating bodies to centralize and smooth implementation of diplomatic initiatives. Already, he has delivered more speeches on foreign affairs than any previous general secretary in Communist Party history. Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy — the idea that the international system should have "Chinese characteristics," with more of a leadership role for the country — is now the guiding diplomatic doctrine of China. As China's leader, Xi Jinping, forged a more muscular and confident foreign policy, Zhao was there to introduce a new, chaotic tone into Chinese diplomacy — one that proved perfectly complementary to the president's vision. Online and in the media, Zhao was called the "wolf warrior" diplomat, a moniker taken from a pair of ultranationalistic Chinese action films of the same name.

Earlier that month, the inspector general of the Australian Defense Force had released the results of a four-year investigation into alleged war crimes committed by elite Australian troops in Afghanistan. The investigation, which described a systemic culture of brutality and lawlessness, implicated 25 soldiers in the unlawful killing of 39 civilians and prisoners, with most of the incidents taking place in 2012. The report dominated news headlines for weeks and sparked a torturous national reckoning in Australia. To then see the country's most grievous sins — already documented by its own government — weaponized in a sarcastic tweet from a foreign official was an almost incomprehensible insult.

"I don't think you could imagine a communication that could've been more perfectly shaped to be inflammatory in Australia, and so perfectly insensitive," a former senior Australian government official said. Pandas are an emblem of national pride to many in China, the only country where the animals live outside captivity. China loans the animals to countries worldwide as a way of strengthening diplomatic ties.

In the clip, shared to TikTok by a parody account called PC Penhale, which is based off of a character from the British TV series Doc Martin, we can see two dogs dressed in panda outfits walking towards the camera. A video of some adorable white fluffy puppies dressed as pandas has gone viral online, despite the creator's content having been reported many times. In a statement on Sunday, police said officers were investigating "several incidents of criminal behaviour" after a large crowd gathered on Russell Avenue. Police are reviewing social media and video to identify possible suspects.

Watson called on police to look at evidence on social media to "find out who the ringleaders are and charge them if necessary." "My understanding is there was no serious activity taking place at 9, police started to move out some of their reinforcements, and unfortunately that's when social media lit up and people said come to Russell Avenue and obviously thousands showed up." It may no longer house Tom Brady, but New England stakes claim to a number of other regional treasures. As one of the first established areas of the country, New England has a lot of history to share.

It's also got some amazing landscapes, eateries, and of course, its very own Great Wolf Lodge! Check out our new blog post for the best things to do during your visit. The Chinese-language version of Global Times praised Zhao's fortitude in standing up to critics like Rice and urged others to emulate him. "Chinese media and diplomats will become more proactive in their actions, to reveal the truth to the whole world," the tabloid wrote. When the pandemic struck a few months later, that prediction proved uncannily accurate — as Zhao's attitude seemed to creep into China's broader diplomatic efforts. Meetings with foreign counterparts were almost always conducted in pairs, presumably so the two Chinese diplomats could keep an eye on each other and report back anything suspicious.

The incentive structure discouraged any attempt to make foreign friends. "You don't want to be seen as the one guy who goes out and meets individually with Americans," the former N.S.C. official said. The effort to shape and control foreign discourse on China began in earnest in the wake of the financial crisis.

By one estimate, China is spending $10 billion a year on new ways to reach external audiences and tilt debates in China's favor. The controversy started when the state-run People's Daily posted a video of the fluffy Chow Chow dogs on social media. Although many obviously consider the pets dressed as pandas to be wholly harmless, pet insurance provider Petplan reveals that there are potential problems with putting animals in outfits.

The video is set in an office, and the little dogs have a panda hood over their furry ears and their front legs are clothed in black material, with little fake arms hang under their necks. Pizzagate believers claim that many high-profile Democrats and the Hollywood elite are secret members of this society. Teigen, an outspoken critic of President Trump and his administration, often shares her opinions on social media and has been blocked by the president on Twitter. "On the drive home, we kept trying to figure out if we had done something wrong or given him the wrong impression," said Vitarelli.

"After I shared the story on Twitter this week, I almost started crying because it was so nice to feel supported by random people agreeing the situation was wrong. The Times spoke to two of Rossi's high school friends, who said she told them about her messages with D'Elia at the time. Her mother, Brooke Askew-Rossi, said she was also aware of the interactions her daughter had with the comedian.

She was not a fan of the then-36-year-old stand-up comic, and was not following his page. But she saw that D'Elia had a verified social media account, and was intrigued. Ottawa police say more than 2,000 people descended on Russell Avenue late Saturday night, with some flipping a vehicle and leaving a trail of garbage and debris along the residential street. Ottawa police made a mistake when they closed a Sandy Hill street Saturday night ahead of an out-of-control street party, the local councillor suggested Monday. Every city has their set of special traditions, and Providence is no exception. Every summer, the city of Providence lights bonfires over its rivers.

Also known as WaterFire, this event is known as "the most popular work of art created in the capital city's 371-year history." The lightings take place at dusk but try getting there early to get a good spot! Remember, it's New England, so dress prepared for its unpredictable weather. Chow Chows that are dyed to look like pandas are also being sold in pet shops in China, to satisfy demand among the country's new middle class who want the cute dogs as pets. Here are seven other facts about red pandas that you might not already know. By the time Gargamel and Goner began brainstorming an N.F.T. project, early this year, avatar clubs were a nascent trend.

Gargamel and Goner were familiar with CryptoPunks, a batch of ten thousand pixelated figures, which became the blue-chip art of the N.F.T. market after their release, by a company called LarvaLabs, in 2017. "It's like having a Harvard degree in the N.F.T. space," Austin, who owns two, said. Gargamel and Goner also noticed the success of Hashmasks, an artistic venture that sold 16,384 N.F.T. images in January for a total of more than sixteen million dollars. Both of those projects were closed systems; their developers didn't promise any expansion beyond the initial, limited release. Gargamel and Goner sought an idea they could keep growing over time.

"We were seeing the opportunities to make something with a larger story arc," Gargamel said. "When everyone's got skin in the game, it creates a new dynamic, as opposed to everyone being able to say what they want and critique everything without consequence," Drew Austin, a technology investor who owns three Bored Apes and co-owns two others, told me. That sense of community has been missing from the Internet, according to Bored Ape Yacht Club's founders. Contrary to their reputation for superfluousness, N.F.T.s can help fill the void.

"We want your Bored Ape to be your digital identity," Gargamel, one of the founders, told me during a recent video chat. It's a collectible not to hang on the wall or exhibit on a shelf but to populate the tiny square or circle of screen space that's supposed to represent your self. The "Communist Party of China deliberately and intentionally misled the world on the Wuhan coronavirus," the resolution stated, and Wisconsin stood "in solidarity with the Chinese people to condemn the actions" of the Communist Party. Roth wasn't sure if Wu had bothered to look up his political party, much less his policy positions, before asking him to pass the resolution. If she had, she might've known he was unlikely to go along with it. When Zhao arrived in Pakistan, Donald Trump was still months away from winning the New Hampshire primary.

Trump's rise through the spring of 2016 and his election that November signaled that the old rules were gone. "It's not a coincidence that Zhao's era traces the Trump era pretty closely," Small said. "It made things seem possible and acceptable, thanks to the mirroring of the U.S. that goes on in the Chinese side. No one in the Chinese system would've been doing this on social media before Trump." With his rhetoric toward China in particular, Trump created an opening for an equally forceful response. "If the U.S. president says China 'rapes our country,' they have a lot of discursive space," said Julian Gewirtz, a former senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. As Chinese money flowed in and projects got underway — particularly the power plants, which helped ease Pakistan's incessant rolling blackouts — C.P.E.C. became more and more popular with the Pakistani public.

No other country was willing to invest in Pakistan on the scale that China was. "There is a consensus in Pakistan that this C.P.E.C. is a fate-changer project," Piracha said. "That C.P.E.C. will change the fate of Pakistan and to some extent it has done so." American diplomats, meanwhile, lambasted C.P.E.C. as a debt trap, even as American aid continued to decline precipitously. Zhao joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1996 and rose quickly through the ranks, serving at first in the Department of Asian Affairs in Beijing.

In 2009, just after President Obama began his first term in office, Zhao became first secretary in the political section at the Chinese Embassy in Washington — a plum assignment for a diplomat on the rise. In Washington, Chinese diplomats had a reputation for being professional, well prepared and insular. Most lived in the same apartment buildings or in Embassy-provided housing, and spent their free time in the Bethesda area north of the city. They kept to themselves and to the local Chinese ethnic community, eating mostly at Chinese restaurants. It would be tempting to dismiss Zhao's tweet as a one-off provocation and Zhao himself as a bit player in this geopolitical drama. Despite being almost entirely unknown, even in China, until two years ago, Zhao has managed to rapidly and completely transform how China communicates with its allies and adversaries.

His unbridled style of online rhetoric has spread throughout the Chinese diplomatic corps, replacing the turgid mix of evasive diplomatese and abstruse Communist jargon that characterized the nation's public statements for decades. But the tweet, posted by a diplomat named Zhao Lijian, represented a different kind of aggression. "Shocked by murder of Afghan civilians & prisoners by Australian soldiers," he wrote. "We strongly condemn such acts, & call for holding them accountable." Attached was a digital illustration of an Australian soldier restraining an Afghan child with a large Australian flag while preparing to slit the boy's throat.

"Don't be afraid," the caption read, "we are coming to bring you peace! " When the tweet appeared online that morning, there were audible gasps in Australia's Parliament House. On the morning of Monday, Nov. 30, 2020, the Australian prime minister Scott Morrison was working from his official residence when an aide alerted him to a tweet by a Chinese foreign-ministry spokesman. It's not the first time pets have been colored to look like other animals in China. In 2016, pet shops in southern Guangdong province were selling dogs dyed to look like miniature tigers, the People's Daily reported. The cafe -- in the southwestern city of Chengdu, close to the native home of the giant panda -- also offers a dyeing service for people who want to transform their own pets into pandas.