Christa B.

Haunting.

While we save these women we’ll kill their husbands, brothers, fathers, and.. Oh wait, them too.
- Micha Balon

letmypeopleshow:

Member of the Tribe:

Crowds along the High Line watched as JR and his crew unfurled 64 strips to reveal the image of Brandon Many Ribs yesterday, a part of the artist’s Inside Out Project that brings faces of the Lakota people to New York. Want to join in the worldwide, participatory-art portrait project? Here’s how. 

Photo: Tim Schreir

A very good example of the role of cultural privilege in classifying violence. 

States and their militaries tend to be much more quickly absolved for transgressions against civilians in public perception. And when you toss in an occupied population at odds with an occupier of starkly different cultures to begin with, you get all types of incongruity.

watanafghanistan:

This happens over and over and over again, and there are several points worth making here beyond the obvious horror:

1) To the extent these type of incidents are discussed at all — and in American establishment media venues, they are most typically ignored — there are certain unbending rules that must be observed in order to retain Seriousness credentials. No matter how many times the U.S. kills innocent people in the world, it never reflects on our national character or that of our leaders. Indeed, none of these incidents convey any meaning at all. They are mere accidents, quasi-acts of nature which contain no moral information (in fact, the NYT article on these civilian deaths, out of nowhere, weirdly mentioned that “in northern Afghanistan, 23 members of a wedding celebration drowned in severe flash flooding” — as though that’s comparable to the U.S.’s dropping bombs on innocent people). We’ve all been trained, like good little soldiers, that the phrase “collateral damage” cleanses and justifies this and washes it all way: yes, it’s quite terrible, but innocent people die in wars; that’s just how it is. It’s all grounded in America’s central religious belief that the country has the right to commit violence anywhere in the world, at any time, for any cause.

At some point — and more than a decade would certainly qualify — the act of continuously killing innocent people, countless children, in the Muslim world most certainly does reflect upon, and even alters, the moral character of a country, especially its leaders. You can’t just spend year after year piling up the corpses of children and credibly insist that it has no bearing on who you are.

Continued here

Gotta respect protestors with a transparency policy. =)

Clearly, we’ve been doing it all wrong. 

=P

anti-oppressivebabyanimals:

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A TWO-DAY OLD BABY ASIAN ELEPHANT TRIES TO STAND AS HE GETS USED TO HIS WOBBLY LEGS. TEXT READS, “JUST BECAUSE MY LEGS DO NOT KEEP ME UP NOW DOES NOT MEAN I CANNOT STAND UP FOR MYSELF.”]

PHOTO BY: SEAN GALLUP

How these “jihadis” build “peace” is an important part of understanding how other (and perhaps more palatable to pro-democracy advocates) approaches to peacebuilding will succeed or fail.

Hint: Development. 

journalofajournalist:

Here’s your Friday longread. A you-must-open-this @theguardian article on Al Qaeda’s theocratic ministates in Yemen by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad.

Spoiler: The jihadis use Chicago machine tactics to win over local tribes. Free water, electricity, etc. in exchange for loyalty.

Al-Qaida’s wretched utopia and the battle for hearts and minds | World news | The Guardian

anti-oppressivebabyanimals:

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A BOSTON TERRIER PUPPY LOOKS TOWARDS THE FRONT WITH A MILDLY DESPONDENT LOOK ON ITS FACE. TEXT READS, “CHEW TOY? NO, THANKS. I’D RATHER TRANSFORM A RAPE CULTURE.”]

“Sustainable architecture embraces rammed earth and rock formations”, Sophie Landrin

An Arab woman who helps communities in poverty stricken and war torn countries build sustainable homes? I’d say that’s pretty bad ass.

abudaii:

sharquaouia:

Mona Eltahawy and Leila Ahmed debate on MSNBC.

Watch this, please. 

Follow link here.

Read Leila Ahmed’s response to Mona Eltahawy’s article.

Leila Ahmed is all class.

Who is arming the world?

“The Exclusive Club of Moral Authority: From Nick Kristof to Kony 2012”, Kate Cronin-Furman and Amanda Taub

So guess what guys…

There’s a tumblr all about posing baby animals with socially conscious quotes. 

I repeat: THERE’S A TUMBLR ALL ABOUT POSING BABY ANIMALS WITH SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS QUOTES.

anti-oppressivebabyanimals:

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: BABY RED FOX SLEEPING WITH QUOTE FROM MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., “NON-VIOLENCE MEANS AVOIDING NOT ONLY EXTERNAL PHYSICAL VIOLENCE BUT ALSO INTERNAL VIOLENCE OF SPIRIT.”]

“Dr. Mustafa Barghouti: Nonviolent resistance is more effective”, +972

From the facebook group, “Objetorxs De Conciencia de Neiva” in southern Colombia. The text reads, “Weapons alone will give us peace… the peace of the grave.” It is meant to mock the Colombian right wing’s insistence upon a military solution to the civil war, which has been going on since 1964. 

Inspirational and awesome. 

 This moving and interesting essay about the leaders of the Youth of Daraya is definitely worth a read! An excerpt:

In 2011, Yehya and his friends joined the revolution following their non-violent principles. He spoke at the Daraya Cultural Centre, asking the community to understand that those we call “shabbiha” - the regime’s “thugs” - are our sons and brothers. He and his best friend, Ghiyath Matar, became known for their uncommon practice of handing out flowers and bottles of water to armed security forces. People asked Yehya: “How is it possible that you would give a rose to these monsters?” He replied, “I’m giving it to myself.”

Yehya and Ghiyath were arrested on September 9. Ghiyath suffered extreme torture and died four days later. He was 24 years old. He died for believing in his message of peace - for giving flowers to the enemy and offering water to the thirsty.

Stephen’s argument can be applied to more than just the conflict in Ireland- that a culture of romanticizing heroes of war/violence makes it difficult for people to see a role for nonviolence. 

Adam Branch

Senior Research Fellow
Makerere Institute of Social Research
March 8, 2012

Kampala, Uganda

Published here. He concludes….

Which brings up the question that I am constantly asked in the US: “what can we do?”, where “we” tends to mean American citizens. In response, I have a few proposals. The first, perhaps not surprising from a professor, is to learn. The conflict in northern Uganda and central Africa is complicated, yes—but not impossible to understand. For several years, I have taught an undergraduate class on the conflict, and although it takes some time and effort, the students end up being well informed and able to come to their own opinions about what can be done. I am more than happy to share the syllabus with anyone interested! In terms of activism, I think the first thing we need to do is to re-think the question: instead of asking how the US can intervene in order to solve Africa’s conflicts, we need to ask what we are already doing to cause those conflicts in the first place. How are we, as consumers, contributing to land grabbing and to the wars ravaging this region? How are we, as American citizens, allowing our government to militarize Africa in the name of the War on Terror and securing oil resources? That is what we have to ask ourselves, because we are indeed responsible for the conflict in northern Uganda—however, we are not responsible to end it by sending military force, as Invisible Children tells us, but responsible for helping to cause and prolong it. In our desire to ameliorate suffering, we must not be complicit in making it worse. [emphasis mine]

TMS RUGE

Project Diaspora

Published here. 

“Doo Wop (That Thing)”, Lauryn Hill

I’ve decided that I really miss this lady. =(

On today’s Fresh Air, how the digital age is changing kids, teens and parents. (via nprfreshair)

I’m a sucker for archaic theological words. =)

writeworld:

demiurge \DEM-ee-urj, noun:

1. Philosophy. A. Platonism. The artificer of the world. B. (In the Gnostic and certain other systems) a supernatural being imagined as creating or fashioning the world in subordination to the Supreme Being, and sometimes regarded as the originator of evil.
2. (In…

jasjuliet:

dohmenator:

thebluefloof:

ALL. OF. THESE. THINGS.

YOU. ARE. ALL. AMAZING.

NEVER. LIMIT. YOURSELF.

This is all of the true. I need, like, a daily reminder of how true this is.

Pumps me up enough for my second year. Everyone, read this! Be inspired! Never give up! Practice and make work!

Don’t get discouraged, everyone. 

By the old gods and the new, this character creeps me out so much more than he did in the books. 

Good job guys!

theladyofthorns:

#a man is regretting giving the power of life and death to a vengeful 11-year old #a man should have expected this to go badly 

theavc:

Why did Dan get let go from the show?

We’re not made aware of why staffing changes take place but I will always be grateful to Dan for his great work on the show and wish him only the best. We’re also excited that we’ll be back on NBC’s schedule in the fall and are looking forward to working on those episodes.

Here’s the thing about nerds Sony. We don’t have a lot of people, but we’re extremely loyal to the people we do have. So if you’re thinking about sending a memo to the Community staff telling them what to say about Dan Harmon, you might want to reconsider.

I’m not sure I want to think about what bullshit people would spout if these got passed around a high school.

“Gold On The Ceiling”, Black Keys

Ha ha ha.

But in all seriousness video games, like any other form of mass media, can serve to reinforce and build tolerance toward hate and cruelty.

Its stupid to think video games lead to violent behavior. But its even more stupid to fool ourselves into thinking the media we consume is neither cause nor symptom of our societal attitudes towards rape, racism, homophobia, and a whole host of other terrible evils.

“Nothing But The Water (I)”, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Well…damn.

mehreenkasana:

Muslim Doodles by Mehreen Kasana

That’s me. While I understand these doodles don’t represent all the problems Muslims face in this age, I thought I’d start off with a few commonly occurring ones. e.g. The pseudo-liberating complex often shoved in front of Muslim women, the ridiculous misconception folks have that all Muslim women wear body coverings like the burqa, niqab, hijab, etc. Of being called “terrorists” by bigots, of putting up with it on a frequent basis. Of having to answer the irritating question pertaining to why some of us choose to cover our bodies. This is the first part. More to come. (Because ignorance thrives in today’s world.)

All this with a dash of my humor. Be well, folks.

reekrhymes:

The world is shit. People treat each other badly. People die. Most folks are only in it for themselves. People are stupid. Things go wrong. You won’t always get what you want. Your happiness can be shattered at any time. People are abused and neglected by their families, and sometimes their friends. 

But if you find something and someone and somewhere that you can love whole heartedly, the world becomes a little bit less dark, and you might come to find that the world is also beautiful. People are kind. People are born. Sometimes we sacrifice what we want for what others want. Things go right. Your goals might be realized. You can pull yourself out of the darkness. You could find family in your friends, and you can find people whom (through all of the suffering that the world has to offer) will carry you through it all. The duality of the world has everything to do with how you choose to experience it. You are not alone. 

Try finding that message in your half hour sitcom. 

Hipster hijabis!

“Shirley! These things happen in video games.”

“They do?”

“We can’t get hung up on real world morality. We need to survive and win.”

No…I can’t even…

*explodes*

People without Gods are pretty good at it, too. But I get the artists’ point. =)

Israel in Peril by David Shulman | The New York Review of Books (via firthofforth)

This is hilarious, considering that I am often my own editor.

Excuse me while I geek out over this amazing website dedicated to the English language! 

I wish there was some sort of flash card version. It’d make learning GRE words so much more fun!

“Ilya (Acoustic Version)”, Martina Topley Bird 

As if this song couldn’t be haunting enough, Ms. Topley Bird goes and makes it even more soul-grinding.