fyi, if anyone has ever been interested in donating to doctors without borders, they are tripling the value of any donation received until may 15 (up to $500k)
Eòghann's guide to vetting Celtic information sources
(this is purely from my experience as a lay-person, there are much more qualified people out there who will be able to say more about this than me I suggest you listen to them)
Celtic soup - Does this person refer to all Celtic cultures and history as a monolith? Do they provide Gaelic prayers for Welsh deities for example? Do they say things like "Ancient Celts believed xyz" only for you to find out that they meant Medieval Christian Ireland?
If prayers/hymns etc are being provided, is it just the English translation or do they show the original text too? Is there any use of relevant Celtic languages at all?
If only the English translation of a text is given, have the translators provided interpretation notes and sources? Do they reference other interpretations of lines with ambiguous meaning?
Is use of Celtic languages accurate? If they're talking about Celtic terminology and it's spelled incorrectly or there are grammar errors, I personally would doubt the thoroughness of their research
Are they overly concerned with "Celtic blood" and DNA? This one is less about information sources and more for vetting people arriving in Celtic spaces, but still worth mentioning. Celtic identity is primarily defined by the languages and the cultures which go with them. Obsession with blood percentages is a good sign you're dealing with a white supremacist
Do they refer to Celtic people only in the past tense? "Beltane was xyz" "Celtic people believed abc". This one's a bit more subtle but sometimes you just get the vibe that the author doesn't know we still exist. Sometimes you can just tell that they've never spoken to a real life Celtic person before
This is all great advice!! Here's a couple guidelines I give to my students:
- is the source comfortable with ambiguity? There are many aspects of Celtic cultures (especially when you go farther back) that we are not certain about; a good scholarly source will typically address ambiguities in the materials and others' interpretations of them
- is there a bibliography and does it contain primary sources? Is it clear the author did their own research or are they simply offering an interpretation of someone else's interpretation?
if u get into neopaganism u really have to spend the first like 2 years sorting out all the bullshit and finding out how much of it is either completely made up or outright stolen from other cultures and then go from there. u truly have to experience ego death, academic death, book collection death, and probably 47 other maimings or else you will be stuck believing something some guy said based on nothing in 1987 as your religion. it's harrowing. it's dire.
see this is exactly what I'm talking about. this labour is so incredibly invisibilised that there are real human beings, walking about amongst us, leading normal lives, etc., who earnestly believe that machines can make an item of clothing from start to finish.
Hey just in case someone on here doesn’t quite understand how labor intensive making a garment is, here is a list of things that (to the best of my knowledge) cannot be done by machine alone, from a costumer/tailor in training
Cutting - in my opinion, the most labor intensive part of the process. The amount of time/effort needed varies depending on the pattern and if seam allowance is included or marked separately, but no matter what this process can not be done by machine. Each and every panel and piece of fabric that goes into a garment must be cut by hand by a person.
Pinning/clipping - pinning (or clipping) is the stage at which you align the pieces you are going to be stitching together and hold them together with — you guessed it! — either pins or clips. This can not be done by machine.
Stitching - the actual sewing. This can be done by a sewing machine, but that machine still needs to be operated by a human being.
Ironing/pressing - two words that mean the same thing. The iron itself is a machine, but once again, it needs to be operated by a human being.
Finishing - depending on the technique you use, there are certain finishing techniques that can only be done by hand. But, let’s assume we’re talking about fast fashion, which is usually just finished with a simple overlock/serger. Once again: these machines need to be operated by people.
These are just the basic steps to making a garment, and don’t include textile arts that I am not as knowledgeable about, such as weaving, knitting, and crochet. Also, it is important to note that there are a lot of things that can only be done by hand, such as certain stitches and decorative techniques.
Also, the machinery being operated in textile factories is not equivalent to a domestic sewing machine. We’re talking about one of these guys:
See that gray cylinder under the table, behind the knee pedal? That’s the motor. These machines can sew through your fingers bones and all and not even stop. The people in these factories and sweatshops are operating heavy machinery, and are subject to all the risk that comes with that in addition to all of the work I mentioned above.
Please respect textile workers and continue the fight to eliminate the use of sweatshops and exploited labor in the fashion industry!
Reblogging with some additions from a different post o'mine:
" I'm taking a sewing class and I asked my teacher about how much machines can actually do. She said that while a lot of actual fabric we use in our projects is machine-woven, and sometimes there are machines for particular knitting patterns or for the same small thing over and over and over (i.e. socks), the overwhelming majority of pieces of clothing are in fact just sewn together by humans. Usually women. Underpaid and overlooked. Thousands and thousands of them, working 12 hours a day or more in huge warehouse-factories. You're probably wearing something one of those women created right now.
Most of the students (including me) were horrified. We had *no* idea. We figured that, given that we have supercomputers and massive industrial systems for almost every type of product you can buy, surely we would have figured out a better way? Surely there are machines that can put a t-shirt together by now?
She said, no, that's why fast fashion is really so bad. It's not simply about the quality of the product, it's about the human cost.
When you buy a cheap tee that says "Made in Bangladesh", this is where your clothing came from (and these are from one of the nicer factories):
(By Fahad Faisal. CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=89582692)
Don't want to believe it? I understand. Here is the wikipedia page, you can read it in your own time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_industry_in_Bangladesh#Readymade_garment_(RMG)_industry
This isn't just true of clothes either. There's an astonishing amount of human labor behind most of our products. Even the steps that are automated are only possible because humans are constantly cleaning, maintaining, repairing, adjusting and fine tuning the machines.
I've noticed that the media that educates us often edits that out on purpose. In 'how its made' type videos, steps humans do by hand are often skipped because they don't make as smooth a video as watching machines do the parts of the production process that can be automated.
"Random questions to get to know your mutuals better"
Tagged by @greenhairedprince (thank you!)! tagging mutuals if u see this.
What's your favorite bodywash?
Whatever's cheapest, usually Dove or Nivea lol
Favourite drink?
Water with a Pedialyte pouch!
Alcohol: The coldest Smirnoff Ice possible
Five youtube channels you watch a lot?
Really not into YouTube outside of it being a music vessel but if I HAD to promote one single "content creator" it would be Shay A / molahsses ! She does media analysis type of stuff, and has the most gorgeous video backgrounds.
Do you have a fav pokemon?
Never played a Pokemon but I like the one that is letters :) or the glitchy one that can happen sometimes?
Favourite animal?
If you say you're a "Cat Person" people read that as "Dogs are dumb" but they aren't!!!! Every animal deserves love and respect duh
If you were an animal, what animal do you think you would be?
Every time I take the dog breed test I get Cocker Spaniel?? Realistically in the animal roulette I'd probably end up a single-celled organism. Maybe in the sea? 🌊
How many bookmarks on ao3 do you have?
Salted the earth on my Ao3 years ago, but there's only one fic by someone else that I have downloaded.
If you're a fic writer, what was your first fic about?
See previous but also I THINK it was some kind of bait-and-switch MGSV-era Vkaz.
If you're a reader, what is the first fic in your history?
Pre-Ao3 can I say My Immortal as a first fic ever?
Last text you sent?
A painting progress picture
Favourite capri-sun flavour?
Never had one!
Favourite flower?
Wildflowers! With some grasses tossed into the bouquet for style.
What languages can you say thank you in?
English, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic
Do you have any pets right now?
We lost Sinatra Bartholomew the Cat in January, and Fionghal the Dog this week 💔 Orla the Cat lives in Cape Breton with her human grandmother
Did you have pets growing up?
In the "part of the family" and "respect them as living creatures" kind of way?
What is the first video in your YouTube liked playlist?
A subtitled Scottish Gaelic video about the space industry that I didn't end up using in a convention panel!
If you were a monster, what do you think you would be?
Maybe The Creature™️ in a horror about the medical or psych industry LOL
Do you have a favourite song?
Into basically any traditional music played on modern instruments.
Do you have a favourite Miku song?
The polka is a classic.
Have you ever been to a concert?
Inevitable, adopted into a musical family.
If you were a bird, what kind of bird do you think you'd be?
Livin' in a flock 🕊️
Did you play a sport in school?
Wish I had tbh!
Do you play a sport now?
Used to play airsoft… kind of wish I could get back into it, kind of want to sell off all the gear in bulk. Would love to learn figure skating someday ⛸️
How would you describe your style?
Solid cool earth tones, basic silhouettes
What are you currently wearing, if you want to share?
Tan shorts, blue athletic shirt.
Fave movie as an adult vs kid?
Kid: Don't remember
Now: To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar! has its issues, but the summer vibes are pretty good.
What was the last movie that you watched?
Genuinely unsure. Gotta finish watching Dan and Phil reacting to Twilight tho, wasn't into the books when they came out. Why is the whole movie blue/green
today, instead of celebrating canada's bullshit colonial holiday, let's get educated on, celebrate, and support indigenous people and indigenous activism instead:
information
native land map
free course on indigenous canada from the university of alberta (starts today, july 1!)
two crees in a pod (link is for spotify but it's on many podcast platforms)
kanehsatake: 270 years of resistance documentary
500 years of indigenous resistance book
nwac's online library
organisations
indigenous climate action
keepers of the water
indian residential school survivors society
ojibwe cultural foundation
native women's association of canada
shops
authentic indigenous seafood (the candied salmon is great)
antlered artworks
algonquin tea company
sḵwálwen botanicals
proudly indigenous crafts and designs (i want the sealskin ukpik so bad)
also feel free to add more to this, and if you're indigenous, link your shops and crowfunds!
titsay
gracieabrams
yousharknotpass
2087
