more compelling

shaunabrooke: “We’ve made our sacred fire. We’re going to stand...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:34:21 -0400

“We’ve made our sacred fire. We’re going to stand our ground here.”

Seismic trucks won’t pass, says Elsipogtog war chief, calls for help from all Nations

BY MILES HOWE

ELSIPOGTOG, NEW BRUNSWICK – A sacred fire, which must burn continuously and be monitored for four days, has been lit by Mi’kmaq peoples from all corners of traditional Mi’kma’ki, who have gathered in the New Brunswick community of Elsipogtog. They, as well as non-Indigenous peoples from the local communities and beyond, have now begun to congregate in a field – with permission given by the owner – adjacent to the junction of highway 126 and highway 116 west.

The gathering, which now comprises about 40 people, is directly in the path of seismic testing trucks – or “thumpers” – that are conducting geological surveying on behalf of SWN Resources Canada. SWN is exploring for shale gas deposits. Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples worry that the seismic testing will lead to hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – of Kent County, much of which is under exploratory lease to SWN.

Elsipogotg war chief John Levi has noted that the gathering will remain peaceful, but that the seismic testing will not be allowed to continue past the sacred fire.

“We’re not going to let them pass. This is the reason why we’ve set up,” Levi told the Halifax Media Co-op. “We’ve made our sacred fire. We’re going to stand our ground here. This would be the spot here, so we’re asking for support from all non-Native and Native peoples.”

"reporting the weather: it is not your job to make someone else feel comfortable by what you are..."

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:45:33 -0400

“reporting the weather: it is not your job to make someone else feel comfortable by what you are going to say. what is your job, is to tell the truth of how you feel; respecting the importance of your own inner weather. you might take time to find the most gentle and honoring way to tell it, but you tell it. you do not, not tell it. how someone reacts, responds, etc… is theirs. and though it may be difficult to watch someone you care about encounter hard emotions, that is for them to work through/their experience. you do not help them or save them by denying yourself air. in fact, you only serve to create more of a distance between you and your own soul; a distance in the true intimacy between you and them. your soul and theirs knows this is not love. this is not love, rigging your weather reports.”

- nayyirah waheed (via nayyirahwaheed)

Morning in Prague by Markus Grunau

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:45:06 -0400

Morning in Prague by Markus Grunau

father's day

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 04:45:11 -0400

brashblacknonbeliever:

With Father’s day fast approaching, I would like to send a shout out to the people typically ignored on days like this:

To the people with abusive fathers

To the people absentee fathers

To the people who don’t know their fathers

To the people who cut their fathers out of their lives

To the people with conflicting feelings about father’s day because their own father was a piece of shit but other men they know and love are awesome dads

To the people who learned how not to be a shitty dad by not doing what their father did

You are not alone. If you don’t want to celebrate father’s day or you don’t want to talk to your father, that’s perfectly fine. Do whatever it takes to make sure you are healthy and happy.

thepeoplesrecord: Just a reminder that 166 Guantanamo Bay...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 03:38:53 -0400

thepeoplesrecord:

Just a reminder that 166 Guantanamo Bay detainees have been on hunger strike for more than three months now, & 43 are being force-fed in what doctors have just called “a medical ethics-free zone.”

GITMO cartoon by Matt Bors

"Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a..."

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 10:19:39 -0400

“Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. It doesn’t have to be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter. Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but “steal” some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be.”

- Albert Camus, from “Notebooks, 1951-1959” (via mirroir)

Audio

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 08:52:44 -0400

"People of color, women, and gays — who now have greater access to the centers of influence that ever..."

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 08:31:50 -0400

“People of color, women, and gays — who now have greater access to the centers of influence that ever before — are under pressure to be well-behaved when talking about their struggles. There is an expectation that we can talk about sins but no one must be identified as a sinner: newspapers love to describe words or deeds as “racially charged” even in those cases when it would be more honest to say “racist”; we agree that there is rampant misogyny, but misogynists are nowhere to be found; homophobia is a problem but no one is homophobic. One cumulative effect of this policed language is that when someone dares to point out something as obvious as white privilege, it is seen as unduly provocative. Marginalized voices in America have fewer and fewer avenues to speak plainly about what they suffer; the effect of this enforced civility is that those voices are falsified or blocked entirely from the discourse.”

- Teju Cole | The White Savior Industrial Complex (via closedforprayer)

┌∩┐(◕‿◕✿)┌∩┐: Creepshots is back. And they have migrated to Tumblr.

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 08:30:30 -0400

┌∩┐(◕‿◕✿)┌∩┐: Creepshots is back. And they have migrated to Tumblr.:

fatfemmefatale:

peechington-marie:

lilacscreams:

themanwiththebluebox:

This needs to fucking stop. This is an absolute invasion of women, this is disgusting, and this Tumblr needs to go away.

We need to report both the Twitter and the Tumblr.

Creepshots is a website for men to take “sexy” pictures of unsuspecting women, and from their ‘About Us’ section it states: “Creepshots are CANDID pictures. If a person is posing or aware that a picture is being taken, then it is no longer a creepshot.”

These men take pictures of women who are unaware and post them.

And then under their rules for getting the pictures removed? One of the two options is to “appreciate” the fact that some fucking gross man took a picture of you.

Signal boost.

I’ve sent a report to tumblr and you should too.

To report a blog to tumblr, you need to email the full URL and name of the blog to tumblr.

Let’s get it taken down!

PLEASE SIGNAL BOOST

This could be said to violate the Tumblr Community Guidelines under the “impersonation, stalking, or harassment” or “privacy violations” sections. Report the blog by clicking “Contact Support” at the bottom of this page.

please report this. it takes two minutes.

"Champions of MOOCs and online learning frequently exhibit a lamentable techno-utopianism, making..."

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 06:14:41 -0400

“Champions of MOOCs and online learning frequently exhibit a lamentable techno-utopianism, making claims about the benefits of online education far beyond what any data currently warrants. Critics of MOOCs and online learning frequently exhibit a Luddite protectionism, as if the college campus and classroom should be immune from the effects of technological advancement that have swept across other industries. We ought to reject both stances.”

- Much Ado About MOOCs (via azspot)

"As critical race theorist Kimberle Crenshaw has noted, it is not enough to be sensitive to..."

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:05:20 -0400

“As critical race theorist Kimberle Crenshaw has noted, it is not enough to be sensitive to difference; we must ask what difference the difference makes. Instead of saying, how can we include women of color, women with disabilities, etc., we must ask what our analysis and organizing practice would look like if we centered them in it. By following a politics of re-centering rather than inclusion, we often find that we see the issue differently, not just for the group in question, but everyone.”

- http://www.incite-national.org/media/docs/1479_recenteringfeminism.pdf (via whitedenial-ontrial)

further wisdom

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:59:31 -0400

me: I had a dream last night that I was dancing as though I knew how to stepdance in a situation that demanded it...it was like a hellish version of lipsync for your life from rupaul's drag race. like I was actually going to die if I couldn't convince people that I was a legit maritimer.

Emily: Well... that sounds not good at all. Sounds like you're stressed. Get some hot chocolate and spike it! You'll be home making out with cod before you know it. And then you'll be like, "this one time, at Oxford..." and some people you don't really know will make you feel a little uncomfortable about your resounding awesomeness and you'll be like, "ugh, I don't want to come back here for 1 to 8 months."

"When I love, I love: wholly, thoroughly, completely, drowning in everything. Every glance can be a..."

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:12:17 -0400

“

When I love, I love: wholly, thoroughly, completely, drowning in everything. Every glance can be a conversation, eyes just playing and saying what needs to be said. Silence is loud, and the air becomes heavy.

I want you. I want all of you.

”

- Warsan Shire (via kitty-en-classe)

Photo

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 08:16:26 -0400

emduncaroo's guide to homesickness. nyc edition.

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 05:13:19 -0400

Emily: well, best i can do for those long stretches... uh, the strategy i've developed is as follows - 1. to, alone or with friends, buy enough alcohol to get you pretty sloshed (I personally go for a 6 pack of beer, a bottle of red wine or a solid amount of whiskey. something more maritime-y than you would necessarily do in the maritimes)

me: hahah

Emily: i should say, you need a whole night for this but it cleanses homesickness pretty well. 2. play through entire albums of The Rankins and Great Big Sea. Loud.

me: hahaha, in a fun way, with the loud lyric singing?

Emily: 3. Cook and dance or, if cooking is impossible, order indian food and dance

me: not in a crying in your room through we rise again

Emily: yeah, definitely sing along. oh- we'll get to that. proceed to get royally drunk. allow yourself to weep openly to the sad songs once you're there

me: ah ok, I see

Emily: maybe collapse briefly on the floor
start facebook stalking people you didn't like in high school, friends, old boyfriends. drunkenly text or chat with your friends. get a little drunker and tired of the songs. turn on green day. pass out in your bed with a smile on

me: sounds reliable.

Emily: works like a charm. it's really the emotional ride that makes it work i think. dancing like you know how to step dance is key.

TransCanada Caught Training Police to Treat Peaceful Protestors as “Terrorists” -- TarSandsBlockade.org

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 17:50:06 -0400

TransCanada Caught Training Police to Treat Peaceful Protestors as “Terrorists” -- TarSandsBlockade.org:

thepeoplesrecord:

June 12th, 2013 — In the midst of recent national controversy surrounding government surveillance of the public, a recent Freedom of Information Act request to the Nebraska State Patrol has exposed evidence that TransCanada provided trainings to federal agents and local Nebraska police to suppress nonviolent activists protesting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by arresting them on “anti-terrorism statutes.” The presentation slides, obtained by grassroots landowner advocacy group Bold Nebraska, target Tar Sands Blockade activists by name.

“This is clear evidence of the collusion between TransCanada and the federal government assisting local police to unlawfully monitor and harass political protestors,” said Lauren Regan, legal coordinator for Tar Sands Blockade and executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center. “These documents expose the truth that the government is giving the nod to unlawful corporate spying. By slinging false allegations against peaceful activists in this presentation, TransCanada puts them at risk of unwarranted prosecution.”

Although TransCanada’s presentation to authorities contains information about property destruction, sabotage, and booby traps, police in Texas and Oklahoma have never alleged, accused, or charged Tar Sands Blockade activists of any such behaviors. Since August 2012, Tar Sands Blockade has carried out dozens of successful nonviolent direct actions to physically halt construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in Texas and Oklahoma. All of these acts, as well as every pipeline protest in Nebraska, have maintained strict commitments to nonviolence.

“Try as TransCanada might to slander Tar Sands Blockade and our growing grassroots movement, we know who the real criminals are.” said Ron Seifert, a spokesperson with Tar Sands Blockade who was pictured in the slideshow. “The real criminals are those profiting from this deadly tar sands pipeline by endangering families living along the route and pumping illegal levels of air toxins into fence-line communities.”

“If anything, this shows the effectiveness of campaigns to stop the Keystone XL pipeline and fossil fuel extraction as a whole,” said Scott Parkin, an organizer with Rising Tide North America and a non-violence trainer also pictured in the slideshow. “We’ve been fighting coal, oil and natural gas for a long time using these time-honored tactics and strategies. We’ll continue to use them precisely because they have been so effective in making change throughout American history.”

Grassroots resistance to Keystone XL is growing in Texas and Oklahoma where TransCanada is currently digging up freshly laid sections of the pipeline that failed integrity inspections. The East Texas Observer reports that at least 70 “anomalies,” including dents and shoddy welds in the pipe, were identified in a 60 mile span, and in some areas these imperfections occur at a rate of three per mile.

“A discovery like this presentation reveals that TransCanada has no problem lying to authorities and intentionally misleading the public in pursuit of its own private gain,” says Seifert. “If TransCanada officials cannot be trusted to tell the truth about the peaceful nature of Keystone XL protestors, why should we believe they’ve told the truth about the integrity of their pipeline and the real threats it poses to the hundreds of rivers and creeks that it crosses?”

- - - -

Submitted by http://songofdork.tumblr.com/

Just saw this on TarSand’s Blockade & Rising Tide FB Pages!

Be sure to click on the ridiculous “WHO ARE THE PROTESTERS?” slides being presented to police.

"Economically, the results are even more striking. Adjusting for any previous differences between the two groups, women denied abortion were three times as likely to end up below the federal poverty line two years later. Having a child is expensive, and many mothers have trouble holding down a job while caring for an infant. Had the turnaways not had access to public assistance for women with newborns, Foster says, they would have experienced greater hardship."

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:09:37 -0400

"Economically, the results are even more striking. Adjusting for any previous differences between the two groups, women denied abortion were three times as likely to end up below the federal poverty line two years later. Having a child is expensive, and many mothers have trouble holding down a job while caring for an infant. Had the turnaways not had access to public assistance for women with newborns, Foster says, they would have experienced greater hardship."

Photo

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:00:00 -0400

Perhaps the hardest thing about losing a lover is to watch the year repeat its days. It is as...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:52:00 -0400

Perhaps the hardest thing about losing a lover is

to watch the year repeat its days.

It is as if I could dip my hand down

into time and scoop up

blue and green lozenges of April heat

a year ago in another country.

I can feel that other day running underneath this one

like an old videotape—

Anne Carson, The Glass Essay

Photo

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 04:01:28 -0400