travel.dissent.repeat

travel, community activism, alternative living, reposts of entertaining content, and pieces from the BackAgainCait blog Otherwise, it's a collection of sporadic things with which I've fallen in love. Currently: communalism, anarchy, solo travel, feminism, witchcraft, folklore, anthropology, and all things bookshelf related. Things will get weird.

[backagaincait]

A New Species of Ancient Human May Have Just Been Discovered

Once upon a time, scientists knew the story of human evolution. It was linear and began in Africa. The first human ancestors, or hominins, s

[incorrecttua]

What doesn’t kill you gives you a lot of unhealthy coping mechanisms and a really dark sense of humour

Klaus (via incorrecttua)

[katracraft]

[backagaincait]

Focuses for the various moons of the year (Celtic calendar)

[songs-of-the-east]

Scenes from the 2016 World Nomad Games hosted in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan. The World Nomad Games brings athletes from various countries, primarily from the Central Asian region and Russia, to participate in sports native to the Eurasian Steppe. The Eurasian Steppe was home to various nomadic peoples particularly the Iranic-speaking Scythians and Sarmatians, who were a source of fear for the ancient Greeks due to their warriorlike nature and great horse-riding skills; including their mastery of horseback archery. Both groups are believed to have originated in the Eurasian Steppes, but their settlements ranged from China to Poland, and because of this they greatly impacted the genetic pool and cultures of a number of different groups in Eastern Europe and Central Asia such as the people of the Caucasus, Slavs, Turkic people, and other modern Iranic people. The Sarmatians in particular were famed by Greek historians for their female warriors and rulers that inspired the stories of the Amazons. 

[backagaincait]

Still one of the coolest events I’ve ever attended

[lifeinacronyms]

Opinion | Is Cash Better for Poor People Than Conventional Foreign Aid?

U.S.A.I.D., the American foreign aid agency, is conducting a trial that measures the impact when poor people abroad are simply given money with which to decide what’s best for themselves.

This is loaded with interesting connections to our recent discussions. 

The first thing that comes to mind when reading this is the idea of mission advancement. Salt Lake City, Utah was able to eradicate chronic homelessness by simply housing people. They figured out that it was a more effective way to tackle the issue and cheaper for tax payers The idea was to get people housed and then take care of the aspects that lead to homelessness. People in stable situations that have their basic needs met have the head space to critically deal with some of these heavy issues.The idea of giving those experiencing poverty money, reminded me of this sentiment. 

We have also discussed reasons people give and the factors that go into someone’s decision, one of these being percentage of a dollar going to the programming. This program boasts that 90% of the funds go directly to the programming, eliminating the “overhead costs.” While there is definitely something to be said for simply giving people what they need, are there any local educators on the ground that can help people manage these finances if they are unsure of how to properly allocate funds and create a budget? By removing NGO’s from the equation, is there a line of accountability for how these funds are used, and should there be? Should creating a sustainable and self-sustaining financial growth model be part of an international giving program like this? Another question I have is if these incredibly direct approaches prove to be more effective, what consequences may come from eliminating NGO’s that have delivered various services in these countries? 

I am interested to see the effects of this program and the results that these researchers find as it continues. I do believe that empowering individuals in this way can be effective, as opposed to creating a model that creates a bandage to their problems while making the donors and volunteers feel like they are delivering a saving grace (like voluntourism can do), but there can be some issues if some factors are not considered prior to building a program like this. 

[backagaincait]

I’d say

[makeuphall]

[historyarchaeologyartefacts]

Stone turtle - one of the few remains of Karakorum, medieval capital of the Mongol Empire [1200x800]

[relatablepoetryandquotes]

via @defineyourgrind

[langblrwhy]

Language and culture are the frameworks through which humans experience, communicate, and understand reality.

Lev Vygotsky, 1968 (via langblrwhy)

[relatablepoetryandquotes]

via @defineyourgrind

[pdlcomics]

Mister Nice

[hydro-homies]

Wake up questions.

[backagaincait]

Click to view the GIF

[backagaincait]

"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent van Gogh . Yes, I googled #vangogh quotes for you. . Tbh I can never fully separate him from that one Dr. Who episode. . Did you know there's more than one Starry Night? I like the one he did with purple 🤗 (at Amsterdam, Netherlands) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq9ipNoBoxu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1a9jv5ch3tqqf

[backagaincait]

#Reindeer: some are skeptical, some really like ear scratches 🦌 (at Tarhalehdon eläinpiha) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqsGYgKFZUz/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=7aa3dqyql4oj

[backagaincait]

Finland checklist complete: today I fed reindeer their breakfast! 💚💚💚 Guess what it was? That's right, Reindeer Lichen. 💚💚 Ah, what a world. (at Tarhalehdon eläinpiha) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqr6fqnFNfc/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=5y46u0sny1ig

[historyarchaeologyartefacts]

Ivory anatomical model of a pregnant woman, European, c. 1600’s. [1743x2923]

[backagaincait]

I just think this is super cool